Is a handshake necessary

Question: My manager said I need to shake his hand at any given moment because it is creating a friendly environment. I hate touching people. Do I have to and if I refuse will my job be on the  line?
Comment: He is the kind of man who likes to shake your hand 10 times in a day. It's kind of creepy and we all feel like it's invading our personal space.
Comment: Note that there are benefits of touch in relationships. Perhaps you could suggest an alternative, like a high-five? But it may just be he's that kind of person (likely from an older generation, I can't imagine this is some 20 year old instigating this)
Answer: If your manager says it is necessary then it is necessary.  In general a handshake is not considered a hostile or sexual touching, and is a quite common sign of respect. If you work with the public, it could be that he wants to show that display of respect to your customers.  It could also just be he is the type of person that does not understand personal space.
If this really bothers you, I would suggest explaining to him that it does bother you and that you would prefer to limit personal contact.  Its nothing against him it just makes you uncomfortable.  If that is not acceptable to him then your only real recourse is to either comply, go to HR, or quit.
If you choose to go to HR, then be prepared to explain why it bothers you.  If you have a diagnosed phobia, or some sort of immune system condition this may act in your favor.  If his handshakes are different for men, than women, or even just you, they that can create a hostile work environment. That is something HR is more likely to be concerned about.  Basically you need a reason for the business to care enough to ask the manager to back down.
But, if your only reason is that you do not like it in general, I would be prepared for the company to back up the manager.  Especially if they are successful in their job.  And yes, it is possible that your job could be on the line if you complain.  In fact is likely to freeze your career with the company, even if they side with you.
Comment: @JoeStrazzere -  I suspect 10 times may be a bit of an exaggeration, though it may feel that way to someone with a phobia, or social anxiety.  But I have had a manager that had problems prospecting personal space(just got to close not touching) and can relate to the issue.  It was creepy.
Comment: @JoeStrazzere Uhm, maybe, his respect battery has worn out and drains fast. It needs to be recharged 10 times a day by handshakes. :) Perhaps time to replace the battery and get one of those fast chargers. ;)
Comment: To the best of my knowledge, touch does improve relationships and is beneficial for humans. Perhaps he has simply read too into some studies though. I think a handshake as you come/go might be reasonable, but multiple times a day (unless after a meeting or something) sounds weird
Comment: @Tas, agree completely with every word you wrote.  What I add by this comment is that I am a diagnosed high-functioning autistic.  We realise the social aspect of things, we must cope with never being comfortable with un-asked for touch over our lifetime because the condition (condition, not disability per se) is permanent, sometimes we leave a job because of a similar social aspect although we may love the job and nearly everybody we work with. You  engage "neurotypical" (ordinary)  people by touch; you engage a capable high-functioning autistic by keeping a social distance and friendly talk
Answer: You don't have to shake his hand at his apparently random whim.  Your job may be at risk, but it certainly ought not to be.
It is clear to me, myself as a former manager, supervisor, tertiary teacher of trade skills to adults, and most relevant of all, as a counsellor to people who are distressed by unprepared-for touch (in my case, counselling people with a minor neurological condition who can otherwise be capable employees) that your manager lacks management training, in particular a most basic part of management training which goes something like: don't invade the personal space of a competent employee; do respect the personal vagaries of an employee - so long as the work is being done up to standard; don't discriminate against an employee because their belief system has minor differences to yours.
Essentially, your manager is being a bully, albeit a subtle one, given that you have revealed that this generally accepted social inter-action is to be inflicted upon you at his whim (not yours).  Bullying or torment, call it what you will.
I will put money on it that at your job interview, no mention was made that mandatory handshaking at random times and not by your initiative, was part of the job description.
There is no fault on you. A manager who inflicts distress on his staff in the mistaken belief that it would improve workplace efficiency, should be re-trained or fired.
So, with apologies to those who have suggested that you should get used to handshaking, I must say absolutely not, for the simple reason of the level of distress it causes you. Go to HR and explain politely but firmly and clearly how deeply this matters to you.  It is not unknown for an employee's talents to be recognised and yet for a personality clash within a department to sometimes occur.  An enlightened company will much prefer a transfer to another department rather than a resignation, followed by months of training a new employee.
If HR offers no satisfaction, think about quietly looking for a new job, if, as I suspect, the feeling is so deep within you that you may never get used to an un-asked for touch. My practical life experience informs me that these feelings can run very deep indeed.  On your resume, a resignation is going to look far better than being fired.
FWIW #1: Your manager may possibly have a minor pathology.  HR should be talking to him about this and how it adversely affects some employees.
FWIW #2: Short of professional team sports, I don't see any reason for random personal touch at another's sole whim in a workplace.

Is a handshake necessary


I downoaded articles from libgen (didn't know was illegal) and it seems that advisor used them to publish his work

Question: I did download some articles from libgen and by then I didn't know it wasn't right to do so, well some people say that there's no problem but honestly I think it is and I'm scared for what this articles where used for without me knowing about it.
Short story
I downloaded articles. I started writing my protocol thesis with advisor/professor supervision, based on parts of these articles. Advisor then asked me to do a summary of some of them, I did it and then sent it to his mail. We then stopped working due to him "I'm very busy, lot of work at uni, COVID-19" (I then realize he was lying, he was indeed working on my topic preparing to show it as his own work) and I said "don't worry, I understand". For some time I kept studying on my own until I felt lost with no direction and it was during this time also that I knew that the articles and content from libgen is, in general, illegal to use. I didn't scare, I just thought that I had nothing on my protocol since it's based on libgen content. I just thought on commenting this to advisor next time I saw him (personally, didn't want to say this through mail) and ask permission or purchase if needed, the articles that I was going to use. About 3 months later (end of august) since the last message of advisor, he said "Sorry for speaking until now, I've been working on the topic, I've structured how your thesis would be, are you still interested on working?" I said "I understand, don't worry. How the structure of my thesis is (perhaps here was the time to say: stop working on it there's something I need to tell you, but I didn't, I didn't think things would go further whiout telling me previously)? Yes, although right now I'm taking a summer course" (course that started at beginning of august). A month passed and I never got a reply. A few days ago, I realized that advisor is going to give a talk (within days) about my thesis topic.
So say we planned to work on article X, which contained methods w,x about topic AB, BC, CD using Y.
He plans to give a talk about topic "x applied on AB, BC, CD"  and on his summary, he mentioned parts contained on my protocol that I proposed, i.e. my original ideas, and also he plans to use Y aswell, not sure if the same Y as mine, wouldn't surprise me if it's the same Y.
Why did he steal my work? Because it is new, this kind of works have been done in other parts of the world but not on ours. But there's a major problem that really worries me, as I said this -work on my protocol (which was never completed nor registered)- it's based of articles that I downloaded from libgen, fortunatelly only 5 of them are in the case of "need to purchase, free to reuse on thesis/dissertation but need to comply some terms", the rest of them, afaiu, are free to use, they are on ResearchGate and you can download them.
Notice that I am not the one publishing anything, I'm not giving a talk, I would never use work taken without permisson or withouth purchasing when authors are requiring this actions for their works. The thing that I did was to take part of some from these restricted articles for my protocol and a summary, and sent to advisor. And it's highly likely that these content is going to be used to give a talk and to publish a paper. Am I in trouble? Am I in legal troubles?
Please help me, I don't know what to do. I don't want to comment this to advisor, not even personally if I could, I don't trust at all in this person.
Comment: I think we had a question before with the conclusion that citing papers obtained via scihub is perfectly fine. The rest seems to be some unclear mess about advisor-advisee authorship rights.
Comment: Obligatory link: https://custodians.online/
Comment: I am not quite sure your supervisor did what you think he did, but—and it is always a good idea—what about some chill? Take a break, dedicate some time to your hobby, go hiking, etc. I am serious. Psychological health is important.
Comment: Oleg, he did what I said he did. I commented this issue of advisor stelaing my work to another professor and he agreeed with me, with some slight differences of wording, she told me that "he is an opportunistic". But at this point my mind is not into that. It hurts yes, I still cannot believe it, yes. Right now I'm into the other problem of legal things
Comment: I don't understand .... Reading between the lines and trying to understand the situation, it appears as if the advisor finally had gotten around to putting the time in on reviewing and revising and reworking what the advisee had submitted. Is that a bad thing? Is the talk the advisor giving a talk to a conference where the advisee is not being mentioned? Or is it some local talk like seminar or colloquium?
Comment: Carol, there was never something to call 'work' thanks to him "not having time". We starting by writting first the protocol (90% mine), the next thing was the thesis writting. I was very interested in working and I used to ask lots of questions, like what's next? what do I do? why this? I don't get it. He was always like meh..yes, idk, keep searching, i'm too busy due uni/cov. I accepted all of these because I trusted him and had good references. Next thing I know is: he is about to give a talk (International congress) about my thesis topic and until today he hasn't said a word to me about it.
Comment: Is it really necessary to downvote this beginning researcher's question so much?
Answer: I really don't think you should worry about the fact that you downloaded articles from libgen or similar websites. Nobody is going to come arrest you because of that... I doubt anyone will know the articles were illegally downloaded and I highly doubt anyone will be enforcing copyright laws to the point where you will see any consequences. If you think it's wrong, then just don't do it in the future, but I am pretty sure that most academics get "illegal" articles from the internet or their peers every once in a while, cite them in their work, and don't think twice about it and most people will not even judge you for it.
I wouldn't mention it to your advisor, or anyone else for that matter because it really isn't a big enough deal to feel any stress over.
I think the real problem is your advisor stealing your work, as you say. But that is a different question.
To add to the potential consequences: The worst thing that will happen to you is your internet company might send you an email threatening to fine you or something. If you stop the illegal downloads, (or get a VPN/other ways of making your traffic anonymous), they will not pursue the issue any further. At least that has been my experience with pirating things in the past.
Comment: I am not sure what field you are in, but I am in math. If I get a method to solve a PDE from an illegally downloaded article, that does *not* mean I am not allowed to use the method. If I make money off of it, nothing changes. That's just not how academic research works. That might be how the business world works, but we need the free exchange of ideas in order to make progress in science.

