How do I know if which leg is the emitter or the collector? (Transistor)

Question: I'm new to electronics and here's a newbie question that I would like to ask:
How do I know if which leg is the emitter or the collector in a Transistor (For both PNP and NPN) using only an analog multimeter?
Comment: Do you already know which is the base?
Answer: This really works in practice.
I've used it numerous times over the years.
Required equipment:

Meter with diode test or low ohms range.
About 1 megohm resistor or a wet (licked)  finger.

Set meter to lowish ohms range such that a diode conduction can be seen - trial and error OR diode test if available.

With an NPN transistor the base will have two diodes facing away from it. ie with most positive meter lead on the base the other two leads will show a conducting diode when the negative lead is placed on them

With a PNP  transistor the base will have two diodes facing towards it. ie with most positive negative (usually black) meter lead on the base the other two leads wil show a conducting diode when the positive  lead is placed on them

OK - now you know NPN from PNP and which is base. Now

Connect positive to guessed collector for NPN and negative to guessed emitter. Set meter to 1 megohm plus range.

Connect base to guessed collector via a high value resistor - probably 100k to 1M. A wet finger works well. Note reading.

Now swap guessed emitter and collector and repeat. Again resistor is added from base to guessed collector. Note reading

One of the two above will have a much lower R_CE reading when base is forward biased. That's the correct guess.
Once you get used to this you can pick up a leaded transistor, juggle it with meter leads till you find the two diodes giving base and NPN or PNP then lick your finger and do a forward bias base test - and then declare pinout. Looks like magic to many. Works.
You can or course formalize that on a breadboard and even add (gasp) switches to swap polarity etc.
Note that you can get some idea of Beta (current gain _ from this once you learn to calibrate your wet finger.
Comment: @Robert Harvey - It is ceryainly conceivable that a given meter could make enough current to damage a given transistor but I don't think I'v ever seen a combination where that is the case. Most meters with a 9V battery apply 9V max and probably less (regilated). Some use 3V or 1.5V. Some few MOSFETS would have gate-source max voltage exceeded if 9V is applies. very rare.
Comment: Worth noting: some meters produce enough current during resistance tests to damage small transistors.
Comment: It's a nice exercise to build a µC-controlled transistor tester that does this, and more.
Answer: The simplest way doesn't even require a multimeter:
Download the datasheet and look at the pinout diagram.
Comment: In an SOT23 how can you even be sure it's a transistor?  Diodes, BJTs, FETs, even some linear regulators - they all look the same.
Comment: This is like a link-only answer without the link, or "just google it" without the information so obtained.  Only worse.
Comment: Fine enough if it's clearly labelled and you have net access. Not so goodif doing a repair away from net access. My shown method also can be used on SOT23 transistors (where CBE is usually more obvious.
Comment: For: 12 years on, everybody has net access, and can download a datasheet. Against: using a datasheet to identify legs of a 2N2222 gives you a 50/50 chance of misidentifying E and C, since this particular device has two variants, each with a different pinout.
Comment: re how can ... : "The sound of one dog barking" :-).ie you can but try. BUT, a pretty fair test is the 2 diodes from base to C& E for  BJT. Even better, in most SOT23 BJT's the base is on SOT23 pin 1 so 2 diodes should be there | A MOSFET is almost always gDS so there should be a DS reverse diode showing it is a FET and polarity showing if N or P channel. FET diode will probably have higher Vf than a usual diode at given current. The rest may be linear regulators, or a 1 I/O pin microcontroller :-).
Answer: Useful information to know (complements the other answers) which applies to both NPN+PNP bipolar transistors and N-channel and P-channel MOSFETs:

TO92 transistors are almost always pinned-out as EBC (bipolar) / SGD (MOSFET) when you are facing the flat part of the transistor package and the leads are pointing down.
TO220/TO247/DPAK/D2PAK transistors are almost always pinned-out as BCE (bipolar) / GDS (MOSFET) when you are facing the front part of the transistor (tab on the back side) and the leads are pointing down. This is easy to remember by the mnemonic GDS = Gosh Darn Son-of-a-gun. (Or something like that. :-)
Transistors with metal tabs (TO220, TO247, DPAK, D2PAK, SOT-223, etc.) almost always have the tab as the collector or drain. This has to do more with the construction of the device than from any sort of convention; the collector/drain is the part of the die that is the most thermally coupled to the metal tab, so it's a natural point of electrical attachment.
Surface-mount transistors with two pins on one side and the third standing alone on the other side (SOT-23, SOT-323) almost always have the collector / drain standing alone. This is because the gate-source / base-emitter voltage differential is small, whereas the collector / drain may be tens or hundreds of volts different, so it provides a larger clearance for that voltage differential to have the collector / drain off on its own. The same holds true for DPAK / D2PAK transistors, where the middle pin is cut short and sticks up in the air; it's done to provide voltage clearance and you connect electrically through the collector / drain via the tab, which is (usually) the same piece of metal as the center pin.

I suppose there are certain transistor parts that are exceptions to these rules (most likely in the SOT-23 and SOT-323 packages) but I'm not aware of any -- still, always check the datasheet.
Comment: Most of your advice is OK **BUT** the TO92 certainly isn't. Every variant of the 6 possible TO92 ones is probably used, and a number are common. My most used parts are pinned CBE (opposite to yours) and I've seen many ECB pinouts and, I think, some BCE. That leaves only CEB and BEC and I'd be surprised if they were not used.  || TO220 - Yes || Tabs - yes (except when isolated) || SOT23 - Yes - and the left pin is most usually base or gate with 2 pins facing you.
Comment: ? Could you show me a datasheet? Here are the parts that have EBC pinouts (again, the fine print = you are facing the flat part and the leads are pointing down): 2N3904, 2N3906, 2N2222, 2N2907, 2N4401, 2N4403, 2N5087, 2N5089, MPSA42. The only familiar bjt's I could find which have another pinout are BC546/547/548/549/550 which are CBE.
Comment: Off the cuff - for jellybean transistors I almost invariably use BC337 (NPN) and BC327 (PNP) - both CBE. A transistor selector book woul;d be the easy way to check distributions as they have pinout tables which they assign a letter code to and then show the relevant code for each device. In passing: CBE - BC547, 337, 338, 557, 327, 328. | ECB - BC639, BC640, ... | More anon.| Interesting -> http://www.radiomuseum.org/forum/transistor_connections.html
Comment: I agree that BC337`s are all different and the only way is to test them; may be each supplier has a pet wholesaler so you know what he sells so each time you know which one to visit.
A suggestion ok. David M My pet supplier sells BC337(c) version. CBE from the front pins down. RS Components Somerville road Melbourne.
Answer: Simplest way is measuring forward voltage between junction BC and BE, BC junction will have lower forward voltage.
In case you use normal Digital Multi Meter (DMM), with similar test current to mine 2n5551 gave me this results:
Vbc=642mV
Vbe=648mV
if i try with resistance range
Rbc=23Mohm
Rbe=29Mohm
For analog multi-meter test currents are little bit higher compared to the digital ones so you can expect lower resistance values (100K-1M) and it is highly non linear doing it this way, but relative forward voltage is lower for BC junction (translates relative resistance is lower for BC junction) compared to BE junction...
Answer: Generally, Base-Emitter will show higher resistance and Base-Collector will show lower resistance. But in biased condition You will get opposite that is B-E lower & B-C higher resistance.
Comment: What do you mean "biased condition"? If the transistor has voltages or currents applied other than by the ohmmeter, than how will you get a resistance measurement?


How do I put a link to a screenshot on my homescreen?

Question: I have a screenshot of my university timetable I want to be able to easily access on my Android phone. How can I create a link to this on my homescreen?
Answer: You can try this widget : Photo Widget, which allows you to put images on your home screen. Or the application Evernote but it is a bit heavy for what you need however this app is very useful.
Hope this will help
Comment: I was just about to post the same thing. The photo gallery widget used to be a part of stock Android, but I haven't seen it in a while now.
Answer: Many devices (or their pre-installed launchers) already ship with a widget called "image frame" or similar, which is what I'd check first: Open your app drawer, and check for available widgets which have a name like that – then add it to your homwscreen (when found). It should ask you for an image to put into the "frame", and you should be able to select your time table.


How to get executable code for raspberry pi from arm-linux-gnueabi-gcc cross compiler

Question: i am using arm-linux-gnueabi-gcc cross copiler for arm but i am not able to select different architecture of this processor. can anyone help me to choose raspberry pi architecture
Answer: The one that comes stock on most mainstream linux distros targets ARMv7, and so should be okay for compiling code to run on a Pi 2/3 -- although if you are using Raspbian, the fact that it is compiled for ARMv6 may complicate this (but I don't think that is the case).
If you are using any other model, i.e., the original A/B, the A+/B+, or the zero, then you cannot use that compiler and will have to download or build one yourself (I recommend crosstool-ng for this purpose as doing it from scratch is quite a task; you will find various tutorial etc. involving ct-ng and that Pi, including here).


Make other shapes from one cookie cutter

Question: Is there a simple way to get other shapes of this cookie cutter (for example a heart or mitten), or would I have to start from scratch?
I only need to change the shape of the top part of the cutter.
I need it for 3d printing.
Comment: A heart is a completely different shape... of course you could try to move the exisiting geometry manually to get a heart shape, but building it new might be easier. There is no "make it heart-shaped" button in Blender and it is no primitive shape like a circle or a square, which might have made things a little easier...
Answer: Select the top edge and ShiftH to hide the rest:

Then right click > LoopTools (you need to activate the LoopTools addon) > Circle:

Model your new shape (enable the Proportional Editing and the X symmetry options):

Unhide the rest (AltH):
Comment: This is awesome. Thank you!


On iOS, what's the benefit of OpenSSL over using CFStream, CFNetwork etc. for secure sockets?

