2013/03/04 [DMFA #1383] This is why we need computers...

[Tezkat]

Information technology makes everything better! Oh wait, do they even have keyboards designed for thumbless two-fingered hands? Maybe that's a potential niche market for ergonomic suppliers...

[justacritic]

Wow even Pip looks depressed...

[kztxl7]

I'd look depressed too knowing the cake is gone.

Good thing I'm currently eating the last piece of cake from little bro's birthday yesterday.

[Nino]

Oh man this is the first DMFA that's made me laugh out loud in a while. I was just listening to that song by the Talking Heads. I have no idea if those talking bass actually are programmed to sing that one but I've never heard it, so to me that just came across as so funny because that would be incredibly annoying and yet it's pretty clever at the same time.

Also Matilda's face just looks sooooo appropriate for the situation hahaha

[Zebra Bug]

First those dink-dink birdies (What is the actual term for them?) and now the singing Bass...I believe Miss Matilda should take this as a sign. She needs to hire a secretary. 

[LionHeart]

Oh man this is the first DMFA that's made me laugh out loud in a while. I was just listening to that song by the Talking Heads. I have no idea if those talking bass actually are programmed to sing that one but I've never heard it, so to me that just came across as so funny because that would be incredibly annoying and yet it's pretty clever at the same time.

They are, yes. The other one they usually come with is "Don't Worry, Be Happy".

[Nino]

Oh man this is the first DMFA that's made me laugh out loud in a while. I was just listening to that song by the Talking Heads. I have no idea if those talking bass actually are programmed to sing that one but I've never heard it, so to me that just came across as so funny because that would be incredibly annoying and yet it's pretty clever at the same time.

They are, yes. The other one they usually come with is "Don't Worry, Be Happy".

Oh haha okay, see that's the song I remember them singing. I think it's more funny that I didn't actually know that because it came off as more surprising to me. But what made it just super hilarious just because I was literally listening to that song a couple hours ago so I just instantly could hear the fish singing that in my head in Talking Heads style.

Oh man, I just Youtubed it. OMG hahahaha. The Talking Heads version I was listening to sounds so much better, but that doesn't make this any less hilarious.

[Venalitor]

Information technology makes everything better! Oh wait, do they even have keyboards designed for thumbless two-fingered hands? Maybe that's a potential niche market for ergonomic suppliers...

She's need some pretty big keys. Or she could get a scribe.

[Turnsky]

i'd hate to break it to you folks, but she'd still need to hold the stylus to sign. 

[Naldru]

Information technology makes everything better! Oh wait, do they even have keyboards designed for thumbless two-fingered hands? Maybe that's a potential niche market for ergonomic suppliers...

I see a lot of people type with just one or two fingers.

Regarding styluses for the signature, they wouldn't be required for electronic signatures.  Also, some people sign using their fingerprint.

[Merlin]

Pshaw, since when do signatures need to be legible, though? Most of the signatures I've seen could be done without a thumb no problem P:

[joshofspam]

This sounds like a job for Jyrras The Gentleman Inventor!

Though I'm a little surprised Matilda is having so many problems. She's been presumably been running this shop for awhile now. Why is she having one dilemma after another now?

[Tapewolf]

I will have to check again at work but I am fairly sure one of my co-workers holds his pen and writes without using his thumb.

[Shadowdancer]

Maybe it would be easier if she strapped a pen to one digit - that way she wouldn't need the other to hold and could use it to stabilise. All it should take is a bit of velcro and some glue so the pen doesn't slide. Eh, just make sure you let the glue dry before you try it on. 

Poor thing. And Mabs thought the shop was tacky before. Mind you, it might make a good fae-entrance. No-one would go near it unless they were drunk! 

[joshofspam]

There is one thing that puts a odd spin on this whole affair.

Seeing as Dan will be coming back to the Inn eventually, Destania's plans for Abel will have to be quick to not put Dan in to much danger. Abel will be lucky to make it to his next birthday.

