1) The Milton ferrets first appear - pleased and excited at going from "being given away for free" to "multibillionaires".
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/07/ ... n-babylon/
Note: The Milton Estate is a huge house, with some fairly extensive grounds, at the end of Babylon Drive.
2) The ferrets are indulging their love of shiny things.
Note: Henry Milton built the neighborhood.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/07/ ... ngs-first/
3) The ferrets apparently want to personally interact with the other pets.
Inference The ferrets may have been a bit isolated up until now.
Note: Henry Milton loved animals of all kinds, lost his taste for high living years ago, and disliked people treating their pets like toys - which was apparently all too common.
4) The ferrets are still amusing themsleves with the privileges of being absurdly rich, although they do seem to miss "Dad".
5) The ferrets aren't too serious - at least as yet - about living as "Dad" would have liked them too.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/07/ ... gs-change/
6) The ferrets have requested Herman Steward to serve as their steward because of the inherent pun.
7) The ferrets will be allowing tours of the Milton Estate, and the first one will be pets-only.
8) The ferrets will be awarding one pet on the tour a grand prize of their own choosing.
Note: Fox feels that the ferrets are blatantly eccentric, and that the prize may well be something weird and useless.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/07/ ... mpetition/
9) Duke likes to eat mice and/or is finding amusement in harrassing Fido and Spo.
10) Duke is also very direct, and definitely a predator.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/07/ ... -cant-buy/
11) The ferrets can see through Joey's disguises. Admittedly, Joey’s disguise is improvised and consists of nothing but a bit of a mask, and the size is wrong - but they're still the first pets seen to do so without prompting.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/07/ ... y-the-foo/
12) Fox feels that the ferrets are reveling in their money, but still clearly anti-elitist. Given that he's presumably seen more of them than the readers, the opnion has some weight.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/08/ ... et-so-far/
13) The ferrets feel that Bino is either stupid or crazy - and that video games are more interesting than he is.
14) The ferrets are aware of the local dog club, and that Bino is more or less running it.
Inference: The Ferrets get at least partial reports on what’s going on in the neighborhood from someone.
15) The ferrets are using blackberrys and Email - and have either been monitoring the security footage or (more likely) have been having someone else do it.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/08/ ... somewhere/
16) The ferrets awarded their grand prize (a big bag of money) to Daisy, but named their new pet health and wellness fund after Bino - the "Boy Bino sure is an idiot trust fund".
Note: We get a clear full-body comparison in this strip; the ferrets are indeed quite small.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/08/ ... llar-sign/
17) The ferrets - or at least Keene - are riding around in limousines, drinking orange soda - and occasionally picking up stray animals.
18) The ferrets - or at least Keene - have no sense of caution. After all, wolves will normally happily eat ferrets.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/10/ ... n-the-car/
19) The ferrets have been binging on ferretone (an oily, flavored, vitamin and fatty-acid supplement for ferret diets).
20) The ferrets apparently want to follow through on Mr Milton's desire to prove that animals are "people" too, and are not just subject to instinct and appetite.
21) Evidently the ferrets still miss Mr Milton, want to follow through on his goals, and feel guilty over not doing so vey well - at least as of yet.
22) Ferrets get drunk on orange soda.
Note: I've never been able to tell if sugar had an intoxicating effect on ferrets: all of them I've encountered seem to be constantly crazy anyway.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/10/ ... st-friend/
23) The ferrets seem to recover from sugar-intoxication quite rapidly.
24) The ferrets - or at least Keene - are evidently going to be trying to bring ferals into civilization and demonstrate that ferals, and presumably pets, are, indeed, people - just like human beings.
25) The ferrets seem to be well aware of the legalities of being and owning pets, and want to adhere to the letter of the law the better to bend it out of all recognition.
Inference: They've probably had quite a few consultations with competent lawyers over what they can and cannot get away with doing.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/10/ ... o-they-do/
26) Money talks. As the local landlords, the ferrets have a lot of influence, both direct and indirect.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/10/ ... y-officer/
27) Lana has been going over Mile's papers; evidently the pack is a general project for the ferrets.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2010/01/ ... -nor-face/
28) The ferrets have been investing essentially at random. Fortunately, they're incredibly lucky.
29) The ferrets are also considered quite newsworth - although the impression they're producing is questionable.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2010/01/11/easy-money/
30) The ferrets have found a “treasure mapâ€, but seem to be paying no attention to the instructions on it, even if they are apparently from Mr Milton.
