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The Doctor Says: Fun is Officially Over

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the the-(fun)-has-ended-but-the-memory-the-lingers-on dept.

grammar fascist writes "After just less than 13 years, the first comic on the World Wide Web, Doctor Fun, has come to an end. Thanks for all the laughs, Dave. From Dave Farley's page at ibiblio: 'Doctor Fun is over. As promised, I somehow managed to finish 520 weeks or ten full years, even if it took a bit longer than ten years to get there. All of the old cartoons will stay right here as long as ibiblio wants to keep hosting them.'"

78 comments

  1. Re:Sick by RedOregon · · Score: 1

    Exactly. That's why he will be missed so much. I nearly always enjoyed that bit of wierdness that would pop up randomly in my inbox. Shame. Right up there with B Kliban.

    --
    Skivvy Niner? Email me!
    HEY! Look left just ONE MORE TIME!
  2. The one with cmdr taco by raffe · · Score: 5, Informative

    I like this one with taco in it!

    1. Re:The one with cmdr taco by Turing+Machine · · Score: 4, Funny

      I think my favorite ones of all time were Don Knuth finally sells out and Scenes Cut from Jurassic Park.

      Thanks for all the laughs, Dave.

    2. Re:The one with cmdr taco by drewzhrodague · · Score: 1

      Seriously! I found Dr. Fun a while ago while working on banking systems. Most fun I had there (and there wasn't much fun to be had) was reading Dr. Fun comics in reverse order, and also looking up government land auctions. Not that those would have anything to do with banking, systems, or my job -- but I did seriously enjoy those comics.

      Also, it's easy to 'test' the color laser printer at your office, by printing out one of these comics. You can later hang them up around your office, and force your coworkers to enjoy them also.

      --
      Zhrodague.net - I do projects and stuff too.
    3. Re:The one with cmdr taco by whitehatlurker · · Score: 1
      My favourite is Clusenix.


      I wanted to add my thanks to Dave for the years of laughs (and for the jokes I didn't get and had to look around to figure out what the heck he was on about).


      As to the two weeks of Dr Fun that we're stilled owed from Dave - the black and white drawings probably would cover that.

      --
      .. paranoid crackpot leftover from the days of Amiga.
    4. Re:The one with cmdr taco by freakmn · · Score: 2, Interesting

      That's not the only one that resembles slashdot. I think that there might be a hidden slashdot reference between this comic and this one. Though this story isn't a dupe, that comic is. Could be the most subtle humor I've seen in a while.

      --
      warning: This post is likely to contain gobs of dripping sarcasm. Consume at your own risk.
  3. 10 full years to the nearest week by petermgreen · · Score: 0, Redundant

    is 522 weeks assuming 635.25 days/year.

    --
    note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
    1. Re:10 full years to the nearest week by Tx · · Score: 1
      is 522 weeks assuming 635.25 days/year.

      Actually, no. Assuming 365.25 days per year, OTOH ... ;)
      --
      Oh no... it's the future.
    2. Re:10 full years to the nearest week by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What are you smoking? Are you from Mars or something? 635.25 days per year indeed!

    3. Re:10 full years to the nearest week by petermgreen · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      sorry i did the correct calculation but transposed a couple of digits in my post.

      what it should say is:

      10 full years to the nearest week is 522 weeks assuming 365.25 days/year.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
    4. Re:10 full years to the nearest week by William+Robinson · · Score: 1

      unless... he is Douglas Quaid....and posting from Venusville... Only possible explaination about 635.25 instead of 686.96 days could be... he still has false information implanted;)

      --
      hilarious
    5. Re:10 full years to the nearest week by nsayer · · Score: 1

      It's actually 365.2425 - you have to take out one day every 100 years, but not every 400 years.

      Some folks suggest that every 4000 years you should take one out again, That would be 365.24225. I don't think that's official yet, however.

      That doesn't change the calculations significantly in this case, however.

