Which is better for running Ubuntu?

Question: The Samsung NP305V5A-A04US
OR
The Gateway NV57H57U
Answer: As an owner of a very similar SAMSUNG laptop, I can tell, if you want the best one at the cost of some time, get the SAMSUNG. The AMD A-Series APU will not work out-of-the-box with Ubuntu 11.10, however they do work pretty well with the lastest updates for 11.10, which you may achieve with a Minimal ISO. That or either using Ubuntu 12.04.
I would recommend using the lastest propietary drivers from AMD (I think they are actually 12.1), since the few ways I've found to make some heat on the laptop was either expensive gaming or using the open source drivers.

If that is not a problem, then go to the laptop as it is. SAMSUNG does provide a better build quality and materials. Also, design is more stylish. I love the fact that they use small bezels for screens since you get more space (a 15.6" laptop will look like a 14"). If you use your computer at anywhere except total darkness, you will get benefit of the matte-finish screen, compared with the glossy screens which will reflect every light.
Also, they use some BIOS-level battery technology, which if you enable, may charge the battery only up to 80%, that at cost of battery discharge time, it will let the battery a longer lifetime.
As for the ugly truth, I got difficult to get used to the fact that the keyboard does not have any CAPS LOCK light, but now I use a sound in Ubuntu to tell me so. One thing though, wrist-rest space is a fingerprint catcher. Back-cover too.
The laptop feels very solid, except on opening-closing the lid, which may require use of both hands most of the time. Speakers are somewhat weak compared to my brother's HP, still audio is pretty nice and clear.
Keep in mind, the SAMSUNG laptop is mostly aimed for business. Still, with proprietary drivers, the A8 APU with ATI HD6680G (I think), easily outperforms the Intel HD3000.
Also I don't know for the GATEWAY, but the SAMSUNG comes with Bluetooth 3.0.
Good luck, and if you need anymore info of SAMSUNG laptop, just tell me! ;)
Comment: To be honest I favor the Samsung but my only concern is that I was told AMD processors tend to crash easily and Intel is faster. Is that not true??
Comment: I never got any issues with AMD processors, but yes, Intel's architecture is one step ahead of AMD. Also, clock speeds also are surpassed by the the GATEWAY laptop, it's Core i5 is set from 2.4GHz, and can turbo up to 3.0GHz, while the A8-3510 is set from 1.8 GHz and can speed up to 2.5 GHz, so on speed the GATEWAY wins, BUT, the A8 is a real quad-core, and the Core i5 is a dual-core, it has Hyper-Threading, but it does not match a real quad. In my case, I would go AMD as it has never failed me since 7 years ago, and the ATIHD6620G (now I checked) is way ahead of the IntelHD3000. Good luck! ;)
Answer: Actually both will work in Ubuntu perfectly. I know this answer is very direct but is the truth with the hardware both have. The only recommendation i would have is to go with the one with the Intel video card. It is more friendly when you want to connect it to a TV for movies or to show someone what you are doing on the laptop.
That is about it. Both will work excellent.
Comment: How can you tell it will work perfectly? I can't see anywhere on the details what kind of wireless card is in there.
Comment: Sorry. Well for the np305v5a the Wifi can be Atheros or Broadcom, both of which are supported. I went first to the Samsung website to see the video, sound and wifi just to make sure. For the nv57h57u I went to the Gateway website to look for the same (Video, Sound and Wifi which are the ones that give typical problems in some cases) and is the same Atheros, Intel or Broadcom in which cases they all work in Ubuntu. The Gateway even has usb 3.0 in some models and this is also supported. I only did a copy/paste of the model and went straight to the main websites cause the sellers suck in details.
Comment: I wouldn't recommend a Broadcom wireless card to anyone. :)
Comment: Well using the Additional Drivers works for me. At least until there is full support for them with open sourced ones.
Answer: While you should have no problems running Ubuntu on either of the machine, since you are asking for one choice, it will be the Gateway NV57H57U - vis-a-vis compatibility. The i5 with the HD 3000 graphics are a very very common configuration and things should work great out of the box (except perhaps the video tearing problem which can be fixed in under 30 seconds: Solution to tearing with HD 3000). Pretty much everything about the notebook seems to be the standard configuration, and you will have no issues. This is not to say that I am aware of any problems with AMD Radeon Graphics and Ubuntu. It is just that the other option is widely used and tested.
Answer: both must be work very well with you choose anyone
but if you need my opinion choose Gateway
because it's very better than samsung it's have intel core i5 very good , hard disk in samsung is very good because it's black but blue well good will good with core i5
and finally like all said for you both well good with ubuntu
Answer: I think Gateway NV57H57U is more friendly then Samsung for Ubuntu.
I am having a huge heating problem on running Ubuntu in my Toshiba laptop. I will like to suggest to get Dell XPS with Ubuntu installed. OR the system76 laptop also works fine for running Ubuntu.
Beside this many laptops of Dell and HP supports Ubuntu and most of them comes with Ubuntu pre-installed.

Which is better for running Ubuntu?


Temperature in a Voltaic Cell

Question: The potential difference across a voltaic cell varies with temperature. But my question is whether the voltage increases or decreases as temperature rises. According to the Nernst equation, the two are inversely proportional, however if one were to use Gibb's Free Energy equation, as temperature increases, so does the potential difference across the cell. It would make sense that as temperature increases, there would be an increase in kinetic energy, which would probably add to the resistance and therefore make the voltage increase as well (assuming current stays the same) Do you think the potential difference would increase or decrease with an increase in temperature?
Comment: Do you mean a chemical battery?
Comment: @boyfarrell I think he's referring to a voltaic cell with 2 metallic half-cells.
Answer: My quick read of a few articles on Q, the reaction quotient, suggest that it's generally rather small.  Thus  $ln(Q)$ is negative, so  $ - T * ln(Q) $ is positive and the potential difference increases with temperature.
Answer: The voltage of a Galvanic cell can both increases with temperature or decreases with temperature. You can prove using thermodynamics or using your intuition that: for Galvanic cells that get hot when working, the voltage decreases as the temperature increases; for Galvanic cells that get cold when working, the voltage increases as the temperature increases. In practice, most of Galvanic cells get hot when working but I do remember that some books mention those that get cold when working.

Temperature in a Voltaic Cell


Add some parameters to a flash object via php

Question: I have a challenge where I'm submitting data with flash objects (youtube vids).
I want to look in the string of this data to a) see if there's an object and then b) 1) add some parameters  inside the object and also 2) add the same attribute to the embed
So far I have...
<code>// check if the content contains a youtube video... and that it doesn't have the opaque wmode
if(strstr($content, '<object')   &&  strstr($content != 'wmode="opaque"')) {

   // split the string after the object tag, and insert the <param tag

   // find the occurance of the <embed tag and insert the attribute

 }
</code>
Then I realised, what happens if the data contains 2 or more objects in the $content string (which its probable it will) ? So the solution needs some sort of looping function for each object that is in the $content var.
I'm thinking i need to

count the number of times there is an object in the variable.
loop through each and do the above code for each one -eek

Am I approaching this correctly? What do you think is the best solution?
Answer: Try something like this:
<code>if(preg_match_all('/<object(.*?)<\/object>/', $content, $matches)) {
   print_r ($matches);
}
</code>


How do you get steel outside Earth?

Question: I'm looking for a more economical and efficient method of making steel for my project Death Star Unlimited, a mega infrastructure orbiting Mars with a mass of 500,000,000 metric ton give or take 1%. Is there any good way to make steel in space within a time frame of a decade at most given immediate future tech? I will accept alternative to steel as long as it has similar or better properties and value for money. Currently my team is salvaging from the man-made debris encircling Earth but my engineer told me this is slow and the amount of steel recycled won't be promising.
Comment: Steal still steel. Keep doing it, until someone asks you if you still steal still steel. Moving still is harder to steal, let that one go.
Comment: @Inkblot: I bite my tongue nice.
Answer: Makre your own. The asteroid belt has about 3x1021kg of mass. 10% of the asteroid belt is made up of metallic-stype asteroids. Quite how much actual metal there is in there is hard to say, but lets go for 50%. So that's 1.5x1020kg. You need about .3% carbon in structural steel. About 75% of the belt are carbonaceous-type asteroids. These have a bulk carbon content of about 2%, so that's a good 4.5x1019kg of carbon right there... more than enough. You could probably get more than enough for your needs from dismantling phobos or deimos. There's an outside chance you'll get a decent amount of metal from them too, but I couldn't guarantee that.
Anyway, you've got the raw materials for 150 petatonnes of steel... not quite enough for a trillion of your "death stars", but enough to be getting on with. You've got more than enough solar power to keep you going, other elements in the asteroids you mine will provide for the rest of the material of your deathstar and for your mining fleet and there'll be enough ice out there to help run rockets and fusion reactors.
Oh, and if your engineer says this will be too slow, throw them out of an airlock and get someone capable of running a scale-up enterprise. Remind them that you are making a death star, after all. Parallelising your mining, refining and fabrication facilities should be straightfoward. Your material needs are sufficiently modest that you might even be able to get all you need without treading on any existing mining operations, if you felt the need to be at least minimally restrained or even surreptitious.
Comment: I find the engineer's [lack of faith disturbing](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-find-your-lack-of-faith-disturbing).
Comment: That really puts the Death on Death Star
Answer: I'd mine Phobos and Deimos first.  Their total mass is about 20,000 times what you need so it's not hard to expect to find enough iron and carbon in them to make your structure.  Plus, you're using local materials so the delivery charge will be minimal :)

How do you get steel outside Earth?


What is the authentic Mula Mantra of Kala Bhairava?

