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Difference between revisions of "Tijuana"
Revision as of 07:44, 16 August 2012
Tijuana is the dominant focal city of Northwestern Mexico, in Baja California, Mexico. It is located right across the border from San Diego, California, USA. Due to its Pacific coastal location, the climate is very moderate for most of the year, with average temperatures during the daytime ranging from 68ºF (20°C) in January, to 86°F (30°C) in August. The rainy season is short (and tame, with yearly averages close to only 10 inches/ 254 millimeters of rainfall), and encompasses late winter to early spring. Tijuana has a population of around 1.3 million people according to the last census, including its surrounding suburbs 1.7 million. The city has grown from a small border town with a salacious reputation during the Prohibition Era in the United States into a large, modern city with a sizable middle class and ever expanding housing estates. Tijuana's proximity to the United States, along with Rosarito, has made the two adjacent cities a very popular tourist destination, especially for day-trippers from San Diego.
Tijuana is by far the largest urban center of Northwestern Mexico, but also its westernmost city. Along with its U.S. neighbor San Diego form the largest metropolitan area on the U.S.-Mexican Border with a population of 4.5 million. There is a high amount of cultural exchange between the two areas.
Economically, Tijuana is bordered by the wealthiest and most populated section of the United States to which it has a border, and also the more agreeable climate of the Pacific Ocean. It is home to not only manufacturers taking advantage of NAFTA, but also a sizeable middle class with disposable income. Despite a hit on tourism from the drug trade from 2008-2011, the city has managed to develop a vibrant culture, and its sheer vastness has shielded large parts of the city from the crime ridden areas. This characteristic that allowed the city to attract many national and international businesses which had largely shunned the city before. Tijuana is home to every class of people, from working class to the wealthy, from junkies to businessmen, but notably a large presence of fashion and trends from chicanos of the United States, including its own use of Spanglish. Tijuana is a major transit point for undocumented immigration into the United States, as well as a common destination for any illegal Mexican immigrants deported from the West Coast of the United States. As such, some areas are swollen with poor people with no roots in the city, who inhabit illegal but albeit tolerated shantytowns. In sharp contrast to these shantytowns lie housing estates for the upwardly mobile, from maquiladora families, university students, to high class businessmen, Tijuana is one of the wealthiest cities in Mexico. Some (mainly residential) areas of the city reflect the significant number of wealthy people who inhabit the city.
Tijuana has a growing cosmopolitan character, but far from the scale and diversity seen in Mexico City. The city is home to many people who have migrated from within the same country, as well as some native Mexican Indians, but it boasts an important amount of Asian residents, predominantly Chinese diaspora families, Korean and Japanese factory managers, as well as many US citizens (predominantly Mexican-Americans including "cholos" and ex-cholos, with a sprinkle of retired American folk, though Rosarito is attracting more retirees in the past decade, cheaper life seekers, and Americans escaping law enforcement), and South Americans from Argentina and Uruguay, among others.
Frequent English-speaking visitors to Tijuana use the term "gringo-friendly" for a shop, bar, or restaurant in which a non-Spanish speaking customer will be at ease. A place is gringo-friendly if the staff here is accustomed to dealing with American tourists, if they speak English and have English-language menus. Places that are not gringo-friendly may require use of Spanish, and patience. Just because a place is not gringo-friendly does not imply that the people there will not be friendly or that tourists will not be welcome.
While the Mexican peso is the legal currency, US dollars are widely used and accepted, even by locals. Tijuana observes daylight savings time (DST) the same way as the USA does. Money changers on the US side may offer better rates when buying pesos and worse rates when selling pesos.
Spanish is the dominant language in Tijuana, as it is in much of Mexico. However, English is spoken by almost everybody in the city's tourist hot spots (such as Avenida Revolución), as well as by taxi drivers and the Americans who live in the city. Having someone with you who can speak Spanish will be helpful when going away from Avenida Revolución.
Get in
Most tourists enter Tijuana through the border crossing at San Ysidro, which is reportedly the busiest border crossing in the world. The crossing can be made by car, bus, or on foot.
Every visitor who plans to return to the United States must have a passport. A passport card will work too for U.S. citizens. Although technically illegal, American citizens can visit Tijuana and re-enter the United States with just a driver's license with little hassle from immigration officials.
By plane
From the Tijuana International Airport
Tijuana-General Abelardo L. Rodtríguez International Airport (IATA: TIJ, ICAO: MMTJ) is served by the two Mexican legacy carriers, Aeroméxico and Mexicana, and also serves as a hub for the growing low-cost airline market in Mexico. Carriers such as Volaris and Interjet offer low-cost products similar to U.S.-style low cost carriers. Previously international services were very limited until 2007, when Aeroméxico begin services to East Asia adding Tijuana as a stop on its Mexico City-Tijuana-Tokyo (Narita) flagship route. In 2008, this route was augmented by a Mexico City–Tijuana–Shanghai (Pudong) flight. The flights serve as routes not only as flights between four of the world's most populous cities, but also as the link for the significant East Asian-Mexican community in the northwestern areas of Mexico.
The airport is located parallel to the USA-Mexico border line, only a few miles east of downtown Tijuana and the San Ysidro International Border Crossing, and one mile west of Otay International Border Crossing. The airport is used as a transit point for travelers wishing to visit San Diego and L.A. as well.
You can take an authorized taxi cab, sedan or van, at the Airport. Buy a ticket in one of the booths at the exit of the airport. They have fixed and official rates; It will cost you about $200 Pesos to Zona Rio (15 min ride), or $250 Pesos to Zona Centro (25 min ride), or $300 pesos to the Grand Hotel (30 min ride). US Dollars will be accepted.
You can take also public transportation from the Tijuana airport all the way to city downtown and it will cost you $ 8.5 Pesos, less than 1 US Dollar. Go outside the airport and take the blue and white bus, heading west. It has the legend: "Centro" or "Plaza Rio". US Dollars will be accepted.
The airport has international coach transportation to San Diego or the major destinations in south California and transfer to the Greyhound, Some airlines provide their own coaches to/from major San Diego destinations, including Lindbergh San Diego Airport.
-- Please note that even though the Mexican Peso is the official currency in Mexico, US Dollar will be accepted every where in Tijuana and the whole Baja California State, despite the fact MXP/USD interchange rate changes daily.
From the San Diego Airport
San Diego International Airport (IATA: SAN) [3] is 15 miles north of the international border and can be used as a transit point for travelers wishing to visit Tijuana. You can take public transportation from the San Diego airport all the way to downtown Tijuana and it will only cost you $10. Go outside the airport and take the airport express bus, which is route 992. Buy a $5 day pass from the bus driver, which will also cover the trolley. Take this bus to the first stop on Broadway. From here, you should see the American Plaza Trolley station. Walk over to the west side, and you will catch the Blue Line to San Ysidro. The day pass you bought from the bus driver will work on the train, which could help you to catch a train that's just arriving at the American Plaza Trolley station. The San Ysidro exit is the last stop on the Blue Line. Everyone will get off the train. Follow everyone across the bridge to the right of the trains. You cross the freeway on the pedestrian bridge by going up, across and back down. Go through a one-way gate, and if it's your first time, go straight, and cross through another one-way gate. This will take you to the more expensive yellow taxis driven by taxi drivers in yellow shirts. The fare for these taxis is $5 USD to revolution avenue. Sometimes a taxi driver will ask you to pay $6, but you can always get these taxis for $5.
If you've been to Tijuana a few times before, then go to the right after the first one-way gate. This will take you to a small market and here you can catch the lower-priced taxis which are usually green and white and called either "Taxi Libre" or "Taxi Economico." These cost $3 USD to get downtown and the prices are all listed on various boards.
If it's during the day then you could walk to downtown. Follow the signs that say to Centro. You'll walk across a long bridge, and generally head toward the Revolution Arch.
By car
While in the San Diego area, take I-5 or I-805 to south. Either park at the border and continue on foot or drive into Mexico. Driving from the US to Mexico often requires no stopping, but inspections driving south have become more frequent as authorities attempt to stop firearms trafficking into Mexico, resulting in long wait times during periods of heavy traffic. However, driving from Mexico to the United States will result in a long wait, even moreso during evening rush hour or on holiday weekends.
If you are driving to Mexico, obtaining Mexican insurance with legal defense coverage is highly recommended, and can be bought immediately before crossing the border, or even online before your trip.
When coming into the US, the Otay Mesa and Tecate border crossings, also nearby, may sometimes be less congested. To get to the Otay crossing can be a little scary (not good for Gringos at night) and the border agents here don't seem as pleasant as the ones at the San Ysidro crossing.
If the pedestrian line returning to the US is long, it may be faster (in some cases) to take advantage of the numerous van and bus lines that cross the border. You will undoubtedly encounter agents for these services when approaching the pedestrian line back to the U.S., who will ask for $5 to $10 per person to let you board the vehicles which are already in line. Generally, the closer the vehicle is to the front of the line, the more they will charge.
Border Wait Times
Driving or walking, 1/2 - 2 hours. If you are driving and stay at a fancy hotel or eat at a fancy restaurant, ask them for a "Fast Pass". If you find the fast pass lane you will save a lot of time (driving) [4].
6-29-12 Update
The Fast Pass has worked well. Businesses in Tijuana buy them to give to their customers. Mostly used for medical tourists, hence it mostly functions as a medical line. Make sure and take a taxi to figure out the driving route first. Tell him you want to see and learn the route to the fast pass gate. Get the drive down before you attempt it yourself. There is only one Fast-Pass entry and it's on a one way street. It is always wonderful to legally "cut the line" at the border
You can also use the Ready-Lanes. These are entered from the right side of the Port of Entry and are used for those Returnees that have an RFID enabled entry card (various cards exist).
