Nukees
Encyclopedia
Nukees is a webcomic
by Darren "Gav" Bleuel which focuses on the lives of a group of graduate students in the department of nuclear engineering
(often abbreviated Nuc.E., whence the title) at the University of California, Berkeley
. The strip began on January 21, 1997, and although the author completed his nuclear engineering Ph.D.
on May 23, 2003, he has continued writing the strip. It was published online by Keenspot
until July 2008, and also runs in the Berkeley student newspaper, The Daily Californian
. A collection of strips, entitled Nukees: d/dx
, was published by Plan 9 Publishing
. Few copies from the original Plan 9 printing remain in stock, and Plan 9 has expressed no indication that there will be a reprinting available through them.
Bleuel also works as a postdoctoral physicist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
. He has proudly never missed an update.
presented experimental results in front of the German Physical Society and announced that they could best be explained if energy exists in discrete packets called quanta
, beginning the field of quantum physics.
Agnostica is celebrated by throwing a party where the attendees dress up as their favorite scientist of yore and have a good time. Other items necessary for an authentic Agnostica party include:
In 2004, Darren Bleuel hosted a worldwide Random Bag of Fun, encouraging readers to mail in either gifts or else a donation of twenty dollars, so that they could then be mailed a random gift back. About twenty-five people participated.
s are a common occurrence in webcomics; the frequency of cameos for both the character Gav van Darin and Nukees creator Darren 'Gav' Bleuel (whose real-life appearance is as striking as that of any comic character) have become a phenomenon unto themselves, especially among Keenspot webcomics. Such cameos, called Gavspottings, are listed on a page in the Nukees web site http://www.nukees.com/gavspotting.html; when discussing them, it is the usual practice to add either 'character' or 'artist' after the name in subscript to differentiate the two.
Gavcharacter's appearances include (but are not limited to) Clan of the Cats, Sluggy Freelance
, General Protection Fault
and College Roomies From Hell. Gavartist has appeared in Clan of the Cats (as Gavcharacter's servant), and Schlock Mercenary
, among others.
These latter two are noteworthy because the fictionalized versions of Dr. Bleuel have become recurring characters in their own right, especially in Schlock Mercenary, where, after having been revived from suspended animation
a thousand years in the future, he was duplicated over 950 million times due to an incident involving a teleportation
device; these 'Gavs' have become an entire ethnic group of their own, and appearances of Gavs both in the main story and in background shots has become a running gag. In El Goonish Shive, he is portrayed as a high school physics teacher, embittered over the lack of respect for the laws of nature by certain of the characters; as of June 2006, this version of Gavartist has only had a single appearance http://www.elgoonishshive.com/d/20050419.html, but author Dan Shive has stated that he will show up again in the future. Some fans have taken to referring to these versions as GavSchlock and GavEGS to differentiate them from ordinary cameos.
Webcomic
Webcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are comics published on a website. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers or often in self-published books....
by Darren "Gav" Bleuel which focuses on the lives of a group of graduate students in the department of nuclear engineering
Nuclear engineering
Nuclear engineering is the branch of engineering concerned with the application of the breakdown as well as the fusion of atomic nuclei and/or the application of other sub-atomic physics, based on the principles of nuclear physics...
(often abbreviated Nuc.E., whence the title) at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. The strip began on January 21, 1997, and although the author completed his nuclear engineering Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
on May 23, 2003, he has continued writing the strip. It was published online by Keenspot
Keenspot
Keenspot is a webcomics portal founded in March 2000 by cartoonist Chris Crosby , Crosby's mother Teri, cartoonist Darren Bleuel , and Nathan Stone.-History:...
until July 2008, and also runs in the Berkeley student newspaper, The Daily Californian
The Daily Californian
The Daily Californian is an independent, student-run newspaper that serves the University of California, Berkeley campus and its surrounding community. It is published Monday through Friday during the academic year, and twice a week during the summer...
. A collection of strips, entitled Nukees: d/dx
Derivative
In calculus, a branch of mathematics, the derivative is a measure of how a function changes as its input changes. Loosely speaking, a derivative can be thought of as how much one quantity is changing in response to changes in some other quantity; for example, the derivative of the position of a...
, was published by Plan 9 Publishing
Plan 9 Publishing
Plan Nine Publishing was a small press book publisher known for publishing webcomics in printed form. The first series published, and perhaps its most famous, was Kevin and Kell....
. Few copies from the original Plan 9 printing remain in stock, and Plan 9 has expressed no indication that there will be a reprinting available through them.
