Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for November 13, 2024

  1. 1972 mgb
    sbenton7684  1 day ago

    You gotta look for the thing-a-majig.. not the thingee…

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    Homerville Premium Member 1 day ago

    The lost art of verbal communication.

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    suv2000  1 day ago

    Try none of the cables fit

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    Strod  1 day ago

    You need to take very good care of your thingee. Don’t go around inserting random thingees in the thingee of your thingee, because your thingee may get sick.  8^p

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    David Huie Green LoveJoyAndPeace  1 day ago

    Makes perfect sense to me.

    He has a unique thingy.

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    Robin Harwood  1 day ago

    Perfectly clear explanation. I understand exactly what he means.

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    jaydogg187  1 day ago

    Sounds like he needs to consult a doctor.

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    Rhetorical_Question   1 day ago

    Dispose mismatch sets and buy a new set of lights?

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    j_m_kuehl  1 day ago

    My ding a ling, my ding a lingI want to play with my ding a lingMy ding a ling, my ding a lingI wanna play with my ding a ling

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    Ermine Notyours  1 day ago

    Europe organized to one single cable type for now, and even got Apple to cooperate. I wonder when it will make sense to offer the same environment over here. It still won’t help for Arlo’s collection of old cables.

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    Ermine Notyours  1 day ago

    Pearls Before Swine is right after this comic for me, and Rat is also having troubles with a cord thingie.

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    c001  1 day ago

    As long as Arlo’s thingee matches Janis’…

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    My First Premium Member 1 day ago

    We need universal size charge cords for anything that needs to be plugged in. I have a similar size collection of useless cords too.

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    soareyes  1 day ago

    One thingee to call them, one thingee to bind them, one thingee to rule them all: USB-C.

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    A# 466  1 day ago

    Engineers LOVE standards. That’s why there are s-o-o-o many of them.

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    Sephten  1 day ago

    Every day a school day …I had no idea the US spelling of ‘thingy’ was different from the British spelling.

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    AnneFackler  1 day ago

    My husbands thingee stays at the farm and my thingee stays at home. This way our thingees don’t get crossed up.

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    NeedaChuckle Premium Member 1 day ago

    I have cables with 5 different thingees. Then to make it worse you need different thingees on both ends. It is a conspiracy done by cable manufacturers to make you keep buying dozens of cables.

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    sarahbowl1 Premium Member 1 day ago

    I’ve been there, Arlo! It makes me feel just stupid!

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    Ignatz Premium Member 1 day ago

    What bothers me is when the guy in the store doesn’t know what you mean by “the wide one,” and you can’t open the box and check.

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    MRBLUESKY529  1 day ago

    No one can explain it better than that.

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    oldchas  1 day ago

    I seem to remember Arlo having been something of a computer nerd back in the day. He would certainly know the parallel evolution of USB and Thunderbolt.

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    Fklimko  1 day ago

    I feel Arlo’s pain.

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    gozirra2 Premium Member 1 day ago

    Arlo, you may have to try turning your thingee over to put it in the other thingee! Argh!!

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    Barnabus Blackoak  1 day ago

    carging cables should have been designed to be universal.

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    wschott  1 day ago

    At least he has them organized in piles. I have a group thingy party going on.

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    rc_stone_1  1 day ago

    That’s what adapters are for.

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    mrblanche  1 day ago

    And that is the reason for the EU’s ruling on cable connections.

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    david_42  1 day ago

    All of the rechargeables I have now use USB-C or USB micro and I have micro to USB-C adapters. Still have a drawer of misc cables.

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    SpacedInvader Premium Member 1 day ago

    Actually Arlo, that pretty well sums it up in understandable terms.

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    serial232  1 day ago

    And, that is why you always tag the charging card and power supply, just as soon as you open the box.

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    Out of the Past  1 day ago

    Oddly enough,it’s gotten better. In the 1990s and early 2000s we had a closet full of tangled, unmatchable wires, plugs and adapters.

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    BJDucer  1 day ago

    Understood, Arlo…no further explanation necessary.

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    rugeirn  1 day ago

    It’s one thing not to know where your device is. It’s quite a bit different not to know what your device is.

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    Hydrohead  1 day ago

    It’s time to standardize your thingees.

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    rgulyash  1 day ago

    If it’s too tight, lube.

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    sloaches  1 day ago

    I experienced this recently. My desktop computer is a MinisForum, which is a small but powerful computer that mounts on the back of the monitor. A couple months ago the power cord broke. What happened was the USB type plug that plugs into the computer had somehow separated from the cord. Since it couldn’t easily be fixed I went in search of a replacement.