Question: I asked this already on Stack Overflow, here. I was told I might find answers here.
Comment: Cisco ios or Macintosh ios? (only one really makes sense, but i'm still going to ask the question).
Answer: Two things:

you get more control over the encryption options. If you need to control or inspect the certificate exchange in ways not permitted by CFNetwork, you must drop to OpenSSL.
OpenSSL is cross-platform, so you may already have code that works with it.
Answer: (Perhaps slightly off-topic). I'm not sure about iOS, but on OSX, CFStream, CFNetwork and so on allow the application to use a private key in the KeyChain without ever gaining access to its content. For example, if you have to authenticate to a site with a client certificate, it's the OS/Keychain layer that will deal with the signature using the private key, and then pass the TLS "handle" to the application.
In a sense, it makes the keys more secure, as the users don't need to trust the application as much: even if it uses your private key when you allow it to, it will never be able to make a copy of it (and perhaps send it to a rogue site).
(Note that this depends on various configuration options, of course, as you are also able to give the content of the private key to the application if required, and allowed by the user).
As far as I know, OpenSSL isn't integrated with the OS in this manner (so the application process has to be able to get hold of the private key if it wants to use it).


How to toggle HUD?

Question: HUD can be disabled and restored by typing tm into the console, but the command disables the entire interface, including menus. A hotkey would also be more convenient.
Most likely not possible within the game, but there may be a suitable mod available.
Comment: @Mazura: The mod doesn't have a toggle feature, but disables HUD components entirely according to the description.
Comment: I know some games allow you to bind keys to commands... I don't _know_ if Oblivion has it, but _maybe_ it does?
Comment: Oblivion, and most Bethesda games, have the option to run a .bat file containing console commands. I can't seem to find anything on it, but if you could create a .bat file with just a `tm` command in it, then find a way to hotkey that, it could be what you're looking for. To the best of my knowledge though, without some sort of mod, Oblivion doesn't support extra hotkeys aside from what's in-game already.
Comment: In fact, looking more into the nature of hotkeys in Oblivion, they're meant more for in-game items and spells than anything else. The chances of assigning a .bat command, or even the console command itself, seem slim to none due to limitations on the game.
Comment: @Kaizerwolf: I can most likely create an Autohotkey script - but as I said the `tm` command isn't preferred as I'd like to play without HUD.
Answer: Install Menu and Camera Toggler mod — HUD toggle is mapped to the H key by default and disabling doesn't turn off the UI elements, unlike the tm command. Flying Camera Mod is a potential alternative.
source (retrieved the tesnexus.com pages with Wayback Machine)
Answer: Use BTMod 2.2. From a reply on no HUD (a different mod):
Open the prefabs/menu/hud_mainmenu.xml file with notepad, and each time there's a number with alpha in the line, you replace it with 0.
It'll make every single element invisible like typing tm in the console, except you can still talk to people, loot and otherwise play as if the hud is turned on.
Comment: @DanmakuGrazer: The guide is for Fallout 4, the game doesn't even share the same engine (Creation Engine) with Oblivion (Gamebryo).
Comment: When you said "entire interface" I thought your problem was inputs not responding. More like *all the menus*. You want *just* the hud gone.
Comment: Do you have personal experience with Oblivion? `tm` **disables UI**, I can't even see the pause menu with the command enabled: https://i.imgur.com/jJLjCRb.png
Comment: @Mazura: You just said "the command disables the entire interface" OP is incorrect. It's the console being open that disables the UI, not the `tm` command.". I have closed the console, of course, and there is no UI. I really can't understand.
Comment: I'm sorry if I was unclear, but I specifically asked how to toggle HUD, not how to disable. I'm looking for an easy way to set it on and off mostly for screenshot purposes. Editing game files involves manual work and most likely requires restarting the game as the files are in use when the game is running.

How to toggle HUD?


Is there a way to tell what powerup a weapon slot gets based on the number of kills required?

Question: I find myself with a lot of items and I'm hesitant to discard something that requires 1000, 2000, etc kills if I don't know what the boost is. Is there a way to figure out what it is, simply based on how many kills it requires?
Answer: The KO requirement does determine what kind of skill would be on the weapon. But there is no official way to. There was a bug that may or may not have been fixed that does allowed you to figure out the exact skill if the weapon also has an empty slot.

The weapon with the KO Skill on it needs an extra slot.
Try forging a possible option into that slot. It will not let you add it if the KO Skill is that one (because you can't have two of the same skill on a weapon.)
e.g. If a weapon has an empty slot and a KO Skill that needs 2000 kills try putting any of the VS Skills you have onto the weapon. If it DOES NOT let you put that skill on the weapon that is the skill that will be unlocked.

The actual possible skills can be found here: http://koei.wikia.com/wiki/Hyrule_Warriors/Weapon_Skills
1000 KO Skill: Health+, Special+, Bombs+, Arrows+, Boomerang+, Hookshot+
2000 KO Skills: VS Legend, VS Skyward, VS Twilight, VS Time, VS Sorceress, VS Ganon, VS Soldier, VS Undead, VS Beast, VS Dragon
3000 KO Skills: Compatriot, One-Hit Kill, Sturdy Feet, Regen, Defenseless, No Healing, Adversity
(After 1.5 Update) 4000 KO Skills: Hasty Attacks, Normal Attacks+, Special Attack+, Finishing Blow+, Focus Spirit+, Heartstrong
25,000 KO Skills (Kills only start to count on these weapons after getting every original Weapons in the game) Evil's Bane ( Str+200), Legendary (Str+300)
Comment: Good answer, thanks. I thought that Legendary just set your base attack to 450 or whatever, not that it was a straight +300.
Answer: There are sets of slot skills (the upgrades for weapons). X1000 are all upgrades for tools (bow,boomerang,ect) with enough kills. X2000 are all extra damage on specific characters and units in a category (like twilight characters). X3000 are mostly (not all) extra damage with requirements (for example, you can't heal, you have low health, ect.) One exception I know is more damage taken, but less knockback.
Comment: Having some reference material to back this up would be nice.


Marginal distribtuion with noninformative prior

Question: For $i=1, \ldots, K$ and $j=1, \ldots,n$, assume the following model.
\begin{align}
X_{ij} \mid \mu_i & \sim N(\mu_i, \sigma^2) \nonumber \\
P(\mu_i, \sigma^2) & \propto 1/\sigma^2
\end{align}
We assume everything is independent. Then the posterior is as below
\begin{align*}
\dfrac{\mu-\bar X_i}{s/ \sqrt{n}} \sim T_{n-1}
\end{align*}
With this noninformative prior, is it possible to derive the marginal distribution of $\bar X_i$?
Answer: The short answer is that no, with improper prior distributions, the marginal distribution of the data will not be proper.


Should single men not sit at corner of the table?

Question: I heard that there some say that single men should not sit at the corner of the table, because it could lead to someone staying single forever. Is there a source for this idea?
Comment: sounds very superstitious
Comment: @armoose This belief exists in my circles, although with women and fertility. I would not be surprised if the source of this and many others is Russia, where very similar superstitions are alive and well today
Answer: Poking around on the Internet I couldn't find any references to this particular adage. But the concept is simple enough, I think, that its source can be inferred. Historically, parents (mothers in particular) want their children to find love and to marry well. Just like at little league sports events, they watch from the stands and develop a neurotic interest in the success of their children in this pursuit. And they notice minor things, like the fact that boys and men positioned in the middle of a long rectangular table have greater access to the attention of the girls and women at the table.
Comment: Welcome to Mi Yodeya, Adam, and thanks for the answer. Just to clarify: this is your own idea?
Comment: Thanks, @Scimonster. Yep. It's pure inference based on observation and experience.
Comment: This is what the idea sounds like to me, as well.  "Bubbe, just get in the middle and meet a nice meidl already!  None of this hanging on the corners business."


how to serialize when fields are not known in django-rest-framework?

Question: I want to serialize a dictionary where field_name is not fixed, it can be anything and i need to validate if type of field_value is correct according to what type should be provided to field_name.
e.g:
{
   "attributes": {
         attribute_name: attribute_vale
         .
         .
         .
         (can contain such more pairs)
   }
}

Is there any serializer way that can help me to serialize the key-value pair of attributes dictionary?
Answer: You can dynamically get the model's fields with:
 mymodel._meta.get_fields()

So you can create dynamic serializers with:
    def get_serializer(self, include_fields: list[str]=None, readonly_fields: list[str]=None):
        class AnySerializer(ModelSerializer):
            class Meta:
                model = self.__class__
                fields = [field.name for field in self._meta.get_fields()] if not include_fields else include_fields
                read_only_fields = ['pk'] if not readonly_fields else readonly_fields
        return AnySerializer(self, many=False)

as a method on your model.
Then you can call:
mymodel = MyModel.objects.all().first() # Get an instance
serializer = mymodel.get_serializer() # Dynamically create a serializer
serialized_data = serializer.data # Serialized JSON data

You can validate types entered into the field with:
# I'm sure there's a way of dynamically validating the fields before saving.
# I just don't have that answer.
for field in self._meta.get_fields():
    if field.get_internal_type() is models.EmailField:
        field_data = getattr(self, field.name)
        validate data...
    elif ...

With this method, you can define readonly fields, and include_fields. If none are provided, all fields will be serialized. I'm pretty sure Django model validation still applies to serializers, so you could set up your validation there.
This is a method for a model, but I myself use it on querysets. (use self.model in querysets to access the model from the queryset.)


