Black hole singularity in loop quantum gravity

Question: How is the singularity of a Black Hole treated in Loop Quantum gravity ? Does it go away ? And if it does, what's after the event horizon ?
Answer: The theory of loop gravity would suggest that it would only become more dense in a singularity event. So It would not go away but become very very dense. So if anything the possibility arises That after the event horizon it would either become so dense it would simply just not be detected aside from its push of gravity. So if the theory dictates these events it would be small. Yet another theory suggests that it would be a repetitious event, such as it would go through and come out some where else coming out just as it was going in. So it wouldn't go away in either but become stronger and stronger in one theory and the other it would become  stronger then return.
Comment: Throughout this answer, you use the word "it." What does "it" refer to?
Comment: Thanks for the answer, do you have a source?
Comment: [My source](http://www.einstein-online.info/elementary/quantum/loops). Although I did not specify the obvious parts. Also I must apologize I couldn't comment not enough credits.
Comment: @TimothyBrachna You may want to read this help-center page concerning duplicated accounts: http://physics.stackexchange.com/help/merging-accounts
Answer: There has been some funny progress recently, as described in a paper by Ashtekar, Olmedo and Singh, about which Rovelli wrote this article:
https://physics.aps.org/articles/v11/127
Apparently, loop quantum gravity predicts that evolving black holes first shrink to Planck-sized objects, then turn into white holes. These are basically the time-reverse of black holes, objects that spit energy and matter out into their environment.
LQG seems to like this idea of replacing singularities as they occur in GR by 'bounces', as it also predicts a Big Bounce, instead of a Big Bang, as the origin of our current universe.
EDIT: to more precisely answer the original question, the actual singularity within the black hole indeed goes away in LQG, and is replaced with some small region in which the Einstein equations are corrected by quantum effects. In other words, there is a small ball of quantum gravity 'stuff' within the horizon, not a pointlike singularity.


does OpenCL on Nvida work as well as OCL on ATI?

Question: in most cases I've seen mining techniques listed as either ATI with OpenCL or Nvidia with Cuda. but I have seen Nvidia graphics that claim to support OpenCL. is this implementation different or would the same miner that does OpenCL on ATI work just as well as OpenCL on Nvidia?
Answer: OpenCL is framework for heterogeneous computing, that is, a program written in OpenCL should run on any plattform that supports it, and Nvidia does, among a wide range.
The main benefit of OpenCL is the ability to write the code once and to be able to run it on different platforms without changes. Normally that comes with a performance cost.
So there's a tradeoff between performance and savings in code maintenance and developing efforts. I.e, OpenCL could be a reasonable framework for a generic miner but if you are devoted to squeeze any performance bit you can, IMO you should rely on the native framework for that platform, i.e CUDA for Nvidia.


Can I prepare baby cereal in advance?

Question: I'm preparing for a long airplane flight with my family. I've been filling and freezing some refillable baby food pouches with chicken/veggie soup, etc. I'd like to also bring a couple of pouches with a baby cereal (probably oatmeal) + water + applesauce combination so that I have an easy ready breakfast-on-the-go. Is it ok to prepare this the night before the flight and put the pouch in the fridge?
Comment: Since your primary concern is about food preparation, storage, and safety issues, the folks on our [Cooking site](http://cooking.stackexchange.com) are extremely knowledgeable about these issues.
Answer: I never had any success pre-mixing cereal for my kids. They usually hated the consistency when it was anything other than fresh. Honestly, if you are just using water and applesauce, it seems like just bringing the dry cereal + a pouch of applesauce+ a bottle of water and mixing it in an empty cup (which you should have no trouble procuring on the plane) isn't such a hassle. I used to do this in the car, at restaurants, at relatives houses, the park...it's worth a little extra effort to avoid having cereal spit back in your face (or another passenger's!)
If you are asking because you want to use the pouches (I don't blame you! Mess free!) for feeding convenience, I would at least suggest warming the mixture a bit; this seems to help the texture. You could ask the flight attendant for warm water in a cup and just float the pouch for a minute and then give it a few squeezes to break up the lumps.
I wish you the best luck attempting a long flight with a young child. You are braver than me!
Comment: Thank you! Maybe I should try it in advance to see if they'll take it. I'm assuming that food-safety-wise it's ok? (And it's 3 of them actually :) I'm somewhat terrified)
Comment: I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be safe as long as you keep it refrigerated and then serve it quickly after reheating.  I'm assuming you are packing a cooler or bringing along an ice pack at the very least?

Can I prepare baby cereal in advance?


How do I run tor in Saucy (13.10)?

Question: I am trying to run tor in Saucy.  In previous versions of ubuntu I would just go to the tor website download the program, extract it and then double click on a text file called "start tor browser" that was located in the tor folder. Now all that happens when I double click on that file is it opens the actual text but not the tor browser bundle.  Any one know how to get tor started in the newest version of ubuntu?
Answer:
Download the bundle.
Open up a terminal
Enter following commands:
cd Downloads/
tar -xf tor-browser-linux64-3.5_en-US.tar.xz
cd tor-browser_en-US/
./start-tor-browser

Done
Answer: I got the easy answer for you: open the terminal and drag and drop the start-tor-browser file into it. It worked for me.

How do I run tor in Saucy (13.10)?


How the effect travel's?

Question: Let us assume that we placed lot's of ball touching each other in a hollow cylindrical tube, now if we push one ball at the end the ball at the other end move's instantly. So how do the information from one side of the tube travel's to the other side of the tube instantly. and at what speed at it travel's. If it travels at the speed of light so if make a long tube of the length of about $3*10^8$m it would take 1 second to see the effect at the other end assuming that nothing will bend or compress all thing's are ideal? I have read other related question but it didn't contained what I actually wanted to know. So it is not a duplicate.
Comment: Possible duplicates: http://physics.stackexchange.com/q/2175/2451 and 13 links therein.
Answer: A similar famous example of this, is to point with some laser ray from earth to moon, moving the laser with very small angle will make the spot on moon surface to move with extremely fast speed, much faster than light speed!
Note that the photons here will need some time to reach moon surface anyway, so transferring information between Earth and moon, or between two points on the moon (through earth) will not violet relativity at all.
Similarly to your example, the balls are actually a collection of atoms, which are "glued" together with electromagnetic forces, and any two balls of them are actually not touching each other, there is some tiny space between them determined by the electromagnetic forces that arise between atoms of the neighbor balls (this is friction), and electromagnetic waves (the impulse that happens when you pushing the balls, is actually those waves) still moves at speed of light, so the pushing signal will be transmitted from one ball to another at speed of light anyway, not instantaneously!

How the effect travel's?


What is the status of a pareve container AFTER pareve food that had been cooked in a meat pot is warmed in it? Was status of pareve container changed?

Question: I'm trying to learn what is the status of a pareve container AFTER pareve food that had been cooked in a meat pot is warmed in it? Was the status of the pareve container changed? I did search Mi Yodeya and elsewhere online but cannot find this issue addressed.
Comment: related https://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/50638/759
Answer: If the meat pot had not been used within 24 hours prior to cooking the pareve food, the question doesn't even get off the ground.
Assuming the meat pot had been used within 24 hours of heating up the pareve food, the food would then contain ta'am sheini of meat, which means that the flavor of the meat went into the pot, and then from the pot into the pareve food. This food should ideally not be eaten together with dairy, but you wouldn't have to wait after eating it in order to eat dairy. (if either the meat or the pareve food was suspended in water while in the pot, even this prohibition would not be in place).
Once the pareve food has been heated in the pareve container, there is no significance to the taste of meat that may be transferred from the food to the container and you could use it to heat up pareve or dairy food (even if no food was ever suspended in water). This information comes from Tur/Shulchan Aruch Y"D 88-89.
Comment: "you could use it to heat up pareve or dairy food", although the latter option obviously takes the container out of parve status.
Comment: Shmuel, thank you so very much. Perfect--and extremely helpful--response. I greatly appreciate it. I wish you and your family a truly Sameach Chag Sukkot. Thank you again and Shavua Tov!
Comment: Thank you, Double AA. Interesting. Chag Sameach!


Microsoft Reversi on Windows Vista?

Question: Is it possible to get the old Microsoft Reversi from Windows 2.03 to run on Windows Vista? It's an old classic!
It looks like this:
Answer: @agent86 had a fairly good answer. I've tested the following step-by-step solution which is essentially what he suggested. Please note that this is a fairly convoluted method of running Reversi.
First, get a copy of DOSBox and install it inside Vista. If you don't have a copy of Windows 3.1 on your hard drive already, see this guide on how to create one from the original retail floppies. How you acquire those is your business.
Once you're able to successfully mount a copy of Windows 3.1 in DOSBox, I'd suggest modifying the autoexec for DOSBox, as mentioned in the guide above, to make Windows boot automatically upon running DOSBox. See if you have Reversi preinstalled as part of Windows 3.1.
If for some reason you do not already have it as part of the OS, here is a link to a Reversi executable. Place that executable in the root directory of your 3.1 installation (i.e. the folder you mounted in DOSBox as drive C), then start DOSBox and boot to Windows again. Navigate using File Manager to the root of drive C, and go ahead and run it from there.
Proof of functionality; I was able to successfully play a game of Reversi like this. Feel free to ask if you need more clarification on any steps.
Comment: @BaileyRowland You can run [DOSBox](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOSBox) *on* Windows Vista.
Comment: My question was Can I play it on Windows VISTA, not DOSBOX
Comment: @BaileyRowland If you're asking to run it natively on Vista, that's not an option. It simply will not run on a newer processor without virtualization of some sort (i.e. DOSBox). You'll either have to learn how to port Reversi or use the available solutions.
Answer: First, you're going to have to find a copy of the EXE.  You'll probably need original Windows install floppies for this.  Luckily, Reversi was also present in Windows 3.1, which was a popular version of the OS, and copies are relatively abundant if you know where to look.
Playing this game natively in Windows Vista is possibly going to be problematic.  The problem with games created for Windows that predate Windows 9x (and probably at least some percentage that came out afterwards) is that they were written for a 16-bit OS.  Microsoft doesn't support 16-bit applications on 64-bit Windows installs.  Installing 64-bit Windows became fairly common with gamers using Vista, and especially common with Windows 7 and Windows 8.
You can emulate a Windows 3.x environment by installing Windows into DOSBox or some other emulation environment like VirtualBox.  Again, you're going to need the original, still copyrighted version of the Windows floppies in order to do this.
If you're willing to part with the old-style Windows Reversi, Microsoft partnered with Bicycle to produce a version for Windows 9x as part of a board game collection.  Since this is a 9x title, running it on Vista might be slightly non-trivial.
... or you could just say "forget this" and play it online instead.
Comment: I can't agree with the last part. The original Windows Reversi was known for being really hard. The online versions might be easier to defeat. And we all like a challenge, don't we?
Answer: Only if you use the 32-bit version of Vista. 16-bit applications will generally still run on the 32-bit version of Windows, but not on the 64-bit version.
It's technically not true that there's a processor limitation. Intel's processors still support 32-bit and 16-bit modes. The 64-bit OS is the issue. If you really wanted to mess with it, you could probably run FreeDOS directly on the hardware and actually use Windows 2.03 directly. As long a you have a PS/2 mouse and have legacy support enabled in the BIOS, you should be able to get primitive VGA support and have it see the standard 640k of RAM.
Answer: One can use Winevdm https://github.com/otya128/winevdm to run 16-bit Windows software on modern Windows version, including the applications developed for Windows 1.0.

