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Post by mercuryp on Apr 6, 2011 13:59:17 GMT
Maybe she types **YOU** or something, and that makes the word louder when it's said. It seems like the computer's entire purpose is to talk for her, so it's reasonable to think she'd have stylin' text-to-speech tweaks to cater to how she wants it to talk.
Also, crabs make the best engineers.
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Post by smjjames on Apr 6, 2011 14:09:55 GMT
Heh, so I guess I was right, Renard has met her earlier. So, a sentient crab mutant with a PhD in engineering? I wonder what the backstory is for her and hope Tom explores that. Alexandragon: Maybe she is one of those that passed the test. The fact that Tom was vague on whether those that pass the text actually retain human intelligence certainly leaves room for becoming something with the capacity for human intelligence. Also I think the 'make sure you haven't sprung a leak' joke is both about the structure and about her having an exoskeleton and they don't. Edit: I wonder how that joke would go over with the boys dorm, considering the male anatomy
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Post by jayne on Apr 6, 2011 14:22:09 GMT
I'm thinking it must take a long time to grow that large.... and there's lots of things in the sea for a smart crab to learn from and build with.
Most likely, she self educated with whatever she found and figured a way to communicate with humans before leaving the sea.
GC found out about her and contacted her like they did with Zimmy. They invited her to join them and she continued her education at the court.
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Post by smjjames on Apr 6, 2011 14:26:09 GMT
I'm thinking it must take a long time to grow that large.... and there's lots of things in the sea for a smart crab to learn from and build with. Maybe she got mutated by radiation from a nuclear test or pollution or some combination of the two? Sort of like Godzilla, just without the 'I MUST DESTROY THINGS' mentality Godzilla and other Kaiju have. Although Godzilla does have his good side. As for things to learn from and build with, theres plenty of sunken WWI, WWII and later wrecks.
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percival
Full Member
there's a storm a-brewin'
Posts: 119
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Post by percival on Apr 6, 2011 14:31:09 GMT
Maybe she wasn't always a crab. Maybe she used to be human, like Kat's old flame. But then who would elect to become a giant crab?
Strike that, who WOULDN'T?
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Post by legion on Apr 6, 2011 14:34:44 GMT
Can't wait to see the reaction of other, normal students.
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Post by jayne on Apr 6, 2011 14:34:55 GMT
I'm thinking it must take a long time to grow that large.... and there's lots of things in the sea for a smart crab to learn from and build with. Maybe she got mutated by radiation from a nuclear test or pollution or some combination of the two? Sort of like Godzilla, just without the 'I MUST DESTROY THINGS' mentality Godzilla and other Kaiju have. Although Godzilla does have his good side. As for things to learn from and build with, theres plenty of sunken WWI, WWII and later wrecks. Especially when you have claws that work like very effective wrenches!
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Post by atteSmythe on Apr 6, 2011 14:41:50 GMT
you can't bold while typing?
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Post by jayne on Apr 6, 2011 14:49:30 GMT
If she designed it, she's probably added a key combination for inflections. She can't talk but she can hear human speech so she would know how to apply it correctly.
F1 - Enthusiastic F2 - Sarcasm F3 - Emphasis
F1 + "I like your hat" = complement F2 + "I like your hat" = burn!
"Technically, you're in " + F3 + "MY tank"
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Post by smjjames on Apr 6, 2011 14:51:18 GMT
you can't bold while typing? Theres also apparently no such thing as commas or periods on that console either. It seems like an oversight, considering grammar issues that could arise.
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Post by jayne on Apr 6, 2011 14:52:19 GMT
you can't bold while typing? Theres also apparently no such thing as commas or periods on that console either. It seems like an oversight, considering grammar issues that could arise. They might be there but, like with texting, they're not being used.
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Post by jayne on Apr 6, 2011 14:54:57 GMT
HA, I just realized, we read Tom's text and we understood there was an emphasis on the "MY" but now we don't know how the crab's text would be understood as having an emphasis on the "MY"
We never actually heard the emphasis, we read it.
Why wouldn't it work the same way?
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Post by Chemical Rascal on Apr 6, 2011 15:25:05 GMT
It's possible that the computer is capable of intelligently adding emphasis.
Or, there is no text-to-speech, and Annie and Kat have really really really good eyesight.
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Post by zylonbane on Apr 6, 2011 15:34:21 GMT
If this is speech synthesis, then there should totally be an apostrophe in "THATS".
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Post by jayne on Apr 6, 2011 15:40:06 GMT
If this is speech synthesis, then there should totally be an apostrophe in "THATS". If she doesn't type the apostrophe, the speech synthesis wouldn't add it, right? As far as how it sounds, "That's" sounds the same as "Thats" so what we're reading is what she's writing even though Kat and Annie are hearing it.
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Post by zylonbane on Apr 6, 2011 15:57:50 GMT
Right. They're hearing it, so just like any other comic speech balloon, we should be seeing what was intended.
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Post by Tobu Ishi on Apr 6, 2011 16:02:11 GMT
Hmm. What are the odds that the "she" in the title also refers to Lindsey? One does wonder from whence this charming, brainy megacrustacean came.
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Post by jayne on Apr 6, 2011 16:07:14 GMT
Right. They're hearing it, so just like any other comic speech balloon, we should be seeing what was intended. If you saw it like any other speech bubble, what would let you know it was a computer generated voice? Tom is using the font, kerning, and dialog to let you know the machine is speaking for the crab. If it was regular speech, it would look like the crab is just talking and typing on the computer at the same time.
