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yes

no

good question

but she's a robot

spathe ham

[Marco]

Sugestion for next week's poll:

Is Marten a new character or just one we haven't seen in awhile?

- I completely remember him and am definitely not lying.
- new character
- old character
- Ummm......hang on. Let me check the archives.
- Wasn't he one of the librarians introduced with Tai?
- No clue, tired man.

[Wingy]

Okay, so here is the question here: Does Millie really want to read books about how her body is constructed or is reading books whilst close to Brun the attractive thing to her?

The second, of course; Millie can read her own manual and then follow up on any topics on the net at speeds far faster than Brun can comprehend a page.  Can't you just see them all tangled up together in a comfy chair somewhere with Brun quietly asking Millie the meaning of certain terms as they read across them?  Which unexpectedly for Brun leads to a make-out session? 
MmmmmmmMmmmMmmmmm (recursive).  4252

[Oenone]

I like how in todays comic Jeph managed to actually work Marten into the story.

P:S: If it were true that beauty, not gender, was the deciding factor that the veracity of your claim is desperately clinging to - then why restrict the claim to women in the first place?

Just checking - you need really explained why a beautiful woman benefits a lot more from her looks than a handsome man ? Just because I'm really surprised somebody needs that explained. Its like, super obvious in everyday life.

Thats because men, on average, care a lot about visuals, and thus care a lot about how beautiful a woman is. While women are more into other senses, namely touch and smell, and care more about factors like the wealth of a man. I've even met women who claim they dont care about how people look at all, though I have no way of testing if thats actually true.

Vile, yes. But I have actually met them.
They're misogynistic turds who usually still have the maturity of a 13 to 16 year-old, despite being well into their 20s, 30s, or 40s.

Err ... thats usually the people who have been like that between 13 and 16.

Because as a former 13 to 16 year old, I'm quite insulted that you sugggest I, and many others, would ever have been like that.

Sure, the sex drive is very strong at that age, and sure, one lacks experience with the opposite gender. That doesnt mean one doesnt want romance though. Or isnt into knightly ideals of honor.

How did multiple people think I was saying I don't think that's real?? [...]

So are smockers, unfortunately.

I'm a man and thus not potential prey for the people you describe. But theres surely a lot of people who think its okay to make me a passive smoker. I have very sensible lungs, cigarette smoke litereally hurts them, so I'm pretty angry at smockers.

So yeah, I didnt suggested you said it wasnt real.

Academic research suggests there’s more of a “beauty penalty” for women, because when they don’t live up the societal expectations of their gender (even when those expectations would make them worse at their job) they are penalized at a higher rate than similarly attractive men.

[Torlek]

So does Northampton not have a public library and everybody just has to go the Smif library when they want to check out books?

[Zebediah]

Northampton has a very good public library for a town its size but that’s not where Marten works so Jeph had to send them to Smif for that connection. Maybe Millefeuille is associated with Smif College and has borrowing rights?

Weird and probably irrelevant historical fact: Northampton’s public library contains the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library.

[Farideh]

It might simply be the library closest to where Millie and Brun were.

[Perfectly Reasonable]

Did you bring enough to share with everyone?

I send you all happy cookie vibes! Cookies for breakfast for everyone!

Yay! Thank you! (breaks out cookies and milk.)

[Zebediah]

Maybe, although the main library at Smith is literally 300 yards away from Forbes Library (Northampton’s public library) so that wouldn’t be a huge factor. And if they were walking from Union Street they would get to Forbes Library first unless they took a roundabout route.

I don’t doubt that the college library would have a better selection of robotics books - they do have an engineering program, after all. But one of them would need to be associated with the college to use its library.

[awkwardness]

Northampton has a very good public library for a town its size but that’s not where Marten works so Jeph had to send them to Smif for that connection. Maybe Millefeuille is associated with Smif College and has borrowing rights?

