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Frazz by Jef Mallett for March 16, 2015
Transcript:
Miss Plainwell: 11101110010001010 Frazz: 011011000110101100... Caulfield: Miss Plainwell says,"why am I so hungry?" And Frazz says,"we did run 22 miles yesterday" and she says,"but not super fast" and he says,"good point, maybe it was the freezing rain..." Mrs. Olsen: How does he do that? Mr. Spaetzle: Kids pick up on exotic languages better.
dv-chris almost 10 years ago
I predict that reactions to todayâs strip will fall into 10 basic categories⊠or perhaps 11, if we allow for fence-sitters.
ccmills almost 10 years ago
:) I see what you did there DV
peter almost 10 years ago
Would they speak plain old ASCII, or Unicode? In the latter case, I sure hope for them itâs UTF-8⊠;-)
(yes, I am in category 0)
James Lindley Premium Member almost 10 years ago
Actually, the binary converts to:ĂźElk
It takes 8 bits in most ASCII conversions to create one character. No worries about profanities there Jef. It would take a lot more ones and zeroes to tell a dirty limerick.
Island Boy almost 10 years ago
Maybe Coach âHackerâ could figure it out? ;)
jamesbachreeves almost 10 years ago
Nabuquduriuzhur, there is no absolute window for learning a language, and I have never heard or read anyone saying that; but it is widely acknowledged (and has not at all been âdebunkedâ) that children up to age nine or so have an innate ability to absorb a second language more or less the way they absorbed their first one (without the need for formal stud), and that this ability declines rapidly as they age.
jamesbachreeves almost 10 years ago
(Make that âstudy,â not âstud.â) BTW, you can Google âlanguage learning ageâ to find scores of studies and scholarly articles on the subject.
sonorhC almost 10 years ago
Thereâs also the possibility that Caulfield doesnât understand them at all, and is just BSing.
puddleglum1066 almost 10 years ago
The article Why Jordan Couldnât Hit would seem relevant here. Our brains do change, physically, during adolescence, and we enter adulthood with more stability but also less ability to pick up totally new skills. While the article was about athletic skills, language-learning would seem likely to act similarly.
Stephen Gilberg almost 10 years ago
This looks like an âOn the Fastrackâ gag.
Pipe Tobacco Premium Member almost 10 years ago
I actually SUSPECT that the intent Jef is trying for is as followsâŠ. 1) Frazz and Miss Plainwell ARE NOT really speaking in binary. 2) Mrs. Olsen and Principal Spaetzel are commenting on how what they are saying makes no sense (even as translated by Caulfield). 3) The âjokeâ is that Mrs. Olsen and Principal Spaetzel CANNOT fathom running 22 miles (in whatever weather) and cannot fathom anyone NOT being hungry if they DID run 22 miles. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++That is how I interpret todayâs comic. I am pretty sure I am right about what the intention is supposed to be. To me, the set up using binary is a bit of a stretch, and this is why a lot of folks did not âgetâ it initially. With most folks not getting it, I think the comic today was not overly successful. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++I also predict when Bigpuma sees the comic today, he will be rather grumpy about it, as he will see it as Mrs. Olsen and Principal Spaetzel not being âcapableâ of understanding Miss Plainwell and Frazz. I personally do not seeit that way today⊠I see it more akin to Jef pointing out that dedicated runners OFTEN do things and think things that are not always that normal.
hippogriff almost 10 years ago
Nabuquduriuzhur: The clicks are phonemes, rarely, if ever, entire words.
Pipe Tobacco Premium Member almost 10 years ago
And, BigpumaâŠ. I say with all sincerity, Principal Spaetzel is my personal, favorite character of this comic. To me, he is always the best character.
Fido (aka Felix Rex) almost 10 years ago
Forget about the secret ability to read binary, or even hyper-sensitive hearing. The truth is Caldwell operates a series of sophisticated spy-drones and has been observing Frazz and Plainwell for some time, hoping to get enough âdirtâ on them to trap them in his power. His hero is Wild Bill Donovan.
rfeinberg almost 10 years ago
Iâll bet they can communicate in Esperanto and Klingon, too⊠What a pair of insufferable showoffs.
Aviatrexx Premium Member almost 10 years ago
Two thoughts:
1. I suspect Jef was using zeros and ones in the same way Sparky used exclamation points for the indecipherable speech of the bird in Peanuts.
2. Bill Amend (âFoxtrotâ) would have written the balloons in proper ASCII as an easter egg for the computer literate.
AlexaD over 8 years ago
As I understand it, the language center of the brain finishes wiring up and becomes hard-wired around age 7 or so. Any later learning is achieved via normal memory which, due simply to the lack of specialization, doesnât work as well.
So, yes, you can continue to learn languages (Iâm 40 and learning Spanish) but, yes, it will be more difficult later in life.
AlexaD over 8 years ago
In my opinion, the joke is simply as Mr. S says. Rather than have, for example, Spanish and making a wall of text with both translations, we use binary which is recognizable but which few artists would actually spell out (giving Jef an âoutâ on actually translating it).
As for âexotic languageâ, why would the two even recognize it? My wife and mother wouldnât.
The setup does feel very forced, thoughâŠ
DKHenderson 3 months ago
Sorry, I donât speak âRunnereseâ.