Yeah, the delay is only getting worse. I wonder why it happens. I don’t know enough to have any idea what could be causing it.
BarerMender
Clock drift.
SeanR
This could be fixed with a simple scheduled command to sync the clock to a time standard every few hours. Even if it missed one, or several in a row, it’d still keep the clock within seconds, rather than allow a drift to progress to minutes.
jeffepp
A couple of other comics have the same issue. It might be a host problem.
Mark
A hollow voice says: “NNTP”.
Mark
Another volce says: “no you dimwit, that’s NTP.”
Jamie
Because every computer keeps an internal clock which necessarily drifts out of sync with the rest of the world because the quartz crystals that are used to keep track of time’s passage aren’t precisely identical and also heat changes their exact frequency. And any imprecision will multiply over time.
The way we solve this is by having extremely reliable clocks that exist in only a few places that can afford them (using cesium atoms), and then a network of lesser authorities that synchronize with them. Then your computer synchronizes with those. But synchronization occurs over a network, and require CPU cycles to process, and both the processing and transmission take a variable, unpredictable amount of time. (There are places on your computer you can go to find out which authority it’s synchronizing to.)
Which means, inevitably, it’s wrong. Usually, the systems we have in place are good enough to make this a non-issue, but whatever’s going on with Willis’s servers is apparently insufficient.
Also, time is bullshit.
SeanR
More resources than an HTTP call? More resources than a comment publish?
Even if it took a Whole Second to get the data and update the clock, that’s better than the several minutes of drift that the system has already experienced.
Clif
Better? Depends on what your criteria is.
Is it financially better to live with a minor drift that can be updated whenever the system is going to be reset anyway or to pay someone to fix an inconsequential problem? (And by inconsequential, we mean inconsequential to the person who would be paying for it.)
Tbf
An HTTP call costs non-zero money. An extra five minutes increases the chance someone will sign up for Patreon.
Psychie
Reminds me of when I was in high school and the time on my bedroom clock, my wrist watch, pocket watch (yeah I wore one, I’m that kind of nerd), and phone clock all drifted in different directions despite the phone clock supposedly being synced to an atomic clock via the internet and all of them being set against each other after one of them was set to an external clock (usually the school clocks since they were the ones that mattered to my situation). I’d set them every couple of months once the drift got to the point where it would start to cause problems. No other clocks I encountered regularly drifted nearly as much as any of the ones in my possession, so I like to think something about me was distorting time in a way that caused the different clocks to drift based on proximity to me.
Slartibeast Button, BIA
You were probably sleepwalking at relativistic speeds but no one would tell you.
Psychie
I’m pretty sure I’m just metaphysically dense enough to warp spacetime around me, being the Avatar of The Fool and all that.
walterw
“A man with one watch always knows what time it is.
A man with two watches is never sure.”
Psychie
In my defense, the pocket watch was for fashion and sentimentality, as it had been my grandfather’s and pocket watches are cool, keeping it set at an accurate time was more a matter of pride than practicality since the only times I’d use it to tell time was when I thought it would be funnier to whip out a pocket watch than glance at my wrist watch.
HueSatLight
scheduling with sleep instead of the system time. or worse yet, looping a noop a constant number of times that seems to take the right amount of time when you checked it with a stopwatch once.
Dorothy’s on a rapid downward spiral here. There should be a limit to how many bad choices you can make in a single day. She’s at . . . like, 4 already, & the day’s not over.
Oh dear, this is not how I imagined how I imagined Dorothy would deal with her stress. Although I do find it funny that Ruth admits she has a type for some of these actions. I’m not sure whether that says more about Ruth or dating in general.
Also at Joyce’s party. She’s not entirely opposed to drinking.
While Ruth doesn’t seem to yet be as bad as she was, she did get drunk at the bar when she hooked up with Jason and she’s talked about it a few more times. It’s okay now though – it doesn’t interfere with her new medication.
Good news! I’m pretty sure that doing something deeply embarrassing and scandalous in college, and subsequently covering it up, is a presidential rite of passage!
Sure, but even as an RA, it’d probably be frowned upon to have a stash of alcohol as a student, wouldn’t be surprised if the teachers lounge also had an ’emergency stash’ , not that much more acceptable but i can see that being a realistic thing too
Your recent behavior has come off as attractive to not only Jennifer but now Ruth and much as it would have been a gorgeous hot mess, if your behaving in a type of way that would have gotten you into a 3 way with Billie and Ruth like 4 or 5 moths ago you know there’s a problem.
