How should Greater Turning work under Complete Divine's alternate Turning rules?

Question: I'm building a Cleric for a D&D 3.5 game who I plan to eventually take levels in the Radiant Servant of Pelor prestige class. In that game we've been using Complete Divine's alternate rules for Turning Undead- basically damaging undead in a radius instead of making a check to see how many undead you affect and how severely. Thing is, those rules don't say anything about Greater Turning, which RSoP gets as a class feature pretty early on. Does anyone have or know of any house-rules for using Greater Turning by the alternate Turning rules? I personally would imagine something along the lines of "fort save for full damage, die if fail", but I just wanted some input first before presenting my case to the DM.
Comment: I change the affected creatures rule. I have whatever undead creatures can be turned, the HD that the priest rolls, roll Will DC checks vs the priest. If the priest is higher level than the creature he gets a +1 for every 2 lvls higher and if the undead is higher then vise verse.
Comment: By "Destroy Undead" do you mean the greater turning granted power of the the sun Domain (*PH* 188) and the radiant servant of Pelor's special ability extra greater turning (*CD* 52), or do you mean something else?
Comment: I meant Greater Turning. I'll edit the article to refelct that...
Answer: The Variant Turning Rules: Destruction of the Undead (CD 87) allows a good cleric, instead of making a turning check then rolling turning damage (PH 159-60), to inflict 1d6 points of damage per cleric level to undead within 30 ft. Undead creatures make a Will save versus DC of 10 + the cleric's level + the cleric's Charisma modifier; success means the undead creature takes half damage.
The the supernatural ability greater turning (i.e. the granted power of the the sun Domain (PH 188) and the radiant servant of Pelor's special ability extra greater turning (CD 52)) renders undead that would be turned instead destroyed.
Different Options
The DM has several choices when deciding how greater turning interacts with the Variant Turning Rules. For example, when the cleric uses a greater turning attempt, undead creatures may...

make saving throws for half damage, yet the damage is maximized.
suffer the cleric's level in additional points of damage.1
not make saving throws for half damage.
not make saving throws for half damage and the damage is maximized.

I'd lean toward the first option. The saving throw DC versus the effect scales directly with cleric level, making it valuable until the game's end, especially against the hordes of undead creatures it seems most appropriate to take out with such an ability. Further, it enables the turning-focused cleric to have a maximize turning effect even though there is no feat Maximize Supernatural Ability (there exists, however, the feats Empower Supernatural Ability (ToM 73) and Empower Turning (CD 81)). Remaining options are either too little, obviate the impressive saving throw DC, or too powerful except in a very high optimization game, respectively.2

Borrowed from Pathfinder's sun Domain's supernatural ability sun's blessing, but clerics with this ability in that game inflict this bonus damage with all their uses of channel energy.
An undead creature capable of casting the 4th-level Clr spell life ward [abjur] (SpC 131) still won't care, though.
Answer: As an Alternate rule they are not flushed out and did not consult every class or ability in the game before they designed those alternate rules that is why they are only their for GM's who wish to change the elements of the game to more fit the different worlds that might be played, their is no easy answer to your question but their are many ways you could convert that rule to those alternate ways but it will be your rule not a written by the book rule.


analogue of GUE and Ginibre in higher dimensions

Question: This is a completely unmotivated question, but what happens to the 1-point marginal distribution for the following $N$-point joint distribution:
$$\displaystyle p(z_1,\ldots, z_N) = C_N \exp\left(-\sum_{j=1}^N \|z_j\|^2\right) \prod_{j < k} \|z_j - z_k\|^2$$
Here $z_j$'s are points in $\mathbb{R}^3$ or higher. Presumably one can no longer write the Vandermonde as a determinant so orthogonal polynomial theory breaks down. But I am interested in the distribution of $\|z_1\|$ as $N$ goes to infinity in this case, which shouldn't need the full machinery of orthogonal polynomials and determinantal point processes (but maybe it is still determinantal?).
Answer: Using the normalization $\mathrm{e}^{-\|z\|^2/2}$ instead of your $\mathrm{e}^{-\|z\|^2}$ for points $z$ in $\mathbb{R}^d$, the probability distribution of the one-dimensional marginal $z$ you are interested in is
$$
\kappa_N\mathrm{e}^{-\|z\|^2/2}q_{N}(\|z\|^2)\mathrm{d}z,
$$
where $\kappa_N$ is a positive constant and $q_N$ is a unitary polynomial of degree $N-1$. Small $N$ values of $q_N$ are
$$
q_1(x)=1,\qquad q_2(x)=x+d,\qquad q_3(x)=x^2+d(d+2).
$$
Comment: Hello John. Unfortunately I cannot suggest a reference, I did it myself. Determinantal or not? I do not know. Sorry (twice).
Comment: Hi Didier,
  Could you give a reference to the unitary polynomials you mentioned? I have never encountered them before. Also do you think the point process defined in my question is actually determinantal? Thanks.
Answer: By $\|z_1\|$, I understand you mean the maximal modulus of the $z_i$'s.
If you are interested in the process of the $\|z_i\|$'s, you have no chance for a determinantal structure since you may have two different $z_i$'s with same modulus with non zero probability.
Concerning the process of the $z_i$'s, note that even if the Ginibre Ensemble (that is the case $\mathbb{R}^2$) is indeed determinantal, its kernel is related to the polynomials orthogonal with $\exp(-\|x\|^2/2)$, that is the $(z^k)_{k\geq 0}$ ... which have trivial zeros ! My point is that except on $\mathbb{R}$ you won't get so much information concerning $\|z_1\|$ from a determinantal structure.
I don't know how prove the convergence of $\|z_1\|$, but note that from your density expression, once renormalized $z_i\rightarrow z_i/\sqrt{N}$, you still can use the Coulomb-gaz approach to characterize the global distribution of the $z_i$'s (for example by proving a large deviation principle for the empirical measure) : It is given by the unique minimizer $\mu^*$ of the functional
$$
\iint\log\frac{1}{\| x-y\|}d\mu(x)d\mu(y) +\frac{1}{2}\int \|x\|^2d\mu(x)
$$
over probability measures $\mu$ on $\mathbb{R}^3$ (or higher). I guess that $\|z_1\|$ should converge towards
$\max \big(Supp(\mu^*)\cap \mathbb{R}\big)$...
Comment: Hi Adrien, I guess if you have a closed form for the determinantal structure, then you can compute the marginal distribution directly right?
Comment: Hi John, I don't see what you mean exactly. Could you elaborate ?


Control of gene expression

Question: Eukaryotes have many genes, so how does RNA polymerase recognize a gene needed to be transcripted?
Comment: Could you please add information regarding what you know about the question and how you tried to seek information about it?
Comment: I.ve just read that RNA polymerase can  slip along the DNA molecule until it finds the gene that needs to be expressed, or this enzyme bind to the promoter after the Transcript factors bind.
Comment: Are these two ways right and enough? Is there any other mechanism?
Answer: Genes typically have promoter regions attached to them that scan for the presence of certain conditions. When a promoter's condition is met, it changes shape, encouraging RNA polymerase to bind and start making an RNA transcript of the DNA piece.
In other cases, genes can have suppressor regions where a certain condition actively blocks the attachment of RNA polymerase.
(updated for improved explanation)
Think of the (protein-coding) genome as a giant library full of books (genes). Each book tells the reader how to build 1 product (protein). In practice, a gene can code for multiple proteins via introns, but we will ignore that for simplicity here. The overall concept remains the same.
Now think of RNA polymerase enzymes as a population of simple-minded workers wandering around the library who instinctively attempt to reach for and open books on shelves that they bump into. If a worker is able to access a book and read it, the book's product will be produced. If a book happens to be excessively difficult to access or open, the worker will give up on it and resume wandering. Some workers may be more persistent than others.
Varying accessibility per book title dictates overall rate of production. The library shelves are specially designed such that books detailing construction of products in demand are "easy" to pick up (bookshelf is open and unobstructed), while products that are clearly out-of-demand are "hard" to pick up and read (book is locked down, tied to a 10-pound weight, and there's a plastic blocking piece over the front). If a book is hard to access, only the most persistent workers will read it and build the product it describes (low or completely blocked transcription). If a book is easy to access, most workers have ready to access it, causing the book's described product to proliferate.

Control of gene expression


Television antenna comparison for signal reception

Question: I bought two antennas for over-the-air TV reception.  They are the "Mohu Sky 60" and the "Channelmaster CM2020."  I was wondering which is likely to get the strongest signal before amplification when the transmitters are about 35 miles away.  I have the Mohu mounted at the peak of my roof, but some channels are still dropping out or pixelating severely - even with amplification.  I have excellent signal strength but very poor signal quality.  I'm wondering whether I will get a better signal if I mount the ChannelMaster in its place.

I searched StackExchange sites and it looks like this is the most appropriate community where I could ask this question.
Comment: which one is which?
Comment: The ChannelMaster is the long one.  The Mohu is the "X"-shaped one.
Comment: How do you know you have excellent signal strength?
Comment: @SteveSh I have a ChannelMaster DTV tuner tells me the signal strength and quality, among other things.
Comment: You folks gave me some really great answers!  I wanted to "accept" both Dave Tweed's and Aaron's answers but it would only let me choose one answer to accept.  Thank you so much!
Answer: It depends on where the stations are located. The Channel Master has a lot more gain, and so will be much more directional. ie. You will have to point the antenna more directly at the station.
Examine these two gain patterns plotted on the same graph. The dipole in green has more gain than the Isotropic antenna in blue.  But at 90°, the Isotropic would be the better choice.

The same applies to the two antennas you have shown.
Update
To address the comments:
An isotropic antenna is a theoretical antenna that radiates equally in all directions. ie. sphere.
A dipole is just two wires, one driven and one ground. Like this image from ARRL. And for reference back to the plot, the wires would be along the Y or vertical axis (from the markings -90 to 90).

