Is there a generic word in English that means "through time"?

I know "temporal" means "to do with time", but I'm looking specifically for a term that means "spanning time" or "over time". Not necessarily all time, as "eternal" would mean, nor do I want to necessarily imply anything about the span of time (e.g. being long or short).

Upon reflection, I guess "temporally" is actually the closest word to use. I was just hoping for a word that meant literally "spans time". I guess the implication of using the word "temporally", because it deals with time, also often implies over the course of time.

However to illustrate the difference, I could use the term "temporal locality" to mean things that are close together in time (a term we use in Computer Science). In this case, "temporal" refers specifically to the concept of time, not the concept of something spanning it (it generally refers to two points in time that are close together, and points in time do not "span" time).

Update: Here's a much better example, though it's specific to programming: let's suppose we deal with the concept of locking an object. We might say that an object is "temporally locked" which means that it is locked with respect to a certain time; but we might also want to say that it is locked through time. I'd like to be able to say the latter with an adverb such as "it is locked _____". Since temporally locked already means something else, we need a distinction.

I honestly don't know if such a word exists, and it's more out of curiosity than anything, but thanks to all the folks who have contributed ideas. :)

Update 2: I've thought of another way to formulate my request. Think of it perhaps as the opposite of a specific point in time. In other words, a word that means "not restricted to a particular point in time". I think perhaps that's a better example than my lock example above.

I like the word chronological for this reason, but chronological also implies the concept of order and specifically progression through time, which isn't really part of this concept. Indefinite also works, to a degree, but as the term doesn't involve time itself, it would have to be temporally indefinite. This is very close, but again, a single word would be awesome.

slang - What does 'Flipperhead' mean?

Seen this in a few movies, spelling is probably incorrect. It appears to be an irish-american slang for an idiot in usage. Mostly interested in the correct spelling/actual word(s) and origin.

The usage I noticed this in recently was in 'The Equalizer (2014)', the quote's context is reproduced on this page (search for 'flipperhead' or scroll down).

This is the scene in question (warning; NSFW language). I'd swear i've heard the term before in the same context (movie american-irish people insulting people).

phrase requests - What is the name of this rhetorical device involving the use of One. Word. Sentences. For. Effect

There have been many questions about this "meme" if you will.

What was the first use?

I think it was "Best. Boyfriend. Ever." But I have no idea where.

When was the first use?

I think it is a 21st century thing ... I reckon around 2005.

Is it an internet thing?

I don't know. It could be like the "Keep calm and _ _ _" meme which started elsewhere, but became an internet meme.

Finally, your question 'Does it have a name'?

The answer is no, there's not a commonly used name for this "meme".

No memes I'm aware of "have names". You just refer to them as the "keep calm meme" or the "Lion facepalm meme" - or whatever.

For me, if someone referred to it as the (say) "three full-stops meme" it would be instantly understood that you are referring to the meme in question.

You could also refer to it as the "blah-blah-Ever" meme since it's most typically "Superlative. Something. Ever."

By the way as I mention in a comment: the examples of the meme which you happen to include are perhaps poor examples: Classically, the meme has three words. Three only, not four or five. "Best. Boyfriend. Ever."

(Also, I'd say it's not a "rhetorical device" if you look at the dictionary definition of rhetoric. I wouldn't describe a "fad" as a rhetorical device. Consider, say, "emoticons" - you wouldn't really call those a rhetorical device. Right? They are, simply, a popular fad in writing.)

In a sense, the answer to your question is indeed: "punctuation".

If someone from Mars said "explain to me this three-word meme I have heard about, as I have never actually seen your Internet" you'd probably indeed say "it's a fad involving using punctuation in a certain way."

That's the broadest simple description of this meme.

Indeed if you referred to it as the "punctuation meme" I bet most people would make the link.

(It's the only meme I can think of where the idea is you punctuate a (short) sentence in a weird way.)

movie in which guerrillas give a hand grenade to a baby

I am trying to remember the name of a movie (set perhaps in Asia) in which a guerilla group terrorizes an innocent outpost (possible a field hospital run by white people) by giving a hand grenade to a baby, and shooting anybody who moves to intervene. This movie would have come out in the last fifteen years I think.

Help with story/book title, please! Possible Scholastic, circa mid-late 1980s

I read this in a collection of sci-fi short stories when I was in elementary school, so circa mid-to-late 80's. It may have been Mars. Sometime in the future, the moon/Mars has been colonized.

It's a very short story and the only part I remember is a boy who's been out by himself playing baseball, the planet is low gravity, and his ball and bat are futuristic and the ball comes back to him. Then, the boy is running home because of a "hail" warning and his mother is possibly shouting at him from the door to run faster because the "hail" could kill him. Later on, after the storm is over, trucks are coming to collect the "hail" on the ground and the mother wonders to herself why the people on Earth found these clear shiny rocks so enticing (I think it's made clearer that they're diamonds, but I'm not sure).

Any help is greatly appreciated!

grammar - Is the sentence "We are invested" correct?

Yes it is correct

To be invested is marketing speak for being involved/committed

Free Dictionary

2.a. To spend or devote for future advantage or benefit: invested much time and energy in getting a good education.

b. To devote morally or psychologically, as to a purpose; commit: "Men of our generation are invested in what they do, women in what we are" (Shana Alexander).

Example: We are invested

A new multimedia ad campaign would be a logical outcome of the brand review. But the team realized they had a significant job ahead of them first: internal education. They wanted staff to be invested in the brand and thus worked hard to imbue employees with messaging around the simple idea of "We Are Invested." The message spoke to the staff in terms of their needed commitment, their responsibility as brand ambassadors, to focus on positive outcomes and to strive for excellence.

star wars - What human rights did the clone troopers have?

Not very many, unfortunately.

Freedom from Slavery / All are Born Free: False

The clones were "born" into a life where they were meant to serve whatever purpose they had been commissioned for - in this case, as soldiers. They were property of the Republic, bought for money from the Kaminoans. According to Star Wars: The Clone Wars: New Battlefront, they were considered the flesh and blood / mentally superior equivalent of battle droids, when it came to value of their lives. Of course, this is not how the Jedi who fought with the Clones thought of them, but the Senate's and the public's view of them was as living objects.

---

Freedom of Thought: False

Despite their greater individuality as compared to droids, the genetic tampering that had been part of their creation, did mean that most of them were born with severe limitations when it came to being able to exercise free will - even the more autonomous of the non-ARC troopers, such as Captain Cody, were unable to disobey Order 66, even when it meant trying to kill General Kenobi - someone he personally respected and was a friend of.

ETA: In addition to genetic tampering, the clones' lack of freedom to thought (especially as related to Order 66) was enhanced by Inhibitor Chips. Supposedly, meant to 'just' modify thought and behaviour by preventing clones from being overly independent and aggressive, the true purpose of these chips was to ensure unthinking obedience of Order 66.

As seen in the opening episodes Season 6 of The Clone Wars Tv-Series, a malfunctioning chip caused the clone 'Tup' to prematurely execute his Jedi General Tiplar; and he did not seem to remember his actions afterwards. This led the clone 'Fives' to discover the existence of the programmed order, but he was executed on framed charges before he could reveal his discovery to anyone else.

---

Freedom of Speech and Action: False

While we can't make any statements regarding the freedom of speech allowed to the Clones, we do know that at least during the course of the Clone Wars, retirement was not an 'official' option allowed to them, as mentioned in the question linked by Phantom42.

So, as per canon, they don't seem to have many choices, or rights.

lord of the rings - How did Gandalf and Mordor come to know about Gollum?

In the book Gandalf knows about Gollum because Bilbo told the company - although he withheld information about the Ring at first:

Then they wanted to know all about his adventures after they had lost him, and he sat down and told them everything-except about the finding of the ring ("not just now" he thought). They were particularly interested in the riddle-competition, and shuddered most appreciatively at his description of Gollum. (Out of the Frying-pan, Into the Fire)

Eventually after the Spiders episode (Flies and Spiders) Bilbo tells the Dwarves everything (it should be noted that Gandalf is not part of the company at this time):

There they lay for some time, puffing and panting. put very soon they began to ask questions. They had to have the whole vanishing business carefully explained, and the finding of the ring interested them so much that for a while they forgot their own troubles. Balin in particular insisted on having the Gollum story, riddles and all, told all over again, with the ring in its proper place.

I can't at present source a reference in The Hobbit for when Bilbo told Gandalf about his Ring (although Gandalf did know about Gollum as my first quote shows) but Gandalf evidently did know, and knew quite early, as is shown in The Shadow of the Past in Lord of the Rings:

Then I heard Bilbo's strange story of how he had "won" it, and I could not believe it. When I at last got the truth out of him, I saw at once that he had been trying to put his claim to the ring beyond doubt.

As for Sauron, there's absolutely no evidence that Sauron knew anything about Gollum and Gollum's possession of the Ring before Gollum's entry into Mordor, but after that he did find out quickly enough; again from Shadow of the Past:

'But I am afraid there is no possible doubt: he had made his slow, sneaking way, step by step, mile by mile, south, down at last to the Land of Mordor' .....

