Just Like Daddy!

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Dice

 The most commonly used dice shapes are shown in the image, and listed below.

• Tetrahedron: 4 faces – the blue die
• Cube: 6 faces – the orange, cubic die
• Octahedron: 8 faces – the green die
• Pentagonal trapezohedron: 10 faces – the orange, non-cubic die
• Dodecahedron: 12 faces – the yellow die
• Icosahedron: 20 faces – the purple die

Although the image shows some of the more common die shapes, there are many other polyhedral dice, or dice of other shapes. There are also non-numeric dice, dice that do not follow a counting sequence that begins at one, and spherical dice.

How random is a dice?

Based on probability, a die should have an equal probability of landing on each of its faces. However, this is not necessarily the case with mass produced dice as they cannot be truly random, since it is difficult to mass produce dice that are uniform, and there may be differences in the symmetry of the dice. Each dice, particularly d20 (20-sided polyhedral dice) and d8 (8-sided polyhedral dice) is often unbalanced, and more likely to roll certain numbers.

How to test how random your dice is:

Although it may not be the most accurate way to test how random your dice is, one relatively quick test you can do involves just a container, some water, and some salt:

1. Get a container that can fit the die you want to test
2. Fill the container with water, then add salt and the die to the water – if the die doesn't float, add more salt until the die floats
3. Flick the die and take note of which side faces upwards – repeatedly flick the dice and record the results

For a well-balanced die, you can expect a variety of numbers. If it is not well balanced, you will be more likely to notice certain numbers occurring more often. However, unless this test is performed numerous times, or the dice is heavily unbalanced, the user is not likely to notice a significant difference.

There are a number of companies that manufacture dice, and some more rigorous tests (than the one described above) have been performed on dice manufactured by different companies in an effort to determine how truly random the dice (mostly d20 dice) are. These studies confirmed that even dice manufactured within the same company under the same conditions could vary significantly from each other, and are not truly random. Some companies produced dice that were more random than others, but even then, they were not found to be truly random.

Virtual dice, like the one above, are almost always based on pseudo-random number generating algorithms, which are also not truly random. However, a virtual dice roll is likely more close to true randomness than most physical dice.

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Contact me, please...

 Hello, Mitch4. Please write to me at my name (no spaces) at gmail dot com. I have a question.

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Frog Applause / Amanda the Great crossover...

Last year or so, I created a crossover with "Amanda the Great" that included Amanda El-Dweek in the strip getting poop-bombed. Classy, I know. Anyway, here is the framed print on Amanda's wall in her studio. Cool, huh? The title of the strip: "Amanda the Great" Regrets Visiting "Frog Applause."

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Mark Leiknes and his GoCreator pin...

Thank you, Mark. Beautiful work! We love having you as a GoCreator. (Cow & Boy)

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Lincoln Peirce and his GoCreator pin...

Lincoln Peirce (Big Nate) is all smiles wearing his GoCreator pin. Love it!

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To Love Someone Long-Term...

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Wayno and his GoCreator pin...

The amazing Wayno (WaynoVision and Bizarro) and his GoCreator pin-o... 

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The GoCreator pin belonging to Steenz...

Here is the beautiful and talented Steenz (Heart of the City). Your GoCreator pin looks great, Steenz. 

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John Kovaleski and his GoCreator pin...

Here's John Kavaleski (Bo Nanas) and his GoCreator pin. John is
also wearing a button featuring Bo, the monkey from his strip.

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Mike Lester and his GoCreator pin...

 OMG. Is that a wasp nest? As amazing as a GoCreator pin is, I'm not sure that Mike will survive this. Mike du Jour.

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Jesse Atwell's GoCreator pin...

Wow, Jesse, you're really decked out... and it all looks great. I love Jesse's art! Tex is a wonderful strip. (Jesse's writing is particularly strong.)

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Amanda El-Dweek with her GoCreator pin...

 I just love Amanda. She's such a kind and genuine person. She really is "Amanda the Great"!

I recognize the GoComics pin. I'm still waiting to find out about the other two pins.

Update from Amanda: The skeleton pin is Teresa Logan's design (she draws Laughing Redhead Comics on GC). The gold pin is a Monstrance which contains our Eucharistic Lord (Catholic thing). 

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Bunnies during the Middle Ages

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Dan Thompson's GoCreator pin...

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David Fletcher and his GoCreator pin (sort of)...

 Not the actual pin, but a drawing of it. Thank you, David. Read "Crumb" on GoComics!

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GoCreator pin belonging to Greg Cravens...

 Thanks for the photo and the peek at your work, Greg. See "The Buckets" on GoComics!

How do I legally mail the cremated remains of an emu?

Read more about the guidelines above here and here.

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Shannon Wheeler is updating Too Much Coffee Man...

The main impetus of being a GoCreator is encouraging and supporting other creators. It's not about me, me, me. I'm proud to have encouraged Shannon to delve into his studio archive and start posting "new" content on his GoComics page. I can't believe that these gems have been denied an audience. Shannon's dark, weird, and even scatological sense of humor appeals to me. It's not easy to make me laugh... or even smile. Check out "Too Much Coffee Man." Visit Shannon's website here.

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Stephen Beals with his GoCreator pin

We're proud to have Stephen Beals of Adult Children as a GoCreator on GoComics. Are you able to balance a spoon on your nose at the same time, Stephen? We need to know...

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