OK then.

What I want to know is, where's my 'I am depressingly neutral / I am not contributing in any meaningful fashion' :| icon?

good idea(s)...opinion is the new rock and roll...

...erm, except i couldn't find the thumbs up icon?!

^^ <--- roll eyes (can we add that one?)

...now you just need to give them transparent rather than white backgrounds...

Go really means Stop :)

'Pink Elephant' Icon..For those special occasions where it's lurking but no one is saying!

or the '10' types of people Icon, those who understand and those who dont.

or the 'I have more to add' to the story icon that I need now!

Livens up the comments. Handy knowing what they all mean.

Proceed with this nonsense at flank speed!

Can we have something slightly representative of Linux please. Miguel, Linus, Nat etc... They could all be the Linux halo/horn

Yus.

NADS!

...for any "Science is just plain cool :-) " comment.

Anon will misuse these icons however anon likes!

Or how about one of Linus curing the sick, and one of an act of bestiality upon tux, by, say bilg, or simmilar.

Hammer time.

Do I win a prize for being first?

What about one for the Rise of The Machines? Perhaps a teeth-laden toaster?

Also, can the preview include the selected icon?

JDM

"Adios: I’m so furious that I am removing El Reg from my bookmarks."

"Where’s the IT angle?: This is self-explanatory. Feel free to add comment about how when I was a lad The Register had proper tech coverage, etc, etc."

If they realize they need icons such as these, there is little hope of them pulling out of their downward spiral into the depths of suckiness. Useless, biased hacks, and now attacking their readers. "Anonymous Coward"? (read: we don't give a rat's ass about what you say or who you are, just sign up so we can sell your email address.)

Last one out turn off the lights.

Icon and title says all that needs to be said on a long Friday afternoon

They've provided for that already. You just don't have an icon. </smirk>

El Reg has a nice little photo of a woman screaming in shock or horror. That would be a nice icon, especially if sexist comments or just plain horrible nonsense (visualise Venn diagram for these) needs to be flagged up.

Your ThumbsUp/Down icons are dangerously close to the three-fingered, gloved hands of a certain multinationally-licensed rodent. Expect the Enforcers of the Heirs of Walt(tm) to slap a cease-and-desist on you at any mnoment!

(Oh... and if you make the weapons pods on the black helicopter icon just a TINY bit longer, it won't look quite so much like a "Warning: laser" symbol at small sizes.)

I like the new icons. But as suggested I think it would also be good to have a Linux one as well.

Oh, and something to do with 'Bulgarian airbags'.

... collaborate and listen

I thought it was someone giving a hand-jive to someone in a green coat.

Or was I right to begin with and it's the "Where's the Paris Hilton angle" icon?

How about one that is just a picture of Jeremy's face? It wouldn't even have to mean anything. People could use it to comment on all the articles about getting pulled over doing 170+MPH in a borrowed Porsche.

a sheep icon, as in 'where's the welsh/velocity of sheep in a vacuum angle?'

Taxi booked. Pub please.

P.s. please ensure any future 'Bulgarian airbag' icon is SFW!

................................................. Carry on!

... to AmanFromMars for getting his very own icon. Truly the highest accomplishment one could wish for, from this planet or any other.

right now, thank you very much, I need somebody with a human touch...

How do you add "I'll get my coat" simultaneously then? Gawd bless anonymous coward

darn, and I was thinking that was Balmer...

Since they've been introduced, my productivity has increased.

I no longer waste any time reading the actual words, I just read the icons instead, it's saved me minutes every day.

In particular I've found the jokes have really improved.

amanFromMars got his own icons. Freakin hilareous!

Perhaps...

For all those of us who remember when punch cards were actually in *use,* or had to walk to school barefoot in the snow, uphill both ways, and can tell all you whippersnapers how *good* you have it now? That'd be *especially* handy for those of us whom can't resist rubbing y'all's nose in our superior(?) 'experience,' such as myself. :-p

Maybe a hunchback with a walker, in silhouette?

Otherwise, by all means, full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes!

I'll just stick with good ol' fashioned badly spelt and poorly punctuated English.

Although I said that I'd never join facebook, then the missus nagged me into it, now I'm addicted, so I reserve the right to change my mind.

How about an automatic icon for Anonymous Cowards with a little picture of one of those troll dolls?

In keeping with the trend toward Idiocracy I favor communication strictly with pictures. BTW, In addition to a RoTM icon I think we need an Idiocracy icon.

