Recommended way to sightread grand staff

Question: When I only have one staff I can keep the whole thing focused so I do not have to plan so much where to look, I basically can just follow the contour of the notes and it usually goes fine. But with the grand staff I am not succeeding in seeing both the staffs at the same time so to speak. Is this just a matter of training (maybe if I train enough I can focus on the space between them and see the whole thing?) or should I be moving my eyes in some particular way? I am wondering if looking up and down a few times could help, or how do you usually do? Do you perhaps zigzag or go in a circle along the whole bar? Tips are appreciated.
Comment: @Tim Yes, for a beginner it is difficult. And reading a full score is quite different, as you do not need to take in all information, but distill it into the essential parts. Both are things you learn with practice, and there is little use to discouraging beginners by telling them _you think that's difficult_.
Comment: @Tim while it is not impossible to play more than one instrument at a time, I don't see it happening to me any time soon.
Comment: @Lazy - what you didn't see was a tongue in a cheek!
Comment: The reference was mainly to conductors, who need to be able to read a whole score of maybe up to a dozen or more instruments. Not play them all simultaneously, but be able to check what's happening, give cues, etc., lots written in different keys from each other (transposing instruments abound). It's what they do!
Comment: @Tim I know, I tried to joke back ;)
Comment: @KilianFoth - that phase is still with me 60 odd yrs on. It never went away.
Comment: I would also spend time listening to music and following it with the score. Not only a single instrument like a piano, but also two and three instruments.
Comment: You think that's difficult? Try reading a full score!
Comment: As long as you're still focusing on *anything* in particular or performing *any* eye movement consciously, reading will remain a challenge. Don't worry, you will pass through this phase.
Comment: Wonderful, I hope I will reach that stage when I can just see both staves without needing to bounce around with my focus
Answer: First of all, are you transcribing music from a piano score onto another multi-timbral instrument (such as a guitar), or are you studying piano?
In either case, a youtube musician and teacher, named Nahre Sol, gives - what I consider to be - and excellent set of tips for reading piano scores. She outlines her process in a youtube video.
Here is the link:

I hope this is of help.
Comment: Welcome to Music SE! This video might be what the OP needs, but there isn't actually any information in the answer itself. Link-only answers are discouraged; see [this meta post](https://meta.stackexchange.com/q/8231/1156839), and its [top answer](https://meta.stackexchange.com/a/8259/1156839). I strongly recommend you [edit] your answer to show, or at least outline, the information given in the video.
Comment: I am trying to sightread for piano. I am much better at sightreading for string instruments. Will look at video after work probably.
Comment: Thanks. The tiering stuff I had not tried out that seems promising. Kind of a like small step towards seeing both staves at once in a way.
Comment: Should I deselect it as the answer? It feels like this only answered half my question, the other half was answered by others (that it is possible to see the whole grand staff contents without moving the eyes).
Answer: When you start reading you go character for character and then try to figure out the meaning. Later your brain will read whole words and more at once. With reading music it is similar. In the beginning you will have a hard time because you'll need to concentrate on individual things. The more used you get the more your brain will read multiple staves, dynamics and stuff in one go. The most important thing is to practice, then this should come naturally.
Answer: I don't personally have to read grand staff very often, my hobbies tend to have me reading mid-size contemporary sheet music. I think some of that experience can be applied in this question, though, since at the end of the day the techniques and phenomena at play are nearly identical:
First of all, a lot of being able to read music is processing information into larger structures. Reading every single note manually is a slow and difficult process. For piano music, knowing the shapes of common chord voicings on a page is very helpful since you can look at the top or bottom note and recognize what the rest of the chord is almost instantly. It's also useful to be able to see a certain rhythm and interpret how it feels intuitively rather than needing to think out how long each note will be.
Second of all, compartmentalizing the different abstract parts of a piece of music helps train your brain on the patterns it's looking for. In most styles of music, it's useful to mentally break down the texture into a few "roles":

Melody (typically a continuous single-note "singable" voice that stands out on the page)
Harmony (all the supporting notes that contribute to the harmony "underneath" the melody, often a rhythmically simple background or pad texture)
Bass (single-note foundational ground on which the harmony stands, often interacts with the percussion closely, also low in pitch and usually visually at the bottom of the music)
Percussion (depending on the instrumentation, this can be either explicitly handled by another instrument or an effect created by the feel of the bass and harmony rhythms).

While this may not cover everything, being intimately familiar with these 4 distinct roles will help with grouping notes together to parse them faster.
Third, knowing the general structures of music such as common chord progressions and musical forms is actually really helpful since you anticipate where you might find some repetition and where things might change. How long is each phrase? Is this a 12-bar blues or a rock ballad? Will this bridge section of the music be a variation on the Rhythm Changes? Knowing these things will allow you to predict what kinds of musical devices are likely coming next; in a C major 4-chord pop song, I'll be able to read an F chord a lot faster than an Ab7#9b13 chord simply because my brain is expecting something functionally simple to fit the pattern.
Finally, of course, practice! It's just like regular reading - the more you do it, the better your brain gets at it. And do your best to train on music that's written well; good sheet music will try to alert you to the things you really need to pay attention to while poorly written sheet music will make complicated things look simple and vice versa.


Is it a mitzvah to excercise?

Question: Are there any sources that say it's a mitzvah to exercise- i.e., to walk around the block to keep up your health?
Answer: Yes. G-d Commands us to exercise. The sage Chafetz Chaim wrote that "The entire Torah is dependent upon the mitzvah of taking care of your body." The physician, Rambam, stressed the importance of proper sleep and exercise.[1] Maimonides explained:

"One should not neglect physical exercise of the body, as do people of
learning who diligently study the entire day and night..." and, "one
is obligated [by G-d] to refrain from things that impair the body and
to adapt those elements which strengthen it." Also, "Elderly people
[in particular] require their bodies to move because their bodies
require warmth. No older person should rest without having done some
exercise."

The sage Hillel said that bathing is a mitzvah [a divine command]. During the Black Plague of 1347-1351, which killed 200 million people in Europe, the Jews were spared because Jews washed their hands as pre
scribed in the Bible.
[1] See his medical writings.
Comment: Where does the sage Chafetz Chaim say this? Where in his medical writings does the physician Rambam discuss? Where is that quote from? Is it a translation? If so, whose?
Comment: Where does the sage Hillel say that bathing is a mitzvah? How do you know that Jews were spared from the plague? And if they were, how do you know it was because they washed their hands? And where is this prescribed in the Bible?

Is it a mitzvah to excercise?


convergence of sample covariance matrix in case sample size depends on dimesion

Question: Let $X_1,X_2,\dots,X_n$ be random sample from $\mathcal{N}_p(\mathbf{0},\mathbf{\Sigma})$ and put $\mathbf{S}=\frac{1}{n}\sum_{i=1}^nX_iX_i^t$, which is sample covariance matrix. If $p<n$, it is known that
\begin{align}
||\mathbf{S}-\mathbf{\Sigma}||_{\text{F}}=O_p(\frac{1}{\sqrt{n}}).
\end{align}
My question is that if $p\asymp n^{\beta}$ for some constant $0<\beta<1$, does this still hold? Though $p<n$ is being held for all sufficiently large $n$, I guess the given convergence rate does not hold because $n$ depends on $p$. I've tried to prove this but failed eventually. Is my guess wrong? Otherwise, can anyone give me a hint? Thanks in advance.
Answer: The variance of the elements of $nS$ is $n(\sigma^2_{ij}+\sigma^2_{ii}\sigma^2{jj})$,
so the variance of the elements of $S$ is $n^{-1}(\sigma^2_{ij}+\sigma^2_{ii}\sigma^2{jj})$.
The expected value of the square of the Frobenius norm of $S-\Sigma$ is the sum of these. The value will depend on how $\Sigma$ changes as $n\to\infty$, but it's reasonably going to increase at a rate somewhere between $p$ (eg for the identity matrix) and $p^2$ (for symmetric positive correlation). So, the expectation of the Frobenius norm grows as something between $p/n$ and $p^2/n$, which is not $O(1/\sqrt{n})$ in your case. And the Wishart distribution is sufficiently well behaved in the tails that it won't be $O_p(1/\sqrt{n})$ either
Comment: Thank you for your answer! I understood your answer. Then if $\mathbf{\Sigma}$ has non-zero off diagonal entries $s=O(p)$, then would it be reasonable to guess the frobenius norm grows as $(p+s)/n$?
Comment: I would have guessed $O(p+p^2s)$, since there are $p(p-1)$ off-diagonal entries


What does reversing a person's bioelectricity do?

