List cron jobs in Magento 2

Question: I am looking for a way to list all magento 2 cron jobs. Is it available somewhere easy to review?
Answer: You can run n98-magerun2 command line utility to list all cronjobs.
If you run the following command in your magento installation, it will display all the cronjobs available in your magento.
n98-magerun2 sys:cron:list
For more detailed tutorial, please visit my medium article.
Comment: This is what I use, very useful tool!
Comment: Third party tool but still, I agree that it's very useful. Perfect for development
Comment: should be n98-magerun2.phar sys:cron:list for now.
Comment: This is not working for me.. I am not sure whether this is available at present or not. I have downloaded this plugin but "n98-magerun2 sys:cron:list" command says "bash: n98-magerun2: command not found".
Answer: I decided to get cron jobs list by performing following simple query on a database:
select job_code from cron_schedule GROUP BY job_code;

but it's neither handy nor detailed. Maybe somebody has a better idea...
Answer: @Luke I needed to review CRON jobs too and I couldn't find any simple solution.
I went the lazy way and used grep to find all <job> entries and put them into one file for easier review:
grep -r -A 2 "<job" . > cron.txt

It's not a great solution, but it may help at this point.
Answer: You can check following URLs for cron job in Magento 2.

http://devdocs.magento.com/guides/v2.0/config-guide/cli/config-cli-subcommands-cron.html
http://inchoo.net/magento-2/running-cron-jobs-in-magento-2/

Get cron list from database using following SQL query:

select job_code from cron_schedule GROUP BY job_code;
Comment: The question is about listing active cron jobs, not running them or creating new ones.
Answer: Inspired by Wojtek Naruniec's answer (https://magento.stackexchange.com/a/198682/104439), but tweaked a bit to skip irrelevant directories, and avoid the redirected file from reading itself;
grep -r -A 2 "<job" app/code/ vendor/ > var/system_cronjobs.txt

Run from the M2 root directory and it will get any system cron jobs that run during cron:run executions. Plus dump to var/ so it works on MCloud as well.

List cron jobs in Magento 2


What happens if both players get to 7 points at the same time?

Question: Let's say the runner and corp are both at 4 points.  The runner is tagged.  The runner runs on archives and accesses 3 Quantum Predictive Models and a Restructured Data Pool.  This would put both players at 7 points.  Who wins?
Answer: The runner chooses who wins (and presumably chooses themselves) with the order they access they access the cards.  From the Rules Reference:

When the Runner accesses cards in Archives, the Runner turns
  all cards faceup in Archives, then accesses and resolves each
  card in Archives one by one in the order of their choosing.

Also, as @LScottJohnson Points out in the comments:

"If the Runner scores an agenda that gives him seven or more points, he immediately wins the game, even if he would otherwise access more cards."
Comment: And note the further exposition in the rules: "If the Runner scores an agenda that gives him seven or more points, he immediately wins the game, even if he would otherwise access more cards."
Answer: The example in the question and the question from title itself don't really connect, as Zags' answer shows - in that scenario both players never have 7 points simultaneously.
More fitting example would be: swapping Global Food Initiative for Merger using Exchange of Information, and in that case per Damon Stone ruling the game ends in a tie Source:
Another similar scenario might occur in a game with Harmony Medtech. While Employee Strike is in effect both players can reach 6 points without ending the game, then if Employee Strike ends, Harmony Medtech ability becomes active again and ends the game in a tie.


Research: Learning about the audience and identifying user needs

Question: I am starting work on a new website project that is a website for a design agency and I want to understand how can I get to users? How to understand the target audience, so I can use research methods?
Answer: You should start by asking yourself who is the ideal user, customer and build on that.
Are they business owners , what type of business would need a design agency ? If they are companies what type of person would hold a decision taking position inside the company ? etc. Ask Who they are, What they do, Why they do it , How they do it
What they like etc.
Try to identify users that fit this profiles and try to interview them and start thinking of how their design problems can be solved.
Answer: The more specific and identifiable your target segment, the less time it will take to understand their needs. A quick gauge –  can you think of at least 10 people who fit the profile you have in mind?
And you will probably need to do a few iterations of defining this audience and talking to them before you can really nail things down. You can read about the "jobs to be done" framework to give some structure to it.
And here's a resource on "How to understand customer needs?" that might help you out.


Why didn't Rem kill L?

Question: I'm currently watching the 16th episode of Death Note, and this question is bothering me a lot about how the story is going. Why didn't Rem kill L when Misa was under police custody and instead chose to erase her memories? Even Light chose to go by Rem's choice. In the 15th episode, Light chose to kill L using Rem's help. I wonder why they didn't do this.
Comment: If you're only on episode 16, you might want to unfollow the *Death Note* tag and hide the rest of the site's questions about it, as some of them contain some pretty big spoilers. At the very least, don't look at the related questions list.
Answer: To put this shortly without spoilers, Rem knew Misa isn't gonna  die because she's seeing her life span. The only reason she made Misa forfeiting the Death Note and lose all her memories, is because she couldn't see her suffering and trusted Light to help. Misa would never say anything about the Death Note or Light anyway.
For more detailed answer with spoilers (beware if you haven't watched episode 26):

 To answer this, there's need to remember 2 important points about Shinigami: 1. That Shinigami can know each person life span. 2. That if Shinigami helps human to extend his life span, he dies. Following that, we can surely assume that Rem knew that Misa lifespan wasn't in danger when she was in jail, or she would Kill L as you said. If it wasn't like that, we can assume otherwise that she would kill L and die in the process, as it happens on ep26.   What changes the situation between when Misa was arrested and after then Yotsuba arc, is Misa's life span. Misa life span got shortened twice, one when she got the Death Note, she had done the deal of the Shinigami eyes. Second, after regaining memories of the Death Note and made the eye deal again (following Light's order to make that happen). This made Misa's life span shortened to quarter of what she had before gaining the Death Note in the first place. Rem seeing that, she understood she's gonna die very soon, and that what made her to kill L in that moment. Unlike when Misa had been arrested, when she wasn't at her end.
Answer: Because Rem agreed with Light that Misa should feel happy and safe. Once Rem trusted Light with that promise, he would do it. Else, Rem would kill Light instead.

Why didn't Rem kill L?


JASO MA confusion

Question: Motorcycle owner's manuals say to use "THEIR" oil, mine say nothing of JASO MA anything. So....The question remains:  bikes with joint clutch and engine use JASO MA, or MA2 ?
Comment: Hi and welcome.  It's better to not start a post with (or even include) a rant.  Just post an easy-to-understand question.  Can you provide references for your examples of "owners manuals" that fit your concern?
Answer: Oils classified as JASO MA are subdivided into three different categories - MA, MA1 and MA2 depending on their properties:

Source
So if all the listed characteristics fall under either MA1 or MA2 then they are classified as that - if they meet some of MA1 and some of MA2 then they would be just listed as JASO MA.
So if your bike's manual specifies "MA" you can use either MA, MA1 or MA2 - if instead it specified MA1 or MA2  then you won't be able to use "just MA" but will have to get the exact variant specified.

JASO MA confusion


How to beat Ill-Gotten Gains?

Question: I find Ill-Gotten Gains in Dominion Hinterland to be such a clogger, with all the curses and coppers it generates. How can I beat a player who keep getting the Ill-Gotten Gains when there are no trashing cards available?
Comment: If only the other player gains IGG then at least the Coppers should not be a problem for you since it only clogs up your opponent's deck.
Answer: Not sure which Dominion expansions are you running, but there are several cards that can counter this.
If you have prosperity, you can add the Watchtower to the kingdom cards which blocks curses gained in this manner, priced at only 3$. With Masquerade from Intrigue, or Ambassador from Seaside you can give those curses back to your opponent. Dark Ages has several cards which work with trashing.
On the other hand, if you put a more valuable 5$ card you can rush that instead of going for IGG. Embargo from Seaside also works wonders.
As the other poster states, if there is no counter focus on going for duchies as well as any other victory cards placed in the kingdom set.
Source: http://dominionstrategy.com/2012/02/06/hinterlands-ill-gotten-gains/
Answer: The major thing to understand about heavy ill-gotten gains strategies is that they rapidly deplete two piles: both ill-gotten gains itself and the curse pile.
This means that ill-gotten gains games tend to end based on a third pile running out rather than the province pile depleting, and so you need to adjust your strategy to compensate -- notably it makes duchies a lot more attractive, and all the extra junk in your deck makes the free copper you get from running ill-gotten gains' effect more attractive.
So, while this obviously varies from game to game, barring some more effective game specific strategy my usual answer is to take ill-gotten gains and duchies.
Comment: One thing to note is that if you can unbalance the Curse and IGG piles, perhaps with Ambassador or another curser, you can make the game go longer, since two piles won't run out at the same time.
Comment: Often it rapidly depletes ***3 piles*** as buying Duchies often combines well with Ill-Gotten Gains.
Answer: if you add garden and start buying copper yourself, you can probably effectively counter this strategy.

How to beat Ill-Gotten Gains?


Can change in sun's polarity affect satellites?

Question: I recently read that the sun's polarity is going to change. Will this effect cause damage to satellites and/or affect its communication with ground stations?
Comment: This time: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/05aug_fieldflip/ **Been there before**: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2001/ast15feb_1/ Note: This is from 2001 :)
Answer: Most satellites are very, very far from the sun.   The closest spacecraft to the sun thus far has been Helios 2 at 0.29 AU (~43 million km).  Right now, I think the closest operating would be MESSENGER (perihelion at 46 million km).
Although the sun's magnetic field is strong, this is still really, really far away.  Those fluctutations aren't enough to be detected by most spacecraft.  (the CMEs that get produced, yes, but not the flip itself).
The detection of the sun's magnetic field is done through remote sensing -- Phil Scherrer (one of the two quoted in the recent NASA press release) is the PI for HMI ... which is on SDO ... which has an inclined geosyncronous orbit.
...
And that's not to say that future spacecraft won't be affected ... there are two  upcoming missions to get closer to the sun -- ESA's Solar Orbiter will attempt 45 Rsun (31 million km) and NASA's Solar Probe Plus will attempt 8.5 Rsun (6 million km) ... but they'll both be designed for going in that far.
(disclaimer : I work for the Solar Data Analysis Center, and help to maintain the caching system that's used to distribute the science-quality HMI data ... but I'm not a solar physicist)
Comment: It might be useful to note that this reversal is associated with the 11 year [solar cycle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_cycle). The change in frequency of CMEs during the solar cycle is obviously significant to satellite operations, but that is somewhat separate from the polarity reversal itself.
Comment: @PaulA.Clayton : the change of activity between min/max  of the cycle is *way* more significant than the reversal -- think of the reversals as the inflection points on a line graph ... they're important for some things, but the average person isn't going to notice them.


