Dave Van Domelen (dvandom) says: Easy solution…get them to transcribe the files onto computer before eating the hardcopy.
Basil Jelly (basil_jelly) says:
Wrong solution. Add a green copy to each form for silverfish use.
One original copy, one circulating copy, one file copy, one food copy.
THIS is the gov’t way.
Dave Van Domelen (dvandom) says: Actually, now that I think about it, give ’em a few more hours and they’ll evolve into energy beings and leave this plane of existence anyway.
Rachel S. (masamage) says: Holy cow, what a font. That is one loud bug.
Jane Narbon (lady_madsci) says:
Why not give the silverfish the contents of the recycle bin? Or give them sensitive material that needs to be destroyed (no paper shredder needed)?
—– The Mad Scientist Wars:
Still no response from my (prospective) date. I hope he got my message.
In other news, I’ve decided what hardware to take along. Oh, is Aaron in for a big surprise…
Heh heh heh.
So It Begins (soitbegins) says:
Can they eat old newspapers? How clean does the paper have to be?
The Mad Scientist Wars:
Phew! I finally get a chance to move again. My new body’s complete, and… what the… who wrecked my lab?!
Tribbles? Now who was it gave me those?! And since I’m using an entropic filing system… they ate the most important stuff. Great. Oh well, nothing else for it…
CURSE YOU, WHAT’S-YOUR-NAME!!
Ed Gedeon (eddurd) says:
How can anyone not be moved by the plight of the silverfish children? Because, as everyone knows, “All the world loves a larva.”
(NOTE: I was planning to use this pun in my own work, but given my glacial rate of updating, it’ll probably be a year before I get to that point in the story. By then you will have blissfully forgotten it, and I can inflict it upon you again. Mwahahahaha and all that …)
Justin Grubbs (the_purple_knight) says: *Bows Graciously* Thank You, thank you very much. (Just so you know, those tribbles are going to die in a couple of hours. I made it so that they can’t be sent back to me that way.)
Sean O’Kelly (malakai47) says:
HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY EVERYONE!!!!
Aaron Shades (prof_tinker) says:
. . . . yes, what *shall* we tell the larva, eh? ‘m bloody well interested now.
The Mad Wars
Dear Miss jane Narbon,
While i am incredibly honored by your prospect of a fine thinly-veiled attempt on my life through romance, i must decline.
You see, So It Begins has a better chance at ensnaring me in a faux-romance than you do, shall we say.
-Prof.T
And justin? Kudos, good sir! *claps happily* Magnificent! A fine display of geek reference and Deadly Weapon! Why, not since the MPFC Black Knight 3000 have I seen such a display.
Edwin Quantrall (reynard) says:
There are plenty of solutions to the Silverfish problem (in addition to those mentioned above):
Old Phone Books.
Old paperback books.
Old Bibles and religious tracts. (Except for anything by Jack Chick — we don’t want to *kill* the poor things, after all…)
Old catalogues.
Old magazines, etc.
a (erichamion) says: What shall we tell the larvae?
Nothing. The silverfish are obviously shrewd negotiators, playing on Tip’s sympathies.
First, they can live over a year without food. I’m sure a little diet – maybe a 3-month fast – wouldn’t hurt them.
Second, even if the first point were false (who knows? they are irradiated), there are so many other food sources it doesn’t matter. Outside the suggestions for getting more paper to them, I’m sure the office supplies they’ve pilfered include a bottle or two of Elmer’s, which would be a feast.
Third and most telling, there are no larvae! Silverfish hatch as nymphs, not larvae. So there are no wriggley wormy things, just teeny tiny silverfish. Since they don’t exist, the silverfish needn’t tell the larvae anything.
No, I don’t just know all this. When the silverfish were first identified, I did some googling. This page has all the above information: http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/aimg2.html
Tiff Hudson (tiff_hudson) says:
Cripes! Those silverfish could make a killing working for Iron Mountain.
So It Begins (soitbegins) says:
What the– what happened to the comments that were here?
Madsci Wars:
So this upstart’ll wreck my lab with tribbles, huh? Well…ok. Get a sample of the Tribbles’ DNA before they all die, crossbreed them, so forth…
AHA! I have created the INVISIBLE TRIBBLE!
I think I’ll send 3 or 4 of these to Mr. Purple Knight, by way of thanking him for clearing up my messy desk.
Jane Narbon (lady_madsci) says:
I don’t know – they just vanished. REPOST OF MY LAST COMMENT:
Uh-oh. I can see trouble coming. Break out the therapy puppets!