Question: In A Certain Magical Index, Accelerator says something about reversing a person's bioelectricity. What happens to a human body when he does this?
Comment: Well, it kills the person.
Answer: Reversing a person's bioelectricity would result in that person's death. Accelerator has demonstrated his ability to manipulate bioelectricity several times in canon. My first example is in volume 5 of the light novels of A Certain Magical Index, when he manipulates Last Order's bioelectricity to erase the virus. There are also references to reversing a person's bioelectric field.
From pages 148-149 of the Yen Press edition of volume 5 (emphasis mine):

He had so much power, but all he could think of was blowing people up by touching their skin and reversing their blood or bioelectric field-
  ...
  If he could reverse the direction of somebody's blood flow and bioelectric field just by touching their skin...
  ...
  "Hey, If I can control her brain's electrical impulses, I can mess with her personality data without having to use a Testament, right?"
  ...
  "There's nothing I can't do. I killed people by reversing their blood flow and electric fields just by touching their skin during that experiment, yeah? I can reflect stuff already, so it's not strange that I can go beyond and control it."

Here, Accelerator confirms that he has killed people by reversing their electric fields, and implies that they exploded.
In the A Certain Scientific Accelerator manga volume 4, Accelerator demonstrates his ability to mess with someone's bioelectric field(he doesn't say anything about reversing it, however). In chapter 17, Accelerator messes with the bioelectricity of one of the members of Scavenger, Seike, knocking Seike unconscious. Accelerator's dialogue from the scene:

Did you know there's something called bioelectricity that runs inside human bodies? I'm gonna mess with it a little, heh. Enjoy!

The subsequent panels show electricity radiating from Seike's body. Blood erupts from Seike's nose and ears, saliva drips from the mouth, and the eyes roll up. The end result is Seike unconscious, with a look of anguish.
Finally, volume 3 of A Certain Magical Index references this ability. From page 189:

Those hands could alter the vector of anything they touched... For example, a simple stroke of the skin would allow him to reverse the flow of blood in [Kamijou's] veins or the direction of the bioelectric field around his body-either way, the person's heart would explode.

Here it is implied that reversing a person's bioelectricity will cause their heart to explode.
Comment: I've answered the question according to the current wording of the question. If you were more interested in what might happen in reality, then you might consider asking on a different site, such as https://physics.stackexchange.com/, although there are answered questions here that are similar, such as https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/2235/how-is-misakas-railgun-so-destructive


Understanding on quantum entanglement

Question: Understanding on quantum entanglement? I am very vague on this topic and would appreciate a detailed explanation on this phenomenon.
Also what are the possible applied uses for quantum entanglement? What are the problems of putting this phenomenon in practice?
Comment: See, e.g., http://physics.stackexchange.com/q/54975/
Answer: Quantum entanglement is a quantum mechanical phenomenon in which the quantum states of two or more objects have to be described with reference to each other, even though the individual objects may be spatially separated.. This leads to correlations between observable physical properties of the systems.For example, it is possible to prepare two particles in a single quantum state such that when one is observed to be spin-up, the other one will always be observed to be spin-down and vice versa, this despite the fact that it is impossible to predict, according to quantum mechanics, which set of measurements will be observed... As a result, measurements performed on one system seem to be instantaneously influencing other systems entangled with it.But quantum entanglement does not enable the transmission of classical information faster than the speed of light. Quantum entanglement has applications in the emerging technologies of quantum computing and quantum cryptography, and has been used to realize quantum teleportation experimentally.At the same time, it prompts some of the more philosophically oriented discussions concerning quantum theory.The correlations predicted by quantum mechanics, and observed in experiment, reject the principle of local realism, which is that information about the state of a system should only be mediated by interactions in its immediate surroundings.Different views of what is actually occurring in the process of quantum entanglement can be related to different interpretations of quantum mechanics.....
Answer: Quantum entanglement occurs in any situation in which a system has parts with measurement outcomes that are not independent of each other--measuring one gives you some information about what the measurement outcomes on the other would be (but not necessarily determine them).
In other words, it is simply the quantum-probabilistic version of correlation. Having a system with parts that are correlated with one another is exactly the same statement as saying they are entangled. That's all there is to it.
Since it's so completely general, nearly every non-trivial quantum-mechanical situation involves entanglement. There is no problem in putting it into practice. For example, the state
$$\frac{\left|\uparrow\downarrow\right\rangle - \left|\downarrow\uparrow\right\rangle}{\sqrt{2}}$$
can represent two particles with total spin $0$ where after measuring one to be spin-up, the other would always be measured to be spin-down, and vice versa. This is the situation in the EPR pseudo-paradox, but it's also a quite common situation that describes, for example, the electron spins in a bond between two hydrogen atoms in a hydrogen molecule.
In this particular example, the other measurement is determined with probability $1$, but any degree of non-independence counts as entanglement.

Understanding on quantum entanglement


How do I allow users to delete Google Analytics data for GDPR compliance?

Question: I'm in the process of making my website GDPR compliant and one of the requirements of GDPR is that users have the ability to delete data. After a user agrees to allow GA, Is there a way for users to delete Google Analytics data?
Comment: The analytics data does not identify them, so I don't believe that you are required to delete that.  Consider a bill in medical practice.  They can not delete the bill for tax  and medical reasons. All they can do is, to delete the contact information.  And in some countries, maybe they can also munge the name so it's not recognisable.
Answer: This code expires the cookie ... https://developers.google.com/tag-platform/devguides/cookies
gtag('config', 'TAG_ID', {
  cookie_update: false
});

However if they have agreed to allow you to see that an un-named somebody viewed a page. How does the EU plan for that person who may have seen the report that an un-named somebody viewed a page to no longer have seen it?
An since the user is un-named, how does anybody know what page they saw that should now be un-seen?
You can turn off recording page views ... https://developers.google.com/tag-platform/devguides/privacy
gtag('set', { 'send_page_view': false });

... but not exactly un-see a report that may have been emailed to you last week.
Google is going to need to talk to the EU.


How are resources shared in multiplayer Dungeon of the Endless?

Question: In a multiplayer game of Dungeon of the Endless, resources that get generated each door get shared weirdly between each player. There is some non-trivial rounding going on behind the scenes, and sometimes upgrading a generator or placing a mechanical pal does nothing. How does it work?
Answer: The total amount of a resource generated gets divided between players, rounded up.
Complicating things is the fact that the initial resource yields are not uniform (on an Easy difficulty it's 5 industry, 2 science, 4 food), and the true yield is not displayed anywhere.
Due to this rounding, it is possible to not see any effect from an upgrade, or to maximize your benefit by crossing the "threshold" and squeezing an extra +1 from the system.
In a 3-player game the starting 5 industry per door gets divided 3-ways and rounded up to 2 per player. Starting 2 science is similarly divided into 3 shares and rounded up to 1, while starting 4 food is divided and rounded up to 2.
In such a game, building a first tier generator which adds 3 resources per door opened will give every player +1. Building a single second tier generator produces no improvement over the first tier ones: the total yields would become 5+4=9 for Industry, 2+4=6 for Science and 4+4=8 for Food. However, constructing a second second tier Industry or Science would give each player an effective +2 to the corresponding resource, while a second second tier Food generator would only give +1.
Mechanical pals, multiple generators and Operating further complicate the picture, but the calculations seem to hold: find the actual (hidden) yield, divide, round up or down. This is a chore, but can save one from wasting resources on a useless mechanical pal. And in a roguelike, every last drop counts.
Comment: Next time you self answer and want to welcome any edits, consider making a community wiki. It can be edited by anyone with more than 100 rep and allows new information to be added to the answer.
Comment: According to my tests, it's rounded down, not up.  Which sucks, because that means, on every floor in a 4-player game, the first level-1 major module of each type gives +0... That means 4-players have a HUGE disadvantage compared to 3-players in the early game.
Comment: At first I thought there was a break point at .5 in the rounding direction, and the original version of the answer reflected this. But during further playthroughs the game seemed to only round up. Weird. This may require comprehensive testing, tables and all. But it's hard to get extra players.


ArcGIS Pro_ Add Third party Basemaps

Question: Searching for basemaps with more detail in large scale than those of ESRI, I found this one mapy.cz.
Is there a way to import this map service as a basemap in ArcGIS Pro or other similar detailed maps?
Answer: If you know the service URL endpoint, then you could consume it as a WMS service into ArcGIS Pro.
I couldn't see anywhere where it suggests they are publishing the map as a publicly available map service.
Maybe try OpenStreetMap as an alternative.

