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tall floor lamp/lighting unit

unusually narrow vending machine

temporary server for AI neural substrates

charging station of some sort

ZPM

Actually, it's a ___________.

it's purely aesthetic

some sort of storage unit

purple monkey dishes go inside of it

[Gyrre]

It's in the second panel of #4080, and we've seen it before.
It was either this or speculating about the nature of Chimevera and Dr. Mann PhD Jones's relationship.

If one of the mods has a better poll, feel free to replace this one.

EDIT: forgot to link the comic.
EDIT2: His name is jones. He is somewhat lanky, but I wouldn't describe him as long and lean.

[BenRG]

I suspect it's a light box like the ones they used in 1960s and 1970s sci-fi TV shows. It just sits there blinking in semi-random patterns to make customers feel that this is a high-tech establishment!

[Gyrre]

I suspect it's a light box like the ones they used in 1960s and 1970s sci-fi TV shows. It just sits there blinking in semi-random patterns to make customers feel that this is a high-tech establishment!

Hmmm.......good suggestion.

Whatever it is, it's plugged in and has little vents at the top of the side.

[Zebediah]

That’s Bob. He’s in the shop because he has a bad bearing in one of his cooling fans.

[hedgie]

Hmmm.......good suggestion.

Whatever it is, it's plugged in and has little vents at the top of the side.

Does it go "ping"?

[Cornelius]

It's an early AI substrate case they found while scavenging for parts. Unbeknownst to them, it's the original home of one Yay New friend.

[DaiJB]

Actually, it's an AI customer with a really boring chassis, but he's a quiet retiring type who prefers to just sit in the corner at parties, so he's quite happy with it...

[shanejayell]

Looks like a storage unit.

[cesium133]

Clearly a cabinet for punch cards.

[cesium133]

New comic.

I like robutts and I cannot lie...

[hedgie]

Clearly a cabinet for punch cards.

Pity that poor AI.

[shanejayell]

.... well, that's not where I expected that to go.

 

[Is it cold in here?]

They can't be all that heavy, or they wouldn't have battery power for very long.  And if a bird can kick one heard enough to break or seriously bend the leg, that's just more evidence of light-weight construction.  I expect most of the weight of an AI is the battery pack, not the body structure.

Nailed it.

[St.Clair]

So did the emu.

[DSL]

Is the box much bigger inside than out?

[Penquin47]

Parents: would you be comfortable with this?

[cesium133]

Clearly a cabinet for punch cards.

Pity that poor AI.

Where do you think Punchbot got his name? You didn't think it was because of the punching, did you? 

[BenRG]

Well, that gives us an answer to the question about how Jones was able to carry Chimevera around like that: The endoskeleton of her chassis is made of a light but relatively brittle material (sort of like us meat types, really). The consequence is that her femur is literally broken and will need to be replaced.

Meanwhile, Jim is about to learn that context is king. Also that AIs are far, far more human than humans sometimes!

Something I'd like to see: Sam talking to Chimevera and the synthetic scientist realising that she has sometime of a kindred spirit to hand: Someone fascinated with dangerous wild critters and prone to do stupid things with them. I kind of like the idea of Sam ending up as the runner/gofer for some semi-responsible researchers!

[andrybak]

In #4075 Greenie is wearing a skirt, but in #4080 she's wearing trousers.

[BenRG]

Usually a change of clothes is how Jeph signals a time progression. The emu probably kicked Chimevera the day after Winslow 'helped' her and Jones find it.

[Gyrre]

So, an alternative title for #4080 would be 'Along Came Jones' then, right?

EDIT: I could swear I had autocorrect turned off.

[DSL]

In #4075 Greenie is wearing a skirt, but in #4080 she's wearing trousers.

The linework in 4075 looks more like trousers than a skirt, to me. I see lines suggesting pant legs (feel free to  make a "pant-y line" joke if you're so inclined) and a fly.

[andrybak]

In #4075 Greenie is wearing a skirt, but in #4080 she's wearing trousers.

The linework in 4075 looks more like trousers than a skirt, to me. I see lines suggesting pant legs (feel free to  make a "pant-y line" joke if you're so inclined) and a fly.

Indeed! However, it was a skirt before.

[St.Clair]

Huh, interesting.  Presumably the alteration was made for the sake of this scene here...

[TheEvilDog]

Or if we think logically, time has simply progressed.

[cesium133]

Or God rewrote time to be a b-hole.

