Gotta be honest; the first Dead Island was so bad, so poorly designed, and so buggy that I thought it must have been programmed by monkeys. The first thing I thought when I saw this controversy is that the monkeys must have been promoted to management.

The fact that the author recently committed suicide severely undermines this article. There is a poignant irony in reading this, but I would advise people not to take wisdom from a twenty-six year old too seriously, even if he hadn't taken his own life.

My company (a fair-sized aerospace contractor) is weird about this. In 2012 we got $100 checks, minus taxes. In 2011 we got duffel bags and a windbreaker. In 2010 they gave us an umbrella and a backpack. I think they get a deal on putting their logo on some merchandise and throw that at their employees, but if…

My dog did that also — he'd chew enough to soften it up, then swallow the rest. I think his teeth were hurting him in his old age so he didn't want to chew more than necessary. I moved him to granulated rawhide — not as healthy or delicious, but easy to chew. (After those got too hard to chew, near the end of his…

I don't buy that growth can continue with finite resources. Even efficiency has physical limits — ask any physicist, of which I am one.

Think of how many mental problems we could get rid of if we only destroyed all those pesky brains.

Clara said 'pond' because the governess is frozen in a pond. She needed something to convince the Doctor to help; 'Go look at the pond' was her best shot. It's coincidence (and the writers being clever) that it happened to also be Amy's last name. Although I wouldn't discount some possible subconscious info. Clara…

The key word missing in the summary, I think, is 'Coriolis force'. As hot air rises it also spirals because of the rotation of the Earth. They're using external power to create heat, then using the Coriolis force to spin that heat into a vortex, then drawing energy from the vortex.

But it doesn't cost $3k to make a balsa-wood airplane. I'd say $200, tops.

Two questions.

I think you missed the Swedish Murder Machine.

In the words of Janet Van Dyne (aka, The Wasp): "They've got to let me come back eventually. I mean, they let Bucky come back. Bucky!"

Ah, that was a bit of information I didn't know. Okay, now I'm with you; this departure seems odd.

Um, maybe they've already filmed the rest of season 3, and Mazzara is satisfied with being done after that?

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Abraham Lincoln was one freaky-looking dude.

I'm gonna throw a curveball in here and recommend the past year's worth of The Incredible Hulk. Writer Jason Aaron took us through an insane plotline with Banner going evil, bear-raping Russian supersoldiers, and a great heroic payoff.

I love that blog. I read it sometimes to remind me why it's good that I didn't go into chemistry. His description of the essential nature of halogen azides (blowing up is their essential nature), the evocatively named FOOF (that's dioxygen difluoride), and historical chemist accidents is wonderful. It's like Terry…

what will this do that a couple of donkeys and a trail guide can't?

I had not seen any of the Bourne Trilogy, but my girlfriend dragged me to see Legacy. I thought it was an okay action film. I'll admit that the ending was weak.

In the full, ranked list of movies that came out this year, Cloud Atlas occupies six slots; one among the best, one among the worst, and four more sprinkled throughout the rankings while wearing various layers of makeup.