194 thoughts on “Designated”
Ana Chronistic
Dotty practicing how to become an RA?
?
Ana Chronistic
*12:10* here, server!
Kyrik Michalowski
Yeah, the delay is only getting worse. I wonder why it happens. I don’t know enough to have any idea what could be causing it.
BarerMender
Clock drift.
SeanR
This could be fixed with a simple scheduled command to sync the clock to a time standard every few hours. Even if it missed one, or several in a row, it’d still keep the clock within seconds, rather than allow a drift to progress to minutes.
jeffepp
A couple of other comics have the same issue. It might be a host problem.
Mark
A hollow voice says: “NNTP”.
Mark
Another volce says: “no you dimwit, that’s NTP.”
Jamie
Because every computer keeps an internal clock which necessarily drifts out of sync with the rest of the world because the quartz crystals that are used to keep track of time’s passage aren’t precisely identical and also heat changes their exact frequency. And any imprecision will multiply over time.
The way we solve this is by having extremely reliable clocks that exist in only a few places that can afford them (using cesium atoms), and then a network of lesser authorities that synchronize with them. Then your computer synchronizes with those. But synchronization occurs over a network, and require CPU cycles to process, and both the processing and transmission take a variable, unpredictable amount of time. (There are places on your computer you can go to find out which authority it’s synchronizing to.)
Which means, inevitably, it’s wrong. Usually, the systems we have in place are good enough to make this a non-issue, but whatever’s going on with Willis’s servers is apparently insufficient.
Also, time is bullshit.
SeanR
More resources than an HTTP call? More resources than a comment publish?
Even if it took a Whole Second to get the data and update the clock, that’s better than the several minutes of drift that the system has already experienced.
Clif
Better? Depends on what your criteria is.
Is it financially better to live with a minor drift that can be updated whenever the system is going to be reset anyway or to pay someone to fix an inconsequential problem? (And by inconsequential, we mean inconsequential to the person who would be paying for it.)
Tbf
An HTTP call costs non-zero money. An extra five minutes increases the chance someone will sign up for Patreon.
Psychie
Reminds me of when I was in high school and the time on my bedroom clock, my wrist watch, pocket watch (yeah I wore one, I’m that kind of nerd), and phone clock all drifted in different directions despite the phone clock supposedly being synced to an atomic clock via the internet and all of them being set against each other after one of them was set to an external clock (usually the school clocks since they were the ones that mattered to my situation). I’d set them every couple of months once the drift got to the point where it would start to cause problems. No other clocks I encountered regularly drifted nearly as much as any of the ones in my possession, so I like to think something about me was distorting time in a way that caused the different clocks to drift based on proximity to me.
Slartibeast Button, BIA
You were probably sleepwalking at relativistic speeds but no one would tell you.
Psychie
I’m pretty sure I’m just metaphysically dense enough to warp spacetime around me, being the Avatar of The Fool and all that.
walterw
“A man with one watch always knows what time it is.
A man with two watches is never sure.”
Psychie
In my defense, the pocket watch was for fashion and sentimentality, as it had been my grandfather’s and pocket watches are cool, keeping it set at an accurate time was more a matter of pride than practicality since the only times I’d use it to tell time was when I thought it would be funnier to whip out a pocket watch than glance at my wrist watch.
HueSatLight
scheduling with sleep instead of the system time. or worse yet, looping a noop a constant number of times that seems to take the right amount of time when you checked it with a stopwatch once.
Slartibeast Button, BIA
Resident Alcoholic?
NGPZ
Oh no. OH NO. I can’t bare to watch. ?
*plays “A Grim Fate” from Dragon Ball Z CD*
CMasta1992
On the plus side at this rate we are going to get a hell of a drunk confession from Dorothy by Friday
On the negative side, literally everything else.
Wack'd
“i didn’t actually sneeze down a guy’s nose while kissing him in middle school. i just told joyce that to make her feel better”
GholaHalleck
To WHO though? That’s gonna be the fun part.
Taffy
My money’s on Tyler. The signs have been there from the start.
Needfuldoer
It’s got to be Red Herring!
Yet_One_More_Idiot
Dotty (on Friday): drunkenly confesses to Ruth that she’s actually in love with Joyce.
Ruth: …well what should I do with THIS information…?