    6. Re:10 full years to the nearest week by Alaria+Phrozen · · Score: 1

      Um, if you're going to be splitting hairs, you might as well be correct. This article seems close enough to work as a source for /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_year I was tought in school 365.2422... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revised_Julian_calend ar But whatever.

    7. Re:10 full years to the nearest week by Urusai · · Score: 1

      What a gross approximation. It's closer to 365.24.

    8. Re:10 full years to the nearest week by NotQuiteInsane · · Score: 1

      > is 522 weeks assuming 635.25 days/year.

      Hey, maybe he RSA encrypted it - so all we need to do is find the right values of N and D and... Oh, wait, he posted a correction. Never mind.

    9. Re:10 full years to the nearest week by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      so the eastern authodox church adopted a calender thats similar but not identical to the standard gregorian calender just to avoid saying the catholics were right. Sounds about right for a religous institution.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
    10. Re:10 full years to the nearest week by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      ok maybe i should have used a quater symbol instead of .25..................

      using 365.24 doesn't change the final result when rounded to the nearest week though.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
    11. Re:10 full years to the nearest week by nsayer · · Score: 1
      Um, if you're going to be splitting hairs, you might as well be correct.

      And what exactly did I get wrong in my comment?

      I was tought

      You clearly weren't taught spelling, speaking of hair-splitting.

      in school 365.2422

      365+1/4-1/100+1/400 != 365.2422.

      365+1/4-1/100+1/400 is the current definition. One proposed extension (originally proposed by John Herschel) is to subtract 1/4000, which would make the sum 365.24225. All of which is exactly what I said before.

  4. Cool by mgblst · · Score: 2, Funny

    Cool, now I can go back through the archive, and see if he ever wrote a funny one... ha, just kidding.

    Very strange little comic, never heard of it before, even though I have been on the web as long as it has. (to be fair, i am not that funny either)

    1. Re:Cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Cool, now I can go back through the archive, and see if he ever wrote a funny one... ha, just kidding.
      but it must be true. i never heard of it before, so i watched through the last weeks and then the first weeks.

      there are people who find this funny? hell, even userfriendly is better at times.
    2. Re:Cool by markhb · · Score: 1

      I'd never heard of it before, either, and I'm still trying to figure out what the "terrible misprint on the box" was supposed to be.

      --
      Save Maine's economy: write stuff down. All comments are exclusively my own, not my employer.
    3. Re:Cool by mgblst · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Perhaps it is some huge injoke, and you need to read the 5200 or so previous jokes to get it. If you did, you would explode (literally) in laughter - but looking around the office, I haven't seen anyone explode yet.

    4. Re:Cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

      cock

    5. Re:Cool by prionic6 · · Score: 1

      I don't know how the parent is "Offtopic" in any way. The misprint is obviosly meant to be "Mr. Ed Talking Horse Cock". Thanks to the AC for pointing that out to me, too :)

    6. Re:Cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      hell, even userfriendly is better at times.

      No, userfriendly is simply *the* least funny thing ever.

    7. Re:Cool by tverbeek · · Score: 1

      I can't claim to have been on the web quite as long as Dr. Fun (I only date back to Netscape 1.0N), but I do remember when this was literally the webcomic. All the kewl netheads knew about it.

      --
      http://alternatives.rzero.com/
    8. Re:Cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Here's a cheat sheet for this notpr0n-level puzzle: read the name of the product (this is the correct name), and then look at the words and try to think of what word, if a letter were changed or omitted, might be considered a "terrible misprint" if one were to happen.

      A hearty clue! For you! The letter in question is an 'L'.

  5. Nooooooo!!!! by digitalamish · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I noticed on Friday that his comic "Clothes make the Peep", was an homage to his original "Clothes make the Spam". Please, say it ain't so. I started reading this comic it's first week. I even kept checking when he took a hiatus a few years ago for several months.

    Thank you Dave.

  6. 13 years?!@#$%^ by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Has it really been 13 years? Cripes, I'm getting old. Give it a few more years' worth of degenerative amnesia and I'll be looking for this strip on budget desk calendars in the mall bookstore.

    Many thanks and best wishes, David Farley. Can't wait to see what you do next!