31) The ferrets like newspeople, and are - apparently - somewhat silly.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2010/01/ ... t-of-none/
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Possible Backstory for the Milton Ferrets:
In this case, there is - once again - essentially nothing to explain. They’re ferrets, they were probably purchased from a pet store (if Mr Milton was rescuing pets, there would presumably be more than six ferrets around given his level of wealth), and they were left a lot of money. Like most ferrets, they’re far more energetic and enthusiastic than sensible. In their own quixotic and eccentric way, they’ve taken up their deceased “Dad’s†philosophical position - but are trying to push it well beyond the simple “pet-friendly neighborhood†that Mr Milton opted to have as his most public display of support for animal rights on into blatant attempts to bring animals into human society as equals.
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Responses:
For Frank:
It's possible - although I'd wonder why the Raccoons appeared to be startled in the last panel. If it was Grape speaking earlier, I'd expect that the unfamiliar voice coming from a different direction would provoke something other than a "Hey, I'm hungry" response given the raccoons evident desire to avoid encounters ("Let's get out of here"). Now, it is possible that the Raccoon #1 (the one with the banana-peel on it's head and thus presumably the one that knocked over the trash) was over towards where Grape entered the room and ran towards the exit - knocking over the trash on the way - Raccoon #2 was talking to Grape under the impression that Grape was Raccoon #1 (and abruptly realized that he or she was not, because there would be no reason to shout "watch out!" at him because he presumably wasn't moving), so it could work either way. I do get the impression that they're all startled in the first panel of the next cartoon, but that could be taken as Grape challenging the intruders while Raccoon #2 is either startled or challenging back - but it seems unlikely, since Grape had to reach for the broom in panel three (possibly beginning in panel 2), whereas if she was intentionally confronting intruders that she'd already identified, it seems likely that she would have picked up a weapon before turning on the lights. Given that, I'd rate Grape being in on the conversation in the previous strip asa lower probability - but that's just me.Frank wrote:Actually, I thought the dialogue in that strip included Grape. Grape, being a cat, has rather good night vision, and turns on the light not to see the raccoons, but for them to see her. Here's how I imagined the last two pannels:
(Enter Grape, having been awoken by the strange voices. She sees something moving near the trash, but can't make out the species)
Grape: Waiting for trash day is too much trouble too, I take it?
Raccoon 1: Hey, I'm hungry
Grape: While you're at it see if there's any cat food
(Racoon 2 realizes they've been spotted. He/she panicks and runs, knocking the trash can over)
Grape: WATCH OUT!
CRASH
Raccoon 2: QUICK, LET'S GET OUT OF--
(Grape switches the lights on)
Raccoon 2: --here.
Whether or not Grape was already awake is more-or-less up for grabs I think; we could presume that she was woken up (and, as usual, found it irritating), or that she was prowling around or reading or some such. There's no real indication in the strip - or at least none that I see offhand.Frank wrote:Also, it is possible that Grape was awake already, cats being most active at twilight.
As for the technology... We could still go with "Aliens" or "Advanced ancient civilization" or - perhaps - this is all in the year 7000, Akkadian had a revival around 3000 (for some weird reason), and the ancient temple thus dates back to the previous high-technology civilization. Pete could be an AI, with the ability to restructure matter in small areas and four thousand years worth of eccentricities to indulge. Humans are dominant because all the other intelligent animals were genetically designed not to seriously challenge humans and were given genetic language-programming (there's certainly enough room for the data in a trivial amount of DNA; how you'd turn that into functioning neural patterns I've no idea - but if I was good enough at genetics to redesign most of the “higher†species on the planet, I think I could find a way). That would oppose Rick's statement that the animals are "natural" though - unless he wasn't going back that far, has changed his mind, or was being coy about future plot points.
For ndigit:
I fear I must agree there. There just isn't enough information on Pete to start ruling much out yet. There must be MORE DATA... You are Number 6... We Want INFORMATION... INFORMATION...ndigit wrote:Well I guess not but I'm not really talking about electricity and all that, just so we're clear. I guess mechanics, or something would be more accurate? Idk more poor choice of words on my part. But yeah when you think about magic, it's usually sparkling runes, glowing lights, mysterious incantations, while pushing a button to open a sliding door just doesn't seem so...magical. Then again, a "Sword in the Stone" thing might apply here. I think what would give us more clarity on this is who and why did they seal away Pete? Is Pete really that dangerous, or was there an ulterior reasoning for having Pete cast away? Did I just go waaay off topic?
Too many questions
I was taking technology as throwing stones (as per the "projectile predator" explanation for the Acheulean hand axe, from roughly 1.5 million years ago to .5 million years ago - possibly the all-time record for technological design stability) on up. Real-world tool use / technology has been observed in cetaceans, several types of birds, primates, and mustelids. It's just that the "buttons" could easily be something magical.
For Dissension:
Well lets consider that. I think that definition is over-broad:Dissension wrote:I wouldn't bet on 'technology' implying electronics, computers, or any other modern convenience, either. Technology can refer to a system, technique, method of organization or, yes, a machine of any level of complexity. A push-button does, therefore, imply technology.
