Dilbert: Gain Of Function
https://dilbert.com/strip/2021-08-16

Hey, neat accessory !

The real problem would be modifying all of your clothing and chairs.

Lynn

In article <sfed8d$6f6$1@dont-email.me>,
Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
>Dilbert: Gain Of Function
> https://dilbert.com/strip/2021-08-16
>
>Hey, neat accessory !
>
>The real problem would be modifying all of your clothing and chairs.

Hm. I read your comment and thought, "Tails?" How refreshing to
know I'd guessed right.

The Rargyllians (aliens with tentacled heads in _The Star Beast_,
who gave Mr. Kiku the willies) also had tails. The Rargyllian
agent on Terra hid his in his Terran-style pants. ~"The one on
[name of planet] had worn no clothes, since the inhabitants wore
none, and had carried his tail proudly aloft, like a cat."~

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Www.kithrup.com/~djheydt/

On 8/16/2021 3:11 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> Dilbert: Gain Of Function
>    https://dilbert.com/strip/2021-08-16
>
> Hey, neat accessory !

Been done before, e.g.:

https://dilbert.com/strip/1994-03-28
https://dilbert.com/strip/1994-03-30
https://dilbert.com/strip/1994-03-31

How soon they* forget.

*I'm looking at *you*, Adams.

--
Mark Jackson - https://mark-jackson.online/
What's Latin for "If you seek to make the facile sound profound,
we're your language"? - unnamed student (Jef Mallett)

On 8/16/2021 7:49 PM, Mark Jackson wrote:
> On 8/16/2021 3:11 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>> Dilbert: Gain Of Function
>>     https://dilbert.com/strip/2021-08-16
>>
>> Hey, neat accessory !
>
> Been done before, e.g.:
>
> https://dilbert.com/strip/1994-03-28
> https://dilbert.com/strip/1994-03-30
> https://dilbert.com/strip/1994-03-31
>
> How soon they* forget.
>
> *I'm looking at *you*, Adams.

Yeah, but Dilbert and Wally now have the tails.

I am reading Atwood's book about gene splicing right now. It does not
turn out well for the human race.

Lynn

Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote in
news:sff417$inp$1@dont-email.me:

> I am reading Atwood's book about gene splicing right now. It
> does not turn out well for the human race.
>
Science fiction books about sience rarely do, after all.

--
Terry Austin

Proof that Alan Baker is a liar and a fool, and even stupider than
Lynn:
https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/sw-border-migration

"Terry Austin: like the polio vaccine, only with more asshole."
-- David Bilek

Jesus forgives sinners, not criminals.

On 8/16/2021 9:56 PM, Ninapenda Jibini wrote:
> Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote in
> news:sff417$inp$1@dont-email.me:
>
>> I am reading Atwood's book about gene splicing right now. It
>> does not turn out well for the human race.
>>
> Science fiction books about sience rarely do, after all.

Yup, although, I am only on book one. Maybe things get better by book
three.

Lynn

On Monday, August 16, 2021 at 9:09:42 PM UTC-6, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> On 8/16/2021 9:56 PM, Ninapenda Jibini wrote:
> > Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote in
> > news:sff417$inp$1...@dont-email.me:

> >> I am reading Atwood's book about gene splicing right now. It
> >> does not turn out well for the human race.

> > Science fiction books about sience rarely do, after all.

> Yup, although, I am only on book one. Maybe things get better by book
> three.

If this is the same Margaret Atwood who wrote "The Handmaid's Tale",
she is probably more inclined to write cautionary tales than ones with
happy endings.

John Savard

On Monday, August 16, 2021 at 9:39:58 PM UTC-4, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> On 8/16/2021 7:49 PM, Mark Jackson wrote:
> > On 8/16/2021 3:11 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> >> Dilbert: Gain Of Function
> >> https://dilbert.com/strip/2021-08-16
> >>
> >> Hey, neat accessory !
> >
> > Been done before, e.g.:
> >
> > https://dilbert.com/strip/1994-03-28
> > https://dilbert.com/strip/1994-03-30
> > https://dilbert.com/strip/1994-03-31
> >
> > How soon they* forget.
> >
> > *I'm looking at *you*, Adams.
> Yeah, but Dilbert and Wally now have the tails.
>

My first thought was "they got results from Project Zimbu!"