Update 2 From Channelmaster, here is the pattern for the CM2020
Comment: All the stations I care about are between 201 degrees and 203 degrees from my location.  The Mohu is currently pointed in that direction, but is omnidirectional anyway, to my best understanding.  I'll switch it out with the Channel Master, per @Dave Tweed's recommendation.
Comment: I will have to look up Isotropic and Dipole.  These terms are over my head. :)  Thank you so much for the great answer.  Engineers are way smarter than I am.
Comment: @StephenDaddona, unless the Mohu is a vertically-mounted dipole and that plastic cover is just for show, it's directional.  It's just nowhere near as directional as the ChannelMaster.
Comment: Based on its shape, I'd say the Mohu is a variation of the DIY type: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRKRRJuoFNQ
Answer: If you have good signal strength, but poor signal quality, that means you're getting a lot of interference. In that case, the Channel Master, with its greater directivity, will help attenuate any off-axis interferers.
Answer: Does the moHu have a built in amplifier?  If so, that would skew the results.
If not, you would be better with the Channelmaster CM2020.  Mount it outside, on a short mast.  That should be sufficient for a 35 mile range to the transmitters.
I have something similar, only I need a pre-amp as I am close to 60 miles away from the stations.  Here's a picture:

EDIT 1
If you go to https://www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps and put in your address, it will tell what directions your stations are located relative to your house.  If you click on the individual stations, it will give you an estimate of the signal strength.  Note that the signal strength is in dBm, and is negative. That means a lower number (less negative) means a higher strength.  This site will also give you a rough idea of the kind of antenna you need.  If you're only 35 miles from the stations, the CM2020 seems to be overkill to me.
Comment: I don't think the Mohu has a built-in amplifier, but I have an amplifier on the coax cable behind the TV.  I think the amplifier should have been placed at the antenna end of the cable, though.  I think I will hook up the Channel Master.
Comment: @StephenDaddona I'm afraid that the amplifier placed like that is useless at best, possibly actively harmful. In addition to the useful signal from the antenna, it also amplifies all the noise that gets into the cable on the way down (and if that noise is strong or the amplifier isn't very good, it can saturate the amplifier and drown out the signal even more). Your TV has a variable gain amplifier on its input anyway. How does your reception change if you remove the amplifier or move it closer to the antenna?
Comment: You shouldn't need an amplifier at all with the CM2020.  But if you need one, it needs to go as close to the antenna as possible, as TooTea said.  There are some discussion on this in the Home Improvement forum.  There is an outside chance you "poor reception" is because you're overloading the front end of your TV sets.
Comment: Figures I had it backwards. :)  Back when I first installed the entertainment system, I think the amplifiers helped a little.  When I put the Channel Master antenna up, I will pull the amplifiers out of the system.
Answer:
Excellent Signal Strength but poor signal quality

Sounds unlikely that this can be remedied with a better antenna. "High power but low quality" means that a signal that isn't your TV signal interferes and contributes power.
Unless, and that's the most likely explanation here, this quality/power measurement comes from consumer electronics device and doesn't actually mean much.
But let's assume these measurements are accurate and meaningful:
The TV bands belong to the TV stations, only. So:

Any interferer that you can observe with your TV receiver is unlawful. Since fines are quite heavy, unlikely someone has a strong transmitter "for fun".
Since your antenna currently is probably not pointed at anything but the direction of the TV transmitter, it is likely that the interference doesn't actually happen on any straight line from your antenna to the TV transmitter – there's typically mostly air and a few birds there, and neither is likely to be a strong emitter of electromagnetic waves in TV spectrum!

So, the most likely explanation (again, assuming that not just the power report of your TV is being bogus) is that there's some source of noise / interference in your installation. Make sure all your TV cabling has good connectors, is properly connected, not corroded. Make sure the power report goes to zero when you unplug your antenna cable.
Comment: Probably my cables.  There are tons of them in my attic and probably cheap connectors.  Eight of them are for closed-circuit TV to cameras all around the house and they have power cords running along with the coaxial cables.  Not powered now, though, because the cameras all died.


Content type with taxonomy in single exposed filter

Question: i want to a single exposed filter with content types and taxonomy for a single content type,
like i have 3 content types Parts,Tools,Equipments and have a taxonomy for parts with terms Hardware,Instruments and components, now i want a views exposed filter containing both of the them to filter.
Is there any method to do that ?
Answer: Finder module will filter both of the fields, You can select taxonomy term, node title, body, fields, ..etc to perform the search.

There are many ways to put together finder's functionality to get the
  sort of search form you need. There are also many hooks and theme
  functions allowing full customization of finder's output.

It is used for these purposes:
<code>As a search tool to find a group of nodes or users.
As a way to navigate to a specific node or user page that matches criteria.
As an alternative to exposed filters for a Views module display.
</code>


Snap image to path in Photoshop CC

Question: I'm sure this can be done but not sure how to accomplish it.
I have a rectangle banner layer that I skew for perspective. I have several variations of the rectangle banner that are not skewed, but need to be skewed to exact the same size and position as the first. Note that all have the same original dimensions.
My thought is that I can create a path from the skewed shape, then snap the other banner images to that path so that they skew automatically in the same position. Any suggestions appreciated as I have around 30 to do. I can skew them manually, but it would be much slower and not precise.
Comment: Are they all on one document in different layers or what?
Comment: Instead of skewing each rectangle, why not delete all but the first one that IS skewed and just duplicate the layer 29 more times? Then you have 30 perfectly identical skewed rectangles.

You also mention "banner images". Is your scenario something like you want to have photos in the shape of the original skewed rectangle? If so, just use a mask on a folder and place all the images inside.
Answer: Well, I really don't know if it can be done like you say, but I would do the following:

Open the original skewed image
Open one of the images you need to skew
Copy this image and paste it over the original one. Set transparency to 50-60%, enough to see what you're doing with the overlay image while keeping the original image as reference
Create an action
Now skew the overlay image manually until you're completely satisfied
Stop recording action

One you do this, you will simply apply the action to all 30 images. You can do it opening them one by one (is what I'd do for control), or add more steps to the action above

After step 6 above, add "save for web" (or export or whatever you want). It's a good idea to save these images somewhere other than your original images folder (eg: do not overwrite originals!)
after saving, add "close" step

Now you can use File --> Automate --> Batch , select the action you just have created and do all 30 images at once.

Snap image to path in Photoshop CC


Gas heater not turn on, but fan-only still works when switched on from thermostat

Question: my up-level heating system (gas heater) stopped working if the thermostat is at auto; fan can be on without warm air if switch the thermostat to ON from Aotu.  Is this a thermostat problem or heat pump?
Comment: The "auto/on" setting you are talking about is specifically for the fan. More importantly, does the thermostat say it is heating? As you adjust the temperature setpoint, do you hear it clicking as it goes above/below the current temperature?
Answer: My first guess would be that there is a problem with the pilot light (if there is one) or the ignition (if there isn't), not the heat pump. The same thing happened to me about 5 years ago.
Answer: It may be a problem with the limit switch on the furnace or something like that.  Most likely you'll need to get someone out to look at it.
In the mean time, make sure your thermostat is set to heat and auto. Unless you have one that doesn't let you specify heat/cool, generally On just forces the fan to run constantly, auto will make it turn on when it's heating or cooling but off the rest of the time.
You might also switch out the filters or clean them if you haven't lately.
Answer: Check that the gas valve to the furnace is turned on.  It is pretty obvious but it happened to me in the fall... my 2-year just happened to get near the furnace for a couple of seconds and apparently the first thing he did was turn the (very tempting for a 2-year old) green valve and close the gas supply.  We didn't realize what he had done until 3AM in the morning when we were all shivering.
Most likely this is not the problem since you say that having the thermostat on "Auto" will not even cause the fan to run (with the gas supply off, the furnace should start but then shut off after a couple seconds of it trying to light the burner)... but still, something to check anyway.
Answer: I had a problem like this, in my case it was bad setting of two thermostats (it was a bit unusual setup, as a gas heater connected as a backup source for the wood burning boiler, but it may still apply to you):

external, controlling the temperature in the accumulation tank
internal, controlling the working temperature of the heater (controlled by a turning knob on the heather, with one, two and three dots):

The problem was the temperature on the external one was set to ~65 °C, while the internal was set to two dots, which corresponds to ~50 °C. As a result, the external thermostat was saying "on" (which made the pump running, and allowed the heater to turn on), but the internal said "off" (the water is still hot enough), preventing the heating.
In a more common setup, you may have a room temperature thermostat saying "on" (room is cold), but the heater thermostat will say "off" (water in pipes is still warm enough). Unless the heater thermostat working temperature is set too low, it would still work fine, as the pump running will lead into water cooled down in radiators soon, and the heater should ignite eventually. Therefore my estimate is:

you have set working temperature on the heater too low (one dot?)
the heater is broken (ignition malfunction, or something like that)


Weird phenomenon with SVM: negative examples score higher

Question: I use the VL-Feat and LIBLINEAR to handle the 2-category classification. The #(-)/#(+) for the training set is 35.01 and the dimension of each feature vector is 3.6e5. I have around 15000 examples.
I have set the weight of positive example to be 35.01 and negative examples to be 1 as default. But what I get is extremely poor performance on the test dataset.
So in order to find out the reason, I set the training examples as input. What I see is negative examples get slightly higher decision values than positive ones. It is really weird, right? I've checked the input to make sure I did not mislabel the examples. I've done normalization to the histogram vectors.
Has anybody met this situation before?
Here are the parameters of trained model. I can feel strange about parameters like bias, regularizer and dualityGap, because they are so small that may lose accuracy easily.
<code>model.info =
            solver: 'sdca'
            lambda: 0.0100
    biasMultiplier: 1
              bias: -1.6573e-14
         objective: 1.9439
       regularizer: 6.1651e-04
              loss: 1.9432
     dualObjective: 1.9439
          dualLoss: 1.9445
        dualityGap: -2.6645e-15
         iteration: 43868
             epoch: 2
       elapsedTime: 228.9374
</code>
Answer: One thing that could be happening is that LIBSVM takes the first example in the data set as the positive class and the negative class the one that isn't the first example in the dataset. So it could be that since you have 35x more negatives than positives, your first example is negative and your classes are being inverted. How to check this? Make sure that the first data point in the training set is of the positive class.
I've checked in the FAQ of LIBLINEAR and it seems it happens in LIBLINEAR as well (I'm not as familiar with LIBLINEAR):
http://www.csie.ntu.edu.tw/~cjlin/liblinear/FAQ.html (search for reversed)


Cheapest way to cache data in node.js?

Question: I am implementing a node.js server running a matching algorithm. Since I want to keep the server responding as quickly as possible, I would like to be able to retrieve data from a cache instead of querying the database every single time. For example, I need to keep information about 10000 - 50000 users. My fear is that this would take up a lot of RAM. Is there any way to store that much data in a cache without the risk of running out of RAM?
Answer: You can use memcached or redis, who themselves care about memory and its lack removed obsolete data
Comment: redis is a separate service that works independently of your program. It is capable of storing data specified time. If your data volume is very large, you can distribute the load between different machines
Comment: So I could load data that I use very often into Redis at the beginning of execution? Is there a size beyond which it would not make sense to use Redis anymore?
Answer: from what I read as to what you are trying to do it seems you are contradicting yourself. AS to how I see, using cache has the following objectives:

keep pre-processed data in memory so that you dont have to execute logic to generate them again
keep data in a store which is much faster when we want to fetch the data.

