What Is The Most Effective Way To Earn Money Without Raiding Villages?

Question: I need to know what the most effective way to earn money is in Mount and Blade for a brand new character is.  I don't want to raid villages however and wouldn't like to have to lose honor for it.  Thanks in advance.
Answer: While I agree that tournaments one of the fastest ways of making quick cash, you are not guaranteed to win and you also need 500+ to bet 100 each round. If you find a tournament that suits your combat style go for it.
However there are other ways of making money.
In one game I decide to play as a merchant, I accepted all the quests to collect taxes for lords, you can make like 6K from each. But when I collected the taxes I didn't bring them to the Lord strait away, I invested it buying goods and building factories usually the one that cost 10K. When I made enough profit I payed back the Lords.
You could do the same but invest in armor and weapons.
You will lose opinion with the towns and villages, -5 opinion, when you collect the taxes.
Comment: Feudal embezzlement. I love it.
Answer: You can earn a lot of money by finding tournaments and entering them.  The tournament reward is usually not too great, but its possible to earn a few thousand denars by betting on yourself.  If you place a max bet on yourself each round, you can earn up to 4000.
To find tournaments, go to a city and ask the arena master if there are any.
Comment: It should be noted that once you've won a couple tournaments in a row, the payout for betting on yourself decreases.  However, it resets to max as soon as you lose.  Therefore, if you notice the return for betting on yourself is lower, cancel the bet and lose (you can stick around to the final round and lose there if you want to farm up your combat skills, or just lose in the 1st round to save time, either way the rewards will be fully reset).
Answer: I never raid villages.  The penalties to your honour, relationship with the village and relationship to the lord who owns the village mean its just not worth it.  Whatever story line you imagine for your character, if you want to become an independent king at some point then you're going to need lots of honour and high relations with a lot of lords.  That's tough if you've spent your time up till then raiding villages.
Yes tournaments are a good way to make money (and win renown and nice equipment) but for a brand new character tournaments are going to be pretty challenging.  How you want to make money will ultimately depend on you character. There are quite a lot of threads out there about making money so you could google those for tips but I'll give my 2 cents below.
The first thing some people will do is sign up as a freelancer in a lord's army.  You get a salary and a little experience and if there's a battle then you get extra experience and maybe some loot.  Personally however I find its not worth it because you'll spend a long time sat in a castle/city or wandering around the map.
I prefer to strike out on my own, find a small group of looters, defeat them and then sell the loot and prisoners.  Even as a new character on foot that should be possible with a small group of looters (3-4) straight away.  With a horse you should be able to take on 10-15 and as a horse archer (my current character) I went out and slaughtered a group of 23 immediately.
Repeat the above, tackling gradually larger and tougher bandits and eventually deserters.  Personally I like to do this on my own.  As soon as you have companions or troops you get a lot less experience and loot.  Once you've got a decent pile of cash you can start buying productive enterprises.  These are better than buying land early on.
At this point you've also probably levelled up a few times so you might consider entering a tournament.  The new style tournaments, such as those in Floris, aren't knock out and you can make a lot of money betting on yourself without actually winning the tournament.  Its at this point that I usually do the merchant quest you get at the very beginning.  Hire some peasants so you have 5 men, talk to the merchant and then disband them and tackle the kidnappers lair on your own.  You'll get a lot of good loot.
Once I can reliably win tournaments I transition from bandit hunter to professional tourney fighter.  Of course if I come across some juicy bandits on my way to the next tournament I'll take them.  Likewise bandit lairs give a lot of loot and at this point you should be able to take most of them alone.  I really enjoy the freedom of this phase, you can go where you want, lords won't be attacking you and you're capable of outrunning or outfighting pretty much all the bandits out there.
By now you should be level 20-30 which means you're not really a brand new character anymore.  I haven't mentioned trade because I don't do it (I find it boring) but I hope that answers your question!
Comment: I'm pretty sure signing up as a freelancer isn't an option in vanilla; are you playing Floris? Answers that require a mod should, at minimum, be clearly marked. Typically they're considered entirely off-topic, but I think that's a bit of a case-by-case, game-by-game decision.
Comment: If you're really interested in helping the OP why not just edit the answer to improve it by including a sentence about needing a mod?

Fair enough I should have flagged that Warband doesn't have the freelancer feature, that you need the Freelancer Mod if you want to be a freelancer in Warband and that the Freelancer Mod is incorporated into most of the other major Warband mods.

However:
a) The OP is talking about Warband, not Vanilla.
b) Freelancing (and the need for a mod) is 1 paragraph in an answer 8 paragraphs long.  This is hardly entirely off topic.
Answer: Good options

At the very start your best bet is fighting bandits/looters and selling their equipment. You will probably even be able to fight the smallest parties all alone by kiting them with a crossbow on horseback. However, the sums you get are very small compared to what you will be able to receive later.
When you get some combat stats to win the tournaments, some money to risk on bets etc, you may try your luck. I don't suggest going higher than 4 at any single combat skill because you will need those valuable points for Charisma to increase party size and decrease party wages and Intelligence to train soldiers quickly and persuade lords to join you. Tournaments will get you both money and renown, and the rate will be high at the beginning. However, the bonuses will quickly diminish if you become a famous and renowned fighter.
Quests -- when you are more or less established, but not a steamroller to everything yet. This is most important because you get reputation with quest givers, especially villages. Choose which quests to do and which to ignore -- for example, I don't like quests about interfering in a conflict unless you can settle it, because you lose in total. I don't take herd quests either, because it's very hard to move it in vanilla, etc.
Dyeworks in every town. Just steady income. Takes some time to pay off, but once you get some extra money, put it here. Begin with the cities with which you don't plan to have a war soon, otherwise, your income will be arrested and never pay off. :)
Get towns. One town gives you around 10 thousand a week, two towns yield around 15 thousand. Do not accept castles or villages: they give very little income, but game mechanics punish you for having too many fiefs.

Not-so-good options

Trading is an option if you have a trader in your party, but for me it becomes boring quickly, plus you probably need skill points for something better for end-game than Trade. The biggest problem, however, is that merchants have very limited amounts of money, so the scale of your trade factory is going to be very limited. Once you will find yourself in a situation that you just can't sell all the things you bought where the price is highest... So don't go for it unless you roleplay a trader.
Raiding villages. Yes, if you have a good looter in your party, the amount of money you get is tremendous. Or it may seem so. But: 1) You will conquer this land at some point, and the economy will be ruined. 2) Your relationships with the village, its lord, and the faction will be ruined 3) Your honor will drop, which you will need later. So don't do it unless you roleplay a looter.
Looting -- when you are established already. It fills your inventory with useless things and slows down your army. The opportunity cost is just too high.


Blowed or batted over sprayfoam

Question: I have 3 in of spray foam on ceiling ( not a hot roof ) and 2 in on the walls of my garage can I add batted insulation to the walls before I Sheetrock them or can I blow or put batted on top of my spray foam in the  Attic .
Answer: Yes, just be sure not to squish or compact the batt or loose insulation. Part of it's insulating value is it's air space, or maybe 'fluff' would be a better word. If you compact it, you'll lose some of it's insulation value.
That is just generally speaking though. No need to be anal about it, just generally try to keep it loose.

Blowed or batted over sprayfoam


The integrated form of the anomalous nonconservation equation in two dimensions

Question: I have questions in the section 19.1 of Peskin and Schroeder.

\begin{equation}
\psi =
\begin{pmatrix}
\psi_+  \\
\psi_- \tag{19.7}
\end{pmatrix}
\end{equation}

The subscripts indicates the $\gamma^5$ eigenvalue.
Below we'll show that there is situtions where the axial current conservation law
$$ \partial_{\mu} j^{\,\mu 5} =0 . $$
is violated, and the integrated version of
$$ \partial_{\mu} j^{\,\mu 5} = \frac{e}{2\pi} \epsilon^{\mu\nu}F_{\mu\nu}  \tag{19.18} $$
holds. where the totally antisymmetric symbol $\epsilon^{\mu \nu}$ is defined as $\epsilon^{01}=+1$ on page 653.

Let us analyze this problem by thinking about fermions in one space dimension in a background $A^1$ field that is constant in space and has a very slow time dependence. We will assume that the system has a finite length $L$, with the periodic boundary conditions.

So $A^1(t,0)=A^1(t,L) $, and also $ \psi(t,0)=\psi(t,L) $.

the single-particle eigen-states of $H$ have energies
  \begin{alignat}{2}
\psi_+ : \quad \quad & E_n && =+(k_n -eA^1), \\
\psi_+ : \quad \quad & E_n && =-(k_n -eA^1). \tag{19.36}
\end{alignat}

Now we consider the slow shift of $A^1$.

If $A^1$ changes by the finite amount
  $$ \Delta A^1 = \frac{2\pi}{eL} \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad (19.37)$$

Where $ \Delta A^1 \gt 0 $.

the spectrum of $H$ returns to its original form. In this process, each level of $\psi_+$ moves down to the next poston, and each level of $\psi_-$ moves up to the next position,
  The occupation numbers of levels should be maintained in this adiabatic process. Thus, remarkably, one right-moving fermion($\psi_+$) disappears from the vacuum and one extra left-moving fermion($\psi_-$) appears.

So $$ \quad \Delta N_R=-1 ,\quad \Delta N_L=1 $$.

