How Many Fathers of the Catholic Church are There; and Where to Find a Reliable List?

Question: Does anyone know for sure how many Church Fathers have been so declared by the Catholic Church (assuming that the last one is St. John Damascene); and where I may find a reliable list of them?
Thank you.
Comment: When you reference the two contradictory sites, what are they?
Comment: @LukeHill the internet
Answer: How many Fathers of the Catholic Church are there; and where to find a reliable list?
Before going on with an answer, I would like to post a modern definition as to what a Church Father is.

Fathers of the Church
Saintly writers of the early centuries whom the Church recognizes as her special witnesses of the faith. Antiquity, orthodoxy, sanctity, and approval by the Church are their four main prerogatives. They are commonly divided into the Greek and Latin Fathers. It is now generally held that the last of the Western Fathers (Latin) closed with St. Isidore of Seville (560-636), and the last of the Eastern Fathers (Greek) was St. John Damascene (675-749).

The above definition of a Church Father is probably the most common definition used by Catholics in order to determine who is a Church Father. But what constitutes a Church Father and any possible list thereof is somewhat more complex. The Church in herself has not put forth a definitive list of Church Fathers although the Catholic Encyclopedia has created a list of 65 person persons!
If we look at the main article on the subject on what constitutes a Father of the Church, we can notice that that definition actually varies somewhat.

The reply is a definition of "Fathers of the Church" given with all St. Vincent's inimitable accuracy: "Inter se majorem consulat interrogetque sententias, eorum dumtaxat qui, diversis licet temporibus et locis, in unius tamen ecclesiae Catholicae communione et fide permanentes, magistri probabiles exstiterunt; et quicquid non unus aut duo tantum, sed omnes pariter uno eodemque consensu aperte, frequenter, perseveranter tenuisse, scripsisse, docuisse cognoverit, id sibi quoque intelligat absque ulla dubitatione credendum" (iii, 8). This unambiguous sentence defines for us what is the right way of appealing to the Fathers, and the italicized words perfectly explain what is a "Father": "Those alone who, though in diverse times and places, yet persevering in time, communion and faith of the one Catholic Church, have been approved teachers."
The same result is obtained by modern theologians, in their definitions; e.g. Fessler thus defines what constitutes a "Father":

orthodox doctrine and learning;

holiness of life;

(at the present day) a certain antiquity.

The criteria by which we judge whether a writer is a "Father" or not are:

citation by a general council, or

in public Acts of popes addressed to the Church or concerning Faith;

encomium in the Roman Martyrology as "sanctitate et doctrina insignis";

public reading in Churches in early centuries;

citations, with praise, as an authority as to the Faith by some of the more celebrated Fathers.

Early authors, though belonging to the Church, who fail to reach this standard are simply ecclesiastical writers ("Patrologia", ed. Jungmann, ch. i, #11). On the other hand, where the appeal is not to the authority of the writer, but his testimony is merely required to the belief of his time, one writer is as good as another, and if a Father is cited for this purpose, it is not as a Father that he is cited, but merely as a witness to facts well known to him. For the history of dogma, therefore, the works of ecclesiastical writers who are not only not approved, but even heretical, are often just as valuable as those of the Fathers. On the other hand, the witness of one Father is occasionally of great weight for doctrine when taken singly, if he is teaching a subject on which he is recognized by the Church as an especial authority, e.g., St. Athanasius on the Divinity of the Son, St. Augustine on the Holy Trinity, etc.
In the last years of the fifth century a famous document, attributed to Popes Gelasius and Hormisdas, adds to decrees of St. Damasus of 382 a list of books which are approved, and another of those disapproved. In its present form the list of approved Fathers comprises Cyprian, Gregory Nazianzen, Basil, Athanasius, Chrysostom, Theophilus, Hilary, Cyril of Alexandria (wanting in one manuscript), Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome, Prosper, Leo ("every iota" of the tome to Flavian is to be accepted under anathema), and "also the treatises of all orthodox Fathers, who deviated in nothing from the fellowship of the holy Roman Church, and were not separated from her faith and preaching, but were participators through the grace of God until the end of their life in her communion; also the decretal letters, which most blessed popes have given at various times when consulted by various Fathers, are to be received with veneration". Orosius, Sedulius, and Juvencus are praised.
Rufinus and Origen are rejected. Eusebius's "History" and "Chronicle" are not to be condemned altogether, though in another part of the list they appear as "apocrypha" with Tertullian, Lactantius, Africanus, Commodian, Clement of Alexandria, Arnobius, Cassian, Victorinus of Pettau, Faustus, and the works of heretics, and forged Scriptural documents.
The later Fathers constantly used the writings of the earlier. For instance, St. Caesarius of Arles drew freely on St. Augustine's sermons, and embodied them in collections of his own; St. Gregory the Great has largely founded himself on St. Augustine; St. Isidore rests upon all his predecessors; St. John Damascene's great work is a synthesis of patristic theology. St. Bede's sermons are a cento from the greater Fathers. Eugippius made a selection from St. Augustine's writings, which had an immense vogue. Cassiodorus made a collection of select commentaries by various writers on all the books of Holy Scripture. St. Benedict especially recommended patristic study, and his sons have observed his advice: "Ad perfectionem conversationis qui festinat, sunt doctrinae sanctorum Patrum, quarum observatio perducat hominem ad celsitudinem perfectionis . . . quis liber sanctorum catholicorum Patrum hoc non resonat, ut recto cursu perveniamus ad creatorem nostrum?" (Sanet Regula, lxxiii). Florilegia and catenae became common from the fifth century onwards. They are mostly anonymous, but those in the East which go under the name Œcumenius are well known. Most famous of all throughout the Middle Ages was the "Glossa ordinaria" attributed to Walafrid Strabo. The "Catena aurea" of St. Thomas Aquinas is still in use. (See CATENAE, and the valuable matter collected by Turner in Hastings, Dict. of the Bible, V, 521.)
Fathers of the Church

In order to demonstrate that the Church has not promulgated an official list of Church Fathers, I will employ one example only. The Catholic Culture site places St. Benedict on the list of Latin Church Fathers whereas the Catholic Encyclopedia does not.
Father Joe Buhagiar Bianco, SJ drew up a list of all the Church Fathers in 2016. He extended the traditional ending-date for the Church Fathers, for which he has the privilege to provide his own interpretation, as a theological point.
Even Wikipedia has a list of Church Fathers which I am noting here simply as non-Catholic reference, which may be useful to someone.
Comment: +1 Thank you for your answer. I apologize for the delay in my response as my SE accounts were hacked last February and identity stolen. It took a fairly long time to get things restored. As for your answer, would the list given by Catholic Culture (i.e., the Modern Catholic Dictionary) constitute an "official" list up to the time that Fr. John Hardon composed it?
Comment: @DDS The Church does not have an official list. But Fr  Hardon's works were studied in the seminary when I was there. He was an extremely Orthodox Catholic theologian and his works have never been in question.
Answer: I have come up with (if I count them correctly), 65 Fathers of the Church according to Catholic Encyclopedia: https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/
Comment: +1 In light of this post, I shall edit my question.
Comment: @ProsperdesGarets Likewise, have I edited the answer.
Comment: the above list reflects Church Fathers whose writing were extensive enough to have been included when this encyclopedia was compiled more than 100 years ago. I think there are many more... checking now. – Dan Fefferman
Comment: That's not the Old Catholic Encyclopedia, that's another section of NewAdvent.org which lists the extant writings of the fathers of the church as best it can.  NewAdvent.org is broken up into four sections (Bible, Fathers, Summa and Encyclopedia)
Answer: No definitive list of Church Fathers has been published by the Catholic Church. While only about 65 Church Fathers were listed in the Catholic Encyclopedia's collection more than a century ago the actual number appears to be quite a bit larger.
This List Of All the Fathers Catholic Church was compiled by Father Joe Buhagiar Bianco, a Jesuit scholar in 2016.  Please note that he includes a few who lived after John of Damascus, such as Symeon the New Theologian and Gregory Palamas. Following recent ecumenical trends in Catholicism, he also includes older Eastern Fathers not included in the Catholic Encyclopedia's collection.

