Is "hangman" a gender neutral term?

Question: And if not, is there an adequate gender-neutral term that isn't 'executioner'? I'm studying the poem "The Hangman" by Maurice Ogden, the opening line of which is "Into the town, the Hangman came." The word has loaded connotations, so I'm wondering if there's any suitable replacement.
Comment: The gender-neutral term would be _hangperson_. There is a great gender disparity in the hangperson profession. Girls at school need to be encouraged to become hangpersons.
Comment: If the title is *hangman* there is little you can do to avoid mentioning by its name. Why would you replace it? I have never heard *hangman* accused of being sexist, this is a first for me.
Comment: Why do you need a gender-neutral term?  I'm pretty sure you'll find that there have never been any female professional execution-by-noose practitioners and thus no need for the word to exist.
Comment: I would suppose it comes from a time when all those who did the hanging were men. I can't recall knowing of a hang woman. So from my view it is likely to be an accurate term, but isn't meant to be sexist in any way. Executioner would be the alternative.
Comment: @WS2 Ruth Ellis was only the _last_ woman hanged in Britain. [This page lists 41](http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/femhang.html) between 1868 and 1955.
Comment: Do you know anyone who might make a good hangwoman? In the 1950s when the medieval practice of capital punishment was still in place in Britain, there was only one woman, of whom I'm aware who was hanged, namely Ruth Ellis. Have you read the poem 'Ballad of Reading Jail' by Oscar Wilde?
Comment: Back when I was a kid and played *Hangman* with individuals of the female gender I don't recall that there was any restriction regarding how they played the game vs how boys did it.
Comment: The UK's Pierrepoint family (Albert + siblings/nephews of the paternal line) held the dubious distinction of being the Kingdom's official hangman/hangmen. There should still be a family female out there who could be called upon to officiate at a judicial hanging as the gibbet still awaits anyone found guilty of treason or 'setting fire to ships in Her Majesty's dockyards'.  I urge any female member of the Pierrepoint family to consider changing her surname by deed poll to Pierrettepointe so as to keep matters nicely dovetailed into the gender sensibilities of the OP. Gallows humor, anyone?
Answer: No gender-neutral alternative of the same specificity seems to be in common use
As indicated by the other comments and MetaEd's answer, there does not seem to be any well-established alternative term that would be unambiguously gender-neutral. (But as indicated by DavePhD's answer, the obvious alterations "hangwoman" and "hangperson" are attested in print, although you can see that in a number of the cited passages the author points out or implies that the word is not usual.)
It is possible for "hangman" to be used to refer to a woman
The word "hangman" may actually be what is called an "exocentric" compound rather than an "endocentric" compound. "Exocentric" compounds are words like "cutthroat" where the compound as a whole refers to something that is different from either of the constituent words. A "cutthroat" is not a type of throat; it is a person who cuts throats. Likewise, "hangman" may in fact be etymologically "a person who hangs men" rather than "a man who hangs."
The argument for this etymological analysis can be found in Piotr Gąsiorowski's comments on the following Languagehat post: Batman.

Piotr Gąsiorowski says:
  November 24, 2014 at 4:26 pm
  [...] hangman is, etymologically, a pickpocket-type exocentric compound in which the first member is a verb and the second member its object (cf. spendthrift, cutthroat, scarecrow, etc.); so a hangman is 'one who hangs men (well, women too)' rather than 'a man who hangs (people)'.

George Gibbard says:
  November 25, 2014 at 1:16 am
  Piotr — wait, how do you know that

a hangman is 'one who hangs men (well, women too)' rather than 'a man who hangs (people)'

I'm sure you have your reasons for saying this, I just want to know what they are.

Piotr Gąsiorowski says:
  November 25, 2014 at 4:46 am
  George:

The non-existence of parallel formations: all other Early English nouns with -man as the second element have a noun (or sometimes an adjective), not a verb, as their first member. Even ploughman and waccheman 'watchman' are N+N, not V+N (like ploughwrighte and waccheword). We have slaughterman but no *slẹ̄man; horsman but no *rīdeman. The same goes for other endocentric compounds. Hangglider is possible today, when zero-derived nouns are indistinguishable from verb stems, but in ME hang(e)man, hong(e)man, heng(e)man, the first member is unambiguously a verb. Some counterexamples admittedly existed, e.g. ME whetstǭn (< OE hwetstān) 'whetstone', grīndstǭn and rīdewei 'riding-path', OE rīdehere 'cavalry' (beside more common rǣdehere, with rǣde 'mounted'), but they seem to have been rare at the time, and I haven't been able to found any among ME occupational terms.
The existence of exocentric parallels (hangdog, whose original meaning was 'municipal dog-killer' — a low-prestige profession, it seems).
The actual (if rare) attestation of the expected exocentric plural in Middle English (hengmannis).

It is true that this etymological information is unlikely to be known by modern English speakers. And in fact, modern speakers form the plural as "hangmen," which could be viewed as evidence that the correct synchronic morphological analysis of "hangman" is as an endocentric compound (for an overview of the arguments about whether irregular inflected forms really are reliable indicators of the grammatical structure of compound words, see this post from Language Log "Systematic irregularization" that RegDwigнt♦ linked to in a comment beneath the following question: Past participle of "fly").
However, there are some other indications that the word may be gender-neutral:

There are examples of the word "hangman" being used in past literature to refer to a woman. In the children's book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the character Jadis, the "White Witch", is referred to as "the Emperor's hangman".
Even endocentric compounds ending in -man have often been considered to have some degree of gender-neutrality (although this usage is in decline).  The following note from dictionary.com confirms both of these points:

The use of -man as the last element in compounds referring to a person of either sex who performs some function ( anchorman; chairman; spokesman) has declined a great deal in recent years.
Comment: @Mr.ShinyandNew安宇: It doesn't technically exclude the possibility of hanging women; it just doesn't explicitly state it. I think it in fact implies it, like a "man-eating tiger" is not implied to discriminate by gender in its anthropophagy.
Comment: This is really interesting and sits well with the fact that in my childhood the letter-guessing game wasn't called 'hangman', but 'hang-a-man'.
Comment: A very nice answer to an undeserving question, the OP specifically asks: `I'm wondering if there's any suitable replacement.`
Comment: @Mari-LouA: Well, I think "no" is a valid answer (that MetaEd already gave, it's true), so I consider my answer to be on-topic. I switched the order of the sections to make the "no" answer clearer.
Comment: Even if _hangman_ is "a person who hangs men" it still lacks gender-neutrality as it excludes the possibility of hanging women. Anyway I think that sense of the word is unlikely, and even if true, unlikely to be accepted given the variety of other _-man_ words.
Comment: You could have started with " 'Hangwoman' just sounds weird" and be done with it.
Comment: "hangwoman" has been used since 1850 https://books.google.com/books?id=x9hmLRpZ9eAC&pg=PA104&dq=%22hangwoman%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwilnq_z_JzTAhVEVyYKHaIiBkMQ6AEINjAE#v=onepage&q=%22hangwoman%22&f=false
Comment: By this analogy though, that tiger should just be called an "eatman".
Comment: @Mr.ShinyandNew安宇: The word "eatman" happens to not exist, but that would be an analogous construction, yes (if the quoted posts by Gąsiorowski are correct).
Comment: Women were not usually hanged I believe. Weren't they burnt instead?
Comment: @Deonyi: I don't know what was usual, but Tripehound's link demonstrates that at least some women were hanged: http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/320758/is-hangman-a-gender-neutral-term/383762?noredirect=1#comment903101_320758
Comment: Ah, my bad. Burning was only for certain offences and was abolished by the end of the 18th century.
Answer: There is no established gender-neutral term for hangman (other than the more generic executioner).
For example, Government of Canada offers comprehensive guidelines for gender-neutral language substitutes. But their guidelines do not consider the word hangman.
A Google Ngram search shows that hangperson is not in print. Even hangwoman is vanishingly rare. You can of course use these terms anyway, as you will undoubtedly be understood.
Comment: There are dozens of examples of "hangperson" or "hangpersons" in print, some of which I cited in my answer.
Answer: Hangperson has been used.
The first use I see is an article titled all too common hangperson Library Association Record, Volume 78 (1976).
Next is The New Yorker Volume 58 (1982):

Offscreen, Control Data has a computer game with the peculiar, if commendably nonsexist, name of Hangperson.

So apparently there was a videogame titled "Hangperson" that New York was praising for not being sexist.
Perhaps the same game is being reference by Electronic Education, Volume 2  (1983):

After choosing a word category and selecting the options of English/Spanish, Spanish /English or mixed vocabulary, the student selects either a hangperson word guess game or a pyramid game. The student is given complete instruction on program use as s/he proceeds.
The games are designed to challenge a student to succeed. Hangperson is the traditional guessing game

See also The Addison-Wesley Book of Apple Software 1984
Then there is a different computer game also titled "Hangperson" mentioned in Science Software, Volume 4 (1988):

Hangperson, a word game designed to foster familiarity with plant physiology terminology

Apart from computer games, Scholars and Personal Computers: Microcomputing in the Human and Social Sciences (1988) seems to discuss computer software for detecting sexist language:

Mailman or hangman" are flagged (substitute mailperson? hangperson?), as is a reference to a husband as "he" which is [at least, so far] proper.

There is also an article titled The Hangpersons of Merdunique Australian Journal of Law and Society (1987):

a number of women from the village of Homme-sur-
  Femme wrote to the Duke, asking whether the profession of hangman -
  or, as they said, hangperson - could be opened to females.

A group consisting of one hundred and fifty men and fifty women
  replied that the occupation of hangperson became a man but not a
  woman …

A group of about a hundred women then wrote to the Duke,
  supporting the women of Homme-sur-Femme and urging that men and
  women be given equal access to all professions, including that of
  hangperson. "Women should not be deprived", they wrote, "of an
  opportunity to acquire any skill possessed by a man".

After conferring long into the night with his Council, the Duke
  issued a proclamation. It said that the Duke accepted the principle of
  equal access to the skilled professions and that henceforward all posts in
  those professions would be open equally to men and to women. It added,
  however, that, since the profession of hangperson had been particularly at
  issue, he was creating, as an interim measure, one hundred and fifty new
  positions of hangperson, which would be open only to female applicants.