At the same time,
  \begin{alignat}{2}
\int d^2x \frac{e}{2\pi} \epsilon^{\mu\nu}F_{\mu\nu} &=&& \int dt dx \frac{e}{\pi} \partial_0 A^1 \\
&=&& \frac{e}{\pi} L(-\Delta A^1) \\
&=&& -2 \tag{19.38}
\end{alignat}

where I've rectified a misprint on the LHS of the first line.

where we have inserted (19.37) in the last line. Thus the integrated form of the anomalous nonconservation equation (19.18) is indeed satisfied:
  $$ \Delta N_R - \Delta N_L = \int d^2x \frac{e}{2\pi} \epsilon^{\mu\nu}F_{\mu\nu} . \tag{19.39} $$

For $ \Delta N_R - \Delta N_L =-2 $.
From
$$ \int d^2x \partial_{\mu} j^{\,\mu 5} =\Delta N_R - \Delta N_L \tag{19.30} $$
we obtain
$$ \int d^2x \partial_{\mu} j^{\,\mu 5} = \int d^2x \frac{e}{2\pi} \epsilon^{\mu\nu}F_{\mu\nu}. $$
Question 1:
I've checked all the calculations leading to (19.38).
But I cannot understand the minus sign in the second anf the third line of (19.38).
Where does it come from?
Question 2:

In computing the changes in the separate fermion numbers, we have assumed that the vacuum cannot change the charge at large negative energies. This prescription is gauge invariant, but it leads to the nonconservation of the axial vector current.

It follws that if the vacuum changed the charge at large negative energies, this prescription would not be gauge invariant.
How come? Please would you explain?
Answer: The answer to your first question is that $A_1$ = -$A^1$. So it is your first equation in (19.38) that is incorrect.


Is "To be not invited is sad" grammatical?

Question: I know that "Not to be invited is sad" is a grammatical sentence in English. How about "To be not invited is sad"?
Comment: It might be grammatical, but what is the intent? I find the whole sentence clumsy, and the use of "sad" in this way is awkward, to say the least. With more context, better alternative sentences might present themselves.
Comment: This question may be of relevance: http://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/26520/does-placement-of-not-have-significance-not-to-be-verb-to-not-be-verb-to-be
Comment: I wouldn't go so far as to call "Not to be invited is sad" grammatical.  It looks like an inverted pseudo-cleft that was aborted halfway.
Answer: It's grammatically correct but sounds awkward.  The rules on where to put the "not" are fairly loose in English.  You could say "to not be invited" as well.  I think that "not to be invited" is most common.  It sounds best to me anyway.
Comment: "to not be" splits the infinitive, which I admit is no longer a hard-and-fast reason on its own to use it but I still find it awkward. "not to be..." sounds far better to my ear too.
Comment: Very true, and I should have mentioned it myself.
Comment: @ClickRick Although the so-called split infinitive rule is now over a century old, placing adjuncts after the infinitive marker was never ungrammatical; we can find examples going back centuries before the rule was invented.  So it's not really far to say "no longer", as it was never a valid rule.
Comment: Maybe not, but teachers were pretty strict about it in the 50's and 60's.
Answer: It is grammatically correct.
It's awkward when stated alone like that, devoid of any context.  But in some cases, the context can make it necessary and natural to emphasize the not-ness or un-ness of a thing or action.  At times like this, one may use a hyphen to express the idea as a single negative concept rather than the negation of a concept.
This is often used when you intend the negation to be a term that is on equal footing as the positive sense of the word.  For example, in existentialism, one might talk about being and not-being.
Answer: Google's Ngram Viewer shows no occurrences of 'to be not invited', but this is probably because it is based on published books, where 'not to be invited' is overwhelmingly standard. 'to be not invited' is more likely to occur in speech or informal writing. If it is ungrammatical, it is at least what I call 'a good mistake' - it is based on an otherwise valid pattern, it is clear and it makes sense.


Refund on Cashiers Check?

Question: If I get a cashiers check from my bank but decide not to use it, would my bank give me a refund for it?
Answer: In my experience, if you take an unused cashier's check that was drawn from your bank account back to the bank you got it from, they will cancel the cashier's check and issue a refund back to your account.
Answer: A cashiers check is effectively cash, and can be cashed in as such at pretty much any financial institution you have an account with. (This information is valid for Certified Checks only).
I've never had a situation where I cannot cancel a cashiers check from the institution that issued it if I'm the one who ordered it. YMMV, call the institution and ask if there is a procedure you need to follow, or if they will just cancel it for you (or if they won't).
You will not receive a refund for any processing fee by policy, but it never hurts to ask.
Comment: If it's already made out to someone do you think the bank would still allow me to cash it in instead of giving it to the person who it's made out to?
Comment: YMMV based on individual institutions, but I imagine if the person who ordered the check went in to cash it, there would not be much issue. You can call your bank to see if they have a specific policy they need you to follow as well.
Comment: Effectively cash to the person with their name in the 'To' line, not at all like cash for the one who had it issued.
Comment: @Hartco I was thinking of a different form of secured funding, you're absolutely correct. I've struck the original line and replaced it with something true.
Answer: Real world data point:  I've done it.  There was a bit of a delay because I wanted it reissued for a slightly smaller amount and there wasn't enough money in the account to issue the new one without refunding the first one and I was not at the branch I had originally gotten it from.  Half an hour later I had my new check.

Refund on Cashiers Check?


What questions should a UX designer ask in kick-off call for requirement elicitation?

Question: For starting any new project we generally ask questions to elaborate on functional requirements, so what are those questions in the requirement gathering focusing on the UX dimension? Do they vary with domain?
Comment: Could you explain what you mean by 'domain'?
Answer: "Elaborate on functional requirements" is not a good place to start the elicitation. The users don't know their own requirements (even when they think they do), and besides, you should be trying to get the non-functional requirements at the same time.
I am accustomed to work with Ian Alexander's requirements elicitation approach, and it has given good results so far. The UX expert should take part in all the stages, although he is most active in the scenario stage. In all of the others, his job is to act as the users' advocate, and defend their interests because the other discussants (usually engineers and management) often forget to take the user perspective in account when making decisions.

Stakeholders
Do not forget to list them all, or you will miss important requirements. The UX designer will need some information about the stakeholders who directly interface with the system, basically he needs to know their background so he can guess at their expectations. He might want to create personas at this stage.
Goals
I find it easiest to do them concurrently with the stakeholders who have them. The UX designer will have to keep them in mind, but is unlikely to need information beyond what is already important for getting the FR.
Context, interfaces, scope
Here you want to know the "landscape" in which the system will run, both the software landscape and the organisational context. You have to define which functions will be done by your own system, which ones by other systems, and which will stay manual. The UX designer does not have to do much here, but he needs to jump into the discussion if the others discuss solutions which are very hard on the user, e.g. requiring the user to manually enter information into interfacing systems.
Scenarios
Here is where you get your tasks defined. The UX specialist should be the one guiding this discussion, as he is usually the person with the best understanding of how the users will interact with the system. After the scenarios are gathered, it is the UX specialist's job to create the "workspaces" - a description of all the data and functions a user will need for completing a task. Later, an architect can create a data model based on this description, and the UX specialist can use it for designing actual screens.

The above can be gathered in the sequence specified above. There are other types of information which are needed in a complete requirements specification, and in my experience, they crop up all the time during the above steps.

Qualities and constraints are what most people think of when they hear "non-functional requirement". Just about everything specified in the good old ISO 9126 falls into that category. This includes classic usability metrics, such as "95% of non-trained users should be able to complete task X in less than 3 minutes". I have rarely seen a real-life project which specifies on this level of detail, but if it does, then this is what concerns the UX expert at this stage.
Rationale When you make a decision, it is a good idea to document why the decision was made that way. Nothing specific to UX here. Most people don't bother doing it at all, I normally do it for politically controversial decisions, or when a decision is made based on a counterintuitive argument which was discovered accidentally.
Definitions A glossary for the project. Software engineers have the unfortunate tendency to understand a concept, think of it in their own terms, then use these terms in all kinds of design documents, and the system ends up with those terms exposed in the user interface. All too often, it happens that these terms are not the ones users are familiar with, and the system is very hard to fathom for them. It is the UX specialist's job to pay attention that the most important domain terms are recorded (and used throughout the project) in the language of the domain, not in the language of the engineers.
Measurements
Here you define the acceptance criteria for the project. Frequently not elicited at all, but if they are, the UX specialist should of course pay attention to ones concerned with the UI.
Priorities
The requirements obviously have to be prioritized. The UX expert has about the same role as other specialists here, mainly to not let the most important requirements from the user's point of view be swept under the table.

You asked "what questions should the UX expert ask". As you see, even the definition of what the UX expert has to achieve in each stage is rather long. How do you know what question to ask about each? First, an intelligent person with the right attitude can figure out their own questions once they know what information they need to end up with (yes, it is hard, but it gets better with experience). Second, there are books on requirements engineering, from which the UX expert can learn. In my experience, the combination of Discovering Requirements by Alexander and Beus-Dukic, and User interface design by Lauesen gives you a very solid foundation for creating specifications for a system with good user experience.
Answer: Who are the users, what do they do, what are they looking to do, why do they do it?
What is the business, what does it do, what is is looking to do?
Answer: What would determine the success of the project?
E.g. number of users registered or migration timelines to the new service or number of sales in the in the first month from launch.
Figure out the mission of the project then the following:
- Who are the users?
- Why are they using this service/coming to this site
- Why would they leave this service/site
- What would make them feel successful/satisfied at the end of their experience with the service/site
- What would make them feel unsuccessful/dissatisfied with the service/site.
- Does this match up to the project mission.
This and I'm sure a few others will help flesh out the functionality with user experience and your business goals in mind.