Schpoonman
Aw, geez, Dorothy.
saltchocolate
Dorothy’s on a rapid downward spiral here. There should be a limit to how many bad choices you can make in a single day. She’s at . . . like, 4 already, & the day’s not over.
Clif
She hasn’t propositioned Joe yet.
Kyrik Michalowski
Oh dear, this is not how I imagined how I imagined Dorothy would deal with her stress. Although I do find it funny that Ruth admits she has a type for some of these actions. I’m not sure whether that says more about Ruth or dating in general.
Angel
well, she did get drunk with billie once. dunno if she (ruth) has officially relapsed yet but it’d prolly be best if they had a heart to heart sober.
thejeff
Also at Joyce’s party. She’s not entirely opposed to drinking.
While Ruth doesn’t seem to yet be as bad as she was, she did get drunk at the bar when she hooked up with Jason and she’s talked about it a few more times. It’s okay now though – it doesn’t interfere with her new medication.
Doopyboop
She did do this once before… https://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-7/02-everything-youve-ever-wanted/counselor/
Matty
As much as I know it isn’t good for her I’m ready to see what all dark Dorothy does
Wack'd
anti-dorothy
misanthropope
Darthy
MrBookBoy
I’ve waited for a Dorothy character arc for so long and I’m being fed right now
teebee
Dorothy is coming for Ruth’s job AGAIN?
Jo_cubstar
How is trying to get drunk on her stash coming for her job?
Kyrik Michalowski
Because getting drunk and making bad decisions is basically what Ruth does.
John Campbell
Just sounds like college to me.
Wack'd
the position of bony freckled self-loathing poindexter with a drinking problem who’s still hung up on her ex is occupied
Jo_cubstar
Oh, I took it literally. Like meaning her RA job and was very confused, cause getting messed up is not being a very good RA
Disastroid
Good news! I’m pretty sure that doing something deeply embarrassing and scandalous in college, and subsequently covering it up, is a presidential rite of passage!
Slartibeast Button, BIA
Since she isn’t 21, Dorothy can’t buy her own booze, right? But is Ruth 21?
Savail
Yes, she talked about waiting for her birthday to legally drink a few storylines back.
Angel
Sure, but even as an RA, it’d probably be frowned upon to have a stash of alcohol as a student, wouldn’t be surprised if the teachers lounge also had an ’emergency stash’ , not that much more acceptable but i can see that being a realistic thing too
Nono
Also, it’s a dry campus.
thejeff
In theory. I’m not sure that’s ever a thing in practice. Certainly not IU.
BBCC
It’s a thing as long as you don’t get caught with a ton of booze.
Mada
Hmm, Dorothy/Ruth isn’t the next slipshine comic I expected, but I’ll take it.
Rose by Any Other Name
Yeah. This was not on my Ship-Dar previously, but…
… not gonna lie… I’m kinda into it.
Yotomoe
Girls this is no time to practice your Smooth Criminal Lean.
Kyrik Michalowski
Nice, I didn’t even notice until you pointed it out.
justin8448
And yet, somehow, it’s simultaneously exactly the right time!
Slartibeast Button, BIA
Like in the old Batman TV series?
newlland(Henryvolt)
I mean if not this very moment then when? It’s so fitting
Dday
You’ve been hit by
You’ve been struck by
a Dutch crimangle
BarerMender
Nice.
Wack'd
dorothy is an extremely rough criminal
Dday
No, Dorothy is smooth from all directions and at all times. Every criminal Dorothy is completely smooth no matter what angle you’re touching her from
CrimsonStorm
So, Dotty are you okay? Are you okay Dotty?
BarerMender
I can think of only one thing to think: Kiss her, Dorothy.
Wack'd
try to get contact drunk
Dday
Sha la la la
Don’t be scared
you got the mood prepared
Rose by Any Other Name
Right there with you, BarerMender.
newlland(Henryvolt)
Dorothy you need to calm the fuck down.
Your recent behavior has come off as attractive to not only Jennifer but now Ruth and much as it would have been a gorgeous hot mess, if your behaving in a type of way that would have gotten you into a 3 way with Billie and Ruth like 4 or 5 moths ago you know there’s a problem.
Wack'd
“BILLIE HAS FALLEN! NOW I, DOROTHY, AM RUTH’S GIRLFRIEND”
RassilonTDavros
You win.
Angel
Dorothy having a fling and Billie/Jen finding out about it would be quite a way to get under he skin XD
HueSatLight
Billie/Jen is not her lover, she’s just a girl who claims she was the one.
Nono