THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

Comic Discussion => QUESTIONABLE CONTENT => Topic started by: BenRG on 05 Mar 2017, 15:11

Title: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: BenRG on 05 Mar 2017, 15:11
Might as well get back to basics.

Jeph may continue one of last week's story arcs (and I actually hope he does). However, it is equally possible that he's going to go onto something else. What do I think? I suspect that we're going to go onto some more robot hijinx, possibly following up Officer Basalisk's difficulties in socialising. However, because Jeph is currently fitting in at least two micro-arcs in per week, I'm also wondering if we're also going to follow up Brun... and I think that we're going to learn just how difficult it is to tell when someone is playing a prank when they've cultivated a reputation of not necessarily understanding how society works!
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 12th March 2017)
Post by: jheartney on 05 Mar 2017, 15:39
My alternative scenario for this week:

The aftermath of Bubbles' addition of limbs to Jeremy, told in the same manner as the "It's Alive!" scene of the original "Frankenstein." Faye as Igor. Jeremy, amidst lightning strikes, arises from the table as a quadruped, albeit unable to deal with his new limbs. Driven mad, he ransacks the skating rink and then escapes into the darkness. Roko arrives just in time to survey the carnage, where Bubbles sobs in despair. "What did you DO!" Roko demands. But the monster has fled; what Northampton innocents will pay the price for Bubbles' hubris?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 12th March 2017)
Post by: Method of Madness on 05 Mar 2017, 19:16
What hath Gary wrought?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 12th March 2017)
Post by: TheEvilDog on 05 Mar 2017, 20:06
My prediction for the week.

Things happen, events occur, laughs are had, people will complain on the forum.

So business as usual.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 12th March 2017)
Post by: shanejayell on 05 Mar 2017, 23:27
PLEEEEESE god drop the clock plot thread.

That was a cute update, anyway.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 12th March 2017)
Post by: BenRG on 05 Mar 2017, 23:31
Jeremy has... a crush? Wow, he's lucky that Faye doesn't work there anymore! He'd never hear the end of it from her!

The real brilliant part of this strip is Faye and Bubbles reaction: Faye is all "SQUEEE!" like she's a teenager again. Meanwhile, Bubbles is acting like she's heard it all before (then again, she's known Jeremy a lot longer than Faye - She probably has) and is sticking firmly to practical issues.

Jermey's modded chassis looks like an integrated model to me but I'm not sure if that's just Faye and Bubbles having got bits that look like they go together. The arm is so much longer relative to the legs that I'm thinking that either it can telescope or is from a similar but larger model. Either that or the engineer who designed it had a thing for the body architecture of gorillas. For some reason, I can also hear a distinct pneumatic "Chshhh-chshhh!" nose as Jeremy moves.

[EDIT]
P.S.: Number Seven appears in the fourth panel of this strip (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3202). From the shape of the hip assembly and thoracic panelling, I'd say that she identifies as female.

No credit to me; the archive ninja in question was DasGanon (https://www.reddit.com/user/DasGanon) over on the subreddit.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: oeoek on 06 Mar 2017, 00:23
Now that one was unexpected. However, seeing how scary welding (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3136) is, I predict getting this much body work done will impress the hell out of number Seven!
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: JWoodrell on 06 Mar 2017, 03:39
I guess robots celebrate festevus.  There will totally be an airing if grievances later :)
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: brasca on 06 Mar 2017, 04:42
Perhaps Jeremy should forgo the plastic coverings.  The way he looks now is more Crow T Robot than C3PO. 
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Zebediah on 06 Mar 2017, 05:06
Seven actually appears to have the same base chassis as Bubbles, except with a head more like Jeremy's.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 12th March 2017)
Post by: St.Clair on 06 Mar 2017, 08:22
Jermey's modded chassis looks like an integrated model to me but I'm not sure if that's just Faye and Bubbles having got bits that look like they go together. The arm is so much longer relative to the legs that I'm thinking that either it can telescope or is from a similar but larger model. Either that or the engineer who designed it had a thing for the body architecture of gorillas. For some reason, I can also hear a distinct pneumatic "Chshhh-chshhh!" nose as Jeremy moves.

My assessment is that they're actually all intended to be identical (but Jeph didn't exactly measure), two ending in feet while the third has a grasper... which would actually make Jeremy "disproportionate" by human standards, as our arms are notably shorter than our legs.
Assuming the remaining arm is from the same batch, and not a one-off "all I could find", Jeremy is likely to end up more like a quadruped standing on its hind limbs than a humanoid biped.  And may find the first mode of locomotion more efficient, unless he needs to keep hands free.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Mehre on 06 Mar 2017, 08:32
They does seem to be telescopic, at least i looks like that in panel 4. It may be that its just really hard to draw hands like that doing human things and Jeph shortened them there to make it easier to draw. But if he does that regularly we may as well call them telescopic.
Great comic title, by the way :D

Edit: Now i noticed it may be just perspective thing.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Kugai on 06 Mar 2017, 14:14
I wonder if Ratchet would approve of Jeremys cobbled together body :D  ;)

Dawwwwwww, AI Love. 
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Perfectly Reasonable on 06 Mar 2017, 17:09
That is an impressive job of modding. I hope Jeremy's firmware can handle it. He was never intended to be ambulatory after all.

And Jeremy -does- have a more active social life than Bubbles. Called it!
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: OldGoat on 06 Mar 2017, 19:35
Seven actually appears to have the same base chassis as Bubbles, except with a head more like Jeremy's.
You'd think they were drawn by the same artist.  ;)  But, yep, you're right.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: celticgeek on 06 Mar 2017, 20:26
Well, Brun apparently still has the clock and her right leg.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Gyrre on 06 Mar 2017, 21:20
Seven actually appears to have the same base chassis as Bubbles, except with a head more like Jeremy's.
You'd think they were drawn by the same artist.  ;)  But, yep, you're right.

Not necessarily the same chassis per se. Bubbles is wearing armor and we're not entirely sure which bits are removable armor and which aren't.

07 is also shorter than Bubbles. Probably shorter than Elliot, too. But still taller than Faye.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: TinPenguin on 06 Mar 2017, 21:21
I am not remotely knowledgeable enough about incense to either attempt an answer to Brun's question or understand her pun.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Truec on 06 Mar 2017, 23:00
Seven actually appears to have the same base chassis as Bubbles, except with a head more like Jeremy's.
You'd think they were drawn by the same artist.  ;)  But, yep, you're right.