'Wretched fool! In that land he would learn much, too much for his comfort. And sooner or later as he lurked and pried on the borders he would be caught, and taken – for examination. That was the way of it, I fear. When he was found he had already been there long, and was on his way back. On some errand of mischief. But that does not matter much now. His worst mischief was done.

'Yes, alas! through him the Enemy has learned that the One has been found again. He knows where Isildur fell. He knows where Gollum found his ring. He knows that it is a Great Ring, for it gave long life. He knows that it is not one of the Three, for they have never been lost, and they endure no evil. He knows that it is not one of the Seven, or the Nine, for they are accounted for. He knows that it is the One. And he has at last heard, I think, of hobbits and the Shire.'

So yes, Gollum did simply walk into Mordor.

mathematics - Word For the Process of Finding Return on Investment

I am told that if I invest $20 in this Apple Stock, in one years time there is a:

• 10% chance I'll get back $25


• 10% chance I'll get back $20


• 30% chance I'll get back $15


• 50% chance I'll get back $10

So my what I'm calling my "Return on Investment" would be: $25 * .1 + $20 * .1 + $15 * .3 + $10 * .5 = $14

I'm assuming this is some sort of statistical calculation that I just did, but I'd like to know the name of this statistical process. (I would say something like amortization, but that's not right.)

pejorative language - A word that describes someone who has an intention to ridicule another person by questioning everything they say?

dismissive (or one of the synonyms given below)

dismissive /dɪsˈmɪsɪv/

adjective

feeling or showing that something is unworthy of consideration.
...

synonyms: contemptuous, disdainful, scornful, sneering, snide, scathing, disparaging, negative, unenthusiastic, offhand, perfunctory; More
informal - sniffy, snotty

Google Dictionary

identify this movie - Kissing a naked alien turns kisser into her slave

My first guess for unclothed space vampires is always Lifeforce (1985), also known as The Space Vampires. The Wikipedia page is here. The main space vampire was played by Mathilda May:

After she kisses the space-shuttle astronaut who finds her, she can make him do things with no memory of having done them. However, the vampires usually don't kiss their victims so much as drain their energy, as shown in the below picture. Their victims become shriveled, mostly mindless zombies whose single purpose is to drain the energies of others:

Once a zombie has drained a victim of his own, he becomes un-shriveled and looks normal again, temporarily.

What was really behind the mysterious number sequence in Lost?

The only other real explanation given for the numbers relates back to one of the bonus features with DHARMA showing that the numbers are actually part of an equation that predicts mankind's extinction.

---

The other major explanation of the numbers are, as you say, part of Jacob's numbering of the final candidates:

4 - Locke

8 - Reyes

15 - Ford

16 - Jarrah

23 - Shephard

42 - Kwon

Also on Lostpedia, you can find uses of the numbers strewn across the whole series as a bit of an Easter Egg for those paying attention (and not just in this series)

---

The reason for the numbers to be entered into the computer was to discharge the magnetic power that the Swam station contained. The first time we witness the numbers not being entered caused Oceanic 815 to crash in the first place (the plane flying over and the magnetic field becoming to strong, causing the plane to get out of control and break up and crash).

The second time we witness the numbers being missed is when Locke destroyed the computer, causing Desmond to activate the Fail-Safe, blowing up the Swan and the power it would try to contain in the first place. I can only assume they chose this sequence of numbers either because of the aforementioned equation or because it was the "serial number" of the base.

---

As far as Hugo, because the numbers have this strange relation to the extinction of man, it could be implied that using them would cause bad luck. However, this is never heavily implied and can be just a plot device/just a string of terrible events that happened in his life.

---

Other than these explanations, there have been no other pure explanations for the Lost numbers by any of the creators or writers that I can find.

One final note to add, an answer from Damon Lindelof, explaining why the numbers don't have a definite meaning throughout the series using the Midi-chlorians from Star Wars as an example:

There are some questions that are very engaging and interesting, and then there are other questions that we have no interest whatsoever in answering. We call it the midi-chlorian debate, because at a certain point, explaining something mystical demystifies it. To try and have a character come and say, "Here is what the numbers mean," actually makes every usage of the numbers up to that point less interesting.

You can actually watch Star Wars now, and when Obi-Wan talks about the Force to Luke for the first time, it loses its luster because the Force has been explained as, sort of, little biological agents that are in your blood stream. So you go, "Oh, I liked Obi-Wan's version a lot better." Which in the case of our show is, "The numbers are bad luck, they keep popping up in Hurley's life, they appear on the island." ... But if you're watching the show for a detailed explanation of what the numbers mean—and I'm not saying you won't see more of them—then you will be disappointed by the end of season six.

Is Victor Creed from "X-men Origins: Wolverine" actually Sabretooth?

Sabertooth's mutation is what causes him to become mindless.

As we see in Origins, Victor is very aggressive, to the point of mindless killing. Even when killing someone will lead to problems for him. This is how Logan and Victor end up facing a firing squad, before Stryker recruited them. And then, Logan continued to pull Sabertooth back from his more feral instincts until Logan walked away from a blood bath. Without Logan to remind him of his human side, his animalistic side continued to take over. It's represented by the changes in Victor, his nails grow longer into inhuman claws, he grows hairier, his voice is gruffer, he starts running on all four.

Four years of blood baths between being recruited and leaving Team X was enough to make Logan abandon Victor, after 125 years of fighting in wars together. Then 8 years later without Logan, Victor has no problem in hunting down children for experimentation, just so he can get "revenge". Now take another 20 years* of being without a conscience, of giving into his mutant animalistic side, we get the X-Men Sabretooth.

This is inline with Comic Sabretooth, as he's defined by his animalistic blood lust.

_{20 years of no one telling him not to bleach his hair blond too.}

Why does the dinosaur let the wounded dinosaur live?

To my understanding, this scene is a comment on the opening line and one of the central themes of the film:

A man's heart has heard two ways through life: The way of nature and
the way of grace. You have to choose which one you'll follow. Grace
doesn't try to please itself. It accepts being
slighted...forgotten...disliked... It accepts insults and injuries.
Nature only wants to please itself.

We would assume--and have been shown until this point in the evolution story--that nature is the only mechanism at work in the non-human world. But then we see a dinosaur, that symbol of lustful hunger and violence, performing an act of mercy. Malick is pointing to a turning point in evolutionary development. "Here is grace, this is where God is born. Not in the heart of man but long long before that."

And if that's the case, then perhaps looking for grace in the "purely human qualities" is wrong. Perhaps the more profound contact with the "way of grace" is through some sort of atavistic rejection of rationality, beauty, truth or whatever else you perceive to be human.

It's a pretty rich moment and I think you could probably find a lot more that it's hinting at but it's pretty clear that it's meant to be read as one of a series of meditations on grace vs nature.

Looking for title of short story about time travel

"The Choice" by Wayland Hilton-Young, first published in Punch, March 19, 1952. The beginning:

Before Williams went into the future he bought a camera and a tape recording machine and learned shorthand. That night, when all was ready, we made coffee and put out brandy and glasses against his return.

The ending:

"I can remember only one thing."

"What was that?"

"I was shown everything, and I was given the choice whether I should remember it or not after I got back."

"And you chose not to? But what an extraordinary thing to—"

"Isn't it?" he said. "One can't help wondering why."

You can read the whole thing here or watch the film here.

etymology - Does "syllabus" derive from Greek or Latin?

etymonline to the rescue:

syllabus (n.)
1650s, "table of contents of a series of lectures, etc.," from Late Latin syllabus "list," ultimately a misreading of Greek sittybos "parchment label, table of contents," of unknown origin. The misprint appeared in a 15c. edition of Cicero's "Ad Atticum" (see OED). Had it been a real word, the proper plural would be syllabi.

So, it seems that it is based on a misspelling of a Greek word - but that would hardly give one reason to form the plural in Greek starting form the Latin(ized) form.

According to Merriam-Webster the plural is syllabi or syllabuses, but with etymonline's no real word-verdict, I'd go for the latter.

Cause vs Causes - subject-verb agreement

Things such as software and workbooks are included in the textbook packages, which causes a significant increase in price.

John Lawler has given a comprehensive analysis of the sentence structure, but for those not familiar with terms like "non-restrictive relative clause", there is a simpler explanation that might make more immediate sense.

It isn't the software or the workbooks that cause the increase in price, it's the fact of their inclusion in the packages that causes it. So, when determining the entity that "which" connects back to, you should see that invisible word "fact" as replacing everything in the first part of the sentence, and then you can see that it must be singular. To make it even clearer, mentally re-write it as The fact that things such as software and workbooks are included in the textbook packages causes...

mission impossible - What was the salary of an IMF agent?

From the script online:

                     KITTRIDGE (CONT'D) 
           I want to show you something, Ethan. 

He now shoves the papers across the table.  They're xeroxed 
copies of a Wisconsin bank account in the name of DONALD and 
MARGARET ETHAN HUNT.  It shows a balance of $127, 000. 

