Why is slain a past participle of slay?

Question: Past participles in the English language usually end with -ed, but slain is one exception. Why can't we have just slayed rather than that and slain, too? And why can't slain be its very own verb?
Update: I'm not familiar with Old or Middle English.
Comment: There are many exceptions. https://www.englishpage.com/irregularverbs/irregularverbs.html
Comment: With _awake_, you have a choice: _awakened_ or _awoken_. But not _awaked_. With _set_, we have _The exams have been set_ but _The children have been setted._ But _droved_ is formed the regular way.
Comment: Does this answer your question? [Why is there no move to introduce regular versions of verb-forms as acceptable alternatives of irregular ones?](https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/47982/why-is-there-no-move-to-introduce-regular-versions-of-verb-forms-as-acceptable-a)
Comment: @EdwinAshworth I've never come across _setted_ - I had to look it up to be sure it was a real word. (My spellcheck doesn't know it either!)
Comment: @Kate Bunting I think I checked it when our deputy head (1980s) first used it.  'Bid' is awkward/intriguing; 'I bid on that vase yesterday' but 'I bade them a fond farewell' ('bidded' is apparently non-standard). And I'd probably say 'The car speeded up and sped up th hill' if I had to complete a cloze test on verb forms. Then there's _Her lighted lamp lit the lane._
Comment: @EdwinAshworth The link you provided does not answer my question.
Comment: @Eric Velazquez - I don't understand why you think "slain" could be a separate verb. What would it mean?
Answer: Slay has always been a "strong" verb
The reason that we today say slay, slew, slain is that it was originally
a perfectly normal strong class 6 verb in Old
English.
Strong verbs are those that show their past tense with a vowel mutation, like know, knew instead of *knowed which would be a weak verb (and wrong of course).
Although strong verbs are more prevalent in Germanic languages, this vowel-mutating can also be found in Romance. For example, the Spanish verb saber meaning to know has a vowel change in its preterite forms, so sabe in the present unexpectedly becomes supo in the preterite. And the Spanish verb dar meaning to give has da in the present but a surprising dé in the preterite. You can even see this happening all the way back in its Latin root, dare, which has dat in the present but a surprising dedit in the perfect.
So strong verbs with vowel changes in the past tense are actually pretty common. Examples of strong class 6 Germanic verbs
that are still strong in English today include:

draw, drew, drawn
forsake, forsook, forsaken
shake, shook, shaken
slay, slew, slain
swear, swore, sworn
take, took, taken
wake, woke, woken

As you see, slay isn't quite like the others there, being a bit like
draw, drew, drawn but also a bit like lie, lay, lain, which was a
strong class 5 verb instead.
That's because slay underwent a great deal of phonetic variation and
confusion in both Old and Middle English to get to us today.
In Old English
slay was sléan, or northern slán, slá.  Its past tense was slóg
or slóh, its plural was slógon, and its past participle was slægen,
slegen, or slagen. As you see, there's already some variation all the
way back in Old English.
The OED notes that:

All parts of the verb exhibit a great variety of Old English and
Middle English forms, partly through natural phonetic development,
and partly by assimilation to each other.
The normal Middle English infinitives are slē(n from Old English
sléan, and slā(n, slō(n from northern Old English slán or from Old
Norse slá; the later forms sley, slay are due to the influence of the past
participle.

So that's why it's slay, slew, slain today.

The Historical Record of Forms
To help illustrate how tangled a history this verb has had in English, here is a summary of the OED's tracing of its historical forms. I have omitted 98% of the actual text because those are illustrative citations.

infinitive.

α. OE–ME slean (ME sclean, sclein), ME sleen; ME slæn, slen, slene.

β. OE, ME slæ, ME–15 sle (ME scle), ME–15 slee (ME sclee), ME–15 slea.

γ. (northern and Scottish) OE, ME slan, ME slane; OE, ME slaa, OE, ME–16 sla (ME scla), 15–16 slae, slea.

δ. ME slon, slone; ME–15 slo (ME sclo), ME–15 sloo, ME–16 sloe.

ε. ME slaȝe, slayn, ME–15 slaye, 15 slaie; ME–16 sley (15 sleye), ME– slay (15 sleay).

present indicative.

a. 1st person singular (also subjunctive) OE slea, OE, ME slæ, ME sle, 15 slee; 15 sley(e, slaye, 16– slay.

b. 2nd person singular

α. OE sles, slaes, ME slees; ME slaas, slos.

β. OE slehst, slægst, ME sleast, sleest; ME slast, 15– slayest (poetic slay'st).

c. 3rd person singular

α. OE sliehð, slihð, slyhð, slæhð, ME slehð, slekþ.

β. OE slaeð, ME sleað, slað; OE sleð, ME sleþ, ME–15 sleth, ME slethe; ME sleeþ, ME–15 sleeth; OE slaes, ME sles(e, ME slees, 16 sleas.

γ. (northern and Scottish) 3rd person singular ME slaþ; ME slas, slase, ME–15 slaes, slais. Also ME sloð, sloys.

δ. ME slaȝþ, sleith, ME–15 sleyth, 15 sleythe, sleayeth, 15– (now poetic) slayeth; 15–16 slayes (Scottish slayis), 16– slays.

d. plural.

α. OE–ME sleað; ME slen, sleen (scleen); ME–15 slea, sle, slee (ME sclee); also northern ME slees.

β. ME slaȝe(ð, 15 sleye, slaye, 16– slay.

γ. (Also subjunctive) ME sla, slaa, slo(e.

present subjunctive (2nd and 3rd person singular).

α. OE slae, OE, ME slea, ME–15 sle, ME slee.

β. northern ME sla, slo.

γ. 15 slaye, 15– slay.

imperative.

α. OE sleh, ME sleih, sle, ME–15 slee, 15 sley; OE sleah, sleage, ME slea; OE slyh, ME slygh.

β. singular ME, 15 sla; ME slo, 16 Scottish sloe. plural ME slas, slays; slo, slos.

γ. 15 slaye, 16– slay.

past indicative.

α. 1st and 3rd person singularOE, ME sloh, ME slohw; OE slog, slogh, ME sloȝ, slooȝ (ME sloþ), ME sloȝe; ME slog, slogh (ME sloght), sloghe, sloch; ME slo. 2nd personOE sloge, ME sloȝe.

β. singular ME slowe (ME sclowe), ME sloue; ME slow (ME sclow), ME sloow, slou (sclou).

γ. singular ME slouh, slowh, slouȝ, slowȝ(e; ME slough, sloughe, slowgh(e. plural ME sloughen; ME slowȝe, slowhe, sloughe; ME slouȝ, slough.

δ. singular ME sluȝ, sluȝe, 15–16 slue; ME slewȝ, Scottish sleuch (sleucht), 15 scleuȝe; ME– slew, ME–15 slewe. Also 2nd person 15–16 slew'st.

past subjunctive OE sloge, plural slogen, ME sloȝe, sluȝe, slowe.

α. (a) OE geslægen, geslegen, ME i-slæȝ en, i-sleien, i-slein, i-, y-slayn, y-sclayn, y-slayne, 15 y-slaine.

β. ME i-, hii-sleȝe, i-slehȝe; ME sleie, sleye, slaye, slay, scley.

γ. OE geslagen, ME i-slaȝen, i-sclawen, i-slawen, y-slawen; ME slaȝen, slawen, slaun, slawn.

δ. ME i-, y-slaȝe, i-slawe, ME–15 y-slawe; 15 y-slaw; ME slawe (ME sclawe).

ε. ME i-slæn, sleen, 15 slene.

ζ. northern and Scottish ME slan, ME–15 slane, 15 y-slane.

η. ME slon, ME–15 slone, ME sloon.

Isn't that incredible? Aren't you relieved that we've been left with nothing more complicated than the standard slay, slew, slain today? I know I sure am!
Answer:
Why is slain a past participle of slay?

Because it derives from Old English.
Modern English comes from a mixture of languages, French, Latin, Greek and Germanic.
Old English is a Germanic language. The verb "to slay" has changed over time but is Germanic in origin. Today it is called an irregular verb because it does not not have the regular inflections you might expect.
Present tense in modern English
I/you/we/they slay
he slays
Simple past (modern)
I slew, etc.
Participle (modern)
I have slain, etc.

Historical note
If you go back to the 1600s when the King James Bible was published, you'll find an older form that is described in the following link. It includes "thou slayest", and "he slayeth".
conjugation of slay
Already in modern day English you may see "slayed" used as simple past and as past participle among people who don't have a classical education. It is quite possible that this and other irregular verbs will become regularized as the century progresses.
Comment: A classical education?
Comment: Where (Early) Modern English has *thou slayest* or *thou slay'st*, Old
English once had *þú slægst* using a *g* that perforce became a *ȝ* in
Middle English and thence a simple *y* in Modern English. It really all
makes fine sense viewed diachronically even if it just completely buggers
the brain under synchronic analysis uninformed by history. :)
Comment: @EricVelazquez A [classical education](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_education_movement#Grammar) included first and foremost in the Grammar section of the *trivium* a command of Ancient Greek and Latin. :)

Why is slain a past participle of slay?


Can I lay tile over drywall that has torn paper?

Question: Can I lay tile over drywall that has had the paper torn from removing tile that was installed wrong when doing new home construction?
Answer: Given the cost of tile and the value (or cost) of labor, I'd go with ripping it back to the studs and installing a proper tile backer-board (Durock®, Hardi-Backer® or the like) rather than fuss with a dubious substrate. It will be faster than trying to repair the drywall surface and it's a better surface for attaching tile to.
Answer: Typically, no, if you're using a mortar-based mastic. Proper adhesion depends on the mastic drying in a controlled, relatively slow fashion. Drywall with torn paper is more permeable, and mastic dry times will be inconsistent.
However, this doesn't mean you have to rip out the drywall and start from the studs. You can apply a skim coat of drywall compound, sand it down, apply a second, and sand again. If you still see puckering from the raw paper behind, add another coat. Lather, rinse, repeat.


