Speaking as someone who actually is studying quantum mechanics — the funny thing is, at the early stages the math isn't super duper hard. IF you have calc and a wee bit of linear algebra then you're all right. I haven't become *quite* fluent in Dirac notation, but it's funny when you actually work out the…

Also, in calculus you can play with infinities to get real numbers (though strictly speaking infinity is real anyway). For instance the integral of e^-∞ from 0 to ∞ is actually 1; taken from -∞ to ∞ it's 2. Any integral of the form f(x)e^-x taken from infinity to minus infinity is zero when f(x) is anything except a…

Believe it or not there's some weird connections sometimes between mathematics like that and physics. Of course, physicists and mathematicians will have a (friendly) go at each other because physicists figure if something is within a factor of 10 you're ok and mathematicians are more exact. But, for instance, much of…

You bring up an interesting point. Classism certainly rears its head in some odd and subtle places. And I can relate to the mutual contempt of the Harvard set and the guys from Southie or the North End.

As to his acting ability: I think Wahlberg is a fine actor when he wants to be; I sense — and
I am armchair psychologizing here — that when he taps the pains of
growing up in a place like Dorchester as a working class kid. That scene
with his mother in Boogie Nights where she all but
kicks him out was so reminiscent…

I'm from the Boston area as well, and actually a contemporary of Wahlberg. Believe me, the homophobia in the neighborhood was (and is, still, likely as not) rife. There was a guy who was thought to be gay in our neighborhood and people would call him "AIDS bastahd." This in the state (and neighborhood) where the first…

And one of the key scenes that underscores how awful she is is not killing a puppy or whatever, but when she betrays Jaimie by sleeping with Lancel.

I didn't say it was positive. but there is a huge difference between presentations of boorish, and basically unthinking behavior and calculated seduction. Evil women almost always get presented as doing the latter. It's like the difference between how we read the character who accidentally kills his partner in a…

Interesting, I wonder about that now that you mention it. Samantha Jones is the only one to suffer something life-threatening. And it's worth noting that she is almost always the one who has some ethical lapses (or at least is willing to play hardball). Whereas the one who wanted to adopt and was desperate to have a…

There's a big difference between losing trust because of dumb behavior — something that Baratheon's actions are clearly st up to be — and Cersei's more calculated evil. Remember, Robert sleeps around because — well, we never get an explanation. Cersei explicitly betrays her brother (off-putting as their relationship…

Because if the representation is used as an example of someone's previous bad, or at least questionable behavior, then yes, you're demonizing it. Male characters who have a lot of sex are treated as "hey, it's what guys do when having fun." That's often true even when they cheat on their spouses or partners.

@avclub-1d942d13d38078d2894b6af56e98ecf0:disqus and @avclub-51096670a18de3dbac0e197cf09db6da:disqus and
@avclub-43465afbef176647281f961fabbb8a94:disqus —

Dunno, never watched Veronica Mars. But yeah, you get a card for any two appearances where you are credited. So being an extra doesn't get it. You needn't have a speaking role I don't think, though— it's been a long time since I was up on this and stuff might have changed in the last fifteen or so years. You don't…

And @avclub-17ffa8fad012a66eba508715ad0fec7a:disqus — believe it or not there are rules to how much actors can take in pay cuts and the like. SAG's system is complicated (I don't pretend to entirely understand the formula used) but as a general rule, it's actually hard to cut an actor's pay on a role that exists…

Yah, I was thinking of another one in Pennsylvania. Either way the fact that something is true can still get you in trouble, and if you report on what someone said (whether true or false) even if it's accurate as to what they said that's still a libel claim. (The case I was thinking of was one in which a local paper…

Not libel. Libel laws in the US often don't cover this, not quite,which is why they have revenge laws in the first place. Why not? Because this stuff is true. So were the OP to file a libel suit he'd have to demonstrate a) that the person setting up the site had a "reckless disregard for the truth" and b) that it…

yeah mine was for anyone who didn't click and also getting into the goldilocks planet thing more directly. (I admit I also didnt' see the link when i posted because DISQUS grrrr… :-) )

It's not so much Goldilocks planets. The issue is that there's a lot that can happen to a given planet before life gets going.

I am a touch older than the staff here, having graduated from college in 1991, so DMB was more grad school for me. At that point I sort of liked the music but thought the Counting Crows were better.

You can build with tongue-in-groove and interlocking joinery — it's just really hard to do and takes a while and a lot of skill. The boats of the Pacific Islanders were not, as I recall, dugouts. They were lashed-together constructions. That's why they could go thousands of miles (the advantage over nails is that the…