THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

Comic Discussion => QUESTIONABLE CONTENT => Topic started by: BenRG on 06 Oct 2019, 11:18

Title: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: BenRG on 06 Oct 2019, 11:18
Okay, now Gyrre has a general discussion thread on this subject but I think that it's been long enough for us to talk about what May might want rather than what we want. I admit to being in two minds now because, whilst my original idea was based on what we've seen of May's likes and dislikes so far, her blossoming interest in Sven and exploring the degree to which she can be part of human sexuality has shifted my views somewhat.

Originally, I thought that, if she had any choice in the world, it would be some kind of spacecraft. Why? Because, back at the end of her first appearance, her greatest wish was to look at the stars. I can imagine that the opportunity to regularly go beyond the atmosphere and see the stars more clearly than she could from anywhere on Earth would be a source of unending wonder to her.

However, this whole thing with Sven complicates matters somewhat. She's suddenly gained an interest and link with humanity and human social connections that she didn't really have before, making her choosing a better quality and somewhat more 'functional' chassis a definite possibility for her wish list.

The ideal, I think is something like in Anne McCaffrey's The Ship Who Searched (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ship_Who_Searched) where, at the climax, the titular brainship in question has an ultra-high-fidelity anthropomimetic drone built that she can operate remotely using her ship-body's drone control system. This brings her and her pilot somewhat... er... closer. So, yeah, I think that the happy medium for May would be a ship body and a gynoid body that she can use on free days to visit with her boyfriend, if things go that way.

Nonetheless, I think that, given how things are going in the strip right now, I think that May would be happy enough with a body as human-like as Roko's original chassis and I also suspect that will turn out to be the limit of which that Roko can squeeze out of the authorities.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: hakko504 on 06 Oct 2019, 11:38
Well, what put her in the nick in the first place was a desire to become a jet fighter so something like that is of course possible, but for almost as long as she has appeared in the strip she has shown an interest in human/robot intimate relations, often with herself as the 'robot' part of said relation, (but not always, "If you bone down, I want pix" re:Faye/Bubbles & "And you want a piece of that" re:Momo/Sven), so I'm quite certain that any body she might choose will be one equipped for said relations. Thus at least vaguely human. She also expressed happiness with being a blue lady, so I imagine that any body she chooses will be a blue one.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Mr Intrepid on 06 Oct 2019, 12:05
That's always been a question of mine.  When a AI switches bodies, do they try to keep in the same basic configuration, or do they opt for something very different.  Roko chose an upgraded version of her previous chassis, and the AI at the AI store when Momo got upgraded was previously on a nuclear submarine.  Point being, if they interact with larger society, would they try to keep a continuity of style? 
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: cybersmurf on 06 Oct 2019, 15:56
Apart from screwing up becoming a fighter jet, May claimed she liked to be a "blue robot chick". So my guess is, she'd go for something similar like her current chassis (with my expectation of the model line actually being out of production, and some leftovers were sold to the government without supplying spare parts).
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: shanejayell on 06 Oct 2019, 18:55
New comic up. :D

Team hip repair!

Has May mentioned to them that Roko is trying to get her body fixed, too?
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: DaiJB on 06 Oct 2019, 19:33
I put "other":-
With all the trouble she's been having with her body literally falling apart lately, I think May will go for the most reliable, no-frills, easy-maintenance body on the market -  sort of like the Volkswagen Beetle of robot bodies  :-D
(Of course, it'll be blue!) 
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Magniras on 06 Oct 2019, 20:53
Other: top of the line fighter jet with all the deadly bells and whistles.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: BenRG on 06 Oct 2019, 23:16
Today's strip is quite adorable in its own way because it shows just what a close family this group are. Marigold doesn't hesitate to help fix May and she's actually quite eager to help deal with the whole chassis problem.

What is really lovely though is, when you parse out her bitterness filter, May really is very happy and grateful for her friend and their hospitality to the point where she feels genuinely guilty about accepting it when she can only give such a small amount in repayment. On the flip side, it's kind of sad that she thinks that she is disliked and that reminders that she isn't universally despised annoys her a little because maybe it requires revising her attitude towards other people!

Finally, Dale and Marigold are an increasingly effective double-act, aren't they?
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: brasca on 06 Oct 2019, 23:31
Today's strip is quite adorable in its own way because it shows just what a close family this group are. Marigold doesn't hesitate to help fix May and she's actually quite eager to help deal with the whole chassis problem.

What is really lovely though is, when you parse out her bitterness filter, May really is very happy and grateful for her friend and their hospitality to the point where she feels genuinely guilty about accepting it when she can only give such a small amount in repayment. On the flip side, it's kind of sad that she thinks that she is disliked and that reminders that she isn't universally despised annoys her a little because maybe it requires revising her attitude towards other people!

Finally, Dale and Marigold are an increasingly effective double-act, aren't they?

May has some good qualities once you get to know her, but that abrasive personality does not leave a good first impression.  How many of us would be so charitable if we met someone like her just once?
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Case on 06 Oct 2019, 23:55
Apart from screwing up becoming a fighter jet, May claimed she liked to be a "blue robot chick". So my guess is, she'd go for something similar like her current chassis (with my expectation of the model line actually being out of production, and some leftovers were sold to the government without supplying spare parts).