ArcGIS Pro_ Add Third party Basemaps


Altium - Polygon pour into a cutout

Question: I'm using Altium Designer 22 to design a PCB. On the top layer I have a ground plane with a hole in the middle. I made the hole by using a polygon cutout. Now, I have to pour into this cutout region some polygons, but I'm not able to do this. Do you have any solution to address this issue?
Answer: If there's a polygon cut-out then you can't.
One solution is to draw the polygon manually in a way that it has that hole:

I have exaggerated the top gap but sure the edges should kiss each other.
Answer: Three options:

As mentioned, shape the ground polygon so it avoids the area.
Delete the cutout and place the desired polygon; set pour order on the manager so it pours first.  GND will clear around it.
Do as #2, but reshape/place a new cutout so it clears the border between polygons.  (Now the exact shape of both polygons is less critical, and clearances can be set manually by its shape.)

2a: Do as #2, and set clearance rule between nets, or polygons, or whatever exactly you're after, to do the same as #3 but automatically.  This assumes the clearance is uniform, of course.

Altium - Polygon pour into a cutout


Is "thenfore" a real word?

Question: In this lecture (15. Petri nets, Basis of The Flow of Tokens), around 5:25, the lecturer uses the word thenfore, I am guessing he is meaning to say therefore but misspeaks. However, he is a native speaker and I'm not, so I just wanted to check if this might be is an old, archaic word form that I just didn't know about.
Comment: Nothing I've heard, but you could learn as much from googling it as I could.
Comment: No answer but a few thoughts: no dictionary I checked has it; most, possibly all, of the results on Google are scanning errors for 'therefore'; it seems a strange slip-of-the-tongue speaking error for a native speaker to make; maybe it is a jargon word in this particular topic; that the words are actually 'then forgetting' (<not true, but I thought it for a moment); that the OP's question is not really about English language learning.
Until you find some other explanation, assume that he mean 'therefore' and made an unexplainable slip-of-the-tongue mistake.
Comment: Do you think he might be saying "thenceforth" ("from this time forward")? I listened to the audio but can't tell from the context if "thenceforth" makes sense. I checked the O.E.D. and "thenfore" is not a word. "Thenceforth" is the closest.
Answer: I watched the video. The instructor just misspoke, he meant "therefore" as you guessed. "Thenfore" is not a word.
Etymologically, therefore = there + for, with the archaic meaning of "there" as "that", which also shows in words like thereat, thereunder. So therefore = for that (reason). Assuming a similar etymological development, "thenfore" would mean "for then", which sounds pretty odd.

Is "thenfore" a real word?


How do I calculate the location of the selectedText with a LiveCode field?

Question: I want to scroll the field so the selection is visible after resizing it. To do that I need to calculate the height from the top of the field that the selection is and then offset the current scroll to work out the new scroll. I can't assume a fixedLineHeight. Anyone have any clues?
Comment: Gian thanks for the edit but this isn't iOS specific. LiveCode is cross platform. Unfortunately there's no LiveCode tag yet.
Answer: After some searching in the dictionary I found the selectedLoc function. I ended up with the following code executed after each resize of the field which gives the behavior I wanted.
<code>   put item 2 of the selectedLoc-the scroll of pField into tSelectionHeight
   if tSelectionHeight > the scroll of pField+the height of pField then
      set the scroll of pField to tSelectionHeight-the height of pField
   end if
</code>
Answer: In the event there's no selected location, the following also works. I use this in PowerDebug to center the breakpoint or current line of code in the debug window. (And yes, I realize I'm assuming the lineheight is consistent in the field).
<code>command CenterDebugText pLinesToHilite
  local tLineHeight, tFieldHeight
  local tScroll

  lock screen
  set the hilitedlines of field kDebugFieldName of me to pLinesToHilite
  -- center the breakpoint line in the display

  -- calculate the number of visible script lines
  put the effective textheight of field kDebugFieldName into tLineHeight
  put the height of field kDebugFieldName into tFieldHeight

  put tLineHeight * (item 1 of pLinesToHilite) into tScroll
  subtract tFieldHeight / 2 from tScroll
  set the vscroll of field kDebugFieldName to trunc(tScroll)
  unlock screen
end CenterDebugText
</code>
Comment: Nice technique. Is there no selectedLoc after setting the hilitedLines of a field with listBehavior? I think selectedLines and hilitedLines are almost synonyms (slightly different behavior if the noncontiguousHilites is true).


What was the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Carolingian emperors?

Question: Charlemagne was crowned by the pope in the year 800. But was it Charlemagne's choice, or was he compelled to do so? Having conquered his lands, couldn't he just crown himself emperor? Moreover, did the pope and the bishops have any temporal power over the Empire? How did this relationship change with the death of Charlemagne?
Comment: It seems to me that Charlemagne's coronation, and the relationships between temporal and spiritual powers in the Carolingian empire, should probably be two separate questions. On the coronation though, don't you think being crowned by the pope gives him more legitimacy as as the successor of Roman Emperors, than if he had simply declared himself emperor?
Comment: Have you done any research on this? Consulted [wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagne#Coronation)?
Comment: "It seems to me that Charlemagne's coronation, and the relationships between temporal and spiritual powers in the Carolingian empire, should probably be two separate questions". Just the opposite, they were really intertwined!
Answer: For Charlemagne's feelings about being crowned emperor, I quote from The Civilization of the Middle Ages by Norman F Cantor, chapter six "The Making of Carolingian Kingship":