Intuitive understanding of integration

Question: I am a high school student who has recently started calculus (all my previous calculus experience is mostly in physics calculating moment of inertia and other such stuff). The way I used to view the integral was as a sum of the values the function which I am integrating takes up over the whole domain with an infinitely small increment in the function's input value.
But the problem I am facing is this- if I integrate sin x from 0 to pi/2, at least at two points it takes a value greater than 0.5. But the integration (as done in all standard places) comes to 1. What am I understanding wrong about what integration means itself?
Comment: In integration we are considering the *area* underneath the curve. So for each function value you should multiply by the width of the rectangle below the curve.
Comment: For some basic information about writing math at this site see e.g.
[here](/help/notation),
[here](//meta.math.stackexchange.com/q/5020),
[here](//meta.stackexchange.com/a/70559) and
[here](//meta.math.stackexchange.com/q/1773).
Comment: How the hell doesn't this have "context"? Why is it getting downvoted?
Comment: Each term in your sum should be weighted by the width of a tiny interval.
Answer: I like to think of it like this: $\frac{1}{b-a} \int_a^b f(x)dx$ is the average value of $f$ on the interval $[a,b]$. I find it much easier and more intuitive to think about averages and the 'average value' of some function. Note this generalizes finite averages. So, $\int_a^b f(x)dx$ is the average value of $f$ times the length of the interval, which is the area under the curve of $f$.
So $\int_0^{\frac{\pi}{2}} \sin(x)dx = 1$ means that the average value of $\sin(x)$ on $[0,\frac{\pi}{2}]$ is $\frac{2}{\pi}$.
Comment: Nah thank you. I have finally understood what you meant. sin x does take up the values greater than 0.5 but the input value,that infinitesmal increment value by which we multiply is so small that the total sum doesn't increase by much. Thanks a lot for your answer:)
Comment: You are not finding the total sum. You are finding a weighted sum in some sense. You are taking the sum over small elements times the lengths of those segments. These are exactly what Riemann sums are, sums of the form $\sum f(y_i)(x_i-x_{i-1})$. We get the integral when the segments get smaller and smaller.
Comment: But am i not finding the total sum? So even if i do it numerically lets say for each degree shouldn't I get approximately the same result?
Answer: Integration gets the area underneath a curve.
You can have an very long line with an area of 0, right?
Comment: Yes you can. But sin x only takes up the value 0 from 0 to pi/2 once.
Comment: @Arya What's the problem? 1+1 = 2, yet there was never anything above a 1 in the sum.
Answer: "What does integration mean?" is a really broad question. I'll give you an answer that might help give you some insight into the physics that you've learned.
"What does integration mean?". Answer: adding up "small" pieces.
You've seen this with the limit definition of the (Riemann) integral, adding up the areas of thin rectangles. You'll add up small "pieces" to get integral formulas for the volume and surface area of a solid of revolution and the length of a curve.
In physics you've probably saw this already when you calculate the moment of intertia of an object by splitting it into small chunks of mass $dm$ and then adding up the moment of inertia for each piece: $I = \displaystyle \int r^2 dm$.

Intuitive understanding of integration


How to configure dashboard for new users

Question: We have a number of new contacts (about 40) who will be having a signon to Civi and for whom we want their dashboard to show a certain report- and not the 2 default items that a new user currently sees. Display Preferences has some general categories for users, but what we need is a specific dashboard setup for a new user. Is there a way of configuring this for new users?  I guess we could add the new users, login as them and then set this up manually but configuring would be much better, if that's possible.  Civi is at 5.53 and it's Drupal 7.
Answer: Default Dashlets extension does this, though I can't vouch for it at all and it doesn't look much used or recently updated.
You can also update this directly in the database.
It would be great if there was a simpler way to add default dashlets for new users or to copy dashlets from one user to another.
Comment: Thanks for this - that extension is 'old' & doesn't work.  I'll probably update the database as you suggest.
Comment: You can also access these through API v4, which might be a little more cautious.
Answer: Have you tried Searchkit + formbuilder to create dashlets or dashboard?
There is also a new feature added in form builder i.e layout worth trying as well
Comment: Yes, I've used SK and the screen created there is what we want to display for these particular users, and not the default ones. But I can't see a way that new users would be set up to get this screen & not the default ones.


Unable to select one radio button using selectRadio visualforce component

Question: Is there a simple way to select only one radio button with the <apex:selectRadio> component? I searched for examples and found two posts on this topic that did not resolve the issue I'm having. I might be missing something simple.
Comment: What do you mean by select only one radio button? RadioButton can select one option only.
Comment: Nope, it is letting me select every radio button, which I agree, radio buttons should only allow one selection, but it doesn't in the above code.
Answer: The reason you are having this issue is because it is not one Radio button. It is a list of radio buttons. While in each one you can only select one options. For every one you can choose one.
I don't think there is a very quick fix for this one. Either, you give up using apex repeat in this case and put all the opportunity roles in the option list. In that case, you will be able to select only one primary opportunity role. Or otherwise, if you still want the table structure, you will need to use Javascript to enhance the logic.
Answer: There's no way to have it work the way you expect; each iteration in your apex:repeat creates a new radio group, which is why you can select all of the radios. They're simply not one logical group. To get a better idea of how apex:selectRadio is supposed to work, check out this trivial page:
<apex:page>
  <apex:form>
    <apex:selectRadio>
      <apex:selectOption itemValue="yes" itemLabel="yes" />
      <apex:selectOption itemValue="no" itemLabel="no" />
    </apex:selectRadio>
  </apex:form>
</apex:page>

Usually, this means people resort to using normal checkboxes, and use some JavaScript to make sure only one is selected.


Sums of two irreducible polynomials over $\mathbb{Z}$

Question: Please help me to prove that any polynomial with integer coefficients can be represented as a sum of two irreducible polynomials over the ring $\mathbb{Z}$.
Comment: Isn't this a sort of Goldbach's conjecture for $\Bbb Z[x]$?
Comment: This was done by David Hayes, I believe in a short paper in the Amer. Math Monthly. See also http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/917092/what-are-goldbach-conjecture-for-other-algebra-structures-matrix-polynomial-a.
Answer: Let $$f(x)=a_0+a_1x+\ldots +a_nx^n$$
Let $p,q$ be two distinct odd primes. Then because $\gcd(p,q)=1$ we find $u_k,v_k$ such that $a_k=u_kp+v_kq$ and thus letting
$$ g(x)=(u_0+rq)p+u_1px+\ldots +u_npx^n+x^{n+1}\\
h(x)=(v_0-rp)q+v_1qx+\ldots +v_nqx^n-x^{n+1}\\$$
(for some integer $r$)
we have clearly that $f(x)=g(x)+h(x)$. Also, $g$ and $h$ do almost satisfy Eisentsein's irreducibility criterion: all coefficients except the leading one are divisible by $p$ (resp. $q$). However, we want to ensure that the constant term is not divisible by $p^2$ (resp. $q^2$), i.e., we need $p\nmid u_0+rq$ and $q\nmid v_0-rp$). But this can easily be achieved: At most one of the numbers $u_0-q, u_0,u_0+q$ is a multiple of $p$ (because the $\gcd$ of two of them divies $2q$) and at most one of $v_0+p,v_0,v_0-p$ is a multiple of $q$. Hence at least one of the choices $r\in\{-1,0,1\}$ leads to $p^2\nmid u_0+rq$ and $q\nmid v_0-rp$. With this choice, $g$ and $h$ are irreducible per Eisenstein.
Comment: You should say that this is essentially the proof by Hayes.
Comment: Fair enough. I should have just said that this is essentially the proof of Hayes.
Comment: @KCd I could not because I didn't know that. This proof was just the first that came to my mind. - Actually, the link in the answer [here](http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/917092/what-are-goldbach-conjecture-for-other-algebra-structures-matrix-polynomial-a) is dead and it appears from what Dietrich Bured wrote there, that Hayes did a little better by keeping degree $n$ whereas I took the freedom to increase the degree (which maybe makes the argument simpler and allows to catch the degree $0$ case)


Project Server 2010 Workflow cannot be updated

Question: I have problem when cretaing branching workflow that is explained in Project Server 2010 SDK.
I managed to create and deploy it at the first time, I update it by changed the title part from Feature1 to feature2 and also I change the stage sequence in the workflow,
then do Retract-Deploy.
The updated workflow is seems to be succeed because the title part is changed feature2, but when I create the new project for the updated workflow, the sequence is still same.
I really appreciate any help for my problem, thanks.
Answer: I faced this problem, I had to restsart all Project Server and Sharepoint Server windows services. it was painfull.


Single tape Turing Machine that accepts string with at least five G's and at most three T's?

Question: I am looking to create a single tape acceptor Turing machine acting upon the language of any ASCII string, that would only accept strings that contains at least five G's and at most three T's, and rejects any other ASCII string input. I am kind of stuck on how the machine would know that it had encountered greater than or equal to five G's and less than or equal to three T's.
Comment: What about some states that remember how many Gs ad Ts you have read? :)
Comment: This language doesn't even require a Turing-machine, you could do it with just a simple finite-state machine. In fact, @Numbra 's answer below is basically saying to ignore the tape and keep all the logic in the states part of the machine.
Answer: In general, whenever you try to design a machine accepting a language with this kind of "finite conditions", the easiest solution is to hard-code those conditions directly into the states of your machine.
Here, you would have 24 "counting" states, labelled by $(g, t)$ for $0 \leq g \leq 5$ and $0 \leq t \leq 3$. Whenever you read some $G$ while already in state $(g, t)$, you move on to the corresponding state $(g+1, t)$ (and if you read a $T$, you go to $(g, t+1)$). Otherwise, you simply loop on your current state.
Now, you have to enforce your conditions: if you read a $T$ while in a state $(g, 3)$, you reject the word, and if your word end while you are in a state $(g, t)$ with $g < 5$, you reject too.
Of course, there is probably some technical details to work out precisely, and there might exist some clever and trickier ideas to do this, but this method is easy to understand and can be immediately generalised to all the problems of this kind.
Comment: I figured it out; I had 18 states instead, and what I basically did was have the "read-write" head start over whenever it found a G first, and whenever it found one it would overwrite it with some letter. If it finds no more G's before reaching 5 G's then reject. I did something similar for T's too, after it finds at least 5 G's if that makes sense.