Microsoft Reversi on Windows Vista?


Do other sources of invisibility make worn or carried items invisible?

Question: The spell Invisibility makes the target invisible as well as making their worn/carried items invisible, but there are many abilities in the game (for instance, the monk's 18th level ability Empty Body) that make player characters invisible but include no such clause about worn/carried items.  The invisible condition doesn't seem to mention anything about worn and carried items, so are such abilities effectively useless on a character wearing clothing or armor, or carying items?
Answer: If a class feature requires you to get naked for it to be effective, you've probably misapplied it.
The monk's 18th level feature Empty Body says:

Beginning at 18th level, you can use your action to spend 4 ki points to become invisible for 1 minute. During that time, you also have resistance to all damage but force damage.

You're right, it doesn't mention things you are wearing or carrying. But if the feature doesn't turn those things invisible, it's really not that good unless you get naked. The resistance to all but force damage is nice, but the invisibility does nothing for you, unless you get naked. And in general, if your reading of a rule requires your character to get naked there's a good chance you've misstepped somewhere. It makes the invisibility portion of the feature entirely meaningless. Got any magic items as an 18th level character? Better leave them behind. The feature simply doesn't make sense if it doesn't also turn worn and carried items invisible too.
This ruling is consistent with the official ruling concerning misty step found in the Sage Advice Compendium:

Misty step doesn't say the caster can bring worn or carried equipment with them. Are they intended to leave everything, including their clothes, behind?
No, the caster's worn and carried equipment are intended to go with them.

Finally, I will echo my answer to a very similar question about a different feature that involves invisibility, as the general idea of the answer applies perfectly to this situation:

If your reading of a feature called See Invisibility is that you cannot see invisibility, your reading is incorrect.
It's quite simple, really. The intended function of these features is so abundantly clear, that any argument that concludes that they do nothing can be dismissed out of hand.
In fact, this principle applies in general. If you read a feature, and know what it is supposed to do, but you determine that the feature actually does nothing, you can know without any doubt that your conclusion is wrong.
There is just no meaningful application of reading the rules this way.
Sure, maybe you found a bug in the game. But there is no reason at all to make this ruling at the table. This ruling contributes nothing of value to the game.

Sorry wizard, after reviewing the rules, your feature called See Invisibility does absolutely nothing.

The Dungeon Master's Guide states:

The D&D rules help you and the other players have a good time, but the rules aren't in charge. You're the DM, and you are in charge of the game. That said, your goal isn't to slaughter the adventurers but to create a campaign world that revolves around their actions and decisions, and to keep your players coming back for more!

Ruling that See Invisibility does nothing is that exact opposite of this. This ruling puts the strictest possible reading of the rules in charge, to the detriment of everyone's fun.

It just doesn't seem reasonable to tell the monk:

Sorry monk, I know you were hoping that your feature that turns you invisible would make it so the enemies couldn't see you, but since you weren't already completely nude, they can still see you.
Comment: @SeriousBri I'd feel pretty weird having to tell a player "sorry that only works if you're naked".
Comment: @SeriousBri I "deviate" from RAW all the time in answers. I usually will present a RAW reading and then explain my alternative ruling, the issue here is that I think the RAW reading is just totally absurd, so I avoided giving it more than a single sentence.
Comment: Or it's been worded very poorly to require that, depending on the theme.
Comment: @SeriousBri An answer should be judged on its own merrits.
Comment: @ThomasMarkov same here, would feel stupidly punitive from a players perspective to enforce the strict reading. Especially since it's a Tier 4 ability no less.
Comment: @jason_c_o it was, doesn't make it any less odd
Comment: Looks like [the invisibility rules have this problem often](https://rpg.stackexchange.com/a/184105)
Comment: *This ruling puts the strictest possible reading of the rules in charge, to the detriment of everyone's fun.* This should be the rubric, not the exception!
Comment: Some 'fun' edge cases around the super strict reading include "your magic tattoo" and "the dirt in your hair and on your skin".
Comment: "If your reading of a feature called See Invisibility is that you cannot see invisibility, your reading is incorrect."

Your reading of the rules isn't a way you should play the game, but unless you're assuming Wizards of the Coast never made a mistake, it can still be RAW.
Answer: Based on how the condition of invisibility is defined, anything you are wearing or carrying at casting would need to also be invisible
There is an Invisible condition defined by the following:

An invisible creature is impossible to see without the aid of magic    or a Special sense. For the Purpose of Hiding, the creature is  heavily obscured. The creature's Location can be detected by any noise it makes or any tracks it leaves.

Attack rolls against the creature have disadvantage, and the creature's Attack rolls have advantage.

The important points are the creature is impossible to see without aide of magic or special senses and the location can be detected by noise. Imagine if Empty Body made only the monk themselves invisible and not anything the monk was wearing or carrying. This would give away the location of the caster and make them "seen" without any special senses, just plain sight.
Answer: By a strict reading of the rules and the common understanding that spells only do what they say, I would say
that effects that are worded like the Monk's Empty Body feature would indeed imply that wearing or carrying items does make the invisible condition pointless in hiding.
As you rightfully pointed out, the Monk's feature doesn't specify worn/carried items unlike Invisibility (https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/invisibility)

A creature you touch becomes invisible until the spell ends. Anything the target is wearing or carrying is invisible as long as it is on the target's person. The spell ends for a target that attacks or casts a spell.

And Greater Invisibility (https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/greater-invisibility)

You or a creature you touch becomes invisible until the spell ends. Anything the target is wearing or carrying is invisible as long as it is on the target's person.

Given Wizards consciously put the extra words into those two spells, it strongly implies that worn/carried items are not assumed to be affected by the invisible condition. Which regrettably means, only your body is in invisible. Which, as one of the other answers implies, is frankly a ridiculous oversite if an accident and a cruel joke if done on purpose.
However
I personally think that the intent of the designers for most effects granting the Invisible condition which don't have this clause, was to include these items. Because it would be mechanically and immersion breaking on multiple levels. So, rule the way that actually makes sense and isn't cruelly punitive.
Comment: Strict RAW, sure, but honestly I'd just assume it's another instance of inconsistency. I highly doubt Wizards intends you to strip down and drop everything every time you use such an ability or spell. As you say.
Comment: Pretty sure it is just a matter of inconsistency, and I'd rule that the intent was to include worn and carried items. But strict rules reading leaves a bad taste. I'll edit my answering to address that actually.
Comment: @JoeD. I'd assume they are referring to https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/sac/sage-advice-compendium#SA273. Note that there's a difference between SAC and the .eu website. The latter is a 3rd party collection of developer tweets while the former is official rulings/Q&A-answers released on WotC's website (the DDB mirror is just easier to link to).
Comment: @Kogarasho_Kaito Are you referring to this: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sageadvice.eu/caster-using-misty-step-to-free-herself/amp/ ? If so, I'm not seeing what you mean. Could you clarify? And, as I pointed out in my answer, there are at least two examples that specifically call out carried items/outerwear being affected, which implies that the assumption what you wear/carry is automatically affected by the invisible condition is potentially faulty. If you disagree, could you do so in an answer?
Comment: Ah, that makes a lot more sense, thank you. Will be browsing that later. But even with that, given the examples I've pointed out, it doesn't really change my conclusion. Unfortunately.
Comment: I would invite you to read the Sage Advice Compendium in regards to _misty step_ and worn/carried items, since it is a game feature that – similarly to generic invisibility features – does something to you without specifying what happens to what you wear or carry.
Answer: We made a house rule.
As discussed in the question and several answers, multiple sources of invisibility, such as the invisbility and greater invisibility spells, as well as the cloak, ring, and potion of invisibility, all say that whatever you're wearing or carrying is also invisible, but then other methods of invisibility, such as the dust of disappearance, and the monk's empty body feature, do not carry such phrasing.
Similarly, some monsters say it one way, and some another.
Our house rule is that the invisible condition itself carries the feature that whatever you're wearing or carrying is invisible, regardless of the source of invisibility.  If something is not intended to work that way, then it should have a specific rule that says so.  Just for fun, we added the specific rule that things an unseen servant carries are visible.
We made this house rule because it just makes more sense that way.
Comment: Note that even with _invisibility_ and _greater invisibility_, only the things you are wearing or carrying when the spell is cast are made invisible.  Things you later pick up remain visible.  Since an unseen servant is presumably not created already carrying something, it can abide by the standard rule and achieve the effect you are going for.
Comment: @Kirk Disagree. The spell doesn't say that. We interpret it to mean anything picked up also becomes invisible. We think madness ensues otherwise. (Our interpretation: You cast invisibility. You change your clothes. The clothes you are wearing now are invisible, the ones you dropped on the floor are now visible. You change back, and same thing, clothes on you are invisible, clothes on floor are visible. (Otherwise, how would the unseen servant be able to see them to pick them up?(lol)))  Your way, what if you eat something? But we're getting pretty close to chatting in comments.
Comment: This a house rule I can get behind. The bonus you add to unseen servant just seems like so much delightful mischief


