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I always though that this smiley: ;) Represented some sort of *cringed look* but some people seem to be using it as if it were a *wink*… when I realized it was being used this way I noticed that there isn’t another *wink* smiley on the list - so I typed the AIM abbreviation for a *wink* [ ; ) ] and sure enough it was the smiley in question. Now this somewhat disturbs me because I think a *wink* should look more like a *happy face* and to me this *wink* looks more like a *distorted face*… and this is up until today the way I have been using it.

So I am curious… is there a group of people like me that have been using: ;) to represent a *cringed look* or am I the only one? If I am the only one then I will change my ways… it is not a complete loss since hereafter I can use the *wink* appropriately…

Sadly though, this leaves me with no smiley to send to people who are making no sense. There is :D ...but it is a little to much for everyday use... :huh: and :lol: are ok substitutes - but they still doesn't convey that 'your idea is distorting my face!' reaction.

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I always though that this smiley:  ;)  Represented some sort of *cringed look* but some people seem to be using it as if it were a *wink*… when I realized it was being used this way I noticed that there isn’t another *wink* smiley on the list - so I typed the AIM abbreviation for a *wink*  [ ; ) ] and sure enough it was the smiley in question.  Now this somewhat disturbs me because I think a *wink* should look more like a *happy face* and to me this *wink* looks more like a *distorted face*… and this is up until today the way I have been using it.

So I am curious… is there a group of people like me that have been using: ;) to represent a *cringed look* or am I the only one?  If I am the only one then I will change my ways… it is not a complete loss since hereafter I can use the *wink* appropriately…

I stayed away from using it at all precisely because of what you just identified. To me it looks more like a "cringed look" than a "wink," though from context I suppose others use it as the latter.

Sadly though, this leaves me with no smiley to send to people who are making no sense.
I use ;)

There is  :D ...but it is a little to much for everyday use... :huh: and  :lol: are ok substitutes - but they still doesn't convey that 'your idea is distorting my face!' reaction.

I'm not sure what any of the above actually mean.

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I stayed away from using it at all precisely because of what you just identified. To me it looks more like a "cringed look" than a "wink," though from context I suppose others use it as the latter.

Staying away from it is probably what I will be doing. Personally I had a hard time identifying its use thru the context... smileys are a poor substitute for rhetoric.

I'm not sure what any of the above actually mean.
This is my interpretation of them.

:dough: "Dough!" – Homer Simpson’s trademark – used to express a stupid mistake on one’s own part… and some people use it to express a stupid mistake on someone else’s part … or the product of repeated stupid mistakes (usually on someone else's part): frustration. It depends on how you look at it, if you consider it as once cycle of the animation – it is hitting yourself on the head for doing something stupid; if consider the fact that the darn thing keeps looping – then it is definitely more along the lines of frustration.

:huh: "huh?" - neutral confusion or surprise – neutral in the sense of no inkling whether it what you are reacting to is good or evil… maybe no inking to what it means at all.

:) - This is one of my favorites… I think it represents the type of response one has when someone tries to tell you something that disproves yesterday. A grin and a squint seems to me means a critical evaluation… but since the smiley is looking up and to the side it is drawing up past memories and using them to critically evaluate some new idea – usually with the premonition that the idea is wrong. I think this is the most contemplative smiley on the market!

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Staying away from it is probably what I will be doing.  Personally I had a hard time identifying its use thru the context... smileys are a poor substitute for rhetoric.

This is my interpretation of them.

:dough: "Dough!" – Homer Simpson’s trademark – used to express a stupid mistake on one’s own part… and some people use it to express a stupid mistake on someone else’s part … or the product of repeated stupid mistakes (usually on someone else's part): frustration.  It depends on how you look at it, if you consider it as once cycle of the animation – it is hitting yourself on the head for doing something stupid; if consider the fact that the darn thing keeps looping – then it is definitely more along the lines of frustration.

:huh:  "huh?" - neutral confusion or surprise – neutral in the sense of no inkling whether it what you are reacting to is good or evil… maybe no inking to what it means at all.