One hundred and fifty women were appointed and took a six-month
  training course, in which they became proficient in the skills of hanging,
  drawing and quartering, as well as boiling in oil, beheading, strangling,
  garrotting, cutting off of hands, noses and ears, and the gouging out of
  eyes, not to mention flogging, flaying, racking and the use of
  thumbscrews.

The article "Guinea Pigs" and the Czech Novel "Under Padlock" in the 1970s: From the Modern Absolutism to the Postmodernist Absolute Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature vol. 37,(1983) says:

a college for prospective "hangpersons" is established

The Source of Apathy and Lack of Credibility The Linacre Quarterly: Vol. 55 (1988) says:

physicians are the new hangmen. (Make that "hangpersons".)

The Death Penalty as a Controversy over Social Values Albany Law Review, vol. 54 (1990):

There are countries that refuse to extradite criminals who flee these shores; they will not deliver human beings to the American hangperson.

Alternatively, there is a gender-neutral term in the Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia (1889):

hanger

One who hangs persons, or inflicts the penalty of hanging; a hangman

Similarly, A Dictionary of the English Language originally by Samuel Johnson, and edited by the Rev. H. J. Todd in 1827, second edition, vol. II says:

HA'NGER One who causes others to be hanged
Comment: I stand corrected sir, bravo.
Comment: I agree if you really want a gender neutral term this would be it. Of course the opening line is loaded with connotations... Women never used to hang anyone when the poem was written. Do they even now?
Comment: @Gary "The Story of a Hangwoman" was published June 1883, long before that poem.  https://books.google.com/books?id=iToFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA669&dq=%22hangwoman%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjVmrWj8ZzTAhUBRSYKHfAlCI0Q6AEITTAI#v=onepage&q=%22hangwoman%22&f=false
Answer: There are a few obsolete terms that could be substituted, just for fun (none would be familiar enough nowadays to be clear to the general public). All citations/etymologies are from the Oxford English Dictionary (probably the only dictionary that preserves these very outdated terms, but unfortunately behind a pay-wall):

boie, n. Obs. rare. An executioner, hangman.

Etymology is unclear, but may come from "Old French buie, boye fetter, chain." Latest attestation way back in c.1320.

derrick, n. †1. A hangman; hanging; the gallows.

Apparently derives from the surname of an actual c.1600 Tyburn hangman. This meaning is preserved to some extent in oil derricks and the like, which are hoisting mechanisms. Apparently the term went from being used for the hangman, to being used for the gallows, to being used for any similar structure. A gruesome etymology to consider for anyone using such a machine! Last citation in the OED meaning hangman is in mid-17th century.

ketch, n. The hangman.

Also derived from the name of a notorious hangman, in this case Jack Ketch. The full name was still in current use as a slang term for a hangman at the turn of the 20th century, when this particular OED entry was created, but I think the shorter version fits better with the gender-neutral requirement.
Incidentally, I note that the OED has an entry for hang-woman, with two attestations from the 1880s (one hyphenated and one compound).
Finally, if novel words are of interest to anyone reading this post (I presume the OP's interest has been satisfied), I would propose hangster as somewhat more felicitous-while-simultaneously-ominous (due to the rhyme with gangster) than hangperson. The -ster ending is productive in English, and has a curious history with regard to gender: it was originally a feminine ending but transitioned to gender-neutral and then somewhat masculine, and today is again mostly neutral in usage (e.g. hipsters can be either male or female).
Answer: To add to other responses, I agree that the gender-neutral word would fit well as hanger if hangman is too gender-specific.
I'm surprised that hangestere was not mentioned in any comment or answer, however.

Hangman: public executioner, mid-14c. (mid-13c. as a surname), from hang (v.) + man (n.). As the name of a spelling game, by 1951. Hangestere "female executioner" is found mid-15c. Etymonline

Although, granted, it seems to have lived and died in Middle English.
Middle English dictionary here says:

hangestere (n.) - A female executioner.
c1450 Pilgr.LM (Cmb Ff.5.30)   144:  'At the laste j wole hange hem my self as j haue hanged many an oother.' 'Now,' quod j, 'art thow an hangestere?' 'Ye, certeyn,' quod she.

So, given the word hangestere's existence and hangman's perceived gender, it seems that hanger is related but decidedly neutral in today's English. And perhaps most importantly, it will be understood.
Comment: Oh, excellent, there's that feminine -ster(e) ending! I saw that social media thing, too; if it catches on, I'll probably always associate it with executions now. I think the main drawback to *hanger* is that it's the word, at least in the US, for the mundane things you hang your clothes on.
Comment: "hangster", mentioned by 1006a, is I believe a modernized version of "hangestere"
Comment: @sumelic, yes, you're right- either *hanger* or *hangster* would function well as a modern gender-neutral word for *hangman*. My only concern is that *hangster* is not as well-known.... Googling it brings up primarily social media applications and companies (evidently it's being taken as "one who hangs out with others", rather than "one who hangs others"), or other more slang meanings of variations of *gangster* (like 1006a mentioned, to be fair). *Hanger* has more of a background and usage in the definition desired. But hey, if people start using *hangster*, great!! :)

Is "hangman" a gender neutral term?


Is it possible for an international medical graduate to take their residency and fellowship training in Singapore?

Question: I am graduating medicine in 2 years time.  I am from Indonesia. I tried inquiring what the requirements are, but I have not been getting any straight answers thus far.
Answer: I cannot find anything about fellowship yet. But, about the residency training,
The Singapore government agency says

Enrolment into Training Programmes

...
Graduands from overseas must secure an offer of employment as a doctor from MOHH or a local healthcare institution before they are eligible to apply. ...

For more details, please contact them directly.


How to keep programs from launching maximized?

Question: Every time I launch a program, say firefox, it starts maximized, how can I keep this from happening. Its so ridiculous that they have this as the default.
Answer: Just to flag up that the auto-maximize percentage is now configurable in 11.10 in ccsm (the CompizConfig Settings Manager). Idiotically, it's hard-coded in 11.04 despite there having been issues with what the percentage should be early on (originally it was 60%, people complained, and the answer was to change the value rather than do the obvious thing of making it configurable as this is clearly going to be user- and system-specific). I haven't found a convenient way to back-port the fix to 11.04. (You can always upgrade, of course.)
But on 11.10:

Install ccsm if you don't already have it (bizarrely, it's not installed by default)
Run it
Go to Desktop
Click Ubuntu Unity Plugin
Go to the Experimental tab and you should see this:

Set the Auto-maximize value to 100% to completely disable it, or just to a higher percentage if you like the behavior but the default 75% is the wrong value for you.

Sources:

Bug 754214 (incorrectly -- IMHO -- marked as a duplicate)
This blog post
Answer: To fix this with Unity 2d, do this on the command line:
gconftool -s /apps/metacity/general/auto_maximize_windows -t bool false

Or, launch gconf-editor and change that key to false.
This annoyed the heck out of me, too. :( The fix is different for unity 2d than for 3d unity,
Comment: Oh man! ldrn you found a solution that works perfectly! This whole week you're officially my hero. I could hug you right now.
Answer: Unity was designed to auto-maximize windows if they take up a certain amount of screen space. To my knowledge not every single window does this, but most of them will. Currently there is no way to disable this in Unity 2D, but you can disable grid in ccsm, or you can edit the values to your liking, to avoid this maximization.

Basically, you can disable the top edge (set it to none) to avoid windows auto maximizing.
Comment: Maximus isn't installed. I'm running 11.04 with unity 2D. The auto-maximizing seems to be a default feature of unity. My other computer uses 11.04 with Compiz Unity displays the same behavior. Basically when a window covers a certain amount of the desktop—lets say 80%—the window will jump to maximized every time the window gets re-opened. Even when alt+tab is used.
Comment: @Mood: Oh... I'll update my answer.
Comment: Sometimes when a window is maximized and I use alt+tab to switch windows it doesn't give focus to my selected window. It will show Unity and the apps icon will shake. I have to press the icon to give it focus. I'll give classic mode a try. Shame because I like Unity. The auto-maximizing and the slow animation when I press Super are the only two real issues I have with it.
Comment: Who ever downvoted this... leave a comment when you downvote instead of downvoting and running. It's silly and unhelpful (yes, you give yourself away as the vote and it's not anonymous anymore but at least I know why you downvoted so I can improve. Otherwise it's just infuriating when you downvote a perfectly good answer). This answer might not be needed in 11.10, but 11.04 users still need it - if that was the reason.
Answer: Found this in this thread, tested it, and it seems to be true.

You need to open the app, resize the window so it is below 75% of the screen size, then close the app.
  By default any window over 75% will be maxed when opening. - mc4man

Also, according to the same thread, this behavior can only be changed by editing unity source and recompiling. Not the answer we'd like to hear...
Comment: Thanks! That sure is it. I agree it should not require a recoding.. I did enable resize windows plugin in compiz settings manager and that helped. However at least its a start! Thanks for the reply!
Comment: the resize info plugin sure can help us by showing the size that the window is taking when we resize it. I hope they put that configurable soon (with gconf-editor, for example)
Comment: @bluefoot: They have in 11.10, in `ccsm`, [details](http://askubuntu.com/questions/40571/how-to-keep-programs-from-launching-maximized/70973#70973).
Answer: Install "Advanced Desktop Effect Settings" (ccsm) through the software center and launch it.
Scroll down to "Window Management" and deselect "Snapping Windows" and "Grid". This will disable snapping to the edges of the screen and maximize when you reach the corners.
Further you can decide whether to start windows centered, smart-positioned or if they should always be maximized etc. in "Place Windows" which is also under "Window Management"


Usercard no longer expands while mousing over it

Question: I'm sure at some point we've all noticed while mousing over certain users picture/gravatar that extended information pops open about that person. Mine used to do this, although no longer seems to — just curious why it doesn't anymore.
Answer: For the user-info card to be expanded on hover you need more than 1000 rep, and a somewhat meaningful about me excerpt (more than 50 chars of text). Your about me isn't being recognized as such, so no hover card for you.
Comment: Hmm - was this a temporary bug? I'm seeing user cards when I roll over users with 1k on main sites. Is this a new change on child metas or dig child metas have no user cards in the first place?
Comment: I totally misunderstood the first question, due to the context of things that were happening at that time. I've updated my answers, as this has nothing to do with the top bar. To further elaborate, the user info hover cards feature is behind a site setting that can be turned off for each  individual site, but is currently enabled on all sites, so it should work as long as the criteria mentioned above are fulfilled.