Now, based on what I read from your question it seems your objective if #2. If that is so, then you have no option but to size for how much data do you want to keep in memory. That sizing should then be used to have enough RAM to hold the results and not going back to teh database.
Caching frameworks like ehCache also provide the option of swapping data from disk. Check this link from ehCache (http://www.ehcache.org/documentation/user-guide/storage-options#memory-use-spooling-and-expiry-strategy); this should help you design for how the cache should be setup aka eviction strategies to keep the sizes controllable and also when (and how) you should be ready to spool the data to a underlying disk-storage. Spooling to a disk means you would need to have HDD. But then you would need some benchmarking as to if DB is faster than the underlying cache-store.
you can chose in JVM caches like ehCachs, JCS or even go for much more sophisticated frameworks like memcache, redis which will do all this for you OOTB.
cheers
kapil
Comment: my goal is what you described as number 2. Why does it seem contradictory though? Thank you for the help.
Comment: I said it seems contradictory because you seem to be keeping the data in Cache aka an alternate method than of DB for performance but you are also worried about RAM being used up and hence causing issues with application. Hence the contradiction - "Want to go for a faster method i.e. RAM based data, but dont want to use up RAM". Even if you go and use memcache or redis, you will still need RAM or opt for disk swap, but truly if you want speed, size up you data and have enough RAM to meet the needs.
Comment: you are right. what i meant is that I am trying to understand what the best compromise is.
Comment: ok makes sense in that case - you should think about LRU as the strategy that should address what you want to do. components like redis would probably an overkill on what you want to do.
Answer: node-memchache is faster than redis and is easier to implement. You can see
https://github.com/ptarjan/node-cache
Answer: With mcache it's fairly easy to cache data from database queries in Node.js.
Here is an example for caching a query from MySQL:
<code>const Mcache = require('mcache');

const garbageCollectionInSeconds = 10;
const timeToLiveInSeconds = 60;

// This function will be called to update the cache
const update = function (id, callback) {
  mysql.query('SELECT ... WHERE id=?', id, callback);
};

const cache = new Mcache(timeToLiveInSeconds, garbageCollectionInSeconds, update);

const id = 'some-entity-id';
cache.get(id, function (error, data) {
  if (error) {
    console.error(error.message);
  } else {
    console.log(`Result: ${data}`);
  }
});
</code>

Cheapest way to cache data in node.js?


Truecrypt performance difference between AES and AES-Twofish-Serpent

Question: Is there a significant performance difference between Truecrypt encrypted drives using only AES vs disks that use a triple algorithm scheme like AES-Twofish-Serpent?
Answer: The Twofish and Serpent stages will significantly reduce performance, compared to simply using AES alone, as the data must pass through three encryption algorithms rather than just one.  This difference is magnified if your processor supports the AES instruction set, which accelerates AES encryption and decryption in hardware.
You generally don't need the additional security provided by triple encryption unless the data truly are extremely critical.  If you follow best practices, such as using a sufficiently long and complex password, there should be no security concerns using one of the encryption algorithms alone.  AES is computationally infeasible to crack, and likely will remain so in the foreseeable future; this is even more so with Serpent and Twofish.
See also: Which TrueCrypt Algorithm is the safest?
Comment: The truecrypt benchmark shows about 3gb / sec for AES, 450mb/sec with the others, 400mb / sec with one combined and 200mb / sec with all three.  Does that matter if your unencrypted drive can only deliver 60mb / sec?  Does a sector need to be decrypted for instance in order to read the position of the next block of a file and would the extra time possibly mean the head reads past it or something?
Comment: I suspect that during a sequential read operation, the data are read from the drive in their encrypted state into memory while the software decrypts the data in memory at the rate the processor allows. Reading data should not be blocked by the decryption process; otherwise, TrueCrypt would be *very* slow.


How to decrease the response time of Crawl request

Question: I'm searching for documents related to crawl and indexing. I don't know how to decrease the response time of Google crawl And what impacts on it?

Hope you can help me!
Answer: I would look at all the various elements that are downloaded for a given page. In Google Search Console, it says this about avg. response time:

Average page response time for a crawl request to retrieve the page content. Does not include retrieving page resources (scripts, images, and other linked or embedded content) or page rendering time.

There is a good thread on Google which talks about some of these issues.
I would first focus on the page itself. Is there any extra content that doesn't need to be there. Any way that you could "minimize" the initial .html file. This will probably not do a whole lot but according to Google's definition, it is focusing on the response of getting that initial page.
From there, I would look at all the other pieces of the page: videos, images, scripts, css, etc. All of those elements will, in essence, contribute to a longer response time.
My question when looking at pages is this: Is this reaaaallly needed to communicate the message of the page? Sometimes, yes, you need all the wiz-bang to get your point across. Other times, it might not be needed. It all depends.
There are also a lot of other factors that could compound response. Your location compared to where Google is. If you are in another country and Google's crawlers come out of the US, it would take longer than if your site/assets were being served from a closer server. This is where you would see some good gains with a CDN (for both page and assets). If a CDN isn't an option, you might need to look at your servers and see if things can be optimized in order to serve assets faster.
Another is the connection speed. Google doesn't explicitly say what connection speed they use for googlebot. But if they are leveraging a slower connection speed, then it would be good to test that out as well. If you are curious of your own user speeds, you can access the Core Web Vitals report for your specific site to see what the average connection speeds are of users.


Can a semisweet chocolate be substituted with a belgian chocolate?

Question: Can I use belgian chocolate as a substitute for semisweet chocolate for baking brownies?
Answer: The two labels are referring to entirely different aspects of the chocolate, and are completely unrelated.
Semi-sweet refers to the approximate amount of cacoa solids versus sugar in the chocolate.
Belgian refers to the location of the processing plant where the cocao beans were processed into chocolate.
The label for your chocolate should indicate a percentage of cocao solids, or a label like "semi-sweet" or "bitter-sweet" although these terms are not very tightly or uniformly regulated around the world.
Most brownie recipes are going to be very tolerant of the particular chocolate used, so the substitution should work well, especially if your Belgian chocolate happens to be in the approximately semi-sweet range.
Comment: Technically, it is "just" a geographical reference. But due to Belgian legislation, one can be sure that Belgian chocolate does not have the fillers found in cheap chocolate from other countries. As such, it can generally be used as high-quality baking chocolate without the fear of it resulting in weird textures. But of course, the part about the sugar content is very important: if you replace semi-sweet chocolate with Belgian dark or milk chocolate, the taste will be very different. (it is another matter if you like the new taste less or more than the original).
Answer: Sure, you can make that substitution. On the whole the better quality chocolate you put into your brownies the better they will taste. The thing you need to pay attention to is sugar. If you substitute a sweeter chocolate you'll want to reduce the sugar added somewhat, if you substitute 70% dark for milk chocolate you'll want to add a bit of sugar. Taste the batter to get a feel for the sugar content.


Is there a dedicated word to describe a long-term oriented person?

Question: Who, in all his or her dealings, values the long-term value over the short term. The best I have come up with is "long-term oriented". Is there a dedicated adjective to describe this?
Comment: not shortsighted, in it for the long haul
Comment: In fairness, "long-term oriented" is still better option than those. I'm looking for a single word.
Comment: "Someone who takes the long view."
Comment: If you tolerate a phrase, rather that single-world, you could say he **plays the long game** as per  https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/long_game
Answer: You could consider using the adjective visionary which means:

Thinking about or planning the future with imagination or wisdom: 'a
  visionary leader'.

Far-sighted could be a good candidate, too.

Showing a prudent awareness of future possibilities: 'far-sighted ideas
  on education'.

[Oxford Online Dictionary]
Answer: Prudent means "careful in providing for the future" (here) and "acting with or showing care and thought for the future" (here).
Answer: For one who consistently values long-term value, 'idealistic', the adjective from 'idealism', might be the usual. Rather than an adjective, however, the noun 'idealist' might be better to name one "who, in all his or her dealings, values the long-term value over the short term":

idealist n.
  1. a person who cherishes or pursues high or noble principles, purposes, or goals.
  2. a visionary or impractical person.
  3. a person who represents things as they might or should be rather than as they are.

[idealist. (n.d.) Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary. (2010). Retrieved January 19 2016 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/idealist .]
'Idealist' (or 'idealistic') has the disadvantage that, in contemporary use, it is often used depreciatively:

A person who creates, aspires to, or pursues ideals. Also depreciatively: one who entertains visionary or unpractical notions.

["idealist, n. and adj.". OED Online. December 2015. Oxford University Press. http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/90961 (accessed January 19, 2016).

If 'idealist' (or 'idealistic') is not what you had in mind, perhaps 'forward-looking' would be more suitable:

forward-looking adj.
  Concerned with or making provision for the future
Answer: You may describe such a person as sagacious:

:  of keen and farsighted penetration and judgment
Merriam-Webster
Answer: Future oriented
Future orientation refers to a time perspective that is focused on the future, especially on how to achieve your future goals. (Psychology Dictionary).
There is a Wikipedia article that has a lengthy description, including this definition: Future orientation is broadly defined as the extent to which an individual thinks about the future, anticipates future consequences, and plans ahead before acting.


SQL Server 2017 - Parameter Sniffing

Question: We are moving from SQL Server 2014 to 2017, I see in the options that we have Parameter Sniffing, I believe we should we keep it OFF, but what about the options that we used in 2014 to avoid that? can be affected in 2017, like creating local variables of the parameters and put option(recompile) to the queries.
Answer: All the ways of influencing parameter sniffing before SQL 2017 remain.  There's just a new database scoped configuration option to turn off parameter sniffing entirely.
Comment: Thank you David!
Comment: I was reading and it says: PARAMETER_SNIFFING = { ON | OFF | PRIMARY}

Enables or disables parameter sniffing. The default is ON. Setting PARAMETER_SNIFFING to OFF is equivalent to enabling Trace Flag 4136. The flag 4136 mention this: Disables parameter sniffing unless OPTION(RECOMPILE), WITH RECOMPILE or OPTIMIZE FOR  is used. I have many places using OPTION(RECOMPILE), keeping PARAMETER_SNIFFING ON and the hint should not affect the performance?
Comment: Correct.  PARAMETER_SNIFFING ON is matches the behavior of previous versions of SQL Server.
Answer: ... and just to be clear. Turning off parameter sniffing gives the same result as if you were to do something like (example assumes a stored proc with a variable named a_parm):
DECLARE @a_var int
SET @a_parm = @a_var
SELECT ... FROM tbl WHERE col = @a_var

Or
SELECT ... FROM tbl WHERE col = @a_parm OPTION(OPTIMIZE FOR UNKNOWN)

I.e., SQL Server has no idea what is in the variable and uses either density for the statistics (if exists, for a equal condition) or hard-wired values (for instance greater then assumes selectivity of 25%, or whatever those values might be).
Turning off parameter sniffing is not the same as OPTION(REOMPILE). Which is what I wanted to clarify. :-)