Isn't she a scientist? She might be employed at the college as a researcher thus have rights to the library like other staff members...plus in Massachusetts the local colleges have reciprocal agreements with the local libraries regarding books so as long as she's a card-carrying member of the city's library she has a right to borrow from the school's library

Weird and probably irrelevant historical fact: Northampton’s public library contains the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library.

It's not really a shock given that he lived there for 40 years, was the former mayor of the city, and was elected as state representative and senator multiple times before going statewide and later national...it's really no different than many other Presidents whose libraries are smaller and who weren't that historically impactful. Most of the libraries are located within the former homes or on the properties owned by the Presidents and it wasn't until the mid-20th century that the trend of big libraries for their documents got started...

[Tova]

Just checking - you need really explained why a beautiful woman benefits a lot more from her looks than a handsome man ? Just because I'm really surprised somebody needs that explained. Its like, super obvious in everyday life.

Not in this thread. Because this entire topic started as a complete non sequitur and remains completely off-topic for this thread.

But in some other thread? Man, fill your boots. I'd be fascinated to hear your explanation. It would probably tell us a lot about you.

[Theta9]

On the cuckolding thing, I always interpreted it on two levels.

As a fetish I relate it to voyeurism and exhibitionism, and a sign of trust if both sides are comfortable with it.

Outside of the fetish thing it's the exact opposite since it's essentially cheating on someone and then rubbing it in their face. Which I wouldn't connect to gender roles because being cheated on is massive ass, cheating on someone is being a massive dickwad, and watching it happen is just insult to injury.

There's usually a racist component as well; I'm given to understand that most "cuck porn" videos involve a white guy watching his white wife get banged by a black man.

[Potato Farmer]

There's usually a racist component as well; I'm given to understand that most "cuck porn" videos involve a white guy watching his white wife get banged by a black man.

Oh, right, that's also a thing. If my guide to porn is up to date that black man also is tall and muscled so I guess the suggestion is that women are easily swayed by a hot body?

[BlueFatima]

Okay... I am going to add another stop to my future post-COVID epic road trip. I love little college towns!

[Gyrre]

To snubnose: Acting/thinking like an adolescent makes sense when one's an adolescent. They're still learning. A 20-something or 30-something should have matured past those stages and mindsets. [Barring certain developmental disorders that delay the timeframe].

To ihaveavoice: My apologies for my portion of our miscommunication. I by no means intended to defend any such behavior.

As for why so many of us misinterpreted your response (again sorry), I'm honestly not sure why your response came off as you not believing such sordid sorts existed. If I had to guess for myself, it may be a combination of other internet arguments I've come across (videos, comments, and forums) combined with the voicing and word choice? IDK.

[BlueFatima]

I like how in todays comic Jeph managed to actually work Marten into the story.

P:S: If it were true that beauty, not gender, was the deciding factor that the veracity of your claim is desperately clinging to - then why restrict the claim to women in the first place?

Just checking - you need really explained why a beautiful woman benefits a lot more from her looks than a handsome man ? Just because I'm really surprised somebody needs that explained. Its like, super obvious in everyday life.

Thats because men, on average, care a lot about visuals, and thus care a lot about how beautiful a woman is. While women are more into other senses, namely touch and smell, and care more about factors like the wealth of a man. I've even met women who claim they dont care about how people look at all, though I have no way of testing if thats actually true.

Vile, yes. But I have actually met them.
They're misogynistic turds who usually still have the maturity of a 13 to 16 year-old, despite being well into their 20s, 30s, or 40s.

Err ... thats usually the people who have been like that between 13 and 16.

Because as a former 13 to 16 year old, I'm quite insulted that you sugggest I, and many others, would ever have been like that.

Sure, the sex drive is very strong at that age, and sure, one lacks experience with the opposite gender. That doesnt mean one doesnt want romance though. Or isnt into knightly ideals of honor.

How did multiple people think I was saying I don't think that's real?? [...]

So are smockers, unfortunately.

I'm a man and thus not potential prey for the people you describe. But theres surely a lot of people who think its okay to make me a passive smoker. I have very sensible lungs, cigarette smoke litereally hurts them, so I'm pretty angry at smockers.