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Post by smjjames on Apr 6, 2011 16:07:40 GMT
Right. They're hearing it, so just like any other comic speech balloon, we should be seeing what was intended. In that case, then Tom was trying to make it sound synthesized. Compare the console speech bubble to that of the robots. It is angular, but not as much. I don't know if Tom has used this speech bubble before (outside of this chapter), but it seems like he is making the robots have a more natural speech pattern while the console is completely synthetic.
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Post by Eversist on Apr 6, 2011 17:01:16 GMT
Hmm. What are the odds that the "she" in the title also refers to Lindsey? One does wonder from whence this charming, brainy megacrustacean came. Aren't larger crustaceans generally from salt water? I would assume that this one, especially of its caliber, is from the ocean originally.
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Post by TBeholder on Apr 6, 2011 17:17:39 GMT
I think that he is one of those, who have passed the TEST... So he was a human long time ago... If so, Lindsey would be in the wood already, like Alistair. Huh, Kat doesn't seem absolutely freaked out. If I saw a giant ass crab I would freak the hell out for HOURS!! Guess living in the Court for your entire life does that, you don't adapt fully to weird stuff but you deal with it better. That, and she had her "weirdness" scale readjusteded... and cannot for the life of me figure out how one could ever add emphasis like this one does in panel 5. Like *this*. If a voice synthesizer knows more than one style, applying different styles for marked text is a rather trivial idea. Also I think the 'make sure you haven't sprung a leak' joke is both about the structure and about her having an exoskeleton and they don't. Or, y'know, about their panic. Can't wait to see the reaction of other, normal students. Where - in the Court?
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Post by beatfox on Apr 6, 2011 17:55:49 GMT
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Post by smjjames on Apr 6, 2011 18:02:28 GMT
The quoting function apparently doesn't like multiple nested quotes. Anyways, Ketrak probably looks like an Elder God or something, you know, Cthulhu and all. It was enough for Kat to want a gallon of brain bleach. Here, she was having a normal reaction to something that looks straight out of a monster movie, and sort of following Annies reaction. Now she is just perplexed about the whole thing. Since Kat is an engineer herself, I'm sure the two will have interesting conversations once she gets over the wierdness.
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Post by jayne on Apr 6, 2011 18:05:28 GMT
Awwwww... sweet! ;D ;D ;D Maybe a little less on the insane side though!
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Post by warrl on Apr 6, 2011 18:22:39 GMT
So I'm reading the computer speaking for the structural engineer as if it were some kind of text to speech program on a PC and cannot for the life of me figure out how one could ever add emphasis like this one does in panel 5. Isn't it a little contradictory to put the speech in that typeface and then try to make some words bold for emphasis? The entire idea of that font is that the speech is even and uniform. Lindsey types with HTML tags. What I find puzzling is why that console is not designed and positioned in such a way that Lindsey can see the keyboard and screen. (It could have two screens, the other one positioned for humans to read.) Tom is using the font, kerning, and dialog to let you know the machine is speaking for the crab. If it was regular speech, it would look like the crab is just talking and typing on the computer at the same time. And the square-cornered speech bubble.
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Post by Ulysses on Apr 6, 2011 18:45:19 GMT
She's talking in Stephen Hawkings computer voice, isn't she? She is a she, right? Or is Lindsey a male name for crabs? Gender Mainly female, also male Meaning Linden trees near the water Origin English/Scottish Related names Lindsey, Lyndsay, Lyndsey, Lynsey, Lynsay, Linzey, Lynzi, Lynzie, Lynsi, Linzie, Lindsy, Lyndsy, Lindy, Linzi I think she's a she because her dialog sounds 'she-ish' to me plus... well, I was about to say a female should be watching over the girls dorm but there might be a boys dorm in the same tank. 'Lindsey' as a name could be male or female, but judging by the fact that it's a giant freakin' crab I don't think the Court authorities are too worried over which gender it is. Possibly Lindsey doesn't even have a gender, and was assigned a neutral name for that very reason.
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Post by jayne on Apr 6, 2011 19:08:59 GMT
Under the 'too much info' heading... I suspect she's female but eventually someone will refer to her in third person singular and we'll know what Tom had in mind.
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Post by sebastian on Apr 6, 2011 20:04:29 GMT
I agree with edzepp, where did Lindsey get her PhD?? Is there some university that educates giant crabs? Well, the most obvious answer would be: At Gunnerkrigg Court. Many former students find employment at their University. Or maybe she has not always been a giant crab.
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Pig_catapult
Full Member
Keeper of the Devilkitty
Posts: 171
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Post by Pig_catapult on Apr 6, 2011 22:24:12 GMT
Well, Zimmy, step aside! I have a new favourite character.
~EDIT~
Also: SAPIENT. She is a SAPIENT crab creature. All crabs are sentient, except if they're dead.
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Post by jayne on Apr 7, 2011 0:33:54 GMT
Well, Zimmy, step aside! I have a new favourite character. ~EDIT~ Also: SAPIENT. She is a SAPIENT crab creature. All crabs are sentient, except if they're dead. I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit this, but until now I'm not sure I realized they were two different words... That's probably fairly common, the first thing on the sapience wiki page is "Not to be confused with sentience." The first thing on the sentience wiki page is "Not to be confused with sapience." Hmm... "if you're sapient, you know not to step in sap"
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