Happy Atheist Forum

Operations Desk => Forum Suggestions & Announcements => Topic started by: LARA on June 04, 2008, 07:41:12 PM

Title: Avatars
Post by: LARA on June 04, 2008, 07:41:12 PM
Since the avatars we use, if we do, are really the only thing we see of each other, I'm kind of curious if you've ever noticed how a person's avatar effects the way you view them.   We can't pick our physical appearance in real life, but we do get to pick our avatar.  So what made you pick your avatar, what are the characteristics of the image or character that are really your favorite and what do you think about avatars in general?
Title: Re: Avatars
Post by: Will on June 04, 2008, 08:08:41 PM
Avatars do color my perception of people, as it replaces the face as the method by which I identify them first. As soon as I see the dragonfly, I know Lara has posted. As such, it's probably a good idea to find an avatar that can portray what you want to have people perceive about your personality. rose has a picture of her family, for instance.

Me? I'm looking for a new one. I was thinking about going Gandhi, but it doesn't really communicate the fact that I'm 24.
Title: Re: Avatars
Post by: McQ on June 04, 2008, 08:53:46 PM
Quote from: "Willravel"Avatars do color my perception of people, as it replaces the face as the method by which I identify them first. As soon as I see the dragonfly, I know Lara has posted. As such, it's probably a good idea to find an avatar that can portray what you want to have people perceive about your personality. rose has a picture of her family, for instance.

Me? I'm looking for a new one. I was thinking about going Gandhi, but it doesn't really communicate the fact that I'm 24.

Will I completely agree that avatars color the perception of us. It's kind of funny. By the way, your first one rocked. Why did you change it? Although the second one also rocked, so you were covered either way!  lol
Title: Re: Avatars
Post by: Smarmy Of One on June 04, 2008, 09:06:08 PM
My avatar is based on the Dead Kennedys 45" vinyl single for "Nazi Punks Fuck Off" with the b-side "Religious Vomit." There was no printing on the label. Just a banned swastika on side A and a banned crucifix on side B. It is one of my fav albums from one of my fav bands. Since I hate nazis and christians, the GIF seemed applicable.  :-)
Title: Re: Avatars
Post by: Asmodean on June 05, 2008, 12:15:01 AM
My avatar is the stylized Earth. I was going to go for a different one, but given the maximum size allowed decided to go fo something that would not be affected by being small :-)
Title: Re: Avatars
Post by: crocofish on June 05, 2008, 12:51:53 AM
My avatar is an artist's rendering of Tiktaalik roseae (http://tiktaalik.uchicago.edu/), a significant transitional species between fish and land animals.  It was a "missing link" that was predicted, but discovered only recently.  Fossil remains of Tiktaalik were discovered in 2004, and the discovery was published in 2006.  It has weight bearing skeletal features like a crocodile, yet still has fish features.  Since I'm a firm believer in evolution, Tiktaalik seemed appropriate for an avatar (and related login name).
Title: Re: Avatars
Post by: Evolved on June 05, 2008, 01:13:11 AM
I'm kind of new to forums, so avatars are a relatively new concept for me.  They do seem to color my perceptions of the poster.

Everyone knows my avatar - that beautiful sapphire sphere suspended in the middle of a pretty hazardous place.  Given the odds, I feel extremely fortunate to have a go around.
Title: Re: Avatars
Post by: McQ on June 05, 2008, 04:14:47 AM
I forgot to mention before that my avatar is the iconic image of the HAL 9000 computer from 2001: A Space Odyssey. I love the book, movie and think HAL is awesome.
Title: Re: Avatars
Post by: crocofish on June 05, 2008, 04:48:41 AM
Quote from: "McQ"I forgot to mention before that my avatar is the iconic image of the HAL 9000 computer from 2001: A Space Odyssey.
I recognized it immediately.  When I was a kid, I fantasized about having computers like HAL in the year 2001.  Eventually, I worked as an engineer at a supercomputer company in the 1990's.  I happened to rewatch the movie just before Jan. 12, 1992, which was the activation date for HAL in the movie, so I sent out a "Happy Birthday HAL" message on Jan 12, 1992 to the company message board.  At that time it was disappointing that the computers we were working on were nowhere near the capabilities of a computer like HAL, and we were unlikely to achieve it by 2001.  I'm still doing some design work for high performance computers, and we still aren't close to making a HAL-like machine, but I have hopes that some day I'll see such a machine.
Title: Re: Avatars
Post by: Mister Joy on June 05, 2008, 05:20:35 AM
Hmm. I put no effort into choosing mine, really. I used to have a picture of a dart board before HA was hacked (because I like darts, strangely enough), then I had that atrocious smiley face (which I just stuck up there because I was in a rush to find something else and it was knocking around on my hard drive). Now I've changed it to a dinner plate. No particular reason, I just got sick of the rotating face. That and food is life. Literally. If I had to worship anything, it would be steak with spuds, asparagus and gravy.
Title: Re: Avatars
Post by: rlrose328 on June 05, 2008, 07:53:42 AM
I'm always curious about what people look like... I've got avatars of me, but because I'm fat, I'd prefer people get to know me for how i think, what I say... the real me, rather than judging me by my appearance.