Patch holes in medium density fiberboard

Question: [

3 screws fell out of lower portion of upper right bracket of ping pong table.  What's the wisest/strongest material to use to patch holes into 5/8" medium density fiberboard in order to rescrew (1/2" screws) back into fiberboard.
Thanks
Comment: I think this will depend on how they popped out, and other damage. Can you post photos? It could range from toothpicks and wood glue to, cutting and fitting replacement MDF.
Comment: I think I'd be improving the original design with some brackets or plates rather than relying on a repair and risking playing surface damage. Post photos, please.
Comment: I would move the bracket sideways so there would be fresh material to screw into.  I can not see the damage to the MDF on my phone but moving it 1/2 the width of the bracket  to the inside would provide a fresh surface to screw into.
Answer: I think there are two probable options here.
First off, the easiest solution may be  as 'Ed Beal' Suggests, and simply  move the bracket over a few inches and re-fasten.
The other solution, albeit not very "elegant" is often highly effective. Liberally coat a cut piece of wood just bigger than a toothpick, and just shorter than your hole is deep. Slide in the glued piece of wood, the insert and tighten down your screw.
The screw works to force and press the new wood into the hole and give the screw something to "bite" into. The friction and pressure of this new piece of wood is often enough to keep the fastener in place. The glue keeps it in long term.
It's not an excellent solution if you plan on repeatedly removing the fasteners, or you rely on the fasteners to be in tension often. In this case where you're just holding a bracket in place where the leg will be in compression, I think you can get away with it.
Comment: Two good options. I'd also consider using larger screws. An increase in screw diameter has an exponential impact on total bite area. Use the largest screws that fit the bracket holes comfortably, and pre-drill properly to prevent bulging and tearing.


How to get the last column index reading excel file?

Question: How do i get the index of the last column when reading a xlsx file using the Apache POI API?
There's a getLastRowNum method, but I can't find nothing related to the number of columns...

EDIT:
I'm dealing with XLSX files
Answer: I think you'll have to iterate through the rows and check HSSFRow.getLastCellNum() on each of them.
Comment: For XLSX files the only thing you have to change is HSSF to XSSF.
XSSFRow.getLastCellNum()
Answer: Check each Row and call Row.getLastCellNum() the max cell number is the last column number.
Row r = sheet.getRow(rowNum);
int maxCell=  r.getLastCellNum();

Answer: To get to know the last column that has value of any row , First you need to get the row and then you can find the last column that has value
Syntax :
sheet.getrow(RowNumber).getLastCellNum();

RowNumber --> is the row number for which you want to know the last column that has value
Answer: Try this function:
private void maxExcelrowcol() {
    int row, col, maxrow, maxcol;

    //Put file name here for example filename.xls
    String filename = "filename.xls";
    static String TAG = "ExelLog";

    //you can use 'this' in place of context if you want
    Context context = getApplicationContext();

    try {
        // Creating Input Stream
        File file = new File(context.getExternalFilesDir(null), filename);
        FileInputStream myInput = new FileInputStream(file);

        // Create a POIFSFileSystem object
        POIFSFileSystem myFileSystem = new POIFSFileSystem(myInput);

        // Create a workbook using the File System
        HSSFWorkbook myWorkBook = new HSSFWorkbook(myFileSystem);

        // Get the first sheet from workbook
        HSSFSheet mySheet = myWorkBook.getSheetAt(0);

        //Row iterator
        Iterator rowIter = mySheet.rowIterator();

        while (rowIter.hasNext()) {
            HSSFRow myRow = (HSSFRow) rowIter.next();
            //Cell iterator for iterating from cell to next cell of a row
            Iterator cellIter = myRow.cellIterator();
            while (cellIter.hasNext()) {
                HSSFCell myCell = (HSSFCell) cellIter.next();

                row = myCell.getRowIndex();
                col = myCell.getColumnIndex();

                if (maxrow < row) {
                    maxrow = row;
                }
                if (maxcol < col) {
                    maxcol = col;
                }
            }
        }
    } catch(FileNotFoundException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    } catch(IOException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
}

Comment: Thanks for your answer. It would be great if you would also add a few comments to your code. This helps people to understand your answer better.


Install Tensorflow on Windows Docker installation

Question: I am trying to install Tensorflow on my Windows PC using the Docker intallation (https://www.tensorflow.org/versions/r0.8/get_started/os_setup.html#docker-installation). After the installation of Docker, I have followed these instructions: http://www.netinstructions.com/how-to-install-and-run-tensorflow-on-a-windows-pc/ .
Everything works well ultil the last step: when I type the instruction
docker run -it b.gcr.io/tensorflow/tensorflow

I obtain the following output:
[I 10:10:57.073 NotebookApp] Writing notebook server
al/share/jupyter/runtime/notebook_cookie_secret
[W 10:10:57.104 NotebookApp] WARNING: The notebook s
 addresses and not using encryption. This is not rec
[W 10:10:57.105 NotebookApp] WARNING: The notebook s
 addresses and not using authentication. This is hig
nded.
[I 10:10:57.110 NotebookApp] Serving notebooks from
[I 10:10:57.110 NotebookApp] 0 active kernels
[I 10:10:57.111 NotebookApp] The Jupyter Notebook is
addresses on your system]:8888/
[I 10:10:57.111 NotebookApp] Use Control-C to stop t
 kernels (twice to skip confirmation).

I obtain the same message typing the command line both in the docker terminal and in the command window. Nothing else happens, and I am obliged to use Control-C to stop.
I have tryed to run also the IMAGE ID of b.gcr.io/tensorflow/tensorflow and I obtain exactly the same thing.
Any idea of what is happening?
Thank you very much!
Comment: I have also tested this: stackoverflow.com/questions/35582875/… but the command line {$ docker run -it -p 8888:8888 gcr.io/tensorflow/tensorflow} and I get this error:

C:\Program Files\Docker Toolbox\docker.exe: Error response from daemon: driver f
ailed programming external connectivity on endpoint determined_poitras (3f8e9916
7c69e8170330354192ef9bcabca9a149265f596a3fa8d7ddcf5a1505): Bind for 0.0.0.0:8888
 failed: port is already allocated.
Answer: From the log messages I can see, it looks like the Docker image has changed since this tutorial was written, so that it now starts a Jupyter (IPython) server in the container. To actually use this, you will need to configure port forwarding to your Windows host, using a command like:
$ docker run -it -p 8888:8888 gcr.io/tensorflow/tensorflow

From your comment, it looks like this command does not succeed because something is already listening on port 8888 on your computer. If you can't stop whatever is already listening on port 8888, you could try a different port (e.g. 8080) as follows:
$ docker run -it -p 8080:8888 gcr.io/tensorflow/tensorflow

...then connect a web browser to http://127.0.0.1:8080.


Can't move or share files in My Files app

Question: just downloaded some mp3 files and needed to move them from downloads to my music folder. not sure if its because of the new system update, but for some reason there is literally no option to move, copy, share - nothing. just move to secure folder. i tried that but all you can do is move the files out of the folder once theyre in so that was worthless. i can select them or select them to edit or select them to share. no options come up except 'move to secure folder' or 'compress'.
Answer: went to app settings and cleared the cache for my files app. when i went back to the app i was able to see all of the file options (move, copy, delete, etc) again.


Why do failed SSH root login attempts appear in auth.log despite disabling SSH root login?

Question: If SSH root login is disabled, why does auth.log keep track of all the failed attempts and thus causing the admin more data to wade through?  Can I disable this behaviour?  Can I redirect those failed attempts into another file, as the attempts are not really a concern anymore?  Blocking the IPs via firewall would prevent them from appearing, I'm aware, but blocking IPs is silly as a long term solution as it prevents genuine requests since an IP doesn't represent a single host in many cases.
Answer: auth is the default SysLogFacility for sshd (openssh).
The authors choose to log attemts althouh prohibited. This is along normal logging behviour: If something does NOT work, log it.
As there is no specific log switch for failed root logins within sshd you have tp tune that on syslog level.
Configure syslog in the auth facility to ignore failed root login messages coming from sshd.
Answer: Attempts to log in as root on your server are an indication of an intrusion attempt.  The defaults are set up in line with information security best practice, so that admins are aware when someone is trying to access their servers as root.
Ignoring failed root logons runs counter to best practice.  If you do not want to see the failed root logon entries in the security log, configure syslog to send them somewhere else.
Comment: These best practices do they say what else I can do in addition to disabling ssh root logins? Banning the IPs may prevent legitimate requests so that isnt a valid option.


Direct hire and employment agency profit

Question: How do employment agencies make money off of direct hires?  Originally told that the position was direct hire but now it has turned to temp to hire.
Answer: A recruiter will enter an agreement with the hiring company to receive a percentage of the annual salary of the new employee. Typically this is 15-20% of the annual agreed salary, but lately I've been seeing more expecting 25%. Each agreement is different, but it's unlikely that the change in the terms of employment is related to the recruitment agreement. I would suspect it's more likely to be related to a situation in which the company was burned by a bad recruit.
If it is related to the recruitment agreement, it will likely be a contingency clause requiring the recruit to remain in the employment agreement for a specific period of time. Each agreement is unique though, and they will not share their agreement with outside parties.


Why don't traffic lights include the time until the light goes red or goes green?