Raw public keys vs PSK in TLS

Question: Is there any advantage in using raw public keys (RFC 7250) in comparison with pre-shared keys (RFC 4279) in TLS, when I need client authentication and have an unique key per client deployed to them out of band?
Answer: I'll assume that you have many clients talking to a single server (having many servers would only tend to exacerbate the differences). With raw public keys, the server has to have the public key of each client handy. Exposure of these public keys may be a privacy violation, but does not compromise the confidentiality and integrity of the communication. With pre-shared keys, the server has to have the secret key of each client handy. Exposure of these secret keys makes it impossible to communicate securely with the clients (unless you have an out-of-band protocol to revoke the key and generate a new one). This gives public keys a huge security advantage.
I do not recommend using pre-shared keys except in a small network where the pre-shared key is generated during an enrollment phrase for very limited client devices on which asymmetric cryptography is unrealistic, and either the loss of a client is not a big deal or all the devices are in the same physical area so a physical compromise of a single client is not a relevant threat.
Comment: By exposure of the PSKs I presume you mean that an attacker managed to break in to the server (or clients) and obtained the PSKs? But how is that any different from someone breaking in and obtaining the private key of the server (or client)?
Comment: I.e., there are of course some differences due the asymmetric nature of public keys vs PSKs (e.g. by breaking in to the server you can now impersonate the server to *every* client, but not the clients towards the server; while for PSKs you could), but a loss of the server's private key still seem pretty catastrophic. Stated differently: you seem to be comparing apples and oranges. If you consider the effects of losing a PSK, you should compare that with losing the private key corresponding to a public key---not simply "exposing" the public key.
Comment: @hakoja 1. If someone breaks into the client, they can impersonate the client. If someone breaks into the server, you'd expect them to be able to impersonate the server, but with PSK they can also impersonate all the clients as well. Maybe you don't care because you're only authenticating the server, but if the clients are also authenticated then it matters. 2. It's easier to secure one key than a large number of keys.

Raw public keys vs PSK in TLS


Meaning of job recorded as "USAF – AFSC#29430"?

Question: I am interested to know a description of the job recorded on old family papers as "USAF – AFSC#29430".
I cannot seem to find this job description anywhere.
Answer: If I am not mistaken this speciality code used for Airman who were linguistic experts working for the A F Electronics Security Command.  The majority of whom I met, worked within top secret facilities. These individual usually attended Defense Language Institute.   The AFSC of the individual indicated he was in training.  Upon completion he would become a 5 Level Technician.  I am a  retired USAF MSGT 30399.
Answer: According to this unofficial list of US Air Force Job Speciality Codes used during the 1960s and 1970s, no. 29430 corresponds to either:

Apprentice Electronic Emission Monitor/Analysis Specialist
Apprentice Electronic Intercept Operations/Analysis Specialist
Answer: We had nothing to do with language.  Our jobs covered intercept of Soviet telemetry from ground based ICBM's and. Missile launch.  We also intercepted Soviet satellite telemetry.  All information was taped at intercept an sent to NSA for analysis.  There weren't a whole lot of us.  Oh, we were also task as early warning specialist during unexpected Soviet launch events.  In those events we only had seconds to alert NSA of the launch.
Answer: 29430 = Electronic intercept operations analysis.  I should know, I was one.  Our initial training at Keesler AFB was in radar intercept and analysis.  A sub field was telemetry which was taught for those selected from tech school at NSA at Ft Meade MD.  Either a 6 week or 12 weeks additional training prior to being sent to the field.  So our group was charged with intercepting soviet radar transmissions and the further analysis of the signals as well as soviet telemetry from missiles as well as satellites, weather, photo recon and manned missions.  With out a doubt the most interesting job I have ever had, and that was a long time ago, early to mid 60's.
Answer: The job description included the, ". . . detection, interception, recording, analyzing, and reporting of non-communications, non-nuclear electromagnetic signals."  While at SAC, we concentrated on locating and verifying the location of Soviet Bloc radar systems.  When assigned to Berlin, our job was trying to detect, analyze, and defeat Soviet radar jamming in order to keep the air corridors open from West Germany to Berlin.  There were many different and specialized tasks depending on the assignment location.
Answer: I was a 29450 stationed in Berlin. I was there from 1964 to 1967. When i first got there we just monitored the 3 air corridors from West Germany to Berlin. We installed the intercep monitoring site in 1965 or 1966 can't remember exactly. We were a small group of airmen.
Interesting is i can't find anything about my schooling at Keesler, they keep referring me to Morse Intercept.


unable to resize components in java windowbuilder

Question: I'm designing GUI using java swing with the help of windowbuilder. I found that in any layout it's not possible to resize components by using mouse drags (even though it shows points to pick and drag to resize). Specifically reducing size is what most important to do.
Resizing is allowed only in two layouts: one in Absolute Layout (which is not at all good for practical purpose, considering different screen-sizes with which GUI should be better displayed) and another is Group Layout (which is also not a good for design due to it's complex code).
Following is the sample where I have placed two JLabels and now trying to add JComboBox at the location indicated by Green box.

But when I place the JComboBox it's default size is to fill horizontally. Even if I change fill to 'None' and try to resize, I'm unable to resize it. Following is the result after addition of JComboBox:

In the Background there is JPanel with GridBagLayout with following properties:

I found that changing values in columnWidths and rowHeights properties of GridBagLayout, the size of grid columns/rows can be controlled. But I'm unable to understand Size of which columns/rows all those values represents?. (I found no direct relation between number of those values and number of columns/rows displayed on Panel)
Is there any way out to resize components? And can anybody explain what those values in columnWidths and rowHeights properties of GridBagLayout represent?
Answer: It's simple, you need to add grow in you WindowBuilder. It looks like this:
picture
Click on this with your right mouse button and click on 'grow':
picture
Only objects with 'grow' are resizable.


How do continent bonuses work?

Question: What do I need for the bonus? Communication to every continent and a tower? Do additional towers besides the first give additional bonuses (besides the supplies).
Answer: Requirements to get Continent Bonus (from the XCOM wiki):
<code>  |--------------------------------------------------------------|
  | Region           |  # of contact areas  |  # of radio relays |
  |--------------------------------------------------------------|
  | Africa           | Contact 3 regions    |  2 radio relays    |
  | Asia             | Contact 4 regions    |  2 radio relays    |
  | Europe           | Contact 2 regions    |  1 radio relay     |
  | North America    | Contact 3 regions    |  2 radio relays    |
  | South America    | Contact 2 regions    |  1 radio relay     |
  | Oceania          | Contact 2 regions    |  1 radio relay     |
  |--------------------------------------------------------------|
</code>
This is fixed no matter what difficulty you play on or what campaign you play on.  The only thing that changes through different playthroughs are the specific Continent Bonuses that you can get, per BlueRaja.
The list of possible Continent Bonuses are:

Quid Pro Quo

Black Market items cost 33% less intel.

Under the Table

Black Market pays 50% more Supplies for all items.

Lock and Load

Personal Combat Sims and Weapon Upgrades may be reused.

Pursuit of Knowledge

Each Laboratory increasess research speed by 20%

Future Combat

All GTS Tactics costs reduced by 50%.

Armed to the Teeth

Extra mod slot for weapons.

Spy Ring

+25% for Intel rewards.

Hidden Reserves

Extra Avenger power output (+4).

All In

Supplies from Resistance drops increased by 20%.

To Serve Mankind

Recruits cost 10 supplies.

Suit Up

Proving Ground armour and vest projects are completed instantly.

Spare Parts

All proving grounds projects cost 50% less

Fire When Ready

Experimental ammo, grenade, heavy and powered weapon projects are completed instantly.
Answer: According to the ingame description you need to

contact all resistance groups on that continent
build a relay on that continent (even if it's your starting continent)

You can't gain the same bonus twice.
Comment: You have to build more than one relay for some continents. If you look at the description/indicator on the map you'll see a number of bars (showing how many regions are in the continent and how many of those you have contacted) and a number of dots (showing the same for relays). The Asia/Russia/China/India/etc continent (I dunno what it's called in-game off the top of my head) in my game requires two relays, for example.
Comment: @DMA57361 I would sincerely hope the "Russia/China/India continent" is called "Asia", lol
Comment: It's also worth mentioning that the regional bonuses are randomized each game, not fixed like in XCOM:EU

How do continent bonuses work?


Not receiving attestations on Gnosis Node

Question: I have an Avado i7. I have been running two gnosis validators nodes for over one year. Starting around June 12-14 I stopped receiving attestations rewards. I followed the guidance of the Avado community and nothing has changed. They recommended I contact you for assistance. Things I have done that have not helped: I updated all the appropriate avado packages. I restarted all the packages. I did a disc clean up. Rebooted the system. Turned the avado device on and off. I opened ports 9000 and 9006. Currently the gnosis execution client (nethermind) is running and healthy. Avado teku gnosis beacon chain is in sync. When I go to gnosischa.in it shows my two validators are not active (last attestation 20 days ago) and are offline. I would appreciate any suggestions and guidance. I am not very technical with this stuff. Thank you,Mike
Answer: Same hardware and no attestations for months now. The status of my nodes is acive exiting. (Kinda stange cause I didn't exit anything)
Comment: This does not really answer the question. If you have a different question, you can ask it by clicking [Ask Question](https://ethereum.stackexchange.com/questions/ask). To get notified when this question gets new answers, you can [follow this question](https://meta.stackexchange.com/q/345661). Once you have enough [reputation](https://ethereum.stackexchange.com/help/whats-reputation), you can also [add a bounty](https://ethereum.stackexchange.com/help/privileges/set-bounties) to draw more attention to this question. - [From Review](/review/late-answers/92698)
Comment: Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please [edit] to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers [in the help center](/help/how-to-answer).


Computer infected by adware that my antivirus hasn't picked up

Question: I've recently noticed that my browser (Google Chrome) occasionally opens two new tabs on its own seemingly randomly. The two tabs display the same page- supposedly offering some BT broadband 2015 special deal... It seems that I have somehow picked a virus/ some adware. I have run scans with McAfee Total Protection and Ad- Aware, but these don't seem to have picked it up. Does anyone have any recommendations for how to get rid of it?
Comment: I very much doubt the ad is legit... Don't really want to click on anything on the pages though- I usually just close those tabs. If an ad was legit, surely it would be part of an existing webpage, rather than opening a whole new tab just displaying the ad? Particularly given that I didn't click on anything before it opened... It behaves like a popup, just in a new tab rather than a new window...
Comment: If the ad is legit, are you sure your isp is not injecting ads? If not, check if you have unwanted browser addons installed.
Answer: Try resetting Chrome.

Open chrome://settings/
Click "Show advanced settings..."
Click the "Restore settings" button.
Like it says, it will restore settings and disable extensions.