Hmmmh - Modern Fighters require several dozens of maintenance hours per flight hour (http://www.defense-aerospace.com/articles-view/feature/5/179243/navair-projects-f_35-to-need-50-maintenance-hours-per-flight-hour.html). Given the degree of patience for malfunctions she has shown thusfar, I'm not sure whether Mae wouldn't feel nostalgic about her borked blue-chick body rather quickly if her wish came true ...
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: OldGoat on 07 Oct 2019, 00:31
Okay, but remember that "Horrible Little Goblin" is rapidly becoming May's brand.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Gyrre on 07 Oct 2019, 05:29
A bit of a correction, BenRG.

Cheetaur created a CD thread (https://forums.questionablecontent.net/index.php/topic,34478.0.html) about May's new chassis. I listed some possibilities for her new chassis as the poll for a WCDT thread (https://forums.questionablecontent.net/index.php/topic,34479.0.html) around the same time.

EDIT: links added. Cheetaur's thread looks to have been made a few days before mine.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Gyrre on 07 Oct 2019, 06:23
I put "other":-
With all the trouble she's been having with her body literally falling apart lately, I think May will go for the most reliable, no-frills, easy-maintenance body on the market -  sort of like the Volkswagen Beetle of robot bodies  :-D
(Of course, it'll be blue!)
But can it turn into a 15' (5m) tall vaguely humanoid robot? :-D

I still maintain that it'd be kind of hilarious if May getting what is effectively a Micromaster (https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Micromaster) chassis with a vehicle mode the size of a go-cart.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: OldGoat on 07 Oct 2019, 08:37
I put "other":-
With all the trouble she's been having with her body literally falling apart lately, I think May will go for the most reliable, no-frills, easy-maintenance body on the market -  sort of like the Volkswagen Beetle of robot bodies  :-D
(Of course, it'll be blue!)

By those criteria, the clear choice would be the android equivalent of a Ford F-150.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Is it cold in here? on 07 Oct 2019, 10:08
"givin' me a place to stay" --

I thought she was paying rent. That's the deal Dale insisted on.

Though it is still generous to incur the risks and inconvenience of housing a parolee. May's parole officer can now walk into Dale and Marigold's apartment without a warrant, for example, and toss the place.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: rtmq0227 on 07 Oct 2019, 10:40
May's parole officer can now walk into Dale and Marigold's apartment without a warrant, for example, and toss the place.

A potential that was not thought about when Roko started working the system.  Squeaky wheels get the grease, or they get greased.

That said, this town's police seem relatively chill, and I bet they aren't keen on the AI Rights lawyers swarming the town.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Pygar on 07 Oct 2019, 11:49
Okay, but remember that "Horrible Little Goblin" is rapidly becoming May's brand.

She does have that Carla Tortelli/ Louie DePalma vibe going, hasn't she?
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Wingy on 07 Oct 2019, 12:53
It'll be blue, feminine, and with massive boobage, given May's previous comments and choice of reading materials.  Whether Sven has any input into the decision is an interesting plot twist, especially if May's choice is between a humanoid body and something like a fighter drone. 

I could see an arc where she picks the drone, gets supremely disenchanted, and later opts for a humaniform chassis as possible.  Such an arc would certainly show May having to choose between two desires and having to come to grips with being vulnerable - potentially about Sven who might have moved on by that point.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Thrillho on 07 Oct 2019, 13:13
May being fictional gave me the luxury of hating her for the majority of her early appearances in the comic. I found her unfunny, unappealing and didn't warm to her whatsoever in the way that the characters or fellow forumites did.

It is only her fictional nature which permitted me this, because had I met her in real life, I would be the only person in a crowded room willing to talk to her, because I would be so overwhelmingly aware of what kind of a life would have brought her to being as off-putting as she was.

The forum has spent the past... I don't know, 100 years* revealing more about who she is, and... well, let's say I gave six years of my life trying to help people like May get through education and I miss it every day.

And if Sven has actually learned anything in life at all, then maybe I'll hate him a little bit less if he's kind to her.

(click to show/hide)
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Roborat on 07 Oct 2019, 13:16
So, is Marigold fourth walling us in the fourth panel?  Also, nice to see Marigold again, it feels like it has been a while.  It appears that lots of sex agrees with her, she looks happy, and it looks like her self esteem is at healthy levels.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Wingy on 07 Oct 2019, 13:23
So, is Marigold fourth walling us in the fourth panel?
I wouldn't say in the 4th, but maybe in the 3rd. 
Quote
Also, nice to see Marigold again, it feels like it has been a while.  It appears that lots of sex agrees with her, she looks happy, and it looks like her self esteem is at healthy levels.
Agreed.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: jwhouk on 07 Oct 2019, 18:36
New Comic...

...this is Marten, Faye, and Pintsize all over again, isn't it?
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: shanejayell on 07 Oct 2019, 19:02
The power of BOOBS! :D
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: cesium133 on 07 Oct 2019, 19:06
I'm surprised May isn't making motorboat noises.  :evil:
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Eddurd on 07 Oct 2019, 19:55
I want a hug.  :cry:
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Romanticide on 07 Oct 2019, 20:11
So Paff Paff may not fix everything but it sure can help.