Question: Whenever I am driving I try to speed through the light when it is yellow and it is always stressful trying to get through before it becomes red. Street crossing lights have a countdown number that tells the walker how long until the light changes. Why isn't a similar thing implemented on traffic lights?
Comment: Yellow light laws vary from state-to-state (assuming you're in the USA). In some cases it is illegal to pass through a yellow light unless you are already in the intersection or cannot "safely stop". Regardless of the specifics of your local laws **there is really no need for a countdown... because you shouldn't be speeding through a yellow!** The point of yellow is not "better get moving", it's "light is getting ready to change, better stop now if I can".
Comment: There are a traffic lights in the Netherlands that count down (3, 2, 1) until the lights turn green. My experience is that it turns people in racing drivers. They speed away when the timer hits zero. Often times people even jump the timer. I think it's dangerous. Maybe that's why.
Comment: We in India have Vice Versa :)
Comment: In Croatia, some traffic-lights have this feature.
Answer: Introduces Calculation, Gamification, and Additional Cognitive Load to the Interaction
In addition to the practical factors presented by Michael Lai, I suggest a key reason for not including this feature is that it introduces potentially negative factors to the interaction.
Ideal User Reaction

"Light changing. Red soon. Prepare to stop".

Potential User Reaction

"Light changing. 25 seconds. Car in front not slowing. Hmmm. 23 seconds. 200ft to intersection. Can I make this? 20 seconds..."

This isn't to suggest that this type of reaction isn't possible with the typical simple color system, but I'd argue that the 'Ideal User Reaction' (above) is more likely to result from a simple color system.
The additional thinking time and cognitive load of a system that introduces timing, when spread across all levels of driving ability, aggressiveness, competitiveness, and risk adversity, would likely result in a net negative affect on driving behavior.
Comment: It is hard to read those numerals, and the effort to see a small object off the side of the driving path takes one's eyes away from *what they are supposed to be looking at*: the road. We could consider why speedometers (and clocks) made a brief foray in to being digital, then all went swiftly back to analog: speed and time are analog concepts, and digits mean nothing at all visually. If anything, the remaining time should be a visually obvious linear scale, like a bar-graph decreasing. But it still would require too much cognitive load, which we cannot spare while driving a two-ton object.
Comment: What about adding timers only for the red lights?
Answer: Actually there are examples of this in different countries, or at least I have seen it in Shanghai before.
There are a lot of reasons behind whether systems like this can be implemented or not, but a traffic engineer might provide a more accurate answer. But in general these are the considerations that I know:

Cost: probably the number one consideration since these devices are quite expensive to install and maintain
Feasibility: traffic regulations and rules may prevent the logical or practical implementation of these systems
Impact: you could argue whether pedestrians just end up modifying their behaviour instead of becoming more safety conscious, and whether drivers would end up just modifying their behaviour as well.
Comment: When things are *safety related*, they have to be dead simple, or else people end up... dead.


How to detect mimikatz usage on LAN

Question: My boss is has made it clear that we need better ways of detecting mimikatz usage on the network- and I would agree. In place already for detection is suricata/ET PRO rule set on a couple of taps. These signatures for mimikatz are included in the ET ATTACK RESPONSE class. This is great but not optimal because the usage has to cross over the "internet" or "datacenter" taps to become visible to an analyst and even then relies on the quality and granularity of the signatures written. So I'm interested in pursuing options or ideas to detect mimikatz at the host level. I have the ability to pull attributes from many many hosts at once with some home grown threading and Python. I just need to know what to look for? Does mimikatz leave any breadcrumbs? Or better yet is there something targetable like a process name or executable path that will be consistent on different platform usage? I'm hunting mimikatz in a Windows environment- the only thing I have found that is interesting is the concept of honey credentials injected into the LSASS- BUT this would need to be a startup script that had admin rights and I do not want admin creds on endpoints. (The injecting creds are fake, but to hit LSASS you must be an admin on the local machine.) there has to be other means of detecting mimikatz in near real time right?
Answer: SANS first ran an article on the basics of what you are looking for -- a way to detect mimikatz on the network -- https://isc.sans.edu/diary/Detecting+Mimikatz+Use+On+Your+Network/19311/
However, remember that mimikatz is capable of Kerberos attacks --
https://dfir-blog.com/2015/12/13/protecting-windows-networks-kerberos-attacks/ -- as well as PtH attacks -- https://dfir-blog.com/2015/11/08/protecting-windows-networks-defeating-pass-the-hash/
More on the theory behind the Kereberos attacks is available from Microsoft, including their recommendations for detection -- https://www.blackhat.com/docs/eu-15/materials/eu-15-Beery-Watching-The-Watchdog-Protecting-Kerberos-Authentication-With-Network-Monitoring.pdf
This site also had some interesting log analysis techniques that I had not seen before -- http://securitynik.blogspot.com/2016/03/learning-about-mimikatz-skeletonkey_96.html
Finally, a good defense will also include some mitigation and prevention -- https://jimshaver.net/2016/02/14/defending-against-mimikatz/ -- however, remember that mimikatz has been rewritten in GoLang and Powershell, so your mileage may vary when trying to prevent a well-informed attacker.
Comment: These are some very good resources to get this ball rolling. Thanks so much! I'll post back with detection methodology I decide to try and script!
Comment: I'll add that the SANS article I have read and others cover LSASS injection and "account" audits for said injection. Then when cache is dumped on reboot, we have to recreate the wheel- most likely via startup...this isn't the most viable option for me. But if it the best detection result I can look more. I'm trying to understand all possibilities and choose the option that is minimum viable enough for a single person to script(me) AND  provide adequate detection against basic usage.

How to detect mimikatz usage on LAN


Minecraft Pocket Edition server logging in error

Question: When I join a server I try to move but I get pushed back to my spawn point. I know I have to do the <code>/login (password)</code> thing but when I do it, I get an error during authentication.  Anyone know why?
Answer:
This is not an error. You simply need to login to the server to make sure you are the one using your account. Every single time you join a server with this type of authentication you will need to enter into the chat:
<code>/login (password)
</code>
Your password can be anything. If you are wondering, the message will not be displayed to any other people. It is stored as a hash and therefore owners of servers will not be able to see your password. Just to make sure, use a password you have never used before.
If you would like to change your password, just unregister and register again.
<code>/unregister (password)
</code>
Remember that /register can be used as /login. So if you are on a new server, you can save time by not typing three letters.

written by LameBrains on Arqade
Comment: I know that. But when I enter it, it tells me error during authentication. What I types in was /login (password) I'm not sharing my password, but obviously I typed my personal password where it says passowrd. I tried multiple times but it's not working.


Starting mysql failed because the control process exited with error code

Question: Ok. First. I tried to run a website on a server but it was too heavy for MySQL to handle. Apparently, it broke due to lack of RAM. So I changed the .cnf and .ini files for the server to lower the load, though I understand that it will work much slower.
Now I try to start the server back again.
$ sudo /etc/init.d/mysql start
[....] Starting mysql (via systemctl): mysql.serviceJob for mysql.service failed because the control p
rocess exited with error code.
See "systemctl status mysql.service" and "journalctl -xe" for details.

 failed!

For some reason it fails. I am completely out of ideas what is wrong anymore. Here are MySQL logs, what else is I need to fix?
2019-01-31T02:10:13.714141Z 0 [Warning] TIMESTAMP with implicit DEFAULT value is deprecated. Please use --explicit_defaults_for_timestamp server option (see documentation for more details).
2019-01-31T02:10:13.716372Z 0 [Note] /usr/sbin/mysqld (mysqld 5.7.25-0ubuntu0.18.10.2) starting as process 24740 ...
2019-01-31T02:10:13.720956Z 0 [Note] InnoDB: PUNCH HOLE support available
2019-01-31T02:10:13.720991Z 0 [Note] InnoDB: Mutexes and rw_locks use GCC atomic builtins
2019-01-31T02:10:13.720995Z 0 [Note] InnoDB: Uses event mutexes
2019-01-31T02:10:13.720999Z 0 [Note] InnoDB: GCC builtin __atomic_thread_fence() is used for memory barrier
2019-01-31T02:10:13.721002Z 0 [Note] InnoDB: Compressed tables use zlib 1.2.11
2019-01-31T02:10:13.721005Z 0 [Note] InnoDB: Using Linux native AIO
2019-01-31T02:10:13.721292Z 0 [Note] InnoDB: Number of pools: 1
2019-01-31T02:10:13.721420Z 0 [Note] InnoDB: Using CPU crc32 instructions
2019-01-31T02:10:13.725482Z 0 [Note] InnoDB: Initializing buffer pool, total size = 128M, instances = 1, chunk size = 128M
2019-01-31T02:10:13.725537Z 0 [ERROR] InnoDB: mmap(137428992 bytes) failed; errno 12
2019-01-31T02:10:13.725544Z 0 [ERROR] InnoDB: Cannot allocate memory for the buffer pool
2019-01-31T02:10:13.725548Z 0 [ERROR] InnoDB: Plugin initialization aborted with error Generic error
2019-01-31T02:10:13.725558Z 0 [ERROR] Plugin 'InnoDB' init function returned error.
2019-01-31T02:10:13.725563Z 0 [ERROR] Plugin 'InnoDB' registration as a STORAGE ENGINE failed.
2019-01-31T02:10:13.725568Z 0 [ERROR] Failed to initialize builtin plugins.
2019-01-31T02:10:13.725571Z 0 [ERROR] Aborting
2019-01-31T02:10:13.728065Z 0 [Note] Binlog end
2019-01-31T02:10:13.728148Z 0 [Note] Shutting down plugin 'CSV'
2019-01-31T02:10:13.728458Z 0 [Note] /usr/sbin/mysqld: Shutdown complete