Antivirus software:

Adwcleaner is good. But make sure you get the real one. Lots of fake ones now. Real one is @ bleepingcomputer.com.
McAfee Total Protection and Ad-Aware are junk.
Ad-Aware was great years ago, but now it sucks.
And McAfee products have always been terrible.
Best antivirus is free. avast.com and avira.com are the best.
Another great anti-malware tool is Spybot @ safer-networking.org.
Also check out spyware blaster @ brightfort.com to block bad websites.

And check out the other apps on bleeping computer.com. Lots of great anti-malware tools like ComboFix, TDSSKiller, RogueKiller, and RKill.
I suggest you run them all to be damn sure you are clean.
If you really want to be sure, then learn about Process Explorer @ technet.microsoft.com.
Also, check out AutoRuns to see what is running on Windows bootup and disable all the junk. Also at the above-mentioned TechNet Microsoft website.
Comment: Thanks for your answer, and for the advice regarding what antivirus software to use- I didn't realise that there was such a difference in terms of effectiveness between the different options available.
Answer: Open the Chrome options menu (on the right) and go to Settings. Under the heading On Startup (near the top) I'm willing to bet that you Open a specific page or set of pages radio button is selected. There should be a Set Pages button next to this that will allow you to remove those pages from your startup list.
A piece of adware could feasibly change these settings in your default browser that would persist even after the adware itself was removed.
Comment: Hey, thanks for your answer. Unfortunately though... that's not the case- in 'Settings', 'On Startup' is set to 'Continue where you left off'... and if I click the 'Set pages' hyperlink next to the 'Open a specific page or set of pages' radio button, the only page listed is www.google.com....
Answer: I would highly recommend you run some virus scans in addition to Catatonic's advice. I recommend SuperAntiSpyware: http://www.superantispyware.com/
And Malwarebytes: https://www.malwarebytes.org/
Both of which are free, just be sure you don't check the "30 Day Pro-Trial" boxes and they shouldn't ever bother you to purchase them.
You will need to go into your browser settings and change your homepage and disable any tabs that open after scans.
Comment: Hey, thanks for the suggestions... Malwarebytes didn't find any viruses.... but Superantispyware found one almost straight away...
Answer: In my experience this problem is caused by browser addons.
1) work on another browser for a while. If you don't see the same windows/tabs opening, your problem is limited to chrome (which explains why your antivirus didn't pick anything up).
2) check your chrome addons. There will probably be one that you don't remember installing or has a name with something to do with shopping or advertising. You will want to disable this addon.
P.S. While you are looking at your lift of installed addons check for one called privacy safeguard. As good as this sounds, that one addon has been quite a pain in my experience.
If you need anymore help, let me know!
Answer: Check the extensions on you're browser and delete anything suspicious, run antivirus scans and/or run a PC cleaner (like CCleaner), finally try to find a little cleaner called adwcleaner, it helped me once and please don't use McAfee, there are a lot of good antivirus out there.
Not sure if this will help you.


unbiasedness of parameters of simple linear regression model

Question: Whether the parameters of simple linear regression model beta0(intercept) and beta1(slope) are unbiased? I was taught that these are unbiased estimators in my college. But one of my friends is telling that they are not unbiased. I will be grateful if I get a proper solution
Comment: If the assumptions are met, they are indeed unbiased. So neither yourself nor your friend is wrong.
Comment: @SmallChess That seems like an answer, if you add a little detail.
Answer: Unbiased are not guaranteed in linear regression. The most common cause is incorrect model specification.
Assume there is non-zero correlation between $X_1$ and $X_2$. Assume your true model is $Y = b_1X1 + b_2X2 + e$ in a standard OLS regression framework.
If you miss out the important $X_2$ predictor, the residuals are forced to "eat" the missing effects from $X_2$. In statistics, we say the residuals are no longer uncorrelated to $X_1$.
This is known as Omitted-variable bias. Thus, neither yourself nor your friend is wrong.
Answer: At first, need to distinguish the parameters and their estimate. In your question, intercept and parameter are parameter as you stated. They are existed constant, but we do not know. Just like your age. It exist, but I do not know. And also your age cannot be wrong. Same as parameters, they are unknown constant and cannot be biased or unbiased.
Based on the data, we can guess the parameters by some mathematical skills. The methods of guess is called estimate. One property of the estimate is un/biased. It is possible that your college and you friend talked about different estimate of the intercept and slope. You did not mention the estimate they talked about,  so no one can give you the answer.


[ODBC SQL Server Driver][DBNETLIB] SSL Security Error - Windows 2003 App Server to Remote SQL Server 2022 Connection

Question: We have migrated the application databases from an old SQL Server 2000 instance running on Windows 2003 to a new SQL Server 2022 instance running on Windows 2022.  The application tier has a number of web servers using IIS 6.0 on Windows 2003 and when they try to test the connection to the new SQL Server they get the below SSL security error.  Any idea what could be the issue is here, is it likely to be the driver(screenshot below shows drivers installed on the web servers)?  Or is it likely to be related to what versions of SSL/TLS are enabled on either side?
Comment: Are you aware that 2003 went out of extended support in 2015? This OS now has major security vulnerabilites, and doesn't support a lot of new protocols and features.
Answer: Windows Server 2003 only supported SSL 3.0 and TLS 1.0 if I'm remembering correctly. The client drivers from 2003 are extremely old and generally won't support later TDS changes, given the only drivers available to 2003 were for SQL 2000 at the time. IIS 6.0 only supported SSL 3.0 and TLS 1.0 as well.
Essentially you're going to need to upgrade your app servers.
Turning off encrypted connections is fine, however with the TDS protocol that old connecting to a version of SQL Server 22 years newer may work for some/most things but something will occur, not if but when.
There's no common combination (without editing the registry and enabling unsecure ciphers) of ciphers between WS2003 and WS2022, that's going to be a potential other hurdle. Hence why upgrading the app server is the best thing to do.
Comment: Thanks @Sean Gallardy, appreciate you taking the time to answer.


unable to mount network share from fstab or in terminal

Question: My laptop boots normally. But earlier this week, after some updates, it is unable to mount (fstab) network shares from my QNAP.
Other computers with the same fstab connect successfully. I checked the settings on the server, but nothing seems abnormal, and, as said, other computers do connect succesfully.
I fiddled with some of the settings without succes
fstab has the following starightforward code:

192.168.2.73:/reviews  /mnt/reviews  nfs defaults 0 0

Here is some info about my system:
Linux 5.13.0-41-generic #46~20.04.1-Ubuntu SMP  x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
I hope somebody can help out
Thanks in advance
Comment: what is the output of `mount /mnt/reviews`?
Answer: same problem here, booting with 5.13.0-40 solves the problem


Why do musical instruments have different colour in phone?

Question: When I hear a musical instrument in phone, the color of it sounds a bit different than its original 'live' sound. Why?
Comment: and the short answer is: because your phone isn't live – the sounds it reproduces somewhat resemble the original perception, but obviously are very different. For example, take a big bass drum. You can feel it hit you in the stomach. Does your phone's speaker/headphones even have that amount of power?
Comment: And there you have answered your own questions! The higher frequencies aren't reproduced as your hearing expects them to be. A speaker, especially a small, cheap one, isn't a perfect reconstructor for any audio signal. And, to make things more complicated, a set of microphones, some kind of mixer, audio coder (with inherent psychoacoustic model), compression do not even perfectly record the original signal. Again, in short: the thing you hear from the phone is not the same as you hear live. That means there are differences :)
Comment: You can't make that generalization. A big bass drum will definitely sound totally different - and it's mainly producing low frequencies. So really, as I said, without knowing your recording system's and your playback system's exact behaviour, no other statement than "it's simply not the same signal, hence it sounds different" can be made.
Comment: with "color" you mean some psychological quality of your personal perception, right?
Comment: @MarcusMüller I mean timbre. Especially the high frequencies sound different in phone.
Comment: Makes sense. So if I understand it, sounds with low frequencies are percieved as would be heard live but sounds with high frequencies are percieved differently?
Answer: Typical telephone codecs use a sampling frequency of 8kHz and a bandwidth of 7kHz.  That means that your signal will get cut off at frequencies higher than 3.5kHz.  That's ok for most speech but not sufficient for reproducing the timbre of most music instruments.
You'll likely fare reasonably well with instruments like recorders (which don't have a lot of overtones).  The worst combination is high-pitched and overtone-rich, like violin, oboe, soprano sax.  Also instruments with a full spectrum will sound different, like high hats, snares, gongs.
Answer: I am sure you know this, but your phone -including the isolated microphone and its recording mounting system- has its own equivalent recording transfer function $H_{phone}(\omega)$, which will be similar to your "hearing" transfer function $H_{head}(\omega)$.
The phone do his job in a relatively efficient way, the microphone is fairly good, and their speakers are also good. All of them limited, resting fidelity, but acceptable (we are in 2016 :)).
Which will really adds a difference is that, for the reproduction in your home,  there is another transfer function, from the phone to your head, $H_{room}(\omega)$, which adds all the possible effects in your room or whatever place you are, thus distorting your original signal, and giving you a totally different perception of the sound.
IF you use headphones, in a silent room, and close your eyes (that step is important), you will feel again the sound as in the original event.
Comment: I promise, unless your headphones are cubic meters in size and actually large arrays of speakers, the sensation of a loud finale in e.g. a classical concert or a rock show can't be the same – simply a matter of amount of energy transferred into your body. But yes, eliminating everything that is not the reproduction of the original sound will help
Comment: Yeah, we are talking about more normal people like me, without major ear sensibility :)
Comment: Expecting a headphone reproduction of music to be close to the original is kind of wishful thinking,even with very good headphones. Having headphones is a lot better than using cellphone speakers but there's absolutely zero possibility that the sound experienced will be the same as live.
Don't get me wrong,I'm not saying it's going to be bad,it's really just different.As you noted,frequency responses aren't flat–and that's at least partly intentional,because that would actually not sound that good. So,audio folks typically don't aim for perfectly flat;they aim for"best perceived impression"
Comment: at least in reproduction. This doesn't apply to studio recording/playback equipment, where you record something that needs to be mixed and then reproduced later on – here, you'd typically aim for perfect reconstruction. That is definitely not the case for headphones, however, where it's psychologically nicer to emphasize certain frequencies.


Is it a copyright violation to quote another book in my book?

