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The Road

Goddamn I'm surprised this doesn't have any replies

Anyway, I'm looking forward to it, from what I've seen it looks damn good. Though I'd like to read the book first.

Post by: Absol, Dec 2, 2009 in forum: Movies & Media

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What was the last movie you watched?

Heaven Can Wait, which was hilarious.

Post by: Absol, Dec 2, 2009 in forum: The Playground

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Yeah. Man, you should've seen the conversation me and John had about that. I couldn't stop...

Yeah. Man, you should've seen the conversation me and John had about that. I couldn't stop laughing.

Profile Post by Absol for Janime6, Dec 2, 2009

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Badass. Also, I'm trying to show this to as many people as possible:...

Badass. Also, I'm trying to show this to as many people as possible:...

Profile Post by Absol for Janime6, Dec 2, 2009

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Just watching Soul Eater and pirating. You?

Just watching Soul Eater and pirating. You?

Profile Post by Absol for Janime6, Dec 2, 2009

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Yeah, it's like the place ends up owning your soul or something. Especially when you leave....

Yeah, it's like the place ends up owning your soul or something. Especially when you leave. Secret mission?

Profile Post by Absol for Catch the Rain, Dec 2, 2009

Profile Post

Hot damn, it's a sign.

Hot damn, it's a sign.

Profile Post by Absol for Fork, Dec 2, 2009

Thread

Every member here should read this

Since the dawn of humanity, mankind has communicated via symbols. Indeed, it was a turning point for civilization when the Sumerians carved a GOT BARLEY? icon on a rock. (The Sumerians also invented beer, making them the forerunners of drunken texting.) Letters and punctuation are nothing but code for our thoughts and ideas. Why then do I feel all stabby when I get a message that ends with three short marks: a colon, a hyphen and a parenthesis?

The smiley and all its variants have irked me from the day I first dialed up Usenet nearly 17 years ago. Initially I didn't know what it meant, until a helpful netizen told this newbie to "turn your head sideways."

Then I saw it. Once you've seen the smiley, you can never unsee it -- especially when a large number of your correspondents use it with the gusto of a drag queen dispensing snaps at a "Project Runway" marathon. Smart people, nay, brilliant ones use emoticons. Articulate, bright, funny people. Yet when I see a smiley, my first thought is, "What are you, 12 years old?"

What is it about the emoticon that fills me with such loathing? Maybe it's the wastefulness of the enterprise, the redundancy of it, the implied lack of confidence in the writer's ability to communicate, or mine to comprehend. If you say, "I'm looking forward to seeing you tonight," I think you're looking forward to seeing me. If you say, "I'm looking forward to seeing you tonight. :-)," I think you're not sure I understand the extent of sentiment in that seven-word message. And if you write, "I'm looking forward to seeing you tonight ;-)," I think your assumption of getting laid this evening may have been a bit premature, Winky.

The emoticon evolved out of tech culture. To be fair to the geekier among us (aka My People), folks who spend a lot of time in front of computer screens aren't the most socially adept under the best of circumstances. Now take away visual clues -- the human smile, the knowing touch, the gentle, jokey jab to the shoulder that would soften a real world "RTFM, NOOB" -- and you can understand what a glorious day it must have been when man realized he could, with three simple keystrokes, put a facial expression on an impersonal medium.

Continue Reading
That man was Scott Fahlman. On Sept. 19, 1982, the Carnegie Mellon computer scientist sent out a message with the subject head ":-)." It was intended to clarify communication on a message board at the university, and it read, "I propose the following character sequence for joke markers: :-). Read it sideways. Actually, it is probably more economical to mark things that are NOT jokes, given current trends. For this, use :-(."

The genie was out of the ASCII bottle.

I spoke to Fahlman a few weeks ago and asked his opinion of what he had wrought.

"It's survived this long for a reason," he told me. "It's handy. We're not all great writers. This is very informal, quick-and-dirty communication. You don't want to explain if it's funny or not. I send a lot of messages where I use sarcasm," he continued. "If I toss one smiley off, it'll save me a couple hundred fights, and it's no big deal."

Yet even the Victor Frankenstein of emoticons has his limits. Reflecting on the newer, preset smileys (or the zillions of alternatives mailer programs helpfully offered), Falhman said, "I think those garish yellow circles are ugly. There's creativity in doing emoticons, in making up your own now and then."

My friend Craig Ward, a typographer whose Web site is called Words Are Pictures and who shares what he calls my "deep-rooted respect for punctuation," ponders in the reverse direction. "A smiley face graphic is different, conceptually," he says. "I think in that respect the emoticon as a cluster of symbols is on its way out ... So hooray for that."

But though Ward admits, "I've used them before. A lot, if I'm honest," he also says, "I'm using emoticons less. I think they've just been overused."

Whether they're humble punctuation marks or shape-shifting, animated gifs matters not -- I loathe them in all their forms. I see a face at the end of a sentence, I start lopping off IQ and attractiveness points for the person who wrote it.

