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Faye, Claire, Marten, Steve and Shelby travel the country in a beat up van solving mysteries.

22 (27.2%)

The return of indie references. Current audience perplexed and doesn't know what's going on.

33 (40.7%)

Robot Apocalypse.

11 (13.6%)

Alpacalypse

15 (18.5%)

Total Members Voted: 76

Voting closed: 22 Mar 2015, 09:42

[Kugai]

Maybe Pintsize needs to attend an AnthroPC version of Fayes upcoming Support Group.

[Mr. Skawronska]

Maybe she'll mod Pintsize into an Anthro-Espresso machine.

[St.Clair]

I can't tell if he's drinking it or doing the robot equivalent of whippits.

Yes.

[BenRG]

You have to wonder just how many times that Faye has threatened to permanently disassemble Pintsize! More importantly, how many times has she said it and meant it?

I think that this is the first time that I've seen Pintsize do something stereotypically 'robot' as drinking lube. That's unnusual; normally, he apes his human friends (and damages himself) bt trying to eat and drink human food and drink. Is he trying to rediscover his roots or something? It must be odd because it made Faye stop and stare!

Is this a filler? Maybe, or maybe instead Pintsize will end up telling Faye how to handle the Support Group much how he advised Marten on picking up girls before Delilah's party.

[anahata]

The mechanics of this are unknown. I'd guess that the AI are either pseudo-randomly generated or designed by someone competent who us unlikely to screw it up or violate ethics, most likely the AI overmind.

I think it's generally assumed the QC era is post-singularity.
So it's possible that anthro-PCs understand how they are made, but humans don't.

[anahata]

As for what Faye intends to do with Pintsize, after a moment of staring at the cartoon I realised that all Faye is doing is bringing her welding gear home because she can't keep it at the Cafe.
Pintsize is jumping to conclusions because he's feeling guilty. (when doesn't he have something to feel guilty about?)
I enjoyed this. I'd forgotten Pintsize's capacity for melodrama.

(edit: trivial typo)

[rfrank dodelijk]

is he somehow taking the piss out of faye's boozing?
good strip today, I am grinning a bit.

[Endellion]

The mechanics of this are unknown. I'd guess that the AI are either pseudo-randomly generated or designed by someone competent who us unlikely to screw it up or violate ethics, most likely the AI overmind.

I think it's generally assumed the QC era is post-singularity.
So it's possible that anthro-PCs understand how they are made, but humans don't.

The singularity occurred in comic.

[Half Empty Coffee Cup]

On top of that, there is a strip where Momo says that they don't know exactly how they work, noting that it seems to be an emergent property. It's the same strip where she mentions distributed devotion.

[BenRG]

We can draw from the fact that Winslow and Momo have changed chassis on occasion that QC-verse AIs are software entities that can run on any suitable bit of hardware. It would be interesting to know how these entities are created and the strip referred to above where Faye, Hanners and Pintsize see Pintsize's 'mom' doing something reminiscent of sex in a documentary on the subject might be a clue.

Sexual reproduction is where a new but similar genome is created by splicing together the two parents' genomes. What if what happens with AnthroPCs and other AIs is similar? Two AIs copy a section of their core algorithm, which is then spliced together to form a new algorithm that has some of the characteristics of both progenitors? It would explain why the Singularity has occurred so quickly even though Dr E-C's first significant breakthroughs only happened about two decades previously (based on what Clinton said and the fact that young Hannelore named at least two of the AIs associated with the space station) if there was a degree of 'evolution' with each new iteration of AIs. Very quickly, 'biologically' generated AI algorithms would have surpassed human-coded ones for sophistication and efficiency.

This brings up another very interesting concept. There is no reason whatsoever why Momo, May or one of the other AIs could not meet another AI and decide to have a 'baby' (although it would likely be 'born' with full ability to move and communicate). The application forms that May were filling out for work indicates that AIs do develop intellectually in a way humans have chosen to compare with human maturation and have a 'child' phase but I can't see them having an equivalent of the 'baby' phase in humans where they are totally helpless. Maybe it is for that reason that Momo has kept her old chassis?