/etc/mysql/mysql.conf.d/mysqld.cnf file:
#
# The MySQL database server configuration file.
#
# You can copy this to one of:
# - "/etc/mysql/my.cnf" to set global options,
# - "~/.my.cnf" to set user-specific options.
#
# One can use all long options that the program supports.
# Run program with --help to get a list of available options and with
# --print-defaults to see which it would actually understand and use.
#
# For explanations see
# http://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql/en/server-system-variables.html
# This will be passed to all mysql clients
# It has been reported that passwords should be enclosed with ticks/quotes
# escpecially if they contain "#" chars...
# Remember to edit /etc/mysql/debian.cnf when changing the socket location.
# Here is entries for some specific programs
# The following values assume you have at least 32M ram
[mysqld_safe]
socket          = /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock
nice            = 0
[mysqld]
#
# * Basic Settings
#
user            = mysql
pid-file        = /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.pid
socket          = /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock
port            = 3306
basedir         = /usr
datadir         = /var/lib/mysql
tmpdir          = /tmp
lc-messages-dir = /usr/share/mysql
skip-external-locking
#
# Instead of skip-networking the default is now to listen only on
# localhost which is more compatible and is not less secure.
bind-address            = 127.0.0.1
#
# * Fine Tuning
#
key_buffer_size         = 16M
sort_buffer_size        = 16M
read_buffer_size        = 1M
write_buffer_size       = 1M
max_allowed_packet      = 16M
thread_stack            = 192K
thread_cache_size       = 8
# This replaces the startup script and checks MyISAM tables if needed
# the first time they are touched
myisam-recover-options  = BACKUP
max_connections         = 5
table_open_cache        = 32
thread_concurrency      = 6
#
# * Query Cache Configuration
#
query_cache_limit       = 1M
query_cache_size        = 16M
#
#thanks https://forums.cpanel.net/threads/optimizing-mysql-for-512mb-80-of-installed-ram.170278/
#
table_cache = 256
myisam_sort_buffer_size = 16M
thread_cache_size = 8
wait_timeout = 60
connect_timeout = 30
interactive-timeout = 50
query-cache-type = 1
query_cache_size = 8M
query_cache_limit = 1M
max_user_connections = 5
#
# * Logging and Replication
#
# Both location gets rotated by the cronjob.
# Be aware that this log type is a performance killer.
# As of 5.1 you can enable the log at runtime!
#general_log_file        = /var/log/mysql/mysql.log
#general_log             = 1
#
# Error log - should be very few entries.
#
log_error = /var/log/mysql/error.log
#
# Here you can see queries with especially long duration
#slow_query_log         = 1
#slow_query_log_file    = /var/log/mysql/mysql-slow.log
#long_query_time = 2
#log-queries-not-using-indexes
#
# The following can be used as easy to replay backup logs or for replication.
# note: if you are setting up a replication slave, see README.Debian about
#       other settings you may need to change.
#server-id              = 1
#log_bin                        = /var/log/mysql/mysql-bin.log
expire_logs_days        = 10
max_binlog_size   = 100M
#binlog_do_db           = include_database_name
#binlog_ignore_db       = include_database_name
#
# * InnoDB
#
# InnoDB is enabled by default with a 10MB datafile in /var/lib/mysql/.
# Read the manual for more InnoDB related options. There are many!
#
# * Security Features
#
# Read the manual, too, if you want chroot!
# chroot = /var/lib/mysql/
#
# For generating SSL certificates I recommend the OpenSSL GUI "tinyca".
#

i feel like i broke everything...
Comment: It still cannot call mmap(), this indicates that you still don't have enough memory or  shared memory configuration is just wrong. According to your mysql config you have relatively small amounts configured for mysql (it fails allocating just 128 megs, which is a modern word for "nothing"). How much memory do you have in this server ?
Comment: @drookie 0.6Gb of ram. It's a free GCP instance. I thought this should be enough for a test project. All I have on this server is apache, php, mysql and a website. After last crash I tried to restart only MySQL, but maybe I need to restart the whole instance though how do I make it not to crash again?
Comment: Please attach the output of `free`. I'm about to conclude that your server simply lacks enough memory. You could also diminish all of your memory-related parameters for mysql by three times and try to start. Or simply start with default memory config.
Comment: This Q probably belongs in dba.stackexchange.com
Answer: You have a tiny amount of RAM.  Find the my.cnf config file for MySQL, and change innodb_buffer_pool_size down to perhaps 20M.  If you still get error 12, then show us that file, and we can recommend decreasing some other things.


How can I get the pressure of a touch in Unity?

Question: Does anyone know how to get the getPressure function from the Android API into Unity? Or is there another way I can access the pressure of a touch?
Comment: I would not think that this is natively supported, but have you seen [this](http://developer.samsung.com/s-pen-sdk/technical-docs/Integration-Guide-for-using-the-S-Pen-SDK-in-Unity-Apps)? You'll probably want to explicitly target devices.
Comment: Thanks @AlexandreVaillancourt. I tried to follow your link, and i only got value from simple funtion. However, I still cannot access to touch event there from unity. :(
Answer: Short answer: This doesn't do what you think it does.

float pressure - A normalized value that describes the pressure applied to the device
  by a finger or other tool. The pressure generally ranges from 0 (no
  pressure at all) to 1 (normal pressure), although values higher than 1
  may be generated depending on the calibration of the input device.

The float getPressure(int PointerId) method is a getter method for the float pressure instance variable of the MotionEvent.Pointer class. It returns a float between 0 and 1 which represent the 'pressure' from the accelerometer.
The value passed to the function is the id for the pointer (finger?) on the screen. For screens that support multi-touch you will probably want to check each finger/id. You can acquire the id from the event.getPointerId(index) object passed to a MotionEvent listener.
I do not know Unity myself as I avoid using it. However, you should be able to register an event listener for MotionEvent which is passed an event from which you can call event.getPressure(index) where index is between 0 and event.getPointerCount() - 1 and correspond to each 'finger' or touch point.
When you handle your touch events you can also call event.getPressure(index) for the [pointer]index your are handling the event for.
From my understanding of the documentation, it doesn't return how much pressure but rather that pressure was applied. This means that the only information you will garner from calling this is that a pointer event did indeed occur, which you already knew if you were handling it.
It seems this may be related to calibration. The screen can be calibrated to require more or less 'pressure' for a 'touch' event to be triggered.

http://developer.android.com/reference/android/view/MotionEvent.html

Additional Information:
This does indeed use the accelerometer to register the value stored in float pressure. What it does is when a finger touches the screen it detects whether or not the device accelerated along the axis that intersects the screen. In other words, when you touch the screen you ever so slightly cause your device to move back. This minute movement may be detected and when it is sets your pressure value for that particular touch. For this reason it may be wise to not rely on the data. I would suspect that if a device is flat on a non-movable/non-moving surface (such as a table or counter) then it probably wouldn't detect this. The device would still detect the touch and trigger the MotionEvent listener but the value gotten from getPressure() would probably be 0 and therefor meaningless.
A bit of additional history and the reason that this method exists. Android, and I suppose Apple, intended or at least hoped that pressure touch interface would be possible. However there, at the time, was no easy way to implement such a device. There are, however, external devices which will return more relevant data (such as a Bluetooth touch pad the touch region detection). I am not positive whether it uses this, but there are now devices coming out that have keyboards that literally rise and fall from the glass. I suspect that this may also use pressure sensitivity.
Finally, this question is a duplicate of this : https://stackoverflow.com/questions/12414491/getpressure-always-returning-1-0
Answer: Unity has had a Touch.pressure feature on supported devices since Unity 5.3. However, you will find that very few devices have pressure-sensitive screens.


Disappearing characters while typing in InDesign

Question: I am trying to place numbers on successive rows by typing the number and tapping the enter key, then typing a number and so on. I can type the first number, but when I tap the enter key the following numbers  do not show up.  The overset text box becomes active immediately. If I click on that, it creates a new textbox, but there are no numbers showing up. I can type text, hit the enter key and type more text, and hit the enter key, etc., but numbers don't work.
Comment: Do you have a paragraph rule applied or additional spacing applied in the text editing menu?
Comment: Just to be clear: you can type _text_ with paragraph breaks and it works fine, but if you type _numbers_ with paragraph breaks, it becomes overset? That sounds very bizarre. Does this happen in all documents or just a specific one?
Answer: When editing/setting text in InDesign...
The Enter key means.... Jump to the next text frame. If there is no "next text frame", the overset text indicator is seen. Repeatedly hitting Enter will repeatedly "jump to next frame".
Use the Return Key if your desire is merely a new line/linefeed.
The Enter key is the wrong key to use for a "new line".

I'm somewhat assuming that the reason things are fine for you with text is that it is human nature to use the Return key when typing text... and it's equally human nature to use the Enter key when using the numeric keypad.
In many applications, Return and Enter are interchangeable, but an InDesign user should be aware that the Return key is not the same as the Enter key when editing/setting text in InDesign.

This also assumes you have two separate keys for Enter and Return. If your keyboard only has one key labeled for both Return AND Enter, the "jump" behavior is achieved by holding the Command/Ctrl and then hitting the Return/Enter key.
Answer: Whatever you do, DO NOT hit the Enter on the numeric pad, this has a different effect from the regular Enter key:

Regular Enter: creates a new paragraph, otherwise called jumping to a new line.
Numpad Enter: this in InDesign is attributed to a Column Break which immediately moves the cursor outside of the current text box and assumes you have another text box threaded. Do not use the numpad Enter if you don't understand this effect.
Every time you hit the numpad Enter, you are generating overset text, unless you have a threaded setup already in place.

Also, you can see the entire contents of a text box stripped down of any formatting, by hitting CTRL+Y while editing a text. This opens up the Story Editor and this will show anything you have in there regardless of how many times Enter has been used.
Also, make sure you turn on Hidden Characters using CTRL+ALT+I, which immediately highlights line breaks, column breaks, forced line breaks, tabs, etc.
Read this: https://creativepro.com/a-tale-of-two-enter-keys/


How to treat lawn diseases (brown patch, leaf spot, melting) without fungicides?

