Help Desk is also the title of an online comic strip, by Christopher B. Wright (The Internet's Most Dangerous Cartoonist). Running since 1995 (with a brief hiatus covering.. er.. most of 1998) the storyline follows, more or less, the trials and tribulations of a large software company Ubersoft Do you see my clever joke? Do you?. Past storylines include a run-in with the DOJ over Unholy Business Practices, a tale of woe and decrepitude with leaked software (also a crossover with the excellent GPF Comics), and plenty of scathing political commentary. Ignore the cartoonist's self-confessed bad art, and you've got a lovely piece of reading material on your hands/monitor/whatever. Following is a list of characters, in no particular order.
- Alex: The long-suffering main character, Alex is good at his job, intelligent enough to know not to seek promotion, and an expert in not giving out advice to callers. Brother to Alice.
- Mr Bunny, the Hoppy Computer Guy: The eponymous Dark Lord of Ubersoft. What Mr. Gates wishes he was in his wettest dreams. Seeks only to bring toil and torment to humanity, and to that end started a software company. We could all learn a lesson here, folks.
- Phil: Lead programmer for Ubersoft, he was responsible for leaking the Nifty Doorways source code to Fooker, starting the Ubersoft/GPF crossover. Creator of Binky.
- Binky: A paperclip. An animated paperclip. An animated paperclip with an overwhelming and homicidal desire to assist you type a letter. Run. Faster.
- Scott: The permanent trainee at Ubersoft, on his first day he broke down, confessing "It's all a scam!" to all callers. He was permanently placed on the training programme, but has since quit Ubersoft at his mother's request.
- The Lawyer: Any time lucre and sleaziness is involved, the lawyer is likely to be there. Wears a lot of sunblock, doesn't own a single mirror, and tends to be nocturnal.
- Mark: The token product documentation writer, only hired as a result of the DOJ's investigation into Ubersoft. What's worse is that he knows this.
- And all the other characters: Lots of other characters appear every so often, such as the UberThugs, Bart and King, Deep Grey, Brian, Alice, Monk. Not much is known about them, so they will languish in the realms of "and supporting cast" forever. Natch.
Help Desk can be found at http://www.ubersoft.net. Hosted by Keenspot, so you know what that means.