be sure to add Cryptonomicon to your reading list. it's funny and thought-provoking (and a third the length of The Baroque Cycle)

hard to imagine just how displeased she would be with the way her descendants treat each other. hey, we're all family, right?

this essay parallels Neal Stephenson's portrayal of Hooke and his relationship with Newton in The Baroque Cycle. worth re-reading.

the real question is why the Observer would tell Olivia what he did? having examined all possible futures, why bother to tell Olivia anything, since nothing will change that? i mean, wtf?

there's no US distributor for 4OD. Torrent, etc, is the distributor

but, uh, SOPA Sucks?

yup, good point. but you get my meaning anyhow, right?

the first two episodes are really not science fiction, because neither is about science; no form of science is the subject of those stories. more like 1984, thrillers, but really not about science.

you can download it (not from the BBC though)

yeah, i know that, but those rovers have never returned anything to earth. i am just asking, what prima facie evidence do we have that makes us 100% certain? it's like the search for the Higgs Boson, scientists wont be, could not be, happy with being 99% sure of the answer.

since we've never been to Mars, how do we know the chemical composition of something from Mars? i'm just saying, it's not like we know 100% for sure, right? maybe, it's likely, but certain?

but origin could also be from beyond the solar system, right?

how do scientists know for sure that the point of origin was Mars? if not trajectory, then what?

"say cheese"?

LOL. or was that your wife? :)

prosopagnosia or face blindness (suffered by the eminent neurologist, Dr. Oliver Sachs). Sachs may well have treated patients with many of the symptoms described in this article.

so if "The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark" ended this way, the Prince could ponder "to be forever, or not..."

understood, but Moffat's masterful writing is a joy to experience. and, for me, that's worth the price of admission.

How can you not adore dialog like "it was just the Caretaker returning to the Timer Vortex. I've been there myself. it's a lovely place" ?

i'd also like to hear what Big Bird has to says about this.