
Identicons - ninthfrank07
https://github.com/blog/1586-identicons
======
feniv
It would be nice if rather than using the hash (which you have no control
over), the algorithm looked at the distribution of languages I program in and
used that to pick the colors. That would be a better representation of my
programming identity and is in line up with what github already does for
repos.

~~~
daGrevis
A lot of people may know already that PHP is purple, Python is blue and
JavaScript is orange. Or at least GitHub has chosen those colors to represent
languages on their site.

So I would like that my avatar is more blue'ish because I focus on Python. :)

------
andrewcooke
i spent some time working on something like this - i wanted something that
could carry as much information as a typical cryptographic hash, but be
memorable to a human.

it turns out that it's quite hard to make that much information memorable :o)
(it's even harder to measure whether something is memorable, or even
"different" \- i ended up getting sidetracked into extreme value statistics,
and then giving up)

but one important trick was to make the pattern symmetric in some way, which
seems to be also used here. although it halves the amount of data (assuming
other parameters constant) it makes it much, much easier to remember.

anyway, these look good (for this use case).

------
tel
Pointless estimation:

There are, say, around 10x2^(5x3) = Identicons assuming about 10 color shades
can be told apart easily. That's ~300,000 different combinations. You need
~650 people contributing to a repo in order to get a 50% chance of collision.

So, while there are almost certainly collisions across all Github users,
you're pretty unlikely to see one in any thread you'll participate in.

Especially since so many Githubbers actually do have Gravatars.

------
nathancahill
I found an identicon onomatopoeia:
[https://identicons.github.com/mask.png](https://identicons.github.com/mask.png)

~~~
ghubbard
[https://identicons.github.com/elephant.png](https://identicons.github.com/elephant.png)

~~~
nathancahill
[https://identicons.github.com/mouse.png](https://identicons.github.com/mouse.png)

------
gnoway
What problem do these solve? Serious question.

~~~
samgro
This will be very useful if it makes it into GitHub Enterprise - our IT won't
let us use Gravatar, so comment threads/issues are harder to follow.

~~~
jbarnette
If you're running a recent version of GitHub Enterprise, the avatar base URL
can be configured today. It's possible to run an internal, secure server that
responds to Gravatar's URL scheme.

------
necubi
Mine is pretty unexciting:
[https://identicons.github.com/mwylde.png](https://identicons.github.com/mwylde.png).

It would be nice if the algorithm took interest (probably defined as a ratio
close to 50/50 white/black cells) into account to prevent mostly black or
mostly white avatars.

~~~
bjackman
I think thats a really good one. Its s.ymmetrical and has a cool minimalism.

Edit: ok actually they're all symmetrical ..

------
JohnHammersley
Religious symbol or two hands holding a pea? Or if you stretch the imagination
really hard, a top down view of a TIE/IN ? :-)

[https://identicons.github.com/JohnHammersley.png](https://identicons.github.com/JohnHammersley.png)

------
philfreo
I wish Gravatar themselves would add more options for fallback images. All the
ones they have are pretty obtrusive. Ex: nicer looking identicons, someones
initials (Trello style), or even just the ability to pass a URL that has a
querystring as a fallback image.

They do have a "identicon" already. I wonder why GitHub didn't use it --
probably just didn't like the way they looked.

[https://secure.gravatar.com/site/implement/images/#default-i...](https://secure.gravatar.com/site/implement/images/#default-
image)

------
jemfinch
I could not have chosen a better one:
[https://identicons.github.com/jemfinch.png](https://identicons.github.com/jemfinch.png)

~~~
k3n
Pardon my ignorance, but why is that one so fitting?

------
SaulOfTheJungle
Mine looks weird, to say the least:
[https://identicons.github.com/ssilva.png](https://identicons.github.com/ssilva.png)

~~~
jerluc
Yeah...I unfortunately ended up with the same general shape:
[https://identicons.github.com/jerluc.png](https://identicons.github.com/jerluc.png)

------
eberfreitas
Mine is pretty boring...