PushVNC/RealVNC: Connection Timed Out error 10060, port 5900 is open

Question: I am testing pushvnc which I believe is a variant on realvnc. On the little domain I have set up here at home, at the win2003 server, logged in as admin, I can connect to a winxp notebook on the domain as long as it's firewall is turned off. However if I turn on the firewall, even with both 5900 and 5800 are open (tcp), the connection times out with error 10060. I don't get it...what else can I do?
Answer: Assuming this fails after you've also tried enabling 5800 and 5900 UDP, you should next define the names of the executables as part of the target XP's firewall profile.
If that still fails, you need to ensure Memory Exeuction Prevenetion is also disabled in the target XP's box.
Also enable FWQ logging at the target XP system to capture successfula nd failed connection attempts the PUSH VNC client is attempting.
iF THAT still fails, then push the VNC paCkage to an XP FW disabled target and use an IP <==> exe utility to model what is happening such as TCPview.exe (go look it up) to model which ports are being used.
Then, create your exemption rule from a the observed ports and used exe's and use that data to create your XP FW exemption ruleset and push it using any method from a regedit or a TELNET session.
XP Firewall is fairly unreliable bugger and it's rule / exemption set should still be considered BETA. Combiend with the fact you're using officially unsupported and freely available VNC for remote access is enough ingredients for a heaping bowl of frustration soup.


Degenerate perturbation theory

Question:
I don't understand the part about turning off the perturbation. What is meant by or what is he referring to when he says "upper" and "lower" states. Why must the "upper" state reduce to a combination of psi0_a and psi0_b. Why isn't it the other way--the lower state reduces to a combination of psi0_a and psi0_b. This entire paragraph is extremely confusing to me and I have no idea what he is referring to by upper and lower states, and why the lower state reduces to a different combination of orthogonal states. can someone please clarify? Everything seems arbitrary.
Comment: Sorry for not using LaTex, I'm not on my PC
Comment: A convenient formalism for dealing with perturbations of degenerate eigenvalues is Kato's perturbation theory. It is presented in A. Messiah  "Quantum Mechanics " volume 2 and of course in Kato's  "Perturbation Theory of Linear Operators ".
Answer: The assumption is that the perturbation will break the degeneracy and there will be some linear combinations of states that diagonalise the perturbation. For a two-level system, one (diagonalized) matrix element will be larger than the other. The linear combination that has the larger matrix element is the upper state and the other is the lower state. Now consider the case where the perturbing potential is multiplied by a variable lambda. As lambda approaches 0, the degeneracy returns. This is what is meant by turning the perturbation off. You still end up with the two linear combinations of the original states, and these are the states that should be used for perturbation calculations. Hence, the next step is to find the linear combinations that diagonalise the perturbation matrix.

Degenerate perturbation theory


How do I stop spam messages?

Question: In my site with Drupal 7 spammers create a new block. What can I do to stop this?
Comment: _Electronic spamming is the use of electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited messages (spam), especially advertising, as well as sending messages repeatedly on the same site._ Once people can create blocks it is no longer spam and you have a bigger problem.
Answer:
Update Drupal to the latest version withing the major. (Drupal 7.43 is the latest for 7 major. https://ftp.drupal.org/files/projects/drupal-7.43.tar.gz)
Delete the users that spam.
If admin (uid 1) account was used to spam, change password. Check if email has been hijacked. If a wrong email is specified for admin user (uid 1), change it to yours before changing password.
If your site allows other users (a social network), check user permissions if they are allowed too much.
If you conclude that your site has in fact been seriously hacked and none above works, bring in a specialist to handle your specific problem.

There is also a walkthrough "Your Drupal site got hacked, now what?" at Drupal.org: https://www.drupal.org/node/2365547

How do I stop spam messages?


The latest turbofan aircraft feature an exposed exhaust cone, does it come with some benefits?

Question: Aircraft like Airbus A320neo/A330neo/A350 series have a visible exhaust cone, which is not visible in the older versions of Boeing 747, Airbus A330/A321/A319 etc. Why is this design preferred over the other?
Image: Exhaust Cone not exposed
Image: Exhaust Cone exposed
Comment: An image of 'visible' and 'not visible'  would be very helpful.
Comment: Welcome to aviation.SE! Does [this question](https://aviation.stackexchange.com/q/37959/62) help?
Comment: Note that on A320CEO the CFM56 engines have outer and inner nozzle and the exhaust cone just barely visible, but the IAE V2500 engines have common nozzle and the exhaust cone is fully inside.
Comment: @skipper44 I've updated the question with Image URL, Thanks for pointing out.
Comment: @Pondlife Thank you! I can't say exactly how, mainly because I'm not an experienced aviation person. I've updated the question with the image URL and when I compare those images, it seems that the engine with exposed/visible exhaust cone may have better bypass ratio maybe?
Answer: The « cone exposition » is a result from nacelle engine design, and the choice to mix flows or not. The two main strategies are called:

Mixed exhaust engine resulting to long nacelle hiding exhaust nozzle and plug.

Separate exhaust engine which is shorter and then allows a view of nozzle component.

The reason to choose one type of exhaust is made by considering overall engine performance (mainly efficiency and fuel consumption), noise but also visual pleasing (for business jet for instance).
Exhaust mixer is generally more efficient (secondary flow is slightly accelerate producing more thrust) and less noisy (primary flow is slow down). They might be also an advantage in material resistance in cooling hot primary flow. See this article for details about advantage of mixed exhaust.
Nevertheless, long nacelle has the overcome to increase weight and drag of the engine and this is worst as the engine is bigger. Note that it is related to turbofan by-pass ratio (BPR). More the BPR is high and bigger the engine diameter is. For commercial aircraft, the trends is to increase more and more the BPR parameter because it is directly correlated to propulsive efficiency. Therefore, there is a kind of « BPR limits » where mixed nozzle benefits do not balance its drawback.
That's why, modern turbofan (high BPR and high diameter) have likely to integrate a separate exhaust nacelle.
Answer: It depends on the airframe/engine combination rather than than newer and older airplanes.
Very generally, P&W have mostly had visible exhaust cones when compared to GE and RR, atleast on widebodies.
See this image of the P&W JT9D on the wing of a 747-200., the RR RB 211 on the wing of a 747-400), and the GE CF6 on the  wing of a 747-400


Why is it not possible to change username on an Exchange account of Mail.app?

Question: I'm trying to set up an Exchange server in Mail.app. The username in the preferences is incorrect, and I can't connect to the server because of that.
There's no explanation in the UI, or any help section to explain.
When I select the "User Name:" field nothing happens. The text is gray, and not editable. The same is true for "external server".
How can you edit this information?
Answer: Maybe this is because you are connected to that Exchange server.
You could try to disconnect from it by taking that account offline (Mailbox -> Online Status -> Take "YourAccountName" offline) and try to edit the account then.
If that does not help, try to delete that account and create it again with the corrected credentials.
Comment: I just had the same problem on Yosemite, but not with Exchange accounts, but normal IMAP accounts. Once added, the account email address itself was not editable. So removing and recreating seems to be the way to go.
Answer: With Exchange I had to add the account using the address I wanted to use (which broke Autodiscover) and then could specify the actual user account when Autodiscover failed. Ridiculous that you can't edit something once added.
Answer: Mail.app uses the user component of your e-mail address as the Exchange username by default. To get through the configuration you can try entering an invalid e-mail address that consists of your valid username and domain, e.g. <exchange_username>@<domain>.
You can then fix your e-mail address manually by editing two fields in ~/Library/Mail/V2/MailData/Accounts.plist

CanonicalEmailAddress
EmailAddress


Why do 70s anime use hatching so much?

Question: Despite 2D animation being sequential still drawings and being a drawn medium such as illustration and comics, it uses the fundamentals of drawing such as line, form, and shape. It also uses drawing techniques like shading, perspective, and foreshortening, and line weight such as thin and thick lines. Hatching has been used in various art forms since, but why do 70s anime use hatching so much? Is there a reason behind it?
Comment: Just like "pixar" doesn't justify the fact they have 50+ technical animators that look for a better way to make "water" animation (even though they've always been animating water), the method to be used is meant for "artistic exploration".
I believe the 70's wanted a similar treatment in Manga and TV, hence it was possible they were "artistically exploring" the breakthroughs in that era.
Comment: It's artistic exploration, alright, it's even used in the 80s, 90s and even in today's anime.
Answer: Hmmmm.... maybe because it's just the Japanese artists' style.
In Japan, it's called "Kakeami".

In manga, kakeami カケアミ is a cross-hatching pattern used to shade objects and backgrounds using lines that form "webs," "nets," ami 網, which are "thrown over" each other, kake 掛け.

Resource:
https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2020/03/kakeami.html?m=1

Hatching, you either love it or hate it as an artist. For some people, it can serve as a soothing doodle technique or become their secret weapon to a beautiful comic or manga page. What exactly is hatching?

Hatching is a drawing technique using lines or linear strokes to create value and texture throughout an image. They don't always have to be straight lines, and they don't always have to be neat and consistent either. There are multiple types of hatching, each providing their own texture that you can add. In comics and manga, it is used both as a shading technique and a texturing one. It's really very versatile!

Resource:
https://globalcomix.com/news/details/277/creator-tips-and-tricks-12-hatching-and-cross-hatching
If this doesn't answer your question, then I'm sorry. I'm only just trying to help.
Comment: In 70s, 80s and 90s anime, hatching is always, usually the regular hatching.

Why do 70s anime use hatching so much?


How long does it take to drink a water bottle in Minecraft?

