back to article Reg readers rage at comment icon outrage

Shaken staff at Vulture Central are today locked en masse* in the traditional darkened room sipping sweet tea following the rather adverse reaction to our redesigned comments icons. While a few people favoured us with thoughtful analysis of the new-look El Reg, most were venting steam from both ears while foaming at the mouth …

COMMENTS

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  1. Kenny Millar
    Go

    Well obviously they should include....

    Twat-O-Tron

    Big Bang

    Big (Credit?) Crunch

    Famous-person-goes-on-a-killing-spree

    Windows Vista "The System for the 90's "

    YANI (Yet another new iPod)

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How about a Valium icon?

    And why do I have to enter a title _and_ body? Arggggh.

  3. Paul Murphy
    Paris Hilton

    Hooray - sense at last sensei

    PH, (evil)BillG (evil)SteveB are back at least, so it was worthwhile working up a sweat about this.

    I would like to see a (evil)Jobs, 2000AD and an Atari logo (mainly cos I really liked my old STe) though I don't suppose I'll get those.

    Oh well, time to send the recall signal to my army of robo-laser-gnats.

    PH 'cos she also makes me work up a sweat

    ttfn

  4. Andrew Robinson
    Paris Hilton

    I should bloody well think so.

    Paris - well, because she's back.

  5. Peter D'Hoye
    Dead Vulture

    Fine...

    and now give us back the old layout and we'll leave you alone

    One third of the width is used for adds, and half the monitor space is filled with dull grey because of the stupid fixed width. Had this redesign done in India, did you?

  6. Jeremy
    Gates Halo

    Hurrah!

    Phew! Normal service may resume...

  7. Vincent

    Icon ideas

    I would say that a "Halo" and "Devil" picture is needed to represent the Government, you could use Gordon Brown or maybe you could modify pictures of the Palace of Westminster.

    Maybe a picture of a laptop on a train as well...

    I notie that there are love and hate icons for Apple and Windows, but what about Linux as well?

    Those are all I can think of from the top of my head.

  8. AP
    Joke

    Everyone needs...

    ...cake.

  9. Marc Lawrence
    Go

    Tinfoil Hats Recommended!

    What more can one ask... thanks for the other icons returning!

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    New Icons

    Can I get a Twat-oTron icon and an RTFM icon please?

  11. Colin Millar
    Boffin

    what about a 'Where's the XXXXX icon' icon?

    So that us commentards can easily draw your attention to future suggestions for new icons. I know that some suggestions for vital icons I have made in the past seem to have been inadvertently overlooked by reg staff.

    Unfortunately I cannot remember what any of those suggestions are - perhaps you could ask a member of staff to look back through all the old comments to find them.

    Some new ideas though

    A paytard icon (perhaps someone lighting a cigar with a twenty pound note)

    A freetard icon (A picture of a junkie mugger would suffice)

  12. adnim

    how about,

    A bullshit icon for those quotes that say one thing but mean another.

    An IT illiterate icon for those stories of gross IT incompetence.

    An icon of a pyramid with an eye for those stories of corporate abuse of the customer/little guy.

  13. J

    Only some?

    You restored some of the icons but not all? Or is my reload failing me? (well, I hadn't used this computer with the new Reg look yet, so the new icons shouldn't be in my cache...) Dead Vulture for PM now.

    Ideas for new icons? Hm... I pass for now.

    And as I expected, the site looks fine in my smaller, lower-res (1024x768) monitor at work, while there is a tad too much idle grey space in my home wide-screen (1440x900).

  14. Kevin Murray
    Paris Hilton

    Possible images?

    Limecat, because he is not amused.

  15. Steven Foster
    Gates Halo

    Woo!

    They're back!

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Go

    How about...

    ...a Twat-O-Tron icon?

    I envisage a steampunk-style engine powered by bile, flicking spittle and sweat as it struggles to make those effete liberals understand its perfectly reasonable middle-english views.*

    *I realise this might be a bit difficult to portray in 32x32px, but I can dream.

  17. Mike Crawshaw
    Flame

    Politicians.

    Something about them. Something fair and accurate. Something that clearly indicates that they are a lying, selfish, egotistical, back-stabbing, self-serving, conniving, sleazy, dishonest, imbecilic, inbred, technophobic AND technophiliac, interfering, power-hungry, dictatorial, hypocritical ASSHOLES.

    Something like that. Especially that Gordon Brown, his eyes are too close together.

  18. Pie
    Paris Hilton

    Paris

    Is back in the building...

  19. Christopher E. Stith
    Flame

    Nice enough with some exceptions.

    The "REG" headstone's lettering runs together a bit much. I like the new Tux icon, but he's not as recognizable. Perhaps a BSDaemon and the flying Windows icons should balance him out, but Gates already has two icons of his own. All around, I don't see a problem. The flaming head is nice, or is that an onion family? I'm guessing it's a flaming head, which will be my icon because I'm sure that's where allowing comments on this story is heading.

  20. Jason Croghan
    Paris Hilton

    Yay :)

    Thanks Reg :)

  21. Mark

    Dead Vulture

    Where's my dead vulture gone? Bring back the bird!

    Seriously, thank you for bringing back most of the old icons. Much better!

  22. jonathan keith
    Paris Hilton

    Power to the people - right on!

    Phew. Put down the pitchforks and torches, boys, they've seen sense.

    A bit.

    Anyway, how about an "Evil Google" icon. No need to balance that with a "Good Google" icon, because we all know those days are long gone.

    Paris, because, well, she's an icon.

  23. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Icon ideas

    A steaming turd (for poor tech or any New Labour policy)

    A box of tissues (for anything truly exciting)

    A "G" eating the world (work it out....)

    A crashing vehicle (plane, train or automobile)

    Big Brother (of 1984 fame, not the bug or defectives mincing about the telly)

    A juggling walrus on a jet-ski (I just want to see if you can draw something like that icon sized)

    And, finally, how about the ability to link in our own icon (say, sub 2kb and 32x32pixels)

  24. Joe K

    Good riddance

    Where? All i see so far is the same ones that look like they were made by a 5yr old using MS Paint.

    Worst. Change. EVAR! The *proper* icons have all always been absolutely perfect.

    As for new ones, how about Tom, the Will-It-Blend guy. Handy for the new Nano page, as well as everything made by Microsoft.

  25. Dave
    Pirate

    Jolly Roger

    can we have a proper jolly roger icon back? This one looks like it came from some idiotic Flash game for the yoof...

    And might I suggest a "freetard" icon for the third row? No, Tux isn't always the right icon for the job.

  26. Robert St-John

    A Boris Johnson icon

    for articles that make you go "Cripes!"

  27. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    New Icon suggestion

    How about a WTF icon ?

  28. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    My suggestion for a new icon

    How about a great big # 1 for all the saddos derive some measure of pleasure from being the first to comment on a story ?

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    Paris is back!

    24 hours without her is a day too long

  30. Adrian

    Icons

    WTF in a circle = What the fcuk ?

    Large penis = what a fcuking disk

    Penis coming out of a person's head = What a fcuking dickhead

    You get the gist !!!

  31. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    It's been requested before

    The coffee/keyboard incident icon and how about some punched cards for the "in my day..." comments

  32. Richard

    I suggest...

    Beer.

    Proper beer too, not that cold fizzy tasteless Euro-lager stuff.

  33. Lars Petersson
    Alien

    Phhht...

    Personally I fail to care topo much.

    Ok, fixed width is pretty amateurish, but I tend to open the articles in the printer friendly option anyway so it hardly bothers me...

    Alien because it's gotta be one of them that came up with that idea...