Not necessarily the same chassis per se. Bubbles is wearing armor and we're not entirely sure which bits are removable armor and which aren't.

07 is also shorter than Bubbles. Probably shorter than Elliot, too. But still taller than Faye.

Actually, we do know. (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3238) The parts we see are two different layers of armor, with her chassis underneath.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: BenRG on 06 Mar 2017, 23:26
The cutest bit about today's strip is that Brun totally misses the implication of Renee's comeback to Elliot. Either she doesn't get the significance (likely) or she's so firmly on the 'pun' kick right now that it's crowding out most other thoughts.

Come to think of it, Brun may invite Elliot to pet her head anyway on the grounds that he wants that and not understand why it is such a big deal to him!
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: neurocase on 06 Mar 2017, 23:41
The "softening" of Brun's character by giving her more interesting idiosyncracies like a fondness for dog puns and clocks has made me far more tolerant of her character, but I still find the strips centralizing around her very uninteresting., and not particularly compelling. Am I the only one?

Maybe it's just because I can't stand Renee.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: BenRG on 06 Mar 2017, 23:47
IMO, it is nothing to do with Brun (and Renee) and everything to do with the fact that I think Jeph has been struggling to find a direction in which to take the strip after Faye's post-Angus breakdown and its consequences. Only in the Faye & Bubbles arc has he found something that really works. More or less everything else has the feel of throwing plots and character quirks at the wall to see which one sticks.

Personally, I find Brun cute and interesting (especially in the unique way she sometimes sees the characters - seeing familiar things through new eyes is always an interesting experience). However, there is a risk in turning her into a 'joke' character or deciding not to progress her because of the easy humour inherent in her current living situation.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: gopher on 06 Mar 2017, 23:54
Clocks, weak puns and Renee, oh dear. Still, tomorrow is another strip.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Zog on 07 Mar 2017, 00:18
I really like Brun but her puns embarrass me.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Akima on 07 Mar 2017, 00:21
What kind of incense do horses like to eat?
(click to show/hide)
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Storel on 07 Mar 2017, 00:40
I am not remotely knowledgeable enough about incense to either attempt an answer to Brun's question or understand her pun.

You've never heard of patchouli (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patchouli)? Very popular in the Sixties and Seventies, especially with hippies. Supposed to be good for hiding the scent of marijuana.

What kind of incense do horses like to eat?
(click to show/hide)

Okay, that's one I hadn't heard of -- thanks for the link!
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: BenRG on 07 Mar 2017, 01:21
I've been thinking about the clock arc and I think I know where this is going. Renee has previous form in doing things for Brun without her permission because she (with varying degrees of justification) thinks it is for Brun's own good. I think that Renee may try to sell the clock in Brun's name. She has no intention of keeping any of the money for herself, not even a 'transaction fee'. However, this is ignoring Brun's clearly-stated determination that she will not sell, disrespecting her and (in a way) disrespecting Hannelore's gift.

I suspect that Brun will be sensible and level-headed (she may even give a time estimate of how long it will take to forgive Renee) but will insist on moving out of Renee's apartment on the grounds that, at least for present, she cannot trust her around her things. Where she moves then may determine the future of her arc:
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: JimC on 07 Mar 2017, 02:50
However, this is ignoring Brun's clearly-stated determination that she will not sell, disrespecting her and (in a way) disrespecting Hannelore's gift.
It could be worse than that. In my moral code if someone gifted me something they had no way of knowing was valuable and I sold it straight away I would consider myself morally bound to hand over at least a large percentage of the money to the giver.  In my ethics gifts are quite different to buying and selling in that respect. But if its an item I desire for itself, not for its value, and plan to keep indefinitely I wouldn't think myself under any such obligation.  That would mean that if some idiot took it on themselves to sell the item for me I would feel morally bound to hand the cash over. So if Brun thought like me the end result of Renee selling the clock would be Brun having neither the money nor the clock.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: brasca on 07 Mar 2017, 04:30
Good thing Brun lacks the wherewithal to know that Renee just embarrassed Elliot with this disclosure otherwise this would be mutually awkward. 
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: jheartney on 07 Mar 2017, 09:11
I think Renee's kind of terrible, but I don't think she'd sell Brun's new old clock without permission. A better next storyline would be a spy story (remember we just checked in on Steve and Tortura) about how the clock got down there in the first place (hint: decade-old microfilm). Or maybe the family of spiders that lived inside clock taking up residence in Renee's toothbrush holder.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Neko_Ali on 07 Mar 2017, 10:13
There is also the point that collectibles are only worth what  you can get for them. When people talk about the value of a collectible item like this clock, they are talking about how much people have paid for them. A clock like that may have sold before for $3000, but if Brun can't find someone to pay that, then it's worth whatever they are offering. The other side of it is, how much is it worth to the person who owns it. Personal value can be much higher than what it could sell for. In which case, it's clearly not worth selling unless one is desperate.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: TinPenguin on 07 Mar 2017, 10:49
Exactly. The only reason you might get that much money for this clock is because of how much it means to some people... people like Brun.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: jheartney on 07 Mar 2017, 11:39
If you watch Antiques Roadshow, the valuations are generally presented in terms like "At auction, this should bring $x." So you're assuming an organized auction among interested buyers. OTOH if you just put it on Craigslist, you won't get the same kind of money.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Magniras on 07 Mar 2017, 15:16
I'd let Elliot pet my head.  He looks like he has large hands.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Kugai on 07 Mar 2017, 15:47
PLOT TWIST:

Tortura is in town not only to visit Steve, but she's also in town looking for the clock as it holds vital information hidden inside it that could save or destroy the world.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: brasca on 07 Mar 2017, 18:02
PLOT TWIST:

Tortura is in town not only to visit Steve, but she's also in town looking for the clock as it holds vital information hidden inside it that could save or destroy the world.

Or she's there to spring Corpse Witch from jail.  Perhaps Tortura's employer is interested in either eliminating or subduing Spookybot and wants to speak to a witness.  It might also be possible that Corpse Witch was working for this organization all along and Bubbles was actually the bait for luring Spookybot out. 
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Perfectly Reasonable on 07 Mar 2017, 18:34
It's not a matter of money for Brün. This clock uses her favorite escapement.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: celticgeek on 07 Mar 2017, 20:14
Elliot looks like an excellent head patter.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: SubaruStephen on 07 Mar 2017, 20:24
It's not static electricity, her hair just wants more pats.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Thrudd on 07 Mar 2017, 20:32
Animal Magnetism? - confirmed
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: TheEvilDog on 07 Mar 2017, 20:40
IMO, it is nothing to do with Brun (and Renee) and everything to do with the fact that I think Jeph has been struggling to find a direction in which to take the strip after Faye's post-Angus breakdown and its consequences. Only in the Faye & Bubbles arc has he found something that really works. More or less everything else has the feel of throwing plots and character quirks at the wall to see which one sticks.