Sequential numbering from global field

Question: I would like to add sequential numbering to each entry, which is obtained from a global field. After saving the entry, the global field should be assigned the next number (+1). Does anyone have any idea what the code for it would look like (module)?
Answer: You can use event hooks to hook into the saving process for elements to achieve this behaviour. In particular, you can use the hooks Entry::EVENT_BEFORE_SAVE and Entry::EVENT_AFTER_SAVE to perform some custom action before or after an element is saved. Both hooks receive a boolean argument indicating if the element is new. You can use that to either set a starting value for your ID field (if the element is new) or update the global counter (if the element is not new).
However, your suggested workflow doesn't appear to be very thought out. For one, what if an editor edits the People ID manually? This would mess with the counter in unexpected ways, and in turn mess up subsequent IDs. Also, I'm not sure why you need a custom ID field and the global counter, but it looks like you're trying to replicate functionality that you already get for free out of the box with Craft:

If you only need a unique ID for each person, each entry has that by default once it's saved to the database, so you could just use those.
If you need a sequential ID only for people … why? If you just want to know the ordinal number of a person (i.e. how many people there are before a specific person), you can use a simple count query with the positionedBefore parameter.
For the global counter: If you only need that to generate the sequential IDs, you don't need it at all if you use one of the suggestions above. If you need it to get a total of all people, you can use a count query instead.

If you edit your question to include the actual problem you're trying to solve, I'm sure someone could suggest a better approach!
Comment: Hey Moritz, thank you for your answer. The idea is to give people an ID in a simpler (sequential, just numbers) format rather than the UID. The 'People ID' field could be set to 'hidden' or 'unwritable' so that there are no complications. Think of this 'People ID' as a unique number, similar to a sequential invoice number. If you use a count query with the positionedBefore parameter, the 'People ID would always change when an entry is deleted.
Comment: @nicbent Just out of curiosity, what do you need those sequential IDs for? Seems like a lot of work just to have a "nice-looking" ID, since the IDs aren't really supposed to be visible at all. And the sequentiality is already there since all entries have a timestamp. In case you just want something that is less verbose than the UID (for exported reports or something like that?), elements come with both a UID _and_ a [regular ID](https://docs.craftcms.com/api/v3/craft-base-elementtrait.html#id), which is just an integer. Maybe that't sufficient for your use-case?
Comment: The functionality is intended for a people database, the 'People ID' would only be invisible in the backend, but visible in the frontend, so that users can search for this value ... I thought about the regular ID, but it is not so elegant, because these are not generated consistently one after the other, but one could possibly overlook this in view of the effort of an extra module
Comment: @nicbent Why would people search for a random ID? If you need to be able to give people a unique identifier to search for a specific person, wouldn't the entry slug work as well? Also, having a sequential ID and exposing it like this allows for user enumeration (or rather, people enumeration), which will be problematic if you ever want to impose any sort of access restrictions. Still, if you absolutely want to do this, the hooks mentioned in my answers should suffice. Let me know if you run into any problems!
Comment: @nicbent - is people ID like a customer number or what are you using it for exactly?  As Moritz mentions, if you're exposing it via search, just be careful about what information is exposed unless the users of your front end are already authenticated and trusted with the information...TBH using Craft's ID would probably serve the same purpose and be way easier.  When people are inevitably removed from the database at some future point in time, you're going to get gaps in the sequence regardless.

Sequential numbering from global field


Can Minecraft be played in an isometric view

Question: I have been thinking of trying Minecraft.  I would like to know if Minecraft allows you to play with an isometric,  top down view instead of the cumbersome first person view?
Comment: I'm afraid that's not possible without mods.
Comment: It's surely doable with mods. But the gameplay isn't suited for this. If it's the perspective what bothers you in minecraft, try another game as it seems you're looking for another game experience than minecraft offers.
Comment: I don't know why so many people are voting it down.  Once it is on zero further voting down is usually required only for questions which are obviously obnoxious in both content and from.
Answer: You can play in a third-person view, if that is what you're asking. Pressing F5 toggles through different view modes. However i would recommend first person view, things like exploring cave ceilings for ores, and small enclosed spaces in general are easier with first person.
Comment: I was asking about isometric view like for eg: simcity,  or even the sims,  rather than a 3rd person view. I agree for small confined spaces first person would be fine,  but for large expansive outdoor environment,  isometric view would be easier to interact with
Answer: As stated in comments and other answers, this is really not possible without mods. However third-person view does provide a wider perspective, though clearly this is not on the scale you are looking for.
The multi-level and vast terrain that this game offers is far too complex for an isometric view to be considered "usable" in Minecraft. Even in third person, it can be sometimes tricky to get the same view that first person provides.
The difference between games like Sims/Sim City and Minecraft is the in the Sims game you are very much third party, making other people do things, whereas in Minecraft, it very much is a first-person interactive game. You are the one digging, and exploring and farming, not a Sim. It's a more personal experience in that sense.


how do I modify the system path variable in python script?

Question: I'm trying to run a python script from cron, but its not running properly so I'm assuming its the different path env variable. Is there anyway to change the variable within a python script?
Comment: The title of this question should change. I came here because I actually want to change the path variable in a python script, not because I need information about running a python script from a cron job.
Comment: You should provide your operating system details. Also, this looks a lot like a possible duplicate - I recommend searching harder.
Comment: What does "not running properly" mean?  Are you sure you're even starting your script (i.e. it can find your python binary at all)
Comment: I'm doing alot of Popen's with programs that have no paths with them.
Comment: the cronlog says its running but the script isn't doing what its supposed to be doing.
Comment: Please do not comment on your own question.  It's your question.  You can **update** it.  Please **update** your question to contain **all** the facts.  We can't guess.
Answer: While the accepted answer works for the OP's purposes, and while the second answer is correct for updating the python sys.path variable, I think, if the OP weren't able to use the accepted answer (because, say, there was a policy against modifying the OS PATH variable on build/test machines), something like this SO answer would be what they are looking for. Summarizing the simple case here, to change the OS PATH environment variable:
app_path = os.path.join(root_path, 'other', 'dir', 'to', 'app')
os.environ["PATH"] += os.pathsep + app_path

At least, this is what I was hoping to find when I read the question.
Comment: +1 for the case you want to set PATH (and PYTHONPATH is similar code) , though note that sys.path and os.environ['PATH'] are / can be different.
Comment: This is what I understood while reading the OP's question as well. I was trying to set the PATH using `'export PATH=$PATH:' + THE_OTHER_PATH` and it wasn't working.
Answer: @unutbu has the right approach, but for what it's worth, @Joe Schmoe, if you ever need the info:
import sys
print sys.path
['.', '/usr/local/bin', '/usr/local/lib/python2.6/dist-packages',...]
sys.path.append('/home/JoeBlow/python_scripts')
print sys.path
['.', '/usr/local/bin', '/usr/local/lib/python2.6/dist-packages', '/home/JoeBlow/python_scripts',...]

sys.path is an array containing everything that was in your initiating script's PYTHONPATH variable (or whatever your shell's default PYTHONPATH is).
Answer: You shouldn't need to set the PATH from within the python script.
Instead, put something like
USER=joe
HOME=/home/joe
SHELL=/bin/bash
PATH=/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/some/other/path
PYTHONPATH=/home/joe/pybin
MAILTO=joe
LANG=en_US.UTF-8

#min hr    day   mon dow
*/5  12    *     *   *     reminder.py 'Eat lunch'

at the top of your crontab. These environment variables will then be available to all cron jobs run through your crontab.


Black spots on my ruby ficus elastica

Question: Does anyone know what these black spots on my ficus are and how to treat? I had to put it out in the sun when my house was being painted, could it be sunburn? Or maybe a fungus?
Answer: This is a fungus/virus/bacteria brought on by over watering.  Indicators are:

happens on older growth first
growth rings are present:  round hole in centre of dead tissue surrounded by a halo of dying tissue.  The disease grows a bit then stops then starts again.

Most plants can out grow this problem if you do the following:

provide as much light as possible
water less, only when the top inch of soil is dry
ensure the plant is not sitting in water
review the last time the plant was repotted.  If this is an old plant that has been overwatered it may be time to repot by

take out of pot
remove any black or soft roots
cut off an inch or two of the root ball at the bottom of the pot
add soil less mix to the bottom of the pot
replace plant in pot and water

Do not:

fertilize until the spots stop appearing
repot if the root system is firm with white or yellow roots
Comment: Thank you so much for the answer and advice!

Black spots on my ruby ficus elastica


What are Dream Roads?

Question: I saw someone asking a question about Dream Roads, so I looked it up. But I can't find anything with 'Dream Roads' at all (well, that's related to what I'm looking for)! Just Plane of Dreams and stuff. What are Dream Roads? Also, it was Steve Redka who asked this question that got me wondering: Can Changelings use oneiromancy for space travel?
Comment: The tags on the linked question indicate it is about Changeling: The Lost second edition, so I've applied the appropriate tags for that game to this question.
Answer: Dreaming Roads (called Dream Roads in the linked question) are a concept in Changeling: the Lost, one of the game settings for Chronicles of Darkness.
In Changeling, you can play humans that were abducted by True Fae and turned into faerie creatures. These True Fae live in a place called Arcadia, which is separated from our everyday reality by a surreal land called The Hedge.
The Dreaming Roads are faerie roads that connect with the the world of dreams and lead through the Hedge. In the much more poetic words of Changeling - The Lost (p. 220):

The Dreaming Roads
The Hedge is the barrier separating stone and water
from the fabric of unbound desires, and it has hidden
paths that lead into dreams. These enchanted and furtive
trods wend their way through wonders and perils, leading
into dreamscapes just as the Hedge fades into Faerie.
No one is certain why the Hedge connects to humanity's
dreams, other than to cite the uncanny similarities
between its psychoactive properties and the human subconscious.
These trods are the Dreaming Roads, and the
fae know how to walk them into the dreams of Earth [...]
The Dreaming Roads are mysterious avenues where
escaped nightmares and shards of human fantasy roam,
and so traversing one requires speed and attentiveness.
Comment: @Jadasc Thanks for the helpful edit. The reason why I had a bit of exposition for what Chronicles of Darkness /  World of Darkness is conceptually, as the asker is a 13 year old who seems to have not had any exposure to RPGs other than D&D (and barely that), and a game set in an alternate version of our reality is a bit different from one set in an entirely fantasy world. I thought that might be helpful to them to have as context.
Comment: To some degree, sure, but it ought to be the right game. Rein-Hagen's influence on CoD is comparable to Gygax's on 5e — in the past.