Question: I'm working on a project in Minecraft, and for me to do it I need to know the exact time it takes to drink a water bottle. Does anyone know?
Comment: What is keeping you from drinking a water bottle and keeping an eye on your watch?
Comment: Also @ScottChamberlain, counting isn't the most efficient way. From memory (I counted *ages* ago), it was 4 seconds. But when I compared the number of times it plays the eating sound, to the **length** of the eating sound - I was a whole second off.
Comment: @ScottChamberlain because I wanted the exact time, not something close to it. Anyone can say 3-4 seconds, but not everybody can say 3.27. Close isn't good enough.
Answer: What better way than to measure from inside the game itself ? None, sir.

(Click to enlarge)
From right to left :

A simple fill clock, running at 20Hz
setblock ~ ~1 ~ air / setblock ~ ~-1 ~ redstone_block
A command block incrementing my timer score if I'm in possession of a water bottle
/scoreboard players add @p timer 1 {Inventory:[{id:"minecraft:potion"}]}
A command block resetting my timer
scoreboard players set @p timer 0
A command block giving me a water bottle
give @p potion

For the experiment I switch to gamemode 0. When I press the button and "drag" away from it, it sets the timer to zero, then gives me a water bottle. The bottle lands in my first free hotbar slot, which I have selected beforehand. This way I start drinking it right away, while the clock counts up. Once I drank it all, the water bottle is replaced by an empty bottle, and no longer triggers the counter. Thus, the timer indicates how long it has taken me to drink the water.
The results over 20 samples were :
Clk   N°
36    1
35    15
34    3
32    1

Barring a slight variation whose cause is unknown, the time to drink a water bottle is 35 * 1/20 = 1.75 seconds.
Edit: the same protocol applied to a standard cooked porkchop has shown similar results.
Comment: Don't you think 1.75 seconds is a little too fast? (Also, to point out; the fastest possible clock is only 10 Hz; it takes a tick to place, another to break.. And since there are 20 ticks in a second, this can only be repeated 10 times in a single second.)
Comment: @aytimothy the fill clock works on a quirk : the world state is not buffered, so both command blocks actually act in the same game tick, at 20Hz. And counting manually, "a bit short of 2 seconds" seems right indeed (try the "mississippi" trick to refrain from counting too fast :p)
Answer: The eating sounds (which are the same for both potions and food) last for approximate 0.5 seconds. However, they are not simply played once.
(Obviously the eating animation lasts for more than 0.5 seconds)
So, when you eat food, it plays 6 times. So, it takes approximately 3 seconds to consume food.
This also applies to potions/bottled water. It plays 6 times. Therefore: It takes 3 seconds to drink water.
Edit: 3.5 seconds (70 ticks), based on evidence in: https://gaming.stackexchange.com/a/191222/75275
Comment: I doubt this answer is exact, because each sound is cut by the next one. You can hear the end of the sound once you finish eating/drinking, so if that counts in the .5 seconds, the total time is actually shorter.
Comment: Agreed. I actually noticed that, but I don't know the exact delay it plays the sound over each other. (It's about 0.2s?)


WebKit for C# 2015

Question: I Wanted to know is there any WebKit port for C# (.NET). As far as I found there is only this WebKit.Net port which was first hosted on Sourceforge and then moved on to Github. But the problem is it was last updated 2 years ago in 2013 which is now old. So is there any other port of WebKit for C# which is in active development ? If not, how can I my self port WebKit for C# ?
Answer: There is a library that called CEFsharp. It is a library that is based on Chromium Embedded Framework, the open source version of Google Chrome, and can be used to embed a full-featured standards-complaint web browser into your C# or VB.NET app.
Answer: You can take a look at DotNetBrowser.
This project is developed actively, there is usually about one release per month. It provides a Chromium-based component that can be embedded in a .NET application.
DotNetBrowser itself is commercial, but there are free open-source and academic licences.
Actually,  I work with the team, which created it ;)
Comment: Can I use it in my software which is free non-commercialized closed-source licensed?
Comment: We provide free licences for open source projects, or academic projects, for which we grant temporary free licences. Other types of licences are commercial.
Comment: You need to request a license for your project, including a link to the project repository.  This prohibits the vast majority of projects, since any project that would actually need the library won't exist without access to the library to begin with....

WebKit for C# 2015


Double Gleam of Authority interaction

Question: If 2 copies of Gleam of Authority are on the board would that mean that +1/+1 counters would bounce back and fourth to infinity?
Comment: You can create links to card by typing [mtg:Card Name]
Comment: Note that [this other question](http://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/23640/using-multiple-gleam-of-authority) is the same as this one, and is already closed as a duplicate of the question I linked.
Comment: So if one creature had a 1/1 counter and a 2nd creature had gleam of authority the 2nd creature would get a counter and a third creature with GOA would also get a counter but the 2nd creature wouldn't get a counter for the third creature getting a counter? If that makes sense lol
Comment: No, Gleam of Authority doesn't add counters (except with its Bolster ability), it just grants +1/+1 without using counters, so if the Gleam of Authority is removed from the creature it loses the +1/+1, whereas if it added counters the creature would not lose them when Gleam of Authority is removed.
Answer: No, it would not.
You misunderstood how Gleam of Authority works. Gleam does not place +1/+1 counters on the creature it enchants, it simply gives it +1/+1 for each counter on other creatures. The difference is that counters remain on the permanent they are placed on while the +1/+1 granted by an enchantment disappears when the enchantment is destroyed.

Double Gleam of Authority interaction


Dual boot encryption and shared data drives

Question: Is it possible to dual boot Ubuntu and Windows 7 with shared data drives and have everything encrypted?  I've read the post here on how to install Ubuntu in a dual boot setup with encryption, but it doesn't mention encrypted shared data drives.
I have things like media files I would like to be able to access from both operating systems.
Comment: You may be able to do that with a third party multiplatform tool such as Veracrypt.
Comment: @MichaelBay If I'm understanding this correctly, VeraCrypt can be installed and run on *nix to access VeraCrypt encrypted drives, but it will not encrypt a *nix partition.  I would have to use other software for that.  This is okay with me though as I don't want to get into the Ubuntu install while in Windows.  I just want to access some shared media storage drives.
Comment: Veracrypt can be used create encrypted **files** (containers) or encrypted **volumes**: *Formats and encrypts a non-system partition, entire external or secondary drive,  entire USB stick, etc.* Either way it does what you want but using just a file is much easier and enough for your goal. Do not over-complicate what doesn't need to be.
Answer: I would suggest not possible or at least not as easy as you would be wanting.  Ubuntu uses a specific set of libraries to mange encryption/decryption when logging in/out of the user account.  This method would not be available in the Windows OS.
To access an encrypted drive in Windows you would need some tools that replicate how Ubuntu encrypts the data as well as having the key available to do the decryption.  Last I saw Windows would not even see a Linux filesystem type let alone be able to read the key from it.
Comment: I don't expect or want to see the Linux installation from Windows.  I want them both to be able to access encrypted storage drives.
Comment: @tubtwo Same thing, some limitations.


Convert high resolution images into PDFs for print

Question: How does one create a single pdf file of several high resolution images to send to printer (For free)? I have been using Canva's very simple process just for this but it sometimes overlaps images during the downloading process.
Comment: It would be easier if you screenshot us ?
Comment: Can I ask you why you want to put the high resolution images in a PDF?  Are you laying them out in a document? What kind of printing method is going to be involved? Digital? Offset Lithography? Please add more details so you can be given a relevant answer.
Comment: Are you making a collage? or one image per page?
Answer: There are web sites such as http://jpg2pdf.com/ which are designed to convert several images to a PDF.
Beyond that, explaining what software you have available may aide in receiving more detailed answers.
Answer: If you have access to Adobe Bridge, that has a feature called 'Output' where you can select a number of images and it will generate a PDF. Plus you get a lot of options on how to layout this PDF and its all automatic. Also works with large folders if you need it to.
Answer: I would recommend you to download and use InDesign's trial version. It won't cost you a penny and you can have 30 days with it. Go to adobe.com for more details and download links.


SQL Server, Allow remote connections to this server option. What does this do?

Question: Can someone clue me in on what this option actually does and what would it affect if I were to suddenly uncheck it in an established production environment?
Comment: Only one way to find out.....
Comment: Did you consult the documentation for that page? https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms180124.aspx
Answer: This checkbox is the GUI way of setting the remote access configuration option,
EXEC sp_configure 'remote access', 0; -- UI checkbox unchecked
EXEC sp_configure 'remote access', 1; -- UI checkbox checked

The feature is labelled incorrectly in the SSMS UI:

Incorrect: Allow remote connections to this server
Correct: Allow remote connections to from this server

and the documentation describes it wrong:

Allow remote connections to this server
Controls the execution of stored procedures from remote servers running instances of SQL Server. Selecting this check box has the same effect as setting the sp_configure remote access option to 1. Clearing it prevents execution of stored procedures from a remote server.

It should be:

Allow remote connections to from this server
Controls the execution of stored procedures from to remote servers running instances of SQL Server. Selecting this check box has the same effect as setting the sp_configure remote access option to 1. Clearing it prevents execution of stored procedures from to a remote server.

Documentation from BOL 2000
SQL Server 2000 was the last time this feature was documented. Reproduced here for posterity and debugging purposes:

Configuring Remote Servers
A remote server configuration allows a client connected to one instance of Microsoft® SQL Server™ to execute a stored procedure on another instance of SQL Server without establishing another connection. The server to which the client is connected accepts the client request and sends the request to the remote server on behalf of the client. The remote server processes the request and returns any results to the original server, which in turn passes those results to the client.
If you want to set up a server configuration in order to execute stored procedures on another server and do not have existing remote server configurations, use linked servers instead of remote servers. Both stored procedures and distributed queries are allowed against linked servers; however, only stored procedures are allowed against remote servers.
 Note  Support for remote servers is provided for backward compatibility only. New applications that must execute stored procedures against remote instances of SQL Server should use linked servers instead.

