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Mawwage. Twue Wuv. :3

Renee gets a hold of Clinton. He has to get another cybernetic hand.

Emily finds out about Brun. She gets JEALOUS. Hilarity Ensues.

Brun disappears into the night, and is never heard from, ever again.

Dora mounts the harpoon over the specials board.

Cosette promptly burns COD down ten minutes later.

Another Faye and Bubbles arc!

MOAR PINTSIZE!

Who cares? All I know is One man. One bowl. One year's supply of cereal. A lifetime of memes.

Something completely different, of course.

NO PATREON SPOILERS!

(Some Patreon spoilers)

Brun turns out to be a secret AI ((secret))

Return of the Secret Bakery

[Mr. Doctor]

Yup, that's not Raven. We decided that last week!

[snubnose]

Wait, what? That's Dora.

  You sure ? Damn. Apparently drawing techniques change too quickly for me right now.

Yup, that's not Raven. We decided that last week!

... I see.

[Squiddlywinx]

Why is he drinking hot tea out of a dixie cup?
Why does CoD sell anything out of dixie cups?

[Method of Madness]

That doesn't look like a dixie cup. That looks like a solo cup, if anything. Which wouldn't make any sense either, but still. It's probably a standard paper cup, though. Then again, he's using his metal hand, so the heat wouldn't bother him, anyway.

[heyjames4]

In panel 2, the girls poses are such that their hands are not visible.
In panel 4, the girls have very dynamic poses with hands front and center.
I get it. Drawing hands is hard. And one dynamic panel at a time is enough. Respect. trex

[BenRG]

I might be wrong but I think that teas are a relatively new thing at Coffee of Doom. Maybe Hannelore's attempt to get in a product line suitable for Synthetics with olfactory sensors has led to human tea drinkers also buying them?

In panel 2, the girls poses are such that their hands are not visible.
In panel 4, the girls have very dynamic poses with hands front and center.
I get it. Drawing hands is hard. And one dynamic panel at a time is enough. Respect. trex

Actually, Dora and Hanners' postures in panel 2 are very defensive. I find myself wondering if they were afraid that it wasn't Clinton at all but some pod person who can wear the skin but not entirely mimic the man.

[Mr. Doctor]

Wait, what? That's Dora.

You sure ? Damn. Apparently drawing techniques change too quickly for me right now.

The girl you are looking for has bigger boobs! BIGGER BOOBS!

Also, this is when Dora changed her hair style to the one we are seeing now.

[sitnspin]

Also, this is when Dora changed her hair style to the one we are seeing now.

I think that is my favorite strip from the entire series.

[eschaton]

Thinking about it, almost every character has gotten hotter over the course of the comic.  In the case of the original cast it might be because Jeph's drawing skills were still developing.  But even later additions like Marigold and Claire ended up being drawn more physically attractive as time went on. 

I think someone once suggested that perhaps the comic was not supposed to be perfectly representational of how characters looked in QC universe.  Hence the subtle shift of awkward dorky characters into hotter characters is basically supposed to show visually the effect of greater self-confidence - something which would otherwise be hard to get across in comic form.  In the case of Clinton, it seems quite dramatic - as if he became a different character as soon as he (literally) let his hair down. 

It would be interesting to see the inverse - to see if a character would be drawn as uglier if they went on a downward spiral.  Jeph didn't do this with Faye when she was going through her bad spell though, and he's basically said he's not interested in having outright assholes in the strip, so I'm not sure how one would test it. 

[Thrillho]

And if you aren't paying attention, your life is likely to get very complicated indeed.

I mean, look at Clinton. He lets his guard down for half a minute, and the next thing he knows the bar he's in is on fire and his mother is having sex with a guy who's bad at math.

'I can't believe I got to bang both your moms!'

I could write 'that guy is bad at math' jokes all day.

[Case]

...

Switching gears, I've noticed that Dora has pretty much abandoned the Goth look. I think that having Tai and being in a stable relationship has done a lot to make her feel more able to appear attractive. Thus we are reminded that Questionable Content is a story about character growth and confronting one's flaws and demons.

Ummmmh, Dora abandoned the Gothy thingy back in 2003 - it was discussed in strip 132 ...

[Radium_Coyote]

Clinton being hot is all about the hair.  It really has... what's a good word... matured.

[eschaton]

I'm beginning to wonder more about the whole no glasses thing. 

