Hi Jonna: I think you're right that asterisks on IRC have something to do with the history of computers and programming. I would look up the Jargon File (many online versions), a huge compendium on hacker language and other practices, or the print version, Eric Raymond, The New Hackers' Dictionary (3rd ed. MIT Press, 1996), for excellent documentation about hacker practices. Just google Jargon File and you'll find lots of links. For early (1991) examples of uses of asterisks and other forms of play with typography in IRC, see (if I may) chap. 3 of my Cyberpl@y: Communicating Online (Berg, 2001). Brenda Brenda Danet Emerita, Sociology & Communication, Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem Research Affiliate, Anthropology, Yale University Home pages: http://pluto.mscc.huji.ac.il/~msdanet/ New book: The Multilingual Internet: Language, Culture and Communication Online (co-edited with Susan C. Herring, Oxford Univ. Press, 2007)