Suppose you got the articles legally and then shared them with your advisor, and your advisor expanded the results and made money off of it, there would be nothing wrong with that.
Comment: Lol @user, no there is no way to undownload! That's ridiculous.

In fact, if you paid for the article, and then downloaded an illegal copy, and someone found out and took you to court, they would have an extremely difficult time getting you charged with anything. Seriously, you didn't really do anything wrong and I really think you can relax. It's not like the authors of the paper are suffering because you didn't pay. They will benefit a lot more from getting some citations than you paying the journal.
Comment: My point is, the thing that is illegal is the downloading itself. Not the using of the ideas. And the downloading by and large has very minimal consequences, if any.
Comment: Also, by and large, you would not need "permission" to use a result that is in a public paper available on the internet even if it's behind a paywall. Unless I have some big misconceptions about how things work in your field. Of course you should cite the paper where you got the result you're using, and that does a lot of good for the researchers who discovered the result. But you don't need to ask permission.
Comment: Madam/sir after what happened.. do you think that am I going to go back to libgen? and worst to download? NO way I'll be back there. I was really really but really scared for what happened. This is how I felt the situation: I found recipes to cook, didn't know it was stolen recipes (I should have known, too good to be for free..). I started preparing ingredients, then I knew the recipes were obtained illegally. So let's ask permission to obtain them correctly, and so no problem. Meanwhile advisor was analyzing the recipes and preparing to produce new food, he likely will obtain money from it
Comment: It's like stolen money, I didn't know it was stolen, I planned to "give back" or return back or ask permission to use it or something, but I didn't see to come that someone else was preparing to use this money. I thought I was the only one that had 'control' over it, so no fear that something could go wrong
Comment: Ok, I got your point, thank you for the relief answer and comments. In any case, I mean worst case scenario, there where only little parts that I used on my protocol (which was never submitted to authorities, and I'll never going to submit unless I've obtained these 5 articles properly) and a half page of summary. But then again... they likely were used and expanded, maybe like a bomb :/
Comment: pictorexcrucia, you say that the illegal is the downloading, is there a way to "undownload"?
Comment: ok ok, I understand. I'm sorry for this, I honestly know nothing about how the scientific environment works. I heard the word _illegal_ and I got scared. It was traumatic, and even if you say nothing happens I'm not downloading this content ever again. I even stopped thinking about my work ideas that he stole from me. Thanks again, God bless you!
Answer: I am not entirely sure what the problem is or what you are enquiring about. As pointed out by others there seem to be two different issues:

You downloading articles from libgen (or scihub for that matter)
Your relation with your supervisor and how to get credit for work you've done.

The first point is fairly simple. It may be illegal to download articles from libgen and the likes (depending on the jurisdiction). But using this content in other scientific papers and projects is perfectly fine as long as it is properly referenced.
As for the second point, you may want to talk with your supervisor as to how he thinks to share credit for the work. If you have indeed contributed to the research or project your contribution should be acknowledged. If a paper gets published with significant input from you but without you being mentioned could be a violation of ethics codes.
Comment: You still seem to miss the point: No one cares or has to care where you got the papers from in the first place. If your supervisor shares his insights in a talk and cites the papers you downloaded there is no problem with that. He could simply go back and download the papers himself from the journal websites or ask the authors for copies. That's absolutely fine. As to whether or not you deserve credit for "your idea" depends on what you really provided and whether or not that idea was unique and original.
Comment: I'm not the one who did this "But using this content in other scientific papers and projects is perfectly fine as long as it is properly referenced." he did it, and will share it on the talk. I'm not sure if something could be done about _sharing credit_. First, the origin of the 5 papers was... well you know. I, by no means, want credit for this. Second, we never concreted anything about _work_, even tho the thesis topic idea and other things were completely mine, formally because he was always "busy"
Answer: Besides everything that has already been said, the biggest problem is stealing someone's finished work without referring to the original author. However, you did not do this. The moral deviant here isn't you - and no legal consequences are going to will to you.
Let me try to explain why.
The open-access or on libgen books are more downloaded and cited than others behind the paywalls. A lot of studies are finding this (e.g. see https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2017/11/22/open-access-books-are-downloaded-cited-and-mentioned-more-than-non-oa-books). And considering that the scientists will do their jobs aiming large range of readers as well they are already paid for the development of their studies by private or public institutions, seems like ok if you read books from libgen and do the reference. Imagine that you could borrow the book from one friend or the library school.
Besides that, assuming you are not making any harm to nobody as well as helping to amplify the reach of those studies, in fact, you are helping people to access knowledge. (And knowledge must be free for all!!)
Nevertheless, if you not confident yet and have the conditions to reimburse, so you could just send the money directly to the author. Because, in the end, she/he receives a little part of the price!!! If you take into account that the big publishers are who retaining the money and not the authors, using libgen and sci-hub is a big favor for the authors.
It is especially true outside of renamed US and EU universities, where we don't have money to access knowledge and don't have a choice. Is very common to ask for the authors for their work if isn't present on the web for free.
Resuming:

The money from the sales goes almost all to the editors.
Science needs been free to disseminate and contribute to the progress of knowledge.
As the first goal, authors want more to amplify their reach than get rich.
Ok, that's necessary some kind of retribution to the scientists work, but the books are a very little part of their budget.
And there is no possibility for many young or/and poor researchers to buy books.
by the end, you could read them at the library or even borrowing.


Aperiodicity in irreducible markov chains

Question: I am stuck at aperiodic property of irreducible markov chain. Let us consider an irreducible markov chain. It's stated herein that for an irreducible markov chain, a single aperiodic state implies that the whole chain is aperiodic. So, how can we proceed to prove it?
Answer: By definition, the period $|x|$ of a state $x$ on a Markov chain is the only positive integer which divides the length of any chain starting and ending at $x$. More precisely, if $S:x=s_0,\ldots,s_n=x$ is a path in the Markov chain which starts and ends at $x$, then $|x|$ divides the length $n$ of $S$.
In what follows, we denote by $|S|$ the length of a path in the Markov chain.
Suppose we are in an irreducible Markov chain, and some state $y$ is aperiodic, i.e., $|y|=1$. Let's show that any other state $x$ is also aperiodic. By irreducibility, there exists a path $S$ connecting $x$ to $y$ and a path $T$ connecting $y$ to $x$. Since $|y|=1$, there exist paths $P_1,\ldots,P_r$, of lengths $|P_1|,\ldots,|P_r|$, such that $\operatorname{gcd}(|P_1|,\ldots,|P_r|)=1$.
Consider the contatenated paths $SP_jT$, which connect $x$ to itself. Then $|x|$ divides $|SP_jT|=|S|+|P_j|+|T|$ for all $j$. But also, $ST$ starts and ends at $x$, so $|x|$ divides $|ST|=|S|+|T|$. Putting these two facts together, we see that $|x|$ divides $|P_j|$ for all $j$, and therefore $|x|=1$, so $x$ is aperiodic.


