Chapter 17 | Page 8b: Emotion-Reading Technology Backfires

Posted on February 5, 2026 by Brad Guigar

Dr. Muskiday tries to turn feelings into data. His emotion-reading technology translates emotions into glowing clouds. As the experiment spirals, it becomes clear that understanding emotions is much messier than measuring them.

Double-Dog Dare!

If you’re looking for something excellent to read, my friend Dave Kellett has a brand-new Kickstarter live right now. It’s packed with never-before-printed comics and is absolutely worth checking out! https://go.evil-inc.net/Double-D

Transcript

(Panel 1)
 Holo-Clone Miss Match: Oh, Musky! I’m so PROUD of you!
 Dr. Muskiday: You are?

(Panel 2)
 Holo-Clone Miss Match: Sure! And I’ll prove it to you.
 (She sprays Dr. Muskiday’s “Project: SMILE” mist onto her chest with a “Pft Pft Pft.”)

(Panel 3)
Holo-Clone Miss Match: That’s odd. I’m definitely experiencing a twenty-five percent increase in admiration.
 (He looks at her as she stands confidently in front of him.)

(Panel 4)
 Dr. Muskiday: (sighs) I know. I wrote your approval algorithm.
 (He buries his head in his hands.)

(Panel 5)
 Computer (stylized): Disappointment detected. Initiating emotional buoyancy protocols.
 (She stands looking at the dejected Muskiday.)

(Panel 6)
 Computer (stylized): Activating file: hold_and_squeeze_those_big_puppies.exe
 (She touches her lips in contemplation.)

(Panel 7)

(Two holographic dogs appear — Oso the Pug and Digby the Dachshund from the ‘Sheldon’ comic strip— to a now overjoyed Muskiday, who grabs and cuddles them gleefully.)

 Holo-Clone Miss Match: Well… I AM proud of you!

Alt Text

Comic strip featuring Holo-Clone Miss Match (a holographic clone of Miss Match) and Dr. Muskiday (a small, humanoid fly in a lab coat) having a humorous interaction. Miss Match tells Muskiday she’s proud of him. She sprays Dr. Muskiday’s “Project: SMILE” mist onto her chest with a “Pft Pft Pft.” It fails to trigger the expected results. She insists that her admiration has increased by 25% even though it’s not indicated by the mist. Muskiday sighs, saying he knows because he wrote her approval algorithm. Detecting his disappointment, Muskiday’s computer initiates an “emotional buoyancy protocol,” executing a file named “hold_and_squeeze_those_big_puppies.exe.” Two holographic dogs appear — Oso the Pug and Digby the Dachshund from the ‘Sheldon’ comic strip — to a now overjoyed Muskiday, who grabs and cuddles them gleefully. The dogs cameo from the "Sheldon" comic strip to promote Dave Kellett’s Kickstarter book, "Double Dog Dare," available at doubledogbook.com

Site Features

Posted on September 9, 2006 by Brad Guigar

Site Features

I’ve added a new site feature — right below this blog — so I thought it would be a good idea to do a quick rundown of all the things you can do here for any new readers.

First, the new feature is a Google search engine, with which you can search the Evil Inc site. You can use this to find previous posts in the blog on a particular topic. You can also use it to search the Web itself.

Comic search: You can search the comics, too, using the Ohnorobot search engine that appears directly under each comic. Type in a word (or words), hit “Go,” and find all the comics that use the word(s) you typed. You can volunteer to transcribe a comic by clicking on “Transcribe This Comic” tag under any comic that has not been transcribed yet.

Free e-mail subscription: You can get each day’s comic mailed directly to your inbox. Just send an e-mail to [email protected] to get added to the mailing list.

Free e-mail newsletter: You can get the scoop on all of my comic projects and some insider information about the Evil Inc plot — including spoilers. Just send an e-mail to [email protected] to get added to the mailing list.

Sponsorship: For $20, you can place your ad on a button that will appear on all of the Evil Inc comic pages for an entire month. Go here for details.

One-dollar desktop wallpaper: The hot VILF logo is the current wallpaper being offered for a buck. If I don’t have your screen resolution, e-mail me and I’ll do one especially for you. Click the donation button to the right.

RSS Feed (blog): Stay updated on the latest from the blog with the RSS feed.

RSS feed (comic):The strip itself also has an RSS feed.

Forum: If you haven’t checked out the Evil Inc forum yet, you’re missing out on some fantastic topics.

Wikipedia: Evil Inc has its own Wikipedia entry. Please feel free to add to it.

Other comics: Check out my weekly sex comic, Courting Disaster, and my bi-weekly longform comic about Philadelphia, Phables.

Books: You can get collections of all my work in book form.The best seller is the graphic novel based on Evil Inc. Even if you read the strip daily, it’s a whole new experience.