Ah, the Hipster Union. Came up at my local-owned, all-cute-girl-barista coffee shop this morning. As I sat there in my trendy glasses, with my iPhone and MacBook Pro out, wearing my flannel shirt, thinking about what to do a comic about today. For those proud members, here’s your badge. Wear it with pride.

I think this belongs on a v-neck American Apparel shirt, don’t you?

When I had this idea, I put lots of thought into what jobs hipsters had. I put it out on Twitter and got lots of responses. Here’s a few, but add more in the comments!

• @spkr4thedead51: Bike Messenger
• @lindsaytron: unemployed, musician, scarf model, printmaker
• @mikkelmarius: Bike messenger? Social media consultant?
• @prindiville: bookstore owner/employee, librarian, art (or design) teacher
• @martyfnday: record shop, graphic designer (heh heh).
• @leecherolis: Bookstore clerk, artist…
• @sekelsky: Running a college radio station, working at American Apparel, venue promoter.
• @Ria_: Busker. Professional criticizer. Professional concertgoer (only if nobody else is there). Etc. Etc. Etc.
• @DanielleOBrien: Biggest hipster I ever knew was a journalist.
• @passive_mission: they sell trendy tragically good bad hipster used clothes. (consignment stores)
• @kevinengelkamp: actor, model, graphic design, writers, custom jewlrey maker, bookstore
• @ghostfreehood: they don’t believe in jobs
• @mylaundrystinks: Record store/music store employee, art supply store employee, receptionist at the EPA–wait, that’s a hippie.
• @lorig: knitter/crafter, owner of specialty restaurant/food store/food truck
• @sammooney: art gallerist!
• @davidknauer: I’d tell you, but you prob haven’t heard of it. It’s pretty obscure/ironic/mustachioed.
• @designvalkyrie: librarian.
• @boogiestace: um, how bout designer?
• @aidensdame: Holmes was hipster before being a hipster was not-cool. Careful,might get caught in the circular logic trap there.
• @strickATX: Working at Wal-Mart, but only ironically.
• @wombatina: Bicycle repairman, itinerant photographer, performance artist, bookseller, baker.  Oh god.  too many.
• @rothjen: Vintage clothing store worker
• @radiusman: The mecca of hipster jobs is working an Apple store.  You should know.
• @rebeccaames: Dude. Keytarist in a community band. Recycled glass artist. Vegan restaurant waitstaff.
• @peticanoe: the only person I know who works at an apple store also has gigantic holes in his ears & wears argyle cardigans #hipsterwatch2010
• @alanzilberman: Actually, I think a spy might be the ultimate hipster job. It’s so cool you can’t even talk about it
• @wombatina: Jesus=hipster.Wore sandals and walked everywhere, bearded. Into this cool ‘love everyone’ thing that you probably havent heard of.
• @katieobrienSF: bike messenger, cashier at Urban Outfitters, designer…
• @rynVR: Campus bookstore, apparently. At least that’s where they all hang out in my town. It’s like a hoodie convention.

Solidarity.

A Quick Note About Wheelchair Icons

Btw, thanks to @aidensdame on Twitter for helping me track down the new wheelchair symbol. I had seen it around and thought it was a much better representation than the original “handicapped” one. A quick comparison:

Check out the old one. The person stands out from the rest of the style of this “bathroom icon” set that you see in the comic. The head is connected to the body. The arm / arm of the chair is straight and not curved on the end.

Then there’s the more symbolic element, “what does this symbol say about those in wheelchairs?” The old one implies a lack of movement or ability, as the person is neither moving themselves or seemingly able to do so. The new one shows someone propelling themself along, with an angle that implies them actively doing so.

I wanted to make sure to use this new one for all that it implied, I think it sends a much better message. If you want to read more about it, here are two quick articles I found explaining the history of the old icon, and a bit about the change to the new one. Apparently there’s some debate over it as not all people are handicapped and in wheelchairs.

• History of the Handicap Symbol (via amsvans.com)
• Handicapped Parking Signs – Development of the ADA Symbol (via myparkingsign.com)

So there you have it. Hope you like the comic!

Remember those of you in the DC and surrounding area, FREE Super Art Fight tomorrow! Details here.

Cyclists, if you like this one, check out the other cycling comics in the archive.

Chart fans, check out the other chart-loving charts in the chart-cive.