1. The 5 Apostolic Fathers : 1st Century
Clement, Bishop of Rome (30-100)
Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch (30-107)
Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna (69-155)
Barnabas (priest?) (between 70 and 132)
Mathetes, Epistle to Diognetus
2. The Post-apostolic Fathers : 2nd & 3rd Centuries
Justin, (Priest) Martyr (100-165)
Hegesippus, (110-180)
Aristides the Athenian (2nd Century)
Marcus Minucius Felix (wrote in Latin after 150)
Melito, Bishop of Sardis (died circa 180)
Anonymous:Letter to Diognetus (end of 2nd Century)
Tatien the Syrian, a disciple of Justin (born 110/120 )
Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons (120-200)
Athenagoras of Athens (circa 133-190)
Clement, Bishop of Alexandria (150-215)
Hippolytus, priest of Rome (170-235)
Theophilus, Patriarch of Antioch ( wrote c. 180-185)
Origen, priest, (184/4 , 253-254)
3. The Christian Faith is officially recognised in the Empire
The Golden Age – The 4th to 8th Centuries
Greek Fathers (those who wrote in Greek) :
Gregory Thaumaturgus, Bishop of Caesarea (died 270)
Lucian of Antioch, priest & martyr (c.240-312)
Alexander, Bishop (Pope) of Alexandia (died 326/8)
Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, (260/5-339/40)
Athanasius, Bishop (Pope) of Alexandia (298-374)
Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem (ca. 313-386)
Apollinaris, Bishop of Laodicea (Syria) (died 390)
Didymus the Blind (Egyptian theologian) (313-398)
Serapion, Bishop of Thmuis (Egypt) from (330-360)
Basil, Bishop of Caesarea (329-379)
Gregory, Bishop of Nazianzus (330-390)
Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa (332-394) ( brother of Basil)
Diodorus, Bishop of Tarsus, (died 390)
Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis (Cyprus) (310/320-403)
John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople (349-407)
Asterius, Bishop of Amasea (Turkey) (c. 350-410)
Severian, Bishop of Gabala, (before 380-before 425)
Theodore, Bishop of Mopsuestia (350-428)
Cyril, Bishop (Pope) of Alexandria (376-444)
Cynesius of Cyrene, Bishop of Ptolemais (N.Africa)
Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrrhus (c. 393-458/66)
Hesychius, priest of Jerusalem (died 443)
Isidore, Bishop of Pelusium (Egypt) (died c.450)
Leontius of Jerusalem, theologian (485-543)
Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, (6th Century)
Romanos the Melodist, deacon, (6th Century)
Sophronius, Bishop of Jerusalem (c. 560-638)
Maximus the Confessor, Monk (580-662)
Anastasius of Sinai (Sinaita) Abbot of St Catherine's (d. after 700)
John Climacus, monk at St Catherine's (Sinai) (7th Century)
John of Damascus, priest and Abbot (675/6 – 749)
Also called the last of the Greek Fathers
4. Latin Fathers (those who wrote in Latin) :
The 4th to 8th Centuries
Tertullian (c 155 – c 225) priest of North Africa (probably Carthage)
Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage (died in 258)
Arnobius of Sicca (in Tunisia) Lay apologist (died in 330)
Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers (315-367)
Lucifer, Bishop of Cagliari (died 370/1)
Eusebius, Bishop of Vercelli (236-371)
Ambrose, Bishop of Milan (339-397)
Optatus, Bishop of Milevis (N. Africa) (4th Century)
Jerome, Priest, (347-420)
Augustin, Bishop of Hippo (354-430)
Paulinus, Bishop of Nola (354-431_)
Peter Chrysologus, Bishop of Ravenna (380-450)
Prosper of Aquitane, layman, (390=455)
Julianus Pomerius, priest (5th Century)
Leo the Great, Bishop (Pope) of Rome (400-461)
Gennadius, priest of Marseilles (died 496)
Fulgentius, Bishop of Ruspe (Tunisia) (462/67-527/33)
Caesarius, Bishop of Arles (France) (died in 542)
Gregory the Great, Bishop (Pope) of Rome (540-605)
Isidore, Bishop of Seville (c. 560-636)
Also called the last of the Latin Fathers
5. Syriac Fathers (those who wrote in Syriac) :
Ephrem the Syrian , Deacon (306-373)
Aphraates, Monk (c. 320-345)
Jacob, Bishop of Serugh (451-521)
Philoxenus, Bishop of Mabbug (or Hierapolis) (6th Century)
Isaac , Bishop of Nineveh and hermit (613-700)
6. Fathers of the Desert (Hermits/Monks)
Anthony, the Great Father of all Monks (251-356)
Pachomius, Founder of Christian Monasticism (292-348)
Macarius of Egypt, (300-391)
Macarius of Alexandria (died 395)
Evagrius Ponticus, deacon (345-399)
Arsenius the Great (deacon/hermit) (350/4-445)
Nilus of Sinai (died 430)
Vincent of Lerins (died 445)
Theodore the Studite, Abbot (759-826)
Athanasius the Athonite, Abbot (920-1003)
Symeon, the New Theologian, Monk (949-1022)
Gregory Palamas, Monk (1296-1359)
Comment: Thank you for your answer; but I'm somewhat skeptical about the FOF site you post. Is it Catholic? Nothing I could see indicates such. Also, if you ignore St. Bernard,  the last Church Father is traditionally St. John Damscene. Hence, I see no reason to think that information was lacking to New Advent to compose a fairly accurate list. Also, the SJ priest who compiled the list,  Father Joe Buhagiar Bianco, it seems he just came up with a list to his liking---no authentic sources to substantiate why his list exceeds in length the one given in another answer. As I said, thank you for your post.


How to find objective reviews of outdoors gear?

Question: It is often difficult to know what to look for when shopping for outdoors gear.   Is there some magazine, website, or other resource that does Consumer Reports style objective evaluation of outdoors gear (boots, trousers, jackets, tents, sleeping bags, ...)?
Answer: I often use Outdoors Magic when trying to work out what to buy! Another magazine in the UK I subscribe to is Trail, there parent website, "Live for the Outdoors" can be found here. There is also Gear Junkie, but have not used their site.
Its often probably a good idea as you allude to to check a few different review sites for an objective view, but I have found the first two certainly informative!
I guess the other place is to look at the major resellers of the gear. They often have customer reviews (although of course people only tend to write reviews if something is wrong!), but sometimes these can be helpful.
Some other sites:

Outside Online
GORP
Outdoor Gear Madness
Buachaille
Gear Review
Answer: If you are into ultralight/lightweight backpacking, nothing tops BackpackingLight.  They do a lot of scientific testing, and the articles are very thorough.  It is a pay site, but it's something like $20 USD per year.  You can see a list of some of their best articles here.  They regularly come up with objective test measures for backpacking gear, and then carry out those tests on a wide array of items.  i.e. for testing inflatable air mattresses, they figured out a way to measure how slippery the bottoms of each mat was, along with independently measuring weight, R-Value, etc.  Finally the (free) forums on that site are also a great place to find more specific info about particular gear.
As backup for that, I like what BackpackGearTest does.
Comment: I love this answer.  I was ready to type up my own answer on what I do, but this is awesome!  Scientific testing would be a great thing.
Answer: I tend to look on the livefortheoutdoors site - it has a fair few reviews, not loads, but those it does have are pretty comprehensive and (in my eyes) well written and balanced.


Mongodb Standalone Performs better than Replica Set

Question: I am currently using a standalone mongodb with high read operations. Since replica sets could provide high read performance, I setup a 3 node replica set on 3 vms with read preference as "secondary preferred". However I could not see any performance improvement, in fact the replica set runs a little slower(~2 secs) than the standalone.The configuration is as follows, 4GB of RAM, 7GB of data, 50 GB of hard disk on all 3 vms and for the standalone db and We are using aggregate queries. I would like to know what could be the real reason for the replica sets to function slower compared to the standalone db.
Comment: If you want to improve read performance optimising common queries is a great first step. Adding more nodes on a single server will increase contention for resources and is likely to be more detrimental than helpful. Please edit your question to include an actual aggregation query and some information about the number of documents processed and included in the results. Are all eight queries against the same collection? Does "db is 4GB of RAM" indicate your total RAM or what you've set the WiredTiger cache size to? What are your specific versions of MongoDB server, driver, and O/S?
Comment: Hi @Stennie, thanks for looking in and sorry for the delayed response. Please find the requested information--> 1. Regarding the aggregation query, i believe i am not supposed to share so pls excuse and FYI.. we removed indexes as they increased the execution time rather to decrease it 2. There is only 1 collection against which all agg. queries are running. 3. The total RAM size of the server is 4 GB and the WT cache size is around 1.4gb 4. Mongodb version is 3.4 64 bit and OS is RHEL-7, AvgObjectSize is 632 B, 6.7 documents in total.
Comment: Also kindly reconfirm, if adding more nodes on a single server would be harmful even if we are using VMs.
Comment: Are you able to post a redacted version of your aggregation (variable names changed or at least a general idea of the stages)? My suspicion is that your aggregation queries are fetching a large number of documents and putting pressure on the WT cache. If removing indexes increased performance, these indexes were perhaps unused by the aggregation but contending for cache space. What is the 7GB of data measuring (size of data on disk, `db.stats().dataSize`, ...) ?
Answer:
I would like to know what could be the real reason for the replica sets to function slower compared to the standalone db.

Replica sets provide high availability and data redundancy, but these benefits are best realized using separate server resources.
With multiple data-bearing replica set members on a single server you are adding contention for the underlying hardware resources (CPU, RAM, disk):

Every write has to be replicated and applied by each of the replica set members (which each have their own journal, oplog, and data files), so there will be significantly more I/O as compared to a standalone server.
A replica set on a single server will be using RAM to store multiple copies of the same data; a standalone can have more of your data & indexes in the same amount of RAM.

If the reason for your performance challenge is a lack of resources, you should be adding dedicated resources (such as more RAM or faster storage) rather than sharing existing resources.
Note that even with replica set members on multiple servers, secondary reads are not a panacea. For some considerations, see: Can I use more replica nodes to scale?.
Before adding additional server resources, I recommend starting with optimising indexes to support your common queries and aggregations. See: Index Strategies in the MongoDB documentation.
Answer:
Mongodb Standalone Performs better than Replica Set

As per MongoDB BOL here A replica set is a group of  mongod instances that maintain the same data set. A replica set contains several data bearing nodes and optionally one arbiter node. Of the data bearing nodes, one and only one member is deemed the primary node, while the other nodes are deemed secondary nodes.
As mongod is the primary daemon process for the MongoDB system. It handles data requests, manages data access, and performs background management operations.
As per MongoDB Blog documentation here Aggregation pipelines are resource intensive operations – it makes sense to offload aggregations jobs to secondaries of a MongoDB replica set when it is ok to operate on slightly stale data. This is typically true for 'batch' operations since they don't expect to run on the latest data. If the output needs to be written to a collection then the aggregation jobs only run on the primary since only the primary is writable in MongoDB.
Comment: Hi @Md Haidar Ali Khan, thanks for your swift response. The links provided give us good insights. But in my case, the aggregate queries are performing only reads and they are routed to the secondaries. I suspect something with regards with the VM or the RAM size of the db


Why are my gears moving but my wheels not turning?