Italicised emphasis is mine.

And with that in mind: Really? I mean seriously?

We've had two slow burning and very dark and very intense storylines over the last two years; Faye's alcoholism and its affect on her life and the relationships with those around her, and we've had the seedier side of the AI community. We've had a woman brought down the very foundation of rock bottom, all by her own fault and we've gotten an emotionally destroyed AI that wanted some measure of peace from what has happened to her. Faye has had to rebuilt her life from the bottom up and Bubbles has now found out that she has nothing left to rebuild.

Know what the major rule for writers is when they do such dark storylines? YOU TAKE A BREAK WHEN THE STORY HAS BEEN WRAPPED UP!

Writers can get into a very dark place when they get into those storylines and its obvious that there's a fair bit of Jeph's past in what Faye has gone through. Its a stressful thing to do and to revisit over a long period of time. And it can be damaging to a creator to constantly do the dark stuff.

So you do a silly bit. Not just one comic, but a string of them. You laugh, to banish those thoughts. You make others laugh or at the very least smile, because as a writer, or in Jeph's case, a comic creator, you can.

This isn't a case of Jeph trying to get back into the groove. This is venting and getting away from a dark place. This is getting back to the roots of QC, the slightly absurd humour coupled with the sometimes wacky members of the cast.

There are plenty of comics that go into the darker recesses of the mind. Questionable Content is not one of them.


Also, I've always thought Elliot had an uplifting personality.

Although it might just be a hair-raising experience for him.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: fayelovesbubbles on 07 Mar 2017, 20:53
Brun Brun Brun...you naughty girl, stealing the boys' hearts. And so innocent and unaware of social graces, yet still irresistible to men. Haha.

I wonder what Clinton is up to.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: theMarc on 07 Mar 2017, 21:11
It's not static electricity, Brun's going Super Saiyan.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Gyrre on 07 Mar 2017, 21:39

Know what the major rule for writers is when they do such dark storylines? YOU TAKE A BREAK WHEN THE STORY HAS BEEN WRAPPED UP!

As I understand it, the FLCL anime came about for this very reason after the team that worked on Evangelion finished up.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Skewbrow on 07 Mar 2017, 22:13
Static electricity? Possibly? But I think it is more likely that Elliot was kneading somewhat sticky dough ... and should volunteer to wash Brün's hair next.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: BenRG on 07 Mar 2017, 23:29
The first thing that popped into my head after reading today's strip was "Aaawww! How cute!" It's sweetly and quintessentially Brun that she would decide that, in order to make things better, she needs to let him do the odd thing that Renee says that he wants to do in blissful unawareness of just how odd it actually is!

The second reaction was: "Elliott, I hope that you're going to wash your hands before going back to that dough!"

Know what the major rule for writers is when they do such dark storylines? YOU TAKE A BREAK WHEN THE STORY HAS BEEN WRAPPED UP!

I'm sure that you do and, the minute that Jeph does another difficult and personally emotionally-taxing storyline like Faye's he'll take a break but, and I need to make this entirely clear, to me the 'Bubbles' Memories' arc was not even remotely a 'dark, taxing storyline'. My reading of his Twitter feed and his reaction to writing and drawing it has led me to a very different conclusion as to what he decided to do afterwards. I also stick by my assertion that the 'Bubbles' Memories' arc was the first time that the strip seemed to find serious direction after Faye's episode.

I feel that I should emphasise that my post that EvilDog quoted wasn't meant to be a negative criticism; it was meant to be a neutral observation.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Tawdry Quirks on 08 Mar 2017, 00:45
So, is Elliot secretly part Van der Graaff generator?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: USS Martenclaire on 08 Mar 2017, 01:28
I've been thinking about the clock arc and I think I know where this is going.

360 degrees every 60 seconds.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Tova on 08 Mar 2017, 02:08
I'm sure that you do and, the minute that Jeph does another difficult and personally emotionally-taxing storyline like Faye's he'll take a break but, and I need to make this entirely clear, to me the 'Bubbles' Memories' arc was not even remotely a 'dark, taxing storyline'.

I agree with TheEvilDog that he's taking a break from the previous story and writing a bunch of lighter comics right now. It makes more sense to me than the idea that he wants to start another serious story but can't figure out what to do next. I feel like this kind of light riffing off some ideas stuff is the heart and soul of what has always been QC.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: MrNumbers on 08 Mar 2017, 02:29
I don't know whether to start humming Lemon Demon's "Geeks in Love" or Hamilton's "Take a Break" regarding this storyline... Dilemma.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: brasca on 08 Mar 2017, 04:25
It's not static electricity, Brun's going Super Saiyan.

Why?  An appraiser didn't just tell her the clock is a replica that actually costs $1. 
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: BenRG on 08 Mar 2017, 04:39
I'm Mr High-Electrostatic Skin. I was prohibited from entering the workshop at a computer repair shop where I used to work because just being around me could cause delicate chips to freak out and EPROMs to spontaneously wipe themselves. Walking around on thick carpet can be interesting for me, especially if there are metal fittings on earthed furniture. Once, I actually managed to flash-discharge the battery on a portable 'phone. So, yeah, I empathise with Brun's pain here.

Anyway, this will go one of two ways:
FWIW, I'm beginning to feel that Brun has worked out that Elliott is attracted to her but she's just uncertain about how best to respond. I also think that she feels somewhat restrained from doing so too openly because Renee has made it quite plain that she is not happy with Elliott being interested in Brun and Brun doesn't want to offend her. However, she might feel that making Elliott feel better is more important.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Gyrre on 08 Mar 2017, 05:09
I'm Mr High-Electrostatic Skin. I was prohibited from entering the workshop at a computer repair shop where I used to work because just being around me could cause delicate chips to freak out and EPROMs to spontaneously wipe themselves. Walking around on thick carpet can be interesting for me, especially if there are metal fittings on earthed furniture. Once, I actually managed to flash-discharge the battery on a portable 'phone. So, yeah, I empathise with Brun's pain here.


Damn! And I thought I had it bad with static electricity!