Question: I am writing a novel from the perspective of a character who is very obsessed with Chuck Palahniuk's "Fight Club." This is essential to the character and can't be changed, but I can (and will, obviously) change the execution if necessary. I understand that allusions are acceptable in literature, but while tuning into this characters thoughts and writing in their voice, I seem to be quoting Palahniuk's book a lot? ie,"a copy of a copy," "if you wake up in at a different time in a different place," etc. I've been putting my own spins on these quotes to convey my own ideas, and I've made it very clear that this is a reference to someone else's work so as to not accidentally claim it as my own, but before I get too deep into writing this novel, I want to make sure I'm not doing anything that would be considered stealing or even illegal…
Answer: It might be violating copyright.
Just giving credit to the original author does not cover you. They own the right to their words, especially identifiable phrases (unless you can find those phrases in work previously published before their work.)
You must get permission from the owner of the copyright (writer and/or publisher) in order to use their unique phrases.
Otherwise, they can sue you, and for a famous work, probably will.
The title is fair game, that is not copyrighted. But character names within the story may also be trademarked. For example, you cannot use "Harry Potter" without violating JKR's trademark on the name (for use in a commercial product).
Other than the title, the answer is NO. Giving credit does not absolve you. You cannot use their words to make money in any way.
Now, plots are not copyrighted. You can steal a plot, and reimagine it. But you cannot steal phrases or sentences or paragraphs, to use in a commercial product, without permission.
There is a "Fair Use" policy, for the purpose of critique, commentary, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, research or parody.
Notice that those do not include novels or movies (unless they are parodies).
If using their words improves your work, then you are making money from their words in basically the same venue as them, and you don't have the right to make money off of their work in the same venue as them.
There may be some legal exceptions, but I wouldn't work so close to the edge.
And as an unpublished author, it will be extremely difficult for you to get permission on your own own, and I doubt any publisher will consider an author's first book that comes with legal work to do.
Don't use quotes directly from a copyrighted work, unless you can find them in some other works published before theirs. Period.
Comment: I'm pretty sure it's legal to use "Harry Potter" as long as you don't abuse of it. For instance, imagine two characters are facing a locked door, one of the characters snaps their fingers and then the door opens. The second character says, "Who are you, Harry Potter ?". Good luck suing an author who does that. In fact I'm aware of several professional authors who did that with Harry Potter and as far as I am aware none of them was ever sued. The fact is that Harry Potter *is* a well-known book in the real world, so it's fair that the characters in your novel are aware of this book.
Comment: @Stef As a cultural reference, sure. I mean you cannot title your book "Harry Potter and the Universal Constant" or, have "Harry Potter" make a guest appearance in your scenes and cast a spell or two. Or any other favorite fictional character, like Dr. House, Spiderman, Bruce Wayne, Hogwarts, etc. Many amateurs think it would help their story to just "borrow" a world, rules and characters from a famous series, because then they don't have to do the world building and character building work themselves (and perhaps don't know how). But they'll never get published if they do.
Comment: One notes that a public domain work is safe, you can quote Shakespeare to your heart's delight, but that is obviously  not applicable to the particulars here.
Answer: TL;DR: What you're describing is considered transformative work. As such, you're not doing anything obviously illegal, and you can set aside legal questions to deal with in the editing and publishing process.
The U.S. Copyright Office Fair Use Index says, "Transformative uses are those that add something new, with a further purpose or different character, and do not substitute for the original use of the work."
Other considerations include how much of the original text you use; whether sales of your book would harm sales of Fight Club; and whether your work is using the material creatively. (For example, having a character reference Fight Club all the time, as part of a character arc that echoes themes in Fight Club, might be more likely to be considered "creative expression" than having a character whose sole personality trait is quoting Fight Club.)
Stanford has a great guide on what those standards are and how they're applied. But the biggest takeaway from that guide, as far as your situation is concerned, is that specific publishers each have different policies.
Fight Club was published by W. W. Norton. Their website isn't very helpful; instead of a published fair use policy, they just have instructions on asking them for permission.
However, I came across a panel from a biographers' convention, where John Glusman, the editor-in-chief and vice president of W.W. Norton was one of the speakers addressing fair use. Some of the information was specific to writing biographies (like the need to quote important evidence for your assertions), but I think this excerpt applies well to fiction:
"Scholars have shown, repeatedly, that if your use is 'transformative,' you will win in court.... Courts have become quite willing to dismiss cases at early stages when a strong fair use case is evident on the face of the complaint.
"Fair use makes books better. Arbitrary omissions and alterations that are rooted in legal fear, rather than in the author's (and the editor's) judgment about what best serves the story, will always make a book worse....
"The publisher that is willing to flex their fair use rights in support of authors will publish more, better books, and they will attract authors who value the freedom to tell their stories to the fullest extent allowed by their First Amendment rights, rather than having to trim their sails in deference to illusory legal risk. For a while, this will give savvy publishers a competitive advantage.
"According to Congress, fair use is a right, and the Supreme Court has weighed in to say that it's closely related to the First Amendment freedom of expression. So, there is nothing sneaky or disreputable about exercising the fair use right where it applies.
"Experience in other fields suggests that once one publisher or editor takes advantage of their rights, others will follow eventually, lest they be left behind. As more join the fair use pack and industry norms catch up to legal reality, there will be safety in numbers and everyone will be better off for it. For this to happen, though, authors may have to take the first step, by insisting that the editors and publishers allow them to make responsible use of this important copyright doctrine."
Glusman wasn't quoted directly; that's just the gist of the panel. But the fact that he was on a panel which gave this overall opinion implies that he, and W.W. Norton overall, are okay with it, whether or not he's the one who specifically stated any of it. (You might also be able to watch the recording of the panel at that link.)
All of the above applies even if you quote Fight Club directly. From what you described in "putting your own spin on it," I wasn't sure whether you were ever quoting Fight Club directly, or if you were sort of writing your own versions of the quotes. It sounds like your work might be better-served by just quoting it, at least some of the time -- but more than anything, this sounds like it should all be a creative choice right now.
Do what works best for the book: not only because that makes a stronger argument for fair use, but because that'll make a stronger book.
Answer: I think you can but change some of the words, and if you have a dedication page dedicate the author or book who you are borrowing the quote from  and acknowledge that some of the quotes are from that certain author.
Comment: Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please [edit] to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers [in the help center](/help/how-to-answer).
Comment: No, you can't just change some of the words, and a dedication page does not absolve you from violating copyright. Copyright issues are decided by humans, judge or jury. If it is recognizably the same phrase, then without permission it is a copyright violation. Humans decide if it is close enough. If you just replace "brittle" with "fragile", a jury can decide that this is still be a copyright violation.


Is someone who drives a car a rider?

Question: I know the common usage of the word rider is for motorcycles and bicycles, but I would like to know if you can call a person who drives a car a rider?
Answer: In a car, a rider is usually a passenger, not the driver.
Rider — Vocabulary

n. 1.a. a traveler who actively rides an animal (as a horse or camel)
n. 1.b. a traveler who actively rides a vehicle (as a bicycle or motorcycle)
n. 1.c. a traveler riding in a vehicle (a boat or bus or car or plane or train etc) who is not operating it
Answer: I have to say that I have never come across rider when driver or passenger would be the accepted and common usage to cover a car. However, your question is interesting as I consider it perfectly correct to say, "He [neighbour] gave me a ride to work in his new car". To my way of thinking I remain a passenger in my neighbour's car and not a rider in this situation or context. . I wonder if we have a clash of American English versus British English here? In the UK it is common to ask someone if they would like a lift to work and this would be readily understood whether the mode of transport is a car or a motorcycle. However, I don't think lift would be understood in American English in this context whereas ride to work would be. But then the situation becomes even more complicated because we talk about a pillion passenger (BE) in the context of a person who sits behind the rider (the person in control) of a motorcycle.
Pillion passenger: A pillion is a mostly British English term for a...seat behind the main seat...[of a] motorcycle...A passenger (my emphasis) in this seat is said to "ride pillion"... (Wikipedia)
Answer: Definitely not! The person who drives the car is the "driver". Any other people travelling in the car are "passengers". Neither would be referred to as "rider" in UK or US English.
US English would possibly use "rider" in the context of a passenger in a train or bus, but these would remain "passenger" in the UK.

Is someone who drives a car a rider?


How do I prevent developers from deploying directly to Devhub and instead push the code to sandbox?

Question: I have a production org that is the Devhub. I have a full copy sandbox. I want that the developers that are working on their respective scratch orgs, don't deploy their changes to production directly. I only want them to push the changes to the sandbox. Is there anything I can do in the SFDX process that can prevent someone from deploying directly to production/devhub?
Answer: Make them a "Read-Only" or "Minimum Access - Salesforce" user, and then grant additional permissions for them as you need to (via a Permission Set). You can follow the Add Salesforce DX Users instructions in the Salesforce DX Developer Guide. A properly configured Developer Permission Set can include just the permissions needed to create new Scratch Orgs, new Sandboxes, etc, without any rights to create, read, write, or delete any other objects in the system, and have no System Administrator capabilities in the Dev Hub org.
Comment: Is there a way to prevent a dev from accidently pushing to Dev-hub. Given that now devs will be authorized with Dev-hub. If they have the devhub set as default (accidently) and hit push
Comment: @KLab You cannot push or pull from a Developer Edition or Production Org, as they are not Source Tracking enabled orgs, so it is impossible to push/pull to a Dev Hub, accidentally or on purpose. To prevent accidental *deployments*, on the other hand, create them as a Developer or Standard User, then give them a permission set as described in the link in my answer. They will not have Author Apex, etc, so they will not be able to accidentally, or on purpose, deploy to production directly.


How can I guard-break uruks with iron shield?