Disabling the option prevents outgoing connections
If you try to execute a stored procedure on a remote linked server (i.e. sp_addlinkedserver):
EXECUTE [Hyperion].[SharePoint].[dbo].[GetUnreadDocuments]

it will run fine.
If you then disable remote access on the local server:

EXEC sp_configure 'remote access', 0;, or
uncheck "Allow remote connections to from this server"

the same linked stored procedure will fail:

EXECUTE [Hyperion].[SharePoint].[dbo].[GetUnreadDocuments]

Msg 7201, Level 17, State 4, Procedure GetUnreadDocuments, Line 1
  Could not execute procedure on remote server 'Hyperion' because SQL Server is not configured for remote access. Ask your system administrator to reconfigure SQL Server to allow remote access.

Short version

Remote access controls outgoing access to remote stored procedures.

And the documentation incorrectly notes that using sp_addlinkedserver avoids the problem:

This feature will be removed in the next version of Microsoft SQL Server. Do not use this feature in new development work, and modify applications that currently use this feature as soon as possible. Use sp_addlinkedserver instead.

That is false.
See also

How to execute a stored procedure against linked server?
Answer: It is generally confused with remote access to the instance itself, over TCPIP, but that is controlled at the service level. This option is used to control execution of procedures from remote instance/servers. What you would do through a linked servers. It is actually ignored as of 2008 R2, I believe. This is now controlled when you configure the linked server.
Reference:

This topic describes how to configure the remote access server
  configuration option in SQL Server 2016 by using SQL Server Management
  Studio or Transact-SQL. The remote access option controls the
  execution of stored procedures from local or remote servers on which
  instances of SQL Server are running. This default value for this
  option is 1. This grants permission to run local stored procedures
  from remote servers or remote stored procedures from the local server.
  To prevent local stored procedures from being run from a remote server
  or remote stored procedures from being run on the local server, set
  the option to 0.
Comment: So for this option to be turned off or unchecked, there shouldn't be really any repercussions unless someone is executing stored procedures remotely on 2008 R2 or below...strange... and yes, if you got to the 2012 page on up it says "This feature will be removed in the next version of Microsoft SQL Server"
Answer: Enabling this will allow you to communicate with the SQL Server via any medium internally (VPN network) and externally.
Some practical uses are:

Third Party SQL server reporting application like:
https://www.manageengine.com/products/applications_manager/sql/ (You need to enable that checkbox and setup your TCP port using this application)
Multi-server Administration Jobs and S-Procedures

Note that TCP IP configuration is paired with this sometimes.


Why is a racemic mixture formed in the Diels-Alder cycloaddition?

Question: Why is a racemic mixture formed in the Diels-Alder cycloaddition? I note that for both endo and exo products, either enantiomer can be formed. Why is this so?
Comment: In the absence of any other external effects, why would we expect anything but a racemic mixture? You have totally achiral starting materials.
Comment: Both enantiomers are formed because all intermediate states including the end products are energetically identical.
Comment: If you take the diene as a reference plane, the dienophile can "attack" from "above" or "below".
Comment: Hi Zhe, I'm not exactly sure how the mechanism of this reaction would directly lead to a racemic mixture.
Comment: This is a great time for me to point out that I didn't need to even look at what the reaction was or its mechanism. >99.999% of the time, if you start with achiral reactants, you end up with either a racemic mixture or achiral products. In the remaining <0.001% of the time, you might have some amplification like in the Soai reaction, where a small imbalance in the amount of one enantiomer is magnified because it aids in catalysis. This is not one of those cases.
Answer: The concerted Diels-Alder reaction has in principle eight different possible transition states. Depending on the substrates some of them will lead to the same products.
Below you can see an overview of the (non-optimised) transition state arrangements for the reaction of isoprene and propene.

From these images you should be able to determine that the following behave like enantiomers:

(a) and (g)
(b) and (h)
(c) and (e)
(d) and (f)

When you think a little bit longer about it, you will also see that (a) and (h) will form the same product. This is also true for (b) and (g), (c) and (f), as well as (d) and (e).
In total, you will therefore obtain four products two different regio-isomers and their corresponding enantiomer each.


How to delete MongoDB log files

Question: We are using MongoDB 4.0.4 version for our project. The database configuration is done as below:

Created a custom database in MongoDB and the service is running in authentication mode.
Using Windows systems (Server and Desktop both)

We have observed that the MongoDB log file size gets increased over the period and consumes disk space in GBs. Mongo creates a new log file only after the MongoDB service is rebooted. Due to the large size issue, we want to do either:

Control the entries in the log file (We have tried by setting different verbose levels)
Use logrotate command (The command doesn't work on Windows as intended, though we have read it on forums that it supports only Linux)
Delete log files (We can manually delete all log files, but when we try to delete it programmatically through windows service, it only deletes backup files, but the active file gives an error as file in use)

Is there any other solution that we can try? Thanks in advance.
Answer: You need to run db.adminCommand({logRotate: <target>})
see https://www.mongodb.com/docs/manual/reference/command/logRotate/
In deed, the Linux logrotate is much more powerful and flexible. In Windows you have to write your own scripts for cleanup, compression, etc. (e.g. with Powershell) - unfortunately.
You may find some "logrotate für Windows" tools in the internet.

How to delete MongoDB log files


C# serial port class library

Question: I am writing a class library that uses serial port to transfer data across from a device using a proprietary protocol.
It worked fine when I was using as a windows form app.  The moment I converted it to a class lib, it ends after it processes the first bit of data.  Is there some threading that needs to be done to keep it from just returning it to the application that called it?  It needs to make sure all the data from the device has been gathered before returning control to the application which called it.
Here is the full code that is ending early:
<code>using System;
using System.Text;
using System.IO.Ports;
using System.IO;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
using System.Threading;
     using System.Runtime.InteropServices;

     namespace ValidataDex
     {

    public class DexLib
    {

        public Crc16 c = new Crc16();
        public Search s = new Search();

        const ushort polynomial = 0xA001;

        ushort[] table = new ushort[256];

        SerialPort port = null; // create port so it can be used and seen everywhere

        int good = 0;  // is dex good

        public string myblock;

        public delegate void SetTextDeleg(byte[] text);
        public int count;

        public string stage = "initial";
        public string position = "";

        public string crcstuff = "";
        public byte[] crcdata;

        public int lastsent = 0;

        public int audit = 0;
        public char etboretx;
        public int gotenq = 0;
        public int x = 2;
        public int positiondetermined = 0;

        // Dex Commands
        public byte NUL = 0x00;
        public byte SOH = 0x01;
        public byte STX = 0x02;
        public byte ETX = 0x03;
        public byte EOT = 0x04;
        public byte ENQ = 0x05;
        public byte ACK = 0x06;
        public byte DLE = 0x10;
        public byte NAK = 0x15;
        public byte SYN = 0x16;
        public byte ETB = 0x17;
        public string Dex;
        public int rte=0;

        public string CHANGER_IS_SLAVE = "9252130100RR01L01";

        byte zero = 0x30;
        byte one = 0x31;

        public void Data_Received(object sender, SerialDataReceivedEventArgs e)
        {
            SerialPort sp = (SerialPort)sender;
            count = port.BytesToRead;
            byte[] data = new byte[count];
            port.Read(data, 0, data.Length);

            // audit function activated by a file named debug residing in application directory
            string path = System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetName().CodeBase);
            if (audit == 1 || File.Exists(path + @"\debug.txt"))
            {
                x = 0;
                foreach (byte b in data)
                {
                    audit_file(1, "stage:"+stage+" command:"+getdexcommand(b)+" pos det:"+positiondetermined);
                    //                textBox1.Text += getdexcommand(b);
                    x++;
                }
            }

            try
            {
                // wait for device to transmit a DLE to begin DEX
                if (data[0] == DLE || positiondetermined == 1)
                {
                     DexasMaster(data);
                }
            }
            catch (Exception ee)
            {
                audit_file(2, ee.InnerException.ToString());
            }
        }
</code>
Comment: You open the port and close it 4 lines later. Have you considered not closing it if you don't want it to close?
Comment: If you want accurate help, provide the code that is causing the problem; adding mistakes to the post just sidetracks readers..
Comment: Yeah, and why do you attach an event handler to it just before you close it?  The handler will never fire.
Comment: if at all possible, make a simpler repro for the problem.  As Steve mentioned, you might just comment out the Close call and see how it behaves then.
Comment: since this is a class library would that make a difference?  I am calling this from another app.  The port.close wasnt there originally when I tested it.  It was a mistake for this post.
Comment: its now processing more data but still ends before it is completely finished with its task
Answer: The answer was to provide a Thread.Sleep long enough for all the data to process.  After that it worked like a charm.

C# serial port class library


Does chicken need to be covered while cooking in the microwave?

Question: The steam under a cover is a burn waiting to happen. Chicken cooked other ways isn't usually covered, so holding steam around chicken isn't a necessary part of cooking it, and I'm not trying to steam it like it was veggies, so... other than preventing splatters, is there any actual NEED to cover chicken, whether with a lid, Saran wrap, wax paper or anything else, while cooking it in the microwave?
Comment: You need a cover with airholes.
Comment: Could the cover with airholes be wax paper or a paper towel? :-)
Comment: Whatever you are using has to let the steam out
Answer: The primary reason you cover any food in the microwave is to prevent spatters and reduce your amount of cleanup.
However, there are secondary reasons, all of which potentially apply to all foods including chicken:

To retain moisture in the cooked food
To heat more evenly
Even to kill bacteria

The last two deserve more explanation.  First, you may have noticed that microwaves heat food somewhat unevenly.  This is because they have hotspots, only penetrate 2cm or so, and because microwaves heat only the water and fat in the food, not other elements.  This means you rely on secondary heating -- radiation and convection from one part of the food to the other -- in order to heat the entire dish.  By covering the dish as you heat it, you improve convection heating by trapping the moist heat in a smaller area.
The last reason is particularly applicable to chicken, which often carries salmonella bacteria.  When you microwave chicken uncovered, you can end up with cold spots that are barely heated at all, and might still harbor living bacteria.  By covering the chicken, you trap steam that will kill surface bacteria by making sure that all of the chicken surface is sufficiently heated (more on salmonella and microwaves here).
BTW, to reduce burn risk: use a microwave dish cover that has small vents, and simply wait 30s or so before taking the food out.
Comment: That's very useful info, thank you! If it's not necessary to seal all the steam in, is it ok to cover the chicken with wax paper or a paper towel, which are easier and safer to handle than peeling Saran wrap off? And, how can you get an accurate temperature reading if you wait before taking the food out?
Comment: That's really up to you.  I'm just documenting the reasons why you might (or might not) choose to cover it, per your question.  Each of us chooses our own set of cooking tradeoffs.
Comment: The problem is that a amateur has no idea what the tradeoffs ARE in a case like this, lol. Salmonella prevention is something I'm hoping not to leave to guesswork; will a cover of wax paper or a paper towel be sufficient to provide all the heating benefits necessary for all parts of the chicken to be hot enough to kill off salmonella?
Comment: @VeryAmateur if you cover with a lid that sticks out further than the sides, you can lift it off with some hot pads/a clean dishtowel and get the best of both worlds


Can a doctor charge upfront for a procedure, then not complete it without the patient to pay for another procedure?

