bixie

from Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)

bixie
 /bik'see/, n.

   Variant {emoticon}s used BIX (the BIX Information eXchange); the term
   survived the demise of BIX itself. The most common ({smiley}) bixie is
   <@_@>, representing two cartoon eyes and a mouth. These were
   originally invented in an SF fanzine called APA-L and imported to BIX
   by one of the earliest users.

from The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)

bixie

   /bik'see/ Variant {emoticons} used on {Byte Information
   eXchange}.  The {smiley} bixie is <@_@>, apparently intending
   to represent two cartoon eyes and a mouth.  A few others have
   been reported.

   [{Jargon File}]

   (1994-11-29)