Bleuel also works as a postdoctoral physicist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory conducting unclassified scientific research. It is located on the grounds of the University of California, Berkeley, in the Berkeley Hills above the central campus...
. He has proudly never missed an update.
Characters
- Gav: The cynical-turned-maniacal protagonist and 10th-year grad student. He will eventually complete his thesisThesisA dissertation or thesis is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings...
, perhaps even in a few more years if he can remember his thesis topic. - Suzy Gee: Formerly a psychologyPsychologyPsychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
major, now a nukee. She does not handle the unusual as well as some of the others. She has been declared a Duchess by King Luca, and is referred to by that title by the students she TATeaching assistantA teaching assistant is an individual who assists a professor or teacher with instructional responsibilities. TAs include graduate teaching assistants , who are graduate students; undergraduate teaching assistants , who are undergraduate students; secondary school TAs, who are either high school...
s. - King' Luca: A self-declared suzerain, constantly on the search for new loyal subjects and self-delusions. No one's quite certain (possibly including himself) what his reality must be like. He was previously in a relationship with Suzy Gee. King Luca seems to be the ringleader of most Agnostica activity in the department. (Compare Emperor Norton).
- Danny: A motivated yet confusing theorist whose mind works on a plane with which no one is quite comfortable. He works without questioning, and questions without thinking. Danny never uses contractions unless he is upset. He has an obsession with Teri, and during one story arc became the dashing Dr. ~hua/bin/hoodRobin HoodRobin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....
in order to save her from Gav. Considering the way he interacts with the world, he may also have Asperger syndromeAsperger syndromeAsperger's syndrome that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction, alongside restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. It differs from other autism spectrum disorders by its relative preservation of linguistic and cognitive development...
. He may be an INTPINTPINTP is an abbreviation used in the publications of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to refer to one of sixteen personality types. The MBTI assessment was developed from the work of prominent psychiatrist Carl G. Jung in his book Psychological Types...
. - Teri the Terapet: Originally a graphic calculator-based digital petDigital petA digital pet is a type of artificial human companion. They are usually kept for companionship or enjoyment. People may keep a digital pet in lieu of a real pet....
, this emergent AI is now loose and enjoys tormenting Gav. Visually, she usually manifests herself as a velociraptorVelociraptorVelociraptor is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that existed approximately 75 to 71 million years ago during the later part of the Cretaceous Period. Two species are currently recognized, although others have been assigned in the past. The type species is V. mongoliensis; fossils...
. Frequently she appears inhabiting/operating a giant robot ant (originally designed and constructed by Danny). It has recently been revealed that she has been repeatedly hacking Gav's police record adding things like "Assault with a deadly antAntAnts are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than...
" or "Grand theft robotRobotA robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
". This has caused the police to lock Gav's record, effectively rendering him unarrestable. - Ma'at: The Egyptian goddess/concept of order, balance, and truth, whom Gav falls in love with, as his goals involve truth, order, and efficiency. She may be a product of his imagination. Gav also thought at one stage that Teri produced the illusion of Ma'at in order to play on his vulnerabilities. (See Nukees 06242005 June 24, 2005, under the series "Love Her to Death").
- Cecilia: A law student involved with the Nukees from the Duchess's involvement as a TA in one of her classes. She is attracted to powerful men, often playing them against each other, and has an obsession with office supplies.
- Linus: A penguin who accompanied Gav during his exile in Antarctica; Gav named him after Linus TorvaldsLinus TorvaldsLinus Benedict Torvalds is a Finnish software engineer and hacker, best known for having initiated the development of the open source Linux kernel. He later became the chief architect of the Linux kernel, and now acts as the project's coordinator...
, the creator of LinuxLinuxLinux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
. Linus later followed Gav back to Berkeley (in the Giant Ant, which had been left behind on the ice shelf) and eventually learned Linux system programming. Linus was instrumental in stopping a reactor coolant leak, and accompanied Danny on his adventures as /hua/bin/hood, and his journey into nether reaches of the EECS department.
Agnostica
"Agnostica" is a holiday for agnostics that was created by King Luca in the 'King Luca Agnostic Holiday Special" http://www.nukees.com/d/19991213.html. December 14 is the start of the Agnostica Holiday, as on December 14, 1900, Max PlanckMax Planck
Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck, ForMemRS, was a German physicist who actualized the quantum physics, initiating a revolution in natural science and philosophy. He is regarded as the founder of the quantum theory, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918.-Life and career:Planck came...
presented experimental results in front of the German Physical Society and announced that they could best be explained if energy exists in discrete packets called quanta
Quantum
In physics, a quantum is the minimum amount of any physical entity involved in an interaction. Behind this, one finds the fundamental notion that a physical property may be "quantized," referred to as "the hypothesis of quantization". This means that the magnitude can take on only certain discrete...