Question: On the Internet, without any difficulties, you can find many different mantras of Kala Bhairava, but the specific source of origin of these mantras (Tantra, Agama, Grantha, etc.) is always not indicated.
One gets the unpleasant impression that most of them are just someone's fiction.
Comment: But the problem is, what exactly is the text it comes from? In the Tantric traditions of central and northern India, some other mantra may well be used. I need specific texts, where everything comes from.
Comment: Moolamantras or any mantras can't be discussed on online forums. Altough as a hint, a Sapt yojit dwe (Eka yojit Eka) or 7+2 (1+1) form of mantra is used wid seeds, dative form of name & a proper closure to it. Or else Kshterapal mantra too can be used for Kalbhairava.
Comment: The format that I shared is Navakshari mantra. Actually, Im not in the position to write beejas being Adikshit myself. Thus, I avoided that. Apart from this kindly share your any secondary platform Id in the HSE Chatroom, so tht I can share the ss of the same from the shastra.
Answer: Together with Chamunda das, we managed to find out the following.
In the Mahakala Samhita, Guhyakali Khanda 2, shloka 1063, the Bhairava mantra of nine syllables (navakshari) is described. Nama-bija (vibhakti samas) should be used in this mantra. Bhairava's name must be in the dative case. In shloka 1064 it is stated that the mantra should be closed with the word "namah" - https://archive.org/details/mahakalasamhitaguhyakalikhandakishornathjhapart2rashitriyasanskritsanstha_202003_632_X/page/n155/mode/2up
Therefore, the given canonical mantra of Kalabhairava is as follows: कां कालभैरवाय नमः
So, my question has been answered. This topic can be closed. Special thanks to Chamunda das.


How to properly link C++ model to QML front end

Question: here is my setup:
First is the model class, this stores a pointer to the data of type CompetitionsList. We can see that it implements the necessary basic functions when deriving from QAbstractListModel, and it uses the QML_ELEMENT macro to expose the model to the QML type system:
class CompetitionsListModel : public QAbstractListModel
{
    Q_OBJECT
    Q_PROPERTY(CompetitionsList* list READ list WRITE setList)
    QML_ELEMENT

public:
    explicit CompetitionsListModel(QObject *parent = nullptr);

    enum {
        NameRole = Qt::ItemDataRole(),
        IdRole
    };

    int rowCount(const QModelIndex &parent = QModelIndex()) const override;
    QVariant data(const QModelIndex &index, int role = Qt::DisplayRole) const override;

    CompetitionsList *list() const;
    void setList(CompetitionsList *list);

    virtual QHash<int, QByteArray> roleNames() const;

private:
    CompetitionsList* m_list;  \\ <--- ptr to data
};

Then we have the data class. This class is also a QML_ELEMENT, and it has a userid property. This is used to populate the QVector<listItem> by requesting data from a RESTful http server.
The two signals preItemAppended() and postItemAppended() are emitted when data is added to the QVector<listItem>. These signals are then connected to the Model as a way of notifying the model it must create a new row in the list. The important function here is populateCompetitions, which I explain below.
struct listItem {
    QString competitionName;
    QString competitionId;
};

class CompetitionsList : public QObject
{
    Q_OBJECT
    Q_PROPERTY(QString userId READ getUserId WRITE setUserId)
    QML_ELEMENT

public:
    explicit CompetitionsList(QObject *parent = nullptr);
    void populateCompetitions(const QString& userId);
    QVector<listItem> items();
    QString getUserId() const;
    void setUserId(const QString &value);

signals:
    void preItemAppended();
    void postItemAppended();
    void errorPopulatingData();
private:
    QVector<listItem> m_competitions;
    QString userId;
};

The populateCompetitions function looks as so:
void CompetitionsList::populateCompetitions(const QString &userId)
{
    qDebug() << "initialising data";
    HttpClient* client = new HttpClient();
    client->getUserCompetitions(userId);

    connect(client, &HttpClient::getUserCompetitionsResult, [=](const QByteArray& reply){
        QJsonDocument _reply = QJsonDocument::fromJson(reply);

        if(_reply["data"].isNull()) {
            emit errorPopulatingData();
        }
        else {
            const QJsonArray competitions = _reply["data"]["competitions"].toArray();
            for(const QJsonValue& competition : competitions) {
                emit preItemAppended();

                listItem item{competition["competition-name"].toString(), competition["competition-id"].toString()};
                m_competitions.append(std::move(item));

                emit postItemAppended();
            }
        }
    });
}

It requests data from the database, and then stores it locally.
Then finally, the QML model which ties it all together:
ListView {
        id: view
        implicitHeight: 1920
        implicitWidth: 1080
        clip: true

        model: CompetitionsListModel {
            list: CompetitionsList {
                id: compList
            }
            Component.onCompleted: { compList.userId = "6033f377257e8630ed13299e" } //<-- calls the populateCompetitions function
        }

        delegate: RowLayout {
            Text {
                text: qsTr(model.name + ":::" + model.id)
            }
        }
    }

We can see that it has a ListView element, with a model of type CompetitionsListModel and a list of type CompetitionsList. Once the model component is created, we set the userId of the list, this in turn calls the populateCompetitions function which sets up the data for the model to use as seen above.
Unfortunately this doesnt anything when I run the code. Blank screen. Nada. I was wondering if anyone has an insight as to what might be causing this based on the code provided. Ive been at it for so long and it just inst being nice.
Comment: please provide a [mre]
Comment: Do you have any warning or error from QML in run time?
Comment: I doubt it is the problem, but I would put `client->getUserCompetitions(userId);` after the connect. How is the `preItemAppended` connected in the QAbstractListModel-derived class?
Comment: can you provide your setList method implementation?
Comment: @MuhammetAliAsan no worries, I have moved on. Will close the question
Answer: I think you need to call qmlRegisterType or UncreatableType on your CompetitionsListModel :
https://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qqmlengine.html#qmlRegisterType
Comment: I think QML_Element and Qt5.xx is buggy. Use old valid way as mentioned above
Comment: he uses QML_ELEMENT, which is a replacement for qmlRegisterType for Qt 5.15


How to Add some System Memory to be shared with the GPU in Linux?

Question: I have switched from Windows 10 to linux mint 21.1
I tried playing GTA 5 on lutris (wine emulation) however the game is almost unplayable on linux as big parts of the map will not load because of my low VRAM(2GB only) on windows the game ran fine since there was shared memory. Which I dont know how to enable on Linux mint. Any help appreciated. below is an example of shared gpu memory on windows:
Comment: How do you know it's not being shared on Linux and that that's the problem? Using a RAM buffer and DMA to share data with the GPU is basically how any GPU drive rworks.
Comment: how do I know that memory is being shared and how do i know how much?
Comment: Odd, that picture says you have 4GB GPU memory, and if I recall, MX130 doesn't support shared memory anyway
Comment: @JaromandaX I think Sanad's mixing up physical main memory getting hardware-reserved and assigned to the GPU, and never "seen" by the operating system, with shared memory buffers that are used to exchange data between host and GPU, which lay in Operating System-controlled main memory. Hence my question how they now that this specifically is the problem.
Answer: The NVIDIA binary driver does not allow to specify the amount of system RAM which can be used by the GPU. I've not heard of nouveau allowing this either.
Here are the options for the last stable NVIDIA driver:
name:           nvidia
parm:           NvSwitchRegDwords:NvSwitch regkey (charp)
parm:           NvSwitchBlacklist:NvSwitchBlacklist=uuid[,uuid...] (charp)
parm:           NVreg_ResmanDebugLevel:int
parm:           NVreg_RmLogonRC:int
parm:           NVreg_ModifyDeviceFiles:int
parm:           NVreg_DeviceFileUID:int
parm:           NVreg_DeviceFileGID:int
parm:           NVreg_DeviceFileMode:int
parm:           NVreg_InitializeSystemMemoryAllocations:int
parm:           NVreg_UsePageAttributeTable:int
parm:           NVreg_EnablePCIeGen3:int
parm:           NVreg_EnableMSI:int
parm:           NVreg_TCEBypassMode:int
parm:           NVreg_EnableStreamMemOPs:int
parm:           NVreg_RestrictProfilingToAdminUsers:int
parm:           NVreg_PreserveVideoMemoryAllocations:int
parm:           NVreg_EnableS0ixPowerManagement:int
parm:           NVreg_S0ixPowerManagementVideoMemoryThreshold:int
parm:           NVreg_DynamicPowerManagement:int
parm:           NVreg_DynamicPowerManagementVideoMemoryThreshold:int
parm:           NVreg_EnableGpuFirmware:int
parm:           NVreg_EnableGpuFirmwareLogs:int
parm:           NVreg_OpenRmEnableUnsupportedGpus:int
parm:           NVreg_EnableUserNUMAManagement:int
parm:           NVreg_MemoryPoolSize:int
parm:           NVreg_KMallocHeapMaxSize:int
parm:           NVreg_VMallocHeapMaxSize:int
parm:           NVreg_IgnoreMMIOCheck:int
parm:           NVreg_NvLinkDisable:int
parm:           NVreg_EnablePCIERelaxedOrderingMode:int
parm:           NVreg_RegisterPCIDriver:int
parm:           NVreg_EnableResizableBar:int
parm:           NVreg_EnableDbgBreakpoint:int
parm:           NVreg_RegistryDwords:charp
parm:           NVreg_RegistryDwordsPerDevice:charp
parm:           NVreg_RmMsg:charp
parm:           NVreg_GpuBlacklist:charp
parm:           NVreg_TemporaryFilePath:charp
parm:           NVreg_ExcludedGpus:charp
parm:           NVreg_DmaRemapPeerMmio:int
parm:           NVreg_RmNvlinkBandwidth:charp
parm:           rm_firmware_active:charp

NVreg_MemoryPoolSize looks interesting except it's not what you need:
 * Option: MemoryPoolSize
 *
 * Description:
 *
 * When set to a non-zero value, this option specifies the size of the
 * memory pool, given as a multiple of 1 GB, created on VMware ESXi to
 * satisfy any system memory allocations requested by the NVIDIA kernel
 * module.

Just for fun I'd try something like this:
/etc/modprobe.d/nvidia.conf
options nvidia NVreg_MemoryPoolSize=4

Though I'm quite sure it won't work. Windows works differently, that's the whole issue.


