LOL Don't worry, Alex, I don't actually offend easily. Trust me, I've been called far worse by people I still like and respect. I always respect people with different opinions then me, and I always respect that everyone (including me) has limits on how far they're willing to go with unfamiliar points of view. The one thing that particularly gets my goat is dishonesty.

That's probably wise. It's good to see you back. It's been very spammy over here lately. Spam even paused to make an on-topic, though not very bright, comment on some organic food thread.

I already banned said troll (twice), and I must admit that I was very torn about deleting all of his misogynistic crap. In the end I just deleted the worst of it.

Hi Alex. You going for a Bachelor's or a master's? Mechanical or Chemical or some other kind of engineering? How close are you? Have fun in the crazy threads. I've steered clear myself. It's too busy, too many levels, unexplained arguments formed on an undercurrent of back-grudges, and I don't know enough about QM to care. As one troll pointed out, my ladybrainz are inherently retarded. Funny how I don't remember that as part of my schooling, but what would one expect from the mentally challenged gender? Welcome aboard.

Yeah, you missed a forward slash in your pointy parentheses. Fixed.

There's a good article about Minchin in the April 1 issue of the New Yorker. It focusses on his current work producing the U.S. version of Matilda, which opens next week on Broadway. He wrote the music and lyrics for the record-breaking musical in the UK. I first heard of him a few years ago from this blog. Unfortunately, the full text is not available online, but there's a 20-minute audio interview with the article's author, which includes excerpts of his music and phone call with Minchin.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2013/03/out-loud-tim-minchin.html

I'm Alex. I'm an American engineering student. I grew up in Virginia, then left to explore the world.

I've taken advanced classes in linear algebra, partial differential equations, multivariable calculus, complex analysis, chaos theory and nonlinear dynamics, quantum mechanics, E&M, astrophysics, physical chemistry, organic chemistry, thermo & stat mech, genetics, biochemistry, cell biology, physiology, computational methods, data structures, O.O. programming, and algorithms. I know, it sounds awful! Academic masochism, baby.

I was pulled into a comments discussion on QM by a friend, who was arguing with an "interestingly-opined" person, here. I tried to respond neutrally; there's issues in both their arguments.

BUT, I had a formatting catastrophe: here! Could a mod please edit that comment and cleanup the formatting? I think it's a single improperly <b>bold</b> tag. I couldn't see any way to fix it myself. Thanks :)

Bensix has a very fine essay on the awful status of being an "apostate" in the fundamentalist theocracies of the world. Theocracies which are not only fostered by oppressive governments but, to a degree, by the cultural traditions of their populations (c.f. vigilante mobs killing "blasphemers").

http://bensix.wordpress.com/2013/03/13/their-ideas-on-our-legs/

No new snow here lately, but south of us is supposed to get destroyed today. The temperature is just about right for some heavy snow.

Had some awesome snow here on Thursday!

My boss was worried that there would be big call volume from the snow. ( Tier 2+ Business Tech Support for a Telcom) It was dead here. Apparently underground fiber doesn't care what the weather is like. Anything affected above ground, people were like, "Fuckit I'll see how it is in the morning, I'm closing early."

I worked from 11-5 and got off 3 hours early. Roads were crappy but the Mini and I made it through everything just fine. Even went 5 miles outside my usual drive to pick up BBQ before they closed early. It might have been bad in some of the side streets but I live 1 block away from a school and 4 lawn care companies live right down the street from me so my street was fine. All the roads were cleared by Sat.

We're expecting more snow on Mon and Tues!

Hmmm, well driving the really slow survival speed makes the mileage run a nice 50+mpg for most of the drive. The antilock brake system works better than my previously owned small cars without it (a Tercel and a Honda Civic were my only 2 previous vehicles). It has some thing that recognizes a slippery surface and does something with the tires to make that better. I don't understand it, but it seems to work. I've never spun out in it. It is low to the ground, so it can't get through as much snow as a higher car or SUV. It is not a good sport about going up hills in snow. I had somebody honking their horn at me while I spun tires going up a hill Friday morning. As if honking will encourage it to dig in and climb. If I find a groove, it's kinda like driving a sled. I've always owned small cars though, so I don't know the difference. It certainly does not let me get over confident like those 4 wheel drives I see passing me and off the side of the road later. I'm open to a full-electric car if something reliable comes up. The hybrid is a nice option though. There's always somewhere to buy gas.

Trying to think of an upside of this unrelenting snow we've had since mid-January: the break in insects is always nice, those tulips I planted in the Fall to make my kid happy after a trip to Menards (look mom, a bag of pink flowers. We should plant them!), I'm told it's good for the lakes and water levels or something, the kids can have some happy snow day memories. Ugh.... I've had enough now and am ready for spring.

We almost got some snow last night, but then it warmed up again. I was curious how the Prius did in the snow, not that good eh? Makes me wonder about the Volt and the Leaf, how much does running the heater cut into your mileage?

Another white-knuckle drive this am. Still have a little shell-shock. My Prius don't like snow either. The news last night said a big ol chunk of the US was getting snow. Did you snow lovers get some?

Actually, Opera Mini has its own charms as a browser, so I've been using it instead of Opera Mobile. :)

I had the joy of driving home along Lake Ontario from My sister's house, near Rochester to my house, near Niagara Falls, last saturday night around 11 pm. Two hours of white knuckled, holy shit where is the road, am I even on the road, driving. I haven't done that in years.

The winter here started out pretty mild, but has given us two pretty good blasts of cold and snow lately. If you don't like that, it will be in the mid 40s tomorrow.

OK, Revy. I'll try that.

You might try and uninstall/reinstall Flash. Check other free browsers to see if they work, I prefer Dolphin Browser.

There are some smart, technically savvy people here, so...I thought I would throw this out here.

Sudenly, for no reason yesterday, the Opera Mobile browser on my Android phone (a Motorola Razr, if that matters) stopped playing You Tube videos. You click on it, and it blinks, but no video play. I deleted the Mobile Browser and reloaded it from Opera. Still no luck.

Now...interestingly enough, Opera "Mini" works fine. No problem.

Did I miss a Youtube update that created a compatibility problem?

Im with you Sunny. I live in a place that is graced with all 4 seasons, kinda. Spring and autumn last a total of 4 weeks in a typical year. This year has been a weird extended autumn with short breaks of winter. Not nearly enough snow for my tastes.

You are welcome to my snow. I hate it. The last time I was on here bitching about snow, it was on a rare blue-skied reprieve of a day after several days of relentless lake-effect snow. It was all white and sparkly and a friggin bald eagle flew across my view from my office window. This never happens. My window points at sky and a street lamp. I've never seen that eagle before. And the blue sky and the majestic bird still could not melt my frozen heart.

It wasn't always like this. I liked sledding and snowball fights and snow days as a kid. But growing up and having to drive in it soured my mood forever on snow. I haven't had any horrible accidents in the snow. There was a drift off the road into a snow bank, fished out by the tow truck and on my way. There was the 270 degree spin-out that one time, but I didn't hit anything and was able to drive away from it. But all the recurrent white-knuckle slow and slippery drives in white-out conditions has worn enough on my nerves that I really hate the stuff.

So yeah, you can have my Michigan snow.

I love snow.
I really love snow.

I have no trouble getting around in it. One of my fondest memories was standing in the backyard while it was packed deep with snow around 3 in the afternoon and nothing was moving. It was dead quiet and peaceful.

So I hear all the good snow is falling way to the North East. Yesterday it was 50 Degrees F, I washed my car. It rained this morning before I went to work. The 10 day forecast has no snow for me. I feel Robbed.

Anyone want to send me some snow my way?