I am starting to believe that China and India are aspiring for western lifestyles – just to annoy GW Bush and the Americans

The animated graphic at the bottom of paal myrtvedt's post does not contribute anything at all to the quality of TOD. Indeed I find this display of techno-chic irritating and distracting. Maybe Leanan can indicate to paal myrtvedt that this is a site for adults, not children.

ohh, Sorry O'Tasman
That smiley was put there to underscore my attempt at irony.
TOD is a serious place I agree, but here should also be place for some skewed comments and a dash of sarcasm.

I don’t mind if the gif is removed, but as a suggestion for you when you are browsing the web – “whenever you see anything irritating, just scroll down/up as per your direction of reading … annoyance removed :-)

I'm all for humour. But if we have to put up a flag or a smiley face to indicate that we have made a joke. . . . Well, then, maybe we had better recognise (a) that we are not very good at humour; and (b) that we are being REALLY patronising to our audience.
All I ask is that you credit your readers with having a sense of humour. Why do you you feel the need to cram what you call "your attempts at irony" down our throats with redundant GIFs? Sounds like the old Nazi threat that, "Ve haff vays of makingk you laff."
Lighten up, old chap.

I'll tell you why it needs marked - because history here has demonstrated that there are sufficient number of people in the world who either do not have a sense of humor or misunderstand the author. The use of "smilies" is common internet parlance. This is not a formal debating society. I would urge Paal to continue doing whatever he thinks works.

By the way, Tasman, you will find man other "markers" for humor in posts here at TOD. I suggest you get used to them or maybe you can tell Professor Goose that he should stop writing on his site as he sees fit?

"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." -- Dr. Albert Bartlett
Into the Grey Zone

How about you get adblock and stop ruining threads?

It would be hard for me to do that, since I've been known to post such things myself.

Though I try to show restraint with animated GIFs, since they can be distracting.

Firefox will let you block any offending graphics with a click.

On a mature, adult site like TOD I don't expect to have to take evasive action to avoid the animated GIFs which marr some other peak oil sites (and which, as you admit, can be very irritating). As a site dedicated to rational argument I expect TOD posters to make their points in the normal linguistic way. In objecting to this GIF I feel that I am argiung from the same perspective as those others on TOD who plead for proper grammar and spelling, and the avoidance of gratuitous bad language and ad hominem attacks. It's a matter of civility, of good manners. No more, or less, important than not farting in an elevator. Civility is what makes TOD such a great forum.

And, paal myrtveldt, the addition of a GIF cannot transform sarcasm into irony. Check your dictionary.

.

OTOH, maybe the mature thing to do is make your feelings known once, then just drop it.

And your annoying derailing of the thread is so much less distracting than that animated gif.

Well, having a little winky-face after a comment to substitute for sarconal tags is one thing...having one that turns around and lights its own fart, charring itself...is a tad silly.

Naked apes are silly. Here's to silliness. Lighten up.

Rat

Though I try to show restraint with animated GIFs, since they can be distracting.

Firefox will stop animated GIFs with esc key. ;)

Oh NO the interweb is full of offending animated emoticons. You post does even less to contribute to the quality of TOD. The last thing the internet needs is one more self righteous internet cop.

Your whinging, Tasman, is more distracting and does more damage to the credibility of this site than a small icon. If you have concentration problems and/or anal retensive disorders that inhibit your ability to filter humour and/or non relevant subject matter then it is you that has the problem. Pull you head out of your ass; get a life and a sense of houmour please.

Marco.

Oops. I guess my immaturity is showing, because I think it's funny! :-)