Question: Suppose that a person paid $18k for a procedure to remove teeth and replace with dentures.  After the extraction and sizing the dentures - the dentist told her that the dentist can't complete the first procedure without a 2nd procedure that costs $9k.  They can't fit the new dentures without removing more teeth.  is that legal?  Does the patient have any claim against the dentist?
Comment: Regarding the additional work, you're entitled to get a second opinion—that is you can go to another dentist and ask them to evaluate whether or not the initial denture work can be completed without the additional extractions. If they are necessary, a dentist may not be able to ethically complete the initial work until the additional extractions are done (eg if doing so would harm your wife in the long run or they're reasonably sure she would need the whole thing done over again soon).
Answer: It is legal for a doctor to charge for each procedure that they perform, so if it is necessary to remove more teeth, the doctor can charge for that additional removal.
A patient may not fully understand what the scope of their contract with the dentist is, thus one might think that they have paid $18K for a "complete solution", irrespective of what has to be done. More likely, the contract is for specific work, and if more work needs to be done, more money has to be paid. When a doctor (mechanic, contractor, lawyer...) gives you a ballpark figure for likely costs given their understanding of the work probably required – based on current knowledge – you should understand that as an estimate, which may be inaccurate given new discoveries. Of course, if a person knowingly and deliberately misrepresents the scope of work required, in order to persuade the customer to sign on with their service, that is probably legally actionable. If you can prove that the doctor actually knew that the scope of work was greater than what he claimed, you could have a legal case. Otherwise, you have the option of taking your business elsewhere, or paying the additional charges.
Comment: Although, one feels that the removal of the teeth before stating that additional work needs to be done seems pretty close to the car mechanic scam where they disassemble your car before stating that more work needs to be done, and that they won't reassemble your car until you cough up more cash.


LG G4 Bootloop--how do I get my pictures back?

Question: My LG G4 just recently went into the dreaded bootloop. I plan on sending it to LG to fix, but my pictures from earlier in the year are on the phone's memory. I also have a ton of music on it, but my pictures are more important to me. I checked in my Google Drive account, and it had automatically backed up on April 11, 2017. However, I cannot for the life of me figure out if or how to view or obtain the backed up information? Anyone have any ideas?
Answer: Unfortunately, Google Drive does not backup your photos directly from your Gallery. It only backups data, like user settings and probably cache, from your various apps. Next time, if you want to backup your photos and videos, use Google Photos which would have eliminated this issue.
It seems that accessing your (and my) phone's backup is not possible through the web version of Google Drive. It is however possible, in the Android version, to see the size of the data being saved and by what app.


What type of mineral is this?

Question: My grandfather found this thing.
Comment: Welcome to Earth Science StackExchange! Please follow the directions in: http://meta.earthscience.stackexchange.com/questions/124/a-guide-for-asking-identify-this-rock-questions to improve the quality of your question and also improve the chances of it getting answered.
Comment: Voting to close for now, but will gladly vote to re-open if the requested details are added.
Comment: Might be an eclogite (red being garnet and green being omphacite)
Answer: The green material indicates the potential presence of copper & the shiny bits on the lower left & mid right of the specimen look metallic, but that could be just glint in the picture.
Also, there are two groves on the lower right which may indicate a soft metal like copper.
If it is metallic it could be native copper or it could be lump of copper from a foundry.
Comment: The two indentations on the right were created by a shovel perhaps, So it would have to be a soft metal and when copper ionizes it will look turquoise in color similar to this sample.So I agree with Fred, Copper. But these are only guesses, follow the link Artexabelta posted so a more persice answer will be generated.

What type of mineral is this?


Guitar and voice practise under moderate noise constraints

Question: Just wondering if there is any other way to listen to my own voice and my guitar through the headphones other than a mixer and a microphones. I live in a small apartment and want to practise quietly. I own a electric guitar and a fender mustang mini amp(one input). Currently, I practise plugging my guitar into the amp and listening it through the headphones. Now I want to practise singing and looking for simple and cheaper method to listen to both guitar and my voice while I practise. I have no intention to record, just want to practise. I already know a mixer and a microphone can do the task, but they are expensive and complicated for me as I am a beginner.
Answer: If you want to hear your voice through the headphones, it's going to be difficult to avoid using a microphone!
You might be surprised at how cheaply you can buy a small mixer with inputs for guitar and mic.  Look at the Berhinger stuff.   Maybe no need to use the Fender amp at all - mixers generally have a headphone output.
Answer: My initial thought was practicing with only one headphone in so as to hear both the guitar and the vocals, but I haven't actually tried it to see if it works. On the other hand,
Practicing unplugged
Do you absolutely need to have the headphones? I was thinking you might actually want to try practicing unplugged (maybe on an acoustic, depending on who you are as a musician) with no headphones at all; that will be a lot quieter, and you'll easily be able to practice singing.
Now, I don't know of any way to get the singing to be quieter in practice besides just not singing too loudly, but for the guitar playing, practicing either unplugged or acoustic will produce the same sound output as playing electric with headphones (from a neighbor's point of view, I mean) while allowing you to more easily hear your own singing voice. It also can do wonders for your guitar technique (this is contested, though; see below), since you really get to listen to your own sound without hiding anything behind distortion or the like. Be careful, though, as playing with an amp is its own skill that also needs practice; it is important to practice with an amp if you want to perform with an amp (gain can really accentuate technical flaws like poor muting technique, for example). Personally, I like practicing both ways.

Some resources:
Honestly, this could be another question entirely, and lots of people have their own varying opinions on this subject. But hey, if you like taking the opinions of strangers on the internet - and you do, because you're listening to me -, here's some debate on the merits and potential issues of practicing electric guitar unplugged:

A blog post warning about the potential consequences of practicing unplugged due to practicing differently than performing: https://forum.troygrady.com/t/warning-practicing-unplugged-can-be-highly-detrimental/6452
John Petrucci (he's kind of a big deal) has spoken before about his opinions supporting the idea: https://www.guitarworld.com/features/john-petruccis-top-3-practice-tips
A discussion debating playing electric unplugged: https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/do-you-practice-electric-guitar-unplugged-is-it-a-good-idea.1843531/
Another similar forum thread: https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1599432
Answer: If you have an iPhone or iPad you can use garage band as a microphone and have your EarPods underneath the over ear headphones plugged into the amp.
This is an odd solution that might seem dumb but if I had no way of acquiring any other equipment this is what I would have done.


need help/tips from trilingual persons

Question: I have a huge problem speaking 3 languages on a daily basis and I need some tips from someone familiar with the topic. I have to speak Greek at home, English and German at work. Sometimes I think I am either stupid or do not have the mental capacity to accomodate all three languages in my head. I switch between English and German at work all the time because we have non German speaking colleagues and I start to stutter because I cannot remember words in a language. The biggest impact is in German which due to the complexity of the language requires me to formulate the exact thing I need to say with the correct gender, declination and grammar before actually speaking. I thought this would have improved by now but I get stuck at trying to remember words sometimes which also makes me stressed. Does anyone have any tips that could help me overcome this problem?
Comment: I guess you'll have to live with the fact that you eventually won't have a first language anymore, but three second languages.
Comment: Your question can probably be better answered on [this SX](https://languagelearning.stackexchange.com/)
Comment: What you experience is not a language learning problem, but caused by stress and task switching. In this case, your tasks are speaking a language. There is a cognitive cost to switching from one language to another. It is as if you had to write a paper, hold a presentation (on a different topic), and homeschool your child all at the same time. It's confusing! And that is what you experience: confusion. All you can do is attempt to reduce the number of times you have to switch between tasks. [contd.]
Comment: [contd.] Do you really have to speak Greek at home? Most immigrant families eventually transition to the country's language. Do you have to speak German at work? Just always speak English. If your confusion increases, change your job to one where you need to speak only one language. And maybe reduce other work related (and private) stress as well. You probably have too many stressors piled on top of each other and are approaching your limit.
Answer: My suggestions, in order of priority:

When you have reading material,  read it out aloud. This helps with flow and will put entire phrases and sentences in your memory.
Record yourself reading out and talking. It's amazing to hear an "objective" recording versus a subjective recollection.  You will find that some things like a bit slower pace of talking don't matter at all, but "umming" and using expletives such as "like" or "ah so" do.
Listen to audio books. There you will get used to how native speakers come across.
Comment: I try to do 1 but not 2 and 3 and these are amazing suggestions. Specially the second sounds really good thank you

need help/tips from trilingual persons


Is it natural to say 'non-standard dialects'?

Question: Does 'non-standard dialects' sound normal(natural)? Aren't all dialects non-standard?
Answer: A dialect is a particular form of a language. Some become adopted as national or regional standards. The dialect of English spoken in the "home counties" between London, Oxford and Cambridge became the standard dialect of British English.
So dialects can be standard dialects, like British English. Or non-standard, like Cockney. What is standard in one place may not be standard elsewhere. Standard American English dialect is non-standard in the UK.


How to run core ruby web application in web server?

