Questionable Content XVI: Yes, Butt

[Vinyadan]

Yay Newfriend casually threw 2 billion dollars into charity and thought that would stay under the radar. Apparently in QC world there are vast quantities of money that people don't use or even realize exist. So conceivably May could steal 750 million without leaving any victims.

Now I want May to have stolen the money from Squidbot in the first place.

[KillianHawkeye]

I find some of the content in this comic questionable.

Hey, he said the thing!

[Felius]

The only concrete thing established about Robot Jail is that it's awful

Not even that. We know that Sam's father described it as such to Sam, but we've seen so little of him that we don't know if he really thought on the subject enough to make an informed judgment, much less if his judgment is sound. Plus he was talking to his infant daughter, so "lies to children" could very well be in action too. And that May agrees, but she, very generously, can be described as a horrible person who considers anything bad inflicted upon her to be the injustice of the century and the horror of horrors. From what we know of May, the "awfulness" involved might have been mandatory therapy, support groups and being talked to like if they were children who didn't knew better by the staff higher-ups.

That is, of the two sources we got for it being awful, one is a terrible and obviously biased source and the other is basically unknown. I'm sure that Jeph intended for Robot Jail to be awful, but he needs to expand on the matter of how it is, or at least get someone who would be well informed and that the audience knows reasonably well and isn't a known awful person with cause to be biased to make the same claim. And that there are better ways of actually handling awful people who happen to be AIs that can achieve the goals of protecting the public from criminals (let's say, Corpse Witch had gotten caught and there's no such thing as a jail that can work for AIs. What should be done with her?) , and ideally rehabilitate* the offender.

* For all of May's ****tiness , she clearly shows signs of never wanting to re-offend, and for all her troubles, she has been successfully reintegrated into society, even if barely without that fundraiser. Jail did in fact work for its theoretical intended non-deterrent purposes with her.

[Mechalich]

Yay Newfriend casually threw 2 billion dollars into charity and thought that would stay under the radar. Apparently in QC world there are vast quantities of money that people don't use or even realize exist. So conceivably May could steal 750 million without leaving any victims.

This is actually true in the real world. There's a truly mind-boggling amount of money in the global derivatives market, something like 12 trillion dollars on the low-end estimates.

A super-intelligent AI ought to be literally incalculably good at manipulating the derivatives market and also other more traditional stock and commodities markets and could theoretically use a portion of their processing power to simply materialize funds by mining cryptocurrency and the like. If anything the fact that Yay's net worth amounted to only 2 billion dollars and whatever nest egg they maintained is an insult to their supposed capabilities, that's not even in the top 500 globally (might not even be in the top 1000, but I don't have the time to load that much of the Forbes list).

With regard to May, I assume she worked as an oversight AI in some kind of banking or financial exchange. 750 million is a lot, but in terms of major financial packets moving between firms you could potentially grab that much off a single trade of large mortgage bonds or something. The weird part to me is that she apparently went from zero infractions to 'black-market combat drone' levels of embezzlement all in one go. However, I suspect the justification is that she spotted the only occasion where an AI-operable combat drone surfaced on the black market.

Honestly, May should be grateful she got caught. I can't imagine her lifespan in a rogue fighter jet chassis would have been very lengthy.

[tyckspoon]

A super-intelligent AI ought to be literally incalculably good at manipulating the derivatives market and also other more traditional stock and commodities markets and could theoretically use a portion of their processing power to simply materialize funds by mining cryptocurrency and the like. If anything the fact that Yay's net worth amounted to only 2 billion dollars and whatever nest egg they maintained is an insult to their supposed capabilities, that's not even in the top 500 globally (might not even be in the top 1000, but I don't have the time to load that much of the Forbes list).

Yay already commented that they don't actually have much use for money - after testing and confirming that they can, in fact, make basically as much money as they want, why would they bother making more? Just so they can have a bigger score than some wealthy humans? No reason to do that. Money for the sake of money doesn't advance whatever goals Yay actually has. (..if they have goals. For a super advanced distributed intelligence that can apparently do essentially whatever they want, Yay appears to be mostly interested in.. just existing. If they were actually the lead character of the comic instead of some random idea Jeph had that probably didn't have all that much thought put into the ramifications, Yay's search for some kind of reason or meaning for their existence would probably be a central plot line.)

[Radar]

Yay already commented that they don't actually have much use for money - after testing and confirming that they can, in fact, make basically as much money as they want, why would they bother making more? Just so they can have a bigger score than some wealthy humans? No reason to do that. Money for the sake of money doesn't advance whatever goals Yay actually has. (..if they have goals. For a super advanced distributed intelligence that can apparently do essentially whatever they want, Yay appears to be mostly interested in.. just existing. If they were actually the lead character of the comic instead of some random idea Jeph had that probably didn't have all that much thought put into the ramifications, Yay's search for some kind of reason or meaning for their existence would probably be a central plot line.)

I agree. It is a bit like being a superhero without a challenge as every foe falls after a single punch.