                     KITTRIDGE (CONT'D) 
           Since your father's death, your family's 
           farm has been in sub-chapter S and now, 
           suddenly, they're flush with over a 
           hundred and twenty grand in the bank. 
           Dad's illness was supposed to have wiped 
           out the bank account -- dying slowly in 
           America after all, can be a very 
           expensive proposition Ethan.  So, why 
           don't we go quietly out of here onto the 
           plane... 

So what appears to have raised the suspicion of IMF is that Ethan's father had died after a long illness and that his mother should have only had very little money in her bank account and the farm she owned with his father is bankrupt.

At no point is it implied that IMF think that this is the sole money that Ethan as the suspected mole in IMF has received. The NOC list that is at the center of the plot in the movie is worth millions.

The fact that Ethan's mother, a poor widow, suddenly has a large amount of money in her checking account is just a piece of evidence they are using along with the fact that Ethan was apparently the only agent to survive a botched mission. Yes, perhaps Ethan does earn enough money to be able to support his Mother - but enough to gift her over $120k? As far as IMF are concerned this piece evidence is suspicious and enough to want to detain Ethan for more questioning.

Later in the script:

      PHELPS
           ..when you think about it, Ethan, it was
           inevitable..no more Cold War.  No more
           secrets you keep from everyone but
           yourself, operations you answer to no one
           but yourself.  Then one morning you wake
           up and find out the President of the
           United States is running the country -
           without your permission.  The son-of-a-
           bitch!  How dare he?  You realize itís
           over, youíre an obsolete piece of
           hardware not worth upgrading, youíve got
           a lousy marriage and sixty-two grand a 
           year.  Kittridge, weíll go after that no
           good son-of-a-bitch, big time!

So Phelps, Ethan's team-leader in IMF earns $62,000 a year, so it is likely that Ethan earns less than this. This is probably in line with a 'high end programmer' in 1996 - but one imagines that agents like Ethan (or James Bond or ... name any fictional spy) are probably not in this for the money, but they are somehow attracted to the danger, challenge and jet-setting lifestyle.

Where is this scene happening in season 1's episode 2?

When this is happening - are they at King's Landing or somewhere on the way?

They are on the way to the King's Landing. To be more precise, they are near the Inn at the Crossroads.

Why are his children with him? Are they going to King's landing as well? If so, why isn't his wife going with him?

Ned had recently been asked by Robert to be the King's Hand. He is accompanied by his two daughters Arya and Sansa.
His wife is back at Winterfell, where she is nursing back their son Bran to health. He went into a state of coma after being pushed off a window by Jamie Lannister.

As for your last statement, the entire incident of Nymeria biting Joffrey happened by a riverside which is somewhere near the Crossroads Inn.

star wars - Why did Palpatine choose Jango Fett's gene to create Clone Army?

The main reason for choosing Jango Fett's genes for this was because of his prowess in battle. Here is an excerpt from Wookieepedia:

Having captured Fett, the Bando Gora prepared to turn him into a mindless slave. It was here that Fett acquired many of his facial scars. Vosa herself came to demand of him the name of his employer, but Zam Wesell freed Fett before being injured by the insane Dark Jedi. After a long duel with Vosa, Jango Fett emerged victorious. As he prepared to finish her off, Vosa asked if he would choose to leave her dead or alive. Jango, looking at the ruined female nearing her death, lowered his weapons. Vosa murmured "He… is here." before being choked with the Force to her last breath.

To Fett's surprise, Tyranus was indeed there, and he was impressed. The bounty was a test to determine if the rumors of Fett's skills against Jedi were true. If so, his clones trained under his supervision would be very effective once Order 66, the order to eliminate all Jedi, was issued. While Fett had personally killed many Jedi on Galidraan, Tyranus considered his former apprentice a more challenging test. In addition to the bounty on Vosa, Tyranus offered Fett a tempting sum of money for an unusual task: Fett was to be a template for an army of clones. Fett agreed, and soon millions of clones were created in his likeness at the cloning facility on Kamino. Fett, however, remembered Rozatta's final wish and asked for one clone produced without genetic tampering, an apprentice and son that would become Jaster's legacy and revive the Mandalorians.

Not only was Fett supposed to provide his genetic makeup, he was to train the clones, which was his dual reason for being on Kamino.

single word requests - Is there a name for synonyms that appear to have opposite meanings?

The words flammable and inflammable mean the same thing, but (to someone unfamiliar with their meaning) appear to be opposites (because of the "in" prefix). Is there a name for such word pairs that appear to be opposites but actually mean the same thing?

A few other examples are ravel/unravel, regardless/irregardless, radiation/irradiation, incite/excite, culpatory/inculpatory, press/depress, to/unto, part/depart, fat chance/slim chance, thaw/dethaw/unthaw, candescent/ incandescent, canny/uncanny, dead/undead, write up/write down, valuable/invaluable

Sherlock Villain, Moriarty Hero?

Besides @Oliver_C's comment, of Holmes wearing black in every episode, this episode is most about subverting perceptions.

The writers and Moriarty want to emphasize this Western idea of "white good/black evil", remember; Moriarty is claiming innocence throughout this episode, how better to do that than be dressed all in white?

When we first see Jim, he is wearing a white coat over a white tee and for the rest of the episode he is wearing light "innocent" colors; that is, until the Fall scene where Moriarty takes off his false colors and dresses in black once more.

In that same thought, during the episode DI Greg Lestrade (who believes in Sherlock and is punished by his boss for it) is wearing black while Sergeant Sally Donovan (whom is just doing what she thinks is "right", and playing into Moriarty's hands) is wearing light colors.

Shown here:

http://reasoningbackwards.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/lestrade.jpg

Simply put, it is all about good and evil here, but as they are perceived by the public.

story identification - Identify children's book from 80's

This sounds like The Werefox (original title Pure Magic), by Elizabeth Coatsworth, published in 1975.

I haven't read it myself, but it is described as a book about a boy and his friend, who is a werefox, having adventures at night (when his friend becomes a fox). I haven't located any explicit mention of encountering a combine, but it certainly seems like it could be plausible given the story's setting on an English farm.

story identification - Help Identifying Fantasy Novel About Rune Magic

It might be Runemarks by Joanne Harris

Per wikipedia:
"The book was published on August 2, 2007, by Doubleday Publishing and is set in a world where the Norse gods still survive as outlaws, their powers diminished, while a new and more powerful religion, the Order, tries to wipe out magic from the world. Harris has stated that she was inspired to write the book due to her love of Norse mythology as a child, with the book being loosely based on a novel she wrote in her late teens."

Is there any common/regular business model for film production companies?

The vast majority of those 500 movies have much smaller budgets. In general, the budget is relative to the expected profitability of a given project. A superhero movie that can hopefully gross a billion dollars can be made for $250 million and still earn a profit; whereas a small indie film with no stars can’t be expected to earn very much, and will therefore be made for as little as possible. An entire parallel distribution network exists for these smaller films, in “art house” movie theaters and indie TV channels. The margins are lower but profit is possible, or else none of these smaller films would get made.

But the bigger point is that it’s not like each film that’s released is a separate company with its own business model that either profits or goes bankrupt. A better metaphor would be that movies are products, and studios/production companies/investors are the company that produces those products. The business model of the company is to have enough profit across all of its products such that overall the company is profitable. McDonald’s doesn’t need its salads to be individually profitable, as long as it sells enough Big Macs to cover the salads’ losses.

Movies in general are a terrible investment; many if not most of the movies released every year will lose money. The flip side to that, though, is that the few films that make money often make a lot of money. The big Hollywood studios have the best batting average in terms of profitability, but even they have years where one or more of the studios will come out net negative for the year across all of their films. Smaller companies and investors try to release “slates” of films to better their odds that one will be so profitable as to cover the losses of the others. Unfortunately (for the companies, at least) there’s no way to know ahead of time whether a movie will be profitable or not, so many get made in the hope that a few will be loved.

the dark knight - What is the major reason for casting Heath Ledger as The Joker?

Here is a good interview I found which reveals how was Heath Ledger selected by Nolan. He gave this interview for an hour-long Q&A at the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York City. There he discussed about the influence James Bond films have had on him, his experience working with Heath Ledger, his passion for pioneering IMAX technology and producing next year's Superman reboot, "Man of Steel."

In that interview he shared how he chose Heathe Ledger:

On casting the late Heath Ledger as the Joker:

Really, in a sense, Heath chose me. I met Heath for a couple of films -- I actually met him in relation to Batman, as well, because I was meeting kind of every young actor. He very graciously came and met me for a drink and began to explain why he would never do this kind of movie. [Laughs] But he was very polite. He was really just a lovely guy, and so I thought, "Well, shame I can't convince you, but this is what we're trying to do with this thing.' I think when he saw "Batman Begins," he'd probably remembered the things I'd said about what I was going to try to do, and he felt that I'd done it, so I met with him for the Joker. I didn't know whether it was something he'd be interested in, but I sat and chatted with him in my office for a couple of hours. We didn't have a script at that point, but -- my brother was writing it at the time, and we knew kind of where that was going to go, and it was very much what Heath had in mind. And he just was determined to do it. He just had a vision for something, and the way he termed it to me at the time was, he really didn't like to work too much. He liked to do a character and then stop working then let enough time go by. He wanted to be hungry for it. And when he came to me, he was clearly in that state: Very hungry. He was ready to do something like that and just own it -- which is what he did.