Then the regular lanes. Let's just say, keep that empty Starbucks cup handy. It's a long wait
By foot
Many people drive to the border, park on the US side, and walk across. There are many lots available for this, which charge $4-$9 a day. While there are many taxis waiting to take you to Avenida Revolucion, it's only about a fifteen minute walk; follow the other tourists.
By bus
Mexicoach buses leave from the parking lots on the US side, cross into Mexico, and drop you off at the bus station on Revolucion Avenue in the middle of the downtown tourist district. These buses run during the day, every day, and costs $5 one way or $8 roundtrip. The parking lot at Mexicoach is about $7/day. The central de camiones for destinations in Mexico is reached by bus from Calle 3 or by taxi from the city centre and has direct coaches to most major cities in Mexico.
Get around
Cabs are abundant throughout the city. If you are walking into Tijuana via the San Ysidro border crossing, you will be immediately confronted with a massive array of yellow cabs waiting to take you into downtown. This group of cab drivers are conveniently located, but be sure to negotiate a price before jumping into a cab. You should pay no more than $5 in normal traffic to get from the border to the downtown area.
If you exit the border area by taking a right instead of going straight ahead to the taxi stand, then walk toward town after crossing the street, you will encounter the Taxi Libre taxi stand, which will generally cost half as much as a yellow cab would charge.
Throughout the city, cab drivers stand on the sidewalks and solicit customers. It is almost impossible to avoid them, so finding a cab should never be a problem. Yellow cabs do not have meters, so agree with your driver in advance what the cost will be. Taxi Libre, white with red stripe, cabs have meters and are cheaper than yellow cabs, though you might have to remind the driver to use the meter.
Be aware that when taking a Yellow Cab to a specific location, the drivers may tell you that the restaurant or bar you asked for is closed, and conveniently offer an alternative. This is almost always untrue, and the taxi driver is attempting to divert you to a business where he will receive a commission for delivering passengers. The driver may alternately tell you that "company rules" say that all rides to a given area can only take passengers to certain businesses, to achieve the same result. Taxi Libre drivers do not engage in this practice, as they are independent contractors, and do not have the commission structure that Yellow Cabs do.
Tijuana is on the ocean, but is not known for its beaches, for boating, or as a seaside resort, mostly because its strip of ocean is foggy all year round, very similar to San Francisco in weather. However, it is in cabbing distance of Rosarito - the trip will cost $20, while Mexicoach will bus you there for around $10. Ensenada is further down the coast but easily accessible by car or bus.
There are disappointingly few bargains to be had in Tijuana. Silver and leather products are allegedly cheaper than in the US. Souvenir shops abound. Many of the items sold in the souvenir shops are actually purchased in the San Diegan swap meets and brought into Mexico and resold to tourists.
Apart from the abundant, over-priced tourist traps, local cuisine ranges from world-class restaurants to locals-only eateries and street vendors selling tacos. Travellers' diarrhea is more of a risk at the cheaper establishments, but will probably not be a concern. In many sit down restaurants, musicians will wander in and play for tip. A good price for a song is $1 USD per musician per song, but most musicians will try to charge $2 USD per musician per song. For example, if there are five musicians in a band then a good price is $5 USD. Many non-mariachi musicians are untalented and some work with pickpockets, so keep an eye out.
If cuisine is an important factor in your visit to Mexico, be sure to check out the more locals filled taco shops, where you will be able to enjoy the best carne asada tacos in the world and for better price. Also delicious are Churros made by street vendors, and the "hot dog" imitations sold as well. Be sure to avoid vendors that are not being patronized by locals.
However, American establishments such as McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, and Carl's Jr. (As Carl's Jr., not Hardee's) are in many parts of the city. However there are some local chains, such as Cafe Sanborns, that prove to be more popular and interesting than the American ones.
There are many other great restaurants in the city, ranging from mexican to asian food. The city is also full of sushi bars, something that has caught on in recent years. Another favorite is chinese food, and thanks to a large chinese population in Baja, the locals tend to say that it's the best chinese food in México or the region.
Beer drinkers are well-advised to visit the "Cerveceria Tijuana," the Tijuana Brewery, and its brewpub. It is on Blvd. Fundadores, a few minutes by taxi south of the Ave. Revolucion shopping district. Not only do they brew and serve six different Eastern European-style lager beers, but they also have a reasonably-priced food menu.
The brewpub is especially impressive because it is designed to look just like a European pub, with dark wood paneling, stained glass, and hardwood floors. One area even has a large window looking into the brewery floor, where you can see the workers busy at their brewing. Be aware that flagging down a taxi in this area is often difficult, especially at night, so for your return trip consider arranging transportation ahead of time or having the phone numbers of taxi services available to call when you finish your meal.
Of course, beers, margaritas and tequila are also available at numerous establishments.
Migrant Houses
Migrant houses offer free or very cheap accommodation for anyone regarded as a migrant. Some are said to also accept backpackers.
Although travel guides and taxi drivers insist that there is no cheap accommodation to be had in Tijuana, there is if you know where to look. Most of Tijuanas budget haunts are located in 2nd and 3rd Street, while the more outlying ones are probably less safe and certainly more difficult to reach.
Hotel Astor Tijuana Blvd. Insurgentes, Los Alamos offers affordable, comfortable, clean and functional rooms equipped with general amenities. Astor staff offers attentive friendly service. The Restaurant serves traditional International Breakfast. WiFi connectivity is available. Located in the 3rd stage in Zona Rio, only minutes from the Tijuana World Trade Center. Central Station , American Consulate and Tijuana International Airport.
At the north end of Zona Centro, directly adjacent to the large arch spanning Ave. Revolucion, is the Hotel Nelson. It is reasonably-priced and clean, and has a bar as well as a restaurant downstairs. The major drawback would be traffic noise from the myriad bars and clubs along this tourist-oriented street.
Hotel Ticuan, 8th St at Revolucion, [1]. A newer hotel at the upper end of mid-range pricing, located on 8th Street just west of Ave. Revolucion. It has a very good restaurant and bar, comfortable rooms with plasma TVs and free WiFi, and free admission to the dance club "Las Pulgas" which is right around the corner. The staff is very polite and helpful, and most speak decent English. You can get a discount of 100 to 150 pesos per night on your room by booking online.
A more luxury hotel is the Grand Hotel Tijuana. The Grand Hotel Tijuana is one of the most prominent feature in Tijuana's skyline, having 2 33 story twin towers. It features several bars and restaurants, and an in house shopping mall. Adjacent to the hotel is the Club Campestre de Tijuana, Tijuana's oldest and most prestigious country club, which features an 18 hole golf course in very good shape designed by Allister McKenzie, who also designed Augusta National Golf Club(site of the masters professional championship).
Marriott Hotel Just recently opened, the Marriott took over the Hotel Emporio
Hotel Lucerna Tijuana is another very safe and clean hotel in the Zona Rio with a great pool, and service. It also has a very upscale bar, restaurant, and lounge area. Guards 24/7 and valet parking.
Camino Real Tijuana
Stay safe
Tijuana has a reputation for crime, though reputations do not reflect real conditions. Opportunism in the form of cons or misrepresentations can be found anywhere in the city, but from 2007-2011, drug violence had erupted and then waned in Tijuana due to intense crackdown by the Mexican government and Mexican drug cartels turning on each other. However, joint action between the government and the police severely weakened the Tijuana cartel, and now all that's left is the remnants of an uncontrolled group of renegades. The vast east side of Tijuana is particularly dangerous and prone to drug violence, though this also varies on exact neighborhood, there are many gated and planned communities which are isolated from it. Zona Norte can also be very dangerous if you are walking alone. Much of Tijuana's drug violence happens in these two parts of the city. Most of the drug violence is not targeted at tourists, but rather at competing drug cartels as well as Mexican police. However, it is possible for tourists to get caught in the crossfire, so like anywhere it is best to stay alert, though as of 2012 there is little a casual tourist will see in the way of drug violence unless one specifically seeks it out. Most tourist sections (for the most part) are generally safe, such as heavily patrolled Avenida Revolucion, Playas de Tijuana, Zona Rio, and Tijuana's red light district in Zona Norte. As with any large city, use common-sense and street smarts when walking the street; especially in the red light district of the "Zona Norte" (North Zone), as streets get more isolated they become more prone to opportunists. Due to mexican drug violence, you still want to pay extra attention in any place with illegal housing and/or vice.
It is advisable to be very careful of buying anything that would alert suspicion from Mexican police, this would include any type of prescription medicine (with potential for abuse, or perhaps low overdose/extreme side effects), pornography, and weapons. The police are generally protective of tourists and the business they bring, but will not hesitate to act on their suspicions if they do stop you, so the less they have to go on the better. Laws differ from those in the USA.
Park in well marked parking lots with security guards. Police enforce the laws on foreigners who commit crimes such as pedophilia or buying illegal drugs, including pharmaceuticals without prescription. Corruption still exists among the Tijuana Police Department as it does in many Mexican cities (the Mexican Federal Police on the other hand is trustworthy), so beware. But this is usually done when you are alone after a night on the town, are slightly intoxicated, and your actions make you a potential victim. When speaking to an officer, stay calm and respectful. Typically, if you have done nothing wrong, stand your ground and they will eventually let you go. You can insist on seeing a judge, and explain what happened. If you do this, most likely the officer will try and save face, and give you a warning and send you on your way. Never offend or belittle the officer or the country of Mexico, as agitating the officer will never work.