On Christmas day, 800, as Charlemagne rose from prayer before the tomb
  of St. Peter, Pope Leo suddenly placed the crown on the king's head,
  and the well-rehearsed Roman clergy and people shouted, "Charles
  Augustus, crowned great and peace-giving emperor of the Romans, life
  and victory!" Charlemagne was so indignant and chagrined that,
  according to Einhard, "he said he never would have entered the church
  on that day, even though it was a very important religious festival,
  if he had known the intention of the pope." Charlemagne did whatever
  he could to mollify the outraged Byzantines, who claimed that their
  imperial title had been stolen from them.  He hardly ever used the
  title emperor of the Romans, which the pope had given him, but
  satisfied himself with the phrase, "Emperor, king of the Franks and
  Lombards" to indicate the real and effective basis of his power.
The imperial coronation of Charlemagne has engendered considerable
  controversy among historians, many of whom have dismissed Einhard's
  statement as excessive modesty on Charlemagne's part. The fact is that
  Charlemagne did not want to be crowned emperor of the Romans because
  first, "Roman" meant "Byzantine" to him, and he had no desire to
  emulate the ruler in Constantinople, and second, because he understood
  the constitutional implications of a papal coronation and had no
  intention of placing himself in a position of debt or weakness to the
  bishop of Rome. What makes the situation more complex, however, is
  that an imperial ideal was coming to the fore among the churchmen of
  the Carolingian realm, but it was not the same concept of the empire
  that prevailed either at Constantinople or at Rome. The letters of
  Alcuin in particular are full of references to the "Christian Empire"
  and to "Europa", the area contiguous with Latin Christianity whose
  leader was Charlemagne. In view of Charles' contributions to the
  welfare of Europe and in view of his position as the greatest king in
  Europe, Alcuin and other court churchmen were beginning to think that
  Charlemagne ought to take the title of emperor. This view, however,
  had little to do with emulation of the old Roman emperor or the ruler
  in Constantinople; rather, it was intended to be the apotheosis of
  Charlemagne's position as the leader of Christendom. It is likely that
  an imperial coronation of Charlemagne would have taken place had not
  the pope forestalled the Frankish king and his advisers on Christmas
  day 800. Certainly Charlemagne would not have allowed himself to be
  crowned by the pope; the coronation he preferred was the one used in
  813 when he crowned his son and heir, Louis, emperor.
Having been crowned by the pope, Charlemagne chose to interpret his
  imperial title in the way delineated by Alcuin. He refused to think of
  himself as a Roman emperor, ignored the sanctions that were implied in
  his coronation by the pope, continued to call himself king of the
  Franks and Lombards, and regarded the title of emperor as the
  expression of his position as Christian war hero, theocratic monarch,
  and leader of the Frankish church.
The imperial ideal played a much more important role in the policies
  of Charles' son and grandson, Louis the Pious and Charles the Bald,
  and it became a concept whose content was much more heavily influenced
  by the original papal ideology. The ninth-century Carolingian
  churchmen moved away from the Christian empire of Charlemagne and in
  the direction of a political antiquarianism that sought the full
  revival of Roman imperial ideas by imitating the ornate court ceremony
  of the Byzantine emperors and by using the full title, emperor of the
  Romans. Already in 816 Louis the Pious allowed himself to be anointed
  by the pope with this title. To the ninth-century Carolingian rulers
  and their ecclesiastical supporters, emphasis on the imperial title
  and the association of the Carolingian ruler with the Roman emperors
  were a buttress against the progressive decline of royal power after
  Charlemagne's death. Ideology became a substitute for Charlemagne's
  fame as a Germanic war leader. But ideology could do nothing to stem
  the advancing tide of localism and the rise of feudal lordship. The
  ninth-century bishops composed treatises on the glories of empire and
  kingship and the Carolingian emperors elaborated their court
  ceremonial, but they were unable to maintain effective leadership in
  their kingdom.
The papacy, over the long run, gained no more than the Carolingians
  from the revival of the imperial title in the West and from the
  acceptance by the Carolingians of the Romanist ideology. The
  mid-ninth-century pope Nicholas I aggressively asserted the radical
  doctrine of the Donation of Constantine, and the popes were adept at
  using their control over the imperial title to harass the later
  Carolingians, but this did not save the papacy from disaster in the
  late ninth century. For the popes needed a strong Carolingian ruler to
  protect them from the gangster Roman nobility. With the decline of
  Carolingian power, the papacy entered one of its darkest periods, in
  the late ninth and first half of the tenth century, in which it became
  the puppet of the ruling Roman nobility and completely lost its
  position as a leader in European society.
If the history of the ninth century is one of failure on all sides, it
  should not blind us to the fact that a new element had been introduced
  into the political life of western Europe. In the latter part of the
  tenth century the title was taken up again by the German monarchy,
  which rose out of the ruins of the east Carolingian kingdom. The
  German kings were to make the imperial title an essential part of
  their policy until the middle of the thirteenth century, and their
  successors were to preserve the title until 1806.
Answer: Summary: it was not Charlemagne's choice, but he was willing to and obviously benefited from the decision. It was a top event in international politics back then. It was a decision prepared many years in advance by Charlemagne's father.
The Franks helped very much the Catholic church by cleaning Italy of Aryan Ostrogoths and proto-eastern-schism Byzantines (aka: pre-Orthodox) that did not recognize the Pope as sole and top power as successor of St. Peter in Rome. This was a conflict that arose in the year 410! And was solved only by the year 760!
Lead by Pepin, Charlemagne's father, the Franks helped establish a territory for the pope to rule. To start learning more about the conflict, see: Donation of Pepin: it's the birth of the Papal State and the Vatican.
The history of Charlemagne crowning is a history of many years of wars in Italy, the southern frontier of the Frankish kingdom, and it is a history of huge success for the Franks and the Pope. The Franks did give the territory to the Pope because it was in the borderlands of their empire, so it was not a core part, and they always gave those territories to local weak rulers (such as the Pope back then). That's the way Dane-mark was born, and Marca Hispanica was the same, as well as Slovenia and Croatia.
The death of Charlemagne meant trouble for the Church, because the Frankish empire divided and went into deep civil war in the 840'.


How to export and import PDF of form?

Question: We have a client that has the following functionality on their existing site:
Content Editors can create / edit a form as required.
They can then click a check a box, within the form editor that allows users to have one of two options:
Firstly they can fill the form in as normal, filling the fields and moving to the next page.
Or
They can click a download button, this presents them with a modal box and a few simple form fields (Name, email etc taken from the first page of the form) and a further download button.
Clicking the download button generates a PDF based on the form, with the data from the modal box pre filled.
Each of the form fields is set as an editable field in the PDF, they can pass this PDF around the various departments to ensure that the information is correct.
Once complete they can then upload the completed form to the website, where the PDF is processed to create a form submission as if they had filled in the form normally.
I think that as Sitecore Forms are just a collection of items, I can see a way to generate the PDF correctly, but I don't know of a mechanism that I can use to take that data once completed and create a form submission from it?
Answer: For the saving of the data you can make use of the Sitecore.ExperienceForms.Data.IFormDataProvider interface and call the CreateEntry method.
If you have any attachments you can make use of the Sitecore.ExperienceForms.Data.IFileStorageProvider to store them.

How to export and import PDF of form?


Tool like Media File Segmenter for Linux

Question: I'm looking for a tool for Linux which can segment a video file into multiple small .ts files.
I know one for Mac OS X called Media File Segmenter which is a simple command line tool - I'm looking for an equivalent tool for Linux.
Answer: Others have mentioned ffmpeg; it now has a nice, clean segment muxer. On Linux, instead of relying on whatever (outdated) version of ffmpeg comes with your package manager, you should download a static build or compile it from source.
To split a video into several one-minute segments, also generating an m3u8 playlist & copying all streams (so lossless, but not entirely accurate cutting):
ffmpeg -i input.mpg -c copy -f segment \
-segment_time 60 -segment_list list.m3u8 output%03d.ts

For accurate splitting, the documentation recommends re-encoding and using -force_key_frames to ensure that there will be I-frames on the times that the segment muxer will attempt to split on (see also the libx264 and AAC encoding guides on the ffmpeg wiki):
ffmpeg -i input.mpg -c:v libx264 -crf 22 -preset veryfast -c:a libfdk_aac -vbr 3 \
-force_key_frames expr:gte(t,n_forced*60) -f segment \
-segment_time 60 -segment_list list.m3u8 output%03d.ts

Comment: Wich I could give you two upvotes so this sits on top of the two other posts with the `sameq` in them ;)
Answer: if you want to cut video from H.264 you should use:
ffmpeg -i Black_Lagoon_E10.mkv -ss 00:08:55 \
-c copy -t 00:00:32 \
-vbsf h264_mp4toannexb -f mpegts Ostanovites.ts

Answer: Try ffmpeg.  It's powerful & cross-platform.  It may already exist in your linux distro.  To copy 2 minutes of video after the first and convert from mpg to ts:
ffmpeg -vcodec copy -ss 00:01:00 -t 00:03:00 \
       -i input.mpg -vcodec copy -acodec copy \
       -f mpegts output.ts

It's a good choice if you have lots of videos in essentially random formats.  It's a 'swiss army knife' for video.
If you are starting with mpeg, you could also try mpegtx, which includes a variety of mpeg tools including a splitter.  Easier IMHO than ffmpeg to split.  To split a file into 10 chunks each with a basename of 'chunk':
mpgtx -10 input.mpg -b chunk

You may also be able to use VLC as a splitter, but I never have.  There are topics discussing it, however.
Answer: Try dvbcut if you want something with a UI.
Comment: Sorry if I missed it, but it seems to only work with DV or similar formats, not with, say, H.264 encoded video?


split lines into segments without creating new layer in QGIS

Question: How to split line objects into segments/multiple objects based on either polygons or lines without creating a new layer? The problem is clarified in the picture below. I need the green line to be segmented according to the pink lines or green polygons.
Comment: Why is it so important to not to create a new layer? Basically every semi-automated process in Qgis creates a new (temporary) layer, in order to prevent users from erasing data. You can use the Advanced digitizing tools and separate everything manually, but that can be a lot of work.
Answer: To split the line without creating another layer you can use the tool "Split Features" . This tool is available in the "Advanced Digitizing Toolbar".
This type of tool is important when you can not, or you do not want to generate another layer, such as when the layer you are working with is stored in a database.
Split features button:

Advanced Digitizing Toolbar:


According to the Catholic Church, is there any indirect mention of purgatory in the Gospels?

Question: While the Gospels make a number of references to eternal damnation, they do not appear to directly mention purgatory, which is a strong precept of the Catholic faith. My question therefore is: according to the Catholic Church, are there verses in the Gospels which indirectly refer to the existence or otherwise of purgatory?
Answer: In the encyclical Spe Salvi, Pope Benedict XVI provides an interpretation of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in which the rich man is in Purgatory:

In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (cf. Lk 16:19-31), Jesus admonishes us through the image of a soul destroyed by arrogance and opulence, who has created an impassable chasm between himself and the poor man; the chasm of being trapped within material pleasures; the chasm of forgetting the other, of incapacity to love, which then becomes a burning and unquenchable thirst. We must note that in this parable Jesus is not referring to the final destiny after the Last Judgement, but is taking up a notion found, inter alia, in early Judaism, namely that of an intermediate state between death and resurrection, a state in which the final sentence is yet to be pronounced.
This early Jewish idea of an intermediate state includes the view that these souls are not simply in a sort of temporary custody but, as the parable of the rich man illustrates, are already being punished or are experiencing a provisional form of bliss. There is also the idea that this state can involve purification and healing which mature the soul for communion with God. The early Church took up these concepts, and in the Western Church they gradually developed into the doctrine of Purgatory.