So this is how the casting of Heathe Ledger was done as the Joker. Also he shared on the process preparing for and the reality of Ledger's transformation into the Joker and on the technical (and communicative) difficulties behind Ledger's first scene as Joker in the same interview.

game of thrones - Characteristics of Wildfire - GoT

Temperature

According to the TV Series, burning wilfire is capable of melting the following substances;

"The Substance burns so hot it melts wood, stone... even steel... and,
of course, flesh!. The Substance burns so hot it melts flesh... like
tallow."

Assuming the maester is correct, it will burn hot enough to melt steel (at approx 1500°C) and stone (at approx 1200°C). Although they explicitly mention melting wood, the reality is that the temperature required to achieve such a feat (approx 3500°C) strongly suggests that this is mere hyperbole.

Composition

From the same canon source, we also know that it combusts readily in the presence of urine and burns with a green flame.

While there are a variety of elements that burn with a green flame (including copper, antimony, selenium, tellurium, thallium and barium) the only one of these elements that would readily react with the water in urine is Barium which would cause steam, heat and highly combustible hydrogen gas, potentially leading to an explosion.

Appearance

Wildfire is stored as a greenish transparent liquid. According to Bronn it's highly combustible and can explode from merely being handled ungently.

Out of Universe

The wildfire that was used to coat Baris' 'Flaming sword' is composed of "Isopropyl Alcohol" and kept alight with "a small pilot light". The flame was artificially coloured using CGI effects by Pixomondo, who won an Effects Emmy for the series.

According to various fan sites, the liquid version is allegedly distilled water mixed with glycol and green food colouring although I've been unable to locate a canon confirmation.

If you're after more of an historical perspective, there is an extensive reference on the subject of wildfire on the GoT Wikia

Why did Hel get cut from the American version of Metropolis?

I did a little bit of online research on this, and it would appear that the American distributors considered the movie too long, complicated and controversial and employed the playwright Channing Pollock to make a new version.

The American release was considerably shorter than the original (at 115 minutes it was about 25% shorter than the original) and massively changed the plot - to the point where some scenes became almost incomprehensible. According to one reference I found Hel was dropped because her name was too close to Hell - unbelievable really.

Pollock's version was released in the USA and the UK. Other adaptations of around that length or some even shorter (91 minutes) were released in the USA and Germany. The 91 minute version was the most commonly available from world-war-2.

I found a description about the restoration of the movie which contains some detail about the different versions. A documentary of the restoration can be found on a DVD and Blu-Ray.

This research has made me want to see the restored version, as I saw a version around 1992 with live piano accompaniment - and I now have no idea how butchered the version I saw was.

Why has no movie version of I Am Legend dared to keep the original ending?

I'm going to have a go at answering all of your questions.

Firstly, I believe you have every adaptation listed above, with the exception of the trashy cash-in flick I am Omega, and perhaps, at a stretch, Romero's classic zombie films.

As far as I am aware, nobody has attempted an ending that echoes Matheson's original (and cerebral) conclusion to his novel, even though one might argue that the 2007 Will Smith vehicle didn't end with a classically 'happy ending' (although the ending they plumped for was far from satisfactory).

The simple reason for this is bums on seats. Movie making is a business, run by businessmen/women, and the dollar is the bottom line. Traditionally, the demographic that this kind of film is aimed at likes to see the (male) hero live to kick ass and kiss the girl - it's a brave (and rare) film that tries to break this mold. For the record, I think Darabont's take on The Mist is one of the greatest downers ever made.

As for Matheson's response to any of the films, I've dug around but haven't unearthed anything. Perhaps another user can dig a little deeper.

Short story (50s? 60s?) with a man trapped inside a sentient cave

This is Mother by Philip José Farmer, first published in 1953. Its page on ISFDB lists several places where it has been published since then.

Details are fuzzy (it's been 30 or 35 years since I read it) but here's what I remember:

The "cave" is the adult form of the planet's native life-form; as adults they are (mostly, as I recall) immobile and resemble large boulders; the juveniles are mobile and resemble snails. The parent captures prey, which fertilizes her by tearing the membrane that you remembered, before being digested. The young are grown inside the cave, and get expelled when they are old enough to survive. While inside the cave, the parent feeds them a "stew" of partially digested food.

There are a mother and son exploring the planet: the mother is a scientist studying the planet's biology, the son is a sulky brat. The son gets captured by one of the aliens and learns to cooperate with his captor as you describe (I think the aliens used radio to communicate).

At the end, the alien learns to produce food that the man can digest by:

capturing and killing his mother. If I remember right, there is a line in the story of him saying:

"Mother always did make great stew."

Determining pronoun antecedents - English Language & Usage

If you reconsider and take the entire noun phrase "one of those French composers", you will be correct. Make the noun phrase singular:

HB is a French composer who is famous for his operatic music.
HB is one French composer who is famous for his operatic music.
HB is one of those French composers who is famous for his operatic music.

That Barrie England's answer and mine are at odds merely illustrates that usage mavens disagree about how to parse this kind of sentence. I won't argue with Barrie's answer. He can, I'm sure, cite references to support his claim. I can too, and here they are (You must click on the link to see the entire entry):

One of those [plural noun] that is/are …

"One is one and all alone and ever more shall be so," goes the old Christmas song, but the fact that the singular one needs a singular verb can lead to confusion. In a recently published collection of language columns by William Safire, No Uncertain Terms, he wrote the following sentence (page 336):

"Conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman" is one of those phrases that sounds as if it comes out of Kipling. The sentence caused considerable stir (as such things go), for the verb "sounds" should really relate to the plural "phrases," not the singular "one." The sentence should probably read (underlining things for our purpose):

"Conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman" is one of those phrases that sound as if they came out of Kipling. The rare device for figuring out which verb to use in this construction is as follows: turn the sentence inside out:

There is a possible exception, however. In Burchfield's New Fowlers*, we find this example:

"Don't you think," said Bernard, "that Hawaii is one of those places that was always better in the past." (from David Lodge, 1991; my underline) Burchfield adds, "A plural verb in the subordinate clause is recommended unless particular attention is being drawn to the uniqueness, individuality, etc., of the one in the opening clause." In an earlier note, Burchfield writes: "Exceptions [to the rule that we use the plural verb] occur when the writer or speaker presumably regards one as governing the verb in the subordinate clause," and he gives another two or three examples, including "I am one of those people who wants others to do what I think they should."

grammar - What do you call the grammatical element that describes the state of being of the subject?

The first four sentences start with what the Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar (p291) calls a participle clause:

A non-finite clause with an -ing form or -ed form as its principal
verbal component. (Also called participial clause.) Examples:

• Looking to neither right nor left, he marched out




• Having been warned before, he did not do it again.

Sentence 5 does not have a participle clause, and is in fact ambiguous. I suspect that most readers would interpret happily, not as referring to the state of mind of the he taking the advice, but rather as expressing the writer's attitude to the fact that the he took the advice. This type of adverbial is called a disjunct (ODEG, p124).

To disambiguate the sentence happily needs to be repositioned: He happily took my advice or He took my advice happily.

---

As an aside, a participle clause that has a different (implicit) subject than the subject of the matrix clause is called a misrelated, dangling or hanging particple. One of the ODEG's examples is: Sleeping in mine orchard, a serpent stung me (Hamlet, 1.5).

mad men - Why didn't Draper fire Peter?

Pete makes good on the threat of exposing Don's true identity to Bert Cooper but Bert says Who cares?, neutralizing the threat. This is presumably because Don is such an effective idea man that Bert doesn't care what Don's name really is. In addition, Bert gives Don the option of keeping him or firing him—whichever he thinks best. As a WW I soldier, he knows that decision gives Don his best advantage. But Bert later uses this knowledge to pressure Don into signing a contract Don is not inclined to.

On one hand, Don can fire and replace him, but Don would be starting off effectively fresh with someone new and not know the balance of skills and ambition. On the other hand, Don has the advantage over Pete and Pete has played his most effective strategy and lost. As a result, they both then know that Don is the alpha male—Pete won't cross Don again.

tolkien - In The Lord of the Rings, what exactly does "Elf-friend" mean?

Given all the evidence (and lack thereof) from the books, I'd suggest it's an honorary title. If it does have an effect on the person in question, it would be at a subconcious level. Maybe they walked a bit taller, a bit more self-confident, knowing that an Elf has considered them special enough to name them Elf-friend. Goldberry is a special case, with powers unknown, so what she can and can't detect is tricky to determine an answer from.

We do see a number of characters named Elf-friend, as if it had specific significance, Frodo as you noted, but also Aragorn in the Fellowship of the Ring:

'Eight,' said Legolas. 'Myself, four hobbits; and two men, one of whom, Aragorn, is an Elf-friend of the folk of Westernesse.'