For traffic infractions, you are entitled to a written ticket, and you can pay the fine by mail. In any case, these made-up charges are usually only a small fine, most likely less than the bribe you would offer; you do not go to jail. Remember that you are not immune from Mexican laws, if an officer pulls you over for speeding because you were speeding, it's not corruption. Illegal drugs and drunk driving are taken seriously in Mexico, as they are elsewhere.
Get out
Tijuana offers several Bus routes into Mexico. Updated Tijuana Bus routes are available online at[10]. From Tijuana you can easily go to Rosarito, Puerto Nuevo, Ensenada, or further south to Guerrero Negro, which is a very popular destination for whale watching. It is a 12 hour bus ride to Guerrero Negro but well worth it. Other bus routes locations include La Paz, San Juan del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas at the tip of Baja.
Taxis from Ave. Revolucion to the Central Camionera cost about 60 pesos, or less by bus.
Tijuana -> Guerrero Negro: $945

subset: commoncrawl


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Actually, on second thought, I will be adding a max bet on Oakland +137 tomorrow....actually wait....I already did that too.
BigNiner, what the hell are you gonna do with all that cash??
My A's series price +260 is alive, will decide what to do tomorrow, saw Verlander -141 at Pinny.
"Will decide what to do"? I hope the only options you're considering are bet more on the A's or bet much more on the A's.
My man
No sure things, but there are such things as tremendous wagers that deserve to stand on their own to the end, and you're holding such a wager.
Rubber-armed Verlander cranked it up another notch last night and turned all hopeful Oakland betting tickets into souvenirs. And that's it.


text: M&J Trimming carries an array of notions, supplies, and tools for crafts projects and garment making. Our selection includes a variety of general supplies like glue, thread, needles, sewing kits, measuring tape, and scissors. We also sell specialty supplies like measuring gauges, hotfix setters, revolving leather hole punchers, rhinestone and crafts kits, bead organizers, rhinestone glue-on kits, rotary cutters, and more. Discover our selection of useful embellishments like velcro, zippers, hook and eye pieces, eyelets, safety pins, and patches to finish your projects. Whether you need a notion for measuring, cutting, sewing, crafting, embellishing, or finishing a project, we have a great array of tools right here to assist you.


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Butterball's day in court against Longmont was delayed because the company has a contract to sell the turkey plant at 150 Main St. and six other sites associated with it for $4.5 million, according to Boulder County District Court documents.
The contract, listed as evidence in the pre-trial motions, lists the buyer as "150 Main LLC" with an address of 1400 Glenarm Place in Denver. That office building includes the real estate firm of Shames-Makovsky, which is also where 150 Main's registered agent, Brian Bair, works as a broker.
The contract is set to close Aug. 1. A deposit of $100,000 by 150 Main must be returned if the company backs out before April 30. If it does so after April 30, Butterball keeps $50,000 of the "earnest money."
The sale covers sites at 150 Main St., 110 Collyer St., 121 S. Main St., 204 Emery St., 220 Kimbark St., 301 W. 1st Ave. and 1025 E. 1st Ave.
The buyer's plans for the Butterball sites have not yet been disclosed. According to motions filed by Longmont's attorneys, the city and 150 Main are confidentially negotiating a public-private partnership "in which the city is seriously contemplating investing financial resources ... to support 150 Main's subsequent proposed uses for the Butterball properties."
Butterball sued Longmont in February 2013 over the city's decision to make the First and Main neighborhood a "mixed use" zone, which permits commercial and non-commercial uses on the same site. The decision wiped out the area's old industrial zoning — and with it, Butterball contends, wiped out many of the potential customers for the plant.
"The zoning change from mixed industrial to mixed use in January 2013, without advance notice to Butterball, completely derailed Butterball's efforts to sell to an industrial purchaser and has led more than one potential purchaser to walk away," Butterball's attorneys wrote in a March 5 motion. Even with a potential buyer at hand, they added, the contract's closing would depend on whether the city approved of 150 Main's plans.
Butterball closed the Longmont turkey plant in 2011 and put it on the market in the summer of 2012. The zoning changed in January 2013.
Appraisers for Butterball set the properties' value at $7,454,000 before the zoning change and $2.1 million after it.
The suit claims that Longmont violated Butterball's right to due process in actions that included a failure to properly notify the company of the planned zoning change. The city denied any such failure, but did hold a "do-over" of the hearing process last fall, including a second City Council vote on the zoning.
The case had been set to go to trial on April 14, but Longmont asked for a delay. The city's attorneys argued that any damages claimed by Butterball would remain "speculative" until after the Aug. 1 closing date with 150 Main.
"Butterball is likely to receive a windfall at the expense of the city's taxpayers if the trial in this case occurs before the sale is finalized," attorneys Thomas Lyons and Lance Shurtleff wrote for the city.
Judge Andrew Hartman agreed, saying the property's sale was "clearly relevant to Butterball's alleged damages." Since the contract did not require the lawsuit to be over before the sale closed, Hartman said, no one would be harmed by waiting until Butterball had an exact sale price instead of appraisal estimates.
Online court records show that a five-day trial is now set to begin Sept. 22.
Contact Times-Call staff writer Scott Rochat at 303-684-5220 or email@example.com


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project, installed in the Playhouse/INTIMAN lobby, is an immersive installation that investigates audience interaction and
perception through video and computer vision. Live video, taken by a
depth and motion sensing camera, will be used as material to project on a
3-dimensional video screen made of a giant balloon that will be suspended at the ceiling. Participants can move in the field
of vision of the camera to affect how the video behaves on the balloon


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Are you active and positive about life? And are you looking for others who are fun, fit, mature, professional, laid back, positive thinkers that are over 40 and just want to make new friends? Let's get together and work out a calendar filled with skiing, camping, hiking, snow shoeing, dancing, socializing, and other fun things.
The Grey Wolves is not a singles group and especially it is not a dating group. There are unmarried people and married couples in the group. Our gatherings are not about trolling for dates, sex and such. Harassing behavior is not tolerated. A wide range of activities is encouraged, but we don't allow commercial, religious, political or overtly sexual gatherings on the Grey Wolves calendar. There are plenty of other meetup groups where these things are available.
To be specific, the Grey wolves is not about joining and sending emails to people sight unseen asking for dates, asking to sell things, etc. Any sight unseen email received should be taken as a red flag and reported to an organizer. Again, this is not a dating site. If you want to examine profiles and contact people, join an actual dating site. but do not do it here.
As of Jan 26th 2013, we now require that new members be approved by a group organizer. This has been done because of some entity (we suspect it was a spamming program, not an actual person) joining the group and sending sexual spam out to people attending certain events.
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When a customer is still licking the sticky, sweet syrup of chicken wings off their fingers long after they have paid the bill and exited a restaurant, you know they have found a place worth remembering. This is exactly what fans of authentic Polynesian and Cantonese cuisine will find every time they visit China Sea in Warwick - finger-licking, lip-smacking good food. China Sea, a family-run establishment, has been serving up delectable Polynesian and Cantonese food for forty years and is continually adjusting its menu to please its loyal customers and entice some new ones. With all the tempting options out there for satisfying food, don't overlook this "best kept secret"- found right in plain sight on Post Road.
Whether you are dining in or calling for a take-out order, your choices at China Sea are varied and numerous. Start your meal with one of China Sea's specialty Polynesian Drinks, from the ever-popular Mai-Tai to the refreshing "Zombie", a combination of rum, brandy and fresh tropical fruit juices. If you are with that special someone, pull out your straw and share the "Lotus Blossum."
When you are ready to satisfy your hunger, dig your teeth into one of their delicious appetizers. There are so many appetizers to choose from including Crab Rangoon, crispy fried wantons, chicken dumplings, egg rolls, beef teriyaki sticks and those "finger-licking" chicken wings. Don't forget the crispy fried scallion pancakes or BBQ spare ribs - and this is just the beginning.
Are you ready for some dinner? Dip your chopsticks into China Sea's Pan- fried Shrimp with Ginger and Scallion sauce topped with fresh broccoli. China Sea offers a broad selection of entrees, including over sixty combination platters. Enjoy main dishes such as Subgum Wanton, (sliced chicken, shrimp, lobster, vegetables, mushrooms and water chestnuts, topped with ham, chicken and crispy fried wantons) or Lobster Kew (cubes of lobster meat sautéed with vegetables, mushrooms and water chestnuts). The list goes on with an extensive menu of soups, fried rice, pork, shrimp or chicken Lo Meins, and Sweet and Sour dishes, to name a few. China Sea also accommodates their health-conscious diners, offering a variety of dishes which can be prepared without added salt or MSG.
Every day is a great day to indulge your palate with the delicious Polynesian and Cantonese cuisine at China Sea. It is fully committed to giving you a memorable culinary experience with friendly, efficient service, flavor-filled food and a welcoming ambiance.
China Sea is located at 1278 Post Road in Warwick. They are open every day, Monday - Sunday, noon to 10:00pm. Take-out hours end at 9:30 pm. For more information or to order take-out, call 467-7440.


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Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Comic 805: Randall Tries Busking
[Alt: Take me down to the paradise municipality / where the grass is mauve and the girls aren't fromthisreality]
I have a confession to make. After reading this comic I experienced, not a GOOMHR moment, but a moment of bonding with Randall. I wanted to go home and visit paradise cities, also! There I could forget that there was ever such a thing as XKCD. There I could finally know peace. As I slept last night, I dreamt of this land. I cannot describe it to you here in a way which will do it justice, but it was a place where I was happy. I awoke to a bright cold Seattle morning and reality dawned. I had still read this comic. I had not escaped to a better place. I will never be free.
