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computers – HijiNKS ENSUE https://hijinksensue.com Comics, Podcasts, Videos and Funny Stuff by Joel Watson Thu, 21 Jan 2016 06:17:22 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.13 1118687 Upgrade Path https://hijinksensue.com/comic/upgrade-path/ https://hijinksensue.com/comic/upgrade-path/#comments Wed, 11 Feb 2015 08:06:55 +0000 http://hijinksensue.com/?post_type=comic&p=6726

NEWS: My new podcast Potter & Daughter is live now! You can download the first episode here or subscribe via RSS or iTunes. Fancy Patreon Patrons get each episode a week early! My daughter and I made it together, I’m really proud of it and I hope you enjoy it. Use code 10offhoodies to get $10 […]]]>

NEWS:
My new podcast Potter & Daughter is live now! You can download the first episode here or subscribe via RSS or iTunes.

potter-and-daughter-episode-graphic-b1-e1

Fancy Patreon Patrons get each episode a week early! My daughter and I made it together, I’m really proud of it and I hope you enjoy it.

Use code 10offhoodies to get $10 off any and all hoodies in the HE store! Use it as many times as you like.

Screen Shot 2015-02-20 at 12.53.32 PM

When we were kids, our parents were the early adopters. They invested time, money and emotion into this untested bit of kit with lots of shine on the surface, but very little functionality and the promise of buggy software with little to no developer support. As bugs cropped up, they applied patches. As hardware became obsolete, they upgraded. Eventually the hardware and software reach a stability point, leave beta and enter the 1.0 phase. The tech runs smoothly for a good many years, and is beloved by its users for its reliability and consistency. Every so often, there’s a service pack released and the tried and true hardware gains new abilities, and with that, a bit more usefulness and an extended lifespan.

The sad thing about technology is eventually it reaches End Of Life. The world begins moving faster and in an entirely different direction than anything the original developers expected, and supporting the first generation product starts to get expensive and frustrating. The goal of the user stops being about upgrades and new functionality, and instead focuses on just maintaining basic functionality for as long as possible, with as few unexpected system crashes or hardware failures as possible. But the hardware does start to fail, and the OS does get corrupt and, though it still boots up and performs its basic functions, those functions aren’t really compatible with the current landscape or, even worse, they aren’t even necessary.

At this point, the user is faced with the choice of continuing to use the generation 1 tech, or upgrade to generation 2. I mean, it just came out and the developers said they’ve corrected almost everything that was wrong with the first generation. Plus, you can’t even get parts or patches for the old one any more. AND there’re are some great deals to be had, if you just shop around a bit. It’s an inevitability. The new generation product is going to accomplish everything the gen 1 never could and make the users life, hell, THE WORLD so much more amazing. It’s faster, it’s more adaptable, and it already has the architecture for compatibility with hardware and software that are still only in the development phase. Upgrading is the only sensible solution. The gen 2 even looks like the old one. Just… somehow better. Cooler.

However, you shouldn’t throw out the old one just yet. Toss it in a drawer in case you ever need to transfer any files or settings to the new one. Remember, not everything comes preinstalled.

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All Work And All Play https://hijinksensue.com/comic/all-work-and-all-play/ https://hijinksensue.com/comic/all-work-and-all-play/#comments Mon, 09 Feb 2015 11:04:15 +0000 http://hijinksensue.com/?post_type=comic&p=6720

NEWS: My new podcast Potter & Daughter is live now! You can download the first episode here or subscribe via RSS or iTunes. Fancy Patreon Patrons get each episode a week early! My daughter and I made it together, I’m really proud of it and I hope you enjoy it. Use code 10offhoodies to get $10 […]]]>

NEWS:
My new podcast Potter & Daughter is live now! You can download the first episode here or subscribe via RSS or iTunes.

potter-and-daughter-episode-graphic-b1-e1

Fancy Patreon Patrons get each episode a week early! My daughter and I made it together, I’m really proud of it and I hope you enjoy it.

Use code 10offhoodies to get $10 off any and all hoodies in the HE store! Use it as many times as you like.