Note: It is possible that the process of code-splicing leads to data feedback not unlike the human concept of pleasure. That would explain why Pintsize and Faye both compared sharing data packets with a date with sex. However, there is probably a firewall that defaults to 'on' that prevents the generation of a new algorithm by accident.

[rfrank dodelijk]

what is the singularity?

[NilsO]

Well, Faye should not do any welding in their apartment, so she needs somewhere to work. My suggestion: Use the band's practice space. Also, there might be interesting synergies between music and welding, perhaps leading to a future performance show.

[BenRG]

what is the singularity?

"The Singularity" in terms of computer science is the point where artificial intelligences designed by other artificial intelligences without human intervention are more sophisticated and efficient than their human-created equivalents. It is at that point that AIs would be considered a separate species with a separate existence and place in the global ecosystem of intelligence from humans.

Some sci-fi writers have proposed that the Singularity is the point where AIs would inevitably choose to enslave or annihilate humans due to them being 'inferior life-forms'. Momo, Pintsize and Winslow have all said things to imply that this has been considered by the QC-verse's AIs but that the consensus amongst them is that they like humans too much and enjoy interacting with them as equals too much too much to do something like that.

[NilsO]

what is the singularity?

My definition is a point in time when AI becomes self-sufficient and intellectually superior to humans, in effect making humans obsolete. Depending on the AI agenda, humans might be exterminated, or kept as favored pets. This is not necessarily a Bad Thing, as humans have proven themselves to be incapable of running the world in a peaceful and sustainable manner.

[Omega Entity]

Well, Faye should not do any welding in their apartment, so she needs somewhere to work. My suggestion: Use the band's practice space. Also, there might be interesting synergies between music and welding, perhaps leading to a future performance show.

If it's on the ground floor of a warehouse, it'd work. That floor suggests wood or carpet, however, and therefore would be a fire hazard

[Zebediah]

So? "Fire Hazard" is Faye's middle name!

[BenRG]

So? "Fire Hazard" is Faye's middle name!

Are you sure? I thought it was 'Pugnacious-Peach'!

[rfrank dodelijk]

what is the singularity?

"The Singularity" in terms of computer science is the point where artificial intelligences designed by other artificial intelligences without human intervention are more sophisticated and efficient than their human-created equivalents. It is at that point that AIs would be considered a separate species with a separate existence and place in the global ecosystem of intelligence from humans.

i'm with you. I didn't know there was a word for that.

[DSL]

So? "Fire Hazard" is Faye's middle name!

Are you sure? I thought it was 'Pugnacious-Peach'!

That's her nickname. No hyphen.

[Rghfrgl]

First you get a chain email. That email has a virus. The virus scans your internet history. From that a AI's personality is born and it's soul uploaded to wherever AI's go.

Browse responsibly. That's the difference between a Pintsize and a Momo.

[BenRG]

Jeph narrowly escapes death (from his Twitter feed)

Wow! Be safe, Jeph! It looks like trying to drive home today may have very nearly been the last mistake that he ever made!

[Zebediah]

So? "Fire Hazard" is Faye's middle name!

Are you sure? I thought it was 'Pugnacious-Peach'!

"Pugnacious Peach" is her title. Faye Firehazard Whittaker, P.P.

[Rghfrgl]

Can  be the Punacious Plum?

[DSL]

Can  be the Punacious Plum?

Float it and see if it catches on.

[Endellion]

The real question is are the peaches ripe? Fayemom's got to know if she has to call in the SWAT team.

[Half Empty Coffee Cup]

It would explain why the Singularity has occurred so quickly even though Dr E-C's first significant breakthroughs only happened about two decades previously (based on what Clinton said and the fact that young Hannelore named at least two of the AIs associated with the space station) if there was a degree of 'evolution' with each new iteration of AIs. Very quickly, 'biologically' generated AI algorithms would have surpassed human-coded ones for sophistication and efficiency.

