September 18, 2007
25 Years of Happy Returns
If you’ve ever ended an e-mail message or an instant message with an emoticon, now might be a good time to pause and reflect on the work of Scott E. Fahlman. After all, it will be 25 years ago tomorrow that Mr. Fahlman, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, invented the digital smiley face.
After a colleague joked about a contaminated elevator on an electronic bulletin board, Mr. Fahlman had his eureka moment: He recommended that future quipsters mark their jokes with “:-)” to make sure no one misconstrued their comments.
Since the Net is now overrun with winking emoticons, crying emoticons, and even an Abraham Lincoln emoticon — “==):-)=” — it’s hard to believe that Mr. Falhman felt the need to explain his creation. But he did issue a simple directive to folks confused by the icon: “Read it sideways.” —Brock Read
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My mother (80) just told me regarding an email I sent this week:
“That was a smiley face in that sentence, wasn’t it? I had to turn the page sideways.”
— Elizabeth Sep 19, 08:30 AM #
That looks more like Marx in London. This is the Lincoln I’ve seen most often:
==):-)>
— Lincoln? Sep 19, 10:57 AM #
I don’t remember ever seeing a picture of Abraham Lincoln smiling. Try this one: ==):-|>
— Julia Sep 19, 11:43 AM #
I wonder how he feels about this “invention” now? Perhaps not unlike Bobby McFerrin feels when he’s asked to perform “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”... .
— Taryn Sep 19, 03:31 PM #