Which is correct? dubious looking + noun Or dubious-looking + noun?

Question: I'm currently writing an essay. I don't know whether or not it's 'dubious looking' or 'dubious-looking' when describing a noun.
For example, 'dubious(-)looking' form. I know the hyphen is used when the two words are used as adjectives. One teacher has told me that you use the hyphen when two nouns work as adjectives. Looking is an adjective and so is dubious. Does the hyphen rule still apply?
Comment: @Astralbee, thank you for your recommendation. I appreciate your suggestions, but by any chance, do you know the answer to my question? Also, I'm new here, so can you also explain why other users are modifying my original text? Thank you!
Comment: Reputable users can modify questions. They might do that to correct spelling, grammar, or to help a good question meet the criteria. It isn't malicious, it is to try and help. If they thought your question was bad, they'd vote it down.
Answer: Yes, you should use the hyphen.
Example:

I saw a dubious-looking glass.

With the hyphen, it is clear we are talking about a glass which looks dubious.
Without the hyphen, a reader might think that the noun is 'looking glass' (an old-fashioned term for a mirror) and the adjective 'dubious' is describing it. The hyphen joins the words that link to form an adjective and make this distinct from the noun.
The same is true of common expressions like 'good-looking' - this is always hyphenated.
Also, 'looking' is not an adjective except when in a compound like this. Alone it is a verb, to look.
Answer: Use hyphens when a group of words is an adjective before a noun:

It's an easy-to-use camera.

"Easy-to-use" is the adjective that modifies "camera"
Omit hyphens if the adjective words don't have a noun after:

The camera is easy to use."

"easy to use" is an adjective phrase that modifies "camera", but it comes after the noun, so omit the hyphens


Picklist related Query in salesforce

Question: I Have a Picklist Field Like (Orderstatus__c) Field, Values are (A, B, C, D, E, F) This Picklist Field, when i am querying the Orderstatus__c Filed Those values will be displaying like Un order (B, E, C, D, A, F).
Comment: So, what is your question? Can you make it more clear?
Answer: SOQL, Apex and API access on these fields will however return the values in their created order via Setup or deployment. Similar to when using ORDER BY in SOQL with regards to Picklist fields - "sorting is defined by the picklist sort determined during setup".
Multi-Select Picklist Value ordering behavior
Comment: Please do not post link only answers as the links often break. See [answer]
Comment: That is not correct... i have 100 Records, first 20 records Orderstatus__c Field Value is 'A' , second 21 to Remaining 50 records, Orderstatus__c Field value is C, and another remaining record values display....
Comment: As a test I added a new multi select pick list with the following values in this order. The initial 3 picklist values were added at creation and the following 4 at a later time:

Values API Name
A  A
M  M
X  X
B  B
Q  Q
Z  Z
Y  Y

I then selected values on two different objects in a random order

Record1.Test__c = M;X
Record2.Test__c = A;M;X;B;Q;Z;Y

So here it looks like the creation order. I've I re-order the picklist values to be alphabetical I still get the same result, even after edit the records:

Record1.Test__c = M;X
Record2.Test__c = A;M;X;B;Q;Z;Y

Picklist related Query in salesforce


Measuring potential between two pins below ground

Question: I am trying to use a Raspberry Pi to measure the amperage used by a boat's electrical system. The boat has a shunt pre-installed just before the battery ground. I have a Pi with an ADC installed behind the main DC panel reading other battery voltages. I'd like to use the Pi to measure the voltage across the shunt to check amperage. The problem I have is that because the shunt is right next to the batteries (no load in between) its voltage is lower than the ground where the Pi is installed.  The Pi's ground needs to run through about 20' of load carrying wire before getting to the shunt. Typical voltage across the shunt that I want to measure is 1 to 50 mV. The low end of the shunt sits about 60mV below the Pi ground. I've fried an op-amp and an ADS1115 that worked fine on my workbench where the shunt is not lower than the ground. I would tie the pi ground to the shunt directly but I'm not sure if that would affect some of the other things I'm reading with it. Can I use a separate IC with its ground at the shunt level and still have it communicate via I2C with the Pi, or would the different ground levels break something? Or is there some other circuit I could use? Attached is a schematic of what I need to measure.
Comment: Have a look at current sense amplifiers. TI and Analog both have multiple PNs. Most can measure differential voltages well above their positive rails and a few (the ones you want) can measure below their negative rails.
Answer: An ordinary inverting amplifier does this for you. Because of the virtual earth effect, the inputs do not go below 0. Actually most opamps whose inputs work to zero, will work to 0.5V below ground i.e. until input protect diodes start to conduct

simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab
Using a low-drift, low offset amplifier simplifies life, but you can use a port pin to zero the amplifier and calibrate offset and drift out in software. Again, as long as the voltage is clear of 1 diode drop, output ports work below zero - they are just an NFet
Comment: +1 (that was a quick edit!) Might be worth mentioning that output should work down to close to zero too if you want it to read correctly for low current.
Comment: Indeed. The LM358 works, but there are far lower-offset and drift amps available. If you know current goes to 0 (or in fact X), at some time, you can compensate for drift in software


During Starship's recent flight, the stack appeared to be venting gas during the staging sequence. What was it?

Question: During Starship's launch on November 18, 2023, the two stages successfully executed hot staging and separated from each other. In the seconds leading up to ignition of the upper stage engines, the booster shut down all but three of its engines. The tracking camera images showed a spidery cloud centered on the stack. My question is: what is the cloud made of and why is it there? It doesn't look at all like the high altitude exhaust plumes I've seen on other launches. Perhaps they are pre-cooling the upper stage engines by dumping one of the propellants through the injectors and out the nozzles?
Comment: Scott Manley suggested that the engine cutoff sequence left uncombusted propellant flowing from the first-stage engines. Cutting off oxidizer first, leaving fuel flowing, ensures you don't wind up with a hot, oxidizer-rich environment in the combustion chamber, which could lead to engine-rich combustion.
Comment: Also, the combustion chambers and bells are methane cooled. Continuing fuel flow for a few seconds prevents temperature rise, from latent heat, before re-start.
Answer: There are quite a number of gases that are vented out the engine section:
After the fire in the engine bay which caused a lot of problems during IFT-1, there is a CO₂ purging system for the engine bay. This CO₂ gets vented out the side of the engine skirt.
Raptor uses regenerative cooling of the nozzle and combustion chamber, where liquid propellants are flowed through cooling channels and extract heat as they turn to gas. Directly after shutdown, those would be still be very hot, so it makes sense to leave the engine cooling running for a bit. Especially since 10 of those engines are going to re-light in a few seconds.
There will generally be some unburnt gases or liquids flowing through the engines even after combustion is extinguished. You wouldn't want to do a hard close of all values, in order to avoid fluid hammering.
In a test firing on Earth, both on a test stand at McGregor and in static fires at Starbase, you can see a large orange flame emerge from underneath the test stand after engine shutdown. So, this seems to be normal, and it seems to be mostly methane: since we see no flames in this particular case, that would indicate there is no oxygen present and we only get the flame down on Earth when the methane burns with atmospheric oxygen.
We also see those flames during pre burner tests. Assuming SpaceX extinguishes the main combustion chamber first, then the pre burner, we would expect the last phase of an engine shutdown to look like a pre burner test, but again without atmospheric oxygen.
Comment: Because the Raptor is full flow, I don't think there is the option of "extinguishing the main combustion chamber first, then the pre-burner." see https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/cxkrtb/detailed_diagram_of_the_raptor_engine_er26_gimbal
Comment: Thanks for the answer and comment. Makes sense to me. I learned something today!


Why "What could have changed you so?" = "What changed you?"

Question: I thought like "could have PP" is always what describes something that was able to be done but actually didn't.
Answer: Could can mean a hypothetical, but it is also the past form of can, which can refer to permission, possibility, or ability. Thus, "What could have changed you" is "what had the ability to change you". The full question means "what had the ability to change you in such a manner" or "to such an extent".
It is an expression of disbelief or surprise.
Answer: We can use 'what could have' to express surprise or near-disbelief about something that has happened. What could have damaged my car so much (it is squashed flat)?


AForge.NET Image Color Manipulation

Question: I discovered AForge a few days ago with a goal in mind. I wanted to be able to manipulate an image's colors. However, after trying several different methods I have not been able to find a resolution.
I looked thoroughly through the documentation they give, but it hasn't been any help to me. The specific part of the documentation I have been using is:
http://www.aforgenet.com/framework/docs/html/3aaa490f-8dbe-f179-f64b-eedd0b9d34ac.htm
The example they give:
// create filter
YCbCrLinear filter = new YCbCrLinear( );
// configure the filter
filter.InCb = new Range( -0.276f, 0.163f );
filter.InCr = new Range( -0.202f, 0.500f );
// apply the filter
filter.ApplyInPlace( image );

I replicated it for a button click event, but the 'image' portion of it wasn't specified. I converted the image inside of my picturebox to a bitmap, then referenced it in the last line thinking that it would work. But it had no affect at all.
My code is the following:
private void ColManButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Bitmap newimage = new Bitmap(pictureBox1.Image);
YCbCrLinear filter = new YCbCrLinear();
filter.InCb = new Range(-0.276f, 0.163f);
filter.InCr = new Range(-0.202f, 0.500f);
filter.ApplyInPlace(newimage);
}

My question essentially is, to anyone familiar or willing to help with this framework, how do I take my image and manipulate its color using AForge's YCbCrLinear Class under my button's click event?
Answer: Remember to set the picture box image after you have applied the filtering.
private void ColManButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    Bitmap newimage = new Bitmap(pictureBox1.Image);
    YCbCrLinear filter = new YCbCrLinear();
    filter.InCb = new Range(-0.276f, 0.163f);
    filter.InCr = new Range(-0.202f, 0.500f);
    filter.ApplyInPlace(newimage);

    pictureBox1.Image = newimage;
}

Answer: at the aforge website you can download the source code of a sample filter application, did you try it ?