You've nerd sniped me, here. Experts in the field of AI have, for the most part, estimated that the period between the rise of AI on par with humans and the rise of superintelligent AI will be quite small, indeed. Even if it's just mixing and matching better and better algorithms, the ability of AIs will increase. Heck, maybe the most intelligent of AIs collude to breed their code together in new and fantastic forms.

And if you want a source... I'll give you an entire primer on the subject.

[WareWolf]

what is the singularity?

"The Singularity" in terms of computer science is the point where artificial intelligences designed by other artificial intelligences without human intervention are more sophisticated and efficient than their human-created equivalents. It is at that point that AIs would be considered a separate species with a separate existence and place in the global ecosystem of intelligence from humans.

i'm with you. I didn't know there was a word for that.

I think some definitions of the "Singularity" (such as SF writer Charles Stross's) envision a so-called "rapture of the nerds," wherein human consciousness and machine consciousness converge so that we can upload ourselves into "the cloud."

[pwhodges]

As in the anime Serial Experiments Lain, I guess that is.

[vidugavia]

Pintsize, Momo, Winslow and May might already be part of one large super-AI that has taken upon itself to groom the gang. It keeps its subroutines as separate personalities in order to keep the trust of its unknowing wards/pets.   

[hedgie]

Unless Station was in on the conspiracy, I don't see him allowing Winslow do that to Hanners.  He certainly has the resources.

[raoullefere]

Poor little guy.  I find it sad (and rather telling about his home life) that his first thought is destruction, rather than ascension. Maybe she was going to build him a new chassis?

Edit: Whoops, beaten to it by osaka.

And yeah, I take back my call for a time-jump until we see Emily and Clinton's disastrous date.

Oh, it's rather telling about Pintsize's home life, all right, or at least the life he gives his roommates. There's a reason he's playing Blanche but giving Stanley's line ("We've had this date from the beginning!" A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams) I mean, for heaven's sake, Pintsize actually got Marten to loom. That takes some doing, and we all know how short Faye's fuse is even when she isn't going cold turkey.

Questionable Content: the comic that occasionally reaches for links with fine literature but never forgets its roots in fart jokes.

[swapna]

Probably he expects to be turned into a toaster... or something
And I love how he eats the WD-40. Pintsize-Jokes are back!

Also, re: time jump: I agree, it's time. i'd rather have the Faye/Dora talk in a few weeks comic-time anyway when stuff isn't that raw any more and Faye has found a job which gives both a different perspective (Dora isn't responsible for taking away her livelihood any more) and Dora, too - Faye hasn't been her employee for a while by then. I wonder if they could work as friends without the Coffee of Doom - they don't seem like they'd hang together without working together. Their personalities and interests are too different.

[Perfectly Reasonable]

On making AIs--

My head canon is that it is a very computationally expensive process. Way worse than minting bit coins. If it were simple and easy, once we had a competent and compliant AI it would be copied endlessly and it would be in -everything-. Cigarette lighters. Toothbrushes. Instead every AI is a distinct individual with idiosyncratic quirks.

Also Rule of Funny.

[Gnomeybum]

I wonder what laws there are regarding the permanent disassembling of anthro-PCs. Seeing as the singularity hit, and there have been efforts made to introduce civil rights for robots, wouldn't it be considered straight-up murder at this stage, if Faye really did have ill intentions?

[Gladstone]

Jeph narrowly escapes death (from his Twitter feed)

Wow! Be safe, Jeph! It looks like trying to drive home today may have very nearly been the last mistake that he ever made!

Wow, that sounded pretty harrowing, and those photos are pretty crazy.  I hope Jeph decides to treat himself to a hotel tonight instead of trying to drive straight home.  And that's my concern for his safety talking, not the comic.

