Credit Where Credit Is Don’t

I am ashamed to admit that of the dozen or so times I have encountered a person in the wild wearing one of my shirts (a person who wasn’t coming to see me at a convention or hadn’t just purchased the shirt from me at a convention), I have probably failed the “SERIOUSLY DON’T SAY ANYTHING DON’T BE A COMICALLY OVERSIZED DOUCHE LIKE SOME SORT OF CLOSER AT A CARROT TOP SHOW IN VEGAS LIKE A BIG 40 FOOT TALL PROP DOUCHE IN A CARROT TOP SHOW DON’T DO IT DON’T DO IT DON’T DO IT!!!” test half of those times. More often than not, I say something horrifically dumb like, “Hey, nice shirt,” and they say, “Huh? Yeah. Ok,” instead of “OOHHHH EMMM GEEEE THANK YOU IT’S FROM MY FAVORITE ONLINE COMIC LET ME TELL YOU ALL ABOUT IT!!!” The individual wearing the shirt typically has no knowledge of me or my work because they simply followed a link to buy a shirt from a website, put in their credit card number then immediately got hit in the head with a rock or a truck or a sack full of pianos and forgot the entire experience until the shirt arrived at their door, seemingly out of thin air.

Earlier today someone emailed to tell me that they bought a shirt from some website and later found out I designed it and wanted to make sure the site hadn’t stolen it from me. Several minor panic attacks later I finally realized she had purchased the shirt from my own store. I don’t think that applies to the ideas expressed above, about my shirts being more famous than I am, but hey, it’s a story. Whatever.

COMMENTERS: Let’s talk about getting credit. Do you crave the credit you feel you are due? Do you go out of your way to get it? Have you ever been denied credit for something or had it stolen from you? Have you ever been given credit for something you didn’t do?

Where My People At?

Well, OF COURSE I don’t ACTUALLY think you can pick out a geek or a nerd just by looking at them. Some guy once said geekery and nerding aren’t about what you love, but HOW you love it. So certainly there is no prerequisite that you wear your geek on the outside for all to see. Still, it’s comforting when I get on a plane headed to a comic convention to play and I see “my people” with me in the terminal. I normally only feel the calm of being surrounded by like minded people when I’m actually AT a convention. It’s nice to see them out in the wild.

Playing “spot the nerd” in an airplane terminal brings up an issue I find interesting. Just like there are mutants in the X-Men universe who can pass as human, and there are others with blue fur or parts of their bodies constantly on fire, I think there are degrees of “nerd mutation” with regard to outward appearance. Since my late 20’s, I think I’ve been one of the ones who “passes for human.” I rarely wear t-shirts that advertise my geeky proclivities anymore and my hair is less crazy that it used to be. For the last year or two that I’ve had a larger than average beard, I’ve found it harder and harder to pass (not that I’m trying to, mind you. I just pay attention to the amount of stares and/or comments I get). I don’t think the beard immediately identifies me to the world as a geek (certainly not as well as a Doctor Who scarf or Jayne hat would), but it seems to scream to regular people that A) I’m somehow different, and B) I REALLY want to be asked questions about my facial hair.

With regards to nerds passing unseen among the general public, I really love the idea of having just a hint of nerd on the outside at all times. A piece of jewelry (have you seen my wife’s new Game Of Thrones inspired necklaces for you Starks and Lannisters in her Etsy store?!?!?! HAVE YOU?!?!?) or a bit of stealth cosplay (this one by my friend Dandy Geek is quite fantastic) serve as a secret handshake or sly calling card to your fellow nerds. Just a nod to say, “You aren’t alone out here in the big, terrifying world.” My wife’s custom TARDIS purse sends this signal everywhere we go, and brings stealth Whovians out of the woodwork (“It doesn’t work on wood.”)

COMMENTERS: Do you “pass?” Do you wish you did? Do you have a signature “outward geekery” that tells your fellow geeks what you’re all about?

To Siri, With Love

FUNDRAISER UPDATE: 73/100 “Daddy/Daughter Digital Drawing Time” prints were sold! Although they didn’t all sell I was able to raise enough to pay my tax bill due to a handful of EXTREMELY generous donations from some very Fancy Bastards. I am going to leave the prints up for sale for now, so if you want to get one later you’ll still have a chance. I am, as always, humbled by and grateful for the outpouring of support that you Fancy Bastards show when I am in a time of need.

Check out my wife’s new Game Of Thrones inspired necklaces for you Starks and Lannisters in her Etsy store.

That Siri is a complicated lady. You have to know just the right words to say to her.

Fully Functional

FUNDRAISER UPDATE: 63/100 “Daddy/Daughter Digital Drawing Time” prints are sold! This is the LAST WEEK to order yours and support my NOT going to IRS jail (a real thing) efforts! After this week I will have the prints produced and we’ll start signing and mailing them out.

Donations are also incredibly appreciated, if that’s more your style.

Speaking of making new things, my wife just made a couple of Game Of Thrones inspired necklaces for you Starks and Lannisters.

iThink Therefore iAm

FUNDRAISER UPDATE: 61/100 “Daddy/Daughter Digital Drawing Time” prints are sold! This is the LAST WEEK to order yours and support my NOT going to IRS jail (a real thing) efforts! After this week I will have the prints produced and we’ll start signing and mailing them out.

Donations are also incredibly appreciated, if that’s more your style.

Speaking of making new things, my wife just made a couple of Game Of Thrones inspired necklaces for you Starks and Lannisters.

I saw Her right in the middle of writing this part of the current story line, so I had A.I.’s on the brain. My Twitter review of the film went thusly:

“Her” is a gut punch to the head and the heart. In 30 years people will not understand why it was unusual or special at all.
Post singularity kids will see “Her” as grainy, black and white and unrelatable. Like 1950’s sitcom parents sleeping in separate beds.

I don’t want to get into spoilers of the film, but I do suggest that you see it. It’s the kind of movie that tells a very small and personal story that leaves you with HUGE questions about the nature of the larger world the story in set in. That isn’t to say there are mysteries that aren’t answered that leave you frustrated or dissatisfied. It’s more about giving the audience a peek into a world that invites the viewer to get curious and start asking question about the world of the film and about our world, our future and what it means (and what it WILL mean) to be “alive” and in love.

Almost immediately after starting Her, I came to the conclusion that if an A.I. was sophisticated enough, could recreate human conversational speech and emotions well enough that a human could actually fall in love with it. People fall in love over the phone and over the Internet all the time. Sometimes going months if not years without meeting face to face. How would this be any different from the human’s perspective? The same chemicals could be released into the brain regardless of whether or not the voice on the other end causing that release was organic or technological. My point is, the world is going to get pretty weird somewhere in the next 30-50 years.

Assume for a moment the A.I. could actually be self aware enough to truly “feel” those emotions and reciprocate with the human. Would they be “in love?” Would they be a “they?” Would the corporations that programmed the A.I. make changes to your digital significant other without your consent because you didn’t read the EULA closely enough? Would you wake up to find your girlfriend’s server got hacked and she no longer exists or now she only wants to talk about mining Bitcoins? These are the questions that were racing through my mind during and after watching Her. Feel free to ask or answer your own in the comments.