Triond Forum

While commenting on articles and private messages on the Triond website are great, I believe it would be absolutely wonderful if Triond had a website hosted on the Triond website. It would be particularly useful if the login to the forum was connected to the Triond website, so we wouldn't need to login separately each day. This would allow members of Triond to talk to each other on more general issues, as opposed to talking about individual articles. Successful Triond writers could also post some advice in the forums for all the other members looking to improve their writing or increase their Triond income.

Triond Chat

While this wouldn't be too important if there was a forum on the Triond site, I still think that a Triond chat would be a very beneficial application on the site. It would allow quick communication between all members that are online at any one time, and would be a very simple element to implement on the site. It would also allow more experienced writers to teach newer members to use the site effectively.

User Statistics

I think it would be very beneficial for a lot of writers to be able to see more information on their account. A graph, showing views of articles per daya over the last 15-30 days. This would allow people to monitor their progress on the site. Daily graphs on account earnings and earnings per article would also be useful, as they would allow us to see which articles are the most successful, which day of the week we earn the most money, and which type of article pays the writer the most in royalties.

The presence of these pranksters is annoying and disturbing. They send writer's profile to other sites like blogs, discussion boards, forums, online chatting with the aims to insult the writers. They are here not for a serious writing but making trouble and creating misunderstanding instead. Sometimes they are bored and looking for entertainment by posting nasty and abuse comments. And sometimes they exist at some writing platforms to hurt the other. They may perceive that they are righteous avengers, and righting the faults and wrongdoing of the targeted writers. They are such a harsh people lack of civilization as they will strike back the only way they could. The pranksters themselves prefer to abuse others out of their jealousy, hurtful and revengeful emotions by spreading the misunderstood comments to the world.

Abuse comments are indeed scary and horrible. Whoever has gone through the conflict firsthand can tell you the nightmare. There are moments that will send chills down your spine. Below are some examples of abuse comments:

I wish you were dead!

I'll kill you if you're still there writing!

If you try and report me, I'll hack into your computer!

I hate you! You're stupid and dumb, get out here!

I'll spread your rumors and abuse your image so that people won't believe on you…

I'll use your name to leave hurtful and threatening comments so that people will boycott your writings….

Imagine how hurtful for writers who read these comments from the comfort of their home. How frightening and distressful this would be for the writer! I'm sad to learn that the similar threats and vicious comments are circulated very rapidly via the internet every single day.

I respect the freedom of speech. But even, every one of us is given a right to say anything we'd like to say, please don't abuse the value behind the right to speak. It's not always a pleasant lesson to have spiteful and derogatory comments circulated around the writing world. The freedom of speech that fosters the bad consequence of comments or communications shouldn't be allowed but they must deserve the punishment.

The internet has fulfilled everyone's dream to voice their opinions with ease. Nevertheless, the pranksters have misused their comments either to criticize people in a hateful way or make fun of them in some vicious means. They have abused their rights by using these hateful and derogatory comments as a form of harassment and aggressive behavior intended to harm others via technological means. Their objectives are achieved when they send threatening and malicious comments directly to a person, or they may send humiliating or hurtful comments to other sites in order to harass and/ or threaten others online. Even though the comments may not be getting innocent writers hurt physically, but they will cause them hurting emotionally. When they hurt physically, their scars or wounds will heal. What if they are hurt emotionally? These comments will stay with them for the rest of their life and may not be easily healed. They're here causing trouble for writers and just would like to see the writer torn apart. The abuse comments are indeed hurting and distressing! It is emotionally devastating for the innocent writers!

The action of these pranksters - rumors, threats, gossip, humiliation - are nothing new, as their wicked campaigns have started to move to e-mails, blogs, websites, chat rooms, and even text messaging. Among the internet users, these vicious gossips, racists and threatening comments are growing so rampant and quickly that most of the targeted writers are affected emotionally. With wireless technology, they are distributed much more quickly than you could ever imagine as they're being put up and shared around the world. Their wicked motives are shielded as most of the websites and screen names give them a mask of using “unknown” names, making them difficult to trace. Bullies and abuse are often anonymous, and sadly to say, most of the harassment takes place off. The bully then sits back laughing from seeing the affected parties engage in destructive behavior towards each other. The pressure could be felt by the innocent writers when their names are misused somewhere by these irresponsible parties and that means bullies can even extend their harassment into their lives, jobs and studies. It's indeed horrible enough, if someone made a joke about you, or said something to degrade your sacred personality.