Question: I have two bikes that when I pedal (yes I am pedaling in the correct direction) the gears turn freely, but the wheels don't.  One of them I was riding and it felt like it had shifted while I was standing on it, and the next thing I knew I was walking home.  The other one my friend was riding at the time.
Comment: Gidday and welcome to SE Bicycles.  Your question needs more words to convey the meaning.  Can you please use the EDIT link to expand your question?  Specifically, "the gears freely from the wheels"  Exactly what do the gears do?  Change up/down?  Does the chain jump over the teeth of the cog?   If you can, adding one or two clear and well-lit photos showing the problem will help a lot.  Finally, also have a browse through the Tour, which is in the Help menu, to learn how SE works.
Comment: Paragraph 2 - "When you were standing (riding out of the saddle I guess?) it (the gears) shifted and you were walking home"   What was wrong?  Did the chain come off or snap?  Did you get a flat?    Para3, whats the other bike mentioned for?  Is it related to the problem?    As it stands, this question is likely to be closed as "unclear what you're asking" but you have till five people vote, to get editing.
Answer: Inside your rear wheel is what is called a free hub. It has a ratcheting mechanism that allows you to pedal backwards while conversely engaging when you pedal forward so to transfer pedal force to the wheel. I've been stuck on a trail more than once due to a free hub failing to engage.
Unfortunately your free hub is generally not servicable. Depending on the quality of the wheel, it is sometimes cheaper to just buy a new wheel vs paying someone to re lace your existing one.
Other than a broken chain, which would be obvious, I don't know of anything else that would cause your wheel not to move when you pedal forward.
Cheers.
Comment: Actually, the ratchet mechanism portion of the hub may be replaceable, as a separate part.  It's worth a trip to a good bike shop to see what can be done.  And the problem is sometimes that the lube inside the hub has gotten "stiff" and is keeping the pawls from moving freely.  In such cases simply (somehow) spraying spray lube inside the hub has fixed the problem, at least temporarily.
Answer: There's this video, which shows how to clean a freewheel without disassembling its innards.  (What @daniel-r-hicks said reminded me of this.)  It assumes you can get it off the bike to work on it.

This video shows how to do the same thing for a freehub (as opposed to freewheel).

I can't tell if:

yours is a freewheel or freehub, I don't think you've said
the problem is your chain coming off the gears or it's staying on
but not turning the wheel

so it's hard to know if this video answers your question.
Difference between freewheel and freehub -

What's in a freewheel (how does it work) -
Comment: Wow, those are great.  Still watching, thanks for posting those.


KDE, how to have "tail -f" constantly on a dedicated panel?

Question: Plasma has this nice plasmoid called File Watcher.
At work I have 2 monitors. I would like to put this plasmoid on an empty panel on the second monitor. So that
tail -f /var/log/apache2/error.log

would be always visibile on the panel, but unfortunately I'm not able to make the plasmoid go on the 100% of the panel's with.
Is there a way for doing this?
Workarounds and/or alternatives are welcome
Answer: You can use KSystemLog, placing the window wherever you want.


Was Adam Sandler's dad dead or did he just go away?

Question: Can anyone give us proofs from the movie "The Cobbler" that confirm if his dad was dead in the movie or he just went away?
Answer: I haven't seen the movie.  But the synopsis on IMDB says the dad (Abraham) reappears at the end of the movie:

Max wakes up in Jimmy's barber shop. Jimmy offers him some water and a pickle, stating that pickles help with the transition from one body to another. Max asks how he knew about that. Jimmy takes off his shoes to reveal that he was Abraham the whole time. Both elated and angry, Max hugs his dad.

It sounds as though he wasn't dead or gone. He was just in disguise.
Answer: In the movie, Max put on the shoes of a dead man and becomes a rotting corpse. He even panics and screams "He's dead. He's dead." When he puts on his father shoes he became a healthy, very much alive, version of his dad.
It was obvious that Jimmy was Max's father in disguise. The pears, pickles, wanting to help.


Implement the slowest possible sorting algorithm that retains a fast best case

Question: I have recently been on a quest to create really really slow sorting algorithms that make Bogosort seem like it is the best.
The task is simple: Sort an array of integers in as long average time as possible, with the average Bachmann–Landau notation begin as high as possible, while keeping the best case performance fast
The rules:

Everything happening has to be productive in some sense. Using a slow function to generate numbers is not counted as productive (unless that is one of the faster ways to get those exact numbers, and your algorithm depends on them for some reason).
Best case* time performace has to be \$o(2^n)\$ (i.e. faster than \$2^n\$).

*The fast best case is not allowed to be on already sorted data.
You need:

Specify language
The code / pseudocode
An explanation + big O-notation for best and average case.

Scoring:
Scoring will be based in order of this list:

Highest average big O-notation
Being deterministic
Fastest best case
Working on sets that are not strictly totally ordered
Earliest submission

For example, if two submissions have the same average runtime, but only one of them is deterministic, that one will win. If they are both either deterministic or non-deterministic, they are judged based on the fastest best case, and so on.
Example:
fastSort works by giving every item a randomly generated number, putting the lowest one first, then recursively sorting the rest based on those new values. If the resulting array is not sorted, then it loops until it is.
The random marking of card numbers have a \$\frac{1}{n!}\$ chance of being correct, so it will on average take \$n!\$ attempts to select the right numbers, and for each of these attempts, the method calls itself with 1 lower length. Thus the average time complexity becomes:
$$
\begin{align}
T(n) &= n! \cdot T(n-1) \\
&= n! \cdot (n-1)! \cdot T(n-2) \\
&= n! \cdot (n-1)! \cdot (n-2)! \cdot ... \cdot 2! \cdot 1! \cdot T(0) \\
&= T(0) \cdot \prod_{k=1}^n n! := T(0) \cdot sf(n)) = \underline{O(sf(n))}
\end{align}
$$
\$\big[sf(x)\$ is the superfactorial\$\big]\$
The best case, excluding the case of already sorted data, is if the initial labeling is correct on every level down. This will cause the algorithm to go as many steps down as it takes to come to a part where the rest of the elements are already sorted, and then go back up again. The best of these cases is if only two elements have been swapped, in which case, it only goes 1 level down, and thus has a best case runtime of \$O(n)\$.
Looking at space efficiency:
Every step down needs to store n-(#steps) numbers, so the maximum amount of numbers needed at any given time is:
$$
\sum_{k=1}^n k = \frac{n^2+n}{2} = O(n^2)
$$
Since the only time we compare the actual inputs, is in checking whether the array is sorted, means that it will work on any partially ordered set.
I have chosen to call it fastSort for obvious reasons. Here is a possible pseudocode-implementation (nothing language specific):
class Card<T>
{
    T value
    stack<int> cards
}

function fastSortHelper(cardArr: array<Card<T>>, offset: int)
{
    if (offset >= cardArr.length) then return

    while (cardArr is not sorted based on their top card)
    {
        push 1 random number to every cards stack
        find the element with the smallest top card, and swap it with the first.
        fastSortHelper(cardArr, offset + 1)
        pop the top number from every cards stack
    }
}

function fastSort (arr: array<T>, start: int, end: int)
{
    int length := end - start
    array<Card<T>> cardArr[length]
    initialize cardArr with the values from arr in [start, end), and an empty stack

    while (cardArr is not sorted based on their values)
    {
        push 1 random number to every cards stack
        find the element with the smallest top card, and swap it with the first.
        fastSortHelper(cardArr, 1)
        pop the top number from every cards stack
    }

    move the values from cardArr back into arr, in the correct range
}

Comment: Welcome to Code Golf! This is a really interesting question, but "Everything happening has to be productive in some sense" is really vague and unobservable.
Comment: The restriction for best case is also not very clear. Someone may cheat it easily by add `"if reversed(input) is sorted, return reversed(input); else continue following steps"` at the beginning of any algorithm to make sure its best case is \$o(2^n)\$
Comment: You might want to check out our [sandbox](https://codegolf.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/2140/sandbox-for-proposed-challenges) where you can get feedback before posting a challenge.  It can't fix everything but it does give you some warning for what issues a potential challenge might have.
Answer: Python 3, \$O\left(n^2\left(max\left(a\right)-min\left(a\right)+1\right)^{n-1}\right)\$
import itertools

def sort(a):
    m, n, l = min(a), max(a), len(a)
    for possible in itertools.product(range(m, n + 1), repeat=l):
        if (
            all(possible.count(i) == a.count(i) for i in possible) and
            all(i <= j for i, j in zip(possible, possible[1:]))
        ):
            return list(possible)

Try it online!
When input only contains \$k\$ and \$k+1\$ each \$\frac{n}{2}\$ times. Its complexity is \$O\left(2^{\frac{n}{2}}\cdot n^2\right)\$.


Torsion-free modules over a general ring

Question: I want to know how to prove that a torsion-free module over a general ring is flat. In Lectures on Rings and Modules, T.Y. Lam proves this in the  case where your ring is an integral domain. Can you please help me prove it or recommend some books or articles concerning this? Thanks!
Comment: The integral domains that satisfy this property (every torsionfree module is flat) are exactly the so called Prüfer domains.
Comment: Even over a domain a torsion free module  is certainly not flat in general.
Comment: @unknown(google) I'm not trying to pressure you, but if you think my post below answers your question and that you won't get a better answer, could you click the green check mark next to it? That way the MathOverflow software registers that this question has been answered and won't put it back up on the front-page in the future. I normally wouldn't say this, but as it's your first ever question I wanted to be sure you knew about how to accept an answer. If there's something more you want explained, please leave a comment and I'll say more.
Comment: I'm not sure there's a consensus for a definition of torsion-free module over a ring which is not a domain. Please include a definition, or restrict to domains.
Answer: The best book for such questions in my opinion is the one you're already reading: "Lectures on Modules and Rings" by Lam. Indeed, on page 127 he provides a counter-example to your claim that torsion-free implies flat. Probably you meant the converse, which does hold: Any flat module is torsion-free. This is also on page 127.
Here's Lam's counter-example...Let $R=k[x,y]$ where $k$ is any commutative domain. Then $M=(x,y)$ is torsion-free because there are no relations on $x$ or $y$. However, $M$ is not flat. To see this set $S=R/(x)\cong k[y]$ so that $M\otimes_R S = M\otimes_R R/(x) \cong M/xM \cong (x,y)/(x^2,yx)$. If $M$ is flat over $R$ then $M\otimes_R S$ is flat over $S$ and hence torsion-free. This is a contradiction because $yx=0$ but $y\neq 0$.
Comment: Here is a geometric  proof of non-flatness of the *ideal* $M\subset R$.If $M$ were flat,  it would be projective (flat+finitely presented $\Rightarrow$ projective), necessarily invertible since it is an ideal. But an invertible ideal has height one: contradiction, since $M$ trivially has height  $\geq 2$ [actually $2$, of course].
*A variant:* a rank one projective module on $\mathbb A_k^2$ is trivial, so $M$ would be a free ideal, which means a principal ideal: this is obviously false.
Comment:  I, on the other hand,  like the directness of your astute base change to $S$, David!
And, also, Einstein remarked "If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor. "

http://thinkexist.com/quotation/if_you_are_out_to_describe_the_truth-leave/15506.html

Comment: Thanks, Georges, that is very nice. I forgot about the connection between invertible ideals and projective ideals, but with it I think your proof is much more elegant
Answer: thank for your all answers! Here is my ideas: How can i prove the following proposition:
" If every finitely generated ideal of R is principal, then a torsion - free R-module is flat"
Because most of books i have prove this property when R is integral domain, while i want to know how can we prove when R is general ring.
Comment: You can prove the proposition in the usual way. Let $M$ be your module. You need to show that the canonical map $f: I\otimes M\to IM$ is an isomorphism for any ideal $I$ of $R$ of finite type. Write $I=aR$ and consider the map $M\to I\otimes M$, $x\mapsto a\otimes x$ and $h=fg : x\to ax$. Then $f,g$ are surjective by construction, and $h$ is an isomorphism because $M$ is torsion free. So $f$ is an isomorphism.
Comment: **Please** do not use answers to do anything **except** answering questions.


