Comic Archive
Welcome to the archive of SONAIS, a comic by Dr. Lex (a.k.a. Alexander Thomas) in the style of geeky classics like User Friendly.
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Page 1
Main Page – latest strip Story arc: The Beginning
SONAIS 1 - Tuesday, October 17, 2023 
Welcome to SONAIS!
Additional info may be available under certain strips, as shown here.
Additional info may be available under certain strips, as shown here.
Setting: the outside of the SONAIS office building.
We see Alana, Steve, and Adil looking at the S.O.N.A.I.S. letters that have just been mounted, together with the subscript: “Solutions for Optimized Novel Artificial Intelligence Systems”.
Alana: That's it, people, we are officially in business now.
Steve: Hmm, it now occurs to me that our company name acronym sounds a bit… unusual.
Adil: Not sure about that, but I do think our new office does look ever so nice…
Steve: Exactly.
We see Alana, Steve, and Adil looking at the S.O.N.A.I.S. letters that have just been mounted, together with the subscript: “Solutions for Optimized Novel Artificial Intelligence Systems”.
Alana: That's it, people, we are officially in business now.
Steve: Hmm, it now occurs to me that our company name acronym sounds a bit… unusual.
Adil: Not sure about that, but I do think our new office does look ever so nice…
Steve: Exactly.
Story arc: The Beginning
SONAIS 2 - Friday, October 20, 2023 
Setting: inside office.
Alana: First things first: we need an extra developer. We may be just a small start-up, but 4 people won't cut it.
Steve: It may not be easy to find what we need. Let's get cracking.
After spending some time producing a recruitment description, they read what they ended up with.
Alana: Adil, as the least technically versed employee, can you proofread this vacancy?
Adil: Looks fine, if not a bit overly ambitious?
Steve: Perhaps, but within our constraints, we really could use full stack.
Adil: Does “full stack” mean “Da Vinci's distant secret offspring?”
Alana: Better aim for the stars and settle for just the moon if need be.
Adil: Now that's a less ambitious goal if I ever saw one. A popular one too, especially if merely crashing something suffices.
Alana: First things first: we need an extra developer. We may be just a small start-up, but 4 people won't cut it.
Steve: It may not be easy to find what we need. Let's get cracking.
After spending some time producing a recruitment description, they read what they ended up with.
Alana: Adil, as the least technically versed employee, can you proofread this vacancy?
Adil: Looks fine, if not a bit overly ambitious?
Steve: Perhaps, but within our constraints, we really could use full stack.
Adil: Does “full stack” mean “Da Vinci's distant secret offspring?”
Alana: Better aim for the stars and settle for just the moon if need be.
Adil: Now that's a less ambitious goal if I ever saw one. A popular one too, especially if merely crashing something suffices.
Story arc: The Beginning
SONAIS 3 - Tuesday, October 24, 2023 
Setting: inside office.
Adil: Oh boy, my Orinico package has arrived!
Heidi: Office equipment?
Adil: Umm… not really.
Adil: It's this cool thing I saw on YooPipe. It moves when heated.
Heidi: Ah, a Stirling engine.
Adil: Uh, yes, that's what they called it.
Heidi: It's a nice little model, but I have built better.
Adil has placed the Stirling engine on an Nfervesco external GPU.
Steve: What the heck are you doing?
Adil: I need some heat!
Steve: You'll be getting a lot of it, if your little gizmo interferes with that external GPU!
Adil: Oh boy, my Orinico package has arrived!
Heidi: Office equipment?
Adil: Umm… not really.
Adil: It's this cool thing I saw on YooPipe. It moves when heated.
Heidi: Ah, a Stirling engine.
Adil: Uh, yes, that's what they called it.
Heidi: It's a nice little model, but I have built better.
Adil has placed the Stirling engine on an Nfervesco external GPU.
Steve: What the heck are you doing?
Adil: I need some heat!
Steve: You'll be getting a lot of it, if your little gizmo interferes with that external GPU!
Story arc: The Beginning
SONAIS 4 - Friday, October 27, 2023 
Setting: office.
Caption: One of the job applicants…
Alana: So, you did a degree in computer sciences. What was your master thesis about?
Candidate: Software models of Stirling engines.
Alana: Really? Wait, can you spare a minute?
Candidate: Um, sure.
Alana at Adil's desk.
Alana: Adil, can I have that gadget of yours? I need it.
Adil: Huh? Whatever you say, boss…
Back at candidate, Alana has placed engine on her hands to make it turn.
Alana: Can you tell me how this works, why does heat from my hands make it run?
Candidate, profusely sweating: Uhh… well, I…
Candidate in a bar with friends, drowning his sorrows with beer, pulls his hair.
Candidate: I swear, 30 secs after I said “Stirling engines,” they shoved one in my face! This company is nuts!
Candidate's friend: I bet they've built one of them Star Trek replicator things or something!
Caption: One of the job applicants…
Alana: So, you did a degree in computer sciences. What was your master thesis about?
Candidate: Software models of Stirling engines.
Alana: Really? Wait, can you spare a minute?
Candidate: Um, sure.
Alana at Adil's desk.
Alana: Adil, can I have that gadget of yours? I need it.
Adil: Huh? Whatever you say, boss…
Back at candidate, Alana has placed engine on her hands to make it turn.
Alana: Can you tell me how this works, why does heat from my hands make it run?
Candidate, profusely sweating: Uhh… well, I…
Candidate in a bar with friends, drowning his sorrows with beer, pulls his hair.
Candidate: I swear, 30 secs after I said “Stirling engines,” they shoved one in my face! This company is nuts!
Candidate's friend: I bet they've built one of them Star Trek replicator things or something!
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