davebarrack
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Grrl Power #995 - Big Oil has nothing on Big Peasant
🕑 Added 2021-11-08 11:01:02 +0000 UTCThanks so much for your support! Like, seriously, you guys.
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These pages are a bit more challenging to draw than the standard talking heads page. I write them to convey the tale Dabbler is relaying, then when I'm laying out the page and the word bubbles, I realize I don't know what I'm going to draw to accompany the text. Admittedly, the bit in panels 1-3 made more sense in my head. The joke I was trying to pull there was that programming magic the same way as you'd do machine code is hilariously inefficient, so the "great work" guy reigned over a thousand years of darkness in order to build a "Working Computer in Minecraft" level processor to pull off some basic ass output.
Then I thought that anyone who wasn't familiar with Minecraft memes or who didn't take an introductory Apple BASIC programming class in the 80's might not get the joke and think the pyramid was some kind of A.I. being like the W.O.P.R. (Yes, I grew up in the 80's.) If you did learn a bit about Apple BASIC, or even spent 20 minutes on it, you'd probably get the joke, because the very first thing you learn to do is get the computer to output, you guessed it, "Hello world." In fact, if you google "apple basic" that's the first image result.
Ah, that joke is definitely better now that I've exhaustively explained it. So now instead, let's all just take a moment to think about a Mind Flayer who appreciates a nice fluffy pillow. The sleeping arrangements of chaotic/lawful evil monsters is not something I spend a lot of time on, but I guess my default instinct would be that they probably sleep on a pile of skulls or in a web made from human sinew or in a crypt surrounded by spikes or something scary looking, but who's to say Mind Flayers aren't into super comfortable bedding? Granted, I would probably be a little crabby and therefore just a bit more evil if I had to sleep curled up in the sloughing puss of a giant's chest cavity, not to mention the extra time taken in the evil shower in order to properly de-fester, but I think of my priorities as a creature of evil would be to invent memory foam. And I don't mean foam made from human brains that can still remember not being foam, either. Well, I guess if I was evil, it wouldn't matter to me either way as long as it conformed to and supported my contours.
Tamer: Enhancer 2 – Progress Update:
Nothing to report. I had to finish the vote/pinup thing and that put me behind so I spent the weekend finishing comic pages.
Comments
D.A. Lamont
Heh-heh...fluffer. 😏
Martin Croft
BBut Commodore Basic was ... no wait a sec, it was crap as well
Kevin Wright
Do they also have "I'LL SHOW THEM ALL" bedsheets?
Andrew Denton
Man, I glossed over your entire third paragraph because I was being nostalgic about the days of Apple Basic.
Dave Barrack
Honestly it's a little tough to write, and I realize that Dabbler telling Sydney about how Demons were influenced from beyond makes it sound like they'd just be standing in line at Starbucks and blogging and tending gardens without it. I think if I really want to delve into demon society I'll need to incorporate that stuff into a book or something.
Anton Schleef
As others have pointed out, as a general rule the first thing you learn to make in any programming class is a "Hello World" program. Heck, EVERY class that actually still teaches BASIC that I've ever heard of specifically does it as the Day One project. Now, when I was in college we learned several languages, but we only did the "Hello World" program in BASIC and Visual BASIC 6.0. Intentionally dating myself here, Visual BASIC.NET is VERY different from BASIC and Visual BASIC 6.0, to the point that even from someone who's worked with all three .NET only has superficial similarities to the others, while VB 6.0 still has very obvious and direct BASIC roots. After that it was essentially considered a waste of classroom time to make the "Hello World" program for the other languages we worked with, but so long as we got the Day One project done on time we didn't get in trouble for making one just to see the basic differences with the new language.
Anton Schleef
I never knew that, but sadly it makes a LOT of sense to me, even with what little I know of both French and British culture. Of course, French Fries and Canadian Bacon are American inventions, so it isn't like similar things haven't happened.
Anton Schleef
It would be nice if we could get rid of it. In the early 2000's there was a study done showing that the average energy savings for a household using CFL bulbs was done in the Margin of Error Territory, making DST completely superfluous. On top of that, it doesn't even make a difference to have an extra hour of daylight in the evening if you're needing the lights for an extra hour in the morning, the 'savings' can't exist in those circumstances. And then there's the fact that the average rate of stress related health problems, car accidents, and other things is on the average lower during the entire time we're on Standard Time (even with the hectic holiday season) than all but the last few weeks taken individually during Daylight Savings Time. There are multiple studies showing that DST has no true benefits anymore, and a lot of problems, or more accurately there are no true benefits to changing to and from DST. We'd be better off being on one and just sticking with it and not changing again.
Sasha Whitefur
Same with me!!!
MGH
Fun fact; French maids never wore French maid outfits. They were an invention of the British theater.
Stephen Gilberg
It's funny that they're eating while discussing something so hideous. (I don't lose my appetite with gross talk, but I'm unusual that way.)
Churchill (formerly TeaBear)
It makes me insanely happy to see that Max can enjoy a Ho-Ho. <3
Town Crier
You can buy a Mine! MINE! ALL MINE!!! Pillow at your local BBBALPT&Z.
Evgeny Sandu
It's not just a tradition at learning, it's also a traditional way of demonstration of what the "most basic program" in any particular language look like. Then it's used to compare them to each other in a "look at how easy it is to make a Hello World" in my beautiful %LNG1% compared to your ugly %LNG2%! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%22Hello,_World!%22_program
Justaguy
10 PRINT "Hello World" 20 GOTO 10 run
Justaguy
That works for Non-Apple BASIC too. I was coding in Basic on an Amstrad CPC 464, the Introduction to Basic had a similar word output I believe.
Martin Drkoš
You could get a renewable energy source harvested from the ambient ether but it's dependent on magical energy currents and overall not as efficient as peasant souls.
Kiaraka
"Hello World!" is usually the first thing you learn in just about any programming language, not just apple BASIC (unless things have changed in the 3 years since i last took a programming class). Basically tradition at this point.
Rhadan
Now I want a magical pillow fluffer thingie. I'm sure someone came up with eco-friendly alternative energy sources already. Damn those peasants for getting a union.
Granite
It's cool that you explore the fact that other cultures (demonic, alien or terrestrial) might not necessarily adhere to the moral preconceptions of the main cast (or the readers).
Magraal
Thought the comic was running late for a bit, then remembered poor Americans have to deal with silly things like DST...
