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julie hulvey — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 21:34:38 GMT

would that be a tesseract?

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Clint, Chicago, Illinois — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 21:56:33 GMT

The giant screen roof thing ... I recently visited Las Vegas for the first time in years and years and noticed that at some point, they'd placed the old strip under a giant roof, thus effectively turning it into a mall. Now I think they're missing out on something.

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Steve S., Springfield, Ill. — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 22:05:13 GMT

Is the answer a "tesserac," Will?

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A Wolfe, Denver, CO — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 22:30:18 GMT

A tesseract?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesseract

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Wharf Rat, Wellsboro, PA — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 22:31:14 GMT

Firsties!

Unless I'm mistaken, that object that Charles Wallace was building was a model of a tesseract. A real tesseract (or hypercube), or at least its 3 dimensional shadow can be viewed at http://dogfeathers.com/java/hyprcube.html. If you don't have any kind of 3D glasses, click the "stereo" button twice and it will produce 2 cubes that are 3 dimensional when you cross your eyes

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Tom, Worcester, MA — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 22:36:31 GMT

Re: downloading too much: I have always avoided cable broadband because all the service agreements I have ever seen have an "Excessive Bandwidth" clause, without ever defining what excessive is. It's like in the old days of "unlimited" dialup, when I would get nasty emails if I was logged on for more than a few hours. My DSL service agreement has no such clause, by the way. When my son had Comcast, they also limited newsgroup downloads to 1GB per MONTH - an amount of data he could download in minutes.

Re: BitTorrent: I get a lot of my Linux software upgrades via BitTorrent. Seems to me it should be illegal to block a protocol just because it _could_ be used to violate copyright law. But, money talks, so don't look for anyone trying to stop Comcast or any other provider from doing this any time soon.

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Amy, N Richland Hills, TX — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 22:37:30 GMT

I think he was making a model of a tesseract, the shortest distance between two points created by making a fold in space. (Can you tell I loved these books?)

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Damian Jim — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 22:38:56 GMT

tesseract

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Katie Spring, TX — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 23:25:14 GMT

I was SO upset when I heard about Madeleine L'Engle passing away. I read A Wrinkle in Time for the first time when I was in the third grade (a friend of my parents bought it for me because her last name was similar to ours). I LOVED the book and have loaned it to many friends over the years so their kids can discover the book, too.

The only thing I remember about what was being built is the tesseract (wrinkle in time...). My copy of the book is still out on loan, so I can't even cheat :o)

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Kenn — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 00:15:59 GMT

It was a Tesseract in A Wrinkle In Time -- one of the first books that I ever remember reading, and I think I still have my autographed copy around somewhere...

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Ben, Chicago IL — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 00:25:56 GMT

Wasn't Charles Wallace trying to build a model of a teseract? It's been a while since I read it...

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Tom, Cambridge, MA — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 00:33:17 GMT

The dinosaurs with lazers image is from Dino Riders, a late 80's action figure line. Here's another image which is more cartoonish but that includes the logo:

http://www.dinoriders.com/Desktop%20BG%202%20(1024%20x%20768).jpg

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Chuck, Summerville, SC — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 02:20:14 GMT

RE the contest: was it a tesseract?

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Ian, Philadelphia, PA — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 02:59:45 GMT

Charles Wallace was trying to make a tesseract

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David Robinson,Torrington connecticut — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 03:27:13 GMT

Hello. David Robinson here. Love your blog. Wasn't Charles trying to make a tesseract?

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German Santanilla — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 03:39:56 GMT

A tesseract? All I remember off the bat is the phrase (I don't have the book here so I'm paraphrasing) "yes, children, there is such a thing as a tesseract." Heck, I read it as adult, too, not as a child.

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Jean K, Louisville KY — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 04:12:40 GMT

Re: Madeline D'Engle: Are you thinking of a Tesseract?

Yes, this is from memory. I don't have a copy of A Wrinkle in Time in the house and haven't read it since the early 80's.

