THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)
Comic Discussion => QUESTIONABLE CONTENT => Topic started by: jwhouk on 26 Feb 2012, 04:26
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And yet another week of space shenanigans.
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Shebly!
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Momo and Winslow has promise! Is Winslow thinking about what it would be like to be in a full-size chassis permanently, one that doesn't attract stares doing down the street?
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Shebly!
Shebly!
In Space!!!
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Randy in space?
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Randy IS space.
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I'm happy to see more Shebly! Especially IN SPAAACE with SPAAAATHE HAM.
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There is a positive from the new Twitter layout - you can watch the Ustream feed DIRECTLY from Twitter - without having to log in to Ustream. :)
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Once again, Marigold is acting uncannily similarly to how I would. :P
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T minus how long until Marten and Hannelore are doing the space horizontal tango?
<mod>We don't allow shipping here.</mod>
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Randy IS space.
Randy made The Big Bang
"I can't let you do that Marigold. I'm going to have to put you on the Gaming Grid."
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Marigold is having the Time Of Her Life(tm).
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T minus how long until [bad stuff was here]
Welcome, new person, but
(moderator)
please read the forum rules about "shipping". It's actually one of the more important of the local rules.
(/moderator)
EDIT: At first I was disappointed that the trash can looked so ordinary, but then I noticed that it had an eye.
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is anything not a robot?
and i totally get where marigold is coming from here. science rules (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBGaOwpvfP0)
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For comic #2131...
1. Trashbot made me laugh. Most likely because I am so damn tired from long work night.
2. Hah, it really is labeled "Space Ham." With potatoes and eggs to Space Ham's left-going. (Man I have been wanting to eat at a decent breakfast/brunch buffet because of the the last few strips, the kind of buffet with silvered dome-trays like that rather than the rectangular flat trays.)
3. Hannelore's reaction to Marten owning a tuxedo was rather unusual for me. Again, possibly because of late-work fatigue, but her words and pose seems to me like she is hinting at "Ooh I want to see that" curiousity :? .
4. Of course, now I would like to see Marten and Hanners both formally dressed. I wager Marten would look pretty sharp. But more interestingly, wonder at what kind of dress would Hannelore wear? I imagine with something like a low-collared one-piece rather than something with cleavage (that would be for the other QC girls), and hand-to-shoulder length gloves.
5. Boy it is one nerdgasm after another for Marigold, isn't it? To be fair, I probably would be experiencing the same thing were I in an orbital station and getting to experience high-powered lasers. Plus, I am certain that Dr. Case is enjoying herself to be able to show off to someone like Marigold too.
6. @J... [Futurama; season 2, episode 27 ("Mother's Day")]
- Fry: [after fighting with a robot ceiling fan] Is anything here NOT a robot?!?
- Nightstand Lamp: I'm not a robot.
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Mmm, librarians... :? what, I was paying attention, I swear!
Hannelore Ellicott-Chatham, wasting food like that! How could you? Resources are precious, no matter how cheap lift is! For lunch today, no soup for you.
It still bugs me that they have boring standard breakfast you could get at any 2 star space hotel. Can't one of the robotics scientists moonlight as a Ecuadorean Chef?
I don't see how trashbot liking trash could be a bad thing, no matter how much it does so. It should like trash. What would be disturbing is if it was programmed to DISlike trash by some sadistic programmer.
Is anything not a robot?
And I totally get where marigold is coming from here. science rules (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBGaOwpvfP0)
Ah, memories. The mid to late nineties were not a bad time to be an American kid.
RE The shirt: I normally play as a woman in games when there's an option just for the switch/ the guys are ugly/ they feel more balanced/ whatever, but playing Mass Effect I just played default male (I blame the official videos). So, I never had to decide between Garrus and Kaiden. Jack and Tali in ME2, now that was a toughie.
Random comments over, sleeping now.
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Don't change the subject, Marten! Do you really have a tuxedo?
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The logical answer is that he's being ironic, since he even pawned his guitar before moving and hasn't had any reason to buy a tuxedo since.
Logic is not a reliable guide to a place as strange as the QC universe. Pintsize is entirely capable of buying a Marten-sized tuxedo to wear just in case he finally manages to upload himself into Marten's body.
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T minus how long until Marten, Marigold and Hannelore are back on a ship?
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(How long before the Worry Hat is available for purchase at Topatoco?)
Jeph's latest Tumblr post says he agrees that a Worry Hat is a good merchandise idea and that they're looking into it.
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The logical answer is that he's being ironic, since he even pawned his guitar before moving and hasn't had any reason to buy a tuxedo since.
it is possible that he obtained one for his father's wedding.
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Generally it is cheaper to rent than to buy a tux - unless you need formal wear more than once a year it will just hang in the closet gathering dust.
So for formal evening wear occasions I have my mess kit.
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Man, she really loves her LASERS!! doesn't she?
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And why not?
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The disturbing thing about Trashbot is its tiny shrivelled arm. I could understand no arms, but they look to short to do anything.
And lasering an apple? It's been done. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOcZ6dDyPuM)
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And it is STILL awesome. :)
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Something about the shaky hand-cam in that video worries me.
There was a spec of dirt on my laptop that made it look like Trashbot had really angry eyebrows. I prefer them without the eyebrows.
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Marigold with a a laser is something I suspect is not a good thing.
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Maybe I'm just expecting too much, but the laser in today's comic looks like it's on a wooden table, rather than a proper optical table.
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Well, at least there's a fire extinguisher.
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I...hate to admit, but I'm kinda tired of space. There doesn't seem to be much going on, and once it's on display it's not as interesting as hoped. I hope J^2 gets on with whatever he's scheming this week.
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The disturbing thing about Trashbot is its tiny shrivelled arm. I could understand no arms, but they look to short to do anything.
At first, I just thought that maybe Jeph added them because they were fun/silly/cute. They made me chuckle a bit.
But maybe they are actually extending arms? I could see those being useful.
I hope we get to see the fate of the apple.
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The fact Marten has a Tuxedo appears to have unusual significance for Hanners.
Then again, it could just be, "I don't remember seeing one any of the times I snooped in his closet!"
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Or Marten was just being ironic: "As if I have any formal clothes to dress up in anyway"!"
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Now they're never gonna get Marigold off the station...
Then again, we haven't seen what or where she works, so employment opportunity?
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Actaully, we have. We know that she does web design/maintenance at the very least, from the one-sided conversations we've observed between her and her father, and the commentary she's made on Dora's website workmanship. No time to hunt down the specific comics right now, unfortunately.
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I...hate to admit, but I'm kinda tired of space. There doesn't seem to be much going on, and once it's on display it's not as interesting as hoped. I hope J^2 gets on with whatever he's scheming this week.
Agreed. This has to be the longest spell in the comic's history without any real kind of drama. We had a hint of it with Hannelore early on talking about her panic attacks, but since then. Fun and games. Which I've actually liked so far. Nice change of pace. But I have the feeling something has to go to hell eventually in space.
Anyway, nice deflection Marty. But based on Hanners reaction, I doubt she forgets, buddy. :wink:
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Agreed. This has to be the longest spell in the comic's history without any real kind of drama.
Isn't some kind of apocalypse happening on the ground? Isn't that drama? Perhaps you meant character drama. :)
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Or Marten was just being ironic: "As if I have any formal clothes to dress up in anyway"!"
I'm guessing now that Marten's Tux is one of those T-shirts with a dinner jacket's lapels and a shirt front printed on it. Maybe wear it with the black Chuck Taylors if it's a really fancy occasion.
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But I have the feeling something has to go to hell eventually in space.
First they have to go to Phobos.
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I can't get the Portal theme out of my head after that last panel. "Look at me still talking when there's science to do..."
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That is EXACTLY how my girlfriend would respond in Marigold's situation. Given that she is studying to be an astronomer, she would love this place.
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For the question on Jeph's Twitter page, what will happen to the apple depends on what kind of laser it is. If it's a pulsed laser, then the apple will end up with a bunch of holes shot into it. If it's a continuous wave laser, then, depending on how powerful the laser is, then most likely the apple would burn, and there might be a clean cut through the apple like Jeph suggests, depending on the speed that the apple drops through the laser beam (basically, does the laser burn through the apple faster than the apple moves out of the way).
This is all guessing based on my experience with lasers (in particular, setting things on fire with a CO2 laser and shooting holes in things with an Nd:YAG laser). Your mileage may vary, especially since the comic takes place in an alternate universe with lasers more powerful than the ones I've used.
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I really want Trashbot to say "Om Nom Nom Nom (http://www.omnomnomnom.com)".
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"G is for Garbage, that's good enough for me!"
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Generally it is cheaper to rent than to buy a tux - unless you need formal wear more than once a year it will just hang in the closet gathering dust.
how often does he visit the awkward (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1425) zone (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2023)? he might have found it cheaper to just buy one than keep renting.
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I'm guessing that it was just a bit of deadpan humour.
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Lt. Potter just blew my suspension of disbelief into space.
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By that logic, nobody should ever accept cash settlements for anything.
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Check out Jeph's explanation (http://jephjacques.com/post/18430911722/lt-potter-and-sexual-harassment) of today's strip 2132 on Tumblr.
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why do people put pictures like that on facebook anyway? is there anybody who doesn't know of at least one person who had it bite them in the ass?
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Lt. Potter just blew my suspension of disbelief into space.
Yep.
I'm starting to wonder if QC is even based on a true story anymore.
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So give it to her for her next birthday (after everyone lease so they don't try to mooch.) Problem: solved. :police: (a judge emoticon would be better, but eh.)
Her face in panels 4 and 5 looks exactly the same to me, which gives the impression of her staring blankly (also, those lips are disturbing.) Otherwise, the art is great in this one.
Question: can something without a gender (appearances aside) commit sexual harassment, legally?
(parentheses party!)
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why do people put pictures like that on facebook anyway? is there anybody who doesn't know of at least one person who had it bite them in the ass?
Beats me. Everything on mine is locked down to everyone, even friends, except for my list of friends and basic Where I've Been/Am info so they know it's me.
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Ah... principle... the reason why smart and morally good people usually aren't rich. And the reason why the spineless and stupid rule the world. :-D
... ah well. If in doubt, cloud it out.
edit:
Warning - while you were typing 3 new lightspeed replies have been posted. You may wish to review your post.
... ergh... I was only writing for like half a minute! °O
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The shares weren't a substitute for contrition: he explicitly apologized at the same time.
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Way to go, Lt. Potter! Also, some posters here commented that her accepting the stocks would ruin her military career (as well as get her sued).
There is also the possibility that Station learned something. May be his learning curve differs from Pintsize's?
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As fine an explanation of the ethical situation as any I've ever read or heard.
Hm. I could take care of my sibs' financial situations and live like a king for the rest of my projected lifespan on $5 million ... but the ability to look at one's self in the mirror every morning without feeling contempt is still priceless. Yes, definitely WTG, Lt. (and Jeph).
Now, what is that thing she has in the first panel?
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By that logic, nobody should ever accept cash settlements for anything.
Usually, though, a cash settlement is a final "fuck you" to the person giving it, not a way to smooth things over; how often does someone taking a cash settlement go back to work the next day?
Also, why the hell did she post those pictures to her Facebook? It would be like Petraeus's Facebook page having pictures of him at a kegger.