    --
    Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
  7. One of my favourites - Dun Knuth finally sells out by xiox · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Don Knuth finally sells out

  8. Wait by chadamir · · Score: 5, Funny

    I thought whenever The Doctor dies he gets to regenerate.

    --
    NJ Local Music Scene
    1. Re:Wait by Alterion · · Score: 1

      only 9/10 times iirc.. which is why their keeping the current one for the forseeable future

    2. Re:Wait by Macthorpe · · Score: 1

      Being the horrible geek I am, it's a total of 12 times, making 13 possible Doctors.

      --
      "It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him." - Tolkien
  9. dang! by kisrael · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Heh, I remember submitting a rejected article when it returned from hiatus.

    Man, a lot of us "grew up" with this comic, it really was the geek hallmark on the early web.

    --
    SO YOU'RE GOING TO DIE: The Comic for Dealing with Death
    1. Re:dang! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Strange... I never heard of this comic till just now.

    2. Re:dang! by kisrael · · Score: 1

      It probably did fly under the radar a bit, but was really popular at my school, Tufts, in the early/mid-90s.

      --
      SO YOU'RE GOING TO DIE: The Comic for Dealing with Death
  10. Re:#i@rc.trooltalk.com by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh... wait... I knew that! ;)

  11. Call me a pessimist... by Zaphod2016 · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...but this one made me smile.

    Why do I always discover the *good* stuff after it's gone?

    --
    barack to the future?
    1. Re:Call me a pessimist... by ModernGeek · · Score: 1

      I just wish I knew about JennyCam before it went away.

      --
      Sig: I stole this sig.
  12. Wow...surprised... by rcmiv · · Score: 2, Funny

    I have always enjoyed this comic. Sorry to see it go. Long run, though! It's just one of those things you expect to always be there.

    I have had a copy of this one:

    http://www.ibiblio.org/Dave/Dr-Fun/df200004/df2000 0413.jpg

    on my bulletin board at work for over 6 years. Struck me funny, and it's been moving with me from cubicle to cubicle the whole time.

    -rcmiv

  13. Only Dr.Fun could make candiru jokes. by Stavr0 · · Score: 1

    (3/10/2006)

  14. Cmon by doti · · Score: 1, Funny

    Nobody posted a link to a compressed file of the entire archive yet?!!

    --
    factor 966971: 966971
  15. Moderator is tard by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    you idiot that's the "terrible, terrible misprint"

    1. Re:Moderator is tard by elrous0 · · Score: 1
      You know thhey should have just jetisonned their marketing campaign and went for a new market. There are probably more than a few people out their would would be interested in a talking horse cock--more than we would care to admit.

      -Eric

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  16. OMG, WTF, 111!!! etc. etc. by bellebouche · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Blimey, it just shows to go ya... I'd never come across this before... only in it's death throes does it achieve infamy in this household. It was the same with Elvis. I'd like to think I'm not some hapless net neophyte but really, there is so much going on that even given a decade of exposure this thing had never (consciously) crossed my path until now. I liked the cartoons, never seen them before... rest assured though that my period of mourning will be thankfully brief. Next!

    1. Re:OMG, WTF, 111!!! etc. etc. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh my God!...Elvis is dead too?

      When?!

  17. Also Unix Gurus in Hell by xiox · · Score: 3, Funny

    Unix Gurus in Hell

    What a wonderful comic strip!

    1. Re:Also Unix Gurus in Hell by Timex · · Score: 1

      That was the first one I ever saw, back in 2001. I started following it then.

      I'm sorry to see it end.

      --
      When politicians are involved, everyone loses.
  18. doctor who by deficite · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Funny, I actually thought this was going to be about Doctor Who and his reincarnation on the season finale.

  19. So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish by Quirk · · Score: 1

    As an afficinado of all things quirky I will miss you.

    --
    "Academicians are more likely to share each other's toothbrush than each other's nomenclature."
    Cohen
  20. I can't be alone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I'd say that I have a pretty healthy sense of humor, but I honestly didn't find any of the linked comics or random ones I looked at remotely funny. I can't be alone here.

