Smiley celebrates 25th birthday

johnnymk · 09-19-2007, 01:58 PM

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/09...iley_birthday/

The "digital smiley" - a cunning series of keystrokes which gave rise to the ubiquitous emoticon - is today celebrating its 25th birthday.

That's according to Carnegie Mellon University professor Scott E. Fahlman, who says that at 11:44 am on 19 September 1982, during an electronic bulletin board discussion about "the limits of online humor and how to denote comments meant to be taken lightly", he made the following fateful suggestion: "I propose the following character sequence for joke markers: :-). Read it sideways."

Fahlman explained: "I've never seen any hard evidence that the :-) sequence was in use before my original post, and I've never run into anyone who actually claims to have invented it before I did. But it's always possible that someone else had the same idea — it's a simple and obvious idea, after all."

He added in a university statement: "It has been fascinating to watch this phenomenon grow from a little message I tossed off in 10 minutes to something that has spread all around the world. I sometimes wonder how many millions of people have typed these characters, and how many have turned their heads to one side to view a smiley, in the 25 years since this all started."

Markel · 09-19-2007, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnnymk

Fahlman explained: "I've never seen any hard evidence that the :-) sequence was in use before my original post, and I've never run into anyone who actually claims to have invented it before I did. But it's always possible that someone else had the same idea — it's a simple and obvious idea, after all."

He's a professor - he should know that Al Gore actually invented the smilie.

Maarchk · 09-19-2007, 02:41 PM

Random. and the answer is, who really cares. why do we celebrate all this silly stuff... Who was it that said we celebrate mediocrity and we should just stop, because nothing is truly special anymore.. We celebrate graduating every grade and every moment as if it was our last. i think this falls under that category. Not to mention this guy is why i have spam trying to hook me up with a million smileys... that makes me angry.

guiseppewv · 09-19-2007, 03:35 PM

We celebrate it because it is an excuse to have a Guinness!!!

Napoleon54 · 09-20-2007, 01:05 AM

Typewriters, and printing presses before them, have been around for a very long time. If it was possible to search the entire history of the printed word, I'd be surprised if the smiley never appeared until 1982. But who knows. *shrug*

But I guess, if for no reason other than for the mere sake of having a date to celebrate, Happy Birthday to the smiley.

bachviet · 09-20-2007, 09:24 AM

Use it a lot back in the day (IRC'ing) using VAX machine.

Anyway Happy BDay Smiley!

guiseppewv · 09-20-2007, 11:48 AM

I miss my vax account. I still remember my eight digit account number.

gwilks98 · 09-20-2007, 05:20 PM

I loved how much this was debated in the comments section on slashdot. Many many many people believe the emoticon has been around a long time before this loser posted it.

Pointless news, and inaccurate if you ask me.

09-19-2007, 01:58 PM	#1
johnnymk Chief of Naval Operations Join Date: May 2000 Location: LEVITTOWN< PA> USA Posts: 13,619	Smiley celebrates 25th birthday http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/09...iley_birthday/ The "digital smiley" - a cunning series of keystrokes which gave rise to the ubiquitous emoticon - is today celebrating its 25th birthday. That's according to Carnegie Mellon University professor Scott E. Fahlman, who says that at 11:44 am on 19 September 1982, during an electronic bulletin board discussion about "the limits of online humor and how to denote comments meant to be taken lightly", he made the following fateful suggestion: "I propose the following character sequence for joke markers: :-). Read it sideways." Fahlman explained: "I've never seen any hard evidence that the :-) sequence was in use before my original post, and I've never run into anyone who actually claims to have invented it before I did. But it's always possible that someone else had the same idea — it's a simple and obvious idea, after all." He added in a university statement: "It has been fascinating to watch this phenomenon grow from a little message I tossed off in 10 minutes to something that has spread all around the world. I sometimes wonder how many millions of people have typed these characters, and how many have turned their heads to one side to view a smiley, in the 25 years since this all started."

09-19-2007, 02:41 PM	#3
Maarchk Rear Admiral Upper Half Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Where the east meets the west. Posts: 3,052	Random. and the answer is, who really cares. why do we celebrate all this silly stuff... Who was it that said we celebrate mediocrity and we should just stop, because nothing is truly special anymore.. We celebrate graduating every grade and every moment as if it was our last. i think this falls under that category. Not to mention this guy is why i have spam trying to hook me up with a million smileys... that makes me angry. __________________ "The girl is crafty like ice is cold." "I left my heart in san francisco... And my liver at Moe's Tavern." A real friend is one who listens to you as much as they talk to you.

09-20-2007, 01:05 AM	#5
Napoleon54 Vice Admiral Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: floating inside of a giant egg made of stars Posts: 4,346	Typewriters, and printing presses before them, have been around for a very long time. If it was possible to search the entire history of the printed word, I'd be surprised if the smiley never appeared until 1982. But who knows. shrug But I guess, if for no reason other than for the mere sake of having a date to celebrate, Happy Birthday to the smiley. __________________ The unsustainable cannot be sustained.

09-20-2007, 09:24 AM	#6
bachviet What's Da Pho*? Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: SoCal (714) Posts: 13,210	Use it a lot back in the day (IRC'ing) using VAX machine. Anyway Happy BDay Smiley! __________________ Dell Dimension 9200 \| Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 (2.4Ghz) \| 4x1GB DDR2 \| 256MB nVidia GeForce 8800GT Dell Inspiron 640m \| Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 (2.0GHz) \| 2x1GB DDR2 PC2-4200 \| Intel GMA 950 Intel P4-C 3.0GHz \| ECS 865PE-A \| 3x512MB PC3200 \| 128MB PNY GeForce 6600GT

09-20-2007, 05:20 PM	#8
gwilks98 Vice Admiral Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: StL Posts: 4,104	I loved how much this was debated in the comments section on slashdot. Many many many people believe the emoticon has been around a long time before this loser posted it. Pointless news, and inaccurate if you ask me. __________________ "I know the pieces fit, cause I watched them fall away." "Cold silence has A tendancy to Atrophy any Sense of compassion." MJK

09-19-2007, 03:35 PM	#4
guiseppewv Admiral Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: East coast Posts: 6,922	We celebrate it because it is an excuse to have a Guinness!!!

09-20-2007, 11:48 AM	#7
guiseppewv Admiral Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: East coast Posts: 6,922	I miss my vax account. I still remember my eight digit account number.

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