And I kinda like how when Marigold came in instead of typical anime misunderstanding first thing she saw was May hip joints looking exposed. Both Dale and Marigold really try to be good supportive friends to May and that is stuff I love.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Killspree on 07 Oct 2019, 20:12
At times I get the wild notion that May's just going to deiced that instead of getting a brand new chassis to just get the repairs to bring her current one up to decent operational status, plus maybe a few personal tweaks.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Onionvolcano on 07 Oct 2019, 20:24
Goodness, look at Marigold.  And Dale!  They're good together.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Gyrre on 07 Oct 2019, 20:50
So Paff Paff may not fix everything but it sure can help.

And I kinda like how when Marigold came in instead of typical anime misunderstanding first thing she saw was May hip joints looking exposed. Both Dale and Marigold really try to be good supportive friends to May and that is stuff I love.
Hmmm.... I wonder if some AI have a psychological need for social contact like humans? Can AI become "touch starved"?

[Most research indicates a majority of Americans suffer from this.]
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Scarlet Manuka on 07 Oct 2019, 21:17
I think we can see a lot of May's character growth in the fact that her response to an offer of a hug is now "OK, why not" rather than "I DON'T DO HUGS."
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: SeattleCrochetWoman on 07 Oct 2019, 21:28
I think we can see a lot of May's character growth in the fact that her response to an offer of a hug is now "OK, why not" rather than "I DON'T DO HUGS."

Definitely. And Marigold is showing growth too. She didn’t freak out when she saw Dale fixing May’s hip. She’s thinking of ways to help May, and even offering a hug to May!
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: BenRG on 07 Oct 2019, 23:16
I don't think May often lets herself admit to herself just what good friends she's got and the degree to which she really is loved by some out there.

I'm also wondering if she suffers from the AI equivalent of chronic depression or at least some kind of traumatic problems arising from her imprisonment. She's so reflexively downbeat sometimes (often with no real cause0 that it worries me.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: cybersmurf on 07 Oct 2019, 23:17
Marigold used Boob Squish! it's super effective!


if this continues, May will go into grumpy overdrive and actually behave so grumpyily she'll have to admit she's actually happy with what's happening.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: brasca on 08 Oct 2019, 00:05
So Paff Paff may not fix everything but it sure can help.

And I kinda like how when Marigold came in instead of typical anime misunderstanding first thing she saw was May hip joints looking exposed. Both Dale and Marigold really try to be good supportive friends to May and that is stuff I love.

It would seem there’s been some growth on Marigold’s part after her previous insecurity episode with Dale and Emily.

While it’s unlikely it would be cool to see Marigold’s father again if she asked him for a loan.  His reaction to steampunk amuses me to no end.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: hakko504 on 08 Oct 2019, 03:32
*I still think Clare and Bubbles are 'new' characters for all my perception of how time moves in real life or this forum.
Considering that Claire (and Emily) is only 300 strips away from having been in the comic for HALF it's life, that's quite telling.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Thrillho on 08 Oct 2019, 07:15
Moderator Comment That's enough discussion of genitals, cheers.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Rincewind on 08 Oct 2019, 07:30

Hmmm.... I wonder if some AI have a psychological need for social contact like humans? Can AI become "touch starved"?

Thank you for the information, now I've got something new to research in order to find out why I'm so screwed up. Heck, I found out I had a Social Anxiety Disorder from a television commercial of all things. Until that point, all I knew was that there was something horribly wrong with me.  Finding out the WHY was a big help in developing coping mechanisms, basically letting me ignore the annoying things something in my head kept trying to tell me.  I spent the first 30 years of my life trying to avoid human contact, maybe I can get that straightened out now.

[Most research indicates a majority of Americans suffer from this.]
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: rtmq0227 on 08 Oct 2019, 08:19

Hmmm.... I wonder if some AI have a psychological need for social contact like humans? Can AI become "touch starved"?

Thank you for the information, now I've got something new to research in order to find out why I'm so screwed up. Heck, I found out I had a Social Anxiety Disorder from a television commercial of all things. Until that point, all I knew was that there was something horribly wrong with me.  Finding out the WHY was a big help in developing coping mechanisms, basically letting me ignore the annoying things something in my head kept trying to tell me.  I spent the first 30 years of my life trying to avoid human contact, maybe I can get that straightened out now.

[Most research indicates a majority of Americans suffer from this.]

Congrats, you're one of today's lucky 10,000!
(https://xkcd.com/1053/ (https://xkcd.com/1053/))
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Mr Intrepid on 08 Oct 2019, 09:04
We don't know if Asimov's 3 laws are in play, but a need for human touch .at be part of the basic programming, to prevent negative interactions, like the robo- apocalypse.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Cattus on 08 Oct 2019, 09:14
Warning the following could be a trigger of boring information.  Do Not read if physics makes you ill or catatonic.

Actually, 10HP/sec is not really a commonly used measure.  Horsepower already is a measure of force per second as in 1 HP = 550 pound feet per second or the power to lift 550 pounds 1 foot in one second.  So HP/Sec would be a rate of increase or decrease of HP - a value that is not commonly used.  A case it could be used in, is in the operation of and auto engine, where HP is a function of torque and RPM.  So if you step on the gas and increase your RPM you are increasing your horsepower by x amount per second.

Just Sayin'
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: cybersmurf on 08 Oct 2019, 09:33
Actually, 10HP/sec is not really a commonly used measure.  Horsepower already is a measure of force per second as in 1 HP = 550 pound feet per second or the power to lift 550 pounds 1 foot in one second.