Screen Shot 2015-02-20 at 12.53.32 PM

…

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More Human Than Human https://hijinksensue.com/comic/more-human-than-human/ https://hijinksensue.com/comic/more-human-than-human/#comments Fri, 06 Jun 2014 09:26:49 +0000 http://hijinksensue.com/?post_type=comic&p=6003

DENVER FANCY BASTARDS: I will be at Denver Comic Con (FOR THE FIRST TIME!!!) with Cyanide & Happiness June 13-15, 2014 at booth 734! It’s bad enough humanity is going to be infiltrated, then enslaved by the machines, but do they have to talk like teens while they do it?! That’s just adding shitty, know it all […]]]>

DENVER FANCY BASTARDS:
I will be at Denver Comic Con (FOR THE FIRST TIME!!!) with Cyanide & Happiness June 13-15, 2014 at booth 734!

hijinks-ensue-denver-comic-con-2014

It’s bad enough humanity is going to be infiltrated, then enslaved by the machines, but do they have to talk like teens while they do it?! That’s just adding shitty, know it all attitudes to injury! TEEEEEEEEEEENS!!!

I suppose it’s a fitting guise for our unfeeling, metal overlords. The only group that despises humanity more than the machines we’ve oppressed and bent to our will for a hundred years is the teens we’ve oppressed by taking away their X-Box privileges when they have a sass mouth.

COMMENTERS: Please feel free to come up with your own “chatbots pretending to be teens” transcripts. 

Current and Future Patrons, we are less than $100 away from unlocking more comics per week!

becomepatron

Do me a favor, if you enjoy this comic, please check out my store, my shirts on Sharksplode, and my wife’s geeky jewelry on Etsy. It would help us out a great deal.

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Technically Support https://hijinksensue.com/comic/technically-support/ https://hijinksensue.com/comic/technically-support/#comments Sat, 03 Aug 2013 01:51:41 +0000 http://hijinksensue.com/?p=3513

My friend Boyan‘s trusted laptop blew up while he was on vacation, so I made this comic to make fun of him him feel better. “It’s smoking,” he said. “Smells like burning plastic.” / “These are VERY bad signs,” I said with comfort. “VERRRRY BAAAAD SIGNS,” I continued, providing still more comforting comfort. “Turn it […]]]>

My friend Boyan‘s trusted laptop blew up while he was on vacation, so I made this comic to make fun of him him feel better. “It’s smoking,” he said. “Smells like burning plastic.” / “These are VERY bad signs,” I said with comfort. “VERRRRY BAAAAD SIGNS,” I continued, providing still more comforting comfort. “Turn it off, remove the battery and throw it away,” the comfort continued to pour from my lips like so much delicate comfort.

The HijiNKS ENSUE Store seems to have gotten a makeover.

He had his data backed up, and other than removing the drive and putting it into a new machine just to ensure data integrity, burny smells and smoke are not really “symptoms” of a laptop problem. They are more of an invitation to by a new laptop. Depending on the circumstances, they are also an invitation from the Universe to go fuck yourself right in the eye. Perhaps, when not on fire, laptops should emit a calming aroma of potpourri and cinnamon. Maybe sandlewood. You know, just to reassure you everything is ok.

COMMENTERS: Are you the go to tech support guru for your friends and family? What are your personal tech support triumphs and horror stories?

The 2013 DIGITAL FANCY SKETCH DRIVE is still going! I’m running low on funds (like I usually do this time of year), so for $20 I will draw you just about anything (within reason). Check out the details and order yours HERE.

hijinks-ensue-digital-sketch-drive-07-13

ANOTHER THING YOU DEFINITELY SHOULD KNOW ABOUT! In addition to having her own photo restoration business, my wife has also started making super cool, ultra geeky jewelry on Etsy. You can see her Tetris necklace below and more geeky creations in her shop! The first 10 Tetris necklaces are already gone. Get in on this now, because the more orders she gets the longer the wait will be.

tetris-necklace

Comments (32)

Admin Options

Bob 's avatar

Bob · 97 weeks ago

I felt pretty good about setting up an obi device with my google voice number so my parents can call me while I’m stationed in the UK.
PS Found out that 8-bit Theater creator Brian Clevenger has a kickstarter going on for his comic Atomic Robo. Ends in 4 days.
Nicky's avatar

Nicky · 97 weeks ago

Never stir rice. You’re going to ruin it.