And Gimli in the Appendix A:

[Gimli] was named Elf-friend because of the great love that grew between him and Legolas, son of King Thranduil, and because of his reverence for the Lady Galadriel.

Anardil, Meneldur's son, was also mentioned as the greatest of Elf-friends in The Mariner's Wife in Unfinished Tales:

Ereinion Gil-galad son of Fingon to Tar-Meneldur of the line of Eärendil, greeting: the Valar keep you and may no shadow fall upon the Isle of Kings. Long I have owed you thanks, for you have so many times sent to me your son Anardil Aldarion: the greatest Elf-friend that now is among Men, as I deem.

It's also used numerous times in the Silmarillion, first to indicate the original Men and then later the "true" Numenoreans who did not fall under the thrall of Sauron, as detailed in the glossary:

Elf-friends The Men of the Three Houses of Bëor, Haleth, and Hador, the Edain. In the Akallabêth and in Of the Rings of Power used of those Númenóreans who were not estranged from the Eldar; see Elendili.

Elf-friend was presumably not just a once-off bestowal by Gildor then. Its original meaning was literally "one of a race or class who is a friend of the Elves", i.e. the first Men or Elendil's Numenorians. Over time it appears to have become more restricted and logically so, as Men and Elves no longer had the close contacts that they once maintained. It may have still applied to the Dunedain of the North, given they still maintained a relationship with the Elves, and Aragorn's naming as such may have been because he was a Dunedain rather than describing him specifically but that is my own speculation.

That aside, it also has obviously been extended depending on the circumstances of an individual, i.e. Frodo and Gimli. None of the other works go into more detail on how it applies at the individual level, but given it was originally applied to whole classes of Men it seems unlikely that some charm or such is directly applied - especially in Tolkien where magic is not a day-to-day act.

grammar - the verb 'declare' without a person who declares

It's awkward here - not because of grammar, but because of word choice. "Declare" is a strong word. It's emphatic and formal. Because of that, it's unusual - even suspicious - for the person (entity) making the declaration to be unknown or unnamed.

Because of that, a passive construction makes it seem that something is missing, and the reader is left to wonder about it. Does the writer know who made the declaration, but isn't divulging the information? Or does the writer happen to not know? Or is it something that no one knows?

I would recommend using an active construction, saying something like, "An unnamed source declares..." but even then, I would strongly consider a synonym like "states."

the big bang theory - How can Penny afford a one bedroom apartment on a waitress salary?

Unlike Sheldon and Leonard, she doesn't have student loan debts. She doesn't go out much and when she does, it's mostly to her job (where she gets a discount). Her car isn't new and needs repairs, so she's most likely not paying off a car loan.

In comparison, Leonard's crew go to comic cons, buy movie trinkets, stay up with the latest electronics, have nice cars, probably have years of student loan debts, and also eat out for the majority of their meals. So to live the lifestyle (and probably keep lots of savings) that they want, it makes sense for them to have a roommate.

As it's stated in several episodes, Penny mooches off the other characters. She eats their food and use their wifi. She seems to live paycheck to paycheck, and doesn't have savings like they do.

I work on tips as a bartender, so I understand the struggle.

Scary movie about spiders

It is Spiders (2000). See here on IMDB.

The trailer even shows a character in a suit like within the picture above, in agony. It gives the impression that the spiders breed and use the humans as hosts.

Stars include Lana Parrilla, currently the Mayor/Evil Queen on Once Upon a Time.

Here's the IMDB plot summary:

A DNA experiment on a rare breed of spider is taking place on a NASA space shuttle, when a freak meteor shower engulfs the shuttle, causing everything to go horribly wrong. One survivor is found on the ship and watched over in a secret location deep in the California desert. The problem continues, as the survivor isn't alone, as another deadly spiders climbs out of him and goes on a rampage around the ship. Curious reporter Marci Eyre must now survive, escape and warn everyone before the spider reaches outside the desert.

Here's the youtube link of the trailer in French

What was so dangerous about the listening device?

Fox believes this device, while in existence, is more evil than the Joker.

This is due to the nature of turning every cell phone, something we can assume every citizen in Gotham owns, into a sonar device capable of mapping the immediate area, spying on every single person in Gotham.

This scene shows Fox's true ideals of being a proponent for individual rights and against spying on people for information. Bruce, however, is desperate enough to put Fox through this stress in order to catch the madman that is the Joker.

This is alluded to by Alfred when Bruce asked how his platoon caught the thief. He stated that they simply "Burnt the forest down". This is Bruce's forest fire, tearing down the walls of Gotham for him to find the Joker.

However, Fox's faith in Bruce gets rewarded, as he enters his name into the console, the machine begins to overheat and self destruct, proving to Fox that Bruce merely needed this cruel and potentially dangerous tool to find the Joker, and for nothing more.

lord of the rings - Why is Gimli allowed to travel to Valinor?

I am going to belatedly provide a nitpicky answer:

Gimli did not go to Valinor.

Neither did Frodo, Bilbo or Sam.

They went to Tol Eressea, where presumably they would live out their lives, Galadriel's song "Namarie" notwithstanding.

Somebody who has the Letters handy may even be able to quote verse and chapter, nagging in the back of my mind, where Tolkien stated that. Even something about the Noldor generally only moving to the Lonely Island, possibly Tirion or Alqualonde.

We can speculate that they were permitted to briefly visit Valinor and have something like an audience on Taniquetil with the Valar. Get a nice pat on the head for defeating Sauron. Maybe Gandalf, reverting back to being Olorin took everybody on a visit to Lorien. Who knows?

It's been a gripe of mine for a while here of SFFSE as it's generally conflated: Valinor is the lands of the Valar in Aman. It's not "the West" in toto.

Was Star Trek’s “Time Warp” ever developed past episode one of the TOS?

In "The Cage" and "Menagerie" Pike specifically tells the crew "Time Warp Factor" instead of "warp factor". Possibly it was shortened to plain warp factor by the series.

In "The Cage" and "Menagerie" Lt. Tyler also says that the "time barrier" has been broken and new ships are faster. Thus it would seem that the "space warp" discovered by Cochrane ("Metamorphosis") was used in the original warp drive but newer warp drive also has a "time Warp".

Thus in "Where NO Man Has Gone Before" the "space warp" engines of the Enterprise were disabled and the ship was traveling much slower, but it apparently was still traveling faster than light since it traveled several light days in less than one day of ship time, apparently still being able to use the "time warp".

I repeat that in "Where NO Man Has Gone Before" the "space Warp" was disabled but it seems certain that the Enterprise was still able to use the "time warp" generators to either ONE) travel several light days at faster than light speeds or to TWO) travel several light days at slower than light speeds but slow down the passage of time aboard so that less than a single day passed aboard.

This "time warp" ability explains how doing something new with the engines sent the Enterprise back in time in "The Naked Time".

game of thrones - Who killed this member of the Night's Watch in A Clash of Kings?

In Chapter 14 of ACOK, Arya

Throws an axe into the wagon for Jaquen, Biter, and Rorge. Rorge catches it and starts hacking at the wagon.

In the next chapter, they do not find an axe with the Night Watchman's body.

Later on in AFFC Chapter 37, the "hound" is killed:

His axe fell from limp fingers, and the two of them slammed together, Brienne's face mashed up against the dog's head helm.

Notice how this character wielded an axe, and that he is described as "thick and powerful" in this summary:

Rorge is described as squat, bulky, and hairy, with black hair covering most of his body. He is also described as thick and powerful.

And consider him and his companions:

Rorge is a strong man with nothing left to lose (either join the Night's Watch or die), who interestingly joins the Lannister guard after Yoren's death. Biter is too feral and too wild to weild any weapon when fighting Brienne, much less an axe. Jaqen is a faceless man and should not go around killing people for no reason.

There is plenty of motive, evidence, and opportunity to infer this person killed Yoren.

sentence - What does “Has it come to this?” in “Republican leaders quickly voiced horror at these tactics. ‘Has it come to this?’ said John Boehner” mean?

There was the following sentence in July 19 New York Time’s editorial titled “Democrats Gain the Upper Hand”:

“Senator Patty Murray, a member of the Democratic leadership, said Monday that her party was prepared to let all the Bush-era tax cuts expire on Jan. 1 if Republicans refuse to raise taxes on the wealthy. Republican leaders quickly voiced horror at these tactics. “Has it come to this?” said Speaker John Boehner, accusing Democrats of holding the economy hostage for the sake of high-end tax increases. ”

I don’t get the meaning of “Has it come to this?” Is it a popular idiom? What does “it” represent for? Isn’t it just a typo of “How it come to this?”?

P.S.

I got many answers from you. I realized “Has it come to this?”? is not a typo, but I'm still not very clear. I feel like ‘scratching an itch through the sole of shoe’ in our local expression. What is the brief and clear-cut translation of this phrase? Can you paraphrase it just in a few words? Is it like an exclamation, “What’s a hell of this!"?

What is the significance of the Massachusetts State House in the Departed?