10 horsepower per second might or might not be much, but I think 10 health points per second is remarkable. Except if you have like 100k.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Marco on 08 Oct 2019, 09:53
It'll be blue, feminine, and with massive boobage, given May's previous comments and choice of reading materials.  Whether Sven has any input into the decision is an interesting plot twist, especially if May's choice is between a humanoid body and something like a fighter drone. 

I could see an arc where she picks the drone, gets supremely disenchanted, and later opts for a humaniform chassis as possible.  Such an arc would certainly show May having to choose between two desires and having to come to grips with being vulnerable - potentially about Sven who might have moved on by that point.

Couldn't it be both? A anthropomorphic chassis that turns into a fighter-jet-like drone (think of a Decepticon transformer, only sexier). Current QC tech seems to support that option.

In the Cheetaur discussion I suggested a version of Vespavenger, only to be  informed that Gyrre had the same idea few weeks before. Bootied Vespavengers seem to be a trend...
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Roborat on 08 Oct 2019, 12:24
So, is Marigold fourth walling us in the fourth panel?
I wouldn't say in the 4th, but maybe in the 3rd. 
Quote
Also, nice to see Marigold again, it feels like it has been a while.  It appears that lots of sex agrees with her, she looks happy, and it looks like her self esteem is at healthy levels.
Agreed.

Oops, yup, typo, meant third panel.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Carl-E on 08 Oct 2019, 14:42
Ohmigod, is Marigold...  glowing? 



That's real power...
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: cybersmurf on 08 Oct 2019, 14:45
Ohmigod, is Marigold...  glowing?

I think that's May glowing.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Wingy on 08 Oct 2019, 14:58
Since the glow is pinkish,m I'm going with Marigold demonstrating the power.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: shanejayell on 08 Oct 2019, 16:49
*mysterious glow*

Voice out of nowhere: "Marigold has LEVELED UP."

Everyone: "What."
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Near Lurker on 08 Oct 2019, 18:34
I genuinely feel like I recognize Melon's waveform, but I can't think from where.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Perfectly Reasonable on 08 Oct 2019, 19:03
"warm and safe forever"
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: David F on 08 Oct 2019, 19:31
New strip up.  Morse code (both are the same): "Indeed.  It was very quaint."

The spectrograms look kind of like modem handshakes.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: shanejayell on 08 Oct 2019, 20:22
Hey, Spooky and Melon. :D
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: tomveil on 08 Oct 2019, 20:26
This isn't the exact spectrogram that Melon and Yay are using, but it's close:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqzRnIYVXnY
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Gyrre on 08 Oct 2019, 21:03
This isn't the exact spectrogram that Melon and Yay are using, but it's close:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqzRnIYVXnY
Going by the text at the bottom of the page, that's probably it.

I was guessing it was a WinAmp visualizer thing or something.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: SmilingCat on 08 Oct 2019, 22:11
This isn't the exact spectrogram that Melon and Yay are using, but it's close:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqzRnIYVXnY

Is it weird that I kinda miss that sound?
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: awkwardness on 08 Oct 2019, 22:25
This isn't the exact spectrogram that Melon and Yay are using, but it's close:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqzRnIYVXnY

Is it weird that I kinda miss that sound?

No...it's perfectly reasonable too want to remember the past and appreciate how much better we have things nowadays.

Plus we don't kink-shame here  :-D
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: awkwardness on 08 Oct 2019, 22:28
New strip up.  Morse code (both are the same): "Indeed.  It was very quaint."

The spectrograms look kind of like modem handshakes.

Dial-up modem handshakes at that...

Sorry if it sounds snippy, but I've pretty much converted to seeing networking as packages and a true web so it rung "dial-up" to me  :cry:
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: cybersmurf on 08 Oct 2019, 23:01
Dial-up internet. makes me kind of nostalgic.
Although IIRC my family was a bit on the late side, adopting internet, and some things sound rather unbelievable.

I think Yay aka Spookybot kinda likes melon's goofiness. Probably because they know Melon is mostly harmless, and her intentions are innocent, but apparently she knows quite a bit of stuff. They probably could tell her how to access an old, (almost?) forgotten nuclear silo and launch a ICBM, but she never would actually do it.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: BenRG on 08 Oct 2019, 23:27
At some point, Roko has found herself the keeper of a Divine Idiot and an Actual Dark God. It also seems that Yay and Melon work on the same level in lots of ways, one by her divorce from perceptional reality and the other by their basic scorn for lesser creatures' ideas of 'normal'. On the other hand, it is interesting to have AIs who don't even pay lip service to the 'pass as human' tradition.

Am I the only one who is alarmed at the thought that Yay (Spookybot) has been introduced to Jenga? It's a game that is quite easy to play with entire civilisations when you have sufficient communications subversion capability!