- (1) A "Technique" is any repeatable method of accomplishing a goal. Sponges have a technique for filter-feeding, amoebas have techniques for eating, and genes have both techniques and external mechanisms for reproducing, which is why you sometimes find evolutionary biologists referring to various biological adaptions as "technologies" and treating the genes as the operators of said technologies. This is a convenient shorthand from their point of view, and is meant to stress the adaptive nature of living things and the primary importance of their genes in evolutionary theory - but it's still an abuse of the word "Technology" as far as conversation goes. Most people don't talk about the "technology" of their sense of smell.
(2) A "Method of Organization" would include principles such as symmetry breaking - a process describing the development of laws of nature as energy levels drop, and which has been verified to be reversible (at least on the lower levels) in particle accelerator experiments. Gravity has organized the universe very nicely. Slime molds also have a method or organizing themselves under environmental stress, becoming mobile to seek out a better location. Again, most english speakers would not consider those "methods of organization" to be technologies.
(3) A "Machine of any level of complexity" would necessarily include all Simple Machines - the lever, inclined plane, wheel and axle, screw, wedge, and pulley. Of course, simple machines are built into the biomechanics of every higher organism and occur - if only by accident - in a wide variety of inorganic structures. The bones and tendons in a vertebrate body represent a complex system of levers. Inclined planes are everywhere. Once again, this definition includes items as "technology" that most english speakers would not.
(4) Finally, a "System" (unless the definition is otherwise restricted) is any group of interacting elements. For example, two valence-bonded atoms. Two bonded atoms, in fact, like any other elastically-bonded system, have a minimum possible energy, and thus constitute a system that will remain active indefinitely. You'll find "systems" everywhere that multiple particles are interacting.
Unfortunately, this definition (regardless of it's source) winds up departing widely from conventional english usage of the term "technology" unless you add in a great many hidden assumptions - and so winds up impeding rather than facilitating communication. We have different words with overlapping meanings because each different term carries different secondary implications, thus allowing precise communications.
Under this definition, a push-button does indeed imply technology - but so does any part of the universe, which makes the term fairly meaningless.
- (1) A system which has been intentionally created by a sapient creature or creatures. Thus systems created by accident, or through the interaction of genes and biological systems, are not "technology" in the way that most speakers of english will understand the term. Most english speakers do not consider the specialized adaptions of a birds beak a "technology"; they consider them "adaptions" (or, depending on philosophical preference, "designed"), not "technology".
(2) A design purpose - a system intended to physically accomplish some goal. Thus, piling up some rocks to create a marker is a technology (if a fairly basic one). Idly putting one rock on top of another one with no purpose in mind is not a technology. Rocks rolling down a slope may be technology if that arrangement is intentional and designed to accomplish a goal - for example, kicking loost a rock so that it will roll down at a pursuer. Doing exactly the same thing without intent is an accidental avalanche, not technology.
(3) The manipulation of matter which is not a part of the body as a tool. Thus, stripping the bark off a twig with your teeth is not a technology. Using the twig to then scrap goo from under your nails is a technology, if - once again - a fairly basic one. This also eliminate mathematical procedures such as sorting algorithms - even if they sometimes can be patented (legal definitions are a specialized field, otherwise you would not need specialized training to operate as a lawyer). While such algorithms are mathematical and logical constructs and are designed to accomplish particular goals, purely mathematical constructs do not even require a universe to exist in, and - arguably - are all inherent in mathematics and logic from the beginning. Thus they are discovered rather than being created. A genetically-designed organism however, remains technological; it's an expression of intentionally-designed genes.
(4) A physically predictable operation. A fingerprint lock is technology. Even a chaotic system operated by random quantum-level inputs is statistically predictable, and so can be technology if it fulfills the other requirements. A sword which can only be pulled from the stone by the destined king is magic. There is no way to physically analyze "Destiny".
- *It is not necessarily intentionally designed; a loose stone being pushed back into it's matrix acts as a "push button", but could simply be a bit that has come loose.
*It may not operate in a physically predictable fashion. If the button will "only respond to the destined one", it may look like a familiar technology, but it's still magic.
*It might, in fact, be a part of a natural living creature, perhaps resembling the "mimic" of classical Advanced Dungeons and Dragons.
*The entire temple could be an illusion, transformation, or allegory patterened on what the responsible entity thinks will best suit it's purposes - and thus incorporate no actual "devices" at all.
*It might also be an ornamental whimsy. This would imply that the "door" opened for some other (and possibly technological) reason, but the button itself still would not fit the definition of a technological device; it wouldn’t actually do anything.
For ndigit (again):
It looks like a good place to me... I’m intending to add some pictures once I’m done with the characters and start going back through to add things in, but there’s no reason not to add character pictures here before then. You have my thanks for doing so.
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