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Question: can something without a gender (appearances aside) commit sexual harassment, legally?
I believe so. Why not?
I thought the poll question might be "Would you keep the money?" I can accept that teaching Station a lesson is MORE IMPORTANT, but man, I'd want the money.
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Ah... principle... the reason why smart and morally good people usually aren't rich. And the reason why the spineless and stupid rule the world. :-D
Are you saying what Lt. Potter did strikes you as smart?
The people who rule the world may be immoral, but they are more cunning than you, otherwise they wouldnt' be rulling the world. ;)
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I really like this update.
Good going, Lt. Potter, and despite the ethical message in the comic, the punchline also happened to be both funny and pretty clever.
Kudos, Jeph.
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In my experience, most embarrassing photos of people are posted by their friends, in jest, not malice. I'm not sure if you can get photos of yourself deleted from another account, but you should be able to make it so you can't get tagged in a specific photo and don't show up in your, "Photos of Me" bit.
Although since Potter's wording suggests she put them up herself, I'm not sure. Maybe there was a bunch of embarassing photos of her friends as well so her choice was put them all up, put all but hers up which isn't really fair or depending on the ratio of let's say, "flattering" to "not flattering", could involve filtering a lot of photos or enough that it's noticable and she just went for the easiest option.
I really like this strip and Jeph's explanation. It's neat to peak into his mind a little and see him think about the strip. Not to say he doesn't, we just don't get an in-depth glance of it.
Her face in panels 4 and 5 looks exactly the same to me, which gives the impression of her staring blankly (also, those lips are disturbing.) Otherwise, the art is great in this one.
They don't look the same to me. Check the eyebrows. She seems to be going from intense and aggravated in 2b to easing up and coming across with a sincere appeal for an apology in 3a. It can be easier to get an apology when your brows aren't angrily furrowed.
Also it may just be the monitor in college, but the colours seems less contrasting in 3a. No wait, I'm just short and the monitor was too high.
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Ah, I would be so much richer if it weren't for my goddamn principles. Lt. Potter did the right thing, and I'm glad this plotline was resolved. Hell, it'd be pretty tempting to keep that five million, but if it were me, I don't think I'd be able to live with my newfound wealth knowing I had done nothing to earn or deserve it. I was quite uncomfortable not knowing if she had kept the money. Probably a similar kind of discomfort to what Jeph was feeling, judging by his explanation.
Artwork-wise, the change in detail in the eyebrows from 2b to 3a is perfect.
Warning - while you were typing everybody else said everything you wanted to say already, you redundant asshole
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Artwork-wise, the change in detail in the eyebrows from 2b to 3a is perfect.
Exactly. You don't notice it on first glance, but when you do, you do.
Btw, what is she holding in panel 1? Could be a wallet in the right hand, but that other thing..
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It was the right thing to do - both for the purpose of teaching that you can't just buy your way out of being an *sshole, and so that LT Potter realizes that her dignity should not be for sale.
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The "public" thing about her picture may be referring to it being published among her circle of friends -- probably the bunch of classmates that got drunk at that party went ahead and posted en masse on each others' FB Walls. As we've said before, the RL AF Academy surely has strict rules against doing things like that, but not the one in the QC world. But within the plot it's pretty much forced to have her be stupidly careless about her FB privacy, since the alternative would be to make Station even more jerkish and violatory by reaching into private material for purposes of "outing" her.
And yeah, cash settlements indeed are often just "shut up and go away" money, not satisfaction.
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Btw, what is she holding in panel 1? Could be a wallet in the right hand, but that other thing..
She's changing the power supply on the virtual wine bottle for the party this evening.
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could be a rifle of some sort (she is in the military) but it lacks a pistol grip, however the item in her hand looks like the same size as a magazine and looks like it goes in the same place. might be a laser rifle :-o
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What's up for us this week?
Back Down To Earth. - 1 (1.5%)
A Bit More HannerDrama. - 18 (27.7%)
More QC: The Musical! - 2 (3.1%)
Lt. Potter's secret: She's always wanted to be a Barista! - 1 (1.5%)
...or a Librarian! - 4 (6.2%)
Focus on Angus & Faye. - 0 (0%)
What Momo & Winslow were doing... - 2 (3.1%)
Marten's Dad - THE WEDDING ARC! - 2 (3.1%)
Shebly Comics! - 3 (4.6%)
SPATHE HAM! - 6 (9.2%)
Whatever it is, we're just here for the party. - 26 (40%)
Total Voters: 65
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Question: can something without a gender (appearances aside) commit sexual harassment, legally?
That's a pretty ciscentric thing to say. And that's all I can say about it. I don't really get why you would think sexual harrasment has anything to do with gender.
Unrelated note, what makes you think Station has no legal gender?
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As far as tuxes go I can imagine them pushing some of Hannelore's happy buttons. After all no one (in theory) wears a dirty or rumpled tux, and one suspects one of Hannelore's favourite words is immaculate.
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There are plenty of precedents for women to refuse settlements -- to force a public airing-out of dirty laundry, to maintain the right to speak publicly about past incidents, etc. Maybe not to teach an AI about ethical behavior, though. Not yet, anyway.
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Gotta love Lt. Potter.
But, I bet she's goes hard alcohol after passing up all that money, which will lead to more pictures. :-)
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As far as tuxes go I can imagine them pushing some of Hannelore's happy buttons. After all no one (in theory) wears a dirty or rumpled tux, and one suspects one of Hannelore's favourite words is immaculate.
Most tuxes are rented, though. And we know how she feels about clothing other people have worn (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1471)...
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It was the right thing to do - both for the purpose of teaching that you can't just buy your way out of being an *sshole, and so that LT Potter realizes that her dignity should not be for sale.
nah
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As far as tuxes go I can imagine them pushing some of Hannelore's happy buttons. After all no one (in theory) wears a dirty or rumpled tux, and one suspects one of Hannelore's favourite words is immaculate.
Most tuxes are rented, though. And we know how she feels about clothing other people have worn (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1471)...
Good boy. You found it (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1471) before I did.
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As far as tuxes go I can imagine them pushing some of Hannelore's happy buttons. After all no one (in theory) wears a dirty or rumpled tux, and one suspects one of Hannelore's favourite words is immaculate.
Most tuxes are rented, though. And we know how she feels about clothing other people have worn (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1471)...
Good boy. You found it (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1471) before I did.
Well, I use your SxS summary. You're only as good as your reference works, after all!
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Question: can something without a gender (appearances aside) commit sexual harassment, legally?
That's a pretty ciscentric thing to say. And that's all I can say about it. I don't really get why you would think sexual harassment has anything to do with gender.
Unrelated note, what makes you think Station has no legal gender?
And that's a pretty inflammatory thing to say, assuming how I feel or think about it. Don't go fishing for things to be insulted by. I was asking, objectively, whether laws against sexual harassment note the gender of either party. Perhaps in the course of noting that both of the usual two can be cited, they inadvertently exclude those who are neither.
That Jeph and the comic have made no reference yet that I know of about the AIs choosing or being given a gender makes me think it has no gender, legal or otherwise. Its appearance (and our assumptions about the AnthroPCs we've met) may just be anthropomorphization. Why do you think it does or was it just more fishing?
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Gender of AnthroPCs in QC (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=347); presumably other AIs are similar, as they seem to be able to change role quite dramatically.
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Sexual harassment actually has everything to do with gender - the theory behind it isn't that you're creating an uncomfortable workplace, but that you're creating an uncomfortable workplace for women, or for women perceived as attractive, and thus discriminating against them. The idea that it's bad in and of itself is a weird post-feminist emergence.
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Actually, men can be subjected to sexual harassment, too.
By women (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19536167/ns/business-careers/t/male-sexual-harassment-not-joke/#.T00JMuX3TTo)
By men (http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2010/01/12/abuse-of-power.html)
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The shares weren't a substitute for contrition: he explicitly apologized at the same time.
I agree in part, but I think you could argue that he didn't seem to understand that what he did was wrong beyond the fact that it made people angry, particularly since he explicitly stated that the majority of his regret came from Hannelore being upset with him. While I agree with Lt. Potter and other commenters that he probably wasn't trying to buy forgiveness as such, his tone during the initial apology, at least to me, made it seem more like an attempt to smooth things over, than an actual apology. Today's apology, in contrast, came across as much more sincere; he expressed both understanding of why what he did was wrong and regret for the act itself.
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That's a good post! Did I already welcome you aboard?
Acknowledging all your well-taken points, isn't an apology more sincere if accompanied by a penance?
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Thank you.
You make a good point, and I would tend to agree. That being said, I don't know if 0.76% of his assets (assuming E-C Tech stock is the only form of wealth Station possesses) would constitute that much of a penance, even if the dollar amount is blank-stare-inducing.
Of course, he could have been sincere in his regret and just not expressed that sincerity particularly well. If that's the case I would still suspect that he was, at the time, sorry for upsetting Lt. Potter/Hannelore, and not for his actions in and of themselves.
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how often does someone taking a cash settlement go back to work the next day?
If that was a problem, I'd imagine she could ask for a transfer, and then easily retire at the end of her tour.
Also, interesting to note, before I saw zmeiat use the word "ciscentric" and looked up what it meant, I had no idea what "cisgender" was. I'd heard the word, but assumed it meant something else. Not anything in particular, but I didn't think there was a word for what cisgender was...which I suppose was fairly ciscentric thinking on my part.
Red text: I think that might be why he was initially sorry, but I think once Hanners explained it he understood why his actions were wrong. Honestly, though? I can't say I'd agree with it being sexual harassment.
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Pfffffft.
I feel like Lt. Potter's actions are principled in the same way that drinking a puddle so your date doesn't step in it would be chivalrous.
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I think that might be why he was initially sorry, but I think once Hanners explained it he understood why his actions were wrong. Honestly, though? I can't say I'd agree with it being sexual harassment.
I would disagree. He displayed a picture, showing her drunk and in her underwear, in her place of work. Beyond the potential issue of word spreading to her colleagues, I think we should keep in mind that this picture was shown, specifically, to individuals who she was supposed to be carrying out security checks on, possibly including pat-downs. While we all know that Marten and Marigold are, for the most part, good people, Lt. Potter's job now required her to physically inspect two strangers who have just viewed what could be considered a pretty provocative image of her. While Station probably didn't attach any sexual meaning to the photo, he still created a hostile and exceedingly awkward work environment with it.
Also, I don't know that Hanners really explained much, beyond telling him that what he did was "cruel" and "not nice".
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I actually agree with that first paragraph entirely, it was the fact that he didn't attach any sexual meaning that made me think it wasn't sexual harassment, I wasn't disputing the hostile work environment part.
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Intent is not the deciding issue on whether a person is being harrassed, sexually or otherwise.
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Exactly. If it was, all any guy has to say is "I wasn't trying to harass her!" (which is what some of them try saying anyway)
EDIT: I just realized how sexist it was of me to say "any guy" as opposed to "anybody" :-o
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I'm glad you did, I was going to point it out otherwise. That being said, what someone claims as their intent should obviously not be the deciding factor, but figuring out the intent should be important.
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If someone creates an environment in which another person is made to feel that they are being sexually harassed, as Lt. Potter clearly was, then it falls under sexual harassment, at least by the definitions I've grown up with. With that in mind, I agree that intent is important; people who don't realize the negative impact that they're having are usually a lot more forgivable, if they correct their actions after gaining that knowledge, than people who know exactly what they're doing and do it anyway.