Their objectives to leave such hateful and spiteful comments are clear that they want to control, manipulate, dominate and colonize their “territories”. They take revenge by seeing you react, and they try to control whatever ways they could. And their final aims are watching the affected writers wearing down. In this case, the affected writers become their “Baiting Game”. They stay there, watching and stirring the pot with additional “ingredients” (provocation) and they'd laugh with a sense of gratification upon seeing the affected parties indulge in destructive interaction and behavioral pattern.

When you come across writers being threatened by these pranksters, please give your utmost support and encouragement to boost them to a level they should be. With regards to the recent abuse among the Triond community, Triond has acted promptly and timely by introducing the add-in new feature for their commenting system. They even put this issue on their blog Your Comments, Your Identity. But, I'm sad to find it not to be a compulsory requirement for every Triond user here. I hope every writer here can make full use of this new feature to curb the intention of using our name for leaving hateful and nasty comments by some irresponsible and immoral parties.

1. Sports In A Can

   It is a decent forum. As of now it does not have too much traffic but it could have potential. It also doesn't have specific team forums. However maybe one day it can become a great forum.

2. Post Game Pub

   It is a pretty good forum. It has a nice feel to it with a good layout. It has a decent sized community. Two problems I see are that there really isn't too much of a forum for NHL fans. The other problem is that I like it when it has a specific forum for each team. However in this forum it has forums for each division, like the AL east, or NL west.

3. Total Sports Nation

   This is a very nice forum. It has a fantastic layout and a good feel. One complaint is the same as above how it does not have a specific forum for each team. It has pretty good traffic as of now, however it seems to be a growing forum.

4. Addict Sports

   Another very nice forum. It has a nice layout that can be good if you get a feel for it. It has some different boards for specific sports which can be a good thing to some people. It seems to have a pretty high amount of users as well.

5. Go Teams Go

   It seems to be a simple forum, however it is a very good forum. It has specific forums for specific teams. It also has a good community full of pretty knowledgeable posters. It may have a pretty bland layout but I think it may suit the kind of forum it is.
   

On September 19, 1982, a computer scientist, Professor Scott E.Fahlman from the Carnegie Mellon University of the United States proposed to use the symbols in the university's electronic bulletin board. This was due to that at that time, the electronic bulletin board did not make much difference from its classification as it only had one theme, and thus leading to the topic's content could not be distinguished easily. Therefore, he had insisted the use of a symbol of [:-)] to represent a joke or a decent material while a symbol of [:- ( ] to express matter that needs to deal seriously and immediately. In this way, the internet users could avoid any unnecessary misunderstanding and the misuse of grammar while delivering his or her ideas. Since then this symbol which is called Emoticon has been used extensively in almost all of the unofficial sites. Thereafter, it has become another writing style favoring by the computer fans of the American university.

Emoticon in general means the emotional (EMOTION) and the small logo (ICON) that are used to merge together to form a new word. Initially, it was called EMOTICON SMILEY and it was started to use by the computer users on 19 September, 1982. Originally, Emoticon was a secondary culture of writing style via electronic network but it was not so common in the writing texts. Nevertheless, the massive access of an internet, ordinary letter, mobile phone text message or SMS, electronic messenger, electronic mail (e-mail), or chat room has created a wide coverage of using it to express ideas, thinking and feeling of the users. In short, Emoticon has eventually become a writing style that was widely accepted by the community across the globe. Not soon after this, the community in the blog, forum, and discussion board have been able to use more interesting and attractive Emoticon to express their feelings. Nowadays, this Emoticon has turned into a relatively complicated form than its initial simple form with the aims to express more appearances of the unperceivable facial changes. For example, [=l:)=] is a symbol that represents the previous American president, Abraham Lincoln.

The advent of the internet as well as the emergence of the global culture undoubtedly has turned the daily oral language into a symbolic expression in the writing form. Now, this Emoticon is no longer regarded as a ridiculous writing style, but it has become an important way for people to communicate with each other with ease which help avoid the linguistic or grammatical errors which might sometimes create misunderstandings, uncertainties and doubts among the people.

