Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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IM Pissed

Emoticon This
  (+4, -3)
(+4, -3)
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Why, in this world of automation, do I have to actually dig up an appropriate emoticon?

Use a combination of sensors, from staccato on keys to mike pick up of my "fuck you and the horse you rode in on" to video pickup -- no, not of my thumb print -- to show appropriate mood icon to all on my buddy list

theircompetitor, Feb 03 2005

(?) Trigger idea Mood_20Laptop
[theircompetitor, Feb 03 2005]

Halfbakery: emotion font emotion_20font
Another idea where the computer senses your mood and does something with that. [jutta, Feb 03 2005]

[link]






       UK: Pissed = Drunk. Which could do with having it's own emoticon - certainly around here.
wagster, Feb 03 2005
  

       //You don't actually have to dig up emoticons. It turns out people can communicate just fine without them// That is an interesting, debatable point - many, if not most, people who email or message are not professional communicators, and subtleties of language may evade them or their readers. Emoticons can be a useful prop.
AbsintheWithoutLeave, Feb 03 2005
  

       [jutta] I work quite a lot with people staffing call and live help centers. This kind of stuff is pretty important to them (for their internal conversations, of course)
theircompetitor, Feb 03 2005
  

       There's no doubt that communication over email and other text based systems is a very different beast to phone or real-life. Face to face you get a huge array of information coming in: body language, tone of voice, eye movement and blink rate, much more than we realise. It has been estimated that 60% of face to face communication is non verbal (though I don't know how on earth you'd start measuring that sort of thing). Email has been a huge success in business, partly because you have much tighter control over the information you give out than you do on the phone or face to face, but for this reason it is nice to be able to put that additional non-verbal communication back when using email for social contact. It means that we can get some way towards using the keyboard to speak, reinforcing what we say with nonverbal cues. That is a very different thing to writing. [+]   

       [wagster] leans back to release the tension in his neck from typing and glances sideways in a guilty manner to see if anyone is getting concerned at his use of a work computer.
wagster, Feb 03 2005
  

       [jutta] I'm with [wagster]. Sorry, but language (my main experience is of the common one that divides myself and my American colleagues) and different life experiences means that emoticons are essential to many of my communications.
AbsintheWithoutLeave, Feb 03 2005
  

       Essential? Give one example.   

       (though I should point out that we're wandering off topic)
Worldgineer, Feb 03 2005
  

       it depends how well you know the person. emoticons are useful with strangers - I imagine that is how smiles and grins evolved anyway but when conversing with someone I know very well, they are not necessary at all.
po, Feb 03 2005
  

       //I imagine that is how smiles and grins evolved // (wandering further off topic)
There was this great public television show called Connections with James Burke (also had a page in each Scientific American with the same title). In one episode he explored a theory on where the smile came from - it's very close to a look of fear, and may have originated as a show of respect.
Worldgineer, Feb 03 2005
  

       <picks little insects out of world's hair>
po, Feb 03 2005
  

       IM Pissed.   

       (UK version)(Limited editon, 12 inch coloured vinyl)   

       Should be a melody hit label.
skinflaps, Feb 03 2005
  

       I would really appreciate to the point commentary. Comments on the value of IM or emoticons in general miss the point of the post.   

       We can discuss value of IMs, blogs, emails, cellphones, and other late technologies elsewhere.   

       Since most IM implementations already use iconic representation of users, and some allow customized icons (like, for instance, the Yahoo game system), it seems useful to allow dynamic setting of those icons based on a variety of parameters, including mood.   

       This idea simply proposes a mechanism to achieve that. Perhaps I should have simply used the word "icon" rather than emoticon.
theircompetitor, Feb 04 2005
  

       I think the term you're after is 'avatar.'
Detly, Feb 04 2005
  

       Or "user icon," or "picon."   

       I certainly understand why you want pictures to convey your meaning.
bristolz, Feb 04 2005
  
      
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