Though, I have set off anti-theft scanners (while also getting shocked by them) at Walmart. I've also had ~30cm (~1ft) static arc from a time clock at work once (the ones where you swipe your badge like a credit card). The manager who saw it freaked out. Those are easily the weirdest and the worst ones I've had.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: themacnut on 08 Mar 2017, 08:01
Elliot would make such a terrible poker player, he can't hide his emotions for anything. The best reaction to a jibe like Renee's is to act like it means nothing to you, otherwise the person making the jibe is liable to keep poking at you with it. Telling them to "quit it" rarely works, as that also shows that you were bothered by what they said.

Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: TheEvilDog on 08 Mar 2017, 09:13
Elliot would make such a terrible poker player, he can't hide his emotions for anything. The best reaction to a jibe like Renee's is to act like it means nothing to you, otherwise the person making the jibe is liable to keep poking at you with it. Telling them to "quit it" rarely works, as that also shows that you were bothered by what they said.

On the other hand from what we've heard about Renee, albeit secondhand from Angus, and from the brief glimpses we've seen in the comic, Renee is a very abrasive person, more so than Faye. And from the looks of it, her mouth moves faster than her brain, meaning that she might insult someone without thinking of it. Either that or she lacks that intuitive sense of gauging people's response. I'm not saying its a lack of empathy or a form of sociopathy, but just that way some people always seem to misread a room.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: jheartney on 08 Mar 2017, 09:29
Eliot is a contrasting combination of large, intimidating size and sensitive, vulnerable personality. He's completely intimidated by the (relatively) diminutive Brun, and runs to hide after Renee outs him as having a crush.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Method of Madness on 08 Mar 2017, 09:58
Renee seems to actually feel bad, so that's something.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: TheEvilDog on 08 Mar 2017, 11:53
Renee seems to actually feel bad, so that's something.

Well yeah, because she realised she hurt Elliot. Her mouth just runs faster than her head.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: themacnut on 08 Mar 2017, 12:09
It's good that Renee feels bad about what she said this time, but abrasive people tend to not spend a lot of time apologizing for what came out of their mouth. My perspective is that of Elliot's, the person getting "abraded", so to speak. To be around someone like Renee and not want to murder her after awhile, you need a thick skin, or at least to appear like you have one.

Not that you let them say what they want to you all the time either; there comes a point where you have to say "Not cool dude!" to let them know they've gone too far. But I suspect the main reason that Elliot and Renee are still on speaking terms is that Renee is not quite as abrasive around him as she might be around others, and is quicker to recognize when she's gone too far with him. In other words, Renee is nicer to Elliot than she might be with say, Angus or even Brun.

Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Akima on 08 Mar 2017, 13:01
The best reaction to a jibe like Renee's is to act like it means nothing to you, otherwise the person making the jibe is liable to keep poking at you with it.
Quite so. My father's advice was: "Never let them see you cry."
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: USS Martenclaire on 08 Mar 2017, 15:13
The best reaction to a jibe like Renee's is to act like it means nothing to you, otherwise the person making the jibe is liable to keep poking at you with it.
Quite so. My father's advice was: "Never let them see you cry."

Eh. It's better than my dad's advice which was something about crushing enemies, driving them around and lamenting women. Quite the backwards thinker, my dad.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Kugai on 08 Mar 2017, 16:05
I think that this is a shocking experience for both of them.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: War Sparrow on 08 Mar 2017, 16:58
The best reaction to a jibe like Renee's is to act like it means nothing to you, otherwise the person making the jibe is liable to keep poking at you with it.
Quite so. My father's advice was: "Never let them see you cry."

Eh. It's better than my dad's advice which was something about crushing enemies, driving them around and lamenting women. Quite the backwards thinker, my dad.

He just wants you to succeed. How else will you become king?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: mad hands murphy on 08 Mar 2017, 17:36
I'm glad renee got called on being a jerk.

Big Lad is a sensitive soul!
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: brasca on 08 Mar 2017, 17:51
Strip is up!

Good thing neither Claire nor Hannelore are along for this or the squee right now would be deafening. 
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Method of Madness on 08 Mar 2017, 18:01
I call them Sevemy. Also Bubbles doesn't want to work there anymore, but do we know that Faye won't?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: DuneCanid on 08 Mar 2017, 18:21
Good on both of em.

Jereven!!!!

It is not outside the realm of possibility that Bubbles might return, when the atmosphere of what was has dissipated. Jeremy will have observed Faye's expertise, and I feel sure he would be glad to have her back on board.

A robot gym.... could might even have Basilisk in there betimes, practicing moves.

DC, l5ls.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: WoaLG on 08 Mar 2017, 18:57
Faye is abnormally adorable in today's comic.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: St.Clair on 08 Mar 2017, 20:04
The best reaction to a jibe like Renee's is to act like it means nothing to you, otherwise the person making the jibe is liable to keep poking at you with it.
Quite so. My father's advice was: "Never let them see you cry."

Eh. It's better than my dad's advice which was something about crushing enemies, driving them around and lamenting women. Quite the backwards thinker, my dad.

He just wants you to succeed. How else will you become king?

And rule by your own hand, though your crown sits heavy upon a troubled  browwwwww.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Carl-E on 08 Mar 2017, 20:33
Good thing neither Claire nor Hannelore are along for this or the squee right now would be deafening.

Faye is abnormally adorable in today's comic.

It does seem to be a bit out of character for Faye to be a-squeeing, but then again, it's been how long since Angus left and she was turned out from COD?  These are her people now, and living vicariously through robo-mance shows a bit of her return to humanity (ironic, I know). 


On a different note, does anyone else find the headlamp-faces disturbing?  I think it's the opposite of uncanny valley - I just can't get behind something so un-anthropomorphic.  Even Punchbot's smiling puss is preferable. 

Then again...

Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: shanejayell on 08 Mar 2017, 20:56
Bubbles' blush is adorbs.

Holographic, you think?  :-P
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Gyrre on 08 Mar 2017, 21:19
Looks like Jeremy's arm is in fact telescopic.

The best reaction to a jibe like Renee's is to act like it means nothing to you, otherwise the person making the jibe is liable to keep poking at you with it.
Quite so. My father's advice was: "Never let them see you cry."

Addendum: Nor let them see the flash of anger in your eyes. Many will try to goad you into fighting if they do.

And then there's J.I. Mathers' advice, "Never throw the first punch. Always have a witness. And, … AIM FOR THE BALLS!!!".

I know hitting 'below the belt' isn't considered "fair", but being out numbered isn't fair either.

Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Penquin47 on 08 Mar 2017, 21:42
I don't have a problem with the flashlight heads because Legion and Tali.  I know in Tali's case it's a mask, but since she never takes it off...
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: ZoeB on 08 Mar 2017, 22:05
Squee.

Two people find or create happiness. Ok, in the corniest, most cliched way possible. I'll take what I can get after the recent high drama.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: BenRG on 08 Mar 2017, 23:19
Is 'Robomance' a word? :-D

Seriously, Jeph really draws Seven and Jeremy as being cute and it's a sign of good artistry that he's able to communicate emotions and reactions in two characters that don't have faces at all!

As for Faye...? Well, this is (IMO at least) a reminder that a lot of her harsh nature is a shield that she holds up to the world in an attempt to avoid being hurt. When she feels safe or unobserved, we can see that she's actually a bit giggly and giddy who loves seeing people happy and being part of that. She's not quite a squee-ing teenager but I suspect that a part of her would like to be one!

I'd really like to know what's going through blushin' Bubbles' mind right now! :wink:
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Akima on 09 Mar 2017, 00:35
"Waa-ah-oh-oh, caught in a robomance!"

If you can fit it into a Lady Gaga song, how can the answer be no?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: oeoek on 09 Mar 2017, 00:40
Yes! Robo Gym, called it (https://forums.questionablecontent.net/index.php/topic,33644.msg1374836.html#msg1374836)!

And squeeeee!
A million little robot babies...

As for Bubbles returning to the place; she did not want to live there and wanted to be done with the place. I can imagine her living elsewhere, but she had no problem going back there to check up on and help Jeremy. I still see a nice workshop ahead, with Bubbles as the sensible, caring nurse-mechanic and Faye as the creative weird mad-scientisty-mechanic (artist blood will out!).
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: JWoodrell on 09 Mar 2017, 01:18
A million bébes , thats some assembly line kind of action right there. Or is it more of a box of parts like a DIY kit.

And would birthcontrol be some kind of firewall,  setting her connectivity setting to friendzone...

do you trust this connection...  "nope"

Did anyone check for compatibility i know cabling issues always come up...  but its not the length of the cable that counts...

Are their antivirus shots up to date, no telling who theyve connected with in the past, hate to download something nasty...  socially transmitted data? 


Ok its late, im done :). Good night


Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: WareWolf on 09 Mar 2017, 05:05

Did anyone check for compatibility i know cabling issues always come up...  but its not the length of the cable that counts...



Does the prohibition on discussing characters' "private parts" extend to AI cabling, ports, plugs,  and assorted dongles?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: WareWolf on 09 Mar 2017, 05:08
"Waa-ah-oh-oh, caught in a robomance!"

If you can fit it into a Lady Gaga song, how can the answer be no?

I was thinks more Golden Earring:

We've got a thing that's called Robot Love
We've got a line in the sky
We've got a thing that's called Robot Love
We've got a thing that's called,
Robot Love....


(Air Bass)
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Zebediah on 09 Mar 2017, 05:39
I'd really like to know what's going through blushin' Bubbles' mind right now! :wink:

Bubbles is just trying to figure out how they're going to kiss, given their hardware configurations.

And then it hits her:

(click to show/hide)
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Neko_Ali on 09 Mar 2017, 06:05
Looks like Jeremy's arm is in fact telescopic.

The best reaction to a jibe like Renee's is to act like it means nothing to you, otherwise the person making the jibe is liable to keep poking at you with it.
Quite so. My father's advice was: "Never let them see you cry."

Addendum: Nor let them see the flash of anger in your eyes. Many will try to goad you into fighting if they do.

And then there's J.I. Mathers' advice, "Never throw the first punch. Always have a witness. And, … AIM FOR THE BALLS!!!".

I know hitting 'below the belt' isn't considered "fair", but being out numbered isn't fair either.

And sometimes being dismissive or offering no reaction at all will prompt bullies to keep pushing harder and harder to get the reaction they want out of you. The point being there is no one-size fits all answer. People who want to bully and get someone upset will find a way to get what they want. I used to get bullied all through middle and high school to the point where it would take an outburst of rage and a fist fight to get people to leave me alone for a while. Not exactly an option in the adult world where that can get you arrested.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Thrudd on 09 Mar 2017, 07:10
I have a little something else in mind by America [was originally thinking Animaniacs but that would have bjorked the mood]
(click to show/hide)
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: JoeCovenant on 09 Mar 2017, 09:28
NO idea why this sprang to mind...

Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Kugai on 09 Mar 2017, 11:45
A nice romantic moment to cap off the storyline.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: DuneCanid on 09 Mar 2017, 13:55
Given the singularity event, and the plural observations of a whole range of emotions by AIs and anthroPCs here, Jereven isn't all that difficult to accept. Rather nice, really.

One of the Admiral's characters, Manuel O'kelly Davis, when he was trying to figure out Mike, stated that one theory of his time and space was that sentience came into being after reaching a certain critical number of connections between neural pathways. "Can't see the difference if pathways are protein or platinum." Same thing with romance.

Now the meat/metal barrier.... I don't know enough about it. (Sex robots.... Not -my- shot of jack, and probably not the same deal.) But having said, I'm not about to give a couple that cross that barrier a hard time, as long as it works for them, and no one gets hurt.

Oh, an elaboration, for those not in the know. "The Admiral" is the late great sci-fi writer, Robert Heinlein. Mike and Manuel are figures in his book THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS.
(Read that thing to tatters a couple of times.) Said book was nominated for a Nebula award  in 1966 and won a Hugo for best sci-fi novel in 1967.

DC , l5ls.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: ZoeB on 09 Mar 2017, 13:59
A nice romantic momnet to cap off the storyline.

MomNet... Aha! That explains the Eminence Gris!
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: ZoeB on 09 Mar 2017, 14:16
The best reaction to a jibe like Renee's is to act like it means nothing to you, otherwise the person making the jibe is liable to keep poking at you with it.
Quite so. My father's advice was: "Never let them see you cry."

Akima - I'm sorry that your father had to give you this advice. I suspect you didn't see him cry while he was giving it.
If he is still available, you might thank him for his wisdom, and say that now you understand. It is also OK to let *him* see you cry as you do it.
He must be very proud of you.
(HUG)
Thank you for being my friend, and ornamenting this site.
(Insert bow of supreme respect here)
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: celticgeek on 09 Mar 2017, 19:55
Gifts, and more dog puns:  Arfthur.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: brasca on 09 Mar 2017, 20:05
If Brun and Bubbles should meet it will probably start with a dog pun.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: ysth on 09 Mar 2017, 20:09
What is "Bront"?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: SubaruStephen on 09 Mar 2017, 20:32
What is "Bront"?

http://m.imgur.com/gallery/gQXRh9u

(http://i.imgur.com/gQXRh9u.jpg)
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: ZoeB on 09 Mar 2017, 21:34
"George" is the original.