In Japanese, this Emoticon is called kaomoji, animae emoticon or verticon (Both “kao” and “moji” mean “face” and “word” respectively in Japanese). In the writing form, the asterisks (*) represents the eye, the underscore ( _ ) represents the mouth, while the parentheses (or brackets) represents the outline of the face. Besides that, Emoticon is also used to indicate animals, things and many other things surround us. Here are some examples I found:

Facial Expressions

• (*_*) a normal facial expression
• (<_>) sad
• (@_@) confusing
• (`_^) winking
• (;_;) crying
• (^o^) singing or laughing
• (╥_─) annoyed and frustrated
• `(•.°)~ crazy
• 〈（＿　＿）〉 apologize with a bow
• （￣口￣） helpless
  （＃－.－） embarrassing
  （─.─||） helpless
• ┐（─__─）┌ embarrassing
  ≡￣﹏￣≡ embarrassing and helpless
  Animals
• (‧‧nnn caterpillar
• (0^◇^0)/ sparrow
• (=^ ^=) cat
• /(*w*) rabbit
• ≡[。。]≡ crab
• ( ¯(∞)¯ ) pig
• (:≡ jellyfish
• <□:≡ squid
• <｀▽′> tiger
• "@ or @/" snail
• (:◎)≡ octopus
• ((( ●<　 cockroach
• (。。)～ or (: )～ tadpole
• ∑^)/ crow
• (=^ω^=) fox
• =' т "= Lion or cat
• (OvO) Owl

Others

• ♀（￣▽￣）／ Good girl
• ♂（￣▽￣）／　　 Good boy
• ( $ _ $ ) money minded
• <(￣ c￣)y_ξ smoking
• （～￣∆￣～） be a fool
• ■D" a cup of coffee
• ε==3 bone
• <*)>> >=< fish bone
• (●-●) sunglasses
• ――<-<-<@ rose flower
• 8＜ a pair of scissors

In the age of the internet, network based Emoticon is no longer a trademark of computer experts, any internet users may create his or her own Emoticons as long as these symbols are lively, creative and widely used. For example, there is a more complicated symbol called ORZ which often appears in the writing form as follow:

• Orz　 big head
• orz　 small head
• ○|￣|_ magnifying version
• ORZ two hands are supporting by the floor
• XXXXX Or2 rising up
• 囧 have a facial expression
• OTL change the shape
• STO change the side

Horizontal style Emoticon is the earliest mode of expression in the writing form. It is western style in its nature as it is more often used by the westerners as compared to other nations. Here are some symbolic representations found in writing form.

Common expressions

• :- ) smiling
• :- P holding out the tongue
• :- / doubt
• :- ( unhappy
• :- D happy
• :- C unhappy
• 8- ) A smiling from a person who is wearing a pair of spectacles
• xc== vomiting
• (p_-) searching

Not only have the westerners used Emoticon for their writing purpose, Asian people also have made used of the so-called vertical style Emoticon in all sorts of applications particularly in the mobile phone which is said to be far more popular than Europe. This Emoticon is different from the conventional Emoticon as they are mostly viewed vertically. This was mainly originated from the Japanese animation (or manga in Japanese). The facial expression is easier to understand and you need no necessary to have to turn your head 90 degree to understand its meaning. Here are some examples:

• (๑￫ܫ￩)
• (｡・`ω´･)
• (・(ｪ)・)
• (σ｀・д･)σ
• (oﾟωﾟo)
• < (o_o<)
• (>o_o)>
• ^(o_o^)
• (^o_o)^
• (^o_o)>
• <(o_o^)
• (>^_^
• (>O_o)>

The Japanese Emoticon is enriched with the anime drawing style with many expressions shown using the eyes, and it is always shortened by taking out its parentheses. Thus, (^_^) will become ^_^, but sometimes it is abbreviated as ^^. Very often, the use of the longer underscore which represents mouth will carry the stronger emoticon's feeling and meaning. Here are some symbolic representations found in writing form.