The narrative structure of this comic is a little confusing. The man is sitting on a box and singing, that much is clear. I'm assuming he's busking or something, but there's no real indication of that. A bench at a park or subway station would make it pretty clear, and it might even allow for some of that patented "it's better than the shit I usually put out" art that makes the ladies go crazy for Randall-brand loving. You could draw a whole scene if you wanted! And context might help the joke here. God knows it needs the help.
The joke itself--well, here I want to be careful, because it's one of those jokes that doesn't lend itself to summarizing nicely. Obviously it's a play on the song. It tries to create a narrative structure of a spree of violent crime being quelled by the Mounties, who I guess send the criminals off to Orwellian rehabilitation camps? All while keeping to the structure of "Take me down to X region where Y rhyming thing happens."
It's not the worst thing in the world. He manages to keep the meter moderately well. The rhymes mostly work, and only feel slightly forced. It is, however, pretty fucking terrible.
It's just--what is the point? It's not doing anything interesting. It's old enough that I'm not even going to bother complaining that it's not timely, but come on, Randy. Parodies should do something insightful, or at least interesting, with the source material. It should do more than draw a poorly cobbled together narrative using all the words you can think of that mean roughly the same thing as "city" that have rhymes. Or at least do something more than draw five panels of a stick man sitting on a box with badly drawn musical notes surrounding him.
Who else thinks Randy first thought of "counties" and "mounties" rhyming and just went from there?
EDIT: Oh yes, I'd like to thank everyone for their submissions on this one! Keep them coming. The hate has made you powerful.
129 comments:
- Dr. SkullthumperOctober 13, 2010 at 5:55 PM
I am SO DAMN GLAD this blog is continuing.ReplyDelete
Websites work best when they're single-purpose. webcomics.me is too general of a purpose for me to ever be interested in it. Maybe every fifth post might actually be relevant to something I'm reading.
Besides, what's the point in attacking other comics that don't have a rabid following? Nay; the fun?
- Dr. SkullthumperOctober 13, 2010 at 5:56 PM
Dammit, stupid HTML tags!ReplyDelete
The 2nd and 3rd paragraph were supposed to be in "pretentious, ill-informed opinion" tags but, well, I Did It Wrong.
Go me.
- AnonymousOctober 13, 2010 at 6:09 PM
A much better rhyming comic: http://www.toothpastefordinner.com/092910/should-rhyme-but-doesnt.gifReplyDelete
TAKE ME DOWN TO THE XKCD CITYReplyDelete
take me down to the xkcd cityReplyDelete
where megan will finally love me :((((((((((((
- Nobody in particularOctober 13, 2010 at 8:42 PM
Take me down to....aw forget it.ReplyDelete
What an incredibly lame excuse for a comic. That was the worst.
Here are a few things where I rhyme words. If I try too hard, I can make it seem as if I am telling the world's most awful story.
By the way, I didn't know XKCD sucks was still going on until right now. THANK you. I am so excited to tell people I don't know how much I didn't like a comic they don't care about.
- QwantzuxOctober 13, 2010 at 9:01 PM
Rob lives in seattle? Me too!!!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 13, 2010 at 9:21 PM
This would have been funnier if each panel had a different XKCD recurring character for each panel. What hilarious parody lyrics would the classhole use? I guess we'll never know!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 13, 2010 at 9:24 PM
Oh, or maybe Singing Guy is a new XKCD character! We'll recognise him because he will carry a guitar and maybe have a massive box (although that latter feature has already been claimed by Megan).ReplyDelete
Captcha: readair. Why not? It's more compelling reading material than XKCD.
What did Megan say when she woke up unexpectedly?ReplyDelete
"Get out of my bed, Randall!"
- MichaelOctober 13, 2010 at 9:30 PM
Anon@9:24: Not the first thing I would've thought about your captcha. Add one letter and see thisReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 13, 2010 at 9:32 PM
@Gryffilion: excellent. Wanna take bets on whether Randall will ever use the phrase "Get out of my bed"?ReplyDelete
Aloria, that made me lawl.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 13, 2010 at 10:09 PM
I didn't even realise the panels were related (ie that it is supposed to form a continuous narrative).ReplyDelete
Also I'd like to reiterate that backwards quavers are fucking ridiculous.
it took me two or three reads to figure out it was supposed to be a continuous narrativeReplyDelete
Though not one of the reasons this comic is shitty, a thought occurs to me. All these panels are supposed to be parodies of the original lyrics, right? So why the fuck are the notes different in all the panels? They should all be sung to the same tune, so the notes should all be exactly the same.ReplyDelete
I'm assuming the reason this isn't the case is because having the exact same notes every panel would be visually boring, but the fact is having a guy sitting on a box in every panel is ALREADY visually boring and having the notes be different in every panel makes it visually boring AND nonsensical.
- Dr. SkullthumperOctober 13, 2010 at 10:52 PM
Randall figures that if he tells the same joke in 4 or 5 different ways, eventually one of them will be funny.ReplyDelete
He is brute forcing humor.
What a little computer scientist.
Nice alt-text, Rob.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 13, 2010 at 11:53 PM
I never realised those panels formed a continuous narrative because I only read it once.ReplyDelete
"Take me downReplyDelete
To xkcd City
Where the art's worth crap
And the jokes are shitty."
-Fernie Canto
- Professor WangsnifferOctober 14, 2010 at 1:10 AM
aloria i want to sex you but i cant because my girlfirend would get mad at me and also the law may frown on it.ReplyDelete
by girlfirend I mean "Right hand with lipstick on"
anyway i didn't realise this was a continour narritive either.
because it#s pretty fucking strained, you know cute girls just pllage for no reason then mounties turn up and they get lobotomised?
that sounds like an extremely boring version of axe cop where a pseudo-intallectual 12 year old an ranynd fan writes instead of an add riddled five year old.
it makes me hate randall because it follows STRAIGHT ON from another comic where the panels are not a coninual narritive and there's NO INDICATION this is a) the same person (because like all stick men he is naked and bald and is not worthy of hair, which in randall's reality marks out the women as the superor gender, who direct the huddled masses of men to meniel and undemanding tasks)
and b) the links between panels are so fucking tenuous that it doesn't make much sense to consider it as a story at first glance.
aloria's cat makes me horny,
rob's a plus-size male escort
I wish I die painlessley in my sleep
when I'm old
- AnonymousOctober 14, 2010 at 5:13 AM
Take me downReplyDelete
To Mole city
Where the comments are long
And they try to be witty. :P
So, comic is shitty, it's a series of shitty takes on the same joke, and I didn't even realize they were a continuous set, because the goddamn Canadian Mounties come out of nowhere! What.
Also... It's time for "Show Don't Tell Moment", when I berate Randall Munroe for his shitty job as a storyteller! :D
So, Randall is telling this story about Paradise (whatever), where the girls are pretty, then they pillage, then the Mounties come, then Orwellian dictature comes(because Randall read 1984, doesn't that make him so cool?) and lobotomizes them into being... thorough. What a word... anyway. Could this be made any good? Well, of course.
It's so goddamn simple... show us the pretty girls(erm... okay, this one is hard with the stick figure thing and all), the pillaging, the mounties coming to rescue and all that bullshit I'm not gonna list again! Just... that!
But I guess Randall is working on a new poster, so he has not time for quality, no, siree! He has to keep his money coming!
Also, the heck? I thought this blog was dead? Well, now I have TWO sources of XKCD hate. Awesomes! :D
- AnonymousOctober 14, 2010 at 6:54 AM
Take me down to XKCD CityReplyDelete
Where I can smash a fucking keyboard over Randall's head
And tell him how much his fucking stupid stick-figure shit-art comicstrip sucks
And cut the brake lines of his car
And ...
Ah... too early in the morning to be unleashing all my hate... back soon, you talentless fuck (Randall)
Take me down to xkcdsucks CityReplyDelete
Where people hate Randall Munroe but hurry up and transform into a meme any joke he makes while saying it is shitty
Which is a bit contradictory
Zino: Uh, don't lot of memes originate from things that are considered shitty?ReplyDelete
Case in point: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/f-cking-magnets-how-do-they-work
Yep, although It's possible be that the ICP were aware (ICP was aware?) of the shittiness of their song. In that case, you don't laugh at them, but with them. Same thing for xkcd: I don't really see the difference between repeating the joke "take me down to x City where y and z (rhyming)" because you think it is a funny joke, or using it because you think it is a shitty joke.ReplyDelete
There's a fine line between "it is funny" and "it is so unfunny that it becomes funny." To me, the fact that xkcd-haters feel the urge to play around with Randall's joke means it appeals to them.
I don't know any other song by ICP. But seeing the video, there is no way it is not intentionally stupid.ReplyDelete
"Music is magic pure and clean, you can feel it and hear it, but it can't be seen. Music is just magic. You can't even hold it."
Anyway, thank you for the link Aloria! (I'm not very well read on internet memes.)
- AnonymousOctober 14, 2010 at 9:52 AM
Oh, if only I was paid to make shitty jokes...ReplyDelete
Besides, playing with things don't mean it appeals to us. "Do me without a condom" was played with in this blog lots of times, but it's still a damn shitty line that doesn't appeal to anyone with a human brain.
If you think that there is no way Miracles could not be intentionally stupid, then you know nothing about ICP.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 14, 2010 at 11:02 AM
"ICP were aware (ICP was aware?)"ReplyDelete
The first one is correct by Commonwealth English, which considers a noun referring to a group of people plural, regardless of whether or not the word is grammatically plural. The second is correct in American English, which considers a collective noun to be singular if it has a singular form.
grammarpostin on a hate blog
Fucking grammar, how does it work?ReplyDelete
Grammar is just magic. You can't even hold it.ReplyDelete
Grammar is a lot like love, it's all a feeling.ReplyDelete
And it fills the room, from the floor to the ceiling.