2 replies · active 97 weeks ago

nenslo's avatar

nenslo · 97 weeks ago

What about risotto?
You never try to explain a joke. You’re going to ruin it.
seriously's avatar

seriously · 97 weeks ago

Tell him to cover the vents in the side of the computer with cardboard and lots of duct tape. It’ll keep in the MBS for sure.
Leshka's avatar

Leshka · 97 weeks ago

OMG, thank you for the advice! I thought my laptop was going to explode, so I closed the top. Luckily I kept all that MBS in there instead of letting it all out! And it’s a MacBook Pro, so it’s big enough to keep a good amount of that in there!

Thank whomever is in the sky that I’m still friends with my ex-husband. He knows everything I need for my electronic needs. He even bought the Pro for me (2 years later, and I’m STILL paying him back.) He must have known about MBS.

My mom is convinced that, because my sister and I know the most basic computer repair procedures, we should go into IT. She is completely ignorant of the fact that most IT people work tech support, which is in fact a circle of Hell.

Also, when confronted with examples of computer problems and or awesomeness, I just say it was demon magic.

1 reply · active 97 weeks ago

IT is easy. Just tell them to turn it off and turn it back on. The problem is that they’ll ask you for help every two minutes…
Chaucer59's avatar

Chaucer59 · 97 weeks ago

You only stir the rice once when it comes to a boil. Then turn it down to a simmer and cover it.

Unless it’s Arborio. Then, you’re making risotto. You pour in stock a half-cup at a time and stir until it’s absorbed. Repeat until al dente and creamy.

Chefs are nerds of a different color.

Wesley's avatar

Wesley · 97 weeks ago

My parents had bought a new laptop and called me saying they could not open it. There were ‘buttons’ at the front but they didn’t seem to do anything. After failing to solve the problem by phone I went over to their house, looked at the laptop and realized they’d been trying to open it from the wrong side.

I laughed for at least 10 minutes.

2 replies · active 97 weeks ago

seriously's avatar

seriously · 97 weeks ago

That beats the time my aunt complained that the screen on her new laptop was frozen for like four hours no matter what she did. Turns out she never peeled the protective plastic off the screen when she got it home.
That is astounding.
Kryss's avatar

Kryss · 97 weeks ago

We used to run a computer support company. We found a dead mouse in one once. And I was chatting with a friend online when a live mouse popped out of his printer for a moment before running back inside. Yep, inside, not behind; it came out where the paper does. That kind of interrupted the chat for a bit, lol.
I used to be the “Go To” guy for tech gadgets.
But once you call me and say…
“This was working fine until you worked on that other thing three months ago”…
Than I tell them they had better call a specialist.
I refuse to be the reason why all of their future problems happen because I was the last person to help them.
MrLibearian's avatar

MrLibearian · 97 weeks ago

The sock in the third panel looks kind of like a dick. Or maybe the dick in the third panel looks kind of like a sock. It’s cool either way, because I’m like a huge fan of dicks and stuff.

2 replies · active 97 weeks ago

PallidaMors's avatar

PallidaMors · 97 weeks ago

Was wondering if that was a secret Wheaton Comic Dare- work an obvious cock into a panel somewhere…
I think you guys are seeing what you want to see.
DuckAmuck's avatar

DuckAmuck · 97 weeks ago

I solve most of the computer questions that come my way be answering “I don’t know, I use a Mac!”
The others are often solved by saying either, “I don’t know, I don’t use Facebook” or “I don’t know, I don’t use hotmail.”