Question: Google tells me "stress your lawn", meaning cut the water for some time.
But wouldn't that hurt it even more, given we are in mid summer?
I live in Calgary, AB - Canada. Fungicides are a no-go here.
Comment: It's a hard time of year to deal with, and no, i wouldn't let it go dry right now. It needs more water, which is problematic. Low-sodium baby shampoo helped mine a lot. It's the same chemical as "liquid aeration", and it really decreased the time my lawn takes to dry out; days down to hours...
Answer: Information from Google is essentially worthless, unless you've discovered a reputable source. For lawn questions, I like to use The Lawn Institute, a science-based organization committed to providing information on lawns and lawncare. Here's a link to their Lawn Diseases page. Note that there is information about cultural control (which is what you're asking about) and chemical control for each disease listed. For example, for brown patch the Institute says:

Over fertilization can increase the severity of brown patch. In general, cool-season turfgrasses should not receive more than 1 lb nitrogen/1,000 square feet at any one time. Do not apply more than 0.5 lb nitrogen/1,000 square feet when conditions favor disease development. If applications are kept at or below 0.5 lb nitrogen/1,000 square feet during this time, they will not increase brown patch severity. As always, be sure adequate amount of phosphorous, potassium, and other nutrients are applied based on soil test results.
Reducing leaf wetness periods will greatly reduce brown patch severity. Leaves can become wet from irrigation, rain, dew, or guttation (water exuded from turfgrass leaves during the night). Do not irrigate daily. Instead, irrigation should be applied based on weather conditions and the water requirements of the turf. The time of day that irrigation is applied is also critical; it is best to irrigate early in the morning, just before sunrise. This removes large droplets of dew and water from the leaves and speeds drying of the foliage after sunrise. Avoid watering after sunrise or in the late afternoon or evening, as this will increase the duration of leaf wetness.
Proper landscape design and site preparation can help to minimize brown patch. Turf surrounded by trees, shrubs, buildings, or other barriers will remain wet for extended periods of time due to reduced air movement and sunlight. Removal or pruning of trees and other barriers will help minimize leaf wetness and discourage brown patch development.

But the site does not have information on leaf spot/melting, possibly because it is a disease of bentgrass and is getting less common due to improved resistance in cultivars. Do you have bentgrass in Alberta? If not, then what you see is not melting. When I find a case where there's missing information, though, I turn to a US University Extension. In this case, the University of Massachusetts, which effectively restates the "lawn basics" as the cultural control of all diseases listed on its site:

Raise mowing heights and reduce mowing frequency when conditions are conducive to disease development.
Avoid mowing infested turf when it is wet
Water deeply and as infrequently as possible without causing moisture
stress;avoid late afternoon or evening irrigation. Irrigate in the
morning to reduce the duration of leaf wetness which favors disease
spread.
Avoid excessive levels of nitrogen, while maintaining adequate
potassium and phosphorous fertility. Correct fertility is important
to the turf's recovery and disease resistance.
Aerate compacted soils. Soil compaction reduces water and nutrient
infiltration and contributes to excess moisture in the plant canopy.
Reduce thatch if it accumulates to more than 0.5 in. Pathogens
survive in plant debris such as thatch therefore its reduction is a
key component of cultural control. Selectively prune trees and shrubs
to improve air circulation and light penetration.
Reseed with improved cultivars with disease resistance or tolerance.
Avoid applying herbicides or installing new sod during or just before
an extended period of hot, humid weather


Book Identification: Future Earth Covered in Cemeteries?

Question: I read a science fiction piece about a far future Earth where every square inch of the planet was a cemetery, memorial or shrine - where little by little the entire planet's surface became hallowed ground that you couldn't do anything with as you had to respect those buried there, or those who died there, or those who were otherwise commemorated there.
Comment: Welcome to SFF.SE! You can take the [tour] to get an understanding of how the site works. This is a good start, but it may help if you can provide more details. Take a look at [How to ask a good story-ID question?](https://scifi.meta.stackexchange.com/q/9335/) for suggestions that may prompt more info from your memory. For example, do you remember when you read the story? Was it part of a full novel, a short-story anthology, or something online?
Answer: This appears to be Clifford Simak's Cemetery World,

In all the recent literature of Earth -- recent being the last thousand years or so --there was seldom any mention, anywhere, of the rest of Earth at all. The Earth was Cemetery, if one excepted those last few places of historic and cultural interest that were so highly advertised and promoted by the Pilgrim Tours.

Of course it turns out to be more complicated than that.
Link to copy on Archive.org


Alternatives to vMotion for moving virtual machines to a different Datastore

Question: The company i work for is running a small virtual environment and has several virtual servers on 2 different ESXi hosts managed by a vCenter, for reasons relating to backup verification i need to make room on one of the ESXi hosts datastores.
The host has a NAS Datastore mounted that still has plenty of room left on it, so i figured it would be a good idea to move a few of the larger VMs there, the Problem is our ESXi Hosts are licensed with an essentials license, so i don't have access to storage vmotion, or even enhanced vMotion for this task.
Alternatively i thought of using our backup solution (nakivo) to do a full backup of the machines and restore them to the desired Datastore, or cloning the VMs to the desired Datastore or just powering off the machines and migrating them.
none of these options are as comfortable as just using vMotion, but i would like to know which of these methods would be the best, in terms of risk, and downtime.
Obviously if any of have a better idea on how i could accomplish this with minimal risk and minimal downtime i'm always open to new ideas.
The hosts are running ESXi-Version 7.0.2
Answer: Forgive me if what I suggest isn't feasible due to your licencing options but while StorageVMotion might not work how about just shutting down the VM/s, browsing to the datastore they're on and moving the files manually from old to new datastore - pretty sure that's 'free' to do, just not while the VMs are running. You may need to remove the VMs from the VC Inventory and then re-add in them from the .vmx file but that's quick to do.
Comment: i have seen this option float around too, however from what i have seen this is supposed to be a very long process, and result in a lot of downtime
Answer: Estimate the price of a couple options, and have the organization - whomever pays the bills - help decide. Both downtime and minimizing downtime have costs. Include costs of downtime and your time, as well as anything purchased.
Backup restore is using tech you already have, so possibly no software cost. You should already be taking backups and doing the occasional restore test, and so have an idea of how long this takes. If you have never done a restore, this is an excellent reason to do one. A simple shut it down and restore is easy to do correctly maintaining data integrity, but could possibly incur hours of downtime. Recovery time and recovery point likely could be improved by being more clever with the restore.
Minimalizing downtime of the system requires some design and infrastructure. Can the applications be made highly available, by being load balanced across multiple compute VMs? Then an option could be to bring up a new instance, have both behind a load balancer for some time, then drain and remove the old instance. High cost of infrastructure, design, and maintenance time, but small downtime of the service. Further, maintaining separate compute instances can be useful, for example during OS upgrades.
And the live migration option. Almost certainly vMotion Storage will involve paying VMware, have sales tell you how much. Also live storage migration has considerable network demands. What this investment buys is a command to move a VM with almost zero downtime. Although this does not exercise your restores, it does not count as backup in a business continuity plan.
Comment: Well come to think of it the cost of downtime would probably not be much of a concern, since the vm is just a terminalserver only in use by our small business, meaning i could do this outside of business hours, weekend etc. without having any costs related to downtime
Answer: You could use VMWare Converter Standalone - a free tool offerd by VMWare themself for virtualization of hardware systems or migration from other virutalization platforms to VMWare. Here you can use the "Virtual2Virtual" function, where you can connect to one virtualization system, and the converter will migrate the system to another. Or you can use the "Physical2Virtual" function - here you handle your source VM like it would be a physical server that needs to be virutalized.
This can also be done as "hot migration" without turning off the source machine - at least if it is no something like a MS Domain Controler, also very with very busy databases I would not really use the "hot migration".
Comment: I have looked into this tool, however it seems that vmware has deprecated support for this tool, and doesn't even have it available for download anymore, which made me shy away from using it
Comment: Wow, now I am shocked... did not know that. I did a lot of migrations with this tool, helped me many times. Why would they remove a tool that helps customers to move from physical servers to their product..
Comment: basically the tool hasn't been updated in a long time, and vmware thinks that using legacy software with current software could lead to unforeseeable problems, and is therefore too risky (at least that's what i have heard). from what i've heard a modern version of the tool is already being developed, but realease hasn't been announced yet


What are roach motels (the insect trap) called in Australian English?

Question: In Australian English, what are the insect trap known as "roach motels" called? Wiktionary and Wikipedia (also this link) don't mention what it's called in Australian English.
Comment: Roach Motel is a brand name.  The generic term is glue trap or X bait trap, where X describes either the bait material or type of pest the bait is intended to attract.  Roach Motel might be a little like Kleenex in terms of being applied generically.  Are you asking about the trademark name Black Flag sells their product under in Australia, the generic term used in Australian English for a glue trap, or whether some other trademark or popular name is used generically in Australia?
Answer: I'm an Aussie and I have never heard of a "roach motel" or of any other term for an insect trap of that nature. I have never seen them in hardware stores.
Having said that though, I do live in Hobart, the capital city of the island state of Tasmania, and Australia's coolest and most southerly city. We hardly get any cockroaches here. I think them in greater numbers in more northerly parts of our big country including Sydney and Brisbane.
Comment: There's lots of supposed sittings of cockroaches in Tasmania, but funnily enough no photographic proof! :)
Comment: "Sittings"? Do you mean "sightings"?


MOSFET Terminals in Layout

Question: I am currently doing layouts in CMOS VLSI Design and I have gotten to drawing stick diagrams. The schematic of the 2 input NAND gate is shown below. In drawing the layouts I have trouble deciding between the Source (S) and the drain (D) terminals of the MOSFET. I wanted to ask if these terminals are interchangeable or not. If they are, then are the two layouts shown below functionally identical?
Comment: Some  high-voltage CMOS devices are not symmetrical. Read the layout manual, or read the technology description.
Answer: In both designs
\$F(A,B)=\overline{AB}\$
They are both "functionally identical".
I believe they are interchangeable. Though your bottom design might need some extra care regarding the output impedance of the two PMOS.
Personally I would prefer your upper design due to it being more symmetric, connection wise.

Just an extra nitpick thing. On your upper design you have the \$F\$ connected to your NMOS on the left side while output is clearly on the right side. It would be better if you connected it on the right side as in your bottom design, as close to the output as possible.
I've designed ASICs at the university I attended to, but it never went further than simulating in Cadence, so I have no professional/expert view on the subject. With that said... the bottom design has lower inductance, it will probably matter in GHz environments. Depending on your design, you might want to also use a Dynamic logic scheme.
Answer: The source and drain are interchangeable in cmos logic technologies so your logic is identical in the two examples you have given.
The "bulk" silicon under the transistor is connected to VDD or VSS independently of the transistors.