[https://identicons.github.com/eberfreitas.png](https://identicons.github.com/eberfreitas.png)

But overall, it looks really cool :)

~~~
masonhensley
Mine:
[https://identicons.github.com/masonhensley.png](https://identicons.github.com/masonhensley.png)

------
andrewflnr
I got an evil alien:

[https://identicons.github.com/andrewf.png](https://identicons.github.com/andrewf.png)

~~~
Aqua_Geek
Mine looks like an anchor:

[https://identicons.github.com/aquageek.png](https://identicons.github.com/aquageek.png)

~~~
zachrose
Bane:

[https://identicons.github.com/zachrose.png](https://identicons.github.com/zachrose.png)

------
chasing
Mine is sad!

[https://identicons.github.com/chasing.png](https://identicons.github.com/chasing.png)

~~~
thoradam
I can't tell if mine is also sad or just sporting a killer moustache
[https://identicons.github.com/thoradam.png](https://identicons.github.com/thoradam.png)

~~~
chasing
I'd call it somewhere between sad and pissed off. Not an identicon you want to
fuck around with, at any rate.

------
corobo
I realise it's completely childish but I was amused by
[https://identicons.github.com/hate.png](https://identicons.github.com/hate.png)
looking like a smiley face.

Also
[https://identicons.github.com/balls.png](https://identicons.github.com/balls.png)

------
chasing
Reminds me of Jared Tarbell's "Invader Fractal:"

[http://www.complexification.net/gallery/machines/invaderfrac...](http://www.complexification.net/gallery/machines/invaderfractal/)

(Jared also happens to be one of Etsy's co-founders...)

------
tlongren
I really like mine! It's about as minimal as can be, only two pixels with
different color.

[https://identicons.github.com/tlongren.png](https://identicons.github.com/tlongren.png)

------
j_horvat
[https://identicons.github.com/jhorvat.png](https://identicons.github.com/jhorvat.png)
I like how mine looks like an H (my last initial)

------
pathikrit
Mine is the anonymous/guy fawkes face:
[https://identicons.github.com/pathikrit.png](https://identicons.github.com/pathikrit.png)

------
ultimatedelman
mine is... borderline offensive?

[https://identicons.github.com/ultimatedelman.png](https://identicons.github.com/ultimatedelman.png)

or a racecar. not sure which.

------
tveita
I like their small file size, around 200 to 300 bytes. Though that's arguably
large to store a 5x5 bitmap + one RGB color, which would fit comfortably in 7
bytes.

------
saman_b
Mine looks like a human:
[https://identicons.github.com/samanbarghi.png](https://identicons.github.com/samanbarghi.png)

------
Kelet
Great update. I never cared to sign up for Gravatar as it's now owned by
WordPress, but it was a minor annoyance that I was not identifiable by my
avatar.

~~~
edwintorok
You could run your own with libravatar:
[https://www.libravatar.org/](https://www.libravatar.org/)

------
valtron
"Huge number of unique identicons"? Since they all seem to be symmetric,
there's only N * 2^15 = N * 32768 of them (N = number of colors).

~~~
blackant
FWIW, there are 360 possible hues, 20 possible saturation values, and 20
possible luminosity values.

~~~
nathancahill
So, 1000 times more possible identicons than users. 360 * 20 * 20 * 32768 =
4,718,592,000. Github users: ~4m.

------
hayksaakian
I like this! Now I'll use it for other things too.

------
film42
I found a blank one:
[https://identicons.github.com/lessons.png](https://identicons.github.com/lessons.png)

~~~
Sidnicious
It only generates identicons for real GitHub accounts.

------
tel
Mine's mousey
[https://identicons.github.com/tel.png](https://identicons.github.com/tel.png)

------
gingerlime
mine looks upside-down
[https://identicons.github.com/gingerlime.png](https://identicons.github.com/gingerlime.png)

but I LOVE this idea and execution. Considering turning off my gravatar.