Question: I am having trouble with uruks especially captains with iron shield. I've tried to wraith flash and jump over it but it doesn't work, so I've to roll like crazy just to hit him but it gets difficult when uruks zerg me. Is there any other way to guard-break this uruk?
Answer: For most Uruks, you can just vault over. But there are some Uruks (especially Warchiefs) that have a strength that makes it impossible for you to vault over. What you can try then, is use your Wraith Stun (E) on them. This incapacitates them for a little while, enough time to vault over them, or use Wraith Flurry to do some damage.
If that doesn't work, you have your combat finishers. Once you get to the number of combo points you need for a finisher, just use it on the Uruk in question. When it's done, you can use normal attacks to hit him even more.
You can also try to use ranged attacks, if the Uruk in question is not immune to ranged attacks. Use one or two arrows, and continue with your sword.
If there is a Caragor at your disposal, you can also just use mounted attacks against the Uruk in question.
I hope these tips help. Enjoy!
Comment: could also try combat branding some mooks they could beat down the targets' guard
Answer: I once had to face a defender captain that was immune to most normal tactics.  In the end I was able to isolate him outside of a fortress, kill his companions, and kill him (slowly) with throwing daggers.  I've not really mastered the shoulder slam maneuver yet but that may also be of value.


how can I get the image from dynamically generated UITableViewCell and pass it with segue to the other View?

Question: I have a UITableViewController with UITableViewCell dynamically generated there. Each cell contains an imageView that I'm filling with images fetched from my server. I'm using alamofire_images to do so. My code looks as follows:
func tableView(testDetailsPanel: UITableView, cellForRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
    let cell = testDetailsPanel.dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier("cell") as! TestDetailsCell

    let test:SingleTest =  self.items[indexPath.row] as! SingleTest

    if(test.photo != "") {
        cell.myPhoto.af_setImageWithURL(NSURL(string: test.photo)!)
    } else {
        cell.myPhoto.image = UIImage(named: "clusterLarge")
    }
    return cell
}

I thought that since I'm downloading images while displaying the table, there is no need to download it again on the other screen (which is accessible through clicking each cell).
So my idea was to pass the image from specific cell to the other screen through segue. But the problem is that from the method prepareForSegue I don't have access to the specific cell that user clicks. So my other choice was to use protocols. I created a very simple one:
protocol HandlePhoto: class {
    func setUpBackgroundPhoto(miniature: UIImage)
}

and then in my native class I wanted to use it in didSelectRowAtIndexPath method:
func tableView(tableView: UITableView, didSelectRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath)
{
    let test:SingleTest =  self.items[indexPath.row] as! SingleTest

    let cell = testDetailsPanel.dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier("cell") as! TestDetailsCell

    if(test.photo != "") {
            handlePhoto.setUpBackgroundPhoto(cell.testPhoto.image!)
            self.performSegueWithIdentifier("testPhotoDetailsSegue", sender: test)
        }
    } else {
        self.performSegueWithIdentifier("testTextDetailsSegue", sender: test)
    }

}

But this line:
handlePhoto.setUpBackgroundPhoto(cell.testPhoto.image!)

throws error:
fatal error: unexpectedly found nil while unwrapping an Optional value

So my final question is: how can I access photo from the specific cell that user chooses and pass it to other view (without downloading it there for the 2nd time)?
Comment: you do not need to do so, image will be cached in the device and it won't be  downloaded in the next screen.
Comment: @Mr.UB so you want to tell me that if on the next screen I do `myImage.af_setImageWithURL(NSURL(string: test.photo)!) ` then it won't download it again and it will be instantly there? how does it know which image should it show from the cache?
Answer: Why are you using dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier  in your didSelectRowAtIndexPath?; instead, you should get the cell directly using:
let cell = yourTableView.cellForRowAtIndexPath(indexPath) as! TestDetailsCell
if let image = cell.testPhoto.image {
    print(image)//this is what you want.
}

Answer: Your didSelectRowAtIndexPath implementation is wrong, with dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier you are obtaining a new cell, not the selected cell.
Try this:
func tableView(tableView: UITableView, didSelectRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath)
{

    let selectedCell = tableView.cellForRow(at: indexPath) as! TestDetailsCell

    //this will return downloaded image or "clusterLarge"
    let image = selectedCell.myPhoto.image

    //
    //Make your check on image and extra setup
    //

    self.performSegueWithIdentifier("testPhotoDetailsSegue", sender: test)

}


Is it possible to find the Stack Exchange profile of Meetup participants?

Question: I'm interested in attending the upcoming local meetup.  Is there any way to find the Stack Exchange profile for local participants?  Meetup.com doesn't seem to link the two in any way.
Comment: Hmmm, did someone make sure to tell Rebecca to leave her pointy stick at home?
Answer: No, not really, and that's a good thing.
Programmers' regulars will probably recognize my Meetup avatar, and sharpen their knifes, but other than using the same avatar / username for both Stack Exchange and Meetup there isn't an easy way to know who's who.
Are you trying to avoid someone? ;P
Comment: I don't consider it a good thing... part of the interest is linking the online identity to a real person.  If I just wanted to meet "some programmers" there are any number of user groups and other meetups in my area.


Converting Easting, Northing, and Elevation to Station and Elevation

Question: How can I convert x,y,z (easting, northing and elevation) data into station and elevation? I am trying to input the data into HEC-RAS, which only takes station and elevation.
Comment: What GIS software are you using?
Comment: Is this a text file of XYZ, show us sample data maybe?
Comment: HEC-RAS = Hydrologic Engineering Center's River Analysis System
Answer: When using HEC-RAS, River Stations always start with Station 0 the farthest DOWNSTREAM (lowest elevation along that river reach), and are 'numbered' upwards in the upstream direction.
You need to make sure that you are only working with stations from 1 unique river. Once you have all the stations from one river, you can input them from lowest elevation to highest. You will not need to look at the E/N coordinates at all. I am of course assuming all your points fall along rivers!
To reiterate, class your data by river reach, and then for each class, order lowest elev to highest. Input in that order, by each class.
Answer: This might be too late but just in case it can help someone else with the same question. The image below shows the plan view of a cross section, defined by four points, p1 through p4, with p1 being the starting point. Since in HEC-RAS XS station is measured from the starting point along the cross section, for P1 you enter it as (0, z1). P2 will be entered as (L1, z2) where L1 is the distance between P2 and P1 and can be calculate as the square root of (y2-y1)^2 + (x2-x1)^2. P3 will be entered as (L1+L2, z3), where L2 is the distance between P3 and P2 and can be calculated as the square root of (y3-y2)^2 + (x3-x2)^2. So on and so forth. Hopefully you can find a tool on the internet that does the conversion so you don't have to do it manually.


What is the suitable private IP?

Question: What is the private IP that I may use if I am about to subnet a total of 743 hosts in my office? Should I use 10.x.x.x, 172.16.0.0 - 172.31.x.x, 192.168.x.x or all of them are allowed? Also if more than one is allowed, which one is the best for my condition (743 hosts). Thank you.
Comment: Unfortunately, all "_education, certification, or homework_" questions are explicitly off-topic here. The above linked question has answer that explain how to calculate this.
Answer: All three blocks are private IP ranges, aka. they are not routable on the Internet. Which one you pick is of little significance, there's no technical difference between them.
However, you don't need such large blocks for your amount of hosts, so you should definitely subnet whatever block you choose.
For 743 hosts, you would need a /22 block, which contains 1022 available host addresses, giving you ample room for any potential growth and other infrastructure.
So you can pick whatever you like, for example 10.22.116.0/22 or 192.168.60.0/22 or something else entirely. Just make sure that whatever range you pick doesn't overlap with something else in your network.
Answer: Just to inform you, you can also use IP addresses in a way that will provide you more information like;
10.x.y.z/24 where x can be a building y can be a floor. 10.1.3.0/24 will correspond to the first building third floor etc...
If this is a fresh install and your equipment allows you, consider subnetting into smaller networks like 3 x /24 rather than single /22 networks.
Last but not least, if this is a fresh office, I hope you also consider other devices that will use IP addresses apart from your clients. wireless, Printers, network devices(management IP addresses), Ip telephony (if you have any), card readers, security cams ... etc. You may want to segregate printers to a different subnet and make them talk only with the print server, or security card readers and cameras should be on a different IP subnet.

What is the suitable private IP?


In QGIS, add to existing dem tiles and expand corresponding contour coverage within a project

Question: In my first QGIS project I have dozens of digitized layers that have spread beyond the contour and dem tile area that I started with. Please recommend how to safely expand or replace the dem and contour layers with larger ones in the project.
Answer: It sounds like you'll need to source some more data. There's no way to expand your DEM or Contours without actually finding data.
I'd suggest that you look into your local, regional, or national government spatial agencies. Perhaps search for open data repositories in your area.
If all else fails, there's a global elevation model at around 30 m resolution called ASTER, which will be available in your area: http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/gdem.asp
Comment: Thanks Alex. My question was poorly written. I do have the additional dems downloaded and can create contours of the larger area in a new project. My concern is placing that info into my existing project. Is it simply a matter of deleting existing dem tile set layer and associated contour layers and creating a new larger dem tile set area layer and new contour layers?
Comment: Hi @PaulRansom, just load it all in there. QGIS can handle a lot. If you save your project first, you can mess around and always get back to where you were before!


Improvements for ugly reflection

Question: I have a project that uses a library to save serialized objects in items and loads them again, when needed.
To do the de-/serialization, this library uses Gson.
Due to how Gson works and how the library is set up, I can't add support for custom types easily and thus have to rely heavily on reflection.
I don't like this, but it has to be like this, sadly.
I am asking, whether there is a way to make this code use more Kotlin idioms.
My issue is that because the fields I am accessing are private, the usual reflection using :: doesn't work.
Anyways, here is my code:
/**
 * Registers a custom GSON handler to handle the [Location] class.
 */
private fun registerGsonHandlers() {
    logger.entering(LobbyMain::class, "registerGsonHandlers")
    // Gets private static final Gson gson = new Gson();
    val fGson = NBTReflectionUtil::class.java.getDeclaredField("gson")
    fGson.isAccessible = true

    val modifiersField = Field::class.java.getDeclaredField("modifiers")
    modifiersField.isAccessible = true
    modifiersField.setInt(fGson, fGson.modifiers and Modifier.FINAL.inv())

    // Gets  private final List<TypeAdapterFactory> factories;
    val fFactories = Gson::class.java.getDeclaredField("factories")
    fFactories.isAccessible = true
    val factories = fFactories.get(fGson.get(null)) as List<*>

    // Sets private static final Gson gson
    fGson.set(null, GsonBuilder().apply {
        registerTypeAdapter(Location::class.java, LocationTypeAdapter)
        factories.forEach { this::registerTypeAdapterFactory }
    }.create())
    logger.exiting(LobbyMain::class, "registerGsonHandlers")
}

It pulls the Gson object out of the NBTReflectionUtil class, makes it modifiable and gets its list of TypeAdapterFactories.
I then create a new Gson object with all the old TypeAdapters and mine added and set it as the new Gson object for the library.
Answer: I'd group your code to make it more readable. Something like this:
fun getGson(): Field {
    val fGson = NBTReflectionUtil::class.java.getDeclaredField("gson")
    fGson.isAccessible = true
}

fun removeFinalModifier(field: Field) {
    val modifiersField = Field::class.java.getDeclaredField("modifiers")
    modifiersField.isAccessible = true
    modifiersField.setInt(fGson, fGson.modifiers and Modifier.FINAL.inv())
}

// etc

Improvements for ugly reflection


Got +2 rep for nothing

Question: I was looking through my rep changes, and I noticed +2 credited 5 minutes ago for Is it possible to automatically log in to link using Javascript, but I didn't change anything, and the answer doesn't seem to have anything new on it. Could someone please explain the rep change I got?
Answer: Your edit to the question was approved. Thus you got +2 rep for it.
Comment: Must have missed the approval, I read the denied one from earlier, and left it alone after that.
Answer: You did indeed change something; you suggested an edit to the question, which was reviewed by other users and approved.
Approved suggestions are rewarded by a small amount of rep to encourage everybody to improve posts whenever they're able.
The full explanation is on Meta.SE: How do suggested edits work?