Though considering what Abel has already figured out, he probably expects as much.

[Tapewolf]

Seeing as Dan will be coming back to the Inn eventually, Destania's plans for Abel will have to be quick to not put Dan in to much danger.

She might not realise that he's only there for the month.

[Eboreg]

There is one thing that puts a odd spin on this whole affair.

Seeing as Dan will be coming back to the Inn eventually, Destania's plans for Abel will have to be quick to not put Dan in to much to danger. Abel will be lucky to make it to his next birthday.

Though considering what Abel has already figured out, he probably expects as much.

Based on what Distance said, I don't think she has anything planned for Abel. She thought in her twisted mind that she was doing Abel a favor. Now, he's going to have bigger enemies especially since his Cubi nature is being reported everywhere and his clan marking is very clearly seen in that report.

[ChaosMageX]

Information technology makes everything better! Oh wait, do they even have keyboards designed for thumbless two-fingered hands? Maybe that's a potential niche market for ergonomic suppliers...

Actually, Amber already gave a bit of an answer to a similar question I asked in an earlier thread:

In terms of fingers, cosmic-scale wise I usually have humans (and human/anthro hybrids on occasion) with 5 fingers, average anthros with 4 fingers (though some humans with anthro ancestry will also have 4 fingers) and then 3 fingers for a few more straight up anthro characters...sometimes even down to two.  Not that it really matters much in this comic, but I guess it will make more relevence in later comics.

As for typing whatmachallits, I have found that society is quite canny about adapting to their physical capabilities, so I figure a place where finger variations happen is likely going to have reflections of that rather than it being seen that having one less finger is a disability of sorts.  So whatever devices are made will likely reflect that since well...most folks making items want people to buy them so they can make money.

Honestly, I could see Matilda being able to use a keyboard designed for those like Kria and Lorenda, who have only two fingers and one thumb one each hand, since on conventional QWERTY and even Dvorak keyboards, the thumb is only responsible for pressing the space bar key.
On the other hand, a two-finger keyboard could be designed so that the thumb is responsible for pressing more than just that one key.  The only consistency would be that the keys would be larger than usual since the fingers are larger.
The more I think about this topic, the more I wonder if icarus has designed any keyboards for any of his alien species that have a limited number of digits, especially his tech-oriented Nikitaks.

That aside, holding small objects like pens might not be as hard as we think if the theory that the BV Mythos have a Van der Waals system of gripping things similar to geckos.  I'm still in favor of this theory, even though it was started from seeing Matilda scaling the 4th wall, mostly because we see another member of her species scaling a rock wall.  If that's the case, Matilda wouldn't need glue or velcro to hold a pen on one finger.  She might just have bad penmanship.

Also, this is the first time I've ever seen Matilda with her cobra-like hood raised up in anger, and it certainly looks cool.

[Wanderer]

You don't actually NEED the thumb to write... just grip the pen to your palm with your fingers and write by moving your hand. It takes practice, but remember, so did learning to write normally. Heck, it took me years of work before my handwriting became reasonably legible without having to spend hours of extra time carefully crafting every letter. I still write very slowly, and my handwriting is still pretty poor. Filling out forms is my special nemesis, so I can sympathize with Matilda. For that matter, depending on how her order forms are set up, her issue may be trying to write small enough and still have it be legible.

Bleh, whatever. Writing things by hand is tough. That's why we have computers now.

[Tapewolf]

You know what she needs?  A Dymo labeller.  It punches into a strip of plastic, the stress making the letters turn white.  No electronics, fairly simple mechanism.  Nothing complex for the magic to upset...

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

[Zebra Bug]

You know what she needs?  A Dymo labeller.  It punches into a strip of plastic, the stress making the letters turn white.  No electronics, fairly simple mechanism.  Nothing complex for the magic to upset...

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

I've actually seen one of those! Man is it old school. 

[Naldru]

You know what she needs?  A Dymo labeller.  It punches into a strip of plastic, the stress making the letters turn white.  No electronics, fairly simple mechanism.  Nothing complex for the magic to upset...

