Well it’s April again and frankly, the lead in to this month’s posts was (and still remains) elusive. I mean, what’s the point of saying the the temperatures are lower than normal, the stock market is volatile, the four major sports are all active, and so on. Each of these points is interesting only in passing. But were of any of them worth talking about? So we at Blog Wyrm looked around and realized that we should point out just how enjoyable it is to hear (not read) a good book.

The audiobook market has come a long way and it is now possible to listen to stories over a variety of media. Audible certainly has the corner on the pay-for-play market but, perhaps surprisingly, Youtube has a wide selection of material that can be streamed at no cost. Truely we live in an age of marvels.

Speaking of marvels, let’s talk about this month’s posts.

By now it is clear that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is on fire. The incredible numbers associated with the Black Panther seem like merely a prolog for the turnout expected for Avengers: Infinity War. But way back, before all this movie hype, the lore of the Infinity Stones evolved slowly within Marvel Comics. About Comics looks at the roots of what may well be the years biggest blockbuster.

We’ve all experienced it, some routes home are faster than others, even if the total distance is longer. That is the point of a highway. Go further but so much faster that you’re home sooner. This month’s Aristotle To Digital continues to expand on the A* algorithm by taking these types of effects into account using terrain costs – the costs associated with moving across stretch of land – within the charming context of a cross-country trek.

Clashes between economic viewpoints may be a common enough occurance, but it isn’t often that we get to see it play out between pretentious snobs and arrogant slobs. That’s what makes the current tiff between the Cannes Film Festival and Netflix so appealing and the subject of this month’s
Common Cents.

The material derivative is one of the core tools for understanding continuum mechanics. It is the precise mathematical statement that allows us to move between the particle-following (Lagrangian) and the field (Eulerian) points-of-view. Unfortunately, it can be a bit abstract. Fortunately, Under The Hood has some concrete examples that make understanding much easier.

Enjoy!