# :D **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 12, 2001, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d/87069 "2001-10-12T15:49:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d/87069/1 "2001-10-12T15:49:30Z")
:D:confused:šŸ†’:eek:ā­•(;j:mad::rolleyes::):p[etc., etc., ad nauseam] Donā€™t mind me, man, just wanted to \ scroll the colored patterns, man \ [Edited by bibliophage on 10-13-2001 at 10:39 AM] ---
**Author:** ![Odieman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a87d85/32.png) [@Odieman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odieman)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d/87069/2 "2001-10-12T17:18:21Z")
Oh good Lord I have been struck blindā€¦Paging ChiefScottā€¦Paging ChiefScottā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Hombre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecb155/32.png) [@Hombre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hombre)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d/87069/3 "2001-10-12T17:34:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \* > \*\*:D:confused:šŸ†’:eek:ā­•(;j:mad::rolleyes::):p[etc., etc., ad nauseam] > Donā€™t mind me, man, just wanted to > \ > scroll the colored patterns, man > \ \*\* And not an invisible link in the bunch. Damn fine waste of an easter egg hunt! [Edited by bibliophage on 10-13-2001 at 10:41 AM] ---
**Author:** ![Sparklo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Sparklo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparklo)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d/87069/4 "2001-10-12T17:34:46Z")
Big Teeth man is walking down the street, quite pleased after his recent dentist visit. Suddenly, he is confused by Cool Shades guy popping up in from of him. Cool Shades guy proceeds to moon Big Teeth man, and then promptly falls asleep on the sidewalk. Unfortunately, Cool Shades guy hits a fire hydrant while falling to the ground, causing a nasty head wound. Big Teeth man is sad. However, along comes a rabbi/EMT who proceeds to help Cool Shades guy. But, Cool Shades is a devout Christian Scientist and is very upset to receive any form of medical treatment. Big Teeth man snickers at Cool Shades stupidity, but the EMT just smiles since heā€™s done this before. He cheerfully explains to Cool Shades guy that itā€™s okay since he (the EMT) is a divine prophet from God, as evidenced by the special birthmark on his tongue. Finally, after Cool Shades guy is fixed up, the EMT and Big Teeth man go get a drink, and tell vague stories filled with sexual innuendo. Lather, rinse, repeat. ---
**Author:** ![fish\_in\_the\_sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7ba0ec/32.png) [@fish\_in\_the\_sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fish_in_the_sky)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d/87069/5 "2001-10-12T23:50:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sparklo \* > \*\*Big Teeth man is walking down the street, quite pleased after his recent dentist visit. Suddenly, he is confused by Cool Shades guy popping up in from of him. Cool Shades guy proceeds to moon Big Teeth man, and then promptly falls asleep on the sidewalk. Unfortunately, Cool Shades guy hits a fire hydrant while falling to the ground, causing a nasty head wound. Big Teeth man is sad. However, along comes a rabbi/EMT who proceeds to help Cool Shades guy. But, Cool Shades is a devout Christian Scientist and is very upset to receive any form of medical treatment. Big Teeth man snickers at Cool Shades stupidity, but the EMT just smiles since heā€™s done this before. He cheerfully explains to Cool Shades guy that itā€™s okay since he (the EMT) is a divine prophet from God, as evidenced by the special birthmark on his tongue. Finally, after Cool Shades guy is fixed up, the EMT and Big Teeth man go get a drink, and tell vague stories filled with sexual innuendo. > > Lather, rinse, repeat. \*\* Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!! Beautiful, man. Beautifulā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d/87069/6 "2001-10-12T23:56:00Z")
Sweet Mother of Godā€¦ what is THIS?? Screw you guys, Iā€™m going home. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d/87069/7 "2001-10-13T01:01:23Z")
Dude! **cough cough** Duuuuude! Wake up Man. Thereā€™s a mod here. Quick, hide that thing. **cough** Huh? Wazzat? Heā€™s from _where_? As you were. šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![Rosebud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@Rosebud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rosebud)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d/87069/8 "2001-10-13T01:38:21Z")
If you stare at them long enough, they seem to moveā€¦ soā€¦ prettyā€¦ and mesmerā€¦ mesā€¦ mesmerizzzzzzzā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d/87069/9 "2001-10-13T01:55:57Z")
But whereā€™s the :wally??? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d/87069/10 "2001-10-13T02:11:24Z")
Okay, you guys, that is an incredible farking waste of bandwidth. The boards are slow enough already. [insert mad emoticon here] Please. Stop. Geez. [insert rolleyes emoticon here] ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d/87069/11 "2001-10-13T02:32:36Z")