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

Stress is the force applied.  Strain is the deformation due to the stress.  So it is actually the strain that turns the letters white.

However, with the Dymo labeler, you had to twist the dial before squeezing the trigger each time.  (Turning the dial changed the character that was embossed into the tape.)  I've used them and a person who had limited dexterity would probably have problems.

Since she is filling out forms, a better choice might be rubber stamps.  She could have one stamp for "cases", one for "crates", and one for "pieces".

** **

With regard to the singing fish.  My wife works in retail and they used to have dozens of those fish on display.  They all buttons that the customers could push to make them sing.  The little kids would start up a dozen at a time.  She said she felt she was going to scream if she had to hear them one more time.  When the kids hit the buttons on the fish, they really hit her buttons.

They also had singing fish skeletons for Halloween.

[Zebra Bug]

You know what she needs?  A Dymo labeller.  It punches into a strip of plastic, the stress making the letters turn white.  No electronics, fairly simple mechanism.  Nothing complex for the magic to upset...

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

Stress is the force applied.  Strain is the deformation due to the stress.  So it is actually the strain that turns the letters white.

However, with the Dymo labeler, you had to twist the dial before squeezing the trigger each time.  (Turning the dial changed the character that was embossed into the tape.)  I've used them and a person who had limited dexterity would probably have problems.

Since she is filling out forms, a better choice might be rubber stamps.  She could have one stamp for "cases", one for "crates", and one for "pieces".

OR! Secretary. Or....if not....she could get Jyrras to craft her something, I'm sure. Or if she could find one in the market...well, stamps would be a good bet I think. You're right there.

[Tuyu]

You don't actually NEED the thumb to write... just grip the pen to your palm with your fingers and write by moving your hand. It takes practice, but remember, so did learning to write normally.

A few years back, I got into an argument with someone about the limited usefulness of hands without thumbs.

So I taught myself to write with the pen held between my index and middle finger. Just to annoy him.

I can even pick up a pen or pencil easily from a flat surface by turning my hand palm up and pinching it between my fingers.

[Tapewolf]

I've actually seen one of those! Man is it old school. 

I am of the opinion that if you take the time to build an old-school studio, you should label the tapes in an old-school manner as well.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

I am of the opinion that if you take the time to build an old-school studio, you should label the tapes in an old-school manner as well.

At least you're consistent. Personally, I'm more inclined to take advantage of whatever improvements have been made in the last thirty years. Of course, one has to be careful not to take advantage of the de-improvements, as well, so...

[Eboreg]

*Snicker* I just noticed that Pip blew his birthday tweeter in panel 3.

[LionHeart]

You know what she needs?  A Dymo labeller.  It punches into a strip of plastic, the stress making the letters turn white.  No electronics, fairly simple mechanism.  Nothing complex for the magic to upset...

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

I've actually seen one of those! Man is it old school. 

I think I have one of those somewhere...

[Tuyu]

You know what she needs?  A Dymo labeller.  It punches into a strip of plastic, the stress making the letters turn white.  No electronics, fairly simple mechanism.  Nothing complex for the magic to upset...

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

I've actually seen one of those! Man is it old school. 

I think I have one of those somewhere...

Dymo's not gone, and they still make the label makers and embossing tape...

[Dressari]

I am of the opinion that if you take the time to build an old-school studio, you should label the tapes in an old-school manner as well.

At least you're consistent. Personally, I'm more inclined to take advantage of whatever improvements have been made in the last thirty years. Of course, one has to be careful not to take advantage of the de-improvements, as well, so...

Avoiding the de-improvements is becoming that much harder these days. I mean look at the wonders of modern manufacturing. Everything comes slapped with at least a one year guarantee that it WILL NOT BREAK in the first year of use...

*Cough*

I wonder what Matilda's return policy is. I wouldn't like to argue with a fire breathing mythos over any defect that I could imagine up that isn't actually there.