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The Saturday Comics: Superman and the Tandy Computer Whiz Kids (Classic Repost)

7 Apr

April 7, 2012

I like this one. It features Superman, a guy in an eye patch, and a computer with as much as 512 KB of memory. What’s not to like?

From August 3, 2010

The answer is so obvious, I’m shocked no one else has seen it.

We have oil spilling into the gulf.
We have the threat of terrorism.
We have severe economic troubles.

Has no one ever read this comic?

Al Gore would love this comic. It combines two things he invented, the internet and climate change.

Back in the ’80’s, Radio Shack, perhaps hoping to create the next X-Men, put out a series of comics featuring “The Tandy Computer Whiz Kids.” Alec and Shanna, the “Whiz Kids,” were you’re typical Archie and Betty-type kids (very bland) that somehow found themselves in Scooby Doo situations every week.

You know he's evil because he wears an eye patch!

They foiled kidnappers, stopped drug dealers, and even averted World War Three by stopping a rogue soviet nuclear submarine.

How did they do it? By using their Tandy Computer TRS-80, which they plugged every chance they got.

Behold the TRS-80!

BEHOLD!

Type: Home computer
Release date: 1980
Discontinued: 1991
Operating system: Color BASIC 1.0 / 2.0 / OS-9
CPU: Motorola 6809E @ 0.895 MHz / 1.79 MHz
Memory: 4 KB / 16 KB / 32 KB/ 64 KB / 128 KB / 512 KB

Imagine- they stopped World War Three with less computing power than your average cell phone!

Eventually Alec and Shanna managed to clean up their own city and were soon invited into the Justice League, where they teamed with Superman to save Metropolis.

The Brave and The Bold

Alec and Shanna retired from heroics in the early nineties. They could no longer keep up with villains who used the internet or texted. (There were also rumors of an affair between Shanna and Robin.)

However, their influence is still felt today, as one of their community organizers has gone on to greater fame.

They Are Out to Netflix Me (Netflix 5)

29 Feb

February 29, 2012

One again it is time to take a look at Netflix, whose squirrel-based algorithms always manage to come up with suggestions for movies which I might not want to see but will probably get a laugh out of their reasoning.

For example, this was the very first thing they suggested today:

If you have never seen Downfall, trust me, you have seen Downfall. Go to YouTube and search for “Hitler” and you will get a million videos just like this one below:

But getting back to Netflix, why would they think I’d watch a film about Hitler because I enjoyed Curb your Enthusiasm? What is the connection?  I think it is obvious. Hitler. Larry David. The Jews. Thanks a lot Netflix, you anti-Semitic bastards.

What the what now? Does this make any sense to you? Maybe Netflix can provide some clarification.

Clearly Netflix is just recommending things at random. Want more proof?

A Shot in the Dark is a hysterical Peter Sellers Inspector Clouseau film. The others are not comedies. A Shot in the Dark takes place in France.Casablanca has a flashback set in France. Chinatown features a detective. Peter Sellers plays a detective in A Shot in the Dark. The Birds is a Hitchcock film about birds attacking humans. A Shot in the Dark may feature some pigeons in an outdoor shot. Is this the best you can do, Netflix?

Duck Soup is a classic Marx Brothers comedy. The other films are not comedies, not even close. So what is the only possible reason for this recommendation?

Seriously, I want you to tell me, what is the only possible reason for this recommendation? ‘Cause I have no idea.