Installed 11.10 Help! cannot find chrome after install

Question: I installed 11.10 Big mistake, can't find anything! Chrome, I installed it, removed it because I couldn't find it re-installed it, still can not find it. Considering going back to 10.04
Comment: Open up dash home and try typibg chrome into the search box . Dont go back, this sounds more of a user training issue
Comment: what do you mean by couldnot find it ? Did you not know how to use unity if you are using unity? Just press `super` key and type chrome
Comment: I have same problem with a fresh install of Ubuntu 12.04.  I installed the Chrome DEB from Google web site.  It appears to install normally (Software Centre gets launched), but Chrome is no where to be found.  Actually the 'dash home' doesn't seem to find anything no matter which tab and search terms I use.  The only hint of Chrome is in system settings, details, where I can make Chrome the default for the Web - but that still doesn't give me any way to actually launch Chrome.
Comment: 11.10 is end of life it has no repository's for software and will never receive any updates or support here, use 12.04lts, 14.04lts or the latest development version (15.10 as of writing)
Answer: Chrome, or chromium (which is chrome with all the required plugins as flashplayer etc..) must be installed from software center. When you are sure that the installation is complete and successful, you must go to the launcher in unity, and search for "chrom". Chrome, or chromium should appear in the list. Then, open it, and create a shortcut in the launcher so u can enter it easily afterwards :D
(chrome must be downloaded manually here: https://www.google.com/chrome?platform=linux)
Comment: Instead of creating a short cut, **after** launching Chrome and with the browser running, you'll find its icon in the Launcher. Right-click on it and choose "Keep in Launcher".
Answer: type google-chrome-stable in terminal. I installed it the same way via chrome website and in the installation note I noticed it said this program is run from terminal
Comment: yes!  ----------
Answer: Maybe you need to reboot?
Let me explain.... I had a similar problem with a fresh install of Ubuntu 12.04. I installed the Chrome DEB from Google web site. It appeared to install normally, but Chrome was no where to be found.
You should be able to find Chrome in the dash search (available by clicking on the dash home button), but somehow it was not properly initialized yet so it wasn't working properly.  It is possible that this was my first session with this installation (I can't remember).
Any, restarting the system fixed the dash search, allowing me to find and use Chrome.
Answer: The Better way to do it is-

Download the .deb file from the chrome site..
Install Gdebi package installer..
Right click on the .deb file and select "open with gdebi package installer"
Click on Install..

5.you'll find it installed...!! :)
hope it works for you..!!
It always did for me...!!
All .deb files should be installed through GDebi in 11.10... :)
Comment: Please explain why it is better? Just because it worked for you doesn't automatically make it better for others.
Comment: I have not calles it better because it woked for me.
When I was using 11.10 I was facing simiar issues with many packages and in a few forums(unfortunately i cant provide their links now) i found out that this was a problem faced by many in 11.10. May be a bug.
And in all the forums using this method was mentioned to work.
In Ubuntu 11.10 the .deb files when opened with "Software Center" give the error "NOT FOUND"..!!
And Chrome is not in the default software repository of 11.10.
Chromium is.
And like .deb files, softwares enabled through external PPAs give trouble too.
Hope it answers you  :)


How does moving an input signal node closer to the output node reduce parasitic capacitance

Question: So I have been studying about logic gates designed using the CMOS family and in my professors notes it says "Move NMOSFET-B closer to output node, without changing the functionality , to reduce the parasitic capacitance and thus the fall time delay", I couldnt come to an understanding as to why this happens.
Comment: Closer than what? This is clearly a physical layout question. What two layouts are we considering?
Answer: I guess your professor meant that if NMOSFET-B is closer to the output, the routing X will be smaller and hence parasitic capacitance on that net will be small and it will improve falltime.
Answer: The question is unclear. The canonical layout of a CMOS NAND gate looks like this:

(from Wikipedia)
The A and B inputs are similar lengths of poly, and the node "X" is simply the common channel between the two lower transistors. Is the professor suggesting that there is a better layout than this, or is that his way of describing this layout?


How do I hide the display value of a column in a datawindow when the column value is zero

Question: The question says it all. To clarify: I am not trying to hide the whole column, I just want to hide the display value when it is being equal to zero.
Any help is appreciated!!!
Thanks in advance.
Answer: One interpretation of what you're saying is to make the format mask end in a pound sign, like #,###. Another interpretation would be to make a Visible expression dependent on the value of the column, like (untested) if (*colname*=0, '0', '1'). I'm guessing you're after the former.
Good luck,
Terry.
Answer: It is worth knowing that you can specify four different format masks for one datawindow column.  You simply create up to four masks separated by semicolon.
Sample Format Mask:
$#,##0.00;RED;#;'null'

Positive Values use $#,##0.00
Negative Values use RED
Zero Value use #
Null Value uses 'null'

Produces These Result:
123.01 --> $123.01
-123.01 --> ($123.01) in red text
0 -->
null --> null


How are active states on Facebook determined?

Question: If someone is "Active 5 minutes ago", "Active "3 minutes ago", or "Active 12 minutes ago", does that mean they're getting online and just ignoring messages? Is it an error? I know people text me during all hours of the night asking why I'm still awake because it states that I am active, when I in fact have closed out of messenger and am dead asleep.
Answer: It doesn't glitch. The moment you open up messenger or Facebook (I'm not sure about Facebook), it will change to active now. When you leave the app, it will say active 1m ago. Suppose you leave for an hour. It will say active 1h ago. if you come back on, it says active now. Usually it might be wrong by a hour sometimes (if you left 3h ago but it still says active 2h ago), but other then that it does not glitch.
Comment: The hour difference is due to rounding differences in your perception vs actuality


Firefox-esr is still at v60.9.0. When will it be updated?

Question: I have just installed firefox-esr on buster and it reports it is v60.9.0esr.  The latest released 32bit esr version is 68. Why is Raspbian so far behind and when will it catch up?
Answer: According to this post, you can directly install Firefox ESR on Raspbian through debian.org, so, follow the procedure:
1. Download the package:
wget http://security.debian.org/debian-security/pool/updates/main/f/firefox-esr/firefox-esr_68.3.0esr-1~deb10u1_armhf.deb

2. Install the package:
sudo dpkg -i firefox-esr_68.3.0esr-1~deb10u1_armhf.deb

If you find a problem, try this .deb file.
https://snapshot.debian.org/archive/debian/20190714T155055Z/pool/main/f/firefox/firefox_68.0-3_armhf.deb
Done.
Comment: Many thanks, that worked no problem.
Comment: @WhyNine Alright, Accept if the answer is a solution for you.


how to open a corrupted progress v9.1e database

Question: How can I open a corrupted PostgreSQL v9.1e database which has data that was added after it was last backed up?
Comment: [PostgreSQL](http://www.postgresql.org/) or [Progress](https://www.progress.com/openedge)? Those are two **very** different database products.
Answer: Assuming your tag is right and this is a Progress, not a Postgres (as in the text), database you can try forcing your way in. However, backup beforehand! A forced database will be marked as forced and might never work again.
That aside, force might be a lifeline and the way to enter the database to dump it's content.
Here's a longer article about the force flag (-F).
Answer: If the file is corrupted, the only way to open it and try to repair the corruption is manually using a hex editor such as Notepad ++ with some Hex Editor plugin.
Of course, you will need to fully understand the bits and bytes of the file internals, which "might" be a prohibitive factor.
In addition, there is no guarantee that the corruption did not affect the 'new' data you are looking for, so even if you manage to magically get the file to open, you might lose some or all of the new data anyway.
The bottom line is that it all depends on how important that data is.
If it's worth 3 billion dollars, or holds the evidence that will get you out of a life sentence, than go for it. It might take you many years though...
If not, I suggest you swallow the loss, minimize your damages, and increase your backup frequency so that next time it will hurt less.
HTH


Why is the vowel speech sound (called "ash") in "Tank" and "Cat" considered the same?

Question: The vowel in "Tank" sounds more like ɛ to me, yet the IPA spelling for "Tank" (as pronounced in General American English) employs the ash [æ] to represent the vowel. The same for the word "thank" in GAE. Is [æ] appropriate in these cases? Shouldn't this vowel be represented with another IPA symbol?
Answer: Keep in mind whether you are you looking at phonetic transcriptions or phonemic ones. I would say that phonemic ones are more widely used (e.g. that's what you'll find in dictionaries) and tank is generally considered to have the phoneme /æ/. Note also that the use of IPA symbols does not follow strict rules, even in phonetic transcriptions. The International Phonetic Association gives guidance on the official meaning of the symbols, but linguists use them in whatever ways they find useful, so there often isn't a single fact of the matter about what transcription of a particular sound is most appropriate.
That said, the phonetic quality of the vowel in tank may differ substantially from IPA [æ] in many American English accents. The vowel in tank tends to be raised; the most common phonemic transcription that I have seen for this phone is actually [eə], although [ɛə] is similar. Different accents have different conditions for raising /æ/ to [eə]; in my accent, this happens before all nasal consonants, but others may differ. Some accents, e.g. in Minnesota, have raising before /g/ as well. I have also heard that some speakers find that original /æ/ before /ŋ/ is realized with a high offglide, becoming something that sounds to them like the vowel in tame (e.g. something like [teıŋk].
Using phonemic transcriptions such as /æŋ/ avoids having to choose between these kinds of alternatives. This can be useful because people often want to talk broadly about English rather than specifically about a particular accent.
Comment: Interesting that you describe the conditions of raising as generally scaling all nasals + /ɡ/ > all nasals > only /ŋ/. I don't have much raising at all in my AmE, but I would go the exact opposite way of what you describe here: I at least sometimes raise /æ/ to something like [æə] or perhaps even [ɛə] before /n/ – but never before /ŋ/. I may diphthongise a bit to [a̟ᶦ] or something like that there, but no raising.
Comment: @JanusBahsJacquet: I forgot about that system, but it apparently is common based on a [chart I saw a while back](https://forum.wordreference.com/attachments/north-american-%C3%A6-tensing-jpg.15042/). I'll edit to fix.
Comment: I have a diphthong [æj] in "tank", and also in "bang".  (I'm from Ohio.)  But the offglide is only there before phonemic velar nasal, not in a phrase like "ban cameras" where the velar nasal is derived by assimilation to the following velar k.


Solving a polynomial equation along a set of lines numerically.