What are Dream Roads?


How do the semantics of AsyncLocal differ from the logical call context?

Question: .NET 4.6 introduces the AsyncLocal<T> class for flowing ambient data along the asynchronous flow of control. I've previously used CallContext.LogicalGet/SetData for this purpose, and I'm wondering if and in what ways the two are semantically different (beyond the obvious API differences like strong typing and lack of reliance on string keys).
Comment: I don't think there is any.  It is an alternative for projects that cannot depend on CallContext because they target the CoreCLR.  CallContext requires remoting support, not available in the small CLR version.
Answer: The semantics are pretty much the same. Both are stored in the ExecutionContext and flow through async calls.
The differences are API changes (just as you described) together with the ability to register a callback for value changes.
Technically, there's a big difference in the implementation as the CallContext is cloned each time it is copied (using CallContext.Clone) while the AsyncLocal's data is kept in the ExecutionContext._localValues dictionary and just that reference is copied over without any extra work.
To make sure updates only affect the current flow when you change the AsyncLocal's value a new dictionary is created and all the existing values are shallow-copied to the new one.
That difference can be both good and bad for performance, depending on where the AsyncLocal is used.
Now, as Hans Passant mentioned in the comments CallContext was originally made for remoting, and isn't available where remoting isn't supported (e.g. .Net Core) which is probably why AsyncLocal was added to the framework:
#if FEATURE_REMOTING
    public LogicalCallContext.Reader LogicalCallContext
    {
        [SecurityCritical]
        get { return new LogicalCallContext.Reader(IsNull ? null : m_ec.LogicalCallContext); }
    }

    public IllogicalCallContext.Reader IllogicalCallContext
    {
        [SecurityCritical]
        get { return new IllogicalCallContext.Reader(IsNull ? null : m_ec.IllogicalCallContext); }
    }
#endif

Note: there's also an AsyncLocal in the Visual Studio SDK that is basically a wrapper over CallContext which shows how similar the concepts are: Microsoft.VisualStudio.Threading.
Answer:
I'm wondering if and in what ways the two are semantically different

From what can be seen, both CallContext and AsyncLocal internally rely on ExecutionContext to store their internal data inside a Dictionary. The latter seems to be adding another level of indirection for async calls. CallContext has been around since .NET Remoting and was a convenient way of flowing data between async calls where there wasn't a real alternative, until now.
The biggest difference I can spot is that AsyncLocal now lets you register to notifications via a callback when an underlying stored value is changed, either by a ExecutionContext switch or explicitly by replacing an existing value.
// AsyncLocal<T> also provides optional notifications
// when the value associated with the current thread
// changes, either because it was explicitly changed
// by setting the Value property, or implicitly changed
// when the thread encountered an "await" or other context transition.
// For example, we might want our
// current culture to be communicated to the OS as well:

static AsyncLocal<Culture> s_currentCulture = new AsyncLocal<Culture>(
args =>
{
    NativeMethods.SetThreadCulture(args.CurrentValue.LCID);
});

Other than that, one resides in System.Threading while the other lives at System.Runtime.Remoting , where the former will be supported in CoreCLR.
Also, it doesn't seem that AsyncLocal has the shallow copy-on-write semantics SetLogicalData has, so the data flows between calls without being copied over.
Answer: There appears to be some semantic difference in timing.
With CallContext the context change happens when the context for the child thread/task/async method is set up, i.e. when Task.Factory.StartNew(), Task.Run() or async method are called.
With AsyncLocal the context change (change notification callback being called) happens when the child thread/task/async method actually starts executing.
The timing difference could be interesting, especially if you want the context object to be cloned when the context is switched. Using different mechanisms could result in different content being cloned: with CallContext you clone the content when the child thread/task is created or async method is called; but with AsyncLocal you clone the content when the child thread/task/async method starts executing, the content of the context object could have been changed by the parent thread.
Comment: Historically (before .Net 4.6) we had to hack a special slot on CallContext so that the contextual data structure is cloned when call context is switched. The demo program shows that with CallContext the cloning happens on the calling thread, compared with AsyncLocal the change notification handler is invoked on the called thread.  https://1drv.ms/u/s!AuD-2O_ZRWVijzXBVJTKbQeWCTzc
Comment: Interesting. Is there a quick code snippet you could post that demonstrates this difference?


Number of solutions to the biclique cover problem

Question: Given a bipartite graph and the number bicliques K, how many ways exist to solve the biclique cover problem using K (possibly empty) bicliques?
Comment: What are you looking for, an algorithm that counts the number of biclique covers, or an upper/lower bound in terms of n and K? Are there any constraints that the cover should be minimal in some way?
Comment: Ideally I am looking for a closed form solution (My hunch is that it must exist). There are no constraints on the cover being minimal.
Comment: Echoing daniello's comment: Your answer "closed form solution" suggests that you are asking for an expression that counts the number of biclique covers with $K$ cliques.  But this makes sense only if you have a particular bipartite graph in mind.  Can you rephrase your question to clarify what you are asking?
Comment: I am thinking about some parametrisation of all possible graphs. Essentially the number of vertices and some measure of heterogeneity of the vertex distribution should suffice.
Answer: Given a Graph $G=(V, E),$ it takes $O(|V|^3)$ delay and $O(2^|V|)$space to find all bicliques  in lexicographical order in $G$ [1]. There is no polynomial-delay enumeration algorithm for all bicliques in reverse lexicographical order unless P=NP [2].
Given a bipartite graph $G=(U, V, E),$ it takes $O((|U|+|V|)^2)$ delay with exponential space to find all maximal bicliques in $G$ in lexicographical order in $U$ [3].
[1] Vania M.F. Dias, Celina M.H. de Figueiredo, and Jayme L. Szwarcfiter.
"Generating Bicliques of a Graph in Lexicographic Order". In:
Theoretical Computer Science 337.1-3 (June 2005), pp. 240–248. doi:
10.1016/j.tcs.2005.01.014.
[2] Wasa, Kunihiro. "Enumeration of enumeration algorithms." arXiv preprint arXiv:1605.05102 (2016).
[3] Alain Gely, Lhouari Nourine, and Bachir Sadi. "Enumeration aspects
of maximal cliques and bicliques". In: Discrete Applied Mathematics
157.7 (Apr. 2009), pp. 1447–1459. doi: 10.1016/j.dam.2008.10.
010.


Good alternatives for middle mouse pan button?

Question: I've done a few meshes but am still relatively new to Blender. Does anyone use any alternative keys for panning that isn't the middle mouse button? I'm an artist so my hand/wrist is janky enough, but I can tell having to hold down the middle mouse key puts a lot of strain on it. (I also know Blender has a TON of commands- I wouldn't want to accidentally screw one up by binding the pan tool to it).
Comment: Hi prince. Have you found a better solution than the one provided which involves too many keyboard interactions? I would prefer to use right mouse button long-press to orbit as it is the case in many other 3d programs.
Answer: You can use "Emulate 3 button mouse" option.
Use Alt + LMB to pan.
Use ShiftAlt + LMB to move.
This option is in the input part in the preferences and is generally used for touchpads.
In 2.79:

In 2.8:

This option has a little incidence. As Alt is dedicated to that, even outside of the 3D View (in panels), you can not use it for some other operations, like Alt+Clicking a button (which in some case allows to set a value for multiple objects).
Answer: Use your numpad arrows, "8, 6, 2, and 4" to orbit, or hold Ctrl while using them to pan around.


what's integration experience in java context?

Question: A client is looking for integration experience - I have done JMS and web services work in the past, but I am not too sure if that qualifies as integration experience. Pardon my limited knowledge about this field but I don't want to let go on this opportunity. Just in a bit of rush .. So asking it here..
They are also looking for ESB (enterprise service bus) experience.. perhaps that's more related to integration work.. isn't it.
Answer: This could mean anything. It might be integration with their legacy, business critical, application that runs on some ancient hardware. It might be integrating with third party web services. It could be anything.
One thing that might help is to know what area of business the client is in. That might give some hints.
Comment: they are in telecom sector. here's a brief of job descripton -
Java web services developer
J2ee
Weblogic experience and integration experience is a must
Service bus experience is very nice to have OSB or ALSB.
Answer: Most of the time a job as integrator means you are not working on the code base of a specific product, but on the glue to integrate application togethers.
The glue itself can imply using ESB, message broker, web service, transforming data, scripts to automate job, adapters, ... a lot of possible things.
But the nature of the job is quite different from "pure" development. You don't have the control over everything, you will need to do with applications that exists and make them work together. Whether you would enjoy such a job I don't know, but take some time to think whether you would like this shift or not.


Not able to connect xperia tipo to Ubuntu

Question: I can connect my Xperia Tipo to Windows but not able to connect Ubuntu. Why is it so? Is there any changes that I need to make to my phone ?
Comment: What do you want to connect (USB storage, ADB, ...)? What happens when you connect your device to Ubuntu? Anything appearing? Did you check with the `lsusb` command if the device was recognized? Most likely some [UDev](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udev) rules are missing (your device not being known to the system). Though that should not matter to the USB storage.
Comment: Do you have the drivers installed on Ubuntu? For windows most Xperia devices automatically install drivers, it doesn't happen on Ubuntu..
Answer: This question seems to come up every few weeks...
Ubuntu 10 (and sometimes above) requires manual editing of your udev config in order to recognize an Android device.
As root create the text file "/etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules" and add this line for a Sony device:
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", SYSFS{idVendor}=="054c", MODE="0666"

Save the file and exit the editor, then set the permissions of the file and tell the udev system to reload the rules:
$ sudo chmod a+rx /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules
$ sudo udevadm control --reload-rules

Answer: Maybe your phone is not in mass-storage-mode. Go to
settings / XPeria / connectivity

and set USB connection mode to mass-storage.
However, with this setting access is limited to the SD card; you won't be able to mount the internal memory.


