Internet
An email from Nigeria
NOTICE:
OFFICE OF THE TREASURER GENERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA.
DESK OF: ALHAJI. IBRAHIM. H. DANKWAMBO
E-MAIL:
TEL: +234 7023186029
I AM SECRETARY OF MINISTRY OF TRESURY OF SMALL AFRICAN NATION.
I MUST SHARE MY CONFIDENCE WITH YOU IN TRUST:
I WAS PLANNING TO SEND AN EMAIL TO RIP OFF RICH AMERICANS LIKE YOU.
AFTER LAST WEEK OF FINANCIAL NEWS, I NO LONGER HAVE THE HEART TO DO THIS.
CLEARLY AMERICANS HAVE ALREADY BEEN SCAMMED ENOUGH BY BEST IN WALL ST – MUCH BETTER THAN ME AND MY FRIENDS.
I CAN NO LONGER COMPETE WITH SUCH CLEVER AMERICANS WHO HAVE RIPPED OFF FELLOW COUNTRYMAN FOR TRILIONS OF USD.
PLEASE ACCEPT OUR SINSERE CONDOLENCES ON YOUR LOSS OF YOUR LIFE SAVINGS.
BEST REGARDS,
ALHAJI. IBRAHIM. H. DANKWAMBO
TREASURER GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION OF NIGERIAN REPUBLIC
How ” :-) ” became a symbol for a joke marker
It all started with this question:
How will birds cheeping sound
after they have inhaled Helium?
We needed a way to help people distinguish serious posts from jokes. Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist Scott Fahlman proposed a solution. It all started 26 years ago yesterday.
Here’s the original message board thread