RE: https://tldr.nettime.org/@tomjennings/115584878458881603

#newsUcanUse #computerHistory

The history of the smiley face emoticon.

"On September 19, 1982, Carnegie Mellon University computer science research assistant professor Scott Fahlman posted a message to the university’s bulletin board software that would later come to shape how people communicate online. His proposal: use : - ) and : - ( as markers to distinguish jokes from serious comments."

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/11/in-1982-a-physics-joke-gone-wrong-sparked-the-invention-of-the-emoticon/

#Computers #Emoticons #Symbols #ComputerHistory #RetroComputing #Messaging

FACTS ABOUT TXT GENERATION YOU (or your friends) MAY NOT KNOW.
Text generators - a short (but actually quite long) history ...

We have had text generators that are very convincing for at least 13-15 years. In fact, in CompSci circles it was a running joke what you could convince other people was a real academic paper or piece of research by using one of many such online generators. Other people just did not realise how easy this was to create. In fact, if you look back a decade or more ago in my own FB posts, there is a post that shares a paper or two that I generated.

So, 'AI' text generators are exactly the same thing, with more sources, and more human voice training. And a massive hype machine to convince everyone who isnt very technical how clever they are. Clue: they aren't.

Screenshots show two of the original text generators (still available online!!), from around 2009 or so. And the other screenshots are current 'AI academic paper generators'. This is what you are now competing with in lower quality or fasttrack journals. Or even Taylor & Francis, I dunno.

#ai #genai #research #aislop #academia #academicchatter #textgenerators #computerhistory