# Gonna start a revolution from my smile



## easterhay (May 6, 2006)

I must get this off my chest....we are Mac people, and as such we are aesthetes, as concerned with the visual merits of our gadgets as the technological.

So what's with the smilies?
I know their purpose and I agree they are invaluable in eliminating the inevitable ambiguity of the hastily written word, but they just come across as the visual equivalent of a Crazy Frog ringtone.
Can't we have some new, MacOsX-esque smilies? After all, if this were a bricks-and-mortar temple to Mac, would the pews be made of chipboard?

And if the smiley designer is a member of the forum, please don't be offended - I couldn't create a smiley if my life depended on it. It's just my soul yearns for change. Brushed aluminium frown? Graphite wink? Aqua cheesy grin?

Or perhaps I'm alone in this?


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## nixgeek (May 6, 2006)

Or something akin to this:







But at a much smaller scale of course, and without the text.  (Woops...darned smilies!)

Actually, the smileys that are on the board now are the default that are provided with the forum if I'm not mistaken


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## easterhay (May 6, 2006)

Now you're talking. That's a smiley I would have no problems using.

And yes, I admit, it was a struggle not to use smilies in my original post


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## Mikuro (May 6, 2006)

I've seen other forums with the same software. I think the only one unique to this board is the Apple-shaped smiley )).

The Mac OS logo does seem like an obvious choice. And since it's been a standard icon for quite some time, there's no shortage of 16x16 versions. Like this one, from OS 8:


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## nixgeek (May 6, 2006)

That would actually be perfect.  It would complement the apple smiley that we've seen on here.  Maybe I can find a Sad Mac face for the sad smiley.


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## sinclair_tm (May 6, 2006)

quick google gave me these:


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## Mikuro (May 6, 2006)

Yeah, the only official "Sad Mac" icons are too big &#8212; 32x32 at least, I think. I could be wrong, though. I'd have to dig through some OS 8 resources to be sure, but I think the sad Mac was only used on the startup screen, so there wouldn't have been a reason for a 16x16 icon.

If the smiley face should be the Mac OS logo, shouldn't the frowny face be the attached pic?


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## nixgeek (May 6, 2006)

_*AAAAAHHH MY EYES!!!!*_ ::ha::


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## easterhay (May 6, 2006)

sinclair_tm said:
			
		

> quick google gave me these:
> View attachment 5708
> 
> 
> View attachment 5709



Good yield from google, though is there much call for "I've just been smacked over the head with a stuffed ferret" smilies?

I'm sure we could find one, though, simply to justify having them.


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## sinclair_tm (May 7, 2006)

that would be cool.

as far as the sad mac, we could just shrink it the correct size.


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## symphonix (May 8, 2006)

Easterhay, you really should come along to SmileyCon 2006. Experts agree that smileys are the way of the future and that within 10 years will make up more than half of our communication. With a smiley for every application, there would be no need for words at all. Food packaging, road signs, and instruction manuals will all be improved by this new wave in communication.


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## fryke (May 8, 2006)

I like the text ones. You know. No graphics. Just smileys. :'s and )'s mostly.


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## easterhay (May 8, 2006)

symphonix said:
			
		

> Easterhay, you really should come along to SmileyCon 2006. Experts agree that smileys are the way of the future and that within 10 years will make up more than half of our communication. With a smiley for every application, there would be no need for words at all. Food packaging, road signs, and instruction manuals will all be improved by this new wave in communication.



What's the smiley for "AAAAAAaaaaaaarrrrrggghhhhhhh!!!*&^"?


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## Mikuro (May 8, 2006)

easterhay said:
			
		

> What's the smiley for "AAAAAAaaaaaaarrrrrggghhhhhhh!!!*&^"?


>:-0

I agree with Fryke, actually. If the icons disappeared completely, I wouldn't miss them one bit.


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## Lt Major Burns (May 8, 2006)

i just knocked these up.  tell me what you think.  i kept them as close to being type based as possible, and use a subtle aqua effect.