Substitute molten salt bath with temperature range from 400–500 °C

Question: I'm looking for a suitable substitute for a $\ce{NaNO2/KNO3}$ salt bath (for quite obvious reasons due to the other applications of the latter chemical). The salt mixture needs to have around 400 to 550 °C of molten working temperature (the lower ranges are not interesting), and preferably be reasonably safe to work with (as safe as the aforementioned salt bath, so totally harmless isn't the goal). The purpose is precise annealing of brass alloys in a home shop environment (so no fume hoods and blast cabinets available).
Comment: KNO3 is used in various explosives and pyrotechnics, and as such is quite cumbersome to purchase and ship. But yes, it's the obvious choice, which is why I'm having such a hard time finding an alternative (other option is obviously that an alternative isn't available).
Comment: I don't really understand the "*quite obvious reasons*" for not using NaNO2/KNO3 molten salt bath. A saltpeter bath is a #1 choice for annealing of brass alloys. Could you probably add more details why it doesn't suit you?
Comment: Well, it's also used as common fertilizer, or even in food preparation...
Answer: I wasn't sure what other conditions you needed for your salt bath, yet I listed few for your convenience together with the salt bath of $\ce{KNO3/NaNO2}$ (bath 5) for comparison:
$$
\begin{array}{ccc}
\text{Bath#} &\text{Composition} & \text{Approx. melting poing} & \text{Working temp. range} \\\hline
1 & \ce{NaCl}, \ce{KCl}, \ce{BaCl2}, \ce{CaCl2}  & \pu{400 ^\circ C} & \pu{500-800 ^\circ C} \\
 & (10\!-\!15 \!:\!20\!-\!30 \!:\!40\!-\!50 \!:\!15\!-\!20) &  &  \\
2 & \ce{NaCO3}\, (45\!-\!55), \ce{KCl}\, (55\!-\! 45)  & \pu{450 ^\circ C} & \pu{550-900 ^\circ C} \\
3 & \ce{NaCl}\, (20), \ce{KCl}\, (30), \ce{BaCl2}\, (50)  & \pu{540 ^\circ C} & \pu{570-900 ^\circ C} \\
4 & \ce{NaNO3}\, (100)  & \pu{370 ^\circ C} & \pu{400-600 ^\circ C} \\
5 & \ce{KNO3}\, (50\!-\!60), \ce{NaNO2}\, (50\!-\!40) & \pu{135 ^\circ C} & \pu{160-550 ^\circ C} \\
\end{array}
$$
I also listed $\ce{NaNO3}$ bath in case you won't mind using it since it is not potassium salt and working range is ideal for your requirement. As indicated, you can change composition as much as you wanted to to get right melting point and the working temperature range you wanted to.
Comment: Use caution with soluble Ba salts because of toxicity.
Comment: Cheers mate, I'll research a pure NaNO2 salt bath since it's closest to the working range. I read somewhere that temperatures over 590 C can decompose the standard KNO3/NaNO2 mix and release nitrogen oxide, which I understand is something you definitely want to avoid. I gather this is also true for just NaNO2?
Comment: Sorry to inform you that I made a typo on entry 4 of the chart. It is $\ce{NaNO3}$ instead of  $\ce{NaNO2}$. By the way,  melting temperature of $\ce{NaNO2}$ is  $\pu{271 ^{\circ}C}$, but it decompose at $\pu{320 ^{\circ}C}$, well below the temperature you want.


Issue about continuing PhD and sue university

Question: I started my CS PhD from 2013 and changed my advisor last semester. My new advisor is in the electrical department and has an affiliation with CS for advising CS PhD student.
Although I passed my WPE exam and "pass with reservation" in oral exam from my previous lab, the CS department told us to retake the WPE and Oral exam with new committee member if I wanted to switch my advisor.
I discussed this issue with my new advisor. Then my new advisor discussed this issue with the DGS(director of graduate study) in CS department and the DGS told him that he and I can assign new committee members and retake the WPE/Oral exam.
By the way,  I got an email from CS department that I could retake WPE/Oral exam in the condition with new advisor and committee members.
After we received the email, my new advisor and I agreed to retake the exam and moved forward to research together, based on what they said meaning DGS and graduate program coordinator.
However, yesterday the Graduate school contacted my new advisor that we can't reassign new committee members due to the university policy. My advisor then talked with CS department but they said they can't resolve this issue because of the university policy. The DGS that my advisor talked previously has been changed to new DGS.
I went to meet with the new DGS this afternoon hoping to solve my issue, but all he told me at the beginning of the meeting was to transfer to EE department or graduate with CS master degree. Obviously, there was a mistake between CS and graduate school, but nobody wants to take in charge of this mistake. After arguing their mistakes and telling him I will contact conflict center or dean's office, his attitude was changed. And he told me that he is going to find possible ways to resolve this issue.
I was so upset and thought this was unfair. I discussed this issue with my new advisor and he thinks that this is absolutely unfair to a student and they ignore your time in graduate school and should not tell me getting out of the graduate program. How can they suggest me to get a CS master degree and leave?
I am feeling awfully bad and really want to sue university because even if I stay here, I have to stay with the DGS and program coordinator.
Comment: **It is very likely that they absolutely have the right to kick you out of the program.**  Depending on the nuances of the situation, you may be right that doing so would not be kind or fair.  So you should be appealing to the relevant parties' sense of kindness and fairness, not challenging them on their rights or spitefully trying to drag them through the mud.  Most people who are kicked out of universities have negative things to say about the university that kicked them out.  It is very, very rare that these negative sentiments actually damage the university.
Comment: " But if I can sue them at the cheap price, I would be happy." You don't seem to be thinking very clearly.  Losing a lawsuit against a university is going to have entirely negative consequences: on your finances, your time, your reputation and your future career.  You were told by certain departmental officials that something could be done, and it turns out they made a mistake.  The person who made the mistake no longer has the position (hmm....) but the new person in that position "is going to find possible ways to resolve this issue".  So they are trying to fix the problem: why aren't you?
Comment: That does sound like a terrible situation, but what is your question?
Comment: K Doe: Asking for legal advice and not specifying your country is silly.  In the US, a student suing a university for an academic issue is extremely unlikely to work.  A university has no legal obligation to keep a student.  Here is another question: what would you sue for?  Money?  (Why would the university owe you money?) The right to stay in the PhD program?  Then -- assuming somehow that you are successful -- you would be in a program in which your presence is undesired by the local powers but legally mandated.  This could be much more unpleasant than starting fresh in a new program.
Comment: Instead, you are going on the internet and asking how to do the least helpful thing possible.  The idea that you are somehow legally entitled to continue as a PhD student in your program is a horrible one (unless you are in some country where the university is directly run by the government and the courts actually rule on university procedures).  Are you not aware that students who do not make satisfactory progress cannot continue in the program?  And that a "pass with reservation" means that your progress was formally recognized as being borderline?
Comment: No lawsuit against an organization such as a university will ever be "cheap". Smaller universities will have at least 2 or 3 lawyers minimum as "general counsel". Larger universities may have dozens of lawyers. Expect to spend tens of thousands of dollars - if not far, far higher - just to bring the case to the courts.
Comment: @KDoe As you can see from my profile, I have helped many people like you before in this community. Why are you being impolite (Referring to your comment: "Do you think you are so amazing in ra or ta?) to people trying to help you? In Academia and any other workplace, you must collaborate with other people to succeed. And learning to collaborate and listening to what others say,  is a skill more crucial than papers and exams. You should definitely work on that, before seeking OUR free advice for YOUR problem.
Comment: My question is how I can sue the university? Do you think it is possible?
Comment: I don't know about the university's legal obligation to keep the student. Do you think keeping student is related to unfair issue?  As I mentioned, obviously this is their mistakes. If the law can't protect the student and someone keep silent like you, they will do same thing. University doesn't owe me money but I invest the time which is most important. Anyways, you are right. if I am successful, I cannot stay here. But at least I can give them any type of warning. And I will speak out my experience through the internet. But if I can sue them at the cheap price, I would be happy.
Comment: Was your new advisor appointed officially or you just started working with him? Can you do a PhD in the CS department without an advisor (even in papers only) from this department. In many departments I know, this is not possible. In this sense, transferring to the EE department, seems like the obvious choice. Why do you oppose to that?
Comment: Alexandros: My new advisor can advise CS phd students. And I already switched my major from EE to CS. Even if I want, I can't.
Comment: Pete: I really want to drag them into mud now. I know I can't stay more that's why I can do this because they have to pay something for their mistakes. Somebody should take the responsibility of this issue. In graduate school, highest education, it seems like they want to hide something by kicking out me. Why do students accept this weird thing? I am studying in US.
Comment: Tonysdg: Thank you for your answer. But how can I meet lawyer?
Comment: @KDoe 1) Dragging them to the mud is unlikely to happen 2) There are probably things you are not telling them. Why are they eager to kick you out? There must be a reason. 3) Why did you switch advisors and why did not it work out with the previous advisor? 4) You did not do well in your exams and there is no excuse than that, other than sloppiness. Without this, there would be no excuse to let you go. 5) Where do you get your funding from? (if you do). Are you TA? Did you perform well there? Are you paid from a grant? Have you delivered the necessary work for this grant and so-on.
Comment: Alexandros: why are you asking this? Those are not the points. In previous lab, at that time, 5 guys are left from that lab at the same time. That was an extreme case of creless professor. Haha ..during oral exam, he was late 20 mins and kept watching his laptop. No defending at all and I got voting papers after exam. Two members gave me pass but two memebers gave me pass with reservation thise were my advisor and the director of previous lab. Do you think if you are not good in Ra or ta, they can tell you  getting out of this school? Do you think you are so amazing in ra or ta?
Comment: What I did was with previous advisor was to take the oral exam based on my submitted paper with agreement of previous advisor. He didn't  advise at all for research ..this was like general facts but I believed he is understanding my work at least. But that was just my hope. And another worst thing was that he kept saying like controlling you by money in the meeting. I think this is the reality of university.
Comment: Alexandros: I am sorry about that. But I think your qeustion seems like a different issue.
Comment: Basic rule of advocacy: sue if you need to, but never threaten to sue.  Don't even hint at it.  Your advocacy will be much less effective if you mention anything relating to suits or lawyers.  What you can do, however, is calmly cite laws, regulations and policies.
Answer: After arguing their mistakes and telling him I will contact conflict center or dean's office, his attitude was changed. And he told me that he is going to find possible ways to resolve this issue.
This suggests to me that your best move at the moment is to sit tight and see what the resolution turns out to be. This person is about to charge the bureaucracy on your behalf; let him do it!
Threatening a lawsuit is, for the many reasons listed in the comments to the OP, the thing to do if you are absolutely set on ruining your life as well as your academic career. Don't.
This is legitimately frustrating and you are legitimately angry about it. It's hard to think strategically in such a situation, yet that is precisely what you aren't doing at the moment -- but need to.
Comment: Thank you for your answer but he told me that I need to submit the petition. It doesn't make sense at all. Why do I need to make it? In addition, I need to get the support letters from DGS and coordinator who want to hide something. Also the DGS wants to control the contents of petition so far. I don't know why they care this a lot like this.  My advisor told me it is not going to work in graduate school. I don't know what to do.
Comment: @KDoe The new DGS presumably knows more than you do about the relevant procedures and how best to get results. What do you have to lose by following their advice to the letter?
Comment: Patricia: thank you. It's so stressful. My concern is that at first, DGS and program coordinator told me like kicking out from the program. I am wondering what they will do for me. Its obvious that they are not working for students.