"It's possible be that the ICP were aware (ICP was aware?) of the shittiness of their song."ReplyDelete
ICP hails from SE Michigan and they are that stupid. People from this area have to deal with lots of bullshit everyday, growing up alongside dumbass juggalos besmirching the good name of Faygo is just a another part of living in the D...
"I don't know any other song by ICP."
Consider this a blessing, your ignorance is bliss for you ... but making assumptions about (or laughing at) things that you are ignorant of is par for the Cuddlefish course.
"the fact that xkcd-haters feel the urge to play around with Randall's joke means it appeals to them."
No. It doesn't have to at all, unless you consider mocking and sarcasm a high form of flattery. In which case, you're welcome.
- AnonymousOctober 14, 2010 at 12:31 PM
Pretty much what Professor Mole said.ReplyDelete
However, I think it'd be cool to have the stickfigure at a bench, and starting to sing. Then each panel continues the story with the lyrics at the top. Or something like that.
- AnonymousOctober 14, 2010 at 12:59 PM
- AnonymousOctober 14, 2010 at 1:31 PM
An alternative interpretation, submitted for your approval:ReplyDelete
The story, such as it is, is about the singer trying out various interpretations of 'paradise' until he lights upon one he likes. And having discovered a Nerd Paradise in which the pretty girls care about obsessively categorizing things as much as he does (unlike those pillaging Bad Girls who were probably English majors anyway), he continues the song at last.
Re: Insane Clown Posse not being aware of the stupidness of their song. Here's a relevant quote from the article in Guardian:ReplyDelete
"Did you anticipate this kind of reaction?" I ask them.
"No," sighs Violent J. "I figured most people would say, 'Wow, I didn't know Insane Clown Posse could be deep like that.' But instead it's, 'ICP said a giraffe is a miracle. Ha ha ha! What a bunch of idiots.'" He pauses, then adds defiantly, "A giraffe is a fucking miracle. It has a dinosaur-like neck. It's yellow. Yeah, technically an elephant is not a miracle. Technically. They've been here for hundreds of years…"
"Have you ever stood next to an elephant, my friend?" asks Violent J. "A fucking elephant is a miracle. If people can't see a fucking miracle in a fucking elephant, then life must suck for them, because an elephant is a fucking miracle. So is a giraffe."
TLDR: They think the song is deep and not stupid.
Take me down to meme-less cityReplyDelete
where the joke material is not so shitty
I approve of the turn from XKCD hate to ICP hate, as both are steaming piles of Very Bad Thing created by people who are oblivious to how much they suck at what they do, despite the disgusting adoration of all of their sheltered, mouthbreathing fans.
Hey, I had my HI-LARIOUS parody reposted here. Nice. And I SWEAR I DIDN'T READ ALORIA'S VERSION BEFORE I POSTED THAT. I was just so refreshing to do it there.ReplyDelete
Dang it, Pro Mole; every time I write a guest review and send it off, I come back to the comments here and see that you've posted the exact same thing that I thought.ReplyDelete
Oh well, bright minds think alike and all that, right?
- AnonymousOctober 14, 2010 at 2:56 PM
Christ, you'd think dude would bother to parody more lyrics instead of repeating the fucking chorus.ReplyDelete
"making assumptions about (or laughing at) things that you are ignorant of is par for the Cuddlefish course."ReplyDelete
YES, i'm a CUDDLEFISH and I'm PROUD of it! It's time for us to come out of the shadow! CUDDLEFISH POWER!
"No. It doesn't have to at all, unless you consider mocking and sarcasm a high form of flattery. In which case, you're welcome. "
I know I raise a touchy issue on this comment thread, but I think there is something wrong with that line of arguments. You should never trust what people say about what they like and always consider their revealed preferences, that is what you can infer about their preferences from their actual behaviour.
YES my friend! It is ECON-GEEK time!
- AnonymousOctober 14, 2010 at 3:25 PM
You were WAY too nice to this comic Rob! This is one of the worst XKCDs in yearsReplyDelete
.tihs taht daer ot gniyrt gniyonna gnikcuf os stiReplyDelete
?sdnah naM .sdnam :ahctpaC
What's going on here?ReplyDelete
.it htie og tsuJReplyDelete
is going on
The reverse Ann Apolis loves XKCDReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 14, 2010 at 6:38 PM
Man on box says things that rhyme. *shrugs*? I don't know, I am starting to think Randall is screwing with us -- how little can he put before his fans stop to call it a "comic"?ReplyDelete
Re. 806:ReplyDelete
How many JUST A DREAM comics do you have to do, Randall!??! Ugh.
- UndercoverCuddlefishOctober 14, 2010 at 9:20 PM
i see we have some html magicians in hereReplyDelete
- QwantzuxOctober 14, 2010 at 9:28 PM
Panel 1 of this mornings smbc would have made a good xkcd.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 14, 2010 at 9:52 PM
806 was surprisingly good. Although 'shibboleet' is possibly the lamest pun I've ever heard.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 14, 2010 at 10:01 PM
806: Haiku OS, Randall? I'M SO IMPRESSED.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 14, 2010 at 10:08 PM
Wow! 806 is obnoxiously condescending to us plebeians. Also, I would like to note the stupid technologically ignorant drone of the system following the script is male while the free-thinking ideal linux-loving technologically knowledgeable person is female. I would have not cared if randall didn't white knight in most of his comics.ReplyDelete
Gee, what a perfect world it'd be if I can talk to a programmer any time I had an IT problem by saying some exclusive password.
- AnonymousOctober 14, 2010 at 10:45 PM
Actually I think it's probably one of the easier xkcd strips to relate to. We've all been there, even if it's not necessarily related to IT. The main issue is when you call up a support line, the default script assumes you're the one doing something wrong (which it should be, because that's usually the case). It can be very irritating being put onto that script when the problem is on their end. The idea is that it would be nice if there was a code word you could use to get the 'it's the company's fault' script.
To give a non-IT example, a student I was supervising had an issue with scholarship money being allocated and I had a lot of trouble getting past the gal in the registrar's office to someone who could actually fix things. A password for that would have been nice (except I can now phone the guy directly, which is essentially the same thing.)
- FemalethothOctober 14, 2010 at 10:57 PM
The first four panels of the latest XKCD were done two decades ago by Dilbert. Only more concise. Too lazy to authenticate this, but it's Dilbert talking with a tech support goon re: his email account.ReplyDelete
Oh, hey, they turned the comic strip into an animated short. Check it out.
"YES my friend! It is ECON-GEEK time!"ReplyDelete
@ zino: Economics is a liberal art. Randy hates you.
Also, I LIKE ICP. The lyrics are freaking hilarious, and the beat is generally good. Like have you ever heard "Mr. Johnson's Head"? It's about this student who cuts off his teacher's head and keeps it in his book bag, and the chorus just keeps saying, "Cuz I've got Mr. Johnson's head...IN MY BOOK BAG!" And the kid complains that nobody notices him and talks about how even if he died in class, nobody would notice and his body would just rot for weeks and weeks stinking up the class and nobody would notice. And then he goes in the hall and throws up on the wall. I mean the lyrics are just so entertaining.ReplyDelete
Maybe I'm an optimist but I don't think they really mean their lyrics to be taken seriously- I think it's supposed to be ridiculous and over the top.
I think the best part of the new xkcd is that it is all a dream. The first few panels are the standard xkcd fare, then it gets even more ridiculous with linux-loving chick, and then it's revealed that it's just a fantasy of a nerd. Kind of like most xkcd comics are. The only way it could be better, if the final panel depicted Randall throwing the comic in the bin, saying something like "nah, that's too much pandering, they might think I'm trying too hard".ReplyDelete
"Also, I would like to note the stupid technologically ignorant drone of the system following the script is male while the free-thinking ideal linux-loving technologically knowledgeable person is female."ReplyDelete
"The idea is that it would be nice if there was a code word you could use to get the 'it's the company's fault' script."
It would/should not necessarily be restricted to mean that it's "their fault". In this case, it means "FUCK YOUR IDIOTIC PROTOCOLS I KNOW THAT THESE 10 STUPID CHECKS YOU ARE LISTING ARE TECHNICALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO SOLVE MY PROBLEM THANK YOU VERY MUCH". Which means that, well, the problem might be on their site, or it might be related to the user's network or modem, or whatever.
[anecdote]The really bad cases isn't tech support going through their routines though - it's when you report some technical aspect (which might include a bug report) to the freaking PROGRAMMER(s) of something and they don't know shit about how their program works, or should work. In these cases they're essentially as clueless as everyone else in the chain, which explains every failure of the program and keeps you guessing how they even managed to write anything that does not immediately crash. I have been there.[/anecdote]
"I think the best part of the new xkcd is that it is all a dream."
Definitively. Until I read the last panel I fully expected it to be real, because in xkcd land things are like that.
I hope you're right regarding ICP, Chaos.
Is it just me or is there less traffic since Carl left? (Probably goes to show that 60% of cuddlefish were actually him I guess.) Quick, someone go spam links to here in the xkcd forum.
- AnonymousOctober 15, 2010 at 3:45 AM
Women are clearly better at everything, obviously; Randall told me so. I want to bear his children so hard right now.ReplyDelete
I kinda like 806. It certainly isn't "Loads Of Laughter", but it (a)involved more than one line of strips (b) involved more than one character (c) I didn't see the ending coming, so Randy actually surprised me.