Inspired by this lovely smartass:

Not shown in the picture? There’s plenty of bike parking right around the corner. And with a Jamis Coda Sport too! I have taken flak in the past for defending cyclists, which I do often because I am one of them. But the truth is cyclists are like all groups of people (motorists, fanfic writers, comic artists, babies) in that some of them are assholes. Which, btw, reminds me I wanted to share this.

Btw before anyone asks, the photo is taken outside my place of business, the campus arts center. Hence the weird purple hut in the background.

If you have any great stories about bad parking (bikes or otherwise) share them in the comments! Seen anyone park like a real asshole? Got photos? SHARE!

Hope you’re all having a great Friday, and I’ll see you with a new comic on Monday.

It’s a computer. No, it’s a bike. No, it’s a computer. Now it’s both! They hooked a pretty sweet bike up to a ton of sensors and are pedaling it across country. The “across country” part has been done before, but this sucker is paying attention and posts to its website the speed, direction, temperature, location, and a whole lot more. You can even surf around the site to see what was going on at any day of the trip so far. The most impressive part so far? 19 days in and only 1 flat.

You can check out the site here »

Thanks to Systemic Kerry for sending this my way.

Snapshot: bike lane indicators get straight to the point – Boing Boing

This is why we follow traffic rules, folks. I know, sometimes drivers are stupid. But sometimes cyclists are too.

Oh! I’m up for a SXSW panel! If you want to make me very happy and/or see me get to Austin, TX this year for SXSW, would you please follow this link to the panel description and sign up and vote? They don’t charge you anything, don’t demand more than an email address, and don’t ever email you stupid crap. The panel is about pairing images with words, something you’ve clearly seen me do. If you really want to help out, leave a comment on the panel while you’re at it saying whatever you want. I hear that helps too!

Venn F&%king Diagrams shirts will be settled up today, and for sale by Monday at the latest. Stay tuned.

It seems Apple has filed for a bike-related patent. From Kottke.org:

While we’re on the subject of bikes, according to a recently filed patent, Apple is looking at making a smart bike. I look to the future and I see 1) Consternation that Apple has signed an exclusive agreement to release the bike on Trek frames only for a period of 3, 4, or 5 years depending on which rumor you believe. 2) Several media stories crediting Apple for popularizing the riding of bikes. 3) Several media stories criticizing Apple for claiming they popularized the riding of bikes, even if they didn’t.make that claim, 4) Much rejoicing 3 weeks after release of the bike when someone has figure d out how to jail break the phone into a fixed gear. 5) 250 posts from John Gruber refudiating predictions of iBike failure. I look forward to all of it.

Here’s the post on Kottke. Here’s the story it links to.

G-ddammit why did I have to call it the iBike.

Welcome to comic #400, and the 2-year anniversary of The System! I know what you’re saying, comic #1 was posted July 1st. True, but it went live somewhere around July 8th and y’know what? Close enough.

Since then we’ve seen lots of changes to the site, from some recurring characters to comics that have been across the internet and back (with varying amounts of credit thrown my way). I could not have made it this far if not for the help of my many friends (both those with websites and without) and fans who have encouraged and supported this project along the way.

Over the next few weeks you will start seeing some improvements around here, as some new personal opportunities have come up that will allow for some more time and effort to be put on the comic and its various accoutrement. If you’re a fan of the site and would like to do your part, check out the online store and consider supporting the comic and taking something home while you’re at it. If you don’t see something you like don’t worry, preorder for BOOK 1 of The System will be going up soon along with other pieces of amazingness.

For those of you less monetarily inclined but with plenty of free time, it always helps when you share comics on StumbleUpon, Reddit, forums, blogs, BoingBoing or any other sites you frequent. Or for that matter just participating around here by commenting on posts and talking back as I use this site (and Twitter, and Tumblr) to talk at you. I know RossMom always appreciates it, and at this point I think we can pretty much call her a moderator. And yeah, that’s my mom.

Also upcoming, I’m going to start posting a bit of a retrospective on how The System is doing in an effort to show you guys what goes on behind the scenes and also get some thoughts out. Posts about how I’ve gotten this far (if you call this far) and what I’ve learned along the way. For those who like that kind of inside baseball I think you’ll appreciate them. For those that don’t, well, there’s always the comic.

Speaking of the comic, can you pick out where all the panels are from? The art is all from previous comics starting between comic #304 and #399. See what you can do and post it in the comments!