Minhag hamakom, minhag avot, tefillah in synagogue, minhag at home

Question: We suppose that a Jew lives in a city where there are synagogues that follow his minhag avot, but in that city there are also synagogues that do not follow his minhag avot. Halakhically, can he do the 3 daily tefillot in the synagogue that does not follow his minhag avot, but follow his minhag avot at home?
Answer: You can daven in a shul that does not follow your nusach. Just use your nusach for pesukei d'zimra and shemona esrai unless you are davening for the amud in which case follow the nusach of the shul. Lots of people do this.
Comment: ... it would be hard to say "it's prohibited." (Say someone's Ashkenazi but finds they can focus far, far better at an Edot haMizrach place ... okay, fine...) But if someone *really* feels much more at home in a community with a different nusach, it's not crazy to just take on that nusach full-time -- especially if they're baal teshuva.
Comment: Agreed that this happens often; Rav Moshe Feinstein gives the option of either doing everything the way the shul does it, or doing the out-loud parts the way the shul does it. (Though a non-Chassid at a Nusach Sfard shul should say Bameh Madlikin and not Kegavna, as it's quiet and not a "prayer" per se.) I *think* the question is if someone has the option of two shuls, one their nusach one not, can they plan to just-about-always daven at the other-nusach place. (What makes that shul so much better?) I'd say nusach should be a serious factor when weighing shuls, but ...
Comment: The typical question is someone who winds up at an other-Nusach place because it's the only game in town, or they're traveling, or the time and location fit their schedule far better. (I could see someone picking a favorite shul shabbos morning because of the kiddush ... but why would they keep going there three prayers a day on weekdays too?)


Validator.w3.org doesn't understand my HTML 4.01+RDFa

Question: I have following code in the page head:
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01+RDFa 1.0//EN" "http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/DTD/html401-rdfa-1.dtd">
<html xml:lang="<?php echo $this->language; ?>" lang="<?php echo $this->language; ?>" dir="<?php echo $this->direction; ?>">

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="application/xhtml+xml; charset=UTF-8">

If I try to validate this page with Validator.w3.org and do it with automatic doctype detecting, I get 174 errors and the doctype is shown as -//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01+RDFa 1.0//EN. Here is the validation result.
Then if setting the doctype manually to HTML 4.01+RDFa 1.1 and revalidate the page, the doctype is shown as HTML 4.01 Transitional, there are 2 errors and 2 warnings: Unable to Determine Parse Mode and DOCTYPE Override in effect! The validator seems not to understand my doctype and writes:

The detected DOCTYPE Declaration >!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01+RDFa 1.0//EN" "hxxp://www.w3.org/MarkUp/DTD/html401-rdfa-1.dtd"< has been suppressed and the DOCTYPE for "HTML 4.01 + RDFa 1.1" inserted instead...

If setting the validator up to show the source code, so i see, that the validator has a little bit another code, as the the page has. The validator changes the first line of the code to
<!DOCTYPE >

and comments my right doctype out...`
Would somebody point me to the right doctype (or right syntax/workaround)?
Answer: Is there any reason why you are not using a more mainstream RDFa doctype such as:
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML+RDFa 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/DTD/xhtml-rdfa-2.dtd">
or even the more simple HTML5 doctype:
<!DOCTYPE html>
Comment: I deleted any doctype from my page and then tested one by one all doctypes available at Validator.w3.org. And so i finded, that with HTML 4.01 + RDFa 1.1 i got minimum validation errors.BTW, i tested both of your suggestions: with first i get more then 300 errors, with html5 i get 30 errors...


Is it possible to extract Raid Controller configuration index from on to another?

Question: We have a Fujitsu server with this specific RAID Controller (FUJITSU PRAID EP400i / EP420i).
We want to export the configuration of that RAID Controller to a new one, so in case that RAID controller stops working, we replace the new one with the exact configuration from the previous one. From what I know, I need to find a way to access the index file and copy to another raid controller, does anyone here knows if it is possible and how? Greetings.
Comment: I don't know about this specific RAID controller, but on many others (Adaptec, for example), the disks store the RAID metadata so you can swap them from controller to controller (with the same firmware and controller model) at leisure. Of course the "root" controller settings like SGPIO etc. won't be transferred. Usually I just insert the controller into some board, set the same settings, remove it and store it away as replacement. Never had any issues.
Comment: Also forgot to mention, that the servers Works with EXSi
Answer: All Disks which are connected to the RAID controller have their own metadata of current configuration and in case of failed RAID controller it is enough to just replace it. The new RC will ask you to import existing configuration. Note: You need same firmware level on each raid controller. Check this link - http://ask.microsemi.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/16881/~/how-to-replace-a-sata-or-sas-raid-controller-without-loss-of-data%3F
<code>*Scenario 1: Replacing a controller with the same model

When you power the computer back on after the controller has been replaced, the RAID controller will automatically detect the RAID table information stored on the drive and will store the information within the NVRAM of the Adaptec RAID controller. At this point, you have successfully replaced the controller.*
</code>


max/min and compactness

Question: if $f(x)=\frac{1}{1+x^2}$ and $-\infty<x<\infty$, show that $f$ attains a $max$ but does not attain a $min$.
what I ve learnt so far is that :
if $f$ is a real valued function from a compact metric space, then $f$ attains a max and min at some point of $M$.
if $f$ is a real valued function from a closed bounded set, then $f$ attains a max and min at some point of that set.
I believe I must be able to apply any of these two statements to analyse such questions. right?
Now since $-\infty<x<\infty$ and not closed in $R$, so I ignore the second statement.
but for the first statement since $-\infty<x<\infty$ represents real numbers $R$, and we know $R^n$ is not compact, so the first statement does not apply!
Well this is an excercise after those two statements. how are they going to help then?
Comment: it is the exact text of the exercise in the book
Comment: You are correct.  The statements in no way apply.  But that's fine. You solve it by other means.  This isn't a question about compactness.  It's about bounded sets and sups and infs.  Now $x^2 \ge 0$ so $1+x^2 \ge 1$ so $f(x) \le 1$.  So $1$ is an upper bound.  And note $f(x) > 0$ so $0$ is a lower bound.  Can you go on.
Comment: "Well this is an excercise after those two statements. " This could be a set up for the next excercise....
Comment: I see thank you.
Answer: To maximize $f(x)$, you need to minimize the denominator. The minimum value of the denominator is 1 because $x^2 \ge 0$. But there is no way to minimize $f(x)$ as we can keep increasing the value of $x$ which will make it smaller and smaller.
Answer: To show the max of $f$ is $f(0)=1$, here's one way:
$f(x)=\frac{1}{1+x^2}\leq\frac{1}{1}=1$ so $1$ is an upper bound. Therefore, $\sup f(x) \leq 1$. At the same rate $f(0)=1$ shows all upper bounds most be at least $1$. Therefore, $\sup f(x)\geq 1$. Therefore, $\sup f(x)=1$ and $f(0)=\sup f(x)$ so $f$ has a maximum.
For the next part, $f(x)\geq 0$ so $0$ is a lower bound. Therefore, $\inf f(x)\geq 0$. Suppose $\inf f(x)>0$. Choose $\epsilon$ such that $0<\epsilon<\inf f(x)$. Then $\epsilon$ is a lower bound for $f$ so $f(x)\geq \epsilon$ for all $x$. We arrive at a contradiction by finding $x$ such that $f(x)<\epsilon$.
Solving $\frac{1}{1+x^2}<\epsilon \implies 1<\epsilon(1+x^2)\implies \frac{1-\epsilon}{\epsilon}<x^2\implies x>\sqrt{\frac{1-\epsilon}{\epsilon}}$ or $x< -\sqrt{\frac{1-\epsilon}{\epsilon}}$. Pick any such $x$ and we have a contradiction. Therefore, $\inf f(x)=0$.
If $f$ has a minimum, there must exist $x_0$ such that $f(x_0)=0$. But then $\frac{1}{1+x_0^2}=0$, which implies $1=0$, a contradiction. Thus, $f$ has no minimum.
Remark: The two statements you provided aren't enough. The space is not compact so you really have to perform the analysis.
Comment: Thank you. study a section and then go to solve the excecises of that section. but it turns out the answer has nothing to do with that section! thank you for the clear explanation.