I mean, I can understand that Clinton somehow lost them in the fire.  But he didn't show any signs of vision impairment that night.  The next morning, he still wasn't wearing any.  I guess he didn't have a spare at home.  Maybe he has a pair of contacts, although we've never seen him wear them?  He still seems to be getting by fine without them. 

The only logical conclusion I can come up with is Clinton actually isn't nearsighted at all, and was just wearing glasses because he thought it worked with is look.  Or maybe his prescription is actually so mild that he can get by without them, considering he doesn't drive. 

[Vadik2004]

I dislike the purported message this particular comic seems to bring. The only real change that we actually can see with Clinton is

A) new haircut. B) new clothes. C) no glasses.

The message implies that the only thing making him unattractive was his outer appearance and not this personality. However, I'm sure that the comic is trying to say that his personality did change and is reflected in his appearance. We haven't actually known Clinton long enough to see what his personality is really like, and he doesn't change much from the first time we see him. It seems like all these characters are commenting on is looks. If looks really aren't important, then why aren't they making the same observation while he's dressed like a nerd?

[BenRG]

A couple of hints in Jeph's Twitter feed about where we may be going next in QC!

(click to show/hide)

"Getting into some hard sci-fi nonsense in Thursday and Friday's QC"

Also...

Doing research, I went back and reread the space station arc for the first time since I drew it and... I liked it?

I may be jumping the gun here but... Hooray! We're going back to space! More HannerDad, Lt Porter and Station!

[Neko_Ali]

If that's your take away Vadik, then all you are focusing on is Clinton's outward appearance. We certainly have known Clinton long enough to see his personality, and see how it has changed. He's gone from a hyper-nerdy fanboy who nearly mobbed Hanners and had to have the fear of a beating put into him, his awkwardness with women and life in general and having to pre-plan everything to someone a lot more confident in himself. And a lot of those changes happened suddenly. Just a couple of days ago he was freaking out about being put in an awkward spot with Emily, to talking about how he helped save a bunch of people get out of a burning building by keeping a level head, and then helped a person he barely knows get herself settled when she was on the verge of falling apart. And treating it like it's no big deal. That's a huge character change for him, and that kind of casual confidence without cockiness is sexy as hell to a lot of people.

And yes, it also doesn't hurt that he's not dressing like an extra from an 80's film about nerds anymore.

[TinPenguin]

If he seems to be behaving like Marten, it's because he has learned the same lesson that Marten did - it's easier to appear confident when you're dealing with other people's problems.

[retrosteve]

Is it my imagination, or is Clinton been slowly turning into a red-haired Marten over the course of this arc? 

Edit:  To elaborate, ever since the fire, with his messier hair and lack of glasses, he's been drawn more similarly to Marten.

Funny, I see him as turning more into a red-haired Sven. Which would be hot indeed.

Also, maybe I'm just projecting my own prejudices here, but at his current level of hotness, he can do better than Brun, I think.

[Dicrostonyx]

As weird as it is supposed to sound, I think I probably would try the Habanero Mocha if I saw that on a specials board. Heat goes well with dark chocolate, and habanero has a nice, fruity flavour as well that should compliment the drink.

I think that the last time we saw a spicy drink was in 1432, but the Chorizo Latte was not as appealing.

[Kugai]

He's going for the cool dude look today and I think it's working

I wonder if we'll ever see Brun again.  I hope so, she's one of the Clan now 

[JohnTheWysard]

It was complicated.

Isn't it always complicated?

"Why any man would want a wife is a mystery. Why he would want TWO wives is a bigamystery." - (attribution needed)
"Bigamy, n. A mistake in taste for which an enlightened future will allot a punishment called trigamy." - Bierce

[JohnTheWysard]

I think it's the pose he's got and the lumberjack shirt he's sporting while telling the tale that gives off that vibe Dora.

That, and the "Sir Galahad Effect".

[blt]

Wait, what? That's Dora.

You sure ? Damn. Apparently drawing techniques change too quickly for me right now.

The girl you are looking for has bigger boobs! BIGGER BOOBS!

Also, this is when Dora changed her hair style to the one we are seeing now.

The ability of people on the forum to remember and find references to comics all the way back to the early days always blows me away.

[thedevilissix]

I might be wrong but I think that teas are a relatively new thing at Coffee of Doom. Maybe Hannelore's attempt to get in a product line suitable for Synthetics with olfactory sensors has led to human tea drinkers also buying them?