Get number of items in cart of current anonymous user

Question: I need to get the number of items in cart of current anonymous customer on the site. I am using Drupal 7 and Drupal Commerce.
Answer: To load the current anonymous user cart, you can use commerce_cart_order_load something like this should suffice:
It gets the product count as separate line items and the product quantity including number of items per line item.
// Can leave blank or provide UID
$uid = 0; // anon
$product_count = 0;
$product_quantity_count = 0;

// Load cart order
if ($order = commerce_cart_order_load($uid)) {
  // Let's use the wrapper because it rocks
  $order_wrapper = entity_metadata_wrapper('commerce_order', $order);

  // Loop over line items and increment product counter
  foreach ($order_wrapper->commerce_line_items as $delta => $line_item_wrapper) {
    // If line item is a commerce product type
    if (in_array($line_item_wrapper->type->value(), commerce_product_line_item_types())) {
      // Increment counters
      // Individual product line item
      $product_count++;
      // Number of items of product line item (quantity)
      $product_quantity_count += $line_item_wrapper->quantity->value();
    }
  }

  // Debug output
  drupal_set_message(t('User %uid has %count products in cart with a total of %quantity items',
    array('%uid' => $uid, '%count' => $product_count, '%quantity' => $product_quantity_count)));
}

Comment: Oh... Sorry, but when I simply log in and just after that log off I have an error: "EntityMetadataWrapperException: Invalid data value given. Be sure it matches the required data type and format. in EntityDrupalWrapper->set() (line 736 of (...)\sites\all\modules\entity\includes\entity.wrapper.inc)." How can I fix it?
Comment: The above code doesn't use ->set() perhaps you have a misconfigured rule?
Comment: @ihateubercart I've also adjusted the code to ensure the order is returned prior to creating the wrapper, perhaps that will help.


How to design the capacitors used with Crystal Oscillators?

Question: I have seen circuits involving crystal oscillators connecting two capacitors between each of the crystal legs and ground. I would like to know how to design the value of these capacitors for different crystal frequencies.
Comment: Not quite right! The correct load capacitance is required to ensure that the crystal operates at the stated frequency. It will probably still oscillate with incorrect capacitor values, or even no capacitors, with feedback provided by stray capacitance, but at the wrong frequency.
Comment: For start, read section 5 of [this](http://www.atmel.com/atmel/acrobat/doc2521.pdf) document. Each crystal needs certain capacitance to work. To get the exact number, you should read the crystal's datasheet. Then you should take into account capacitances you're already getting from the chip and the PCB. When you get the existing capacitance, you should calculate the capacitance of capacitors which should increase the total capacitance so that it reaches the amount prescribed by the crystal datasheet.
Answer: The frequency is irrelevant, what matters is the load capacitance of the crystal. It's specified by the crystal manufacturer.
Most MCUs use a Pierce oscillator with two feedback capacitors, which are effectively in series, although they look as though they might be in parallel. You therefore need to select the capacitors that, in series, and accounting for some stray capacitance, give the required crystal load capacitance. Most MCU manufacturers have application notes on capacitor selection, as do most crystal suppliers. Here is a typical example.
Comment: Microchip has another awesome oscillator app note [here](http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/AppNotes/00588b.pdf)
Comment: Although this was quite some time ago, could you elaborate on how these capacitors are effectively in series? At resonance, the oscillator (crystals) itself exhibits zero impedance, so the capacitors are effectively connected at their "top" (unpolarized) nodes. Since the other node is grounded for both capacitors, they appear to be indeed in parallel.
Comment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierce_oscillator#Load_capacitance


unity real time terrain editor

Question: im trying to make an editor for my game. but I want to know is it possible to edit terrain map heights or textures? if the answer is true, should i make it from scratch or can I use unity editor tools in real time? is there any asset for it? thank you for helping
Comment: The only limitation is your own dedication and knowledge; anything is possible.
Answer: Yes, it is possible. Take a look at the classes Terrain and TerrainData.
You can edit the heights with the method "SetHeights" by passing float arrays.
But it can be very expensive, depending on what you exactly want to do.
There are several Tutorials all over the web, covering this topic.
This answer is a bit vague, but your question is not very specific what you exactly want to do. But in fact it is possible to manipulate the Terrain in realtime as user.

unity real time terrain editor


String lookup into unknown charset html content

Question: I'm using strpos to lookup for string into web page bodies. 50% it fails, although the search string is present.
I have tried to strtolower both search string and searched content, same results.
Probabily the problem arises when dealing with different charsets...
Assuming:
- search string charset is unknown
- searched content charset is unknown
- charset could be any ISOxx, UTF-8, Shift-JIS
Is there a bulletproof function to find a substring?
Answer: You could try using mb_detect_encoding to detect the encoding first, then convert to the encoding you would like to use (using iconv or mb_convert_encoding) and search for the pattern in that encoding.
Answer: yup convert the html to utf8/latin1 first, grab the content encoding from the Content-Type header or from the meta tag, convert to utf8/latin1 using iconv, then stop worrying about it
Comment: - some ill behaved pages don't use the content-type
- will it work also for SJIS pages?


Anyone experiences with psychedelics and meditation?

Question: I know that the usage of drugs are a contradiction to the teachings the Buddha gave. But I wonder whether it could be helpful to use LSD or Psylocibin to gain profound insights. I read a lot about studies from the 50s to 70s, which starts again at the 90s, after a time of prohibition, that controlled usage of psychedelics have a profound meaningful impact on many participants of these studies who get an insight into egolesness which remains after the trip. Hmmm, does anyone have experiences with this combination or could recommend a paper / book related to this topic? The "idea": If it is possible due to Tantric practices to gain liberation in this life – maybe it could be even more achievable with the usage of LSD and Co. Thank you.
Comment: Searching on your preferred search engine for terms like "academic research psychedelics buddhism" will return many results. Psychiatric use of psychedelics has been proven useful, and some fringe communities like to mix drugs and meditation — but anything gained from taking a tab is not real insight or liberation, it's a brain-chemical experience with lingering effects. And any Shifu/Bhante/Guru from a real tradition would probably shut down that line of questioning pretty fast, both because it conflicts with the precepts and because a clear mind is essential for practice.
Comment: @xxxx I reckoned that introducing the question with, "I know that the usage of drugs are a contradiction to the teachings the Buddha gave", is acknowledging that the question is off-topic on Buddhism.SE.
Comment: Plus LSD is illegal almost everywhere, i.e. a "controlled substance". Maybe it's been studied clinically or academically, but that doesn't make it on-topic here.
Comment: I completely disagree with the closure of this question.  Whether these substances can benefit Buddhist practice is akin to asking whether any new modalities can be of benefit.  Modern Mahasi style mindfulness, for instance, is an extremely effective and extremely recent invention.  His practice protocols were quite novel. Had this forum been around in mid 20th century, would we have voted to close a question on his techniques?  Likewise, would tantra have been dismissed when Buddhism took foothold in Tibet?
Comment: Not to nitpick, but the precepts only ban three specific kinds of alcohol - suramerayamajjapamādatthā . You could even argue that whiskey isn't covered in the original Pāli as corn derived fermented beverages didn't exist in 500 BCE India.
Comment: I've never been one for drinking alcohol, but I drank the odd pint or two of larger going through parts of the ninth fetter. It's recommended in some Zen traditions, and gave me some temporary relief. Also, pretty certain there was a drunkard in the pali canon who realised stream entry. I've never heard anything about LSD in the suttas from any tradition. You might get a more receptive response from dharmaoverground, although there are some interesting answers here.
Comment: Legality doesn't have anything to do with liberative efficacy.
Answer: There definitely is a relationship.  Johns Hopkins University very recently conducted a study on the relationship between psychedelic and meditative states.  It was quite interesting how they selected their participants.  You had to be among one of those rare folk who had done intensive meditation practice for at least ten years while also never having taken psychedelics before.  I don't think they've published the results on that yet, but a slew of prepublication interviews have been done notably on the Buddhist Geeks podcast.
My personal two cents as psychonaut and someone who has been sitting two hours a day plus 4 weeks on retreat every year for the last 16 years - be careful.  I wouldn't even attempt this unless you've been practicing diligently for at least a decade.  You really have to be able to set a clear intention to get anything out of a trip - be it with a koan or object of insight.  Until about the ten year mark, you really don't have a good handle on how the insight process works.  Without that background, you're just going willynilly into it. You'll bounce around from state to state and never really glean anything useful.
More importantly, meditation is gentle.  While it can lead to some seriously negative shit, it's usually fairly easy to snap out of.  With psychedelics, you're strapped in for the duration.  This could be 8, 10, or 12 hours with a drug like LSD.
Less sexily, psychedelics can lead to some really profound, heavenly experiences.  These are among their greatest dangerous.  It can give you the impression that any kind of practice that falls short of such supreme bliss isn't real practice.  That's bullshit.  The best practice is where you sweat like a mule grinding its way up the side of a mountain with no hope of ever reaching the top.  Only meditation offers the opportunity for that kind of practice.
Answer: Generally speaking the drug will have some somatic effect which in turn modifies perception.  This kind of modification can aid in realizing the awareness or insight (dukkha-anicca-anatta). but like xxxx says you need to have a strong intention, or you might get carried away by paranoia, random ideas, and other desires.  If the intention is not strong you will run away from the three marks (dukkha-anicca-anatta). this indicates you crave sensuality, being, and not-knowing, and prapanca (furthering) is your true intent, not realizing the dhamma.


How do I plant seeds in Terraria mobile?

Question: I need to plant seeds (Mushroom grass, jungle grass, etc...) for the Truffle and for farming. I tried placing down 3x3 dirt, and clicking-holding on all the blocks. That didn't work. How do I plant seeds so I can get the Truffle??
Comment: IIRC mushroom grass seeds can only be planted on mud. I haven't played the mobile version, but on the PC you use seeds like any other item. If you are using them on a tile that they aren't compatible with, they won't be planted.
Comment: @Adeese Thankyouverymuch! I didn't realize you could only plant seeds in mud. That would explain why I could never plant anything!
Answer: In order to plant mushroom grass, it must be planted in mud, not dirt. This is likely why you couldn't plant it. I believe that jungle grass can also only be planted in mud.


how can i figure out what filters someone has used?