Question: I had installed ruby/gem and the server is apache2 running fine.But I try to run a simple ruby project which is built by using Netbeans IDE. How can I run this web project in web browser?
Comment: Ruby is not PHP, but you can run ruby as [CGI scripts](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2245634/setting-up-ruby-cgi-in-apache), FastCGI, WSGI etc.
Answer: While you sometimes still read that, you should not run ruby applications under CGI. The specification is getting old and support for it (especially in the rails world) is ceasing.
Most web frameworks in ruby use Rack which is a generic interface between a webserver and a ruby application. Thus if you write a rack-compliant application (which you do if you use e.g. Rails, Sinatra or Padrino) you can start it in any Webserver offering a Rack-interface.
The probbly most popular one is Phusion Passenger (modrails) which is a module for either Apache or nginx and integrates into the webserver. It should be noted though that it only runs on Linux/Unix systems, not Windows.
Popular alternatives are Thin and Unicorn. These servers are typically run behind a front-end webserver like Apache or nginx. The frontend-webserver delivers static files (CSS, images, ...) and forwards dynamic requests to the backend-webserver (thin or unicorn). You can find many guides on google if you search for "Apache thin ubuntu" (or similar).
And as a side-note, Mongrel shouldn't be used anymore for new deployments as it isn't really maintained anymore and causes many issues with newer framework versions.
Comment: +1 for Phusion Passenger, just spend some time on figuring out how to setup and its almost magic


If I give "Contact: View All", will that give users access to every account as well?

Question: If I give a profile "Contact:  View All", does that automatically enable users in that profile to see all Accounts as well, if the Contact is 'Controlled by Parent'?
Comment: Ownership is driven by 'Controlled by Parent' so contact will not have ownership and Account will govern the ownership. Where as visibility is governed at profile level.
Answer: The simple answer here is no. When it comes to Controlled By Parent what ever access is giving to the user on the parent(Account) will automatically be giving for the child(Contact), but you can increase that access on the child without increasing it on the parent.
Comment: But *only* if it's controlled by parent. If it's set to any other mode, then it would give account access because of [implicit sharing](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.draes.meta/draes/draes_object_relationships_implicit_sharing.htm).
Answer: Thank you both @cmmoutes13!  I logged a case with SFDC and they said the same, that "Account:  View All" is not automatically granted for profiles with "Contact:  View All" but those in the profile will have access to any account associated with any contact.   If the account has no contact, those in the profile will not be able to view the account.


Can Byronic heroes be funny?

Question: I'm learning about the different hero archetypes. As far as I know, Byronic heroes are charismatic, passionate, and flawed, among others. But can they be humorous? I can't think of any examples off of the top of my head from books or popular culture, so I'm not sure whether having a sense of humor fits that archetype.
Comment: Related: [What is a Byronic Hero?](https://literature.stackexchange.com/q/341/17)
Answer: The pure Byronic archetypical characters, such as Byron wrote, are noted for their sullen, defiant, arrogant, passionate, miserable, and withdrawn character.  In particular, self-obsessed and lacking a sense of perspective -- which makes it difficult to see the humor in things.
It is possible to imagine leavening the character with a sense of humor, albeit a dark, sardonic one.  However, even that much would result in a character that could be a Byronic hero but not an archetypical one. And too much would start to make him not one at all (though he might have commonalties).
Humor is a coping mechanism.  Byronic heroes do not have good coping mechanisms.
Comment: Good explanation. To explicate, the Byronic hero can be sardonic, but it's essential that the reader take them seriously and find them alluring/interesting despite their dark or threatening nature, which precludes casting them in a comedic light. Furthermore, the Byronic hero emerged from the Romantic era, which generally eschewed levity for intensity, so it's pretty hard to separate the concept from the broader aesthetic movement.

Of course, the Byronic hero is itself a broader cultural influence, but a Byronic hero can't play such a dominant role in a work without a suitable tone.
Comment: How would you fit _Don Juan_ into this?  Is the title hero of Byron's magnum opus (so says Wikipedia) a Byronic hero?  Even if Don Juan the character is not humorous, _Don Juan_ the poem is.
Comment: @kimchilover  Don Juan himself really does not fit the type.  Manfred is more like it.

Can Byronic heroes be funny?


Why did Lord Balarama not took a participation at any side of in the Kurukshetra Battle in Mahabharata?

Question: Lord Krishna fought on the behalf of Pandavas and his army fought on behalf of Kauravas. But why Lord Balarama did not fight on behalf of any side?
Comment: Related: [Why did Balarama favor Duryodhana?](https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/q/562/1049)
Answer: why Lord Balarama did not fight on behalf of any side?
The answer is given by Shree Ved Vyasa In Shreemad Bhagavatam . He decided to stay neutral in the war  to avoid an awkward situation .

श्रुत्वायुद्धोदयमं राम: कुरूणां सह पाण्डवै : |
  तीर्थाभिषेकव्याजेन मध्यस्थ: प्रययौ किल || SB 10.78.17||
śrutvā yuddhodyamaḿ rāmaḥ kurūṇāḿ saha pāṇḍavaiḥ
  tīrthābhiṣeka-vyājena madhya-sthaḥ prayayau kila
Lord Balarama then heard that the Kurus were preparing for war with the Pandavas. Being neutral, He departed on the pretext of going to bathe in holy places.

Purport - Both Duryodhana and Yudhishthira were dear to Lord Balarama, and so to avoid an awkward situation He departed. Furthermore, after killing the demon Viduratha, Lord Krishna put aside His weapons, but Lord Balarama still had to kill Romaharshana and Balvala to finish relieving the earth of her burden of demons.


How to Install git in google compute engine?

Question: I used bitnami stack to setup a new vm instance on Google compute engine.
The stack had prestashop preinstalled with it. I would like to pull prestahop code localy, make changes and push live.
Should i install git on the instance manually?
In google console there is an option to connect a repository with github repository, this only works for google engine, not for compute?
How can i install git or use any other service google provides for this instance and edit existing code?
Answer: I actually have a similar setup.  I installed Bitnami's Redmine VM on google cloud compute.
Most Bitnami VMs come with git installed, but not all. So try this:
Login to your Google Cloud Instance.
then run (omitting the $, of course):
$ which git

should display something like
/usr/bin/git

if not, run:
$ sudo apt-get update

Allow the update to run. Then run:
$ sudo apt-get install git

Allow the install to run.  Now running:
$ which git

should return something like:
/usr/bin/git

Now, if you don't yet have a repository setup remotely go do that at www.github.com, www.bitbucket.com, or whatever service you use.
Now, go to /opt/bitnami/apps/[app-name]/htdocs on your VM:
$ cd /opt/bitnami/apps/[app-name]/htdocs

Then:
$ git init
$ git add .
$ git commit -m "initial commit"
$ git remote add origin <URL_TO_YOUR_REPO>
$ git push -u origin master

Now your instance files should be in your repo.  You should now be able to clone and change locally, and pull changes on your Google Cloud VM.
Hope this helps. Good luck.
Comment: You may need to do some git configuration. See [Git Configuration](http://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Customizing-Git-Git-Configuration).
Comment: Bitnami Prestashop stack didnt had git installed. I installed in manullay but the rest worked like charm!
Comment: You are right. Not all Bitnami VMs come with git installed, I noticed this in an OSQA VM I was testing out the other day.  I have edited my answer to remove that remark.


Samsung Printer installation

Question: I downloaded Samsung printer file but I don't know how to install samsunginstaller.tar.gz by using GUI interface please guide me.
Comment: Probably you won't be able to use any "GUI Interface" (FYI, a pleonasm). The first thing to do is extract that file which should result in a directory and inside it try to find a "readme" or similar with instructions. Then edit your question pointing out the steps you were unable to perform, if any.
Comment: Just in case you run the install.sh and get the printer installed, but it does not work - you need to enter the cups configuration http://localhost:631 and add it again - for some reason the installer adds it, but id does not work.
Answer: I just got this to work on Ubuntu 16.04 with Cinnamon Desktop.  I was installing a Samsung ML-2850D attached to a network print server (port L1).
The universal printer driver I downloaded was from Samsung at: http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/model/ML-2850D/XEU
On that page under "Useful Software" there is a "Samsung Printer Software Installer" with pictures of a user friendly, gui-based, all-in-one installation wizard, but if you select download from an Ubuntu PC you will get a tar file that contains a bash script installation of the driver with no README or explanation.  So I share your pain.
I sudo executed the "install.sh" script in my home directory using the terminal interface.  When asked, I opted to allow it to "automatically" configure my firewall (no idea), and the script completed successfully.  I discovered that the script does not actually install the printer.  It may do something firewall-ish, who knows, but it does put a load of PPD files in /opt/samsung/printer/share/ppd/ directory with names in the format: Samsung[whatever-model-series].ppd.  So pretty easy to figure the one you want.
You can then use Cinnamon's print utility (or I imagine Unity or Gnome, etc) to add your printer.  I added a new Network Printer.  Selected LPD/LPR Host or Printer. Under host put in the LAN IP address and under Queue put (in my case) L1.
On the next screen I indicated that I would supply the PPD file and then browse navigated to the /opt/samsung/.... file with the appropriate name.
This worked for me, and I can even control the printer through a browser with http://localhost:631/printers/ .
You might wish to install the Samsung SmartPanel also.  It is a GUI Applet thing that has printer controls and a link to order supplies and such.
Answer: Most probably there will not be a graphical process of installing the drivers.
The file that you mentioned is an archive. You need to extract from it the contents (in GUI or in CLI).
In most of the cases in the files extracted will exist a file called install.sh that you will need to execute. For this you will need to:

open a terminal
navigate to the directory where you have extracted the archive
execute sudo ./install.sh
follow the install process and answer the questions according to you needs

At the end the printer should be directly available.
If not you can try to add it manually from GUI or from CUPS. CUPS is the printing server and you can access it by writing http://localhost:631 in your browser.
Good luck!

Samsung Printer installation


How to add custom search engine to chrome?