Pushing a View Controller in a specific orientation

Question: The main UIViewController (A) displays another UIViewController (B) when the devices rotates to Landscape mode. So rotating the device to landscape while on A presents B modally and rotating back to portrait on B dismisses B and goes back to A.
While on B I want to push another UIViewController (C) into A's stack. C  can only be displayed in portrait though. I am aware that this goes against the HIG, as orientation should always be conserved between transitions.
So I want to be able to do the following on B:

Dissmiss B
Push C to A's stack (so popping from C goes back to A)
Switch back to portrait orientation so C is displayed in portrait

If you have the Pay With Square app, you'll see that they solved this problem by fading in C (rotate the app to show the map and choose an annotation) but they didn't add it to the current stack, allowing only dismiss it.
Comment: @H2CO3 Yeah, this one is a little trickier :D
Answer: You could push the view controller like normal then in viewDidAppear use some code from this thread to rotate the view.


Why is 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 b6 so unpopular?

Question: Why is the Sicilian line with 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 b6 almost never played at any level, nor considered in books and similar? It seems logical to me, and after the usual 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Bb7, the Bishop is already well placed on b7 to control key central squares. So are there any obvious faults in this line that I am missing?
 [FEN ""]
 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 b6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Bb7

Answer: It's not that unpopular amongst off-beat lines that can emerge from the Sicilian defense, on top which it has a natural tendency to transpose to Owen defense type of positions.
As to why it's not as popular as Sicilian mainlines, much similar to 1.b3 or 1...b6 openings, 1...c5 2...b6 is not a sound starting setup strategically, for the following summarised reasons:
From opening theory principles:

2...b6 does not contribute to kingside development. King safety in Sicilian structures is of paramount importance as the opening easily leads to very open play where: white's 4 minor pieces are efficiently and centrally developed, central files become semi-open, etc.
2...b6 is not an effective developing move either, that is to say, it does not pose any immediate threats to white. As opposed to e.g. a Dragon Sicilian development (diagram below), where the coordination of knight on c6 and bishop on g7 come with tempo as white has a number of targets on that long diagonal and black's quickly finishing development and will be in time to either create space on the queenside or play the d5 advance. So it being a passive non-effective developing move, it gives free vital play to white.
It resolves the address of your king, as the early b6-c5 setup makes it very unlikely for black to castle queenside, and that's useful information for white! And generally, the reason why kingside fianchettos tend to be stronger and more important early on than queenside ones, is because the structure provides a good fortress for the king!

(Diagram for 2nd point)
 [title "Dragon Sicilian example"]
 [fen ""]

 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7

From a Sicilian opening theory point of view

2...b6 is inconsistent with what the Sicilian defense aims to achieve: The Sicilian, unlike the French defense, it is an active type of defense where black aims to claim their own share of central space control, not immediately challenging white's light square control (provided with 1.e4) but instead, focusing their play more on the dark squares. With this in mind, it is clear that b6-Bb7 are not assisting black's cause in dark square control.
b6-c5 setup tends to be a decent structure when the c5 pawn cannot easily be challenged, much like the white pawn setup in English or 1.b3 type openings with b3-c4-e3 or c4-d3-g3. But as you yourself pointed out, d4 advance is happening immediately for white and black's forced to capture at once as to not provide white with the complete control of the sweet centre.
1...c5 is already a queenside, non-central-pawn commitment, but its aim is justified as it offers to trade a non-central c pawn for white's important central d2 pawn. But 2...b6 has no such immediate justification, it's a move away from the centre, and by itself does not provide control over any important squares.
The latter point is really important when dealing with Sicilian: as it stands, even in the mainlines, white always has the lead in both development and central control and black is always playing catch-up at best. So b6 in that sense is really putting black even further behind in development. Again as explained earlier, the light square control that Bb7 provides is really of minimal relevance for black at the beginning considering white's natural setup in the Sicilian.
All the last couple of points translate into: the later your knights can be centrally developed, the later your castling is prepared, the more difficult you are going to find it to create any threats against white to balance the game. And playing a Sicilian defense, you have to be able to create threats, or at least have strong prospects in doing so. These are fundamentally different from an opening like the Caro or French. For inspiration, I highly encourage you to study the following game by Kasparov, which truly epitomises the kind of play the Sicilian opening aims to achieve.

(note the very early pawn sacrifice to resolve the Moraczy bind, and the active piece development that follows after d5, gradually taking more and more options from white, no tempo is wasted on a slow non-developing move)
 [title "Karpov - Kasparov 1985 match game 16"]
 [fen ""]

 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nb5 d6 6.c4 Nf6 7.N1c3 a6 8.Na3 d5 9.cxd5 exd5 10.exd5 Nb4 11.Be2 Bc5 12.O-O O-O 13.Bf3 Bf5 14.Bg5 Re8 15.Qd2 b5 16.Rad1 Nd3 17.Nab1 h6 18.Bh4 b4 19.Na4 Bd6 20.Bg3 Rc8 21.b3 g5 22.Bxd6 Qxd6 23.g3 Nd7 24.Bg2 Qf6 25.a3 a5 26.axb4 axb4 27.Qa2 Bg6 28.d6 g4 29.Qd2 Kg7 30.f3 Qxd6 31.fxg4 Qd4+ 32.Kh1 Nf6 33.Rf4 Ne4 34.Qxd3 Nf2+ 35.Rxf2 Bxd3 36.Rfd2 Qe3 37.Rxd3 Rc1 38.Nb2 Qf2 39.Nd2 Rxd1+ 40.Nxd1 Re1+ 0-1

Last but not least, here's one possible continuation for c5-b6 which is cherry-picked to emphasise how quickly it can go wrong for black as they are behind in every aspect of development:
[title "Concrete example"]
[fen ""]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 b6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Bb7 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. e5 Nd5 7. Nxd5 Bxd5 8. Nb5 Bb7 9. Bg5 Qc8 (9...h6 10. Nd6+) (9...d6 10. Nxd6+) 10. Qe2 e6 11.O-O-O

