Bonjour. Je suis Scott Adams, auteur de Dilbert. Et c'est
le premier bulletin de Dilbert. Sentez-vous libre pour l'expédier,
signalez-l'et distribuez-le pour peuple qui vous savez voudriez le
voir (dans les limites du bon netiquette naturellement).
J'ai reçu environ 15.000 messages des lecteurs depuis que
j'ai commencé à inclure ma adresse de E-mail dans la bande.
Beaucoup de gens posent les mêmes questions. Pour un service public
(arrosé avec les bits promotionnels égoïstes) I a pensé que je
leur répondrais de cette façon.
Voici les questions le plus fréquemment posées et mes
réponses OH-AINSI-INTELLIGENTES.
Dilbert est-il une Vierge?
Tristement, oui. J'ai essayé de résoudre ce problème une fois mais
mon éditeur a décidé que les papiers drôles n'étaient pas prêts.
J'ai dessiné une série de bandes où Dilbert a eu un collègue
féminin qui était un nymphomaniac. Elle a admis à Dilbert qu'elle
a eu des " romances de torrid avec la moitié des hommes dans le
service par dernière année " et demandé si Dilbert pensait elle
devrait rechercher la consultation. La réponse de Dilbert était l'"
OH, je lui donnerait une autre année. " Dans les bandes qui ont
suivi, il était clair qu'un Dilbert heureux soit devenu sa conquête
plus récente.
J'ai toujours souhaité que la série l'ait fait par le filet
éditorial. Mais Dilbert obtient des autres a tiré à lui cet été
où il rencontre une femme nommée Liz. Liz veulent l'innocence de
Dilbert de prise ou soient détruits par un météore. Je n'ai pas
parqué la fin encore. Je vais surveiller mon E-mail et voir comment
le sentiment coule après que Liz obtienne présenté. Il y aura un
retard de deux mois tandis que je décide son destin.
Des avis?
(si Dilbert devient chanceux, je dessinerai la bande pendant
un jour cet été avec sa cravate s'arrêtant à plat. C'est comment
vous saurez.)
Travaillez-vous à ma compagnie?
La plupart des personnes posent cette question jokingly parce que le
travail de Dilbert reflète leurs propres. Mais un nombre d' étonner
de personnes ont entendu les rumeurs que je réellement travaille à
leur compagnie.
Il y a des rumeurs persistantes que je travaille (ou
travaillé) à la HP, au DEC, à l'cIbm, à l'cAt&t, au Boeing, au
Honeywell et à une douzaine d'autres compagnies.
À IBM, un employé a recherché le répertoire de compagnie
me recherchant et a indiqué trois Scott Adamss. (ma conjecture est
que les carrières des ces l'autre Scott Adamss ne vont pas trop
bien.)
Un employé de mutuel de masse était si sûr que j'ai
travaillé à sa compagnie sous un nom assumé, ou ai eu un espion
là, qu'elle a recherché toutes mes bandes dessinées passées
recherchant des indices. Elle a noté que un dinosaur nommé Dawn
dans une bande 1990 et un signe de restaurant a nommé " Scaparotti "
dans le fond d'une autre bande. Alors elle a trouvé une aube
Scaparotti dans le répertoire mutuel de masse des employés et lui a
écrit une note demandant si elle était l'espionne. Elle n'est pas,
mais l'aube est mon bon ami, et le dinosaur et le restaurant en fait
ont été nommés dans son honneur.
La vérité: Je travaille à Pacific Bell dans San Ramon, la
Californie. Avant cela, j'ai passé 7 ans à la banque fédérale de
Crocker à San Francisco.
Êtes-vous un ingénieur?
Oui et jamais. Mes cartes de visite professionnelle de visite ont
indiqué l'" ingénieur " pendant plusieurs années, mais ce doit la
plupart du temps impressionner des femmes.
Je travaille dans un laboratoire qui développe des
applications de l'cRnis. (l'cRnis est une norme technique pour
envoyer un bon nombre de données au-dessus des lignes téléphoniques
DIGITAL.) Ainsi je passe mon temps figurant hors de quels matériel
et logiciel la nécessité de clients de tirer profit de l'cRnis de
Pacific Bell raye. Et j'exécute le BBS de Pacific Bell et contrôle
les données sur notre serveur de Gopher sur l'Internet.
Mais mon fond est un B.A. dans les sciences économiques et
un MBA (la plupart du temps finances) de Berkeley. Ma formation
technique est tout sur le tas, et franchement j'habituellement ne sais
pas ce que je fais. Mais j'obtiens d'utiliser un tournevis actionné
par batterie et je puis surfer l'Internet comme partie légitime de
mon travail.
In previous jobs I've also pretended to be a software
programmer. Back in my Crocker Bank days, I lied and said I
could program in order to get a higher-paying job that required
it. Then I quickly signed up for a programming class at night.
Nerd that I am, I fell in love with it and programmed on my
own time for years, developing a string of amazingly bad and
commercially unsuccessful software products. But damn, it was
fun.
This leads me to the next question:
Are You the Same Scott Adams Who Wrote the Adventure Series
Video Games years ago?
No. But I've gotten literally hundreds of letters from people
who are big fans of his. If anybody knows where he is, I'd
like to know where I can forward his mail.
What's the Deal with Dilbert's Necktie?
I know what you're thinking and you should be ashamed of
yourself.
Actually, I don't know why the necktie turns up like that.