Got +2 rep for nothing


Reversible polynomial circuit iff polynomial reversible circuit?

Question: My question is about efficiently computable bijective functions. Informally I'm interested in:

If a bijection is computable in polynomial time, can we compute it by a polynomial number of bijective gates?

I have checked the list of relevant questions and didn't spot this one. My precise setting may or may not be orthodox so I include my definitions. I believe the question is research level, but I'm happy to be proven wrong.
Let $B = \{0,1\}$. Let's define a gate as an element of $\mathrm{Alt}(B^n)$ for some finite $n$. For finite $N$ define $G_N = \bigcup_{n \leq N} \mathrm{Alt}(B^n)$, and define $G_\infty = \bigcup_n \mathrm{Alt}(B^n)$. For two gates $\pi_1 \in \mathrm{Alt}(B^m), \pi_2 \in \mathrm{Alt}(B^n)$ write $\pi = \pi_1 | \pi_2$ for the permutation $B^{m+n}$ defined by $\pi(u \cdot v) = \pi_1(u) \cdot \pi_2(v)$ for $u \in B^m, v \in B^n$, where $\cdot$ is concatenation of words. For a set of gates $G$ write $\lceil G \rceil$ for the smallest subset of $\bigcup_n \mathrm{Alt}(B^n)$ containing the identity maps and closed under well-defined function compositions $(\pi_1, \pi_2) \mapsto \pi_1 \circ \pi_2$, and under the operation $|$.
It's known that $\lceil G_N \rceil = G_\infty$ for all $N \geq 4$, let's fix $N = 4$ for concreteness. Concretely this means that any $\pi \in \mathrm{Alt}(B^n)$ for any $n \geq N$ can be written as
$\pi = \phi_k \circ \cdots \circ \phi_2 \circ \phi_1$
for some $k$, where for each $\phi_i$ there exists $\ell_i$ and $\pi_i \in \mathrm{Alt}(B^4)$ such that $\phi_i(u \cdot v \cdot w) = u \cdot \pi_i(v) \cdot w$ for all $|u| = \ell_i, |v| = 4$.
For $\pi \in \mathrm{Alt}(B^n)$ an even permutation. If $n \geq 4$, define its reversible gate complexity as the minimal $k$ such that $\pi$ can be written as a composition like the one above. If $n < 4$, define the gate complexity of $\pi$ to be $1$. (One may wish to allow conjugation of gates by the permutations by $uabv \mapsto ubav$. This changes gate complexity only by a linear factor, so for the present purpose it does not matter.)

Suppose that both $\pi \in \mathrm{Alt}(B^n)$ and its inverse are efficiently computable in some sense, e.g. polynomial time, NC$^d$, logspace... Is the reversible gate complexity of $\pi$ then necessarily polynomial in $n$?

I'm interested in an answer or references.
Some observations:

The proof of Barrington's theorem shows that for a fixed $m \geq 3$, if $\pi$ is of the special form $\pi(u \cdot w) = \psi(u, w) \cdot w$ for some function $\psi : B^m \times B^n \to B^m$, such that the permutations in the $w$-fibers $\{u \cdot w \;|\; u \in B^m\}$ are even for each $w \in B^n$, then the reversible gate complexity of $\pi$ is polynomial in $n$ whenever $\pi$ is in NC$^1$. Namely if there is an NC$^1$ circuit for $\psi$, then there is an NC$^1$ circuit (larger by a constant factor) with $2^m!/2$ special output nodes that record whether a particular permutation was performed in the first $m$ coordinates. We can then show (as in Barrington's theorem's proof) that for each node in this network, every even permutation conditioned on any value of that node, has a polynomial size circuit complexity in $n$. Now combine the ones corresponding to the new special nodes to get a polynomial gate complexity for $\pi$.
Bennett's trick shows (among other things) that if $\pi \in \mathrm{Alt}(B^n)$ and $\pi^{-1}$ have gate complexity $m$ (computable by an acyclic network of $m$ two-input classical gates), then there is permutation $\pi' \in \mathrm{Alt}s(B^{n+m})$ with reversible gate complexity polynomial in $n + m$ such that $\pi'(u \cdot 0^{n+m}) = (\pi(u) \cdot 0^{n+m})$ for all $u \in B^n$. Namely, let $f$ compute the values of the network in the last $m$ bits, w.r.t. some topological sorting of the network (assuming they are $0$; otherwise we do not care). Let $g$ be the map that sums the $n$ answer bits to the $n$ bits after $u$. Let $h$ exchange the first and second word of length $n$. Then $h \circ f^{-1} \circ g \circ f$ proves the claim.
One-way bijections in cryptography are permutations of $B^n$, which have the property that they can be computed in polynomial time, but cannot be inverted in polynomial time. (Their defining property is much stronger, but I don't think it's relevant here.) I don't know if this particular definition directly has anything to do with the present problem, as we're dealing with a non-uniform computation model.
Comment: Have you considered the bijections $L$ where $L(x,y)=(x,x\oplus f(y))$ where $f$ is any desired function? From a reversible circuit computing $L$, you can easily construct a conventional circuit for computing $f$ with very small width.
Answer: Let $f:2^{m}\rightarrow 2^{n}$ be a function. Then define a bijection $L_{f}:2^{m}\times 2^{n}\rightarrow 2^{m}\times 2^{n}$ by letting $L_{f}(x,y)=(x,f(x)\oplus y)$. Then if $L_{f}$ has reversible gate complexity $k$, then $f$ can be computed by a $O(k)$ gate Boolean circuit of width $m+n$. In other words, $L_{f}$ has low reversible gate complexity only when $f$ is computable by a circuit of very low width.


Who or what is the author speaking about when he wrote 'walls' in Isaiah 49:16?

Question: Isaiah 49:16, New American Standard Bible (NASB):

16 "Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your
  walls are continually before Me."
Comment: I'd suspect you'd gain more traction and acceptance with this question if it was rephrased as a word/comparative literature study on this word/metaphor.
Answer: Contextually, Isaiah 49 is describing the return of Jacob/Israel from exile. Verse 49.5:

'And now YHWH says ... to bring Jacob back to him, that Israel might
  be gathered to him'

This includes the rebuilding of the city Jerusalem/Zion. Beginning in verse 14:

But Zion said, 'YHWH has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me.'
[YHWH's response] 'Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she
  shouldn't have compassion on the child of her womb? They may forget,
  but I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of
  my hands, your walls are continually before me. Your builders shall
  make haste, your destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from
  you.'

The 'walls' are actual walls, which surround the rebuilt Jerusalem/Zion.
Answer: The correct intention the Lord has in using the word 'walls' thru Isaiah I believe is this; In ancient times walls were the THE safety feature of any strong city; as in Proverb 'a man without rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, and without walls."
Clearly, I think, He is talking in the Spirit, about a time far off in the future; it is unknown when He will send His Son to return and rescue "the remnant", but already we no longer build actual walls to protect our cities.
  Without question I believe He is declaring I AM your walls; I AM your protection. He repeatedly declares the future safety of 'his people' throughout the history of the OT prophets.
   In this very poignant, emotionally intense personal declaration and plea from the Lord to His people; anyone who believes in His prescribed restoration to himself the new covenant of Faith in His Savior; He declares that a nation disseized and ruined with their walls, at that time torn down, will be rebuilt not with stone and mortar but, as He proclaims thru Zechariah, thru His own Spirit. In our case and at this point, as we wait and trust in our faith he has given us, it is in the unending sacrifice of the blood body and new intercessory life of Jesus Christ WHO has become our safety, or protection from invaders; our "walls".
  We can see the language before and after speaking of leveling out "my" landscape and the safety of his people and especially their little ones; something the Lord reveals He knows His people are doubting and cannot see. Absolutely a common denominator to ALL who attempt to live by faith alone in hard times and trials.
 Certainly 1 of the most heartfelt overture and appeals contained the Scriptures, and a must remember passage for anyone serious about any commitment of living by and therefore clinging to said faith in a world such as this and with a disobedient irreconcilable flesh such as we have, if we are honest with ourselves in the mirror. Wow! what a passionate plea from a Holy God to sinful otherwise hopeless mankind!
Comment: Welcome to BH. It helps your reader if you split up text like this (sometimes called a 'wall' of text) into paragraphs such that each paragraph covers a separate part of your argument.


Prove that a function is surjective but not bijective

Question: I'm trying to prove that the function $f :P(\Bbb Z) \to P(\Bbb N)$ defined by $f(X) = X\cap \Bbb N$ is surjective but not bijective.
In order to do this, I need to prove that $f$ is surjective and not injective. To prove that it is surjective, I have to suppose $B \in P(\Bbb N) $ to prove that there exists $A \in P(\Bbb Z)$ for which $f(A) = f(B)$. Also, it might be easier to prove that the image of $f$ is $P(\Bbb N)$, but I don't know how to do this (I'm doing it by double inclusion but I can't seem to prove that $P(\Bbb N) \subset X \cap \Bbb N$ .
Thanks.
Answer: What are these? $$f([-1])$$ and $$f([-1,-2])$$ Are they equal?