Small eyes

• (　・ˍ・)　(・ˍ・*)　（p・_q）　(〃・ｏ・〃)　(*^・_・) 　(。・ˍ・。) 　(*・０・)　(・ε・●)
• (｡･ω･)　(。・д・。)　(・∀・)　（／ˍ・、）　(・□・、*)　(・－・。)　(・▽・。)　(・_・。)
  
• (・O・。)　(ノ△・。)　(＠・ˍ・)　(*・・*)　人(・ε・；) 　(・ o ・)　(・ェ・o)　(′・∀・『)

When something or someone gets into one's eyes

• (* ￣ー￣)　(￣ー￣〃)　(＠￣ー￣＠)　(* ￣︿￣)　(*￣∇￣*)　<(ˍ ˍ*)> (￣(●●)￣)
• (￣・・￣)　(ー∀ー)　(￣ｏ￣)　(￣、￣)　(*￣△￣*)　(￣へ￣)　(￣□￣)　(￣～￣；)
• (。-ˍ-。 )　(￣ε￣；)　(￣┬￣；)　(￣∀￣)　(ノへ￣、)　(*￣ro￣) (ー人ー)　(*￣ｍ￣)

Japanese style small eyes

• (′▽`〃)　(　′ｏ`)　(′ェ`)　(′ε` )　(=′ー`) 　( ′θ`)　(′○` )　( ′－`)　(′∀`=)
  
• (*′▽`)　(*′ノ0`)　( ′ロ` )　(′～`；）　(′　︿　`)　(*′∇`*) 　(′ｍ`）　(′0ノ`*)
  
• (＠。ε。＠) 　(=′∇`=） 　(●′ω`●) 　(′～`●)　(′へ`、 )　(〃′o`)　(　；′⌒`)

Japanese style big eyes

• (ΘΘ)　(Θ～Θ〃)　(ΘｏΘ)　(ΘェΘ)　(Θ∀Θ＃)　(ΘдΘ；)　(Θ皿Θメ)　(ΘーΘ*) (Θ０Θ●)
• (Θ▽Θ)　(ΘεΘ◎)　(Θ◇Θ。)　(ΘへΘ)　(ΘˍΘ＝)　(Θ、Θ)　(Θ△Θ＠) (Θ３Θ)

Japanese style rounded eyes

• (°ー°〃)　(＃°Д°) 　(。□。) 　(*。∀。) 　(*。∇^*)　(* ^ー。) (＠。ー。　＠)　(。∇^☆)
• (ｏ。◇。) 　(　。 ▽ 。) 　(＃。ε。＃) 　(。∇^d)　(。・。；)　(。皿。メ)　(* 。 ３ ^)
• (〃。 ｏ 。〃) 　( °◇ °)　(　。⊿。) 　(°□°；)　(　ロ)。　。　(。Д。 ；)　(*。ノO。)
• (；　。。)
  

A puppy's mouth

• (-ω- )　(+ω+)　(*ω* )　( ^ω^)　(;ω;)　(。ω。)　(『ω′)　(・ω・=)　(￣ω￣) (〃ω〃)
• (≧ω≦)　(。・ω・)　(=・ω・=)　( ＞ω＜)　(′・ω・`)　(/ω＼)　(/ω・＼) (/・ω・＼)
• (ΘωΘ)　(ΦωΦ)
  

A pair of sadden eyes

• (ＵＵ＊)　(ｕｕ〃)　(ｕｏｕ〃)　(Ｕ３Ｕ*)　(●Ｕ_Ｕ●)　(ｕ～ｕ=) (＠Ｕ▽Ｕ＠)　(ＵAＵ＊)
• (Ｕ△Ｕ●)　(ｕДｕ〃)　(Ｕ◇Ｕ◎)　(○ｕAｕ○) (ｕ▽ｕ＃)　(＠Ｕ～Ｕ＠)　(ｕ△ｕ＊)
• (ｕ◇ｕ〃)　(ＵДＵ◎)　(＝ｕ３ｕ＝) (ｕ_ｕ＃)　(ＵｏＵ＊)

Closing eyes

• (><)　(;><)　(>_<)　(>.<)　(>o<)　（＞▽＜）　(＞Ｏ＜)　(o>▽<)　(>◇< ) 　(>▽<)
• (;>△<) ( >з<)　(o>ェ<)　(＞д＜)　(>皿<)　(>_<、)　(/_＜。)　(>。；)　(>。ヘ)
• (ノ_<)　(＞。☆)　(>y<;)
  

The combination of Japanese's Emoticon or kaomoji (face and word) can be created from the basic form of ˙﹏˙ to a form of (˙﹏˙）which is more human in nature. Here are some of the basic forms of kaomoji.