Question: how can I figure out what filter someone has used? I have searched it up on multiple websites and downloaded multiple apps trying to find a match and I cannot find one. Someone please help.
Comment: Be aware that not everybody uses simple filters to process images. Post processing can involve manual curve and color adjustments as well as local edits, just to name a few.
Comment: Also be aware that if you don't start with the same light, the same filter will not give you the same look.
Answer: Learning how to determine which filters a person used in processing their images is tricky. Also, there are a number of filters that can produce the same results with various settings. (For example, everything you can do with a levels filter can also be done with a curves filter.)
The best way to learn this skill is to use the filters and to experiment with them to see how they work. A good starting point is to generate a black to white linear gradient and try it with different filters. For example, when you move the black point up in the Levels tool, what happens to the gradient? What about when you move the white point down?
Some filters may require more complex experiments to understand. One method I've used with more complex color filters is to make an image with approximately all the colors in it. I do this by starting with a square image in Photoshop and dividing it up into some n x n smaller squares. (I usually choose a power of 2, such as 64 x 64. 2^6 = 64.) I then make a vertical linear red gradient in each square and a horizontal green gradient in each square. Finally, I fill each square with a solid shade of blue. The first square has 0 blue, the next has slightly more, until the last has the maximum amount. Then I apply a color filter and see what it does to the colors.
There are other more intuitive ways to learn the filters such as just applying them to your images and trying things to see what happens. Watching a good tutorial online (even a free one) may help, too.
Regardless of how you go about learning, the bigger question is "What are you trying to accomplish by figuring out which filters were used on a particular image?" If you're trying to recreate a look, your best bet is to learn the filters in your favorite editing tool. You can often create a look without knowing exactly what was done to the one you're trying to copy. Also keep in mind that it may not be possible to determine a particular filter because some things could be done in camera or in post, and you may not be able to tell which it was.


Could a stegosaur-like creature become bipedal?

Question:
We think stegosaurs could go on their hind legs to get at treetops. Could something like this evolve into a biped? In addition, can you think of other scenarios for bipeds to evolve?
Comment: Since other dinosaurs were already bipedal (but different from human bipedal) it's certainly possible. Like all evolution, all it needs is time and pressure.
Comment: Given millions of years, that dinosaur's decendants could evolve into a biped, brachiating tree-dwellers, streamlined ocean-swimmers, aerial fliers, etc.
Comment: Given enough time, anything can evolve into anything. The answer to questions like this is always "yes."
Answer: Certainly can.
Stegosaurus already have hip bones, and as such the shift to bi-pedal motion is almost there. Other dinosaur species have evolved in a similar way to become bi-pedal already.
It is worth noting though that it didn't happen, nor did both of its descendant species the Wuerhosaurus or Hesperosaurus. An analysis of why it didn't happen is worth considering, and I would imagine the following are needed:

One of the main advantages of bi-pedalism is higher height for greater view and for increased resource collection. However, this can be also achieved by longer necks, so this advantage needs to be combined with others.
Another advantage is larger endurance in motion (note: not speed). Bipedal motion is more efficient at longer pursuits, however quadrupeds can reach higher burst speeds and are also more efficient at grazing.
Liberation of upper limbs: Bipedal evolution is accompanied by greater uses for upper limbs for handling, digging, scavenging or even for flight. Food sources altered to ensure requirements of these with increased complexity (such as buried food, or nuts or concealed food that requires manipulation) would satisfy this.

This basically indicates the pressures to evolve bipedal motion should be closely associated with potential food sources being either higher, harder to get to, or more complex requiring handling.
These have happened with dinosaurs many times, and definitely can happen with the Stegosaurus. However grazing at low level food sources must have been plentiful for this not to happen in real life.
Comment: *"Stegosaurus already have hip bones"* indeed, those are really cool bones.
Comment: @Renan Yeah dude, tell me about it they are awesome :)


See previous (untedited) version of the question / answer or mark typos in others posts?

Question: As I'm not a native speaker, I often see that my posts (either questions or answers) get edited. Sometimes people edit my post to fix spelling mistakes / language use errors. What do you think about an option to be able to mark the typos / mistakes that people make in their posts i.e. with a red font? Or, maybe provide a post version history so people could see what the errors in their posts originally were? There is of course the spelling dictionary, but the dictionary fails to catch all of the errors (like phase context related questions or tense related errors). On the other hand, if this feature was already present, I don't know if users would not abuse it to i.e. mark everything in red. What do you think? Also, there is a concern if Stack Exchange should be a content providing site or a site that teaches English language to others.
Answer: If you see a post that has been edited, if you click on the "Edited [Date]" link you will see a list of post revisions. I'll use your question here as an example.
If you click on the link as shown in the red box:

You can see (in red) what was taken out and (in green) what was added.

For more info, have a look at this FaQ entry, "How Does Editing Work?"
Answer: Since others have told you about the edit history, I will speak about editing in general.
I wouldn't worry too much about this, (most) people don't edit posts to stick a finger at you but to make the site more readable for everyone. This is important because StackExchange is not meant as a short-lived forum, but we try to create a body of information that has lasting value. Any text is more usable if there are fewer spelling/grammar problems as these can drastically reduce the readability due to the wiring of our brain, which throws an exception every time it notices an error and  that has to be handled, thus reducing execution (reading) speed :)
I am no native speaker either, and it took some time getting used to the fact that anyone could edit my posts, but I eventually just came over it and accepted that this was for my benefit as well as others.
(BTW: Salutations and closings like "Regards" make it all more likely that someone is going to edit your post, as these are not wanted here because they don't add value.)
Answer: If you click on the date of an edit, it will take you to a page with the whole revision-history of the question:

Leads to this:
https://serverfault.com/posts/342172/revisions
Answer: I think this already exists. If your posts has been edited then you will see a notification to that effect.

If you click on the date of the edit then you will be taken to the /revisions page for the post in question in this case https://serverfault.com/posts/347886/revisions which shows additions in green and removals in red.


Why isn't my PlayStation 3 controller turning on?

Question: I am wanting to use a PS3 controller for emulators like PCSX2. When I plug in my PS3 controller with all of the necessary drivers while fully function and the USB installs drivers which function properly, my controller still isn't turning on. In my Drivers, I see under "Unspecified", "PLAYSTATION (R) 3 CONTROLLER". Is there a way to turn on my PS3 controller without making it go to my console?
Comment: Dumb question: But did you try pressing the PS button on the controller (pressing it once, not holding it)?
Comment: @Powerlord Yes I did.
Comment: Depending on how you installed the driver software, it may be on but the lights may just be inactive. Try going into PCSX2 and fiddling with the Pad settings?
Comment: Also, what steps did you take to install the drivers? Did you use Motioninjoy or did you do a manual method?
Comment: @Kaizerwolf I used Motioninjoy.
Comment: @Kaizerwolf My pad wouldn't show up on Motioninjoy either and just says, "Waiting for Pads to be connected". Is there a way to fix that or use another method?
Comment: Okay, I've had better luck setting things up on my own, following a tutorial from Youtube. I can post a link to the video as an answer, I never had good luck with Motioninjoy.
Answer: Motioninjoy is a risky tool to use - it works well most of the time, but it spawn its own Internet popups and can generally be a pain to maintain. You will need to run Motioninjoy each time you unplug and replug the controller as well. Furthermore, if you leave your device plugged in and Motioninjoy running, blue screen crashes can occur when trying to put a computer to sleep, and sometimes during shutdown.
I have personally had better luck doing things manually, following this tutorial. It walks through step by step what to do. Essentially, it fools the computer into using Xbox 360 controller drivers with a PS3 controller.
Answer: Make sure to check the "Drivers" section of Motionjoy. Check each driver and install them. Then, it should detect your controller!
Comment: I have to do this every time I plug a controller into a different USB slot.  Also sometimes I randomly have to do it again.


how do I select records from a layer that do NOT have features from another layer within them?

Question: I'm trying to find vacant land in my city. I have a layer with buildings and a layer of parcels. I want to create a layer of the parcels that do not have buildings within them. I have tried select by location, but it only gives me parcels that do have buildings. Also, I have at least 80,000 buildings so each time I try a join it takes forever and usually crashes.
Comment: What GIS Software?
Comment: Welcome to gis.stackexchange! Please note that a good question on this site is expected to show some degree of research on your part, i.e. what you have tried and - if applicable - code so far. Also include which software you want to or can use. For more info, you can check our [faq].
Comment: Check out http://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/37406/select-by-not-in-location/37409#37409 Your question sounds very similar.
Comment: Thanks everyone. I'm currently running select by location, with parcels as my target layer and buildings as my source layer. I used the method "contain the source layer feature". Then I'll switch the selection. I think that should get me what I want; it's been running for about 10 minutes so far. Fingers crossed.
Answer: I assume you're using ArcGIS. If your selection gives you all parcels that do have buildings, then you can simply press the "switch selection" button in the attribute table.

Note that the answer in the linked "similar question" doesn't provide any details as to how to go about reversing the selection.
Comment: Good point, I assumed a certain level of familiarity with the UI and interface in ArcMap when I answered that question. I will update it to include more detail.


Bone fracture and remodeling due to psychological stress?

Question: I am reading up on this article:
click
Psychological stress causes bone fracture or the change of habits due to psychological stress cause bone fracture and remodeling?
Comment: Can you please provide a link to that article? It sounds like you're asking for medical advice rather than clarification/verification. Thanks!
Comment: Oops sorry will do!
Comment: What is your question?
Answer: The article you linked to is a review of the literature. Although your questions are related, I'll restate them as if they were independent questions. Please let me know if I'm not reading you correctly.

Can psychological stress cause bone fracture[s]?

The answer is "No." Psychological stress, which causes the release of hormones which may (over a long time) cause bone to weaken, cannot cause bone fractures. Fractures are caused by external stresses on bones obeying the laws of Physics. For example, any bone, healthy or not, will break if pressure of some kind bends or compresses it beyond it's limit to bend/compress. A very common example of this in people of all ages and bone health is a fracture of the distal radius from falling on an outstretched arm, or FOOSH ("fall on an outstretched hand"). We all reflexively stretch out our arm as we fall forwards to help break our fall. Depending on many factors, such as what surface we're falling onto, we may or may not sustain a fracture, but we've all been there. Little kids have less brittle bones, and such a fall commonly results in a "greenstick fracture", which is only partially broken, and on xray resembles the bend you see when a green twig is bent and straightened out again (hence the name). Older people don't get greenstick fractures; they have full fractures if the fall occurs on a hard surface, or under enough pressure (the FOOSH).

Does chronic psychological stress causing a change in habits cause bone fractures?

No. See above.

Does chronic psychological stress causing a change in habits contribute to bone strength and remodeling?