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Mechanic — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 04:48:42 GMT

That had to be the most complex method of card counting I've ever heard!

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Rob, Anchorage AK — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 05:10:14 GMT

The dinosaur picture looks like an old Dino Riders advert. It was a toy back in the 80's of which I had a few.

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Ken Purscell, Newman Grove, Nebraska — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 05:12:18 GMT

The thing Charles Wallace was trying to build wasn't actually a thing to build. It was a "tesseract," or as it turns out the act of "tessering," traveling through the wrinkle of time and space (hence the title). My wife and I would, on long drives, long to "tesser."

Incidentally, we had the privilege of actually meeting Madeline L'Engle in 1982, and she was gracious and wonderful with a pair of stammering fans.

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DAScott — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 05:26:57 GMT

Madeleine L’Engle's coolest story device: the Tesseract.

Remember it to this day.

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Sarah — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 05:46:07 GMT

Wil... Did I miss the swag?

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Lauren F — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 11:19:32 GMT

Morning, Will....the word that comes to mind regarding what Charles Wallace was trying to create...was it a tesseract? I may be confusing things with the other two followup books...

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Dave, Greenfield IN — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 12:57:27 GMT

Dr. Murry was trying to build a tesseract.

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Alex Axtell, Midland, Michigan — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 13:07:21 GMT

Will,
The Image of the dinos is not from anything Jurrasic Park, but from a old 80's cartoon called Dino-Riders see more cool images at http://www.dinoriders.com/

Alex

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Jan Kurtz, Blairsville, GA — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 13:07:29 GMT

Will - This has to be the most interesting page you've produced. Spent the full day linking and sub-linking. Great fun!!!! You are teaching me how to find the back room of my internet library.

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Bob Kennedy — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 13:07:55 GMT

Charles Wallace was trying to build a tesseract, right?
No cheating needed. :)

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Natasha P, Port St. Joe, FL — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 13:18:58 GMT

It was a tesseract. Charles Wallace was trying to construct a tesseract. I love those books. :)

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Steve, Springfield, Ill. — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 13:49:00 GMT

Not sure what happened to your comments section or the swag contest, but my guess from yesterday on the "Wrinkle in Time" question was a tesserac.

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Justin Bush, Ceres, CA — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 14:06:48 GMT

Regarding L'Engle, are you refering to a 'tesseract'?

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John — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 14:30:02 GMT

Re: Hasselbeck's Bewilderment

I was surprised to see that Hasselbeck was so completely out of it (especially since he works in such a liberal town). Does he ever talk to his brother and sister in law? I'm guessing Elisabeth has gotten a few pieces of hate mail she could have told him about.

Besides, it is an unpopular war. Of course the president is going to be unpopular. I bet giving LBJ a jersey in 1968 would have earned a few frowns as well.

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Chris, Lawrence, KS — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 15:02:40 GMT

Humans riding dinosaurs with weapons attached:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dino_Riders

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Dave — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 15:07:58 GMT

Wish I wasn't at work so I could snag my copy of the novel...but I think Charles Wallace (the boy) built something else. I know I remember the father built the time machine. All I can remember right now is Charles merging with IT for some time.

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feeling nostalgic — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 16:38:19 GMT

all this tesseract bussiness is greek to me, i'm a generation younger. but holy crap, what a blast from the past that dino roders picture was! all the dinos had weapons and saddles that you could take off to make them like regular dinos, or you could gear them up and fight them, there were good guys and bad guys. it was a great saturday morning cartoon back when there were good saturday morning cartoons. that, and some "king arthur knights of the round" or something...ahh, the good old days.

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Stephen, Kansas City, MO — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 18:05:01 GMT

I was thinking Charles Wallace was trying to build a model of the fourth dimension.

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Dana, VA — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 18:15:21 GMT

Will, I'm one of the people who hang around online trying to track down self-identified pedophiles--and I completely agree with you and with the article on hysteria you linked to. We do not need to be teaching children that men are dangerous. Instead, we need to teach them how to take appropriate precautions, and let them get out in the world. I'm sad to hear that people are treating men this way--there are too many good guys out there.