Comment: @A.N.Other Please take your time to read it carefully. Bear in mind that `a6` achieves two major goals that `b6` does not: it controls the important `b5` square (which black should naturally control in Sicilian structures anyhow), and prepares to gain space on the queenside with `b5`, not to say that it should be played on move `2...` anyhow...
Comment: Great answer, the only thing I can say is that 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6 is seen sometimes, and id does nothing for k-side development, too.
Comment: It's also about information. Playing ...b6 early tells White that you don't plan to use the thematic b5-b4 push (or if you do, you have lost a clear-cut tempo), so they have to invest less time for precautions against that push, leading to a more comfortable game for them. ...a6 on the other hand tells much less, the move can eventually be played in more or less every major line of the Sicilian.
Answer: Probably for a few reasons: First, it is too slow in a sharp opening. Second, it does nothing to develop the k-side in an opening that is renowned for many games that the black king gets caught in the center. Third, it does little to control the center, and in particular, d4. Forth, it is too early to determine if the Bc8 will go to b7 or a6, which is somewhat unusual in that opening anyway.
Overall, to me, it just feels like b6 is going to be putting at least one piece on a wrong square.
Comment: 2...a6 is also not that popular, however, it is a common Sicilian move at least that black is more likely to need.
Comment: Perhaps lack of early k-side development is the factor, as you suggest. On the other side, 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6 is seen sometimes, and it does not for k-side development, too.
Answer:
Lack of kingside development.
If you want a queenside fianchetto there are better lines.
b6 creates a problem in how to develop the queenside knight. Normally after Nc6, black can recapture with the b pawn but in this line black can't.
Answer: I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned the problem after ..b6 of developing Black's Queen. One point of ..c5 is to give her effective development suares at c7, b6 and a5. 2..b6 takes away two of those options and severely limits Black's possilities for counterattack.
Comment: In the Sicilian Kan the Black Queen hardly goes to b6 or a5 in the opening, so I wonder why - with a similar structure - it should be a disadvantage. Also, please consider that in the popular "Hedgehog" structure, often arising from the Sicilian with an early c2-c4, there is always a Pawn on b6.
Comment: I did not say that those three Queen moves were essential, but it does not feel right to deny yourself useful options on move two.
Answer: One important point not yet mentioned: If you look at other Sicilian lines, black generally tries to play b5.
B5 is useful for a variety of reasons: It might harass the Nc3, support a knight coming to c4 or be part of a pawn storm against the long castle. It fights the Maroczy-bind and the aggressive development Bc4.
Because b5 is so ubiquitous in Sicilian lines, b6 is very likely to turn out a waste of tempo.

Why is 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 b6 so unpopular?


wpf user control blocking styles

Question: I am making a wpf class library with some user controls in it.  Some of my controls are not styled and so whatever style is defined in the app that hosts my control is applied to my controls.  This creates a bad mix of looks.
I need my user control to specify that all controls need to use just the default wpf look and feel regardless of what the parent form is doing.
Answer: try style="{x:null}"

wpf user control blocking styles


Is there a way to move files marked as spam to another folder in Evolution?

Question: The "Junk" folder in evolution is not an actual folder, as all of the messages marked as junk are still in the Inbox on imap. There is a filter option in Evolution based on whether or not a message has been flagged, and I set one up to move any emails flagged as junk into an actual subfolder. The reason is that I get my emails both on my phone and on my desktop, and while having them visually separated on my desktop is nice my phone remains inundated with spam emails. The filter itself never gets triggered though, even if I select all of the junk emails and choose Apply Filters. The filter condition is Junk Test -> Message is junk, and the action is to move it to a folder I created. Why would this not be working?
Answer: I just had the same problem. Tried to access mail from my new smartphone.
Also tried to set up a filter, but that did not work since mail in the inbox is still spam-filtered in to a virtual folder.
Well I am fortunate that my provider (1&1) allows to configure spam filtering
on the server side. I changed the configuration to the option where spam is spam filtered and moved to a special imap spam folder, where I still have the opportunity to inspect them for false positives.
Now, here is an idea, if you are not that fortunate: (I am still running an older version of evolution, though, 2.28)

Go to preferences and uncheck the option to spam filter in the inbox.
Set up a filter that on condition that status is spam will move the mail in question to a special spam folder.

I have tested this and the spam filter runs on the mail in question!


Lag length selection in a VAR model: information criteria favour zero lag

Question:
I want to study the impulse response function and the variance decomposition by fitting a VAR model. The lag length criteria gave me this result. What's the problem?
Comment: Your model is miss-specified if it includes lag 0. If the 0 is in fact the first lag, then there is no problem, just pick the lag that has highest value according to some criterion (that would be one lag). Remember that this procedure assumes same data also.
Comment: I don't get your answer. How can a model be miss-specified I didn't estimate the model. I'm seeking for the optimal lag to fit a lag model.

I have 4 stationnary. I made them stationnary

ps: I'm using eviews
Comment: @Dole, 0 lag may mean no lags, not inclusion of the zero lag.
Comment: Yes, it means that the optimal lag is zero. What could be the cause of such a result?
Comment: @user109464 That would mean mere constant maximizes the criterion, since none of the VAR model should be left. Again, VAR model can't be estimated with 0 lags, so I hope you have correct specification (IE 1 = first lag, 2 = first and 2nd lag etc.) No contemporaneous terms should be allowed.
Comment: So how can I choose the optimal lag ?
Answer: Based on the criteria (lowest AIC, lowest BIC, etc.), zero lag is preferred, which means a model with just an intercept but no lags. From such a model you will not be able to obtain impulse response functions, while variance decomposition will be trivial (none of the variables explains the variance). The selection of zero lag suggests that VAR might not be a good model for your data, so you might want to explore alternative models.
Answer: If zero lag presents mean there is no contribution of past value of the exogenous variable. So it is not a time series problem It is simple regression


How many pounds of water retention will be caused by 2300 mg of sodium?

Question: When you gain five pounds in one day people always say "water retention from sodium" and undigested food. To see if this is plausible, I want to get a sense for the scale of the effect. Suppose you consumed an additional 2300 mg of sodium (one US RDA, also the amount of sodium in one 11-ounce bag of Doritos, so it's a common real-world scenario for me). How many pounds of water would this cause the average person to retain?
Comment: I suspect there are way, way too many confounding factors to answer this in vivo. What is your current electrolyte balance (not just sodium, but all of them)? How hydrated were you? How quickly is that sodium digested, and in what form? How hot is it outside? How much will you sweat? I think you get the idea...
Comment: All of these things would be simple to hold constant in lab rats. Doesn't anyone care enough to try?
Answer: Once again, people mistake correlation for causation. Your body is very capable of adjusting, and you won't "retain" water for any longer than it takes the body to process the extra sodium out of the body. It's a very transitory process.
If you would like to read some literature, here are two studies, one on acute ingestion of sodium and phosphate, and one on how acute ingestion affects thirst. These suggest that while acute ingestion causes blood Na levels to rise, it has little to no effect on thirst, and that it gets processed out by the kidneys in very short order.
So if you have a heavy sodium intake day, you may retain some water over the next 8-24 hours as the body processes and establishes equilibrium (This is done by receptors in the hypothalamus, by the way), but unless you have a disease state of some sort, the body restores order in a short amount of time.
It is the chronic, not acute, ingestion of excess Na that causes so many problems as far as edema, health, etc.
Answer: While I agree with Greg, I did some digging and came up with this information:
An extra 400 milligrams of sodium in your body results in a 2-pound weight increase. Now, to me, this statistic is questionable, as the author does not site a source, and 2 pounds seems like a lot for that amount, but I cannot find any other discussion which offers a number, so take from it what you will.
If you are really curious, conduct a test yourself, where you maintain a constant diet for a couple days taking frequent weight measurements, then add some sodium to the diet and take more measurements. While this might not be exact, it will be adjusted to your body type, and will give you the best idea of how your body responds to additional sodium. Make sure to hydrate well before starting the experiment, as all the sources I came across say fulfilling your hydration needs results in a loss of the excess water weight, and so this would allow you a clean slate from which to gather results.
Comment: The rationale they give for the weight increase is "Your body works to maintain a sodium/water balance that resembles sea water", which actually sounds reasonable. But sea water salinity is 35 g/kg, which works out to 16 grams of NaCl per pound, which is 6400 mg of Na per pound. Maybe that's the real answer?
Comment: @Noumenon - No. Saline solution is .9%, which is approximately the osmolarity of blood. This is about 9 grams per liter, not 35 as in seawater.
Comment: That seems much more in line with what I would think it would be from experience (I know I've never gained 12 pounds from a bag of doritos)
Comment: @JohnP Based on what the article said, his calculations were correct, he just had incorrect information. I think the moral of the story here is not to trust any assertions by the linked website I linked.
Comment: If it's 9 grams per liter instead of 35, that just means 1600 mg of Na per pound instead of 6400, which would mean the answer to my original question would be "1.5 pounds maximum, assuming all of the sodium was retained in the body instead of being flushed out."


