Demo Mode
Feb13
on February 13, 2014
at 12:01 am
Let’s be honest, we watch science fiction programmes and films for the “fiction”, not the “science”. Even so, sometimes Hollywood pushes credibility just a little too far. This strip is dedicated to all the classic movie clichés, plot devices and MacGuffins — and to the guilty pleasure we secretly get from spotting them 😉
Cette bande dessinée est aussi disponible en français
This comic is also available in French
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↓ Transcript
[Caption: "Captain's log: Whilst on a routine exploration into
deep space, we were able to record unprecented
data from the nearby explosion of a neutron star…"]
G1: …and we've confirmed, Admiral, that our main deflector and additional sensors have managed to capture recordings from across the electromagnetic spectrum.
Admiral (on view screen): Excellent work, captain.
Make sure you transfer the telemetry back to starfleet immediately.
[Scene: The image of the Admiral is replaced with a progress bar]
G1: What's that?
G2: It's a progress bar, captain.
G1: A progress bar for what?
G2: For the telemetry file we're sending back to starfleet.
G1: So you're telling me that we can get a live, high definition, video stream that's fast enough for me to talk with the admiral with no delay — yet when we want to transfer a few megabytes of telemetry our connection slows down enough to warrant a progress bar?!
G2: I suppose it does seem a little odd.
I'll see what the manual has to say…
G2: Apparently the ship is still running in demo mode…
According to the manual: "In demo mode, all file transfers are slowed down and a progress bar presented"
Also: "Any attempt to use the ship's self-destruct mechanism will cause the countdown to stop with just one second to spare"
And: "Sending and receiving of emails will be accompanied by a large, animated envelope that almost fills the view screen"
G1: So how do we disable this demo mode?
G2: There's a little plastic tab that needs to be pulled out
[Scene shows a close up of the Captain's chair with a "Remove tab before use" tab sticking out of the back of it]
G1: Ahh… I've always wondered what that was for.
deep space, we were able to record unprecented
data from the nearby explosion of a neutron star…"]
G1: …and we've confirmed, Admiral, that our main deflector and additional sensors have managed to capture recordings from across the electromagnetic spectrum.
Admiral (on view screen): Excellent work, captain.
Make sure you transfer the telemetry back to starfleet immediately.
[Scene: The image of the Admiral is replaced with a progress bar]
G1: What's that?
G2: It's a progress bar, captain.
G1: A progress bar for what?
G2: For the telemetry file we're sending back to starfleet.
G1: So you're telling me that we can get a live, high definition, video stream that's fast enough for me to talk with the admiral with no delay — yet when we want to transfer a few megabytes of telemetry our connection slows down enough to warrant a progress bar?!
G2: I suppose it does seem a little odd.
I'll see what the manual has to say…
G2: Apparently the ship is still running in demo mode…
According to the manual: "In demo mode, all file transfers are slowed down and a progress bar presented"
Also: "Any attempt to use the ship's self-destruct mechanism will cause the countdown to stop with just one second to spare"
And: "Sending and receiving of emails will be accompanied by a large, animated envelope that almost fills the view screen"
G1: So how do we disable this demo mode?
G2: There's a little plastic tab that needs to be pulled out
[Scene shows a close up of the Captain's chair with a "Remove tab before use" tab sticking out of the back of it]
G1: Ahh… I've always wondered what that was for.
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Reflections on the groud : wow !
Sorry ! This was meant to comment the next issue 🙁
Ah, I did wonder if that was the case.
I’m glad you like the reflections (on the next strip) – they caused me a lot of problems! The stormtrooper bodies were easy (just clone, flip, stretch and apply a mask), but the feet were a nightmare. Just flipping and stretching doesn’t give you feet that meet up properly, so I had to also clip off the original feet from the clones and seamlessly attach new ones. Don’t worry, I don’t think they felt a thing 😉