    The problem was that the power cord was so unique that no one locally or on Amazon carried it. My son (who handles all our household computer issues) had to contact the manufacturer in China and order a replacement. So just over 5 weeks and $30 later, my computer is back in business.
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    Cadi Fuhler  1 day ago

    You don’t have to explain it any better. We all understand.

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    jarvisloop  1 day ago

    Back in my teaching days, I found that the students needed to expand their vocabularies and to begin using more precise words when writing. So, I developed a list of Forbidden Words: get, really, very, good, a lot, stuff, and thing/s.

    Each year, the first response was “You just destroyed my whole vocabulary.”

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    poppacapsmokeblower  1 day ago

    The connections are all defined by Standards. And as standards go, none remain standard long. Hand a standard cable to an engineer, and their first thought is, “I can do this better, faster, simpler.”

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    Heelboy 12  1 day ago

    Maybe Arlo needs to try the Whatchamacallits or the Thingamajigs to see if they insert properly into the thingee….

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    Grace Premium Member 1 day ago

    They sell adapters…

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    flying spaghetti monster  1 day ago

    For me the nightmare with cables started with communication cables that attached the pc with the external modem. They had a standard db25 shell with rs232 connections, but did anyone follow? Of course some did but with all the variations roll over, null etc I had two drawers at work filled with cables.

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    uniquename  1 day ago

    Don’t ask me. I’m still using Betamax.

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    Just-me  1 day ago

    A number of nations have stopped that nonsense. For example, all the phone charging cables have to have the same connector to the phone. No more making someone get a different cable for different devices as I understand it.

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    elvy  1 day ago

    We always called them doohickeys.

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    j.l.farmer  1 day ago

    When you do find it, mark it with a magic marker so you won’t forget it for the next time.

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    david.reichert  1 day ago

    Let Janet handle your thingees if it is too complicated.

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    Skeptical Meg  1 day ago

    It’s called “progress”. It used to be called “planned obsolescence.”

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    GG_loves_comics Premium Member 1 day ago

    Just go to the basement and check the Box-o-Cables. Doesn’t everyone have one of those?

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    djtenltd  1 day ago

    I know exactly how Arlo feels.

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    LONNYMARQUEZ  1 day ago

    sort or get rid of old cables

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    DaBump Premium Member 1 day ago

    Planned obsolescence has become a high artform. Among many sneaky ways of making more money, like “shrinkflation.”

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    drfhoule  1 day ago

    I attached a tag to each cable I could match with an object but I still have lots of leftovers. I do not dare to throw them out yet.

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    Jeffin Premium Member 1 day ago

    Tech wizard.

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    walt1968pat Premium Member 1 day ago

    Such technical talk is over my head.

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    Thanksfortheinfo2000  about 24 hours ago

    I use ‘undetermined’ cables by cutting off their connectors. The cable bits are usually pretty strong and can be used as ties – cinching Christmas light sets, for example.

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    Nicki's ZoMcYo  about 24 hours ago

    Here I was thinking they were doo-dads!

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    KEA  about 24 hours ago

    It’s astonishing how many different connections have appeared over the last few decades. (reminds me of projector bulbs (slide and movie) – every projector had a Different bulb. Crazy)

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    lsnrchrd.1 Premium Member about 23 hours ago

    I have long wondered if all the power cord connection designers have made things so nutso might be because an employment eligibility requirement is to complete a course in residential fuse box labeling.

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    cracker65  about 23 hours ago

    Good thing Arlos thingy matches Janis thingy lol

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    SNVBD  about 22 hours ago

    USB-C …. hooray for standardised cables

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    Charlie Fogwhistle  about 21 hours ago

    When the Thingee

    on your thingee

    Starts to go

    Ringee, dingee, dingee

    That’s Amore . . .

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    Laurie Stoker Premium Member about 21 hours ago

    That’s me! I have a gym bag chock full of those cables!!!

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    sincavage05  about 21 hours ago

    We have so many cords they decided to declare their own drawer.

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    Michael Joss  about 16 hours ago

    I went through about 8 of those things before I found one that fit the whatumacallet.

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    DDrazen  about 15 hours ago

    I sort mine by color: white cable for the cellphone, black cable for the tablet.

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    Ron Bauerle  about 12 hours ago

    In other words, none of the gazintas match the goesouta (or is it the other way around?)

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    ms-ss  about 2 hours ago

    Charging cables need to be durable. USB-C connectors aren’t.

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