Logistic regression versus t-test, which is better for this comparative-descriptive study?

Question: Which type of test is most appropriate for this comparative-descriptive study?  I have two groups of subjects (250 in each). My goal is to determine if the two subject groups are different and if so, how. I'm using an online survey of 50 statements (embedded are 5 statements about 10 different possible factors). Subjects rate these statements on a Likert scale from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree".  Do I have to use a t-test or a logistic regression to determine categorical differences, and predictors?
Comment: Are you interested in finding a general difference in agreement or are you interested in testing each individual question?  How many levels in each scale?  Do the questions test different things?  Are they mutually exclusive (i.e. rankings that must all be different like a sort)?  Please provide more details on what you intended in your study.
Answer: If you have a rating scale (what you're incorrectly calling a Likert scale) with a lot of levels, say about 10, then it's sort of OK to treat the values of the scale as interval.  Small scales should not be treated this way. Nevertheless, it sounds like you're actually generating a Likert scale, which is the aggregate, usually sum, of the collections of ratings that you've gathered, and not any individual rating (your question confuses that issue). In that case it's usually fine to just treat it as interval data.
You could use a non-parametric test or parametric test. It's going to come down to whether you think some kind of model can be fit to the data and you can estimate parameters of it. Does the central limit theorem suggest the data are normally distributed and the resulting distributions in line with that? If so, a t-test is probably fine. If not then perhaps a simple non-parametric test of some kind. I'd probably prefer in your case to bootstrap a confidence interval of the effect.
Regarding logistic regression, perhaps you were considering it because, while the full scale can be treated as interval, ordinal logistic regression could be used on an individual rating regardless of whether there are a large or small number of levels and it's designed specifically for that kind of thing.  There's a fairly nice ordinal package in R.  You'd want the clm command, or maybe clmm command.  A more specific question could help here.
Answer: The t-test is not appropriate for the data you have. With ordinal data or Likert scales, as in your case, you should use Wilcoxon's rank-sum test, sometimes also called the Mann–Whitney U test. Using this test, you can assess for each of the 50 statements if there is a statistically significant difference between the two groups.
This test should be available in your favorite statistical software. Moreover, it is not too hard to compute this test using a spreadsheet.
Comment: The questioner said logistic regression... assuming it was ordinal logistic regression then that is the appropriate method.
Answer: (I wanted to comment on lejohn's post, but I can's seem to find the option anywhere.)
Likert scales are almost always treated as interval level data.  I'm guessing that, based on your original post, you will not be treating each item separately, but will be aggregating to create 10 subscales composed of 5 items each (using either the sum or the mean score).  Unless these subscales have distributions that are extremely non-normal or have wildly heterogeneous variances between your subsamples, you are safe, and in my opinion advised, to use a t test (and perhaps a Bonferroni correction or similar).
Comment: just because lots of people treat likert scales as interval doesn't mean it's right... it's only defensible in certain circumsances
Comment: I think you need some reputation to comment (which you should have enough now). Welcome to the site!
Comment: I assume those certain circumstances are those that you speak of above (i.e., when there are 10 or more levels).  This is arbitrary and nonsensical.  Why, when there are more scale points, should we be fine to treat the variable as interval than when the theoretical distances between the scale points are greater?  From a psychometric perspective, there is plenty of evidence in favour of treating the scale points of a Likert scale as interval level data, and not only because "lots of people do it".  A good start would be reading Rensis Likert's original (1935) article.
Comment: It's more civil to set the threshold higher for calling an argument "nonsensical."  Beyond that, there is a decades-long debate about the merits of treating an individual rating *item* as interval-level.  But a Likert *scale*, which is a composite score calculated based on multiple rating items, is almost always treated as interval-level.  http://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/10382/general-advice-on-forming-an-index-of-attitude-to-the-environment-from-a-set-of
Comment: A fair point, and my apologies to John.  I agree with your comment, and sense that this is the case for the original poster (i.e., I don't believe his intention is to perform a test for each individual scale item).
Comment: A very brief answer to your query about why large numbers of levels is more amenable to being treated as interval is because the unknown amount of space between intervals becomes smaller and smaller.  Therefore, it matters less that it's treated as intervals.  With 3 levels one might be very close between level 1 and 2 but very far to 3.  But, with 10 levels the gap among levels gets smaller and better assessed among the items.


JMS Message Acknowledgement Timeout?

Question: Does message acknowledgement use a timeout?
Is this implementation specific?
So for instance a broker delivers a message and never recieves an acknowledgment...period. At what point
does the broker decide enough is enough or does it ever?
Answer: Yes, this is implementation specific. A broker can try to redeliver the message several times and then give up (and move the message to a dead letter queue).

JMS Message Acknowledgement Timeout?


rigify problems generating a rig

Question: I'm having a problem using the add-on 'rigify', I line up the rig to my model then generate the rig but it creates a strange group of empty circles around the vertices of the rig rather than the rig.
Answer: you may have disconnected or deleted something on your meta-rig before creating it. Retry with a fresh meta-rig and hit the "generate" button to check if it works. You can still delete the rig object and re-generate another from time to time to check everything works... until your meta-rig is perfectly placed !

rigify problems generating a rig


Does anything transfer from Breath of the Wild to Tears of the Kingdom?

Question: The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom is a direct sequel to The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild. Assuming a player has a Breath of the Wild save game on their Switch (or in the cloud) does anything transfer to Tears of the Kingdom?
Answer: Yes, registered horses can be transferred over to Tears of the Kingdom. You will need to visit a stable first, however.
Note that when you first show up at a stable, if you're not actually boarding a horse, it won't seem to have worked, as they'll make a big to-do about how you're a new customer, and need a new loyalty card. You need to actually show up with a horse to board, at which point, they'll tell you that you can access your mounts from BotW.
Also, the save needs to be downloaded to your console. Being in the cloud is not enough.
Whether that is the only thing that transfers over, or whether there is more, I can't say.
Comment: I was very confused when I registered my first horse after the tutorial. During the tutorial, no horse. The next day when I want to pull that horse from the stable, theres a second one with the name of one of my cats. Tought my SO played on my savefile for a moment lol


Scheduling tasks Advice? .Net, SQL Job?

Question: I am creating a system where users can setup mailings to go out at specific times. Before I being I wanted to get some advice. First, is there already a .Net component that will handle scheduling jobs (either running another application or calling a URL) that will do what I am suggesting (Open Source would be cool)? If there isn't, is it better to schedule a job in SQL and run some sort of script, create a .Net service that will look at an xml file or db for schedules, or have an application create scheduled tasks? There could be a ton of tasks, so I am thinking creating scheduled tasks or SQL jobs might not be a good idea.
Here may be a typical scenario; a user wants to send a newsletter to their clients. The user creates the newsletter on a Saturday, but doesn't want it to go out until Monday. The user wants that same e-mail to go out every Monday for a month.
Thanks for looking!
Answer: Check out Quartz.NET

Quartz.NET is a full-featured, open
  source job scheduling system that can
  be used from smallest apps to large
  scale enterprise systems.
Answer: If you want to use the readily available services in Windows itself, check out this article A New Task Scheduler Task Library on CodeProject on how to create scheuled tasks in Windows from your C# application.
You probably have more flexibility and power if you use C# and scheduled tasks in Windows, rather than limiting yourself to what can be done in SQL Server. SQL Server Agent Jobs are great - for database specific stuff, mostly - maintenance plans and so forth.
Answer: You can build your own windows service that schedules and executes jobs. Be sure to make good abstractions. In a similar project, I have used an abstraction where scheduling items are abstracted as Jobs composed of tasks. For example, sending newsletter may be a job whereas sending newsletter to each subscriber can be considered as a task. Then you need to run the job and tasks in defined threading models preferably using Threadpool threads or Task Parallel Library. Be sure to use asynchronous API for IO whenever possible. Also separate your scheduling logic from the abstractions. so that the scheduling logic can execute arbitrary types of jobs and its inclusive tasks.

Scheduling tasks Advice? .Net, SQL Job?


What is the Winter Bash?

Question: Just logged on to the site, and I noticed a curious new link at the top of the page.  What does it mean?
Answer: And if you want to wear a hat, go to your user profile, click on the hats link below your other user info (under the helpful flag counter), and select a hat from the popup.
Answer: It means, it's time for HATS!
The Winter Bash is a promotion, where doing common tasks throughout the community can earn you special gifts. It you click the Winter Bash link at the top of the page.

A popup window will open, which lets you view all the hats you've earned.

From here you can click the Winter Bash link, which will take you to a page where you can learn more about how to earn hats.
If you don't like, don't want to look at, or just plain can't stomach hats. Clicking the i hate hats link will make known your hatred of hats, and you will not have to see them ever again (at least not on a StackExchange site).
So get out there asking, answering, voting on, and reviewing questions.  See how many hats you can earn.
To Wear A Hat
Once you've earned a hat, or 5.  You can wear the hat proudly upon your Gravatar, simply by selecting it from your user profile page.
During Winter Bash, you'll notice a new item in the stats area of your user profile labeled Hats.

Once you have a hat, click the link and a dialog will open.

Simply select the hat you'd like to wear, and close the dialog.  You'll notice (usually after a refresh), that your Gravatar is now sporting the new hat.
Good luck, and may the hats be with you.
For more information, check out the official StackExchange Blog article.

What is the Winter Bash?


Can we write stored procedures in IBM graph or JanusGraph? Are they ACID compliant?

Question: I know the basics of how IBM graph and JanusGraph works. Can we write stored procedures for these? Also, are they ACID compliant?
Answer: The way you interact with IBM Graph is through separate gremlin script submissions sent over HTTPS, each of which share no state-- so no, you cannot use something like a stored procedure.
Titan/JanusGraph is a stateless JVM interacting with a storage backend; IBM Graph uses Cassandra to store your data, so when we speak of ACID compliance, we are mostly speaking about whether or not Cassandra is ACID compliant. I will leave the answer to that as an exercise to you with a single place to start: https://wiki.apache.org/cassandra/ArchitectureOverview as (1) there should be plenty of information on this online as Cassandra is super popular and (2) ACID "compliance" is something that means different things to many people.
If you build SystemA on top of DB1 and DB1 is not ACID compliant, that does not mean that SystemA is not ACID compliant. Having said that, Titan/JG does indeed have a notion of transactions which are Durable, but not Consistent, Isolated, or Atomic.