  34. PsyWulf
    Paris Hilton

    What?!

    This is not paris

    Even Paris would be appalled

  35. Anonymous Coward
    Dead Vulture

    if it aint broke why fix it?

    why the change? it was fine the way it was.....

  36. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Icons are rubbish.

    They're just daft anyway, ditch them completely.

  37. BillboBaggins
    Happy

    Common sense wins through!

    How about a kneeling icon, for when we want to express whole hearted agreement or that we are not worthy of such wisdom (in the style of Wayne’s World)

  38. Beelzeebub
    Paris Hilton

    Icon suggestions

    Larry Ellison as devil, no need for a saint one.

    Replace Bill icons with Steve (B).

    Otherwise, cool to listen to your readers, and actually do something about it, sets a dangerous precedent methinks.

    Sarah, 'cos it's her, isn't it?

  39. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    Change

    is not always a good thing.

    Mines the one with loose change in the pocket

  40. Daniel Turner

    Icons are back!

    Well, some of the better ones are back which makes me happy :)

  41. Stylee
    Happy

    Icons

    How about a urinal full of ants?

    For the pedants, of course!

  42. Ian
    Go

    Pirate is still crap.

    Ok, some degree of common sense has kicked in, but who's fault was it, who actually thought the new icons were good? Enquiring minds need to know.

  43. RW
    Coat

    Condom

    As we used to say it in the programming bull pen I worked in for many years, "put your brain condoms on, everyone." Use for "here's something that is hardly believable, but I'm sure it's true."

  44. Tim

    Woohoo!

    Love the new changes overall, but the icons were a sore point.

    Glad that Paris and the Coat Guy are back.

  45. Richard

    I for one welcome

    ...our capitulating Reg underlings. You are servants of the people, never forget it.

  46. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    Manna from Heaven

    You could have an icon that represents the popular "I for one welcome our new overlords" phrase. Also, an icon that represents and mocks Facebook. Furthermore, an icon that represents and mocks the Web 2.0 phenomenon, although I'm not sure how you will encapsulate this with a little picture.

  47. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    <no title>

    Well... the new ones are rather kindergarten comic style. Could have expected flak.

  48. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Keith Vaz icon

    We need a Keith Vaz icon for "I don't understand technology but I'm frightened of it and need to pander to the Daily Mail"

  49. Lee T.

    where's the web 2.0 angle?

    bet you won't do that one now, will you?

  50. Aortic Aneurysm

    I'll get my coat...

    Preffered the new one.

  51. Honey
    Paris Hilton

    Re: ZOMGZ

    Previously on the Reg:

    [By Honey Posted Sunday 14th September 2008 15:09 GMT. I suspect the biggest PR disaster you face is the disappearance of Paris, and the instant nonsensicalisation of all historical "Paris cos" comments archived. I predict a u-turn.]

    Mwahaha.

    Of course, the removal and re-instigation of Paris was always planned, as token appeasement for fixed width and Reg personality removal.

  52. Christoph
    Coat

    Icons

    No "Monty Python quote" icon?

    No "Hitch Hiker's Guide quote" icon?

    Inconceivable!

    It's the one with the four bits of fluff in the pocket.

  53. Francis Vaughan

    Thoughts

    OK, having vented my spleen over the new icons, a few constructive thoughts. (Actually I think the thumbs up and down icons are distinct improvement on the old ones.)

    The problem with a lot of the demands for new icons is that they are more about the story and less about the comment writer's comments. Probably the best place to look for the inspiration for icons is in the tone and type of comments left that don't really have a satisfactory icon. A few do come to mind.

    Old Fart. "I remember the days when I used to cold boot a PDP-11 from the front panel."

    Deadly. (The old skull and crossbones seemed to be the default, nothing to do with piracy, which can keep its silly version.) "This contains seriously dangerous or deadly information"

    Bad Linux. Seems that currently Linux is above criticism.

    Good/Bad Richard Stallman. The icon for good can only possibly be RMS dressed as Saint IGNUcius with the disk platter on his head.

    Pedant. Possibly this should be the default icon. Sure would be close to reality.

    RotM. Only one icon could be possibly considered here too.

    Oops. Sometimes one needs to correct a comment, or agree one was wrong.

    Peace. Sometimes one needs to be even more conciliatory.

    What are you smoking? "This is so bad it isn't even wrong."

    Thats 10 anyway.

  54. Shaun Rolph

    How do I subscribe

    so I can cancel it in disgust?

    http://www.wevegotthetoaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/tunbridge%20wells%20sign*.jpg

  55. LeFreak
    Pirate

    That gentleman, was a fart

    Perhaps something that represents your ability to insult your readership?

  56. Richard Stubbs

    Dad's Army

    We need a picture of John Laurie (Frazer from Dad's Army) for "We're doomed, I tell ye!" , Clive Dunn (Jones) for "nobody panic" and Ian Lavender (Pike) so we can say in our best Mainwaring voice "stupid boy!" for those corporate school boy errors such as, lets say leaving time expiration code in production virtualisation software!

  57. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    ohhh submission ideas for icons

    A 1x1 blank.gif to pay homage to the early days of web layout.

    A picture of Angelina Jolie, from Hackers the Movie.

    A shot from War Games when the computer places an 0 initially in a corner square (think tic tac toe is a zero sum game?).

    Or how about, some animated PNGs, but controlled by JavaScript that morph into something else after a 5 second delay dependent on some keyword (preselected by the author of the articles) in the comment, encoded in javascript to match a hash.

    A silhouette of a white flamingo.

    The whip from Indiania Jones, but in black.

    The original BSD beastie icon.

    The entire map of the internet but miniturised into 48 x 48 pixels using only web safe colours.

    The Mona Lisa, with a pierced nose, on even days of the week, and a punk hairstyle on odd days of the week, (counting starts from sunday, which is 0 in homage to C arrays).

    Kung-Fu Phooey

    Touche Turtle

    The Orange PacMan Ghost - Pokey AKA Clyde.

  58. Dave
    Unhappy

    @Article

    WTF?

    Un-washed masses?

    I will have you know that I am slightly portly, but certainly not massive, and I bathed only last month!

    Please sort out the 'Flame', 'Jolly Roger' and 'Heart' icons too ? I think what many people _originally_ asked for was more icons, and all that we got was ... clip-art {shudder}

  59. Paul M.
    Dead Vulture

    The return of the sh*te icons

    Do you have to blind yourself with caustic soda to design stuff for The Reg? The new icons are much smarter. Fortunately most of them have been retained.

    Second that call for An Evil Google. It's not 1982 anymore.

  60. Anonymous Coward
    Jobs Horns

    New Icons?

    Why, when some people don't understand the old? I speak of course about the amount of people who think the Jobs icons are SteveB.

    How about a spleen being vented?

  61. Mike Crawshaw

    @ AC 15:08

    "Kung-Fu Phooey"??????????

    I think you'll find it was "HONG KONG PHOOEY" with his "Hong Kong Book of Kung Fu".

    Hmm, yep, a pedant icon might be appropriate....

  62. David Shepherd

    new icon

    How about the old people with walking stick traffic sign for "things used to be better than they are now".

  63. Anonymous Coward
    Boffin

    prolly the same feckers who hate the new Facebook?

    I'm a clever cnut, me - I love change :-D

  64. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Icon make some suggestions...