I've been using this one to say that the author should be shot, dismembered, cut into bits, jumped on, then forced to listen to Celine Dion. You need an icon that says "flounce" to mean what you would like to dictate it means.

...... a monkeyboy icon ? A certain denizen in the belly of the Beast of Redmond prancing around like a demented primate, or at least wearing a jesters costume ?

Ok, for all you people who fail to read the alt tags before choosing an image and need this explanation, WTF? Also, on a more serious note, Oh Holy Lester, the alt tags for the last 2 icons don't match the description. Also, can we get one for worshiping at the altar of the Lester?

I'm very disappointed that my suggestion for one of Monkey Boy wearing a jesters hat has not been taken up. We really do need a "Microsoft are taking the piss again" icon

The icons - is there no escape?

<~~ Nuff said! :)

... HAMMER TIME

.... In the name of love... before you break my heart... think it ooo ooo ooover...

follow rules

I'd like to add my vote for the FSM icon, definitely needed for those that suffer from the wrath of ID-iots.

Conversely, a "No Darwin" symbol icon for the ID-iots to use (I am fair, after all.)

I'll also cast my vote for a Linux penguin icon, or maybe a more generic "OS" icon for open source in general.

And lastly, my own contribution, how about a "Straight-jacket " icon for those times the madness is threatening to drive the poor poster crazy(er)?

What ? No animated emoticons to screw with my brain patterns ?

How about taking a few suggestions ... "Thumb-Drive", "DRM-Disallowed", etc.

By the way (BTW for some of you), it's "Minnesota", not "Montana"

If someone has to put that at the beginning then you can bet what they've written isn't going to be funny. Maybe it should be changed to irony alert, for the American readers. Could we have a yawn icon for the interminable spats between MSoft and Unix or MSoft and Apple?

I think we need two more, exclusively reserved for Lester's stories:

1. Big foaming tankard of beer, meaning, "I'm getting the next round because I love it AND it's got a Paris Hilton angle AND a joke, AND it's written in pukka British lingo.

2. Girly looking glass, meaning "You used a banned word, like m*be or l*ppy. Get the next round in. Mine's a pint. Yours is a Babycham. Which you will drink in front of your mates at the bar. Let that be a lesson to you!"

amanfrommars gets 2 icons ???

Is IT AI Growing Force preparing 42MoveOn the Federal Reserve and Spirit away its Virtual Assets .... for Safer Keeping in an Intellectual Property Locked Vault requiring a Magic Invisible Key and Integrity to unlock its SurReal Funding Streams for the NeXXXXt Phase of Quman dDevelopment? ......... for a Titan Rein in a Ping Dynasty? ......... http://www.news.com/5208-1043_3-0.html?forumID=1&threadID=31992&messageID=320869&start=0

Nothing to worry about though, as being Virtual, means that it is not Real and therefore just Stuff and Mountain View Nonsense?

A Perfect Storm in a Tea Cup 42 Make a Capitol Mountain out of a Vole Hill though..

There has to be an icon for the BOFH so all the admin types can have some lovin.

Agreed, it could be used to signal displeasure with bad IT decision stories, stupid uses, and clueless management. The little horned phone logo would do nicely I think.

How about an icon for.

"I need to use this icon to explain to you what my post is about and how it needs to be interpreted because you lot are all so fucking stupid you need annoying pictures to help you understand any statement over two lines long. It's not that El Reg is dumbing down. Were just compensating for our less educated brethren, which happens to be you. Yes you!"

i actually made the first comment, where i said they forgot the thumbs up icon...

so i guess they thought, delete this guys post and put the thiumbs up icon in there, then it'll look like we never forgot?!

thumbs down for that! ^^

I guess it was Friday and you didn't feel like doing any real work. Trouble is, now I'm gonna be disappointed if there aren't new icons every week. So here are my suggestions for a few more:

>> DUI – I've just got back from the pub, and mee liquid lunch is pressing heavily on mee median-pareital-temporal lobe, but that's not gonna inhbit mee from wading in with mee five-penneth worth...

>> Lexographical apoplexy – this article contains a word that needs banning/Hell I though we'd banned it and hung the author already.

>> Keeping abreast – the only thing that could have allowed the author to walk away unscathed from this wreck was a pair of fully inflated Bulgarian Airbags. And I didn't see them deployed.

