=f is the first real emoticon of the 21st century

                =f may be the emoticon of the 21^st century. Jackson Nieuwland has spent countless hours, days, weeks, and even months working on this life-changing emoticon. I am impressed by Jackson’s commitment to the pursuit of the fantastic. Too often people give up on the fantastic and settle for the mundane. ‘Everything is fantastic’ is Jackson’s bat signal. He owns the term. Whenever I use the word ‘fantastic’ to describe anything I think of Jackson Nieuwland. 

                New Zealand isn’t an easy place to live. I know that now. One of my close friends is from New Zealand. He suffers so many injustices. People confuse New Zealand for Australia all the time and he is too polite to correct them. When he went to see the World Bank in Washington, my friend was told: “Your country is politically stable, beautiful, with polite wonderful people and an efficient economy. However, you’re in the middle of nowhere and too small, so you’re irrelevant.” When I heard that I immediately said to the person next to me “But ‘Everything is fantastic there’. The person next to be asked what I was talking about and I said ‘Jackson Nieuwland’. They nodded. They understood the power of Jackson Nieuwland. 

                Jackson Nieuwland is the fantastic guru. Look at all the time he spends writing and liking things. Facebook and Tumblr know him well. When you get liked by Jackson, an angel gets its wings. Single-handedly Jackson has managed to give nearly every angel in heaven an extra set of wings and a free vacation to any island in the South Pacific. Look at the =f emoticon. It looks simple at first. There’s an equal sign then a lower case f. Reading it this way ignores the potential time saved by this internet loving device. One typed out the entire word ‘fantastic’ on the internet. Forget that. That is over. Now one can effortlessly enjoy or find something fantastic with a simple two buttons. Imagine the time saved. Finally our civilization turns away from hate, trolling, spamming, flaming and embraces the good, embraces the fantastic. 

                Sometimes I dream about world peace. I know it won’t happen. I also dream about internet peace where one is judged fairly. There are no ‘you’re a stupid idiot’ comments, or ‘go back to Bulgaria you damn Bulgarian’ comments. Everyone is treated fairly. People live in a Kumbaya based internet, where people virtually hold hands with each other and sing via Tinychat. Call me a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. With Jackson Nieuwland, the internet can be fantastic and fun.