Business Casual

Comic for Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 CST

Comic for Monday, March 8, 2010

Mon, 8 Mar 2010 00:00:00 CST

Caution: SQL Jokes Ahead

Mon, 8 Mar 2010 00:00:00 CST

For the next few comics, I'm trying to create jokes around a particular topic - SQL. This will probably be met with varying levels of success as I usually don't try and limit comic ideas. Also, I'm not sure exactly how much funny is in SQL. Do I fall back on lamer, old-school jokes like, "A SQL query walks into a bar and goes up to two tables. He says to the tables, 'Can I join you?'" or can I create something else? We'll see.

So why am I trying this when I don't even know if I can come up with SQL jokes? Well, there's a couple of reasons. First, I have my eye on a tech conference that specializes in SQL. I'm hoping that I can use these next few comics as a way to promote myself to the conference. Second, this also helps me practice in creating specific jokes for a specific topic. So, in the future, if I start offering a custom comic creation service for newsletters, etc, I can have some experience as creating topical comics on the fly.

Comic for Friday, March 5, 2010

Fri, 5 Mar 2010 00:00:00 CST

You Don't Need A Life

Fri, 5 Mar 2010 00:00:00 CST

Sometimes, I've looked at a project timeline and wondered if management was expecting me just to sleep at the office. The best one that I've ever received, however, was a timeline where if I would have worked 7 days a week and 24 hours a day, I still wouldn't have been able to meet the deadline. Thankfully, we were able to bring in some additional people to help so I was able to hold to a tiny shred of my sanity.

Also, in today's comic, I tried a new technique where I added a texture type thing to the background of the comic. I think I went too dark with it in today's comic, but it's something that I'll probably try again. I may even adjust today's comic later tonight as it just looks like the walls are dirty in the strip today.

In Business Casual book news, I'm getting closer to setting up a pre-order. I'm hoping to finish the book cover this weekend, and then I'll just have some a couple of pages left to do before I can send it out for my proof copy. My best guesstimate is that I'll have the book ready for shipment around the first week of May.

Comic for Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Wed, 3 Mar 2010 00:00:00 CST

Computer Life Span

Wed, 3 Mar 2010 00:00:00 CST

I've had the same Desktop PC at my house for about 9 years now. It's had some issues as I've had to replace a power supply and a case fan. I've also installed an additional hard drive back when 100 GB used to be a decent hard drive space, installed a wireless network card, and added some basic Bluetooth connectivity. So I have done a bit of maintenance to my machine. I also understand that I'm above the skill level of the average user so my experiences with computers may be skewed.

However, my gast gets flabbered when I hear of people that have to upgrade their computer after two years because it's running slowly. Unless you're an avid PC gamer or running some hyper-intensive programs that requires a lot of power, I don't see any reason why a computer shouldn't last at least five years. Most people only use their computer for a few tasks, and it doesn't take a brand new, state of the art machine to surf the Internet, email, play music/movies, and store pictures. The real reason is that they just can't keep their computer in good working order.

Am I being unreasonable here? Should people be replacing their computers every three years? Are Mac users exempt from the life cycle? The comments are always open if you have an opinion.

Comic for Monday, March 1, 2010

Mon, 1 Mar 2010 00:00:00 CST

Comic for Friday, February 26, 2010

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:00:00 CST

Entity, Thy Name Is Frustration

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:00:00 CST

I've read that some of the major issues with the .NET Entity Framework is being addressed in Visual Studio 2010. Even so, I've heard nothing but bad things about working with this framework, and it feels like the kind of bloated piece of software that, in my opinion, developers should avoid. I haven't had much direct interaction with it myself, but I've heard the laments of other developers that were trapped in its clutches.

And if you're a developer and have never had to suffer its wrath, and have no clue what I'm talking about, then you are blessed indeed.

Comic for Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:00:00 CST

Honesty Isn't The Best Policy

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:00:00 CST

To be fair, though, I'm not sure if I'd actually want to hear an honest opinion about myself either. What would it say? Maybe one of the following phrases would appear.

-May enjoy webcomic more than job

-Only appears to be taking actual notes in meetings

-Makes up for coming in late by leaving early

-Tried to poison coworkers with something called "Sweet Tea"

Feel like telling on yourself or want to give your honest opinion about the comic? Go ahead. The comments are always open.

Comic for Monday, February 22, 2010

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:00:00 CST

Comic for Friday, February 19, 2010

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:00:00 CST

Opportunity Wasted

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:00:00 CST

Poor Pete. Maybe one day, he'll get his chance.

One of my far-reaching goals this year is to try and promote my comic at something other than a comic book convention. While I have some success getting people interested in my stuff, I feel like most of the people at these conventions would rather see something Batman related than a humor strip about business and IT life. So if anyone knows of an IT/tech/programming conference that would like a different kind of vendor, feel free to point me to their site and their organizers here.

In my perfect dream world, I'd love to partner up with a conference, create some humorous comics and ad banners for them that promote their site/event, and then set up a booth at the show. Even a conference with only 500 guests could potentially do more for me than going to a big show like San Diego Comic Con because all 500 people at the conference are my target audience.

If anyone out there knows of a good convention in the Midwest area, shoot me an email or leave a note in the comments.

Comic for Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:00:00 CST

Food and Text Received

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:00:00 CST

With the ever increasing abundance of people who prefer texting, email, tweeting, or other forms of electronic communication to an actual conversation, what will the world be like in 10-20 years? Will my kids go on dates where they just sit across the table from someone and type out messages to them? Will they even sit across a table on a date, or will physical dates be a thing of the past in favor of virtual dates?

Either way, I can't wait to shake my head and fist in frustration over the way these kids and their newfangled technologies are not doing things the proper way.

And I better be doing it in my flying car. And those flying cars better get here quickly. According to Back to the Future Part 2, we're supposed to have them by 2015.