So yeah, I didnt suggested you said it wasnt real.

What do you mean by “benefits”? Being able to have more selection of cute gender-typed clothes? Maybe. But if we go into history and the privileges women have today (at least in the US), there is loads of 411 we can attain on how a beautiful woman doesn’t have the same benefits as a beautiful man or even a less pretty one. I’m afraid we are still working on that glass ceiling, and nearly half the US wants us to take a trip backwards. As a woman and a mother it scares the crap out of me. I can also tell you from personal experience that pretty men do not get regularly objectified like women. Being pretty can actually make it worse, but all women deal with it. It sucks shit.

But yes. Let’s talk about being lucky enough to be a privileged pretty woman. I will attest that being attractive has advantages (thinks of all the time she got out of traffic tickets...though that may be due to consistently looking like a 13 year old, too), but lots of things do. While we humans are still linked to our lizard brains, most of us are more complex...sometimes to a fault. It is best not to make assumptions if others based on their looks—even if they are fortunate enough to be considered conventionally attractive by a large number of the population.

[Potato Farmer]

As for why so many of us misinterpreted your response (again sorry), I'm honestly not sure why your response came off as you not believing such sordid sorts existed. If I had to guess for myself, it may be a combination of other internet arguments I've come across (videos, comments, and forums) combined with the voicing and word choice? IDK.

The idea I've got is that people have a habit of becoming more accepting of something if it keeps happening, so when someone denounces a certain behaviour as reprehensible there's the strange thought that that behaviour being common somehow serves as a mitigating factor rather than a warning sign that there's something seriously wrong with the status quo.

And because people don't really think about that consciously they can end up thinking that if someone is denouncing common behaviour it's because that person doesn't realize that such behaviour is common.

[FreshScrod]

[Case]

OMG, the vid behind this ... 

Apparently, (Fusion/Hip Hop) Jazz has evolved quite a bit since my time dabbling in it in the early 90s. And then, to top it off, he masterfully ties all this delicious music-geekery together to make a profound statement about the relation between art and intent - that 'repetition is the fingerprint of artistic intent'.

One more fascinating new hummin to follow. Thanks! 

P.S.: Also just discovered that I can't read sheet music anymore.  I knew about 'use it or lose it', and I guess it was only to be expected I'd lose a skill acquired through intensive ~10 year training in my early 20s by not using it over the following 20 years ... but it's  still a bit shocking. Like trying to ride a bike and falling off.

[Gyrre]

OMG, the vid behind this ... 

Apparently, (Fusion/Hip Hop) Jazz has evolved quite a bit since my time dabbling in it in the early 90s. And then, to top it off, he masterfully ties all this delicious music-geekery together to make a profound statement about the relation between art and intent - that 'repetition is the fingerprint of artistic intent'.

One more fascinating new hummin to follow. Thanks! 

P.S.: Also just discovered that I can't read sheet music anymore.  I knew about 'use it or lose it', and I guess it was only to be expected I'd lose a skill acquired through intensive ~10 year training in my early 20s by not using it over the following 20 years ... but it's  still a bit shocking. Like trying to ride a bike and falling off.

I have to give myself a crash course on sheet music every few years whenever I get the chance to play a piano.

[Case]

Also weird: He keeps talking about-, and showing 'transcriptions' that clearly no human ever brought to paper with their hands. It's startling to see how the usage of tools that were already there in the early 90s has started to subtly change and augment the thinking of the artists who use them.

(There's some parallel development with Mathematica and analytical calculations in physics and engineering - I've met at least one colleauge who I'd call a weird type of 'cyborg' researcher, where the software is half of the whole, with the human providing direction and curiosity, and the software extending the reach of the feeble, slow genius human mind by orders of magnitude)

In '95, I'd do transcriptions for the 'studio band' I played with for my 2nd year exam at musci Uni Arnhem by hand. IIRC, I did a transcriptions of Jaco Pastorious' 'Come on, Come Over' and ... some other stuff I don't recall. But that was done with a tape recorder, a piano, and pen and paper, over ... two afternoons, I think?