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## easterhay (May 8, 2006)

I like the new angles (up for smiley, down for grumpy) and a radical improvement on what is currently available. But I think I still side with fryke - punctuation-based is best. Or perhaps a radically different approach is needed.
Sorry for pooh-pooing your creations, Lt Maj Burns. Methinks I should put forward some alternatives of my own!


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## easterhay (May 8, 2006)

Oh, and as if by magic: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4984138.stm

Nahhh - some Frenchman claiming credit? Everyone knows it was Forrest Gump who invented the smiley face!

Perhaps Walmart should only be allowed to trademark it if it's still got a .357 Magnum round embedded in it.

EDIT: I accept that latter comment might get edited out, but submit it, nonetheless, to the scrutiny of the mods.


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## sinclair_tm (May 8, 2006)

i like the smilies burns.  and as far as tming the yellow face, the us paten office needs to laugh everyone out.  there are somethings that shouldn't be owned by one person or group.


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## CaptainQuark (May 9, 2006)

Howsabout these suggestions:

*Mac* smiley:  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	



*PC* smiley: 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 or 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




*OS X* smiley: 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	



*Windoze* smiley: 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 or 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




And last but not least, the *having CQ solve your problem* smiley:


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## nixgeek (May 9, 2006)

All I have to say is....



::ha::


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## Lt Major Burns (May 9, 2006)

i hate smileys.  they're pictures for idiots.  the basic set of 8(?) are fine, but more advanced ones just piss me off.


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## fryke (May 9, 2006)

<(^v^)>


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## nixgeek (May 9, 2006)

OK, that's either a birdie or.......maybe I'll stop letting my imagination run away with me.  (see?  no pic!  DoH!)


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## Mikuro (May 9, 2006)

I actually prefer to mark gestures/expressions with asterisks. Like *shrug*, or *rolls eyes* (although I realize the grammatical inconsistency in those examples). Especially since the "roll eyes" smiley doesn't look very clear. The point of smilies is to make your intention _more_ clear, not less.  <- What does that mean?


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## g/re/p (May 9, 2006)

```
#:(
```

bad hair day


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## CaptainQuark (May 9, 2006)

I've always thought that a well-placed smiley can convey a great deal.


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## CaptainQuark (May 9, 2006)

Am I annoying anyone yet?


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## fryke (May 9, 2006)

yes.


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## sgould (May 9, 2006)

I feel the same way driving my computer as I do driving my car!!


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## Lt Major Burns (May 9, 2006)

i bloody hate crap smileys.

thse are, without a doubt, the worst:


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## Qion (May 9, 2006)

I think that screen resolutions and graphics capabilities are advanced enough to handle actual pictures of human faces, no? Just someone find some stereotypical-looking facials of moods and maybe even animate some of them. That would be cool... it would go nicely with the whole "talking Mac" aura.

Like... whoever this guy is.


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## easterhay (May 9, 2006)

Lt Major Burns said:
			
		

> i bloody hate crap smileys.
> 
> thse are, without a doubt, the worst:



Indeed. In the unlikely event that anyone can find more hideous examples, I promise never to smile again.

Though it clearly takes a quite extraordinary talent to transform the human smile into something so naff. It's the facial equivalent of a turd falling into my drink.


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## easterhay (May 9, 2006)

EDIT: think my message killed the thread, so I've bumped off the message


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## easterhay (May 13, 2006)

Here's hoping smilies go the way of this thread. And the dodo.

I don't wanna link directly to it because I don't know what their policy is, but the forum for the band Lemon Jelly Googled here is really stylish, has not a graphic smiley in sight, and everyone seems to understand each other perfectly.

Whereas the Limewire forum, a temple to smilies and wildly formatted text, seems to be a hotbed of acrimony.

Anyway...there must be a million more important things for me to lobby against than innocent, friendly, well-meaning, irritating kitsch.


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## Lt Major Burns (May 13, 2006)

i'm going to continue to champion these


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## easterhay (May 13, 2006)

Bang on! They're certainly better than anything I've come up with


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