Question: Assume that I for some reason want to solve multidimensional polynomial equations $$p(x_1,x_2,\cdots,x_k) = 0$$ or possibly (if there is no solution) $$\min_{\forall x_{.}} \{p(x_1,x_2,\cdots,x_k)\}$$ along a linear parametrization $$(x_1,x_2,\cdots,x_k) = (s_1+tl_1,s_2+tl_2,\cdots,s_k+tl_k) \hspace{1cm} x_{(.)},t_{(.)},l \in {\mathbb R}$$
For constant $\{s_1,s_2,\cdots,s_k\}$ and a sequence of $\{l_1,l_2,\cdots,l_k\}$. What would be the best way to approach this problem? Would it be worth it computationally to first rewrite it as a one dimensional polynomial in $t$ and then solve that one dimensional polynomial or would we be better off just plugging in without any algebra re-writing?
Comment: "Would it be worth it computationally" Probably not. I would suggest you should try to implement it as systematically and simply as possible and not try to expand $p$ as a single polynomial. It's still a one-dimensional problem without expanding it explicitly. This will help you avoid bugs in the implementation and make it much simpler to change the $p$-function if you want to.
Comment: Yes this is what I usually try and it is best to assure oneself one have gotten it to work first before trying to make any improvements or optimizations.
Answer: Yes, computationally, it would definitely be worth it to rewrite it as a one-dimensional problem. Your problem is actually one-dimensional (you only have to study the polynomial along the line described by the linear parametrization).
Good luck for finding its roots. In the general case, the numerical way I suggest is to minimize $P(t)^2$ thanks to a combination of heuristics and local search.


how to fill in gaps between polygons in Adobe Illustrator CS 6 and fill in the enclosed space

Question:
Hi everybody, I have a vectorised image of line drawings resulting in the lines being converted to polygons. I need to complete the lines-turned-polygons by filling in the gaps. When they finally are, I need to fill in the empty space in the middle with black. I am working with Adobe Illurstrator CS6. I  hope anyone can help me since I a struggling with it for a long time. Thanks, David
Answer: There are many ways this can be done. Which method will depend on how accurately you want the shapes and possibly on how many you have to do this to. Here are  a couple methods:
The most accurate would be using the Pen Tool to trace around the exterior of your shape and then fill with black. This will make a new shape above your original tracing. I have my Pen Tool path already done and selected so you can see it.

Alternately you could just make several small shapes where needed with the Pen Tool to fill in the gaps. This would then require selecting the original shapes and the new shapes and doing Pathfinder> Unite to make one Compound Path. Then you would need to go to Object> Compound Path> Release (to remove the white hole inside). Then just select and delete the inner path.

Another way would be to use the Blob Brush to connect the gaps between your shapes. This is more difficult to do accurately but it is faster. Connecting those gaps will again create a Compound Path so you will need to Release the Compound Path and then delete the inner path to end up with one filled shape.


Loading and execution of programs in memory

Question: While comparing between linking loader and linkage editor I came across a point that in case of linking loader linking and relocation takes place for each execution of the program( and happens at time of loading) while in case of linkage editor, linking takes place only once and program can be loaded and used multiple times.Does this mean that a program is loaded into primary memory only when execution control is given to it(or OS has decided that it is the next program to be executed)?To be specific is loading of a program into primary memory a guarantee of immediate execution slot?
Answer: A couple of things need to be clarified here:

There is virtually no difference between a program being on the hard storage or in memory. If the kernel doesn't find the file already mapped into memory,  mmap happens and from then on, the file is accessed through the memory pages, mapped into the virtual memory of a program. Note that this whole mechanism is transparent while many things happen in the background: a file may already be cached from previous use, actual memory may have been swapped out to disk if there's lack of space, and so on...
Dynamically linked libraries are loaded once even if many executables are linked to them. Again, the pages get mapped into the virtual memory of the process that needs them.
Having the contents of an executable loaded into memory has nothing to do with the code being run. Each time a new process is created (through fork), it gets its own virtual memory layout, and doesn't care where the pages are stored and who else is using them. When exec is called (execve usually), the binary (probably elf format) will get parsed, different contents mapped to different pages (program code, static data, stack gets allocated and so on), and the linker looks up the unresolved symbols in the code and maps them to the addresses in the dynamically linkable libraries, which also get mapped into the virtual address space at this stage. The execution is then passed to the entry point in the code in the exec'ed program.

Note that each execution of a particular program is its own new process, and doesn't really care where the code comes from. It's possible that the code has already been in RAM - or not, memory management is very dynamic. It may also be that the same physical memory page that contains the code, is mapped into several process' address space, and the dynamically linked libraries definitely use the same shared pages, but that's it.
It's possible to pre-load frequently used libraries at boot time, so the processes execute more quickly: but what this means is just that the linker already finds the pages loaded into RAM and doesn't need to read them from the hard drive. That's again a way of caching and is simply a side-effect of the fact that the kernel is shuffling the pages around in any way it wants, all you see is the virtual address space.
If you are referring to a situation when invocation of some command is reusing an existing process, that's something completely different. You may have some communication protocol that looks for an existing instance and tells it what to do. Or you may have a sleeping process that wakes up when there's more to do. But in these cases, you are not actually running a new process.
I'm not exactly sure what was your question, but I hope this answers it at least partially.
Comment: @Kir: Yes, virtual memory addresses are used. Programs (in user space) don't generally know or care what physical addresses these virtual addresses correspond to, or even whether or not the pages are present in RAM at all, and they don't know or care whether or not the memory is shared by another process. The kernel's virtual memory layer keeps these details hidden from programs.
Comment: Orion, does this mean that relocation and linking takes place wrt virtual memory addresses assigned to a process/program and not wrt the physical memory pages occupied by it primary memory?
Answer: Your question is quite difficult to understand and may contain some misconceptions.

Does this mean that a program is loaded into primary memory only when execution control is given to it(or OS has decided that it is the next program to be executed)

In UNIX, control is handed over to the next program through the execve() system call (and variants). This system call takes the filename of the program to execute as an argument. So it is like a request to load and execute the program. The program has not been loaded beforehand. So in that sense, the answer to your question is "yes".
We'll ignore the fact that the program's code may still reside cached in physical memory if it has been read or executed before. That's an optimization.
The first thing the kernel does is to load the file in question.
If it is a dynamically linked executable, then it also loads a dynamic linker, which is a helper program that will perform run-time linking on the program. This helper does its job, which usually involves loading other pieces of code (shared libraries).
Once dynamic linking is done (or if no dynamic linking is done because the program is not dynamically linked) then control is passed over to the program's code proper.

is loading of a program into primary memory a guarantee of immediate execution slot?

I don't understand "immediate execution slot".
There may be many different reasons to load a file (containing a program) into memory: to run it, to copy it, to edit it, etc...
Comment: Celada, thanks for the first part."immediate execution slot" in my question is related to linking and loading process.Can linking be done(static linking like that done by linkage editor where linked program along with all libraries used by it is converted into a single executable ) without bringing all components into memory?If linking process can only be done in memory it means that the program is already loaded into memory along with all libraries needed by it for linking process.After linking,as this program with all libraries is in memory won't the OS transfer execution control to it?
Comment: Re: "**If linking process can only be done in memory it means that the program is already loaded into memory along with all libraries needed by it for linking process**" Sure. The linker will load the files (or pieces of files) it needs into memory in order to work on them. This is just how computers work in general: there is no way to see, edit, transform, or create data directly on a storage device like a hard drive without loading the data into memory first.
Comment: Celada, does this mean that in a system supporting virtual memory, as every program is mapped to an unpredictable memory location by the OS there is no need for program relocation by loader?What is the duty of a loader in a virtual memory based system?
Comment: @Kir: that is a completely different question, but briefly: yes, indeed, virtual memory means that program relocation is not needed because every program can be pre-linked to run at the same predictable (virtual) address. However, shared libraries must either be compiled with position-independant code or suffer the overhead of runtime relocation because they are loaded at unpredictable addresses.


What is a good area to head to in Lisbon's "Parque Florestal de Monsanto"?

Question: I'd like to visit the "Parque Florestal de Monsanto" in Lisbon. But this is a very big (10 km2) park and I'm not not sure what area of the park to head to. Is there any area in the park in particular that is interesting to visit?
Comment: What are you looking for? "Parque florestal de Monsanto" is a green area and it's considered the city lung.  It has several very nice areas, and a few restaurants spreaded but I would hardly consider it a tourist destination.  Unless you want to chill out in a close by place. You might want to visit Sintra and "Serra de Sintra" if you're looking for nature, history and picturesque places. It's 40 min. aways from Lisbon by train.
Comment: Some people in my travel group are considering this as an option to have a day away from anything tourist-y, so not being a tourist destination is a good thing! Thanks for the comment.
Answer: I suggest you start with the "Centro de Interpretação de Monsanto " (Monsanto Interpretation Center). It is a building with a lot of information about this area (pictures of flora and fauna, maps, guides...) and from there you can decide where you want to go next.
Unfortunately, this page is not translated, but you can try to use an automatic translater:
http://www.cm-lisboa.pt/en/living-in/environment/monsanto-forest-park/espaco-monsanto
From this page you can also grab more ideas.
Public transportations in Monsanto are not good. Bike is a very good option (generally speaking of course).


Multiple blocking queues, single consumer

Question: I have multiple BlockingQueues containing messages to be sent. Is it possible to have fewer consumers than queues? I don't want to loop over the queues and keep polling them (busy waiting) and I don't want a thread for every queue. Instead, I would like to have one thread that is awoken when a message is available on any of the queues.
Comment: What's the difference between this and a single blocking queue which is given to multiple producers?
Comment: The problem is I don't want multiple consumers per queue. If I would dump it all in one queue, the consumers would be able to eat from the same queue.