I'd be rooting for that course of action. I've noticed since reading the comics concerned that my tea drinking has become a bit more, er....... sensory.

Whoever dares to disturb my détente on Earl Grey Island should be very worried. 

[cesium133]

He's going for the cool dude look today and I think it's working

I wonder if we'll ever see Brun again.  I hope so, she's one of the Clan now 

I'm guessing we'll see her soon. Unless I'm mistaken, her stuff is still at CoD.

[ZoeB]

That's a huge character change for him, and that kind of casual confidence without cockiness is sexy as hell to a lot of people.

And yes, it also doesn't hurt that he's not dressing like an extra from an 80's film about nerds anymore.

Concur. Not so much about the confidence as the achievement. The Knight in Shining Armour bit, making a difference in someone's life, helping evacuate the bar too. A hero, without realising it. That I find really, really attractive. No idea if that's just me personally or a gal thing.

[Tova]

He's going for the cool dude look today and I think it's working

I wonder if we'll ever see Brun again.  I hope so, she's one of the Clan now 

I'm guessing we'll see her soon. Unless I'm mistaken, her stuff is still at CoD.

They took her stuff back to the hotel. As Clinton mentions in the most recent comic.

[cesium133]

Sorry, I was too distracted by Clinton's hotness.

[Tova]

Fair enough.

[Zebediah]

Comic's up. That is some serious technobabble that Hannelore is throwing down.

[mustang6172]

I dislike the purported message this particular comic seems to bring. The only real change that we actually can see with Clinton is

A) new haircut. B) new clothes. C) no glasses.

The message implies that the only thing making him unattractive was his outer appearance and not this personality. However, I'm sure that the comic is trying to say that his personality did change and is reflected in his appearance. We haven't actually known Clinton long enough to see what his personality is really like, and he doesn't change much from the first time we see him. It seems like all these characters are commenting on is looks. If looks really aren't important, then why aren't they making the same observation while he's dressed like a nerd?

Oh, kiss me beneath the milky twilight.
Lead me out on the moonlit floor.
Lift your open hand.
Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance,
Silver moon's sparkling.
So kiss me.

[cesium133]

As someone who works on research in quantum computation... yeah, it's not gonna help you much, Hanners.

[Method of Madness]

Oh, kiss me beneath the milky twilight.
Lead me out on the moonlit floor.
Lift your open hand.
Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance,
Silver moon's sparkling.
So kiss me.

Me: That sounds weirdly like that song from twenty years or so ago, but with strange lyrics. (looks it up) Wait, those are the actual lyrics?

I had a couple lines right, but a couple lines really wrong, I always thought it was:
Lead me out on the moonlit floor
If you're prepared
Strike up the band, forget the spotlight
The silver moon's sparkling.
So kiss me

[Skewbrow]

As someone who works on research in quantum computation... yeah, it's not gonna help you much, Hanners.

In that case can you give me an approximate update of the state of the art of quantum computing. The two points of reference I have are:

• In '95 I attended a talk on quantum information, and the speaker said that they have a single quantum AND-gate the size of a desk that operates correctly 70 per cent of the time
• Later ('05?) a colleague (who has written a book about quantum computing) told me that they have a working 4-bit quantum computer that can correctly factor 15. He also told me that the specialists don't agree on whether there are two or three known quantum computer programs.

I have a vague recollection that the last point (number of distinct quantum programs) was addressed here (by some expert) a few years ago. I'm more curious about how much they have  gone up from 4 bits.

[BenRG]

There is nothing worse than being reduced to 'Subject A' whilst you're actually standing there! Still, being treated with dehumanising disdain or indifference is part of the CoD service package, so Clinton should expect this, I suppose!

This strip feeds into my headcanon that Hannelore studied math to quite a high level (possibility also at a prodigiously young age). She may have a MSc or even a PhD! Being practically raised by a god-AI has some advantages, it seems!

[snubnose]

The girl you are looking for has bigger boobs! BIGGER BOOBS!

Whow.

And now I wonder if I should thank you or feel insulted in my heterosexuality that I didnt noticed this crucial detail of a lady.

Then again, maybe I'm just getting old.

As in ooooooooooooooooooooooooooold.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ... ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo .... ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ... oooooooold !!!

[Akima]

I might be wrong but I think that teas are a relatively new thing at Coffee of Doom. Maybe Hannelore's attempt to get in a product line suitable for Synthetics with olfactory sensors has led to human tea drinkers also buying them?