max/min and compactness


Seasoning new cast iron cookware

Question: I am a neophyte cook (and a guy). I bought some cast iron cookware in the hope of taking it camping. It seems that it must be seasoned before use. I looked on-line and followed the directions. Not knowing if the seasoning was just for the cooking surface or the entire item, (I figured it's all iron, right) I coated the entire griddle and Dutch oven in vegetable oil and baked at 350° for an hour. Now both items are sticky. What did I do wrong and how do I fix it?
Answer: It's possible that you put a too-thick layer of oil on (e.g., if you dumped oil on it instead of wiping it on with a paper towel or similar). Or that you used a oil that doesn't work well; soy works and it's cheap.
But more likely, it just hasn't cured fully—and the fix is simple, bake it longer and/or hotter. The exact time/temperature needed depends on the oil you use. And how much smoking you're willing to tolerate. [Hotter is quicker, but smokes more, up until you get too hot and just burn the seasoning off like an oven cleaning cycle.]
Note typically you put on more than one layer of seasoning.
PS: If it came coated in wax, etc. to prevent rust during shipping, I hope you removed that first. Bare iron is metallic gray.
Comment: If he's in the US, there's a good chance that it was from Lodge ... and all new Lodge cookware comes pre-seasoned, so he might not have the wax problem.
Answer: A good starting cure usually takes multiple bakes. That sticky coating in the beginning is normal. The additional cures/uses will smooth that out. I recommended light coats, repeated several times. And, over the years, the best way I've found to truly cure cast iron is to cook with it (like fried spuds, slightly fried corn tortillas, etc -- things that have good success of not sticking and ruining the starting cure) as many times consequtively as possible. Obviously, these methods can't really be done in a hurry. But cast iron curing is a Marathon, not a sprint. My best pan is going on 20 years. And finally, try not to overheat the newly cured cast iron, as this will burn away what little cure you have.

Seasoning new cast iron cookware


Why is there not much research into nuclear physics with plasmas?

Question: There is a lot of research and theory around fusion reactions with plasma, but is there a reason why plasmas cannot be used for researching other nuclear reactions, either in the lab or from astronomical data? I would assume that it might be because the plasma shields photons or charged particles from escaping?
Comment: It is very difficult to _throw_ a proton fast enough to split an atom that is positively charged.  Fission is typically done with neutral neutrons colliding with neutral atoms.  Then one needs only worry about the statistics of collision cross-sections as functions of energy, without the very complex many-body Coulomb interactions introduced by a plasma.
Answer: It's easiest to make plasmas with light elements, so the only fusion reactions that are achievable are the hydrogen / helium / lithium ones, which are already pretty well understood. On top of this, a plasma is a chaotic environment with a lot going on. At best you will learn statistical and thermodynamic properties of the underlying interactions. Other types of experiments with a lot less going on and where the individual nuclear interaction partners and products can be tracked (e.g. lead-proton collisions at various colliders) are more interesting right now.


How do electrons in a cathode ray remain in a straight line if they are all negatively charged?

Question: J.J. Thomson discovered the electron because electrons are negatively charged after observing the CRT reaction to a magnetic field/electromagnetic field. If that is the case, wouldn't the charged electrons in the ray repel each other? Note that I am referring to simple experiments where there is only a cathode in one side and an anode on the other side of a tube. No electromagnetic coils are used on these experiments, yet the ray remains straight or at least whole and relatively uniform across the beam. Is there a relativistic or quantum mechanic explanation for how the electrons stay aligned? Is this due to a property of the electromagnetism and how waves behave?
Comment: @SamuelWeir - indeed, you are correct. A more common (well, for scientists) place to 'worry' would be a transmission electron microscope, with less than a microAmp of current at 200keV. You run the real numbers, and you get 1 to a few electrons between the electron source and the camera at any point in time. So single-electron-at-a-time diffraction is a real and normal thing...
Comment: Kind of guessing here but my hunch is that the density of the electrons in a CRT beam probably isn't high enough for electron-electron repulsion to be a big problem. Think that there may be much more of a problem with electron synchrotrons where probably much higher densities of electrons are used in order to maximize the emitted x-ray intensities. I think that those facilities often employ physicists to specifically look into the problem of focussing and controlling high densities of electrons whirling around a synchrotron ring.
Answer: Electrons in a beam DO repel each other.   In order to focus in a cathode ray tube, tricks are employed (axial magnetic field) that cause convergence at
the screen surface.  The beam originates at a point, diverges, then
reconverges.
Comment: @ErnestoMelo - The trick is that there are many fewer electrons in flight then your intuition might be telling you. Current densities where space charge effects are noticeable are far in excess of what JJ Thompson, or even a CRT worry about.
Comment: Thanks @Whit3rd , I do however refer not to most modern CRT in tvs, I am referring to simple experiments where there is only a cathode in one side and an anode on the other side of a tube, yet the ray remains straight.
Comment: The 'straight ray' always diverges.   When long travel in a narrow space is intended (like, in a linear accelerator or cyclotron/synchrotron) other lens-like systems are used.   Quadrupole and sextupole focusing is the only reason the big accelerators (CERN, Fermilab, SLAC) have a tight beam to play with.


LDAP password says expired when it is not - how do I fix that?

Question: I'm using LDAP authentication on an application.  When logging in, I'm being told that my LDAP password has expired.  I've verified in Active Directory that it is set to 'never expire'.  Does anyone know what caused this issue and how it can be fixed?  CH
Answer: Take a look at the Security event log of the LDAP server you're connecting to. If the computer's Auditing settings include Account Logon event success and failure, you should get more information as to why the account is apparently locked out.
You may also want to try logging in with the support tool LDP.EXE.
The exact error may change the meaning too - the application may be interpreting any logon failure to indicate that the account password has expired.
Between auditing and network captures, you'll probably be able to find out what's working and what's not.


Which extreme-programming techniques are appropriate to use in a research environment?

Question: Which (if any) extreme-programming techniques would be appropriate to use in a research environment - where the goal is to produce prototypes, patentable, and/or publishable work?
Comment: What type of research?
Answer: Speaking from a background of algorithm research:

Keep a long backlog of ideas
Re-prioritize aggressively and frequently (e.g. every day)

Mark down backlog items that are no longer viable

Maintain an up-to-date picture of inter-dependencies between backlog items

Unlike regular software development, there is a lot more dependencies in research work.

Always measure, visualize and track algorithm performance (accuracy, etc)
Don't work alone.
Discuss, collaborate and share frequently.
Keep a wiki, and spend lots of effort to extract "wisdom" from your work.
Use version control. However, keep good algorithm candidates in the current system, even if they are not actively used.

It allows you to tinker with an older algorithm at the spur of the moment.

Stale performance data could be error-prone.

For example, the old data may be based on a less accurate metric
To get fresh performance data, re-run the algorithm(s).

Prefer dynamic typing and flexibility.
Use the right language.

If almost all successful researchers in the field use one particular language, then use it. Don't fight the wisdom of the crowd.

Instead, find ways to integrate smaller components into that language, if the smaller components can be developed in a language suitable for computation such as C/C++, or if existing open source code is available.

Ask fellow researchers for their source code.

Many researcher are actually quite friendly to such requests with proper credits and data sharing.
This will save a lot of trouble because their published papers will only cover the high level picture, yet the devil is in the details.

Always push yourself, but don't timebox.

Timebox don't work because of unpredictability in research work.

An example of how to use backlog in research: Suppose in the beginning there are items A, B, C, ..., X, Y, Z.

A
B
C
...

Over time, you worked on a number of items, and you have a sense of how promising each item is, not just the items you have worked but also those you don't. The updated backlog becomes:

A (promising: 90, progress: 70% done)
B (promising: 70, progress: 60% done)
Z (promising: 65, not started)
...
C (seems it won't work, don't bother)

Notice how item C sinked to the bottom because of research insights gained from working on A and B. Also notice how Z floats to the top. Learning about what other researchers are doing will also help floating items to the top.
At the end of one semester, do a backlog cleanup.

A (done, working)
B (done, working)
Z (done, some bugs)
-----
Y (50% coded, kept in the system, not actively used)
X (10% coded, removed from the system in revision 123)
-----
C (dropped)

The ones that are working will be the result you publish.
Answer:
You have to be Agile to do research
programming.
You have to be willing to throw away
a lot of prototypes.
You have to be willing to think
outside the box, so software patterns
are not going to help you that much.
I think you have to be willing to
learn new languages, and even create
some new ones.