Just an additional point: Roko gets more beautiful every time I see her. I suspect that Jeph is setting us up for entirely believing in her sudden romantic entanglement when it comes.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Sorflakne on 08 Oct 2019, 23:45
This isn't the exact spectrogram that Melon and Yay are using, but it's close:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqzRnIYVXnY
Well that took me back...
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Near Lurker on 09 Oct 2019, 00:32
You could always dial a fax machine.  (Yes, they still exist... I mean, they're pretty much all virtual now, but it's the same protocol at point of call.)
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: BenRG on 09 Oct 2019, 01:42
Someone on the Subreddit pointed out that there are several orders of magnitude difference in information density between Melon and Yay's handshakes. Basically, Melon said "Hello, how are you?" and Yay responded with the first five pages of their autobiography in a 100-millisecond burst.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: War-Wren on 09 Oct 2019, 01:45
I went too far back... My first thought was my old ZX Spectrum loading a game from tape...  :lol:
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Meander on 09 Oct 2019, 03:56

Just an additional point: Roko gets more beautiful every time I see her.

Agreed.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Tai Fanboi on 09 Oct 2019, 04:36
Ahh nostalgia...  Still say the modem sound was the birth of dubstep

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1UY7eDRXrs
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Cattus on 09 Oct 2019, 08:38
Actually, 10HP/sec is not really a commonly used measure.  Horsepower already is a measure of force per second as in 1 HP = 550 pound feet per second or the power to lift 550 pounds 1 foot in one second.

10 horsepower per second might or might not be much, but I think 10 health points per second is remarkable. Except if you have like 100k.

Oh Crap! - I never thought that the HP could be Health Points.  But that now makes sense.   Oh well.  I am just a nerd engineer and make nerdy mistakes and assumptions.  So, while my comment above may be true - it isn't relevant. :oops:
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: cesium133 on 09 Oct 2019, 11:28
I also interpreted that as 10 horsepower per second, and found myself wondering why Jeph wouldn't instead use watts per second...
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: brasca on 09 Oct 2019, 16:56
This isn't the exact spectrogram that Melon and Yay are using, but it's close:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqzRnIYVXnY

Is it weird that I kinda miss that sound?

Not really.  I like telling kids I used to drive 5 miles to the nearest library to use the internet and it was dial up. 
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Gyrre on 09 Oct 2019, 17:51
This isn't the exact spectrogram that Melon and Yay are using, but it's close:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqzRnIYVXnY

Is it weird that I kinda miss that sound?

No...it's perfectly reasonable too want to remember the past and appreciate how much better we have things nowadays.

Plus we don't kink-shame here  :-D

IDK.... I think I like it better drastically slowed down.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: shanejayell on 09 Oct 2019, 18:41
New strip up.

I'd... probably play that version, actually. But add in dice rolls too.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Gyrre on 09 Oct 2019, 20:46
I forget who I suggested to voice Melon, but in this one my brain selected Jessica Calvello a lá Excel Saga.

EDIT: Apparently it was Holly Conrad, a.k.a. Strix in Dice Camera Action (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=a1ZbgywIF6Y).
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: awkwardness on 09 Oct 2019, 23:18
Dial-up internet. makes me kind of nostalgic.
Although IIRC my family was a bit on the late side, adopting internet, and some things sound rather unbelievable.

I think Yay aka Spookybot kinda likes melon's goofiness. Probably because they know Melon is mostly harmless, and her intentions are innocent, but apparently she knows quite a bit of stuff. They probably could tell her how to access an old, (almost?) forgotten nuclear silo and launch a ICBM, but she never would actually do it.

My family didn't get dial-up until 2000 after I was given an old cast-off computer so I know the feeling.

I think that Yay like her uniqueness as she isn't a normal sentience and her chaos is the exact opposite of them...basically, the old "opposites attract" which explains why Melon and Basilisk get along so well too.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: BenRG on 09 Oct 2019, 23:22
I long suspected that Jeph was a Bill Watterson fan but actually having Melon and Yay playing a Calvinball version of Jenga proves it!

I kind of love the relationship between Melon and Yay. Melon's bizarro-world version of reality and how it works must be endlessly fascinating to Yay. For a being who probably knows everything, it must like being able to spend time in a whole new world full of fresh ideas and things to experience!
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: awkwardness on 09 Oct 2019, 23:26
This isn't the exact spectrogram that Melon and Yay are using, but it's close:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqzRnIYVXnY

Is it weird that I kinda miss that sound?

Not really.  I like telling kids I used to drive 5 miles to the nearest library to use the internet and it was dial up.

Aw...you didn't walk it in the snow? :cry:

Don't forget to add that you didn't have Google or Youtube either- their heads will explode from the shock  :-D
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Gyrre on 10 Oct 2019, 00:05
I long suspected that Jeph was a Bill Watterson fan but actually having Melon and Yay playing a Calvinball version of Jenga proves it!

I kind of love the relationship between Melon and Yay. Melon's bizarro-world version of reality and how it works must be endlessly fascinating to Yay. For a being who probably knows everything, it must like being able to spend time in a whole new world full of fresh ideas and things to experience!
As long as she doesn't choose to forget things like old Coyote. Wouldn't want to risk another Loup coming into existence.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: oddtail on 10 Oct 2019, 01:09
There's already a game where you play Jenga and one person makes things up as they go along.

It's called "Dread", and it's a horror-themed tabletop RPG with Jenga as the mechanic for death (or otherwise losing your character). It's pretty amazing and I highly recommend it.

I wouldn't play whatever Melon is playing, though. I was never a fan of things being random and arbitrary and making little sense. And I doubt Melon's thought processes make much sense to anyone but Melon or a god-tier AI.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Thrudd on 10 Oct 2019, 06:46
He invoked the name of the evil empire.