—–
The Mad Scientist Wars:
What? He rejects my invitation on the grounds that it would have been an attempt on his life?! How can he be so distrustful? If worst had come to worst, I’d have only singed him a bit.
Anyway, I’ll fix his wagon.
Let me see… ah!
(hours later)
Ok, let me see. Computer, load this fleet of remote-controlled drone model planes with disintegration bombs, then tell them to drop the bombs on the lab of a certain Professor Tinker after he leaves. Once this is done, have the plane carrying the note– say, where did I put that note? Oh. Haven’t written it yet. Hold command.
Now then…
“I hope you enjoyed the bombardment! Consider it my gift to you.
Jane Narbon
P.S: If you ever change your mind and do decide you want to have dinner, my schedule’s always open.”
Yes. Computer, resume command recording.
…then, have a plane drop this note in the rubble. Launch planes… now.
Ed Gedeon (eddurd) says:
Don’t panic, Tip. What he meant was that you must defeat the monster centipede in “Mortal Kombat”, as in the video game. Of course, considering the number of appendages that the centipede has to work the controller, you are gonna get pwned soooooo bad.
As for the honor guard, now I have the march from “Aida”, played by teensy-weensy trumpets, going through my head.
Scott Davidson (mrson) says:
Considering the size of the silverfish, “enourmous monster” centipedes may just be a few inches long.
But then, whose luck is that good in a webcomic?
Dave Van Domelen (dvandom) says: Repost: depends on whether enormous is bigger than colossal, I guess. And whether the silverfishi use D20 size charts.
Jeffrey Channing Wells (channing) says: DVD: So, are the silverfish “fine”, would you say? And if you do say so, does that mean you are coming on to them?!?
Jeremy Berg (pisceneanteater) says: [rimshot for the Warren Commission joke]
Shaenon Garrity (shaenongarrity) says:
Personally, I hope they’re the centipedes from the video game “Centipede.” Low-res is so much easier to draw.
Aaron Shades (prof_tinker) says:
Tip is the master of the ‘I have a bad feeling about this’ look. I suppose that in his job, he has to be.
also, that is a very emotive silverfish. Kudos.
The Mad Wars:
. . . . . MY LAB!!!! Great Googly-Moogly, Someone has reduced my lab to so much rubble and dust!
Wait, theres a note.
. . . . good grief. I guess he meant it. Well, I’ll be.
Well, I’ll get Fluffy to call up the regular guys to fix my lab again, they give me a discount for every five repairs. In the meantime. . . . I’d better deal with this Miss. Narbon.
“Dear Miss. Narbon
Do fogive me for causing you offense, I had no such intention to do so. I merely wished to try and gently insinuate that I am, shall we say, a Michalangelo rather than a Picasso.
I would be delighted to accompany you to dinner, just as soon as my bedamnned lab is back up.
-Tinker”
Justin Grubbs (the_purple_knight) says:
Thinking about that silverfish getting up on a podium and speaking to his people makes me laugh. Friends, Silverfish, Fortezzans, lend me your antennae. I come not to starve our children but to save them.
Mad Science Wars:
What, why can’t I get into my Lab? There appears to be some sort of squishy invisible wall. Computer analyze!
INVISIBLE TRIBBLES
Oh.
Well as long as we’re playing up the ante I’ll just send him invisible EXPLODING tribbles.
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Dave Van Domelen (dvandom) says: I almost added the “Fine” joke, but thought better of it.
Basil Jelly (basil_jelly) says:
“As for the honor guard, now I have the march from “Aida”, played by teensy-weensy trumpets, going through my head.”
With horsefly elephants.
So It Begins (soitbegins) says:
Oh dear. I suspect that giant == GIANT.
The Madboy (+Madgirl) wars:
Ahhh, another quiet day at the lab. Time to sit back, relax, and hammer out the details of my latest plot to take over the world. KA-BOOM!
Wha– what was that? And what’s with the impact crater in my floor? KA-BOOM!
Ok, this is just weird. If it’s Mr. Purple Knight trying to get back at me for the tribbles, then– KA-BOOM!
This is getting ridiculous. Prime, what’s causing the bangs?
Oh.
Well, then, I think I’ll outsmart him. Send him… I know. Send him this empty box. Then we will see how he reacts.
Dave Van Domelen (dvandom) says: Easy solution…get them to transcribe the files onto computer before eating the hardcopy.