So if I have a Queue with A's and a queue with B's. No B may be taken as long as another B is still being taken.
Comment: I think what Alex wants to accomplish is to create a blocking queue (wrapper) on top of multiple blocking queues so a consumer can simply wait on a single blocking queue. Perhaps the situation prevents Alex from requiring producers to use the same blocking queue instance.
Answer: One trick that you could do is to have a queue of queues. So what you'd do is have a single blocking queue which all threads subscribe to. Then when you enqueue something into one of your BlockingQueues, you also enqueue your blocking queue on this single queue. So you would have something like:
BlockingQueue<WorkItem> producers[] = new BlockingQueue<WorkItem>[NUM_PRODUCERS];
BlockingQueue<BlockingQueue<WorkItem>> producerProducer = new BlockingQueue<BlockingQueue<WorkItem>>();

Then when you get a new work item:
void addWorkItem(int queueIndex, WorkItem workItem) {
    assert queueIndex >= 0 && queueIndex < NUM_PRODUCERS : "Pick a valid number";
    //Note: You may want to make the two operations a single atomic operation
    producers[queueIndex].add(workItem);
    producerProducer.add(producers[queueIndex]);
}

Now your consumers can all block on the producerProducer. I am not sure how valuable this strategy would be, but it does accomplish what you want.
Comment: Simple and effective! Thanks!
Answer: The LinkedBlockingMultiQueue does what you are asking for. It does not allow the consumer to block on arbitrary BlockingQueues, but it is possible to create "sub queues" from a single "multi queue" and achieve the same effect. Producers offer in the sub queues, and consumers can block themselves polling the single multi queue, waiting for any element.
It also supports priorities, that is, taking elements from some queues before considering others.
Example:
LinkedBlockingMultiQueue<Int, String> q = new LinkedBlockingMultiQueue<>();
q.addSubQueue(1 /* key */, 10 /* priority */);
q.addSubQueue(2 /* key */, 10 /* priority */);
LinkedBlockingMultiQueue<Int, String>.SubQueue sq1 = q.getSubQueue(1);
LinkedBlockingMultiQueue<Int, String>.SubQueue sq2 = q.getSubQueue(2);

Then you can offer and poll:
sq1.offer("x1");
q.poll(); // "x1"
sq2.offer("x2");
q.poll(); // "x2"

Disclaimer: I am the author of the library.
Answer: Polymorphism
This can be solved using polymorphism, imagine you have two jobs called JobOne and JobTwo and you are going to consume these by a consumer. You should define an interface called jobs like:
interface Jobs {
    ...
}

And then you can implement you jobs by this interface like:
class JobOne implements Job {
    ...
}

class JobTwo implements Job {
    ...
}

Now you can use Jobs for your blocking queue to add two kinds of jobs to consume.
BlockingQueue<Jobs> Jobs queue = new BlockingQueue<Jobs>();


Can stainless steel or galvinized screws be used indoors on non-pressure treated wood?

Question: I assume yes and there is no harm or downside, besides these screws being more expensive than non-coated screws.
Answer: Stainless steel is more brittle than the steel commonly used for screws. In some cases I have twisted off long ss screws. This may be a critical deficiency in some applications.
I use stainless steel exclusively for installing grab bars in showers. These are ss screws which come with the bars. In dry situations I use whatever I have except never drywall screws.
I once tried to use long ss screws to secure an owl box to the trunk of an oak tree and I twisted off the screws. I then used deck screws with no problem.
BoltDepot

Stainless steel is an alloy of low carbon steel and chromium for
  enhanced corrosion characteristics. Stainless steel is highly
  corrosion resistant for the price. Because the anti-corrosive
  properties are inherent to the metal, it will not lose this resistance
  if scratched during installation or use.
It is a common misconception that stainless steel is stronger than
  regular steel. In fact, due to their low carbon content, many
  stainless steel alloys cannot be hardened through heat treatment.
  Therefore, when compared to regular steel, the stainless alloys used
  in bolts are slightly stronger than an un-hardened (grade 2) steel but
  significantly weaker than hardened steel fasteners. Unless great care
  is taken, stainless fasteners are susceptible to seizing up during
  installation, a phenomenon known as galling.
Most stainless steel fasteners are much less magnetic than regular
  steel fasteners though some grades will be slightly magnetic.
Comment: Fully agree,+. I would use SS screws if I had them handy in just about everything.
Comment: Ok so this is fine to do, just not the opposite (non-galvinized screws outdoors and/or in pressure treated wood)?


Why can't positions in transformers be simply appended to the input to preserve the positional information instead of using positional encodings?

Question: I saw in an intro to transformers in this video that positional encodings need to be used to preserve positional information, otherwise word order may not be understood by the neural network. They also explained why we cannot simply add positions to the original inputs or add other functions of positions to the input. However, what if we simply appended positions to the original input to preserve positional information? In fact, if directly  using positional numbers does not suffice, couldn't they also just append positional encodings (containing the sine and cosine functions of differing frequencies) to the input? This would also solve the problem of loss of information which happens when one adds the positional encodings to the original input.
Comment: The video you linked is about normal transformers. There is no mention of CNNs in that video.
Comment: @noe thanks for notifying me about the issue, I was actually reading a paper on a CNN based on transformers and hence the mistake. I have edited the question accordingly.
Answer: You could do that. I believe the authors of the original attention paper believed that it isn't as efficient as trying to inject the positional information into the embedding - you add parameters to the model and that has implications for training and inference speed.
I think the intuition is that the difference encoding between "foo" and "bar" after positional encoding becomes ("foo + pos_foo) - ("bar" + pos_bar) = ("foo" - "bar") + (pos_foo - pos_bar). So it should be possible for the model to learn pretty reasonably about how the difference in position modifies relationship between words.
It isn't the only or best way of adding positional info, as you allude to. In the conventional positional encoding, position information is fairly "absolute" which makes it hard to generalize to longer contexts and harms ability to learn that a) short distances probably imply more relationship than long and b) the relationship between words is probably similar across the context. Rotary positional encoding tries to address that.
Then there is ALiBi, which throws out the idea of embedding positional encoding entirely and just decays the strength of relationship based on distance, and that actually works OK. So, maybe positional info isn't that important to represent so exactly, let alone as additional dimensions in the embedding.
Answer: I understand that what you mean is the following:

Not using positional encodings.
Append some special tokens to the input sequence to represent the positions of the normal tokens within the sequence. For instance, the sequence ["my", "dog"] would be transformed into ["my", "dog", <0>, <1>]. This would imply that the position of "my" is 0 and the position of p "dog"p  is 1. This association would be given by the position of the special tokens <0> and <1> within the sequence.

However, in a Transformer without the positional encodings, the model does not have any information about the token positions (which is precisely what gives meaning to our special tokens) and, therefore, it would not be able to establish the association between the positions of the special tokens <0> and <1> and their actual positions. This way, for the Transformer without positional encodings, the input ["my", "dog", <0>, <1>] and the input ["1", "my", "dog", <0>] would be exactly the same.
Comment: My understanding is that in NLP, words such as "my" and "dog" would be passed down as vectors of numbers which indicate how close they are to other words in dictionary. If the positions of those words are appended to those vectors would the transformer still not be able to decipher the position? For example, if "my" is encoded as [0,1,0.5] and "dog" is encoded as [0.4, 0.7, 1], couldn't we just pass as input [0,1,0.5,0] and [0.4,0.7,1,1] to the transformer?
Comment: If you concatenate positional encoding to the end of embedding vectors, for example, then no those two inputs are not the same at all. That is not the reason.


Can I save any files that I have modified while running a program on Heroku?

Question: I'm running a discord bot which uses the quick.db npm package. Quick.db saves to a .sqlite file, which was handy since I could edit some code and restart the program without the file being completely erased. I don't want every thing in that database to erase every time I build/deploy. Is there a way to save this file?
Answer: Heroku uses an ephemeral file system: every time you restart your server, the files are wiped. This includes the once-per-day restart that the system performs an automatic restart. In order to save your files, you need to arrange for more permanent storage, such as AWS S3 or another service. You can read more in the help topic Why are my file uploads missing/deleted?. You can also create your own service, if you're so inclined (e.g. host a Filezilla server somewhere), but the main point is that you have to take steps to preserve your data changes. You could also use Postgres or another plugin provided by Heroku add-ons instead of using SQLite.


Ubuntu 14.04 Crashed and I don't know how to get back

Question: Ubuntu 14.04 crashed and I don't know how to get it back. I'm stuck on GNU GRUB version 2.02~beta2-9ubuntu1.2. I've tried going to Advanced Options and choosing a recovery mode, but to no avail. What should I do?
Answer: You can use Ubuntu Installation Cd then once you boot it go through option try Ubuntu... this will takes you to a live session.
Once you are in you can try to update your GRUB and restart. If this doesn't help boot again to liveCD and make a backup of your data then try to figure what crashes your system. If you can't get reasons you can just reinstall.

To install grub from live cd

Boot from a Live CD.
Hit Alt+Ctrl+T to open terminal and run following commands:
sudo mount /dev/sdaX /mnt

replace sdaX with your Ubuntu partition (mostly sda1)
Install the GRUB2 boot loader:
sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt /dev/sda

Rermark that installing grub to harddisk  itself not the Ubuntu partition
Then Unmount the Ubuntu partition
sudo umount /dev/sdaX

Now restart and test it.
Comment: I should have mentioned that I do not have a CD Drive. I have a USB stick that should have the most recent version of Ubuntu 14.04 on it.
Comment: Same solution still available for using pendrive
Comment: The command-line is GRUB is not allowing sudo commands.
Comment: Those commands run in the live session not in the Grub menu.
Comment: Oh, well I can't even get into a live session.
Comment: Error: invalid environment block.
Comment: Error: invalid arch-independent ELF magic.


Were diaries more commonly kept in the past?