AForge.NET Image Color Manipulation


Radiation and absorption

Question: Can thermal radiation from a cooler object (B, which emits longer wavelength radiation) ever ADD to the overall thermal energy level of a warmer object (A, which emits shorter wavelength radiation)?  Subsidiary question: What exactly happens - at the molecular level - to the longer wavelength radiation from B as it arrives at A?
Answer: The thermal radiation from B does indeed heat object A. The trouble is that A loses energy by thermal radiation faster than the thermal radiation from B can heat it, so the end result is that A cools down.
You can show this very easily. The Stefan-Boltzmann law tells us that the energy flux per unit area is proportional to $T^4$ so the rate of heat loss from A is:
$$ j_A = \sigma T_A^4 $$
If we take the extreme case where B is right next to A so there is no attenuation of the thermal radiation from it, the rate of heat loss by B and therefore the heat gain by A is:
$$ j_B = \sigma T_B^4 $$
So the net rate of heat loss by A is:
$$ j_{net} = \sigma \left(T_A^4 - T_B^4\right) $$
and since $T_A > T_B$ the net rate of heat loss is positive i.e. A is cooling down so B cannot raise the temperature of A.
You ask what happens at the molecular level. The answer is that heat absorption (and radiation) is a messy business and many different interactions can occur. The dominant one is usually that EM radiation makes electrons in the solid oscillate, and the electrons transfer this energy to the lattice by colliding with it. So the the EM energy ends up as lattice vibrations i.e. heat.
Comment: Thanks for the comment, but wouldn't you get the same answer if there was NO 'heat' added to A from B?  The equation shows it is the difference between A and B that lead to jnet, not that any 'heat' is sent to A from B.  To make my point, if A was supplied by a fixed power supply (eg electricity) and therefore would not cool without the presence of B, would the addition of B then lead to an increase in temperature of A?  As I understand the molecular energy transfer, only energy of a higher frequency (shorter wavelength) can impart an increase of energy to the lattice.

Radiation and absorption


How do you open a Type-S (European) Sankey keg?

Question: I own a Type S Sankey keg.  How can we open it for cleaning, sanitization, and filling?  In particular, is there a tool we can purchase to make opening and re-closing safe and easy?
Answer: A bit of google-fu turned up this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX6CVCD33OE
No commentary, not exactly clear, and the thing looks almost homebrewer-proof, but it might help. Good luck!
As for re-installing the spear/closing up the keg, no doubt there's a tool available if you're willing to pay the price (and perhaps qualify to purchase one). For American & Canadian-type Sankeys, the primary sealing O-ring needs to be compressed, not far but HARD. Tools are likewise available, but I've found that a sturdy hook attached to a rigid bar of some kind (I used a hardwood 2X4 about 2' long, on edge), plus a 1 1/8" socket to bear down on the valve body, will compress it enough to slip the snap ring into place.
Hook the hook under one of the handle cutouts, and press down on the bar while fiddling in the snap ring. If necessary, use a longer bar or clamp the opposite end with a long enough clamp. Beats pounding on the socket till the snap ring comes home.
Hope this helps.
p.s. I'm sure you know this already, but don't forget to vent the pressure--not once but over and over again--before you even attempt any of this. Cheers!
[ edit/further afterthought. In case you've never done this before: lay the keg on its side when you vent the pressure or you'll get a faceful of froth, or worse, and use a chunk of dowel or some other soft blunt instrument to avoid scarring the ball valve. ]
Comment: I've upvoted for the effort & details, but I had seen that video and regard it as difficult and unsafe for the keg; that approach looks like it carries a high risk of damaging important components.
Comment: I wouldn't call my reply an answer either, and I sure as heck wouldn't be jamming Allan keys into the sensitive guts of a keg. Still, with an actual example in front of you, I thought the video might suggest a better method. Looks difficult even with the right tool, but if brewery workers can do it...
Answer: I think this tool:
http://www.candirect.de/Ein-Ausschraubadapter-fuer-Korbfitting-ohne-Knarre
is meant to open Type S kegs, but I haven't purchased it yet so I won't be accepting my own answer unless/until I do.
Answer: Got a confirmation from a sankey S-type supplier and a German brewmaster that that is the key.
The German brewmaster just made his own with a SS pipe with appropriate spacing on the valve opening (not sure how big) and an old screwdriver for the wrench handle.
Basically, a decent length pipe with two notches on the bottom and a screwdriver handle.
I'm just about to get some s-type sankeys for the first time...wish me luck!


How are Trott constants found; are there mathematical results?

Question: While reading Steven Finch's wonderful book Mathematical Constants, I encountered the Trott constant which was presented as the real number such that the digits of its decimal expansion are the digits of its simple continued fraction expansion. This number was given as:
$$E=0.1084101512231113...=0+\cfrac1{1+\cfrac1{0+\cfrac1{8+\cfrac1{4+\cfrac1{1+\cfrac1{0+\cfrac1{1+\ddots}}}}}}}$$
My question is how such a number is found. After I read this I spent some time trying to show the existence of such a number by hand, but failed. I was able to establish some basic bounds but unable to take it much further. I am still in the dark about how such a number is computed. This paper from 2006 discusses the problem and mentions that the author (Trott) had been unable to establish existence or uniqueness of such numbers, the approach having been purely experimental (using Mathematica); the paper contains the code used to find $E$ but I cannot read Mathematica and am not sure of the method used. The OEIS doesn't help me.
What I was wondering was whether anyone could quickly elucidate the method used to find such a number, and also whether anyone knows of any existence or uniqueness results that have been established yet for such numbers? Finally, is anything known about the existence of such numbers in other bases (from my playing around with the problem I began to suspect that some bases might not allow such a number)?
Answer: Allaart et al., "On the existence of Trott numbers" (2021) shows that the set of Trott numbers in base $b$ is uncountable if $b = 3$ or $k^2 < b ≤ k^2 + k$, and empty otherwise.


Particle objects overlapping

Question: So I have a subdivided Plane acting as a base and a flower object with random colour node set to it and I'm using it in a particle system to cover the entire Plane: the regrow at the exact position where another one already is even when there's empty space left. The trouble seems to be that if I set it as 'hair' the particles start overlapping before covering the entire Plane.With 'emitters' the tend not to align neither with the faces nor vertices as I want. I tried with a particle collision animation but can get to work it right.
Is there a way to prevent particle from overlapping each other and spreading uniformly over a plane(not grid).
Comment: I'm not sure you can prevent overlapping, to have more control maybe try Hair with Advanced option, then Emission > Emit From and choose Faces or Verts?
Comment: I need them to be clustered like shrubs in a jungle scene,selecting faces does not seem to work. Is there like a particle collision simulation that i can play for 5 frames and get the job done?
Answer: On your particle settings, drop-down "Source", select "Emit from Volume", then adjust number of particles/face.

Particle objects overlapping


Can I extend entries listing views (currently or in the future)?

Question: Is there a way to show custom columns in the backend with entries listing views? Or can it be a feature in the future?
For example: show category as a column in the news overview in the backend
Comment: If you mean something like Zenbu for EE, than that's currently not possible, but it's on list. (I don't know any est. release date though)
Answer: The current answer to this is no, not out of the box.
The unofficial answer to this is, it has been discussed several times out there in the forums and there are some good arguments to make that this is a core part of 'content management'.
The developer-friendly answer to this is yes, you can control those columns if you create a plugin with a new Element Type.  Your Element can extend the default Entries Element Type and customize the columns in the listing views.
Within your Element Type:
defineTableAttributes() - Returns the attributes that can be shown/sorted by in table views.
modifyElementsQuery() - Modifies an element query targeting elements of this type.
getSources() - Returns the element type's sources and can be used to trigger filters on the table view.
You can create a new listing template with these three lines of code:
{% extends "_layouts/elementindex" %}
{% set title = "Page Title"|t %}
{% set elementType = 'PluginName_Element' %}

Is this a smart thing to do?  It probably depends on your use case.  Elements are powerful, but they also take time to develop and maintain.  While you can easily extend a class, several parts of the Control Panel UI are not as easy to extend if you start adding variations on the intended use cases. Make your case to P&T about this feature being a core part of content management and if enough others do the same, you may save yourself a lot of custom development.  I think there is a strong case that this type of feature can only be done well in the core.
Answer: Short answer is no, that's not possible.
Longer answer is no, because P&T didn't build it that way. Entries are an element type, and that kind of behavior is buried deep within the element type. Those columns are pre-determined, there's nothing you can do to edit them.
To be honest, I can't even visualize how a 3rd party plugin could be able to modify that part of the Entries UI and insert a column. It kinda needs to be built directly into the element type.
Ultimately, I guess you could make a feature request about it (either on G+ or by emailing firstname.lastname@example.com).
Answer: This is now possible using the modifyEntryTableAttributes hook. From the docs:
public function modifyEntryTableAttributes(&$attributes, $source)
{
    if ($source == 'section:3')
    {
        unset($attributes['expiryDate']);
        $attributes['id'] = Craft::t('ID');
    }
}

See also: getEntryTableAttributeHtml and modifyEntrySortableAttributes


Is it possible to somehow install sample data after the install?

Question: I overwrote the media and skin folders on the magento installation with the sample data's skin and media  folders. I also ran the query against the database. Now I have a problem because "There has been an error processing your request", and I can't access Magento site any more. What can I do to pull through the sample data, and have my Magento working again?
Comment: Try truncating `core_resource` and flushing caches. This will make all setup scripts run again.
Answer: I returned the original media and skin folders (fortunately I saved them just in case). After that, I copied and merged the potential extra content from the sample data, in media and skin folders. Works fine now. And with sample data content.
Answer: yes it's possible
<code>sudo php bin/magento sampledata:deploy
</code>
Run this command in Magento root dir


How to migrate multiple application on SharePoint Online?