Changing link format from Calendar widget

Question: I have the Calendar widget in the sidebar of my wordpress site. It currently links to each day's post using the date format such as "/2019/08/01/" instead of the permalink setting (post name). How can I change it to use the permalink setting? The post page displays differently when the link has only the date format and I don't want google indexing the posts twice.
Answer: The calendar widget doesn't link to "each day's post". It's linking to an archive page that lists all posts made on that date. Hence the <code>/2019/08/01/</code> URL. If you click the post title (or "Continue Reading" or "Read More" link if there is one) you will be taken to the single post whose URL will match your settings.
If you've only ever made one post per day, then the date archive for a specific day will only show one post, but if you make more than that the date archive will show multiple posts on the same page. The purpose of the calendar widget is to provide links to these date archives. If you want one that links directly to individual posts, you'll need to find a 3rd-party alternative.
Comment: Thanks Jacob, I didnt realize it was going to a daily list of posts. it explains why the page is differently formatted with the date on top. My site will only ever have one post per day at most. You don't have any good plugin recommendations. I want it basically be the same widget.. just with a link to the daily post instead.


How's TD Waterhouse compared to other E-brokerage services available in Canada?

Question: How's TD Waterhouse compared to other E-brokerage services available in Canada? I'm a novice investor, so probably at this point only the fees and diversity of available commodities are a requirement.
Comment: What does "diversity of available commodities" mean?
Answer: I use TD Waterhouse for my passive invest-and-hold strategy. It works very well for that. The web interface means I don't need to interact with a person, and the MER is comparatively low. TD Waterhouse offers a sufficient range of indexed mutual funds for my needs, but my needs are very simple.
Canadian Couch Potato (a blog which advocates a passive, index-based investment approach) compares rates and offerings for Canadian Index Funds and Canadian ETFs.
Hopefully someone else can fill you in with how the various E-brokerage services compare for more active investors.
Answer: I've never used TD Waterhouse.  When I chose a brokerage, my dad recommended the Globe and Mail's annual brokerage rankings.  The rankings still seem like a good resource, even nowadays.
(By the way, the link I provided is to the main rankings article—the most useful part—of the 2011 rankings.  Click "Detailed rankings table" at the top to see each brokerage's numerical scores in each category.)


Problem with the Rigging of legs, and it's doing stranger things!

Question: First of all, sorry for my bad english.
So I use blender for a few time, I rigged a lot of basic 3D model ( especially voxel character ), but this time i tried to create a real and professional rig.
So, here's my problem : when i create automatic rig, it rigs both legs, so if I move the feet... both legs move strangely.
I tried mutiple thing, like removing the mirror modifier of the mesh with the vertex group off, rigging with few basic bones, etc etc... but nothing works. It's my first time with this bug, so If anyone has a solucion, please can you help me xD. Thanks in advance.
Answer: The weight is bad, for example if I select this left leg bone, you can see that it affects the right leg, so you need to correct that:
Comment: I know, but the things is : why does the automatic weight bugs on this model ? I use it thousand times on other and similar model and i never had this bug
Comment: it can happen and in that case you need to correct with a brush of with the vertex group assign button
Comment: Ok, thanks ! I will try !
Answer: Although your model is one object, it's actually in two separate halves with all the vertices down the middle overlapping. I guess this has confused Rigify somewhat!
If you go into Edit mode, hover the cursor over one side of the model and press 'L', you'll see it just selects one half and you can move it around without the other side moving. There are actually 116 overlapping vertices right down the centre of the model. Go into Edit mode, select the whole model with 'A' and then join them with 'M' and then Merge By Distance.
I'd delete the armature and rig, join the model as mentioned above and try again with a fresh armature.
Comment: after removing these vertice, i created a new rig, but the same problem appear again, I never saw this kind of problem before. I think I will use a simpler rig and change the weight by myself.


tab bar controllers won't open in Interface Builder

Question: I'm developing a new app but I've a little issue with Interface Builder...
I've installed Xcode 3.2.3 and iPhone SDK 4.0 GM.
When I create a new Tab Bar Application project in Xcode, opening the MainWindow.xib file in IB, the Tab Bar Controller won't open... I tried reclicking it but nothing!
I also uninstalled and reinstalled all developer tools but without any results...
Finally if I try to build and run the project in the simulator, the tab bar controller shows normally!

Can anyone help me? :)
Answer: It sounds like something similar to what I have experienced with my projects and the new sdk. Some of my IB files such as ones that contain UIViews when double clicking on them they refuse to open.
I haven't had to reinstall or nothing usually quitting IB and xcode and restarting helps I can't remember if I have done anything else to fix it. It may be an issue with the new 3.2.3 xcode as I don't recall having anything like this happen in my 3.2.2 build.
If it becomes a large problem for you have you considered removing the tab bar and rebuilding it? Just a thought. It may be troublesome to do so but if it fixes it and allows you to continue coding your project it would be worth it.
Comment: Oh thanks, I've just resolved this problem rebuilding tab bar controller :)
Answer: You said in your question that you're running iPhone SDK 3.2.3 with iOS4 GM. You should update your SDK, as the SDK is now at version 4.0 officially.
Otherwise, it sounds like your Xcode installation is somehow corrupted in some way. You may need a complete reinstall.


Under what conditions do left adjoints preserve products?

Question: Are there any results concerning under what conditions a left adjoint preserves products?
Comment: Geometric morphisms have a left adjoint that preserves finite limits
Answer: Examples have already been given when the left adjoint preserves finite limits, in particular finite products. To get all products, the simplest situation is, naturally, when the left adjoint is also a right adjoint, thus, when we have an adjoint triple $f^*\vdash f_*\vdash f^{!}$. Perhaps the most elementary example of this is when we have a homomorphism of commutative rings $f:A\to B$, which induces functors on module categories with $f^*(M)=B\otimes_A M$ extension of scalars, $f_*(N)=N_A$ restriction of scalars, and $f^!(M)=\hom_A(B_A,M)$ coextension of scalars. But if you're looking for an abstract categorical condition, asking for an adjoint triple is about the best you'll do.
Answer: An interesting situation (and frequent, too) is when your left adjoint is part of an adjunction of the form "left Kan extension-nerve functor". In that situation, if you are extending a flat functor, then your left-adjoint preserves finite limits.
An example is given by the geometric realization of simplicial sets followed by the forgetful functor $Top \to Set$.
We get the desired result since $[n] \mapsto \Delta^n$ is a flat functor $\Delta \to Set$ (for example because $\Delta$ admits a terminal object).
Answer: If $u : C \to D$ is a functor commuting with finite products, then the left adjoint $u_!$ to the restriction of presheaves $u^* : P(D) \to P(C)$ commutes with finite products.
Comment: Can you cite some references? Thank you!


How to reinstall Ubuntu in dual boot with Windows 10?

Question: I have Ubuntu 15.10 and Windows 10 dual-booted, but I want to reinstall Ubuntu in the same partition without making any changes or causing problems in the dual boot option and without removing Windows.  Is it possible? Any guide on how to do it?
Answer: Yes it is possible and very easy.

Make a backup of your personal data which is in /home/username where username is your actual username. This is less necessary if you have /home on a separate partition, but for the sake of safety in case you make any mistake, you should do it.
You may make a backup of your Windows also, for the same reason.
Assuming now that your data is safe, you just proceed to install as a fresh installation, using the partitions which were in use for Ubuntu in your current installation. If you had a separate /home, simply don't format it to save time. It is safe to format everything else, except your Windows partitions.

The Ubuntu installer will be very polite with your current Windows installation and will provide an entry in the boot loader to either boot Windows or Linux when you start.
Comment: That is using the Something Else install option. And choose change to select existing / (root) partition. It will find swap automatically. And if do have the separate /home then be sure NOT to tick the format box.


Best way to store span on time in a MySQL database?

Question: I'd like to store an amount of time for something in a mysql database,for the length of time something took, such as 2 hours, 5 minutes, 10 seconds. accuracy down to the second is preferred, but not required. What's the best way to go about doing this?
Comment: The purpose may make a difference here; if storing an integer number of seconds is adequate for you, that may be the way to go.  I have not checked the mysql documentation in a while, but I do not recall mysql having a timespan data type.
Comment: I don't know the particulars of MySQL, but in my experience, if all you need is "to the second" precision, then storing TotalSeconds makes the most sense.  It is generally much easier to parse that value back to any given time format, rather than having code to parse, say a string like "00:00:00" to an intermediary format first.
Comment: good point @Andrew. I was going to go with the TIME type after looking at some of the answers, but after thinking about how it will be implemented in the application, integer w/ seconds makes more sense (lots of math/comparison going on with times).
Answer: A MySQL TIME type can store time spans from '-838:59:59' to '838:59:59' - if that's within your required range, and it would be useful to have MySQL natively present these spans in HH:MM:SS form, then use that.
Otherwise, I'd just go with an integer type to represent the number of seconds.
Answer: I like storing things in the database as base units.  That way I can reliably and accurately convert to anything else I want later on.
The only thing you have to worry about with this method is getting your precision down.  If you are storing distance traveled for cross country trips, inches or centimeters might not be what you are looking for.
In your case, I'd store the span as seconds or milliseconds and go from there.
Answer: As Andrew says, an integer field with seconds might do already.
If the data is available, and it makes sense to store it, I would save the data in two mySQL timestamps with the start and end times (also possibly great for auditing later), and use DATE_DIFF() to fetch the actual duration.