Call Mirasvit Sphinx Search from own controller?

Question: I am using Mirasvit Sphinx Search with good success. However, I would like to handle certain types of requests using my own controller, from which I would perform a search and process the search results. (I want to call, not override, the Mirasvit Sphinx Search controller.) I am able to trigger my own controller. How do I call the Mirasvit Sphinx Search code and process the search results?
Answer: From your controller action:
<code>// Mirasvit Sphinx Search gets search string from request object so
// explicitly set search string on request object.
Mage::app()->getRequest()->setParam('q', 'query-string');

// Get Mirasvit Sphinx Search results.
$collection = Mage::helper('searchindex/index')->getIndex('mage_catalog_product')->getCollection();
</code>
Then work with $collection as you would any other product collection in Magento.


How to mandate the password policy in custom form fields?

Question: I have custom form which has password field values and by using that user will be created in our website. So the requirement is to use password policy module functionalities to this form also. The form is able to show the policies below the password field and now those suggestions like use alphanumeric etc.. are not mandatory. But how I can mandate the password must contain alphanumeric etc etc... Please help me in this regard.
Comment: Do want policies to be included under your custom password field? or the validation error messages after submitting your form?
Answer: You can use the 'password_confirm" #type in your form to get the exact field Drupal uses.
Add this to your Form function.
<code>$form['account']['pass'] = array(
      '#type' => 'password_confirm',
      '#size' => 25,
      '#description' => t('To set or change the password, enter the new password in both fields.'),
    );
</code>
This will give you the field, javascript and the validator without any extra code.
Comment: password_confirm is only the standard default Drupal password field. It only checks that the user enters the same password twice. The question is regarding the Password Policy module which allows defining various rules for the password. I don't think there is any (easy) to integrate this onto a custom form. (D8/9)


my particle emmiter isnt working

Question: I am making this smoking pod. My particle emmiter is placed underneath the balls inside the pod but no smoke comes out. A whole load of smoke came out for a second or so I have no idea why it did or why it isn't now. Also when the smoke did come out it went right through the pod and the balls whereas if possible I would like it to drify up around the balls and out like it is a smoking caldron. i also want the smoke to be white
Comment: Looks like your normals are all flipped
Answer: you need to place the balls as a group (ctrl+G). With the balls selected, go to physics tab, click "collisions" and select your group under the SMOKE tab.
2nd: Your smoke sim dies too early. I can see you have 250 frames active in your timeline. So you click on your smoke domain and click on -behaviour- uncheck dissolve.
Now, to really make it efficient:
create a shere (ctrl+a). With the ball selected:
Press space bar. Type on the search : Quick smoke.
Press ALT+A. (it will play your smoke for the 250 frames simulating a cache).
Press ESC. (to stop your sim)
Select the balls you want to act as a collider.
Make them group.Name them "colliderballs"
With the group still selected: Go to physics tab. Press: SMOKE and select "collision" button.
Thattá do it.

my particle emmiter isnt working


rails3, clean url, friendly_id, sessions

Question: I'm using friendly_id it works wonderful I add a new private action to my events controller to make sure only events owner can update their events...my show and delete action works fine but when I do an update I get an error
ActiveRecord::RecordNotFound in EventsController#edit
Couldn't find User with ID=snow-board
any suggestions to fix this ?

## Events controller
..scaffold generated code
private

 def correct_user
   @user = User.find(params[:id])
      redirect_to(:controller =>'events', :action => 'edit',:id => session[:user_id]) unless current_user?(@user)
 end

## Event view
 link_to 'Edit', edit_event_path(event)

## Even Model

has_friendly_id :name, :use_slug => true
...validation code

## Session Helper

def current_user=(user)
    @current_user = user
end
Answer: Does this work (use from_param and not find)?
<code> def correct_user
   @user = User.from_param(params[:id])
</code>


GPG check regarding packages on various distributions

Question: It's ok that the various linux distributions use gpg to verify e.g. new packages downloaded with http. But what happens if the server that holds the packages gets hacked? OK, they need a new gpg key, but how do they guarantee that the new gpg keys are the valid gpg keys? There is no valid gpg key until the new one gets downloaded to the client, so there is a window when the packages [containing the new gpg keys] are not "validated" with gpg keys. Is there any method to give the new gpg keys to the clients in an "authoritative"/secure way?
Answer: If only the server holding the packages is compromised, and not the private signing key, there's not much to do. The old key remains valid, and packages modified by the attacker will be detected as such. I assume your question is what happens if the signing key is compromised.
As long as the old key hasn't expired, people will continue to download the old packages, blissfully unaware that the key has been compromised. Ideally the package management tool should check that the key hasn't been revoked (I don't know if apt, yum and friends do it). However, the first step in responding to a compromise would be to stop distributing packages signed with the old key, and start distributing packages signed with the new key. So any maliciously modified package would linger only in mirrors before they are updated.
When people start receiving packages signed with the new key, they'll get an error message telling them that the packages are unsigned. This will hopefully prompt them into inquiring what is happening and trying to obtain the new key.
The compromise will also be announced in security mailing lists and in various industry news channels. So if you follow these, you'll get notice. Of course you should be wary of these as well: an attacker might compromise the list server or a developer's account and send a fake key compromise warning with a new public key that is actually for his own private key.
There's no magic bullet for distributing the new key. You need a trusted channel to distribute the key in the first place, or more precisely to establish trust in the new key. This is exactly as difficult as establishing trust in the old key. (In other words, most people will get it from the HTTP website or from an unsigned CD image.) You can get the new key from an HTTPS website, if you trust that the website (and the CA that made the site's certificate, and the browser you're using and its trusted base!) hasn't been compromised. Or if you know and trust someone who has the key, you can ask them for it.

Note that above, I'm using "package" in a loose sense, assuming a simple model where the packages are directly signed with the distribution signing key. In fact, in some distributions (e.g. all the ones that use APT), what is signed is files containing a list of cryptographic checksums of packages, and there's a two-stage process whereby the installer checks that the package has the expected checksum, and that the list has the expected signature. The principle is the same: the attacker who compromised the key would inject both malicious packages and list files with the checksums for the malicious packages, signed with the compromised key. The resolution requires restoring both the list files and the packages.
Comment: @johnny8888: When you realize your question is unclear, go and improve it. For example, here, edit your question and make it explicit that you're worried about a signing key compromise. And as a more general matter, please try to make your questions more readable. Even if your native language isn't English (neither is mine, by the way), surely you can do better. Even tiny things help: for example, start every sentence with a capital letter.
Comment: It may be worth differentiating between how apt and friends does it, and how rpm does it. Apt signs release files, and rpm signs the actual packages. The difference means that potential attack vectors would be different.
Comment: Debian, at least, distributes archive keys in a package, namely [debian-archive-keyring](http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/debian-archive-keyring), which is covered by the old key. As I noted above, Debian does not actually sign the individual packages.
Comment: @FaheemMitha: Indeed, the attack vectors are different, but the distributor and user reactions would be similar, which is why I deliberately didn't make a difference. But you're right, I should be more explicit.
Comment: yes, sorry! i wanted to say: "what happens if the signing key is compromised" :\
Answer: The standard process to give new "authoritative" key is through a package that is signed with the old key. If you trust the old key (and you trust GPG) then the new one is distributed in a package signed with the old one. Now, you can begin to use the new one.
The packages can be hold on an insecure server as each package will be checked for correct signature.
A problem occurs only is the packaging private key is compromised. I.e. the master key that sign all packages. (Debian SecureApt, Ubuntu SecureApt, Fedora). If it would happens once, it would be really ugly.
Comment: Your answer is very confusing, which is especially bad since it's talking about security. If the old key is compromised, you can't use it in any useful way to sign the new key!
Comment: @Gilles: where did you see in the question that the old key is compromised?
Comment: The question is not clearly written, the asker doesn't distinguish between a package server compromise and a signing server compromise. But if "they need a new gpg key", it would be because the key is compromised.
Comment: @Gilles: he write about the server that hold the packages, not the server that hold the private key. I hope he would have written that the private key was compromised before searching about potentially altered packages. But yes, if the private key was compromised, it is a big deal, but not the deal I can decipher from this question.


Is there something specifically wrong with keeping the 8 precepts as a lay person?

Question: I know that the 5 precepts were intended for lay people. I know that in lay life, most people choose to only keep the 5 precepts, and there is no requirement to keep any more. I know that sometimes lay people take the 8 precepts temporarily. However, is there anything specifically wrong with a lay person keeping the 8 precepts on an ongoing basis? I know it's harder to do as a lay person as opposed to a novice(edit: I meant anagarika). But is it specifically discouraged or wrong for any reason?
Comment: Go for it. You can keep the precepts without becoming a 'Buddhist'. The precepts are good advice for your benefit, not rules of membership.   ,
Answer: No.
In fact, an anagarika (literally a homeless one) would observe the Eight Precepts on a full time basis, but in addition, would not maintain a lay household i.e. they would live a nomadic lifestyle or live in a monastery.
An anagarika is neither a novice monk (samanera) or a fully ordained monk (bhikkhu), but is a kind of informal state between lay life and novice monk, with far less rigid rules compared to monkhood. For e.g. they can deal with money and perform financial transactions. They can also cook their own meals. Monastic rules related to non-intimate interactions with the opposite sex also do not apply to them.
Usually, those who are interested in becoming monks would be asked to spend some time in a monastery, first as an anagarika, then some more time as a novice monk (who keep the Ten Precepts), before undergoing full ordination.
However, there are some people who have preferred to become full time anagarikas like Anagarika Munindra.
Even if one is not an anagarika, it is still foreseeable that a lay person could keep the Eight Precepts on a full time basis.
Answer: No.
That is the entirety of my answer as I don't think it
needs elaboration, but I am adding this to get around the 30 character limit.
Answer: If your intent is to live a renunciant's life, then yes.
Taking the eight precepts is the best thing you can do to calm the mind.
From personal experience, it is much easier to follow the eight at a monastery. Because of this, you need to be more lenient with beautifying the body (you cannot wear all white all of the time!) and the practice of not eating after noon (just make certain not to eat after your noon meal.)
Anything from which you are running show up on the eight precepts. They are hard, so the practice of the eight precepts must be taken with respect.
Good luck.
You are doing a practice that the noble ones respect.
Answer: I would not say "wrong". The precepts encourage awareness that leads to greater skill in practice.