So, mm, +1 Randall. Keep going and maybe you can get back to your old days.
I'm going to say it is a good thing the dream ended there, because IRL the caller would probably have started awkwardly hitting on her because "omg it's a girl who knows computers!". But hey, this is a dream and maybe she would've liked that. A Geek can dream.
Oops, I accidentally read the tooltip. While not atrocious, it certainly is pretty awful in that it contributes literally nothing new. But hey, this is far better than the comic being awful and the sole redemption being his "afterthought" tooltip. Or both sucking entirely, as is not too uncommon.
- AnonymousOctober 15, 2010 at 3:49 AM
Re-reading that, I basically underestimated him and he surpassed my low expectations. Is that a victory? Because that's pretty well how I enjoy low-quality films. Ah, for 1 minute investment it's pretty good, I suppooooose.ReplyDelete
No I just can't fight this feeling, we should be lovers.
I feel bad for anyone working in tech support right now. For the next few weeks they're going to be inundated with little smart asses shouting "SHIBBOLEET HAW HAW" down the phone at them and cackling through their retainers. It'll be "malamanteau" all over again.ReplyDelete
Also could someone please explain the pun in "shibboleet" because I'm no native speaker. Yes, I get that it ends in "leet", but is there more to it?ReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 15, 2010 at 4:23 AM
Evln: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ShibbolethReplyDelete
Am I the only one who thought this was the smuggest thing since the anthropologists alt-text?
Also noteworthy: look at the second panel. Look at how ridiculously tiny his hand is in comparison to his head!
Ok, so Randall is back to show the world what a complete smug twat he is. Nothing new here; it's just SO amazing, though, how his utter smugness finds no limits.ReplyDelete
Captcha: Rellya. Rellya?? Rellya.
Thanks! For the record, Randall might have primarily referred to the act of dispatching/verifying a response in software, which is apparently called Shibboleth too. I thought I read something like that before!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 15, 2010 at 8:10 AM
Even though it's smug and made to make randall and his cronies feel superior I found 806 quite funny. It actually sets up a joke and goes through with it, and quite effectively too. The punchline took me by surprise.ReplyDelete
Yeah yeah it conveyed things in text which it could have done with pictures (like the nerd paraphernalia stuff) and other legitimate criticism, but it made me chuckle.
smug smug smug mcsmugReplyDelete
Obviously, I've been in situations where I'm not looking forward to calling tech support because they're going to run through all the "low hanging fruit" troubleshooting before getting to the meat of what the problem is.
But you know what? I'm okay with that. Because tech-savvy people are perfectly capable of making basic mistakes, too. In fact, they're sometimes MORE blind to simple solutions, because they have the option to run straight to running traceroute and pawing through packets in wireshark when all that was really needed was to powercycle the cable modem. When you're a newb, you usually try all the basics, because that's all you know to do.
TLDR: those seemingly cargo-cultish CSR scripts aren't just for technically ignorant grandmas, they also catch the "I know more about this than you and it can't POSSIBLY be... oh yeah, the cable came loose from the back of the modem, derp."
You know, I'm actually kind of ambivalent about 806. We keep saying things like "Randy's pandering to nerds," but...why shouldn't he? One of the core components of humor is the ability for the audience to relate to it. Granted, the best humor isn't audience-specific, but there's nothing wrong with jokes that are, right?ReplyDelete
I for one admit that I've wished for better tech support. Who hasn't? I've been on the phone for hours, calling back and forth with the techs as they read off the same Google results that I got before making the call in the first place. I put up with them suggesting things that I know won't work. I know that if the problem WAS something I could've fixed with the steps they offer, I wouldn't have had to call.
But, on the other hand...What's the deal with airline food?
A joke really does have to be more than, "Hey everyone, just like all of you, I recognize that this thing could be better!" There's nothing wrong with relatable humor (which is actually distinct from referential humor, a genre that has plenty wrong with it), but you have to ADD something! You have to make the joke special somehow.
Randy couldn't do that. Worse still, as others have said, he shows his bias by once again putting a female in the "hero" role. There's nothing wrong with including women in comics. SMBC does it all the time, and a full third of the main cast of Dinosaur Comics is female. But Randy, guess what? WOMEN ARE NORMAL PEOPLE TOO. Get over your high-school fantasizing about them being perfect, wonderful, flawless paragons of intelligence and reason and realize that they're just like men in a LOT of respects. It's okay for a girl to be the annoying useless one and for a guy to be the one with the answer the caller is looking for. It really is.
- AnonymousOctober 15, 2010 at 8:39 AM
Aloria a REAL GEEK would NEVER make those kind of mistakes clearly you are some kind of IMPOSTERReplyDelete
806 is chock full o' ad hominem. What guarantee would a caller have that a given techie would known two programming languages relevant to the situation at hand? I'm not a CS major, and I display my ignorance in a majority of the situations where computer malfunctions occur, but if there were, say, a hardware problem, wouldn't knowing a ton of programming languages be almost completely useless?ReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 15, 2010 at 8:46 AM
"It's okay for a girl to be the annoying useless one and for a guy to be the one with the answer the caller is looking for. It really is."ReplyDelete
No it's not. People would complain about that, just as people are complaining about the one he went with.
The only combination he could pick to avoid complaint is male/male or female/female- ideally female/female because certain people might complain about only males working in tech support. However, since this is xkcd we're talking about, the idea between having the two being different sexes is to create a visual contrast. Two males are going to look exactly the same unless one or both of them are either Mr Hat or Mr Beret, neither of which would fit in this strip.
Either way, none of these are going to improve the comic so I don't understand why people are making such a big deal out of it. He typecast one character as a male and one as a female and people are accusing him of white knighting? It's not exactly hard to find xkcd strips with ACTUAL white knighting!
Gryffilion: Exactly. Knowing how to code makes someone about as knowledgeable of networking as being a gourmet chef makes one a decent farmer.ReplyDelete
It's more than just pandering. It's a false dichotomy combined with ad hominem. Either you don't know any programming languages and are unfamiliar with the kind of obscure, computer-related things that make Randall all hot and bothered, or you know two (or MORE!) programming languages and are basically Hiro Protagonist (or, in this case, his female counterpart).
Randall has a frustrating habit of being VERY black-and-white about various topics--i.e., if you don't major in a scientific field, you're useless; if you don't as much as Randall about Linux, you're stupid; et cetera. There's no middle ground in the Randallverse. It's disguised, rather poorly, as observational humor, but since Randall is piss-poor at writing and execution, the "joke" is revealed as nothing more than his horrifyingly vast superiority complex.
I liked your alcohol-fueled post on 804, aloriaReplyDelete
It was silly but I dig that
- AnonymousOctober 15, 2010 at 9:26 AM
Well, Opera crashed while sending my comment. Seeing a lot of people commented while I was writing my comment and then cursing with Opera, some points were already touched upon.ReplyDelete
So, before anything: this comic isn't horrible. It's smug and it ends with the worst justification for an irreal situation(in a world I supposed was surreal enough, but it seems it's not... huh?) that was ever invented. But it has nice development, the dialogue is passable(or I have Asperger, who knows?) and the heads connect to the necks(finally!). It's not the salvation of XKCD, but it's a start. That, or Randall isn't working on any posters now.
But to the points that bother me:
1) Why would StickRandall want to talk specifically to an engineer? That may be a cultural thing, but when I think engineers, the first fields that come to my mind are construction, electricity and mechanics. Computer stuff is relegated to computer scientists and system analyst... or not?
2) That goddamn "I know two programming languages, I'm a leet goddess" thing. Seriously, Randall, how smug is that?!
3) The white knighting. I think it's so deeply ingrained in Randall's mind that he just assigns female characters to the superior roles automatically.
4) Stick-hands. They are too small and lump together so badly with the rest of the body that in the middle panel it took me three takes to figure that the guy had his legs crossed and the hand over his knee and not... well, I know you thought about that, too.
I think I forgot the rest, so whatever. I also had an anecdote to go here but... I'll leave it to the next comment.
Pro Mole:ReplyDelete
"Why would StickRandall want to talk specifically to an engineer? That may be a cultural thing... "
People who attend to things like router, firewall, and server admin are sometimes called network or systems engineers instead of analysts.
I'm somewhat reluctant to jump on the white-knighting bandwagon. The person with the computer problem who is so obviously superior to the first techie is male, so if nothing else, the Technocratic Elite in this comic are represented with complete gender equality.ReplyDelete
@Anon 8:46ReplyDelete
He typecast one character as a male and one as a female and people are accusing him of white knighting?
The thing is, though, this is typical Randall. It would be one thing if the genders were interchangeable in the comic, but they're not at all. There are maybe three instances where the girl is the "bad guy" in all of xkcd. I don't think anyone is saying, or would say if this was the only xkcd they had ever seen, that this one comic is a crippling blow against equality. But it's the fact that this happens ALL THE TIME (and shows no sign of letting up) that makes it so bad.
The possibility that a girl was chosen for the hero spot for white-knighting reasons is pretty low on my list of things that bother me about this comic.ReplyDelete
As has been said, if the CSR was the girl or there were no girls, then someone would complain about the "girls aren't good with computers" stereotype.
If it were all girls, someone would make a remark about this being some sort of kinky fantasy for Randall.
I guess having a girl as the person calling in with the problem would be less problematic, but Randall's basically screwed no matter what the gender distro, so I'll cut him some slack in this area.
The person with the computer problem who is so obviously superior to the first techie is male, so if nothing else, the Technocratic Elite in this comic are represented with complete gender equality.
