Nibbles and Bits

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(C)Copyright 2022, C. Burke. "AnthroNumerics" is a trademark of Christopher J. Burke and (x, why?). Barely half a byte!

The Nibbles and Bits line popped into my head the other day when I thought about the 8-bit characters and how I haven't used them in a while. It wasn't until I started typing the dialogue that I suddenly started channeling Sheldon Leonard from It's a Wonderful Life. It wasn't on purpose, but I played into it. To the point that I nearly forgot to make a "nibble" reference.

For those who don't know (FTWDK), a nibble is a four bits, or a half byte of data. I thought my Comp Sci teacher was making a joke way back when. Nope. Someone else made that joke long before, and it stuck.

The witch seemed to be the appropriate character to mention nibbling on the little ones and the little zero.

Now I have to think of some new 8-bit characters, and then find the tools I used to create the ones I have.

And maybe name them.

I also write Fiction! You can now preorder Devilish And Divine, edited by John L. French and Danielle Ackley-McPhail, which contains (among many, many others) three stories by me, Christopher J. Burke about those above us and from down below. Preorder the softcover or ebook at Amazon. Also, check out In A Flash 2020, by Christopher J. Burke for 20 great flash fiction stories, perfectly sized for your train rides. Available in softcover or ebook at Amazon. If you enjoy it, please consider leaving a rating or review on Amazon or on Good Reads.

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Another Pirate Bit

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(C)Copyright 2020, C. Burke. "AnthroNumerics" is a trademark of Christopher J. Burke and (x, why?).

A clipper ship between a pirate and a barber.

If I hadn't named him Art already, I would have gone with Joe. After all, Joe Dimagio was the Yankee Clipper.

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Pieces of 8-Bit

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(C)Copyright 2020, C. Burke. "AnthroNumerics" is a trademark of Christopher J. Burke and (x, why?).

Maybe it should be Clip-Arr!

Some might think a one-eyed pirate barber would be out of his depth. That's the perception, any way.

If I use him again, maybe I'll mention what kind of ship he sailed!

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Clip - Art

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(C)Copyright 2018, C. Burke.

That Art! He is the Clipper to the Stars!

Ten years in the making, at least. And I originally wanted to put some familiar head shots in there, like you see on barber walls.

I've had the joke, but not the means to do it. Then, on a whim, I checked the web for 8-bit creators, and found a couple. I created a witch in no time. And then I nearly crashed my iPad when I tried using some of the site's functions to either save or email the picture. Seriously, if was a half-hour or more before my iPad was responding, and I was afraid I would have to do another factory reset.

Luckily, the second site was a little better and PC friendly. I recreated my witch, print-screened and saved it that way. Then I re-colored it to match my original witch, which I liked better. (Which witch? The first one.)

I made the next three in a couple of days, and passed them by the expert: my son. I thought they came out good, but didn't know what was sticking on the side of the second guy's head. I said I was going for "Elf". Oh, well. I changed the coloring a little.

Next problem was that the joke was ALWAYS "Four SHAVES, Four Haircuts". Only one guy had a beard -- and one of the others was female.

First try was to create the pirate, who I thought was "okay" but I wasn't happy with his eyepatch or his hat. Keep in mind, he came before either of the two pirate jokes that I already posted this week. He could've tied them all together very nicely. (He might've been part of the reason I came up with the other two jokes, and well as the play on "Barber".)

But I liked the witch, and I thought that a wizard wouldn't be a difficult transition. So I went that route instead.

For those who are interested, the original artwork is posted below. The knight always had a beard, even before I "remembered" the joke. Witch, elf, barbarian (part satyr?), knight, pirate, wizard.

I hope you like them. I could try to recreate them sometime, but it won't be easy though.




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