If I found this kid, I'd bet he'd be surprised

[Reverend Conehead]

Actually, he'd be an adult by now. Back in 2001, when I was first learning coding, I stumbled upon a web page with a funny picture of a toddler looking angry. I needed a dialog box to stop users from sizing a window so small that it would crash the program. I thought it would be fun to have a little kid tell the user to knock it off, so I wrote to his parents asking for permission to use the image. They granted that, and I've used it in programs ever since. Here it is with the old Windows version (written in Windows 2000) on the left and the new Linux version on the right. I think it makes it more fun. I'm writing the Linux version in Python, and it has a thing that can block the user from making a window small enough to crash the program. So I don't actually need my toddler message box anymore, but I'm including it in the app anyway because I think it's funny.

I don't have the people's contact information anymore. I'd bet this now-grown man has no idea his toddler face has been popping up in my apps for years. I considered switching to a more cartoonish image of an angry toddler, but I was like, "Nah, this one is fun."

 

[gtb1943]

Actually, he'd be an adult by now. Back in 2001, when I was first learning coding, I stumbled upon a web page with a funny picture of a toddler looking angry. I needed a dialog box to stop users from sizing a window so small that it would crash the program. I thought it would be fun to have a little kid tell the user to knock it off, so I wrote to his parents asking for permission to use the image. They granted that, and I've used it in programs ever since. Here it is with the old Windows version (written in Windows 2000) on the left and the new Linux version on the right. I think it makes it more fun. I'm writing the Linux version in Python, and it has a thing that can block the user from making a window small enough to crash the program. So I don't actually need my toddler message box anymore, but I'm including it in the app anyway because I think it's funny.

I don't have the people's contact information anymore. I'd bet this now-grown man has no idea his toddler face has been popping up in my apps for years. I considered switching to a more cartoonish image of an angry toddler, but I was like, "Nah, this one is fun."

you are a dead man if he finds you, Rev

 

[Vtwin]

I know that guy. He used to live in Rockport Texas but moved to Hawaii.

 

[zrinkill]

I know that guy. He used to live in Rockport Texas but moved to Hawaii.

That guy was probably already 60 in 2001, became a Cowboys fan in 2010, became a Spurs fan in 2026.

 

[DallasEast]

Those are hiLARious! You got me thinking what I would have come up with if I was a coder. If such a thing is possible, knowing me, I would have made a dialog box that would have displayed 'Will you stop touching me!' upon every resize attempt.

 

[Reverend Conehead]

Those are hiLARious! You got me thinking what I would have come up with if I was a coder. If such a thing is possible, knowing me, I would have made a dialog box that would have displayed 'Will you stop touching me!' upon every resize attempt.

Ha ha ha ha, that is absolutely possible, and thanks for the idea. That's similar to an old coding prank where a button moves away when the user tries to click on it. Some coders would make it just barely move away so that they just miss and others would make it move all the way to the other side of the window. I made my own version where the button would kind of loop around like a confused fly before stopping somewhere. Totally useless program, but funny.

I did another one that allowed me to post on forums with my text in varying colors. One of the options was Dallas Cowboys colors. It changed the color a little per letter and I thought it looked kind of cool. However, I just tried it here, and I guess it doesn't work anymore for more modern discussion boards like this one.

 

[Reverend Conehead]

Ha ha ha ha, that is absolutely possible, and thanks for the idea. That's similar to an old coding prank where a button moves away when the user tries to click on it. Some coders would make it just barely move away so that they just miss and others would make it move all the way to the other side of the window. I made my own version where the button would kind of loop around like a confused fly before stopping somewhere. Totally useless program, but funny.

I did another one that allowed me to post on forums with my text in varying colors. One of the options was Dallas Cowboys colors. It changed the color a little per letter and I thought it looked kind of cool. However, I just tried it here, and I guess it doesn't work anymore for more modern discussion boards like this one.

The time limit to edit my post as expired. I just figured out, I could get it to work locally, and so I converted it to this image. It won't work on this forum, but if it did, it would look like this picture.

 

[nobody]

The time limit to edit my post as expired. I just figured out, I could get it to work locally, and so I converted it to this image. It won't work on this forum, but if it did, it would look like this picture.

Love it, but it makes me think "Holy Hyperlinks, Batman!"

 

[Khartun]

The time limit to edit my post as expired. I just figured out, I could get it to work locally, and so I converted it to this image. It won't work on this forum, but if it did, it would look like this picture.

That hurts my eyes. LOL

 

[Reverend Conehead]

That hurts my eyes. LOL

That's why I quit using it. People complained that it was hard to read. Oh, well, it was an idea.