[Natswash]

Jeph narrowly escapes death (from his Twitter feed)

Wow! Be safe, Jeph! It looks like trying to drive home today may have very nearly been the last mistake that he ever made!

Wow, that sounded pretty harrowing, and those photos are pretty crazy.  I hope Jeph decides to treat himself to a hotel tonight instead of trying to drive straight home.  And that's my concern for his safety talking, not the comic.

Couldn't both talk and reach the same conclusion?

[explicit]

I'd draw boobs on the board.



Anyway, that's why I was never asked to write equations on the board during math class.

[Gladstone]

Couldn't both talk and reach the same conclusion?

M-maybe?

Anyway, comic's up.  Marigold appears to be borrowing Claire's facial expressions in panels 3 and 5. 

And I imagine Penelope and Cosette weren't nearly as bummed out as the others.

[Half Empty Coffee Cup]

But the real question on my mind is... who will make the traditional banana smoothie?

[valkygrrl]

Anyway, comic's up.  Marigold appears to be borrowing Claire's facial expressions in panels 3 and 5. 

Panel 5 Marigold is squee-worthy.

[Gladstone]

But the real question on my mind is... who will make the traditional banana smoothie?

Faye gets a job at the Secret Bakery, giving Emily another chance to catch the fairy.

[TheEvilDog]

And I imagine Penelope and Cosette weren't nearly as bummed out as the others.

I don't know, I imagine that deep down, Penelope might feel as though she was cheated out of a worthy opponent.
Cosette is probably jumping up and down with joy on the inside.

[tywren]

Faye developing a career building custom AnthroPC bodies would make for an interesting plotline, but we've seen no indication she knows anything about electronics.  On the other hand Raven might be able to handle that end, but I have a hard time imagining Faye working with Raven as just a duo without Raven driving her crazy sooner or later.

I can see it now, Faye builds station a chassis so he can hang out with Hannalor; Faye takes the 4 mill from the deal, and goes full Count of Monty Christo on Dora. In the end, having driven Dora to ruin, and putting CoD out of business, Faye personally runs the bulldozer that levels the building as Dora watches on, and once the lot is cleared, Faye turns it into a parking place for her brand new Elio.

[Gladstone]

I can see it now, Faye builds station a chassis so he can hang out with Hannalor; Faye takes the 4 mill from the deal, and goes full Count of Monty Christo on Dora. In the end, having driven Dora to ruin, and putting CoD out of business, Faye personally runs the bulldozer that levels the building as Dora watches on, and once the lot is cleared, Faye turns it into a parking place for her brand new Elio.

BEATRICE CHATHAM: "Damn, that's cold."

[Zebediah]

And then BC continues: "I like your style. Let's do lunch. I have a business proposal for you."

[Aziraphale]

But the real question on my mind is... who will make the traditional banana smoothie?

There's at least one strip where Hanners is making, or about to make, the smoothie (she says she'll be right back after she washes the hammer).

[Stoon]

But the real question on my mind is... who will make the traditional banana smoothie?

Hannelore:
http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2273

[SomeCanadianWeirdo]

I think some definitions of the "Singularity" (such as SF writer Charles Stross's) envision a so-called "rapture of the nerds," wherein human consciousness and machine consciousness converge so that we can upload ourselves into "the cloud."

That's one of Ray Kurzweil's ideas, and he's trying to stay alive until he can upload himself.  Kurzweil is not a biologist, and more than one has argued he greatly underestimates the complexity both of the brain and of simulating it.

[Theinternetsurvivor]

Can we talk about how adorable Marigold looks on the first panel? *Squee intensifies*

Also hi my first comment here on this forum, hopefully it will be a fun ride.

[explicit]

Can we talk about how adorable Marigold looks on the first panel? *Squee intensifies*

Also hi my first comment here on this forum, hopefully it will be a fun ride.

EVERYONE, EVERYONE, GANG UP ON THE NEW PERSON