    1) Pair of quotemarks for those who like to display their cultural breadth by recycling Monty Python/ Hitchhikers/Red Dwarf lines

    2) A Hazchem/"Irritant" Icon for those who wish to express their displeasure at the latest .gov initiative (or similar)

    3) A variant on the Big Brother eye for those who are singularly obsessed by the latest privacy incursion

    4) Some retro computing Logo (the commodore one has graced your pages, no?) to allow those of us who remember the days before the GUI to enlighten the spotty oiks who think that a Windows Registry hack is the height of user customisation in OS-land

    and 5) Seconded on the Keith Vaz icon. That man is an utter utter wanker, and would definitely cover many possible uses, not least the oft cried for tw*t-o-tron

  65. david g

    New icons ?

    I had a think about this while I was cold booting the PDP-11 from the front panel........

    Like the Big Brother idea - or any picture of a civil servant pissing data up the wall.....not like they would get used much is it ?

    Please DO SOMETHING about that flame icon ? It looks like it was designed by Japanese schoolchildren.

    I think the time is now right for a little blue icon with gold stars around it in a circle. Hey, you could even print the letters EUCCP in the centre.

  66. Alex Wright

    Meh

    I'd like a Meh icon

  67. Fred

    Tinfoil Hat

    need something besides a black heli :)

  68. Phil Tanner
    Pirate

    Flying Spagetti Monster?

    What about a portrayal of His Noodly Appendage for those lovely Creationism stories - I know we could use the Jolly Roger, but really - we need a decent FSM :D

  69. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    amanfrommars

    the amanfrommars icon is missing.

    perhaps a "think of the children" icon, for when it all goes daily fail.

  70. Dave

    Irony

    How about a steam iron icon for when people (OK, the ones to the left of the North Atlantic) miss out on irony?

    A pile of steaming turds might be good, although I suspect it could get over-used.

    Something with which to mock politicians (must be worth a separate sub-competition).

    An asshat (naked bum on a head)

  71. Craig

    A few to start

    A "but think about the children/terrorists" icon would be appreciated for all those stories when one of those two excuses are used to deprive us of liberties. Maybe a terrorist holding a child hostage?

    Maybe a blue screen of death icon for daft Microsoft bugs?

    A pile of money being flushed down the bog for the latest government IT project?

    A BOFH icon? Surely someone can design something safe for work and appropriate :D

  72. Laurie
    Thumb Up

    Dalek!

    I'd like to see a Dalek, or something similar, for ROTM related rantings.

  73. Lee T.
    Paris Hilton

    @Good riddance / rotm

    clear your cache to see the old icons back

    Could have the HAL9000 eye as a ROTM icon.

    paris, cos .... paris is back

  74. Tim Bergel
    Thumb Down

    @Francis Vaughan

    Excellent set of suggestions. We definitely need 'old fart' - a picture of a punched card maybe?

    I want the old flame back - thumbs down at the stupid flame with a face. I liked the dead vulture too.

  75. Sam
    Go

    Stuff the title

    Bearing in mind the amount of them, how about a Typo police Icon?

  76. Jeff
    IT Angle

    Weve been robbed!

    I actually liked the old icons better. Perhaps El Reg had a C&D letter about copyrighted icons?

    IT--Because we all know that if they are IT they have to get the icons from somewhere else.

  77. Vic
    Jobs Horns

    luverly

    ooh lovely. old billy goat is baaaack. not that i see him.

    how about a freetard one?

    a lost flash drive?

    a hadron one? NO I DID NOT SAY THAT

    a climate change denier one.

    sarah palin. (that paris one just needs brown hair, it reminds me of her sickeningly) you know this is going to come in useful when U.S.A.S.S.election (TM) all hots up. actually, just make one for this and the previous...

    red dwarf icons. absolutely a whole host of those.

    like the idea of a BB eye as well. privacy absolutely needs its own icon.

    And a giant 42.

    just noticed the apple core. i like.

  78. Thorsten

    Some icon suggestions

    Optimus Prime - for RotM stories

    Tunbridge Wells sign (as suggested above) - in case I need to complain about the icons again

    Glider (Conway's game of life) - for anything technical/hacker-related

    Flying Spaghetti Monster - for anything religious

    Grey goo - if Bill Joy gets mentioned

    Technicolor goo - if Google gets mentioned

  79. Secretgeek
    Thumb Up

    Give me a...

    Meh.

    Is it ironic to be this bothered about an icon for a shrug?

  80. Dave Driver
    Paris Hilton

    Eee girl please

    Can we have an icon of the Eee girl?

    Should get plenty of use.

    Paris cos she's the only female in the icon list ATM.

  81. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How about...

    A tube of Vagisil.

    For use on irritating twats.

  82. Pete Rowley
    Paris Hilton

    my brain hurts...

    Surely Monty Pythons Gumby would be a fine addition to the icon list?

    Paris because I missed her earlier.

  83. ChrB
    Paris Hilton

    Commentard?!!

    I love it. Lester, I want your babies :-)

    Paris, 'cause she's better suited for babies

  84. Colin Morris
    Paris Hilton

    Paris is back!!!!.....

    ..Paris, because she no longer looks like a "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" reject like she did briefly earlier today...

    ... not now I've cleared my Firefox cache a couple of times, anyway......

  85. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Encyclopedia

    I picture of a book for people that are giving additional dry facts that the article missed.

    Maybe also something that looks quite similar to a pair of breasts - just considering your audience and how happy it would make them feel to see it.

    I also find the graphics on the new icons quite depressing. I suggest a competition to make alternatives to each of the rather sad new icons, and then we can vote on which of the alternative submissions we like best.

  86. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How about

    A high horse icon (horse with long legs?) for when someone would like to point out that their comment is conceited and arrogant.

  87. Nìall Tracey

    I've got one...

    The school crossing sign (you know, red triangle, mother and child) and one word: "THINK".

    WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN?!?!?

  88. blackworx
    Coat

    Sir Clive

    Don't know if it's already been mentioned, but we need Sir Clive Sinclair for those misty-eyed moments harking back to the heady, halogen days of home computing. It would be doubly pleasing if he could somehow be 'shopped to look like Phil Oakey on the "Dare" album cover.

    Mine's the one with half a Wham! bar, a couple of conkers and the Garth "Clogs" Sumpter-era Sinclair User in the pocket.

  89. Rob

    To represent a bypass on common sense

    The new Olympic Logo but redraw it so it looks a lot more like Lisa Simpson giving a blow job.

  90. David
    Paris Hilton

    A title is required

    can I have a "I'm not really happy or unhappy, and possibly even mildly confused" face and/or question mark?

  91. Dan

    Icons

    How about something for tech incompetence, and definitely an icon for stories where 1984 is becoming a reality, maybe like a CCTV icon or something.

  92. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    Dell Girl

    Remember the once-ubiquitous and iconic Dell Girl? Whatever happened to her?

    I say bring her back! In icon form!

    Paris, because she wonders where Dell Girl is now.

  93. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @Paul M - Caustic soda

    The new ones are just bland.

    Besides, the slight naffness of some of the old icons added to their charm.

    Please could we have the dead vulture back? Please?

  94. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    inline it all and add an edit

    "Retro"

    "it was YOUR fault" "it was YOU"

    "it wasnt ME"

    "clown"

    "weres the Innovation"

    "what isn it their Not saying"

    "a REAL £ sign" not that toy $ money sign

    and why limit your choices, just let people post their own with a credit that they release it as "freeware" rememebr that concept, no licence what so ever, anyone can use it after you vet it for family viewing OC.

    and why go to all the trouble of the recycle design, and not put in an edit your posts [for typos etc] within say an hour, afte rall it always know who you are posting the anon from the same IP.

    i wanted to include several icons inline, so theres another option oyu cna include easy enough, inline :thumbsup:

    BTW "Post anonymously?" is in the wrong place, it nees to be as always on the same line as the post comment so you dont forget to click it.

