Happy birthday, sideways smiley face! Wednesday marks the 30th birthday of the emoticon. The computer symbol for “not serious” or now more generally “happiness,” made up of a colon ...

from a love-struck cactus to a pizza-eating cat. Still, for many of us, the simple sideways smiley face still reigns in electronic communication.

which was when Professor Scott Fahlman of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh sent an email with a sideways smiley face. The aim of their creation by Fahlman was clear - he wanted to avoid ...