Water base , oil baed or shellac primer on old plaster wall

Question: I would like to use latex paint to on old plaster walls in a 1800's house. Some of the walls had to be patched with new plaster where the old plaster was removed down to the lathe. There appears they have been coated with calcimine before being wallpapered I searched the internet on which primer to use before latex and now I'm totally confused. Should I use oil, water based, shellac or Zinser Guardz?
Comment: Does it make a difference if the old plaster is lime? Many of the UK sites talk about the walls needing to breathe. Does any of the above primers affect this? If so wouldn't latex paint affect the breathe ablility?
Answer: You absolutely cannot beat the shellac primer. If you go this route, get Zinsser BIN. It will cover pretty much anything and stick to pretty much anything. The drawback is the cost, at around US$45/gal it ain't cheap. This stuff uses alcohol as the primary solvent, so you might want to get a respirator that is rated properly to filter ethanol (or maybe not, but don't drive after you use it...). This can be used in most sprayers directly out of the can, it's quite thin.
The oil based (like original Kilz) is good too, and a lot cheaper. It's also harder to apply, very thick and prone to brush marks. And it puts off some powerful fumes (so does Shellac, but that is NOTHING compared to Kilz, which uses some more noxious solvents that will make your eyes water). Oil based primer is going to stick to most existing surfaces. This will not work in some sprayers as it is too thick, even after thinning (assuming you only thin it as much as the manufacturer suggests).
Latex is probably the cheapest option, and also the least flexible. It's a bit easier to apply than Kilz. but not as easy as shellac. You shouldn't need a respirator to use it, though. Latex is only suitable for application over existing Latex. If there is any doubt, don't use latex, there is a chance you'll regret it. I've seen badly applied latex where you could cut a small hole in the paint, and actually slide your hand up and behind the dried paint, lifting a large section right off the wall.
In all cases, make sure you scrub the walls before you do anything. This is extremely important if you are painting after removing wallpaper, because it is necessary to get all of the old paste off the walls. TSP is the best cleaner, but it's not environmentally friendly. The TSP-substitute is almost as good. 80% of the work is in prep; slapping paint on the wall is the easy part.
Comment: If you're going to be spraying a lot of BIN be mindful of two things: 1) alcohol vapors are highly flammable so no smoking when you're spraying! 2) alcohol vapors can be absorbed through your eyes so you may want a full face respirator lest you get inebriated in quite a novel way....
Comment: If spraying make sure to use the appropriate respirator bad things can happen with alcohol or paints with VOC's . TSP is a good cleaner and one I preferred for years.+
Comment: Yep, what ☝they ☝said: oil or shellac definitely need to be applied with a respirator and enclosed goggles (or pretend you're walter white and opt for the full face mask). I'll add one more warning: since you are talking about plaster and lathe walls, there is a very good chance you've got some lead paint buried in there. It's not a problem unless disturbed, which is possible if you are scraping and scrubbing. https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/documents/steps.pdf


How can i fix the image along the path

Question: How can i fix the image along the path, I want to have 10-12 image in circular path. The logo should bend and adjust the shape of the circle and copies of 10-12. With the vector or text (fit to path) we can adjust with the path, How it work with image. Any suggestion or help.
Try with this logo
Comment: Make it a brush
Comment: @joojaa Thanks, how it will work in coreldraw
Comment: Ancient Corel Draw had "Envelope". With it one could bend the logo. The rest can be rotated copies. Check does Envelope still exist. (sorry, I do not have a version that can be run in current Windows)
Answer: In Illustrator, a simple Pattern Brush will work. Merely drag the art to the Brush Panel and choose Pattern Brush when asked, then just click OKAY. Draw a circle, and click the brush you just made.

If you want a bit of spacing between the iterations, extend the no-fill, no-stroke, rectangle in the brush artwork and then update the brush in the Brush Panel by holding the Option/Alt key down as you drag new artwork on top of the existing brush in the Brush Panel.

The only way to control the amount of iterations is to adjust either the size of the circle, or the size of the brush.
If you double-click the brush artwork in the brush Panel you can adjust the scale of the brush. Reducing the scale of the brush will allow for more iterations.
Comment: Thanks for the detail answer

How can i fix the image along the path


Cant add product to cart after upgrade to magento 2.4.0

Question: I have upgraded my site to magento 2.4.0. After the upgrade, i am not able to add products to cart.
Can anyone please help , what is the issue?
Reference link,
http://discountedsunglasses.magento2e.com/women/sunglasses/aviator/sunoptic-sp100-sunglasses
Answer: I have tried to add the given product to cart, it works. Please check attached screenshot for the same.
https://prnt.sc/k0gHUR9KXOo6


Universe without Gravity

Question: Imagine a theoretical parallel universe that does not have and never had a gravitational force. Loose hydrogen atoms would still have formed, and in some cases might have formed H2, but would not coalesce into nebulae or stars. Without gravitational force pulling the hydrogen together, could fusion have occurred to form He? How about heavier elements? The universe would, in any case, be a diffuse cloud of gas, but would the electromagnetic force be strong enough to drive fusion and create heavier elements (not looking for Uranium or anything, but like, Carbon), or would it just be a low-density cloud of hydrogen, for all eternity?
Comment: Without gravity you couldn't really have a Big Bang, since the Big Bang is based on Einstein's theory of general relativity which is all about explaining gravity in terms of matter and energy curving spacetime. If you instead assume physics just consists of quantum field theory in "flat" spacetime with no notion of mass causing curvature, then either the universe is infinitely old or it has a starting state which doesn't have any physical explanation (like if you just created a *simulation* of such a universe and put in some arbitrary initial conditions by hand).
Comment: The Big Bang is not based on general relativity, it is based on astronomical observations, and must account for the effects of general relativity on those observations.  There's no reason to believe that the Big Bang would not have happened if there were no gravity.  Also, if there were simply no gravity, general relativity would still be true, and spacetime would still be subject to curvature, there would just be nothing actively curving spacetime.
Comment: @cowlinator - The theoretical model that is used to explain those observations is based on general relativity, no one has any alternate model that would predict them all--see [here](https://arxiv.org/pdf/1606.06112.pdf) for some details. And how can general relativity be true if there is still mass/energy but it *doesn't* curve spacetime? It's built into the equations of GR that all matter or energy (even the energy of massless particles like photons) causes some curvature, only an empty universe (or one with particles of infinitesimal mass/energy) can be curvature-free in GR.
Comment: @Hypnosifl "And how can general relativity be true if there is still mass/energy but it *doesn't* curve spacetime?" I guess one way to interpret the question would be to keep GR's formalism unchanged and send the coupling parameter $G$ to zero (or a negligible value).
Comment: VTC:Needs Focus, There's too many questions here. Stack Exchange is not a discussion forum (see [help/dont-ask]), but rather uses the model one-specific-question/one-best-answer.
Answer: Hydrogen and Helium only
This link tells the story of the big bang aftermath:
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/General_Astronomy/The_First_Three_Minutes
It includes the formation of helium using a process which doesn't include gravity at all.
However, the link goes on to explain that nothing other than hydrogen or helium is produced for millions of years.
A million years of cosmic expansion, with all atoms all accelerating away from each other, with nothing to start clustering them. Yeah it'll just be a cloud of hydrogen and helium.
Comment: Good answer.  Of note, is that since we are changing the laws of physics anyway, greatly increasing the range and strength of the electromagnetic force could possibly result in electromagnetically bound "stars".  Maybe.
Comment: @cowlinator, the range of electromagnetic interaction is already infinite, and increasing its strength would also increase repulsion
Comment: @cowlinator the problem is isn't that electromagnetism is too weak, it's that electromagnetism has two charges. Electrostatic attraction and repulsion work against buildup of large amounts of charge, since any such buildup repels the charges that would strengthen it and attracts the ones that neutralize it.
Comment: Not even Helium in more than traces. H1 only. Not even Deuterium and Tritium
Comment: @Trish about 25% helium-4 by mass, actually. And very tiny amounts of lithium. Also, essentially all deuterium came from Big Bang nucleosynthesis, and tiny amounts of tritium and lithium-7, which rapidly decayed.
Answer:
The universe would, in any case, be a diffuse cloud of gas, but would the electromagnetic force be strong enough to drive fusion and create heavier elements

No.
The reason why the heavier elements are formed is because the atoms are forced in close proximity and at a very high temperature; both phenomena are driven (initially at least) by gravity. Left to itself, the electromagnetic force would actually keep atoms apart, and the nuclear forces would have no chance of entering into play.
Without gravity, atoms will just keep on expanding after the Big Bang, getting thinner and colder all the time. Possibly some random helium atom might form in the very first instants, but nothing else.
Answer: "What if pi was not 3.14..." is what I thought when I read your question. The answer being, we don't know.
Removing gravity from our universe changes everything at such a fundamental Level that, to be quite honest, nobody can imagine what would happen.
To stick to the pi example, if pi was rational, that would indicate something with the geometry of our universe being different. Which in of itself has so many implications that your universe in which pi = 4 might as well just be a different one.
Same with your question, the universe would not be the same in any shape or form.
Comment: You can definitely assume that the geometry of our universe is not flat, that's true.  However, non-euclidean geometry is a well studied and understood geometry, complete with axioms, formulas, and laws.  We have quite a lot to say about a non-euclidean world.  In fact it's still not conclusively proven that our own universe is flat.
Comment: We can make a lot of concrete assumptions about a universe in which Pi = 4.  For instance, since the volume of a cone = pi * r^2 & h / 3, we know that a teepee with the same external size would be much more roomy inside.  If teepees exist, of course.
Comment: You cant make any assumptions. Pi, cannot be Rational in or current Geometry. If Pi was 4, the best you could say is "The Geometry of or Universe is not flat". And thats about it.

Universe without Gravity


How do I unsubscribe to the multiplayer quick search beta?