When I first looked at this, the OP was laid out as follows: ABCDEFGHIJK LABCDEFGHIJ LKABCDEFGHI JKLABCDEFGH IJKLABCDEFG HIJKLABCDEF GHIJKLABCDE ā€¦etcā€¦ which made an interesting diagonal pattern Now, his post is: ABCDEFGHIJKL ABCDEFGHIJKL ABCDEFGHIJKL ABCDEFGHIJKL ABCDEFGHIJKL ABCDEFGHIJKL ā€¦etcā€¦ which is boringly vertical. Why for that hoppen? Only thing I can think of is that either **TheLoadedDog** (most likely, since thereā€™s no spaces) or **Duck Duck Goose** ā€™s names were sufficent to squish the message column a bit. But I havenā€™t noticed it before. If thatā€™s the case, :eek: posters with long names have the secret power to control the boards formatting! Weā€™re DOOMED!!! Seriouslyā€¦any ideas what caused that? Fenris ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d/87069/12 "2001-10-13T05:36:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fenris \* > \*\* > ABCDEFGHIJKL > ABCDEFGHIJKL > > ā€¦etcā€¦ which is boringly vertical. > > Whyfor that hoppen? > > Only thing I can think of is that either **TheLoadedDog** (most likely, since thereā€™s no spaces) or **Duck Duck Goose** ā€™s names were sufficent to squish the message column a bit. But I havenā€™t noticed it before. If thatā€™s the case, :eek: posters with long names have the secret power to control the boards formatting! Weā€™re DOOMED!!! > > Seriouslyā€¦any ideas what caused that? > \*\* Acksherly, it was already in boringly vertical mode when I first got here, but hell, if Iā€™m being credited with secret powers, Iā€™ll run with that for all itā€™s worth. šŸ˜ƒ But this thread does noticeably bother my Babbage steam-powered computer somewhat, and why didnā€™t the šŸ˜› smiley appear correctly in **Hombre** ā€™s quote of the OP? Weird. And, **DDG** , concerns about bandwidth were the only thing stopping me from quoting the OP, but this time with an easter egg link (or maybe not. heheh). In fact, I canā€™t fathom the bandwidth thing either. Obviously itā€™s an issue given the reluctance of my machine to display this page, but shouldnā€™t each smiley image only be downloaded once? Yet more vBulletin weirdness. So many questionsā€¦ Bloody illuminati! šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d/87069/13 "2001-10-13T05:45:44Z")
This thread completely trashed my browser when I tried to open it in Netscape 4.77. I can view it with 6.1, but it takes fā€¦oā€¦rā€¦eā€¦vā€¦eā€¦r to load. Not complaining, by the way. Just observing. Of course, it may still take my browser with it when I post this and it has to reload the page againā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Arden\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@Arden\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arden_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d/87069/14 "2001-10-13T06:46:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fenris \* > \*\* > Whyfor that hoppen? > \*\* It still has the nice pattern on mine, but I have my settings at 1152 x 864. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d/87069/15 "2001-10-13T15:36:46Z")
ƍā€™m sorry to be the spoilsport, but I think weā€™re wasting quite enough bandwidth. bibliophage moderator GQ ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d/87069/16 "2001-10-13T17:35:28Z")
A technical question: _Does_ this waste bandwidth/cause server strain? I thought that once once of each smile was downloaded onto an individual computer, it didnā€™t put any more strain on the server than pure text. I recall a discussion about this when there was a MPSIMS thread that had smile-art (flowers and stuff made of smile mosaics). Or am I completely wrong? (Unheard of, I know, but it had to happen sooner or later! šŸ™‚ ) Fenris ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d/87069/17 "2001-10-13T20:50:43Z")
Iā€™m not 100% sure, but this page does seem to load a lot faster than it did before. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2001, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d/87069/18 "2001-10-14T17:39:01Z")
IANAJD (I Am Not A **jdavis** ), but my guess would be that itā€™s not the bandwidth, itā€™s the decompression of all the GIFs. Yeah, GIF is a very simple format, as compressed images go, but you still need a little processing power for each one, and when youā€™ve got as many as the OP (presumably) had, it adds up. Plus, thereā€™s the risk of epileptic seizure or of **ChiefScott** accidentally mistargetting cruise missiles for **Jomo Mojo** ā€™s house, so all in all, itā€™s for the best. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2001, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d/87069/19 "2001-10-14T18:21:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chronos \* > **IANAJD (I Am Not A jdavis), but my guess would be that itā€™s not the bandwidth, itā€™s the decompression of all the GIFs. Yeah, GIF is a very simple format, as compressed images go, but you still need a little processing power for each one, and when youā€™ve got as many as the OP (presumably) had, it adds up.** Butā€¦isnā€™t the decompression done on my end and not the SDMB end? (Iā€™m not arguing, Iā€™m just confused.) Again, if I understand how an internet cache works (and Iā€™m not pretending Iā€™m an expert here) once I DL one each of the GIFs, each time the board says to display one, it ā€œtellsā€ my computer ā€œHey! Fenrisā€™s computer! Yank that šŸ˜› smilie outta your cache and show it here, here and here!ā€, it doesnā€™t get DL/decompress all over again. I thought. Again, Iā€™m not saying that a post of smilies is a good idea or exciting or the lack of one will violate my constitutional rights or anything, Iā€™m just wondering about the nutz-an-boltz aspect. \*\* > [@](#): > > Plus, thereā€™s the risk of epileptic seizure or of **ChiefScott** accidentally mistargetting cruise missiles for **Jomo Mojo** ā€™s house, so all in all, itā€™s for the best. \*\* True. Too true. And that is reason enough! šŸ˜ƒ Fenris ---
**Author:** ![puk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ea5d25/32.png) [@puk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puk)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d/87069/20 "2001-10-16T14:05:52Z")
awh man, I missed all the fun. I was so looking forward to seeing rows uppon rows of smilies smiling their happy smiles at me. Now I may never see that sight again. ā˜¹