(Remember Kids - no Internet, least not the way it is today. You couldn't just download sheet music - or rather, you probably could have tried, but back then, the Uni library still probably was the better bet. If there wasn't transcript of your desired piece available in the (substantial) University library somewhere ... well, you had to make one yourself. That's what all those music theory courses were for, right?)

Sure, the crude predecessors of the software he uses were already around (methinks musicians and graphics designers kept Apple afloat in the 90s - they were powerful, and some very powerful tools first proliferated in the Apple ecosystem. No other reason to inflict Apple on yourself). And sure, people were experimenting with odd measures like 7 eights. But I don't recall even hearing about anyone ever subdividing the time period between the kick and the snare into tuplets. Or writing that out, mind you. You'd use up a good pen even transcribing a 32bar sheet of that.

[Shremedy]

New comic.

My, who is that dark haired gentleman in the library? He looks familiar...

Meh, probably some new side character... 

[Gyrre]

Speaking of sheet music transcribed by hand, have you ever seen the music for Prelude and the Last Hope in C and C# Minor as arranged by John Stump?
(Yes, some people have actually attempted to play it.)

EDIT:

[Case]

Ok, I know it's bad style citing yourself, but:

It's startling to see how the usage of tools that were already there in the early 90s has started to subtly change and augment the thinking of the artists who use them.

(There's some parallel development with Mathematica and analytical calculations in physics and engineering - I've met at least one colleague who I'd call a weird type of 'cyborg' researcher, where the software is half of the whole, with the human providing direction and curiosity, and the software extending the reach of the feeble, slow genius human mind by orders of magnitude)

Yeah, turns out 'the kids' (sowwyyyy) have already had that idea and have taken it to the next Galaxy ... check this out:

Whooot! 

Edit: One thing that was instantly recognizable to me - both Adam playing it and the neural net's version - was 'The Jaco Pastorius Harmonic Lick^TM' at 4:21 (Pastorius 'pioneered' the use of flageolet notes in bass-playing, a bit similar to the (related) 'tapping' technique in guitar soloing that the late great Eddie van Halen popularized). Which is a bit funny to me, since iirc, one characteristic of that specific lick - besides the striking sound - is that its tonal sequence is very specific to the physical construction and tuning of a Bass-guitar (a Bass is tuned 'in fourths', unlike eg a Violin or Cello that are tuned in fifths): The left hand motoric pattern associated with that lick is simply conventient to execute on a Bass-guitar (look at what Adam's left hand does @4:25) - not unusual, as musicians will naturally tend to perfer to stick to tonal sequences that are easier to execute on their specific instrument, and hence, the instrument is always a bit of a 'co-composer', especially in soloing and improv.  But the neural network has no way of knowing about those constraints that would play a role in a human instrumentalist's choice of tonal material, having neither a Bass nor hands nor strings (flagelots are the natural harmonics of the underlying string). And yet it chooses a sequence that is convenient to play on a Bass, but not, eg. a Violin.

[Tova]

Still one of my favourite things in the world, BTW.

[Theta9]

OMG, the vid behind this ... 

Might someone be so kind as to link it? I don't recognize.

[Case]

OMG, the vid behind this ... 

Might someone be so kind as to link it? I don't recognize.

I just clicked on it? 

[Tova]

OMG, the vid behind this ... 

Might someone be so kind as to link it? I don't recognize.

The GIF itself is a link.

Easily missed. I didn't realise myself until I went looking for it.

https://yewtu.be/watch?v=9MzKx0fKg5o?t=143

[Theta9]

OMG, the vid behind this ... 

Might someone be so kind as to link it? I don't recognize.

I just clicked on it? 

GMAFB. As Tova said, it isn't obvious.

[N.N. Marf]

But I don't recall even hearing about anyone ever subdividing the time period between the kick and the snare into tuplets.