:)  - This is one of my favorites… I think it represents the type of response one has when someone tries to tell you something that disproves yesterday.  A grin and a squint seems to me means a critical evaluation… but since the smiley is looking up and to the side it is drawing up past memories and using them to critically evaluate some new idea – usually with the premonition that the idea is wrong.  I think this is the most contemplative smiley on the market!

Thanks for the tutorial.

Actually, I should have remembered this before, but David Sanderson, an Objectivist, wrote one of the first, if not the first,

books on smileys. Betsy had an article on him in one of her Cybernet columns.

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Thanks for the tutorial.

Actually, I should have remembered this before, but David Sanderson, an Objectivist, wrote one of the first, if not the first,

books on smileys. Betsy had an article on him in one of her Cybernet columns.

Your welcome – I wanted to share my interpretation of them. Thank you for the book, I’m delighted an Objectivist wrote it.

The whole smiley art plays on facial expressions – there might be more value to studying them than a couple cool tricks for AIM. After all the smileys are supposed to reflect actual expressions or caricatures - Good stuff.

:dough: - I need a Tylenol.

:huh: - Oops, I swallowed a Tylenol!

:)  - That guy took my Tylenols...

:)

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Some new characters:

:ninja:  :pirate:  :santa:  (w00t)  :alien:  :nuke:  :stuart:  :alien:  :sorcerer:  :zorro:  :devil:  :)

Those look great. I love all the characters, new ones and old, but not being sure how to use them, and not wanting to be misunderstood, it would be great if someome who knew could provide a brief description of the meaning and use of all of them. Something like a mini-character smiley FAQ. :D

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it would be great if someome who knew could provide a brief description of the meaning and use of all of them.

I don't know all of them, but I can tell you what I understand of the context people use some in (from AIM, etc.):

---

:stuart: "Haha, something related to me is better than something correspondingly relating to you" (in a jokingly and inoffensively superior manner, and may or may not a product of that person's decisions)

example (not a product of the person's decisions):

Person A: I have all my finals packed into two days; this sucks!

Person B: Mine are spread out, so I'll have plenty of time to study for each one :pirate:

example (a product of the person's decisions):

Person A: When I did the problem, I used method X.

Person B: Oh really? I found a shortcut :zorro: [usual explanation follows]

---

:) "happy"

example:

I just got an A on my test! :sorcerer:

---

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:D "funny"

example:

When is a door not a door?

When it's ajar! :D

---

(w00t) "sad"

My cat died today. :D

---

:stuart: "confused" (often takes the place of "What are you talking about?" or "Why would I approve of that?," though this smilie may come after either)

example (what are you talking about?):

Person A: I'm going to Ryan's house today.

Person B: Who is Ryan? :pirate: Why are you telling me this?

Person A: [now has to explain]

example (why would I approve of that?):

Person A: I just bought Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology from TOC, and I'll be reading it soon.

Person B: What? You support TOC? :zorro:

---

:o "angry"

example:

Person A: I agree; Ayn Rand is awesome! I found a quote from her I absolutely adore:

it seemed wrong to chastise a boy who had sacrificed himself to avenge injustice, and done it bravely

Person B: :o Do you have any clue what you're talking about?

---

:alien:, :devil: "yarr, pirate"

Usually used in a sexual context, after phrases you usually wish you hadn't read (private or obscene), to imply "coolness".

example:

Someone to his close friend: My girlfriend's parents aren't going to be home tonight :nuke:

---

There are a couple that I consider as obvious as a regular smilie: :) (rolling your eyes, typically follows a ridiculous quote from someone above), :alien: (kiss)

And, I've only seen :santa: used in a Christmas context (Merry Christmas! :ninja:)--nothing special.

:sorcerer: I have never seen this one used, but Homestarrunner is from www.homestarrunner.com, a site that has some hilarious flash presentation jokes:

http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail58.html (my favorite, Trogdor)

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:) I have never seen this one used, but Homestarrunner is from www.homestarrunner.com, a site that has some hilarious flash presentation jokes:

http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail58.html (my favorite, Trogdor)

My favorite is "Techno" from the e-mail section...

