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

Comic Con International 2006 Report, Part Three

Posted on August 1, 2006 by Brad Guigar
Comic Con International 2006 Report, Part ThreeThe Wyndham at Emerald Plaza

The Wyndham was a very nice hotel, excpet for the fact that they actually charged me $30 for the three boxes I had shipped to myself at the hotel. I asked why and they told my it was for storing the books. At ten bucks a book, I saked the guy at the front desk if my boxes had been given a private room. He was stonefaced. Must have heard that one before.

I’ve been travelling for comic conventions since 2000 and this was a first for me. But it was late and I didn’t feel like hassling the poor bellman. I gave the kid $30 plus a 20% tip. When I went to check out Monday, they actually tried to charge me for the boxes again! I told them that I wasn’t thrilled with paying it once and I wasn’t about to pay for it again. After a long, stern conversation, I would up getting screwed by the Wyndham only once — instead of the intended twice.

The panel

I wasn’t prepared for the crowds Friday. We opted for the shuttle from the hotel on the first morning and quickly realized that we could have walked it more quickly. As it was, we barely made it to the convention center in time for the BLC panel discussion, which was the first of the morning Friday.

For the rest of BLC, this was their first opportunity to meet Paul Taylor. After a quick round of handshakes and introductions, we lept to the stage and kicked off the discussion. Steve Troop had painstakingly prepared one of his QuickCasts to open the presentation.

After that, we launched headlong into an invigorating discussion of business models for independent cartoonists who use the Web as a primary delivery system. A key point: Webcomics are dead. If you’re going to succeed as a cartoonist, you have to think of yourself as the whole package — including not just the Web, but books, self-syndication, magazine reprint, etc.

The subscription model was hotly debated once more. From our standpoint, we’d love to see the subscription model work. But the fact is, it just doesn’t. You can compare webcomics to cable TV… or pay-per-play videogames… or satellite radio… or any of the dozens of other entertainment entities that survive on the subscription model, but the truth of the matter is readers just aren’t willing to subscribe to a daily comic.

Yours Truly went on one of his very familiar rants when the excuse of the “starving college student” was used as an excuse not to support one’s favorite webcomic. My response, in summary was, (a) I reject that most college students don’t have disposible income (and so does Anheuser-Busch, incidentally) and (b) No one will ever force you to support a cartoonist by buying a book or T-shirt, making a donation, etc…. but you forfeit your right to complain when said cartoonist finally moves on to more lucritive work and leaves the comic you love behind. ‘Nuff said. 🙂

There were no Big Announcements and we’ve no plans to add members at this time. That’s just not who we are. We’re a co-op of independent cartoonists who are helping one another succeed in their businesses. The purpose of our panel was to share what we learned in our first year. Oh, and have a ridiculous amount of fun in the process.

From everything I gathered, we succeeded on all counts. 🙂