Question: I have requirement that client is having thousands of database in SQL and thousands of application running on ASP.Net, now they want to move to SharePoint online. Is there a way to migrate all data and application on SharePoint Online?
Answer: This is a very broad question. This depends on what kind of data you would like to migrate to SharePoint online. There is SharePoint online migration tool which you can use to migrate data from on-premise site to SharePoint online but no specific tool from ASP.NET to SharePoint online. SharePoint online does not support farm solutions or sandbox solution so you need to see what kind of customization is present in existing application. There are lot of analysis required for each application and site. Then, based on that whether SharePoint online will be compatible for particular application and its data or not.
Comment: If source is normal file share or SharePoint on-premise then you can use sharepoint migration tool. If it is some other source then you can explore tools like Sharegate or Metalogix. They may provide some help on migrating data.
Comment: Thank you for reply, Do you know any migration tool which works with multiple database or lakhs of records and I want to migrate 1.7 TB size of files?
Answer: Thousands of DBs? No. Do not migrate this to SharePoint. Again: no. If they are trying to get off their local servers and into the cloud, then investigate running SQL in Azure VMs or Azure SQL. (or cosmos DB, or Azure Data Lake, etc). SharePoint is NOT a relational database, and the thought of attempting that migration is painful.
Also, do not try to re-write asp.net apps as to run in SharePoint. Again, if the goal is to get into the cloud, then investigate Azure Web Sites. You can take those existing ASP.Net sites, deploy them to Azure, and be up and running very quickly (most of the time, there are exceptions).
For the documents, yes, SharePoint is quite good at that, but even then, don't simply look to upload that much content without first spending time learning more about how SharePoint works so that you can organize the content effectively. Ramp up on sites, Office 365 Groups, Teams, permissions, Flow, metadata, managed metadata, site columns, and content types, as a start. Once you've done that, you'll be in a better position to look into that migration.
But, MS makes a SharePoint Migration Tool, and there are a number of 3rd party tools, including ShareGate.


When do I announce my parry?

Question: In Das Schwarze Auge (4.1), when do I have to announce that I want to parry my enemy's attack? Do I have to declare that before his attack is rolled and I know if he hits me or not, or can I wait to declare it after? I can't find the page in the rules where this is stated. My guess would be to announce it after the attack, because otherwise you would just waste your one reaction per turn very often.
Comment: We do have a tag for *Das Schwarze Auge*, it's just usually translated to "*The Dark Eye*" in English (as "black eye" would mean to English speakers what "ein blaues Auge" means to a German speaker!). I've added the tag, and removed the parts of the question that apologise for it not being there. We don't have very *many* DA players, but never fear: this is very much on topic! It just might take a little while for a DA expert to find it and answer it.
Comment: We have always done it the way that you try to parry the very first attack that comes at you in a combat round. Other groups let you choose to save the parry until later. Some have you announce your oarry before the attack roll, others after. RAW are not always very clear in TDE. There seem to be different opinions on this topic on the web, too. Which edition are you guys playing anyway?
Comment: @iraserd We are playing *4.1*; and parrying the very first attack is not a good idea in my opinion, because maybe you would actually want to parry the guy with the two handed Sword, but the Mage attacks first with his staff. Takes away a lot of the tactical aspect of parrying, if you ask me.
Answer: As easy as this question sounds, it is possibly one of the most discussed and overruled things in the DSA Ruleset... partially because it is so damn confusing/bad. Lets look at the rulebooks - Wege des Schwerts is the relevant one.
Since you asked for Rules as Written, let me translate that section from the book on page 53:
"The offensive action can be excecuted by the fighter when it is his turn in initiative, the defensive action can be announced at any time as a reaction to an enemies attack."
Now, is this before or after the check whether the attack is successful or not? We look at page 55, section "Attack and Defense". In the text flow, it says "Is [the attack] successful, the fighter hits his enemy unless the enemy [parries]". Furthermore, the options "Attack Successful - Parry Failed" and "Attack Successful - Parry Successful" are mentioned, but not "Attack Failed - X", leading us to believe that the parry is only tested when the attack is successful.
This is furthermore supported on page 59 in section "The (common) Attack": "If [the attack] is successful, the enemy has to win a check on parry or he is hit".
Thus, the book leads us to believe that only a successful attack warrants a parry check, in fact, while the wording isnt perfect, it seems to be the only reasonable conclusion.
The confusion usually arrives because 1) a lot of groups have house rules in combat, because the parry is much stronger than the attack in DSA and the chance to hit your opponent is actually very low (peaking at 25% for equally strong fighters with AT/PA of 10+)... and
2) because on Page 53, the book states that "At the beginning of the combat round, the game master asks if and how the Heroes wish to fight (Offensive and Defensive Actions) [...]". This is often interpreted as having to announce who you wish to parry, or what incoming attack. However, it is supposed to be interpreted as simply having to announce the amount of defensive actions you wish to make use of during the round, for example because you might want to cast a spell or draw a weapon or something with it instead.
The conclusion: If you are attacked, the enemy succeeds in his attack check and you have a defensive action left, THEN you can announce that you wish to parry his attack.
Comment: Thank you for translating all of that. Then we actually did it the correct way all the time, but it's still good to know.
Comment: It's probably a translation things, but when you quote the text as saying, "Is [the attack] successful, the fighter hits his enemy unless the enemy [parries]," does the text really say that or should that initial *is* be *if*? (I'm not trying to be a jerk; I really don't know if the original is written that way.)
Comment: Sorry for the late answer. In my opinion (as a non-native, but fairly fluent speaker), the two are identical in meaning. Thus, yeah, you can put it as "if", but in German it doesnt say if, it says "Gelingt [der Angriff], so trifft der Hieb, falls [der Verteidiger nicht pariert]"... so, translate as you wish :P
Answer: The only thing you have to announce at the beginning of a combat round, is the number of attack/defensive actions (ie 2/0, 1/1, 0/2, or later even more)
There is a special feat, that allows you to instantly change that (without having to announce at the beginning of the combat round), to use opportunities from e.g. the enemy fumbling which leaves you with an 'available' action (since your defensive action was not taken).
(Comment regarding house-rules: Yes, I for one require my players to announce in advance if they want to defend against the attack - we are mostly also LARPing and swordfighting, and it makes much more sense that way, you will have prepare for defensive action or you will only be able to take it if you are really good;
That makes my NPCs last longer against my often fighting-skill-tuned players)
Answer: As a Naheulbeuk DM and player, a french RPG based on DSA, here how we fight a combat round :

The attacker (PC or NPC) do an Attack roll while announcing where he tries to hit. If it succeeds, then :
The target announces a parry or evade try. Evade is usually easier because it's a Dexterity/Agility roll but you'll loose your next turn to get back to fight.
IF the target didn't parry or evade or failed trying to, then the attacker rolls the damages

I encourage doing the second steps meanwhile the first to make the fight flow better.
Critical success/fail resolution is always priority.

When do I announce my parry?


Visitor-recording solutions and sensitive data?

Question: Has anyone had any experience with visitor-recording solutions such as Hotjar or LuckyOrange? Were there any data-capture concerns? I work in the healthcare industry, and the idea of recording users viewing or entering sensitive data makes me really nervous. Are there any solutions that provide privacy settings for the recordings?
Answer: I'm the founder of Tamboo (https://gettamboo.com), which is a visitor recording solution much like HotJar or LuckyOrange.
Each type of visitor recording solution addresses privacy and security differently from the next, so it's important that you understand how privacy and security are handled by each provider you're considering.
As an example, Tamboo serves customers that operate in the e-commerce, marketing, and startup markets, so it has built-in filters to automatically mask the collection of any kind of credit card information (since that's a primary concern of our customers and it comes up all the time).  In addition to that automatic masking, we also give our customers the ability to mask any form input or HTML display element which may contain sensitive data or information.
That being said, that functionality arose out of serving those specific markets, and was designed to help customers with their industry-specific privacy and security concerns.
When it comes to healthcare, I do know that (at least in the US), you have laws such as HIPPA which basically prevent you from collecting, storing, or sharing any kind of medical or personally identifiable information about a patient (or even a potential patient) without their expressed written consent.
Because of that, I would not recommend that you use a visitor recording tool - regardless of how great their privacy or security features are - if that tool could come into contact in any way with data or information that could be subject to HIPPA compliance.
To be 100% sure about what you can and cannot record, or even what kind of requirements your visitor recording provider would need to meet in order to be compliant on your behalf, I would actually recommend that you discuss the matter with whatever legal counsel you use to represent your HIPPA compliance concerns.
Answer: I think most solutions provide a way to ignore specific pages or fields from being tracked, the biggest problem is that you might send this sensitive data to a 3rd party.
If you are into a sensitive sector, it might be better to store the data yourself on your own servers using a self-hosted solution (like the one I'm working on, UXWizz).
Another privacy advantage of self-hosting is that you can see exactly how and what all the tracked data is (direct access to the database), compared to 3rd party services where you only see the data provided in their dashboard.