Dilbert started as a doodle -- a composite of my co-workers --
and the tie evolved. I don't remember thinking anything about
it except that it looks right that way. Maybe it's a metaphor
for his lack of control over even the simple things in his
environment. Maybe he's just glad to see you. You decide.
Where Do You Get Your Ideas?
About half are from my own experience and half are suggested by
e-mail. If you want to suggest something, I'm always open.
The best way to suggest topics is by explaining the situation
itself and let me do the humor part.
I use what I call the "Two Company Rule" which means I only use
corporate situations I know to exist in more than one company.
What Does it Take to Become a Famous Cartoonist?
Some people have suggested it takes a traumatic childhood, or a
blow to the head, or abduction by sadistic aliens. In fact, it
takes all three.
My advice to all aspiring cartoonists who would compete with me
is to get the blow to the head during childhood (which is also
traumatic) then use hypnosis to uncover the memories of your
alien abduction. It's that easy.
Are You Like Dilbert?
I share Dilbert's love of technology. And his career and
social life are drawn from my own experiences. But my
personality more closely resembles Dogbert's. Dogbert says the
things I would say if I didn't fear retribution.
Do You Have a Dog?
I have two cats, Sarah and Freddie. Dogs are great but they're
too high maintenance for my schedule.
How Many Papers is Dilbert In?
It's in over 200 papers, in about nine countries. Translators
rewrite the strip for foreign languages. As a result,
Dilbert's success in other countries is dependent on how funny
the translator is.
How Far in Advance Do You Do the Strip?
I draw about two months ahead of the print date.
Is Dilbert Available Online?
Yes. You can download Dilbert GIF files from America Online if
you are a subscriber. Use the keyword "Dilbert" to go to the
Dilbert file area. Read the directions for downloading there.
You need a GIF viewer, which you can also download.
Dilbert is available to subscribers of the ClariNews service on
the Internet. ClariNews is a service of ClariNet and it is
generally site-licensed to organizations. People interested in
ClariNet feeds for their site can contact them at
[email protected] or phone 800-USE-NETS.
Dilbert is also available on the World Wide Web (WWW) for
Mosaic users. It's on the Global Network Navigator (GNN)
pages. The URL is:
http://nearnet.gnn.com/gnn/GNNhome.html
Are There Any Dilbert Books?
Yup, four of them.
"Build a Better Life by Stealing Office Supplies" (new material
about working at a big company), Andrews & McMeel, (ISBN
0-8362-1757-8).
"Always Postpone Meetings with Time-Wasting Morons" (a
compilation of the first year), Andrews & McMeel (ISBN
0-8362-1758-6 ). This one is hard to find.
"Clues for the Clueless" from Andrews and McMeel. It's new
material on the subject of manners using the Dilbert cast (ISBN
0-8362-1737-3).
A fourth book -- a compilation of the second year of Dilbert --
titled "Shave the Whales" is just out in May 1994. It's from
Andrews & McMeel (ISBN 0-8362-1740-3).
How Do I get Permission to Reprint or License Dilbert?
The copyright and trademark for Dilbert are owned by United
Media in New York. You can call them at 800-221-4816. There
would be a fee that depends on how you want to use the strip or
the characters.
When Will Dilbert be Animated?
It already is. CGA has created a set of short animated Dilbert
business videos for meetings, workshops and presentations. The
videos are based closely on themes from the strip. They're
used primarily as ice breakers.
Six titles are currently available:
- Dilbert on Quality
- Dilbert on Managing Change
- Dilbert Does Sales
- Dilbert Does Meetings
- Just the Breaks #1 (Mingling Groups)
- Just the Breaks #2 (110%).
Prices start at $99. You can also get Dilbert Business Video
coffee mugs, t-shirts, and mouse pads.
Call 1-800-208-3535 for more information
What About Dilbert Shirts, Mugs, Screen Savers etc.
Dilbert Mugs and sweatshirts are available through the Sunday
Comics Store at 203-359-6902. The mug features the strip that
compared cubicle workers to prairie dogs. The sweatshirt
features Dilbert and Dogbert floating in Cyberspace with the
caption "Lost in Cyberspace." The back of the shirt is the
reverse view.
We're working on a Screen Saver now and it should be available
within the year.
About the Dilbert List
I'm including you on this initial mailing because you wrote to
me and did one of the things below.
- You asked to be on a mailing list
or...
- You asked about Dilbert books
or...
- You identified yourself as a Dilbert fanatic.
This initial list represents about 5% of the people who have
sent e-mail to me in the last year. I read all the e-mail
personally (because my cats refuse to help) and made the
judgement about whether you'd appreciate getting this. I
haven't included anybody who simply wrote to say they like the
strip or to ask a question. And going forward, people will
only be added to the list by request.
I'm using a "List Server" system to automate this process. So
this will come to you from a different e-mail address than my
personal one.
You can subscribe to the Dilbert List automatically by sending
an e-mail to the address:
[email protected]
and include ONLY the exact message below in the body of your
message (except put your real name instead of Joe Blow). Your
e-mail address will be picked up automatically, so you need not
specify it.
subscribe dilbert_list Joe Blow
If you want to take your name off the list automatically, send
an e-mail to the same address but include only these words in
the body of the message:
unsubscribe dilbert_list
If you want to flame me personally, my address is still
[email protected] and I read all the messages. But I may not
be able to respond to all of them.
The frequency of the Dilbert Newsletter is approximately
"whenever I feel like it", which should be about two or three
times a year.
Scott Adams