SQL Server 2017 - Parameter Sniffing


Overridden standard "New" button is not showing in community

Question: We have one object whose standard "New" button has been overridden with visualforce page. It's working fine in Salesforce classic. I can see "New" button in related lists. In lightning community, i cannot see "New" button in related list. I tried to find the solution and i came to that lightning doesn't support overriden action buttons. So is there any way i can achive stadard new behaviour in lightning?
Comment: Do you get the answer?
Answer: PLease implement lightning component with lightning:actionOverride and add your logic/URL there, then go to button and select lightning option then select your component
Answer:
Verify that your Visualforce page is marked in Setup as Available for Lightning Experience, Experience Builder sites, and the mobile app
Verify that the Experience user has Create CRUD permission on the object


Regarding the nilpotency class of finite p-groups

Question: I'm aware that for a $p$-group $G$ of order $p^{n}$, say, that $G$ must have a nilpotency class between 1 and $n - 1$ for $n\geq 2$. My question is why can $G$ not have nilpotency class $n$? Take for example a group of order $p^{3}$. Why is it not possible to make a lower central series with orders $p^{3} \rightarrow p^{2} \rightarrow p \rightarrow 1$? I know all the 5 possible groups in this case have nilpotency class 1 or 2. But since there's theoretically 'room' for there to be a chain of length 4, how do we know this is never the case in general?
Comment: Because groups of order $p^2$ are abelian.
Comment: No.  If you have a term in the central series such that the next one is trivial, then it should be central, which is stronger than abelian. (What you said would be true if we were talking about the derived series instead.)
Comment: Thanks a lot, quite an oversight from me. Clearly the chain either goes (listing orders here) $\dots \rightarrow p^{3} \rightarrow p \rightarrow 1$ or $\dots \rightarrow p^{3} \rightarrow p^{2} \rightarrow 1$.
Comment: That' not right! It's  the first step, at the top of the group, that must have order at east $p^2$. All of the other steps can have order $p$.
Comment: Could you elaborate on that Derek? If that's the case then for me it's not obvious why.
Comment: Let $N$ be a normal subgroup of $G$ of index $p^2$. Then $G/N$ is abelain. Hence $[G,G] \le N$ and so $|G/[G,G]| \ge p^2$.
Comment: Okay that makes sense, thanks a lot. But then surely we still can't have a chain $\dots \rightarrow p^{2} \rightarrow p \rightarrow 1$? Since the group of order $p^{2}$ is abelian, the next group in the lower central series has to be $\{1\}$ right?
Comment: Ahhhh I think I understand now. Thanks for taking the time to explain.
Comment: If you want to see this in action in a concrete example, try computing the lower central series for the dihedral group of order 16.
Comment: I just tried that out and it does indeed work, $D_{16} \trianglerighteq C_{4} \trianglerighteq  C_{2} \trianglerighteq  \{1\}$. Thanks!
Answer: This question was answered in the comments by Derek Holt over a year ago. So that this question does not remain "unanswered", I will include his argument as an answer here but then also include a different way of seeing this corresponding to the upper central series, based on some lecture notes of Gustavo Fernández-Alcober.
Any mistakes in the following are my own.
Argument involving the Lower Central Series
Based on comments by Derek Holt
It is the case that $G/[G,G]$ must have order at least $p^{2}$. To see this, consider any normal subgroup $N$ of $G$, such that $N$ has index $p^{2}$ (as we are in a p-group with order at least $p^{2}$ we know such a subgroup must exist). Then $G/N$ is a group of order $p^{2}$ and so must be abelian, and hence $[G,G] \leq N $. It follows that
$|G/[G,G]| \geq p^{2}$.
Then if $G$ has class $c$, the lower central series has $c+1$ terms and $c$ factors. Each of these factors must have order at least $p$ (or else we would have a redundant term), and the factor $G/\gamma_{2}(G)$ must have order at least $p^{2}$. Then as the order of $G$ is equal to the product of these factors, we obtain that  $|G|=p^{n}\geq p^{c+1}$ and thus $c \leq n-1$.
Argument involving the Upper Central Series
This is based on Theorem 1.15 in the lecture notes "An introduction to finite $p$-groups: Regular $p$-groups and groups of maximal class", by Gustavo Fernández-Alcober .
In a similar way, we can consider the Upper Central series of $G$, where $G$ has class $c$:
$$G=Z_{c}(G)>Z_{c-1}(G)\dots >Z_{0}(G)=1$$
and we can show that $[G:Z_{c-1}(G)| \geq p^{2}$. Suppose for contradiction that the index was $p$. If $c=1$ then that would mean $G$ is cyclic of order $p$, contradicting the assumption that $|G|\geq p^{2}$. Thus we may assume $c \geq 2$.
We consider the quotient group $G/Z_{c-2}(G)$. Recall from the definition of the upper central series that $Z(G/Z_{c-2}(G))=Z_{c-1}(G)/Z_{c-2}(G)$. Then
$$\frac{G/Z_{c-2}(G)}{Z(G/Z_{c-2}(G))}= \frac{G/Z_{c-2}(G)}{Z_{c-1}(G)/Z_{c-2}(G)} \cong G/Z_{c-1}(G)$$ by the Isomorphism theorems. But $G/Z_{c-1}(G)$ is cyclic of order $p$ and so is abelian. Hence $G=Z_{c-1}(G)$ contradicting that the class is $c$.
Thus we may assume that the order of the first factor is at least $p^{2}$, and then as before multiplying the orders of the factors shows us that $p^{n} \geq p^{c+1}$ and the result follows.
Remarks

For yet another proof of this, see Corollary 4.2 in the book "$p$-Automorphisms of finite $p$-groups" by Evgenii Khukhro.
$p$-groups of order $p^{n}$ and class $n-1$ are known as groups of maximal class. These groups are well studied and searching this phrase should bring up plenty of information on them.
Comment: $p$-groups of maximal class were classified by Aner Shalev. A complete account can be found in the book "The Structure of Groups of Prime Power Order" by C. R. Leedham-Green and S. McKay.


Prove the language of all concatenations of words in a regular language is regular

Question: For a language $L\in\Sigma^*$ we define
$$
L^*=\{w\mid \exists k\in \mathbb{N}\cup\{0\}, ∃x_1,...,x_k\in L \ (w=x_1...x_k) \}
$$
Let $L$ be a regular language over some alphabet $\Sigma$. Prove that $L^*$ is regular.
Comment: ... You seem to be asking whether the Kleene star of a regular language is regular. This is a standard result in CS theory that you should be able to find answered in lots of online sites (I searched for "Kleene star" and got over 65000 hits).
Comment: ... By the way, welcome to the site!
Comment: What is your definition of regular language?
Comment: Note that you can use LaTeX here to typeset mathematics in a more readable way. See [here](http://meta.cs.stackexchange.com/questions/271/add-short-reference-for-latex-commands) for a short introduction.
Answer: I have to guess about your definition of a regular language (I can't comment to ask yet...), so I will assume the following:

A language $L$ is regular over an alphabet $\Sigma$ if and only if it can be generated by a regular grammar with terminal symbols $\Sigma$.

We are given that the the language $L$ is regular. Therefore, let $G = (N, \Sigma, P, S)$ be an $\epsilon$-free regular grammar that generates $L$.  (Such a grammar can always be constructed by considering any regular grammar that generates $L$, and removing all terminals that only produce $\epsilon$.) We now examine the production process for $L$.  We first note that, since any rule is of the form $A \rightarrow a$ or $A \rightarrow aB$, where $A,B \in N$ and $a \in \Sigma$, we have at any point in the process at most one non-terminal at the righthand side of the current sentential form.  Secondly, if at any point a rule of the form $A \rightarrow a$ is used, the production process is completed, since the sentential form then only consists of terminal symbols and no further replacement can occur.
Let us now consider rules the form $A \rightarrow a$, and for every such form add a new rule $A \rightarrow aS$.  We also add the rule $S \rightarrow \epsilon$. This results in a new regular gammar $G' = (N, \Sigma, P', S)$.  It is then straightforward to see that $G'$ generates the language $L^*$, which proves that $L^*$ is indeed regular.
Note that if you were to use the left-hand definition of a regular grammar (only rules of the form $A \rightarrow a$, $A \rightarrow Ba$ or $A \rightarrow \epsilon)$, the proof would be almost the same, adding rules of the form $A \rightarrow Sa$.


How strong are the Pleiades maids in overlord?

Question: Narberal Gamma uses twin dragon lightning which I believe is approximately 7th tier magic. Yuri Alpha uses weather modification magic which is 6+ tier magic. I know they're weaker than the floor guardians, but did the show/Manga/LN go into just how strong they are? I got the impression that each one could have beaten Evileye on their own, but the only reason Entoma didn't was because of vermin bane.
Answer: This is what I found elsewhere:

The light novels have the stats, but in order of ranking:
Narbarel Gamma (63) was chosen to accompany Momonga because she was
  the best combatant of the group and the one that can interact best
  with humans without being found out.
Lupusregina Beta (59) is just below her and is also allowed to fight
  autonomously and like Narbarel, also human-like.
Solution Epsilon (57) follows that order as well, being one of the
  field pleiades though in her case, she's not very good for missions
  that require excessive contact.
Yuri Alpha (52) is the leader in terms of order, but is significantly
  weaker than the first half of the Pleiades. However, she is still
  massively overpowered by NW standards though it still takes her and CZ
  Delta to keep Evileye on edge. Like the Pleiades weaker than her, she
  is not a field agent and is generally relegated to the tomb.
Entoma (51) is also comparable, but unlike Yuri, she is freakish up
  close and is ill-suited for field activity especially since she draws
  attention to herself.
CZ Delta (46) is the weakest and is actually weaker than some of the
  strongest new worlders (shown in the latest novel where she needed
  prep time in order to actually be effective in comparison to the
  steamroller that is Narbarel). She is generally ill-suited for field
  activity since her low level makes her a poor choice to work
  autonomously. However, she is a sniper, so she generally won't be
  working autonomously on the Nazarick team to begin with.
Aureole Omega (???) is likely the strongest and is generally a
  function guardian and has yet to appear. However, she is highly likely
  to be a 100th level NPC due to the insinuation of her role.

