WCDT May 2nd to May 6th, 2022 (strips 4776 to 4780)

[Gyrre]

Not sure how to do an 'other' option for this week's poll. Sorry.

Oof, at least one activist website picked up the rant and ran with it. And I'm pretty sure Roko doesn't have access to Clinton or Soros levels of funding to try to scrub something from the internet.

EDIT: I should probably explain why the poll options rhyme. I've been trying to write some lyrics for MAT's blues rendition Lullaby for Mergo called A Blues for Mergo

[citizenfive]

Hm, earliest I've ever been to one of these threads! I think Roko has successfully burned bridges with this and will have problems doing things her way, leading her to come to a compromise with Yay in methods.

[Scarlet Manuka]

I'm pretty sure Roko doesn't have access to Clinton or Soros levels of funding to try to scrub something from the internet.

She has access to Yay. That's probably all she needs.

[DaiJB]

Not sure how to do an 'other' option for this week's poll. Sorry.

Not a problem. I usually vote "Other", mostly just to be contrary 
But this week?...Nope. Mistakes were definitely made.

[justaguy]

I like the idea of some internet stalker guy thinking "Oh boy, a hot lady robot pajama party feed" and getting a lecture on labor relations/employment law/ai exploitation instead. Not that they'd be likely to stick around for it .

[Gyrre]

I like the idea of some internet stalker guy thinking "Oh boy, a hot lady robot pajama party feed" and getting a lecture on labor relations/employment law/ai exploitation instead. Not that they'd be likely to stick around for it .

But what if it were what was needed to prompt them to become a better person?

EDIT: While we all know Jeph doesn't read the forums, I lay no claim to any such plot points or storylines.

[St.Clair]

... yup, called it. 

[shanejayell]

Yeah, never ever drunk post to the internet, or live stream. Ouch...

[MattStriker]

It's something that needed to be said. Bad actors like that company have to be put on blast, it's the only really effective strategy.

Might give Roko some very unwanted attention though...

[Pseudowolf]

It's something that needed to be said. Bad actors like that company have to be put on blast, it's the only really effective strategy.

Might give Roko some very unwanted attention though...

See, the company can use this against her. They use this to paint her as just some raving activist who is obviously irrational.

[MattStriker]

It's something that needed to be said. Bad actors like that company have to be put on blast, it's the only really effective strategy.

Might give Roko some very unwanted attention though...

See, the company can use this against her. They use this to paint her as just some raving activist who is obviously irrational.

They would do that anyway no matter how reasonable Roko tries to be. This way they are getting what they hate and fear the most: Widespread attention.

[hedgie]

Yeah, never ever drunk post to the internet, or live stream. Ouch...

Learnt that lesson a very long time ago.  Back in the dialup days, even.  Unfortunately, when it comes to my writing ability, there is a sort of "Ballmer Peak", so I often did so anyway, even though I frequently got the dosage wrong.

[_Islanio]

New comic. I PREDICTED THE "GO TO ELEVEN" JOKE!!!

[Scarlet Manuka]

So Beepatrice has a five star award for excellence in dildonics. I can't quite make out her last name on the poster though. "Bottom" maybe? Seems like it would be appropriate (perhaps in more ways than one).

[shanejayell]

Yeah, I figured that would happen....

[de_la_Nae]

NO MISTAKES WERE MADE

(well, maybe Melon did)

anyway, Nelson should tell Valley Semi's lawyers to eat a dick, they can just sue

[de_la_Nae]

maybe a slight mistake was made, but i overdramatically accuse Yes voters of a flawed understanding of the high law

[Gyrre]

maybe a slight mistake was made, but i overdramatically accuse Yes voters of a flawed understanding of the high law

I gave nuanced options for 'yes'

[traroth]

So 8 really smelled like burning electronics...

[DaiJB]

So 8 really smelled like burning electronics...

Yeah, "This is fine." 

I didn't expect Melon to do anything sensible, but I think at least one of the others should have paid more attention when Melon mentioned burning electronics...

Now we get to see Melon's reaction to being half-melted - I think it's pretty much guaranteed to not be a normal response 

[Farideh]

At least Union Robotics will have some work to do to get Melon back in functioning order.

[Perfectly Reasonable]

So many lovely colors...

Yeah, I figured that would happen....

Why has this not happened before?

[Gyrre]

So many lovely colors...

Yeah, I figured that would happen....

Why has this not happened before?

Maybe this is her first time going to 11? Either that or she didn't fry anything last time, but still got everything damn close to.

I wonder if any AI end up responding to the drunk app by having thrir inhibitors heightened while their motor function and dpeech are still impaired? [That's the typr of drunk I am, "[T]he most unfun, uptight drunk on the face of the planet." For me, it's just frustrating, so I don't.]

