I remember the wildfires of 2003. It rained ash and the sky looked like Mars!
Treehouse one reminds me of (and was perhaps inspired by) Calvin and Hobbes.
Also, an Onion history question I've been wondering about: at what point did the jobs in "American Voices" change from actual job titles to weird jokes (such as "Lizard handler" and "Oxford comma advocate")? I think it was after the 2008 economic downturn, but I'm not sure. There's still a "Systems analyst" now and then, too.
I'm not sure, either, when the titles got weirder, but late 2000s feels like a good guess. I love how they still use "systems analyst" -- their oldest and most deliberately repetitive joke. I suspect that job title has been used hundreds of times by now.
Off the top of my head, it went to 3 people after the print edition stopped, as it ran several days a week for a while. But I could be misremembering the timeline.
My initial reaction to the "Valencia" password is from Valencia Oranges. Maybe a kid would read/hear that and think it as a cool name for a password? Just my thoughts.
That's not a computer in the "protection from selves" picture -- it's a tube TV (one of the later flat screen ones) displaying the menu used by Moxi DVRs (offered at the time by at least Charter Communications before they bought out Time Warner Cable). I think the DVR itself is behind the burger and bottle of Jack Daniels.
IIRC Adelphia deployed them before/during their bankruptcy and some systems that went to TWC (Adelphia's assets were split between them and Comcast) kept them. Moxi also sold DVRs themselves for anyone with cable to use from 2008-12. I think the software is still used by some cable providers out there.
I’m coming in late to this but the fact that the infographic includes a television with food, drink and smokes makes me think about something that one of my endocrinology colleagues said about the cause of the type 2 diabetes epidemic. He called it “Sedentary Feasting”. That infographic would have been perfect for his PowerPoint presentation.
I feel like doctor's offices I've been in, especially growing up, have an unusual amount of illustrations, so yes, I agree. Could easily turn that infographic into a medical presentation.
I remember the wildfires of 2003. It rained ash and the sky looked like Mars!
Treehouse one reminds me of (and was perhaps inspired by) Calvin and Hobbes.
Also, an Onion history question I've been wondering about: at what point did the jobs in "American Voices" change from actual job titles to weird jokes (such as "Lizard handler" and "Oxford comma advocate")? I think it was after the 2008 economic downturn, but I'm not sure. There's still a "Systems analyst" now and then, too.
I'm so glad you asked about this! Also, the Calvin and Hobbes angle is interesting. I have only a passing knowledge of that comic.
As for, American Voices, it wasn't even called "American Voices" in the early 2000s. It was "What Do You Think?" -- the filename was usually some variant of "wdyt," as seen here: https://web.archive.org/web/20031009024710/http://www.theonion.com/3939/wdyt.html
I'm not sure, either, when the titles got weirder, but late 2000s feels like a good guess. I love how they still use "systems analyst" -- their oldest and most deliberately repetitive joke. I suspect that job title has been used hundreds of times by now.
Ah, I forgot about the "What Do You Think?" name. At some point they cut it back from six to three people, too.
On the rare occasions when I've seen "systems analyst" as a real job title, it inevitably makes me think of The Onion.
Off the top of my head, it went to 3 people after the print edition stopped, as it ran several days a week for a while. But I could be misremembering the timeline.
My initial reaction to the "Valencia" password is from Valencia Oranges. Maybe a kid would read/hear that and think it as a cool name for a password? Just my thoughts.
This probably makes more sense than the Latin! I just grasped at the first thing I found online :)
That's not a computer in the "protection from selves" picture -- it's a tube TV (one of the later flat screen ones) displaying the menu used by Moxi DVRs (offered at the time by at least Charter Communications before they bought out Time Warner Cable). I think the DVR itself is behind the burger and bottle of Jack Daniels.
Oh this is interesting. I haven't heard of Moxi DVRs, although I was a Time Warner Cable customer in the late 2000s.
IIRC Adelphia deployed them before/during their bankruptcy and some systems that went to TWC (Adelphia's assets were split between them and Comcast) kept them. Moxi also sold DVRs themselves for anyone with cable to use from 2008-12. I think the software is still used by some cable providers out there.
Nice. You might not be surprised that I'm intrigued by how these little corporate assets get scattered.
I’m coming in late to this but the fact that the infographic includes a television with food, drink and smokes makes me think about something that one of my endocrinology colleagues said about the cause of the type 2 diabetes epidemic. He called it “Sedentary Feasting”. That infographic would have been perfect for his PowerPoint presentation.
I feel like doctor's offices I've been in, especially growing up, have an unusual amount of illustrations, so yes, I agree. Could easily turn that infographic into a medical presentation.