> I am reading Atwood's book about gene splicing right now. It does not
> turn out well for the human race.
>

"Oryx & Crake?"

I never read that. Robert Sawyer slagged it for going over well-
trod ground without much that was original. A faut when authors
of "mainstream fiction" dip their toes in the genre, though that's
not to say those who write primarily stf and/or fantasy don't
reinvent the Galactic Empire/Ring of Power from time to time.

--
Kevin R

On Mon, 16 Aug 2021 22:56:00 -0700 (PDT), Kevrob <kevrob@my-deja.com>
wrote:

>On Monday, August 16, 2021 at 9:39:58 PM UTC-4, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>> On 8/16/2021 7:49 PM, Mark Jackson wrote:
>> > On 8/16/2021 3:11 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>> >> Dilbert: Gain Of Function
>> >> https://dilbert.com/strip/2021-08-16
>> >>
>> >> Hey, neat accessory !
>> >
>> > Been done before, e.g.:
>> >
>> > https://dilbert.com/strip/1994-03-28
>> > https://dilbert.com/strip/1994-03-30
>> > https://dilbert.com/strip/1994-03-31
>> >
>> > How soon they* forget.
>> >
>> > *I'm looking at *you*, Adams.
>> Yeah, but Dilbert and Wally now have the tails.
>>
>
>My first thought was "they got results from Project Zimbu!"
>
>> I am reading Atwood's book about gene splicing right now. It does not
>> turn out well for the human race.
>>
>
>"Oryx & Crake?"
>
>I never read that. Robert Sawyer slagged it for going over well-
>trod ground without much that was original. A faut when authors
>of "mainstream fiction" dip their toes in the genre, though that's
>not to say those who write primarily stf and/or fantasy don't
>reinvent the Galactic Empire/Ring of Power from time to time.

I feel that way about "The Road". It read like a bad side-quest in
Fallout. It might have seemed fresh and new in 1945. By the time it
was written it was decidedly me-too, and the fact that it won a
Pulitzer tells us that the people who select the Pulitzer winners
aren't particularly genre-savvy.

On Mon, 16 Aug 2021 22:43:35 -0700 (PDT), Quadibloc
<jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:

>On Monday, August 16, 2021 at 9:09:42 PM UTC-6, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>> On 8/16/2021 9:56 PM, Ninapenda Jibini wrote:
>> > Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote in
>> > news:sff417$inp$1...@dont-email.me:
>
>> >> I am reading Atwood's book about gene splicing right now. It
>> >> does not turn out well for the human race.
>
>> > Science fiction books about sience rarely do, after all.
>
>> Yup, although, I am only on book one. Maybe things get better by book
>> three.
>
>If this is the same Margaret Atwood who wrote "The Handmaid's Tale",
>she is probably more inclined to write cautionary tales than ones with
>happy endings.

She also apparently is rather adamant that nothing she writes is
science fiction?

In article <2eomhg91vev4vl93aolmemt7g81q12d60e@4ax.com>,
J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> wrote:
>On Mon, 16 Aug 2021 22:43:35 -0700 (PDT), Quadibloc
><jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:
>
>>On Monday, August 16, 2021 at 9:09:42 PM UTC-6, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>> On 8/16/2021 9:56 PM, Ninapenda Jibini wrote:
>>> > Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote in
>>> > news:sff417$inp$1...@dont-email.me:
>>
>>> >> I am reading Atwood's book about gene splicing right now. It
>>> >> does not turn out well for the human race.
>>
>>> > Science fiction books about sience rarely do, after all.
>>
>>> Yup, although, I am only on book one. Maybe things get better by book
>>> three.
>>
>>If this is the same Margaret Atwood who wrote "The Handmaid's Tale",
>>she is probably more inclined to write cautionary tales than ones with
>>happy endings.
>
>She also apparently is rather adamant that nothing she writes is
>science fiction?

Was it Damon Knight who said?

"SF's no good!" they holler till we're deaf.
"But this is good!" "Well, then, it's not SF."

