Why should I leave a U2F device always plugged in to a computer?

Question: Over at the Yubikey website they mention that the Nano or 5C Nano series is meant to be always inserted into a computer. I've seen some other sites mention the Nano is good for servers. But why would it be a good idea to have a U2F device always inserted into a computer?
Answer: What they actually say is that the device is designed so that it can be permanently inserted - its form factor is such that it won't get in the way or break.
Physical security should still be a concern, but the use case for many people will be to just keep the key in their laptop or tablet.
Comment: So basically it's trading a bit of security for convenience? I feel that if I had a Nano that was meant to stay in my computer and I left it unattended one might be able to do some damage.


Is following an online tutorial plagiarism?

Question: This might be a silly question, I'm doing a primary education uni degree and my subject study is computing. For our assignment, we have to create a basic website from scratch using HTML. I'm completely new to coding so I'm fumbling my way through it. I want to follow a video on coding parallax scrolling but would this be considered plagiarism as it's not my original code? My head is telling me no because surely there is only a certain amount of ways you can achieve this? Thanks.
Comment: For your first website, do not include tricky stuff, make it very simple.  I do not know what "parallax scrolling" is, but I suspect that is in the category of "tricky stuff".  My first web site had a few text paragraphs, a list, and some links from one place to another on the page.  For someone new to coding: make something small, try it out, fix it until it works, then add something else small, and so on.  Do not try to do everything in the first draft.
Comment: Thank you for the tip! I've been doing really simple websites for this entire module so have grasped the basics, I don't want to overcomplicate anything but I also need to get a good grade on this assignment. I've also got about 50 back-ups on brackets so I'm hoping if anything goes wrong I can just try something else.
Answer: Are there any reasons not to make transparent that you used the tutorial as a source? Using sources alone is no problem. Not citing is a problem. So cite properly and you should have no problem with plagiarism.
Answer: I doubt that this is plagiarism in the formal sense of the term. I'd equate it with using things you find in a text book. This relies on the fact that there are a limited number of ways in which some things can be done and also on the fact that students should be allowed to learn with other resources than those provided.
However, if you are asking whether you could be sanctioned by a professor for this then it isn't so clear and depends on whatever rules are set for your completion of the assignment. A professor can certainly put an embargo on using outside resources for purposes of an assignment. If you use those resources then you can be punished even though you haven't committed plagiarism in the formal sense.
But if your final result gives the impression that the ideas are yours when they are not and not cited, then it becomes formal plagiarism.
Don't equate plagiarism with academic misconduct. The easy way to be sure is to cite what you use (avoiding plagiarism) and also avoiding any claim that you were hiding something from the professor.

Note that professors don't assign things because they need the end product produced by the students. They do it purely so that the student can learn something. Breaking the rules reduces the intended learning. It isn't really about "making" something. It is about "learning" something. Working with limited resources is often a good way to enable that.


Is there a way to get a list of citations for a web page URL?

Question: Sites like Google Scholar track citations to academic articles, however it doesn't do the same for web page URLs. Academic text often cites web pages using their URLs, for e.g., links to GitHub repos, blog posts, even stackoverflow posts.
Is there a way I could find a list of academic articles citing any particular URL?
Answer: This paper (Enrique Orduña-Malea & Rodrigo Costas. Link-based approach to study scientific software usage: the case of VOSviewer, 2021) deals with your exact question.
The approach is fairly straightforward: just search in GS for the relevant URL substring.


Running UF-B cable in PVC conduit along house exterior 6/3 for 100'

Question: Can I run 100' of UF-B 6/3 cable alongside house exterior in 1" PVC conduit? This is a run from the main breaker inside the house and outside along the restricted access side of the house in 1" S40 PVC, then back inside the house to a dedicated spa breaker sub-panel. 240v 50amp at both breakers for a Spa that draws 31 Amps. Alternatively, I would like to run four 8 AWG individual wires (blk, red, wht, grn) in the same 1" S40 PVC that can handle 9 wires of fill-rate. Is either solution OK, or is there a preference? The run along side the house is gated, cement floored and locked, extremely unlikely to be disturbed or damaged in any way.
Comment: Schedule 40 or 80?  And what circuit is this cable used for?
Comment: Is this conduit running in a place where it could get run into (say by stray lawn equipment)?
Answer: Since this is for a spa you have no choice but to use individual insulated conductors in conduit since code requires it (with few exceptions).
If it is exposed and above ground most inspectors would require Sch80, unless as you imply it is totally out of harms way.


Are all exothermic reactions spontaneous?

Question:
$\ce{GaAs (s)}$ is used in solar cells deployed on satellites found in the orbit of Earth. The best way to make these materials is through a technique called "molecular beam epitaxy", in which the following spontaneous chemical reaction takes place:
$$\ce{Ga(g) + As(g) -> GaAs(s)}$$
Pick the statement which best describes this process:
(A) The process is endothermic.
(B) The process is exothermic.
(C) The process leads to a decrease in the entropy of the universe.
(D) The process leads to an increase in the entropy of the system.
(E) The process leads to a decrease in the temperature of the system.

The key says the correct answer is B. I am wondering if this is because all exothermic reactions are spontaneous?
Comment: While is some technical thermodynamic sense, "spontaneous" might mean something different, in normal language even among chemists it means the reaction happens without an external push. **Clearly** many exothermic reactions are **not** spontaneous for the normal deifinition of the word. Burning coal is clearly exothermic, for example, but getting it to burn under normal atmospheric conditions takes significant effort and doesn't just happen.
Comment: @matt_black  Note, however, that this question, in giving options involving the entropy of the system and the universe, is specifically concerning itself with the fundamentals of thermodynamics.
Comment: From the comments in the answers below, it seems that we lack a definition of spontaneous. Does it mean $\Delta_r G < 0$ at the current conditions or $\Delta_r G^\circ < 0$?
Comment: @KarstenTheis  Yes, that does seem to be the issue.
Answer: No, it is not the case that all exothermic reactions are spontaneous.  More generally, it doesn't even make sense to make a broad statement that a reaction is or is not spontaneous without also specifying the concentrations of reactants and products, since for a certain relative concentration of reactants and products, the reaction might be spontaneous in the forward direction, while for another set of relative concentrations it might be spontaneous in the reverse direction. [See illustration below.]
One could, however, make the general statement that chemicals will react spontaneously if, in so doing, the entropy of the universe increases.  This, however, is not one of the options you are given.
Why, then, is "B" the correct choice?  Answer: It's because this Ga and As are forming a chemical bond, and bond formation is exothermic. In addition, there is a phase change here from a gas to a solid, and that is also exothermic.  Furthermore, since Ga and As are both monatomic gases in this reaction, no chemical bonds need to be broken to allow the Ga and As to combine. Thus, since we have chemical bonds being formed but not broken, and a phase change from gas to solid, the reaction is exothermic.
Here's a graphical illustration of the general concept articulated in the first paragraph:
Comment: @MaxW.  Nope. All spontaneous reactions are thermodynamically irreversible, thus  the type of irreversibility you are speaking about it kinetic irreversibility (KI). So: (1) You can't rely on seeing single vs. dbl. arrows as a signifier of KI, since people often don't bother w/ the dbl. arrows regardless. Further I see no reason this rxn should have KI (i.e., be kinetically trapped).  (2) More to the point, *the thermodynamics of the rxn are independent of the kinetics*.  So, adopting your preferred linguistic style:  Wrong comment, wrong reason.
Comment: I'll point out that the arrow for the reaction indicates that the reaction is irreversible. Right answer, wrong reason.
Comment: The logic of bond formation being exothermic is that otherwise, constraining the movement of the parts to be bonded would result in a decrease of entropy in the universe. For the hydrophobic effect, you gather non-polar molecules without strong interactions so that the entropy of water increases.
Comment: @KarstenTheis  As I explain in my comment to Buck Thorn, you can have an endothermic reaction in which the entropy of the products is less than that of the reactants, yet it can still proceed spontaneously.  Not sure how your reference to the hydrophobic effect applies here.  While there continues to be controversy about it, the standard description is that water suffers an entropy penalty (but a favorable decrease in enthalpy) in solvating non-polar solutes, because of the formation of ordered "clathrate shells" in which the water-water bonds are stronger than in bulk.
Comment: @theorist Sorry about the non-sequitur in my comment. I was wondering if my statement "any bond formation has to be exothermic" is general, and pondering whether something like aggregation of non-polar species in water would be a counterexample. In the case at hand, there is no solvent, so the entropy balance is much easier to figure out.
Answer: The entropy of the system decreases
All the reactants are mono-atomic gases, and the product is a solid. This is a strong indication that the entropy of the system decreases.
The reaction is spontaneous
That statement from the text of the question means that the Gibbs energy of reaction is negative. It is not clear if this refers to standard conditions, or to the current conditions. The question could be more specific in that regard.
Enthalpy of reaction
If the reaction entropy is negative and the reaction Gibbs energy is negative, the reaction enthalpy has to be negative as well because it is the sum of the Gibbs energy and the entropy times the (positive) temperature.
$$\Delta_r G = \Delta_r H - T \Delta_r S$$
$$\Delta_r H  = \Delta_r G + T \Delta_r S$$

Are all exothermic reactions spontaneous?