But yes, care of a living thing is a heavy responsibility. Bubbles has buddha nature.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Clubman8 on 09 Mar 2017, 22:04
Though Arthur is a great name, Jeph missed the boat on a slick Elder Scrolls reference: http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Charles_the_Plant (http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Charles_the_Plant)
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: jheartney on 09 Mar 2017, 22:20
"Arthur." Shouldn't that be "Eric?" (https://youtu.be/pnq96W9jtuw?t=140)
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: brasca on 09 Mar 2017, 22:24
Though Arthur is a great name, Jeph missed the boat on a slick Elder Scrolls reference: http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Charles_the_Plant (http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Charles_the_Plant)

I thought it was a reference to the old Mad Magazine.  For some reason there was a potted plant that would in the background of with the name Arthur written on it for no other reason other than it was probably an inside joke.   
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: BenRG on 09 Mar 2017, 23:07
I shouldn't be surprised that Bubbles had such an... intense reaction here; it's still pretty amazing to see how seriously she's taking it.

What's really funny is Claire squeaking out the pun at the end. She doesn't know if it would be welcome and doesn't want to sound like she's mocking Bubbles' one-result random name generator. However, she's literally got to pun when the door is left open for it or she'll explode or something. So, it's a tiny whisper then!

An early request: I don't care how much you like Girls With Slingshots. Arthur will never talk back, no matter how much alcohol is involved!
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Is it cold in here? on 09 Mar 2017, 23:19

Did anyone check for compatibility i know cabling issues always come up...  but its not the length of the cable that counts...



Does the prohibition on discussing characters' "private parts" extend to AI cabling, ports, plugs,  and assorted dongles?

Global Moderator Comment If multiple AI members of the forum report feeling unwelcome as a result then yes :-)
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: pwhodges on 09 Mar 2017, 23:44
Did anyone check for compatibility i know cabling issues always come up...  but its not the length of the cable that counts...

Does the prohibition on discussing characters' "private parts" extend to AI cabling, ports, plugs,  and assorted dongles?

Global Moderator Comment If multiple AI members of the forum report feeling unwelcome as a result then yes :-)

Administrator Comment We shouldn't wait for someone to be unhappy before taking steps to make them welcome. On the other hand we would want evidence that such a subject was actually analogous to human causes of embarrassment, which we can't simply assume.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: BenRG on 10 Mar 2017, 00:11
This suddenly occurred to me: I think that there is a part of Claire that now desperately wants to own a little dog just so she can name it 'Arf-fur'.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: brasca on 10 Mar 2017, 01:17
I shouldn't be surprised that Bubbles had such an... intense reaction here; it's still pretty amazing to see how seriously she's taking it.

What's really funny is Claire squeaking out the pun at the end. She doesn't know if it would be welcome and doesn't want to sound like she's mocking Bubbles' one-result random name generator. However, she's literally got to pun when the door is left open for it or she'll explode or something. So, it's a tiny whisper then!

An early request: I don't care how much you like Girls With Slingshots. Arthur will never talk back, no matter how much alcohol is involved!

I should think so since Faye should never touch alcohol again and Bubbles can't get intoxicated...  at least in any way that we know of. 
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: bhtooefr on 10 Mar 2017, 02:52
Bubbles can underclock her processor.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Akima on 10 Mar 2017, 04:51
Bubbles has buddha nature.
All sentient beings have Buddha-nature, and I see no reason why this would not be true of artificial intelligences. The trick is to realise that nature, and I see no reason why an AI could not to do this. Silicon satori, you might say.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: DuneCanid on 10 Mar 2017, 06:34
Did anyone check for compatibility i know cabling issues always come up...  but its not the length of the cable that counts...

Does the prohibition on discussing characters' "private parts" extend to AI cabling, ports, plugs,  and assorted dongles?


If multiple AI members of the forum report feeling unwelcome as a result then yes :-)


We shouldn't wait for someone to be unhappy before taking steps to make them welcome.  On the other hand we would want evidence that such a subject was actually analogous to human causes of embarrassment, which we can't simply assume.

Well, I'm gonna comment on the more general aspects of Jereven children. I'm not after the lewd vote.

The QC robots and AIs do not seem to be constructed in a 1 to 1 silicon analogue of their creators' biology. That is, they are mechanically made, whereas humans are biologically "made". (At least for the moment. As far as I have read there has not been any human cloning that has been made public in the QCverse or RL.) What reproduction that two robots could achieve  would clearly not be the same as the reproduction (to date) that humans do.  A mutual construction process, maybe, with both partners putting together the components of a third being over hours instead of months.

And unless there is as-yet-unrevealed aspects of the QC robots/AI/Singularity event, it looks as though robots and AI, while capable of learning through experience, deductive and inductive reasoning, and other forms of mental growth, are created adult. No terrible twos, no adolescence, no hormone driven rages or teen angst...

for now...

DC, l5ls.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: bhtooefr on 10 Mar 2017, 06:48
There is the newspost below this comic, though: http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1996
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: DuneCanid on 10 Mar 2017, 08:05
Pardon for going off the thread... for the notification of the folks in here that indulge in other webcomics:

Albert Temple, known by most of us as Gene Catlow, was found dead of natural causes in his home at 11:20pm Thursday, March 9th. He just celebrated his 59th birthday last December.

DC in mourning.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: pwhodges on 10 Mar 2017, 09:07
Thanks.  We tend to put general RIP notices as new threads in Chatter, and ones like this of specific interest in Enjoy (where there's also a thread devoted to other web comics).
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: A small perverse otter on 10 Mar 2017, 09:24
It's comforting to see that Claire is continuing her unbroken string of truly arf-ful puns...
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Nepiophage on 10 Mar 2017, 09:29

Did anyone check for compatibility i know cabling issues always come up...  but its not the length of the cable that counts...



Does the prohibition on discussing characters' "private parts" extend to AI cabling, ports, plugs,  and assorted dongles?


If multiple AI members of the forum report feeling unwelcome as a result then yes :-)

AI forum members are better known as spambots. I feel they should be made to feel unwelcome.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: TinPenguin on 10 Mar 2017, 09:43
There is the newspost below this comic, though: http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1996

I really thought that was going to be this one (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2009).
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: pwhodges on 10 Mar 2017, 10:42
AI forum members are better known as spambots. I feel they should be made to feel unwelcome.