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Www.kithrup.com/~djheydt/

In article <76561c08-e3e6-4e23-bc8b-15ea3f1b6544n@googlegroups.com>,
Kevrob <kevrob@my-deja.com> wrote:
>On Monday, August 16, 2021 at 9:39:58 PM UTC-4, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>> On 8/16/2021 7:49 PM, Mark Jackson wrote:
>> > On 8/16/2021 3:11 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>> >> Dilbert: Gain Of Function
>> >> https://dilbert.com/strip/2021-08-16
>> >>
>> >> Hey, neat accessory !
>> >
>> > Been done before, e.g.:
>> >
>> > https://dilbert.com/strip/1994-03-28
>> > https://dilbert.com/strip/1994-03-30
>> > https://dilbert.com/strip/1994-03-31
>> >
>> > How soon they* forget.
>> >
>> > *I'm looking at *you*, Adams.
>> Yeah, but Dilbert and Wally now have the tails.
>>
>
>My first thought was "they got results from Project Zimbu!"
>
>> I am reading Atwood's book about gene splicing right now. It does not
>> turn out well for the human race.
>>
>
>"Oryx & Crake?"
>
>I never read that. Robert Sawyer slagged it for going over well-
>trod ground without much that was original. A faut when authors
>of "mainstream fiction" dip their toes in the genre///

They have to reinvent the wheel because they've never seen a
wheel before.

>though that's
>not to say those who write primarily stf and/or fantasy don't
>reinvent the Galactic Empire/Ring of Power from time to time.

That's okay, if they do it well.

/e brings up another window, searching for a quotation, give me a
minute....

>From lawrence@clark.net Wed Jan 12 08:09:51 PST 2000
>
>Watt-Evans' Law of Literary Creation: There is no idea so stupid or
>hackneyed that a sufficiently-talented writer can't get a good story
>out of it.
>
>Feist's Corollary: There is no idea so brilliant or original that a
>sufficiently-untalented writer can't fuck it up. (This was the only
>time I ever saw or heard Raymond Feist use the word "fuck.")

Ipse dixit.

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Www.kithrup.com/~djheydt/

On Tuesday, August 17, 2021 at 7:00:03 AM UTC-6, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> In article <2eomhg91vev4vl93a...@4ax.com>,
> J. Clarke <jclarke...@gmail.com> wrote:

> >She also apparently is rather adamant that nothing she writes is
> >science fiction?

> Was it Damon Knight who said?
>
> "SF's no good!" they holler till we're deaf.
> "But this is good!" "Well, then, it's not SF."

And, of course, Margaret Atwood, in this respect, is only
following in the steps of Ray Bradbury.

However, I see I was mistaken; the trilogy is not a tragedy,
but I'm not sure that Lynn is going to enjoy the "happy ending".

John Savard

In article <2eomhg91vev4vl93aolmemt7g81q12d60e@4ax.com>,
J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> wrote:
>On Mon, 16 Aug 2021 22:43:35 -0700 (PDT), Quadibloc
><jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:
>
>>On Monday, August 16, 2021 at 9:09:42 PM UTC-6, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>> On 8/16/2021 9:56 PM, Ninapenda Jibini wrote:
>>> > Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote in
>>> > news:sff417$inp$1...@dont-email.me:
>>
>>> >> I am reading Atwood's book about gene splicing right now. It
>>> >> does not turn out well for the human race.
>>
>>> > Science fiction books about sience rarely do, after all.
>>
>>> Yup, although, I am only on book one. Maybe things get better by book
>>> three.
>>
>>If this is the same Margaret Atwood who wrote "The Handmaid's Tale",
>>she is probably more inclined to write cautionary tales than ones with
>>happy endings.
>
>She also apparently is rather adamant that nothing she writes is
>science fiction?

Using an ideosyncratic definition of her own devising, which I think she
may have walked back.

That said, she _reads_ SF, although what she reads seems to be divided into
the pulp SF she could get as a kid in Canada (Weird Tales and such) and
what I will call literarily respectable spec fic as an adult (Le Guin and
such). I was a bit surprised to find she'd discussed Margaret Brundage's
art but of course for a time Brundage was _the_ go-to cover artist for
Weird Tales.
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