The answer according to the paper (and common sense) is, "In some people, most likely yes."
The paper gives a number of conditions which may well contribute to osteoporosis, a condition causing decreased bone strength. Such a decrease in bone strength means lesser external stresses can and often do cause fractures in those with the condition. Osteoporosis is most common in the elderly. Significantly decreased levels of activity over long periods of time (e.g. that may be present in depression) can contribute to the development of osteoporosis (again, multifactorial.)
I say, "...most likely, yes" because the article is not a study but a review, that is, the authors did not carry out any studies showing a direct cause and effect, but reviewed studies done by others which show a correlation between long term psychological stress (as well as the effects it has on physical behaviors) and osteporosis, which in turn predisposes people to sustain fractures which those with normal bones may not sustain. ("In some people" because it's multifactorial, e.g. sex, activity levels, genetics, and other factors contribute.)
I say "common sense" because there is much evidence in the literature about osteoporosis and fractures, but much less evidence about the effects of psychological stress causing osteoporosis, which is the subject of the review article. But common sense is not evidence.
Evidence informs us that prolonged immobilization (say, someone is in a wheelchair for a year and never uses their legs) leads to osteoporosis in those leg bones.
Evidence informs us that the incidence of fractures increases with osteoporosis.
Evidence informs us that prolonged use of glucocorticoid steroids causes osteoporosis in a percentage of those people (but not which people exactly).
Evidence informs us that psychological stress causes increased levels of glucocorticoids in people.
What evidence does not inform us of is that prolonged psychological stress causes osteoporosis.
We can infer (that is, hypothesize/make an informed guess which requires studies to obtain evidence for causation) that chronic stress may well cause ostoeoporosis in a percentage of sufferers. But a hypothesis requires "proof", through controlled studies, that our guess is correct.
That's why the paper concludes that further study is warranted. Common sense, informed guesses and hypotheses are not evidence.
I answered this question because the OP was kind enough to provide a good link, which is wonderful and fully deserves my respect. I hope that with this answer, people will understand the respective values of "common sense" and "evidence" in science, because so many of us human beings mistakenly think they are one and the same. Stepping down from the soap box now, requesting your grace for this very long... answer. Thanks.
Comment: Great answer!Thank you!
Comment: You're very welcome!


I want to change my gender (transgender) mtf

Question: I am biologically a male and am thankful for this blessing from Allah, alothough I struggle with attraction to males and I have been very feminine since young. A fatwa came out in pakistan giving transgender people the right to marry, and Dr. Shabir Ally whom I listen to said he sees no problem with it. Other shia or sufi and even some sunni scholars have permitted it, but still I am not sure. I asked Allah for a sgin and I actually got one, though still I am uncertain. kuntha (intersex) were not able to marry with ambiguous genitals before surgery was available, does that not mean if a transgender gets surgery they can identify as their chosen gender and get marries, please try to at least understand my position here, if I could I would be very religious and wear a hijab and observe haya, this would prevent me from committing haram as I struggle with many temptations that are for females, Allah tells us the male is not the same as the female, but I feel exactly like a female, does Allah decide our gender or our biological gender, and would this count as a necessity since it would cause me great harm if I don't transition. I really need this, what should I do, thank you!
Answer: These are some Hadith as the basis to prohibit transgender:

Narrated Ibn `Abbas: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) cursed those men who are in the similitude (assume the manners) of women and those women who are in the similitude (assume the manners) of men.

(Sahih Bukhari)

Narrated Ibn 'Abbas:
  "The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) cursed the women who imitate men and the men who imitate women."

(Jami' at-Tirmidhi)

Narrated Ibn 'Abbas: The Prophet (ﷺ) cursed women who imitate men and men who imitate women.

(Sunan Abu Dawud)

It was narrated from Abu Hurairah: that the Messenger of Allah cursed women who imitate men and men who imitate women.

(Sunan Ibn Majah)
Comment: Is there any sin on me if I believe it is halal and other Islamic scholars like Dr. Shabir Ally agree?
Comment: I disagree with Dr. Shabir Ally because he didnt give enough basis for his claim
Comment: Its better to be patient brother, life is short, you'll be asked about pleasure (At-Takathur 102:8)
Comment: I have been patient wallahi, but knowing that there is debate on the issue while for homosexuality it's certain that it's haram, makes me question why I am going through such unnesecary difficulty, I have always wanted to be a girl, I am only attracted to males, does it make sense that I continue living as a male when there is an easier route that may not be haram? Scholars have allowed hermaphrodites to choose their gender if biology isn't clear, our psycholgy dictates our life so much more than out physical appearance, I rlly need to transition. And I pray to Allah, I beg Him to accept this.


Slow and Laggy Animations

Question: Why are my animations laggy and slow on my laptop? AMD Turion tl-56 and HD 3200 with 2 Gig Ram.
Answer: On Unity (before Ubuntu 17.10)
Too much useless animation and effects activated in Unity... Unity3D makes the system extremely slow but only low Graphic Card and/or can actually reproduce the lag and slow animations.
I am in the same case as you because I use an Asus 1215N with a Dual Core ATOM processor and an Intel Graphic card since the Optimus doesn't work natively...
But you can still do some configurations to help a little bit with the problem like this :
When using Unity-3D:

Use the proprietary ATI drivers available in Ubuntu.
After installing ccsm (Compiz Config Settings Manager) :

Disable Sync to VBlank (as mentioned by @duffydack)
In Composite Plugin > Select your Refresh Rate (available at Screen Settings) and then uncheck "Detect Refresh Rate".
In OpenGL > "Texture Filter" select "Fast" instead of "Good", and choose "Texture Compression" (this feature will use a little bite more of the process but will help with graphics so it is at your choose (you can have the 2 options unselected though)

And I think it is all you can do (for me even Unity-2D is slow so I think it is the fault of my processor... even if this problem of slowlyness doesn't occur neither in Gnome-Shell or Windows (but the last one is probably due to the fact that the Nvidia Optimus works and on Linux it doesn't....)
Hope this helps.
Comment: I forget to mentioned the Unity settings in Compiz, you can change the blur to No Blur which will make the Launcher/Lens work better and launch faster.
Answer: use compizconfig-settings-manager to disable vsync
from a terminal type sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager
click the dash, type ccsm, click and run, and in the OpenGL plugin disable Sync to VBlank

Slow and Laggy Animations


Implementing additional function to stack data structure

Question: How would i design a stack which in addition to push() and pop() ,also has a function min which returns the minimums element ? min() must operate in big O(1) time
Comment: I assume you want the push and pop functions to remain O(1)?
Answer: You need an additional stack of minimums. In push, if the new element is less than or equal to the top of the min-stack, push it there too. In pop, if the popped element is equal to the top of the minstack, pop it from there too.
Answer: As pointed out by others, you need to create another stack of minimums. Technically this would still be O(1), but its space would be multiplied by a constant factor of two. This is a python implementation using lists:
class Empty(Exception):
    pass

class MinStack(object):

    def __init__(self):
        self._data = []
        self._min_stack = []

    def __len__(self):
        return len(self._data)

    def is_empty(self):
        return len(self._data) == 0

    def push(self, x):
        if self.is_empty():
            self._min_stack.append(x)
        elif x <= self._min_stack[0]:
            self._min_stack.insert(0,x)
        self._data.append(x)

    def pop(self):
        if self.is_empty():
            raise Empty('Stack is empty')
        if self._min_stack[0] == self._data[-1]:
            del self._min_stack[0]
        return self._data.pop()

    def top(self):
        if self.is_empty():
            raise Empty('Stack is empty')
        return self._data[-1]

    def getMin(self):
        return self._min_stack[0]

if __name__ == '__main__':
    obj = MinStack()
    for i in [0,1,0]:
        obj.push(i)
    obj.getMin()
    obj.pop()
    obj.getMin()


"A video of us playing computer games" or "of we playing"?

Question: I am not sure which one is correct. "A video of us playing computer games" or "of we playing computer games"?
Answer: "Of us."
"We" and "us" are both plural, first-person pronouns, but "we" is only ever subjective. "Us" is objective.
Try taking out some of the extra description, and look at the phrase, "a video of us." The subject is the video, and it is described in part by being "of us." That makes "us" an object.
Now... You may be confused because "a video of us playing computer games" seems to make "us" the subject of another predicate, "playing computer games." That doesn't change the fact that "us" is the object of the video.
Only when you're referring to yourselves as the subject of the entire sentence do you say "we."


Is a weakly separable group always Lindelöf?

Question: By "weakly separable" I mean the notion for uniform spaces used by David Wigner and Lawrence Brown: a uniform space is weakly separable if any uniform cover has a countable subcover. For a topological group $G$ this means for any open set $U$ in $G$, the cover $\{gU\}_{g \in G}$ has a countable subcover, or equivalently every cover $\{Ug\}_{g \in G}$ has a countable subcover. Thank you.
Answer: Let's take the group $G = \mathbb Z^T$, where $T$ is an uncountable set.
Is $G$ weakly separable?  Yes: If $U$ is any neighborhood of $0$ in $G$, then there exists a finite set $T_0 \subset T$ so that
$$
U \supseteq V := \{\phi \in G \colon \phi(t)=0 \text{ for all } t \in T_0\}
$$
Countably many translates of $V$ cover $G$: namely translates by all $\psi \in G$ supported by $T_0$.
If $G$ Lindelof?   No.  Steen & Seebach, Example 103.
Comment: OK $\delta$ can be removed.  My first version was $\mathbb R^T$, and $\delta$ was used for the neighborhood.
Comment: Thank you! I'm not sure what $\delta$ has to do with it though....


Mirror bevel profile type

Question: How can I Set the profile type to be mirrored along an axis for a vertex bevel? Or should I use a mirror modifier?
Comment: it was for an arch, but the miter shape didn't have the shape i wanted, note that the curve i use was for making a point, not the intended shape i wanted to use
Comment: Can you tell us what this is for? The custom bevel profile isn't always the easiest tool to use..
Answer: As an alternative to a mirrored custom bevel..
Non-destructive work on modified curves has always been a bit of a problem in Blender, because constructive modifiers convert curves to meshes.
I wonder whether this kind of workflow might work for you. First of all, in GN, it converts  whatever geometry you give it, to curves:

.. and then sweeps the modified geometry with a provided object:

.. which means, whatever objects are used for path and profile can be under modifiers themselves, (including a Mirror) before being used:

.. as the path (above), or the profile, (below):
Comment: wow thanks for the detailed explanation

Mirror bevel profile type


How to add custom metadata to the files of Onedrive?

