SMBC to the rescue
March 17, 2020 8:56 AM Subscribe
The SMBC Covid-19 Book Pack is a series of PDF books by the author of webcomic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal (previously). Highlights include Shakespeare's sonnets and the Holy Bible, "abridged beyond the point of usefulness."
The science on is great.
There are exactly three numbers: 0, 1, and
∞. The use of anything else is a form of dandyism.
posted by NoMich at 9:12 AM on March 17, 2020 [2 favorites]
There are exactly three numbers: 0, 1, and
∞. The use of anything else is a form of dandyism.
posted by NoMich at 9:12 AM on March 17, 2020 [2 favorites]
This is related, funny, and frothy enough to go here: The first lines of 10 classic novels, rewritten for social distancing.
posted by chavenet at 9:18 AM on March 17, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by chavenet at 9:18 AM on March 17, 2020 [5 favorites]
Yep, that's the Bible alright.
posted by HypotheticalWoman at 10:09 AM on March 17, 2020
posted by HypotheticalWoman at 10:09 AM on March 17, 2020
Beyond usefulness, my ass. That's pretty much all I've ever wanted or needed to know about the Bible!
posted by rhizome at 10:18 AM on March 17, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by rhizome at 10:18 AM on March 17, 2020 [3 favorites]
I dunno. They left out a lot of begats.
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:28 AM on March 17, 2020
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:28 AM on March 17, 2020
The Superfluous Begats would be a terrible band name.
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:07 PM on March 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:07 PM on March 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
Creation Science: [this section intentionally left blank]
Heh.
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:32 PM on March 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
Heh.
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:32 PM on March 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
Creation Science: [this section intentionally left blank]
I like the joke here, but wow does that format always annoy me. "This page intentionally left blank" even more so. Like, it's not blank now, it's got the explanation on it. At least just put a few linebreaks or a page break and say "previous section/page intentionally left blank".
posted by Dysk at 12:39 PM on March 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
I like the joke here, but wow does that format always annoy me. "This page intentionally left blank" even more so. Like, it's not blank now, it's got the explanation on it. At least just put a few linebreaks or a page break and say "previous section/page intentionally left blank".
posted by Dysk at 12:39 PM on March 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
For the youngsters in the audience, the "This page intentionally left blank" is, to my knowledge, a reference to IBM manuals back in the age of Big Iron. It was placed, right in the middle, of a page, so that one could tell that it wasn't blank due to an error during reproduction (pages sticking together, etc) - so it needs to be where it is, not after a blank page...
posted by Johnny Quaternion at 1:10 PM on March 17, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by Johnny Quaternion at 1:10 PM on March 17, 2020 [2 favorites]
I'm used to seeing it in the building code as a "we might need to put something in this space eventually, but we're not sure what yet" kind of thing, or just to keep certain pages facing the correct direction, like if you want all your chapters to start on the right side.
posted by LionIndex at 1:35 PM on March 17, 2020
posted by LionIndex at 1:35 PM on March 17, 2020
The abridged Bible is perfect. Science is pretty good, too.
posted by tommasz at 1:44 PM on March 17, 2020
posted by tommasz at 1:44 PM on March 17, 2020
the "This page intentionally left blank" is, to my knowledge, a reference to IBM manuals back in the age of Big Iron
It's still used. I've seen it in mutual fund account statements within the past month.
posted by rhizome at 3:33 PM on March 17, 2020 [2 favorites]
It's still used. I've seen it in mutual fund account statements within the past month.
posted by rhizome at 3:33 PM on March 17, 2020 [2 favorites]
It's a bit of an indictment of the author's skills that, apparently, the most conversation-worthy part of these works is the blank page.
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:23 PM on March 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:23 PM on March 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
It's a bit of an indictment of the author's skills that, apparently, the most conversation-worthy part of these works is the blank page.
Nah, I've only read (half of) the sonnets one but it made me laugh and was also educational.
Shakespeare then becomes infatuated with a woman who, by the tofu-ish standards of Northern Europe, is dark in complexion.
(I should point out that I've never read the sonnets and my only exposure to them until now was via Oscar Wilde.)
posted by trig at 4:54 PM on March 17, 2020
Nah, I've only read (half of) the sonnets one but it made me laugh and was also educational.
Shakespeare then becomes infatuated with a woman who, by the tofu-ish standards of Northern Europe, is dark in complexion.
(I should point out that I've never read the sonnets and my only exposure to them until now was via Oscar Wilde.)
posted by trig at 4:54 PM on March 17, 2020
Not at all! I'm working hard to contrive up situations where I can wield any of the 2**7 nerd disses!
posted by Johnny Quaternion at 4:56 PM on March 17, 2020
posted by Johnny Quaternion at 4:56 PM on March 17, 2020
> "For the youngsters in the audience, the "This page intentionally left blank" is, to my knowledge, a reference to IBM manuals back in the age of Big Iron."Much older than that…
Personally, I quite like the 1873 equivalent:
"Further, when any blank is left in the record, and yet there is nothing wanting, it may be ſcored, or which is more proper, filled up with nihil hic deeſt; which words may be lengthened or ſhortened according to the bounds of the blank."posted by Pinback at 5:20 PM on March 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
"The Bounds of the Blank" is a great prog-rock concept album name.
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:36 PM on March 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:36 PM on March 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
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posted by whir at 9:01 AM on March 17, 2020