Difference between revisions of "576: Packages"
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[[Cueball]] wrote a script that searches online shopping sites for items that cost US$1 with free shipping. Because the script is programmed to use an account with a $365 balance, this script will buy one random item per day for a full year. [[Megan]] comments that Cueball might just end up with "lots of crap" but he replies that he might get something interesting. | [[Cueball]] wrote a script that searches online shopping sites for items that cost US$1 with free shipping. Because the script is programmed to use an account with a $365 balance, this script will buy one random item per day for a full year. [[Megan]] comments that Cueball might just end up with "lots of crap" but he replies that he might get something interesting. | ||
| − | Over five days the script orders a length of rubber hose, a ski mask, a bear trap, a map of {{w|The Pentagon}} and "lube" (sexual lubrication). This pattern prompts Cueball to stop the script out of fear of being placed on a FBI watch list; to a paranoid passerby, the purchased items make Cueball look like a terrorist who plans to kidnap and | + | Over five days the script orders a length of rubber hose, a ski mask, a bear trap, a map of {{w|The Pentagon}} and "lube" (sexual lubrication). This pattern prompts Cueball to stop the script out of fear of being placed on a FBI watch list; to a paranoid passerby, the purchased items make Cueball look like a terrorist who plans to kidnap and torture federal employees. And also a {{w|pervert}}. |
| − | In the title text a sixth item is sent, a {{w|bobcat}}. This | + | In the title text a sixth item is sent, a {{w|bobcat}}. This is a reference to [[325: A-Minus-Minus]] where [[Black Hat]] delivered a bobcat instead of a chair. |
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
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:Cueball: Could be handy around the house. | :Cueball: Could be handy around the house. | ||
| − | :[Cueball stands with a black item and the | + | :[Cueball stands with a black item and the packaging material it came in. Megan looks on.] |
:Day 2: Ski mask | :Day 2: Ski mask | ||
:Cueball: It's spring, but hey. | :Cueball: It's spring, but hey. | ||
| Line 45: | Line 45: | ||
:Megan: Uh oh. | :Megan: Uh oh. | ||
| − | :[Cueball is standing alone with a | + | :[Cueball is standing alone with a bottle of lube in one hand and the box it came in in the other hand.] |
:Day 5: Lube | :Day 5: Lube | ||
:Cueball: I'm stopping this before I end up on every F.B.I. watch list ever. | :Cueball: I'm stopping this before I end up on every F.B.I. watch list ever. | ||
==Trivia== | ==Trivia== | ||
| − | Someone has set up an [http://bobcatinabox.com/ actual service] inspired by this comic, which does exactly what this comic describes. | + | Someone has set up an [http://bobcatinabox.com/ actual service] inspired by this comic, which does exactly what this comic describes, and has been featured in the advertisements section to the left. |
{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
| Line 56: | Line 56: | ||
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] | ||
[[Category:Bobcats]] | [[Category:Bobcats]] | ||
| + | [[Category:Money]] | ||
Latest revision as of 16:58, 1 May 2024
| Packages |
 Title text: Day six: 'The hell? Who mails a bobcat?' |
Explanation[edit]
Cueball wrote a script that searches online shopping sites for items that cost US$1 with free shipping. Because the script is programmed to use an account with a $365 balance, this script will buy one random item per day for a full year. Megan comments that Cueball might just end up with "lots of crap" but he replies that he might get something interesting.
Over five days the script orders a length of rubber hose, a ski mask, a bear trap, a map of The Pentagon and "lube" (sexual lubrication). This pattern prompts Cueball to stop the script out of fear of being placed on a FBI watch list; to a paranoid passerby, the purchased items make Cueball look like a terrorist who plans to kidnap and torture federal employees. And also a pervert.
In the title text a sixth item is sent, a bobcat. This is a reference to 325: A-Minus-Minus where Black Hat delivered a bobcat instead of a chair.
Transcript[edit]
- [Cueball is sitting at his computer.]
- Cueball: I love getting packages.
- [Megan enters and Cueball turns towards her.]
- Cueball: I set up a script to search eBay et. al. for $1 items with free shipping.
- [Cueball comes home with a backpack on his back and find a package waiting for him on his doorstop.]
- Cueball: I gave it $365, so each day it can buy me something random.
- [Cueball, again sitting at his computer.]
- Megan (off-screen): What if you just end up with lots of crap?
- Cueball: I'll give it away.
- Cueball: But I'm sure I'll end up with some interesting stuff.
- [The next five panels have a caption in a black frame at the top. The caption is written first for each panel. In the first panel Cueball has unpacked a hose. The paper lies in tatters on the floor. Megan stands next to him.]
- Day 1: Length of rubber hose
- Cueball: Could be handy around the house.
- [Cueball stands with a black item and the packaging material it came in. Megan looks on.]
- Day 2: Ski mask
- Cueball: It's spring, but hey.
- [Cueball is standing alone with a bear trap and the box it came in on the floor.]
- Day 3: Bear trap
- Cueball: Huh.
- [Megan is back as Cueball looks at a piece of paper that came in an envelope.]
- Day 4: Tourist map of the Pentagon.
- Megan: Uh oh.
- [Cueball is standing alone with a bottle of lube in one hand and the box it came in in the other hand.]
- Day 5: Lube
- Cueball: I'm stopping this before I end up on every F.B.I. watch list ever.
Trivia[edit]
Someone has set up an actual service inspired by this comic, which does exactly what this comic describes, and has been featured in the advertisements section to the left.
add a comment! ⋅ add a topic (use sparingly)! ⋅ 
refresh comments!Discussion
The only way I could imagine Cueball being on a wanted watch list is if the items he ordered could be interpreted as potentially being used in a hostage crisis at The Pentagon. --Btx40 (talk) 20:27, 20 February 2013 (UTC)
- What's the lube for? 103.10.66.8 16:29, 19 May 2013 (UTC)
Has anyone actually tried this?--Mynotoar (talk) 22:57, 7 July 2013 (UTC)
- This guy did. 74.124.100.108 07:47, 20 October 2013 (UTC)
- Here's one you can sign up for. I've been signed up for a while and packages are starting to trickle in, much to my amusement. --Alex (talk) 22:46, 25 June 2014 (UTC)
- I've added a link to the "Bobcat in a Box" website in a trivia section, because I really thought it should be mentioned in the main article. Just some random derp 18:33, 24 June 2015 (UTC)
Who would sell a bobcat for a dollar? 108.162.250.217 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
- I think the shipping costs will eat you alive. 108.162.220.53 18:49, 20 June 2015 (UTC)
Similar sort of experiment with a $100 cap, in bitcoins. Was discontinued within three months after the program purchased ecstasy internationally, a likely stolen credit card, and a presumably fraudulent (but very high quality) Hungarian passport - in addition to some other suspect items of questionable legality. 108.162.219.98 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
- I think it would be an acceptable sacrifice of randomness in purchases to put a few "forbidden" key words in your purchase-bot's programming. -Pennpenn 108.162.250.162 04:22, 17 July 2015 (UTC)
I am totally signing up for Bobcat in a Box! :D --JayRulesXKCD what's up? 18:40, 10 February 2017 (UTC)
where can I get this script
A: you can have this instead B:don't know but there is a good fanfiction about this: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13249443/1/I-Am-A-Bobcat Overlord of oddities (talk) 23:02, 21 May 2020 (UTC)
Well, he certainly got some... interesting... stuff. Psychoticpotato (talk) 16:49, 23 May 2024 (UTC)
There are probably less weird things he could do with that stuff, right? RadiantRainwing (talk) 00:42, 2 October 2024 (UTC)