Evileye is about level 50 and would have lost to Entoma if she didn't have vermin bane, potions, and assistance.
Answer: around Level 50 - 65 for the usual Pleiades Six Stars. They are meant to function as a group, delay the enemy so that Ainz guild can prepared and assembled in the throne room
if I am not mistaken, I read from some source that the reason they are low level is either level restriction where the total levels of Pleiades maids are limited to a certain cap by the guild system something like 400 (Nazarick's total level cap was noted to be 2750), or that the nature of Pleiades being the delaying force for enemies that manage to get past all floor guardians in previous levels means Pleiades most likely will be wipe out. And the lower the level of the maids, the lower the revival cost
here is the power ranking chart compiled by someone else: https://i.redd.it/5vxzqk80b2tz.jpg
Answer: In the Overlord universe, there are several power indicators, but you should first know that the power ratings about the Great Tomb of Nazarick come from the Yggdrasil game and do not concern the new world where they were transported. Yggdrasil indicator are 2 indicators:

The global class level which is delimited by the "example" species: a human will never be able to exceed level 60 and will never be able to separate the magic of rank 6.
Ability points which count the different abilities of a player, it is therefore possible that a character has more points than another but with a lower level like Lupusregina with Narberal Gamma.

As for the indicators of the new world, we have the association of the guilds of the adventurers which gives military plates according to the levels and which is very regulated, the iron plate being the weakest and adamantite the highest. Then we have the classes much less regulated which designates more notoriety, as an example, clementine heroic class (adamantite, therefore, assumed equal or stronger than an adventurer of adamantite rank). We also have the 13 heroes reputed all of heroic class as well as Momon more recently.
For the subject of the Pleiades maids, they are classified by power like this:

Aureole Omega
Narberal Gamma
Lupusregina Beta
Solution Epsilon
Yuri Alpha
Entoma Vasilissa Zeta
CZ2128 Delta

To finish the differences in levels which come from Yggdrasil or from the new world do not in any way affect the outcome of a fight, the best example being the fight of Ainz against Shalltear or even Climb against Succulent.


How can I visualize the 3D results from Femlab in Octave / Gnuplot?

Question: I have some data from model in Femlab. Because I would like to work on the results more, I would like to use Octave / Gnuplot as well to visualize the computed data. I have exported the data from Femlab into a txt file in form "x y z value" (4 columns). Everything unsorted - than can I do. But how to get this into gnuplot? I can choose one of the variables to fix it(let's be it x) and plot the rest y,z and value by splot. But, I have thousand and thousand of numbers and this is not possible, than Femlab doesn't keep the variables fixed (so you sort it along x and find out that there are no two x values the same).
I know about Femlab / Matlab interface, but unfortunately I havent Matlab.
Thank you in advance!
Answer: Have you tried scilab? It is a matlab clone like octave and seems to support some FEM stuff: http://wiki.scilab.org/Finite%20Elements%20in%20Scilab.
See also http://www.utc.fr/lrm/giens05/CDROM/CDROM/lo01.pdf a paper where they interface Scilab and OpenFEM.


Cascading text formatting for theatre

Question: I'm currently writing a play with the sides environment.
As I'm writing in alexandrine, each line shall consist of exactly 12 feet.
When several characters talk, indents are necessary to show I'm not finishing a verse, but completing it to 12 feet. I'm currently using a fixed indent.
Speakers are indicated here as sections.
<code>\section*{First Guard}
You are not welcome here!
\section*{First Beggar}
\hspace{25mm}Let me in!
\section*{Second Beggar}
\hspace{50mm}Let me in!
</code>
With the following result:

How can I format my text so that each reply is in the continuity of the previous one? As if it was one sentence cascading over several lines?
This is what I'm looking for:
Answer: You could use <code>\phantom</code>:
<code>\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
\section*{First Guard}
You are not welcome here!
\section*{First Beggar}
\phantom{You are not welcome here! }Let me in!
\section*{Second Beggar}
\phantom{You are not welcome here! Let me in! }Let me in!
\end{document}
</code>

Cascading text formatting for theatre


SSL CONNECTIVITY: using self signed certificates

Question: Is it possible for ssl connection handshake to happen using self signed certificate with certificate authority
Answer: It is possible to get most client applications to accept a self signed cert from a server, however, in many cases it requires that you use a command line option or a setting in a config file.
If the cert is signed by a CA ... then it is not a self signed cert, it is a CA signed cert.  The only real question from there is the CA trusted by the client application.
Comment: Thanks for explaining it nicely. But i have another question if it is possible to authenticate a certificate with CA being blank/empty? I mean how can client trust a self signed certificate which has CA blank/empty.
Comment: @fiddle: For a CA-signed cert on the Internet, the child cert's issuer and the CA cert's subject must be nonempty; see rfc5280 18.104.22.168. Self-signed certs other than CA roots (which must have issuer = subject and subject nonempty) aren't standard at all, and in theory a self-signed end-entity cert could have subject empty and SAN present and thus issuer empty, but in practice I wouldn't count on that working and I certainly wouldn't advise it. On a private network you can probably do whatever people on that private network agree to.


How important is preparing and resolving the 7th of ii7 and iv/IV7 and their inversions in the same voice

Question: Especially in keyboard Style, I am left with very few options for voice leading if I try to prepare and resolve the dissonant 7th of the super tonic and sub-dominant chords in the same voice. How important is this Rule and how much should I care about it in the 21st century? I can imagine if it is a chorale or something where each person needs to sing one line but in other genres does it make a difference?
Answer: The rules you are learning are practical, not aesthetic. That is, following them describes what a certain era of composers did in their practice; it's not a formula for producing one's own music, which can have any sound and follow any rules one likes.
The "rules" — such as preparing dissonances in the same voice — were developed several hundred years ago, with sounding like Palestrina as the general guide. If one wants to compose music that sounds like Palestrina, then the rules should be followed. If not, all bets are off.
As the rules developed, they encompassed composers like Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, etc...., up until the 20th century (roughly).
21st-century classical music frequently throws away all of "the rules" and is based on entirely different models for music composition. Jazz and pop prioritize other concerns than smooth voice leading.
Comment: The last paragraph seems a bit overgeneralized. Following Palestrina doesn't seem like a priority in jazz, but jazz is a big tent and smooth voice-leading is certainly a significant concern for many jazz players.
Comment: @exnihilo Voice-leading is absolutely a concern; I'm only saying that in jazz (and pop) there are other concerns that get higher priority.
Comment: Im pretty sure some of the rules are more than stylistic... maybe good practice in writing vocal melodies and harmony in general? Since starting my journey in this classical style, I can plainly see how the rules are still significan to this day.
Answer: The harmony exercises you have been showing us are intended, I think, to be worked in Bach-style 4-voice texture, laid out as SATB.  In this context, where 4 independent voices weave together to form the harmony, voice leading is important.
Sometimes, however, you choose instead to  write in 'keyboard style'.  Block chords in the right hand, a bass line in the left.  Yes, in this style voice-leading often goes out the window!


Struggling to achieve this gradient effect

Question: I'm attempting to recreate these paintings digitally, but having a very difficult time achieving a similar gradient. I'm pretty new to illustrator, so I'm not sure if it's meant to be a gradient stretched across a grid, or if there are opacity masks involved. I know it's not possible to completely replicate the touches of a real life painting, but I would love some guidance, or if there are any resources that touch upon the techniques used to create something like this..
Answer: In your first example, there is no gradient in those fills, it's an optical illusion.  If you take just one of these pieces in isolation, you will see there is no gradient in it.

Anyway, I would use blends to create such designs, rather than gradients.
Here's a very rough example below, showing some elements. Although, I'm sure you will get the general idea, adjusting these into a repeating pattern may be quite complex.

Another simple blend example showing the optical illusion
Comment: @Kmo - I don't see why not. If you have shapes that can tile, it should be possible. Might be a bit more complicated to set up. I'm thinking you might need to expand them, ungroup and reposition each tile.
Comment: Hi Billy, thank you so much, this worked amazingly. I didn't even think to use the blend tool to build a gradient. I did want to ask- creating this effect with squares on a linear path was fine, but if I wanted to use polygon shapes, or build a honeycomb pattern, do you think that would be possible?
Comment: Hi @Billy Kerr, I'm sorry if this is a silly follow-up, but I've been practicing using the blend method, but for some reason, I cannot seem to achieve the more complex grid effect where the color changes as it moves towards the interior. At best, I can create a center cross & the outer most layer of the grid, but the space in-between those are a mess. Do you have any insight on what I could do?
Answer: Here I suggest this method:

This method is non-destructive.
For such design, you better stay neat and precise at first.
Here I prefer a main file with resolution of 1000px square, a symbol object with size of 100px square as those gradient tiles, and another file as texture Gradient background with resolution of 10px square.

1. Create a file with an artboard sized 10 x 10px.
1.1. Create a rectangle in middle of artboard same size as it, and start gradient it as you like, to get exact square/pixels for that gradient, change the DPI of the raster effects from -> Effect/Document Raster Effect Setting to 72 dpi.
1.2. Save this file somewhere.
2. Create a file with an artboard sized 1000 x 1000px.
2.1. From -> File/Place add that file with gradient you've drawn and resize it to fit the 1000 pixels in width and length; Now you see that tiley-gradient you wanted is formed here.
2.2. Now create a new layer above current one and into that, add a rectangle with size 100x100px and place it in very top-left corner of the artboard.
2.3. Add a favorite gradient to that.
2.4. Open Symbols Panel from-> window/symbols - in symbols panel right top corner press three-line options and press "New Symbol" while tile rectangle selected to save it as symbol.
2.5. Now alt-drag it to right to duplicate it and align new one edge-to-edge with original, while you selected new one start pressing ctrl-D to repeat that duplicate until you reach to the right edge of the artboard.
2.6. Select row of the gradient tiles you created and duplicate them down and repeat the copy with same method before to reach the bottom edge of the artboard.
Now you have a 1000x1000px artboard, with two layers, below one contains the placed pixelated gradient from another file, and above layer contains 10 by 10 symbols sized 100x100px (rectangles with a gradient applied to) which fits whole of height and width of the artboard.
Now you can change blend mode of all gradient tiles by selecting them from top layer and change it from -> window/Transparency.
** You can change the Background gradient by opening that file you created first, change it and save it and back to the main file.

You can change the gradient tile by double click one of tiles and inside edit mode of symbol, change the gradient to your desire.
You can add that noises by creating a new layer on top off all, create a rectangle sized the artboard make it white, add effect from -> effect/[photoshop effect section]/texture/grain - then change the blend mode of this noise effect as you like.*

Comment me if any more helps required.
Comment: Hi Roozbeh, unfortunately I think because I need to keep the design as vector, I'm not sure if this will work for me.
Comment: You may can, Trace image is a non-destructive effect you can apply to your placed image, it will converts the Bitmap into Vector, and what remains for you is that noise effect which you can achieve with some kind of brush effects or hand-drawn bubble brush
Comment: Also, you can use Image Trace on that noise effect as well, makes it a bit heavy, but may work good.
* Don't forget that if you use image trace on gradient background, use Full color and Full tone settings in it with most colors you can pick on colors slider.