Basil Jelly (basil_jelly) says:
Wrong solution. Add a green copy to each form for silverfish use.
One original copy, one circulating copy, one file copy, one food copy.
THIS is the gov’t way.
Dave Van Domelen (dvandom) says: Actually, now that I think about it, give ’em a few more hours and they’ll evolve into energy beings and leave this plane of existence anyway.
Rachel S. (masamage) says: Holy cow, what a font. That is one loud bug.
Jane Narbon (lady_madsci) says:
Why not give the silverfish the contents of the recycle bin? Or give them sensitive material that needs to be destroyed (no paper shredder needed)?
—–
The Mad Scientist Wars:
Still no response from my (prospective) date. I hope he got my message.
In other news, I’ve decided what hardware to take along. Oh, is Aaron in for a big surprise…
Heh heh heh.
So It Begins (soitbegins) says:
Can they eat old newspapers? How clean does the paper have to be?
The Mad Scientist Wars:
Phew! I finally get a chance to move again. My new body’s complete, and… what the… who wrecked my lab?!
Tribbles? Now who was it gave me those?! And since I’m using an entropic filing system… they ate the most important stuff. Great. Oh well, nothing else for it…
CURSE YOU, WHAT’S-YOUR-NAME!!
Ed Gedeon (eddurd) says:
How can anyone not be moved by the plight of the silverfish children? Because, as everyone knows, “All the world loves a larva.”
(NOTE: I was planning to use this pun in my own work, but given my glacial rate of updating, it’ll probably be a year before I get to that point in the story. By then you will have blissfully forgotten it, and I can inflict it upon you again. Mwahahahaha and all that …)
Justin Grubbs (the_purple_knight) says: *Bows Graciously* Thank You, thank you very much. (Just so you know, those tribbles are going to die in a couple of hours. I made it so that they can’t be sent back to me that way.)
Sean O’Kelly (malakai47) says:
HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY EVERYONE!!!!
Aaron Shades (prof_tinker) says:
. . . . yes, what *shall* we tell the larva, eh? ‘m bloody well interested now.
The Mad Wars
Dear Miss jane Narbon,
While i am incredibly honored by your prospect of a fine thinly-veiled attempt on my life through romance, i must decline.
You see, So It Begins has a better chance at ensnaring me in a faux-romance than you do, shall we say.
-Prof.T
And justin? Kudos, good sir! *claps happily* Magnificent! A fine display of geek reference and Deadly Weapon! Why, not since the MPFC Black Knight 3000 have I seen such a display.
Edwin Quantrall (reynard) says:
There are plenty of solutions to the Silverfish problem (in addition to those mentioned above):
Old Phone Books.
Old paperback books.
Old Bibles and religious tracts. (Except for anything by Jack Chick — we don’t want to *kill* the poor things, after all…)
Old catalogues.
Old magazines, etc.
a (erichamion) says:
What shall we tell the larvae?
Nothing. The silverfish are obviously shrewd negotiators, playing on Tip’s sympathies.
First, they can live over a year without food. I’m sure a little diet – maybe a 3-month fast – wouldn’t hurt them.
Second, even if the first point were false (who knows? they are irradiated), there are so many other food sources it doesn’t matter. Outside the suggestions for getting more paper to them, I’m sure the office supplies they’ve pilfered include a bottle or two of Elmer’s, which would be a feast.
Third and most telling, there are no larvae! Silverfish hatch as nymphs, not larvae. So there are no wriggley wormy things, just teeny tiny silverfish. Since they don’t exist, the silverfish needn’t tell the larvae anything.
No, I don’t just know all this. When the silverfish were first identified, I did some googling. This page has all the above information:
http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/aimg2.html
Tiff Hudson (tiff_hudson) says:
Cripes! Those silverfish could make a killing working for Iron Mountain.
So It Begins (soitbegins) says:
What the– what happened to the comments that were here?
Madsci Wars:
So this upstart’ll wreck my lab with tribbles, huh? Well…ok. Get a sample of the Tribbles’ DNA before they all die, crossbreed them, so forth…
AHA! I have created the INVISIBLE TRIBBLE!
I think I’ll send 3 or 4 of these to Mr. Purple Knight, by way of thanking him for clearing up my messy desk.
Jane Narbon (lady_madsci) says:
I don’t know – they just vanished.
REPOST OF MY LAST COMMENT:
Uh-oh. I can see trouble coming. Break out the therapy puppets!