  95. NoCo37
    Paris Hilton

    Please insert a title

    A 419 icon for when we smell a scam.

    I really miss the old icons, but if we could get back the old Tux, pirate and flame icons, I'll not complain about the others... much.

  96. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    And another one

    The Jesus fish, with legs.

    (To annoy the Creationists/Flat Earthers/Overtly Religious. Americans in general, really)

  97. Darkwolf
    Alien

    ROTM

    How about a "terminator" head icon for ROTM article comments?

    An icon with a CD falling out of a envelope for "data loss" articles?

  98. breakfast Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    Tired meme ahead...

    Something to indicate that the post contains some tired and long since unfunny quote or meme that has been trotted out a thousand times before, maybe a dead parrot or a hammer and sickle to indicate soviet russia...

  99. John Sims

    BRING BACK THE DEAD VULTURE! (please)

    I only use one image when posting - the dead vulture! Why? - because he's great! So why have you t**ts gone and replaced him with a badly drawn grave stone! Do you realise the pyscological impact this is going to have on my day to day life? Do you? Do you? Arrrggghhh!!!

  100. This post has been deleted by its author

  101. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    "Sir Clive" The good, "alan sugar" the Bad

    i agree we need a "Sir Clive Sinclair" for the good innovative [British]Boffin

    and an evil "Allan sugar" for killing off Sir clives retro babys.

  102. Mad Hacker
    Thumb Up

    Yes, a Dalek

    We need a Dalek. See the one I'm using on Twitter: http://twitter.com/MadHacker Yes I'm using Twitter. But I'll have you know, I'm not using it very well or often.

    I also don't like the new pirate icon. Too cutsie/stylized.

    Although long in the tooth these days, there were times I felt we needed a Britney or a Lohan icon, however, Paris has shown better staying power. How about a Naomi Campbell icon. It could be used when you are really angry (angrier then a flame.)

    How about a Rupert Murdock icon. Only need one version... with the horns.

    We need a Terminator icon for both Rise of the Machines and Politics (since he's the governator these days... I know, wrong side of the pond)

    It seems we need something for the Wii/XBOX360/PS3 fanbois as well although I can't picture it yet. Maybe all three systems stacked on top of each other smoking.

    How about Penfold, or am I the only one who remembers Danger Mouse?

    The "welcoming our overlords" icon could be of Kent Brockman as that character delivered the original immortal line.

    Oh and uh, can we have a cute smiling big blue singing whale? Not sure if he/she could be holding a joss stick too.

    How about a flying chair ala Steve Ballmer?

    Because you say your decision is based on number of votes I have to also repeat previous ideas that sounded good:

    The coffee/keyboard incident icon

    how about some punched cards for the "in my day..." comments

    Larry Ellison as devil

    A picture of Angelina Jolie, from Hackers the Movie.

    And I have to agree with this:

    Please DO SOMETHING about that flame icon ? It looks like it was designed by Japanese schoolchildren.

  103. Solomon Grundy

    Undeniable

    There must be a Goatse icon.

  104. David Frank
    Dead Vulture

    NEVER MIND THE ICONS

    WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO THE DESIGN; NOW i AM LOST!

  105. beast666

    Swirling Mind F?ck

    We need an icon for that surely! There's so many of them happening these days...

  106. Ron
    Go

    Meh.

    I second (or third, or ninth) a Meh icon.

    I like the new Tux icon-- it more closely matches the spooky eyes of the official Tux. Definitely need an evil Tux icon, and the BSD daemon as previously suggested isn't a bad idea either.

    The new thumbs up, thumbs down, stop, and go are better than the old ones, but the other chibi-style icons don't even look properly chibi. Never mind the idiocy of chibi icons on a grownup's web site to begin with. It's like your designer spent four minutes in a Sanrio store and forgot to take pictures of the style he or she was copying, then just did it from memory and went out for a few pints.

    Just to pick nits, your new fixed-width layout is screwing up terribly. Your site used to look fine in every browser I use, from IE and Opera on Windows Mobile 6, to the old KHTML Konqueror on my Debian laptop, to Firefox in Linux and Windows XP, and even in Opera on my Nintendo DS and Wii. So far this new layout is all kinds of hosed in KHTML Konqueror.

  107. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Steve Jobs 'not dead yet'

    Brilliant because it'd inspire both the the Windows- *and* Mac fanbois.

  108. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    icon suggestion

    how about a WTF icon. I envision the the Technical Content egghead icon with "?!?" over it or on the forehead.

  109. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    We've won a battle, not the war...

    Right, well done, so now what about fixing this fixed width crap?

    Paris, good to see you back.

  110. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    I love the New Layout.

    As for a New Icon how about a Public Database on Holiday with some African Hackers.

    *\. Mine is the only one you will ever need.

  111. Ye Cats
    Pirate

    Andy icon

    How about an "OMFG I can comment on an Andrew Orlowski article" icon? Won't be able to use it much, but it will be gratifying when you can.

    Oh yea, and bring back the dead vulch.

  112. Anonymous Coward
    Boffin

    Beware The Reg/Aperture Science acquisition!

    The cake is a lie!

    The cake is a lie!

    The cake is a........

  113. vincent himpe

    new icons

    - bullet riddled windows logo

    - bullet riddled pinguin logo.

    - bullet riddled mac logo

    - normal windows logo

    - normal pinguin logo

    - normal mac logo

    the 'normals' could have a 'heart symbol' with the logo inside for instance. that way one can clearly show if he hates or likes a certain flavor of os.

    Get rid of gates. Time to put Ballmer in ... actually you can replace those faces with my proposed logos.

    PH could be replaced by a drawing of a generic 'puzzled looking blonde'

    That way there is no risk of getting sued because of using pictures of real people.

  114. BlueGreen

    how about an icon representing...

    ...the drawing of flak away from essential matters (ooh, say, fixed width layout) by the deliberate introduction of rather more trivial but emotive issues (ooh, I dunno, new and somewhat rank icons) so you can apparently cave in and fix the latter whilst leaving the former. You win, they think they've won, all is peaceful again.

    Fixed width fixed please, thou Machiavellis, thanks everso.

    <end cynicism, hopefully for a long time as you do actually a great job>

  115. yeah, right.
    Thumb Down

    tweak?

    Tweak? TWEAK? You didn't bloody TWEAK the damn things, you pureed them and converted them from meaningful expressions to marketing DRIVEL utterly devoid of anything resembling personality. What the hell have you guys been eating over there, Pokemon cookies? Have you been invaded by a couple of marketing types from somewhere and are having your minds sucked dry of all that made the Register great? Ye Ghods! The only logical next step is to allow comments to have blink tags, that's how far you've sunk.

    What 1990's (or even late 1980's) clipart collection did the person responsible steal this crap from anyway? Why is the skull and crossbones icon still infected with terminal Smurfness? Why are the flame and heart icons drawn by someone in love with manga geared to 3 year olds?

    Get a grip folks. That's not a "tweak", and no amount of self-delusion on your part will change the fact that something is very very wrong at el Reg. If things don't get better soon investigations may be in order. Soon as I find the pitchfork, the burning torch, and my hayseed coveralls.

  116. Captain DaFt

    I've said it before, so I'll say it again...

    What this place needs is a WTF? icon!

    Uh, and my handler recommends a straight-jacket icon for some reason.

    Right now, I'm seeing a laughable mix of old and new icons... Maybe it'll clear up.

    No icon until things are stable(ish).

  117. Ross Fleming
    Coat

    How about an ironic

    "I hate the icons and don't see the point"? :-D

  118. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Icons

    I second (or third or whatever) the "Welcome our Overlords", "Think of the Children", and Twat-o-Tron ideas.