Oh hell... now I've gone and blown my cover.    :D   This picture is of them in line to get the WII the day it debuted... the hubby stayed in line all night long (he was second in line).  That pretty much defines us as a family.   :blush:
Title: Re: Avatars
Post by: Smarmy Of One on June 05, 2008, 01:30:09 PM
Quote from: "McQ"I forgot to mention before that my avatar is the iconic image of the HAL 9000 computer from 2001: A Space Odyssey. I love the book, movie and think HAL is awesome.

I've never read the book, but 2001 is one of my fav movies. HAL is a perfect avatar for a Mod.  ;)

Quote from: "Mister Joy"Hmm. I put no effort into choosing mine, really. I used to have a picture of a dart board before HA was hacked (because I like darts, strangely enough), then I had that atrocious smiley face (which I just stuck up there because I was in a rush to find something else and it was knocking around on my hard drive). Now I've changed it to a dinner plate. No particular reason, I just got sick of the rotating face. That and food is life. Literally. If I had to worship anything, it would be steak with spuds, asparagus and gravy.

Notice that your avatars tend to be round. Dart board, smiley face, dinner plate. I wonder what that means.

Now that I think of it, a lot of our avatars seem to be round, including mine. Hmmm...
Title: Re: Avatars
Post by: LARA on June 05, 2008, 05:55:09 PM
QuoteNotice that your avatars tend to be round. Dart board, smiley face, dinner plate. I wonder what that means.

Now that I think of it, a lot of our avatars seem to be round, including mine. Hmmm...

So do people tend to pick round avatars, or do people with round avatars tend to post more?  Or are happy atheists more likely to be fond of roundness?  

Things in general like to be round, or more actually spherical, planets water droplets, bubbles etc.  for various physical reasons.  I personally have quite a penchant for spherical things.   So does this have some deeper psychological significance here?  :D   Maybe I'll have to do an informal study on roundness in avatars. Visit forums, take notes, examine profiles, etc.  I'm positively way more fascinated by this observation than I really should be.
Title: Re: Avatars
Post by: McQ on June 05, 2008, 07:54:57 PM
Quote from: "crocofish"
Quote from: "McQ"I forgot to mention before that my avatar is the iconic image of the HAL 9000 computer from 2001: A Space Odyssey.
I recognized it immediately.  When I was a kid, I fantasized about having computers like HAL in the year 2001.  Eventually, I worked as an engineer at a supercomputer company in the 1990's.  I happened to rewatch the movie just before Jan. 12, 1992, which was the activation date for HAL in the movie, so I sent out a "Happy Birthday HAL" message on Jan 12, 1992 to the company message board.  At that time it was disappointing that the computers we were working on were nowhere near the capabilities of a computer like HAL, and we were unlikely to achieve it by 2001.  I'm still doing some design work for high performance computers, and we still aren't close to making a HAL-like machine, but I have hopes that some day I'll see such a machine.

That's pretty cool. Love the HAL Birthday message! Yeah, too bad we didn't get to the level of HAL-like computers by 2001. I think we're going to make up for it pretty fast though, maybe with that Technological Singularity? LOL!

Quote from: "Smarmy Of One"
Quote from: "McQ"I forgot to mention before that my avatar is the iconic image of the HAL 9000 computer from 2001: A Space Odyssey. I love the book, movie and think HAL is awesome.