They have been the death of many a game company through predatory acquisition and attempted large scale Monetization of niche products.
I so miss Avalon Hill and their swath of games covering every genre.
Yet Milton- Bradley, Parker Brothers, et al have had some of their games survive despite Hasbro marketing machinations.
Trivial Pursuit was killed with just so many different flavours and now the same is being milked from Monopoly till that is also a desiccated husk.

Ware the inrush of rabid Hasbro lawyers in 3 2 1
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: cesium133 on 10 Oct 2019, 07:27
There is only one version of Trivial Pursuit: Genus Edition. The one from when Jimmy Carter was president.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Wingy on 10 Oct 2019, 08:21
I have the AdultTrivia knockoff from the early 1980s.  It's just about as fun as Genus.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: jmsr on 10 Oct 2019, 13:21
There's already a game where you play Jenga and one person makes things up as they go along.

It's called "Dread", and it's a horror-themed tabletop RPG with Jenga as the mechanic for death (or otherwise losing your character). It's pretty amazing and I highly recommend it.

I wouldn't play whatever Melon is playing, though. I was never a fan of things being random and arbitrary and making little sense. And I doubt Melon's thought processes make much sense to anyone but Melon or a god-tier AI.

I would.  This is basically Calvinball.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: oddtail on 10 Oct 2019, 13:31
There's already a game where you play Jenga and one person makes things up as they go along.

It's called "Dread", and it's a horror-themed tabletop RPG with Jenga as the mechanic for death (or otherwise losing your character). It's pretty amazing and I highly recommend it.

I wouldn't play whatever Melon is playing, though. I was never a fan of things being random and arbitrary and making little sense. And I doubt Melon's thought processes make much sense to anyone but Melon or a god-tier AI.

I would.  This is basically Calvinball.

To each their own  :-) I never understood why anyone would find the concept of Calvinball appealing.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: BenRG on 10 Oct 2019, 14:00
It's more of an exercise in creativity than anything else. The only meaningful rule of Calvinball is that the rules change with every play cycle. The challenge is to come up with more bizarre game elements without turning it into a quagmire and never repeat during the entire session. It's sort of like that old party game 'Chinese Whispers' in that sense. Just what will this end up as at the end of the session?
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: jwhouk on 10 Oct 2019, 18:15
On a completely different subject: anyone recognize something in this YT video on Panera Bread? (Skip to 2:59)

Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: St.Clair on 10 Oct 2019, 18:16
I note that the three options presented are:
Social
Intellectual
Violence

and Yaaaay has apparently repeatedly chosen the last.  :psyduck:
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: brasca on 10 Oct 2019, 18:29
Strip is up!

I like how Roko’s disassociation is illustrated. 
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Penquin47 on 10 Oct 2019, 18:42
Guys.  Guys.

Roko's body causes her dissociation problems, to the point where she feels like her hand is someone else's.

May is in need of a new body.

Beeps suggested that when she couldn't integrate with her second body, she moved on to a third and felt more comfortable.

What if...?
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Mr Intrepid on 10 Oct 2019, 19:00
Yay seems genuinely distraught to see Roko in her predicament.   Question is, what action are they willing to play.  Melon, as a kind of savant apparently, might be able to help. 
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Elder Sign on 10 Oct 2019, 20:00
Wonderful ... I can sense a week of heavy "preachy Spookybot" content a-comin'.  :roll:

Somehow, I don't think moving to a third body is going to actually solve Roko's dissociation issues, she'll probably have to learn ways or have developments that help her adjust to this one.  And, from a narrative/dramatic standpoint, that would just be too easy of a fix.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Smarch on 10 Oct 2019, 20:01
Okay, but remember that "Horrible Little Goblin" is rapidly becoming May's brand.

Been a while since I've seen these forums -- do people not call that "Dickmouth Stinkface" anymore?
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: cesium133 on 10 Oct 2019, 20:02
On the other hand, imagine the hilarity that would ensue if May ended up with Roko's current body, and then Winslow went to the store...  :psyduck:
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Raptorofwar on 10 Oct 2019, 20:18
I feel like this comic really captures Roko's dissociation better than any of the others. It just hit me how weird it is to suddenly feel like you don't control yourself at all.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Smarch on 10 Oct 2019, 20:27
And I kinda like how when Marigold came in instead of typical anime misunderstanding

Surely that was a direct callback to strip 1741 (https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1741).
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: St.Clair on 10 Oct 2019, 21:02
aw crap.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Carl-E on 10 Oct 2019, 22:49
Seconded.  It looks like Roko's "discomfort" has turned a corner. 



She's going to need some serious help. 
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: BenRG on 10 Oct 2019, 23:18
Yeee... ouch. I don't know; do dissociative episodes often come with visual hallucinations like that? It looks to me like Roko's entire sensory interpretation system jumped the rails! This is serious enough that I'm starting to think that there are actual system settings issues for her here; it isn't psychological, her algorithm really isn't working at all well with the chassis!

Wonderful ... I can sense a week of heavy "preachy Spookybot" content a-comin'.