I am disappointed to see that CoD makes tea with *shudder* tea-bags. They'll be serving freeze-dried instant coffee next.

This strip feeds into my headcanon that Hannelore studied math to quite a high level (possibility also at a prodigiously young age).

Headcanon? I think Hannelore's mathiness is fairly well established in Jephcannon.

[pwhodges]

I am disappointed to see that CoD makes tea with *shudder* tea-bags. They'll be serving freeze-dried instant coffee next.

As an intermediate step they could try ground coffee in coffee bags (which is what I drink a lot of the time); they're individually sealed to keep the aroma intact until use.

Of course, I'm not seriously suggesting these for commercial usage, though bags are often used for tea commercially, I observe.  Also, individual coffee filters are not uncommon in second-grade catering establishments, as they look suitably pretentious in use.

[Detachable Felix]

Honestly I think they're tea bags just because it's easier to show the reader that they're drinking tea.

[Case]

As someone who works on research in quantum computation... yeah, it's not gonna help you much, Hanners.

(Fellow math/physics/statistics people, plase point out my errors - looking @Skewbrow & Carl-E, especially)

I quickly went through "multicollinearity" and ... if I recall my numerical math courses correctly, from an applied-math POV, this is 'just' the problem of finding an inverse to an ill-conditioned matrix?
Not only do Shor et. al. not help much, IIRC - the remedies, like column/row pivot-search are well-known and pretty standard undergrad classical (=non-quantum) Numerics stuff?

Furhermore, Hanners mentions "absolute" collinearity - the term isn't mentioned in the Wiki-article, but "perfect multicollinearity" would mean the Matrix has less-than-full rank?

Soooooooh ... drop the rows in questions & be glad your Linear Algebra I Prof. didn't catch you agonizing about that? 



EDIT: I guess (=arsepull) there could be issues with really, really big and really, really weirdly structured matrices - pivot search running into 'trouble' that is similar to that which some Plus it's a search problem, not a sorting problem?

[cesium133]

As someone who works on research in quantum computation... yeah, it's not gonna help you much, Hanners.

In that case can you give me an approximate update of the state of the art of quantum computing. The two points of reference I have are:

• In '95 I attended a talk on quantum information, and the speaker said that they have a single quantum AND-gate the size of a desk that operates correctly 70 per cent of the time
• Later ('05?) a colleague (who has written a book about quantum computing) told me that they have a working 4-bit quantum computer that can correctly factor 15. He also told me that the specialists don't agree on whether there are two or three known quantum computer programs.

I have a vague recollection that the last point (number of distinct quantum programs) was addressed here (by some expert) a few years ago. I'm more curious about how much they have  gone up from 4 bits.

D-Wave and Google have been working on devices that contain ~1000 qubits, but there's a debate over how quantum they actually are. Their devices work using what's called "quantum annealing," which is where you find the solution to a problem by starting with a system with a known solution and gradually transforming it into the system you want to solve. This is different from gate quantum computing, which is what more people are probably familiar with (and which is what I work on). The debate over how quantum it is is because the way they solve the problem can also be done classically using "thermal annealing," where you use thermal energy instead of quantum tunneling to find the solution.

As for gate quantum computing, there are several ways it's being implemented. Superconductors, using Josephson junctions to make qubits, are probably one of the most far-along methods right now. Trapped ions and neutral atoms are also being used. I work with neutral atoms. One of the big issues is gate fidelity: how certain you can be that when you perform the gate operation you'll get the right result. Superconductor and ion gates have gotten pretty far, and are nearing the point where fidelity is good enough that error correction algorithms actually work (about 99.999% fidelity). Neutral atoms are still farther back (about 75%), partly because it's too easy to lose atoms from your traps. At the last conference I went to I saw a few talks about possible ways to deal with that problem, such as traps that can be automatically refilled from a reservoir.

EDIT: I guess (=arsepull) there could be issues with really, really big and really, really weirdly structured matrices - pivot search running into 'trouble' that is similar to that which some Plus it's a search problem, not a sorting problem?

Well, in the past (before I joined) our group has worked on the Grover quantum search algorithm, so maybe quantum computing could help Hannelore after all?

[Zebediah]

It just occurred to me that maybe the reason we're possibly headed back to space later this week is so that Hannelore can use her dad's laboratory to run a numerical analysis of Clinton's hotness. 