Question: It allows to add custom "Site Search", but not "Search Engines".
It only allows to choose default from the predefined set of engines, but not to add a new one.
So, it's impossible?
Answer: It only allows to choose default from the predefined set of engines, but not to add a new one.
Not so. Use the following procedure:

In Chrome, click the menu button in the upper-right corner
Select Settings
Select Search engine in the left pane
Click Manage search engines on the right
Under Keyboard shortcut, select whether you want to use the Space or Tab key or just the Tab key (1) when using the keyword you set up
for your custom search engine.
Click Add to the right of Other search engines to start creating your custom search engine.
Open a new tab and go to the site for which you want to create a custom search engine. For example, we're going to set up groovyPost as
a custom search engine.
Click the Search button on the site, type a search term, and press Enter. It doesn't matter what you search for.
Select the URL in the address bar and copy it.  NOTE: By default, Chrome doesn't display the full URL in the address bar but selecting
it and copying it will copy the full URL. You can also choose to
always show the full URL in the address bar.
To create the URL needed for the custom search engine, replace the search term with %s. For example,
"https://www.groovypost.com/?s=windows+11" becomes
"https://www.groovypost.com/?s=%s".
Now go back to the Settings tab—the Add search engine dialog should be open.
Enter a name for the search engine in the Search engine box. This name displays when you use the keyword to activate the search.
Enter a keyword you want to use for the search engine in the Keyword box. This will be what you type to activate the search.
In the URL box, paste the URL you copied from the site, changing it as described above.
Click Add.

Source: How to Add Custom Search Engines in Google Chrome
Note that the above source link includes screen shots covering the process.
Comment: I take it that "Other search engines" is now the "Site search". You can add a new entry in "Site search" (like Bing or Google) and set it as default search engine.
Comment: My version of Chrome doesn't have a "Add" button and no "Other search engines" as described in step 6.
Comment: Yes, you need to add it under site settings first, click the three dots ... then add as default ... a bit unintuitive ...
Answer: This answer attempts to visually clarify the steps in 2024 for any custom search engine. Additionally, I walkthrough the steps to apply this particularly to a custom Programmable Search Engine.
TL;DR: Site searches marked as default become Search engines.

Click the kebab icon in the top right corner of the browser, then click Settings.

Select the Search engine tab in the menu on the left.

Then click Manage search engines and site search.

Scroll down if needed (you probably have more Search engines than just 'google.com'), and click Add next to the Site search heading.

The following Add search engine prompt will appear:

Under Search engine, enter any nickname you like. For this example, I will use 'Custom'.
Shortcut is a required field, but won't be needed if you intend to set the new search engine as default. This field accepts both the URL format (e.g, 'custom.com', note this will override the true URL) or the @<token> format (e.g, '@custom'). I will use the latter.
The final URL with %s in place of query entry is dependent on the query parameters used by your intended site. See steps 7-10 in @DavidPostill's answer/the link there for how to find where to put the '%s' in the URL. Short example would be duckduckgo.com/?q=%s. Again, this is search engine specific and thus not generalizable (must determine in each case), although there are common formats.
Once added, under the Site search heading, click the kebab icon next to the new entry and select Make default.

All searches in the Chrome browser will now passed through the custom search engine.
NOTE: if back on the Search engine page of the Chrome settings, you reselect Google as the Search engine used in the address bar instead of your custom search engine, you must go back into the Manage search engines and site search settings and Make default again since your entry will disappear as an option in the Search engine used in the address bar prompt.

To build out the example, I will use a custom Programmable Search Engine (need a Google account). These steps assume you have not yet clicked Add in the Add search engine box from the steps above. From the page I just linked, click Add.

For consistency, I will name this engine 'Custom'. In this example, I only want to filter out certain domains, so I will select Search the entire web, turn on Image search, then click Create.

You should see a success page like follows. Click Customize from this prompt.

To filter out a website from search results, click the Search Features subheader under the Overview header in the menu bar on the left. Make sure not to confuse this button with the Search Features header just below it.

From here, any sites can be blocked from search results by clicking Add next to the Sites to exclude header.

For example, if I want to block the entire site techtarget.com from being included in my search results, I would enter as follows:

Now click on the Basic subheader under Overview in the menu bar on the left. The Public URL will be modified for query parameters. Copy the Public URL into the URL with %s in place of query box and append the following characters: '&q=%s'. Click Add (and follow Make default step described above). My final result looks this (I greyed out my specific token):
Answer: Solved by scrolling down on "Inactive shortcuts" and found search engine i wanted there, not sure how to get it there though, clicked activate, that made it move to "Site search" and when pressing the three dots now i could press "Make default"
This after i tried "Add" next to "Site search" but when clicking 3 dots next to it after adding it the "Make default" was greyed out,
Also the other answer provided here does not work since as can be seen from the screenshot of original question there is no "Other search engines" for point 6.
Only scrolled fast though this article so haven't read it in full but got pointers from it:
https://www.xda-developers.com/how-to-change-default-search-engine-google-chrome/
Answer: Use the "Add" button you see below in the "Site search" section. It works, alas a bit confused UX.
Ok in my case, my default Google address bar search is faulty and always take me to the "GSC" version (less powerful) than the normal one. So I need to edit or fix the existing Google query URL.

And yes, you won't be able to directly edit query URL in the "Search engines" section above (grayed out) nor has the Add button. Just use the Add button below in the "Site search section"

And here is a catch, if you want to re-add the "Google", you cannot name it the same, so use some alternate name instead.
The newly added search engine will stay below in the "Site search" section. Now click the three dots and "make default", it will pop to above section.

DONE
(Note to answer reviewer: although my answer is similar to David's, I want to directly explain OP's problem of having no Add button and being not able to edit the search engine entries, and my use-case is different that I want to edit/fix the faulty Google search URL which is grayed out and cannot edit like in OP's screenshot. So I think it deserves to be a new answer.)


The exterior angle of a regular polygon is $40$ degrees, how many sides does it have?

Question: I have used the formulae $(n-2) \times 180^{\circ}$ and I have tried to work in algebra but I just can't do it
Answer: Exterior angles (in a regular polygon) add to 360°. So you would do $360/40$ to get an answer of 9.
Answer: That is not the fastest solution, but your $(n-2)\times 180^\circ$ is the sum of the interior angles.
Since the polygon is regular, each interior angle is therefore  $\dfrac{n-2}{n}\times 180^\circ$.  This should be equal to $180^\circ - 40^\circ$ so you can write an equation and solve for $n$.
Answer: A regular polygon with an exterior angle measure of 40 degrees has nine sides. Every polygon's exterior angle sum equals 360. So 360/40 equals nine.


Behaviour of duvet covers in washing machines

Question: When you put a duvet cover in a washing machine without buttoning it up any other items of bedding (e.g. pillow cases) inevitably end up inside it. Instinctively, I would think that the opposite would happen (although I have no rigourous basis for believing this) due to the contents of the duvet cover being pushed out of it as it rotates. Why does this (to me at least) counter-intuitive behaviour occur? (Or are my findings not reproducible?)
Comment: I think it's statistical: items flop all over, but once inside the cover (happens to me with fitted sheets) they can't get out again.
Comment: @CarlWitthoft But surely something is as likely to move into the duvet as out of it (unless it is completely full)?
Answer: From the Dutch National Science Quiz 2006 (my translation):

Question 14: You put a duvet cover together with smaller laundry in the washing machine. Why, at the end of the program, all smaller laundry has twisted itself in the duvet cover?
Due to the left-and-right cycling of the drum
Washing machines predominantly cycle one way. To loosen the laundry, the drum sometimes abruptly turns the other way. Due to this opposite movement, suddenly a few liters of water bumps very forcefully into the laundry, and therefore the opening of the duvet cover will come to lie completely open. Smaller laundry falls in one piece at a time. As soon as the machine goes into centrifuge mode, the smaller laundry pieces are being pushed in further. It is very difficult for laundry that is in the duvet cover to get out.

NB: The false answers were (my translation):

Because small laundry pieces are more sensitive to water vortices than large items
Due to the area (size) difference between the duvet cover and smaller laundry

I would like to add, from personal experience, that it is very rare that all smaller laundry ends up in the cover. Sometimes half of it will get in there, and sometimes just the odd sock. But perhaps that's just me and my machine.
Comment: The Google Dutch-English translation was understandable and might be a reasonable starting point.
Answer: Perhaps: once the duvet gets packed by items by chance, the friction in between the items and due to inside of the duvet hampers the return of the items to the outside. It is a "trap" for  items:-)
Comment: Some fish netting works as such a trap.


Is "Speedy" really Thea's code name?

Question: In the final episode of the 3rd season when Oliver says "I think I already told everyone to call you Speedy", I thought he was being a wiseass. Yet in the 4th season I've frequently heard him call her that when they've "suited up". Is this really the handle Thea's been going by?
Answer: Yes, her codename is really Speedy. In-universe, it's Oliver's old nickname for her, from when they were kids:

Oliver: No one's called me [Ollie] in a while, Speedy.
Thea: Worst nickname ever.
Oliver: What, always chasing after me as a kid? I thought it fit pretty well.
Arrow Season 1 Episode 1: "Pilot"

Out of universe, it's a reference to the legacy Green Arrow sidekick. Speedy was one of Roy Harper's many aliases; along with "Arsenal" (the one they ended up using on Arrow) and the incredibly imaginative "Red Arrow".
Comment: In 3x23 (My Name is Oliver Queen), Thea suggests that they call her Red Arrow, and Oliver says that he told everyone to call her Speedy.
Comment: Oliver also refers to Roy as Speedy. He supposedly does it to constantly remind Roy of Thea so that he doesn't go into a berserker rage.

Is "Speedy" really Thea's code name?


MapBasic | Objects Combine

Question: Can anybody tell me how I can combine the geo objects of one relation to one single object? I reckon the Object Combine function is right one, but I have no idea how to specify the code...
Comment: I'm not really sure I understand your question. What do you meaa by "one relation"? Have you tried doing what you want to, thru the interface in MapInfo Pro with the MapBasic window open? This could produce some helpful MapBasic code
Answer: Have a look at the MapBasic Reference guide.  Pages 150-151 contain the syntax for the Objects Combine function.  You might also find the Objects Combine statement useful.  The syntax for that is found on pages 465-466.
You may also want to have a look at the Create Object statement which is on page 221.  Specifically, Create Object As Union.

MapBasic | Objects Combine