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I just realized how sexist it was of me to say "any guy" as opposed to "anybody" :-o
Difficult, that. In my circle (i.e. both at work and among my children) it is entirely normal for both men and women to use "guy" for either gender - so I simply don't see it as sexist.
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"Vell, he's just zis guy, you know?"
~~Gag Halfrunt, brain care specialist
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Now I know she's career military.
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What kind of trouble could Station get into?
He could be sued, and have to pay out a settlement.
Can he be fired? That would raise many, many questions.
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He could be relegated to garbage detail...
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Maybe it's just me, but other than the bun, does Lt Potter resemble Dora to anyone else?
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Maybe it's just me, but other than the bun, does Lt Potter resemble Dora to anyone else?
From just a few months ago (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2079), yes. Probably unintentional on Jeph's part.
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I'm starting to wonder if QC is even based on a true story anymore.
Of course it is; Santa told me so herself.
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The fact Marten has a Tuxedo appears to have unusual significance for Hanners.
Then again, it could just be, "I don't remember seeing one any of the times I snooped in his closet!"
This post caught my attention while getting caught up. It goes along with something I realized a couple of years ago: Every man looks good in a suit. I think Hannelore would like to see Marten get dressed up for something for once, because he's always in a band shirt and jeans. I think her curiosity about the suit comes from her as a friend wanting to see Marten dress up and feel good about himself, because you can't not feel good when you're dressed up. :)
Also, I leaned back from the computer screen when I read today's comic. That was pretty intense. I'm glad Jeph took that route with this story, but I have to say I didn't expect it at all, and I was pleasantly surprised.
Edit: Of course, as soon as I closed out of this tab, I saw the strip linked to earlier in the thread (#1471)... Hanners has indeed seen Marten in a suit before, but she was pretty freaked out at the time, and her memory has probably blacked out the memory through sheer horror. :P
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Gender of AnthroPCs in QC (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=347); presumably other AIs are similar, as they seem to be able to change role quite dramatically.
Though here (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1996), in the newspost it states that AIs choose their own self identity. Would this not suggest that part of that identity would include gender, as well? If that's the case, then it appears that Jeph may have committed an unintentional retcon.
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It's also completely believable that the QC world has seen a change in how AnthroPCs are treated. The debate about their legal rights has been happening offstage, but seems to have been pretty dynamic.
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I though it was interesting how Jeff mentions specifically that the pictures were "public" pictures on Facebook; but it was a work environmental.
Maybe I just read to much into it; but I thought he was taking a shot at managers who decide not to hire someone based on facebook.
This has been a great story line so far.
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New comic!
I think this is my new favorite, yet there is one thought that dominates my mind: Pintsize with this software would be hilarious/horrifying.
Also, I'm now wondering if AIs can emulate the effects of other mind-altering substances. As scary as being on a drunken space station must be, just imagine if he was on an LSD emulator trip.
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When Pintsize wants to, uh, widen his consciousness, he just upgrades his video drivers (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=874) or his RAM (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=629).
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Up until today i was expecting Lt. Potter to show up at the party drunk and try (possibly) to make out with Marten with probably awkward consequences, after today though, I'm not sure that's going to happen.
Isn't it possible that station's acting drunk to Lt. Potter as drinking buddy, but isn't actually drunk at all? In other words, as I might do to pretend I've had too much, slur my words, stumble about, lose volume control etc but be fully sober (or mostly sober).
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When Pintsize wants to, uh, widen his consciousness, he just upgrades his video drivers (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=874) or his RAM (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=629).
Dang, I had completely forgotten about those.
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That would be simulation, not emulation.
If I were Hannelore I'd be *really* scared that Station was doing something outside my experience.
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Ah... principle... the reason why smart and morally good people usually aren't rich. And the reason why the spineless and stupid rule the world. :-D
Are you saying what Lt. Potter did strikes you as smart?
The people who rule the world may be immoral, but they are more cunning than you, otherwise they wouldnt' be rulling the world. ;)
I am saying she is morally good. Smart is a matter of opinion and point of view, of course. Sticking to principles of morale or good sportsmanship (just to name two) can be either smart or stupid.
In my opinion (as you can see here), principles and good morale are smart in the long run, while spineless- and ruthlessness leads to self-destruction eventually. ;)
And as for "more cunning than me", you are not in a position to judge that. :-D
Besides... lately, if I take a good long look at our "cunning but immoral" leaders I DON'T get the feeling they are pretty s.m.a.r.t...
@IICIH:
Simulating the behavior of another system is called emulation when talking about robots or computers I believe. °O
@Comic:
Let's all go to Principle!
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For comic #2133..
1. For the comic title, I could see how zero-G Volleyball could be illegal. One really hard ball-spike could literally decapitate someone.
2. Well the shippers can now cite and fan-fic how Marten and Hannelore got sweaty in zero-G... :psyduck:
3. At least Lt. Potter is not roaming around with cheap space booze wearing only a bra and military pants. Though I will not envy her space hangover.
4. Station's holographic booze flask and holographic drunk bubbles amused me. Wonder if Station will experience a emulatory hangover?
5. Hopefully this will not result in drunken holographic zero-G make-outs between the two, either :-P .
6. I also liked the Jeph-revised resolution between Lt. Potter and Station better than his original script (on Jeph's Tumblr), and it still works out towards good humor anyway.
7. To Principle! WOO.
8. @Soulsynger... My impression of many political leaders is also that they are more about being popular than being S-M-R-T! I mean- (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNmWt9URJD4)
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Just a word to the wise, you're NEVER really off-duty.
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1. For the comic title, I could see how zero-G Volleyball could be illegal. One really hard ball-spike could literally decapitate someone.
Ehm, no... In zero-g the ball won't go any faster than on the ground, because it's still momentum of hand vs momentum of ball at the moment of the spike. It just won't fall to the ground all by itself. And the mass of a volleyball is far too low to decapitate somebody unless you manage to get it up to ridiculous speeds that not even a professional player would be able to manage...
Now all the momentum changes for the players because of playing and spiking the ball would make it a very bizarre sport to do in zero-g...
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Isn't it possible that station's acting drunk to Lt. Potter as drinking buddy, but isn't actually drunk at all? In other words, as I might do to pretend I've had too much, slur my words, stumble about, lose volume control etc but be fully sober (or mostly sober).
I'm sure it's possible, but I don't see it being likely. I doubt that Jeph would have given Station the drunk bubbles if that were the case. Unless Station is truly omniscient and knows that Jeph draws all of his drunk characters with bubbles so he projected them to ensure that he really did appear to be intoxicated.
:psyduck:
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What did say?
Lt. Potter going for the hard stuff. :-D The "woooo" face. Absolutely hilarious.
Bourbon or whiskey though?
Drunk emulation? :-o What would drunk orbiting look like?
Anyway, Hanners looks good in a badminton outfit. And I thought Marty might go more extreme with the badminton look.
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I'm sure it's possible, but I don't see it being likely. I doubt that Jeph would have given Station the drunk bubbles if that were the case. Unless Station is truly omniscient and knows that Jeph draws all of his drunk characters with bubbles so he projected them to ensure that he really did appear to be intoxicated.
:psyduck:
Nnnnneeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrh ... took me a while... then my brain 'sploded.
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Lt. Potter going for the hard stuff. :-D The "woooo" face. Absolutely hilarious.
Bourbon or whiskey though?
You forget this girl is no stranger to partying. She's starting to remind me of Faye quite a bit. :lol:
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that's one of those "good night, bad morning" times. bet stations's a total light weight.
he's gonna be hurrrrttttiiiinnnnggg tommorow morning.
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that's one of those "good night, bad morning" times. bet stations's a total light weight.
he's gonna be hurrrrttttiiiinnnnggg tommorow morning.
No, he weighs a couple of hundred tons actually HURR HURR.
Still, chances are he'll wake up with a terrible pain in all the diodes down his left side. That is, presuming he sleeps (and dreams of drunken electric sheep).
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Station said he transferred critical functions to another processor, so he must be "really" drunk.
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Isn't it possible that station's acting drunk to Lt. Potter as drinking buddy, but isn't actually drunk at all? In other words, as I might do to pretend I've had too much, slur my words, stumble about, lose volume control etc but be fully sober (or mostly sober).
I'm sure it's possible, but I don't see it being likely. I doubt that Jeph would have given Station the drunk bubbles if that were the case. Unless Station is truly omniscient and knows that Jeph draws all of his drunk characters with bubbles so he projected them to ensure that he really did appear to be intoxicated.
:psyduck:
Isn't that essentially what emulation is, though?
And why is it that everyone in this strip "gets drunk" by ploughing through what looks like an entire fifth, or in this case, at least a pint? I mean, Jesus, Lieutenant, good luck at work in the morning after that.
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Is this what happens when a Linux machine emulates Windows?
Wandering around, crashing (into things), hiccupping, loss of control...
Yup!
----------------------
Seriously, how would an AI emulate drunkenness - by slowing clock speed? Taking a few processors offline?
Wandering too close to a big magnetic field (http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/72536922?access_key=key-17vf1kjr14jf8xxw1cuv)?
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Carl-E: disconnecting logic processors one by one? :evil:
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1. For the comic title, I could see how zero-G Volleyball could be illegal. One really hard ball-spike could literally decapitate someone.
Ehm, no... In zero-g the ball won't go any faster than on the ground, because it's still momentum of hand vs momentum of ball at the moment of the spike. It just won't fall to the ground all by itself. And the mass of a volleyball is far too low to decapitate somebody unless you manage to get it up to ridiculous speeds that not even a professional player would be able to manage...
Now all the momentum changes for the players because of playing and spiking the ball would make it a very bizarre sport to do in zero-g...
Agree with most of what you say. IMHO serious problems with zero-g volleyball would be that setter has a difficult job with no parabolas to work with. Also the wing spiker will literally be floating in the air. Makes for viscious near vertical spikes, but the game would be very different :psyduck:
Zero-g quidditch OTOH...
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I think the real problem with zero-g volleyball would be the whole action-reaction thing. A volleyball's a lot more massive than a badminton birdie, so every strike by a player would send them careening bacwards, and give less momentum to the ball than if they were anchored to the ground by gravity. A good serve would barely make it across the net, and send the server back several feet - possibly into a wall!
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You could argue that Quidditch (or any use of flying brooms) is simply using magic to manipulate gravity.
Bourbon or whiskey though?
Just pointing this out, bourbon is whiskey (although not all whiskey is bourbon!) I could be wrong, but bourbon is just whiskey made a certain way in Kentucky (which is why calling Jack Daniel's bourbon is inaccurate).
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And then there is whisky.
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zero-g volleyball
Zero-g quidditch
For some reason, on my first read through I read those as "zerg," not "zero-g", and thought that would make both sports perhaps too exciting.
As long as I'm on scifi, why not a Game room a la Enders Game?
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Carl-E: disconnecting logic processors one by one? :evil:
Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer true
I'm half crazy all for the love of you
Marten Channeling Arthur Dent there for a moment.
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It's also completely believable that the QC world has seen a change in how AnthroPCs are treated. The debate about their legal rights has been happening offstage, but seems to have been pretty dynamic.