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Clint, Chicago, Illinois — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 19:16:11 GMT

Hmm ... I could've said tesseract and beaten everybody, but I cheated and look on Wikipedia first, and it didn't feel right.

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DanE,Chicago,IL — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 20:01:52 GMT

The HBO analogy has never really worked for me on the topic of NetNutrality. It seems like in that analogy I would be paying the monthly fee for HBO and then at the same time the cable company is charging me an additional fee for "immediate" access to the channel that HBO runs on. Like everyone that doesn't pay for immediate access only gets their HBO at certain hours of the day because the aren't willing to pay for the immediate access. In that situation what is the benefit of having HBO without immediate access?

I think that in the real situation how can a Cable company claim any direction on the content of the data I'm getting. I guess I don't have to much problem if they only want to limit overall bandwidth, but to say that I have to pay extra to get specific content faster seems like they are exerting control over something they have no buisness in even knowing about. Why should comcast even be allowed to catalog how much of a certain data type I'm viewing/downloading? That seems very personal and if it were someone other then an ISP there would already be lawsuits flying....of course there are probably lawsuits flying anyway.

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Chris, Allentown, PA — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 20:30:34 GMT

I got a chuckle from your Alien reference in the moray eel entry. But to set the record straight Aliens were remarkable for their acidic blood, not drool. After all, most things that drool, drool acid. Heck, the average pH of human saliva is about 6.5 and can go as low as 5.0. Kind'a give one a new respect for the drooling masses, eh?

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Eleni, Columbus, OH — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 23:00:37 GMT

Will, the Sea Organ site claims it's the first such, but San Francisco's Wave Organ precedes it by some 20 years. It's part of the Exploratorium, www.exploratorium.edu.

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Terry, Bummerton, WA — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 03:30:03 GMT

Personnaly I think the "immediate overhead" market is out to lunch. After the average person gets use to video screens over thier heads, the marketing people will realize the sad truth "nobody looks up".

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Jason, Pittsburgh, PA — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 16:50:57 GMT

was anyone ever delcared the winner of the swag contest?

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Justin M, Washington DC — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 18:48:48 GMT

I don't understand how these internet providers can complain about the current pricing system being a flat rate when it's not. There are countless plans that provide the user with more or less bandwidth. Those who pay for high bandwidth pay for the ability to watch streaming videos online or play online games. Those who pay for say dial up can't really do these well.

It is pretty similar to paying for basic TV or Cable except instead of restricting channels, you restrict quality, and speed (which indirectly restricts content).

Flat monthly rates is the only real way to go in this business. I don't see how a fluctuating price model would work for vast majority of us. (unless they offer cheaper packages to people who don't use a lot of bandwidth.)

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Julie H., Springfield, IL — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 12:52:51 GMT

Jason -
Lest anyone think Will's not on task, I had that honor....strangely I remembered an obscure reference to a book I last read 30 years ago, but later confused something I read in Salon with Clicked's more succinct comment on Madeleine L'Engle, both of which I read within this week....guess I always do read Clicked, even when I don't.

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Will Femia — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 13:52:07 GMT

Thanks Julie. Yes, I was going to make the announcement when I have the actual swag in hand but as the record shows, Julie's at the top of the list with the first right answer.

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Jason, Pittsburgh, PA — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 15:39:34 GMT

Just wanted to be sure...without a declaration, I thought you might have been looking for something more specific than a tesseract.

That said, I never read the book. I had a copy a long time ago (I may have been 10, so over 20 years ago) that I wouldn't read because the cover frightened me. Looks like I have another book to add to my queue of books to read.

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Angela, TX — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 19:56:30 GMT

If memory serves, Charles Wallace isn't building anything in A Wrinkle in Time, but he IS building a model of a tesseract in A Swiftly Tilting Planet.