No, but all reactions that are spontaneous at standard state (interpreted to mean that at standard state, equilibrium lies in the forward direction, i.e. K > 1 and $\Delta_r G^\circ < 0$) are either exothermic ($\Delta_r H^\circ < 0$) or show a positive standard entropy of reaction ($\Delta_r S^\circ > 0$), or both. This ensures that the Gibbs energy of reaction is negative and that the entropy of the universe increases (those two are linked in the absence of non-PV work).

[theorist] The direction of spontaneity is merely a function of where the reaction mixture is relative to the equilibrium constant.

The argument I made above does not preclude finding a reaction with positive $\Delta_r H^\circ$ and negative $\Delta_r S^\circ$ that goes forward. In this case, K will be smaller 1, but reaction conditions can be chosen so that Q is smaller than 1 as well, and furthermore smaller than K, which is always possible by increasing reactant concentrations or by removing product.

[Textbook question]Pick the answer that best describes this process.

Answers A) and E) are linked. An endothermic process (A) will decrease the temperature of the system (E). So those two answers are out if there is only one correct answer. Answer C) goes against the second law of thermodynamics, so most teachers would mark it wrong. Above, I made an argument that the reaction has a negative standard entropy of reaction (less freedom for the atoms when they go from mono-atomic gas to a solid compounds); answer D) posits the opposite, so it is out.
Comment: The fact that the term "exothermic" is used in "B" properly means it is referring to the sign of the standard-state enthalpy change (see IUPAC link in comment to Buck Thorn), which means the entropy change (if used in the same expression) must, for consistency, be standard state as well.  And, as I've explained elsewhere, the fact that a rxn has a negative standard-state entropy change, and is spontaneous, places no constraints on whether it is endothermic or exothermic.  The direction of spontaneity is merely a function of where the reaction mixture is relative to the equilibrium constant.
Comment: And even if standard state wasn't intended, clearly these refer to the enthalpy and entropy changes inherent to the difference between pure reactants and pure products, not to the equilibrium mixture.
Comment: @theorist I agree with you that irrespective of the signs of reaction entropy, enthalpy, and Gibbs energy, you can always find conditions where Q < K. I will edit my answer to avoid the term "spontaneous" in my statements.
Answer: I would add that, given that the entropy change associated with the formation of the solid is almost certainly negative, the only way the reaction can proceed spontaneously at constant T and p is if it is exothermic, invoking the condition that $\Delta G = \Delta H - T \Delta S<0$ or $$\frac{\Delta H}{T} <\Delta S$$ for a spontaneous process.
That the process is exothermic can be justified using the arguments presented by theorist.
Comment: You wrote "the only way the reaction can proceed spontaneously at constant T and p is if it is exothermic (invoking the condition that $\Delta G = \Delta H - T \Delta S<0$ for a spontaneous process)".  That's actually not generally true, since one also needs to factor in the entropy of mixing.  As a consequence of the entropy of mixing, a reaction could proceed spontaneously even if $\Delta H_{rxn} > 0$ and $\Delta S_{rxn} <0$, if one were to the "left" of the equilibrium position.
Comment: @theorist entropy of mixing would contribute to the $\Delta S$ term. But sure, we can split hairs if you like.
Comment: @theorist you split hairs in that you are not reading between the lines. For the reaction *as written* to proceed in the forward direction (which obviously is implied) then, given that $\Delta S<0$, you must have an exothermic reaction.
Comment: It's not splitting hairs at all. You made an argument that the rxn has to be exothermic based on it being spontaenous + $\Delta S < 0$, where that $\Delta S$ referred only to the inherent entropy difference between the reactants and products ("the entropy change associated with the formation of the the solid is almost certainly negative").  That $\Delta S$  explicitly *doesn't* take into account the entropy of mixing.  As a consequence, your argument that the rxn must be exothermic because of this is simply incorrect...[continued]
Comment: As a simple counterexample, consider a reaction, A->B, in which $\Delta H = 10 kJ/mol$, and $\Delta S = - 10 J/(mol K)$, at 298.15K.  Then, at that temperature, $\Delta G = 13 kJ/mol => K_{eq} = 0.0053$.  Thus, if $\frac{[B]}{[A]} < 0.0053$, *the reaction will proceed spontaneouslyly from reactants to products, even though $\Delta S <0$ **and** it is endothermic.*   **I.e., the fact that it can proceed spontaneously from reactants to products while having a negative $\Delta S$ does not in any way constrain the reaction to be exothermic!**
Comment: That's why I said it doesn't make sense to broadly label a reaction as spontaneous -- thermodynamic spontaneity is determined by where the reaction mixture is relative to the equilibrium constant, irrespective of the signs of the standard-state entropies and enthalpies.  [And when you speak about reactions being endothermic or exothermic, you are inherently speaking about standard-state changes; see:  https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/E02095 and https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/E02269
Comment: @theorist let me just point out that while $\Delta G ^\circ = -RT \ln K_{eq}$, it is the value of $\Delta G$ for the process that determines sponteneity. You gave a good answer to the actual question, and my answer attempted to address the source of the OPs confusion.
Answer: A exothermic reaction has the energy to proceed spontaneously. It may or may not depending on the kinetics. The reaction could be sterically hindered for example, and need a catalyst to happen at all.
Comment: Umm, it could be *entropically* unfavorable?


Storing arbitrary meta-data in Microsoft Word document

Question: I need to store custom meta-data in a Word document. The 'document properties' are limited to 255 bytes but I have data which is >> 10k
We are using VBA to write a word extension to interact with our application and want to have our application data stored in the word document. The idea is that that the user can share just the word document without sharing any other data files of our application.
Has anyone ideas how to store arbitrary meta-data efficently in Office 2003+ documents?
Answer: Just tried this in the VBA editor immediate window:
<code>ActiveDocument.Variables.Add "foo", String(10000, ".")

? Len(ActiveDocument.Variables("foo"))
10000
</code>
Document variables are stored with the document. They seem to go up to 65280 Unicode characters, as I just found out (tested in Word 2003; Update: This limit is the same in Word 2007 and 2010).
If you fear to get near the 60k for your data, I'd recommend either splitting it over several variables, or compressing it before you store it. This post shows some options to do that in VBA.
Answer: It fits not exactly your requirements because it does not work with Word 2003. However, it still might be interesting to you (otherwise I recommend you to use document variables as suggested by Tomalak):
In Word 2007 (and later) you may embed arbitrary XML documents in a Word document as Custom XML.
An example is described ins this article on MSDN: How to: Add Custom XML Parts to Documents by Using VSTO Add-Ins


Schengen visa Switzerland from NYC processing time?

Question: I am applying for Schengen visa in NYC. I am an Indian citizen residing in NY. How long should it take to get Schengen visa at Switzerland embassy in NY ?
Comment: Have you called and asked ?
Comment: The Swiss embassy is in Washington DC. You probably want the consulate general in New York. You can only apply there, though, if Switzerland is your main destination and you reside in New York, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Bermuda, Puerto Rico, or the US Virgin Islands.
Answer: Yes, you should apply for visa at the Swiss Consulate in New York
https://www.eda.admin.ch/countries/usa/en/home/visa/entry-ch/up-90-days/where-to-apply-schengen.html

New York (NY), Connecticut (CT), Maine (ME), Massachusetts (MA), New
  Hampshire (NH), New Jersey (NJ), Pennsylvania (PA), Rhode Island (RI),
  Vermont (VT), Bermuda, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands
must apply at
Consulate General of Switzerland in New York

Regarding the processing time, it says there about 10-15 days.