Question: A large amount of history has been derived from diaries. Were diaries more commonly kept in the past? If so, why?
Comment: The total number of diaries from the past combined is less than the number of facebook pages/blogs.  We tend to overestimate the number of diaries because of survivor bias (we can't count the ones that are not preserved) and because they are so important to history.
Comment: @MarkC.Wallace There is however a huge difference of quality between facebook publications and a traditional hand-written diary, also there is a majority of people who use facebook but hardly ever publish anything.
Comment: Why? No TV.  Also applies to why poetry is less prevalent
Answer: A 2013 survey found that around 83 per cent of girls aged between 16 and 19 keep a personal pen-and-paper diary, compared with just 69 per cent in the 1990s. Add that to the rise of social media and digital journals, it would seem that people write more about their personal activities, feelings and relationships today than ever before.
Without looking into trends or historical data, which is always hard when it comes to a primarily female pursuit, diary writing is an activity that benefits from technology and increasing leisure time, so we should expect more diary writing over time.
Journals were originally kept by men, and only the literate minority, about significant events and spiritual matters. From the Renaissance on, people started writing about personal feelings rather than just important events. In the US, women began keeping more diaries from around 1800, and they tended to write in a style close to the modern diary - the ones men kept were more like planners. Rising literacy rates, and the invention of very thin paper allowing pocket diaries about 100 years ago, would also have made diary writing more common.
The reason why diaries are so prominent for history, is as Mark C. Wallace commented - because of survivorship bias, and because until recent history, they were the only way to find out about things like how people in the past thought and felt.
See also: https://ancestralfindings.com/the-history-of-diaries-did-your-ancestor-keep-one/


Short Story versus Novel format

Question: I have just completed a draft erotic short story I have never professionally published fiction before but I believe this story "sizzles".  This story is around 4000 words.  I have rough plans to write several more short stories using the same characters and possibly even venture into the LGBT arena.  Would it be more financially rewarding to publish as series of short stories or to combine into longer novel?  Does anybody have recommendations on publishers that work with you to help publish work?  Especially in areas like cover design.  I am a novice; however, I do not want to have to pay a large sum upfront for help.  I would rather have the help come out of royalties.  I want to have it published as a e-book and possibly audiobook.  Does Amazon/Kindle accept "HOT" works on their site or is it mostly family friendly stories.  I would gratefully accept advise from anyone who has experience in this genre
Comment: "Would it be more financially rewarding to publish as series of short stories or to combine into longer novel?" Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the answer is probably 'no'. It's very difficult for most people to make any significant amount of money from writing. And while you could make the choice between short stories and a novel based on financial considerations, they are two very different things, so you'll probably do better writing whichever you prefer, and doing it as well as you possibly can. Good luck! :)
Answer: As a reader I'd buy a collection of short stories rather than a single story in this case. When buying a single short story the organizational overhead and cover work will have a relative larger impact on the price. With a collection I expect to get a better deal.
I wouldn't worry about the cover design. The challenge is finding your publisher. Search for erotic books on the market, make a list of their publishers and contact them.
Amazon sells even works by Marquis de Sade whose works I'd count amongst the most perverted literature in the world. I'm sure your erotic stories can be published there. However, that's true for Europe but Amazon's product catalog of course varies in different countries.

Short Story versus Novel format


Hot reload button disabled in android and CTRL+S is not working

Question: I have installed the android studio and make all the setup to run flutter application all done good but since I installed all this setup hot reload button on the top bar is disabled.
I restarted IDE but it did not work CTRL+S is not working in my case because hot reload button is unclickable.
Error connecting to the service protocol: HttpException: Connection closed before full header was received, uri = http://127.0.0.1:59005/1rJS68FLV5A=/ws this is the new type of error I have seen so maybe the issue is due to this but I am not sure about it.
enter image description here
Answer: can you please upgrade the flutter and dart version


Properly Charging NiMH Batteries that Have been Stored for Too Long

Question: For a Robotics Project, I've purchased two equal NiMH batteries, seven months ago.

PRODUCT = NiMH Battery 12V 3000mAh XT30 Connector [MH-FC] 20A Fuse 12-20

LINK TO PRODUCT = LINK

There is no indication of how the cells are internally arranged, but there are 10 of them.
Each cell, when measured from the outside measures roughly 40mm height and 22mm diameter.

Battery 1 measures 12.93 V with a multimeter. Battery 1 has been used a few times, in short intervals.
Battery 2 measures 12.68 V with the same multimeter. Battery 2 has never been used, I just removed it from the box to take the measurement.

After searching, I've learned that it is recommended to charge NiMH batteries that are not in use roughly every 6 months due to their self-discharge.
Failing to do so can lead the battery to become too depleted, damaging permanently the battery. Most sources, here on SE, stated that 0.9 V per cell is the indication you should recharge, and 0.8 V per cell is the absolute minimum threshold before things become dangerous.
I understand that measuring voltages is not a completely reliable way to assess NiMH battery state of charge, due to the flat profile of the discharge curve, holding 1.2 V per cell for most of region, then sharply decreasing. But I don't see any other way I can do this.
My balanced charger, an IMAX B6 AC Dual Power Balancer, by SKYRC, says in the manual (page 6. v2.20),
"Never attempt to charge or discharge the following types of batteries ... A battery that is already fully charged or just slightly discharged."

Question 1: Can I assume that these batteries are 10S, and do this practice: If battery voltage is below 0.9*10 = 9 V, then it is time to charge it.

Question 2: The Web says charge it every 6 months, the manual says don't charge a slightly discharged battery. Which recommendation should I follow in this case?
Answer: these batteries are 10S safe to assume
If battery voltage is below 0.9*10 = 9 V, you don't know whether it's one cell at 0 V and 9 at 1.0 V. With "no load" voltage, I might go for 10 V instead (knowing the same argument applies).
Fast charging a slightly discharged battery may mess with the state-of-charge detection.


How can I create glowing color and smooth skin detail like in this example portrait?

Question:
I've been shooting for a while now and learning my way through post processing. I really would love to have my photos come out with the look from the photo above. Can anyone point me in the direction to develop this style? I don't know too much about the specific techniques but I want to mirror my portraits in the post processing stage to reflect the smooth and glowing skin detail.
Comment: Please read [Important information for asking "What's this effect?"
questions](http://meta.photo.stackexchange.com/questions/3881/) and
edit this post accordingly. Make sure to use a descriptive title,
too. Thank you!
Comment: Welcome to the site!  We have no idea what "this look" you are trying to achieve is.  Is it the color, depth of field, lighting, makeup, pose, background...?  Please describe in more detail exactly what you are having trouble achieving, and if possible an example image that you have tried already on and aren't getting the results you would like.
Comment: @CarmeloSosa if by "glowing" skin you mean highlights on her lips, nose, shoulder etc., then it's not processing, it's studio lighting coupled with a make-up artist's work. The smoothness is primarily a feature of the model herself, multiplied by **a lot** of retouching, dodging and burning. As mostly the case in photography, it's not about post-processing, it's mainly about photographing. Post-processing is putting a cherry on a cake, but you have to make a cake first.
Comment: I'm sorry about the original post being to vague, I'm just not knowledgeable yet when it comes to the post processing terminology. What I like about the photo is the color pop, the glowing effect, and the smooth detail on the skin. Hopefully that helps.
Comment: I hate that kind of processing, it always makes the person look like they're made of plastic...
Comment: Thanks @lightproof I will do some research on dodging and burning and see if that is the look I'm trying to accomplish.
Answer: Beyond the makeup and lighting, you can enhance the skin 'glow' effect in post-processing by using a mask on the skin and apply a Gaussian blur.  The mask should avoid lips, eyes, and nostrils.  Gaussian blur is typically much easier than using 'healing brushes' to fix most skin imperfections, by the way.
Don't use too large of a radius on the blur, or else the above-mentioned "plastic" effect will become evident.


Is it mandatory to show the debit card used for payment while checking in on Air India flights?

Question: I have booked a ticket of air india from new delhi to guwahati from its merchants website. The terms and conditions regarding boarding the plane states that along with the identification proof we would be required to show the card from which we have processed the payment. I have done the payment from my mom's debit card and i don't have the card with me right now! the rule also states that if a third party is involved in the payment for the ticket the card's front part and the back part should be photocopied and should be presented while checking in. My question is can i board the plane through my id card? or i have to present any other type of documentation.
Comment: I would recommend following that photocopy recommendation :)
Comment: Might be worthwhile taking a photocopy of your mother's ID too. I have been on 2 or 3 flights were showing original credit card was required even one where I had to show it both on the outbound and return which is even more ridiculous
Comment: related : [Someone else is booking international ticket for me using their credit or debit card. Do they need to be present physically at the time of check in?](http://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/18019/someone-else-is-booking-international-ticket-for-me-using-their-credit-or-debit)
Answer: Yes, if booked by third-party.
From the Air India booking FAQs:

Q. Can I make an online booking with my credit card if I am not
  travelling myself?

Answer

If the cardholder is not a part of the traveling party, then the
  passenger should possess: A photocopy of both sides of the card, which
  will have to be self attested by the card holder authorising the use
  of the card for the purchase of the ticket. For security reasons,
  please strike out the security CVV digits on the copy of the card.
  This photocopy should also contain the name of the passenger, the date
  of journey and the sector on which the journey is made. The above
  document MUST be produced at the time of check-in. If the passenger
  fails to comply with these conditions, Air India reserves the right to
  deny the passenger(s) from boarding the flight. Our risk management
  team could send you an email from the email address
  firstname.lastname@example.com, in which you may be asked to send a scanned -
  masked credit card copy and the signed letter of authority for
  verification purposes. We request your cooperation in replying to such
  queries.The details mentioned above do not apply for Net Banking.

There is no request for any other additional form of documentation or ID and is sufficient to use own ID for identification during airport check-in/security/boarding where normally required.
Comment: Note that this is not exclusive to Air India and for some other airlines; and in lieu of the paper, you can visit the airline's offices and present yourself with the original card, and they can mark your reservation as confirmed/validated. Otherwise, you must present the payment card / attested copy or you will be denied boarding.


How difficult is it to synthesize Novichok agents?