Question: I indexed some sample html, pdf, text files into Onedrive.I need to add new properties fileds and values to those files. How can i do this. can anyone please suggest a solution.
Answer: Adding custom metadata is not supported in OneDrive. The oneDrive is something like a windows folder in the cloud.
There is an open uservoice regarding this requirement in the oneDrive forum - but no clear answer yet.
How can we improve the OneDrive Developer Platform?
The latest reply from Microsoft about the above requirement:
"We have a preview of custom metadata for OneDrive Personal available now. We're definitely interested in feedback on the approach and how apps will use it!"
As per September 2017 - update from Microsoft regarding the custom metadata as below:
"Custom facets provide a way for you to store your own metadata on items. This can be used to keep track of custom state alongside an item, hold a link to a related item in another system, and various other things. Just like OneDrive's own facets, custom facets follow a schema so that you can be sure the data stays consistent and valid, even when used with multiple apps."
MSDN Source:
Custom facets (preview)
Comment: I used microsoft graph api to add new folder and new file to onedrive. But i did not find how to add custom properties to existing files.


Is it possible for a server to execute a contract call but for a user to pay the gas fees?

Question: I have a smart contract which contains a function called "withdraw" - which basically increases a users balance by X amount of an ERC20 token. The user can decide how much to withdraw by passing a variable "amount" to the function. However, a centralised app must check to ensure that the user can "withdraw" this amount. I was hoping that the user could basically sign a transaction that they wish to "withdraw" X tokens, pass this signature to the server which would then run the check and execute the function. This way the user pays the gas fees but the server can ensure they are permitted to execute the function. Is this flow possible? Ideally without using an oracle like Chainlink
Answer: This sounds like an effort to revise the business rules after the contract has been deployed. You'll find that difficult or impossible.
It would be possible to send a signed txn to a server, but it won't be possible to ensure that users do so when they can go directly to the contract. You can't rely on users using a certain UI or backend to enforce business rules or security principles.
It would be possible to write the contract in such a way that only the server is allowed to interact with the contract and the server is trusted with determining which user each transaction is concerned with, possibly by inspecting a signature. That would re-introduce centralization and a single point of failure which might not be an acceptable design decision. In any case, it can't be done to an already deployed contract that works another way.
Hope it helps.
Answer: I don't think that is possible--whoever is executing the transaction will pay the gas fees. You can use a merkle tree or something similar to distribute rewards to all users using only one transaction, allowing them to claim them themselves.


erlang distributed programming

Question: I have an application which has the following requirement.
During the running of my Erlang App. on the fly I need to start one or more remote nodes either on the local host or a remote host.
I have looked at the following options
1) For starting a remote node on the local host either use the slave module or the net_kernel:start() API.
However with the latter , there seems to be no way to specify options like boot script file name etc.
2) In any case I don't need the slave configuration as I need to mimic similar behaviour of nodes spawned on local as
well as remote hosts. In my current setup, I dont have permissions to rsh to the remote host. The workaround i can think of is to have
a default node running on the remote host so as to enable remote node creation either through spawn or rpc:async_call and os:cmd
combination
Is there any other API interface to start erl ?
I am not sure this is the best or the cleanest way to solve this problem and I would like to know the Erlang approach to the same?
Thanks in advance
Comment: I would like to clarify that net_kernel:start() is used to convert a non distributed node to distributed node (already running node) and not to start a remote node. So cannot take boot scripts or any other options.
Answer: There is pool module which might help you, however it utilizes slave module (thereof rsh).

erlang distributed programming


Help: Issue with attaching multiple attachment controls in PowerApp form

Question: I am trying to migrate InfoPath forms library to a PowerApp form in SharePoint list. InfoPath forms library have xml files saved in SharePoint which contains many attachments linked to separate fields. But when i am checking in PowerApps then in PowerApps only way to attach files is using attachment control from an Edit Form of a list which will attach all files from a single place. Is it possible to have multiple attachment controls in a form to attach files and store them in backend SharePoint list? Please help as i am new to PowerApps development.
Answer: Currently, within PowerApps, we could only add single one Attachments control within the Edit form. In addition, the Upload functionality of Attachments control only work in Edit form.
If you want to add multiple Attachments Data cards within your Edit form, and submit attachment files to your SP list, I afraid that there is no way to achieve your needs in PowerApps currently.
Actually, if you want to upload multiple files to one record of your SP list as attachments, you could add/upload multiple files within the single one Attachments control.

More details about the usage of Attachments control in PowerApps, please check the following blog:

https://powerapps.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/add-attachments-to-sharepoint-lists/

More details about Attachments control, please check the following article:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/maker/canvas-apps/controls/control-attachments
Comment: Thanks @EchoDu_MSFT for your response. I believe then my requirement is not possible with PowerApps. I tried using multiple attachment controls in new form by copying attachment data card, but there seems to be no way to display documents in edit form in respective sections as they are getting stored in backend item in one field only. Is there any other alternative you can suggest for achieving this functionality so that we can submit and show files in individual sections of the form?
Comment: Hi Adarsh. According to my research and testing, there is currently no better way to achieve your needs. In SharePoint Online only supports a single one Attachments control within the Edit form.


What can you do to slow/stop the decline in chess ability with age?

Question: Prompted by Hauke's question about papers on the influence of aging on chess. Those answers demonstrated that decline sets in sometime in the 40's and starts getting steeper in the 50's. There appeared to be no research on what it is about getting older that makes players weaker chess players. What is it about getting older that does that and so what can we do to slow down the process?
Answer: As a 66 year-old this has particular relevance for me. First, some anecdotal evidence of what I have observed in other players.
First, the case of a player I first met in the late 90's when he was in his 50's and rated about 2200. By the early to mid teens when I was arbiting tournaments he was playing in he was down to about 2050 or lower. I noticed that tactically he was still very sharp but his energy was down. One game in particular stood out. He reached a critical position where a pawn break had to be calculated, after his opponent's move changed the dynamics, as a way to achieve an advantage. The position was complicated and would take some time to calculate out but he had plenty of time on the clock. I settled down to try and calculate myself what would happen while waiting for him to do the same. To my surprise after about 20 seconds he flashed out a nothing, waiting, move. H eventually reached a pawn up queen and pawns endgame, overpressed and lost to a lower rated but much younger opponent, one with the patience and stamina to do the hard work.
Second case, the oldest player in my club, an 86 year-old who I have known for more than 50 years since we both played for the same team in another club. At his peak he was about 2100 strength and now he is down to about 1800. He has type 2 diabetes and crippling arthritis in his knees. As well as many friendly quick games I have played several serious standard time control games against him. I know the best time to play him is in the last round of a weekend tournament. Sure, I will be tired but he much more so and I am pretty much guaranteed at least a draw and should really win.
Talking to him, he takes pain killers for his arthritis and they dull his mind at the same time as they dull the pain but the pain also dulls his mind. His solution is to take the painkillers long enough before the game for the brain fog to wear off before the painkilling effects do.
In both cases what is going on is clear. The brain is an integral part of the body. When the body starts to deteriorate so does the mind. What affects the body also affects the brain. Mens sana in corpore sano (a healthy mind in a healthy body), as the old Latin saying goes.
Now for some related research. I found this YouTube video by an Australian doctor, Paul Mason, whose main interests lie in sports physiology and nutrition. After the main talk, given to a Low Carbohydrate conference, he discusses with a South African professor of sports medicine. This discussion is also very interesting. Although the main topic is dementia and nutrition, as he says, decline in brain function starts long before dementia starts to manifest.
Here is a summary of the main points of the video.

Dementia is believed to be the result of beta amyloid plaques in the brain
Healthy beta amyloids are crucial to the proper function of the brain
Plaquing of the beta amyloids is caused by glycation and oxidation
Gycation is the process of damage due to excess levels of glucose and particularly fructose in the blood
Oxidation is primarily the effect of polyunsaturated fats, particularly seed oils.
Despite being about 5% of the body weight the brain burns 20% of the body's energy and will prefer ketones to glucose. When it burns glucose it depends on insulin.
The body will only manufacture ketones from fats when glucose levels are low.
Insulin resistance, the process whereby insulin receptors in the body stop responding to normal levels of insulin, when it occurs in the brain starves the brain of energy from glucose. In the absence of ketones that means the brain is just starved of energy
Insulin resistance develops over time as a result of prolonged high levels of glucose in the body. These high levels are the result of a high carbohydrate diet.
Insulin resistance leads to hyperglycaemia, type 2 diabetes and eventually type 3 diabetes aka dementia.

The conclusion from the talk is that a ketogenic diet, one which is low in carbohydrate and low in seed oils, will both help prevent dementia and alleviate the symptoms if it has already set in. Good amounts of healthy sleep are also important along with moderate exercise for good brain health.
Bottom line: you need a healthy brain to play your best chess.
Answer: I think the main thing is that tactical and calculation abilities get weaker. To slow down the process, I suppose practicing tactics (and calculation exercises from books) should help, in order to counterbalance the natural decline in these areas.
The good news though is that as players get older, their greater experience can help with their intuition. It doesn't fully make up for the decline in other areas, but it helps somewhat.
Answer: "Tactics" (answer by InertialIgnorance) is the answer most people give. (It would be very interesting project to let a single proband make a standardized tactics test with different age. Another, maybe easier, test might be to check the difference between tournament and blitz Elo, since blitz is much more tactics-prone.)
This (people are different, duh) is not necessarily the only possible answer. Personally, I spot a growing risk aversion (positions where I offered a draw, where Young Hauke would fought red in tooth and claw - and scored more than 50% in average). Naturally, this costs Elo points either! (For fun, I googled how you can train risk taking, but on a fleeting look I only found "swearing". Well, kiss my bishop pair :-)
Comment: I definitely took more draws when doing in person tournaments.  I wanted to conserve mental energy for the next round.
Answer: From my own experience it is the loss of speed and precision of calculation. I have to work at tactics I used to just see.  I have stopped playing over-the-board tournaments.  I now only play "postal" chess where I have more time for safety checks.  I am better than I have ever been at strategic positional play and endings.
As Inertial Ignorance mentioned practicing tactics helps.  I do more tactic puzzles now than I ever have.
Answer: It is urgent that we understand that if bad health increases, brain skill decreases. This happens at any age. However, it is not the same if we start to take care of our health when we are senior adults than if we start to take care of our health since our childhood. What we can do? Health education will motivate us because if we understand the effect of bad habits, it will be easier to replace bad habits with good habits. Sleep well, reduce stress, do exercise, good nutrition, eliminate smoking, alcohol, and drugs. We need to do aerobic exercise, but also anaerobic exercise. Some research suggest that anaerobic is fundamental. I would say that we need to do both. Besides this, there is research that we need to put our brain outside of our comfort zone.  Challenge your brain! Do not play blitz. Only classical chess. Most of chess players have convinced themselves, for convinience, that blitz and classical chess are the same, but they are not. About chess games, I play a daily chessgame, 5+30, on lichess.org. Do not focus on the results. Just play one game per day and analyze it. Try hard to discover and learn from your mistakes. If you have enough financial resources, hire a nutritionist and a chess trainer. You can get online chess lessons for $10 per hour. It is a myth that we cannot improve. If you have time, learn a new language, learn to play a musical instrument, study the great philosophers, and the great mathematicians. It is extremely important to study the last research about the brain and health in general. Subscribe to American Mind, a magazine specialized in brain health. In chess, more important than reading is to solve exercises without time limit. I had the opportunity to listen a lecture from one of the best chess trainers of the world, Ramachandran Ramesh, he emphasized that puzzle exercises are important if you get 100% or you are close. So, quality is more important than quantity. Puzzle rush, it is a very bad idea because, according to Ramachandran Ramesh,  you "learn to be mediocre." We need to fight to achieve excellence. Puzzles are extremely difficult and helpful. There are excellent books. Do middlegames and endgames puzzles. I like Maxim Blokh, Mark Dvoretsky, and Steve Giddins books. But, there are fantastic books written by John Nunn, Jonathan Speelman, Jacob Aagaard, Boris Gelfand, Boris Gulko, etc. It is important to do 50% endgames, 50% middlegames. If you have time do as many as possible every day. However, if you do not have good health, your chess ability will decline no matter what you do. Physical and mental health must be your priority! Best of luck!


