Now what?

Developing the last posting was not like typing a daily item using vi. Here http://cse.csusb.edu/dick/blog.html is a link to that old blog. Using an iPod means it is slower. But it checks spelling. The Blogger app makes it possible to render and so review drafts. It feels more like writing reviews for Computer Reviews -- http://www.computingreviews.com/browse/browse_reviewers.cfm?reviewer_id=115728

So it is slower and better considered than the ASCII blog. 

On the other hand getting a good picture takes time. And Blogger on iPod does not automatically recognize typed URLs and make them into links. 

My plan is to post something monthly using my iPod and its Blogger app. 

Future topics: the logic of Parking, syllogisms, preparing for the first class, etc.. 

Favorite Internet Comics

On my first trip to the USA, to a key conference in Boston in the late 1960s I was able to buy some books that I couldn't find in the UK.  They were comic books: BC, Wizard of Id, Peanuts. Nowadays I turn to the comics page in the Sunday newspaper before anything else. I have a small collection of comic books. I start most days looking at Internet comics like those listed below.  Disclaimer: the posting schedules are as of September 2013 and will change. 

What comics am I missing?  Comments with your regular comic fixes, please.

Shlock Mercenary http://www.schlockmercenary.com/ is a space opera comic with a new page posted every day of the week. 

Quantum Vibe http://www.quantumvibe.com/ posts the adventures of a young woman in the Solar System of the Future and posts on weekdays -- but Cons and life altering events tend to interrupt the story line at times. 

XKCD http://xkcd.com/ is schematic, inventive, humorous, famous, and unpredictable. It posts on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Friday and is one of the few comics to appear in news stories on Slashdot. 

From the UK we have Gunnerskrigg Court http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/index2.php which is set in a private boarding school. The world is split between the technological court and the magical forrest. There is an Alchemy theme. Excellent color. Intriguing characters with secrets that slowly come to light as characters develop. New material appears late (Pacific time) on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. 

Erfworld http://www.erfworld.com/ is set within a war game except the pieces are sentient with feelings, goals, attitudes, and fates. The central character however has been called from our world... A suitable punishment for a life wasted playing war games perhaps? Publication has been a erratic in the past, but now something new is posted every Monday, Wednesday,and Friday. Watch out for the sound effects -- these are usually puns, as are place names, characters, etc.

Girl Genius http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php is a glorious "gas lamp fantasy" full of romance, mad science, and adventure. Currently posts late on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The plot is wild but the drawings are good. The world of Sparks and Clanks is well imagined and there are several mysteries to be solved. 

Spiked Math http://spikedmath.com/ posts at random making jokes about mathematics.

Abstruse Goose http://abstrusegoose.com/ has a similar style to XKCD but is a younger and gentler view of the world. It posts every week or so.

Dork Tower http://www.dorktower.com/ parodies the various types of fanatical gamer.  

Piled Higher and Deeper http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/comics.php is a brilliant and wise description of academic life at a research university. Jorge nails it.   

The Order of the Stick http://www.giantitp.com/comics/ootscast.html is a parody of life inside a dungeons-and-dragons type game.  Our heroic band of adventurers are stick figures -- whence comes the name of the strip. 

Dresden Kodak http://dresdencodak.com/ is the best drawn but most erratic of all these comics. The picaresque tale of Kim Ross is weird with story arcs that last for years. I want to play "Dungeons and Discourses"!

The ironic Elf Only Inn http://www.elfonlyinn.net/d/20020523.html has frozen... But was set in a chat room imagined as an inn for elves except that most visitors are not into playing elves. 

User Friendly http://www.userfriendly.org/cartoons/archives/ was a favorite comic until it started to repeat. It describes in humorous form life in a small computer  company. 

I also visit the following non-comic: Futility Closet http://www.futilitycloset.com/ most days. A compendium of amusements!

What is your Internet comic addiction?