My gripe with emoticons has little to do with my fogeyism. I may be over 40 and need reading glasses to text, but who loves the smiley and its ancillary symbols more than your grandma? Unlike the cryptic acronyms and mystifying gamer terms that baffle us oldsters, the emoticon does not discriminate on the basis of age. But there is something gratingly cute about it, something breezily, notebook doodley in its nature that makes me want to smack the half circle off its stupid face.

Maybe that's because I don't entirely trust it. Of all the crimes perpetuated by the emoticon, surely the most grievous is its role in the passive-aggressive insult. There's at least an honesty to a plain old sarcastic, snotty comment. A group e-mail or Facebook comment to the effect of "Nice dress â€“ I didn't know there was a hooker convention in town. ;-)" or "I guess I'll do all the cooking again like I always do! :-)" is just bullshit. And sarcasm with a wink isn't sarcasm. More than a quarter-century into Internet culture, we can safely say the emoticon has not eradicated flaming or general online *******ry. It' s just another useful tool.

Even when the emoticon speaks truth, I submit that not every communication requires a clarification regarding how it makes you feel. A statement of action, i.e., "I'm heading in to the meeting now," doesn't require a window into your soul. If you're telling me you're stuck in traffic or that you had a lovely dinner last night, assume I can guess the appropriate psychological response that accompanies it -- or that I very likely don't give a toss. Furthermore, if you are in fact expressing how you feel, i.e., "I am so despondent," the words stand on their own just fine without benefit of a mopey icon.

Sure, not all of us are writers. If a friendly icon greases the path of online relations, where's the harm? After all, we already employ punctuation to more clearly express ideas. What is an exclamation point for if not to convey heightened emotion? What are italics for if not emphasis (or to distinguish a bon mot en FranÃ§ais)? And if I should write, "I'm blushing here," how is that so different from sending an image of a red-cheeked face?

But the emoticon is so damn needy. The smiley is the rimshot of online communication (which makes the frowny the sad trombone). It clings to your virtual leg, begging for your approval. Love me! it says. Understand me! I am trivial and light of heart even when in despair! (The mere existence of an emoticon for "brokenhearted" is enough to, well, break my heart.)

So let me meet your thoughts halfway. Leave a little something to the imagination. You don't have to wow me with your dazzling prose (although dazzling prose is always welcome). And we don't need to draw a picture, I promise. Trust that if something is making you smile, you can tell me about it and I'll understand. Trust that even though you can't see me, my non-yellow, punctuation-free face will be smiling back.
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Original article: http://www.salon.com/life/feature/story/index.html?story=/mwt/feature/2009/11/30/death_to_smiley

hurrr

Thread by: Absol, Nov 30, 2009, 4 replies, in forum: The Spam Zone

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hurrr Well, either way, taking breaks from this place is always good. But man, it's hard...

hurrr Well, either way, taking breaks from this place is always good. But man, it's hard when you're trying to go away permanently. xD...

Profile Post by Absol for Catch the Rain, Nov 30, 2009

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lol being online

lol being online

Profile Post by Absol for Catch the Rain, Nov 30, 2009

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I saw New Moon

Resin said: ↑

and the Rocky Horror Picture Show would still suck.
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And people will still have no sense of humor.

Post by: Absol, Nov 30, 2009 in forum: The Spam Zone

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LAUGHING ALL THE WAYa

LAUGHING ALL THE WAYa

Profile Post by Absol for TheMagicalMisterMistoffelees, Nov 30, 2009

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STRIKE THE HARP AND JOIN THE CHORUSa

STRIKE THE HARP AND JOIN THE CHORUSa

Profile Post by Absol for Xaale, Nov 30, 2009

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IN A ONE-HORSE OPEN SLEIGHa

IN A ONE-HORSE OPEN SLEIGHa

Profile Post by Absol for TheMagicalMisterMistoffelees, Nov 30, 2009

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So I'm bored

Post by: Absol, Nov 30, 2009 in forum: The Spam Zone

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I saw New Moon

Darkcloud said: ↑

I feel the same way about 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show'.
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Motherfucker, I will chop your body off and all you will be in the end is a dick.

Post by: Absol, Nov 30, 2009 in forum: The Spam Zone

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Oh man, I know the feeling. xD But really, letting go and saying it all is for the better....

Oh man, I know the feeling. xD But really, letting go and saying it all is for the better. Might make things stronger in the future. Which is...

Profile Post by Absol for Mathias Jay, Nov 30, 2009

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I love when the fat guy dances. xD

I love when the fat guy dances. xD

Profile Post by Absol for Tikem, Nov 28, 2009

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Pastor prays for Obama's death

Teal'c said: ↑

Well if they are only praying I don't see the problem. They may be working the wireless but no-ones listening.
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While I see where you're coming from, I'm going to have to disagree with you about it not being a problem.

First off, when pastors say **** like this, they invoke (more) hate amoung people who are dumb enough to listen. It'll probably make them feel justified.

Second, there's a possibility that this could encourage religious nuts to try and assassinate him, and who knows, one of them could get lucky. They'll likely say it was "God's will".

Post by: Absol, Nov 26, 2009 in forum: Current Events

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Sounds epic. Reminded me of this; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7kisatRK-U

Sounds epic. Reminded me of this; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7kisatRK-U

Profile Post by Absol for Tikem, Nov 26, 2009