My new employer wants to me to attend a meeting with their team

Question: I have accepted  a job offer and currently on notice period. My notice period is 2 months and alomost one third is completed. My new employer wants to me to attend a meeting with their team for a new upcoming project. Is it is good in IT industry to attend a meeting for upcoming employer before joining? Please advice.
Answer: I don't see anything wrong with this. I've had to do it a few times when I've changed to different IT companies. It gives you a chance to meet the people you'll be working with, find out the technologies you'll be using and get an overview of what your project will be.
It's not quite clear from your question, but it sounds like you're suggesting you'll be required to take time off from your current role to attend this meeting, which could be a problem. You could speak to your current employers and ask if this is possible, although I wouldn't be surprised if the answer was no (although you never know without asking!).
If that is the case, speak to your new employees and explain this situation to them. Explain that you'd love to know more about the project, but you can't take the time off. They can either record the meeting for you (if the technology is available) or simply email you the minutes from the meeting. They obviously are aware of your notice period as it will have been raised when they hired you, so I can see no reason this would be a problem.
All of this information should help prepare you for the role you're going into by giving you time to do any initial background research/reading you want to and by showing you things like the coding practices and work environment of your new company.
Answer: In theroy you are not an employee yet, so you are not obliged to take part, and if you take part you would theoretically be entitled to be paid for your presence.
But in practice it would make a good impression when you just show up. It seems to be an important meeting for the project you will take part in. So your presence will be beneficial for you and all future project participants.
But should you be unable to attend because your current employer won't let you, it will likely be understood.
Answer:
Is it is good in IT industry to attend a meeting for upcoming employer
  before joining?

It's a great thing to do, if your schedule and current contract allow for it. It's something I have done myself.
It demonstrates that you are eager to get started, excited about your new role and company, and are willing to extend yourself. It's a great way to get off to a fast start. Your new boss, and your new colleagues will probably appreciate it.
As long as you aren't expected to make any binding decisions, or to do any real work before you have fully joined, I see no downside to this - only benefits.
Answer: If I were you, I'd ask at what time and on what day the meeting is going to take place and how long that meeting will last. Because depending on timing and location - hopefully both your new and current employers are close by - you might get away with taking time off from your current employer to attend the meeting. But even if the coast looks clear at the moment and indications are that you can make that meeting, something might happen at your current employer that might get you tied up in knots for all of that day when you said you were going to show up. Hopefully, your new employer understands that you are making a best effort to attend but that you can't make a guarantee that you can attend. Your new employer is probably operating on the principle "If I don't ask, I am not going to get" and that's fine. Give attending that meeting your best shot and if it turns out that it's not doable, it is what it is and that's fine, too.


Adding Radio Button In wrapper class

Question: I am trying to do something same to Contact Role in Opportunity related list. For this i need to add a radio button on this, i have a wrapper class which is used to display on VF page how can i get it add to radio button on wrapper class and how to get whether which buttion is selected.
Answer: This blog post explains the concept of a Wrapper Class. You don't have to do anything special to get the select value, as it will be bound to the controller when the page is submitted.
I'd still render them as checkboxes, to make the checkboxes appear as Radio Buttons, you're best applying a css style.
To make it behave like the Standard Opportunity Contact Role Edit Page, you'd have to write some onChange javascript which automatically unchecks all of the other checkboxes, when one of them is selected.
Answer: If by radio button you mean that only one should be selected, or some other simple logic have to be implemented, a common way to proceed is to use jQuery.
Every checbkox (styled as radio button if you wish) will have an id="cbox_{!wrapper.index}"  an onclick="singleSelect('cbox_{!wrapper.index}')" and finally styleClass="myChecks"
in the head of your visualforce page you will have:
<apex:includeScript value="{!URLFOR($Resource.jquery)}"/>

the wrapper will also have an index property (an integer) so that unique id are generated for the checkboxes in the page, you could use a sfdc id but it may be unsafe.
you'll need to upload jquery as a static resource, more here:
http://developer.force.com/cookbook/recipe/using-jquery-in-a-visualforce-page
with jQuery you can easily implement common functions like select all/none

Adding Radio Button In wrapper class


correct settings for cgminer 4.9.2

Question: I have recently switched my mining from 4.6.1 to 4.9.2 with the same Antminer U3. Still wondering about correct settings for this new one. On 4.6.1 I have used --bsmc-options and other settings as --bsmc. On 4.9.2 syntax is different from it - it's --au3. But 4.9.2 do not understand commans --au3-options: 115200-0,65 and some others where bsmc became au3. WHat I do wrong? My stats drops down to the half of it was on 4.6.1, show very little number HW errors and stales/dups. Could someone give me the tips of correct .bat and .conf for 4.9.2/U3 os XP?
Answer: bmsc only works with the BITMAIN cgminer...
I have fully tested and configured cgminer 4.9.2, the latest to work with the U3, check out my videos on vimeo and dailymotion, do a search for cgminer and antminer u3, full instructions are included.
I have bfgminer working with the U3 as well....

correct settings for cgminer 4.9.2


New Year Resolutions

Question: What are some resolution that we can made in order to make the upcoming year more peaceful ,fruitful. Resolutions which may bring some major changes in our life?
Comment: This question does not appear to be a good fit for StackExchange, as it will elicit only opinions.
Comment: There is no correct answer to this poorly framed question.  Any possible answer is arbitrary and capricious.  Every respondent is required to elevate their own premise above that of the questioner in order to establish sufficient framework to reach a mature conclusion.
Answer: In school, teachers was asking students their resolutions, they can be not to lie, getting high score and so on.
But after some days or times gone no one seem aware of resolutions they had made at start of new year. Seldom of them aware of it; so if I've made resolution as not to lie, first thing I need to remind myself about it for practically achieve it. Need to mind control to not to lie. And so you asking for making year peaceful and happy then you can set it as practicing better than before and so many as you wishing. Meditation is there also you can made resolution of it and you'll have peaceful and bright year, not even year but life.
Answer: I am a bit late in answering this, but not too late. IMHO.. to be in the timeless present is a good New Year's Resolution that will open a whole new world anyone who would take this challenge. We are still at a threshold right now, as it is just one month into the dawn of 2017 after another year has come to an end.  Put into practice what you know of Dhamma right now. The one all important Pali word is 'APPAMADA'.  You will not postpone any acts or decisions for a 'tomorrow'. Life is in the today – life is here and now. For many,  this Dhamma Path has created new possibilities, that only in living in the present we can learn to live this truth.
Only if we develop two important attitudes that strengthen skillful desires: a sense of dismay (samvega) over the universality of suffering, and an attitude of heedfulness (appamada) to avoid being duped by types of desires that come our way, that we will have a sense of urgency towards the practice of Dhamma.
The 'Ehipassico' & "Opanaiko' qualities of the Dhamma invites you to come and see it for yourself.  But would you – I mean in the truest sense of the meaning?  If such thinking could help you to have less attachment to the senses – the eyes / seeing, the ears / hearing, the nose / smell, the tongue / taste, the touch and the thoughts – you will find a much more beautiful heavenly world out there that you have never explored.
In the not too distant future, we are going to face old age, when only with difficulty that one could maintain the body – it is just as maintaining a dilapidated old cart. Your body can be at ease. Even if you will feel the pain, you will not suffer when you enter upon and dwell in the minds realm.
A fact of life that almost every one of us deny, is that life is suffering. If you see this truth, understand it, accept it and go beyond it, you will find a peace of mind and happiness as you have never experienced before. If you truly understand this fact of life that is common to every living being, understand the core reason for it, and detach yourself from clinging to all such, then you will experience true peace.  I wish you a Happy New Year.
Answer: In Buddhism Dhamma should be experienced here and now. In order to do that you have to practice Vipassanā. Hence a fruitful resolution would be that you pratice 1 hour in the morning and evening and to do at least one retreat for the year.

New Year Resolutions


Is it morally permissible to jump the queue? Can we prove that it's morally permissible?

Question: Is it morally permissible to jump the queue? The situation is: Ken wanted to take a mini-bus. When he reached the bus stop, he found that his friend was in the first position of the queue. His friend let him jump the queue. In fact, there were only ten people waiting for the bus. That is, no one missed the next bus because of Ken's jumping the queue. Have Ken and his friend acted wrongly?
Is it possible to prove that it's morally permissible?
Comment: In the UK this is so morally wrong that people may start tutting and tapping their feet. It's that bad. Pretty much everywhere else it'll be fine.
Comment: @Alex you lie, the british would not be so bold
Comment: Is this a HW question? Could you provide some context and offer some of your own reasoning? "Is it morally permissible?" is a meaningless question without an implied ethical framework.
Comment: Intent is always important in morality. Why did Ken jump the queue? To chat with his friend until the bus arrived and sit with his friend when it did? Or to increase his chance of boarding the bus in case it was overly full? Or was it a social experiment? Or were Ken and his friend deliberately provoking the queue by violating social convention?
Comment: Karen Stohr's philosophical treatment *On Manners (Thinking in Action)* is relevant here. From the Introduction, "Consider how many unwritten rules govern an ordinary and comparatively simple activity, like buying a drink at a busy Starbucks. There are conventions about standing in line, deciding what to order in advance of one's turn, moving out of the way while waiting for one's camel macchiato..."
Comment: Why do people start making absolutist noises when morality is discussed? Morality isn't an absolute concept. Demanding that only absolute answers be acceptable and then claiming there are no absolute answers is a bit of a cheat.
Answer: Just because no-one missed the bus because of Ken jumping the queue doesn't mean it couldn't happen. The bus could've been unexpectedly near-full by the time it arrived, which perhaps could've lead to Ken making it in, while others could be forced to wait for the next bus, despite arriving early at the bus station (at least earlier than Ken).
In fact, when Ken jumps the queue, Ken is doing it precisely because they are aware that a scenario like above could occur and want to maximize the probability of them getting in. Or, they want to maximize their probability of getting a better seat by getting in first, but, again, that too is imoral, since the others in the queue probably have similar wishes, and decided to show up early so they could get their seats. So, my point is, from both a consequentialist viewpoint and a deontological viewpoint, this action is morally suspect.
Ken's friend is of course acting just as amoral, if not more, since the friend puts Ken in an awkward position: do you turn down a friend's offer, or do you do the ethical thing and stand last in line? The argument that they both just want to stand together doesn't hold either: in that case, Ken's friend could just go towards Ken and stand with them last in line.
Answer: I'm not a big fan of defining definitions. However to draw line to present a captured concept, maybe I should. a) Morality could only be applied when there are more than oneself present. b) In gross morality defines an act that preserve others interest, or increase others interest.
In such case Ken's jumping the queue can never be morally permissible. If they want to sit together or get on the same bus, why can't his friend jump out of the queue?