MN8:13.1: Cunda, I say that even giving rise to the thought of skillful qualities is very helpful, let alone following that path in body and speech.

As we study the suttas, we become aware of many other aspects of practice that also apply, such as the brahmaviharas, which are limitless. Love, compassion, rejoicing and equanimity are to be extended and nurtured as an aspect of practice.
For example, I prefer to sleep on futons, but my wife prefers to sleep on high and comfortable beds. She has trouble sleeping and prefers me close, so when she sleeps I sleep by her. When she is not around I sleep wherever.
Another example is that I cook dinner for her but save my portion for eating the next day. Cooking requires tasting, which is eating. When she is away I don't cook in the evening.
Even though my observances are lax, the benefits have proven themselves again and again with greater joy and equanimity. I no longer get "hangry" and can sleep anywhere. I take the Buddha's advice to Cunda to heart.
However, if I were to go forth as a monastic, my behavior would certainly be more strict!


Lightning Component in Flow - How to disable Next Button?

Question: I have a simple flow with a Lightning Component, I need to not allow the user to click to flow button until he click on a button in the lightning component itself.
Is it possible to do that ?
Answer: You can make the field they are clicking 'required', this would not allow the user to advance through the flow without an input.


Buck converter simulation issues

Question: I am trying to use a buck converter to step down a 48v to 33v. The confusing part is that I am trying to simulate it using LTspice and I can't figure what how to control the nmos with pulse width modulation . Do I need a control circuit for the purpose of simulation or how can I go about it .
Answer: If you simulate a synchronous buck converter then the two switches (yes, there are two in a synchronous buck converter) are wired like this: -

Picture above from here.
If SW1 is on then SW2 is off and vice versa. This means that the average output voltage is the input supply voltage (12 volts in the example above) * duty cycle. In the picture above the duty cycle (as a fraction) is: -
$$\dfrac{5}{12} = 41.667 \text{ %} $$
And that leads to an average output voltage of 5 volts. The inductor and capacitor on the output smooth the PWM waveform to a (hopefully) low ripple DC voltage of 5 volts.

I can't figure what how to control the nmos with pulse width
  modulation

Use a voltage generator source (set as a square wave of the appropriate duty cycle) to drive the MOSFETs (or switches) just to get a feel for it. Following that, you can develop a PMW signal source based on an analogue input but make sure you get the basics right first.
This usually involves a comparator fed with a reference triangle wave like this: -

Circuit from here.
But you can use an LTSpice voltage source set to produce a triangle wave if you wanted and just use the comparator indicated by U1c in the above.

Buck converter simulation issues


How do you introduce footnotes in a comic book?

Question: How do you introduce footnotes in a comic book? Let's say one of the characters play with an electrical toy inside a bathtub filled with water. How do you add the phrase "This is dangerous. Do not attempt this at home." with a star. I've never seen it done in a comic book, so I am not sure how to do this and format this in a proper way.
Answer: American comics, especially more traditional comics (e.g. those published by the big guys, Marvel and DC) use what are called editor's notes.
These are typically drawn as straight-sided word balloons, often appearing on the bottom of a page or a panel, but you'll find them other places as well; whatever fits the layout.  They may or may not include the text "editor's note", or the name of the editor.
Here are some examples from published DC comics:

Comics that aren't published by DC and Marvel don't typically have editors, but you'll still find "editor's notes" in them.
I've also seen these kind of footnotes in Japanese comics, though possibly less frequently.  One manga I can clearly recall having a lot of footnotes is Appleseed.  Here's one example:

You'll see there that the note is not in a straight-sided word balloon, it's just written in the panel gutter.
Comment: Incidentally, this is also the answer to your question about how to spell out acronyms.  You'd write "C.I.A." in the character's word balloon, then have an editor's note that said, "**C**entral **I**ntellegence **A**gency".  I'm pretty positive that *Appleseed* does exactly this with the name of their police agency, ESWAT.  If I can dig up my copy, I can include a picture.


Task manager keyboard shortcut in Linux?

Question: Is there any keyboard shortcut for the "task manager" (like Alt+Ctrl+Del in windows) when my machine goes into a crashed state?
Comment: Just as an aside, it's not really Ctrl+Alt+Del in Windows (although in some cases it does bring it up directly, but not always), but rather Ctrl+Shift+Escape.
Comment: as a comment windows bastardized ctrl+alt+del, it meant reboot for a long time, and then windows decided to make it pop a task manager instead.
Comment: There's no standard GUI for Linux. Something like this is entirely dependent on a desktop environment (Gnome, KDE, …) or window manager configuration. But if only an application has crashed, the usual system menus will keep responding, and if the whole system has crashed, nothing will respond. There are a few intermediate states where some fundamental system component (e.g. the X server) has crashed, see [jsbillings's answer](http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/6575/6607#6607)and [jwernerny's answer](http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/6575/6582#6582).
Answer: Here are a few useful shortcuts you can try:

<Ctrl><Esc> displays table of processes
<Ctrl><Alt><Esc> converts the pointer to a skull-and-crossbones and will kill the process of the window you click on
<Ctrl><Alt><Backspace> kills the X-server
<Ctrl><Alt> shutdown the system and reboot
Comment: `Ctrl+alt+backspace` has to be [enabled to kill the xserver](http://unix.stackexchange.com/q/375/29)
Answer: I am going to assume by "my machine go into crashed state" you mean that whatever task is taking up the display you are looking at has stopped responding.  (In general, when something crashes on Linux, only that thing crashes and everything else keeps running.  It's very rare that the entire machine comes to a halt.)
When all else fails, I like to switch back to a standard terminal interface (text mode as opposed to GUI) by hitting CTRL+Alt+F1.  This brings up a login prompt.  I then login, and enter the command top to see what is running.   The process at the top of the list is the one using the most CPU and usually the problem, so I kill it by pressing k, and entering the process ID (the numbers on the left).  I then go back to the GUI by pressing CTRL+Alt+F7  (or sometimes CTRL+Alt+F8, one of those two will work, but it might change).  If things are now working, I continue on, if not, I'll try again or may just force a reboot.
Comment: Are you really talking about all Linux distros? Try to run Fedora 29 or Mint 19. When browser freezes, all the system freezes together :(
Comment: @kokbira You are correct, some things have changed in the 8 years since this was written. I will often just ssh into the system now. Still, there are still versions of distros for which this will work.
Comment: The hotkey for the terminal on KDE is ctrl+alt+t
Answer: It's slightly related, but if you're dealing with a crashed system, you might want to invoke the Magic Sysrq key.  This way you can kill all processes, sync your disks, print out the active tasks, initiate a crash dump, and much more.
Answer: You can also use xbindkeys and define a binding to pop up top, htop, *top, gnome-system-monitor, etc. Switching to a TTY (jwernerny's answer) is probably the
best idea if your system or X server is acting up.
Answer: Just two steps:
Step1 : Type top command in terminal.
$ sudo -s
[sudo] password for username : (type your password here)
$ top

It will give the list of processes running with process id , name , time , memory usage etc.
Step2 : Find the particular process and then it's respective id.Let us assume the process    id as 12043 , then command goes like this
$ kill 12043

With kill we can kill/stop/abort a running process/hanged process.
Answer: No above answers has answered the real question. I just reached this thread and could not find the answer either. So here you go

For Gnome based environment go to Application -> System Tools -> System Monitor
For Gnome based environment go to Applications > System > System Monitor
Comment: I didn't try killing anything with this, but just having it open let me close the hung window by clicking X.


Has an income ceiling policy been tried in a free market economy?

Question: Some countries have implemented some very high tax rates, but did any country, in recent history, implement a ceiling on all earnings (wages and capital gains) in an, otherwise, self-regulated market? If yes, what effect did it have?
Comment: During the Second World War, the highest income tax rate in the UK was [99.25%](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_taxation_in_the_United_Kingdom). That was not a ceiling on earnings, but it came pretty close.
Comment: +1 Interesting question. What have you been able to find yourself? And what kind of effect(s) are you interested in? For example, are you familiar with Egypt's attempt at implementing a maximum wage for government employees?
Comment: @Thissitehasbecomeadump. Well, I know that some American sports leagues (nba , nfl etc...) have implemented a salary cap to increase competitiveness between clubs and keep the overall costs down. So I was wondering if such an idea it was ever generalised to an entire country and all kind of revenues (wage, speculation etc...) and how that affected the competitiveness companies in that country, and wealth, wealth distribution, company strategies, employees behaviour, private investment, foreign investment etc... this is quite an open (and, probably somewhat, naive) question, i admit
Comment: @Thissitehasbecomeadump. *political rants based on some wikipedia level understanding of some economical theories*  Strong words, along with your oh-so-useful username.  Perhaps you'd want to enlighten us with an answer, rather than needlessly disrepecting others?  Without being very specific about what it is that makes those answers so *wikipedia level*.
Answer: In all likelihood, no one has knowledge of every arrangement similar to an income cap anywhere in the world that had a market based economy for all of time. This answer is limited to the modern era U.S. and U.K., with which I have familiarity.
This answer also seeks to limit itself to the observed outcomes directly rather than hypothesizing possible effects based upon economic theory.
united-statesunited-kingdom
The U.S. and the U.K. During WWII
As noted by @michu in comments, during the Second World War, the highest income tax rate in the UK was 99.25%, which is so confiscatory that it amounted in substance to a prohibition on earning more income than that amount. This rate was then slightly reduced and was around 90% through the 1950s and 60s.
Similarly, in U.S. federal income tax law, in 1944, the top rate peaked at 94 percent on taxable income over $200,000 ($2.5 million in today's dollars) which was also very close to a prohibition on incomes in excess of that amount, particularly when one keeps in mind that this income would also have been subject to state and local income taxes in the jurisdictions that had state and local income taxes at the time (which many jurisdictions did).
The meager proceeds remaining after the 94% top marginal tax rate and any applicable state and local income tax rate also would still have been taxable to the persons receiving the remainder in the estate of the person who earned it after they died through the federal estate tax and coordinated state level estate taxes.
So, this tax was a practical matter, more or less identical to the one in the U.K. despite modifications to reflect the federal nature of the U.S. relative to the unitary government of the U.K.