Considering quantum codes as codes over $F_2$

Question: It is very common to look at stabilizer codes as codes over GF(2) or codes over GF(4). Mostly I have seen this for computations for distance of codes and syndromes. How do other notions like say automorphism group (over GF(2)) or some other invariants translate to stabilizer code? In other words will automorphism group of GF(2) equivalent code say something about its corresponding stabilizer code? For eg. Let $Q$ be a quantum code and corresponding GF(2) linear code be $C$ represented by generatir matrix (or parity check matrix M). Now given $aut(C)$ that is $\lbrace A,P \in GL(F_2) \times S_n \rbrace$ that fix M, what can we say about aut(Q), I suppose now automorphism groups would be defined over complex fields or considering stabilizer formalism we might have one over paulis if we want to look at stabilzers as analog of generator matrices.
Comment: Formulating them as codes over GF(2) or GF(4) is equivalent and helps in studying their structure. Of course, the properties of those GF(2)/GF(4) codes determine those of the stabiliser codes. Maybe you can make your question more precise, developing the formalism in an answer is beyond the scope of this site. Maybe, it would also help to read some of the literature, e.g. "Quantum Error Correction Via Codes Over GF(4)" by Calderbank, Rains, Shor and Sloane.
Comment: @Markus Heinrich see the edit. Let me know if I can add more things.
Comment: Maybe I'm missing the point. If $Q$ is a $[[n,k]]$ stabiliser code, then I would call the following its "corresponding $\mathbb{F}_2$ code:  $Q$ projects on an isotropic linear subspace $C\subset\mathbb{F}_2^{2n}$ of dimension $n-k$. Here, isotropic means it is self-orthogonal w.r.t. the symplectic structure of $\mathbb{F}_2^{2n}$! If you want to change that for Euklidean orthogonality, you have to map it to an additive code over $\mathbb{F}_4$. With suitable definition, $\mathrm{Aut}(C)\subset\mathrm{Sp}_{2n}(\mathbb{F}_2)$ is a quotient of $\mathrm{Aut}(Q)$. Is it this what you mean?
Comment: @Markus Heinrich Yes. I was looking for 'suitable' defination and is there a way to go from $F_2$ linear (classical) code's aut group to the quantum analogue aut(C) to aut(Q).
Answer: Let me briefly elaborate on my comment. I'm not an expert on coding theory but I certainly know the symplectic formalism. If you want to know more about codes, I would recommend that you read "Quantum Error Correction Via Codes Over GF(4)" by Calderbank, Rains, Shor, and Sloane for the $\mathbb{F}_4$ formulation or "Quantum error-correcting codes and their geometries" by Ball, Centelles, and Huber for a $\mathbb F_2$ formulation.
I assume that you know that any element of the $n$-qubit Pauli group $P_n$ can be written uniquely as $W(z,x,t) = i^t Z(z)X(x)$ for $t\in\mathbb{Z}_4$, $z,x\in\mathbb{F}_2^{n}$ where $Z$ and $X$ are defined as usual as $Z(z)|u\rangle = (-1)^{z\cdot u}$, $X(x)|u\rangle = |u+x\rangle$. Note that the centre of $P_n$ is $\langle i \mathbb{I}\rangle$. We get a projection:
$$
\pi : \; P_n \rightarrow \mathbb{F}_2^{2n}, \quad W(z,x,t) \mapsto (z,x).
$$
Another way of seeing this is that $P_n$ is a group of order $2^{2n+2}$ which is "almost" extraspecial, i.e. the quotient $P_n/Z(P_n)$ is a (discrete symplectic) vector space. It is symplectic since
$$
W(v,t)W(u,s) = (-1)^{[v,u]}W(u,s)W(v,s)
$$
for $[v,u]:= v_z\cdot u_x - v_x \cdot u_z$ the standard symplectic product on $\mathbb F_2^{2n}$.
Since $\pi$ is a homomorphism, subgroups $S\subset P_n$ project to linear subspaces $\bar S:=\pi(S)\subset\mathbb F_2^{2n}$. By the above commutation relation, $S$ is Abelian if and only if $\bar S$ is isotropic, i.e. $S\subset S^\perp$ (self-orthogonal in coding language).
Now it should be clear that any $[[n,k]]$ stabiliser code $Q$ given by a stabiliser group $S$ projects to an isotropic subspace $\bar S$. Since $S$ has rank $n-k$, the dimension of $\bar S$ is $n-k$, too.
A code word $s\in\bar S$ is of the form $s=(z_1,\dots,z_n,x_1,\dots,x_n)$. Its weight is defined as $\mathrm{wt}(s)=|\{(z_i,x_i)\neq 0\}|$.
The automorphism group of $\bar S$ is then defined within the symplectic weight-preserving transformations on $\mathbb F_2^{2n}$. The latter are exactly the pair-wise coordinate permutations $S_n$ times the "local" symplectic group $\mathrm{Sp}_2(\mathbb F_2)$ acting on each symplectic pair independently, i.e. it has order $6^n n!$.
Now for the automorphism group of $Q$.
Any symplectic map on $\mathbb F_2^{2n}$ is induced from a Clifford unitary and any two Cliffords induce the same map if and only if they differ by a Pauli operator.
This means that $\mathrm{Aut}(\bar S)$ is basically $\mathrm{Aut}(Q)$ up to multiplication with Pauli operators.
More precisely, $\mathrm{Aut}(\bar S) = \mathrm{Aut}(Q)/S$.
The only difference between the two comes from the projection $\pi$.
Finally, let me remark that by mapping $(1,0) \mapsto 1$ and $(0,2)\mapsto \omega$ we get an additive mapping between $\mathbb F_2^{2n}$ and $\mathbb F_4^n$ which maps the isotropic linear codes in the above sense to self-orthogonal additive codes over $\mathbb F_4$. In this way, stabiliser codes fit better into the framework of coding theory, but this does not change the structure.


Is act of zina considered kufr

Question: Assalamualaikum , I know zina is a very bad and a sinful act
Can you please tell commuting zina make one out of the pale of Islam or it make one kafir please answer whether it is or not
Comment: The act of "zina" is considered a grave sin and one must make sincere tawba to purify himself from filth and sins, but it doesn't make an individual a kafir, or take him out of the fold of Islam.
Comment: Please explain: Where is the relation to zina in your one line post? Elaborate your post and read [ask].
Answer: No, committing a major sin is not kufr according to the Ahl al-Sunnah, unless one does so with the belief it is permitted or does it in order to scorn Allāh.
Imām Abu al-Thanā'a Maĥmūd ibn Zayd al-Lāmīshī al-Ĥanafī al-Māturīdī writes in Tamhīd li Qawāýid al-Tawĥīd:
"The Ahl al-Sunnah have said: The one who commits a major sin from among the believers, if he committed it considering it to be permissible, or to scorn the one who forbade it [Allāh], or with the intention of rebelling [against Allāh], then indeed he disbelieves in Allāh táālā!
And if he committed it due to overpowering of lust, or he was lazy, or he was angry, or pride, or disdain [towards other Muslims] and he fears that Allāh táālā may punish him for it, and he hopes for His Mercy and His Forgiveness in that, then he is called a sinful believer.
The verdict on him is that if he repents, it will be forgiven. If he dies before Tawbah then for him is what Allāh táālā has willed:
If He wills, He may forgive him by His Grace and Mercy or by the intercession of a Nabī or a Walī from among His slaves, and if He wills, He can punish him due to his crime, then enter him into paradise."
Answer: Assalam o Allaikum.
Zinda is indeed a major sin but this is not called kufr. Kufr in simple words means to disbelief in Allah.

Is act of zina considered kufr


Setting up DKIM, SPF, and DMARC Records for Domains that You Won't Use for Email

Question: I have a few domains out there that are never used for email.  If you look at the domains, you'll know the company.  This makes me wonder, should I set up DMARC, DKIM, and SPF for these domains even though there's no MX record?
Answer: If these domains are related to your company or brand, you want to prevent bad actors to be able to abuse these domains.
For SPF you may publish the following records in DNS:
@ IN TXT "v=spf1 -all";
* IN TXT "v=spf1 -all";
*.[hostname] IN TXT "v=spf1 -all"
where [hostname] stands for any host records that already exist in the domain zone.
For DMARC you may publish the following record in DNS:
_dmarc IN TXT "v=DMARC1;p=reject"
Additionally, if you want to know if those domains are actively being abused you may want to set up a reporting email address in the rua tag in the DMARC record. Don't forget to set up the reporting record for the domain your collecting aggregate reports for in DNS for the target email domain, as explained here.
Comment: Reading about these protocols, this is kind of what I was thinking, so thank you for confirming my bias, ha!
Answer: As long as you aren't using the domain for emails, those DNS records will never be checked by remote servers, so the answer is "no"
Comment: Unless someone is spoofing those domains to trick recipients into something. This is exactly why you should publish restrictive SPF and DMARC records, to disallow anyone from sending on behalf of those domains.


Using Eclipse for Kotlin programming does not work correctly

Question: as a Java programmer, I have recently decided to learn Kotlin and have encountered a problem with Eclipse and Kotlin. Both Eclipse and the plugins were all updated to the latest version.
Here's the situation in Eclipse.
Code that works totally fine:
fun main(args: Array<String>) {

  println("Starting program...")
  var a = 10
  var b = 5

  println("Variables \"a\" and \"b\" initialized, printing variables:")
  println(a)
  println(b)
  println("Program ended.")
}

Output:
Starting program...
Variables initialized, printing variables:
10
5
Program ended.
Code that does not work at all, note that I changed the values of a and b (important):
fun main(args: Array<String>) {

  println("Starting program...")
  var a = 20
  var b = 10

  println("Variables \"a\" and \"b\" initialized, adding both together...")

  //adding a and b together
  var c = a+b  //**Error occurs for a fraction of a second**: ERROR: Cannot access 'java.io.Serializable' which is a supertype of 'kotlin.Int'. Check your module classpath for missing or conflicting dependencies

  println("Printing sum of \"a\" and \"b\": ")
  println(c)
  println("Program ended.")