During comic-time, I think it's unlikely. Comic time has only been, what, a couple of years, give or take from the beginning. Also, I gathered that the speech that Momo was reading had happened shortly after the first of the truly self-aware AIs were created - the technology has almost certainly advanced greatly since then, assuming those AI didn't have the same sorts of existences available to them (all the different chassis for one). Also, would they really allow a former military AI to transfer out so easily from their old job, if if entirely independent AI were something that was only very recently recognized?
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I think the real problem with zero-g volleyball would be the whole action-reaction thing. A volleyball's a lot more massive than a badminton birdie, so every strike by a player would send them careening bacwards, and give less momentum to the ball than if they were anchored to the ground by gravity. A good serve would barely make it across the net, and send the server back several feet - possibly into a wall!
I'm trying to work that through. Seems to me the strike would send the ball flying almost as fast as ever. The difference in mass between volleyball, 9-10 ounce weight in 1g, and server, 100 pounds earth weight or more, suggests to me the server wouldn't fly off very fast after the serve -- although maybe I'm leaving out the mass of the serving arm which would push the rest of the body back. Depending on the server's posture with respect to the direction of the serve, rotation would be more of an issue. Even at badminton, with a 5-gram birdie, the masses of arm and racquet need to be figured in.
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Yes, using the standard playing moves you would go into a spin.
The constitutional amendment with equal rights for AIs was a new thing when Clinton mentioned it. Sometimes social change that has been long in the making can happen quite suddenly.
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I think the real problem with zero-g volleyball would be the whole action-reaction thing. A volleyball's a lot more massive than a badminton birdie, so every strike by a player would send them careening bacwards, and give less momentum to the ball than if they were anchored to the ground by gravity. A good serve would barely make it across the net, and send the server back several feet - possibly into a wall!
You're right in that serving would become different. But the server can take a couple steps to speed up, toss the ball into the air before toes cross the line, jump into the air, and then (sorta) spike the ball. So the forward momentum the server can collect before s/he puts the ball into play will compensate for the reaction of the ball (and the server's arm). In zero-g the server could leave the ground behind the back line, float in the air in nearly parallel orbit together with the ball, wait until near the net, and then spike the ball. At last according to my understanding of the rules on serving. A further problem would be that unless the floating stops, the server will commit a net fault. So a teammate needs to collide with him mid-air to kill the momentum? Not sure that would work? I'm off to bed, it's past midnight here.
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you'd need a net for the players *and* a net for the ball
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you'd need a net for the players *and* a net for the ball
*and* new rules *and* new layout for the game.
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1. For the comic title, I could see how zero-G Volleyball could be illegal. One really hard ball-spike could literally decapitate someone.
How would that work, though? With or without gravity, a spiked ball gets the same initial momentum. The only real difference I can see is that the ball keeps its momentum longer, while it bounces off the walls unpredictably. Is it humanly possible to spike a volleyball hard enough to kill someone on a direct hit, in Earth gravity?
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Hard to see how damage or injury from 1/2-pound inflated ball spiked at 90 mph or more from the player's hand would be different in earth's gravity or in a 0-g arena, other than that dodging injury might be more difficult with no friction surface handy. What is the range of injuries from being hit by a volleyball? What little reading I just did discusses some of the physics, but deals with shoulder injuries rather than the hit-in-the-face dodgeball kind.
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Seriously, how would an AI emulate drunkenness - by slowing clock speed? Taking a few processors offline?
Wandering too close to a big magnetic field (http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/72536922?access_key=key-17vf1kjr14jf8xxw1cuv)?
You had to put that Fanfic in here, didn't you?
And as for Volleyball - you guys are missing the point. Theoretically, you could keep the ball in the air indefinitely in zero-g.
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you'd need a net for the players *and* a net for the ball
And a net for the net? [/Xzibit]
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Wait, Hanners showing skin? Wouldn't the exposure of all that skin to the elements be counterproductive to her OCD and germphobias? And the sweat.....
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We are all going to die.
Probably not for a few decades and not all at once, but yeah, everyone dies.
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Lt. Potter = Cosette in SPAAAAAACE!
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Yeah, if anything, she reminds me far more of Cosette than of Dora.
(heh, "doody")
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Wait, Hanners showing skin? Wouldn't the exposure of all that skin to the elements be counterproductive to her OCD and germphobias? And the sweat.....
The space station is a very controlled environment.
At least it WAS.
Besides, Hannelore's worn shorts outside down on dirty old Earth, and has been known to work up a sweat on the drum kit.
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Principles or Five Large?
Principles. It was sexual harssment. - 7 (11.5%)
...$5 million, though, would make me feel less harassed. - 21 (34.4%)
Can't Buy Me Love - nor my forgiveness. - 2 (3.3%)
Just Give Me Money (That's What I Want) - 3 (4.9%)
The Major already threatened me with a court martial. - 0 (0%)
Take that money and RUN, baby, RUN. - 5 (8.2%)
What is UP with that girl's cowlick? - 1 (1.6%)
Who cares about the cash? I want that GUN! - 0 (0%)
Is it a LASER? CAN I SHOOT THE LASER? - 10 (16.4%)
Space Waffles? - 4 (6.6%)
SPATHE HAM! - 8 (13.1%)
Total Voters: 61
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Space Station veers off course, resulting in orbit decay, then crashes directly into COD, where all our other Earth-bound characters are gathered.
...except for Sven, Steve and Cossette. They inexplicably were off elsewhere. But when they get back to Northampton...
...CUE SPINOFF SERIES!
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Comic.
Uh, wow.
Hm.
(reads it over again)
Wow.
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I'm kinda surprised that young neurotic Hanners hadn't shaved her head.
Maybe Friday's comic is a dramatic zoom in covering 6 panels to a tiny scar/suggestive spot(zit)/birthmark in Hanners' hairline or similar :-o
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That's just it - she said she didn't want the implant...
(The intracranial communications device from 2125 FYI)
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Comic.
Uh, wow.
Hm.
(reads it over again)
Wow.
Yeah.
And I thought "The Talk" was heavy.
I have a feeling our lighthearted sci-fi fantasy arc is about to get terribly, terribly real.
:psyduck:
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What scares me: "It was like she was possessed."
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I don't think we need to worry about any supernatural phenomena.
Natural phenomena are scary enough.
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Well she DID speak in the Old Tongues (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1753) those two times (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1872)...
I will say this - Station could have been her "distraction". He kept her mind off of her OCD, and eventually she learned she could control it. (With enough drugs, of course.) I suspect Winslow was probably Station's suggestion, too.
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Well she DID speak in the Old Tongues (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1753) those two times (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1872)...
Hey, if that correlates linearly to sanity, Dora's *only* half as crazy as Hanners!
I know she's explained why she's cut her hair so short, but... Hanners - Let your hair down.
... I feel somewhat strange for saying that.
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Good. That means you'll fit in. ;)
I just feel so incredibly sorry for that Hanner "child" in panel 2A. God, I actually hope her issues are biological and not because one of the nannies was abusive or something.
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Okay ... I guess, shit's getting dark all of a sudden.
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So.
A new comic.
Uh, this was kinda mindblowing.
I just feel so incredibly sorry for that Hanner "child" in panel 2A. God, I actually hope her issues are biological and not because one of the nannies was abusive or something.
Augh, why did you even mention that. This was sad enough even without a thought of something horrible like that. (allthough, i have a hunch, what would happen if Mrs. E-C would even suspect something like that...)
Great comic nonetheless. But still, daaaaaaaaaaaaang.
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Of course, what would REALLY be scary is if it was something with Station himself...
...NAAAAHHHHHH.
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Of course, what would REALLY be scary is if it was something with Station himself...
...NAAAAHHHHHH.
Station is not HAL, Station is not HAL, Station is not HAL, Station is not HAL, Station is not HAL ... Aaaaaaugh!
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Augh, why did you even mention that. This was sad enough even without a thought of something horrible like that. (allthough, i have a hunch, what would happen if Mrs. E-C would even suspect something like that...)
Mr. E-C has access to airlocks, and it's super easy to hide a body in space.
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Friday's comic could be the biggest WHAM episode since 504.
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Poor, poor Hannelore. :cry: This makes me so sad.
Her tolerance for Station and no one else makes sense; he poses no physical threat whatsoever (as long as he stays a hologram, anyway). This makes me extra-psyched to see his interactions with Hanners now. Getting quite interesting.
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Well, there are those who found the ELIZA program (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELIZA) of the 1960's to be helpful in therapy.
Wouldn't it be neat if the reason why Dr. EC created the world's first AI wasn't for some purpose of bettering society - but instead to help heal his daughter's mental illness?
(Or is that too Caprica?)
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Gotta wonder, considering what we've seen of the major influences on her during her formative years, where did Hannelore pick up her ethical sense, which is one of the more finely tuned among the characters? Maybe her (considerable) empathy drove its development once she was around people who weren't preoccupied with their duties on the station.
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I'm kinda surprised that young neurotic Hanners hadn't shaved her head.
Maybe Friday's comic is a dramatic zoom in covering 6 panels to a tiny scar/suggestive spot(zit)/birthmark in Hanners' hairline or similar :-o
you think they'd let her have anything sharp?
i always assumed hannelore was crazy at least in part from growing up in the socially isolated & hypersteralized environment of the space station.
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Not a cyborg: http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1175
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Also, she said early on that she came to Earth because the therapy in space wasn't much good: 665 (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=665). We knew she was messed up, and that must have gone back to her childhood, so I'm a bit bemused by the reaction to today's comic - it really doesn't feel in any way equivalent to the talk to me.
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If Station is that good for Hanner's mental health then maybe he should download a copy of himself into the boyfriendbot.
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Is it me, or does she look like a blond stringy haired ghost girl (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StringyHairedGhostGirl) in the second panel? At least she had halfway decent parents so she didn't end up like Alma from FEAR.
With all the stuff they must have tried, I'm surprised they didn't ship her to Earth, though they probably considered it. Maybe her mind did the same kind of overreaction the immune system does that makes it freak out at stuff like peanuts - not enough exposure to dirt and germs and people and plants and such, so encounters that did occur freaked her out. Something to consider if we ever get our asses into space.
Also, she said early on that she came to Earth because the therapy in space wasn't much good: 665 (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=665). We knew she was messed up, and that must have gone back to her childhood, so I'm a bit bemused by the reaction to today's comic - it really doesn't feel in any way equivalent to the talk to me.
I agree with this. This strip wasn't exactly a giant revelation; we've gotten plenty of allusions to how much worse she used to be, as opposed to The Talk, which came out of the blue, and we had no idea that Faye had been through anything significantly bad at all. It's just that we're now getting specifics, which match pretty well with what I expected; the same, but worse and INSPACE.
Zorp is now my favorite word.
Zorp!
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For comic #2134...
1. Well we have had our space fun, now it looks like we are starting to move into our space drama. ...Or would that be space opera? *cue Stargate SG-1 theme music*
2. Great panel (#2) of depicting deeply disturbed young Hanners, definitely pulling off the "pitiable wretched creature" feel there.
3. It will be interesting to read how Hannelore did make the change from what she was then, to what she was when she first stalked down a drunken and depressed Marten. (If Jeph goes in that direction.)
4. pwhodges beat me to it for QC archive archaeology digging. But now makes me wonder at how many other childhood orbital AI friends has Hannelore had...?