[mythmonster2]

Poor Dan. The man just wants his croissants.

[Cikomyr2]

I can see the egg bread being good as some sort of pizza box holder at the centre of the pizza, so the lid don't touch the cheese

[Eldan]

But... isn't the end pieces of a baguette like that just a small bread roll?

[Morquard]

But... isn't the end pieces of a baguette like that just a small bread roll?

Yes, that's what I was thinking too...

[Iruka]

Maybe american baguettes are better, but the end pieces of german baguettes I have had are too crunchy. If you are not careful it is like biting down on a bag of razor blades.

[Eldan]

An overbaked bread roll, then.

[John Cribati]

A crunchy roll, if you will.

[Max_Killjoy]

A crunchy roll, if you will.

It's a super-sneaky advert.

[Gez]

That whole comic just made me feel a deep sorrow for the pitiful, unenlightened primitives who don't know about épi baguettes, which are epic baguette. For the edification of those unfortunate souls, here's some random blogging link:

http://www.gbakes.com/2011/09/harves...revisited.html

This is how you make a bread that's all end pieces -- and it's actually delicious. And fun, too!

[Eldan]

I mean, nice, but probably shouldn't have the name baguette, baguette describes a shape, too.

[Wraith]

When Jeph makes a poorly-researched commentary about prisoners' rights or AI development, it doesn't really bother me. Those things are boring and complicated in a way that is also depressing and traumatic, so getting a first impression and then bailing out just for a quick joke is understandable.

But this is 'does (bread) exist' levels of Googling. Between that, one of this week's punchlines being a choice of font and another being that there is no punchline, I'm starting to wonder if Jeph is burning out a little - it lacks his usual sort of wit or sense of absurdity.

[georgie_leech]

I'm pretty sure I've been Eliot in this last one. Complete with sudden realization of what I just said.

[Willie the Duck]

I'm pretty sure I've been Eliot in this last one. Complete with sudden realization of what I just said.

How did your Clinton analog respond?

[georgie_leech]

How did your Clinton analog respond?

Equally flustered as I was, I think. It's been a while. I'm pretty sure they weren't expecting something so forward.

[mythmonster2]

So, we have the Bros, are these the Sises? (Boy, sis just does not have a good plural)

[VoxRationis]

Perhaps Sites?

[Maryring]

So after all of this time of trying to make those two a thing... who else feels like those two have no real chemistry?

[The Glyphstone]

I'm trying to think of a pairing in this comic who did seem to have genuine chemistry...

[Maryring]

Pintsize and cake batter

I feel Dale and Marigold have decent chemistry.

[Rodin]

Pintsize and cake batter

I feel Dale and Marigold have decent chemistry.

Yep.

Marten and Claire for sure, they're the only couple in the comic I actively shipped.

Faye and Bubbles have chemistry. I probably would have shipped them if there hadn't been neon lights 40 foot high stating that they were always going to get together.

Faye and Angus had quite a bit. I was bummed when they broke up. Faye and Sven had chemistry even if that chemistry was "hey, let's stick an acid and a base together and then lean in real close". Whatever they were, it wasn't boring.

Marigold and Hannelore had enough chemistry that Jeph had to actively sink the ship.

For Clinton and Elliot though? I don't know what they see in each other. The only thing they have in common is that they both lusted after Brun. I also don't see why the relationship is getting this much screentime. Since they have no chemistry strips involving them tend to be boring. There have been other no-chemistry relationships in the strip that did not detract, like Cosette/Steve and Penelope/Wil. That's because the characters in question were only focused on for a few strips at a time. It feels like we've been dancing around the Clinton/Elliot relationship for a couple of years now.

[Mechalich]

There have been other no-chemistry relationships in the strip that did not detract, like Cosette/Steve and Penelope/Wil. That's because the characters in question were only focused on for a few strips at a time.

Those relationships between secondary characters also orbited back to the main characters, providing insight through reaction shots and commentary. They illuminated things about the character of Marten, Dora, and Faye that were useful to the overall development of the mains.

However, as the relationships of Marten, Dora, and Faye gradually stabilized and the main characters drifted apart - Dora firing Faye may have actually been the most significant event in the comic as a whole - the comic lost focus. This happened in terms of both character focus and even physical focus. If you go back to much earlier in the comic an amazingly high proportion of strips happen either in Coffee of Doom or in Marten's apartment (to the point that random people who didn't live there showing up became a running gag). Now the characters are all over the place and that inhibits the comic's ability to tell stories. Proximity is important for low-key slice of life dramedy, and the comic has struggled to manage that for some time.

[mythmonster2]

Faye and Sven had chemistry even if that chemistry was "hey, let's stick an acid and a base together and then lean in real close". Whatever they were, it wasn't boring.

Just wanna say, that's a great analogy and I hope to use it some day.

[Kish]

The question now is: Which plant is the other one named after?

[Gnoman]

Marten and Faye had some pretty decent chemistry before and during his relationship with Dora - which makes having them not get together a pretty solid artistic choice.