}

Output:
Same output as from the last successful run
I needed to record what Eclipse was doing, just so that I can read the error message when the footage was paused.
After that, I checked the classpath (as the error message suggested) and no dependencies were missing.
Here's one rather strange observation that I made. Restarting Eclipse and running the same "erroneous" code results in the output from the last successful run (before restarting Eclipse), in this case it was
Starting program...
Variables initialized, printing variables:
10
5
Program ended.
What I tried

searched StackOverFlow for an existing/similar topic
checked if the latest Kotlin compiler was installed (it is)
compiled the "erroneous" .kt file manually via command prompt (it worked fine, so I guess it's a problem with Eclipse)
configured the build path and moved the Kotlin libraries from class path to module path, which resulted in Eclipse not being able to run the program at all (ClassNotFoundException)
deleted the Kotlin library from the build path completely, this resulted in working code, but only without basic arithmetic operations with the integer values
restarted Eclipse again and noticed that the Kotlin libraries were back in the class path, without changing it myself
deliberately tried to switch perspectives to Java and back to Kotlin, error persists
tried to run the program in vs code, it worked there...
reinstalled Eclipse and the Kotlin plugins, didn't work

What's my question(s)
Does someone know what causes this strange behaviour or has experienced something similar? And if so, is there something that I could try which worked for you, or is there something that I haved missed out on?
Thank you for reading
Thank you very much for reading!
Comment: Make sure to use the [_Enhanced Kotlin for Eclipse_ plugin](https://marketplace.eclipse.org/content/enhanced-kotlin-eclipse), not the [Kotlin plugin from JetBrains which is badly maintained](https://github.com/Kotlin/kotlin-eclipse). Please tell the exact versions of Eclipse, the Enhanced Kotlin plugin and the Kotlin and Java version used in your project. Be aware that Kotlin is not vendor-neutral.
Comment: Current Eclipse version is Version: 2023-12 (4.30.0) and my project is using Kotlin version 1.7.10-release-333 (JRE 21.0.1+12-LTS-29). And yes, I am using the enhanced Kotlin plugin.
Answer: Digging deeper into the matter here, I finally found a solution that is over 3 years old, but still works out:
cannot access 'java.io.Serializable'
Comment: Please also include the solution that worked for you along with the link.


Invalid name: "@angular/cli" when do npm install

Question: I need to install angular/cli package, but got error
$sudo npm install -g @angular/cli
But I got the following error
<code>npm ERR! Darwin 16.7.0

npm ERR! argv "/usr/local/bin/node" "/usr/local/bin/npm" "install" "-g" "@angular/cli"

npm ERR! node v6.6.0

npm ERR! npm  v3.10.3

npm ERR! Invalid name: "@angular/cli"

npm ERR!

npm ERR! If you need help, you may report this error at:

npm ERR!     <https://github.com/npm/npm/issues>

npm ERR! Please include the following file with any support request:

npm ERR!     /Users/jim/Downloads/project/admin/npm-debug.log
</code>
Answer: Somehow it looks weird as I configured angular/cli in package.json, but it result from npm version is outdated, so I did the npm update
$sudo npm update npm -g
Also the following commands can help check versions and do a clean install via "uninstall -> clean -> install".
$npm --v
$node -v
$sudo npm uninstall -g angular-cli
$sudo npm cache clean
$sudo npm install -g angular-cli@latest


How can I install laminate flooring without removing base molding?

Question: I am looking for a suggestion about not removing my base molding and laying laminate under it. It will be much easier than removing because of risk of damage ,etc. , and I will put 1/4'' or 1/2'' corner round on top which I think looks good. Basically the molding is about 1/2'' thick. So I am wanting to go under that and 1/4'' from wall so how can I get that spacing and get it out after I get to the other side since it would be underneath ? I know I could just start it flush with molding since I am going to put round over on top but when I am hammering all the other pieces how do I keep it from sliding underneath and right against wall?
Answer: Pick yourself up a laminate flooring installation kit, like this one.

It comes with spacers that can be placed between the already installed planks, and the base molding. The spacers will maintain the required gap, as you hammer the planks together.
The kit also includes a pull bar, and tapping block. Both of which will come in quite handy.

Installing laminate (and any hardwood flooring) without removing the base molding is quite common.
Comment: Normally, one would then nail a bit of additional molding (a quarter-round, for example) at the base of the existing molding to cover the gap.
Comment: @keshlam That's true, and the OP has already said that's what they plan to do.


How do you speak to a Blade in an inn?

Question: I have a bunch of quests that require me to speak to a particular Blade in a specific inn. I go there and don't see any heart to hearts. I have tried resting and making them my active blade to no avail. How do I talk to one of my specific Blades?
Answer: Sleep at the inn and the next morning the plot will trigger.
Comment: I thought I tried that, but I'll try again. Does long or short rest matter?
Comment: Short rest is enough.  Blade will tell you, where HtH is placed.
Comment: @lentinant I just came here to comment that myself. Another thing for anyone who might not get it: you might have multiple events that can be chosen from. Keep resting until you get it. Turns out I had quite a queue of heart to hearts waiting for me.
Comment: @Seiyria: I'm stuck on Pyra's level 3 Purifying Flames, which appears to be a "talk to her at Connie's house" from what I've read. Even while in Tantal, I was unable to get this to trigger. Should I just sleep there more or something?

How do you speak to a Blade in an inn?


MySQL+PHP+Flash+as3 How to save into a mySql data from a Flash AS3 2d RPG game in OFFLINE programming.?

Question: It's my first time to ask online about my programming problem and I hope I can get feed backs as soon as possible. Me and my partner are working on a project of doing a 2D RPG game using FLASH CS5.5, AS3, PHP(Dreamweaver cs5.5) and Mysql(xampp). I would like to know if there's any way that wwe can create the game and connect it to mysql where we can save and retrieve data after a game is played and save it in the players status so that when the player  plays again, he can have the last status of his game to continue. We want it to be an OFFLINE game and anywhere i search in the net, all of the tips are for online games. PLease help us. Thank you.
Comment: The tipps for online games and MySQL Connections are the same as for offline games and MySQL Connections, aren't they? Use `localhost` as host and all should be fine.
Answer: Assuming the game is mostly written in ActionScript 3
In order to save data on the an SQL server you need to pass the data from AS3 to PHP and insert it into the server.
To do this, you will need to become familiar with AS3's JSON library. There are numerous ways to do this, including the popular as3codelib, but the JSON library is built in and is much simpler than it first appears.
I would explain it all, but this tutorial will get you familiar with it.
P.S: Like others have said, you will want to test this locally so make sure you know how to perform basic SQL queries and run PHP scripts using XAMPP. If you do not, this should help
Answer: If you only want this to run locally (i.e. a user has their own set of data), why don't you just use a SharedObject?
This lets you save data to the users machine very easily and much more efficiently.


How to optimize this js (now CPU is over 40% when the page is opened)

Question: I have this piece of JavaScript on my page and it loads the CPU considerably. Is there any way to optimize the code? ( I'm using jQuery, so jQuery solutions will be fine )
function Particle() {

            this.particleContainerWidth = $('#particle-container').width() - 100;
            this.particleContainerHeight = $('#particle-container').height() - 100;

            this.path = 'img/';
            this.images = ['particle1.png', 'particle2.png', 'particle3.png', 'particle4.png'];

        //  Randomly Pick a Particle Model
            this.image = this.images[randomInt(this.images.length)];
            this.file = this.path + this.image;

        //  Create a Particle DOM
            this.element = document.createElement('img');

            this.speed().newPoint().display().newPoint().fly();
        };

        //  Generate Random Speed
        Particle.prototype.speed = function() {
            this.duration = (randomInt(10) + 5) * 1100;
            return this;
        };

        //  Generate a Random Position
        Particle.prototype.newPoint = function() {
            this.pointX = randomInt(this.particleContainerWidth);
            this.pointY = randomInt(this.particleContainerHeight);

            return this;
        };

        //  Display the Particle
        Particle.prototype.display = function() {
            $(this.element)
                .attr('src', this.file)
                .css('position', 'absolute')
                .css('top', this.pointY)
                .css('left', this.pointX);
            $('#particle-container').append(this.element);

            return this;
        };

        //  Animate Particle Movements
        Particle.prototype.fly = function() {
            var self = this;
            $(this.element).animate({
                "top": this.pointY,
                "left": this.pointX
            }, this.duration, 'linear', function(){
                self.speed().newPoint().fly();
            });
        };

        function randomInt(max) {
        //  Generate a random integer (0 <= randomInt < max)
            return Math.floor(Math.random() * max);
        }

       $(function(){

            $('body').append('

');

            var total = 8;
            var particles = [];

            for (i = 0; i < total; i++){
                particles[i] = new Particle();
            }
        });

Comment: What I have found is anything that dynamically changes the position of an element on the page will almost definitely jack up your CPU usage in most scenarios. Just something to keep in mind while you work.
Answer: You cannot make JavaScript consume less of your CPU.  That is governed by the priority of the executing application in the OS kernel.  The best you can hope for is to reduce execution time.
To improve your execution efficiency limit your usage of prototype and stop assigning values to properties.  This method of coding has become popular because it is extremely clean and easy to read, but it horribly backwards to execute.
If you are capable of coding using only variables for assignment, if statements for decisions, and for loops for looping your code execution will be far faster.  That will require you to write more code, however, and it will not be so pretty.
To improve output performance write all output segments each into an index of an array and use only a single join method when all output is created and a single innerHTML method to output this text to the page.  This will reduce output execution by up to 4 times.
Answer: Have you thought about implementing this with a <canvas> version?  It won't work in IE directly, of course, and off-hand I'm not sure whether it'd be faster or slower. You could also try it with Processing.
Answer: This would need a lot of changing and rewriting, but You can create a new easing function for jquery and post it to animate. Then every particle You have would just be once issued with animate() with Your easing function and the function has to be based on those:

random
current time (new Date()) modulo some number
a singleton holding individual directions

ideas:
Assuming You don't want to change Your code You can try setting the particle to fly with some random timeout when first running fly(). It could change the way it's all executed. No idea if it helps or makes it slower though ;)
Second thing is quality. jquery animate does it too smoothly. You can move Your particles instead of animating and just chande the distance to lower and increase speed and use setTimeout to make it move the same pace as now.


Specifying minor TLS version when using curl

Question: Is there a way to specify curl to use a specific TLS version? Like 1.1 or 1.2? I can see only sslv3 and tlsv1 options in command help. I took latest src and compiled it with openssl 1.0.1e. Still dont see a direct option in help. Is there any other way to set it?
Comment: I don't see any options for setting minor TLS version either. Also see [this thread](http://curl.haxx.se/mail/lib-2013-04/0371.html): "That's because, when libcurl is configured to use TLSv1, it will automatically use the highest version number supported by your TLS library, and downgrade to TLS 1.0 if the server doesn't support 1.1 or 1.2. There's no separate option here because, until a serious problem is found in 1.0, there doesn't need to be a separate option."
Answer: Curl has options to control the TLS version used. At the date of the last revision to this answer, if you want to specify that TLS 1.2 is used but not 1.1 or 1.3 etc, you need something like
curl --tlsv1.2 --tls-max 1.2 ...

Answer last checked on 2024-03-13 and still applies for curl version 8.6.0

There have been several relevant changes in Curl since the original question was asked.
Version 7.54.0
Since version 7.54.0 the behaviour has changed, see nelsonda's answer.
Options like --tlsv1.2 now specify a minimum version that is to be used, they no longer specify the exact version to be used.
To specify an exact version to be used you likely have to also specify a value for --tls-max
curl --tlsv1.2 --tls-max 1.2 ...