[anahata]

I am disappointed to see that CoD makes tea with *shudder* tea-bags.

I saw that, and assumed he was drinking the sort of herbal tea that is more usually available in bags. And we know they do herbal teas because of the Bubbles unicorns episode.

Unfortunately, all sorts of even quite respectable UK coffee and tea places use tea bags now.

[DSL]

Is it my imagination, or is Clinton been slowly turning into a red-haired Marten over the course of this arc? 

Edit:  To elaborate, ever since the fire, with his messier hair and lack of glasses, he's been drawn more similarly to Marten.

Funny, I see him as turning more into a red-haired Sven. Which would be hot indeed.

Also, maybe I'm just projecting my own prejudices here, but at his current level of hotness, he can do better than Brun, I think.

Shallow, self-absorbed, manipulative is hot. Got it. And with  " ... do better then Brun," you are indeed projecting, or perhaps displaying is a better word, more than you perhaps intend. Please say you're being ironic, or trolling, or both.

[Morituri]

Hot like Habanero Mocha; not necessarily a good thing.

Checks mug...

Checks comment ....

Checks mug ....

Sip. ...

On the contrary some of us think Xocolatl is among the finest of culinary creations and do in fact drink it by preference. 

[Zebediah]

I am disappointed to see that CoD makes tea with *shudder* tea-bags.

I saw that, and assumed he was drinking the sort of herbal tea that is more usually available in bags. And we know they do herbal teas because of the Bubbles unicorns episode.

Unfortunately, all sorts of even quite respectable UK coffee and tea places use tea bags now.

That's the way it's normally done in coffee shops in the US - their primary business is coffee, not tea, so it's easiest for them to make tea in single-serving sizes. Which, in general, means handing the customer a cup of hot water and a tea bag. Yeah, I'm one of those weirdos who orders tea in coffee shops (can't drink coffee, tears up my stomach) - but dedicated tea shops are pretty thin on the ground here.

[eschaton]

That's the way it's normally done in coffee shops in the US - their primary business is coffee, not tea, so it's easiest for them to make tea in single-serving sizes. Which, in general, means handing the customer a cup of hot water and a tea bag. Yeah, I'm one of those weirdos who orders tea in coffee shops (can't drink coffee, tears up my stomach) - but dedicated tea shops are pretty thin on the ground here.

Indeed.  I'm 37, and a tea drinker, not a coffee drinker.  Discounting iced tea, I can count on one hand the number of coffeeshops I've been to where they've served loose tea instead of bagged tea. 

Loose tea is more common if you go into sit down restaurants - in part because they can brew a whole pot for you. 

[aliensporebomb]

Musing:  Clinton's competence is probably a by product from having to deal with a Cybernetic hand at an earlier age - he kind of had to grow up and learn how to use it and take care of it and who knows what medical issues he has to deal with.   And he probably had a lot of anger too but is gradually moving away from that.

So yeah he may have some maturity in reserve when he's not kvetching about various things.

I like the recent developments. 

[gopher]

I saw that, and assumed he was drinking the sort of herbal tea that is more usually available in bags. And we know they do herbal teas because of the Bubbles unicorns episode.

Unfortunately, all sorts of even quite respectable UK coffee and tea places use tea bags now.

That's the way it's normally done in coffee shops in the US - their primary business is coffee, not tea, so it's easiest for them to make tea in single-serving sizes. Which, in general, means handing the customer a cup of hot water and a tea bag. Yeah, I'm one of those weirdos who orders tea in coffee shops (can't drink coffee, tears up my stomach) - but dedicated tea shops are pretty thin on the ground here.
[/quote]

And whose fault is that? #1776 #Boston   

[retrosteve]

Funny, I see him as turning more into a red-haired Sven. Which would be hot indeed.

Also, maybe I'm just projecting my own prejudices here, but at his current level of hotness, he can do better than Brun, I think.

Shallow, self-absorbed, manipulative is hot. Got it. And with  " ... do better then Brun," you are indeed projecting, or perhaps displaying is a better word, more than you perhaps intend. Please say you're being ironic, or trolling, or both.

I've been unclear, not ironic.  I was referring to looks not personality, with the first remark. He just looks like Sven, is all, and he's obviously not self-absorbed or manipulative.

And conversely, I was referring to personality (self-confident, relatively sane, does the right thing) with the second. Brun is a bit of a mess, personality-wise, and I don't think she's up to being a good companion for  Clinton or anyone else right now.