Other than that, research programming is basically the same as any other. :)  You still have to write unit tests.  You still have to write documentation.  And you still have a boss.
Your deadlines may be a bit more fluid.
Comment: I disagree on the software patterns, imho they do not limit your ability to think outside the box (you are never forced to use a specific pattern), but help you keep your mind free for the important things.

For example, MVC makes it easy to to collect your research data without having to think about it's presentation, or present it, without having to think how its collected.
Comment: @keppla: I agree, *in a non-research environment.*
Comment: what makes the difference for you? i provided an example why i think it's no problem, could you provide one?
Comment: @keppla: Software patterns are *already* researched. Certainly, if you're working on a problem that's already been solved, by all means use software patterns.  If you are trying to solve a research problem using a large number of lightweight objects, then perhaps the Flyweight pattern might be of some use, and yes MVC will help you display your data, but I don't consider that software research proper.  You can display data with Excel.  Sure, you still need pencil and paper; I'm not saying any of those tools are not valuable, they're just not core research.
Comment: He did not state that would research software, as i understand, but in a research environment (which, for example, would include writing software for a biolab).
Comment: @keppla: I would consider the use of the usual tools for the usual cases to be axiomatic.
Comment: @keppla: `the goal is to produce prototypes, patentable, and/or publishable work` - this pretty much says the software breakthrough *is* the deliverable.
Comment: @RobertHarvey: I have seen many times a software research team started off with a conventional programming language (C++, Java, etc), and then move on to a functional programming language to further their progress. See http://habanero.rice.edu/Habanero_Home.html and http://www.spiral.net/
Comment: @rwong: software is not the only topic where something is patentable, publishable or prototypable. In fact, the extend of patentability of software is in many countries highly disputed.


Azure Site-to-Site VPN Tunnel Cisco ASA 8.2

Question: I am attempting to set up Azure (Resource Manager) Site-to-Site VPN connection between my Azure Virtual Network and an on-premises Cisco ASA running 8.2. I've read elsewhere that folks have had success setting this up with 8.2 despite it not being on the approved devices list, at it is capable of meeting all the same requirements as 8.3 and above.
I used the directions found at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/vpn-gateway/vpn-gateway-howto-site-to-site-resource-manager-portal to set up the Azure side of things. Then I set up the ASA using the IPSec VPN wizard. I do have a dedicated IP address for my on-premises site and the ASA uses it as the outside interface.
When I check back on the connection blade on Azure, it shows it is cycling between connecting and succeeded. No data is transferred and I'm unable to ping my domain controller on the Azure Virtual Network from any of the PCs that are connected on my on-premises inside interface. NAT rules were automatically created between the on-premises network and the Azure virtual network when I ran the IPsec VPN Wizard on the ASA.
Not sure what else I can do at this point. I'm ready to pull my hair out, though. Here is a quick gist of  my settings.
Azure Peer IP: 52.183.x.x
Azure Vnet Address Space: 10.0.0.0/16
On-Premises IP: 50.388.x.x
On-Premises Address Space: 192.168.1.0/24
Any thoughts/help would be greatly appreciated.
EDIT: I should add we are in the middle of migrating from on-prem to the cloud. All PCs on the inside network I've been referring to are currently connected to another domain controller. I'd like to set up the Site-to-Site VPN and start pulling the PCs off the on-prem domain and adding them to our Azure domain.
Answer: Unfortunately, that device (cisco ASA 8.2) is not on the list of known compatible devices, the minimum OS version is 8.3, you should upgrade to version 8.3 at least.

The main issue in version 8.2 is that it doesn't understand that there is an IKE version 2, so the commands with ikev1 are wrong to it.
Cisco ASA version 8.2 does not support Azure site-to-site VPN, because ikev1 isn't understood by IOS 8.2.


Representations Verse Solution Concepts

Question: In Game Theory, we generally refer to "normal form" and "extensive form" as representations. And, we generally describe "Nash Equilibrium," "strictly dominated strategies," "maxmin strategies," "correlated equilibrium," "correlated rationalizability" and "self-conforming equilibrium" as solution concepts. Yet, some scholars refer to "Bayesian Games" or "Repeated Games" as representations while others refer to them as game types. What then are the analytical definitions for a "solution concept," "representation," and "game type?" And, are "Bayesian Games" and "Repeated Games" better defined as representations, game types, or something else altogether?
Comment: From an analytical perspective, it seems that one could make the following distinctions in game theory: 1) Basic Elements (e.g., Players; Outcomes); 2) Mathematical Representations (e.g., Normal Form); 3) Solution Concepts (e.g., Correlated Equilibrium); 4) Game Types (e.g., Repeated Games; Bayesian Games; Conditional Games); 5) Standard Cases (e.g., Prisoner's Dilemma). Thoughts?
Comment: I'm not sure there are standard analytical definitions for most of those terms.  Osborne and Rubinstein are usually precise on a variety of terms, such as equilibrium and game form.
Answer: Thanks to Harsanyi, Bayesian games can be represented as an extensive form game with Nature (or chance) moving at the initial node. So I'd say they are more of a game type: games with incomplete information.
Repeated games are a special case of extensive form games. So they are also a game type, I'd say.

Representations Verse Solution Concepts


When was cannabis legalized in the Netherlands?

Question: In which date was cannabis legalized in the Netherlands? I mean the introduction of coffee shops
Comment: Was it ever even *illegal* there?
Comment: The main reason because it was banned was the pressure of oil companies. Indeed hemp is a valid alternative to petroleum for many applications, so oil companies started a media-fight against marijuana, in order to make the production of hemp much harder
Comment: I googled for it but I was not able to find anything
Comment: Not sure at all!
Comment: I do know that it is generally argued among legalization proponents here in the USA that that only reason it was ever banned here was because it was viewed as something "Mexicans" did (iow: just a matter of racisim). They wouldn't have that issue in the Netherlands, I'm guessing.
Comment: Most 'recreational' drugs were only banned in the moral outrage era of prohibition. In WWI heroin and cocaine could be bought freely in London
Comment: @T.E.D. Oh don't worry, Europe has it's share of racism. It might not be against "the mexicans", but it can be another group.
Answer: Contrary to popular myth, cannabis is not legal in the Netherlands. But the current de facto liberal policy dates to 1976.

In 1976 the Netherlands adopted a formal written policy of non-enforcement for violations involving possession or sale of up to 30 grams of cannabis. [1] (emphasis mine)

That study I cited is worth perusing if you're interested in the subject.


Filtering by flight times in Google Sheets

Question: I have flight delays ranging from hours ahead of schedule to delays of all durations. I need to countif any delay that is longer than 20 minutes. The values in the column take on this format: "-0:22:00" (without the quotes). I do get conditional formatting to work when using a less than -00:20:00.000 figure, but extracting/querying those rows based on the < 20 threshold isn't working. I know the formula is something like =COUNTIF(myDataSheet!P$2:P,"<0:20:00"). . . can anyone let me know what I'm missing?
Answer: Try with this formula:
<code>=COUNTIF(myDataSheet!P2:P,"<"&-time(0,20,0))
</code>


Amazing Follower Tweaks and Meeko: No option to leave service!

Question: So I've downloaded the "My home is your home" mod so that my chosen followers will stay at my house when I don't need them. Before this mod I did not check if Meeko could leave my service, so I'm unsure if this mod is messing him up.
My two other follers, Sofia (John Jarvis and Christine Slagman) and Garm (Wolfgrimdark), both leave my service and stay where I tell them to. (when I speak to Garm he joins my service automatically, but he'll leave when I ask.) I am also using Meeko reborn to change Meeko to a white husky, so the issue may be related to this mod.
I've tried removing Amazing Follower Tweaks and the option pops up, but he won't join my service anymore. I was trying to get the kids to keep Meeko and apparently they don't recognize that you have a dog with the aft mod enabled, but I've given up on that issue because I can't get rid of him now.
Has anyone else had a similar problem or a fix?
*my follower count is 0 and my animal count is 0
Edit: Ok so making a clean save with AFT does work and Meeko stays where I told him to! As long as I never ask him to join me ever again...
Answer: For future reference
console:

set playerfollowercount to 0

If you have a NPC waiting for you to meet up and do a quest just go and finish it, I don't know how this code will affect that situation.


How can I align text in a text area vertically, in Illustrator?

Question: how can I align some text in any text area vertically? so I can align a label vertically and Horizontally in any text area, as if i align the text in a table cell.
Answer: You could use the
Character Style

Horizontal Scale
Vertical Scale
And maybe taking it a step further turn on the Asian font settings to access the Tate-chu-yoko and Warichu settings for the Vertical Up/Down alignment.