    For pro- and anti- gov icon I think they should be generic since multiple government are discussed in these pages. Perhaps an anarchist A for anti-gov and a gavel for pro-.

    We definitely need the all-seeing pyramid-eye. Or at least a tinfoil hat. (Though I guess that's kinda the same as black helicopters.)

  119. Anonymous Coward
    IT Angle

    How about

    Jesus with a phone for "form over function"

    Steve Ballmer "Dancing" for insanity

    Unix Shell prompt for old timers

  120. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Shark Jump

    That's the icon that I always wish I had.

    BTW: The text item in the subject line of the comment form is fixed at 31 characters. Since it has no border, it looks very strange. Just make it width:100%, and the problem goes bye-bye.

  121. Daniel B.

    Re: BRING BACK THE DEAD VULTURE! (please)

    I second that! How are we going to put the "vulture shot by the Met" jokes now??

  122. Robert Moore
    Heart

    a man from mars

    I think the need to bring back the A-Man-from-mars icon, and automatically add it to all comments from him.

  123. Darryl
    Coat

    I guess it's OK

    As long as we still have the one that looks like somebody fondling the invisible man.

    But please, that flaming onion one has to go.

  124. Phil Thomas

    Tw*t-O-Tron

    Tw*t-O-Tron icon please.

    So we may smite freely those we want to.

    Of course it might have been overused on the Site Redesign page this morning :)

  125. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    10 icons for consideration plus feedback

    1. A fanboy icon

    2. A NWO / Illuminati icon for conspiracy theories (pyramid with eye on top -- like on the dollar bill)

    3. A beer glass icon (a nice big belgian beer glass like a Chimay)

    4. Revert to the original icons for: heart, flame, skull and crossbones

    5. Replace Gates icon with Ballmer (breaking a chair?)

    6. Add a Larry Ellison icon (MIG, red star, party chicks, and rock and roll?)

    7. BSOD for M$ stuff / bugs / viruses etc

    8. A Stasi icon for reporting on Nu-Labour loss of liberties etc (chipping bins, RIPA-related council abuses of power etc)

    9. An EU icon for EU superstate control stories

    10. Council jobsworths / PCSO

    And make the icons bigger -- 32x32 doesn't give enough resolution for good detail. What about 48x48 or bigger?

    I don't like the new layout -- too much space given to ads on the right side of the main page. Featured/sticky pages not located at top/left so harder to identify.

  126. David Adams
    Thumb Up

    Definately need.....

    ...a CCTV Camera icon for the latest government clampdown,

    a "Won't somebody think of the Children?!" icon,

    and I think we need a big steaming turd icon for the "Unholy Turdspurt" that occasionally gets posted.

    Oh, and how about a lightswitch icon for the "Will the last person to leave the UK please turn out the lights" stories.

    Should do.

  127. Simpson
    Alert

    Can't think of a title

    http://i-was-just-wondering-if-a-very-long-url.will-still-break-the-page-layout.in-internet-explorer.ie/because-that-was-really-annoying-when-it-happened/it-would-screw-up-all-of-the-other-comments/on-the-page/

  128. Anonymous Coward
    Alert

    data "loss" icon needed

    Oh and, of course, a UK.gov data "loss" icon... for all those times when they get careless with our data.

  129. Sam

    Nearly forgot!

    Pratchett reference icon..maybe an orang-utan holding a boook?

  130. Mad Hacker
    Thumb Up

    How about an icon saying we hate fixed width pages

    I also liked Alacrity Fitzhugh's suggestion of a jumped the shark icon.

    Also, I agree with this.. the Title field just looks weird the way it is right now if you enter something longer then the field...

    The text item in the subject line of the comment form is fixed at 31 characters. Since it has no border, it looks very strange. Just make it width:100%, and the problem goes bye-bye.

    I also like the new thumbs up and down, but aren't stop and go almost identical in meaning?

  131. Will Godfrey Silver badge

    More Icons

    Hitchikers Guide (Don't Panic!)

    Saint & Devil Penguins

    Spanner (in the works)

    Old Fart

    Think of the Children / Terrorists

    Money down the drain (governments)

    Wagging finger (I told you so / warned you)

  132. ratfox

    The dead vulture, and google icons

    Good and evil google are needed, I think. Unfortunately, the founders faces are useless, as nobody knows who they are... And it might me tricky to use the logo. Maybe a big G with horns or aureole?

  133. Skinny
    Black Helicopters

    I feel deprived

    Somehow I managed to miss out on the cartoon Paris icon, by the time I got in this morning it was back to the original, anyone got a copy so I can see how bad it was?

    Reading through the suggestions I'll second the call for a new WTF?, Tw*t-O-Tron, Old Timers icons.

    As for the new icons, some are ok, but please restore the flam, crossbones and dead vulture icons.

    Helicopters because at least that hasn't changed.

  134. William Towle

    Re: Seconding That

    Andrew Langhorn> Tux looks like a Playmobil penguin head. And can we get rid of the tombstone one?

    I thought the new "I'll get my coat" looked rather like a playmobil figurine and am open to the idea of basing (some) updated/new icons on that theme.

    Thumbs up to new Stop/Go and Thumbs, down to smileys in washed out colours.

    A number of ways to reinvent existing road signs present themselves ("I call bs" via "beware cattle" for example) but by and large they all detract from the nuance that can be applied to the existing categories, and of course they're not all that international.

    ...Maybe we could see old and new icons alongside one another and put it to popular vote?

  135. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Haggises!

    Long and short legged mountain haggises obviously.

  136. Steven Knox
    Coat

    Icons

    But you can't have an evil Google Icon, because they do no evil. How about a "Where's the Google app?" icon?

    And to refer to (questionable) fact-checking, how about a Wikipedia icon?

    I still want the dead vulture back, as well. But I'll settle for a live vulture as long as it eats that flaming onion.

  137. This post has been deleted by its author

  138. Anonymous Coward
    Alien

    Web2.0 = Badger

    So that's that icon sorted out for Ashley Pomeroy.

    As for the remaining icons, thanks for bringing half of them back. Now bring the rest back, they were all much better. Honestly. At least the vulture, please.

    New icons? Well, Web2.0 obviously, something for the pedants definitely, a WTF!? icon, a retro icon, and maybe also a !!!eleventy-one!!! icon for extreme gushing enthusiasm seem like the minimum. That could be part of a pair with a "meh" icon too.

    Designs? Well:

    for the pedant - either a big foot squashing an ant (ped-ant, geddit?), or maybe just a picture of one of those fine-toothed headlouse combs - aka a nit-picker.

    for the WTF - how about an interrobang in a road-sign triangle

    retro - don't suppose you could fit a speccy and a c64 having a boxing match into that size, could you? No? Maybe a little piccy of an abacus would be kinda geeky-cool.

    eleventy-one - could be done like a speed-limit sign. But I guess someone might try and burn it down or blow it up. Perhaps just a big tangled pile of exclamation marks of different sizes. (Even better would be an icon of Kiki from Sluggy Freelance, but it might be too tricky getting permission).

    meh - well - obvious really - how about a sheep? Because we really ought to have a sheep icon anyway. For all those Wales-vs-NZ discussions we get into ......

    ...oops. I'll get my coat icon.

  139. James
    Pirate

    Reg Easter egg?

    I just tried to swap the usual icons for the reg editors icon and it said:

    There are some problems with your comment:

    * A title is required.

    * This ain't flickr. <-- Apparently not!

    I guess its so you cant hack it and put your own images in there of Paris' nip or such like.