Short stay visas (tourists, visitors, business): Complete applications
  are in general processed within 10-15 days

You can only apply at the Swiss consulate for schengen visa, if

The Swiss Visa Desks can only accept applications from persons whose main destination is Switzerland

If the travel destination includes more than one Member State, the application must be dealt with by the consulate of the main
  destination. The main destination is understood to be the destination
  where the applicant intends to spend the longest time or where the
  main purpose of the intended journey is carried out.
If no main destination can be determined, the consulate of the Member whose external border the applicant intends to cross first,
  must deal with the application (point of first entry).


Pacman Ghost moving in android

Question: I want to play game pacman. There is a problem exists in the moving of the pacman ghosts. How can i move the ghost. I use Random Method but it moves in the same direction up or down or left or right. I want actual theory behind pacman movement
Answer: This page has an extremely detailed analysis of Pac-Man with information about the AI of each ghost.
Answer: Someone read the Pacman Dossier and wrote up a more brief treatment focused specifically on ghost behavior at http://gameinternals.com/post/2072558330/understanding-pac-man-ghost-behavior
Answer: Ghost movement in Pacman is not merely a random one. It's AI, with some graph theory in it. If you want (kind-of) realistic enemies in your games, you'll have to learn a little bit about all these subjects.
Answer: I already implemented Pacman in Android. To facilitate my work, I started by using a random algorithm. I.e. on every possibility where the ghost can change its direction, one of the available directions is chosen automatically. This isn't too difficult to implement. But with this algorithm, the pacman has an easy life, because the ghosts aren't really hunting pacman.
So in a second approach i read this source: pacmandossier
There you can see that every ghost has a different behaviour. I didn't really implement an exact copy of the behavior there, but instead I used an approximation. On every possible direction change: I calculated the "best direction" by using the smallest Manhattan Distance between the positition of the Pacman and the possible directions the ghost have. Then I do model the varying "aggressivity" of the different ghosts, I used a probability for each ghost to choose the "best direction" versus a random one.
This isn't really the original algorithm, but I think it's quite a good approximation since you can easily see while playing that the ghost more or less try to hunt Pacman.
Naturally you can expand this algorithms, e.g. by using different possibilities and speeds if the ghosts are hunted instead of chasing Pacman.
Comment: how can i find the possibility where the ghost can changed it's direction. For this i think that i have to check at every block of maze i have to check the direction. Is this right or any other solution to implement this.

Pacman Ghost moving in android


Expression choice for the error of being too exact?

Question: For example, stating a street address with millimetric precision would be too exact and is therefore not applicable and not done. So you can be too exact. Is there an expression for this error or a phrase (like "cutting stones with a surgeon's knife" or likewise if someone uses a tool or an instrument with too much precision for a job)?
Comment: possible duplicate of [What's an idiom for doing something in an unnecessarily complicated way?](http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/43372/whats-an-idiom-for-doing-something-in-an-unnecessarily-complicated-way)
Comment: I recommend an edit to the example. E.g, "state a geographic location to millimeter precision". (Assuming this is consistent with the OP's intent.) This might be overspecifying if you just want to tell someone where to park. It wouldn't be if you were measuring a cliff position to warn of a coming landslide.
Comment: I understand Jim's answer about overspecifying in engineering, but I don't understand how it's possible to _state a street address with millimetric precision_. Can you provide an example? In the USA, there's a 4-digit house code one can add to the 5-digit zip/postal code to give a 9-digit zip code. The USPO may like that, but it's way too overspecific for ordinary Americans to use except on printed labels. Does Sweden use a metric system for addresses, e.g., "173.2968 meters south from the SW corner of Stockholm Street & ABBA Road"?
Comment: I think the "classic" example would be the story about a museum worker who is asked "how old is this fossil?" "It's 350,007 years old," he says.  "Wow, how do you know its age so precisely?"  "Well, the plaque said it was 350,000 years old when I started working here, and I started 7 years ago."
Comment: @BillFranke I just imagined that as an example, if someone asked me where I live  would be too exact if I told them the number of inches I live from a known city square or so. The normal thing to do would be to state your street address with an error of meters i.e. stating the number of the street you live on. If I instead state exactly on the inch where my street address is then I would be too exact. Again there might be better examples as I was just trying to illustrate the idea. An example that happened for real is that I was showing a project and I was told my solution was "too exact".
Answer: In engineering, we use the term overspecify
Wiktionary gives a good definition

overspecify (third-person singular simple present overspecifies, present participle overspecifying, simple past and past participle overspecified)
To specify in excessive detail.
The customer overspecified the requirements and now we're contractually required to build it this way. Does he think he's an engineer?
To specify excessive capability.
As usual the customer overspecified the requirements, it's like asking for a car that sits 20 and fits in compact car's parking space.
To provide redundant or inconsistent information.
An overspecified truth table contains at least one decision that will never be executed because it is already specified in a previous decision...
     A noun phrase is overspecified when it is used in a context where a pronoun would have been unambiguous. (It could also mean that the material requirement was underspecified.)

We have tools that can cut material to a very high accuracy. It wouldn't be reasonable to require high accuracy for something like wood, for example, because wood is dimensionally unstable. To create a requirement for such accuracy in this case would be to overspecify the requirement.
Answer: These are all similar to the idea you are proposing, just not exact:

The best is the enemy of the good.
Can't see the forest for the trees.
Penny wise, pound foolish.
Answer: A possibility would be that you are supplying false precision, that is, providing more significant digits than are actually available.
Answer: Maybe an example for the address which demonstrates the problem would be the difference between these fictional addresses for the same location:
110 Main Street
Census Block 1310 Main Ave, 40 FT X 92 FT 4 IN, HAWKINS FARM ROAD ADDN, LOT 7
Both addresses are (fictionally) accurate, but the second provides both too much info and is also harder (for typical purposes) to use.
Some other possibilities for describing this behavior might be:
drowning in the minutae  (drowns us in the minutae)
describing ad naseum
If the added details are included as an attempt to hide or confuse the truth, then perhaps it is a whitewash or an attempt to bury the truth and make it as hard to find as a needle in a haystack.


Which one of these lamb meat parts has lowest fat (shanks, loin or shoulder)?

Question: Which one of these lamb meat parts has lowest fat -because I don't like the taste of fat-, (shanks, loin or shoulder) ?
Answer: As someone who also hates fatty meat, with lamb honestly it doesn't matter.
It's very fatty meat, all cuts.
My local supermarket's "low fat" lamb is still 20% fat. They don't tell you what the rest is.
The trick is to cook it for a long time - 4 hours or so, or all day in a slow cooker.  The fat doesn't magically disappear, but it gets rendered down into something far more tasty [& incidentally, if you're like me, a whole lot less 'gribbly' to chew;) Far more palatable. Cook it long enough & you really can't tell the fat was there.
That's how any good 'curry restaurant' manages to make lamb curries that taste great & don't feel 'fatty'.
Comment: Disagree - while _most_ cuts are fatty, there are exceptions and starting with the loin is the way to go.
Comment: @Stephie - I've never seen lamb loin (though I suppose intellectually I should know it exists). tbh, I hate the taste of lamb fat so much I will only ever make curries with it - as that just 'fixes' the issue for me, after many hours cooking.
Comment: Although my parents kept sheep, I am the only two-legged family member who loves lamb. Hubby gets digestive problems and the kids don't like it either. So it's usually just an individual serving for me once a year tops, and never a whole roast or stew. On these rare occasions I will splurge on loin or lollipop chops. I can understand your point of course.
Answer: There are lean cuts from lamb - but you need to be very selective and expect to pay a premium.
Both are cut from the back of the lamb and if you look at a cross-section you can see two roundish sections, a larger and a smaller one:

(Source)
The smaller is the filet - in a lamb, it's very thin, more like a finger or two. The second is the actual loin.
They are also sold whole as longish strips or if you can't get them, you can get a piece of the lamb back / saddle and butcher it yourself.