[andrybak]

Here's a comparison:


Links to archive: before and after

[DSL]

Well, whachoo know bout dat!

[shanejayell]

New strip up.

https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4082

Yeah, Sam, you need to ease into drinking coffee. Especially COFFEE OF DOOM coffee.

[BenRG]

That's actually quite a sweet moment. Sam is thinking about Faye and thinking about what would be nice for her because, y'know, doing nice things for friends is a good thing. It reminds us of Sam's good side and of her genuinely sweet side.

It also doesn't surprise me to hear Sam essentially say: "I'm having what Faye's having!" I've thought for a long time that Sam basically imprinted on Faye as her ideal of what she should be when she's an adult! However, I get the feeling from today's strip that Faye is a bit like Garfield the Cat, preferring coffee that at the very least corrodes spoons and, ideally, in which you can stand up a spoon in the middle of the cup without it falling over in any way! Such a density of caffeine would probably be toxic to the unprepared!

I suspect that Faye and Bubbles are going to have an... interesting time keeping Sam from damaging herself this afternoon!

[Tyr]

Fun fact: Two students at Northumbria university were accidentally dosed with twice the LD50 for caffeine for their body weight because of a misplaced decimal. they were supposed to get 3 cups of coffee worth of caffeine. they got 300.

[jwhouk]

Fun fact: Two students at Northumbria university were accidentally dosed with twice the LD50 for caffeine for their body weight because of a misplaced decimal. they were supposed to get 3 cups of coffee worth of caffeine. they got 300.

When was their funeral?

[andrybak]

Both students fully recovered, it seems. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tyne-38744307

[Gyrre]

Both students fully recovered, it seems. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tyne-38744307

That's good.

Here's hoping neither suffer from any adverse effects beyond a fear response to coffee.

[Wingy]

Fun fact: Two students at Northumbria university were accidentally dosed with twice the LD50 for caffeine for their body weight because of a misplaced decimal. they were supposed to get 3 cups of coffee worth of caffeine. they got 300.

For those who don't know, an LD50 dose has a 50% chance of being deadly, as in Lethal Dose 50% of the time.

The human physiology responds variably to caffeine and there is some evidence that introverts are less affected than extroverts, which would make introversion a genetic trait, not an acquired one.  Speaking as someone not much effected by caffeine and somewhat introverted, I'm happy and not surprised the two university (perhaps more introverted and therefore less effected by caffeine) students survived.

[sitnspin]

Fun fact: Two students at Northumbria university were accidentally dosed with twice the LD50 for caffeine for their body weight because of a misplaced decimal. they were supposed to get 3 cups of coffee worth of caffeine. they got 300.

"which would make introversion a genetic trait, not an acquired one."

That's a dodgy argument there. Correlation is not causation. There are any number of unaccounted for variable there.

[Wingy]

That's a dodgy argument there.

Yeppers.  That's why I couched it the way I did.  OTOH, introversion/extroversion is often reported by parents in the behavior of their newborns, so a genetic link is probable.  Whether such a gene(s) will ever be identified - who knows? 

My expectation is there is a handful of genes that influence such things and nurture simply enhances their effect.  But then, I was raised by a strong intro- and an ambi-vert.  I might've got it either way.  What I do know is all the effects people report caffeine having on them I don't experience.  I can drink a Mountain Dew and then go to sleep a short time later, where the uncaffeinated - having had their fix - can't nap out.

[Mr_Rose]

Fun fact: Two students at Northumbria university were accidentally dosed with twice the LD50 for caffeine for their body weight because of a misplaced decimal. they were supposed to get 3 cups of coffee worth of caffeine. they got 300.

For those who don't know, an LD50 dose has a 50% chance of being deadly, as in Lethal Dose 50% of the time.

It means lethal in 50% of the studied population, and, usually with humans not even that because the dose is an extrapolated estimate, not least because getting funding to do a study where you feed a group of people poison until they die is extremely hard to get funded these days. Unless you’re selling it to them first, of course.

[Thrudd]

I kind of like the idea of Sam ending up as the runner/gofer for some semi-responsible researchers!

responsible researchers!
Those two works. They don't go together they way you think they go together.
This is from someone who has enough contact with that type without having to deal with them on a daily basis.
A bit of a rant and a story follows

(click to show/hide)

When it comes to R&D it is the devils entrails when it comes to responsibility, good sense, self preservation, safety regulations, et al.
You could put up a sign in 48 point type "Do Not Open - Validation in process", lock the door, tape it closed, put the cart in front and have the room locked and STILL someone will go and open it up when nobody else is around because THEY NEEDED to use it RIGHT THEN when a three minute walk would have solved their problem.
Then get them to admit they just wasted your time and someone else's money and it is going to come out of their budget.