Process each line in a buffer

Question: I am very new to c#.  I am using Mono.  I want to loop through each line in a TextView object and do my own processing to each line.  I have narrowed it down to the Buffer property that contains a Text property but this property contains the whole text.  How do I break it down into separate lines/strings?
<code>    string Line;
    for (int i = 0;i < txtvMain.Buffer.LineCount; i++)
    {
        Line = txtvMain.Buffer.?;
    }
</code>
Answer: (Untested) simple solution (perhaps not the most efficient):
<code>string[] lines = txtvMain.Buffer.Text.split('\n');
</code>

Process each line in a buffer


What we can use "there" or "over there"

Question: When we can use word "there" and when "over there"? I could not find the answer in the dictionary.Thanks
Comment: You need to provide us with examples and a context.
Comment: *There* is used to indicate a distance farther than *here*.  *Over there* usually means that one would have to move or travel (hint: *over* some distance) to get there.
Answer: "Over there" is further than "there" and "there" is further than "here."
"Here" usually means "at one's feet" or "the place where one is at." You do not have to move to get "here." You are already "here."
If you want to go to somewhere else, that place is "there." And you need to go "there" to be "there."
If you are in the US Army, you can go "over there" (over the ocean) to fight the enemy.
As this World War I-era song shows, "over there" refers to a long distance. But it does not have to be so far as "over to another country" or "abroad."
"Over there" means somewhere out of reach. You need to stand up and move "over there" to get some object that is "over there" from where you are. In other words, "over there" can be "across the room", "across the street", or "across the ocean." It is a relatively far distance as compared to "there."
Answer: There are two words there. I think the Original Poster is asking about the preposition there (some people think it's an adverb). This word tells us about a location or goal. In other words it means something like (in) that place. Or, if we use a verb which indicates movement, it  means something like to that place or towards that place. Compare:

He just sat there. (Location - in that place)
He went there. (Goal - to that place)

We sometimes need extra help to show the listener the place that we are talking about being in or going to. We might point, for example. If the place is not very close, we can say over there. This helps guide the listener to a location a bit further away than they might expect.
The preposition there is a different word from the pronoun there. The pronoun there does not have any meaning. We use it in sentences which show that something exists:

We need to stop.
Why?
There's a problem.

The word there in the sentence above is not talking about a location. The sentence just means "A problem exists". In this sentence the word there has no meaning at all.
Comment: *"**There** was a man sitting **over there** by that **there** tree stump"*, and so, how do them "there" and "over there" all differ from each other? :D
Comment: @F.E. Hmmm, not sure. Maybe you could write one of your mega-posts on this interesting question? :D
Comment: "that there" is non-standard. See https://brians.wsu.edu/2016/05/25/this-here-that-there/

What we can use "there" or "over there"


What's my exposure, and how to close it, from Conexant HD Audio Driver Package, CVE-2017-8360

Question: I read about the key logging of the driver at modzero, and that it's apparently making all my keystrokes available. How much am I exposed by this, and can I reduce my exposure?
Comment: And this is why I prefer using Windows' built-in drivers whenever possible, instead of third-party garbage that at best puts an unnecessary icon in the system tray (waste of resources) and at worst puts me at risk like here.
Comment: @AndréBorie Windows built-in drivers, and even the kernel, are neither more, nor less, vulnerable than third-party drivers. Check out [CVE-2015-2454](https://www.cvedetails.com/cve/CVE-2015-2454/)-(kernel-mode driver), [CVE-2016-0133](https://www.cvedetails.com/cve/CVE-2016-0133/)-(USB Mass Storage Class driver), and I lost count of the CVEs for theGraphics Device Interface in Windows. For example [CVE-2016-3396](https://www.cvedetails.com/cve/CVE-2016-3396/). For some people, that _unnecessary icon_ can be very important, while for other people, using a windowed GUI is _wasted resources_.
Answer: Risk:
There is no additional "attack surface" created by this issue. In other words, provided an uninfected machine, you are no more vulnerable to attack. The real risk here is that if your machine is/was previously compromised, an attacker could more easily (than having to install their own keylogger) capture your keystrokes and possibly keystroke history (since last logon) via the log file. Many AV products would detect the installation of a keystroke logger, but since the signed driver already includes it, it could be overlooked (although that said I would expect any reputable security software provider to soon be listing affected drivers as dangerous anyway). The only other consideration as pointed out by Modzero, if you happen to be backing up the public user folder anywhere, backups could also include copies of the log file (again IMHO an unlikely real-world scenario).
Mitigation:
We tested it and found that even if MicTray.log is 0 bytes (as is a common occurrence as reported on the internets and my observation), it can only be deleted/renamed if MicTray[64].exe is killed.
As we had about 40 machines affected, we created the following batch file to push out and mitigate the issue. It renames all files to include an underscore and therefore prevent them from being run normally. This allows reversal if required. The only casualty of this workaround is the lack of the relevant system tray and associated functionality (which IMHO is rarely used anyway).
<code>taskkill /IM MicTray.exe
taskkill /IM MicTray64.exe
ren c:\users\public\MicTray.log MicTray.log_
ren c:\windows\system32\MicTray.exe MicTray.exe_
ren c:\windows\system32\MicTray64.exe MicTray64.exe_
</code>
Answer: The simplest way is to see if you can delete the file (delete it in safe mode if you can't) and then recreate it as a text file, and make it read only.
This will stop the process writing to the file, seemingly without any other issues.
As more information is discovered about this I'm sure there'll either be a updated driver without this flaw, or another better workaround but this is something you can implement immediately.
Please note, this flaw is only a problem if someone already has access to your system, obviously having all keystrokes logged is bad, but it still requires someone to read these keystrokes to gain any information and as far as we can tell so far, this file isn't shared anywhere other than on the local machine.
Answer: The keylogger is there and works even if the output is not put in the MicTray.log file. You can see the keyloger in action using DbgView program from SysInternals auite.
In my case Windows 10 updated the driver and removed the MicTray.exe  only to install another funny program called flow.exe that is trying to internet (to youtube.com?) I relly have no idea why a sound driver would need to connect to internet, other than illegally broadcast sound of what I type as a poor replacement for the keylogger that can't be there anymore.


Comma or no comma before the and?

Question: Force answers force, war breeds war, and death only brings death.
Comment: This is not strictly an Oxford comma issue.  This comma isn't just stylistic.  It serves to separate "war" and "death" so that the reader isn't led to think "war breeds war and death" (even though it does).
Comment: Welcome to ELU, lookup for "Oxford comma" in Google or any grammar book to get your answer.
Comment: possible duplicate of [Should I put a comma before the last item in a list?](http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/412/should-i-put-a-comma-before-the-last-item-in-a-list)
Answer: It is not compulsory to put the comma there.
If you say "Force answers force, war breeds war and death only brings death."
I think it creates a sort of confusion for the reader. So it is best to put the Comma.
When a comma appears before "and" or "or" in a series, it is known as the Oxford comma. It is considered unnecessary by some. However, omission of the Oxford comma can sometimes lead to misunderstandings.
Consider the following example:

1) We had coffee, cheese and crackers and grapes.

Adding a comma after crackers makes it clear that "cheese and crackers and grapes" represents one dish. In cases like this, clarity demands the Oxford comma.
To avoid the confusion, we add a comma to it.

2) We had coffee, cheese and crackers, and grapes.
Comment: You said, "Adding a comma after crackers makes it clear that "cheese and crackers and grapes" represents one dish."  Actually, adding a comma there separates "cheese and crackers" from "grapes."
Answer: Reread the sentence and hunt for ambiguity.  If the sentence is ambiguous you can alter the writing and eliminate the need for choosing the vexing"Oxford comma".
"I'm going to visit my parents, Adam and Eve."  This is possibly equivocal.  Are you visiting three parties or are 'Adam and Eve' in apposition to 'parents'?
"I'm going to visit my parents, Adam, and Eve."  This possesses more clarity if you're visiting three parties.  But if 'Adam and Eve' denotes your parents, or if 'Adam and Eve' denotes one party, then the Oxford comma hasn't helped.
So, resolve the issue by rewriting.
"I'm going to visit my parents, as well as Adam and Eve."  Two parties.
"I'm going to visit my parents, Adam and Eve, later this month." One party.
"I'm going to visit my parents.  On the same trip I'll see Adam, and then I'll visit Eve on the last day." Three parties.
The rewritten sentences use more words, but the extra terms add clarity.

Comma or no comma before the and?


Extract the count of particular macro block types(I, P and S) from the frames in the video

Question: How can I extract the count of particular macro block types(I, P and S) from the frames in the video (H.264 and MP4)?
Also, I would like to extract the prediction residual of each of the P and B frames (computed from its corresponding reference frame) in the video from the encoded version itself while the package is decoding it.
Answer: There are several tools to analyze video streams which which can provide slice and macroblock level information:

Intel Video Pro Analyzer
Tektronix Video Analyzer
H264bitstream
ffmpeg (page Analyzing Macroblock Types)
Avidemux

From How extract Intra-Prediction modes out of h264 stream, it seems that ffmpeg or ffprobe can do a lot of jobs.


Do single speed/fixed bicycles come with machined rims?

Question: I recently purchased a Masi Fixie Riser with a flip/flop hub (gearing on both sides) and brakes, but the rims aren't machined. Is this common on $700+ single speeds?
Comment: This is why I recommend buying a bike at a local bike store, after you have seen and test-ridden the bike. By doing this you are able to get much more information than what you can get on the spec sheets.
Comment: Related question: http://bicycles.stackexchange.com/questions/16757/does-having-machined-brake-surface-on-rims-matter
Answer: It depends on the fixie.
A lot of them don't because brakes are not cool among the fixie riding population (since they primarily want deep V rims to look nice and resistance braking).
As for not having machined rims, depending on what the rim is coated with it can be OK -- if its powdercoated/painted for example, it will be too slippery to brake, but annodized surfaces can be used for braking just fine. The rims on the Masi should be annodized so you should be good for braking.
Comment: I've used annodized rims from velocity with no issues on my bike polo bike which had a lot of quick stopping usage. Eventually the annodization wore off slightly, which isn't the most attractive thing, but it doesn't seem to affect performance.
Answer: Is this common? Assuming your brakes are rim brakes: no, it's not common.
It's also something that's known to happen. But it's a pretty bonehead spec, IMO.