Question: In the light of the current UK-Russia events, how difficult is to synthesize Novichok agents (with known structures)? Is it something that can be made at any well-equipped university and/or chemical factory, or does it involve some very specialized or possibly secret knowledge?
Comment: It isn't the ease of synthesis that is the problem with nerve agents: it is the expertise required to not kill yourself and your colleagues while making them.
Comment: "Does it involve some very specialized or possibly secret knowledge..." hmm... making Schedule I chemical weapons of mass destruction in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention is not illegal only in your nation, but also under international law. As for Novichoks, their specific chemical structure is probably unknown but to the Russian Government and some insiders. All we know is that they have a organophosphate group.
Comment: Well, Russians deny that they are the source of the chemical. What I want to know is how plausible is that some other random sources exist. At least some of the structures are publicly known - there is an article on Wikipedia.
Comment: Some of the starting materials are controlled substances and are also very toxic.
Comment: For well equipped university and labs is, chemically speaking, surely possible. This must be as for any other molecule which synthesis has been reported (explicitly or not). Safety and economical consideration let apart.
Comment: According to Prof. David Collum, it's [not that hard](https://twitter.com/DavidBCollum/status/998613563680882694) so synthesize.
Answer: According to Fragmentation pathways and structural characterization of
organophosphorus compounds related to the Chemical Weapons
Convention by electron ionization and electrospray ionization
tandem mass spectrometry Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. 2016, 30, 2585–2593:

N-[Bis(dimethylamino)methylidene]-P-methylphosphonamidic
  fluoride (3) was synthesized by the controlled
  addition of N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylguanidine to a solution
  of methylphosphonic difluoride (1). N,N,N′,N′-Tetramethylguanidine (0.60 mmol) and triethylamine (0.65 mmol) in dichloromethane (DCM) (500 μL) were
  added slowly into the solution of methylphosphonic difluoride
  (0.40 mmol) in DCM (500 μL), while stirring at 0–5 °C. After
  30 min, the resulting precipitate was filtered off and the solution was analyzed by GC/MS.
The corresponding O-alkyl N-[bis(dimethylamino)-methylidene]-P-methylphosphonamidates 4 were synthesized by the addition of ROH to a solution of cpd 3. Sodium hydride powder (NaH, 60% in mineral oil, 0.5 mmol) was washed with dry hexane twice. The hexane was removed and DCM (500 μL) was added and the solution was kept stirring at 0–5 °C. The appropriate alcohol (0.5 mmol) was slowly added into the suspension and the reaction solution was stirred at 0–5 °C for 30 min. Compound 3 in DCM (200 μL) was then added dropwise to the solution, while stirring at 0–5 °C for 2 h. Any precipitate was filtered off and the resulting solutions of the end product were analyzed by GC/MS. It should be noted that, due to the extreme toxicity of these materials, the separation and purification of CWC-related chemical are very difficult and therefore should be carried out only by a trained professional in an efficient fume cupboard equipped with an active charcoal filtration system.
Comment: @Waylander you can't readily buy it because it is schedule 1 for CWC https://www.opcw.org/chemical-weapons-convention/annexes/annex-on-chemicals/schedule-1/ But you can buy the dichloride https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/product/aldrich/228052?lang=en&region=US and react with anhydrous HF.
Comment: Methyl phosphonic difluoride is not something you can just pick up at the corner store
Comment: You can, and it is a good test of your handling skills as it is seriously toxic in its own right


Equivalent definitions of "meromorphic section"?

Question: Let $X$ be a Riemann surface and let $\mathcal L$ be a line bundle on $X$. Here are two definitions of "meromorphic sections".

Suppose $\mathcal L$ is trivializable on $\{ U_i \}$. Say $f_{ij}$ are the transition functions from $\mathcal O_X \mid_{U_i}$ to $\mathcal O_X \mid_{U_j}$. Then a meromorphic section of $\mathcal L$ is a choice of meromorphic functions $f_i$ on $U_i$ such that $f_i$ = $f_{ij} f_j$ are the same function on $U_{ij}$.
A meromorphic function of $\mathcal L$ is a global section of the sheaf $\mathcal L \otimes_{\mathcal O_X} \mathcal M_X$, where $\mathcal M_X$ is the sheaf of meromorphic functions on $X$.

Are these definitions the same? How do we pass from one to the other? Thank you.
Answer: This is one example of a general construction: computing cohomology of sheaves of abelian groups on topological spaces by Cech complex https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%8Cech_cohomology
Here you just do it for $H^0$.


Different custom view per taxonomy

Question: I'm currently working on my first Drupal 8 project and while many things are now integrated in the core, others still stump me (for example restoring options to now bare bones CKEditor requires like 4 additional modules). As I relied on Taxonomy Display module to display different taxonomies with different views and this module is not ported to D8 while similar module TVI is still in beta, I am left wondering what's the current standard of handling this use case. I could use template_preprocess_views_view to programatically switch displays depending on vid. Some suggested you can just use contextual filters to do the same, but I don't see how could you switch between different displays using contextual filters. To me it seems that multiple views would run at once, but some would return empty result sets, spamming database with duplicated queries. Is there really no cleaner way to do it?
Answer: You can use the option Specify validation criteria of the Contextual filter to restrict your Views display to one or more Vocabularies, as you've heard before.
Then clone the display and do the same for different combinations of Vocabularies. You can change the path of each new page to avoid conflicts between different Views and calling multiple queries.
I don't know how Taxonomy display module works, I'm not sure if it improves performance, maybe you end up with the same performance metrics in your custom solution. The nodes still have to be matched with taxonomy in another database table, no matter which options you choose. I'm not a SQL expert, maybe someone else will be able to enlighten about the performance and how it affect Taxonomy term queries.

Different custom view per taxonomy


I have form which takes huge texts equivalent to 4000 chars how to upload them into sfmc DE

Question: I have a form that takes input of huge length of data equivalent to 4000 chars in both the fields, what would be the best way to insert them into a sfmc data extension ?
Comment: Have you found limitations in the options under consideration? Are you just asking if you should use SSJS or AMPscript?
Comment: Saw one limitation like I cannot send the data to a processing page it's huge, throws 500 internal error on the processing page
Comment: If that's the case, please update your question to include the code that's not working.
Answer: First you need to create the DE from email > subscribers > DE
When you create the text field in the DE, to hold this large text, keep the text field length as blank. This will keep the text field as VARCHAR.
You can only do this from email studio. You can't do this from Contact Builder.
When you create such field, you can insert any number of characters in that field in the DE.
If the question is submitting the form, you can write perhaps use SSJS but not an expert there...


How can I replace the block the player is holding with the one they are looking at?

Question: I'm new to minecraft and watched many videos on YouTube and the thing that most fascinated me is that players got the same block that they were looking at in their hands in creative. Can I do this on Xbox?
Answer: Yes, you can
This can be done through the use of pick block, which is usually bound to middle click on PC editions (Win10, Java). It is not bound to a button by default on xbox, so requires setting in Settings.
Once you have bound it to a button, then when you look at a block in creative (let's say blackstone), you will be holding the block in your hand.

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/c4p05d/how_do_i_pick_block_on_bedrock_edition_xbox/
Comment: It 100% is possible, not just should be


How do you make an animal spawner in Minecraft PE?

Question: I want some sheep, cows, and pigs for a farm but they all died and I have nothing but chickens. How do I make a room or a place that quickly spawns animals? I want wool, milk, and meat but can't get any of them because there are no animals. How do I make an animal spawner in Minecraft Pocket Edition?
Answer: Sorry but you can't do anything, animals in minecraft spawn in packs and if you killed the whole pack the spawn will be lost in that certain area. Next time be friendly to mother nature.
Comment: Up vote for silliness. :P
Comment: Also, if you could somehow lead another pack into the area, that might work.
Comment: GG you are crazy doooood
Comment: I think you mean Crayzee* ♥
Comment: Hahahahahaha LOL
Answer: You could find two of the animal, and lead them to your house or the room you will put them in, and then feed them until hearts come out of both of them. Then a baby will spawn, and you can keep breeding as many times as you like. You just need to figure out what the animal you are trying to breed eats.
Comment: A little challenge to make this answer better: Add **what** it needs to eat.
Answer: The easiest way to get animals is to build an animal breeder. Just put 2 of the same mob into a fenced off area, and keep breeding them. You have to wait 1 minute before you can breed them again, but the animals multiply very fast using this method. Place a carpet on the fence gate to allow yourself to get in and out easily.


How can I create an order form?

Question: I am new to Android, and am trying to develop an app that presents a list of choices with a textfield next to each that allows the user to enter in quantity information related to each item.
What would be the best way to impliment this?  Currently my app is using a buttonlist with checkboxes next to each item to select it.  I'd like to expand this so that I can select multiples of the same item.
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks,
Jason
Answer: I'd use a Spinner for the item and an EditText for the quantity.

How can I create an order form?


How to apply for a Schengen visa for France when paid in cash (income not deposited on a bank account)?

