Don't feel badly, pal. I didn't get math until I was a frosh in high school. It amazed my trig/calculus teacher when I came back home with a sheepskin in the discipline...
"If all the world's a stage and all the people merely players, who in bloody hell hired the director?" -- Charles L Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com From: astromancer2...@yahoo.com Date: Tue, 2 Feb 2010 22:40:11 -0800 Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Re: 5 Reasons Caprica Is The Season's Most Promising New SF Series Dude...Because ADD was unheard of when I was a kid, getting me to focus on math was probably a challenge for my teachers...Heck, Keith, I didn't grasp division until three years ago when I went to college...I would have taken more math classes if the classroom environment wasn't so distracting. Not that it was noisy, but during lectures, I would drift off musing of something the professor would say or write and miss most of the what was said after...Mind you, I have recently started ritalin again so it helps, but I learn better when I teach myself...I envy people like you who can assimilate math so easily...I would love to grasp it better because I love physics and other math-based sciences...So, alone in my room, I plug away at it until I master it enough to understand that 'secret languange' so I can speak and understand well! "Such music flows on the Fringe, and no one can resist singing to Scarlet" >From "THE SIDE STREET CHRONICLES" by C.W. Badie --- On Sat, 1/30/10, Keith Johnson <keithbjohn...@comcast.net> wrote: From: Keith Johnson <keithbjohn...@comcast.net> Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Re: 5 Reasons Caprica Is The Season's Most Promising New SF Series To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Date: Saturday, January 30, 2010, 12:04 AM Any of the math you like? I rather enjoyed trig. It was a revelation to me when I took it back in high school, the way one can calculate distances and heights based on simple formulae. And such a relief after having taken a year of geometry which seemed to be nothing but endless proofs--ugh! I still do trig in my head as much as possible just for grins. I loved calculus, especially differential calc because of its relationship to motion and stuff. I had to take a year and half of calc, and by the third course it got hairy, as I was then doing differential/ integral calc in all three dimensions, and in three different coordinate systems: Cartesian, cylindrical, and spherical. (this was needed for the electromagnetic theory courses I had to take). After that it was a year of differential equations, a year of linear algebra ("Matrix" algebra), which was fun. Every time I go back home to Texas I pull out some of those advanced math books and marvel I could do the work. I have notebooks where a single problem--writing the equations to describe the shape of an EM wave leaving an antenna, bouncing off a wall, and partially going through it--consists of two solid pages of math. I get the *concepts* still, but the actual math sometimes makes my head spin! Guess that's why writing is my first love... ----- Original Message ----- From: "C.W. Badie" <astromancer2002@ yahoo.com> To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com Sent: Friday, January 29, 2010 5:25:22 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Re: 5 Reasons Caprica Is The Season's Most Promising New SF Series Come on, Martin...already got a complex about math... "Such music flows on the Fringe, and no one can resist singing to Scarlet" >From "THE SIDE STREET CHRONICLES" by C.W. Badie --- On Thu, 1/28/10, Martin Baxter <truthseeker013@ hotmail.com> wrote: From: Martin Baxter <truthseeker013@ hotmail.com> Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Re: 5 Reasons Caprica Is The Season's Most Promising New SF Series To: "SciFiNoir2" <scifino...@yahoogro ups.com> Date: Thursday, January 28, 2010, 3:42 PM The writers ahve never seen quantum number theory in all its glory. Mind you, if they had, they'd be drooling into their water cups at the Home for the Insane. "If all the world's a stage and all the people merely players, who in bloody hell hired the director?" -- Charles L Grant http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=fQUxw9aUVik To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com From: HelloMahogany@ gmail.com Date: Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:53:03 -0800 Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Re: 5 Reasons Caprica Is The Season's Most Promising New SF Series What didn't make sense was how could the same people exist over again and again? How can you have Starbuck exist multiple times with a ship of the exact same technology? That alone would be so astronomical that there isn't enough room on earth to have space for the zeros. Just the sheer randomness of the world allow us to exist. However even if you were to have the same people get together in chronological order over and over again to create you it may not happen. On Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 4:37 PM, Tracey de Morsella <tdli...@multicultur aladvantage. com> wrote: That the cycle repeats over and over again is what I was thinking From: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com [mailto:scifino...@yahoogro ups.com] On Behalf Of Mr. Worf Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 4:35 PM To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Re: 5 Reasons Caprica Is The Season's Most Promising New SF Series They were saying that the original creator of the cylons was also a cylon in the original show. (Ti's wife which didn't fit.) They made it seem like it was probably something that happened or happens over and over again with humans. On Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 4:01 PM, Tracey de Morsella <tdli...@multicultur aladvantage. com> wrote: That "it has happened before" has got me too. I believe it is the tie in to BSG From: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com [mailto:scifino...@yahoogro ups.com] On Behalf Of Mr. Worf Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 2:30 PM To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Re: 5 Reasons Caprica Is The Season's Most Promising New SF Series I think that the show is interesting. It is nice to see part of the story being told that we haven't seen before. I am wondering if they are going to explain the "it has happened before" dialog that keeps popping up. Also the number of the advanced units were they patterned after the gods? On Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 2:16 PM, Tracey de Morsella <tdli...