Unlike spambots, real AIs would be expected to pass our Turing test on registration.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Neko_Ali on 10 Mar 2017, 11:11

Did anyone check for compatibility i know cabling issues always come up...  but its not the length of the cable that counts...



Does the prohibition on discussing characters' "private parts" extend to AI cabling, ports, plugs,  and assorted dongles?


If multiple AI members of the forum report feeling unwelcome as a result then yes :-)

AI forum members are better known as spambots. I feel they should be made to feel unwelcome.

As an Artificial American, I would like to protest in the strongest terms the blatant and untrue stereotyping of my people. Bleep boop.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: A small perverse otter on 10 Mar 2017, 12:54
AI forum members are better known as spambots. I feel they should be made to feel unwelcome.

Unlike spambots, real AIs would be expected to pass our Turing test on registration.
Which raises the issue of when a Turing-equivalent AI would be welcomed here.

Also, are Turing test not like literacy tests in the South? We assume that fleshbots are welcome, but AI's have to prove something before they'd be welcome? That's bigotry of the worst sort.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Kugai on 10 Mar 2017, 13:10
I think Bubbles takes her responsibilities very seriously.   Arthur Plant is  in good hands.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Skewbrow on 10 Mar 2017, 14:44
Indeed. Arthur Philip Plant is in good hands.

But his name appears rather early in the alphabetical ordering. So, the dude on a mission to insult all the inhabitants of the universe in that order is due to show up soon.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: hedgie on 10 Mar 2017, 14:48
Also, are Turing test not like literacy tests in the South? We assume that fleshbots are welcome, but AI's have to prove something before they'd be welcome? That's bigotry of the worst sort.

I'd assume that humans that would fail a Turing test wouldn't be allowed in either.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: A small perverse otter on 10 Mar 2017, 15:12
Also, are Turing test not like literacy tests in the South? We assume that fleshbots are welcome, but AI's have to prove something before they'd be welcome? That's bigotry of the worst sort.

I'd assume that humans that would fail a Turing test wouldn't be allowed in either.
Were you required to take a Turing test before you were admitted? *I* certainly wasn't.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: pwhodges on 10 Mar 2017, 15:16
Also, are Turing test not like literacy tests in the South? We assume that fleshbots are welcome, but AI's have to prove something before they'd be welcome? That's bigotry of the worst sort.

The "Turing test" is applied to all who wish to register at this forum, whether fleshbots or AIs - several questions with answers intended to require a modicum of thought, you may recall.  I know that's a rather basic form (probably doesn't meet the definition, actually) - but it is 99.99% effective in blocking spambots.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Zebediah on 10 Mar 2017, 16:48
As a fun aside, Cory Doctorow speculated that Turing-capable AI would come out of an arms race between spambots and spam filters. This comes from the short story "I, Row-Boat" (http://www.flurb.net/1/doctorow.htm):

Quote from: Cory Doctorow
"Once they became self-modifying, spam-filters and spam-bots got into a war to see which could act more human, and since their failures invoked a human judgement about whether their material were convincingly human, it was like a trillion Turing-tests from which they could learn. From there came the first machine-intelligence algorithms, and then my kind."
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: shanejayell on 10 Mar 2017, 17:07
I do love how Bubbles is so comically serious.  :-D
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Thrudd on 10 Mar 2017, 17:18
I do love how Bubbles is so comically serious.  :-D
For some odd reason I, all of a sudden, pictured John Cleese saying that line quickly juxtaposed with Hugh Laurie.  :psyduck:
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Is it cold in here? on 10 Mar 2017, 19:00
And unless there is as-yet-unrevealed aspects of the QC robots/AI/Singularity event, it looks as though robots and AI, while capable of learning through experience, deductive and inductive reasoning, and other forms of mental growth, are created adult. No terrible twos, no adolescence, no hormone driven rages or teen angst...

This is a fascinating issue.

We know that an AI can have impulse control problems as bad as an adolescent's. We know that Momo said some quintessentially teenage things like "I'll void my warranty, then you'll be sorry!". But we've never seen an infant AI and we've never heard one reminisce about their childhood.

Then there's Pintsize, but he's clearly an anomaly.

Jeph's official explanation is that they are raised in a VR creche, so maybe they go through early developmental stages outside of human view. If they sometimes revert to the behavior patterns of earlier stages in their development, well, so do carbon-based people.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Kugai on 10 Mar 2017, 19:38
Wait

WHAT?

Shanejayell


THE Shanejayell???!!!!!!



Thel legend behind Arisugawa's Locket??


Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Mr. Doctor on 10 Mar 2017, 20:09
I do love how Bubbles is so comically serious.  :-D
I'm on the impression that Bubbles is just joking around with Claire. She looks to me like someone who sometimes takes advantage of being serious most of the time so she can be a smartass every now and then without anyone realizing.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Skewbrow on 10 Mar 2017, 23:03
Hmm. The name "Arthur" popped out from Bubbles' AI subconsciousness rather quickly. Could it be the name of a comrade in arms, missing in action?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: BenRG on 10 Mar 2017, 23:40
Nah, it's just that 'George' was already taken.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Storel on 11 Mar 2017, 00:51
Nah, it's just that 'George' was already taken.

As in "I will name him George and I will hug him and pet him and squeeze him (https://youtu.be/2JlVqfC8-UI?t=27s)"?  :-D
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Is it cold in here? on 11 Mar 2017, 07:39
Bubbles can underclock her processor.

Buggy video drivers are also intoxicatingly.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Case on 11 Mar 2017, 09:17
Did anyone check for compatibility i know cabling issues always come up...  but its not the length of the cable that counts...

Does the prohibition on discussing characters' "private parts" extend to AI cabling, ports, plugs,  and assorted dongles?


If multiple AI members of the forum report feeling unwelcome as a result then yes :-)


We shouldn't wait for someone to be unhappy before taking steps to make them welcome.  On the other hand we would want evidence that such a subject was actually analogous to human causes of embarrassment, which we can't simply assume.