His friend let him jump the queue

His friend has violated others' rights, he is just the component of the queue, his sequence relative to other members that doesn't give him possession the position in the queue, therefore he doesn't have the right to insert new member to change the sequential relativity.
But this type of minor hiccups that we act in convenience and amiability are common in the world, that's what made life lively, the beauty of ambiguity, giving chances people to experience their emotions and minds. For example, there could be someone being upset in the queue while some wouldn't bother, some may even go and pull Ken out.
Looks like the UK people are the most ardent flocks in dispelling moral ambiguity :), according to the comment.
Answer: Rights can be transferred. If Ken's friend, who had the right to get on first, relinquished his position to Ken and himself went to the back of the queue, none of the other queuers would be disadvantaged, relatively or absolutely. The friend would merely have transferred his first-position right to Ken. It's unusual but morally unobjectionable.
What would be morally objectionable would be the friend's inviting Ken to take his own position at the front of the queue and himself moving to second place. This reduces the chances of others in the queue getting on the bus, and the friend had no right to do this. (What could support such a right ?) The fact that there was room for all - an optimific result - was a mere contingency.
Appealing to utilitarian consequentialism doesn't help. Act utilitarianism requires us to act on our best assessment of probable consequences, which is all we can do; and there is nothing in the situation as described to justify a probability-belief that everyone would be able to get on the bus.
As for rule utilitarianism, it is hard to imagine conditions in which the practice of altering the relative or absolute advantages of others at will produces an optimific result.
Switching to Kantian deontology, the maxim on which the friend acts - 'Always relatively or absolutely disadvantage others in the interests as a friend' - involves no contradiction in conception. It is logically possible for it to be universalised. But it does involve a contradiction in the will, the second categorical-imperative test : no-one could rationally prefer a world in which everyone followed this maxim. I assume.
Answer: Well it always feels unfair to those who didn't know his friend. And imagine the situation had his friend also known 10 others who could join him at the front of the queue.
This is not acceptable unless every other person in the queue also offers Ken the position.  They have after all been forced to give up their current position without consent or compensation.
But it gets tricky, if his friend had prearranged to be early in order to hold the position for both of them. Even then I think it is not acceptable.
Answer: If I could add an interesting anecdote... In Dubai people can line up for hours, even overnight, to have first rights to snap up newly launched apartments or villas. But what rich, fat cat is going to stand in line overnight? None, of course, it's beneath them. So, they will pay $20-30 for a laborer to stand in line for them. Then, as the fat cat's turn draws near, he'll replace the paid laborer and succeed at getting a chance for the purchase. Is this moral? The fat cat isn't pushing anyone back further in line. But he's disadvantaging a less rich guy who also wants a chance at the property, who instead has to personally stand in line and lose a day at work, rather than relying on a proxy.
In Dubai this had become quite an issue. When the government wanted to make available "affordable housing" to the less well-off, they had to restrict this practice of proxy queueing, as real-estate brokers would tend to use proxies to snap up as much "affordable" properties as possible and then resell them to the highest bidders. So the question is, is proxy queueing moral?
Answer: You tagged it with "consequentialism." Let's look at consequences.
If Ken and his buddy pulled this on some street in London, UK, the most severe consequence likely is somebody ruffles a newspaper, or harumphs quietly.  Maybe somebody's knuckles briefly go white in a suggestive manner. If Ken and his buddy pulled this at the shuttle bus stop where guys leaving the mine after their shift are trying to go home, the consequences are likely to be a bit more drastic.
Now note that in the previous paragraph you didn't boggle at the phrase "pulled this." Either time. What does that imply? You implicitly accept the idea that there is something being pulled. Your instant evaluation of the situation is that Ken and his buddy are out of line. Literally.
Yes, it's immoral. Very mildly so, but still. An appropriate response would be some kind of shaming comment. "If you two really need to be joined at the hip you can do it at the back of the line." It would not be appropriate to apply lessons using mining equipment.
Answer: Extending the other answers which are not wrong, but incomplete:
In a situation where all others would have done the same (in particular all others in the queue) and Ken and his friend would also have agreed to let this happen, and everyone involved knew this, it is not immoral according to the categorical imperative. Something cannot be immoral if everyone would do it or accept it.
However even in many cultures that's not the case, and it is immoral in a very minor way.
While individuals may never strictly know what all others think, it is at risk of being immoral, but in cultures where this happens all the time without complaint, the assumption that everyone else is agreeing seems reasonable.
In terms of formalizing this rule, we can imagine Ken and his friend already queueing, but his friend needing to leave the queue for a moment, to come back later, and Ken keeping a token for the reserved queue position. In many asian cultures it is viable even without friend to drop a personal item on the floor to keep a queueing position reserved.
Meeting up with a friend in the queue is then like a special case of this, the friend can be seen as having carried a queue token for their friend from the start.
It is relevant whether due to this behavior other people in the queue became disadvantaged, such as not getting good seats, but that was not mentioned in the question. Trivially, if there are 4 people queueing for a bus with 60 similar empty seats, it would be a parody to complain if the 4th guy moves up to the second guy.
In practical terms, buses often fill by keeping adjacent seats empty, except for people travelling in pairs, and it makes sense for pairs to boards together to sit next to each other.
Similarly, when queueing for restaurant tables, a single person when being called may get a full table with 4 places, so if there were 3 others of that group outside the queue, them joining the queue in the position of the first group member changes nothing to the outcome, and the bus situation can also be likened to this, due to adjacent seats being usually taken by pairs as mentioned above.
Also the triviality of immorality can be considered. If i jump into the ocean, do sea levels rise globally? Technically yes, but by such a small amount that for all practical purposes, this can be neglected. The same may be applied to morality.
Answer: It depends on the maxim you form. There is a perfect duty against jumping the queue to go before everyone else because you don't want to wait. It is impossible to universalise that maxim, personal discomfort at waiting aside. You might be ok waiting at the front just to stand with a friend, but some forms of self deception are prohibited I'm sure.
It's close to freeloading, as the rules that mean there is a queue/society breakdown if no-one obeys them.
Personally I feel it's probably like justice vs need, in a similar way to the allocation of medicine.
Comment: I am a bit confused what happened here


When you are mixing with a downward expansion

Question: When you are mixing with downward expansion and the downward expander creates holes during the fades at the ends of dialogue regions, what do you do?
Answer: When you are experiencing holes or gaps in the audio, use fills, turn the expansion down a notch or turn the expansion off alltogether. If it does too much, it might not be the right plugin at the moment. Too much processing is always worse than too little processing. You can always automate the bypass.
I normally don't use expanders, I manually write volume automation and use noise reduction instead. Should i use an expander, it would be a multiband expander like the Waves C4, it has a lot less of the "pumping" sound.
Comment: Waves C4 is totally worth it; i don't do a dialogue mix without it.
Comment: Would love to have a nice multiband expander but all i have is C4 compressor! I'll check, maybe its reversable.
Comment: That is the same C4. There is a preset which does noise reduction. You can start there.
Comment: @Chris - the C4 does compression and expansion. if you adjust the "range" setting of a band into positive numbers, it turns that band into an expander.
Answer: In my experience, it's best to use expansion on dialogue lightly; around 6dB max. And make sure your fill and/or sync fx tracks are going through the same expansion. That way, it should just rise and fall with the dialogue, and not draw attention to itself by pumping too much.
Answer: I concur with Rodger - try messing with the attack and release settings to slow up the drop.
The other option is to use fill between the dialog regions. This is the way I cut dialog. Grab some "room" from another take not used and fill in your gaps. This allows for a smooth scene.
Comment: Roger mentioned fill as well - just noticed ;)
Comment: Thanks.  Yeah, grabbing the room and puttin it on the end but then the fade ends up adding a bump and it ruins everything.
Answer: aaand increase Release time a little.


F.Lux Not Working

Question: Recently fluxgui stopped working correctly. The service starts and there is the indicator in the wingpanel, but has no effect. After selecting the color temperature and hitting preview does not change the screen color. Anyone have any idea? Redshift works, but it's unreliable at best and tends to flicker at random times.
Answer: Use:
sudo apt --purge remove fluxgui

After, delete the files in the folder ~/.local/share/fluxgui
Reboot, and reinstall fluxgui
Comment: I'll give that a shot. Though it's behaves like this since fresh install. It used to work perfectly. But like many things in elementary, an update broke it. Sometimes it's like being in a rolling distro without the advantages but all the disadvantages haha

F.Lux Not Working


Locate empty folders in Sharepoint 2007

Question: I'm trying to work out how I can locate empty folders in Sharepoint 2007 using Powershell. Folder.itemcount doesn't appear to work in 2007.
Answer: There is an artile on TechNet with explained ways to find the missing folders.
There is another way, as described on this blog from http://geektechlive.com/ titled Find all empty folders in sharepoint shared document repositories, though it is not done via PowerShell, but via simple SQL query on the SharePoint WSS_Content Database.
Cite:

I query the Docs View and only get Type of 1 which seems to be folders. I also limit the query to DirName of Shared Documents and make sure that nested folders are recursively checked.

