Smilies?

Disable smilies:
Options > Writing: Formatting.
Uncheck ” Convert emoticons like ?? and ?? to graphics on display”
Post title
<div class="post">
<h3 class="storytitle" id="post-<?php the_ID(); ?>">" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link: <?php the_title(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></h3>
<div class="meta"><?php _e("Filed under:"); ?> <?php the_category() ?> — <?php the_author() ?> @ <?php the_time() ?> <?php edit_post_link(); ?></div>
`

I think if you want to disable smilies, just go to Options>General Blog Settings. When you see use_smilies, just change it to false.