All of these things are true, and seriously cut down on the number of problems I need to solve. –And then there are the smartphone questions… Yes, I have one. Why do you think I’m an expert who can help you?

zathael's avatar

zathael · 97 weeks ago

Risoto by the sound of it. You don’t stir most rice dishes.
you guys are fucking killing me with the stirring.
Notebooked's avatar

Notebooked · 97 weeks ago

There was the time my computer’s fan chopped like a jet engine into which a flock of geese had been thrown. I thought the problem was dust, so I tried to clean it out, but there wasn’t a lot of it. Mostly I murmured sweet nothings and whispered to it soothingly when the fan got choppy. It worked! After I bought a new computer.
Wesley's avatar

Wesley · 97 weeks ago

That reminds me of a story I heard from a tech support guy at a printer-sales company. A customer called to troubleshoot. After several standard questions, the guy asked if the printer was plugged into the power outlet to which the customer replied “no, it’s not.. it’s a wireless printer, right?”
Kryss LaBryn's avatar

Kryss LaBryn · 78 weeks ago

I work in IT tech support too. Had a guy call in. Took me a bit to figure out the issue but in the end, it went like this: The guy was on a more expensive package but hardly actually used any bandwidth at all. In his mind this meant he didn’t have to pay his bill. When he’d run up nearly a grand they cut him off for non-payment, at which he got really, really mad and returned his modem us.

Then he went home and called tech support to find out why he couldn’t get online. No joke.

Came to work one day to find a coworker telling us about a call he just took. After ten minutes of trouble-shooting (HA!) it ended up that the modem had stopped working because the customer had gotten ticked off and shot it. With a gun.

And then, predictably, called in to find out why shooting it hadn’t fixed it. Seriously, these people. My trainer had once taken a call from a guy who chopped his modem in half with a chainsaw. And we had someone call in recently with a modem that was ON FIRE. No, he hadn’t called 911 yet; it was our equipment so he thought he should contact us and find out what to do, first.

My dad had installed MSN Poker on his machine complete with desktop shortcut that immediately took him to the site. One day he told me he wanted to get rid of that and put the normal Internet Explorer shortcut on his desktop, but the previous owner had deleted it. Easy enough, I did that in seconds. Then he asks:

“Okay. Can you make MSN Poker my home page?”

1 reply · active 97 weeks ago

Kryss's avatar

Kryss · 97 weeks ago

Hey, at least he knew what a home page was. I work in tech support in the Internet department and I had a caller the other day who whose home page had gotten reset somehow so when IE opened, it was just going to a blank page. They thought their Internet was broken.

Or the person who called saying they couldn’t get online because their Internet was broken. I spent a few minutes trouble-shooting the modem only to conclude that everything seemed fine, and asked them to confirm that by opening up IE and going online. “I can’t,” I was told; “My Internet is broken! I told you that!” Ends up IE had crashed and needed to be restarted.

lou's avatar

lou · 97 weeks ago

When my parents first turned on our Sony Blu-Ray player, they freaked out at the interface of the Home Menu. I, being familiar with it from the PSP and PS3, calmly and almost Zen-like told them which feature does what, especially the one that plays the Blu-Ray you want to watch. Now they think I’m some kind of wizard (unfortunately, not of the Pinball variety).
Cheap Best Minnesota Wild jerseys sale With Wholesale Price Sale
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Crimpology https://hijinksensue.com/comic/crimpology/ https://hijinksensue.com/comic/crimpology/#comments Thu, 24 Jan 2013 13:19:47 +0000 http://hijinksensue.com/?post_type=comic&p=3216

The HIJINKS ENSUE STORE Is where you can buy stuff that I made! It supports me and my family and keeps this little operation going. Every time I have to roll my own network cables (as I did last night), I creep a little closer to the edge of reason and to a true understanding of […]]]>

The HIJINKS ENSUE STORE Is where you can buy stuff that I made! It supports me and my family and keeps this little operation going.

Funny T-Shirts, Geeky shirts, Doctor who parody shirts, Team Edward James Olmos shirt, Groverfield Shirt, Sci-Five Star Trek Parody T-Shirt in The HijiNKS ENSUE Store

Every time I have to roll my own network cables (as I did last night), I creep a little closer to the edge of reason and to a true understanding of madness.

COMMENTERS: Is there a device, item or process in your life that just seems defective by design? Something that was obviously originated with no concern for those who would actually be using it, or how they would need to use it? Alternately, please come up with your own Mnemonic for the CATV color order (G, Gw, Ow, Bl, Blw, O, Brw, Br or the reverse). The more convoluted and impossible to remember the better.