  140. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    for government projects

    1. leaning Westminster clock tower with money falling out

    2. large eye with stormtrooper helmet for government surveillance

    3. face with very long nose for government statements

  141. SkippyBing

    Second the Fixed Width Icon thingy

    Because it'll save everyone a lot of time when they want to vent their frustration at having to re-zoom the browser every time they open the site.

  142. This post has been deleted by its author

  143. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Mmmmmm, Icons!

    I'm thinking a FSM (that's flying spaghetti monster) for those Scientology or fundie things that show up occasionally...

    I like the idea of an RTFM icon that someone mentioned earlier.

    We have a new smiling Tux (that **is** what that thing is, innit?), We need one with horns, too.

    The new pirate icon sux; surely, you can do better.

    A megaphone for blowhards.

    A WTF icon, properly designed to iconify the sheer incredulity of it all.

    A 1984 icon for everything NuLabor and Republican (depending, of course, which side of the pond you're on)...maybe instead a V for Vendetta icon.

    Maybe someone banging his/her head against a wall...

  144. chuckufarley Silver badge
    Coat

    Icon Ideas

    First off, you need Tux from Freedroid in full battle regalia. Next, you need Bob Dobbs smoking his pipe while wearing a tin foil cap. Then perhaps an unladen African swallow. Also you would be remiss to neglect Sir Alec Guenniss as Lady Agatha (One must admit, he put on a good show there). Finally I would like to suggest the SCO logo in order to remind us that aim for the proper target.

    Coat, Hat, Pub.

  145. This post has been deleted by its author

  146. Bounty

    yup

    I'm gonna have to go with

    Terminator head

    Flying Spaghetti Monster

    Eye of Providence (all seeing eye symbol on dollar) Just missed Eye of Sauron article... damn.

    Wikipedia ish logo icon for all the bashing and linking to...

    Biohazad symbol http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazard_symbol

    Rocket ship, with circular tanks on the sides on the bottom.

    A frying pan with eggs in it.

    A bicycle.

    Dollar symbol $... maybe sparring or playing with the £

  147. ryan
    Flame

    Icons

    @ Simpson:

    If there was a coffee/keyboard incident icon I would have used it!

    @Francis Vaughan:

    If you want a deadly icon I think it should be a bio hazard icon. It could have a lot of uses.

    @Mad Hacker:

    I wasn't sure of a "welcoming our overlords" icon but Kent Brockman would be genius.

    I think there should be a Chuck Norris icon to counterbalance Paris. I also loved the Valium icon idea. A Playmobil icon is necessary for those stories that demand further journalistic coverage. Finally, I'm surprised nobody is asking for a Prez. Bush icon -- It would get a lot of use even though his days are numbered.

    My votes in order:

    Coffee/Keyboard incident.

    Beer (Beer/Keyboard incident?)

    WTF.

    Old dead vulture.

    Pair of quote marks.

    Chuck Norris

    Pedant.

    Playmobil

    Tinfoil hat.

    Google (maybe good and evil in the same icon becouse of their moto.

    Bio hazard.

    Valium.

    <-- The flame because it could double for the Valium icon. It's a flame, but it's a happy peaceful flame. I feel happy when I see it. (... at least in its current incarnation at time of writing.)

  148. Adrian Esdaile
    Thumb Up

    Surely we can't do without....

    A nice icon of a pint of beer.

    Because you KNOW you want one.

  149. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    There must be a Goatse icon.

    Quote: Solomon Grundy "There must be a Goatse icon."

    Seconded - I was going to say something along the lines of needing a "getting reamed" icon, but this says and so much more......

  150. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    icon?

    What about a total bollocks icon? (for anything involving politicians for example).

    If you need a suggestion for the design I'm wasting my time.

  151. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Please

    can we have:

    WTF? icon

    The old skull & crossbones icon

    Number of columns dependant on pixel width of display.

    Also, how about generic good/bad icons to replace the plethora of apple, microsoft, whatever icons.

    Two icons instead of one: the first one represents ones feeling, the second one the object of that feeling. Eg. Good linux, bad government, crazy inventor, strange Australian - given suitably generic icons, many combinations would be possible.

    OK, time for my medication now.

  152. Rick

    GOO-HOO!

    Maybe a new goo-hoo! icon and get rid of that sissy flame icon bring the old one back!!! bring back the REG vulture icon. Some vintage kit icon. oh and BOFH icon!! yes yes..

  153. Benny
    Alert

    Still need a comment, but you give me fixed width?!

    "Also, nobody ever seems to use the "black helicopter" icon and the Paris Hilton one is a signal of a lame comment, so how about retiring those two?"

    This is a local site for local people....I wonder if you'd take a seat...I have some rather upsetting news...

    Dammit, wheres the vulcher!

  154. Jonathan Tate
    Black Helicopters

    @BKB

    More like someone didn't let you see the comments that used the black helicopter icon...

  155. Moss Icely Spaceport
    Paris Hilton

    How's about....

    ....an icon for Lost Data, a few CDs falling out of a 2nd class mail item somewhere on the Hight St...etc

    Hi Paris, glad you are bacK!

  156. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How about

    uploading your own user icon?

  157. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Just some votes of support

    WTF and Coffee/Keyboard have been needed for some time.

    Liked the idea of "in my day" too (punch card sounded reasonable for that one).

    Any point in a flame-bait icon? (Maybe an unlit match or H2 cylinder?)

    Like the new Reg tombstone; dead vulture was misused more often than not.

    Liked the old flame more; new one is too cute.

  158. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    More votes

    . I for one welcome our...

    . A Flying Spaghetti Monster icon

    . RTFM

    . One for AManFromMars (or however the name is spelt today)

    If anyone has seen the Achmed the dead terrorist vent. act and thinks it's appropriate then... I'm in the office at the mo' and can't get at the clips.

  159. Chris

    It weren't broke - didn't need fixing!

    The real question is, WHO let bloody designers in? The site has 'Designers' written all over it.

    You got what you deserved for allowing that!

  160. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    +1 for a 'bad/evil linux' icon

    Not of course that anyone would ever dream of using it, or ever find the need to, of course :)

    Also another vote for good / bad Google icons, so that I for one can welcome our new data-guzzling all-encompassing no-evil-doing overlords?

    And thank Dawkins that the PH and IGMC icons are back, if you'd not reprieved them I would have ... er ... been extremely mildly annoyed for a few minutes then ... I might even have tutted exasperatedly. More than once.

  161. TeeCee Gold badge

    I reckon:

    Something for "Tongue in cheek" (too many people round here only notice sarcasm if it weighs about 2 tons and gets dropped on their foot). Anyone who reckons "joke" suffices should imagine something weighing about two tons dropping on their foot about now.

    A pair of trousers with a suspicious stain at the crotch (i.e. I just pissed myself).

    A singing whale.

    Oh, and a "here's some helpful feedback to your earlier post" icon. Something like a plain, white box with "> /dev/null" written in it, 'cos no-one ever fucking listens anyway.

  162. Dai Kiwi

    Text too small

    Not particularly fussed about fixed width, since I rarely have my browser maximised but on this 1600x1200 monitor the text is its too bloody small to read at 100% size.

    Please bring back the dead vulture.

    Please revert to the old versions of the thumbs and flame.

    Less pastel in the smileys would be good too.

    As for new suggestions, I support the following:

    Don't Panic

    Good & Evil Tux - we need to round out the trinity, after all

    Terminator head - for RotM etc

    Shark with laser - just because

    Handle of beer - for cheers, agreed, good point, it's friday, I'd never type this if sober, etc

    Big Brother/1984 - because there's more than one conspiracy

  163. Anonymous Coward
    Gates Horns

    Icon suggestions

    I like the idea of an icon for government pork barrel spending, and an icon for Big Brother.