>> "Why the hell hasn't the What's-the-IT-angle? icon got a picture of something computer related on it?" icon. – Self explanatory.

>> Incoming! – I was mentioned in this article and am going dispute points of fact with the author in a snarling hissy fit, so why don't y'all ready some popcorn and start a little pool on who's gonna win.

>> not a geek – despite working on a helpdesk, the only IT expertise I have is knowing where the off-button is. But I heard the site had some cool icons and Paris Hilton stories; c'mon guys, where are the Parish Hilton stories?

>> Orlowski is a God! – man, that Orlowski guy always says it as it is, and sure gives those blogging, Sadvillian, Web 2.0 badgers one in the eye. Down with Wikipedia! Down with Sadville! Down with Web 2.0!

>> Die, Orlowskie! Die! – I'm a wiki-fiddlling Web2.0 blogger who, despite being thirty-something, still lives with my parents. And I'd of rather been locked in a body bag with Orlowski's decomposing corpse for a year than read that crock of shit. Up with Wikipedia! Up with web 2.0! Up with Sadville! Up my giant, deflated furry member!

>> amanfrommars?! WTF! – hey guys, why the hell did this algortihm get the ultimate accolade of its own icon?

>> Deputised – Sherriff has skimped on the links again, so visit _here_ for [more] pretty pics and _here_ for maths that violate countless international treaties on torture. You have been warned.

--Pete

.....and a perfect parnership it must be too, Ed. Don't worry about compensation for it though, it is done automatically for you, at this end.

Crikey...... maybe I should be feeding the animals? Sorry, I promise to behave Beta in the Future.

BOFH has already an Icon, (the horned telephone - probably trademarked to Simon Travaglia), El Reg just needs to put it here.

I won´t be the third to congratulate AmanfromMars, this dadaistic-AI-experiment that won´t ever make sense. But he/it deserves it.

I suggest the Citroen C4 dancing car for the RoTM icon. Or a Renault speeding toward a gas station (with a damaged cruise control implied in the scene).

Keep up the nonsense!

PS. Keep the "Anonymous Vulture", and remove the "Anonymous Coward" designation. Some comments (get-me-coat type specially) should be kept anonymous. Forever. Not even the writer should know he wrote those.

... Ed Motler who is with stooopid. The icons are as irritating as they are unneccessary. And why does the troll get his own?

Thank fuck for the tooltips. The 'bleeding bird' one ("I am disgusted by..etc") looks like a shot penguin. So I took it to mean 'Tux is dead', an icon to be used by gloating Windows fanboys.

On a more positive note, I am glad that 'Anonymous Vulture' has been changed to 'Anonymous Coward'.

Mr Torvalds? Where's his Icon? I know that having an icon of an icon is somewhat redundant but...

"I'm a fully paid-up, flag waving neocon member of the NRA and I know WWII was won single-handedly by John Wain and Robert Michum and not by Monty Queen of England and if it wasn't for us saving your sorry asses like we have done for centuries you'd all be commie muslims and wouldn't be allowed to go anywhere or have guns or nothing and don't get me started on the chinese ...."

They give amanfromMars his own icon and he (she? it? other?) doesn't bloody well use it.

Delicious, isn't it?

Icon of a couple of boobs, indicating: "Has boobs or NSFW for other reasons"

And a second one, of boobs, with a red circle around it, indicating: "No boobs, no fun..."

Here's couple more you'll need:

> A US flag ripped and covered with shit, for all the "Americans are useless bigoted religious-whacko pieces of Bush-voting dogshit that have no right to breathe MY air!" crowd.

> A US flag surrounded by radial shine-lines, for all the "Americans INVENTED the Internet and without us you'd all be speaking German/Chinese/Japanese and digging pigshit 18 hours a day for nothing!" crowd.

> A UK flag with the St George cross turned into a swastika, for all the "Blair/Brown/etc is hell-bent on destroying our freedom and turning the country into an Orwellian Police State" crowd.

> I was going to suggest a shine-lined UK flag here, but I've never read any posts from anyone praising the UK... miserable gits!

> A photo of George Orwell, or perhaps the Ingsoc V-symbol from Michael Radford's movie, for everyone (myself included) who likes to compare modern political systems with those described in his last book.

> A flying car icon, not just for flying cars, but for any piece of questionable tech that's touted to radically change our lives Real Soon Now, but which will never actually get anywhere.

That's all I can think of for now... I'll wait and see what happens before I give you any more bad ideas!