About UART one transmitter multiple receivers

Question: I have vector nav vn100 IMU that sends data serially rs232...I want to drive 4 servo motors using atmega32 upon roll angel from vector nav vn100..atmega32 can only drive 2 servos using hardware fast pwm mode 14...so I should to use two atmega32...so I should receive the vn100 message to the two atmega32...my question is ..does UART rs323 support one transmitter multiple receivers?
Answer: If you do not need the control lines, and the communication is only one
way, then yes, you can connect the TX (transmit) of the IMU to the RX
(receive) of both microcontrollers. On the other hand, connecting one RX
to multiple TX is likely to burn something.
Note however that the ATmega MCUs do not support RS-232 communication.
If you want to go this way, you will then have to attach an RS-232
transceiver to each MCU. If the distances are short (say, a few
centimeters), I would recommend using "serial TTL" instead.
Comment: Thank you very much...I am so thankful for your help...


Using WebMatrix and Visial Studio 2010 on a Razor project

Question: I am having problems using both WebMatrix and VS on a Razor project. I have downloaded and installed all updates from the official ASP.net web site. After getting the project to compile in VS I get the following error:
"The type of page you have requested is not served because it has been explicitly forbidden.  The extension '.cshtml' may be incorrect."
Now when I open the project in WebMatrix I receive the same error. I can open/run other projects in WebMatrix without errors so apparently VS changed some configuration in my project?
Fortunately I have found a work around but the problem is still not solved.
1) Create a new empty folder for site.
2) Copy contents of folder from failing site.
3) In WebMatrix use option "Site From Folder".
Once I have the site up and running with the above steps I can delete the original folder, then rename the new folder (which is now working) to the orig name and the site will stop working again. There is some setting on my system tied to the original folder name that is stopping cshtml files from being served. What/Where is that setting?
Thanks, Terrence Koehn
Comment: What version of IIS are you using?
Comment: Also IIS 5.1 when using VS2010 or at least that's my understanding.
Answer: If you don't have a .cshtml file on the root folder of your web app, then you need this setting there explicitly:
<code>    <appSettings>
        <add key="webpages:Enabled" value="true" />
    </appSettings>
</code>
Answer: You can try adding this setting in local web.config:
<code><system.webServer>
  <modules runAllManagedModulesForAllRequests="true"/>
</system.webServer>
</code>


Why do single band 10 meter radios exist?

Question: I wonder why special radios for 10 meter band are manufactured?
On the one hand - any fully-fledged HF transceiver includes 10 meter band.
On the other hand there are no only "15 meter band" or only "80 meter band" radios.
What is so special with 10 meters?
Why are radios done specifically for this band?
Comment: I'll just remark that *any* question of the type "why does commercial device XYZ exist, but not commercial device ABC, though both are technical feasible" is going to be answered with "market forces, dominating technical aspects" – no matter what XYZ and ABC are; every single time!
Comment: In that aspect, this question is very similar to the question [why don't monolithic HF transceiver ICs exist?](https://ham.stackexchange.com/questions/10193/why-dont-monolithic-hf-transceiver-ics-exist/10197#10197) (which by the way is a nice question that deserves being read)
Answer: There are several factors that contribute to this:
CB radio and 10 meters are very close to each other.
CB radios operate in the range of 26.965 to 27.405 MHz; the 10 meter band occupies 28.000 to 29.700 MHz.
If you look at the major manufacturers of 10 meter radios, you won't find the usual suspects for ham radio (Icom, Yaesu, and Kenwood), but you will find the usual CB manufacturers (President, Ranger, Galaxy).
Most (perhaps all?) of the 10 meter-only radios that you'll find are based on CB radio designs that are slightly modified by the manufacturer to address the 10 meter amateur band.
There are audiences that only care about 10 meters (at least out of the HF bands).
Many CB radio fans consider a 10 meter radio "a better CB than a CB" because the band is often less congested and the allowed power is higher, resulting in better signal over an increased range.
An entry-level Technician class license only gets voice privileges on one HF band, namely 10 meters.
The 10 meter band is among the easiest for experimentation and homebrew.
Because the frequencies are low (still HF) and antennas can be relatively short (just over 16' for a dipole), 10 meters is a great band for experimenting. It's relatively simple to homebrew simple transmitters and effective antennas.
10 meters is highly impacted by the sunspot cycle. At the peak of the cycle, there are occasions where you can find yourself in a surprise DX call using simple (and sometimes even low power) 10 meter gear.
Comment: Looks like I wasn't so wrong, then. :)
Comment: @tomnexus Good catch! Fixed.
Answer: To use parts of N7QB's answer

CB radio and 10 meters are very close to each other.
CB radios operate in the range of 26.965 to 27.405 MHz; the 10 meter band occupies 28.000 to 29.700 MHz.

Most (perhaps all?) of the 10 meter-only radios that you'll find are based on CB radio designs that are slightly modified by the manufacturer to address the 10 meter amateur band.

With those facts, this is the key: The close frequency range allows CBers to modify these radios to illegally operate at higher powers on the CB band.
In the US, CB is allowed a maximum 4 watts PEP. The 10-meter radios are  are advertised as 200-300 watts PEP and use ham's loose equipment certification rules as a loophole. The extra power is not just to merely talk longer distances but often to break over other users.
Other features that make these radios obviously CB radios are echo and effects beeps, and they suspiciously have 40 fixed channels.
A simpler method is to use a single-band 10 M linear amplifier, as it's nearly plug-and-play. FCC blocked this with Part 97.317, prohibiting ham radio amplifiers from having any gain in the CB band (26 MHz-28 MHz) or be easily modified to do so.
My opinion is because they exist due to CB manufacturers and CB users taking advantage of Ham Radio's open rules to do something illegal, I wouldn't touch one. This has already hurt hams: many HF amplifiers are completely blocked from the 10 meter band out of the factory, because it is technically difficult to block just the CB band.
Answer: I don't know of anything specifically authoritative that answers this, but I can make a guess.
For US based amateur radio enthusiasts, the 10 meter band is the only band below 30 Mhz that a technician can operate on voice using SSB.  If I were a technician wanting to operate on voice, a radio that supports only 10 meters would be very attractive to me.
I would imagine that this was even more attractive before the CW requirements were removed for higher level classes.


Forwarding signals to child processes

Question: I have a shell script that starts an ssh session to a remote host and pipes the output to another, local script, like so:
#!/bin/sh
ssh user@host 'while true ; do get-info ; sleep 1 ; done' | awk -f parse-info.awk

It works fine. I run it under the 'supervise' program from djb's daemontools. The only problem is shutting down the daemon. If I terminate the process for this shell script, the ssh and awk processes continue running as orphans. Normally I would solve this problem with exec to replace the supervising shell process, but the two processes run in their own subshells and can't replace the shell process.
What I would like to do is have the supervising shell script 'forward' any signals it receives to at least one of the child processes, so that I can break the pipe and shut down cleanly. Is there an easy way to do this?
Answer: Inter process communications.
You should be looking at pipes, etc.

Forwarding signals to child processes


Where do I ask questions about specific graduate schools and chances of admission?

Question: I am currently a sophomore, but just looking for some statistics on graduate school admissions, and if possible chances tailored to my own statistics.
Comment: You can flag the moderators to migrate your question to meta. I just did it for you.
Answer: There are dozens of forums on grad school in general and for schools in specific fields in particular, where you can ask such questions. Try searching Google for "What are my chances of getting into university [X]" and you will find plenty of them.
Whether you will find this exercise useful or not is another question entirely. See: http://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/23061-before-you-ask-what-are-my-chances/
Comment: The reason I'm asking is that the particular program I am most interested in is a small program that does not post statistics online, but is at a very well-known university nonetheless. So, there isn't really much data to go from - I really don't know anything about my chances, or even if I have a chance.
Comment: Actually, this isn't true. In many academic fields it is *extremely* hard to find information about PhD program admissions. TheGradCafe is a little sparse.
Answer: It seems like this could be a good question for the main site. I am not sure why it was migrated to meta. It would take a little bit of work to make it clear that your are not asking on AC.SE for your chances for acceptance, but rather how to evaluate your chance for admission. My other concern would be that the question would become a poll type question asking for recommendations of other forums.