  164. Kieron McCann

    Adolf Hitler

    Because there are some comment nazis here (like me)

    PS the smileys, the heart and the gay flame icon really really REALLY suck - I mean who wants to flame someone with something that looks like it's out of a f*king Noddy book. I want FLAMES, FLAMES you hear?? TOXIC, red burning FLAMES muuuhhahahhhahahaa

    And dont get me started on the jolly roger replacement. A jolly roger is supposed to be menacing, not something that looks like it's been nicked from Bebo.

    Is your new graphic designer on secondment from cee bee bees?

  165. AC
    Thumb Up

    icon suggestion

    clearly we need a "going postal" icon.

    for when you read the story and flames just aren't sufficient to express your complete anger at what el reg has just made me read.

    a gun with flying bullets icon would work well for stories like

    "global warming blamed for ..."

    "car tax increased because ..."

    "gordon clown to stay in power"

    "prisoners allowed free"

    etcetc

  166. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    Isn't it funny....

    ...how El-Reg made such a big deal about about SCCs (small cheap computers) and then went and designed a fixed-width page that no longer fits properly on their screens!

    Despite zooming the text down, I can only see "chunks" of it at any one time on my Eee 701 - it's nearly like looking at the page on a mobile phone screen.

    For those of us with smaller screens, variable width pages such as yours were a distinct bonus.

  167. Anonymous Coward
    IT Angle

    only 2

    only 3 i think would get used a lot:

    a burning £20 note - useful for comments about either paytards (who burn money), freetards (who would rather burn it than spend it), or government IT projects (perhaps a £20 note is a little small there though)

    a CCTV camera - not that many people would recognise what those look like with how uncommon they are

    and of course last but not least:

    "i can't believe what this site has become! i'm never coming back here again!" - you could also have it count how many times a user has used this icon and display it next to the comment :)

    now, where's the IT angle in this article? the register is just some random daily mail style website that seems to have nothing to do with IT or Technology, I'm never coming back here again!

  168. Anonymous Coward
    Jobs Halo

    Webster Phreaky icon

    We need a webster phreaky icon.

  169. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    A variation on the thumbs-up icon

    Similar to the thumbs-up icon but without the thumb and preferably animated in the manner of a one-handed typist's non-typing hand. So many uses - Kevin Warwick, forgetful laptop users and everything NuLab.

    Also a boot stamping on a human face, for those wonderful Orwellian moments that NuLab bring us so often.

  170. Big_Boomer Silver badge
    Pirate

    FreekingOut Icon?

    I'd like one with someone obviously losing it, tearing their hair out, etc.

    Seems that working for these great big slow lumbering wasteful companies makes me feel like that most days. <sigh>

    I need to get out of "The Stink" and get a real job with a nice small company.

  171. Harry

    Here's a selection

    "This guy needs to be taken out and shot" icon [Picture of a gun pointing at a judge]

    To be used retrospectively for the twit who can't tell the difference between spam and free speech -- and subsequently for anybody else who demonstrates their gross incompetence for the job they've been appointed (eg OfCom and most of the government).

    - - -

    Loud Hailer icon

    For people who just want to make a point

    - - -

    Beer pump handle

    For people who just want to make a pint.

    - - -

    "This icon unintentionally blank" icon -- something like [ ]

    For people who remember IBM manuals.

    - - -

    And last but not least: User-Hostile Web site award icon [column of text occupying only 25% of the icon width]

    For anybody stupid enough to design a web page that doesn't adapt itself to properly fit the chosen width of the user's window.

  172. Anon Koward

    Icons...

    Ok my recent post about icons may have been a tad hasty... thank you for bringing the old one's back but honestly some of the redesigned one's (flame and heart to name a few), look like one's my 4yr old son* draw's.

    So I am going to stand by my statment of boycotting the icons.

    *He is quite talented!

  173. mittfh

    My 2p's worth

    Strongly agree with the suggestion to revert to the original heart / flame / jolly roger icons - e.g. the current flame looks more like an onion...

    As for new icons, how about one for "Things were better in the good old days..." - possible suggestions for the relevant icon could include: the elderly persons sign, John Major ("Back to Basics!") or even, topically, Ms. Palin...

    Then we could do with a red globe (or globe on fire) - "Where's the global warming angle?"

    How about a globe exploding - "Repent, ye sinners, for the end of the world is nigh!" (Useful for LHC black hole conspiracy theorists)

    As others have suggested, since we have pro-MS / anti-MS and pro-Apple / anti-Apple icons but only a pro-Linux, how about an anti-Linux for balance?

    If you can get Simon's blessing, the BOFH devil phone logo would be a welcome addition...

  174. Anonymous from Mars

    0.2 is not a title

    Needs a web 0.2 icon.

  175. mittfh

    Another idea!

    A panda - for punctuation pedants (see apostrophe debate in the smoothies for kids article for an example)...

  176. Not That Andrew
    IT Angle

    Wheres the Fucking Flame Icon?!

    Where the hell is the fucking flame icon you fucking web2.0tards!

    And why the hell do you you still have the fucktarded fixed-with blogtastic layout?!

    Paris, coz even she realises that the new layout is up to shit

  177. Chris Matchett

    a Google G with horns/halo

    To fit with the Gates/Jobs ones

  178. Anonymous Coward
    Go

    For when we are done over

    How about a rubber gloved hand for those intimate moments when the system wants to really show us who is boss. Also handy for over-zealous officialdom.

  179. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Can we have a two fingers icon?

    Perhaps both variations - peace and peace off?

  180. NotReallyRequired

    Seriously underestimated the intelligence of El Reg readers...

    I'm stunned that:

    1. Everyone thinks the comment icons are the end of the universe

    2. There has been no response to the fixed width issue and

    3. That almost everyone here is so stupid they've fallen for this little El Reg ploy (taking focus of Item 2).

    Meh. If people are so desperate to take it up the ass, then I guess they deserve it... Hope y'all enjoy the extra adverts that'll start within the next three months.

  181. Tim
    Paris Hilton

    Bring back all the old icons...

    and add more variety to cover our favourite slogans:

    I for one...

    Twat-o-tron..

    Daily Mail...

    BOFH...

    Coffee/computer collision...

    PH because I can see past her looks, right into her bank account!

  182. Law
    Paris Hilton

    It must be Friday icon

    for when it's obviously friday article, like playmobil or nsfw story? :)

    Or a playmobil icon - for when we demand a scene be re-enacted?!

    Paris - because I'd re-enact a few things with her! ;)

  183. Jimmy

    Humble pie icon for El Reg

    Nice to see El Reg partaking of the old humble pie in response to the outraged sensibilities of we Regitards. Keep taking the medication and we might get back to normality.

    Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.

  184. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    There are some problems with your comment: A title is required.

    Pistols at dawn.

    Coffin Dodgers

    Drunken Rant

    Pub O'Clock

    Government sponsored mugging

  185. Dan Cooke

    Rebranding Icon

    perhaps the new OGC logo? (would have other obvious uses too)

  186. Michael P

    How about...

    A "gentleman, in recliner, with pipe, and large book" icon. I call it... "Make yourselves comfortable kids, I'm about to tell you a story and we may be some time..."

    I feel the need to warn people.

  187. Rob
    Pirate

    Jonathon Ross being hanged...

    Not a request for an icon. I'd just like to see it for real.

  188. Chris Evans
    Thumb Up

    No Comments Title listing anymore

    The loss of the first few (six?) comment Titles is a great loss. I will either now waste more time by going to comments or save time by not bothering so often!