Small eyes

• ˙ˍ˙　˙０˙　˙︿˙　˙ε ˙　˙ 3˙　˙ω˙　˙﹏˙　˙∆˙

Big eyes

• ⊙ˍ⊙　⊙０⊙　⊙︿⊙　￣ε ￣　￣ 3￣　⊙ω⊙　⊙﹏⊙　⊙∆⊙

Smiling eyes

• ∩ˍ∩　∩０∩　∩︿∩　∩ε ∩　∩ 3∩　∩ω∩　∩﹏∩　∩∆∩

Sadden eyes

• ∪ˍ∪　∪０∪　∪︿∪　∪ε ∪　∪ 3∪　∪ω∪　∪﹏∪　∪∆∪

Angry eyes

• ˋˍˊ　ˋ０ˊ　ˋ︿ˊ　ˋε ˊ　ˋ 3ˊ　ˋωˊ　ˋ﹏ˊ　ˋ∆ˊ

Unhappy eyes

• ˇˍˇ　ˇ０ˇ　ˇ︿ˇ　ˇε ˇ　ˇ 3ˇ　ˇωˇ　ˇ﹏ˇ　ˇ∆ˇ

Closing eyes

• ＞ˍ＜　＞０＜　＞︿＜　＞ε ＜　＞ 3＜　＞ω＜　＞﹏＜　＞∆＜

Alien's eyes

• ●ˍ●　●０●　●︿●　●ε ●　● 3●　●ω●　●﹏●　●∆●

Clown's eyes

• ＋ˍ＋　＋０＋　＋︿＋　＋ε ＋　＋ 3＋　＋ω＋　＋﹏＋　＋∆＋

In view of its importance in the writing form particularly in online-chat, ordinary letter, e-mail and text message, the mobile phone companies have included their products with a number of commonly used Emoticons to facilitate the use of typing text messages. Even Google Talk allows the messenger users to use Emoticons to express their feelings while chatting so that the communication becomes more lively and interesting. The notable feature of Google Talk is that the typing of horizontal style Emoticon can be inverted gradually 90 degree to turn into a vertical style Emoticon making the conversation more enjoyable and fun. Here are some common uses of Emoticons:

• :-?? I don't know.
• %-( I'm not listening.
• %%- Good luck!
• **== flag
• (~~) pumpkin
• ~O) coffee
• =:) bug
• *-:) idea
• 8-X skull
• >-) alien
• :-L frustrated
• [-O< I'm praying.
• :-" I'm whistling.
• :)>- a sign of peace
• [-X I feel ashamed on you.
• :D/ I'm dancing.
• >:/ I'll bring it forward.
• ;)) hee, hee
• ^:)^ It's not worth.
• :-j Oh, please go on.
• (*) star
• (%) yin yang
• $-) money's eyes

In view of the nations, racial and cultural background differences, the use of various symbols in the writing form represent different meanings. While doing researches on this topic, I came to realize that the kaomoji of Japan and other Asian countries have an extremely richer expression and vocabulary than any western countries that I have encountered so far. Its creativity and range of the facial expressions that appear in the writing form is extremely wonderful. Here are some examples:

• d^_^b I'm listening to music.
• (？o？) Oh?
• ( *>.<* ) ~@ It's sour…..!
• (-_-) zZZZ/ (z_z) I'm asleep.
• (°_°) I'm concerned/ I'm nervous/ I'm shocked.
• |-| I'm bored.
• (^.^) / (*_*) I'm amazed.
• (^L^) / (^(^) I'm happy.
• W(`0`)W I'm roaring in anger.
• (>_<) / (>_>) / (<_<) / (c_c) I feel pain/ I'm facing a failure.
• (^_-)db(-_^) I promise.
• T_T My tears are falling down continuously from my eyes. (It symbolizes sadness.)
• (^o^)/ Wow, I'm happy! (It symbolizes happiness.)
• *(^o^)/* I'm a cheerful leader.
• (._.) I'm depressed and down.
• (e_e) I'm rolling my eyes.
• ; eg. (^_^;) I'm embarrassed. (with a condition of sweating)
• o(^_-)O I feel encouraging.
• (@_@) I'm feeling dizzy. (Some nations note this symbol as “I'm confusing.” )
• (p_-) I'm digging for the truth/ I'm searching. (It symbolizes someone is looking through a magnifying glass.)
• (=^.^=) In a Japanese society, it is a question of “Am I cute?” (It signifies a cat or “nekko” in Japanese.)
• (-.-)y- I'm considering for a cigarette break.
• (^_^)a I'm scratching my head.
• (^o) (/o^)/ I'm dancing with a joy.
• ＜（￣︶￣）＞ I'm satisfied and contented!
• ＜（￣︶￣）／ I'm satisfied and agree with you. (It signifies that I'm holding out my hand to show an agreement)
• ＜（＠￣︶￣＠）＞ I'm satisfied but feeling a bit shame.
• (＞﹏＜) I don't want, please! (Sometimes it means “I'm in pain”)
• （＃￣▽￣＃） I'm ashamed.
• （︶︿︶） I'm unhappy!
• //_o I've a hair brushed over one eye.
• m(_ _)m Please forgive me! (Sometimes it may signify “I'm apologized to you with a bow.)
• (‧_‧？) What's the matter?
• ( T___T ) Why like this?
• (≥◊≤) I'm touching.
• {(-_-)} I've headphones put on.
• …… ( > < ) / Wow, it's emerging!
• (＞﹏＜) No!
  ( © o © ) I'm shocked and panicked!
• ( ¯ □ ¯ ) My brain is blank.
• ( 3__3 ) I've just awoken!
• (￣∆￣)" I feel cold.
• ＼（￣︶￣）／ Hug me, please!
• ｂ（￣▽￣）ｄ Marvelous!
• (→_→) I doubt.
• Σ( ° ∆ °|||)︴　 I'm panicked.
• (￣.￣) I've nothing to say.
• ⊂( ﾟ ヮﾟ)⊃ Hug me, please!
• （￣︶￣）↑　　 Let's depart now!
• （￣∆￣）～■□～（￣∆￣）　 Cheers!
• []~(￣∆￣)~* Cheers!
• (ｂ_ｄ) I'm wearing a pair of spectacles.
• ( ＠^^＠) 　 Don't you feel ashamed?
• ~(￣∆￣)~(￣∆￣)~ I'm extremely excited!
• ~（￣∆￣）~ I'm in a happy mood.
• ○（＊￣︶￣＊）○ I'm full and sleep well.
• (○.○).•◦˙°˚ I'm thinking of you.
• (￣o￣) . z Z　 I'm sleepy.
• 〒∆〒　　　　 My luck is bad!
• <(￣ ﹌ ￣)@m It's just because of you.
• (￣ε(#￣) I was slapped.
• (￣.￣)+ I've discovered something.
• <(￣︶￣)> []~(￣∆￣)~* (￣﹏￣) (￣ˇ￣) I'm satisfied and excited.
• ――――――(˙<>˙)/―――――― Let's fly away!
• (@[]@!!) ㄟ(>∆<)ㄏ(￣ε(#￣) Σ( ° ∆ °|||)︴ I'm shocking!
• (/"≡ _ ≡)/~┴┴ （#－.－） (╬￣皿￣)凸 I'm unhappy and angry.
• (￣.￣) (￣< ￣)> (～o￣∆￣)～o ~。。。(~￣∆￣)~[] I'm ridiculous and helpless.
• ＜（￣︶￣）＞＜（￣︶￣）＞＜（￣︶￣）＞ When we're together!

Emoticon is a clever way of the users to express their feelings and emotions. If the user types “I'm feeling happy,” it could not 100% catch the reader's attention to figure out his or her feeling, but by adding the Emoticon at the end of the sentence, the sentence will look more attractive, lively and eye-catching. Here are some examples of the sentences.

• I'm feeling happy :)
• I'm feeling sad :(
• I'm laughing :-D
• I'm laugh' so hard that I don't notice that a 5-legged spider is hanging from my lip :-D*
• I'm not sure which long-distance company to choose :-|
• I'm winking ;-)
• I can still smile though I've lost one eyeball .-)
• I couldn't understand why nobody wants to talk to me :V:-|
• I'm smiling :- )
• I doubt :- /
• I'm unhappy :- C
• I'm vomiting xc==
• I'm searching (p_-)
• Don't buy this ^:)^