Question: I accidently clicked yes on the popup and now I'm stuck using this slow quick play search and I don't know how to turn it off. The new search takes exponentially more time than the old one. I've been waiting 20 minutes just to get into a game. How do I unsubscribe to the multiplayer quick search beta?
Answer: The only way I have found is to quit the game and relaunch it. After you do that, it will ask you again whether you want to participate in the beta when you choose quick search.
Answer: Open the console and type tf_quickplay_beta_preference 0
Answer: Just restart i think.
Or type tf_quickplay_beta_preference 0 in the console
Comment: Why is this answer being downvoted? I know both have already been suggested, but he might not have noticed.


Why is water a good neutron absorber?

Question: I've seen this question asked multiple times, and the answer is never detailed. I initially assumed that either hydrogen or oxygen had relatively large neutron absorption cross sections, however that is not the case, so what actually makes water a good absorber?
Comment: Welcome ryan42 to Physics SE.  If you have seen this question asked multiple times on Physics Stack Exchange, it would be helpful to give links to those questions.
Answer: Water is useful for neutron shielding, even though water is not an especially good neutron absorber.  Oxygen nuclei are basically invisible to neutrons, since oxygen-16 is a spinless doubly-magic nucleus. However, hydrogen has a both large scattering  cross section and a low mass. Basically, in every hydrogen-neutron scattering event, the outgoing neutron momentum is spherically symmetric in a reference frame with half of the neutron's initial speed. Since the neutron momentum is roughly halved with every scatter, neutrons with basically any energy reach thermal equilibrium with the water quickly.
High-scattering barriers are opaque for the same reasons that the undersides of clouds (which are made of transparent water droplets or ice crystals) are dark. There is some thickness of scatterer where the incident radiation is equally likely to be transmitted or backscattered.  Many of these thicknesses, and the incident radiation is exponentially attenuated, even with negligible absorption. Thermal neutrons in water are about a thousand times more likely to scatter than to capture — which sounds like a small capture cross section, but really isn't.
Water is also extremely cheap. Liquid water has the property that a water barrier (unlike, say, a brick barrier) has no chinks or gaps where the radiation can shine through unimpeded. The mass of the water makes it pretty okay at absorbing the gamma photons emitted when the neutrons capture on the hydrogen. And to top it off, the "activation products" produced by neutron radiation in water are deuterium and oxygen-17.  These are both non-radioactive; they aren't even poisonous.
Answer: Water is not a good neutron absorber compared to other materials.  Water is a good neutron moderator; water slows neutrons down due to scattering collisions.  Once slowed, the cross section for absorption of the lower energy neutrons by other materials such as boron (or uranium for fission) increases.
Heavy water is even less of a neutron absorber than light water.
For some applications, absorption of neutrons by light water is an issue. A reactor fueled with natural uranium (CANDU design) requires heavy water as the moderator instead of light water for criticality due to the lower absorption cross section of heavy water.
Comment: Everything is relative.  Water is not a good absorber compared to things like uranium.  However, compared to deuterium, water is a very large absorber.
Answer: Water is a good moderator (good at slowing neutron) because of the two hydrogen atoms.  Recall that, in the collision of two billiard balls where the  target is initially at rest, the incident particle can stop after collision only if its mass is equal to the mass of the target.  In this way, the protons of the hydrogen nucleus can more or less stop the neutrons (of course most collisions are not head on).  The recoil protons are themselves slowed by transferring energy to vibrational or rotational modes of the water molecule.
Paraffin, which contains a lot of hydrogen, is good at neutron shielding precisely for the same reason.  On the other hand, heavy water contains only deuterons (aka heavy hydrogen) is in fact not as good a moderator as regular water.
The abundance of water, the facility to transport it and store it, are some of the reasons why was historically used as a moderator.
Comment: Paraffin wax shows up in historical papers, but high-density polyethylene is sturdier and now cheaper. HDPE can also be loaded up (at manufacture time) with powdered boron, which *is* a good neutron absorber, and which emits fewer and softer capture gammas than capture on hydrogen.
Comment: @rob indeed see https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2019/01/AstroRad
Answer: Just to put some numbers on scattering vs absorption of neutrons in water, I've pulled data from ENDF.
First, neutrons on hydrogen:

The total cross section is in green, the elastic scattering (neutron bounces off, has some energy loss between 0 and 50% roughly), and the absorption of neutron to make deuterium. Well, you really can't see the total curve since it falls under the elastic cross section line - basically all scattering is elastic. At fission energies (~2 MeV), the absorption cross section is 4 or 5 orders of magnitude lower than the elastic cross section. Only once the neutron is thermalized does that cross section get within several orders of magnitude.
For oxygen:

It looks even worse - even at thermal energies the absorption cross section is 4 orders of magnitude smaller than elastic scattering, and that only gets worse at higher energies towards the original fission neutron energy.

Why is water a good neutron absorber?


How do I access a super classes instance var?

Question: I have a very simple use case that is giving me difficulty:
Here's some code:
<code>@interface Foo : UIViewController {
    id myVar;
}

@property (nonatomic, retain) id myVar;
@end

@interface Bar : Foo {}
@end
</code>
If and when I'm im writing code in Bar.m and trying to access myVar in such format as:
<code>self.myVar or [self myVar]
</code>
The compiler complains that myVar is something not a structure or union. myVar is synthesized in Foo. Why can't I access it in the child class?
Answer: Did you remember to import Bar.h in Bar.m, and Foo.h in Bar.h?


Bulk Upload Chatter Users' Photo

Question: I have a requirement to upload all users' photo in chatter. Is it possible ? or do I need to upload individually?
Answer: You can achieve this using Chatter REST API by targeting User Photo
You may check this questions (1, 2)  it might help you
Give it a try and update your question with your progress and we'll do our best to help you!
Answer: You can try AppExchange App to achieve your Bulk Photo upload requirement,
Mass Chatter Photo Utility App helps you Bulk upload Chatter Users' Photos within clicks.
You can find it on the AppExchange listing, The below link will redirect you to AppExchange
https://appexchange.salesforce.com/appxListingDetail?listingId=a0N3A00000Ecs4kUAB
Full disclosure, I work at Satrang Technologies, the creator of this amazing AppExchange app.
Comment: Welcome to Salesforce Stack Exchange (SFSE)! If my research is correct, you are employed by Satrang Technologies - the creator of the app you linked to. From a section of the SFSE Help Center (https://salesforce.stackexchange.com/help/promotion): *"Post good, relevant answers, and if some (but not all) happen to be about your product or website, that's okay. However, **you must disclose your affiliation in your answers**."* (emphasis added). Please edit your answer to disclose any affiliation, and please spend some time getting a feel of the culture and expectations of a site you are new to.

Bulk Upload Chatter Users' Photo


Dwarfing rootstock and bone meal

Question: I have some fruit trees on dwarfing rootstocks. By the nature of the rootstocks they have a lesser overall root foundation than other trees. If I apply bone meal or other things that encourage stronger root development, will this in fact increase the root strength of my dwarf trees? Would it also potentially cause the dwarfing nature of the rootstock to be negated because the tree has a better root system than the dwarf stock was intended for?
Answer: The answer to the first question is two questions: Have you had a soil test done? If not, do so before adding any soil amendments. If you have, is your soil deficient in calcium and phosphorus? If yes, will you be adding only the amounts recommended in the test? If yes, then the roots will benefit.
A short answer to your second question is "No", but the long answer is more interesting. Surprisingly, scientists have a couple of good theories as to how dwarfing rootstocks actually regulate the growth of the scion, but no actual 100% ironclad scientifically proven mechanism. Personally, I suspect that there are multiple ways in which this occurs. Many of the theories involve hormones that regulate scion growth. See here for an interesting paper on the subject.
A couple of quotes from the paper:

By reducing tree size, dwarfing root-stocks produce less vegetative growth and yields, on a per-tree basis, are lower than those for a tree on a vigorous rootstock

...rootstocks differ in their inherent capacity to produce hormones and the ways in which these biologically active substances are transported within the root-stock and/or scion.

Dwarfing rootstocks dwarf scions due to genetic reasons and not due to any environmental pressures. So, adding bonemeal to your trees' soil will have no effect on the growth rate or overall size of the scion.
Comment: As a follow up question, given all the criteria, if it's needed and it improves root growth on dwarf rootstocks can it improve it enough to no longer need permanent staking? Typically dwarf trees need permanent staking because their root systems are pretty underdeveloped.
Comment: No, you'll probably still need to stake the trees, even if they are phosphorus and calcium deficient at the moment. The weight of the fruit, IIRC, in combination with a smaller root run than on a standard tree is the reason dwarf trees need to be staked.