(Source)
The key is that while you often get a chop, cutlet or back roast that's essentially the whole piece and if you roast it whole it's kind of self-basting thanks to the outer layer fat, the loin itself is comparatively lean and can be separated cleanly. The remaining meat is somewhere between 4% and 6% fat, according to my research. That's so lean that you really have to be careful or you end up with a dry meat. If done correctly, it's incredibly tender and juicy and has very little to none of the "lamb fat" flavor.
Shoulder and leg are fattier to begin with and the meat is more marbled. You can't remove the fat prior to roasting and it will always "seep into" the dish.
Comment: @huab random example: https://www.steaksandgame.com/lamb-loin-boneless-1549 - no endorsement whatsoever, just the first Google result that popped up. [This chart](https://www.slideshare.net/demoss/lamb-cut-chart-en-sp) is quite useful imho.
Comment: While a saddle can have up to 3kg/6lb, the trimmed loin is usually just half a pound or less, depending. My butcher sells them in individual portions of between 150 and 170g.
Comment: how many kg are back/saddle and how kg are loin? I searched (lamb meat parts) diagram images but didn't find one with this three parts together
Answer: To add to the already good answer, you are not escaping fat when you eat lamb. It is also an incredible rich fat. Especially the fat around the ribs. This is why currying your lamb is usually a good thing as it just tempers the richness so as to make it palatable. Unfortunately though if you have a constitution that cannot handle rich food then lamb is just simply not going to be good for you.


macOS Big Sur (Command + Tab) does not show the Finder App anymore

Question: Pressing Command+Tab to switch between open applications works fine except it does not show me the default Finder App anymore.
I tried to reboot the laptop but still same issue. Of course if I click the Finder App directly from the Dock, the Finder Window open but still even with the Finder Window open, if I press Command+Tab I still can not see the Finder App icon among the current running applications.
This is not a managed device, is my personal laptop without any managed profiles installed.
I did not run any command line to hide anything.
Answer: Restarting in Safe Mode first and restarting again in regular mode it fixed the issue.


How to enable remote desktop connection in Ubuntu 9.04 using command line. ( Using Putty)

Question: How to enable remote desktop connection in Ubuntu 9.04 using Putty?
Comment: When you say "remote desktop," does that mean you're asking specifically for how to forward RDP connections over SSH using PuTTY? Also, on which machine are you running PuTTY--the Ubuntu machine, or the other machine? And is the Ubuntu machine the client (connecting to the other machine), or is the other machine the client (so you're connecting to Ubuntu)? Is the other machine running Windows? Please **edit your question** to expand and clarify it as much as possible.
Answer: If you can not login to your Ubuntu using putty, Install sshd first there.
sudo apt-get install openssh-server

If you want to have access to the desktop of Ubuntu install vnc there.
apt-get install vnc4server

Then configure vnc.
Answer: Install the ssh deamon.
sudo apt-get install sshd

See also this howto to secure your system. Also it is a good idea to secure your system with fail2ban.


what would cause a bathroom sink connector hose to pop off

Question: Around 7 am this morning I woke up to my bathroom sink spewing water from underneath. The hot water feed was disconnected including the water shut off valve and spewing burning hot water into my bathroom. I am curious to know what would cause this to happen, and what I can do to prevent it from happening again? We live in a rental townhome built about 3 years ago, although since it is a college construction I wouldn't doubt that they cut corners with things like plumbing. Never had any problems really with the water, other than the pressure from that sink being fairly low. help? I know I don't know many plumbing technical terms so I am including a (poor) picture of the plumbing.
** update! I remembered that yesterday our power went off for like two minutes. This happens every now and then, and we usually have to go and flip the breaker. Could this ahve somehting ot do with it?
Comment: I love that you stopped to take a photo as water was filling up your house. :P Looks like a faulty/improper PEX connection.
Comment: Can you get a better picture of the end of the pipe coming out of the wall? And of the corresponding side of the shutoff valve?
Comment: I'm currently out of the house and the plumber may have already come by the time I get home but I will try to ask my roommates. I've had so many problems with our management doing a half job on everything so that's why I want to get a second opinion.
Comment: Agree with isher.
Answer: Since those flex connectors are pretty cheap, I'd just buy a new one rather than figure out whether the existing one has lost tension at the spring connection or just got dirty/greasy enough to lose hold.
Of course, make sure the end of the source pipe is clean, and if it looks worn or damaged, cut a half-inch or so off before reconnecting.
Comment: so the connector just needs to be replaced? I was worried that there was something weird going on with the water pressure but that is a much easier problem to fix


Could the Species 8472 'Imposters' reproduce?

Question: In the Star Trek: Voyager episode "In the Flesh", Species 8472 built a training facility with a simulation of Starfleet Command & parts of San francisco. There they genetically modified themselves to appear as members several Starfleet species.
My question is, if there genetic aterations were as extremely sophisticated as the Doctor claimed than could they reproduce & have babies, either amongst themselve or with members of the species they are imitating. Also, if they could would that child be Species 8472, some kind of hybrid (maybe like Spock or B'Elanna) or, for example, would the child be a "full blooded member" of the species that was being imitated ?
Comment: There is, unfortunately, nowhere near-enough information to give even an approximate answer to this. One would assume that, yes, if the genetic alterations were complete enough then reproduction would be possible, but there is no way to tell how complete said alterations were based on the episode in question.
Comment: In the most optimistic scenario, they'd be anatomically identical to humans. Then the question would be, if the agent they use to stay altered passes the placental barrier. And if it does it cannot be said what it does with the foetus - if anything at all. Since we dont know, what the serum does, there is really no telling what would happen.
Comment: Except it is explicitly stated that they are not anatomically similar to humans. They have a biogenic field that can mask their life signs or masquerade as humans, but a simple blood test or micro cellular scan reveals their true nature.
Answer: The change of the Species 8472 imposters as seen in Voyager were not true changes to humanoid form.  They were reshaping themselves structurally to emulate humans and fool casual bio scans.  Unless they have some way of disabling their immune system @Hiram is correct, it is quite active in attacking organisms outside the body.
In "Scorpion 1" Voy s3x26 we see that not only is the biology of Species 8372 able to defend against borg nanites it also will attack other species as seen with the dead borg and the infection after Harry comes in contact on the disabled cube.  Also, their biogenic field makes them nearly invisible to sensors and can prevent transporter lock.  It is very possible that it can be repurposed to return face biosigns to sensors.
In "In the Flesh" Voy s5x04, we see that their transformation is not externally applied, but an internal process of restructuring their biology and their biogenic field to look and scan as and Federation race.  As individuals lose control of themselves they revert back to their true forms.  Also, the changes were not to DNA as a simple dna test, not a scan, was able to reveal the imposters.
During "Someone to Watch Over Me" Voy s5x22 the Doctor remarks "Species 8472 appears to have as many as five sexes."  This would indicate that the cultural exchange at the end of "In the Flesh" included their mating process.  It also shows that they require five different gametes to produce offspring.
Between the lack of necessary gametes, the species's incredibly proactive immune response, and that their alterations are literally only skin deep it is unlikely that a crossbreeding would succeed without major intervention.  As well as their view of our galaxy as a "threat to their genetic integrity" it is unlikely a crossbreeding would be attempted willingly by them.
Comment: It's Species 8[47](http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/47)2  ;)
Comment: Whoops, that is what I get for copypasta from the question.
Comment: Weeell, in the question no longer (I hadn't noticed it there for some reason)
Answer: Species 8472 would not be able to produce in human form, as they mentioned in another episode 8472 has 5 genders, and when they take human form, they only have 2.
Comment: If the change was complete enough, they would produce human offspring by using the two human sexes.  This doesn't really answer anything, unless you have a reference that says they do not
Answer: No they would not be able to produce a hybrid. If they had intercourse with a women the women would become infected by their cells. If they had intercourse with a male, their body would kill off all of the seaman . There immune systems are completely resistant to outside forces which is why the borg cant assimilate them.The borg talk about not being able to assimilate them in s04e01 Scorpian part 2. If there genetic material enters a foreign host it proceeds to start to kill the host off. This is from the startrek wiki startrek wiki, and wikipedia. This is both in reference to voyager as well as STO. They also have 5 sexes, as well as not being genetically altered from the outside they are able to do all genetic alterations on command internally.  We see them attack in voyager with their claws as well leaving infection behind in the victim which is further proof that their genetic material is Poisonous and attempts to kill anyone infected. (hence why having sex with one to produce a hybrid is a bad idea. )
Comment: @JamesSheridan Memory Alpha is of _very high_ reputability (and it gets sourced in tons of answers on this site because of that)
Comment: This is a very poor answer, with absolutely no sourcing, not to mention the punctuation. I almost feel like I should delete it because it almost seems like it's unnecessarily sexual, but given the subject matter it's hard to ping it for that. Needless to say, this needs work to be an acceptable answer. It also has the serious issue of being incorrect, at least if I'm remember my *Voyager* correctly. Downvote from me.
Comment: Would the aggressive immune response still be present when they are imitating another species ?
Comment: @Himarm: So I shouldn't downvote you because you edited your answer, to add more information, none of it relevant, and a single link, to a website of little repute?
Comment: @Izkata: I should have clarified that it was that particular **page** on *Memory Alpha* I had a problem with, not the site itself. There are at least four warnings of "This information may not be accurate" on the page Himarm linked.
Comment: @JamesSheridan Ah, alright then.  But the infectious part [does have onscreen evidence](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YZJHuOHka8c/UrhrMiVm19I/AAAAAAAAS9M/qSJB90y03KE/s1600/scorpion1174.jpg)
Comment: @Izkata: That has little, if any, bearing on the actual question though.
Comment: @JamesSheridan It answers the other half of the question, the part on hybrids
Comment: @Izkata: I guess you're right there. Doesn't really make sense if we follow the theory of the genetic alterations though.
Comment: Seaman? Really?