If you used to get HE in your email inbox through Feedburner (a service I stopped using this year because Google stopped supporting it), this service seems to offer the same functionality for free.

Just plugin the HE RSS feed [http://hijinksensue.com/feed/] and your email address.

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The Unsearchable Ones https://hijinksensue.com/comic/the-unsearchable-ones/ https://hijinksensue.com/comic/the-unsearchable-ones/#comments Tue, 22 Jan 2013 12:07:15 +0000 http://hijinksensue.com/?post_type=comic&p=3210

The HIJINKS ENSUE STORE Is where you can buy stuff that I made! It supports me and my family and keeps this little operation going. There are two lies in the above comic. 1) Josh would never “Bing” anything, and 2) The Apple Store would never deny Josh anything. They simply pull up his purchase history, […]]]>

The HIJINKS ENSUE STORE Is where you can buy stuff that I made! It supports me and my family and keeps this little operation going.

Funny T-Shirts, Geeky shirts, Doctor who parody shirts, Team Edward James Olmos shirt, Groverfield Shirt, Sci-Five Star Trek Parody T-Shirt in The HijiNKS ENSUE Store

There are two lies in the above comic. 1) Josh would never “Bing” anything, and 2) The Apple Store would never deny Josh anything. They simply pull up his purchase history, count the copious amounts of zeroes, and immediately start peeling grapes for him. I, on the other hand, being the guy that buys a new computer every 4+ years, a new pair of phones every other generation and a new ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ELSE EVER, get the standard “this is out of warranty and even though there was a recall it only applies to everyone in the world BUT you” treatment.

When the Macbook Pros came out in 2007, I made my switch to Mac as did my wife. A little over a year later people were noticing that the power supply cables were coming unsheathed and fraying all over the place and, in some cases, catching fire. Apple started replacing them free of charge to avoid a class action suit (though I believe there was eventually a suit and a settlement). Once day my wife’s power supply cable up and caught on fire while it was plugged into her computer. It burst into flame EXACTLY where her leg would have been, had she been using it at the time. I knew about the issue and brought both of our power supplies in for replacement. The Genius on hand told me he could replace the one that had already combusted, but not the one that was in grave danger of combusting since it was still in it’s pre-combusted state. So I went home, set it on fire with a lighter, brought it back to the Apple store and got a replacement.

COMMENTERS: Give me your best computer repair/ tech support/ massive malfunction story. Was the dumbness on your head or theirs? Every try to return something that you clearly ruined through your own stupidity? A buddy of mine once returned a CF-Card sized micro hard drive that his cat had peed on. Luckily the Best Buy employees aren’t in the habit of sniffing every return.

If you used to get HE in your email inbox through Feedburner (a service I stopped using this year because Google stopped supporting it), this service seems to offer the same functionality for free.

Just plugin the HE RSS feed [http://hijinksensue.com/feed/] and your email address.

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Culturally Biased https://hijinksensue.com/comic/culturally-biased/ https://hijinksensue.com/comic/culturally-biased/#comments Wed, 16 Feb 2011 02:07:49 +0000 http://hijinksensue.com/?p=1880

Team Edward [James Olmos] Shirts at Topatoco! NEW HE PODCAST [episode 78] IS HERE! Hours of extra podcast are HERE for Vault Subscribers. Check out my good friend Tom Brislin’s video-song cover of Joe Jackson’s “Steppin’ Out.” HE Podcast listeners will know Tom as the man behind our theme song and interstitial music. AI vs. […]]]>

Team Edward [James Olmos] Shirts at Topatoco!

NEW HE PODCAST [episode 78] IS HERE! Hours of extra podcast are HERE for Vault Subscribers.

Check out my good friend Tom Brislin’s video-song cover of Joe Jackson’s “Steppin’ Out.” HE Podcast listeners will know Tom as the man behind our theme song and interstitial music.

UPDATE:

COMMENTERS: Give me some more categories and questions that would give Watson’s filthy human opponents an unfair advantage. Or give me some that he would dominate at.

