2007-09-27

Digital ‘smiley face’ turns 25

Updated: 4:50 a.m. MT Sept 18, 2007

PITTSBURGH - It was a serious contribution to the electronic lexicon.

:-)

Twenty-five
years ago, Carnegie Mellon University professor Scott E. Fahlman says,
he was the first to use three keystrokes — a colon followed by a
hyphen and a parenthesis — as a horizontal "smiley face" in a
computer message.

To
mark the anniversary Wednesday, Fahlman and his colleagues are starting
an annual student contest for innovation in technology-assisted,
person-to-person communication. The Smiley Award, sponsored by Yahoo
Inc., carries a $500 cash prize.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20829611/



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