How to price OTC swaps to hedge non-economic cashflow variability

Question: Suppose we have a stochastic cashflow $X_t$ from a portfolio of contracts with clients. We can simulate from $X_t$ and can calculate $E[X_t], \forall t \in [1,n]$ where $n$ represents the longest maturity of all contracts in the portfolio. The cashflow variability arises from the unexpected behavior of clients since clients have embedded options in the contract to quit the contract early et cetera. Suppose we would like to hedge the variability of such cashflows using a swap contract. We might enter into an OTC swap contract if we find a counterparty that takes on the deviation of the cashflow with the expected cashflow, let's say one leg paying $X_t-E[X_t]$ and the other leg pays $E[X_t] + \pi$, where $\pi$ is the premium paid for the contract. How would one price such a contract, i.e. determine $\pi$ ? Note that we can assume we can simulate from $X_t$.
Answer: One example of this situation might be pricing mortgages where we know the expected prepayment rate, but it could vary either to the high side or the low side, and there is no way to hedge the residual risk using other financial instruments.  Essentially we are asking how to price unhedgable risk, so I would think that you have to look at the riskiness of the flow, as measured to first order by the standard deviation $E[(X_t-E[X_t])^2]$,  Denoting this by $\sigma$, one could propose that $\pi=k\sigma$ for some value of $k$, where $k$ is a measure of risk aversion.
Comment: Indeed, I am thinking about bringing utility functions in the picture and trying to solve it for certain types of utility functions.. thanks..


To repair or not repair?

Question: I drive a 2005 Honda Civic DX, 166k miles. My clutch was having problems over the past few weeks, it would shudder the entire car when i would let it out from 1st and 2nd gear. It has since stopped and is now operating normally. Should I get it repaired or just live with it and hope it doesn't happen in the future?
Answer: Here's an opinion
I look at the clutch as an expendable item.  It has a life span, similar to a break pad.  I've typically called them consumables.  Chains and sprockets on motorcycles, brake pads, clutches and timing belts on cars...they all have a lifespan that is relatively short in comparison to the core of the vehicle, like the frame and body.
Answer
Replace the clutch, it's a part of the cost of owning a vehicle.  The amount of mileage on it is irrelevant.  The ability of the car to do it's job is.  If the vehicle is falling apart and this is just another component that is failing on a long list, you might want to cut your losses and get rid of it.  If it's been relatively reliable and has continued to perform it's duty of getting you from point A to point B then perhaps it's good investment to keep your reliable vehicle continuing to be a reliable vehicle.  Good luck, hope this helps.
Answer: That shudder does not have to be from the clutch.  I had a broken ball joint and that caused a shudder when accelerating at low speeds.  A clutch issue should affect the car at all speeds, but it really depends on severity.

To repair or not repair?


Specific word for "marchamo"?

Question: I want to know if there is a specific word in English to refer to the action that some countries do, paying an annual fee in order to have permission to circulate on the principal roads or highways in a country. Here in Costa Rica we call it "Marchamo". I haven't found it. Thank you. :)
Comment: Please clarify your specific problem or provide additional details to highlight exactly what you need. As it's currently written, it's hard to tell exactly what you're asking.
Comment: Also, since this is a "single word request," can you add an example sentence with a blank where the word would go? That way we can understand if you're looking for a noun or a verb — like *I have a sticker* vs. *I am stickered*.
Comment: How is that permission designated? Here, we have physical "stickers" or electronic "transponders" to track our permissions.
Comment: Terminology for this kind of thing varies considerably between countries (certainly when you are talking about a country's own scheme for licensing/taxing/registering/testing/approving vehicles), so it would help if you could say which English-speaking country you want. Also, what exactly are you paying for - is it to be able to use a vehicle on any public road, or a toll payable on certain highways or in certain areas, or a tax for car owners? Is there a test of road-worthiness involved?
Answer: The Spanish word means this in Spanish per the DRAE:

Del ár. hisp. máršam 'hierro para marcar', y este del arameo ršam 'grabar'.

m. Señal o marca que se pone en los fardos o bultos en las aduanas, como prueba de que están despachados o reconocidos.

m. Marca que se pone a ciertos productos, especialmente a los embutidos.

From which it follows that un marchamo is a customs stamp or a duty stamp, like to show that you paid some necessary fee to get some package into the country or to approve its safety under import such as for agricultural products that might otherwise contain pests or be quarantined. It can also be a stamp granted by other licensing authorities, such as for a state-licensed health inspection of some sort.
It sounds like in Costa Rica it's also being used for an annual vehicle registration sticker so that you can legally drive that vehicle in whatever jurisdiction. That doesn't sound like much of a reach to me from what the DRAE says.
I'm presuming it's affixed to your vehicle, in which case I would probably just call it your annual vehicle registration sticker.  If it is just something with an official stamp or seal that you carry on your person or in the vehicle's storage compartment, I would probably call it an annual vehicle registration card instead.
Answer: From a discussion at wordreference.com
wordreference.com sp-eng marchamo
about the phrase "pagar el marchamo", there is a link to Wikipedia "road tax":
Wikipedia road tax
from subhead Costa Rica:
"The Costa Rican car property tax, commonly referred to as Marchamo, is among the highest in Latin America, with rates that can go up to 3.5% of the fiscal value of the vehicle yearly."
In the U.S., a car must have registration, symbolized by a document and a license plate, and those show that the annual property tax on the vehicle was paid.
The highlighted English words may not be single word equivalents of marchamo, and one may not exist.
Comment: In the UK the formal name is [vehicle excise duty](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_Excise_Duty), commonly car tax, but you'd just say "I taxed my car."
Comment: @StuartF In the US it goes by various names depending on the jurisdiction. In Massachusetts we pay a registration fee to the state and an excise tax (aka property tax) to the city/town.

Specific word for "marchamo"?


users change their passwords

Question: how can i let users change their passwords on windows 2003 and 2008 file servers through the network?
Comment: Are the servers and workstations in a Windows domain?
Answer: If they're in an AD domain (I sure hope that they are), then all they have to do is hit Ctrl-Alt-Delete and then click "change password". If your users aren't on the domain, then I believe you may just need to allow users to RDP to the servers in question and then change their password that way.
Answer: Assuming Active Directory:
If you are running Exchange, they can use OWA to change passwords.
Why can't they use Ctrl-Alt-Del?  Are they Macs?  I have my Mac users use OWA.
Another option is to set the expiration interval,  they should get a prompt to change their password, and the prompt will have a button to change it...

users change their passwords


Settings or something on Nouveau driver?

Question: I'm on Ubuntu GNOME 15.04 and Nouveau driver is set by default. I don't want to set Nvidia proprietary driver because of my little fear (I broke my pc a while ago on 14.04 only trying to set it on "additional drivers" menu, a plague to restore it on recovery terminal).
Then, Nouveau isn't that shame, so I don't need to change driver, but it hasn't got any graphic settings or something like nvidia-settings. I only use the command xgamma -gamma n for gamma settings because my display is really too bright.
Can I do something? Is there any application or tweak?
Answer: I tried this on my laptop:
sudo apt-get install xbacklight

then
xbacklight -set 80

This set my brightness to 80%. You could find a good value then add the "xbacklight -set xx" code to your startup session commands? That would set a value on logon you liked.
Kind regards,
Pete


Compressing a string in C# and Decompressing it in Actionscript

Question: I am new to programming (have mostly worked with ASP.Net) and have been trying to compress a string in C# and decompress it in ActionScript for quite some time now.
I Was Successful with Zlib but need another implementation for the same using a different Compression Algorithm.
I tried Gzip using this code in C# :  http://madskristensen.net/post/Compress-and-decompress-strings-in-C.aspx
i got the output Displayed in a label to copy it and pasted the same in actionscript using http://probertson.com/projects/gzipencoder/
i converted the input string into a bytearray first using the base64 library :http://garry-lachman.com/2010/04/21/base64-encoding-class-in-actionscript-3/  and then passed it to the gzip encoder.
But i get an error where it says that the input is not in gzip format.
i am also trying to use LZW Compression with no success in compressing in LZW in C#.
so have not tried LZW Decompression in ActionScript Either.
So .... i.m stuck at : I need to compress a string in C# and Decompress it in ActionScript using a compression Method other than ZLib. ... Kindly Guide.
Comment: Why can't you use zlib if that works?
Answer: maybe there is a problem with the string encoding. Do you have utf8 in actionscript? Or you could change the encoding in your c# encoder. Maybe: Encoding.GetEncoding("iso-8859-1");
also make sure that both of your base64 implementations work correctly with each other. So I would make a test case using only those two base64 implementations
Comment: Thanks ... I managed to get LZW compression working by porting the Compression Code in ActionScript to C#.


Commerce View + Multiple products on product_reference field

Question: i'm having troubles at making a custom view of some products i have in my commerce.
Here is a simple example:
I have 1 T-shirt, with 4 colors. Each color has it's own price (they are all different), and it's own images (4 images per t-shirt).
Now, i need something like this
And my real design is this one
I just seen, that Views can't be used since there is now way to replicate the default node functionality, since every field won't refresh (remember there are 4 variables...prices and images)
I can use a "custom node-type.tpl.php", and make some custom "field-field-name.tpl.php" too, to make my design.......BUT how do i add an image gallery per product???
hope it's clear, i do not speak english.
thanks for everthing.
Answer: If anyone need an image gallery for commerce, and you have a node referencing multiple product which have multiple images, Image zoom is the correct module.


upgrade v. 2.8.5 to latest version of wordpress

Question: Is it possible to upgrade WordPress version 2.8.5 to 3.9.2? I am trying to upgrade but the WordPress give me the link to download the latest version of WordPress. If it is possible, how am I going to upgrade my version 2.8.5 to 3.9.5?
Thanks in advance.
Answer: Visit http://your-domain.com/wp-admin/update-core.php and look for the heading "An updated version of WordPress is available."
Below that there should a button for "Update Now". You can update by hitting that button.
If it's not there then you will have to manually update your website. For that instructions are here.
https://codex.wordpress.org/Updating_WordPress#Manual_Update
Comment: Thanks but I tried to click the button 'Update Now', and there's a provided link. It says you have to download the newest version of WordPress and it gives me an empty dashboard.
Okay so for now, I need to do the manual update because the button Upgrade didn't upgrade the version I want
Comment: Yes, in that case you will have to update manually. It's not big a deal. You just need to be little careful, that's all. And also keep a backup before manually updating because it's very easy to make mistakes in this process. :)
Comment: if you don't mind, do you have tutorial in wordpress? about adding categories that have a link and redirect to other page. I am a newbie here in wordpress and I don't know how to use anything in wordpress hehe
Comment: sorry, I do not know any such tutorial.