Yup; still on vacation so you’ll have to settle with these strips until I come back. I hope you have a new year ahead.

Knackered as me mate from Oz would say…

Admit it; it’s true.

With the recent earthquake, tsunami AND nuclear reactor explosions in Fukushima, Japan, people had this knee-jerk reaction to send money to the first group to claim to be a charity for Japan.

DON’T DONATE TO JAPAN….yet.

Why? First of all, we don’t know if all these charities are actually gonna get your money to Japan. Case in point, given the ease the Internet gives people put up fronts, fraudsters have little trouble taking advantage of your sympathy (via MacWorld).

What if these people are really sincere in helping out? They may actually do more harm than good without proper coordination or a system (via Main Street).

So, what are you supposed to do? Well, short of going to Fukushima yourself and using proper training and skills, help out in rescue and reconstruction efforts, you could give your money to the proper agencies. You could give to Doctors Without Borders or the Red Cross. You know these people do good work and even if they don’t get your money to Japan, you know they could use your money for places where they still need it regardless of media coverage or exposure (via Reuters Blog).

If you want your checkbooks to good use, please consider channeling your donations through the following channels:

• International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
• Doctors Without Borders

Back to the strip.

If you don’t know what Jon is talking about (or what David is capable of), perhaps Hostile Takeover might clear some things up.

Sometimes, I think the only reason people viewed my strips is because of the vitriol against my former employer. But now that I work with more sensible management, all that bile is gone…

If you think about it, it really is a thankless job, especially if you compare it to investment bankers, who have no social relevance.

Down with celebrity endorsers, up with the engineers!

I’m taking this week off but in exchange, I give you this.

My current work is to provide support to various technical groups in our company. These groups can come from anywhere from the field, customer contacts, apps developers and other R&D teams. However, some of these people don’t seem to understand what our team really is for…or worse, what they’re supposed to do as their jobs.

Here’s a little something, we–especially my immediate supervisor–would very, VERY much like to show them.

Can’t take credit for the pic; saw it when I did a Google image search. Feel free to use this demotivator anyway.

I used to do a lot of these back in the day…

Transcription:

TOP TEN Signs You’re Running Out of Ideas for Your Webcomic

10. You’re changing your schedule–by missing releases from your original schedule.
9. You’re recycling panels from past strips–I’m sorry; that’s called creative statwork by some people.
8. Two words: guest strips
7. …something about a shark…and jumping
6. You’re not announcing a schedule anymore.
5. Wolverine starts appearing in it.
4. You’re already considering putting Cory Doctorow in it–complete with goggles and red cape.
3. The original storyline changes
2. Your strips are not funny anymore–wait; they were never funny to begin with.
1. You start putti9ng “Top Ten” lists like those in Letterman.

Previously on Geeks…

Lando and Andy never come to terms with each other as Lando is helpless against an impending strike. Wena, notices the assault team outside and rushes towards Jon while David pushes his ‘talents’ to its limits.

Click here for Episode 1: “The Day Everything Changes”
Click here for Episode 2: “When Push Comes to Shove”
Click here for Episode 3: “Love is Not Enough”
Click here for Episode 4: “Familiarity Breeds Contempt”
Click here for Episode 5: “Murphy’s Law”
Click here for Episode 6: “Lullabye”

Will the hostage crisis at The Company be finally over? Will Wena and Jon resolve their differences? How will things be when all this ends? Find out in this nine-page update.