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l33tspeak For Parents By Microsoft

Posted by Zonk on from the 1-w1ll-0wnz-j00 dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft has published A parent's primer to computer slang where !337$p34k is explained to the uninitiated. Expect to see a l33t-localized version of Windows XP soon." They also have a wonderful guide to the tactics of a griefer. "Honey, we're getting worried that you may be 0wning newbz. We need to talk..."

6 of 159 comments (clear)

  1. World of Warcraft by BrookHarty · · Score: 2, Interesting

    In WoW you cant chat between factions, but you can use leet speek using numbers and other non-characters.

    Theres a plugin called "Universal Translator" so you can now type /uts Hi and it will translate it into [-]:1 uses ":" for uppercase and "." for lowercase. It also supports morse code.

    Not exactly the normal leet speak with letters, but it comes in handy in game.

    I've also seen this type of leet speak mix with hex as simple way to send chat in IRC and others wont be able to understand the garbage.

    The only one I dont get is "pwned", that just looks stupid.

  2. More useful than most by SteveX · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Seriously, I've seen some awfully lame attempts at describing online chat slang.

    "It's important to remember that the leetspeek community encourages new forms and awards individual creativity, resulting in a dynamic written language that eludes conformity or consistency."

    It's like they actually kinda get it.

    Compared to, say, http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,88686,p g,2,00.asp, where they include 'kiss' as 'keep it simple stupid'. Have you ever seen anyone actually use that in chat?

    fysbigtbabn = Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night

    Yeah right.
    --
    http://www.stevex.org/longtail

  3. Also, see this... by antdude · · Score: 4, Interesting

    PBS' documentary on American language. It is going to get worse with these slangs. :(

    --
    Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  4. so this is real? by Bambi+Dee · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Does anyone actually "5p33|<" |_!|<3 7|-|15? I'm beginning to wonder whether it's not just a myth. "ur gay", yes, but "/\/\" for "M"? In realtime? Outside of ASCII art? Must be terribly inconvenient. No wonder they need to abbreviate two-letter-words! Anyway, I've never seen this extreme form of leetspeak in the wild, except when it's being made fun of. Then again, I don't play "those" games (much) and have no warez d00d acquaintances either. And as a retired author of embarrassing scrolltexts I've always made sure I ...oh, never mind. I never actually bothered making fonts with underscores or angle brackets. Or "@" signs. (What are those good for anyway, other than overwriting files on Commodores?)

    And not a word about "top posting/full quotes" on MS netiquette page.

  5. Re:Perhaps the most... by Sentack · · Score: 2, Interesting

    What are you nuts? You suggesting parents should get less involved with their kids? Not every parent is that involved in computers these days. They may look at them as a medium to check on news, write e-mail to family and friends and look up websites on fishing but you can't expect every parent to know the in's and out's of leet speak. This is information for parents to help them connect better with their children. These days people constantly talk about how parents are getting less involved and thus children are becomeing more involved in negative influences like narcotics, Gangs, and more. I'm not saying parents should turn into dictators, they just need to be educated into what their kids like and dislike. The more they can understand each other, the better I say. Neat article over all. Sentack

  6. Re:From the Article... by tuxedobob · · Score: 2, Interesting

    |.0.|.|.3.|2.5.|.4.7.3.5!