iOS 6 Auto Restart

Question: Ok here it is, when I updated my 3GS to iOS 6 there are times that my iPhone is freezing (when I used the "Tap to Tweet" button) and my iPhone just auto restarting for a couple of seconds. Is this auto restart thing is a new feature of iOS 6 or just a bug?
Comment: Looks like a bug, but may be specific to your iPhone (for whatever reason). Try to do a full restore via iTunes.
Comment: It's definitively not a feature!
Comment: It's called a **respring**
Comment: I had the same problem with an Iphone 6, after using a couple of minutes is restarted,
Answer: It may be an odd bug or a hardware failure or a sign that the OS didn't install correctly on your device.
You could look at the logs on the device or go through some of the troubleshooting steps to see if you need service or just to try restoring the OS again.

Go to the express lane: https://expresslane.apple.com/GetproductgroupList.action
Select iPhone
Select Service Requests & Troubleshooting
Select Restore or update not working as expected

I would send in the diagnostics and work through the steps listed. Alternatively, if your phone works for several minutes, you could also browse the error logs from Settings > General > About > Diagnostics & Usage > Diagnostics & Usage Data
Look for LatestCrash and panic entries first - and then perhaps other log files might be of use. These logs also can be synced to a computer for easier searching with iTunes, Xcode and other programs that read files from iOS devices.
Comment: Can Low in memory cause my phone to auto restart? BecauseI saw a lot of low memory in the diagnostics and it is dated yesterday. 12-27-12
Comment: Almost never is a Low-Memory error a problem. The system keeps everything in memory all the time and only removes programs (jettisons them) when another program needs memory. This can help for tuning the system since you might take longer to resume an app that is jettisoned and it also tells Apple (and you) which programs hog the most memory so they can get optimized to run better with less resources. The system almost never is so starved for memory that it doesn't keep running.

iOS 6 Auto Restart


How can I neaten up the corner between stairs and wall

Question: We had wooden stairs installed, but did not have any frame installed beforehand. We'd like to make this look better. Looking for ideas and suggestions.
Comment: In my opinion, almost anything you add will make this area more conspicuous. It's not bad as it is.
Answer: You could apply "base" or "shoe" molding, but that will take up some of the stair tread width, so it might become a trip hazard.
You could apply some caulk, but if it's not done by someone with a lot of experience, it could end up looking messy (a dark caulk to blend into the tread/riser color will show any inconsistency or irregularity in the edge against the white wall, the opposite for a white caulk showing against the dark tread/riser).
Or, you could just leave it as is. If all of the installation was done that neatly, I'd say it was done very well indeed! Honestly, it's hard to tell if the treads were butted up to the wall or if the wall was brought down against the treads.
One question - the edge of the tread is currently unstained. I actually like this look - it provides a nice contrast (especially in a low light situation) for finding the edge of the tread and probably makes it a little safer. However, it appears that the edge is cut square. Usually a bull nose (round-over) is applied to the edge of the tread to provide a more decorative and slightly safer step edge. Are you planning on adding a bull nose? If so, that will be much more difficult to apply trim around.
Comment: I took a photo of a good section. There are others where the finish looks terrible. Wooden flooring was used, so the width of the wood needed to be trimmed, so our flooring guy rounded it off.
Comment: That's a shame, @TchaiQuentin. The workmanship here _is_ excellent, too bad that seems to have been a happy accident instead of the expected standard. Just as a tip, showing the _poor_ section may have been more helpful so as to eliminate this confusion. I'd suggest some sort of a small base molding - something that would dress it up and hide the gaps while not calling too much attention to itself. I'd suggest you'd want to finish it in the same dark colored stain as the treads.
Answer: There are 2 typical ways to neaten things like this up:

Trim: thin pieces of wood or plastic cut into short pieces that fit in the treads and risers, tight to the wall. These can be painted or if it is wood, varnished. Pros: looks good, Cons: material cost, requires tools and expertise to look good, installation time
Caulk/mastic/silicone bead: gel sealants which are squeezed from a long tube in a continuous line that would trace the contour of the stairs between the stair and the wall. Pros: looks decent, cheap, fast and requires few tools. Cons: Not as nice looking as trim, only covers the crack between the tread and the stair, does not cover up the wall above the tread

You have a challenging set of stairs to trim because the front of the stair is curved, so any trim would need to match that contour exactly in order to look good. This can be done with the right tools, it's just a matter of expertise. Some sort of sealant bead would be a much simpler and cheaper solution, I would suggest paying someone to do it as they will do a better job of it.
Note: the above assumes you want to keep the look of the wooden stairs, if not you could carpet them up to the wall. If you do plan to carpet them nothing else is necessary.
Comment: jinx! I agree that there's usually a bull nose on the tread. The one _above_ the highlighted one looks rounded, but the highlighted one looks squared off. I asked about that...
Comment: It's hard to tell from the picture @FreeMan, I think they both look rounded, but it could be an optical illusion. The pictures could be better.
Comment: They are both rounded - all were rounded. Just the angle of the image makes it look square. The "roundness" / "squareness" differ in each trim because it was done by hand
Comment: I don't plan to carpet them. Caulk would look terrible - I tried and had to remove it. I was trying to find a 1/4 or `1/8 plastic bead of some type and glue it in to the corner.


External stylesheet referencing anomoly

Question: So I'm kind of a programming noob, but I thought I had CSS referencing down...apparently not.  I've referenced stylesheets, I've done it externally, internally, you know, the works.  For some reason, however, when I went back to tweak an older app I had worked on that had the CSS initially included within the HTML and moved the CSS out, then referenced it, the CSS oddly stopped working altogether.  I've got the directory set up as follows:
App name (folder)
   static (folder)
      main.css
   templates (folder)
      template_referencing_css.html
   main.py
   app.yaml

So here are the various references I've tried with main.css being inside the static folder:
<link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="../static/main.css" />

<link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="/static/main.css" />

Here is what I tried when I moved main.css to templates folder with the template referencing it:
<link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="main.css" />

The css file is just a longer version of things like:
body    {
    font-family:sans-serif;
    width: 850px;
    background-color: #F0F8FF;
    color: #008B8B;
    margin: 0 auto;
    padding: 10px;
}
.error {
    color: red;
}
label {
    display: block;
    font-size: 20px;
}

Comment: Tried a full URL? Is "App name" actually *in* the URL?
Comment: you put it in the  part of the HTML i suppose ?
Comment: This is a web app? Can you browse to the CSS file when your app is running?
Comment: Did you put the code in the HEAD of your html? / is there a live version to look at
Comment: Wes, I hadn't tried the full URL.  You mean start the CSS reference with  "/App name/static...."?
Comment: I can't browse to the main.css, no.  I just tried.
Answer: remove the leading slash -
<link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="static/main.css" />

Comment: oh i misread your post... sorry about that. you should be able to use the ../ syntax to hit it. Nothing is happening?
Comment: absolutely nothing.  It's weird too because I have literally the EXACT CSS in the main.css file as I did in-line.  I've referenced every app I've done this way and never had an issue.
Answer: In general this isn't necessarily a good idea, but try to use the full absolute path (like "C:/Whatever/another_dir/main.css").  At least this will tell you if the problem is finding the css file or not.