I've never read the book, but 2001 is one of my fav movies. HAL is a perfect avatar for a Mod.  ;)

The book is excellent. The one in the series I did not care for was 2061. Just didn't like it.
Title: Re: Avatars
Post by: Will on June 05, 2008, 08:57:58 PM
I went back and found what I think was my first avatar. Pierce Brosnan, a.k.a. the first Bond I saw in the theater.
Title: Re: Avatars
Post by: myleviathan on June 05, 2008, 09:09:53 PM
Quote from: "LARA"Since the avatars we use, if we do, are really the only thing we see of each other, I'm kind of curious if you've ever noticed how a person's avatar effects the way you view them. We can't pick our physical appearance in real life, but we do get to pick our avatar. So what made you pick your avatar, what are the characteristics of the image or character that are really your favorite and what do you think about avatars in general?

I always liked JCM's avatar because it's Brian on Family Guy, and he's always the voice of reason (even though he is an alcoholic). So anytime I read something from JCM I always hear the voice of Brian. Which is a lot of fun.

Will - I prefer Pierce Brosnan's avatar, too. The guy from Battlestar Gallactica is cool, but I like imagining the intelligent things that you write have the suave attitude of Brosnan.

SteveS's avatar is another personal favorite, because it's beer, and he made it nonetheless. Way to go steveS!

My avatar is Frylock from Aqua Teen Hunger Force, mainly because I love that show. And Frylock is just smart and cool, and I've always wanted to be that! (with varying levels of success). I had Shake up for a while, which I might bring back... We'll see.
Title: Re: Avatars
Post by: Mister Joy on June 05, 2008, 11:34:12 PM
QuoteNotice that your avatars tend to be round. Dart board, smiley face, dinner plate. I wonder what that means.

Now that I think of it, a lot of our avatars seem to be round, including mine. Hmmm...

That's true... Check out my MSPaint Cheshire cat avatar (I don't use it here because it's too big):

(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg297%2FJack_Joy%2FMirror2a.jpg&hash=8ecd170f68a7f07c748c586af7bf506d24c7dd2c)

Round avatars are more aesthetically pleasing to me somehow, I suppose.

I don't like putting faces or characters up as my avatars for exactly the reason that LARA put in the original post: they distort people's perception much more than inanimate or nondescript objects do. At the same time I don't like them to be too emotive (hence the smiley face started to bug me after a bit).

Quote from: "myleviathan"SteveS's avatar is another personal favorite, because it's beer, and he made it nonetheless. Way to go steveS!

It adds to the general feeling that I'm in a pub. Beer + lot's of sceptical, world-weary intellectual discussion. In fact Happy Atheists is pretty much The Royal... and on that note I'm off to get a pint out of the fridge. Anyone feel like having their arse kicked in a game of pool? :raised:
Title: Re: Avatars
Post by: McQ on June 06, 2008, 04:59:38 PM
Oh yeah, SteveS's avatar always makes me happy. He got points for that from the start!  :D
Title: Re: Avatars
Post by: MariaEvri on June 15, 2008, 01:38:26 PM
well for me, someone's avatar represents something he really likes. Mine would ahve been a camera but I had trouble uploading it so I kinda quit for now. Good thing I remembered I gotta fix my avatar!
Title: Re: Avatars
Post by: Asmodean on June 15, 2008, 06:07:14 PM
Yeah... Guess I should re-post here. :-D

My new avatar is the sigil of Asmoday,

Quote from: "Wiki"Asmodai or Asmodeus (see below for other variations) is a demon mostly known from the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit. The demon is also mentioned in some Talmudic legends, for instance, in the story of the construction of the Temple of Solomon.

since my screen name is originally derived from it. (Asmodean was one of the primary antagonists in the Wheel of Time book series by Robert Jordan.)
Title: Re: Avatars
Post by: McQ on July 10, 2008, 09:29:37 PM
A big thumbs up for Atheist Mother's avatar. Deliverance. A hell of a movie and one sure way to make you think twice about those back to nature trips!
Title: Re: Avatars
Post by: Chimera on July 11, 2008, 04:53:28 AM
I totally think Will looks like Pierce Brosnan. Haha.