How about a lab fridge where samples are stored - labelled "samples" and covered with a plethora of advertising and fun type stickers and magnets - Open it up and discover bio-hazardous materials, toxic solvents, flammable liquids, and radioactive tracers. This all determined by reading the hand written labels and knowing what these items are. Nothing anywhere mentions any of the hazards involved and nothing is labelled as per code. None of the health and safety regs were being followed. Half those materials were not supposed to even be in a general use fridge. Of those some were not supposed to even be there due to lack of licensing for those materials.

Solution - keep the nosy tech out and get someone else, an outside contractor, to do the work - They call the ministry since they noticed the radioactive tracers. Oops.

[BenRG]

Well, I did say "semi-responsible". There has to be a limit to how responsible Jones and Chimevera could be, given that they equipped a large and dangerous animal with an active adaptive optical camouflage system and then managed to lose it!

[Perfectly Reasonable]

Yep, called it.  CoD is indeed close to Union Robotics.
( for plot convenience anyway )

And if Sam downs Faye's Favorite, she will definitely run faster.

[TheEvilDog]

Hands up who thinks Sam is going to be so excited about seeing the procedure, she's going to end up spilling coffee all over herself.

Kids, here's a lesson - Don't run when you're carrying boiling hot drinks! A&E wards are not fun to visit.

[shanejayell]

New stip up.

Dora, GLOWING RED EYES are not a good look for you.

[Tova]

Does Jeph drink coffee?

[Raptorofwar]

Man, I wished that's what coffee does. I could get so much more done.

[Akima]

In an alternative QCverse where Faye and Bubbles open a bicycle shop:
"Wow, when these composite frames go, they really go, huh."
"They trade light weight for brittleness."

I think lighter-fuel is based on naptha, so drinking it would be a very bad idea.

[Gyrre]

That's a dodgy argument there.

Yeppers.  That's why I couched it the way I did.  OTOH, introversion/extroversion is often reported by parents in the behavior of their newborns, so a genetic link is probable.  Whether such a gene(s) will ever be identified - who knows? 

My expectation is there is a handful of genes that influence such things and nurture simply enhances their effect.  But then, I was raised by a strong intro- and an ambi-vert.  I might've got it either way.  What I do know is all the effects people report caffeine having on them I don't experience.  I can drink a Mountain Dew and then go to sleep a short time later, where the uncaffeinated - having had their fix - can't nap out.

Being that it's behavioral, it's likely a combination of genetic predisposition, environment, and upbringing. Along with possible epigenetic interaction(s) also being a possible factor.

Being that extrovertion-introvertion is a sliding gradient, a more complex explanation is likely at play.


BTW, caffeine is one of the various poisons humans have an absurdly high (comparatively speaking) tolerance for. Theobromine is still king in that corner though.

EDIT: to avoid double posting.

It means lethal in 50% of the studied population, and, usually with humans not even that because the dose is an extrapolated estimate, not least because getting funding to do a study where you feed a group of people poison until they die is extremely hard to get funded these days. Unless you’re selling it to them first, of course.

We could use career politicians, tell them it's for a heart medication or stimulant (not entirely a lie), and do a double blind study.

I'm speaking purely in hypotheticals while being facetious.

[BenRG]

Yeah, that's pretty much what I thought would be the effect of coffee on Sam, who likely has been on an OJ-only breakfast drink strategy up to this point. FWIW, this will be the trigger of an argument between Faye and Dora and possibly between Jim and Dora too. Play a prank on your friend? Sure. Just don't play a prank by using a pretty powerful behaviour-altering chemical on a minor. It wouldn't surprise me if the next arc will be a Dora self-reflection arc of some form.

My rant aside, I can't help but giggle at panel 3. Jeph has definitely been observing kids trying new food and drinks for the very first time! Obviously, Sam had no idea what that slime would taste like and whether she could handle something  that hot!

So, I wonder how many places at Union Robotics Sam will be able to be at the same time? Or will Bubbles just duct-tape her to one of the roof support columns in the storage room?

[andrybak]

Can Sam see forever?

[JoeCovenant]

What's that brown thing stuck to the side of one of the cups???