External stylesheet referencing anomoly


How to use Accelerometer Values to Move an Image in Android

Question: Hi all i want to move an image using accelerometer values,but m not able to do it. Can anyone please help me to do this, I have already gone through sample code in android developers site but couldn't understand properly.
Answer: To move an image, see how it's done in this example. Basically, the key is to get a matrix of some kind, and manipulate it based off of some input, in the case of this example, the touch/drag of a user. The below code doesn't function perfectly, but it shows the key commands and classes required to perform dragging. For more details, see the linked article.
Matrix matrix = new Matrix();
savedMatrix.set(matrix);
matrix.postTranslate(event.getX() - start.x)
ImageView view = (Some image view here)
view.setImageMatrix(matrix);

The next part is to somehow use the accelerometer to get input. I'm going to leave it to you how to best put the two together. My source of this information is this article. There are a few basic steps.
The first step is to register the listener, and is done by this code.
SensorManager  sensorManager = (SensorManager) getSystemService(Context.SENSOR_SERVICE);
Sensor sensor = sensorManager.getSensorList(Sensor.TYPE_ACCELEROMETER).get(0);

The next step is to register a sensor listener. The last bit is to show what the sensor listener looks like. Note that there are 3 outputs of the accelerometer, one for each x, y, and z coordinates.
@Override
protected void onResume() {
    super.onResume();
    sensorManager.registerListener(accelerationListener, sensor,
            SensorManager.SENSOR_DELAY_GAME);
}

@Override
protected void onStop() {
    sensorManager.unregisterListener(accelerationListener);
    super.onStop();
}

private SensorEventListener accelerationListener = new SensorEventListener() {
    @Override
    public void onAccuracyChanged(Sensor sensor, int acc) {
    }

    @Override
    public void onSensorChanged(SensorEvent event) {
        x = event.values[0];
        y = event.values[1];
        z = event.values[2];
    }

};

Your next step will be to figure out what the x, y, and z values are for your desired application. I suggest you take and log each of these out using a Log.v(TAG,...) statement. Play around with tilting it, and figure out exactly what you want to do. Tune it until it has the right level of sensitivity, by seeing how far off it is from straight up and down, and having some kind of a rate of changing the x and y coordinates of the image. Good luck!
Comment: hii Pearsonartphoto thanks for ur reply,i tried ur code but its not working.The thing is event.values[] returns values in m^2,how can v convert dis values to corrdinate system values.


Windows Safe Mode in Grub Menu

Question: Is it possible to place Windows Safe Mode into the Grub menu? If so, what is the script for it? (I am currently running Windows XP and Ubuntu 11.10. I also have the Grub Customizer installed.)
Comment: I'm not sure how to do this exactly in GRUB, but boot options described at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/239780 are relevant
Answer: Windows XP uses a different boot loader than grub. This is why grub must 'chainload' the Windows XP bootloader when you select it. Because of this the options for that bootloader are inaccessable to grub. If you want to get creative however, you could try to find a way to modify/replace the boot.ini from the grub environment so that when you do select Windows, it will look at the modified options in boot.ini and go into safemode instead.

Windows Safe Mode in Grub Menu


Is a transposition cipher categorized as asymmetric algorithm?

Question: Consider a simplest transposition cipher, such as one with block size 8 and encryption key 43725681, the decryption key will be 84215637. As the keys are different, may I say a transposition cipher is an asymmetric algorithm, except for some special values of the keys, such as 87654321?
Answer: No, it is not an asymmetrical algorithm, becayse the decryption key can be derived from the encrytion key.
Even in a symmetrical algorithm the encryption and decryption algorithms may be different, and the decryption algorithm might include firct calculating a decryption key from the encryption key. However, the same key can be used for both encryption and decryption in the sense that if you know that key you are able to both encrypt and decrypt messages.
In an asymmetrical algorithm, someone who only knows the public key can not decrypt messages. That is not the case for a transposition cipher.
Comment: @GreenPenguin if you find the answer to be correct, can you please mark it as accepted?
Comment: "and someone who only knows the private key can not encrypt them. " that's not true in general. You typivally can compute the public key from the private key.
Comment: Nice explanation, these definitions are far more accurate than those written in many books. :)
Comment: @CodesInChaos What if I know the public key, can I compute the private key? I think in RSA, the choice of public key and private key can be interchanged, right?
Comment: @GreenPenguin Depends on how you choose the public key (small fixed values are common) and on how you define the private key (private exponent vs knowledge of the prime factors). And for typical Discrete logarithm based crypto you compute the public key by multiplying the private key with the generator.


SharePoint 2013 migration

Question: I have a SharePoint 2010 Web Application in Windows Authentication mode. Can I directly migrate them to SharePoint 2013 Claims/Form based authentication Web Application? I am planning to use third party tool. If yes what tools are available?
Comment: Using a migration tool will make your migration much easier... We have used "sharegate" in the past for something similar.
Answer: If using the database attach method to migrate content from a 2010 farm to a 2013 farm, then you'll want to either convert the 2010 web application to claims mode before the move, then migrate the databases to a claims mode 2013 web application (this is Microsoft's recommendation), or create a classic mode web application using PowerShell in 2013, attach the databases from the 2010 farm (still in classic mode), then perform the upgrade to claims mode in 2013. You should not attach a classic mode 2010 database to a claims mode 2013 web application.
Alternatively, as you mention, you can migrate the content using third part tools, for example AvePoint (DocAve Migrators) and Metalogix (Content Matrix) both provide migration tools to allow content to be migrated between versions of SharePoint.
Andy
Comment: To clarify - third party tools will probably deal with claims/classic for you (at least those that I used did), you don't need to do anything

SharePoint 2013 migration


How do you respond to questions like "Have you ever observed a UFO?"