In this diagram the bulk p substrate is connected to VSS through the p+ region on the left. Now either of the n+ regions can be used as the source. In this example the left hand one is used but it can be changed to the right.

MOSFET Terminals in Layout


simulate Dvorak with a qwerty keyboard?

Question: I dont see many laptops (or any in fact) with a dvorak keyboard. Is there a way to simulate the layout on a qwerty keyboard? perhaps with a driver or anything else? I use windows XP and Windows 7
Answer: Windows comes with Dvorak and Dvorak left/right keymaps for several languages.  You can enable it (in Vista) by going to Control Panel -> Regional and Language Options -> Keyboards and Languages -> Change keyboards ... -> Add ... -> find your language and show more to see if it's got a Dvorak option.
You can then switch between them using the Language Bar that appears on your taskbar.  As far as I can remember, instructions for XP are fairly similar.  Obviously your keys will then not reflect the Dvorak keymap, but you can get stickers.
Comment: Then all that's left is popping all the keys off the keyboard and rearranging them :-)
Comment: @Kenneth Cochran Hopefully in neither a Dvorak or QWERTY configuration, so that your laptop really *is* **your** laptop ;)
Answer: I have a tutorial on my website that includes instructions for setting up the U.S. International keyboard layout on Windows XP. You can use the same instructions, just substitute Dvorak for U.S. International.
Comment: I clicked and use this. But i like the other answer slightly better bc he says yes in control panels i can change it.
Comment: The other answer says the same thing, I just gave you a link rather than typing it out here.
Answer: Some keyboards support remapping of the keys.  I used to have an old gateway computer with a keyboard like that.  It might take a few minutes to get it all programmed and ready to go, but you can remap all the keys into the DVORAK pattern and voila.... You're cooking with fire now!
Answer: Go to the control panel and selectthe Regional and Language options.  There should be a Change Keyboards... button that will allow you to switch to a DVORAK keyboard with your existing hardware.
Answer: I would suggest something a little out of the box;  A search on ebay for "Dvorak keyboard" come up with over 100 hits almost exclusively of special transfer kits for existing keyboards

"With Dvorak stickers you can
  experience typing with an ease
  possible. It is easier to type letters
  alternating between hands , maximum
  speed and efficiency. Dvorak stickers
  are available for people who type with
  one hand or finger. It make the most
  frequently typed characters on a
  keyboard more accessible to people who
  have difficulty using the standard
  keyboard layout.It may also help avoid
  some types of repetitive strain
  injuries associated with typing.
  Studies also have shown an increase in
  typing accuracy and speed when using
  the Dvorak stickers keyboard for two
  hands. The right-hand or left-hand
  keyboard layouts also can be useful
  for people who type with a wand. The
  American National Standards Institute
  (ANSI) X4.22 Dvorak keyboard
  configuration paves the way for faster
  typing. Currently, all major Operating
  Systems (such as Apple OS X, Microsoft
  Windows, GNU/Linux and BSD) ship with
  Dvorak keyboard layout in addition to
  the standard QWERTY layout. DSK has
  failed to displace the QWERTY
  standard."

I've included the following instructions from http://www.theworldofstuff.com/dvorak/
Here are instructions on switching to Dvorak for the most popular operating systems and desktop environments.

Windows XP: Go to Start -> Control
Panel. (If you're viewing by
categories, click "Date, Time,
Language, and Regional Options.") Go
to Regional and Language Options ->
Languages -> Details and click "Add."
Select "United States-Dvorak" and
then press OK. To make it the
default, choose "United
States-Dvorak" in the Default Input - Language drop-down menu.
Windows Vista: Go to Start -> Control Panel.
In the default view, the option is
"Change keyboards or other input
methods;" If you're using the
"Classic View," go to Regional
Language Options and select the
"Keyboards and Languages" tab. Click
the "Change Keyboards" button, and
click the "Add" button. Select
"United States-Dvorak" and then press
OK. To make it the default, choose
"United States-Dvorak" in the Default
Input Language drop-down menu.
GNOME: Go to System -> Preferences
-> Keyboard -> Layouts and click "Add." For Layouts, select your
country, and for Variants, select
Dvorak. If a Dvorak layout doesn't
appear for your country, then select
"USA," "United Kingdom," or another
country that has one. To make Dvorak
the default layout, click the button
under "Default" in the Keyboard
Layouts window. To change the key
combination used to switch between
layouts, go to Layout Options ->
Layout Switching and choose one or
multiple options.
KDE: YaST ->
Hardware -> Keyboard Layout ->
Variant:Dvorak.
Mac OS X: Open
System Preferences (Apple Menu ->
System Preferences), choose the
"International" tab, choose the
"Input Menu" tab from there, and
check the box next to "Dvorak." To
change between the two at any time,
click on the flag on the right of the
menu bar, and on the drop-down, click
on "Dvorak."

Also there is a cool 'zine called "The Dvorak Zine"
with the following directions to allow you to change the Windows Login screen to Dvorak:
run REGEDIT
HKEY_USERS > .DEFAULT > Keyboard Layout > Preload > 1
change the value for key 1 to 00010409 (the code for dvorak)
Answer: If you're using Dvorak, you're probably a touch-typist and don't look at the keys anyway. Just a matter of back straight, feet flat on the floor, eyes on the copy and fingers on the home keys BEGIN... Same way if you're learning Dvorak.
So you don't have to make ANY changes to your hardware unless you're lending somebody your computer. So when he types "hello world" it doesn't come out j.nnr ,rpne and frighten him into thinking he broke your computer.
Windows since 3.1 has had the standard Dvorak layout available (so does DOS) And Linux ALWAYS has the option.
What I was looking for when I stumbled onto this was instructions for hitting the accented characters on the Dvorak International Keyboard. I know it's combination keystrokes like hitting shift+Ctrl+the_key together, just don't, you know, know which combinations.
When I'm Repairing windows (I don't use it) I open the Control Panel and drop-'n-drag the keyboard icon onto the desktop for my convenience.
From there (or just open Control Panel) it's click icon > Language tab > Properties > Layout > Dvorak (right under US 101) click > OK then a really quick winpopup message.
Answer: Keyboards and Languages menu is the area for picking languages.  You can pop the keys off and rearrange them, but be careful, because this might void a warranty.  At a computer repair center at a big name electronic store, I was told a dvorak keyboard could be specially ordered for a few hundred dollars, and of course they nickel and dime you with installation.   You can apply specially made keyboard stickers that show Dvorak setup.  I learned how to touch type Dvorak by using the onscreen keyboard in the Ease of Access menu as a guide.
Answer: As Dvorak is plain pointless unless you use touch typing you don't really have to see the keys (I did re-arrange them, it takes longer to learn new layout when you "cheat" every time you don't remember location of the key - looking is no help as you have to get it into "finger memory", not visual memory). So unless you can't use touch typing then dvorak has no advantage, if you can then it doesn't matter if you had every key painted plain black ;) But there is a point in keeping the keys in qwerty order.
Regular PC keyboard, be it qwerty, azerty or even rarely sold dvorak sends same keycodes from same location - different layout configurations just assign different characters to keycodes.
I personally use svorak - IMHO a stupid name, sdvorak would make more sense as it comes from Swedish Dvorak - I'm finnish though, but both Finland and Sweden has the same 3 alphabets extra to US, å, ä & ö. Anyway I actually like to keep my current keyboard keys in qwerty order - not for myself but for visitors. I have quick key bindings to switch between qwerty and svorak just so that friends visiting can actually get more than just frustrated ;D
And remember, the worst case scenario, if manually popping keys off and rearranging them, is that you accidentally break it - regular keyboards don't break easy and are cheap to buy if they do but some laptops have keys that are not so easy to put back (and even then they may feel odd to use) and you (or at least I) would not want to break your laptops keyboard ;) So, get those stickers or just let them be in qwerty order - why bother changing them? :) Best of luck.
Comment: +1. I am not using letters. So far i am using a online typing tutorial and learn the fingering based on its description and practicing with its test. I still suck with dvorak as i havent practiced every day (or week). I havent finish the middle row yet but just did the first few tutorials dozens of times hoping i can remember and do it fast next time.
Comment: Yeah, it can really take some time before you stop sucking :D When I started training dvorak I taped a paper sheet with print of the layout on side of my monitor and, even though it was painfully slow, wrote everything on my computer using that layout - still it took me almost two months before I started feeling that I don't totally suck at it anymore :D And before I felt that I was getting actually good at it, not just acceptable, even more time had passed... Well, it's not that surprising - didn't thunk learning touch typing on totally different layout after 15 years of using qwerty be easy

simulate Dvorak with a qwerty keyboard?


How to understand details of CPU usage

Question: I have a VPS server. At the CPU usage chart I see long periods of 50% CPU usage that are not related to chart of visitors of my site: http://c2n.me/iRJplq. I checked top and most of the time fastcgi dispatcher that call python scripts takes most of the cpu: http://c2n.me/iRJqRD. I suspect that probably other users at the same physical server use resources a lot, is it possible to understand with more details, why processes started to consume more cpu?
Answer: Attach strace to the dispatch.fcgi and see where they are spending most of the CPU time (strace -p PID). You should also enable some tracing/profiling in your Python script to track this (if they have any decent logging features).
It's unlikely your VPS provider is mixing the CPU usage of your virtual machine with that of others in the same physical server.
Comment: I tried to attach to one of the dispatch processes and here is a sample output: http://pastie.org/9532757. It is interesting, that even if there are no requests (records in access.log and output in strace) this process also has more than 30% in top.
Comment: It's accepting connections over and over on fd 12. Try using `lsof -p PID` to see what that file description actually is and perhaps who is connecting to it all the time.

How to understand details of CPU usage


Is the wave function collapse and the collapse of a superposition related?