Version 7.52.0
Version 7.52.0 introduced --tlsv1.3 in addition to the other options listed below.

Version 7.34.0
Since version 7.34.0, Curl has options --tlsv1.0, --tlsv1.1 and --tlsv1.2 for this purpose.
The manpage said

-1, --tlsv1
(SSL) Forces curl to use TLS version 1.x when negotiating with a remote TLS server. You can use options --tlsv1.0, --tlsv1.1, and --tlsv1.2 to control the TLS version more precisely (if the SSL backend in use supports such a level of control).
...
--tlsv1.2
(SSL) Forces curl to use TLS version 1.2 when negotiating with a remote TLS server. (Added in 7.34.0)
Comment: Useful updates.
Answer: Curl's behavior has changed!
For versions prior to 7.54.0, RedGrittyBrick's answer remains correct. For version of curl after 7.54.0 the options --tlsv1.0, --tlsv1.1 and --tlsv1.2 set the minimum version of TLS that curl will use. To specify the maximum use --tls-max <VERSION>.
From the manpage:

--tls-max <VERSION>
(SSL) VERSION defines maximum supported TLS version. The minimum
acceptable version is set by tlsv1.0, tlsv1.1, tlsv1.2 or tlsv1.3.
Answer: Additionally to --tlsvX.Y/--sslvZ, which put a hard limit to what protocols curl would choose, you may use --tls-max x.y to softly control protocol negotiation.
Answer: Take a look at the --cipher option see manpage and OpenSSL docs. You should be able to provide a cipher list that will force certain versions.


Understanding notation of Goodfellow's GAN objective function

Question:
What is the meaning of $V(D,G)$? How do we get these expectation parts?
I was trying to understand it following this article: Understanding Generative Adversarial Networks (D.Seita), but, after many tries, I still can't understand how he got from $\sum_{n=1}^{N} \log D(x)$ to $\mathbb{E}(\log(D(x))$.
Comment: Welcome to SE.DataScience! this question is more related to probability than GAN. That is, for $x_i \overset{i.i.d.}{\sim} p(x)$ ($x_i$'s independently sampled from distribution $p(x)$), $${\Bbb E}\left[\sum_{n=1}^{N}f(x_n)\right]= \sum_{n=1}^{N}{\Bbb E}[f(x)] = N {\Bbb E}[f(x)]$$
Comment: @Esmailian ok, but why is there expectation instead summation in the first place? Is it same to minimize expectation or to minimize function? I think it doesnt really matter how is this objective function derived, but it is really bothering me not knowing how it is done
Comment: Summation is the approximation of that expectation x N. In practice, we minimize on a sum of limited samples rather that the ideal expectation. This is how they are related. For example, average of height of 200 person $(\sum_{n=1}^{200}h_n)/200$ is the approximation of expectation of height in a country ${\Bbb E}[h]$.
Answer: You are thinking of it backwards :) i.e. don't ask "How do we get these expectation parts?" or "how he got from" sum to expectation, ask where we got the sums!
The expectations are what we actually care about. The sums are just what we use to approximate them.
Generally in ML we define the data space $\mathcal{X}$ (e.g., the set of all possible images) and a probability distribution $\mathcal{P}$ on that space (so that sampling from it gives e.g., the set of natural images). The goal is then to find a function $f$ such that the expected loss $ \mathbb{E}_{x\sim\mathcal{P}}[\mathcal{L}(f(x))] $ is minimal. (This is a weighted average over all possible images, weighted such that only the images we care about are considered).
This is the basic tenet of empirical risk minimization, upon which most ML theory is based (often, implicitly). Hence, most papers that are even remotely formal will state their loss functions in terms of expectations or integrals, not sums (since one cannot usually sum over a continuous space in a meaningful way).
In practice, we cannot access $\mathcal{P}$ (indeed, the whole point of GANs is to implicitly model it!). Instead, we have only a dataset $X\subset\mathcal{X}$ sampled as $X\sim \mathcal{P}$. For some loss function $\mathcal{L}$, we can Monte Carlo estimate the real expected $\mathcal{L}$ via
$$
\mathbb{E}_{x\sim\mathcal{P}}\left[\mathcal{L}(f(x))\right]
= \int \mathcal{L}(f(x)) p_\mathcal{P}(x)\, dx
\approx \frac{1}{|X|}\sum_{x\in X} \mathcal{L}(f(x))
$$
but even this sum is too hard (expensive) to compute, so we take a subsample (minibatch) $M\sim\mathcal{U}(X)$ uniformly from $X$ instead:
$$
\mathbb{E}_{x\sim\mathcal{P}}\left[\mathcal{L}(f(x))\right]
\approx \frac{1}{|M|}\sum_{x\in M} \mathcal{L}(f(x))
$$
So for

but why is there expectation instead summation in the first place? Is it same to minimize expectation or to minimize function?

The answer is that we cannot compute the expectation, but we can approximate it with the sum or mean over a minibatch instead, so we use that. Ultimately we define our losses via expectations, and derive the sums to compute from those.
Now for the GAN specific stuff.

What is the meaning of $V(D,G)$?

The point of GANs is learn two functions: $G$, which outputs $x=G(z)$ for $z\sim Q$, and $D$, which outputs a high value for real data ($x\sim P_R$) and low value for fake data ($x\sim P_G$, which we sample via $z\sim Q$ then $x=G(z)$).
What is a good loss function for $D$? Well, we want high values for real data, so let's try to maximize $\log D(x)$ where $x\sim P_R$ is any real data point. So we want the maximum expected value over all of the true dataset,
i.e. $\mathbb{E}_{x\sim P_R}\log D(x)$
Next we want low values for fake data, so let's try to maximize the expected $\log(1-D(x_g))$ over all generated fake data $x_g\sim P_G$. But we can equivalently say $x_g=G(z)$, for some $z\sim Q$. So we can instead maximize $\mathbb{E}_{x_g\sim P_G}[\log(1-D(x_g))]=\mathbb{E}_{z\sim Q}[\log(1-D(G(z)))]$.
Putting the two together, we see that we want $D$ to maximize both these terms, so we'd like
$$ \max_D \mathbb{E}_{x\sim P_R}[\log D(x)] + \mathbb{E}_{z\sim Q}[\log(1-D(G(z)))] =: \max_D V(G,D)$$
to get a good $D$.
What about $G$? Well, we want $G$ to make $D$ do poorly. But which $D$? The best one. In other words, we want $G$ to make the best $D$ (for that $G$) score as poorly as possible, i.e.,
$$
\min_G \max_D V(G,D)
$$
is our objective. That's where $V(G,D)$ comes from.
Now, how to get the sums from the expectations in $V(G,D)$? It's just a Monte Carlo sample approximation (i.e., a sum or mean over a minibatch) of the expectation, as before. :)
Comment: So expectation was the fancy word for summation over the batch. MY GOD, my life has a meaning now!


Spearman's correlation coefficient when one variable is not normally distributed

Question: Question: If you have two variables that one of them is normally distributed and the other is not normally distributed, should you use Spearman's rho for the correlation?
Answer: The question was answered here.
Short answer, it doesn't really matter. Both Spearman and Pearson's coefficients do not require normality. Spearman is more resistant to outliers though.
Comment: thanks for the answer, but it's not consistent with the related literature. as i know bivariate normal distribution of data sets is one of the main underlying assumption to use pearson coefficient.!!!!!!
Comment: Hi @user81982, if you read the answer provided in the link I posted you'll find all the details you need. For example: "Pearson's correlation is a measure of the linear relationship between two continuous random variables. It does not assume normality although it does assume finite variances and finite covariance. When the variables are bivariate normal, Pearson's correlation provides a complete description of the association".


Cocktail party problem ICA

Question: I'm trying to solve the cocktail party problem (Independent Component Analysis) in a real application. So let's say there are two speakers and two microphones. What I'd to know is if it's mandatory that the two microphones start to record exactly at the same time.
Thanks for your time.
Answer: It's not exactly mandatory to start recording at the same time, but it would be helpful.
You definitely need to be able to align the timeseries recorded by the microphones.  If they start recording at exactly the same time, then the time-series will already be aligned.  If they don't start at the same time, then you need to know exactly how much time passed between microphone 1's start time and microphone 2's start time, so you can align the timeseries after-the-fact.  Also, you won't be able to run ICA for the time period when microphone 2 was off.
Comment: thanks! I expected this answer :) sadly it's exactly as hard to start simultaneously than to know time difference there is between the two records.
Comment: How are you recording from the two mics?  I imagine a lot of audio recording software will automatically sync up the recordings from two input sources.  Then it would just be a matter of cropping the recordings so that they are the same length.
Comment: I'm not yet at this point in the project, we wanna use smartphones however it's a uni project so we are not really allowed to use extra software. A distributed project so we wanna synchronize the phones via wifi even if as you say, is not the smarter way to solve the problem.

Cocktail party problem ICA


Firefox address window greyed out

Question: When opening some web pages with Firefox, the address bar text is blanked out by black and grey bars.  Double clicking or scrolling to select the text causes it to reappear.
Running Ubuntu 12.04 on an older Sony Vaio.
Answer: It can be a browser graphical glitch. I recommend re-installing Firefox. There can be mismanaged files. Or updating to the latest version (that's version 29 as of now), if you haven't.
If that's not the problem, please provide an image/screenshot of the problem.

Firefox address window greyed out


Is there a rule of thumb for percentage of liquid holdings to put on a risky investment?

Question: If I, 24 years old living in the US, believe in a risky investment, say identifying a severely undervalued stock or going long on a put option, is there a rule of thumb for how much I should be investing in this? Perhaps X percentage of my liquid holdings? The reward is large because of the risk, which would be the full X percentage of the total. Is there a rule of thumb for this sort of thing, in the way that there are rules of thumb for car and house purchases or spend/savings splits?
Comment: How much can you afford to lose without being sad or otherwise financially offset when the worst possible outcome is the result of your investment?
Comment: Have you heard of the [Kelly criterion](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_criterion)?
Answer: I think this is too personal of a question, since only you know how much you are comfortable losing.
I would first validate whether I have an adequate Rainy Day fund, am funding my 401(k) at 12%+, saving for a house, and have reserve funds for auto replacement, vacation, insurance deductibles, etc.
After all that, ask yourself how much you could throw in a bonfire without impacting your life.
Answer: There are all kinds of rules about asset allocation and they involve time horizon and risk tolerance.
If you're young, your time horizon is long and you can invest  more aggressively. It's based on your age which everyone knows :->)
Risk tolerance is more subjective because it's a personal decision.  If you're young, your time horizon suggests that you can be more aggressive but you may not  feel comfortable doing so. The rule of thumb is that you risk as much as you can tolerate losing. That number is different for everyone.