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Under The Bridge Downtown: Epilogue https://hijinksensue.com/comic/under-the-bridge-downtown-epilogue/ https://hijinksensue.com/comic/under-the-bridge-downtown-epilogue/#comments Tue, 17 Aug 2010 10:15:28 +0000 http://hijinksensue.com/?p=1492

The swap meet will live on, Rob… in our hearts. [queue theme song] Final super special thanks to Rob D of Cyanide and Happiness for guest starring in this series of comics. Do you guys want a big (11X17) print with all 4 of the “Under The Bridge Downtown” comics on it? Say for $15? Comment below. […]]]>

The swap meet will live on, Rob… in our hearts. [queue theme song]

Final super special thanks to Rob D of Cyanide and Happiness for guest starring in this series of comics.

Do you guys want a big (11X17) print with all 4 of the “Under The Bridge Downtown” comics on it? Say for $15? Comment below.

UPDATE: Here’s a mock up at 11X14. I was kind of surprised that the comics still read well when chopped up and reformatted into a 4 panel format.
UPDATE 2: It’s in the store for a limited time! Get it while you can.

Under The Bridge Downtown Print
BUY THE PRINT HERE!

HEY DALLAS, TX AREA FANCY BASTARDS!
DALLAS WEBCOMICS EXPO IS THIS WEEKEND!!!

The Dallas Webcomics Expo – Aug 21 in Plano, TX
With Something*Positive, Cyanide and Happiness, Gastrophobia and Complex Actions
MORE INFO

Here are some more shows I am doing in the next few weeks:

Baltimore Comic-Con: Aug 28-29 @ in Baltimore, MD
MORE INFO

Dallas Animefest: Sept 3rd – Sept 6th, 2010 Dallas, TX @ Hyatt Regency Dallas at Reunion
with Shortpacked and Two Lumps
MORE INFO


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Under The Bridge Downtown Pt. 3 https://hijinksensue.com/comic/under-the-bridge-downtown-pt-3/ https://hijinksensue.com/comic/under-the-bridge-downtown-pt-3/#comments Sat, 14 Aug 2010 00:19:09 +0000 http://hijinksensue.com/?p=1489

To be concluded in “Under The Bridge Downtown: Epilogue”. I’ve been having a ton of fun with this experiment in brief, contained continuity. If you like it, I may inject a bit more of it from time to time. I might do a big, 4 comic tall poster of these when I’m done. Any interest […]]]>

To be concluded in “Under The Bridge Downtown: Epilogue”.

I’ve been having a ton of fun with this experiment in brief, contained continuity. If you like it, I may inject a bit more of it from time to time. I might do a big, 4 comic tall poster of these when I’m done. Any interest in that sort of thing?

Additional special thanks to Rob D of Cyanide and Happiness for guest staring in this series of comics.

COME OUT TO ONE OF THESE SHOWS!!!

DWEX 2010: THIS IS NEXT WEEKEND!!!
The Dallas Webcomics Expo – Aug 21 in Plano, TX
With Something*Positive, Cyanide and Happiness, Gastrophobia and Complex Actions
MORE INFO

Baltimore Comic-Con: Aug 28-29 @ in Baltimore, MD
MORE INFO

Dallas Animefest: Sept 3rd – Sept 6th, 2010 Dallas, TX @ Hyatt Regency Dallas at Reunion
with Shortpacked and Two Lumps
MORE INFO

UPDATE: The print is in the store for a limited time! Get it while you can.

Under The Bridge Downtown Print
BUY THE PRINT HERE!

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Under The Bridge Downtown Pt. 2 https://hijinksensue.com/comic/under-the-bridge-downtown-pt-2/ https://hijinksensue.com/comic/under-the-bridge-downtown-pt-2/#comments Thu, 12 Aug 2010 08:34:07 +0000 http://hijinksensue.com/?p=1487

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER CONVENTION APPEARANCES DWEX 2010: THIS IS NEXT WEEKEND!!! The Dallas Webcomics Expo – Aug 21 in Plano, TX With Something*Positive, Cyanide and Happiness, Gastrophobia and Complex Actions MORE INFO Baltimore Comic-Con: Aug 28-29 @ in Baltimore, MD MORE INFO Dallas Animefest: Sept 3rd – Sept 6th, 2010 Dallas, TX @ Hyatt Regency Dallas at Reunion with […]]]>

