A slice-of-life comic about a kid, a beige computer, and the phone line they have to share.
~ now updating every Monday and Thursday ~ new strip #42: “mom picks up the phone” ~ vote for us and keep the modem screaming ~ thanks for reading, whoever you are ~
Today's strip
Strip #42, “Mom picks up the phone” Monday, 9 July 2001
10:47 p.m. The whole house is finally asleep.
.------.
| - - |
| -- |
'------'
Pixel: Okay, Byte. Post the new strip, then straight to bed. Two minutes.
The modem screams its handshake into the dark.
.------.
| > < |
| vvvv |
'------'
SKREEEEE
Byte: Handshaking... almost... I can nearly taste the internet...
Down the hall, a phone lifts off the cradle. The screen blinks NO CARRIER.
.------.
| x x |
| __ |
'------'
Mom (off-panel): Pixel! It is eleven o'clock and I am calling your grandmother.
Byte: ...forty-one seconds. New personal record.
Pixel & Byte #42 · drawn on the back of a math worksheet.
Strip #41, “The CD binder incident” Thursday, 5 July 2001
Pixel's pride: one black binder, two hundred sleeves, every disc alphabetised.
.------.
|[==] | |
|[==] | |
'------'
Pixel: Games, demos, three years of free-trial discs. All of it. Right here.
The zipper, under protest, lets go.
o O
o . o
O o .
. o O
Byte:*SPROING* I did try to warn you about the zipper.
Discs settle into every corner of the house.
.------.
| - - |
| ~~ |
'------'
Mom (off-panel): Pixel, why is there a CD-ROM in the butter dish?
Pixel: ...alphabetising is a journey.
Pixel & Byte #41 · the binder has since been retired.
Strip #40, “Byte needs a bigger hard drive” Monday, 2 July 2001
The screen delivers the bad news in white on blue.
.------.
| ! ! |
| DISK |
| FULL |
'------'
Pixel: Impossible. I deleted Solitaire. Twice.
Deep in My Documents, a folder opens onto a folder onto a folder.
[ misc ]
[ misc2 ]
[ final ]
[ FINAL2 ]
Pixel: What is in “do_not_open”...?
Six gigabytes groan and hold.
.------.
| o o |
| __ |
'------'
Byte: Four hundred MIDIs. All half-downloaded. I regret nothing.
Pixel & Byte #40 · the drive was never upgraded.
The rant
Cables, cables, everywhere
Monday, 9 July 2001 · posted by Marty, your cartoonist
Today's strip is barely fiction. I lost the connection three times drawing it,
and twice it was me who tripped over the cord.
People keep asking why the comic updates at such odd hours. This is why. The
internet in this house runs on one shared phone line and a very fragile treaty.
When the modem starts to sing, everyone holds their breath.
Thank you for reading, whenever this finally loaded for you. If it made you
smile, the vote button down the page is the whole payment plan. Back Thursday,
line permitting.
- Marty
Strip archive
Every strip, newest first. The oldest ink is fading, so I'm re-scanning the 1999
run one quiet Sunday at a time.