Creating 1000+ Azure Service Bus sessions

Question: I'm developing an application that will generate a number of events for each customer that have to be processed in order. For this I'm thinking of Azure Service Bus sessions and Azure Functions with a Service Bus trigger.
Each day there can be up to 5000 jobs with each requiring 5-6 messages. This would mean 5000 sessions, based on the job ID, being needed each day.
From an Azure perspective would this cause issues with resources, limits, cost, etc?
Is it possible to dispose of any session resources programatically once the final message has been processed?
Thanks
Answer: There's no additional cost associated with message sessions or the number of sessions. As long as you don't use the session state* or ensure the session state is eventually deleted, you shouldn't experience any problems. In terms of volume, the numbers are not very high. For production, if needed, you could always go with the Premium tier.
* more about session state in my blog post
Comment: One of the nicest articles on Azure Service bus sessions. Thanks :)


Plausible usage of melee weapons in a futuristic environment

Question: Lets say humanity has colonized the solar system. We don't have FTL, but we can get pretty damn close to light speed. Now, lets say that a few planets decide that they want to break off. The main group of planets is not pleased with this, and a civil war break out between the two. Ship-to-Ship combat, boarding parties, ETC. Now, Lets say that everyone in both forces is equipped with an assault rifle, a sidearm, a bulletproof shield, and a 2' long blade. Would said blade and shield be practical in a time where compact, high velocity projectile weapons are abundant?
Comment: See "Dune" by Frank Herbert. Great detail about why swords are needed.
Comment: At the speeds that spaceships are going, the energy release of dropping a box of kitty litter in the path of an oncoming spacecraft could be enough to destroy the enemy ship. Boarding is highly unlikely. If you do need to defend something like a space station, then shotguns, grenade launchers and assault rifles similar to the ones we have today would suffice, assuming the enemy isn't just going to destroy it with a nuclear weapon.
Comment: Suppose Scotty gets over excited and unintentionally beam you to a wrong ship unfortunately it is ur pissed mother-in-law's... while waiting for rescue you might as well kill some time inside the engine room.
Comment: Are personal kinetic barriers a thing? Mass Effect justifies the use of blades as not moving fast enough to trigger the kinetic barrier, and thus nullifying it in close quarters.
Comment: The fact that your top upvoted answer is just a long list of clarifications indicates that this question is far too broad.  While it was closed as "opinion-based" it could easily have been closed as "too broad".
Answer: Without the element of surprise wouldn't the assault rifle and sidearm be pretty useless against a bulletproof shield in the hands of someone who knows how to use it?  In this case wouldn't it almost always boil down to melee combat, since guns run out of ammo but shields don't?
Would you risk firing a gun in a spaceship where you could kill yourself due to ricochet, puncturing a fuel line, or breaking some mysterious piece of technology that keeps the ship from going kaboom?  Would you want to get in a gunfight in engineering or on the bridge?  Once you take the ship how will you pilot it if you have significantly damaged the bridge, engineering, or blown yourself up?
What about stealth?  Can a boarding party get onto your ship by cloaking their ship, hacking your security, teleporting aboard, or through some kind of deception.  If so do you really want to fire a gun that announces "here we are" or do you quietly start knifing people (or employ some other method of silent death)?
How tight is space on your ship?  Do you even have room to swing a 2' blade or are you better of with a something shorter and made for stabbing?  How useful is your gun (or any projectile weapon) if the ship does not have long, straight, wide hallways or big open spaces?  If there isn't enough room for more than 1 or 2 people to walk side by side, does numeric superiority mean anything since the people in the back can't shoot without hitting their own boarding party?  Assuming you have ships of different sizes and configurations, you might have to employ different weapons and strategies when boarding.
If you have technology to build starships that fly at almost the speed of light, why would humans fight at all?  Don't you have killer nano-bots or remotely manned drones?  Or is human life so cheap that you don't mind sending non-essential crew (or people who ticked you off) through the meat grinder?
Comment: @Frostfyre I don't think it's a bad answer.  Many of these questions are answers. "Can people teleport onto the ship in your world?" is an answer, as it points out that if they can, then killing people in their sleep with knives is a workable plan.
Comment: Welcome to the site, David. This seems to be a really long comment (too long for comments), rather than an answer. If you have this many questions, I would suggest going to [chat] to talk them over with the OP, then posting an answer incorporating the feedback.
Answer: This is going to be a loooong answer.
As always, weapons develop and adapt according to the environments and purposes they are used for. I will leave aside the question if boarding combat is ever a possibility in your world. If it ain't likely, it doesn't necessarily mean that different rules will apply.
In order to understand what weaponry is going to be used in what way, first we need to look at the environment and potential armor.
Environment
Boarding combat will take place close to or inside space ships, on moons, asteroids etc.. there will most probably be no air, or at least potentially no air, if we assume space combat happened before combat. Also, there is going to be some radiation issues, heat problems and a lot of debris flying around. Also, combat might happen in zero-g.
So, our space suits are going to be protecting against: radiation, heat, vacuum (probably even self-sealing), and small debris parts. You will probably have magnetic boots to anchor to the ground. And the suit is going to be armored as good as possible.
By the way, your space ship is usually not an issue. If it was made out of paper (or any other material that cannot withstand some bullets), your ship would have surrendered by the first sight of an enemy that can throw pebbles at them. Or would have been long destroyed by space debris and small asteroids. Your space ship hull will be self-sealing or resistant to bullets.
So, how well-armored can a space suit be?
Here's the problem: if you have shields that can resist bullet impacts, i see no reason why you can't armor your suit with that. I would even think it was absolutely advisable to do so, to protect against debris while boarding the vessel and inside later on. So if your shields are bullet proof, your armor is probably bullet proof, too. Yikes.
Why should i use melee weeapons? I got this rifle here...
If a soldier can, he will usually choose a firearm over a melee weapon for obvious reasons. So why should there even be a widespread use of melee weapons? If your firearms can't penetrate armor at all, there is no need to have them in the first place. So we must assume that at least a well-placed shot to the visor or a weak part of the armor can cause damage. And we must also assume that in order to penetrate space suit armor at all, you need a big calibre.
That brings some problems. In zero-g, firing a rifle with enough "punch" might send you flying through the room, or even away from the space ship / asteroid / moon. It will most probably not make you fly into deep space, but being "adrift" for a few seconds makes you an easy target. It can also throw you off "balance" while gliding through a ship in free fall.
You solve that problem by anchoring your magnetic boots to the ground before firing. So firearms are only really effective when on a metal surface, anchored and therefore immobile.
But can you charge an enemy while being immobile? You can't.
And this might be where melee weapons come in. You grab a heavy shield, much heavier than the usual stuff, send it towards the enemy with some initial momentum, and cover behind it while it flies towards your enemy. Maybe it's even self-propelled, so enemy fire won't stop it. Once you reach the enemy, you put all your faith in your armor (because the other guys will take a few shots at you) while you throw yourself at them, hacking and slashing at...
Their armor. That can stop bullets.
Space swords vs. armor
The real problem is that we already noted that space suit armor can stop high-calibre bullets.
It will stop your sword/axe/space viking halbert. A knight with a lance, mounted on a horse, the pinnacle, the most sufficient deliverer of energy the medieval ages ever produced, had roughly the same kinetic impact force as a .50 BMG bullet. (only that the knight could never transfer it to the target, while the bullet can, so his effective force is much lower). So by almost no means can my space axe have more kinetic energy as a .50 bullet. It could be very sharp, yes. But so can my bullets. If i can make mono-nuclear blade edges, i can make REALLY pointy bullets.
So i can see no way how my sword would be able to penetrate the space suit armor my rifle cannot penetrate.
Still, there need to be weak points for joints, visor etc.. and your melee weapons need to be aimed against them. But melee weapons will also throw you off-balance if used while in free fall, and might also send you tumbling if you are unlucky.
I think the only effective way of using them would be similar to the historical "harnischfechten" (Wikipedia). It was a school of fighting between two armored opponents in platemail. And it's more like wrestling than hacking and slashing. That might actually work.
Summary
I love space viking combat. i like space axes and that stuff. I really do. But i would always prefer a full-auto-space-shotgun or a glue gun. And carry a long knife or a short sword with me for emergencies...
Edit: Also, melee weapons can be useful in areas where i cannot anchor myself to use firearms, or where bullets might actually cause significant damage, e.g. in a magazine or close to the reactor or a sensitive computer...
Comment: This was honestly very helpful, and quite entertaining to read!
Answer: In a previous question, I recall the conclusion that kinetic, projectile weapons are hardly likely to get phased out. This means that any such weapon is almost always going to require an ammo source, which is very likely to be finite. The possibility of running out of ammo is one compelling reason for any combat unit to always have a melee weapon close at hand.
A short blade also has many practical, non-combat uses such as cutting lengths of rope (or through doors if you have a laser blade or similar), land-mine detection, or maybe even forming temporary footholds in a sheer wall. The usefulness of a short length of hard, sharp material is not to be underestimated.
Also, in a sufficiently advanced environment, something low-tech like a steel dagger could give one the element of surprise. For instance, imagine that an enemy's ship is equipped with a black-box tech that somehow kills off the magnets in your nifty hand-held railgun. Lucky for you, you have a steel dagger which no damping signal in the universe is going to affect! Stab.
In short, I imagine that any hardened combat veteran in your universe is going to want to have a short blade or two on hand, but it may not be part of standard field equipment. The shield is very likely to be replaced by tougher armour.
Answer: I'll be quick with this one.
Ineffective Measures
People have suggested some ineffective means of dealing with boarders. Really, if you plan to open an airlock, they'll just drain the oxygen from the parts of the ship they are boarding, putting you at risk of being without air if you didn't arm for combat. If you throw in gas... people already have very sophisticated contained environments called spacesuits.
No Guns
As has been pointed out, if the ship is delicate, you don't want to be firing large guns. If futuristic guns necessary to pierce (power)armour have some restrictions like earlier guns, like long reload times, limited ammo, or so much power that they're a danger to the ship, melee weapons become a much more preferable scalpel for dealing with your foes. If it is a very close quarters environment with tight turns, guns won't be any great advantage over a tomahawk.
(Trivia: As a point of interest, a good reason to remove the oxygen is to prevent your guns making noise and deafening yourself in that very enclosed environment, if you have big guns for dealing with power armour.)
It was mentioned that a bayonet could be used, and this is true, a bayonet is a good addition to a rifle. However, it is not equal to a dedicated melee weapon. If you have a bayonet, no ammo, and they have a spear, you are dogfood.
Shield
Yeah, decent idea. Like the ballistic shields SWAT sometimes uses. Not sure where people get the idea those are so useless. You will have to decide Whether you want a rather unwiedly shield like the one I mention, or something more melee-friendly, just depending on what the greater threat is.
Grenades
Oh, and much, much more effective than guns and melee weapons in indoor fighting, the grenade. Nothing beats these for clearing rooms. The problem with these is that if you want to avoid damaging the ship and don't want shrapnel floating around. Also remember that, if the atmosphere is drained, there will be no gas explosion, but there will be shrapnel.
Hope this was helpful. No offence to anyone's ideas, but I had to hammer this out in a hurry.
Answer: The legends of galactic heroes anime, was a galaxy with thousands of spaceships fighting in a similiar fashion as WW1 line formations.  When boarding happened they nullified the use of laser weaponry by expelling the seffle particle, an odorless and invisible to the naked eye particle which erupted by laser weaponry and without the need for oxygen.  Which acted as a deterrent to both invader and defender from using their laser rifles.  Thus intense and brutal melee combat.
Could use a similar method in your world.
Answer: That's quite a lot of gear to be carrying. There's much more practical (less exciting) ways to get intruders off your ship. De-oxygenate compartments, pump-in some kind of knockout gas, or blow em out the airlock. I really doubt this kind of warefare would develop at this stage of technological advancement.
If you're looking to be practical it would be better to have wearable armor rather than carrying around a shield. Also you really just need a main weapon that can also be used as a blunting instrument for close encounters--bayonets could be a better option. Carrying around a bad ass sword/knife seems like a sexy idea, but I just don't see it being a viable option based on what you've provided about your universe.
If you're committed to this particular loadout you are going to have to develop some backstory on why this is going to be important e.g. traditions, warrior culture, etc. Or maybe it's dual purpose for some other more practical use.
Answer: A couple variables to consider:
1- The fighting style of the enemy
2- The blades capabilities
The blade inst going to be in the hands of the front line force, but it should certainly be on the soldiers person where it is easy to access in case it is your last defense. The bullet proof shield/blade combo can still be a deadly threat to rifle carriers when in close quarters.
Guerilla warfare picked the Redcoats apart, so knowing how the enemy fights helps. The shield and blade would be more effective in a phalanx formation.