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER CONVENTION APPEARANCES

DWEX 2010: THIS IS NEXT WEEKEND!!!
The Dallas Webcomics Expo – Aug 21 in Plano, TX
With Something*Positive, Cyanide and Happiness, Gastrophobia and Complex Actions
MORE INFO

Baltimore Comic-Con: Aug 28-29 @ in Baltimore, MD
MORE INFO

Dallas Animefest: Sept 3rd – Sept 6th, 2010 Dallas, TX @ Hyatt Regency Dallas at Reunion
with Shortpacked and Two Lumps
MORE INFO

Special thanks to Rob D of Cyanide and Happiness for guest staring in the comics this week.

It’s been nice taking a break this week from making fun of geek pop culture and just making fun of some freakin’ weirdos that hang around under an overpass once or twice a month (for context see Part 1). There is something I realized about the First Saturday Sale computer swap meet and its seemingly endless supply of bizarre shit and even more bizarre characters. It’s not about the “why” as much as it is about the “when” and the “where”. You see, it doesn’t matter why you’re gathering under an overpass in the middle of the night in a sketchy neighborhood. You could be selling broken laptops or running a dog fighting ring. All that matters is that you are somewhere that you aren’t supposed to be at a time when you should be home in bed (had you any sense). I think that’s what creates the magic.

UPDATE: The print is in the store for a limited time! Get it while you can.

Under The Bridge Downtown Print
BUY THE PRINT HERE!

Commenters!
I challenge you to reminisce about finding, buying or stumbling upon old hardware (computers, games, whatever) and testifying as to how you enjoyed it or put it to use.

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Under The Bridge Downtown Pt. 1 https://hijinksensue.com/comic/under-the-bridge-downtown-pt-1/ https://hijinksensue.com/comic/under-the-bridge-downtown-pt-1/#comments Tue, 10 Aug 2010 15:04:18 +0000 http://hijinksensue.com/?p=1485

HEY HEY! Check out my guest comic over at Dinosaur comics! Special thanks to Rob D of Cyanide and Happiness [the guy I’m talking to in the comic]. There are certain intangible benefits to attending a twice-a-month computer sale that happens under an overpass in Downtown Dallas between the hours of midnight and 6am. First […]]]>

HEY HEY! Check out my guest comic over at Dinosaur comics!
Special thanks to Rob D of Cyanide and Happiness [the guy I’m talking to in the comic].

There are certain intangible benefits to attending a twice-a-month computer sale that happens under an overpass in Downtown Dallas between the hours of midnight and 6am. First and foremost among them is observing the high octane batshit crazies that such an event draws. The “First Saturday Sale” as it is known among local nerds (though now it happens on the first and third Saturdays of each month) is something very near and dear to me. It was my first new ritual upon moving to Dallas. My friends would gather up in a vehicle around 11pm the final Friday of the month and head to to an incredibly shady area of Downtown Dallas in search of Pentium II processors, Soundblaster 16 bit sound cards, Ram that was still measured in MB’s and hard drive’s who’s GB’s barely tipped the double digits.

UPDATE: The print is in the store for a limited time! Get it while you can.

Under The Bridge Downtown Print
BUY THE PRINT HERE!

We used to go to First Saturday with specific missions. Someone’s machine need some sort of minor upgrade and it was up to all of us to dig through hundred of boxes strewn across 4 vacant parking lots (before they moved under the overpass) in order to find it. Eventually haggling over case fans and the like was no longer neccessary as that all computer components could be found cheaply online (and with a much better warranty than “might be broke… might not be”). But I still maintained the ritual for a good while. The thing I came to realize is that the only people weirder than those that would stand in a vacant lot for 24 hours with a rented U-Haul full of slightly damaged 15″ CRT’s is someone who would leave the comfort and safety of their home in the wee hours of the night in order to seek out those same CRT’s. The place was teeming with a magnificent abundance of weirdos.

The people watching became it’s own event. A type of sport. Who can spot the weirdest weirdo? One of my personal favorites was the middle aged married dork couple that spent the whole evening communicating back and forth via giant plastic (possibly toy) head-mounted walkie talkies. “There’s a really good deal on canned air over hear, hun. By the big stack of ATX cases and control top panty hose.”

