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what is an avatar and do i need one?

PostPosted: Tue Jan 06, 2004 7:31 pm
by ice122985
i' sorry for being ignorant, but i don't know what an avatar is. How do i get one? and how do i get a picture on the side of my posts? thanks for helping me.

PostPosted: Tue Jan 06, 2004 7:46 pm
by inkhana
An avatar is the pic on the side of your posts. Best thing to do is get one from a site (there are a number of them; I think daydreamgraphics.com has some nice ones). Pick a nice one, save it to your comp, go to the User CP, and then go to the avatar settings. You'll have the option to upload it from your drive.

As far as whether you need one or not, it would be cool...:) But it's not necessary.

thanks

PostPosted: Wed Jan 07, 2004 6:51 pm
by ice122985
thanks. you were very helpful. God bless

PostPosted: Wed Jan 07, 2004 8:37 pm
by inkhana
That's a nice av...:) Who is it?

PostPosted: Wed Jan 07, 2004 8:40 pm
by TheMelodyMaker
I have an interesting story about this. If my memory serves me correctly: Years ago, when my mom and sister were the first ones to discover the internet and this thing called "chat rooms", they also came across this thing called an "avatar". When I asked what it was, they mentioned something about mugs. So I thought for a while that an avatar was an electronic beverage holder. (Don't ask me where I get these ideas from... ^_^; )

PostPosted: Wed Jan 07, 2004 8:48 pm
by inkhana
:lol: That sounds like something I would think, MM! ^^

PostPosted: Sun Jan 11, 2004 9:01 pm
by Fsiphskilm
Grrr...Why don't they call it an "Icon" ?!?!?!

PostPosted: Sun Jan 11, 2004 9:18 pm
by andyroo
Heh. Here's the definition and orignin of avatar.

:avatar: /n./ Syn. 1. Among people working on virtual reality
and {cyberspace} interfaces, an "avatar" is an icon or
representation of a user in a shared virtual reality. The term is
sometimes used on {MUD}s. 2. [CMU, Tektronix] {root},
{superuser}. There are quite a few Unix machines on which the
name of the superuser account is `avatar' rather than `root'.
This quirk was originated by a CMU hacker who disliked the term
`superuser', and was propagated through an ex-CMU hacker at
Tektronix. ~Jargon File 4.0.0

The word is apparently now used on message boards too. I just looked it up on Dictionary.com and they have the definition from Jargon File 4.2.0, a bit more up to date than what I have.

PostPosted: Mon Jan 12, 2004 8:06 am
by madphilb
Meh he he he..... I just looked up Avatar in a regular dictionary, in fact, it's my "little blue dictionary" I've kept by my computer for years (Webster's New World, revised 1983).

Avatar n - Hinduism a god's coming to earth in bodily form.

Which kinda makes sense when you look at it in a Tronish sort of way.

Originally I remember the term being used in adventure games and such, the character you control was your avatar. Fitting with the above defintion it was your physical embodiment in that world.

I think the first use of avatars was chat rooms, again, a similar ideo.

I believe at this point that the term most closely defines our visual representation on online communities (such as these forums).

PostPosted: Mon Jan 12, 2004 12:58 pm
by Fsiphskilm
OOOooo Another Matri