Question: This is a question that astronomers get asked by the public regularly, and I'm curious to see how others respond.
Comment: Yet it is one of the two or three questions I am asked most frequently when speaking to the public.
Comment: Probably the question could be rephrased like "How to respond on questions like ...". This way it would not draw unwanted attention of some pseudo-science lovers.
Comment: I'll be honest: I think that even having this question really hurts the credibility of the site. I also think it is too general to really qualify as a "question" in this format - what would an "accepted answer" look like?
Comment: @Tigran @Geoff I'm willing to remove my downvote with the retitle, although I still don't really like this type of question.
Answer: In 54 years of observing the night sky, with 1466 logged observing sessions and thousands more unlogged ones, I have seen a total of 0 (zero) Unidentified Flying Objects. I have logged the Sun, the Moon, 2 total solar eclipses, 1 annular solar eclipse, several partial solar eclipses, many lunar eclipses, 1 transit of Venus, 3 transits of Mercury, dozens of artificial satellites, all 8 planets, 2 dwarf planets, more than a dozen asteroids, many comets, many aurorae, hundreds of meteors, over 100 double and multiple stars, 238 variable stars, and 659 deep sky objects. In all that time I have not seen a single object in the sky which I could not identify.
Of course UFOs exist. People are forever seeing things in the sky which they can't identify: Venus, Jupiter, airplanes, satellites, meteors, mirages, Chinese lanterns, etc.
Many people confuse UFOs (things seen in the sky) with aliens (living creatures from another world). Not the same thing at all!
UFOs are usually unidentified because the observer lacks the astronomical or meteorological knowledge to identify them. That's why you never hear about UFOs observed by astronomers or meteorologists; they're only reported by people who are unfamiliar with what can be seen in the sky. The job of the astronomer is to help the observer identify what they have seen.
Although life almost certainly exists elsewhere in the universe, the immense distances between stars makes interstellar travel a practical impossibility. No scientist has ever been able to examine a real alien, so all descriptions are nothing but fantasy.
Ian Ridpath provides excellent clues to identifying UFOs:
http://www.ianridpath.com/ufo/ufoindex.htm
These links are interviews with eminent astronomers of two different generations on the subject:
http://media.abovetopsecret.com/media/3850/1966_interview_with_Carl_Sagan_about_UFOs/
http://www.wimp.com/believeufos/
Comment: I venture that you really answered your own question.. :-P
Comment: You certainly did, great answer!
Answer: When I get this question, I usually respond with:  "Sure, all the time."  And then I point out the nearest plane, satellite or other bright object moving across the sky at the time (there always seems to be one) and say "See there's one right there, I have no idea what it is exactly so it is unidentified, flying and some sort of object.  A UFO by definition." I then go on to point out as Geoff mentioned that UFO does not mean aliens.
Answer: "Yes, I have! I was at a public outreach event on a gorgeous clear night and everyone was pointing out the usual suspects to the public when I noticed a light flashing every ten seconds or so. I looked at it long enough to confirm and then said 'What's that flashing light?' And someone instantly said "It's a plane." And I said, "But it's not moving. I've been watching it for a minute." And I pointed it out with my laser and more and more people started seeing it. And it was so slow moving that I actually got it into my refractor's FOV and could determine that it was bright-flash, slow-flash... And no one could figure it out. And then it went away. And a few minutes later someone snapped their fingers and said, 'It was a booster rocket tumbling back from orbit! It was still in the sunlight until just now...' "
I like to tell that story because it ends with a 'mundane' explanation that was still pretty darn cool!
Answer: I have observed the sky for over 50 years and, yes, I've seen one object which was a UFO at the time. I was helping conduct a public showing with the observatory at the University of Maryland, College Park, in the early 1970s. I was outside the building identifying stars for people when I noticed a first magnitude star that wasn't supposed to be there. Of course, you think it might be a bright nova, but after a few minutes it started looking a bit extended, like a planet through a telescope. A few minutes more, and it became clearly fuzzy and, as it continued to expand,it gradually became weaker. Eventually it became larger than the Moon but fainter and fainter until it could be seen no more. Well, I was stumped.
But a couple of months later, I was reading Sky and Telescope magazine describing one of the Apollo Moon missions and how it had vented it's no longer needed propellants about half-way to the Moon, just at the time we had been observing!
So, 1) Yes, I saw a UFO! And, 2) it was a travelling spacecraft!
But, it they were not from another planet but were American astronauts.
Answer: Typically, the questions I get are people who insist that they've found a UFO in some of the images that my work distributes, but that we're covering up because we removed the image and replaced it with one 'without the UFO' ... although, they rarely mention it directly, they just want to know why the image has been replaced.
I first explain to them that we remove the reduced and compressed 'space weather' images as soon as we receive the less compressed images from the main downlink, and reference the pages:

http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/artifacts/artifacts.shtml
http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/artifacts/artifacts_beacon.shtml

Most people are satisfied at that.  I've had a few where I've had to point them to the original FITS files, and point out that the ones corresponding to the JPEGs they were looking at were 512x512, while the replacements were 2048x2048... and tell them where to download DS9 so they can view the raw images themselves (and tell them to use log scaling).
My boss seems to get the more interesting feedback from people who are less easily convinced. (I only get them because I'm one of the people who get the mail from the address that used to be on our 404 pages.)
Comment: There's currently a YouTube video that has gone viral of a "building" on Mars, which is clearly an artifact of JPEG compression. They're impressed that the "building" consists of squares, and I point out that pixels are square, but they just don't get it!
Comment: Perhaps the response could start with "You know, as a scientist, explorer of the night sky, and science fiction fan (admit it! You are!), I would *love* to see visitors from another planet! However, every time we investigate any reports of such, they've all turned out to be completely mundane." Neil Degrasse Tyson says that he's ready to be abducted by aliens, and the moment that happens, he's swiping the first thing in reach of the examination table, providing actual physical evidence of his trip.
Comment: @Ernie : it'd help if they didn't start the email by asking why NASA's covering up 'disclosure' of UFOs, when we're just trying to put forward the best possible images that we have.  (and images w/ massive compression artifacts vs. images that don't have as significant artifacting is a no-brainer)
Comment: I'd respond to the conspiracy types that personally, *I* would be the first to let them know! Screw the Man!


Add a song into a playlist while listening to it?

Question: Is there a button to add the song that is being currently played into a playlist on my iPhone?
So i don't have to search it back and add it manually?
Answer: No - the playlists only get curated from the playlist tab.
The iPods with physical buttons have an "add to playlist" functionality that worked this way but there's nothing yet in iOS 4 or less to do a similar thing. The drawback there is everything got added to the "on the go" playlist - not an arbitrary one.
Comment: this sux. I really need it :(
Comment: I know - I went so far as to reserve a certain number of stars for this. I used to reserve one star for things that I never wanted to hear - now I uncheck them - delete it. Leaving a one star rating is my on the go solution - I make the list on the computer later. Smart playlists on iOS would be ideal here to be able to play songs marked thusly.
Comment: Yes - it should work fine. I just tested it on a mac. Picked 12 songs from iTunes - dragged them to the desktop - made a new folder with the results and dragged that folder back into iTunes on top of a new playlist. Just make sure all playlists (or that playlist sync to your phone) It didn't duplicate the tracks either which is nice. In the past you had to worry about dragging songs in twice.
Comment: if you will do something equal than i am doing mark a track that needs to be fixed (either it is a bad file or wrong metadata) - use the screenshot function (press home and power button at the same time)
Comment: just another simple question like this: is possible to make a playlist of out a folder on my pc itunes? I mean I have a folder with "ambient" songs, can i create a playlist only with that songs?
Answer: After listening to your song, go to the playlist, hit edit and at the top left you'll see a plus sign. Hit that and go to recently played (under playlists). You'll see the song- tap the plus sign on the right of the song and it will add it to the playlist. Make sure you are editing the playlist you want it added to.
Answer: All of those suggestions are great! Now if you have a Jailbroken Iphone you can download "SCALE" from Cydia. This will give you the option to add songs that you are currently playing directly to any of your new playlists. This also gives you the share to Facebook or Twitter so even better.
Answer: You can add to any playlist while listening to music!  Go to the playlist you want to add to hit the edit button, then the plus sign.  This will bring up your library on your phone and you can choose whichever songs you want to add to it.  Of course Mac would have that, otherwise it defeats the purpose of the device.
Comment: Welcome to Ask Different. This doesn't address the poster's question - they are looking to add to a playlist without leaving the screen they are currently on.
Answer: I've done something sort of like this. It doesn't add a track to a playlist—it adds metadata to a track, and you can have a smart playlist where tracks are selected based on that metadata. I then use a macro facility (Quicksilver) to assign a key command to that script.
I've used the "Grouping" metadata field -- technically, this is supposed to be reserved for movements in classical music, but I couldn't find any tracks that actually use this field, so I felt OK about misusing it. If that bothers you, you could easily change this to use the "Comments" field.
Here's the script. It's very simple.
<code>  tell application "iTunes"
    try
    -- change "keyword" below. Keep the quotes!
    if "keyword" is not in grouping of current track then
        set x to grouping of current track
        if x = "" then
            set grouping of current track to "keyword"
        else
            set grouping of current track to x & ", keyword"
        end if
    end if
    end try
  end tell
</code>
Open Applescript Editor, paste the above into a new script, and save it as a script file with whatever name you want to [username]/Library/iTunes/Scripts (if the Scripts folder doesn't already exist, create it). You can invoke it from the Scripts menu in iTunes once you've done that, or use some kind of macro software to create a keyboard command.
Then create a Smart Playlist in iTunes where the criterion is "grouping contains [keyword]"


how do you ask for someones name on the other side of the call without sounding rude?

Question: how to ask for peoples names without sounding rude
Comment: There is no universally applicable answer beyond "just ask them and don't be rude". VTC as too broad.
Comment: This question needs much more info, please [edit] it. Especially: *Why* do you want to ask their name? You are asking this on an international forum and telephone customs differ from country to country (so tell us yours): in Italy people will answer with 'Pronto', in The Netherlands people will answer with their name.
Comment: "Can I ask who's calling?"
Answer: "I'm sorry, your name is...?"
"Can I say who is calling?"
"Sorry, I missed your name..."
Make it sound like your mistake and it becomes fine.
Comment: Or 'Can I have your name please', just put a 'please' on the end and it's all good.


