Happy Birthday :-)

September 19, 2007 12:29 AM

Happy Birthday :-) 25 years ago, communications were changed forever. Story in Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette
posted by msacheson (17 comments total)

Interesting! I like Fahlman's explanation as to why emoticons are basically a good idea. And that's a great quote from Nabokov there at the end of the article, too.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:40 AM on September 19, 2007

You beat me by 5 minutes. I found the story here :-)
posted by RobHoi at 12:55 AM on September 19, 2007

I was the first person to add mood and music tags to blog entries as seen on Livejournal and Myspace. It may be a meager achievement compared to the smiley but it's nice to know that I came up with something that millions of people use everyday.
posted by bunnytricks at 12:58 AM on September 19, 2007

.
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:37 AM on September 19, 2007 [1 favorite]

Thanks, oh wait, you didn't mean happy birthday to me personally :(

At least the "talk like a pirate day" thing is fading. I hope...
posted by efalk at 1:49 AM on September 19, 2007

　　　　　　　　　　　　　 ∧∧
　　　　　　　　　　　　　( ﾟ∀ﾟ)　～happy
　　　　　　　　　　　　 ⊂　　つ birthday
　　　　　　　　　　　　　(つ ﾉ ":)"
　　　　　　　　　　　　　 (ノ
　　　　　＼　　　　　　☆
　　　　　　　　　　　　　|　　　　　☆
　　　　　　　　　　(⌒ ⌒ヽ　　　/
　　　　＼　　（´⌒　　⌒　　⌒ヾ　　　／
　　　　　 （'⌒　;　⌒　　　::⌒　　）
　　　　　（´　　　　　）　　　　　:::　）　／
　　☆─　（´⌒;:　　　　::⌒`）　:;　　）
　　　　　（⌒::　　　::　　　　　::⌒　）
posted by p3on at 2:01 AM on September 19, 2007 [3 favorites]

shucks, the spacing on the text was messed up. ah well
posted by p3on at 2:02 AM on September 19, 2007

B===D ~~
posted by UbuRoivas at 2:20 AM on September 19, 2007

Oh, crap. I was all set to pop in here all smug-like with the Nabokov quote from 1969. Then I finished reading the link. :(
posted by trip and a half at 4:46 AM on September 19, 2007

(.)(.)

Hay, didy'all know Jap smileys are different from non-Jap smileys?

They aren't read sideways.
posted by uncanny hengeman at 5:07 AM on September 19, 2007

*\(^_^)/*
posted by gomichild at 5:31 AM on September 19, 2007

They aren't read sideways.

I wonder if that's because Asians have sideways vaginas?

Yes, I was being a dork

Is there an emoticon for pissing elephant?
posted by Pollomacho at 5:34 AM on September 19, 2007

Since two people have mentioned "the Nabokov quote" without quoting it, here it is for easy reference:

Q: How do you rank yourself among writers (living) and of the immediate past?

Nabokov: I often think there should exist a special typographical sign for a smile – some sort of concave mark, a supine round bracket, which I would now like to trace in reply to your question.

Also, the thread from five years ago announcing the discovery of the long-lost original message; there's some good historical stuff in there.
posted by languagehat at 6:17 AM on September 19, 2007

Yes it is my birthday and I thought that I only had 'Talk like a pirate day to make me proud'.
posted by ob at 8:47 AM on September 19, 2007

(-_-)^zzzzzzz
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:47 AM on September 19, 2007 [1 favorite]

: >
posted by amberglow at 9:06 AM on September 19, 2007

`}P-)= <-- smile like a pirate day
posted by arto at 10:20 AM on September 19, 2007