The person with a computer problem is a male because he represents Randall, and because males are the most common gender in this comic.
Again, the problem isn't so much that Randall put a girl in a positive light; it's that he's unwilling to put her in a negative one. If both tech support people had been women, it would have been a little strange for a tech support center, but it would've been alright.
However, Randall decided to insert a woman into the strip, and she ended up being the genius, sympathetic, "my partner is an idiot" one. I don't know, maybe he doesn't even realizes that he does it. Even if that's the case, though, there's no denying that the problem exists.
Ugh, people, stop posting comments while I'm posting mine. I have to keep replying now.ReplyDelete
If people complained that the CSR was a girl, they'd be stupid. Tech support as a whole is traditionally unhelpful, and it's never had anything to do with the one person you're talking to. I've called up Microsoft for tech support, and not one of the three Indians I talked to could solve my problem. That doesn't mean people from India are bad with computers, and I can't imagine anyone legitimately believing that. People who'd criticize Randall for making a girl the stupid one wouldn't have a leg to stand on.
BUT THE MAN KEEPS THE FEMALES DOWNReplyDelete
every cuddlefish who has never been around a woman more than getting to sit next to one in CS101
Never called you a Cuddlefish, I just implied you would fit in at their country club.
Also HOLY FUCKING CHAIR FLOATING!
He's not even trying anymore.
Randy: "I gots a problem and its not my 'puter I KNOWS IT!"
Tech Guy: "Let's start from the top! Since I have to answer this very question hundreds of times a day, and this script solves over 90% of those problems I'm going to use it before I have to pester someone well above my pay grade to make sure what you KNOW is what is actually happening."
Randy: "NASA! Engineer! EXPERIMENTAL OPERATING SYSTEM! I Sell T-Shirts for a living and am kind of a big deal on the Internet!"
Tech Guy: "Oh I see! Let me put you through to our sexy tech clairvoyant!"
Sexy Tech Clairvoyant: "Hello, I am every person's wet tech support dream. A person who will solve all your problems without you even having to explain them to me. I know that your time will always be more important than mine and that's why I can solve all of your issues in 0 time. I can do all this by knowing 2 programming languages: JavaScript and GW BASIC. You just have to know how to summon me since I only talk to non-sheeple and let the peons carry on amongst themselves. Also, do me without a condom."
I think Capn's comment should be the blog post for 806. It pretty much covers everything and is hysterical.ReplyDelete
ALORIA in cs101 i once sat between two girlsReplyDelete
do i win a prize
ahahaha Ann you took CS101 what's the matter didn't score high enough on your AP exam you newbReplyDelete
I stole most of the exclamations from redux (because I am obviously such a fucking redux fanboy, I can't help plugging it, both the website and my butt-hole while thinking about redux).
His post is tl;dr, but if you only read the bold parts and just imagine Randy screaming them (as per his instruction), it works very well.
Also, I don't think my comment works well enough for a post, but thanks for the compliment. You have succeeded in making me feel bad and awkward about calling your drunk post boring and unfunny now.
Oh ... why do we fight? It's not fair to the children. I love you all ... except for the people too fat/ugly/stupid to ever be able to receive _real_ love.
Eh, no hard feelings. More people think they are a lot more interesting and funny than they really are when they are drunk, which is why being the designated driver sucks so much.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 15, 2010 at 11:37 AM
As someone who had to work for years on a customer service job that required a script, I hate people like the guy in this comic. Yes, yes, you're superior, and you know that what I'm saying isn't relevant to you. But guess what I know? That my boss is recording this call, and that I'll get fired if I deviate from the script.ReplyDelete
Suck it up and ask to be transferred to someone higher up.
I feel like writing a blog post about this sort of thing entitled "not everyone is as good at computers as you (and that's okay.)"ReplyDelete
actually it turns out none of our courses even have numbersReplyDelete
once again my brain has been infiltrated by american wrongfax, or, more accurately, facts that are not wrong when applied to america but are when applied to the UK
the main problem with the new strip is that, believe it or not, this is something that has been thought about before, and the reason it is stupid is not that hard to realise: sure, you think you're smarter than the average punter and deserve to get specialised treatment at call centres... but so does everyone. if call centre workers all automatically surrendered when people said "don't give me the script, just FIX IT" then only about 5% of people would be able to use the internet
- AnonymousOctober 15, 2010 at 11:58 AM
On the other hand Randall probably longs for the days when only 5% of people could use the Internet, so he'd still be OK with this.ReplyDelete
This kind of reminds me of the inverted road text comic, where it was something like this:ReplyDelete
The reason for that, of course, is so that when there's heavy traffic, you really do see the lines in the correct order. You're bothered by it? So what? It serves a purpose.
Here too, the script serves a purpose. Just because it doesn't cater specifically to Randall doesn't mean it's wrong (shocking as that may be).
- AnonymousOctober 15, 2010 at 12:06 PM
Aloria: well, that explains it. Here we call these people generally system analysts. Not engineers, anyway.ReplyDelete
So, I remembered my anecdote. Our OS professor always tells it during his course, and it goes roughly like this:
Once he had a problem with a modem, I don't remember exactly what it was, but I think it had something to do with it not having a proper driver coded for UNIX(this happened somewhere around 1970-80). So he called tech support and they started with the good ol' script. But he knew the problem had nothing to do with those issues, so, after being transferred a few times to people who just couldn't help it, he adopted a clever strategy.
As the next attendant got him, he said there was a problem with the Translation Lookaside Buffer. That's an actual term of CS, but since the people down the tech hierarchy knew they couldn't help him(or just plainly had no idea what a TLB was), they quickly got him to someone who really could help him.
Which, by the way, is just like "shibboleet", except less automatic. That's why I remembered this story: Randall rehashed an idea that is so old my professor has been telling the same story for years(maybe decades) with the same punchline(no, not "it's just a dream"; the shibboleth).
CAPTCHA: psyliter; a measure of psychic power capacity
I haven't had to call tech support in ages, but either Cablevision or Comcast has their lower level "have you tried rebooting and power cycling the model" script as an automated system where you can either just blindly press the button for "that didn't work" over and over until you get bumped, or press the option for "I don't want to try all this crap, let me talk to a human." So Randall's little fantasy actually exists in some form.ReplyDelete
This comic is basically like something we all did in middleschool. "Hey guys, you can replace some of the words in this song with other word for humorous effect and it still rhymes!"ReplyDelete
The panels are barely even related. I'd have to say this is the worst xkcd in a long time. I mean really, it's like this is not even an attempt at humor. It's just... a bad song.
Is anyone else surprised the Randall hasn't made a comic about Minecraft yet?ReplyDelete
I mean really, it's a nerdy thing, it's super popular right now... it's like that's the exact sort of pandering you'd expect of him.
I'm predicting one of the next ten xkcds-- no wait that would be too timely.
Sometime, a hundred xkcds from now, randall will do one about Minecraft. "Remember that? I JUST found out about that guys! And now I'm making a joke about it!"
laugh you pricks
- AnonymousOctober 15, 2010 at 2:05 PM
If there is only one girl in a particular XKCD strip, the girl is the smart or thoughtful one every single time. The closest thing to an exception is that narcissistic emo girl. This is so true that when it was finally rendered untrue a little while ago with a FEMALE teacher represented as being stubbornly resistant to scientific enquiry, my jaw dropped so far that I haven't been able to close it properly since. But in this case it was still an anonymous student of unspecified gender showing her up, not a representative of the horrible Orwellian patriarchy.ReplyDelete
Being so unwilling to represent any female at all as inferior to any male is the sort of simpering anti-intellectual feminism that (in a male) tends to hide an underlying hypocrisy. Most people who have done a course on feminism will have encountered the type. Those guys who seem to think that sympathising with Women as the universal victim is the perfect pickup line, and figures that most of the class gets all wet every time he opens his mouth.
Randall might not know those guys because he only studies rational manly subjects like maths and science, not soft and feminine subjects like sociology and history. Maybe he thinks he's unique and progressive.
(Oh, there was also that comic about some guy who wanted to escape his relationship by falling asleep. I guess that one was too artistic to stun me.)
Well, balls. Two of my coworkers just started talking about 806, and one said he'd use that retarded code word the next time he called tech support. "No one is making you read it," indeed.ReplyDelete
R., that was brilliantly hilarious. I sincerely laughed aloud. Thank you.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 15, 2010 at 4:43 PM
I have a confession to make. After reading this comic I experienced, not a GOOMHR moment, but a moment of bonding with Randall. I wanted to go home and visit paradise cities, also! There I could forget that there was ever such a thing as XKCD. There I could finally know peace. As I slept last night, I dreamt of this land. I cannot describe it to you here in a way which will do it justice, but it was a place where I was happy. I awoke to a bright cold Seattle morning and reality dawned. I had still read this comic. I had not escaped to a better place. I will never be free.ReplyDelete
The narrative structure of this comic is a little confusing. The man is sitting on a box and singing, that much is clear. I'm assuming he's busking or something, but there's no real indication of that. A bench at a park or subway station would make it pretty clear, and it might even allow for some of that patented "it's better than the shit I usually put out" art that makes the ladies go crazy for Randall-brand loving. You could draw a whole scene if you wanted! And context might help the joke here. God knows it needs the help.
The joke itself--well, here I want to be careful, because it's one of those jokes that doesn't lend itself to summarizing nicely. Obviously it's a play on the song. It tries to create a narrative structure of a spree of violent crime being quelled by the Mounties, who I guess send the criminals off to Orwellian rehabilitation camps? All while keeping to the structure of "Take me down to X region where Y rhyming thing happens."