5. I doubt I would want any cybernetic implants in my brain. What would you do when the technology you had became obsolete &/or no longer supported? ("Introducing the new 5-G neural stabilization & intercranial communications unit! Takes up less of your frontal lobes than the older 4-G implant so you lose only 15% of your brain-matter!" [legal voice]: all previous implant versions now voided for support. installation of the 5-G implant requires a fresh un-implanted section of the brain. not responsible for loss of memory, motor functions, &/or bowel movement controls. void where prohibited, prepayments mandatory, all sales final )
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This is sad but it doesn't feel as deep as the Talk. Jeph seems like he's going to keep getting deeper into the issue. To guess, which feels kind of mean on Hanners, I would guess being back where's she grew up could bring back a lot of her triggers and I'm worried we might see her go back a few steps. :-(
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I was wondering if she might regress, but she's been OK up until she went to get ready for the party, my hope is that she might have at most a small (read funny) freak out over something. Serious psychosis or Hannerflail would be a major downer for the party
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Is it me, or does she look like a blond stringy haired ghost girl (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StringyHairedGhostGirl) in the second panel? At least she had halfway decent parents so she didn't end up like Alma from FEAR.
With all the stuff they must have tried, I'm surprised they didn't ship her to Earth, though they probably considered it. Maybe her mind did the same kind of overreaction the immune system does that makes it freak out at stuff like peanuts - not enough exposure to dirt and germs and people and plants and such, so encounters that did occur freaked her out. Something to consider if we ever get our asses into space.
Also, she said early on that she came to Earth because the therapy in space wasn't much good: 665 (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=665). We knew she was messed up, and that must have gone back to her childhood, so I'm a bit bemused by the reaction to today's comic - it really doesn't feel in any way equivalent to the talk to me.
I agree with this. This strip wasn't exactly a giant revelation; we've gotten plenty of allusions to how much worse she used to be, as opposed to The Talk, which came out of the blue, and we had no idea that Faye had been through anything significantly bad at all. It's just that we're now getting specifics, which match pretty well with what I expected; the same, but worse and INSPACE.
Zorp is now my favorite word.
Zorp!
We had no idea Faye had been through anything bad? I thought Jeph had been implying a had past for Faye for awhile. Of course, I thought he was implying that she had been in an abusive relationship.
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Dora felt bad about regarding Hanners has funny while also feeling sorry for her. child Hanners is purely sad.
Beatrice thouqht that was a discipline problem?! I think even less of her.now.
I vaguely remember that there are mental health problems that improve over tiime.
Should Winslow install a therapy module?
Is typing on an iPad punishment for my sins In a previous life?
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Gotta wonder, considering what we've seen of the major influences on her during her formative years, where did Hannelore pick up her ethical sense, which is one of the more finely tuned among the characters? Maybe her (considerable) empathy drove its development once she was around people who weren't preoccupied with their duties on the station.
Makes sense, or she could have come by it intellecttually, by thinking how she would have liked to have been treated. That would not work for most people but she does not seem to have a normally robust id.
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allthough, i have a hunch, what would happen if Mrs. E-C would even suspect something like that...
Yeah... She doesn't do mothering, but revenge would be right up her street. This is the woman who has a wood-chipper and shark-tank to deal with mere embezzlers...
Young Hanners is sad. And I know Marten and Marigold are friends, but should Hanners' doctor at the time be sharing these details with them?
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She's not a doctor, she's a laser scientist, remember? :D
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Young Hanners is sad. And I know Marten and Marigold are friends, but should Hanners' doctor at the time be sharing these details with them?
I was wondering about that, too. Not very professional. But
- 1) Medicine is just a hobby for her.
- 2) It is an ideal way for Jeph to tell us a little bit more about Hannelore's childhood.
But I agree with Dr Case .... just think how much progress Hannelore has made in controlling her demons.
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I still think there's a piece of the puzzle missing. Learning just how bad she was is a little bit of a shock but I think we've still got a lot more to learn about her before this arc is over. There's just something there...
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If Station is that good for Hanner's mental health then maybe he should download a copy of himself into the boyfriendbot.
Winslow would get jealous (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1012) and think he was going to be replaced.
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Interesting to see that I'm not the only one that thought Lt. Potter looked like Cosette in 2133. It would be funny if she turned out to be Cosette's sister, using her mother's maiden name because she figured no one would take her seriously as Lt. Hurlbut.
Yeah, there's no doubt Beatrice is a horribly clueless mom. Perhaps she herself was raised by "the help"(it's implied that she may have come from money) and so really never had any experience of being properly raised by a parent herself.
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I think the reason why we're taking this so serious is because of how Jeph drew Hanners in 2A. We already knew that Station was her "friend" ("he kept the dust bunnies from being under the bed" I think is what she said), and it is entirely possible that they had conversations like in 2125 (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2125) frequently.
For everything that HannerDad isn't (attentive and focused), he strikes me as being caring and moral - unlike Mommie Dearest. That is probably where she got her politeness and morality.
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You know, according to the official exorcism manual of the Church, demons are known to "run quiet" for a time to reduce suspicion before they rise up again to make the lives of their victims an even greater misery than before.
by the way, does anyone know what Hannelore said in those two Cthulhu strips, and where Jeph got the fonts for it and such?
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Geez, it was probably mentioned in the WCDT's for those strips...
EDIT: found 'em:
I'm going with the 'fill your scrotum with spiders and broken glass' theory.
It holds up pretty good IMHO. Look at them side by side:
A BCDEF FG HAI'I JGKL
MNLGFKO BAFP MQARSLM
CER TLUGVSE WICMM!
I WA*NT TO FIL'L YOUR
SCROTUM WITH SPIDERS
AND BR*OKEN GLASS!
If it was meant to be typed as gibberish, the chances of it being so close to correlating to an actual English sentence are very very low. Especially one that would be an apt and funny response to a male customer asking you out.
And the leftover letters are J,Q, V, X, and Z.
Go ahead and shuffle them around if you like. Here's a good site to do that: http://www.esg.montana.edu/meg/consbio/cryptogram/crypto.html
(Alternately, if anyone has the original font, they should try to type what Hanners said and see what keys were used. I think someone called it "Linear A".)
"Disturb me and i shall summon a horde of shoggoths to rend your flesh!"
Can Marigold understand the Dreamer's Tongue? Or does the very sound of those dread syllables banish sleep?
EDIT: Also, according to our lady from Australia, the font is Miskatonic (http://www.fontspace.com/blambot/miskatonic).
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Am I the only one who is kind of disturbed by Marigold's suggestion in the last panel? I've got visions of Suddenly, Last Summer, where instead of lobotomization, its cybernetic implants as the medical technique du jour.
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Good God, could you imagine the horrors she saw when she was living with mom?
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I think today's comic fits in with what we know - when we first met Hannelore she was much more confident due to the meds she was on. This makes sense, she would probably have to be on pretty strong medication to manage with the move to Earth at first. But it seems that version of Hanners may only have been a brief respite.
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Jeez. Hanners has come a long way. I remember when she was introduced to Marten's mom, who was surprised as how normal she was. Considering how messed up she was in earlier strips, this makes sense.
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Well, the teenage years are usually the worst. Through childhood you either develop coping mechanisms, or get worse... also, some of the techniques (restraint, drugging) can leave the sufferer with so little control as to make OCD (which is all about cotrol) worse.
Maybe just gettig out was what she eeded. Station showed her the world below, and how she could get enough control over it to survive. Sometimes, the people closest to a sufferer (dad and Dr. Chase) are the worst ones to deal with the problems.
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There's one thing that nags me, though. If Hanners saw Station as a good friend, why didn't she tell Sven a bit about the Station, and its importance to her?
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Nobody would have given her actual command access to the station AI. He's obeyed her out of family loyalty.
EDIT: she didn't tell Marten and Marigold how close she was to Station, either. Maybe it's too personal.
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Ah man, looking at young Hanners break my heart a little. :(
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There's one thing that nags me, though. If Hanners saw Station as a good friend, why didn't she tell Sven a bit about the Station, and its importance to her?
Maybe she was taught as a child that a friend is necessarily human.
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Ah man, looking at young Hanners break my heart a little. :(
Same here. But then I keep thinking "Space... Madness!", and then I feel a bit better imagining Hanners as Ren. When I feel better, I might draw this.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_O5gIbeIVSlw/SHTjAuoThWI/AAAAAAAADUs/2x-2fecLam4/s400/BillWray%2B-%2Bspace.jpg)
autocorrect gave me "Hammers"
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Can someone explain what was so daaaannnngggg inspiring about 2134? I'm not seeing it. Nothing Dr. Chase said about Hanners' upbringing was particularly shocking to me given her personality when first introduced. I see a line drawn from her status today, through her status when first introduced to the descriptions in 2134 as reasonable in terms of character development.
Comparing this to the shock of 504 just makes no sense. There would have to be more to Hanners' upbringing to get it up to that level of mindscrew (in the audience's mind, not the characters).
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Hanners, or Hannelore if you're not comfortable with the familiarity, is a favorite of many, many fans; I suspect Jeph wrote her to be appealing on an emotional level, delibrately taking her through a phase of adorable-ness he never seems to have tried with the other characters, except maybe Momo v.2.
She seems to have struck an empathetic chord among many vocal fans who are going to respond to this backstory on an emotional level beyond any critical appreciation of character development.
Interesting to me because I remember a brief discussion in the weekly threads about a year ago, our time, in which a surprising (to me, anyway) number of forumites, some of whom liked her as a character, seemed to be uncomfortable with the thought of having a Hanners around in real life.
tl;dr: D'aww Hanners.
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Don't forget that this is Dr case's impression of Hanners childhood.
It probably does represent the way she was treated but it may or may not be how
Hanners (or station) would describe her early life.
I fear the medical professionals (or in this case the laser scientist acting as part-time medical staff) often tend to
see only the pathology and stop seeing the person. People may be able to function much better with their friends than
with somebody in a position of authority that thinks of them primarily as a patient.
Of course I could be wrong (lets see where the strips take us) but I think an interpretation of Dr case
having been out of her depth here is possible.
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Kinda sounds like everyone involved was out of their depth with Hanners.
DSL - I think it was just the vision that panels 2A (and, to a lesser extent, 2B) brought to mind for us in the fan base that made us compare it to 504. 504, however, was 1,000 times more gut-wrenching than Stringy Haired Little Girl Hanners.
What Dr. Case may have perceived as a "sudden change" may have not, in fact, been anything like that. It may have been something as simple as dust bunnies and Station finally being able to replicate himself as a holo-avatar.
I mentioned previously the ELIZA computer program. When the program ported to the IBM PC in the early 1980's, some psychiatrists found it useful for persons who couldn't connect with a therapist. Oddly, I almost think the same thing happened with Station - except he managed to get Hanners to not be afraid of her world.
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I have to remember that my experience with QC is somewhat artificial since I didn't find QC until January when I archive binged it in about 5 days. It probably reads very differently to someone who read through the years.
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In 665 Hannelore made it sound like she could only get useful therapy planetside. When first introduced she said she started therapy at 11.
This doesn't line up neatly with therapists being flown up by the dozen. We have a challenge, then, to come up with a chronology for Hanners that's consistent with taking her literally.
No wonder her dad thought a robot would be the right companion for her.
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Jeph said she was limited in the number of friends she could bring. If it was a matter of having room to put them up, I bet Winslow would fit on an SD card, and does it seem just possible that there might be spare robot bodies lying around the station?