I believe it's meaning can be found in the scene between Billie and Frank, where Frank draws on the table. Note that it is a picture of rats, swarming over the MA state dome. Why? Because I believe that the Gold Dome represents the American ideals of ambition, power and above all, honesty. To be golden, as it were. However, as we see throughout the film, the actions and decisions required to make it to the gold, are not so pure. It's all an illusion, at least, by Frank's perception. Billie's too, by the end of the film he mocks "the state funeral, with all the bagpipes and shit".

He does this, because he understands that it's all just for show, and that only rats make it to the top. This can go further with the rat motif, because notice at the end, a rat crawls across Sullivan's balcony. At last, he had reached the top, but in the end...he was only a rat.

Is there any explanation as to why it sounds like Neelix was badly dubbed over for a single word in the Star Trek Voyager episode, Tuvix?

I've been rewatching Voyager on Amazon Prime, and have stumbled upon something ridiculously nitpicky, but is bothering me deeply. About 1:38 into the episode, "Tuvix," Neelix asks Tuvok, "Why don't we sing a song while we toil?" The word toil is significantly (demonically?) deeper than the rest of the line. It seems possible that the character is doing it playfully, but I can't effectively confirm it one way or another. Is that really Ethan Phillips saying the word toil, is it dubbed over, or is this version somehow degraded?

Edit: I've been so far unable to find the clip on youtube for comparison.

pulp fiction - Explanation of Jule's ending monologue

This is has already been answered and accepted, but I feel the need to answer anyway, because I have a very different point of view. I'll use the same breakdown that phwd uses.

See now I'm thinkin', maybe it means you're the evil man. And I'm the
righteous man. And Mr. 9 Milimeter here, he's the shepherd protecting
my righteous ass in the valley of darkness.

The simplistic and egotistical version. Ringo is trying to harm him, and can be classified as simply bad. Jules is free to do whatever he wants.

Or it could mean you're the righteous man and I'm the shepherd and
it's the world that's evil and selfish. Now, I'd like that. But that shit ain't the truth.

Assume that Ringo is a good man, and is forced to his path out of pure desperation in an unjust world. Jules can protect and guide him, as he knows much of the world. As Jules said, he would like that. Jules would like to believe that he is a good person, and could help others with his new-found spirituality.

The truth is you're the weak. And I'm the tyranny of evil men. But I'm trying. I'm
trying real hard to be the shepard.

Jules recognizes that Ringo isn't a truly bad person at the core: he doesn't want to hurt people (as mentioned in Ringo's speech), he loves his girlfriend, etc. He is weak, and takes the easy way out by robbing people, but doesn't want to actually hurt people. But that's not the life that Jules has led. He hasn't tried to avoid hurting people...he has killed many people and thought nothing of it. Jules has come to realize that he has led the truly evil life. But he wants to change. He knows it won't be as easy as just saying it. ("Now, I'd like that. But that shit ain't the truth.") He has to live it. And he starts by showing compassion, restraint, and mercy by not only letting Ringo live, but by letting him keep the money...giving him a lesson not of strength, but of generosity.

inception - Why isn't Arthur woken up by the kick?

Generally, a kick in some level wakes you up only if you physically wake up in that level. If you are sleeping in a chair and you were given a kick, your brain wakes you up from the dream because it considers that an emergency situation. The same thing happens when in the beginning Arthur doesn't let Saito breathe when he's dreaming so that he will wake up. Because if that weren't the case, he would die dreaming - which is why your brain exits you from a dream. One thing to note here is that you can exit a dream when your brain wants to exit the dream.

If physical kick was not given, it seems evident from the movie that you can exit the dream either when you want to exit the dream or when you get killed in the dream.

When the van was falling, simple reason for why physical kick didn't occur is that these people had seat belts. They wanted to be sure that they could only exit the dream after the job has been done. This is why they planned for two kicks, in case one fails (and apparently had seat belts too).

Also, they are heavily sedated - which means they have to accept the kick at the level below to wake up in the higher level because they can't kill themselves in dream (they may enter limbo) nor could they physically wake up in the above level (they had seat belts).

When the music played, Arthur says "it's too soon" and doesn't want to quit the dream so early, which is why he doesn't accept the kick (rather his brain doesn't accept the kick and wants to continue the dream). However, he accepts the second kick, after completing his job by giving every one a kick in his level (after they completed theirs).

star trek - Did the Borg Queen order the Voyager/Borg alliance?

Here is the exact dialogue from the episode "Scorpion":

JANEWAY: Open a channel.

BORG: We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.

TUVOK: They've locked onto us with a tractor beam.

JANEWAY: Borg vessel, this is Captain Janeway of the starship Voyager. I have tactical information about Species 8472. I want to negotiate.

BORG: Negotiation is irrelevant. You will be assimilated.

JANEWAY: Borg vessel. What you're receiving is a sample of the knowledge we possess. If you don't disengage your tractor beam immediately, I will have that data destroyed. You have ten seconds to comply. We know you're in danger of being defeated. you can't afford to risk losing this information. Disengage your tractor
(Janeway is beamed away.)

[Borg Cube]

BORG: State your demands.

JANEWAY: I want safe passage through your space. Once my ship is beyond Borg territory, I'll give you our research.

BORG [OC]: Unacceptable. Our space is vast. Your passage would require too much time. We need the technology now.

JANEWAY: If I give it to you now, you'll assimilate us.

BORG: Species 8472 must be stopped. Our survival is your survival. Give us the technology.

JANEWAY: No. Safe passage first or no deal.

From this, I would not describe it as a "sudden change" of mind on the Borg's part. Janeway knew she would be able to negotiate with the Borg because she had something they desperately needed. Even then, the Borg tried to "have their cake and eat it too" by demanding the technology without guaranteeing safe passage, but Janeway refused and the Borg relented.

As for the Queen, recall from First Contact that she and the Collective cannot be distinguished. She is simply an avatar for the entire Collective.

BORG QUEEN: I am the beginning. The end. The one who is many. I am the Borg.

Her decisions and influence cannot be thought of as separate from those of the Collective.

identify this movie - French serial-killer film involving a ghost-writer

A ghost-writer meets a lady in a highway hotel who has a fight with her lover. Later he offers to drop her at home where she introduces this guy as her fiancé. During their journey, the radio talks of a serial killer. After some time a novel is released by a famous lady and during this function the heroine accuses the writer of murdering the guy.

Anybody know which movie this could be?

expressions - Preposition after "Good luck"

Narrowly addressing the original question, you can say "Good luck on your new job" or "Good luck with your new job" but you cannot say "*Good luck for your new job." As shown above, "for" can only be used when the expression is not a wish.

I claim the distinction between "on" and "with" is that "on" wishes luck over a process while "with" wishes it on an outcome. Consider these cases:

"Good luck on that paper." I'm wishing him success writing the paper.
"Good luck with that paper." I'm hoping his teacher takes pity on him.

BUT, if he's en route to class, paper in hand, then they mean exactly the same thing because almost nothing is left of the process.

I can say "Good luck with your boss" to a person who's having trouble at work, but I cannot say "Good luck on your boss" because the boss isn't a process. I could say "Good luck on getting that raise" though.

I would claim, then, that the reason you can't say "Good luck with the campaign trail" because the trail cannot be an outcome.

I think it is a pragmatic side-effect that using "with" when I could have used "on" implies that I think the result is out of the control of the listener. Tone of voice can strengthen this effect, as in "Good luck with that."

Who stands at the top of the mountain in The End (Fin)?

In The End (Fin), the main characters see a person standing at the top of a mountain. They shout and wave at them, but the person doesn't react and leaves a few seconds later. We know it's not Angel, and there are apparently no other survivors, except for the girl near the end.

Who is that person?

harry potter - Why do the new non-English wizarding schools have such unimaginative names?

The three schools of whose existence we’ve known since the books themselves were still coming out—Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang—all have rather quirky and at least relatively non-obvious and interesting names:

• the etymology of Hogwarts is obscure (even JKR herself doesn’t quite know exactly where she got the name from), which I personally think fits the place rather neatly


• Durmstrang is a spoonerism (of sorts) of Sturm und Drang, which ties into a lot of mid-European history, hints at darkness under the surface and, again, fits the place rather well


• Beauxbatons is probably the dullest of the three, its name (presumably) intended to mean just ‘beautiful wands’ or ‘great wands’ (beaux bâtons) in French¹

Recently, of course, we’ve been treated to details on a few more international schools, of which one is in an English-speaking country, and three are not. The one in an English speaking country is Ilvermorny, which—like Hogwarts—seems to be a rather intriguing and non-transparent name. As far as I know, we don’t yet have an etymology (though I quite like the Reddit suggestion that it’s a bastardised form of Île Vert Morne ‘Green Hill Island’²), but it definitely feels like a real place name, one where you might build a wizarding school.

There’s also long been talk of Koldovstoretz in Russia, but that was not among the schools recently revealed on Pottermore (and I don’t know nearly enough Russian to have a clue whether it sounds oldish and ‘namish’ like Hogwarts and Ilvermorny in English), so let’s leave that one aside for now.