That never made sense to me---tuplets. Or the seeming-general conception, in music, of dividing. I've never heard it that way. It's always been, in my mind, tone through time, how changes. Things like `quarter notes' being used to write what sounds to me like a single, well.. whole-sounding note, never made sense either. To me, there was never any factions in music. Multiples, then, instead, would be how I'd imagine it. Not even necessarily multiples. Despite incommensurable lengths abounding more than commensurable, I rarely hear music with intentional incommensurability.
The stretching or shrinking, not the `gap' between the beats, but that length of time, between different events, always made more sense to my ear, than counting out many discrete chunks of time. I think that might be related to how some people think that learning music theory will take away some `magic feeling'---if I heard, in my mind, all those silent subdivisions between notes, I'm sure, too, I'd be soon jaded, and start listening to `the notes that aren't being played.'
Pink Floyd's Shine On You Crazy Diamond has been described as deceptively complicated, that it sounds so simple, but hard to play. If the difficulty is interesting timing, I'm sure, were my fingers practiced, I'd play it readily---I always `hear' exactly how long each note should be, without any counting.

[Gyrre]

........holy shit.

Of all the things I've said to be quoted on in someone's sig, that's definitely not one I ever expected to see. Yes, I had me a right giggle when I realized that.

[Theta9]

........holy shit.

Of all the things I've said to be quoted on in someone's sig, that's definitely not one I ever expected to see. Yes, I had me a right giggle when I realized that.

You just noticed that? It's been in Marf's sig for a while.

[Gyrre]

........holy shit.

Of all the things I've said to be quoted on in someone's sig, that's definitely not one I ever expected to see. Yes, I had me a right giggle when I realized that.

You just noticed that? It's been in Marf's sig for a while.

Sadly, yes. I usually gloss over signatures unless I'm super tired and having to track my place.

[N.N. Marf]

Of all the things I've said to be quoted on in someone's sig, that's definitely not one I ever expected to see. Yes, I had me a right giggle when I realized that.

You just noticed that? It's been in Marf's sig for a while.

Sadly, yes. I usually gloss over signatures unless I'm super tired and having to track my place.

I admire your dedication to the complete reading of our messages.

I couldn't well resist that (painfully true, hehe) composition:

The glans, shaft, and testes had yet to be soldered together. (Probably due to Google.)

[Gyrre]

Of all the things I've said to be quoted on in someone's sig, that's definitely not one I ever expected to see. Yes, I had me a right giggle when I realized that.

You just noticed that? It's been in Marf's sig for a while.

Sadly, yes. I usually gloss over signatures unless I'm super tired and having to track my place.

I admire your dedication to the complete reading of our messages.

I couldn't well resist that (painfully true, hehe) composition:

The glans, shaft, and testes had yet to be soldered together. (Probably due to Google.)

From my own experience, using the medical terms tends to be less likely to set off easily offended people (and companies terrified of losing advertisers).

[Y]

A bit late, but is this the first time Faye got her wish to receive a sharp kick in the rear? I mean she told her shrink about that.

[Gyrre]

A bit late, but is this the first time Faye got her wish to receive a sharp kick in the rear? I mean she told her shrink about that.

Seems that way.

I had forgotten about that.

[Dock Braun]

Of all the things I've said to be quoted on in someone's sig, that's definitely not one I ever expected to see. Yes, I had me a right giggle when I realized that.

You just noticed that? It's been in Marf's sig for a while.

Sadly, yes. I usually gloss over signatures unless I'm super tired and having to track my place.

I admire your dedication to the complete reading of our messages.

I couldn't well resist that (painfully true, hehe) composition:

The glans, shaft, and testes had yet to be soldered together. (Probably due to Google.)

From my own experience, using the medical terms tends to be less likely to set off easily offended people (and companies terrified of losing advertisers).

It seems that advertisers, are responsible for much of our current lifestyles. Not necessarily in a bad, all together, way, but with some awful outcomes.

[Gyrre]

'Follow the money' as it were.