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In Valens name!!
Grud, what a sad childhood she definitely had, and considering that, it's remarkable she managed to become the Hanners that we all know and love. I suspect, like others, there is more to this story than appears and it will be interesting to see if all will be revealed.
On a side note I wonder what's going on with the corridors? Yesterday they looked like they were set up like the core corridor of B5, now today they look like the corridors in the Saucer Section of the Constitution class Enterprise. Kinda confusing when you're trying to sort out how the Station's set up.
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@cold - I see no inconsistencies. She just didn't find them useful, because like the good doctor, they probably saw her as a case study rather than a person.
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Yes, I can imagine it being 'the best scientific minds ever!' summoned up the Space Station, not necessarily the most sympathetic. Combine this with being stuck in this same environment, with little escape, then it kind of makes sense that she'd want to give Earth a try. And obviously she has since found things to make life easier to cope with.
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I have to remember that my experience with QC is somewhat artificial since I didn't find QC until January when I archive binged it in about 5 days. It probably reads very differently to someone who read through the years.
Many of us have done just that. I'll own up to having done it twice since December. I liked the characters when I picked it up, liked them at the beginning and on the read-throughs they became like part of my family -- easy enough since I'm in my 70s, widowed a year ago. Try it from the top. Give yourself a week or so. Enjoy!
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Welcome, Redball!
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Gosh, another who's older than me (I once counted three, but two of those aren't around these days) - welcome!
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I have to remember that my experience with QC is somewhat artificial since I didn't find QC until January when I archive binged it in about 5 days. It probably reads very differently to someone who read through the years.
Many of us have done just that. I'll own up to having done it twice since December. I liked the characters when I picked it up, liked them at the beginning and on the read-throughs they became like part of my family -- easy enough since I'm in my 70s, widowed a year ago. Try it from the top. Give yourself a week or so. Enjoy!
You misunderstand. I first encountered QC in January of 2012. Five days later, I had read the whole archive. My history with Hannelore is only 1 day shorter than my history with Faye or Martin. Faye's shocking reveal in 504 happened only a couple weeks ago and only 1 day before I was introduced to Hannelore. My view of the strip is highly compressed compared to someone who first encountered the strips years ago.
Archive Binge is a phrase meaning "reading a long archive of webcomics (or a blog) is short period of time".
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OK. It makes sense that she got a string of inappropriately selected and therefore useless human therapists. Dr. Buenvenida seems to be better at compassion than some schools of therapy would encourage.
If so, it's another notable characteristic of the QC world that an AI was better able to relate to someone on a human level than the surrounding humans were.
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In our world, a therapist who had treated Hannelore would not be permitted to share the details with others, it would all have to be held in strictest confidence. Either the rules in the QC universe are different, or else Hannelore gave explicit permission to the doctors to tell Martin and Marigold all about it and the therapists concluded that sharing the information would be helpful to Hannelore. And I guess as her best and closest friends everyone might agree that this is a good idea. But I could see all kinds of ways it could go wrong.
Or maybe there is just no medical privacy in QC-land because the AIs know everything so it's no use.
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Archive Binge is a phrase meaning "reading a long archive of webcomics (or a blog) is short period of time".
I would think archive binge meant more like rereading all or part of the archives, and to read/watch something the first time is like a marathon, just like you're marathonning through a tv show the first time, one that already had several seasons. Well I know I did when on that April fools day when xkcd redirected here.
Seeing that she was restrained often when she was there, I wonder if she doesn't have any negative feelings/memories about her room, I would be if I was restrained for extensive periods.
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Remember - Dr. Case is NOT her psychiatrist. She's her "part-time" physician.
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I have to remember that my experience with QC is somewhat artificial since I didn't find QC until January when I archive binged it in about 5 days. It probably reads very differently to someone who read through the years.
Many of us have done just that. I'll own up to having done it twice since December. I liked the characters when I picked it up, liked them at the beginning and on the read-throughs they became like part of my family -- easy enough since I'm in my 70s, widowed a year ago. Try it from the top. Give yourself a week or so. Enjoy!
You misunderstand. I first encountered QC in January of 2012. Five days later, I had read the whole archive. My history with Hannelore is only 1 day shorter than my history with Faye or Martin. Faye's shocking reveal in 504 happened only a couple weeks ago and only 1 day before I was introduced to Hannelore. My view of the strip is highly compressed compared to someone who first encountered the strips years ago.
Archive Binge is a phrase meaning "reading a long archive of webcomics (or a blog) is short period of time".
I didn't misunderstand, I just didn't read your post carefully; sorry for that. The problem with bingeing on a webcomic or, sometimes, a series of books, is that it ends. In the Aubrey-Maturin (Master and Commander) stories, it ended after 21 books; the author had died and there'd be no more. Here, it ended with the expectation of one strip a day, five days a week. I'm getting used to it, but the pace was suddenly very s-l-o-w. I can fill in with the wiki, Twitter and occasionally Jeph's late-night performance art. It's a rich mine, following a graphic novel.
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So we have a new possible oldest user; now let's go in the other direction. I'm 18, who's younger?
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Or maybe there is just no medical privacy in QC-land because the AIs know everything so it's no use.
Welcome, new person!
I can imagine exactly that happening. Imagine hospitals, insurance companies, and Facebook controlled by AIs with free will. There'd be no privacy of any kind. (But Tai thought she could keep her hobby secret...)
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Given what we've seen in the last few strips, I wonder how long Hanners had been on Earth when she met Marten? Long enough to find her apartment and get a reputation as a late-night cleaning fiend, going by what the apartment agent said. But looking back at those strips, Hanners looks less "creepy" and more "terrified" -- as in, what the hell am I DOING? Particularly, look at the way her eyes are drawn, in light of what we've seen in all the strips since.
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Or maybe there is just no medical privacy in QC-land because the AIs know everything so it's no use.
Welcome, new person!
I can imagine exactly that happening. Imagine hospitals, insurance companies, and Facebook controlled by AIs with free will. There'd be no privacy of any kind. (But Tai thought she could keep her hobby secret...)
Did anyone else think of privacy in a space controlled by an AI when Station in 2125 asked Hanners if she was decent and could he apparate? Didn't he know if she was dressed?
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Station probably felt it was best to at least act like it was respecting Hanner's privacy, even if it was already fully aware of whether or not Hanners was dressed.
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Hannelore had lived planetside long enough to establish her counting business.
Winslow was a new purchase, and it's questionable whether she could have survived long psychologically without an AI around. So maybe a short time?
But she was in eighth grade with other kids: 896.
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It is possible that AI's are not all knowing. I mean, we know Momo has only a terabyte or so of storage on her old chassis.
It might be the inter-connectedness that gives AI's the appearance of being "all knowing". By that same token, though, my PC should be "all knowing" because I can look things up on Google or Wikipedia at will.
An interesting thought: whatever may have caused her OCD to explode in her pre-teens, did Station perhaps perform semi-intentional "meatball psychiatry"* on her by turning her focus on certain things (counting, for example) instead of on her OCD (repeated adjusting her curtains and checking for dust bunnies)? By doing so, he might have helped reduce her anxieties enough to where she could go down to Earth and function, somewhat, among the "natives".
* - I know I'm dating myself, but do a search for "Goodbye, Cruel World" from season 8 of MASH. You'll understand what I mean.
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I hereby christen the droids "Fayebots", after this strip (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1909). ;D
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I just want to put it on record that Hanners in 2135 panel #3 is too cute.
I am suffering from cuteness overload. Suffering, I tell you!! :-D
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Momo's old chassis had 97 terabytes (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1995).
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It would kind of suck never getting to fulfill your one designed purpose, wouldn't it?
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Momo's old chassis had 97 terabytes (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1995).
Yeah, yeah. :P
I suspect that the one thing that probably helped Hanners in her growth was the development of her sense of humor. Given what we've seen out of Station's personality already, I suspect that he took the old "make 'em laugh so they stop crying" route with Hanners.
And you know what? I think it worked. :D
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For comic #2135...
1. D'aww... Hannelore looks very nice, panel for panel. And in a black dress rather than blue, Dora would be proud.
2. Art-wise, it always looks odd (to me) when the girls (not just Hanners) wear lipstick. Perhaps because it makes their lips look much larger and more pronounced as a result of having to make it noticable enough to know they are wearing lipstick?
3. Station still drunk, I see. As I posted before, hopefully will not wind up having emulated drunken zero-G holo-makeouts with Lt. Potter :psyduck: .
4. Poor right-side H-K hover-droid, so expressively dejected. Perhaps we will see them serving drinks at next week's birthday party.
5. Also as I posted before, I would be interested to see Marten and Hannelore getting dressed up for something special or nice (actually, the whole QC cast in general, though not necessarily all at once). Not just the neo-Victorian wear either, though I enjoyed that bit too.
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o.O
(As seen on another webcomic, a while back: "You really don't want something designed for killing humans to have the capacity to get bored.")
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Hilarious page
Han is AI's princess it seems. I think one word from her and they would kill every other human on the planet if she so desires!
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Is it just me, or do Jeph's H-Ks resemble Tailor from Schlock Mercenary?
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Is it just me, or do Jeph's H-Ks resemble Tailor from Schlock Mercenary?
I KNEW I recognized those things from somewhere!
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Is it just me, or do Jeph's H-Ks resemble Tailor from Schlock Mercenary?
Only in the scissor-hands, and Tailor only has one of those. And no fans. And two eyes.
Hanners looks very elegant, but then she's generally the best-dressed of the QC girls with Dora coming in second.
It would kind of suck never getting to fulfill your one designed purpose, wouldn't it?
While people don't have a designed purpose, isn't this the paradox of the soldier? Constantly training and preparing for a role they hope they will never have to play. Of course there is the question of why Station has a squadron of killbots in the first place.
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Uh, stoopid question?
Since when does two (2) count as "A Pack" of H-K?
"A Brace" would be much better.
Just sayin'....
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Hanners is cute is the little black dress.
And heh. Hanners with the death droid jokes. Classic.
Jeph left of a 'd' in droids in panel 3. I was wondering what the fudge a drois was until I scrolled down.
I've noticed it before as it's happening, but the bags under Hanners eyes are almost gone. Must be great to finally get sleep on a consistent basis as well as interact normally.
Surprised the droids aren't packin'. Just claws.
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It would kind of suck never getting to fulfill your one designed purpose, wouldn't it?
While people don't have a designed purpose...
Actually, they do. The same designed purpose of every other biological lifeform on this planet-survive long enough to perpetuate the species. We've just done such a good job of it that not every member of the species has to do so.
Surprised the droids aren't packin'. Just claws.
The droid's designers were probably worried about bullets or beams punching holes in the station hull.
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Perhaps there are more kill bots offscreen. You can only get so mucn in the bottom panel.
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What about a collective noun for H-K's?
A murder of crows, a gaggle of geese, an inconvenience of hunter-killers?
What say?
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Since when does two (2) count as "A Pack" of H-K?
"A Brace" would be much better.
... We can't see offpanel. "... and MORE are ON THE WAY!" ... also: an inconvenience. As a fan of comic understatement ... I like it.
Surprised the droids aren't packin'. Just claws.