If yes, what effect did it have?

These wartime caps, which were short lived, mostly involved affected parties capping their income and using excess funds for deductible purposes like paying employees or making charitable donations that built up goodwill in the future since they couldn't receive the compensation itself.
It is also worth noting that the caps were sufficiently high that the number of people affected by them in the U.S. and in the U.K. respectively, was very small. This is because you can't just adjust for inflation to compare the cutoffs to the income levels of people today. You also have to adjust of the fact that the total share of each respective nation's income that was earned by, for example, the top 1% of income earners, was significantly lower in the World War II era than it is today, and that inflation adjusted incomes were lower, on average, than today, due to the less productive economic processes that were in place at the time as a result of lower levels of technology in use in the economy at the time.
The number of people affected then would have been approximately comparable to the number of people affected today by a cap in the many tens of millions of U.S. dollars or more per year.
In other words, part of the reason for the cap was to create national solidarity behind the war effort and for propaganda purposes, so that people with lower incomes making various sacrifices wouldn't feel like chumps and shirk from burdens applied to them, rather than for the significance of their direct economic effect on high income earners. There is every reason to think based upon anecdotal historical evidence, such as oral histories of the time period, that these caps were effective at producing this social psychological reaction to some degree or another, although this is difficult to quantify.
Social psychology and economics studies tending to target this kind of thinking suggest that it is a policy that was effective because most people evaluate their own well being more on a relative basis rather than on an absolute basis.
A U.S. Tax Code Provision That Looks Like A Cap But Isn't
There is a provision of the current United States Tax Code which superficially looks like a $1,000,000 cap on compensation, but upon closer examination, is really only a cap on the cash salary compensation of executives of publicly held corporations (who admittedly make up most of the highest income individuals in the U.S., making it look like an imperfect but significant income cap) that has a massive loophole for equity based compensation look stock options. It is codified at Title 26 of the United States Code at Section 162(m).

If yes, what effect did it have?

It is uncontroversial, however, this cap has a widely known loophole and is not a real cap.
Indeed, it is widely agreed on a bipartisan basis that this has, in practice, actually increased rather than decreased total executive compensation for executives of U.S. publicly held corporations as explained for the uninitiated by Pro Publica (the first easily linkable and easy for non-tax specialist to read reference I came across, but this empirical reality is widely, although perhaps not universally, acknowledged across the political spectrum).
Whether the higher executive compensation resulting from this policy provided commensurate benefits by incentivizing executives in a way aligned with shareholders, however, is controversial.
The Medicaid Means Tests In The U.S.
While it is also not the same, for purposes of evaluating the economic impact of such a policy, it is also fruitful to examine how means tested public benefit programs with an income cap.
For example, manny components of the joint federal and state program called the Medicaid in U.S. has an income cap set by regulation for beneficiaries in each U.S. state on a state by state basis pursuant to federal guidelines.
In Colorado, in 2022, the cap is $2,523 per month for a single applicant who will be living in a nursing home, $5,046 per month for married applicants who will both be living in a nursing home. There is a substantially identical cap of $841 of income per month for a single applicant and $1,261 a month for married applicants who are both applying, and $3,000 a month for married applicants only one of whom are applying, for non-elderly adults seeking this means tested health insurance coverage and for non-elderly adults seeking Medicaid health insurance coverage because they are blind or disabled, or for elderly adults seeking Medicaid health insurance to supplement their Medicare insurance or because they don't qualify for Medicare insurance (which is not means tested).
Under these programs, in order to be eligible for Medicaid benefits under the programs in question, any income in excess of the income cutoff must be put in a trust for the benefit of the Medicaid program, effectively confiscating all income in excess of the regulatory set level for program beneficiaries.
But, since many Medicaid beneficiaries have a life or death need for coverage under the Medicaid program and don't have sufficient income to pay for what Medicaid covers out of pocket even if they retain all of their income to do so, there is really no other choice for them but to forfeit their excess income.

If yes, what effect did it have?

As a practical matter, few beneficiaries eligible for the programs for nursing home care, and for health care for the disabled could have earned particularly high incomes even without the cap, in light of the conditions that make them eligible for the program, so the primary effect is to limit the amount that beneficiaries can consume from pensions and from income from property (although the latter is very modest due to a parallel asset test to qualify for benefits), and the formation, at high transactional costs, of trusts to allow applicants who have a life or death need for the benefits to qualify for them.
For people who are on the "low income" part of the program, this has created a step hump with a negative effective marginal income tax rate, that helps trap beneficiaries at low incomes in order to get needed health insurance, but this was significantly mitigate with a parallel low income program as part of the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) in the 38 or so U.S. states that did not opt out of Medicaid expansion.
I don't have easy, linkable access to the economics literature analyzing the empirical impact of these programs, but there are professional academic economic studies that have examined this question and reached essentially the conclusion set forth above.
Comment: I think your argument that the caps where short lived is false. As you wrote yourself top income tax rates in the 90% or at least mid 80% were active for most of the 1950s and 60s, essentially until the Reagan/ Thatcher era. You could try to argue that 85% is not the same as 99% but the effect is essentially the same, it is a cap in practice and it worked that way.
Answer: In the year 2013 The Netherlands adopted the so called 'Balkenende Norm'. After a public outcry of the high salaries of government employees the new laws and guidelines were introduced which effectively limited the salary of a government employee to a maximum of 130% of the salary of a minister in the government.
In 2015 it was shown that only 5 people still had a salary which exceeded the 'Balkenende Norm'. So for this it was quite successful.
I failed to find additional information on other, maybe unwanted, side effects of this.
Comment: Out of scope for the question, but it is very interesting to have watched the discussions in the Netherlands when this all played. And although, as mentioned in my answer above, I could not find any data on this, I think the most common worry voiced back in the days was how the government could possibly secure the knowledge needed to run a country if you make it unattractive for top management and researches to work for the government of this very country.
Comment: Government employees, of course, aren't part of the market economy in the same sense as private sector employees and the question seems to be asking about measures applicable to the population as a whole.
Comment: @ohwilleke. Yes, that's true. But since both the question and the limited response to the question insinuate that it is not common practice, I think it was worth mentioning it in this context.
Answer: In a free market economy, the sum of all capital equals the sum of net worth of all persons.
In a partially state-owned economy (which is basically every one) the sum of all capital is more than the sum of net worth, but only in case of very un-free economic system such as one of USSR to make the difference on the orders of magnitude.
Whatever you see around - the houses, the shops, the mills, the factories, the fields - is owned by somebody, and that means the somebody can spend up to that amount on their consumption by selling stuff they own. If you find yourself not owning a sizeable amount of houses, shops and factories, somebody else surely does.
Of course, you can wrap property in mutual funds, banks, cooperatives, etc, etc - but eventually all of these structures are owned by people who can cash out their share.
Thus it is very hard to introduce a working income ceiling. There would be rich people who can sell stuff by virtue of owning it. The only way to not have rich people is to not have an economy.
Comment: This answer mostly talks about *wealth*. But the question is asking about *income*. Converting an asset one already owns into money by selling it is not *income*. It transforms one form of wealth into another. It is only *income* if that asset was acquired at a lower price than the one it is sold at. But none of that is actually answering the question: "did any country, in recent history, implement a ceiling on all earnings?"
Comment: @alamar I am not proposing anything. I am only pointing out that this answer isn't actually addressing the question.
Comment: @alamar Where in the question does the author state what they think an income ceiling would accomplish?
Comment: This is all true - but only addresses capital gains. What about income from jobs, investments, etc?
Comment: This is not exactly true - Myrdal and Hayek have famously shared a Nobel prize for proving two opposite things: the former showed that government controlled economy can be adjusted to be more efficient than a market economy; the latter demonstrated that government-controlled economy is simply unable to adjust quickly enough, hence shortages, famines, etc. Soviet famines in 1920s and 1930s were more a consequence of government mismanagement, than deliberate policies.
Comment: @Philipp You are proposing an economy-based feudal system: There's a class of wealthy people whose spendings are not limited, and there's a class of ordinary people whose spendings are limited by a ceiling and who have no hopes to ever become wealthy since the ceiling does not allow them to amass any serious capital. Why?
Comment: I'm just pointing out that the question does not make sense since the income ceiling won't do what the OP thinks it does.
Comment: It talks about capital gains but it does not talk about selling and buying of capital, whereas for a capital owner it's basically the same thing, since capital gains are often offset by depreciation.
Answer: Deadweight loss
All kind of ceilings (on price, income, sales volume, etc.) are known to result in market functioning at sub-optimal level - known as deadweight loss, incurring overall losses to the society. Interference into market is thus advisable only when it corrects some gross distortions, such as extreme poverty (e.g., when the income falls below survival level, as was during the Great Depression) or externalities, such as global warming.
Motivation
If one's income is bounded from above, there is no reason to work any harder than necessary to reach the ceiling. Another well-known unproductive proposition is a 100% income tax - leaving inheritance (and generally giving the best) to one's is an extremely pwoerful human motivation. If one is not allow to work for the benefit fo one's progeny one either tries to spend all the money before one's death or finds a way to bypass the legislation - e.g., by making one's children co-owners of one's business, givig them generous presents, etc.
Can market be controlled?
Another point is that market usually finds ways to bypass a legislation - E.g., in the USSR market economy florished: it was mostly illegal and therefore untaxed, but everyone was aware of how much and to whom one should pay in order to obtaina good or a service that was not available through normal channels.
Another well-known example is market economy in prisoners camps.
Laffer curve
The arguments against the maximal possible taxation are summarized by the so-called Laffer curve: the arguments is that one collects zero taxes if the tax rate is zero, but also zero taxes if teh tax rate is 100% - since in this acse no one bothers to engage in any productive (legal) activity. Thus, there is an optimal tax rate somewhere between 0% and 100%, when the government collects maximum taxes.
Thus, drive for maximum taxation is a good litmus test for those who genuinely seek improving social welfare, versus those who just seeking punishing "the rich": genuine welfare in market economy requires giving "the rich" some space to breath.
I saw the folowing quote sometimes attributed to Milton Friedman and sometimes to Churchill:

Some people regard private enterprise as a predatory tiger to be shot. Others look on it as a cow they can milk. Not enough people see it as a healthy horse, pulling a sturdy wagon.
Comment: Just like the other answer, this isn't an answer to the question. It makes an argument why this perhaps should not be done, but it does not answer the question if it was ever tried in practice regardless.
Comment: @Jontia a great deal of populism is based on using technical terms in their layman's meaning, like saying *evolution is just a theory* or calling Western European social democracies *socialism*. *Deep poverty* has a rather precise meaning - it is poverty in respect to the *poverty thershold*, established by the US government - you can google how much it is... and compare with $1.25 per day as the threshold for the world, as established by the World bank. Very few people are actually starving in the US, and some people take great risks to their life to be poor illegals in US than elsewhere.
Comment: Are such gross distortions not present today? [18.5 million people in deep poverty in US](https://poverty.ucdavis.edu/faq/what-deep-poverty)


Where are Deus Ex saves stored?

Question: I'm trying to play Deus Ex (NOT Human Revolution), but it recently developed a major bug that refuses to let me see anything on the screen. I'm thinking about just uninstalling the game but I want to keep the saves. Where does the game store its save files? I'm pretty sure they are not on the steam cloud, due to how old the game is, but there are no saves in the My Games folder.
Comment: make sure you update your video card driver. I had the same problem with deus ex HR. Updated my driver and all was well. did not lose any saved game.
Answer: In the steamapps\common\Deus Ex\Save was only an empty textfile on my system, the actual saves were in %userprofile%\Documents\Deus Ex.
Answer: Inside the Deus Ex game folder in a folder called Save.  If you are using Steam, you'll have to find the game within your ~\steamapps\common folder depending on where you installed Steam.

Where are Deus Ex saves stored?


Is it "since 1973, the festival has been running ... " or "since 1973, the festival has been run ..."

Question: I had this in a test. I wrote the first one, "has been running" and got it wrong and the teacher wrote the second one, "has been run". I want to understand who's correct and why.
Comment: Without knowing the full sentence it's impossible to say **who's** correct.
Comment: The festival has been running since 1973.  The festival has run every year since 1973.  We can't tell whether your first version is wrong without a hair more context.
Comment: Woo 45 years long. It sounds like a pretty long festival. You don't mean it has been arranged once every year since then, or something similar?
Comment: As others have pointed out, you will need to supply more context. The two bits mean completely different things. Right now this amounts to asking which is correct between "I have a dog" and "I have a cat". On a separate note: why don't you just ask the teacher. They are your *teacher*. They have all the context, they know exactly why they changed it, and they are paid actual money to explain it to you. (Mind you, their reasoning can still be horribly wrong, but then we'll actually know what their reasoning *is*, and will be able to tell what exactly is wrong with it and why.)
Answer: Since 1973, the festival has been running every year.
Since 1973, the festival has been run by the town's entertainment committee.
Both fragments that you wrote are incomplete, but not incorrect, and they can be completed in different ways. In "has been run", "run" is a passive form: (Active) The town's entertainment committee runs the festival. (Passive) The festival is run by the town's entertainment committee.
Unless you have been told what to express with your sentence, your answer is not wrong, and your teacher's answer is different, but no better.
Comment: Perhaps it would be helpful to emphasize the *reason* these statements come across as incomplete.  If all you want to do is say "the festival has been run/running since 1973" (i.e. just the fact that that's how far back this festival's history goes) then you would say it in that order.  (And either "run" or "running" would be acceptable there I think.)  Moving "Since 1973" to the beginning creates the expectation that you are either (a) Yoda, or (b) making room to emphasize further details (how it has been running, by whom it has been run) at the end of the sentence.
Comment: "since 1973, the festival has been running" or "since 1973, the festival has been run" as a non-comercial festival (i forgot the word used)


Why might using flaps trip the breaker on a Cessna 172G?

Question: Why does the breaker keep tripping when I try to use the flaps in my 1965 Cessna 172G? It's a 15 amp breaker.  After I reset the breaker, the flaps will go up but then the breaker trips when attempting to lower the flaps.
Answer: Something is wrong with your flaps, the wiring leading to them, or the breaker itself. The breaker is tripping to keep your plane from starting on fire. Stop resetting it and have a mechanic look at it.
Comment: We used to say that a tripped circuit breaker is an electrical fire "push-to-start" button.
Comment: Very well said!
Comment: Electricity can be very moody if you have a fault somewhere. Any! movement of the plain, even you shifting your position on the seat can shift cables and affect a short circuit, cause the cables move a little and then there is no shortcut anymore, until the next movement. Also these kind of shortcuts are very dangerous, cause they can create an electric arc, which really can set you plane on fire.
It's also possible that the flaps are clogged and move with more resistance than they should, especially overcoming initial static friction (in any system) takes a lot of force and hence current.
Comment: Thanks everybody confirming the plane has been grounded since first experiencing tripped breaker.
Comment: Thanks will do.  I forgot to mention that after I reset the breaker the flaps will go up but then the breaker trips when attempting to lower the flaps.
Answer: Question: does the breaker open immediately when you command a flap setting, or is it more intermittent ie it occasionally trips when commanding a flap setting?  An immediate and instantaneous trip typically indicates a short circuit either in the flap drive motor, the control switch unit or the wiring.  Intermittent tripping of the breaker might indicate problems with the flap drive motor i.e. damage to the windings, etc.  Either way, the flap system is a secondary flight control and must be functional in order to fly the airplane safely. Therefore cease operation of that aircraft until the flap system can be inspected and repaired by qualified mechanic.
Comment: Thank you for this.  The breaker trips immediately.  Trying now to get a mechanic to return my calls.  If anybody can refer a mechanic in or near Byron, CA please send me their contact info. Thx.


where i get alpha brushes for texture paint and sculpting for free?

Question: i have google this,but unfortunately there are a a lot of good ones but paid and some are packs for zbrush, some are images or files in zbrush format, so where can i get a lot of brushes with enough or high resolution in image format like png,jpg,tga,etc of anykind of textures like specificaly skin,rock,wood,scracthes,dirt,etc please post below ALL usefull links of brushes for this purpouse and if you have ones that you bought and its very good and usefull i would apreciate if you can it give to us for free.
Comment: Make them yourself with Blender by sculpting fine details and using procedural textures for microdisplacement, then render to your own texture at whatever resolution you need.
Comment: In 2.8 there is a BlenderKit addon and a website with some free brushes
Comment: https://www.blendswap.com/blend/18735
Answer: You can download them from here for free.
https://pixologic.com/zbrush/downloadcenter/alpha/#prettyPhoto
Comment: Channel Could you add this link to a new section on theses posts so it doesn't get lost? https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/15355/resources-for-blender Thanks


Second screen detected but completely blank in Windows 8.1

Question: I've recently bought a new Dell XPS 15 laptop, which contains two graphics cards - Intel HD Graphics 4600 and NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M. It came preinstalled with Windows 8.1, including the driver software. The native resolution is 3200x1800.
I tried connecting a second screen to the laptop via HDMI cable. The screen is detected by windows and the backlight comes on, but the screen remains blank/black no matter what I try.
I don't think the screen is faulty as I am able to connect it to PS3 using same HDMI cable and screen output and it works just fine. It's an LG L246WH with native 1920x1200 resolution.
The screen appears in the Windows resolution settings with the correct name and resolution options. There is a warning underneath, saying 'Your resolution is lower than 1920x1440. Some items might not fit on your screen.'
Curiously, when I click the 'Identify' button, both 1 and 2 are identified on the same main laptop screen, like this:

I tried the following, without getting the screen to work once:

I purchased a HDMI to DisplayPort converter and connected the HDMI cable to it and to the laptop's DisplayPort
I downloaded latest driver installations, uninstalled both video drivers from Device Manager until I was left with Windows Basic driver (or something similar), reinstalled the Intel one, and restarted the computer
By default I'm trying to use the second screen as extended display, but I tried duplicating as well, without success.
I changed the 2nd screen resolution to various options. The screen remained blank and the warning persisted.
I figured the scaling could be a problem, so I ticked 'Let me choose one scaling level for all my displays' and set it to 100%. This made the warning mentioned above disappear but the screen remained blank.
I took a print screen and viewed it in Paint - the second screen appears there as it should - with only the desktop background.

I am at a loss with what might be wrong.
Answer: Have you tried the Function keys on your Dell? Its the FN key plus one of the keys on the top row. This can sometimes help with second screen setups.
Comment: I have. It's the F8 key that brings up the default Windows 8 'Project' menu on the right side.