"Throgdor was a man... he was a, dragon-man!

:nuke: Burninating :nuke: the countryside!

:nuke: Burninating :nuke: the peasants!

THROGDORRR!!!"

Good times :D

Homestar (:homestar:) as a character is really 'slow' and is always being picked of an taken advantage of by Strongbad... sometimes he gets a little depressed but usually he is just clueless. I guess you could use it to patronize someone.

Person A: I like to eat cake.

Person B: Right... :homestar:

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Thanks, jedymastyr, for the descriptions. (I again bow to the Force. :homestar: ) It really would be nice to have a little FAQ stored on the forum that describes all of the characters along the lines that you did.

:) I have never seen this one used, but Homestarrunner is from www.homestarrunner.com, a site that has some hilarious flash presentation jokes:

http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail58.html (my favorite, Trogdor)

Thanks for this. Trogdor was really creative. I did not fully realize that you could do so much with Flash. I also got a kick out of Strong Bad, and Marzipan was fun as a break. I looked at a few of the toons and emails, and some are very funny and creative stuff. Are they all done by the same guy? Do you know if he makes a living off of the things he sells in the store?

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Thanks, jedymastyr, for the descriptions. (I again bow to the Force.  :santa: )

Haha, you're welcome. And, I noticed on another thread you recently commented on the awkwardness of knowing when to call people by their real names or not--you (or anyone for that matter) is free to call me Chad... I only put my last name in the sig because I've met many Chads and I figured it would be better to include my last name for that whole intellectual honesty and not hiding behind a screen name thing. Of course it's fine to call me jedymastyr as well, but I figured I'd clear that up in case there was any confusion.

I did not fully realize that you could do so much with Flash. I also got a kick out of Strong Bad, and Marzipan was fun as a break. I looked at a few of the toons and emails, and some are very funny and creative stuff. Are they all done by the same guy? Do you know if he makes a living off of the things he sells in the store?

I don't think they are all done by the same guy. As is the nature of many online sites, old forms of information change as they get updated, and the original history stuff I read long ago is no longer there. I believe it started as a thing a group of college students did for fun, and I know for a fact that it has turned into a full-time living for those working there now (next to last answer at their well-hidden FAQ--http://www.homestarrunner.com/faq.html). Apparently:

...t-shirt sales are good enough that we are able to do this full time.  Rock on.

They definitely used to have more info on there, and the old old cartoons are aesthetically atrocious compared to the new ones (like old Simpsons episodes). That college student thing is from memory, though, so I can't verify it for sure.

Also, yes, Flash is awesome! I've worked with it, and it has some really amazing features that are incredibly easy to implement.

If you're interested, the other of my two favorites (Everybody to the Limit, not quite as good as Trogdor):

http://www.homestarrunner.com/fhqwhgads.html

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I don't think they are all done by the same guy.  As is the nature of many online sites, old forms of information change as they get updated, and the original history stuff I read long ago is no longer there.  I believe it started as a thing a group of college students did for fun, and I know for a fact that it has turned into a full-time living for those working there now (next to last answer at their well-hidden FAQ--http://www.homestarrunner.com/faq.html). Apparently:

...t-shirt sales are good enough that we are able to do this full time.  Rock on.

Good for them!

If you're interested, the other of my two favorites (Everybody to the Limit, not quite as good as Trogdor):

http://www.homestarrunner.com/fhqwhgads.html

Clever stuff.

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There is a woman who used to do animation for South Park who now has a site with her own creation called "Making Fiends" ( http://www.makingfiends.com ) that I find amusing. Its style is very simple and somewhat dark - similar to Edward Gorey. But what i like is the main character of Charlotte. She is an innocent, untouched by any evil that exists - and remains that way through all her encounters with the antagonist, Vendetta as well as her evil fiends. It is Charlotte's indomitable spirit that I enjoy about the simple series.

:)

(I have followed the series since its creation a while ago. I think the first 6 or 7 episodes are the best ones.)

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