@multicultur aladvantage. com> wrote: I think I might watch it. They have showed it like 15 times this week and even though I saw the DVD, I checked out the last 30 minutes and it was really good. That being said, I have a visceral response to anything remotely related to BSG and it takes a lot for me to set it aside. I went months before I saw Moore's Space show. I think there are a lot of people who feel intense negative feeling regarding BSG after being big fans. I wonder how that is going to impact on ratings? -----Original Message----- From: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com [mailto:scifino...@yahoogro ups.com] On Behalf Of B Smith Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 1:36 PM To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: 5 Reasons Caprica Is The Season's Most Promising New SF Series Three. --- In scifino...@yahoogro ups.com, Martin Baxter <truthseeker013@ ...> wrote: > > > That's two of us, Bosco. > > "If all the world's a stage and all the people merely players, who in bloody hell hired the director?" -- Charles L Grant > > http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=fQUxw9aUVik > > > > > To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com > From: ironpi...@.. . > Date: Wed, 27 Jan 2010 11:51:13 -0800 > Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] 5 Reasons Caprica Is The Season's Most Promising New SF Series > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > BSG ending was unforgivable. I'm boycotting this on prinicple alone. > > B > > --- On Wed, 1/27/10, Tracey de Morsella <tdli...@...> wrote: > > From: Tracey de Morsella <tdli...@...> > Subject: [scifinoir2] 5 Reasons Caprica Is The Season's Most Promising New SF Series > To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com, "'Cinq'" <cinque3...@. ..>, "'glenn'" <ggs...@...> > Date: Wednesday, January 27, 2010, 3:11 AM > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > What do you think. I'm still smarting > from BSG and a little put off that this is an original story that was blended > into BSG to piggyback off of its success. But I do like it > > 5 > Reasons Caprica Is The Season's Most Promising New SF Series > > This Friday brings the first episode of Battlestar Galactica > spinoff Caprica, a noir-scifi drama set on the planet Caprica 58 years > before the cylons nuke it into oblivion. Based on the pilot, we think this > series could become a classic. > > > Of course there are many reasons Caprica might fail, not the least > of which would be poor audience ratings. Many fans of BSG are still smarting > from that series' disappointing conclusion, and are predicting that Caprica > might take an abrupt nosedive into lameness. But the current facts are these: Caprica > is a completely different series, and based on what we've seen so far, it is > the coolest new SF show on the air. Here are five reasons why. > > > 1. Intriguing, thoughtful worldbuilding > > As I wrote > a couple of weeks ago, the worldbuilding that went into creating Caprica City > and the culture of Caprica is simply superb. We're introduced to a > culture where paganism is mainstream and sexual mores are extremely liberal, > but immigrants still suffer discrimination and monotheists are outcasts. Unlike > most SF shows, where worldbuilding is often something like "everything is > the same except the technology is better," Caprica challenges us > to imagine a society radically different from our own. Also, the concept design > of the city - which was shown off to great effect in the broadcast version of > the pilot - is breathtaking. The futuristic technology isn't bad either. > > > 2. A "birth of AI" story that feels original > > A lot of contemporary science fiction, from the Terminator franchise to Star > Trek: The Next Generation, deals with what happens when we finally create AI. > Will it rise up and destroy us ala Skynet or will it nerdily attempt to fit > into human society ala Data? We've seen dozens of vengeful bots and dorky AIs, > but a virtual religious zealot computer genius teen trapped inside the body of > a killing machine made by her manipulative zillionaire father? Not only is the > premise fresh, but so are a lot of the emotional and ethical issues it stirs > up. > > > 3. The Adama family > > Rarely has a family unit in science fiction been as interesting as the Adamas > seem to be in Caprica. Trapped between two cultures, straddling the > line between criminality and respectability, Joseph Adama is a character who > has problems I want to know more about. Plus his brother Sam, a smalltime > gangster with a heart of gold, is another guy I want to know better. I'm sold > on the idea of gangsters on another planet. > > > 4. Excellent acting > > With Essai Morales and Eric Stolz as our leads Joseph Adama and Daniel > Graystone, it goes without saying that the acting in this show is going to > rock. (There was also a lot of terrific acting in BSG, so Caprica > maintains the quality of this aspect of the franchise.) Sasha Roiz as Sam Adama > is already terrific, as is Magda Apanowicz as Zoe Graystone's friend Lacy. > Alessandra Torresani is probably the weakest link as Zoe - she's a little > one-note - but she could improve over time. Given that this show hinges on > personal drama as well as epic SF storytelling, it's crucial that the leads be > able to show us subtle emotion and conflict - and damn, they are delivering. In > the pilot, Stolz does a perfect job embodying a guy who is incredibly > manipulative while also being sincere. > > > 5. Drama that depends on science fictional plot points, but isn't > completely focused on them > > I already suggested that drama is one of this show's strong points. One of the > ways Caprica has already become a standout this season is that it manages to > give us human drama of the sort we might expect on The Wire, while also never > losing sight of the fact that its plot arc is centered on something basically > science fictional. This is a series about how two new technologies - the > holoband and the cylon - come together to create artificial life. And much of > the human drama hinges on these technologies as well. In other words, this is > fiction fueled by drama and science, which is a rare and awesome thing. > > > Who knows where the show will wind up, but for these reasons alone I think > it's worth tuning in Friday for the first episode. > > > > > Send an email to Annalee Newitz, the author of this post, > at anna...@io9. com. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ ________ > Hotmail: Trusted email with powerful SPAM protection. > http://clk.atdmt. com/GBL/go/ 196390707/ direct/01/ > ------------ --------- --------- ------ Post your SciFiNoir Profile at http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/scifinoir2 /app/peoplemap2/ entry/add? fmvn=mapYa hoo! 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