September 19, 2007

:-) is 25 years old today

Probably one of the more important additions to the computing world is the lexicon; from this simple effect we have seen so much innovative ideas that have sprung from these simple keystrokes.

It was Prof Scott Fahlman from Carnegie Mellon University who was first inspired to use the three keystrokes to create a smiley face in a message.

To commemorate the anniversary the Prof and his colleagues are going to start an annual student contest, the idea of which is to create an innovative person to person communication, called, what else! The Smiley Awards, which are sponsored by Yahoo and the winner, will get $500!

Source [Associated Press]