It's not the worst thing in the world. He manages to keep the meter moderately well. The rhymes mostly work, and only feel slightly forced. It is, however, pretty fucking terrible.
It's just--what is the point? It's not doing anything interesting. It's old enough that I'm not even going to bother complaining that it's not timely, but come on, Randy. Parodies should do something insightful, or at least interesting, with the source material. It should do more than draw a poorly cobbled together narrative using all the words you can think of that mean roughly the same thing as "city" that have rhymes. Or at least do something more than draw five panels of a stick man sitting on a box with badly drawn musical notes surrounding him.
Who else thinks Randy first thought of "counties" and "mounties" rhyming and just went from there?
EDIT: Oh yes, I'd like to thank everyone for their submissions on this one! Keep them coming. The hate has made you powerful.
- Inferior AnonymousOctober 15, 2010 at 6:03 PM
Wait, how do you stop the comment system from putting in its own "said"?ReplyDelete
- ...demialcorPOctober 15, 2010 at 6:26 PM
You must have the POWER!ReplyDelete
I sense the birth of a horrible, horrible new meme is near.ReplyDelete
!emem sdrawkcab eht
- AnonymousOctober 15, 2010 at 6:41 PM
someone needs to delete that shitReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 15, 2010 at 9:46 PM
R. That is great. Please don't stop being you.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 16, 2010 at 4:55 AM
i think what really gets me about the tech support one is that it doesnt even make sense (at least to my hideously english mind).ReplyDelete
so he's phoning up tech-support, and in order to prove he's a tech-literate-super-being, that hasnt made any basic mistakes, he tells them that his modem keeps failing every few hours.
well firstly, my understanding is we dont really have modems anymore - broadband uses a digital signal anyway. i realise we all call them modems, but if your trying to sound all technical to prove how awesome you are to tech support, wouldnt you wantto be *right* about everything?
which brings me to the other thing - is he saying that he thinks he should be connected *directly* to their office? maybe its just a UK thing, but here the phone lines go to an exchange first. and if the uplink light (whatever that is, is it the one to tell you its synced, or that you have actual interwebz?) keeps going off, its the connection between you and the exchange thats a problem - well, maybe. it could jsut as easily be your modem being crap. or your filters being crap. or the fact he apparently has the router on the end of a wire in the middle of the room, rather than as close to the wall-socket as it could be.
but its certainly not your connection to 'their office'.
who is he phoning? his ISP? the equivalent to BT? (does the US have an equivalent to BT? if not then thats a major reason to move there...) some random website that he cant get access to? there is no indication that the people he's phoning have anything to do with his problem. Except, of course, that he's a geek so cant possibly be wrong. about anything. ever.
Also, i've never once been told to restart my PC when talking to tech support about my broadband - instead they say things like 'right, yeah, its dropped 8 times in the last 2 days. have you been having problems with voice calls, because if you havnt then its harder for us to get BT to help. oh you have been? well thats excellent!'. and when told to restart things, its typically the router i get to restart.
4:55: Broadband/DSL does use modems. Technically they are still called modems. (Besides, he still COULD have a 56K modem. Some people do.)ReplyDelete
"which brings me to the other thing - is he saying that he thinks he should be connected *directly* to their office?"
I don't think he's saying that. He said "The problem is between your office and the modem", which arguably (incorrectly) excludes the modem itself as the problem's source, but doesn't say they're connected in that way.
"or the fact he apparently has the router on the end of a wire in the middle of the room, rather than as close to the wall-socket as it could be."
Funny. Why should it be? Here, we connect routers to modems with Cat5 cables (the same cables as for 100 Mbit ethernet) so I don't see why a router should need to be close to a wall-socket.
"who is he phoning? his ISP? the equivalent to BT?"
I guess his ISP. What's a BT?
"Also, i've never once been told to restart my PC when talking to tech support about my broadband"
I guess that is intended by Randall - restarting your PC is somewhat unprobable to fix problems with your internet connection if the PC is set up right, and anything refering to a "start menu" is even more egregious.
4:43: All this goddamn HTML source code reading and in the middle of it I get that it's just Rob's friggin' blog post.
Also it's some tinkering with stupid characters or HTML tags in the comment and name box that makes the text be backwards for that field (i.e. the " said..." or actual comment field).
ThePirateKing: Mine... what?
Goddamn comment form doesn't allow postings larger than 4 KiB! Do you believe it?
- Evln, continueing,October 16, 2010 at 5:51 AM
Mole: "but I think it had something to do with it not having a proper driver coded for UNIX(this happened somewhere around 1970-80)."ReplyDelete
To be fair, that would happen today too :-D
Anon: "On the other hand Randall probably longs for the days when only 5% of people could use the Internet, so he'd still be OK with this."
This is of course an extreme version, but right now we have uh.. political efforts for educating more media literacy (not sure if that's the right term in english) over here. An "internet license" (like a driver's license) generally isn't that bad of an idea (though it has practical problems). This wouldn't serve to exclude less techy people; instead, everyone would be required to know a bare minimum of what these internets are and how you use them.
Anon: "Suck it up and ask to be transferred to someone higher up."
Didn't he do that?
Capn: " I can do all this by knowing 2 programming languages: JavaScript and GW BASIC."
Now now, what with the niche humor. (To explain: GW BASIC is considered today about one of the most crappy languages ever seriously created, and JavaScript is a more abstract language than others that isn't used as much as mainstream languages.)
Gamer_2k4: "The thing is, though, this is typical Randall. It would be one thing if the genders were interchangeable in the comic, but they're not at all."
Though I basically agree with your opinion here, saying the genders in 806 are not interchangeable is simply wrong. They're not interchangeable based on the role model Randall is accused of, but generally they are interchangeable.
Mole: "Why would StickRandall want to talk specifically to an engineer? That may be a cultural thing..."
I have come to accept that in the US, you can apparently be an engineer for about everything. Our translation for "software engineer" and "software developer" is the same - and means "software developer". The "network engineer" or "systems engineer" is probably what I think of as "system integrator".
Also, it's hilarious to me that all stuff software apparently belongs to "computer science" in english. Like it's some sciency science of sciences. I don't think it is. (I don't think learning how to use a computer should belong to "computer science" either.)
"Well, Opera crashed while sending my comment."
Besides, this comment form is so crappy I always leave my comment in the clipboard while sending it.
"2) That goddamn "I know two programming languages, I'm a leet goddess" thing. Seriously, Randall, how smug is that?!"
Just as smug as most of the people that have come to associate with the term leet or 1337. It's like a goddamn meme now.
Gryffilion: "Randall has a frustrating habit of being VERY black-and-white about various topics"
Good call.
aloria: "Gryffilion: Exactly. Knowing how to code makes someone about as knowledgeable of networking as being a gourmet chef makes one a decent farmer."
It's a step in the right direction. (Besides, system integrators probably would not like this simile.)
"those seemingly cargo-cultish CSR scripts aren't just for technically ignorant grandmas, they also catch the "I know more about this than you and it can't POSSIBLY be... oh yeah, the cable came loose from the back of the modem, derp.""
I assumed that generic bald stickman had ruled out all such possibilities here based on what we read, though I see that the comic might promote such behaviour. (Given that its audience is basically the smug xkcd 1337 crowd anyway, even more so.)
I'm not sure about this JavaScript thingie, but the examples on Wikipedia made it look like that. Although I think my description fits Java better. JavaScript is mostly used as web scripting thingy, so much I do know.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 16, 2010 at 7:03 AM
What's a BT? http://lmgtfy.com/?q=bt
BT is British Telecom, the... well the British telecommunication company, which is I think still a monopoly.ReplyDelete
Acronyms are not that easily googleable.
Zino: "BT is British Telecom, the... well the British telecommunication company, which is I think still a monopoly."ReplyDelete
Ah ok, no, here our telecom still exists but it's mainly an ISP like most others. (Although they still own the physical connections, but these are rented by all ISPs or so.) In any case, if you have an internet or telephone connection problem you'll call your ISP.
"Acronyms are not that easily googleable."
True, although in this case their site showed up as the first result. (Along with unrelated ones.) I searched for it on Wikipedia but there was lots of other stuff.
- HoratioOctober 16, 2010 at 4:50 PM
It's probably the first result when you Google within Britain, but that's because Google uses your location to decide what's most relevant to you. British Telecom doesn't even show up on the first page for me.ReplyDelete
I'm not in Britain! Else I would have known what BT is in the first place. (Though continental europe isn't as far away from Britain as the US.)ReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 16, 2010 at 7:29 PM
Didn't Dilbert do almost this exact comic over a decade ago? But, you know, better?ReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 19, 2010 at 7:22 PM
Take me down to xkcd landReplyDelete
where linux lovers get out of hand
Take me down to xkcd area
where Black hat evil causes hysteria
Take me down to xkcd point
where life is interesting but love dissapoints
take me down to xkcd city
where the grass is lush and the people have an iq over 30
Won't you PLEASE take me hoooome....
you're giving xkcd fans way too much credit if you think they have an IQ over 30.ReplyDelete
(the saddest part is I'm pretty sure you're trying to be pro-XKCD there)ReplyDelete
"city" and "30" don't rhyme, dude.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 20, 2010 at 3:52 AM
They probably could, depending on how retarded your accent is.ReplyDelete
This is obviously a narrative on how America collapses into anarchy, is patrolled by Canadian peacekeepers, and then becomes a Orwellian police state.ReplyDelete
If Randall had any talent he'd make those images along with the (lame) lyrics above each.
Sure it wouldn't make sense, but at least it'd be better than that shit at the top.


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