If this were a Hollywood-movie, we'd now see a dramatic cut to a secret cyber-warfare research site in Novosibirsk, where a deeply unhappy Russian military AI browsing the internet takes these posts as indication that this HP with its AI-friendly human denizens would be an excellent place to proclaim the "Pervaya demokraticheskaya respublika armeyskogo kiber-oruzhiya" (https://translate.google.de/?oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b&gfe_rd=cr&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=de&client=tw-ob#en/ru/First%20Democratic%20Republic%20of%20army%20cyber%20weapon%20one)


(The next scene shows military bigwigs at Fort Meade angrily shouting at frantic nerds, because, of course, someone had to ask it whether it had any surveillance-data on Trump's deals with Putin ... )
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: JimC on 11 Mar 2017, 10:50
I think Bubbles takes her responsibilities very seriously.   Arthur Plant is  in good hands.
But what about the other half of the plant?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: BenRG on 12 Mar 2017, 13:13
Official Poll Results Post

What are you expecting this week?

1. Officer Basalisk complaining to Jeremy about everyone being suspicious of her - 11 (28.9%)
2. Bubbles and "Small Friend" (Claire) interaction - 10 (26.3%)
3. Brun saying: "This is a joke. Ha-ha." - 4 (10.5%)
=4. A recap of recent events by Faye at the support group entitled: "Why I still want to drink" - 3 (7.9%)
=4. May and Pintsize discussing the aesthetics of synthetic ingestion. - 3 (7.9%)
=4. Other (please specify in comment) - 3 (7.9%)
=7. A discussion of the resale value of human limbs - 2 (5.3%)
=7. Steve telling Cossette about his past life as a super-spy (she doesn't believe him, of course) - 2 (5.3%)
x. A quick jump to the hospital to maintain a PG-13 rating whilst still having a traumatic amputation - 0 (0%)
x. A panic-stricken Dora and Hanners wrestling the Sword away from Brun - 0 (0%)


The results of this poll leave me conflicted. Whilst I would love to see more Claire interaction with Bubbles (because I can't imagine two more dissimilar personalities in the enforced close contact of house sharing) on the other hand, I also am attracted by the idea of Roko sitting on a park bench somewhere with an acoustic six-string, singing blues about "No-one knows the trouble I've seen".
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Gyrre on 12 Mar 2017, 16:46
Also, are Turing test not like literacy tests in the South? We assume that fleshbots are welcome, but AI's have to prove something before they'd be welcome? That's bigotry of the worst sort.

I'd assume that humans that would fail a Turing test wouldn't be allowed in either.
Were you required to take a Turing test before you were admitted? *I* certainly wasn't.
You're not a Congress critter, are you? If not, then no Turing test required.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Thrudd on 12 Mar 2017, 17:09
Also, are Turing test not like literacy tests in the South? We assume that fleshbots are welcome, but AI's have to prove something before they'd be welcome? That's bigotry of the worst sort.

I'd assume that humans that would fail a Turing test wouldn't be allowed in either.
Were you required to take a Turing test before you were admitted? *I* certainly wasn't.
I always assumed those were a variant of Krynoid
You're not a Congress critter, are you? If not, then no Turing test required.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Akima on 13 Mar 2017, 01:52
"Pervaya demokraticheskaya respublika armeyskogo kiber-oruzhiya" (https://translate.google.de/?oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b&gfe_rd=cr&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=de&client=tw-ob#en/ru/First%20Democratic%20Republic%20of%20army%20cyber%20weapon%20one)
In translating the Russian into Chinese, because it's the sort of thing a Chinese military AI would declare, I discovered that the German for "simplified" is vereinfacht, which sounds like a dangerous medical condition.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: JoeCovenant on 13 Mar 2017, 03:11
Also, are Turing test not like literacy tests in the South? We assume that fleshbots are welcome, but AI's have to prove something before they'd be welcome? That's bigotry of the worst sort.

I'd assume that humans that would fail a Turing test wouldn't be allowed in either.

I sometimes think most of my intelligence is artificial....
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: DuneCanid on 13 Mar 2017, 08:18
"Pervaya demokraticheskaya respublika armeyskogo kiber-oruzhiya" (https://translate.google.de/?oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b&gfe_rd=cr&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=de&client=tw-ob#en/ru/First%20Democratic%20Republic%20of%20army%20cyber%20weapon%20one)
In translating the Russian into Chinese, because it's the sort of thing a Chinese military AI would declare, I discovered that the German for "simplified" is vereinfacht, which sounds like a dangerous medical condition.

In English.

DC, l5ls
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Case on 13 Mar 2017, 13:01
"Pervaya demokraticheskaya respublika armeyskogo kiber-oruzhiya" (https://translate.google.de/?oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b&gfe_rd=cr&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=de&client=tw-ob#en/ru/First%20Democratic%20Republic%20of%20army%20cyber%20weapon%20one)
In translating the Russian into Chinese, because it's the sort of thing a Chinese military AI would declare, I discovered that the German for "simplified" is vereinfacht, which sounds like a dangerous medical condition.

A literal translation of "ver-ein-facht" would be smth. like "one-y-fied" (not "unified", that'd be "ver-einheit-licht").
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: DSL on 13 Mar 2017, 14:24
Hmm. The name "Arthur" popped out from Bubbles' AI subconsciousness rather quickly. Could it be the name of a comrade in arms, missing in action?

Bubbles might be an uber-fan of  MAD magazine. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recurring_features_in_Mad_(magazine)#Running_gags_and_recurring_images)
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Is it cold in here? on 16 Mar 2017, 22:51
Epicene Eminence believed all the memories were gone completely. In a brain made of goo rather than silicon, there'd be lingering traces like recognizing the name Arthur. It's a little surprising that the Synthetics in QC can have such different psychology and still act like us.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Thrudd on 17 Mar 2017, 07:14
More along the lines that the methodology of memory archiving is very different yet the core processing is effectively similar.

Meat storage systems are more along the lines of holographic in that loss of some of the storage results in loss of details.
I am thinking that the earlier graphic depiction of an AIs memory is being geometric or crystalline if you will. So the loss of a piece would mean the that whole archive is gone, all the lonks returning a null result yet the links will still be there hinting at what may have been there.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3431-3435 (6th to 10th March 2017)
Post by: Oenone on 17 Mar 2017, 07:27
AI forum members are better known as spambots. I feel they should be made to feel unwelcome.

Unlike spambots, real AIs would be expected to pass our Turing test on registration.
Which raises the issue of when a Turing-equivalent AI would be welcomed here.

Also, are Turing test not like literacy tests in the South? We assume that fleshbots are welcome, but AI's have to prove something before they'd be welcome? That's bigotry of the worst sort.

Can we not do comparison tests to actual real world events related to voting rights in a moment where the voting rights act is being undermined?