My ‘beef’ is really with the three remaining new, non-English schools:

• Uagadou in Africa pretty much seems to be just a shortened down form of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. That seems like a rather odd and uninteresting name to give to a school³


• Castelobruxo in Brazil is simple, modern Portuguese and just means ‘wizard castle’—rather dull and obvious


• Mahoutokoro in Japan is equally simple, modern Japanese (魔法所 Mahō tokoro) and just means ‘magic place’ or ‘place of magic’

Granting that Uagadou may conceal a more interesting story than a first glance would reveal, Castelobruxo and Mahoutokoro definitely don’t.

Given what we know about how the wizarding community works in general (mostly from a British point of view, but we do see the occasional Egyptian Quidditch referee and such things), it somehow very out of line with the other schools to me that they would build a grand, magnificent school of magic on a far-off, invisible island (or deep in the rain forest), protect and nourish it—and then call it… Magic Place. Or Wizard Castle.

In the case of the Japanese school, I would obviously not expect Rowling to know how to create a culturally valid and natural-feeling name on her own—but then, I wouldn’t necessarily expect her to be able to translate ‘magic place’ into Japanese on her own, either. She probably had help from an actual Japanese speaker. And in the case of Castelobruxo… well, we all know where she was (living) when she started the books, so she does have a fair deal of exposure to Portuguese names and the language (and she probably had help from a native speaker here, too, just to be on the safe side).

Is there any explanation (in- or out-of-universe) for why Rowling decided to give these three [possibly just two] schools such boring, unimaginative descriptor names, rather than making up ‘proper’ place names?

Canon explanations are obviously preferred, but if none are available (as I suspect), I’ll take a well-argued non-canon case as well.

---

^{1 The common, modern French word for a wand is baguette, rather than bâton, but you can kind of see why Rowling would be averse to calling the school Bellesbaguettes or something like that in an English book, where ‘baguette’ has a somewhat more limited meaning. Additionally, wands were sometimes called bâtons in French: according to the French Wikipedia article on wands, Papus described it as an instrument made of wood and iron, “qu’on appelle le bâton ou baguette magique” (my emphasis).}

^{2 Not quite grammatical, unfortunately—île is feminine, so it should be Île Verte Morne to be grammatical, and that sadly makes the ⟨t⟩ pronounced and reduces the probability that Ilvermorny would come from that. But a nice idea nonetheless.}

^{3 There is also the decidedly more interesting possibility that it is really a reference to Wagadu, an old name for the Ghana Empire, literally meaning ‘place of the Wago’, Wago being “the term current in the nineteenth century for the local nobility”. But that’s rather speculative.}

What is the correct pronunciation of "Caribbean"?

Judy Garland
Mack The Black ('The Pirate', 1948)

"There's a pirate, known to fame
Black Macocco was the Pirate's name
In his day, the tops was he
Round the CaribBEan or CaRIBbean Sea"

So unless you disagree with Judy Garland, either's possible. Case closed, I think.

star trek - What does it actually mean to travel in trans-warp?

In the TNG Episode "Descent, Part I" Geordi LaForge makes it clear that the term "Transwarp" specifically refers to any technology that would allow a ship to exceed the "normal subspace limitations" that prevent Starfleet vessels from travelling beyond Warp 9.999

GEORDI : Our current theory is that the Borg have established several transwarp conduits through subspace. A ship entering a conduit
is immediately accelerated to an extremely high warp velocity. It's
like falling into a fast-moving river and getting swept away by the
current.

PICARD : How fast would a ship travel through one of these conduits?

GEORDI : We don't know... normal subspace limitations don't apply to transwarp variables. Based on the distance we covered in our trip
through the conduit, I'd say the speed is at least twenty times faster
than our maximum warp.

In the Voyager episode "Threshold", Tom Paris manages to exceed the Warp 10 barrier and achieves 'transwarp speeds' (albeit with some additional mumbo-jumbo that's never spoken about again).

KIM: Nothing in the universe can go warp ten. It's a theoretical impossibility. In principle, if you were ever to reach warp ten, you'd
be travelling at infinite velocity.

NEELIX: Infinite velocity. Got it. So that means very fast.

PARIS: It means that you would occupy every point in the universe simultaneously. In theory, you could go any place in the wink of an
eye. Time and distance would have no meaning.

In the final episode of TNG an alternative future version of the Enterprise-D is able to reach transwarp speeds in excess of "Warp 13"

In answer to your specific question, 'how can Voyager travel in Transwarp?', the answer is that they've stolen a "transwarp coil" from the Borg. The actual technical details are never described.

Why did Kurt Connors save Spider-Man?

This was a ridiculous and sloppy scene where the exposition and mythos of the film utterly failed, particularly Spiderman forgetting he could stick to walls but also Curt Connors had no reason to save Spiderman given what we're shown about his character, and no I'm not observing Kurt Connors as the character from the comics because this is an adaptation (film version only). In short, Kurt Connors saved Peter Parker not out of some respect from the twerp but because of hack writing to create shock value.

This whole scene was a faux pa, the only reason it was included was because of bad writing: Captain Stacey had already been slain and Spiderman forgot he was part spider for some reason so only Kurt Connors could save him? What?

If you believe this is an outlandish assumption ask yourself if Captain Stacey hadn't been fatally injured would he have saved Spiderman? The answer of course is yes but because he'd been removed from the picture only Kurt was left to save Peter. You see there are other scenes where sloppy writing has resulted in swapped character traits. For Example, in Star Wars Episode 2 when Senator Amidala was about to be killed, Obi-Wan rather than Anikan jumps after the probe.

Since I personally believe the easiest explanation is the most likely, it's more than likely and also proven the creative writing in this movie was severely lacking, see any movie review online for reasons why - it's also more so likely Captain Stacey was killed prematurely b/c of what we already know about Gwen Stacey - SPOILERS!!!

She's killed by Green Goblin in the comics!!! Yep, she dies from a broken neck.

Since a sequel is already on the horizon and Green Goblin is confirmed as one of the main baddies in the trailer as well as the main heroine of this film and the sequel being Gwen Stacey it's possible the writers in order to create dramatic effect likely had her father killed to increase the levity of her death, resulting in Spiderman's two biggest failures. This resulted in Connors briefly swapping character traits to ensure Peter lived to see another day . . . even when it was completely unnecessary.

lord of the rings - In which of Tolkien's works does the Witch-King of Angmar appear?

Where can I read all about the Witch-King of Angmar? Does he appear anywhere other than the Lord of the Rings trilogy and its appendices?

The appendices talk about the Angmar vs Arnor war very vaguely and without detail. In online wikis there is tons of information about this war, and if I recall correctly it lasted over 400 years. Where can I find the source of this information, assuming that the extreme detail in the wiki was not simply made up. LOTR itself? The Hobbit (unlikely)? History of Middle Earth? The Unfinished Tales? The Silmarillion? Does anyone know?

Why is international distribution so tangled even for recent movies released first online?

The iTunes trailer for John Dies at the End proclaims that it will be available online, "everywhere" from december 2012 before its cinema release in January 2013. Of course by "everywhere" they mean the USA and nowhere else.

By "everywhere", they're not referring to geography, they're referring to the various digital storefronts where movies can be rented/purchased from. I.e. iTunes, Xbox, On Demand, Vudu, etc. You'll observe that at the bottom right of http://trailers.apple.com/ there's likely a USA flag, not a UK (or other EU country) one, which indicates the site's region is USA, so Apple's treating you like you're in the US.

My general question is why does this still happen?

In short, regional distribution rights. When a movie is made, instead of releasing to all countries, the studio will release it in the country of origin. They then look at other countries that have large enough markets, and offer local companies the chance to be the local distributor. A local company buys the rights, optionally localizes the film (subtitling/dubbing), and then distributes it. Via this path, when it is released in other countries, the film is relevant and useful to the local market.

I can understand the tangled rights issues of movies where the contracts were written before electronic distribution was invented, but these are modern movies perhaps even ones where early online distribution was part of the plan. Why not plan international release on the same date worldwide?

Here it's not a case of tangled rights, it's just that the original movie studio doesn't want to anger your local studios/distribution companies by cutting them out of the loop. Selling American films in Europe directly probably works well enough, since enough people in Europe speak English. However, for the people in those countries who do not, they depend on the local studios/distribution companies to do the translation work. If the original studio skips localization, they're preventing these people from enjoying the film as well.

The original studio could do the localization work themselves or partner with the local studios/distribution companies such that the localized versions are available on the same date as the original release. However, that adds possibly unnecessary costs (if the film is unpopular in its original country, it probably would never be localized elsewhere) to the film before the studio has made any money back on it. It would also add delays to its original release date, as the current timelines for movies are often down to the wire, to wait for the localization process to happen properly would delay the original release of the film by weeks/months.

Why piss off the entire international audience (who watch the trailers on iTunes or some other international internet site) and then make them frustrated when they can't get the movie?

Because it would cost them time and money to accommodate international audiences, and to be frank, you'll end up buying it any way.