On Tuesday, August 17, 2021 at 9:00:03 AM UTC-4, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> In article <2eomhg91vev4vl93a...@4ax.com>,
> J. Clarke <jclarke...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >On Mon, 16 Aug 2021 22:43:35 -0700 (PDT), Quadibloc
> ><jsa...@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:
> >
> >>On Monday, August 16, 2021 at 9:09:42 PM UTC-6, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> >>> On 8/16/2021 9:56 PM, Ninapenda Jibini wrote:
> >>> > Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote in
> >>> > news:sff417$inp$1...@dont-email.me:
> >>
> >>> >> I am reading Atwood's book about gene splicing right now. It
> >>> >> does not turn out well for the human race.
> >>
> >>> > Science fiction books about sience rarely do, after all.
> >>
> >>> Yup, although, I am only on book one. Maybe things get better by book
> >>> three.
> >>
> >>If this is the same Margaret Atwood who wrote "The Handmaid's Tale",
> >>she is probably more inclined to write cautionary tales than ones with
> >>happy endings.
> >
> >She also apparently is rather adamant that nothing she writes is
> >science fiction?
> Was it Damon Knight who said?
>
> "SF's no good!" they holler till we're deaf.
> "But this is good!" "Well, then, it's not SF."
> --

Robert Conquest, historian and poet.

http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/conquest_robert

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Conquest

http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?1082

--
Kevin R

On 8/17/2021 2:14 AM, J. Clarke wrote:
> On Mon, 16 Aug 2021 22:43:35 -0700 (PDT), Quadibloc
> <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:
>
>> On Monday, August 16, 2021 at 9:09:42 PM UTC-6, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>> On 8/16/2021 9:56 PM, Ninapenda Jibini wrote:
>>>> Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote in
>>>> news:sff417$inp$1...@dont-email.me:
>>
>>>>> I am reading Atwood's book about gene splicing right now. It
>>>>> does not turn out well for the human race.
>>
>>>> Science fiction books about sience rarely do, after all.
>>
>>> Yup, although, I am only on book one. Maybe things get better by book
>>> three.
>>
>> If this is the same Margaret Atwood who wrote "The Handmaid's Tale",
>> she is probably more inclined to write cautionary tales than ones with
>> happy endings.
>
> She also apparently is rather adamant that nothing she writes is
> science fiction?

I would definitely call "Oryx and Crake" science fiction. Apocalyptic
science fiction about eco terrorism using gene splicing. There is no
fantasy here.
https://www.amazon.com/Crake-MaddAddam-Trilogy-Margaret-Atwood/dp/0385721676/

"Oryx and Crake is at once an unforgettable love story and a compelling
vision of the future. Snowman, known as Jimmy before mankind was
overwhelmed by a plague, is struggling to survive in a world where he
may be the last human, and mourning the loss of his best friend, Crake,
and the beautiful and elusive Oryx whom they both loved. In search of
answers, Snowman embarks on a journey–with the help of the green-eyed
Children of Crake–through the lush wilderness that was so recently a
great city, until powerful corporations took mankind on an uncontrolled
genetic engineering ride. Margaret Atwood projects us into a near future
that is both all too familiar and beyond our imagining."

Lynn

On 8/17/2021 12:56 AM, Kevrob wrote:
> On Monday, August 16, 2021 at 9:39:58 PM UTC-4, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>> On 8/16/2021 7:49 PM, Mark Jackson wrote:
>>> On 8/16/2021 3:11 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>>> Dilbert: Gain Of Function
>>>> https://dilbert.com/strip/2021-08-16
>>>>
>>>> Hey, neat accessory !
>>>
>>> Been done before, e.g.:
>>>
>>> https://dilbert.com/strip/1994-03-28
>>> https://dilbert.com/strip/1994-03-30
>>> https://dilbert.com/strip/1994-03-31
>>>
>>> How soon they* forget.
>>>
>>> *I'm looking at *you*, Adams.
>> Yeah, but Dilbert and Wally now have the tails.
>>
>
> My first thought was "they got results from Project Zimbu!"
>
>> I am reading Atwood's book about gene splicing right now. It does not
>> turn out well for the human race.
>>
>
> "Oryx & Crake?"
>
> I never read that. Robert Sawyer slagged it for going over well-
> trod ground without much that was original. A faut when authors
> of "mainstream fiction" dip their toes in the genre, though that's
> not to say those who write primarily stf and/or fantasy don't
> reinvent the Galactic Empire/Ring of Power from time to time.

Yes. It is well done, depressed the crap out of me.

Lynn

On Monday, August 16, 2021 at 1:11:14 PM UTC-6, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> Dilbert: Gain Of Function
> https://dilbert.com/strip/2021-08-16
>
> Hey, neat accessory !
>
> The real problem would be modifying all of your clothing and chairs.
>
> Lynn
The mutation that results in Manx (tailless) cats is a loss of function mutation.....