  189. Francis Boyle Silver badge

    A Dalek

    instead of the lame flame icon because nobody does flames like daleks - well at least not not if you're heavily into cheap negative effects.

    Or maybe Larry and Sergey as Cybermen, which shouldn't be difficult since nobody can remember what they look like anyway.

  190. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Fixed and inflexible.

    How about a straight-jacket icon to represent retrograde design practices like fixed width fonts?

  191. Jesse
    Dead Vulture

    A couple suggestions

    -There should be a urinal cake icon for pedants

    -The old man on the scooter chasing people would make a great icon.

    -Someone mentioned a foaming beer mug icon, I second that.

    There definately should be no icons supporting memes from other websites. It might be considered "humorous" or "witty" on slashdot. That tripe can stay on slashdot.

  192. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @NotReallyRequired

    There are adverts on this site? (firefox, noscript and adblock).

  193. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    Thumbs Down icon converted to Thumps Up and broken/missing links

    This should appear with a Thumbs Down icon like my last posting which appeared with a Thumps Up one! I'll admit I clicked wrongly if this posting appears correctly!

    n.b. the site map seems to have dissapeared and the links at the bottem of the cashancarrion pages are broken.

  194. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    @NotReallyRequired

    If you ever find yourself stunned at how incredibly mind-bogglingly unbelievably stupid people are, you should perhaps take it as a hint that they know something you don't, rather than more grist to your smug ego-mill.

    1. Nobody thinks the comment icons are the end of the universe. You only make this false inference because of your false assumption about ...

    2. ... which is that there has been little response to it because people are distracted by #1, rather than considering the simpler (but less satisfying for your superiority complex) explanation that most people JUST DON'T CARE....

    3. ... hence proving that you're not as clever as you think you are. Extra ads? What extra ads? In fact, "what ads?" full stop, since I don't see any ads here at all. Then again, I know how to set up my browser to show the web how *I* like it, whereas *you* appear to think that you just have a take-it-or-leave-it choice between web pages as they're delivered vs. using an adblocker or noscript.

    IOW, your entire post was "Everyone but me is stupid, because they don't care about the same things that matter to me". I suggest you google "solipsistic fallacy" and "narcissist" for more information.

    QED!

    (Oh noes!!!1!!!!eleventy! The flame icon sux0rs!!!1!!!!2!!!!3!! It's the end of the universe o woe is me o no o no and how ironic who would ever have thought that the LHC wouldn't get a chance to destroy it because El Reg's poorly-chosen new icons destroyed it FRIST!!111!) <- An example of not what anyone here is saying, in case you need it spelled out for you.

  195. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    I agree on the spewing coffee.

    Especially after Stylee's "urinal full of ants"...I'm still laughing.

    An icon for the Moderatrix - for when we really need her!

    A horned Jacqui - to be replaced by a horned "whomever" when she's finally deposed.

    A Benny Hill - for those times when Paris isn't quite appropriate.

    Like the geezer logo - I am one and it's good to remind whipper-snappers of it!

    Mashed spider logo - for those inclined to look like the famous barking one.

    An icon for any of the various fanbois!

    A playmobile icon for when we need pictures!

    The obligatory "meaurements required" logo...for sheep, blugarian airbags; you name it.

    @MahatmaCoat - A variation on the thumbs-up icon - and here I was thinking you were going to ask for a one-fingered salute...meh!

  196. Mad Hacker
    Thumb Up

    What I do like...

    Ok, I do like the new thumbs up and down. The flame (onion) needs to go to something more flaming. The tombstone was better as the bleeding vulture. And the Jolly Rodger should be more menacing instead of cute.

    And I still think the thumbs up and thumbs down are redundant with Stop and Go and the the Smilie and Frownie faces.

    Also considering how much empty space this fixed width page is you could add a lot of icons without even adding a new row. Not that the empty area/fixed width pages are a good thing mind you.

  197. Solomon Grundy

    Idea

    How bout a big "fuck you" symbol? I'll leave it up to you guys to determine how best to illustrate it.

    Why are the icons so fuzzy?

  198. Paul
    Go

    something with apostrophe's

    for those grammer and speling flaims

  199. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Add your own comment

    Me to (for when you want to post but have nothing to say)

    Beware poster is using the internet to replace actual social interaction. (This might just be a new name for the comments section rather then an icon)

    Flags of the world (To help reinforce prejudice)

  200. Andus McCoatover
    Paris Hilton

    Seconded!

    As I'm writing this on an eeepc701, yep, I want the eeepc girl icon (Thanks, Dave Driver)

    Then, my pc needs to be converted to "left-hand-mode" F'narr F'narr

  201. Richard Thomas

    Spelling Nazi icon

    An icon with the letters "DNA" for spelling and grammar pedants, expanded to "National Dyslexic Association" in the title tag.

  202. Dan Cooke

    bad science

    a solar-powered snail icon

  203. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    and last, but not least

    A douchebag. You know who you are.

  204. mittfh
    Pirate

    Yay! Fire and Jolly Roger return!

    I can live with the tombstone, but please do something about that heart, and couldn't you find a slightly more CGI / 3D looking Tux? Don't forget you need to do both halo and horns varieties of him...

    And something every forum needs - a panda for punctuation pedants :) Shotgun optional...

  205. NotReallyRequired

    @Anonymous Coward

    I mean the AC that said: 'If you ever find yourself stunned at how incredibly mind-bogglingly unbelievably stupid people are, you should perhaps take it as a hint that they know something you don't, rather than more grist to your smug ego-mill... etc'

    Thanks for the laugh especially the end bit. Honest. I appreciate it. I know it is cruel, but for more kicks, I will now justify my smug ego-mill by poking holes in your flame as follows (no promises to do the same in future. Because!!!111tyness!):

    1. Suggest you check this out: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/14/reg_redesign/comments/ (NB: You will no doubt enjoy my comments there too). Of course the article responsible for THIS string of comments and the quantity of respondents also tends to add credence no?

    2. Refer to 1, but instead of looking for complaints about the Missing-Paris-Icon-OMG-The-World-Is-Ending-And-I-Will-Never-Look-At-The-Reg-Again.Com, have a look at how many people complain about fixed width. Mmm. Perhaps I'm not the only one?

    3. Not really worth my time, but might I also recommend HostsMan from http://www.abelhadigital.com/.

    Oooh big words! I like word games because they almost always give me the opportunity to flourish not only my impressive knowledge but my superior capacity to use them efficaciously.

    I suggest you lookup the word perspicaciousness as it is obviously a quality you lack to taking someone with a handle of 'NotReallyRequired' seriously... While you are at it, checkout rachis.

    Now to wrap up, I would like to point out that very few people know useful things that I don't. It's just the way it is. That's not a hole-poker. Just an honest statement. Secondly, my integrity obligates me to acknowlege and defer to the supperior smugness of Honey in both of these commentaries, and lastly, thankyou for justifying my smug ego-mill universe.

    If you would like to reply, feel free to email me: rarelycheckedemail@yay!.com... or wowwie.com or something like that (the first part really is correct).

  206. Mark

    Icon additions

    How about

    Foot-Stamping. Either for Pythonesque humour or for Big Brother

    Screw and Ball. For responding to idiots

    Boss-eyed. For responding to confusion (aManfRomARs)

    Red Circle with Child and red bar diagonal. So we DON'T think of the children.

    Steaming brown pile. Obvious, isn't it. Either tagging or responding.

  207. Daniel Turner

    Icon Suggestion

    How about a sideways thumb? And a medium face? I don't always want to be fully positive or negative!

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