Additional reading: This article goes into greater detail on the nature of these regional distribution deals.

literary techniques - What is it called when a character is portrayed opposite the stereotype for comedic effect?

There is the word counterstereotype.

The Wikipedia has this page for the word, where it is defined as:

A counter-stereotype, reverse
stereotype, or anti-stereotype is the
reverse of a stereotype. Although
counter-stereotypes arise in
opposition to stereotypes, they may
eventually become stereotypes
themselves if they are too popular.

EDIT: note that counterstereotypes are not necessarily used for humor. They can be used, for example, as a protest against the stereotypes. The Wikipedia page that is linked above has some interesting examples.

film techniques - What was the earliest mass-release movie that used Matrix-like "bullet time"?

Do you define bullet time as slow motion bullet dodging, or the spinny effect from multiple cameras in an arc?

There's a slow motion scene in the first Blade film where you can see the bullets moving through the air, giving the target enough time to reacting and move out of way. Blade came out in 1998, a year before The Matrix.

It's in the scene in Chinatown where Deacon Frost has captured a little girl, at around 2m45 in this YouTube clip (sorry it's in 4:3 squashovision).

The slow-spinny effect can be found in Lost in Space (also 1998) when they go into hyperdrive (around 1m20s in this clip).

Not a movie, but a similar spinny effect to The Matrix's bullet time can be seen in Michel Gondry's music video for The Rolling Stones' Like a Rolling Stone.

Also of note (but not a mass-movie), The Campanile Movie:

"a short film directed by Paul Debevec made in the spring of 1997 that used image-based modeling and rendering techniques from his Ph.D. thesis to create photorealistic virtual cinematography of the UC Berkeley campus."

"When I saw Debevec's movie, I knew that was the path."
-- Visual Effects Supervisor John Gaeta, WIRED 11.05.

Campanile project Master's student George Borshukov was hired by Manex Entertainment where he and his colleagues applied the Campanile Movie's virtual cinematography techniques to create some of the most memorable shots in the 1999 movie The Matrix.

The linked Wired article about The Matrix refers to both of these:

Fast-forward to the early 1990s, when another Frenchman, Arnauld Lamorlette, the R&D director for design firm BUF Compagnie, faced a problem similar to Laussedat's. Industrial clients examining buildings for structural flaws needed to see Paris from above. Parisian airspace, however, is tightly controlled; nonmilitary aircraft may fly over the city only on Bastille Day. Lamorlette found that by morphing between two photographs, he could generate a 3-D model: digital photogrammetry. BUF employed the technique to help director Michel Gondry create a music video for the Rolling Stones. Its radical camera moves - zipping through a room full of partygoers frozen in midmotion - caused a sensation in Europe. (BUF also used this method to make a Gap ad called "Khakis Swing" that was most Americans' first glimpse of the effect.)

Gaeta and Kim Libreri pumped up this technique for The Matrix: By triggering a circular array of 122 still cameras in sequence, they were able to simulate the action of a variable-speed movie camera that tracked completely around its subject. Because the cameras located on one side of the array were visible to those on the other side, however, they also needed a way to computer-generate photo-realistic sets so they could paint the cameras out of the frame.

Gaeta found the answer in 1997, at the annual visual effects convention Siggraph, where he saw a short film by Paul Debevec, George Borshukov, and Yizhou Yu called The Campanile Movie. The film - a flyover of the UC Berkeley campus - was generated entirely from still photographs. Like the 19th-century cartographers, Debevec and his team derived the precise shapes and contours of the landscape by triangulating the visual information in still photographs. Then they generated 3-D models based on this geometry, but instead of applying computer-generated textures to the models, they wrapped them with photographs of the buildings themselves. The trick worked spectacularly well. Instead of resembling something out of Toy Story, the buildings and the surrounding hills in The Campanile Movie looked absolutely real.

And here's the 1998 Gap "Khaki Swing" advert.

Word meaning 'someone who has received a lot'

for a while i was thinking: 'one who is, shall we say, among the entitled?'

but

'among the privileged' might be a better, and perhaps less snarky fit.

thinking Antonio Gramsci. thinking Peggy McIntosh's 1988 essay, "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack." but that's all a little more small 'p' political than finding a generic word. still. it's all wrapped up together.

OED says:

entitlement, n.

The belief that one is inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment. Freq. in sense of entitlement.

and

privileged

2.a.
Of a person, or class of people: having or enjoying certain privileges, rights, or advantages; treated with special favour.

privilege

3.b.
A special advantage, benefit, or favour (bestowed by God, providence, chance, etc.); an exceptionally rare and fortunate opportunity; the honour or good fortune of something or to do something.

Short-story about moving "cathedral" cities on a Mercury-like planet

Looking for a particular short-story in an anthology (I don't think it was an entire novel). Set in the future, a planet was colonized by accident that is essentially like Mercury ... too close to a sun to support human life. Two mobile cities were built by the survivors that keep moving across the entire diameter of the planet to stay on the "night-side" of the planet each "day". They follow a trail that includes going up and down switchbacks across mountains and craters. They are not on rails (such as in Kim Stanley Robinson's moving Terminator city on Mercury); they move via wheels or treads or even "feet" (I don't remember which) and the trail has treacherous portions that are key to part of the plot.

The cities are old and badly maintained. Their populaces have lost a lot of their technical knowledge and barely keep the cities operational. I seem to remember the cities are called or considered cathedrals or citadels, and have adopted ritualistic/church-like practices for social order and city maintenance.

And of course, the denizens of the two cities now hate each other, and attempt to disable the competing city from moving ahead of the sunrise. For the plot, the protagonist is attempting to prevent the antagonist from disabling his city, and of course the antagonist is initially successful in disabling the city's movement. With sunrise nearing, the protagonist needs to somehow save the city yet has to deal with the rigid city hierarchy.

I was sure this story was in my personal Sci FI library (over 600 books), but for the life of me I cannot re-find this short-story and its author. It was certainly written before the 2000's but I think it was more recent than "golden-age" 50s and 60s Sci-Fi. It's style might seem like steampunk from what I described, but I read this before the steampunk craze.

=== FOLLOW-UP Dec'15 Rev 2 ===

There is a useful Wikipedia posting on "Walking Cities" which contains a nice list of fictional stories that involve large moving structures the size of cities. Also two Trope Pages documenting similar stories with literature citations: "Base On Wheels" and "Mercurial Base". I have checked out all the cited stories from all these links, and no joy in finding what I was looking for.

To help ensure I get an actual answer rather than reputation-grabbing answers, since apparently I need to be specific, these stories are NOT the one I'm looking for as I've researched each of them:

• Kim Stanley Robinson: Mars trilogy, 2312, Mercurial, The Memory of Whiteness


• Alastair Reynolds: Absolution Gap


• Christopher Priest: Inverted World


• Greg Bear: Strength of Stones


• Charles Stross: Saturn's Children


• Philip Reeve: Mortal Engines quartet


• Timothy Zahn: The Thrawn Trilogy (e.g. Heir to the Empire)


• Storm Constantine: Calenture


• Anthology "Periodic Table of Science Fiction": Michael Swanwick: Mercury


• William Hope Hodgson: The Night Land


• William Nicholson: Wind on Fire series

There are two stories I am in the process of researching.

I just finished re-reading Absolution Gap by Alastair Reynolds. Its Hela storyline is not exactly what I was trying to locate (I distinctly remember a short story form), but the Cathedrals in Absolution Gap (especially the "walking" Lady Morwenna cathedral) are very similar. In particular, in the short story I'm looking for, the writing describes the Cathedrals going down something similar to the "Devil's Staircase", with one nearly falling off.

However, it got me thinking. Alastair Reynolds has written an extensive number of short stories over the years. Perhaps he had explored the concept of moving "cities" across a small planet or moon in an early short story. Or even an early short story of the Quaiche Cathedrals on Hela set before the timeframe of Absolution Gap, effectively making it a prequel.

So I sent Mr Reynolds an email asking if he had written a short story about the Cathedrals, and he was kind enough to promptly send me a thorough answer:

From: Alastair Reynolds
Sent: Monday, December 07, 2015 7:46 AM
To: Mike
Subject: Re: Prequel short story of the Cathedrals in Absolution Gap?

Hi Mike

It's not one of mine, as I've never done a prequel featuring the
cathedrals. My first thought was it might be an early Kim Stanley
Robinson story called "Mercurial" which features a moving city, but I
can't find a detailed synopsis of it and don't have a copy of it to
hand to check. I don't think there were two cities in that story,
though, just the one, so it's probably not the piece you're thinking
of.

I myself have a vague recollection of a story featuring a race between
two ice-schooners, which involved a descent down some kind of steep
wall, but that's probably something else again.

If you don't mind, I'll put a query out on my Twitter account as there
are some very knowledgeable SF readers there.

thanks, and best wishes,
Al

Its wonderful that many authors such as Mr. Reynolds take time to interact with their fans, and even take an interest in their inquiries. I'll report back if an actual answer turns up from his three Twitter posts (One Two Three).