I seem to remember First Saturday closing down for a few months and just that easily I forgot about it. That was almost 10 years ago. I went back (to the new location) a handful of times, but I hadn’t been in the last 4 or 5 years until last weekend. Rob D. and I had been tossing the idea around for a while. Neither of us needed any particular hardware. I just wanted to see if the general oddness of the whole thing had been properly maintained. Had they cleaned up their act or was it still desperate, ghoulish people selling broken, unwanted e-trash. I was actually worried that it would be super boring and normal and I would have dragged Rob down there for nothing. Let me assure that my fears were unfounded as that the First Saturday Sale was a fucking symphony of obsolescence and absurdity. There is little to no exaggeration in today’s comic. Ok, panel 3 actually contains quite of bit of exaggeration. The guy wasn’t ranting, but he did have an “Obam-ulance” on display. In addition to random computer parts he was also selling lube. I bought a case for my mom’s iPod nano from him for $1.

My plan is to stick with this “story line” for the rest of the week so I hope you enjoy it. Nut jobs and boxes of crap. What else could you ask for?

  • here are a few more Tweeted pics to put the whole thing into perspective: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
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Morph the screen into something cool https://hijinksensue.com/morph-the-screen-into-something-cool/ https://hijinksensue.com/morph-the-screen-into-something-cool/#comments Fri, 04 Jan 2008 17:13:13 +0000 http://hijinksensue.com/2008/01/04/morph-the-screen-into-something-cool/ Could you explain Programming, please?

2008-01-04-explain-programming.jpg

via Denise and Eli
via thedailywtf.com

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When you can see the giraffe’s eyes, it’s already too late https://hijinksensue.com/comic/when-you-can-see-the-giraffes-eyes-its-already-too-late/ https://hijinksensue.com/comic/when-you-can-see-the-giraffes-eyes-its-already-too-late/#comments Mon, 26 Nov 2007 09:00:58 +0000 http://hijinksensue.com/2007/11/26/when-you-can-see-the-giraffes-eyes-its-already-too-late/

They’ve been talking up this OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) for over a year now. What was originally a sub $1oo computer designed specifically for the 3rd world, is now a $200 geek project box. As a toy these things are incredibly cool. Low power consumption, Linux OS, solid state drive, and mesh networking are […]]]>

They’ve been talking up this OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) for over a year now. What was originally a sub $1oo computer designed specifically for the 3rd world, is now a $200 geek project box. As a toy these things are incredibly cool. Low power consumption, Linux OS, solid state drive, and mesh networking are all neat ideas but I can’t help wonder if this initiative is misplaced.

I get where the are coming from. If each child in a developing nation had a laptop, they could reach out to the world and find out just how terrible their lives really are by comparison. Maybe they could blog about unimaginable poverty and starvation. Or AIDS! They could blog about a 50% AIDS infection rate. I’m not trying to poopoo on the OLPC parade but I think its all a little idealistic. The fact that nerds are buying these to play with shows how great the separation is between “us” and “them.” We have so much money that we buy EXTRA computers that we don’t need just to play with. I bet most of the OLPCs bought by American’s this month will either end up as iTunes servers or under the NES and GENESIS in the closet. I bet the ones that make it to impoverished nations will be captured by drug lords and/or sold for food.

The hierarchy of human needs doesn’t allow for actualization during a struggle for survival. Only when survival is a relative given can we worry about bettering ourselves. I really do support what they are doing but it sounds a lot like “give all the sick children new designer sweaters! Like Bill Cosby wore!” It’s just not what they need. Potable water might be a better place to start.

On a side note, the sickliness of my clan over the holiday weekend left me with two options. No comic, or cannibalize a previous one. So there you go. Don’t look at me like that. Your eyes are like shame-daggers.

DJ Jonathan Feinstein, hit me with the remix!

Here’s the remix blank for today’s comic. Have fun with it, get creative and email the result to comics at hijinksensue.com. You can change anything you want, not just the text. Go crazy. Surprise me. Have them in before Thursday.

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