Transfer over $10k

Question: I recently realized that most of my money is going into my checking account where it's just sitting there losing value due to inflation, etc. I want to open a savings account at a different bank (which has high APY) and move most of my money there but gradually. However, I heard that the government monitors transfers of over $10K. Is this something I need to worry about as I move money from my current account to new one? Is there any legal requirements I need to meet before moving money?
Comment: @nick012000: Asking if they already offer an account with the desired terms, sure.  But dave sounded like he was advocating negotiation on the rate, and it's not worth the bank's effort setting up customized terms even if someone with authority found them fair.  This isn't the sale price of an item at a supermarket we're talking about, it's a bank account contract dozens of pages in length, carefully vetted by lawyers, and any change would also need to be vetted.
Comment: @BenVoigt It might not be, if he's transferring from one type of account to a different one. Most banks offer different sorts of accounts to their customers, after all.
Comment: @dave_thompson_085: That's a waste of breath, as discussed at https://money.stackexchange.com/q/95167/5458
Comment: Another aspect that I think was not addressed adequately in the answers but isn't necessarily deserving of an answer unto itself, is that both accounts are presumably at US banks, and both are presumably in your name. Transfers between these accounts are less interesting to the IRS or anyone else than if either or both of those conditions were false.
Comment: Did you ask your bank if they can meet (or maybe even beat) the competition? If so, and you don't exceed the FDIC per-bank (per-status) coverage limit of $250k, that's usually more convenient.
Answer:
However, I heard that government monitors transfers of over $10K

No this is wrong. They want to know about cash or cash equivalent transactions over 10K, or small cash or cash equivalent transactions that are structured to look like they are under 10K.
So if you write a check to move the money, or you move the money electronically, the government doesn't care.
But if you ask for 10K or more in 100 dollar bills, they want to know. In fact two reports would be filed one for the withdraw and the second for the deposit.
They are trying to stop the underground economy. Where income can be hidden. They aren't trying to stop people from moving their own money between accounts.
Depending on the rules for the bank and how the money is transferred the new bank may restrict your access to the funds until they know the check was good. Talk to both banks if the amount of money is large, to see if they have any internal rules you may need to know.
Comment: Structuring a series of transactions each <10k of cash, in order to avoid reporting a >10k cash transaction is separately illegal and can result in the funds being seized. You are better off just doing a normal report of a >=10k cash transaction, assuming you are not engaged in illegal activities. Banks are required to report structured transactions and have done so on occasions when it's just normal activity for a legitimate business. If you might have a series of transactions that could be seen that way, you are best off discussing it with your bank, or doing >10k transactions and reporting.
Comment: Under a different BSA section, US also requires reporting of 'monetary instruments' over $10k _imported to or exported from_ the country, which is broader than just cash but still doesn't include a check on your US account or electronic transfer.
Comment: One of those rules could be a limit to how much you can use with online banking in one day. I had to request that limit to be raised once, previously it was (and is now again) 2000€. It's probably similar for other banks, so that you can't get forced into a large payout by a robber.
Comment: Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been [moved to chat](https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/93039/discussion-on-answer-by-mhoran-psprep-transfer-over-10k).
Answer: No, there is nothing you have to worry about.
You can move much larger amounts between your accounts, even in different countries, without any issues.
The government is interested in large cash amounts, and in large amounts that appear from thin air (meaning they are illegally earned, or you 'forgot' them in previous year's tax filings).
Answer: Will your transaction be monitored? Probably.
Should you worry about it? Probably not.
Banks and governments tend to monitor the system for reasons like fraud prevention, anti money laundering and perhaps even tax evasion. And certainly big flows of money will be scrutinized more carefully than small amounts.
However, assuming you are making a legal transaction, between two (or in this case 1) individuals who are proper citizens, and the income to enable transaction has been taxed... then the worst thing that might happen with any likelyhood is that someone might contact you to ask what the transaction is for.
So in short, you transferring 10k to your own savings account is not likely to raise any suspicion, and will definitely not get you into trouble.
Answer: I've moved amounts larger than that between my investments and my bank account, or between accounts I have in two different banks, on a fairly regular basis over the years with no problems. The bank may have reported it, but I wasn't doing anything unreasonable so I had no reason to worry; more work for them, but invisible to me.
(Anecdotal digression about a specific multibank transaction removed, since someone seemed to object.)
At worst, you might get audited. If you haven't been trying to do something illegal, that's really nothing to be afraid of; most audits are on the order of "we think you might have made a mistake here, please answer a few simple questions."
Comment: +1 - sorry, I thought the anecdote was interesting. Not deserving a negative vote.

Transfer over $10k


Are there rampart craters elsewhere in the Solar System?

Question: Rampart craters are impact craters with fluidized ejecta. These are mostly found on Mars, and there is one on Earth (Ries crater). Have rampart craters been found on any other Solar System bodies? Perhaps on a moon of Jupiter or Saturn?
Answer: There are some rampart craters on Earth:

Ries crater in Germany,
Bosumtwi crater in Ghana,
Tenoumer crater in Mauritania,
Lonar crater in India, and
Meteor crater in the United States

Additionally, a number of rampart craters have been discovered on Ganymede and Europa.

... the mere existence of these craters on Ganymede and Europa suggests that an atmosphere is not required for ejecta fluidization, nor can ejecta fluidization be explained by the flow of dry ejecta. Moreover, the absence of fluidized ejecta on other icy bodies suggests that abundant volatiles in the target also may not be the sole cause of ejecta fluidization. The
restriction of these craters to the grooved terrain of Ganymede ...

Also, this reference.
Ceres does not have rampart crater, but it has craters, such as Haulani, that have flow features in their ejecta blankets.
Comment: Ganymede: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1945-5100.2010.01044.x


Why has my homemade limoncello got a cloudy residue at the bottom?

Question: This is my first attempt at making limoncello. I used peel from 6 lemons to 700ml vodka, 250g caster sugar, 150ml water. After dissolving the sugar in the water I added the peel and simmered for 15mins, then removed from the heat and added the lemon juice from all 6 lemons. Whilst still slightly warm I added the vodka and poured into a sterilised container and left for about 10 days before straining and pouring into sterilised bottles.
Comment: Do you have a picture?
Answer: I have made 4 or 5 Limoncello (Lemon and also Lime based) batches and every one of them has been hazy. The last one has (or had until I skimmed it) a layer of oily flotsam - I did taste it - bitter an oily - I am guessing I got waxed lemons by mistake - but it didn't ruin the the actual liquor. The haziness always sets in when I add the lemon juice.
I tend to add the sugar or honey to the spirit and then add the finely pared skins (not taking the pith). Then juice the lemons and freeze. Turn the jar every time you are near it, don't shake. At around 5 days, when the sugar is dissolved and the oils extracted, defrost and add the juice, strain the lot into bottles.
Shop bought Limoncello (at least the ones I have access to) are generally hazy too. I wouldn't worry unless it tastes "off". If it is full-on roiling clouds - it is probably bits from squeezing the lemon. Let it sink and decant.
Answer: It is just lemon particles falling out of suspension. These things take time and the particles are too small to easily filter out, so next time just leave the whole thing in your big container until the Limoncello has cleared up a bit, that way your bottles will look nicer.
It may take a very long time to completely get all the particles out of suspension, so you may want to consider how much effort you want to put into this. You should of cause give it a try and wait as long as your comfortable with, but I've had home made wines that looked clear, and even after half a year of waiting to bottle there was still some particles coming out of suspension and giving my bottles a super thin layer of sediment