, beginning the field of quantum physics.
Agnostica is celebrated by throwing a party where the attendees dress up as their favorite scientist of yore and have a good time. Other items necessary for an authentic Agnostica party include:
- Glögi (see mulled wineMulled wineMulled wine, variations of which are popular in Europe, is wine, usually red, combined with spices and typically served warm. It is a traditional drink during winter, especially around Christmas and Halloween.-Glühwein:...
or glogg) - A Schrödinger Box (a large box that no one is allowed to open, representing the famous Schrödinger's catSchrödinger's catSchrödinger's cat is a thought experiment, usually described as a paradox, devised by Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger in 1935. It illustrates what he saw as the problem of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics applied to everyday objects. The scenario presents a cat that might be...
thought experimentThought experimentA thought experiment or Gedankenexperiment considers some hypothesis, theory, or principle for the purpose of thinking through its consequences...
) - Mobius Chains (chains of interconnected Möbius stripMöbius stripThe Möbius strip or Möbius band is a surface with only one side and only one boundary component. The Möbius strip has the mathematical property of being non-orientable. It can be realized as a ruled surface...
s) - Mystery Punch
- A Random Bag of Fun (a bag of simple and inexpensive gifts, which everyone participating in the gift exchange gets to blindly pick from)
In 2004, Darren Bleuel hosted a worldwide Random Bag of Fun, encouraging readers to mail in either gifts or else a donation of twenty dollars, so that they could then be mailed a random gift back. About twenty-five people participated.
'Gavspotting'
While Cameo appearanceCameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
s are a common occurrence in webcomics; the frequency of cameos for both the character Gav van Darin and Nukees creator Darren 'Gav' Bleuel (whose real-life appearance is as striking as that of any comic character) have become a phenomenon unto themselves, especially among Keenspot webcomics. Such cameos, called Gavspottings, are listed on a page in the Nukees web site http://www.nukees.com/gavspotting.html; when discussing them, it is the usual practice to add either 'character' or 'artist' after the name in subscript to differentiate the two.
Gavcharacter's appearances include (but are not limited to) Clan of the Cats, Sluggy Freelance
Sluggy Freelance
Sluggy Freelance is a popular, long-running daily webcomic written and drawn by Pete Abrams. The comic has over 100,000 daily readers and premiered on August 25, 1997...
, General Protection Fault
General Protection Fault (comic)
General Protection Fault is a webcomic created by Jeffrey T. Darlington. It centers on the employees of a small software company called GPF Software and their misadventures...
and College Roomies From Hell. Gavartist has appeared in Clan of the Cats (as Gavcharacter's servant), and Schlock Mercenary
Schlock Mercenary
Schlock Mercenary is a comedic webcomic written and drawn by Howard Tayler. It follows the tribulations of a star-travelling mercenary company in a satiric, mildly dystopian 31st-century space opera setting...
, among others.
These latter two are noteworthy because the fictionalized versions of Dr. Bleuel have become recurring characters in their own right, especially in Schlock Mercenary, where, after having been revived from suspended animation
Suspended animation
Suspended animation is the slowing of life processes by external means without termination. Breathing, heartbeat, and other involuntary functions may still occur, but they can only be detected by artificial means. Extreme cold can be used to precipitate the slowing of an individual's functions; use...
a thousand years in the future, he was duplicated over 950 million times due to an incident involving a teleportation
Teleportation
Teleportation is the fictional or imagined process by which matter is instantaneously transferred from one place to another.Teleportation may also refer to:*Quantum teleportation, a method of transmitting quantum data...
device; these 'Gavs' have become an entire ethnic group of their own, and appearances of Gavs both in the main story and in background shots has become a running gag. In El Goonish Shive, he is portrayed as a high school physics teacher, embittered over the lack of respect for the laws of nature by certain of the characters; as of June 2006, this version of Gavartist has only had a single appearance http://www.elgoonishshive.com/d/20050419.html, but author Dan Shive has stated that he will show up again in the future. Some fans have taken to referring to these versions as GavSchlock and GavEGS to differentiate them from ordinary cameos.