SELECT DirName as [Path], LeafName as [FolderName],ItemChildCount as [Items In Folder]
FROM Docs
Where [TYPE] = '1′
and DirName like '%Shared Documents%'
And DirName not like '%Shared Documents/Forms%'
and ItemChildCount = 0
and FolderChildCount = 0
and DoclibRowId is not null
Group by DirName, LeafName,ItemChildCount
order by Dirname, FolderName

The author also mentions:

This is not supported by Microsoft so if you kill your server its not anyone's fault but your own. Be forewarned!
Answer: SP2007 isn't configured to work with Powershell. Unfortunately I'm not aware of any stsadm command which will do this for you. I'd recommend using the SharePoint API in Visual Studio to find this information.
using(SPSite site = new SPSite("http://yoursiteurl/")
{
    using(SPWeb rootWeb = site.Rootweb)
    {
        foreach(SPFolder folder in rootweb)
        {
            if(folder.Items.Count == 0)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("The folder " + folder.Name + " is currently empty.";
            }
        }
    }
}

Locate empty folders in Sharepoint 2007


Defining zoom on tileset extents using CesiumJS

Question: I work on windows 10  with Cesium 1.72.
NodeJS and Cesium work well.
I succeed in adding a tileset format3D tiles (Meshs + associated texture).
However, I would like to define a zoom on my tileset area.
Currently, the display, the viewer remains global and the camera don't move toward my area of interest.
My wish is that once the tileset is ready to be displayed, the camera will move and position itself above the tileset. The little script works fine with my cesium3D tiles version 0.0 file. But does not work for the moment with my cesium 3D tiles 1.0 version.
I don't know where the error could come from. I don't have an error message in the console. My tileset is loading fine but
the camera does not move over my tileset. When running the code, the camera does not move and remains in a global "globe" grip and no zoom is performed. I am therefore obliged to go manually to the area of interest.
Below is an excerpt from the tileset.json file:
> {"asset":{"version":"1.0"},
> "geometricError":10000,
> "properties":{"Height":{"maximum":197.2902062288683,"minimum":158.81894164623267},
> "Latitude":{"maximum":0.86549605155357123,"minimum":0.86536928860221218},
> "Longitude":{"maximum":0.069327552218852465,"minimum":0.069115786360719259}},
> "root":{"boundingVolume":{"sphere":[4133254.630298804,286568.64019880601,4833172.8602689737,596.59912274524095]},
> "children":[{"boundingVolume":{"sphere":[4133289.5021612602,286493.75629316899,4833147.6480717165,514.11988103071815]}

Below, my little javascript script :
> // Cesium viewer set up
> var viewer = new Cesium.Viewer("cesiumContainer", {
>
> });
>
> // tilset setup
> var tileset = new Cesium.Cesium3DTileset({
>   url: 'http://localhost:8080/riaom/tileset.json'
> });
>
> // Add the tileset to the 3D scene
> viewer.scene.primitives.add(tileset);
>
> // Zoom on Tileset
> tileset.readyPromise.then(function (tileset) {
>   viewer.scene.camera.setView({
>     // Final position has to take into account the whole tileset
>     destination: tileset.root.boundingVolume.rectangle,
>   });
> });

Answer: tileset.root.boundingVolume.rectangle would be "undefined" in your tileset.
Use the following code.
tileset.readyPromise.then(function (tileset) {
   console.log(tileset.root.boundingVolume.rectangle)

   console.log(tileset.root.boundingSphere)

   viewer.camera.flyToBoundingSphere(tileset.root.boundingSphere);
 });


How do I stop mail from automatically trash meeting invitations?

Question: Every time I accept a meeting invitation from Mail or Calendar, the invitation email automatically went to Mail's Trash folder.  Is there a way to stop Mail from deleting accepted email invitations?  Most of the times the invitation email contains useful informations, and I really don't want to delete those.
Comment: Even worse, if you search for it in Mail and click Accept again, it deletes it permanently, I guess because it was already in the trash.
Comment: @Allan It would lose all the attachments.  Besides, I always want to archive these emails, so I can search and reference them later.  I have looked all the places and couldn't find a way to disable the automatic trashing behavior.  Only if I could change it to archive, I would be happy.
Comment: Check to see if the details are automatically added to the calendar event.  I use Outlook 2016 and this is the default workflow (accept meeting, email is deleted, details added to event)
Comment: Doesn't accepting the invitation put it in the calendar so the information is all retained? I wonder if you are using O365 or Exchange or some other service other than pure iCloud and apple mail and calendar. Also - is this iOS or web or Mac for your mail and calendar apps?
Comment: @bmike I'm using google calendar and outlook. I really don't want mail to trash my invites, as most of the information therein is NOT added to the event.
Answer: You can set a mailbox rule, that when a message is both in trash, and is a Meeting request, move it to the inbox (or a folder/area of your choice).
Screenshot is OSX which I imply that you are using. This would be possible on Windows too with a similar approach.
Comment: Alas this isn't applicable in Catalina - there's no "Kind" type
Comment: Hey, I cannot find these filters in my OSX Mojave, which version are you using ?
Comment: Worked for me on Mojave 10.14.6
Comment: How do you filter for a message that is in trash? This filter only seems to run on New messages.
Comment: Thanks dude, this was getting on my nerves lol
Comment: Not actually working :(
Answer: I'm using Catalina 10.15.5 and for email Outlook (not Apple Mail). It drives me crazy by auto-deleting invites rather than ASKING recipients where they want the invite after they respond. So presumptuous of Microsoft to delete invites which almost always contain useful info.
You can save it in your IN box by going to:
Rules - New Rule
RULE NAME:
Give it a name
WHEN A NEW MESSAGE ARRIVES THAT MEETS ALL THESE CONDITIONS:
Sent to/is: YOU
Subject or Body contains "invite" or "invited"
DO THE FOLLOWING:
Move to Folder - Use arrows to choose your Inbox
OK
Answer: Apple Mail does not have the option for "Kind".  I am on 10.14 Mojave.
I did some comparing Email Headers and I ended up creating a custom rule in Apple Mail:
(This is for Apple Mail that is connecting to Microsoft Exchange Email Server using Office365)

Create a new rule in Apple Mail.
Choose Edit Header List
Add the Header:  X-Ms-Traffictypediagnostic
Select it and then select "Contains"
Add "MeetingMessage" into the third box
Perform the following action:  Copy Message to Mailbox
I previously created a mailbox and selected it: "Invitations Copy"

So far this is working excellent.  I have a history of all invitations in there.  The key is to not click on the buttons for them to accept/decline/maybe or OK if it is another meeting notice or cancellation.
Screenshot below.
Hope this helps others out there as well!
Answer: I think that you need to select "Attachment Type", then select the option is "Executable". Has anyone tried this? My MBP is running macOS Catalina 10.15.3, I'll test this to see if it works.
Comment: Did it work for you ?
Comment: In outlook v16 (Check About Outlook) I can't select "ANY" of the rules are met. Also, I don't have the "ribbon" style options menu at the top, it's a grid like macOS System Preferences. I'm on Mojave
Comment: @DevinRhode this is unrelated to Outlook, this is about Apple Mail
Comment: I guess outlook and Apple Mail share the same problem


Are "gossip" and "rumour" perfect synonyms?

Question: Are the words gossip and rumour perfect synonyms or is there a fine distinction between them? The only difference I'm aware of is that the second one is spelled differently in British and American English.
Comment: Except for maybe when new or rare words are involved, there's really no such thing as "perfect synonyms" - only words which *in some particular context* are interchangeable. These two words have been around a long time, and are both quite common. Unsurprisingly, they have many differences, both grammatical and semantic.
Comment: [gossip](http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/gossip?q=gossip) vs [rumour](http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/rumour?q=rumour)
Comment: @FumbleFingers: I agree. It just occurred to me that even words with the same meaning in specific context are only ostensibly the same words, especially when they have distinct origins.
Comment: Rumour has it that the words "anyone" and "anybody", "someone" and "somebody" and "no-one" and "nobody" are perfect synonyms — but that may merely be gossip.
Answer: I'd say that rumor (as I spell it), like report or story, is a word denoting a particular type of narrative. This shows up in many constructions:

It was reported that all lives were lost.
It was rumored that all lives were lost.
The story that she left him is untrue.
The rumor that she left him is untrue.

It's not so much the spreading of the rumor, or the actual talking or writing, that rumor refers to; rather, it's the fact that there is talk, and more importantly, what the content of that talk is.
Gossip, on the other hand, denotes the social activity, and its participants, and their motives, and their strategies and tactics. The actual content of the talk is secondary to its perceived import, trajectory, and impact.
The nominalizations are telling:  A gossip is a person -- A rumor is a story.
Comment: 'Gossip' is also the information transmitted. But it is not necessarily one story (like 'rumor', but is rather a mass noun like 'traffic' (there can be many rumors about a person, but it is all gossip).
Comment: Yes, there's another distinction. _Gossip_ referring to content is a mass noun, while _rumor_ is a count noun. There's also a mass sense of _rumor_ in the idiom _Rumor has it that S,_ referring to the indefinite integral over all gossip of rumors about S. Plus a constant, of course.
Answer: You can think of gossip as a particular case of rumor. Rumor is defined by dictionary.com as

a story or statement in general circulation without confirmation or certainty as to facts

Gossip, on the other hand, is defined as

idle talk or rumor, especially about the personal or private affairs of others (emphasis mine)

and usually has negative connotation.
For example,

Charles had bought along his hard redheaded wife Norma, and she was
busy swapping malicious gossip with Emily.