Eh, you could still hide something small-caliber in those ... fuselages? I'd say something about wanting to be careful with ranged weapons in a space habitat, but I suspect that shuttle has left the docking port, at least as far as Dr. Case is concerned. (Zorp!)
Good lord, don't ever tell Pintsize or Winslow about this. Or the Roomba. They'll get ... ideas.
Also, shut up, Marigold.
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Jeph left of a 'd' in droids in panel 3. I was wondering what the fudge a drois was until I scrolled down.
Pretty sure that was intentional.
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What about a collective noun for H-K's?
A murder of crows, a gaggle of geese, an inconvenience of hunter-killers?
What say?
Slaughter?
Evisceration?
Dismemberment?
I'm not really thinking about collective nouns anymore, just words that sound awesome
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Jeph left of a 'd' in droids in panel 3.
Jeph said on twitter it's not a typo, but is because Station is still drunk.
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Thos hunter killer drois look alot like roombas with arms. and a lense.
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Is it odd that I find the sad killer droid to be kind of adorable?
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Principles or Five Large?
Principles. It was sexual harssment. - 9 (11.5%)
...$5 million, though, would make me feel less harassed. - 26 (33.3%)
Can't Buy Me Love - nor my forgiveness. - 3 (3.8%)
Just Give Me Money (That's What I Want) - 5 (6.4%)
The Major already threatened me with a court martial. - 0 (0%)
Take that money and RUN, baby, RUN. - 8 (10.3%)
What is UP with that girl's cowlick? - 1 (1.3%)
Who cares about the cash? I want that GUN! - 0 (0%)
Is it a LASER? CAN I SHOOT THE LASER? - 13 (16.7%)
Space Waffles? - 5 (6.4%)
SPATHE HAM! - 8 (10.3%)
Total Voters: 78
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I find it interesting that everyone, except Hannelore, and including Dr. Case, seems very concerned about the presence of the hunter-killer droids.
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Archive Binge is a phrase meaning "reading a long archive of webcomics (or a blog) is short period of time".
I would think archive binge meant more like rereading all or part of the archives, and to read/watch something the first time is like a marathon
While a marathon would make it sound more noble, the point of calling a binge is it is similar to eating a cookie or single potato/dorito chip. And then one more. And I can eat one more, that won't be bad. And another and soon the bag of cookies or chips is empty. Likewise, reading a webcomic archive for the first time, when the comic is good, of course, is the same thing. Gotta go to bed but I have time to read one more strip. I can squeeze in another. Okay this is the last one. Um... I don't need to brush my teeth tomorrow, I can read 5 more. It's 3am? But I'm so close episode 1000. And then you hit that dreaded moment when you hit next and nothing happens. Binging.
And it's named after this website: http://www.archivebinge.net/
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Is it odd that I find the sad killer droid to be kind of adorable?
No, I was going to post about the sad, dejected robot myself.
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Hilarious page
Han is AI's Little Miss it seems. I think one word from her and they would kill every other human on the planet if she so desires!
FYP
Hannelore's home turf advantage leaves the others defenceless.
Is it odd that I find the sad killer droid to be kind of adorable?
Yeah, the drooping lense does that. Much the same way as Spirit's "Eyes" here. (http://xkcd.com/695/)
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Is it just me, or do Jeph's H-Ks resemble Tailor from Schlock Mercenary?
Only in the scissor-hands, and Tailor only has one of those. And no fans. And two eyes.
Hanners looks very elegant, but then she's generally the best-dressed of the QC girls with Dora coming in second.
It would kind of suck never getting to fulfill your one designed purpose, wouldn't it?
While people don't have a designed purpose, isn't this the paradox of the soldier? Constantly training and preparing for a role they hope they will never have to play. Of course there is the question of why Station has a squadron of killbots in the first place.
well technically, we do have a designed purpose. reproduce & ensure that our genetic code out-competes that of our rivals. same as any life-form.
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Man todays had me awww'in & crackin up. Han's quick zinging of them, Station being drunk, Han's looking cute. Not to mention the droids. All in all today's strip was a massive win.
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It would kind of suck never getting to fulfill your one designed purpose, wouldn't it?
While people don't have a designed purpose...
Actually, they do. The same designed purpose of every other biological lifeform on this planet-survive long enough to perpetuate the species. We've just done such a good job of it that not every member of the species has to do so.
actually, this isn't exactly correct. Perpetuating the species as a hole has nothing to do with it. Genes don't care about the species, only about themselves. Organisms are just vehicles genes use to replicate themselves. The better the design for that vehicle, the more likely it is to out compete other vehicles of similar, but slightly less optimized, design.
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You've all got it wrong. Life has no designed purpose, nor do genes have any sort of will or goal. Life is just an accident, a giant, molecular Rube Goldberg machine that got assembled by pure chance and has been stumbling along ever since.
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Man todays had me awww'in & crackin up. Han's quick zinging of them, Station being drunk, Han's looking cute. Not to mention the droids. All in all today's strip was a massive win.
Welcome, Motorcycle!
Hanners is always looking cute, but unless Jeph is cured, I wish he'd draw her with her back to the reader. Just once. In jeans.
This comment brought to you by a guy whose favorite workplace mug 25 years ago read, "Love is a passing fanny." I still have the pieces to prove it. Somewhere.
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Oh, for the days when you could still be politically incorrect in the workplace!
I was once given a t-shirt by a class of students which read, "I hate to see you go..." on the front,
and "...but I love to watch you leave!" on the back.
Yeah, the drooping lense does that. Much the same way as Spirit's "Eyes" here. (http://xkcd.com/695/)
Damn you, sir! No fair making me weep on a sunny, warm day...
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So, the truth is out. Hanners is Six :-D
Frakin' Cylons, ruing the party.
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"Love is a passing fanny."
It is so easy to read that entirely wrong.
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Oh, for the days when you could still be politically incorrect in the workplace!
I was once given a t-shirt by a class of students which read, "I hate to see you go..." on the front,
and "...but I love to watch you leave!" on the back.
In an educational setting? Awesome! Mine was a newsroom, and the mug broke during an infrequent washing, right about the time it was going to become politically incorrect. I've imagined replacing it, the reverse side polka-dotted with small edited back views of Faye, Dora, Marigold and Padma. I may make one for myself if Jeph doesn't beat me to it.
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"Love is a passing fanny."
It is so easy to read that entirely wrong.
Surely you're not sullying an expression of visual preference, from the pure of heart, with flatulence....
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Oh, for the days when you could still be politically incorrect in the workplace!
I was once given a t-shirt by a class of students which read, "I hate to see you go..." on the front,
and "...but I love to watch you leave!" on the back.
In an educational setting? Awesome!
Sort of. It was a differential equations course at an engineering college. Most of the few women who tried didn't get through the calculus sequence. I saw one female student in that course in the 6 years I taught there.
It was right before Barbie proclaimed, "Math class is tough!" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO0cvqT1tAE)
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"Love is a passing fanny."
It is so easy to read that entirely wrong.
Surely you're not sullying an expression of visual preference, from the pure of heart, with flatulence....
Passing has many meanings. And one should not wear one's heart on one's fanny.
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Looking at the robots again, I'm somewhat horrified. OTOH, it makes sense that you would not want a slug-throwing weapon in a space station, so the robots have no guns. But those pincher claws look like they could sever a limb like a pipe cutter going through PVC. Nasty.
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Jeph said she was limited in the number of friends she could bring. If it was a matter of having room to put them up, I bet Winslow would fit on an SD card, and does it seem just possible that there might be spare robot bodies lying around the station?
Dredging this back up... I haven't been keeping up.
Your comment made me think about the "pretty sure she's not a secret robot" comment (waaay back) in 2104. Since so much on the station is run by AI (trash cans, Station, Spaceship...) seems like it'd be risky to bring any other AI up. Presumably Station has good security embedded, but imagine Pintsize with a USB cable. Or lonely station eager to make friends getting be convinced by Pintsize to "let him drive for a while" ensuing lulz or dram0rz.
As long as I'm spitballing, while Winslow would presumably be vetted by Hannelore, being an Apple product possibly there's some proprietary part of his OS that his AI component couldn't access? Putting him on an SD card or equivalent, you could never be sure if there wasn't some lingering thing that Hanners didn't see as part of her review. (of course, we haven't looked in every bit of Hanners' bag, so Winslow may even be in there and we just haven't found out about it, though Pintsize is definitely on earth per 2126).
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How much room would Winslow really take up? It's not like he needs a bed or bathroom.
I imagine station was one of the first AIs hand made by Hannersdad. Could you imagine trying to interview AIs for the job of running a space station? "I see here on your resume you were the station computer for a manned trip to Jupiter that did not turn out so well. What happened there Mr. Hal 9000?"
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That part's covered on HAL's resume under "Used outside-the-box thinking to streamline the operating environment-in order to optimize mission success and resolve conflicting orders. Eliminated staffing expenses by 80 percent."
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Was anyone else reminded of Labyrinth...
"oh please, I haven't been able to say it in such a long time!"
"Alright, but don't expect a big reaction."
"No, no no, of course not."
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Surprised the droids aren't packin'. Just claws.
Lasers would not require long gun-barrels or open muzzles... Retractable turrets perhaps, or the laser could be hidden behind the head-lens (WYSIWUK - What you see is what you kill. Pron. wizzy-wuk).
"Used outside-the-box thinking to streamline the operating environment-in order to optimize mission success and resolve conflicting orders. Eliminated staffing expenses by 80 percent."
HAL as an alumnus of Macquarie Bank. Except the last sentence would read something like: "Developed resource synergies, reducing operating expenses by 80%."
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Han is AI's princess it seems. I think one word from her and they would kill every other human on the planet if she so desires!
Hopefully they'll reach their preset kill limit before they completely eradicate humanity.
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Those were some scary hunter-killer drones. Of course they need to work on the "scary" part. :mrgreen:
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They're veddy British, in an Arthur C. Clarke kind of way. So they refer to themselves as a "pack of merciless hunter-killer droids"? Who wants to bet they're the station barbers?
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Would you want THOSE blades anywhere NEAR your head? I wouldn't...
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That part's covered on HAL's resume under "Used outside-the-box thinking to streamline the operating environment-in order to optimize mission success and resolve conflicting orders. Eliminated staffing expenses by 80 percent."
This is the quote of the year so far. :)
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Love the comic, but I just realized that Hanners looks almost disturbingly Courtney Love-esque :-o (still lookin awesome though)
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But those pincher claws look like they could sever a limb like a pipe cutter going through PVC. Nasty.
Agreed. They may also have an "insert blades, then rotate final joint at high RPM" setting - aka "blender."
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But those pincher claws look like they could sever a limb like a pipe cutter going through PVC. Nasty.
Agreed. They may also have an "insert blades, then rotate final joint at high RPM" setting - aka "blender."
Tonight on Spike TV ... "Cuisinarts Gone Wild!" :-)
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Do we really wanna know why Hanners is all chummy with the killbots?
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...They were the ones who put her into the straps?
(God, all of a sudden I had a Tommy-like flashback...)
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You just know that Marigold is going to want her very own hunter-killer droid, not to mention her very own laser.
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Momo will say no.
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Anyone else think Hanners is looking really flirty toward Marten in panel 3?
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I hope you mean panel 4, though it is a funny idea of Hanner's flirting while screaming for the station's assistance. Perhaps, the implant gave her some weird suggestions for human behavior?