    1. Re:I can't be alone by Goaway · · Score: 1

      You are quite correct. It's about as funny as User Friendly.

    2. Re:I can't be alone by CodeArtisan · · Score: 1

      I'd say that I have a pretty healthy sense of humor, but I honestly didn't find any of the linked comics or random ones I looked at remotely funny. I can't be alone here.

      Seems like a Gary Larson rip-off, but without the humour.

    3. Re:I can't be alone by Eideewt · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I looked through the archive and wasn't impressed. There were a couple that made me come close to chuckling. Quantity over quality for sure.

  21. My favourite: the Ghost of Usenet Postings Past by alanxyzzy · · Score: 1

    Suddenly, just as Paul was about to clinch the job interview, he received a visit from the Ghost of Usenet Postings Past

    1. Re:My favourite: the Ghost of Usenet Postings Past by necro81 · · Score: 1

      The New York times just had an article describing that same phenomenon today: bloggers and MySpace users that post stuff that, amazingly enough, gets seen by their potential employers and loses them the job interview.

  22. Is that a snipe? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I always liked this one. Maybe snipe hunts are needed after all.

  23. wget while the wgetting is good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    wget while the wgetting is good...

    I love dr. fun. Email the good doctor and let him know he was appreciated!!

  24. Dr. Who by sxmjmae · · Score: 1

    Dr. Who?

    --
    My Sig indicates the end of the comment I posted.
  25. A poignant one by xiox · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Sniff sniff

  26. the one with the vagina squirrels by jonom · · Score: 1

    http://www.ibiblio.org/Dave/Dr-Fun/df200005/df2000 0517.jpg

  27. The funny thing is ... by icepick72 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    ... I never found it funny, just amusing. A smirk instead of a laugh. It wasn't compatible with my sense of humour. Who cares right? Maybe I should have blogged this instead.

  28. RIP Doctor Fun by kilodelta · · Score: 1

    I've followed it since it's inception in 1993. I was working at Brown University at the time. I fondly recall the "Guns don't kill people, Bowling balls kill people" strip.

  29. The End of an Era by BobWeiner · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Dr. Fun was a fun webcomic. 13 years is a long time, and I applaud Dave for sticking with it as long as he did. It's truly the end of an era for webcomics. Thanks for the laughs, Dave!

    --
    The PC Weenies: 11 Years of Online Tech 'Too
  30. This is my luck ! by this+great+guy · · Score: 3, Funny

    Two days ago, and I mean litteraly two days ago, I discovered the Doctor Fun comic. And now I am learning that it has come to an end ! This is my luck. This is my luck ! *angry*.

    1. Re:This is my luck ! by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 2, Funny

      Its all your fault. If you had just kept your nose where it belongs, this would have never happened.

      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
    2. Re:This is my luck ! by Eideewt · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Why not just read through the archives at a pace of one comic per day? Ten years should give you enough time to get used to the idea that it's going to end.

    3. Re:This is my luck ! by den1188 · · Score: 1

      I think we can all agree that this was all your fault.

  31. Dr Fun, I'll miss you by BarkLouder · · Score: 0
    This was one of the truely classic web sites and I'll really miss it.

    It was the ONE page that I just had to see daily.

    When Dave was on vacation, it was a dull week or two.

  32. BFG Funnies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://www.ibiblio.org/Dave/Dr-Fun/df200604/df2006 0426.jpg

  33. The Origin of Monsters Inc? by gihan_ripper · · Score: 1

    I don't know if anyone is still reading this story, but it looks like one Doctor Fun cartoon contains the kernel of Monsters Inc.

    Having many Canadian friends, I also love Maplefinger.

    --
    Phoenix, Boston, Little Rock, see a pattern?
  34. My favorite by wemmick · · Score: 1

    In Space, No One Can Hear Ice Scream

    --
    ___
    Cognitive Overflow
    more than yo
  35. obligatory achewood reference by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah...how about something funny? achewood