Not at all, but they may decide to go into Roko's head to talk to her in a way that isn't in any way filtered by her malfunctioning core/chassis interface. I always thought that Jeph missed the opportunity to do a 'journey of self-discovery' with Bubbles when Emily did this so he may be about to actually attempt it with Roko (and possibly Melon). There will be no instant cures but I think that Yay may be able to persuade their friend to at least approach the problem from a different perspective.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: awkwardness on 11 Oct 2019, 00:03
Wonderful ... I can sense a week of heavy "preachy Spookybot" content a-comin'.  :roll:

Somehow, I don't think moving to a third body is going to actually solve Roko's dissociation issues, she'll probably have to learn ways or have developments that help her adjust to this one.  And, from a narrative/dramatic standpoint, that would just be too easy of a fix.

I don't think Yay will do that...I honestly believe that Yay is concerned and will actually help her through the situation given that they owe Roko for starting them down the path towards being a better entity instead of the preachy pest that they were before
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Scarlet Manuka on 11 Oct 2019, 02:00
they may decide to go into Roko's head to talk to her
I strongly doubt that. Remember that they've already refused that opportunity quite strongly, partly because they couldn't be friends with someone after such an intimate intrusion. Since their efforts to befriend Roko have actually started paying off, they're even less likely to go down that route now.

I would like to see Lemon getting back into this situation. At the time of Roko's accident, Lemon did tell her (https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3914) "Give it a few days, and if you still don't feel any different, we can discuss further therapeutic options." Nearly 200 comics later (which I guess is at least a few days?), that hasn't been followed up.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Ariaspinner on 11 Oct 2019, 02:36
These three remind me of Lime, Cherry, and Bloodberry from Sabre Marionette.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Thrudd on 11 Oct 2019, 04:04
I feel like this comic really captures Roko's dissociation better than any of the others. It just hit me how weird it is to suddenly feel like you don't control yourself at all.
I don't think it is an inability to control oneself, that is a completely different set of maladies. Parkinson, et al.
I liken it more to looking through a viewfinder and operating a remote manipulator.
With practice or a very good feedback system you can stack blocks and screw on a jar lid but that thing out there is not a part of "YOU" no matter how good the system is.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Wingy on 11 Oct 2019, 04:42
On the other hand, imagine the hilarity that would ensue if May ended up with Roko's current body, and then Winslow went to the store...  :psyduck:
I think I called that possibility something like 6 weeks ago...   :wink: 

If Jeph goes there, the possible hilarity is great, but I'm not sure May will go for Roko's current chassis if there's one available with Faye/Marigold-sized boobs...  Nor am I certain May and Yay will get along to any significant extent.  I think the prediction of a return of Lemon is spot on.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Welu on 11 Oct 2019, 05:32
Ooh this hits close. That third panel captures the feeling of brain/body disconnect, at least for how I've experienced it.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: shanejayell on 11 Oct 2019, 07:43
Huh, interesting...  :-(
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Somebody on 11 Oct 2019, 08:23
they may decide to go into Roko's head to talk to her
I strongly doubt that. Remember that they've already refused that opportunity quite strongly, partly because they couldn't be friends with someone after such an intimate intrusion. Since their efforts to befriend Roko have actually started paying off, they're even less likely to go down that route now.
Thing is, there's going into her head, and there's going into her head. The former is having a chat in a virtualised arena (ala Lemon's chat with Roko after the Crushbot Incident), the latter is going in and manipulating what's there (ala Emily shooting a deletion program visualised as a kaiju).

"Yay" has expressed a strong distaste for the latter (and did go into Bubbles' head in such a fashion to check what Emily was saying... after apologising to the unconscious Bubbles) but nothing about the former (and did say goodbye to Bubbles like that with no apology - at least, not for THAT).

Indeed, the former would be largely required to engage with non-embodied AI, which is why Lemon & Roko's chat was in that form. It isn't much different from how Dale & May met.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Is it cold in here? on 11 Oct 2019, 09:02
These three remind me of Lime, Cherry, and Bloodberry from Sabre Marionette.

Welcome, new person!

I feel so culturally illiterate these days ... but I could always Google it.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: OldGoat on 11 Oct 2019, 09:35
Melon, the Sacred Fool, stupid to the point of holiness.  She could be a Russian Orthodox saint.  And Spooks, very nearly a god. 

If you set Melon to a task, you'd have to be careful about her competency, but her saintly trustworthiness is beyond question.  With Yay the trickster it's the other way around.  Melon might soon be sent on a mission.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Ariaspinner on 11 Oct 2019, 12:45
These three remind me of Lime, Cherry, and Bloodberry from Sabre Marionette.

Welcome, new person!

I feel so culturally illiterate these days ... but I could always Google it.

The three are AI girls each modeled after a different aspect of womanhood.
Lime = Playfulness (Melon)
Cherry = Caregiver (Yay)
Bloodberry = Professionalism (Roko)
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: FreelanceChicken on 11 Oct 2019, 13:51
I'm new to the forum, so I may just have not run across the discussion of it yet, but I just noticed that Yay's speech bubbles are round, not square. Given that all other speech bubbles on these last few pages are square, I can't help but feel that that has significance, but I'm not entirely sure exactly what significance it has. It seems like that would imply that Yay is a biological entity rather than an AI. Do y'all have any ideas?
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Is it cold in here? on 11 Oct 2019, 13:59
Welcome, new person!