End of the world, entropy, and a new civilization

Question: After a nuclear apocalypse, will the earth have enough time left to go back to its pre-human state?  If it did, and a new civilization appeared, would it be impossible for them to know that the initial civilization ever existed (presumably enough time has passed that space objects, etc. are gone as well)?  Is is possible this happened before us?
Comment: *"pre-human state"* in what aspects? Also, what's the scale of your apocalypse? Only major cities and the rest dies in few generations? Or scorched earth on 95% of the globe? Or something in between?
Comment: @Molot - Materials redistributed, no bronze statues, plant and animal life in proper equilibrium, any radioactive material dispersed as before, etc.
Comment: Maybe a strong enough impact that would return earth to a state when it was just a big ball of molten stuff. But then it's not really earth anymore. It's a new planet that might be in the same position as earth is now
Answer: The Earth has roughly another 3 billion years before it becomes engulfed in by the sun. That is a shockingly long period of time in which a lot of decay and crustal churn can occur. While some evidence of human civilization will almost certainly exist, I think the real question is how easy it will be to find it, because evidence that exists under under 2 miles of rock, there is essentially zero chance that it will be found.
If you want to study a given era in Earth's geological history, you need to find out where rocks from that era still exist. Then you need to figure out where those rocks are not covered by hundreds of feet of other rocks, underneath a glacier, buried under soil, under hundreds of feet of lake or ocean sediment, and ideally not underneath more than a few feet of water. For example, we know nothing about the fossils on almost the entire continent of Antarctica because it's covered in ice. It could have been crawling with dinosaur cities and we would never know.
Most metals oxidize very quickly. Glass breaks and is weathered into sea glass. Plastic breaks down into tiny particles very quickly, and then will likely oxidize. Even granite, if exposed to weather will crumble over time. http://www.sepmstrata.org/page.aspx?pageid=680 Especially since, in the time it takes to evolve new sentient species (it seems to be a minimum of around 3 million years) there are guaranteed to be numerous ice ages, resulting in the soil of higher latitudes being scraped up and ground to rubble by glaciers.
Also, no offense to Molot, but I don't think mines will last very long at all. They collapse surprisingly quickly, and a lot of mining techniques intentionally collapse or fill any excavated caverns. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_mining_(hard_rock)#Stope_and_retreat_vs._stope_and_fill
There was a kind of cheesy TV show that dealt with this topic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyEUyqfrScU
Answer: Not really
Nuclear apocalypse that would left behind a lot of life wouldn't be able to destroy all signs of civilization. Like old mines. Holes in the ground can survive a lot, and equipment buried in them would be there to find.
There are marks of human activity on the moon, to. Flags probably got white already, but metal in the vehicles will be there a long time.
Earth crust is constantly recycled, but even with that, it seems we have about 3 billion years of fossil records available. That's a very long time. Most of the Earth's age, actually, and there are proofs that there was no oxygen earlier, so we can be pretty sure no civilization was there before.
After us? No one can resurrect species we killed. Put coal we burnt back in the ground. "Pre-human state" is impossible without miraculous technology, and nuclear holocaust is no such thing. Signs of our existence will stay, probably for billions of years. Granite funerary urns put safely in the ground, if nothing else, would reveal signs of social customs. And contrary to diamonds, buried granite is forever.
Answer:
Is it possible this happened before us?

I doubt that it is likely that advanced civilization could have developed before us.  There are a lot of clues that suggest why, given that science basically says "no it didn't happen", but of course there is also a lot we cannot know for certain.  So I will stop just short of saying that it is not possible at all.  Obviously we have no evidience that any advanced civilization or intelligent species existed on Earth other than humans.  I would also suggest that if anything advanced did develop, it did not make it into space or we would have detected it already.
This means also that I tend to disagree with your assumption that space objects would "go away" in a few million years.  Perhaps they would, but it would be less likely for anything at a Legrange Point to go away that fast.  Presumably one of the first things that are tried with satellites is positioning them at Legrange points, as this solves many complicated problems with only a little more effort and ingenuity.  Considering that we have only been going into space for ~60 years or so, I think it's safe to assume that we have tapped the potential of the Legrange points fairly early on in our space faring age.
So on to advanced, but less advanced than us.
Firstly, mammals had an opportunity to evolve because they were small enough and successful enough in the post apocalyptic world of Earth after a massive comet impact that wiped out the dinosaurs.  But are mammals the only kind of creatures that can develop high intelligence?  Perhaps not.  Some octopods and mollusks are quite clever.  However, what creates an environment where such a species can thrive and develop culture, particularly sophisticated language?  What are the advantages to such traits developing which are worth keeping?  In other words when is it less important to run from predators and more important to share information?  The answer would seem to be when hunting, or rather sharing the responsibility of capturing food, which benefits the group more.
I am not familiar enough with mollusks and octopods to comment on their hunting ability or collaboration skills, if any, that they possess, however...
Dolphins, which are mammals of course, do this, shepherding small snatches off of a bait ball, surrounding them with a tubular curtain of bubbles to confuse them and drive them toward the surface "cornering them", and then the dolphins take turns swimming up through the tube scooping up mouthfuls of fish.  Quite an elaborate behavior.  Wolves have similar tactics though, flanking, cornering (as in chasing toward water or tall grass to slow the prey) etcetera when hunting as a group.
Another interesting option, one that was explored in The Host, by Stephenie Meyer of the Twilight books and film series, is insect brains.  In that case, arachnoid or spider-like.  How smart can an insect be?  Interesting question.  To quote an article on the matter of insect intelligence, it is put forth that honey bees exhibit very intelligent behaviors.  It seems dubious to me to call these behaviors intelligent as I would more easily accept that, in such a small package, such behaviors are evolved, hard-wired abilities, however I am not a neurologist nor an entomologist.

These behaviors are far above and beyond what most people would assume an insect is capable of. Without exaggerating, the honey bee is capable of advanced symbolic communication, language, facial recognition, number use, observation and mimicry, understanding of rules, and high-level problem-solving. They are, in some senses, significantly smarter than many mammals. Amazing.

But it is worth noting that insects were once very large indeed.  Many millions of years ago, for which we do have a fossil record.


Solidity, is it possible to deploy a smart contract that prevents other smart contracts from inheriting from it?

Question: I am new to Ethereum and I was wondering if it is possible to deploy a smart contract such that other smart contracts are not able to inherit from it. In other words once a smart contract is deployed can other smart contracts inherit from it?
Answer: Smart contracts don't inherit from deployed smart contracts. Inheritance is a feature of the Solidity language, Solidity is compiled to EVM bytecode which is what is stored/deployed on the Ethereum blockchain.
When you inherit a contract in Solidity, the inherited contracts functionality is copied into the inheriting contract during the compilation process. The compiled bytecode is what is deployed to the Ethereum blockchain.
Comment: I am just thinking how it would be great if this is possible. We import thousands of not millions of open zeppelin Erc20 and Erc721 smart contracts that are the same bytecode. What if we could deploy them once and then just inherit them as import them and extend them. That somehow compiler just copies bytecode that is already on blockchain and adds only new one that extrends it.
Answer: As per my understanding also what @willjgriff says is correct. i.e. When Inheriting they do not use other deployed contract but have that code in the same address.
However if you want a child contract not to use any member in the parent contract, you can make them private, so the child contract may need some other member of the parent class to access that private member (may be some validating function).


Magento product categories disappear when trying to add new products

Question: This is an odd issue. All of our categories are showing up in the Magento admin category area but when we try and add new products we cannot assign them to specific categories because they don't show up. I have tried manually adding a simple product and a configurable product but the only category that I have available is the default category, none of my other categories show up. I have attached a screenshot of the product page and category page listing all our categories. Anyone else have this issue or might be able to point me in the right direction? I have tried flushing the all the cache, nothing seems to work... We are running 1.5.
Thanks for the help.
Photo of adding a product with no categories available.
http://climbhigh.com/images/missing-categoy.png
All of our available categories.
http://climbhigh.com/images/category-list.png
Answer: Try this:
<code>UPDATE catalog_category_entity SET children_count = "1" WHERE children_count < 1;
</code>
I had some issues with the children_count being a negative value, and this fixed it for me.


Using wp-load.php outside Wordpress. Security risk or not?

Question: I am using this outside Wordpress to get access to different Wordpress' tables:
define('WP_USE_THEMES', false);
require('./wp-load.php');

It works perfectly. But is there a higher security risk? Can I be hacked that way if e.g. someone knows the name of the php script?
I am not passing any values to the script. It's just called by cron to create pseudo materialized views out of some very slow MySQL views for statistical purposes.
Answer: When you use wp-load.php via external .php file , there will be always one Security Issue on SQL injections. Someone can use or inject SQL queries if external file have not much secure.
You can always secure that file via giving right permission (644) , not leaving any extra spacing before and after code. Also do not put the file directly in the root , you can place that file outside root or inside wp-content.


I cant connect my Raspberry Pi Pico

Question: So I'm trying to connect my Raspberry Pi Pico to Thonny but I doesn't let me select com4 or anything else except "try to detect port automatically" and when I put it, it does not let me run my script, I checked for it in device manager but it was not there.
Comment: Abandoned post by Unregistered user.
Answer: If it's not in device manager then you'll never connect and you can't run a script unless your Pico is connected.
Open Windows Device Manager and look at ports while you connect and disconnect.
Mine shows up as com 9 so I had to select port 9 under tools > options > interpreter > port in Thonny.
Answer: Check your usb cable. Some cables are power only, and some are data and power. The port may recgonize it, but make not be able to do anything as it cannot transfer any data. I suggest using a different cable. I ran into the same exact issue, but all I needed was to change the cable.
Hope this helps!

I cant connect my Raspberry Pi Pico


Are source and drain terminals of Access Transistors in 6T SRAM interchangeable?

Question: My textbook understanding is that the source terminals (S) of the access transistors in a 6T SRAM cell are to be connected to the bit lines (BL/BLB) while the drain terminals (D) to the storage nodes (Q/QB). Now while simulating an SRAM cell in HSPICE, exchanging the Source and Drain terminal connections doesn't seem to change the output. In fact, I thought about this only after I saw some SRAM netlists available on the internet where they had connected S to Q/QB and D to BL/BLB! I get that MOSFET is a symmetrical structure and S/D can be interchanged in a standalone device, but is it true while designing a circuit?
Answer: In IC design you can (usually) just interchange the connections of source and drain as you already point out, because it is a symmetric device.
With discrete devices a clear difference between source and drain exsists, that is because the bulk/body connection is tied to one of the pins, making it the source.