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I called the one you're talking about Panel 2B. The one where she says "just kidding!" is the one I meant.
1
2A | 2B
3
4
That's how I had the comic laid out. But if you're saying my 2B is 3, then my 3 is your 4.
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I'm down with that panel layout! :-D
Also, I loved the idea of what else the robots could do for the ship being on call so quickly...so one pitiful audacity//MSmoviemaker//MSpaint job later.
Turn down your speakers just in case, my computer was too quiet when I made the audio and I thought it was fine.
Credit goes to the awesome Glenn & Rachael Case and of course Jeph!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFmzMHXcEsQ
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Do we really wanna know why Hanners is all chummy with the killbots?
She seems to get along superbly with AIs in general, even reaching a modus vivendi with Pintsize.
Maybe it's like the autistic kids who scream when touched by a human but who bond with animals.
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Momo will say no.
Till Pintsize says he used to have a laser. And Marigold will attempt to "repair" him to figure out how that was possible.
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It's back and BETTER Than EVER! What was the MOMENT of THE WEEK?
It'll be an informal thing. - 0 (0%)
Trashbot! - 0 (0%)
Where'd Marigold go? (Now I'm going to toss this apple into the path of the Laser!) - 1 (2.3%)
THIS IS THE GREATEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE - 1 (2.3%)
Lt. Potter gave the shares back. - 0 (0%)
It was SEXUAL HARASSMENT... - 0 (0%)
Apology Accepted. - 0 (0%)
Now, go get me a bottle of something... - 0 (0%)
Five million on principle - 2 (4.5%)
Zero-G badminton is strenuous! - 0 (0%)
HERE'S TO PRINCIPLE! TO PRINCIPLE! - 0 (0%)
S'okay. 'M off doody. - 1 (2.3%)
EMULATION! - 0 (0%)
We are all going to die. PROBABLY NOT WOO - 2 (4.5%)
Dr. Case reveals how much Hanners has changed. - 3 (6.8%)
Sad stringy-haired little Hanners - 10 (22.7%)
One-person psychiatric ward - 0 (0%)
Cyborg implant? (one of the more popular theories) - 0 (0%)
Hanners with the little black dress - 3 (6.8%)
You're even wearing lipstick! - 1 (2.3%)
Cybernetic implant? Station! They KNOW! - 3 (6.8%)
Releasin' hunter killer drois. - 3 (6.8%)
Somebody call for a pack of merciless hunter-killer droids? - 1 (2.3%)
Aw man, we never get to kill ANYbody. - 13 (29.5%)
Total Voters: 44
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Wonder how a hovering object would work in a centripetal-gravity environment? The killbots are essentially sitting on frictionless bearings, so would inertia/Coriolis effect make them appear, from the POV of an observer standing on the "floor," to move to antispinward? Would they compensate by propelling themselves spinward? That would give them a straight-line vector which would be countered by the action of their lift fans (for practical purposes the same as the observer's feet pressing against the rim "floor" ... not the same as the action-reaction of the lift fans but the effect would be the same). OK, so this could work ...
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Wonder how a hovering object would work in a centripetal-gravity environment? The killbots are essentially sitting on frictionless bearings, so would inertia/Coriolis effect make them appear, from the POV of an observer standing on the "floor," to move to antispinward? Would they compensate by propelling themselves spinward? That would give them a straight-line vector which would be countered by the action of their lift fans (for practical purposes the same as the observer's feet pressing against the rim "floor" ... not the same as the action-reaction of the lift fans but the effect would be the same). OK, so this could work ...
Showoff!
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Wonder how a hovering object would work in a centripetal-gravity environment? The killbots are essentially sitting on frictionless bearings, so would inertia/Coriolis effect make them appear, from the POV of an observer standing on the "floor," to move to antispinward? Would they compensate by propelling themselves spinward? That would give them a straight-line vector which would be countered by the action of their lift fans (for practical purposes the same as the observer's feet pressing against the rim "floor" ... not the same as the action-reaction of the lift fans but the effect would be the same). OK, so this could work ...
Have a chat with V.I.N.Cent.
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Nothin' rotating in that movie but the fake black hole ... though the Palomino suffered from selective artificial gravity.
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Nothin' rotating in that movie but the fake black hole ... though the Palomino suffered from selective artificial gravity.
For me, one of the interesting/educational things about falling into the QC-verse are the unfamiliar language and cultural references. I've followed herp and derp and a lot of other words into the Urban Dictionary, and just followed The Black Hole and the Palomino into Wikipedia. What a journey!
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Nothin' rotating in that movie but the fake black hole ...
Rotating knives and drills. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5pOiyD4h6E)
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Nothin' rotating in that movie but the fake black hole ...
Rotating knives and drills. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5pOiyD4h6E)
OK, no rotating environments in that movie but the fake black hole, then ...
Yeeminy Cheesemas.
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Hey, for its time, The Black Hole was an awesome movie.
Kinda in the same way Star Wars... Nah, not even close, never mind.
TBH, however, was notable in one regard - it was the first rated-PG film made by Disney.
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I would love to see a remake of The Black Hole with modern FX.
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Nothin' rotating in that movie but the fake black hole ... though the Palomino suffered from selective artificial gravity.
Actually, the Palomino remained a ZeroG ship right up to the moment she docked with the Cygnis, when she fell under the larger ships Artificial Gravity Field.
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And an ending that isn't trying to be a mashup of Kubrick and Wagner.
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You've all got it wrong. Life has no designed purpose, nor do genes have any sort of will or goal. Life is just an accident, a giant, molecular Rube Goldberg machine that got assembled by pure chance and has been stumbling along ever since.
But ... but ... Winslow said that was our purpose!
Can a computer be wrong?!
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Garbage in, garbage out.
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I didn't keep up on the forums lately, so I'll be pretty late on most of what I'll be saying.
I vaguely remember that there are mental health problems that improve over tiime.
And some just vanish under the right set of circumstances. The core of my mental problems, the touchstone of most if not all my issues, a social anxiety disorder (mostly against feeling attracted to someone) that messed my life up for more than twenty years (with fourteen years of sexual abstinence as a side effect), vanished less than one month ago, puff, just like that.
It took some build-up and a fortunate series of events. Medication was involved since last August (I've been prescribed sertraline hydrochloride, a selective serotonine recapture inhibitor, for those in the know - I've lost touch with the psychiatrist who did the prescription, but I'm thinking of finding a way to give her feedback: her prescription was apparently spot-on - psychiatry being a tricky matter, and given that she was a beginner, I guess she could use the information), which put me in the right set of mind for introspection.
Analysis didn't help much because, well, social anxiety disorders go precisely in the way of opening up, and I didn't had meetings with my psychologist for long enough to loosen up - at a point I had to cancel our meetings because of a job. By the way, the (temporary) job in question probably helped too: I hadn't had one for YEARS, and here I rediscovered that I was an able worker - with compliments from my manager. Nice boost of self-confidence.
Some pieces of conversation and friendly hijinks with a female pal of mine (to whom I had recently said I was on a 14 years long abstinence streak - and by friendly hijinks I mean that when I mentioned that I didn't even know if I was still able to kiss a girl, she... tested me - then told me I had nothing to worry about on that specific matter) opened me to the idea that I was affected by some kind of phobia, and when I looked up the matter I found out about the notion of social phobia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_anxiety_disorder). It was an illumination. Just about every stupid shit I had made in my sentimental life made suddenly perfect sense. How I ruined some relationships (by my inability to get closer), how I dodged others. How I had simply, in the later years, subconsciously prevented myself from feeling attraction, to avoid triggering my panic reactions. Why I felt compelled to get (sometimes very) drunk to handle some social circumstances. (Now that I reread about social phobia and how it's treated, I'm starting to think that my psychiatrist was even more insightful that I credited her for earlier).
All was clear. I finally saw the Beast. And found it... unimpressive, actually. So I decided to confront it head on. When the occasion presented itself, at a party in which I met again the aforementioned female pal, we tried to hook up as a couple (I'll explain later why I put the emphasis on the plural). It ultimately didn't work, in part for friendzone reasons. But in the process, we precisely upgraded from long time pals to friends. Or maybe we just discovered we were friends. Whatever. And also in the process all my anxieties have been blown away. Like, totally. Pfuh. The whole affair did me so spectacularily good that I went through a phase during which I needed to replay the events in my head in order to get rid of the irrational impression of having used her. Nope, we had both started it. That's why I insisted on the plural earlier.
(Holy Chao, I drifted further from my initial point than I feel perfectly courteous to do. Moderators feel free to message me if you think all this would fit better in its own thread in the general discussion section. I'm still in a somewhat euphoric state, post chronical depression, and I may be a bit too talkative about the matter. But given that aknowledgement of the issue has been a key element in my recovery, I feel like my backstory could help people with similar conditions.)
My initial point was that sometimes mental conditions just get away. Given that, based on Dr Case's accounts (is her name yet another shoot-out to Neuromancer from Jeph?), li'l Hanners was practically a catalogue of mental issues, it's not too unlikely that she simply got rid of some of the most debilitating ones. Station's friendship probably helped in that. Maybe she just confronted them and broke through them.
Still, what we recently learned about Hanners' past state (and yeah, panel 3 of comic 2134 is painful to watch) is, in my opinion, a Crowning Moment of Awesome for... Dr Corrine.
As for the zero-g volleyball joke in the title of comic 2133? Am I the only one who understood it as a quip towards DOA XTreme Beach Volley? I used to be a fan of the Dead Or Alive franchise, in its fighting game incarnations at least. I liked the game mechanics. But their overuse of jiggle physics (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/JigglePhysics) ultimately appalled me. Now imagine zero-g jiggle physics? That's how I took the joke.
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My $0.02 - Hannelore found something that she was good at, and it made her OCD issues dissipate.
And what was she good at?
...you have to ask? (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=523)
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Maybe she just confronted them and broke through them.
Whether you call it courage or strength of will, Hannelore seems to be the top character by a wide margin in overcoming personal issues. Perhaps the force of personality that turned into evil in her mother was used for good by Hannelore.
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Maybe she just confronted them and broke through them.
Whether you call it courage or strength of will, Hannelore seems to be the top character by a wide margin in overcoming personal issues. Perhaps the force of personality that turned into evil in her mother was used for good by Hannelore.
Or maybe she managed to change perspective about said issues, saw them as puzzles, and just... solved them.
After all, she's also the most cerebral character of the main cast.
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She may have gotten that (and her ability to concentrate on a task) from her father.
Perhaps two semi-dysfunctional people can have functional offspring.
Or, at least, one who tries harder.
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Raising the question of how to judge functionality.
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Raising the question of how to judge functionality.
For starters, able to live independently, or in a workable relationship.
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It's relative. It should mean that the person can function in the way he/she wants. A person can be functional without being in a relationship or live with their parents. However, if the person somehow prevents themselves from living the way they want to because of physical or mental issues, then I guess they should work towards becoming er.. "functional".
The word makes me think of training.. nowadays it seems all exercises are judged on the basis of their "functionality", meaning that they correspond to movements you make in the "real" world. I guess somehow this could be twisted to mean that a person is functional if they can live their lives out in the world without somehow being prevented by their own bodies and minds.
Um I guess this is not very complex but I make it seem like it. I'm tired. Too many pink robots today.
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Hannelore's parents seem to be successful in their niches.