Answer: What ASCII pictures use for?

Looking at scrambled letters, Richard Denison  <rmd...@coventry.ac.uk> wrote:
>
>I was just wondering what the ASCII pictures are used for, do people keep 
>them because they look good or to be used in Signatures, WHY?????
>

Well, signatures are one reason for ascii pictures.  They help to
individualize and add character to an otherwise drab signature listing of
one's name, email address, and address.  You make good use of it in your sig:

>           ___
>          |___|
>              |
>             / \
>         /\/     \/\                                Richard Michael Denison
>_______/    \   /    \________________________E-mail: rmd...@coventry.ac.uk____
>      E X T R E M E '95                    Coventry University, England

Likewise, others include it in theirs as can be seen throughout the newsgroup
and in my sig below.

Here's an explanation from the ASCII ART FAQ:

[excerpt]
* Why use ASCII art instead of a GIF? 

   ASCII art is used because:

   Standard ASCII art is    If you can view text,     ASCII art is also the
   the only type of         you can view ASCII art    most compact form of
   graphics easily          (as it is made up of      graphics.  An ASCII
   transmitted and          standard text             picture can easily be
   instantly viewable on    characters).  No          less than 1 K.  In
   any terminal,            conversion or special     cases where resolution
   emulation, or            software required to      is not an issue, an
   communications           view.  Non-standard       ASCII graphic can take
   software.  It should     (8 bit) ASCII art         the place of a bitmap,
   also be printable on     requires that the file    EPS, or GIF of 20, 50,
   type of printer.         be saved and "cat'd".     100 or more K!


* What is ASCII art used for?                             

   ASCII art is used for many things, like:

   o  EDUCATION - A periodic table or molecular model for example.

   o  CROSS CULTURAL COMMUNICATION - Pictures are international.

   o  BBS & SERVER SCREENS - Login and logoff screens, MUDs, promos, etc.

   o  ENTERTAINMENT - Like a birthday 'card', holiday greetings, invitations,
      congradulatory messages, children's picture stories, etc.

   o  VISUAL AID - Such as a wiring diagram, floor plan, illustrated
      instructions, or flow chart, to eliminate a long involved explanation
      with a graphic.

   o  SIGNATURE FILES - of course :-)
[end of quoting]

I guess another reason, like you stated is that it looks good as well.  For me
it's fun to come up with a picture using only the charactres on the keyboard -
almost like a limited 'palate' from which to work with and it's a challenge to
come up with something.  It's quite satisfying to finally finish a picture and
realize that you were able to figure out how to put it together.

Hope it whets your appetite for Ascii Art and I hope that you try some of your
own.  It can be quite addicting once you get started on it.  *grin*

Regards,
-- Daniel

   /~~~~~\~\__                                ________--------~~~~~~~~~~~~~=
  /          @`\            ___--------~~~~~~~                            _-~
 |              ~)~)~)~)~O~~      Northwestern University Medical School   ~=
 |       /      /--------'~~-__           = Chicago, Illinois =           -~_
  \_____/ `----'               ~~=__                                       _=
     |    \__\___                   ~==__    Daniel C. Au  <dca...@nwu.edu>  _=
    /         /"\"\     ,---.           ~~==__                            =_
   |      ____\_/_/    |_____|                ~~--__   http://pubweb.acns.  =
   |            /"\"\  |`~~~'|  "Going to school    ~~==_   nwu.edu/~dcau  ~_
  /|           |   | | |WATER|    and making peanuts."   ~~==__            _=
M'  \dcau_______\_/_/  |_____|                                ~~===_________=

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^^^^^^^^^^^

    \\__  o
|\/    o\  o
>       < o
|/\   __/
    //

 |\__/,|   (`\
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 ( T   )     /
(((^_(((/(((_/

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/'` ' `'\
|'''''''|
|\\'''//|
   """

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