And also set up
Paragraph Styles

Advanced Character Formats
Indents and Spacing

I use Indents to create the padding found in a HTML  box-model
There is also the same controls for Asian Characters mentioned above including Japanese Composition Settings.
It's all about learning the hacks until they move more into the Web Design aspect that was introduced in the CC version.
Answer: Unfortunately, there is no option to vertically align text within a text box in Illustrator.
You might can try this script which was posted as an answer on a similar question.
Comment: This is why I hate Adobe. They add new random things, but can't simplify the basics.
Comment: thank you .. it have just try it and the script didn't do what I am asking for. it just resize the area text boundaries to fit to the content. but it didn't align the text inside.
Answer: You can use a negative baseline (Character panel > Show Options) to simulate vertical alignment. This is the only way that has worked well for me to visually center text in a text box with a colored background. Without using a negative baseline, the Type > Area Type Options > Offset > Inset spacing doesn't let you vertically center text in a text box.
Answer: If you have Illustrator CC 2020 (version 24.3) which was released sometime in late August of 2020. One of the new features is the "Vertical text alignment" ability, described here https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/whats-new/2020-3.html#vertical-align and also https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/align-text.html#vertical-align
It's under "Area Type Options..." in the "Type" menu - Perhaps this feature wasn't implemented when you posted the question?

There is no ability to vertically align area text in its bounding area in legacy versions of Illustrator. You must have v24.3 or newer.
Comment: Is that illustrator?
Comment: @joojaa, newest version just got vertical text alignment it seems.
Comment: @Wolff finally, the post would benefit from saying that it has been added so its not so confuing with conflicting info
Comment: @joojaa Perhaps you didn't read the opening sentence.
Comment: @JeremyMurray-Wakefield yes but it would be better to say that it as added and when. Its slmost certainly true that it didnt exsist when the question was originally asked.
Comment: -- Added version information. (this was *not* a feature until this year, in fact last month of this year. So, no, the user didn't have this ability in 2014 when the question was posed.)
Comment: Thank you @JeremyMurray-Wakefield I have been owned the new version for a long time and it was missing a feature in "whats's new" and I didn't notice it. Thanks again
Answer: You may try "Type on a path Tool". It has an option of justifing the text vertically to path center, but first create path and put the text and then go to the Type menu to change its settings. You can justify it horizonatally from paragraph panel. Optioanlly you may set the opacity of the path to zero to hide it.
Answer: Vertical text align is not available in illustrator. It is native to InDesign and I suspect it's left out deliberately because illustrator is not typography focused. It is a feature I would use on a daily basis when creating diagrams if it were available. I think it's a feature that should be added.
My fix is usually putting text in boxes and shrinking the texboxes down to fit snugly with the text (the last line disappears if you have gone too far) . Then using the normal vertical align tools to vertically align the text to something. It's cumbersome but it works.
Answer: I was a little confused from the above, but it seems Jeremy Murray-Wakefield's answer works but only if you have version 24.3 of Adobe illustrator (which came out sometime in late August of 2020). The new feature is the "Vertical text alignment" ability, described here https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/whats-new/2020-3.html#vertical-align and also https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/align-text.html#vertical-align
(this would have been appropriate as a response to Jeremy Murray-Wakefield's post but I don't have high enough reputation to post comments, sorry).
Comment: Thank you. I've added this information to Jeremy's answer.
Answer: This will work for some instances.
1) Make sure your type is Area type (Type > Convert To Area Type)
2) Type > Area Type Options, select the Auto Size checkbox
3) Open the Appearance panel (Window > Appearance)
4) Add a stroke (or fill, or both). With your stroke selected, click the fx button and choose: Convert to Shape; select the shape of your choice (rectangle, rounded rectangle or ellipse).
5) Click the fx name and adjust the parameters to suit your requirement (Absolute, Relative, Width/Extra Width, Height/Extra Height, etc.).
6) Once you have one set up right you can alt-drag the settings to other strokes/fills in your appearance stack.
7) Once you are happy your shape fits your project, save it as a graphic style so you can apply it with just one click.
8) Raise your hands skywards and proclaim "Halleluja" (or other suitable exclamation of joy).
Answer: after six years Adobe implemented this feature especially in Version 25 October 2020

now we can access this feature in the properties toolbar or in the Text area option dialogue box.

for more information please visit
https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/align-text.html#vertical-align
Answer: When you type a text. There should be a saying "Paragraph like this"
http://imgur.com/90lL0cl
Then you align it to the right or left or in the center.
I hope this has have helped!
Comment: They are asking about aligning the text vertically, not horizontally.
Answer: Paragraph Align
1) Select the "Type," "Area Type" or "Vertical Area Type" tool.
2) Click in the text frame that contains vertical text.
3) Click on the "Window" menu and hover over "Type." Select "Paragraph" to activate the paragraph panel.
4) Select the "Align Top," "Align Center" or "Align Bottom" icons in the paragraph panel or on the control panel. The paragraph of text will adjust to the top, center or bottom of the text frame.
Align to Object
5) Hold down the "Shift" key, and select the area type and the object that you want to align the type with.
6) Click on the "Window" menu, and select "Align" to activate the "Align" Panel.
7) Select the desired alignment icon from the align panel. Illustrator automatically moves the text frame and the object to align the text frame with the selected object.
Comment: there is no "align bottom", "align top" in illustrator. you are talking about another software.
Comment: no doubt but I am talking about "Paragraphs" and text area where there is no such option. maybe a screenshot will explain more your point. please. Thanks in advance.
Comment: bro i work in that only for logo designing.
Comment: http://i.imgur.com/6qKgnLq.jpg
Comment: Thank you for the screenshot but this is not what I am talking about it is something like that [example](http://wwwimages.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/devnet/flash/articles/page_layouts_tlf/fig10.jpg) how to do it using illustrator?
Answer: After almost half an hour going through so many answers and not able to understand. I did some hit and try and found a very very simple solution.
Just select the text in the text box
right click
select "object Properties"
a toolbar shall open in the right hand side
got to option "Frame"
just move your cursor on the available options and it shall show you the vertical alignment possibilities.
Comment: there's no such option in Illustrator


Difference between "outfit" and "costume"

Question: What is the difference between outfit and costume? For example, if you don't typically go to clubs, but you buy a certain set of clothes that you think will make you look like a typical club-goer, which does that set of clothing constitute?
Answer: A costume is something you put on to make yourself look like something or some one, especially an actor dressing as a character.
An outfit is just a set of clothing that (hopefully) goes well together.
So, clothes you wear to a club are just an outfit, since you are not attempting to portray someone or something else.
Answer: If you're dressing up to affect a personality for a party or other celebratory occasion, or if you are an actor playing a role, it's a costume.


IC 4066 Switching on Relay

Question: I have a water detection circuit that uses 3/4's of a 4066 (SW1-3) as a 3-level sensor and the 4th to power the coil of a 12v relay which will provide power to a water pump if the water level is at least at the minimum level. The sensor works and powers 3 LED's to visually indicate water level. However, the switch to the relay powers the coil which then stays on even after the sensor is unshorted. And, while the coil is attached, the current apparently bleeds over to SW2 so that the LED attached to that switch also comes on. The connection to the relay coil is: GND > Pin 11, Pin 10 > relay coil, relay coil > +12V. Pin 12 is the trigger for the switch. My guess is that I need to do something to bleed off the coil when there is no current applied but I have no idea what needs to be done there. Any suggestions would be greatfully appreciated. Thanks
Comment: What current is used to drive the relay? And did you check the 4066 datasheet for maximum (current) ratings?
Answer: I think you are pushing the 4066 far beyond its limits by powering a relay coil from it. The chip heats up to a point that the other switches fail too ("current apparently bleeds over to SW2"). If the chip still functions after you manually 'reset' it by removing power to it, I think you are just plain lucky.
The solution will be that you power your relay with a separate transistor (and flyback diode). A bit like this answer

IC 4066 Switching on Relay


Will phone lose pairing if it was paired via WiFi direct and it connected to a WiFi network?

Question: If a phone and another device is connected via WiFi direct, and the phone detected a home or free public WiFi network, will it connect with the WiFi network and lose pairing with the device it was originally paired to?
Answer: It will not connect the other wifi if you didn't connect it manually.
Comment: What if the WiFi network was set as "connect automatically" when detected by the mobile phone? Will connecting to WiFi then break up or cause the WiFi direct pairing to malfunction?
Comment: It will connect only when you end the connection with wifi direct