Question: I work for a diplomat based in Vietnam. I get paid in cash and banks do not accept personal deposits from foreigners. I want to apply for a Schengen visa but I don't have bank statements however, i can provide pay slips from my boss. Do i need a confirmation letter to support the pay slips? Since I'm paid in cash, do i have to prove that I have the money needed to support my travel for the last 3 months?
Comment: I suppose you don't have a contract, is that why you want to submit a letter of support?
Comment: How/where do you keep your cash? If you send it to your home, do you have exchange receipts?
Comment: See also http://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/62411/what-is-funds-parking-in-the-context-of-uk-visa-applications for a related discussion.
Comment: I have a year contract with the family and it states I am paid in cash. The job is funded by the state government. However, in Vietnam transferring money overseas are not allowed so I am keeping some of it and the rest is deposited in my local bank account here. I don't own any credit cards back home.
Answer: You need to show both that you are not likely to stay in the Schengen area illegally (i.e. that you have a stable situation in your country of residence) and have enough money to cover your trip (that's travel to the Schengen area and back plus the costs of your stay, two separate requirements).
Bank statements help with all three requirements and showing you have a stable income over a period of several months (not just cash in hand) is especially useful with respect to the first requirement. Being paid in cash does not really change that, it just makes it harder to document your situation (and being paid in cash and spending it without ever depositing it on an account makes it harder still). Pay slips are good too but any additional evidence can be useful.
Incidentally, do you have a bank account/credit card in another country? Euro banknotes? You also need to be able to spend your cash for your application to be credible.
Comment: I have a contract until 2017 so that would give me a reason to come back. I get pay slips every month but it isn't under a company but only a personal receipt created by my employer. My salary is funded by the state government but the money is not directly transferred to my account.  Do I need to maintain a specific amount every month to be eligible for a visa?What do I need to provide to prove the money is eligible?
Comment: @Raine I think a contract, pay slip and/or letter from your employer is already quite good. There are no guidelines regarding your income but the costs of your trip should be commensurate with your means. If you plan (or claim to plan) to spend your yearly income on a trip to Europe, the consulate will not believe you.


domain name restriction

Question: I noticed that looking at registrars some top-level-domains had different rules it seems. Like on some domains I can get a 3 letter second-level-domain but others say minimum 4 letters. Is there supposed to be some standard rule or is it just each top level registrar makes their own rules?
Answer: Each makes their own rules. There is no standard.
Many of the older ones, for example country-level specific, may want to restrict shorter ones to avoid confusion. For example, co.za doesn't allow two-character domain names.
Answer: It depends on the registrar.  For example, Canada used to require hierarchical domain names:
If your company was in only one province, you had to get use a provincial sub-domain, e.g. company.bc.ca  But if you were a national organization, you could get just company.ca

domain name restriction


C++ running on PIC32 (MIPS32)

Question: Unfortunately, my C app for PIC32 needs OO too much and I can't continue doing it in C.
Do you know any MIPS32 C++ compiler for PIC32?
Thanks
Comment: Paste the output of the **file** command being executed on any binary application of this platform.
Answer: Microchip's XC32 tool chain now supports C++ since version 1.10
Answer: You might contact Comeau Computing; thier C++ compiler generates C code as an intermediate language so that it can then utilise a platform's existing native C compiler where only a C compiler is available, and therefore porting to new platforms is relatively quick and simple.
For various reasons the intermediate generation and compiler adaptation is not accessible to end users so you will still need Comeau to generate a PIC32/C32 port, but it probably won't take long and hopefully they would amortise the cost over sales to other users.
However if you use Commeau or any other C++ to C translator, you will suffer from the inability to use source-level debugging, and that is likley to be the killer to any attempt to use C++ sucessfully without native debugger support.
Although it is not always pretty, your best bet is probably to learn how to implement OO designs in C. Here's a whole book on the subject: http://www.planetpdf.com/codecuts/pdfs/ooc.pdf
Comment: Good advice, simply write the OO in C. If you think that OO only boils down to virtual inheritage and the class keyword, you don't understand OO. The important parts are modularisation based on functionality, autonomous objects with loose coupling, and private encapsulation. You can do all those things in C.
Answer: According to this fairly recent thread on the microchip forums it looks like C++ support for PIC32 isn't available anywhere yet and isn't a high priority with Microchip. The wisdom of the respondents in that thread appears to be: don't hold your breath.
I'm a MPLAB user myself building small programs so I just take what Microchip gives me. I've never gotten to the point where I thought I needed C++, longed for yes, but never needed. As a next step you can either consider moving to another platform with C++ support or take another look at your design and ask why you need C++ that badly. Some features can be simulated in C with varying amounts of pain and suffering.
Answer: You might keep an eye on the proper GCC MIPS port. They have all the pieces, but I don't know if anyone's made C++ work with PIC32 in particular. I know it did work on sgimips.

C++ running on PIC32 (MIPS32)


How can i play walking basslines without hand pain?

Question: I'm playing "Mess Around" by Ray Charles, and the bass is playing the octaves back to back, over and over again. This brings pain in my wrist and makes it hard to play. My hand doesn't usually hurt when I play piano, and I feel like I have good technique in most areas. But this one is giving me issues. Especially when I start playing it even faster, it hurts even worse.
Comment: Just to clarify, is the pain while you play bass guitar? (You mention piano only to say that you don't have pain then, correct?)
Comment: @Pyromonk I'd disagree in the sense that it's a fundamental part of playing an instrument - especially with holding/bending/moving/positioning one's hands. For example with stringed instruments or piano, one must stretch and bend the hands and fingers in ways that do not apply in other situations or with other objects... with violin, one must position the neck, chin, and shoulders in a way that is "not natural," or at very least unconventional. With wind and brass, it's the mouth... etc, etc. The body eventually begins to conform to these positions over time, making them easier to achieve.
Comment: @Richard I believe that was my mistake. I misread this as a bass question rather than a piano question.
Comment: Possible related/duplicate question: https://music.stackexchange.com/questions/7477/technique-for-octaves-on-piano-without-pain
Comment: If you are just starting out, then there are lots of similar questions on this SE for you to research... the general consensus is going to be that you need to practice and practice. Sometimes you need to play through the pain, sometimes you need to stop and take break so as not to damage your body... Basically, playing any instrument involves holding/bending/moving/positioning parts of your body in ways that are not natural or comfortable. It's going to hurt sometimes, that's what you signed up for... the more you do it, the easier it is to do.
Comment: @TimBurnett-Bassist, I'd say that if playing an instrument "involves holding/bending/moving/positioning parts of your body in ways that are not natural or comfortable" (especially the latter), then you're doing something wrong.
Comment: @TimBurnett-Bassist, thank you very much for clarifying that.
Answer:
the bass is playing the octaves back to back, over and over again. This brings pain in my wrist and makes it hard to play.

I think you mean you are playing a left hand part in octaves, something like this...

...and your left hand/wrist get fatigued and painful over time.
I assume your hand can reach an octave.
Of course you should always follow the rule of don't do something that hurts!
First, just play single notes instead of octaves.
Second, try to assess what's going on. Can you play the octaves for a short time without trouble? That would then seem a fatigue/strength thing to improve with shorter sessions of octave practice. If it hurts immediately, you might want to check with a doctor. If your hand can reach an octave, the reach alone should not cause immediate pain.
Comment: If everyone followed the rule 'don't do something if it hurts', we'd probably all still be living in the stone age!  Remember the phrase - no pain without gain'..?
Comment: God's way of saying 'is this the best way?'?
Comment: Yeah, but that "pain" isn't actually painful. It's a euphemism. Unless you really, really overdo something. Then your recover and figure out a sensible training program to build strength.
Answer: There are possibly two things you can do to ameliorate your symptoms.  The first is to play the notes from your elbow. You have two muscles around the elbow called the pronator and supinator.  They allow you to rotate your forearm  left and right.   You SHOULD use these muscles to turn doorknobs (but most doorknobs are too low so we incorrectly use our wrists).
If I asked you how you were doing you might hold up your hand and slowly rotate it back and forth as if to say, "eh, not good, not bad.  So so." That is forearm rotation.  When you play the thumb and pinky, try it from those elbow rotation muscles and not your fingers or wrist.
There are other movements which can be incorporated such as in/out, up/down and forward shifting but you should work with a knowledgeable teacher. Each muscle moves one bone in one direction.   When you use two muscles at the same time, they both pull on one bone simultaneously and the tendons become strained in this game of tug of war for control of the bone.  This is what causes strain, pain, cramps or fatigue.  Playing boogie woogie type bass patterns automatically encourage you to use two muscles such as your abductors and flexors.  You have to learn to use only one muscle at a time.
Something else you could be doing incorrectly is ulnar and radial deviations.  That is, twisting your wrist or hand left or right.  Again, you are using muscles to twist the wrist then other muscles to abduct or play down and fatigue ensues from these dual muscular pulls. Alignment of the elbow with the forearm behind the hand will help.  The elbow is the most important fulcrum in piano playing and most often overlooked because we focus on the fingers and not the muscles which actually move them.  Your fingers have no muscles.
It sounds like it is time to upgrade to a new teacher.
Comment: "Your fingers have no muscles." The was news to me so I looked it up. Very interesting!
Comment: Of course the fingers have muscles, that's how they move. They just aren't literally inside the fingers on the bones they move. But that's the typical arrangement of bones and muscles in the body.
Answer: I'll start with a disclaimer that I'm not a great piano player or an expert on piano technique but I do have a comment specific to this particular left hand line.
It's basically an 8th note alternating low and high octave walking up and down 1,3,5,6,8ve,6,5,3 in Eb. Check out this video at 3:45:

It has a similar pattern in C except for the b7 in place of the 8ve. What I notice is the low note is not sustained but instead the hand rocks back and forth and the pinky moves in a crab-like fashion to the next note while the high note is being played. I think this opening and closing of the spread of the fingers and the rocking is the key to being able to play this line comfortably because your hand is not locked into the same position for an extended period of time. Boogie Woogie needs a lot of endurance so make sure you're relaxed and not trying to play too hard.


How to redirect stderr to stdout in an Ant JUnit target?

Question: I have a simple Ant build file to produce a JUnit test report in XML format (see below). This produces a report with each test method's output (if any) on stdout and stderr. I'd like the output on the two streams to be merged into one for each test method. But I'm not sure how to do this; how can I tell the JUnit target to redirect stderr to stdout?
<target name="test" depends="compile">
    <junit>
        <classpath refid="classpath.tests"/>
        <formatter type="xml"/>
        <test name="tests.Tests1"/>
        <test name="tests.Tests2"/>
    </junit>
</target>

Answer: ant test | grep -w junit 2>&1

The Alternate option is : run Ant with q option.
ant -q test