[_Islanio]

New comic. Melon looking cool actually

[de_la_Nae]

maybe a slight mistake was made, but i overdramatically accuse Yes voters of a flawed understanding of the high law

I gave nuanced options for 'yes'

did i say it was your fault that they fell for the trap of cowardice-disguised-as-discretion?
besides, last night seemed a good night for being overdramatic, all things considered

on a side note, there's the good chance of winning a suit defense here. cuz like, what's the actionable offense? talking shit in public? often not actually a civil violation

[de_la_Nae]

power being what it is, that doesn't mean it won't try to make it seem so. but as much of a failure as the law here so often is, it can still be a little useful when it's technically on your side

way i figure, the honest-to-god mistake here was blowing up their spot when the AI workers hadn't indicated they were ready for that yet. which isn't what anyone upthread said. not that anyone said much, really.

I JUDGE YOUR HEARTS 

[Gyrre]

maybe a slight mistake was made, but i overdramatically accuse Yes voters of a flawed understanding of the high law

I gave nuanced options for 'yes'

did i say it was your fault that they fell for the trap of cowardice-disguised-as-discretion?


besides, last night seemed a good night for being overdramatic, all things considered

on a side note, there's the good chance of winning a suit defense here. cuz like, what's the actionable offense? talking shit in public? often not actually a civil violation

My reply was meant as an aside, not an attack.
This one isn't meant as an attack, either.

[Not sure if I'm misinterpreting your tone or not. It's been a long week and it's only Tuesday.]

[Wombat]

New comic. Melon looking cool actually

Agreed, Melon looks dope here.

[de_la_Nae]

[Not sure if I'm misinterpreting your tone or not. It's been a long week and it's only Tuesday.]

a little, but i read you, no worries. and yeah, it's... definitely a long couple days <3

[Farideh]

Melon is rocking the frazzled look, and she did end up at Union Robotics. I hope we get a small segue in to how the business is doing.

[DaiJB]

Melon is rocking the frazzled look, and she did end up at Union Robotics.

Now I have this mental picture of Melon with a smouldering head, racing down the street to Union Robotics, leaving behind a trail of smoke and startled onlookers...

[shanejayell]

Poor Melon. And I figured Yay would come up...

[John Allenson]

Cool, consequences that last.  Melon will need at least three repairs/plastic surgeries to deal with the burns:  matching skin tones, hair replacement, and stitch concealment.
What's up with Yay?  Have they changed sufficiently that they are not monitoring?  Have they decided to wait until asked?  Have they decided that it's important for friends to live with the consequences of bad decisions?
And Roko's priorities are good.  The opinions and attitudes of people you know are more relevant than strangers.

[shanejayell]

I'm reasonably sure Roko lectured Yay on spying TOO closely on them...

[SmilingCat]

Wait!

Wait wait wait!

Did Jeph name her Roko Basilisk just for that punchline?

[shanejayell]

Well it DID work out. Mostly.

[Scarlet Manuka]

Did Jeph name her Roko Basilisk just for that punchline?

No, for the Roko's Basilisk transhumanist philosophical concept. There were some pointers to it at the time.

[Gyrre]

I know the feeling of panel 3 all too well.

EDIT: typo correction.

Not sure if Jeph's going for Banana Phone in the post post comic text, but Lemon Demon's Touch Tone Telephone comes to mind.

[St.Clair]

I counted the rings.  It fits.

[justaguy]

I've felt this way for a while, but today's strip confirms it: I want to be Nelson when I grow up.

[DaiJB]

Poor Roko. She just wants to not be an asshole...


P.S.  The statement "I demand to be properly secured to the deck!" elicits certain unwholesome thoughts from my warped little mind...

[oddtail]

I think it's a testament to how ingrained the "loose cannon" phrase is in popular culture that it took me several seconds to figure out what Roko is talking about in the last panel. "A deck? What is she talking about? Or... ooooh."

That, or I'm a dummy. That's also possible.

[Timemaster]

A perfect example of the old saying:

,,Bad publicity is better than no publicity."

[Farideh]

As my father is fond of saying: "it doesn't matter how they talk about you, as long as they talk about you".

[Hypersapien]

My headcanon is that old style phone is just a case that a cell phone gets inserted into.

[traroth]

So many questions...

Is that whole "unionizing" ark a reference to Amazon?
Has Roko's demand to be "properly secured to the deck" something to do with BDSM?

[de_la_Nae]

regarding Amazon: maybe. doesn't have to be though.

regarding "properly secured": probably not. she's a "loose cannon" Nelson says (referencing a slogan-trope-thing), so she's... like a cannon on a sailing ship. a cannon that's loose. that isn't tied down properly. she doesn't wanna be the "loose cannon".

[Cornelius]

A loose cannon was a real threat in the wooden navies. A ship, unless utterly becalmed or tied up to a dock, would always be rolling and pitching to some degree. Which means that a loose cannon will not stay in it's place. Best case scenario, they managed to trip it up to resecure it, or have it immobilised on its side. Worst case, it goes though the other side, or down a hatch and through the bottom of the ship. And in-between a lot of injuries and other damage.

[_Islanio]

Hopefully she'll notice that diplomacy isn't always the way to go, specially when dealing with greedy corporations. Attack their public image, rather than the obvious illegality or immorality of the situation.

[notStanley]

Oh Roko, I get the connection between "loose cannon" and "secured to the desk".  That does not prevent my mind from drifting to other activities that could enjoyed, perhaps with a fresh warm loaf of pumpernickel?