Clipped

It should be borne in mind by everyone who knows what the numbers "33 1/3, 45 and 78" mean that this year's recent high school graduates were born in 2003, which means that they were but 4 years of age when a notorious cultural icon went to an early demise.

2007 was the year we said goodbye to Anna Nicole Smith (who married a rich old man and loved the life right out of him), Ike Turner (who is more of a founder of rock 'n' roll than many people realize), Tammy Faye Bakker (who with her husband Jim perfected ways of separating fools and their money), Jane Wyman (who did her purgatory on earth, having been married to Ronald W. Reagan), Porter Wagoner (colorfully dressed country star), and Hank Bauer (manager of the Baltimore Orioles when they won the World Series for the first time ever, 1966). 

Colorful people, all, and they made their contributions to the world. And there was one more death in 2007: Clippy.

Again, if you are young, you are blessed. You don't know the agony of beginning to work on a Microsoft document, and having this annoying character in the shape of a paper clip start talking to you right on your screen!

He didn't actually talk out loud, but he would pop up in balloon form and say, "It looks like you're getting ready to write a letter! 

Or "It looks like you're getting ready to make a list!"

or "It looks like you don't know what the hell you're doing!"

And then he would make suggestions.

Old Mr Clipsworth was born as part of Windows 97, and lasted until Office 2007. And as if you didn't know, tomorrow (Saturday) is World Emoji Day (I hope you sent out greeting cards!) and so Microsoft is saluting the day by bringing the paperclip emoji back even bigger than before! 

And, never ones to do anything in a small way, MS is planning a "broader refresh" of 1,800 emojis for all Microsoft apps and services later this year.

Claire Anderson, Microsoft's art director, said "When we looked at redesigning the paper clip, we thought, 'How could you not?" Ms Anderson is Microsoft's "emoji-ologist," and she told CNN Business, "It's a way of honoring where we've come from as we also look at a new tech style. .. But like most nostalgic things, we know Clippy can be polarizing."

Polarizing, yes. Have you ever started doing something - on the computer, at the stove, on a drill press, wherever - that you weren't exactly sure about how to proceed with, only to have the office know-it-all suddenly looming over your shoulder with enthusiastic supportive phrases like "Oh THIS oughta be good!" That's Clippy. He's the King Of All Know-It-Alls as he bounces around on your screen.

While the rest of us were just trying to survive the pandemic, Microsoft spent the past year refreshing all the emojis. They're going to be 3D, not 2D anymore, and they're going to be animated for the most part. "We want the design to uplift and make people happy," Anderson said.

Oh, and there will be five new emojis to sum up the thrills and fun of working from home: 

• a "you're on mute" emoji
• an image of someone multitasking with their arms going everywhere 
• a "business on top and pajamas on bottom" emoji 
• a cat in front of the screen emoji
• and a person holding a baby.

How about one that shows someone tossing their desktop out a window because of all these animated annoyances? Nothing.

"We were reflecting on this past year and thinking what it looks like in emojiland -- and those are the ones that stood out to us the most because it's part of how we live now and interactions that happen all of the time," Anderson told CNN.

Oh, and get this: MS pulled a study out of their hat or somewhere else and the survey says "57% of people believe emojis in the workplace are professional and help humanize conversations. Emojis are often used as tools to lighten or intensify tones, express playfulness or enhance expression."

Adobe put out a study saying that "laugh out loud" is the world's favorite emoji, followed by the "thumbs up" and "red heart" emojis.

What happened to "woman in a red dress dancing Flamenco," "clown," and "eye roll"? I seem to get them all the time!