#881; In which a Standard is questioned

Comic Transcripts

[[Other ranks pinstripe uniform with pill box cap, swagger stick and moustache on left talking to smaller gent in suit with hat, walking stick and more luxuriant moustache on right. Outdoor ice skating in background.]]

Uniform: An easy way to picture the size of an acre is that it’s a bit smaller than a football field!

Gent: People always say that like it makes it easier. But it presumes that everyone shares a very particular set of specialized knowledge! See, I don’t watch football! I’ve seen a dozen games in my whole life, and all of them on TV! I don’t have the scale of a football field imprinted in my memory as a unit of measurement!

Uniform: OK, put another way, an acre is just larger than the dish area of the “Mars” Radio Telescope at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex in California.
Gent: Well why didn’t you just say that to begin with!

{{header: measure up to WONDERMARK.COM}}
{{alt-text: Come ON, you don’t have to tell me WHERE the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex is}}

#881; In which a Standard is questioned transcribed by in

Uniform: An easy way to picture the size of an acre is that it’s a bit smaller than a football field!

{{header: measure up to WONDERMARK.COM}}
{{alt-text: Come ON, you don’t have to tell me WHERE the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex is}}

#881; In which a Standard is questioned transcribed by in

Uniform: An easy way to picture the size of an acre is that it's a bit smaller than a football field!

Gent: People always say that like it makes it easier. But it presumes that everyone shares a very particular set of specialized knowledge! See, I don't watch football! I've seen a dozen games in my whole life, and all of them on TV! I don't have the scale of a football field imprinted in my memory as a unit of measurement!

Uniform: OK, put another way, an acre is just larger than the dish area of the "Mars" Radio Telescope at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex in California.
Gent: Well why didn't you just say that to begin with!

{{header: measure up to WONDERMARK.COM}}
{{alt-text: Come ON, you don't have to tell me WHERE the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex is}}

Come ON, you don't have to tell me WHERE the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex is

#881; In which a Standard is questioned

— October 23rd, 2012

[ Tags: science, sports, the culture ] Permalink: https://wondermark.com/c/881/

This comic is dedicated to the engineers at JPL! Yesterday I was lucky enough to get to tag along on a tour my wife organized for her fellow crew members from the TV show Robot Chicken. Mars rover driver Scott Maxwell and his colleagues were kind enough to show us all around the facility! Check it out

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Last year, I participated in Genius Northwest, a gaming competition inspired by the Korean gameshow The Genius and its ilk.

It’s a reality show without the cameras — a 3-day, all-inclusive weekend retreat structured around a series of challenges and puzzles, in which personalities and dealmaking matter as much as playing games.

It’s truly a remarkable thing. I came in dead last in the competition, but I still had a great time participating.

The event is held annually in the Pacific Northwest (hence the name) and applications are now open to participate in the 2026 competition!

Learn more — and apply — at GeniusNW.com.

Comic Transcripts

#881; In which a Standard is questioned

— October 23rd, 2012

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