—–
The Mad Scientist Wars:
What? He rejects my invitation on the grounds that it would have been an attempt on his life?! How can he be so distrustful? If worst had come to worst, I’d have only singed him a bit.
Anyway, I’ll fix his wagon.
Let me see… ah!
(hours later)
Ok, let me see. Computer, load this fleet of remote-controlled drone model planes with disintegration bombs, then tell them to drop the bombs on the lab of a certain Professor Tinker after he leaves. Once this is done, have the plane carrying the note– say, where did I put that note? Oh. Haven’t written it yet. Hold command.
Now then…
“I hope you enjoyed the bombardment! Consider it my gift to you.
Jane Narbon
P.S: If you ever change your mind and do decide you want to have dinner, my schedule’s always open.”
Yes. Computer, resume command recording.
…then, have a plane drop this note in the rubble. Launch planes… now.
Heh heh heh.
N.B. these comments should be for yesterday’s strip, which isn’t (as of Sept 1, 2012) on the new site.
Ed Gedeon (eddurd) says:
Don’t panic, Tip. What he meant was that you must defeat the monster centipede in “Mortal Kombat”, as in the video game. Of course, considering the number of appendages that the centipede has to work the controller, you are gonna get pwned soooooo bad.
As for the honor guard, now I have the march from “Aida”, played by teensy-weensy trumpets, going through my head.
Scott Davidson (mrson) says:
Considering the size of the silverfish, “enourmous monster” centipedes may just be a few inches long.
But then, whose luck is that good in a webcomic?
Dave Van Domelen (dvandom) says: Repost: depends on whether enormous is bigger than colossal, I guess. And whether the silverfishi use D20 size charts.
Jeffrey Channing Wells (channing) says: DVD: So, are the silverfish “fine”, would you say? And if you do say so, does that mean you are coming on to them?!?
Jeremy Berg (pisceneanteater) says: [rimshot for the Warren Commission joke]
Shaenon Garrity (shaenongarrity) says:
Personally, I hope they’re the centipedes from the video game “Centipede.” Low-res is so much easier to draw.
Aaron Shades (prof_tinker) says:
Tip is the master of the ‘I have a bad feeling about this’ look. I suppose that in his job, he has to be.
also, that is a very emotive silverfish. Kudos.
The Mad Wars:
. . . . . MY LAB!!!! Great Googly-Moogly, Someone has reduced my lab to so much rubble and dust!
Wait, theres a note.
. . . . good grief. I guess he meant it. Well, I’ll be.
Well, I’ll get Fluffy to call up the regular guys to fix my lab again, they give me a discount for every five repairs. In the meantime. . . . I’d better deal with this Miss. Narbon.
“Dear Miss. Narbon
Do fogive me for causing you offense, I had no such intention to do so. I merely wished to try and gently insinuate that I am, shall we say, a Michalangelo rather than a Picasso.
I would be delighted to accompany you to dinner, just as soon as my bedamnned lab is back up.
-Tinker”
Justin Grubbs (the_purple_knight) says:
Thinking about that silverfish getting up on a podium and speaking to his people makes me laugh. Friends, Silverfish, Fortezzans, lend me your antennae. I come not to starve our children but to save them.
Mad Science Wars:
What, why can’t I get into my Lab? There appears to be some sort of squishy invisible wall. Computer analyze!
INVISIBLE TRIBBLES
Oh.
Well as long as we’re playing up the ante I’ll just send him invisible EXPLODING tribbles.
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Dave Van Domelen (dvandom) says: I almost added the “Fine” joke, but thought better of it.
David Harmon (mental_mouse) says:
A historical forebear of Mustachio:
http://www.davidbuckley.net/DB/HistoryMakers/1868DederickSteamMan.htm
Basil Jelly (basil_jelly) says:
“As for the honor guard, now I have the march from “Aida”, played by teensy-weensy trumpets, going through my head.”
With horsefly elephants.
So It Begins (soitbegins) says:
Oh dear. I suspect that giant == GIANT.
The Madboy (+Madgirl) wars:
Ahhh, another quiet day at the lab. Time to sit back, relax, and hammer out the details of my latest plot to take over the world.
KA-BOOM!
Wha– what was that? And what’s with the impact crater in my floor?
KA-BOOM!
Ok, this is just weird. If it’s Mr. Purple Knight trying to get back at me for the tribbles, then–
KA-BOOM!
This is getting ridiculous. Prime, what’s causing the bangs?
Oh.
Well, then, I think I’ll outsmart him. Send him… I know. Send him this empty box. Then we will see how he reacts.