One opinion here has been that rounded speech bubbles mean the AI speaks in a more human-sounding way.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: FreelanceChicken on 12 Oct 2019, 00:27
That would make sense. I'm not sure I'm entirely convinced though. On panel 3 of comic 4108, Yay is shown somehow speaking morse code, and they still have round speech bubbles. It's hard to imagine someone humanly speaking fluent morse code. And their speech patterns are definitely different from any of the humans in the comic. If anything, they seem more like AI speech. Maybe I'm putting too much thought into this, but I still think there's more to it than just them sounding human. I'll probably keep digging until I reach a theory that while technically sound shows more consistent thought and forethought on the part of Jeph than any sane person would have.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Ariaspinner on 12 Oct 2019, 06:30
Speaking of the Morse Code. Why are they both saying the exact same thing to each other? I can totally get behind Yay calling it quaint, but Melon? She doesn't strike me as someone who would use that word at all.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: BenRG on 12 Oct 2019, 07:39
Maybe it is a 'handshake' of sorts too - Specifically, the initial crypto phrase that sets the Substitution Cypher. To Melon, it's a game. To Yay, it's basic communications security.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Meyowmix on 12 Oct 2019, 07:45
I have a personal hope for May's body woes:
Roko goes back to the mainframe for a while to recover from her dissociation problem.  She decides to start trying some new chassis to find a better fit, selling off her old chassis and working hard to make something happen.  Spookybot "helps" by custom modifying a chassis, that Roko will learn later.

The gofundme that is set up for May attracts very little attention, and May gets a little despondent.  Then she complains, and Sven publishes a love song "I fell in love with a Fighter Jet" and donates the money to her.  It isn't enough for a new chassis and she ends up buying Roko's old chassis. Hijinks ensue.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Ariaspinner on 12 Oct 2019, 16:17
Maybe it is a 'handshake' of sorts too - Specifically, the initial crypto phrase that sets the Substitution Cypher. To Melon, it's a game. To Yay, it's basic communications security.

I don't know. It is a strange phrase to use as a handshake.
I just wish I could read the waveforms... it might shed better light on it.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: OldGoat on 12 Oct 2019, 22:27
It's hard to imagine someone humanly speaking fluent morse code.
You clearly haven't been around very many old timer CW* ham radio operators or military "dit chasers."

It's been well established since the early days that the different speech bubbles are how Jeph indicates electronic sounding voices.  An AI with rounded speech bubbles is using a more high fidelity voice.  IIRC, Momo is able to use both.  I've always assumed she doesn't use a human voice all the time because there's a cost in battery power and processor cycles.


*Continuous Wave, a constant signal switched on and off to form the dits and dahs of morse code.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Near Lurker on 13 Oct 2019, 00:24
Yeah, it does seem like the sort of thing that would become second-nature to those immersed in it.  Like typing - I remember at one point getting a rude awakening with how few older adults, especially older men, could type.  It was something that when I'd spent more time around twenty- and thirty-somethings (who are now thirty- and forty-somethings), just wouldn't occur to me, the same way you assume, without quite realizing it, that someone you meet will be literate.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Gyrre on 13 Oct 2019, 01:59
Maybe it is a 'handshake' of sorts too - Specifically, the initial crypto phrase that sets the Substitution Cypher. To Melon, it's a game. To Yay, it's basic communications security.

I don't know. It is a strange phrase to use as a handshake.
I just wish I could read the waveforms... it might shed better light on it.

I'm told using swearwords from a dead religion in a dead language makes for a strange password, but it works well enough.

EDIT: not sure if I'm phrasing that well enough.
EXAMPLE: Swearing by Osiris' missing dong or Ra's eye,  or whatever in the kmt language. (No, I'm not using that one.)
EDIT2: typo fix
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Stoon on 13 Oct 2019, 18:19
Maybe it is a 'handshake' of sorts too - Specifically, the initial crypto phrase that sets the Substitution Cypher. To Melon, it's a game. To Yay, it's basic communications security.

I don't know. It is a strange phrase to use as a handshake.
I just wish I could read the waveforms... it might shed better light on it.

I'm told using swearwords from a dead religion in a dead language makes for a strange password, but it works well enough.

EDIT: not sure if I'm prasing that well enough.
EXAMPLE: Swearing by Osiris' missing dong or Ra's eye,  or whatever in the kmt language. (No, I'm not using that one.)
I had an instructor who advocated using unicode characters for passwords.

The names of the All-Father:
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Perfectly Reasonable on 13 Oct 2019, 19:26
It's hard to imagine someone humanly speaking fluent morse code.
You clearly haven't been around very many old timer CW* ham radio operators or military "dit chasers."

And now I feel old. Learned morse to get my ham license. Had to translate the text into audible dits and dahs to make sense of it.

Didididit Didit
( and that was a morse chuckle )

Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: OldGoat on 13 Oct 2019, 21:39
The names of the All-Father:
I understand they're to be in Portland early next year.
Title: Re: WCDT strips 4106 - 4110 (7th to 11th October 2019)
Post by: Scarlet Manuka on 13 Oct 2019, 23:05

It's been well established since the early days that the different speech bubbles are how Jeph indicates electronic sounding voices.  An AI with rounded speech bubbles is using a more high fidelity voice.

For example, there's a comic where (I think) Faye imitates Bubbles for part of one speech bubble, and her speech bubble is round at the top (where she's speaking in her own voice) and square at the bottom (where she's imitating Bubbles). So it's clear we shouldn't read anything further into it than the way it sounds.