Question: It seems that they are two different types of collapses within quantum mechanics. But are they somehow related, or is it two completely different collapses? Sorry if the answer is obvious, and I have not done enough research, but i cannot find a place on the internet which this is stated.
Answer: They are the same. The wavefunction, before collapse, is considered to be in a superposition of states. Think about it like a few different instruments all playing different notes; the noise you hear is the superposition, and the sound waves are the wavefunction. Upon collapse, all the instruments except for one stop playing. The wavefunction is no longer in a superposition, and you can measure which note is being played.
Comment: If i have understod things right, the propabillity distribution for a particle is caused by the uncertainty principle. In addition, the propability distribution acts like a wave. And the wave function addresses the probability of finding the particle within that wave probability
Comment: ..Within that wave probability distribution. Does this mean that the uncertainty principle superposes the propability of that particle into a superposition? And that superposition is the wave distribution for that prticle, which can be described by the wave function?
Comment: The uncertainty principle is actually unrelated to the probability distribution. The probability distribution is directly related to the amplitude of the wavefunction, though, so you have that right.

The uncertainty principle comes from other wave mechanics, though. Think about it like this: the position of a wave is hard to define. If you have a perfect sine wave, it is impossible to say "where" it is located; it spans across all space. However, the momentum of a wave is directly related to the wavelength. The wavelength of a sine wave is easily found. If you narrow down the position,...
Comment: But in a book I have read about physics. (By Stephen Hawking), it is stated that the uncertainty principle distributes the position, which smears it out like a wave. Is this wrong?
Comment: ...by making the wave a single spike in space (like a delta function, if you are familiar), then you lose information about the wavelength. What is the wavelength of a single peak, when the wavelength is defined as "peak-to-peak distance"?

By increasing knowledge of position, we decrease knowledge of momentum, and vice-versa.
Comment: I feel like the pre-conception of the wavefunction only describing probability in space underlies this. The wavefunction describes the probability of finding the position of something in space, but it also describes the probability of finding all other observables. The amplitude of the wavefunction can correspond to the probability of measuring the spin of an electron, for example. Does this help?
Answer: In standard quantum mechanics wavefunction is said to collapse exactly because we don't observe superposition of states as a result of our measurement. For example, if we have the state $$|\Psi\rangle = \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}|\uparrow\rangle+\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}|\downarrow\rangle$$ where $|\uparrow\rangle, |\downarrow\rangle$ are eigenstates of pauli spin operator $\sigma_z$ then, the measurement of $\sigma_z$ will result in  $|\uparrow\rangle$ with a probability $\frac{1}{2}$ and $|\downarrow\rangle$ with a probability $\frac{1}{2}$ but not both.
Hence, measurement "collapases" the superposition/wavefunction to either $|\uparrow\rangle$ or $|\downarrow\rangle$.


Water powered Back up sump discharge

Question: whats the code recommendation for discharge pipes when installing a water powered back up sump pump with a primary sump pump. Separate discharge or can you use a Y and connect the backup to the primary discharge. Whats best?
Answer: The water powered sump pump, for all intents and purposes, can be considered a second sump pump in parallel with the first, and can be plumbed that way.
They can share a discharge pipe as long as the pipe is rated to carry the load of both pumps running simultaneously.  Even if they should never, in practice, run at the same time, it would be inappropriate to attach both to a discharge pipe that could only handle one at a time.  Most pumps I've run across seem to be installed with larger piping than they absolutely need, though, so you're probably ok combining them.  Be sure to use two check valves, one for each pump, before they combine into the one discharge pipe.
Answer: Varies by town. In our town, we were required to have a separate discharge line for the water-powered back up sump pump. Reason was, if main line clogs, the backup has its own line that would be clear.
Also, we were required to put a backflow preventer on the water supply line, and have it tested, certified. Required a permit and final plumbing inspection by our township.
Check with your town's code to be safe.
Comment: Hello, and welcome to Home Improvement. Thanks for the answer; keep 'em coming. And, you should probably [take our tour](//diy.stackexchange.com/tour) so you'll know how best to contribute here.

Water powered Back up sump discharge


Does offering a surrender you know will not be accepted count as a false surrender?

Question: you're a captain on a ship that's taken heavy damage, so you decided to devise a plan, you order your crew off the ship, you surrender your damaged ship and her crew (which consists of just you) to the enemy admiral. For whatever reason the enemy admiral didn't accept surrender, and that's what you were counting on in your plan, you then crash the ship into the enemy vessel. Are you guilty of false surrender?
Answer: Surrender may not be refused
Surrender is the unconditional cession of hostilities accompanied by a clear intention to become a prisoner of war. It immediately renders the person and people under their command hors de combat. The former enemy must immediately cease hostilities and render whatever assistance is required and appropriate in the circumstances. If they are still engaged in combat with other units, they may not be able to make provisions for the prisoners immediately, but even if not taken into custody, they are still non-combatants.
However, non combatants are still entitled to exercise self-defence. If you have clearly communicated your surrender and the former enemy keeps shooting at you a) they're committing a war crime and b) you're entitled to make them stop by use of reasonable force.
You are also entitled to protect your life and the life of your companions by, for example, evacuating a sinking ship.
A surrender is different from a capitulation. The terms of a capitulation must be agreed and become binding on the parties only once they are agreed and often the terms will include a time when they come into effect.
Similarly, a surrender is different from a cease fire, which are also subject to negotiated terms and, usually, those terms involve an undertaking that neither side will use the cease fire as an opportunity to seek future military advantage.
Feigning surrender is a war crime. But since a surrender can't legally be refused, your hypothetical admiral's plan is stillborn. If he surrenders, then it's over, if he isn't actually surrendering then he's a war criminal.
Comment: operative point here is ***clearly** communicated* - if the surrender is not clear, you stay a combatant and don't become hors de combat.


Do you need to pay just to put your game as a closed beta on steam?

Question: I'm currently working on my game, and we are planning on releasing a closed beta pretty soon. I would like to use Steam to make it, as it has a key generator to give people access, but I can't figure out or find out anywhere if you need to pay for the Steamworks partner, just to make a closed beta.
Answer: Yes. It is a non-refundable* $100 cost per application for distributing via steam.
*When your product reaches $1000.00 revenue they pay it back to you.
Further details:
https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/gettingstarted/appfee
Answer: Making Steamworks account
First, you will need Steamworks partner account, which created from normal steam ID.

A regular steam ID, the one that you buy/play games as normal user is fine.
Document for tax review for setting up Steamworks partner account.

Registering as individual, they will ask for personal identification. A scan of official document or national ID card will do (non-US). Note that here you need to enter real name, you will be able to put another developer name or branding to your game, like Yiddyyadda Games Interactive later when setting up store page.
If registering as a company, they will ask for more company related documents.

After above process is done and after tax review is done (takes few days), if I remembered correctly, they will immediately ask for first app submission fee (100$) upfront, which will be credited to your account.
You will be able to create 1 app ID from the this initial credit. (More on this fee is already answered by Casey's)
After you have working Steamworks account and App ID
There are options you can continue from this point

For closed beta test, you will need to setup depot and upload your first build. (see Steamworks documents) This process totally happen on developer side and does not require any review/approval from Steam personnel.

To share to other, if that person is also a developer in the team, you could add him to your team as developer in your Steamworks account. That person will auto grant right to that app ID (and appear in his library) immediately.
To share to outsider beta tester, generate "beta" keys from app dashboard. Send this key to your friend and let him add it as if it is a retail key. (You can revoke this key later if you want that person to be able to buy your game when it is released) Issuing the key, although monitored by Steam personnel, if key is small enough, it will be usually fast, less in an hour.

Setup a store front for app to really appear in public Steam market as "Coming soon" for public presence and marketing (and game will be able to start accepting wishlist). This one requires review/approval from Steam personnel.

The point above is I want to show that 2 process are totally separated.

You don't need a game build to open a "Coming soon" store page.
You don't need a store page to do closed beta testing.

Valve also has their own tutorial in YouTube channel.


How do you make a lot of noise in Cycles?

Question: I have a scene where I want a lot of noise, but noise generated by cycles, so it is coherent with the colors behind. Thus, I want to generate a lot of noise in cycles without using things such as noise textures. Can someone give me tricks to have a lot of noise naturally created by cycles for a scene with a relatively small object count?
Comment: Can you [edit] your question and add an image that exemplifies what you are after? You will get a lot of noise if you use few samples, but it also depends on what kind of lighting you use or the kind of surfaces you are using. Or maybe you need to render at a low resolution...
Comment: Read this answer to understand where noise comes from: http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/4980/how-to-avoid-noisy-renders-in-cycles
Answer: To have more cycles noise just render with less samples and have glossy materials. Make sure reflective caustics are on, that will give you fireflies.
Comment: I think i got it the inverse way than anyone else. Thanx!


Which board's bootloader is on the microcontroller?

Question: Currently I'm doing a project that needs an Atmega2560 standalone MCU. After I burned the bootloader with this method: http://www.gammon.com.au/bootloader . I set the Board as "Arduino/Genuino Mega or Mega 2560" and the Processor as "ATmega2560 (Mega 2560)". But, it just stuck at "uploading" and this message pop up: "avrdude: stk500v2_ReceiveMessage(): timeout". So, I'm guessing I'm choosing a wrong board. Is there a way to check which board to select in the Tool tab?
Comment: Do you have DTR connected via 0.1uF cap to create a Reset and start the bootloader code looking for a serial download?
Answer: It depends on which bootloader you loaded, when you write your bootloader with AVRDude you specify the hex file, Which Hex file did you specify?
Comment: I burned through this method: http://www.gammon.com.au/bootloader and I haven't use any Hex File with this method.
Comment: Nick Gammon's sketch for loading a bootloader holds 10 different bootloaders. The actual bootloader that is burned depends on the detected signature of the board being programmed. If this went well the following bootloader should have been programmed "Atmega2560 with fixes for watchdog timer problem (8192 bytes)". With Nick Gammon's sketch you can also verify the existing bootloader. Dit you try that?