Dwarfing rootstock and bone meal


The term 'anisotropic' in the context of fluid flow

Question: The isotropy definition in Wikipedia is uniformity in all orientations; it is derived from the Greek isos (ἴσος, "equal") and tropos (τρόπος, "way"). Precise definitions depend on the subject area. Exceptions, or inequalities, are frequently indicated by the prefix an, hence anisotropy. Anisotropy is also used to describe situations where properties vary systematically, dependent on direction.
Based on that definition can you please define in the context of fluid mechanics field the isotropic and anisotropic fluid flow. What is the difference between them?
Answer: A flow is isotopic if the three principal components of the rate of strain tensor are all equal.  This would correspond to a purely volumetric expansion or compression of the fluid.
Answer: Imagine you are sitting at a point in a flow and everything is frozen around you. You look forward, then to your left, then to your right. If the flow looks the same in each direction*, it is isotropic.
On the other hand, if you look left and it is very different from what you see when you look ahead, it is anisotropic.
* What does it mean for a flow to "look the same?" Well, it depends. But for a turbulent flow, it usually means that it has the same statistics in space when you consider all the points along the direction you are looking.
It is sometimes more obvious when you think about what is not isotropic -- imagine you are standing on a channel wall (within the boundary layer) as the flow moves past you. If you look parallel to the wall, it's probably statistically similar in all directions parallel to the wall. But, if you look up (normal to the wall), it's obviously not the same as the parallel directions. There's a velocity gradient and a big change in vorticity. In this case, the flow is anisotropic -- statistics normal to the wall do not look the same as parallel to the wall.


How to conduct integrity test on SQL Server database backup file?

Question: I was assigned to check the integrity of database backups from sql server every two weeks. I'm new in this field so I don't know how to correctly do this task. If someone(hacker) modified the data inside the database backup, is it a part of the integrity of the file? Is there a way to check it?
Answer: There's an old saying...

The only way to verify a backup is good/usable is to restore it.
  REPEAT – you don't know you have a good backup until you have restored
  it!

I would highly recommend checking your backups more often than every two weeks - Weekly, at a minimum and preferably more often than that.
At my shop, we have a 'play' server that we use to automate restores of the latest FULL/DIFF of the databases we deem 'important'.  We use Windows Task Scheduler to kick off a bat file which has several SQLCMD steps.  After successful restores, we run full DBCC CHECKDB WITH ALL_ERRORMSGS,NO_INFOMSGS and output the result to a txt file.  Then we email the output txt files to the database group for evaluation.
This process tests TWO things

Can I restore my backups?
Is the data in the backup structurally intact (DBCC)

Here are some sample steps in our bat file
<code>SQLCMD -S Localhost -Q "IF  EXISTS (SELECT name FROM sys.databases WHERE name = N'<YourDatabase>') DROP DATABASE [<YourDatabase>]" -E -b -d master

SQLCMD -S Localhost -Q "EXEC SCUTILITY.dbo.RestoreProdForDBCC" -E -b -d SCUTILITY

SQLCMD -S Localhost -Q "print 'Starting DBCC ' + convert(char,getdate(),121);dbcc checkdb ('<YourDatabase>') WITH ALL_ERRORMSGS,NO_INFOMSGS;print 'Completed DBCC ' + convert(char,getdate(),121)" -E -b -d master -o "F:\DBCC\dbcc_output.txt"

SQLCMD -S Localhost -Q "EXEC msdb.dbo.sp_send_dbmail @profile_name='SqlServerEmailProfile', @recipients='<DatabaseTeam>', @subject='DBCC has completed!', @file_attachments='F:\DBCC\dbcc_output.txt';" -E -b -d msdb
</code>
Check out these excellent posts for more information on Database Integrity Checking:
DBCC CHECKDB / Database Integrity
CHECKDB From Every Angle
Comment: NOTE: If backup is restored successfully it does not *always* means backup is consistent, I have encountered a scenario in SQL Server 2008 r2  where corrupt backup was restored successfully but checkdb reported corruption.
Comment: Agreed and that's why I have a TWO step process.  1). Restore and 2) CHECKDB


Wireless connected but no internet BCM4313

Question: After upgrading to Ubuntu 13.10 from 13.04 my wireless card connects to the router, the router is connected to internet (I am sure about that) but still no internet access for my laptop!
I am using Broadcom Corporation BCM4313 802.11bgn Wireless Network Adapter.
iwconfig gives me:
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

eth1      IEEE 802.11abg  ESSID:"asteras"
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.462 GHz  Access Point: 80:1F:02:8D:4E:8C
          Bit Rate=72 Mb/s   Tx-Power=200 dBm
          Retry  long limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=70/70  Signal level=-38 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

Not blocked by anything, I use wl proprietary driver and I also used brmcsmac but it didn't work at all, I couldn't even connect to a wireless network.
Answer: If I were you and judging by lots of other people on this site I would do a clean install of the Broadcom wifi drivers. It does not take long and in my experience usually works very well
Fire up a terminal which you seem to know what to do.
Then clean old packages
sudo apt-get remove bcmwl-kernel-source

Gone!
Then reinstall the driver
sudo apt-get install bcmwl-kernel-source

This should reinstall the driver but experience shows us that Broadcom 4313 can be a little more tricky and you may need to ensure it is on the blacklist file
sudo gedit  /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

Then insert the following in the list
blacklist b43
blacklist b43legacy
blacklist bcma
blacklist ndiswrapper

Again this should work but if does not (BCM 4313 is extra special remember!) the opposite can also apply and you may need to add a hash # in front of where you see :
blacklist bcm43xx

so it says :
#blacklist bcm43xx

I always find then that a little nudge helps with the final command
sudo modprobe wl

Almost immediately my wifi wakes up (maybe wl stands for wakeup lazy! - I know it does not really )
Hope that helps. Does not take long and should work.
Let us know how you get on
If you want more information there are lots of people here who have scars from Broadcom wifi battles with excellent guide written here
Installing Broadcom Wireless Drivers
Answer: You seems to be connected well to the wireless, but what about your ip configuration ?
Please check :

With ifconfig if you have an ip. If your device do not appears, try "sudo ifconfig up eth0"
Answer: You are connected to access point asteras, but you did not get any IP address. Suspicious is, that you say it is a wireless but it is marked eth1. Native wireless is usually marked as wlan0.
You have to get following in your ifconfig result:
eth1 ...
     inet adr:x.x.x.x  gate:x.x.x.x  Mask:255.255.255.0
     inet6-adr: fe80::1e75:8ff:fe5e:39d5/64 ...

try to put eth1 (sudo ifconfig down eth1) down and up (sudo ifconfig up eth1) again.
This could be caused by the router/ap itself, usually because your mac address is not allowed. Then you can connect to the radio, but you will not receive any IP address, because your communication is not allowed. Try to check router settings.
Answer: I suggest you try an earlier version of bcmwl-kernel-source.  I recommend that you get a temporary wired ethernet connection and open a terminal:
sudo apt-get remove --purge bcmwl-kernel-source
wget http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/restricted/b/bcmwl/bcmwl-kernel-source_126.96.36.199+bdcom-0ubuntu3_amd64.deb

Or, if yours is a 32-bit system:
wget http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/restricted/b/bcmwl/bcmwl-kernel-source_184.108.40.206+bdcom-0ubuntu3_i386.deb

Confirm 32- or 64-bit:
arch

Then do:
sudo dpkg -i bcmwl*.deb

Reboot and give us your report.
Answer: Thank you very much people for your help. I post the solution to my problem here.
I saw that this problem doesn't exist in other wireless connections except my home one. The problem was in the band mode. There must be something going wrong with the N mode, so I just selected B and G modes and the problem was resolved and I got online again.


Images Look Blurry in Blender No matter how high the render samples are or that the settings in sampling is final

Question:
When I render with the camera in blender, no matter how high the render samples are or that the sampling is final rendering it still looks blurry.(unless it's the grass)
Comment: Please search for answers first before asking a question as it is quite likely that it has been asked before and has an answer.
Check the answer provided to a similar question. https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/47968/5693
Comment: 200 samples for rendering is a low number of samples. There is no such thing as "Sampling is final"
Answer: There can be at least three causes of blurriness like you are experiencing.

Image interpolation method
DOF (depth of field)
anti-aliasing

Looking at your render I'm pretty sure you have the camera set so you are focused on the background, and the foreground is blurred. Thus your issue is DOF.
DOF
To remove all DOF simply select the active camera, now in the properties window head to the Camera tab, scroll down to the Depth of Field section and set the Size of the aperture to 0.

Image interpolation
If the DOF did not fix it, then I'd move on to changing the image interpolation on your textures.
You are going to have to go through each material and every texture node, and set the interpolation to Closest.

Anti-aliasing
Don't think this is your issue but might as well add it here for completeness.
To turn off anti-aliasing in cycles go to the Film section of the Render tab in the Properties panel, and set the Width of the Pixel Filter all the way down (0.01).
Answer: if the mesh is unwrapped, try scaling the UVs in the image editor. Also enable the node wrangler add-on then go to the node editor and click on your image texture node and press ctrl+t, then play with the scale values in the mapping node. Hope you have success.