The word rumor in the sentence above would be inappropriate. And here's an example of a sentence where gossip would be inappropriate:

Rumors of war were sweeping the country in the spring
Comment: I disagree: 'gossip' is not a particular case of 'rumor'. Maybe 'rumors'.
Comment: +1 for the social aspect of gossip. Often rumour is spread by written word, but gossip needs somewhere spoken word - or possibly, today, chat networks.
Comment: @Mitch: Of course it's not. It's a human language, not math! :)
Comment: Perhaps the connection between gossip and rumor is the adage, "History is gossip that ages well."
Answer: I basically agree with Armen, but let me say it slightly differently:
A "rumor" is an unconfirmed story about any subject. "Gossip" is talk about other people's personal affairs. To some extent you could say that gossip is a subset of rumors. You could spread rumors that Al and Betty are having an affair, and you could spread gossip that Al and Betty are having an affair. But while you could spread rumors that the company is planning a layoff or that Senator Jones is considering running for president or that aliens are kidnapping people, you wouldn't normally call these things "gossip" as they aren't related to people's personal, private lives.
Also note that there are differences in how the words are used.
When used as a verb, "gossip" means to tell such stories. "Sally gossiped about the neighbors." "Rumor" as a verb is almost always preceded by "it is", as in, "It is rumored that the company is planning a layoff." You WOULDN'T say, "Bob rumors a lot."
"Gossip" can also be a collective noun referring to this type of story in general, like, "This so-called newspaper has more gossip than news." It can also refer to stories about a particular subject, but again is used as a collective noun. "There is a lot of gossip around town that Charlie is drinking again." When used as a countable noun "gossip" refers to a person: "She was a notorious gossip."
"Rumor" as a noun is countable, i.e. it is preceded by an article or indication of number. "There is a rumor that ..." "He spread many rumors." "I heard two rumors today ..."
Comment: +1: Although I am disappointed you didn't mention my favorite expression *"Rumor has it, ..."* :)
Comment: Good point. I guess there "rumor" is being used as a collective noun, but like "it is rumored", it is a very specific idiom. No one ever says, "Yesterday the rumor had it that ..." or "Rumor can have ..."


When applying to a masters program, is your undergraduate school important?

Question: Is the prestige / difficulty of my undergraduate school taken into consideration when I apply to graduate school? I understand that it is not an excuse my lower grades (however, my GPA is respectable). I am wondering if this has an influence.
Answer: The admission committee I serve has 11 members and there will probably be 11 unique answers to this question. Generally, it matters, but the degree it matters and how much it'd factor into the decision varies member to member, committee to committee.
There is thought such as "A grade B+ in prestigious university is better than a grade A in a so-so university." And there is thought such as "This so-called prestigious university tends to inflate grades, so a mediocre grade is going to be a bad news." The amount of subjectivity and variation can be astounding.
To complicate the problem further, what is "prestige?" Generally, people can name up to 10 prestigious universities, and then the rest are somewhat hazy. Some committees attempt to use acceptance rates as a representation and yet it's far from perfect: program by program the acceptance rates can differ, and such fine information is seldom available.
So, they do care, but it's difficult to predict how much. I'd say don't worry too much about the existing GPAs. If you can improve it, take some relevant courses and get some good grades, if not, then present the best aspects of yours through showcasing your course combination (e.g. did you take more challenging courses over the easier?) and trend (e.g. did your grades improve along time?), clear sense of a long-term plan, a convincing personal statement, and impressive open exam scores (such as TOEFL and GRE in the US) to order to leave a good impression.
Comment: Your second paragraph was exactly what I meant when I asked the question. I was wondering whether graduate programs took into account the different "meanings" in grades from school-school.

I definitely see how prestige is subjective. However, where I am from there are about 2 or 3 "prestigious" schools and the others are on the same level.

I don't have to take the GRE (or TOEFL since I speak English). My GPA is good. It is my last year and I am trying to improve it but it is hard. I don't see what more I can do. I am making use of all of the resources but it is a challenging school.
Answer: Yes, it will not be a huge factor, but if admissions are competitive for the program you are applying to, imagine another application identical to yours in every way except your institution: that might be the only way for the admissions committee to make a decision. Furthermore, graduate schools can be rated on the pedigree of their students, both before admission and after graduation. Not all is lost, however - you have many other ways to distinguish yourself, and I would never recommend someone choose an undergraduate institution solely for its prestige when applying to graduate schools.
Broadly speaking, I think the importance of your undergraduate institution is very dependent on the institution you are applying to - the most prestigious institutions are probably the ones that care the most about prestige.
Lastly, if you have already completed/are near completion of your undergraduate program, you don't have much control over this anymore - focus on what you can actually influence instead of what you cannot.


My manager is not assigning me a new concrete project and i am only getting other colleagues defects

Question: My manager is not assigning me any newer projects or modules to work on. I was working on one project and my colleagues were working on other projects. I finished my project and my colleagues finished theirs. But my colleagues have moved on to work on some different modules and I am only getting my defects and also their defects to work on. I have asked my manager about any new requirements, he said will see. He has also not directly asked me to work on the defects, but is asking other colleagues to assign me their defects.
How to deal with this. Is this normal or am I being sidetracked?
Comment: It is possible that he is getting you to fix the defects of your colleagues because he trusts you to do a good job of it.
Answer: If I were in your shoes, I would set up a meeting with your manager to discuss what projects you want to be on as well as what he envisions you to complete and progress at the company. You should make your intentions clear on how you want to advance and what projects you want to work on. If he is able to agree with you, then that's a good sign. However, if you notice that nothing has changed after that meeting, then perhaps it is time to move on to other opportunities.
Answer: May be there is requirement for very few employees for that project that is assigned to your colleague and as soon as any new/fresh project comes, your manager may assign you to that project.
Because in some cases, company does not have any fresh development work lined up or the some planning is yet to be done for new project. In this case manager has to managed their resources(employees) accordingly.
I think you should wait for few days, may be one or two week.
Then again approach your manager and ask him/her, Do we have any new projects lined up?
when you will get to work on new project instead of issue fixing?
If they have new project work and still your manager assigned that project to other colleague and not you, in this case you can always approach your HR Team. They are always there to sort kind of conflicts/situation.


Is there a noun that means "Scared of being made fun of"?

Question: I am looking for a noun that is a synonym for "scared of being made fun of".
Comment: Would you give an example sentence to show how you would like to use this noun please? Sometimes that makes it easier to find the right word.
Comment: Also, can you explain why you are you looking for a noun, and not an adjective?
Comment: They are not direct synonyms, but *shy*, *timid*, and *apprehensive* might work for your purpose.
Answer: The only phrase that I can come up with other than "social anxiety", which Peter has already mentioned, is "fear of humiliation".

In her book Fear and Other Uninvited Guests, psychologist Harriet Lerner points out that of all the forces that shape human behavior, fear of humiliation is among the most powerful. The most common fear is not of illness or accident, but public speaking; soldiers will march into certain doom rather than be branded cowards.
  (Source)


Problem while installing .deb package using Ubuntu Software

Question: I am using Ubuntu 16.04. I am having problem while installing softwares. When I open Ubuntu Software, it doesn't load and when I download .deb package from external website and open it with Ubuntu Software, it keeps loading forever. I left it to load for 20 minutes but it still keeps loading. How do I resolve this issue ?
Answer: I don't often use Ubuntu Software, but from my experience Ubuntu software is painfully slow. For alternative, considered try gdebi. To install, press Ctrl+Alt+T to go to a terminal and type:
sudo apt-get install gdebi

Other ways is installing via dpkg, followed by apt-get install -f to fix missing dependencies:
sudo dpkg -i ~/Downloads/file.deb

In the past, you needed to change the working directory to the folder that contained the .deb file and run separate commands for dpkg and apt-get. In 16.04, though, you can simply use the apt command:
sudo apt install ~/Downloads/file.deb

Comment: Love your answer, only thing I've got is that software is indeed painfully slow. I'd like to ask what software's doing differently from dpkg that slows it down. The end result is the same, so there's hardly a reason to do anything differently, yet it seems to... How odd...
Answer: Try doing it from the command line. See this extremely popular question.
Open the terminal (ctrl + alt + t) and type (where DEB_PACKAGE) is the file you're trying to install.
sudo dpkg -i DEB_PACKAGE


Using 12-3 with ground to wire a new light

Question: What I would like to do is use 12-3 with ground to wire new lights in my house. I have ran 12-2 with ground to the electrical box to a 20 amp breaker. In the attic I have a junction box where I begin my question. Here I connect the 12-3 with ground to the wire coming from the box by black to black, white to white, ground to ground and so far not working with the red wire. In the switch box I will leave  the white wire nutted and not use. Then attach the black, red and ground wires to the switch. Back to the junction box in the attic, pig tail a 12-2 with ground that will run to the 1st light. This will look like red to black. White to white and ground to ground. Are there any problems?
Answer: The circuit layout is sound.  A small point, I don't think you mean to actually use a pigtail (short additional jumper wire) in the junction box, just connect the light cable to the switch loop in the junction box.
It sounds like you're just going to have one junction box for all the lights and switches in the attic, rather than one per room.  That is OK as long as the junction box is large enough to house all the splices - you'd need to do the box fill calculations to determine.
Your description is kind of a star layout from a single junction box.  You more often see more of a daisy chain layout where the source power feeds the box for the first light for each room, and the switch loops for that room come from that box.  That will usually use less cable and avoids the big junction box.
The star layout may have advantages too, for maintenance, troubleshooting, future additions, etc., but only if it's a BIG box easy to work in, not a disastrous tangle of unlabeled splices.
Comment: Yeah -- you can get plain j-boxes up to 6" square nowadays, so this would be a good time for one of those, or you could use a small-ish flush-mount NEMA 1 pullbox instead
Comment: If you're going to splurge and make this civilized, you could wall mount a 4x4x24 gutter at switch height, lots of KOs along the bottom, and you can stand and splice like a gentleman, rather than crawling on the floor like an animal :)
Answer: Yeah, that'll work fine.
I'm a huge fan of color coding, and for practical reasons, red is a great choice for "switched-hot" wires.  On the lamp branch I would tape the black wire red using red electrical tape.  They sell multi-packs of colored electrical tape for $4 at the big-box.  When taping wires, always mark both ends the same.
Remember that you must forever be able to access the junction box lid without needing tools.
A good choice of junction box is a metal 4-11/16" square deep box**. This has 42 or more cubic inches, allowing 16 #12 wires* (or 19 #14's) to enter the box.  They make that same size in "super-deep" also**, or you can get box extensions.

* #12 computes out at  2.25 cubic inches per wire x 19, plus 2.25 cubic inches (once) for all ground wires, plus 2.25 cubic inches (once) for all clamps.
#14 wires compute at 2.00 cubes per wire, and #10 is 2.50 cubes. With mixed sizes, clamps and grounds use the larger number, but still only once.
** You can save $2-3 a box by buying them at an electrical supply; big-box stores overcharge for them and may not even stock the "super-deep" version... weird, you'd think that'd be their specialty, since they're a big-box store lol!