A typical Magento SE user

Question: Recent days I came across a typical user who's questions (70% of his questions) which will be voted to close.And look at this particular question asked by him,then he voted to close and he answered the question,in my opinion he created account just to gain reputation but not knowledge.I request moderators to look into this issue.
Answer: If he's in it for the rep, he's not doing a very good job so far, I guess.
I admit that some of his questions are too broad or unclear, but most of them seam to me like good questions coming from a beginner. I remember I had a few of those questions when I started working with Magento. Unfortunately there was no one to answer them.
Here is one example and the second.
I see no reason for now to suspend his account, but please flag or vote to close for the questions that you don't find appropriate for this website (from this user or any other one).
Comment: Yea I accept what you said and BTW I didn't ask him to be suspended but his behaviour seems little different which I noticed so far.

A typical Magento SE user


Chopping excess bits off an imported stl :)

Question: quite a beginner to blender, have rendered a rough 3d model of a battery compartment for a '78 Triumph Bonneville and imported it, but it's got lots of bits I need to slice off and delete. Then I'll need to quarter it for printing. Dont understand how to chop stuff with Blender, please help guys! :)
The images shown are from the app where the stl was constructed
Comment: Please clarify your subject line and description, including adding screenshot of what you're referring to. That will greatly help your chance of getting help!
Comment: Thanks, will do :)
Answer: To chop off stuff, there is an option in Blender, I believe, to delete disconnected parts of a mesh. You can also use the removed doubles option to remove overlapping vertices. If you want to remove triangles as well, you can press Alt+J to remove them as well.
Comment: Thanks I'll look up those options :) I wonder how I can select and disconnect those parts first though?
Comment: I think there may be a select option in Blender to select disconnected parts. Actually, nevermind on that part. If you press A to select everything, you can press Alt+J and remove doubles and it will be able to determine what is disconnected and what is not. Those are options that would probably be better to have as the last step. First, you need to deselect everything (Alt+A)  and then click on the option that says to select disconnected edges. After that is done, the disconnected parts should be gone and using the two methods I mentioned earlier, it will help to clean up the model.
Comment: Thanks, that's very helpful :) however I still don't know how to actually disconnect the parts I don't want, does anybody know how to do this?


If axioms are subjective, how could anything be objective?

Question: Axioms are subjective (?), and, since propositions are based on axioms, isn't everything subjective? (of course, the answer should be from the perspective of someone who believes in objectivity)
Or am I wrong in the assumption that axioms are always subjective?
Comment: What does it even mean that "axioms are subjective"? That each have their own? What difference does it make? Reality hits men with a brick on the head the same way, regardless of their axioms. Please provide more context, it is unclear what your words mean and what you are asking.
Comment: We need **always** assumptions as starting points for our discussion, communication, understanding of the world. Mostra of them are simply unnoticed. In mathematics they are explicitly stated and **shared** and thus they are not "subjective" in the sense you are alluding.
Comment: Propositions are not based on axioms. You seem to be confusing the different types of logic as if it was all one. Axioms are a math thing. Philosophy does not need axioms nor does deductive reasoning. We can reason with zero axioms.You are also probably confused with TRUTH as if that two ot had one type. Truth has multiple contexts. Objective truth is the highest form of truth humans have so far. Objective truth is constant & never changes.Because you are unaware of something doesn't mean there is no truth. Propositions are supposed to be only objective. Doing subjective thinking is Psychology
Answer: You can fix any group of axioms you like and start deducing consequences. You built a theory in that way. Your theory is useful if there are models of the theory that are interesting to someone and you were able to deduce non trivial consequences from the set of axioms you have chosen.
I would say that in order to discuss sets of axioms you need to introduce the notion of model. Otherwise things get messy.
Looking at things on this way I would say you don't have to worry about subjectivity and objectivity.
An axiomatic theory does not tell you how the world is. It gives you tools to deal with the aspects of reality it models.
Comment: To tell how the world is Vs to deal with the aspects of reality it nodels. What is the difference ?
Comment: Look at the following situation: a highway is empty. Thousand cars start moving all in the same direction. After some time groups of cars have to slow down, maybe even stop. Why? There is lots of space... You can make some assumptions about how the cars behave (isolate a set of axioms), deduce some properties from those assumptions and built a computer model that verifies the axioms and in a sense reproduces the phenomena. At this point I feel like I understood this aspect of reality. This understanding presupposes many beliefs I have about how the world is.
Comment: I have and I will always have many unsubstantiated beliefs about he world. When I stumble in a problem, maybe I will question some areas of my system of beliefs. Maybe I will explicit them, examine them, replace some, produce a theory and use it to illuminate some part o reality. My understanding of this part of reality is based on the theory I developed and in a series of beliefs, many of them I am not even conscious of.


My medium pages are noindex tag in header robots?

Question: my stories in medium have noindex tag. how i can do index them? thank you.
Answer: This is consistent problem with Medium.  Many people try to use Medium to just create backlinks to poor quality content.  As a result, Medium blocks indexing bots for a lot of content.  Until you have established yourself with multiple quality articles, Medium will block your content with no-index.
This article is also a good explanation of why Medium blocks your content from being indexed.


What is $S$ in the Wiener filter exactly?

Question: I am reading about the Wiener deconvolution in Wikipedia. In the expression of $G$ we have $$G=\frac{H^*S}{|H|^2S+N}$$ where $S = \mathbb{E}|X|^2$. Why do we have the $\mathbb{E}$ symbol? Isn't $X$ a deterministic signal? This would imply $S=|X|^2$. Am I right or am I missing some detail?
Answer: If $x$ is a deterministic signal but isn't known to us, then it makes sense to treat it as a probabilistic signal.
Specifically in the case of the Wiener filter (and much of the other useful signal processing math) if you treat $x$ as a zero-mean Gaussian random variable, it doesn't just make the math easy, it makes a closed-form solution possible.
No real noise processes are truly Gaussian.  No real noise processes are truly stationary.  No real systems are truly linear.  No real systems are truly time invariant.  No real systems are actually "best" in the global sense when the MMSE is minimized.  Yet the math gets so much easier for Gaussian stationary signals running through linear time-invariant systems where the cost goes as $x^2$ that if we can approximate our problem in those terms, then we can arrive at a solution quickly -- and the solution is just as good as the approximation, and very often plenty good enough.
Comment: But what is $S$? Is it correct that $S=|X|^2$ if $X$ is deterministic? What am I supposed to put in place of $S$ in my algorithm to apply the filter?


What is going on in the lyrics of Kate Rusby's song "Awkward Annie"?

Question: In Kate Rusby's cryptic folk song "Awkward Annie" (on the album by the same name) what is happening?  It seems to be something about a farm-boy who gives a farm-girl presents of various animals, and she ruins them somehow, either out of ineptitude, to reject him by rejecting and ruining his presents, or both.
The chorus runs:

"Oh Annie let me in, / I will fly, I will swim, / I will die if you don't
  come near me, / Oh no, don't you say so, / You are my dear, My Annie"

I can't even tell if this chorus is all the lovesick-farmboy speaking (or maybe thinking), or if it's a dialogue between him and Annie. If it's all him talking, then, when he says "Oh no, don't you say so"--what is he responding to?
Even considering that it could be a metaphor for the collapse of her first marriage or something (and isn't her middle name Anna?), it's still hard to understand.
BTW I think Kate Rusby is a great singer, and I like many of the lyrics she writes. But some of her original songs I find off-puttingly cryptic, sometimes even jarringly cryptic.
Comment: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Rusby - Yes her middle name is Anna. I can't find anything official explaining the lyrics but my guess is that it's semi autobiographical on how She was feeling during and after her divorce.
Answer: It is a simple song of unrequited love as depicted from the point of view of the farmboy. It occupies  themes common within folk songs, as exemplified by songs such  Soldier, Soldier, Won't You Marry Me and  Ally Croaker, which Kate Rusby has transposed to a homestead community.
This supported by an interview where Rusby says:

I set aside a month to sit down and write. It's a lovely way of working. The story came from something I'd read in my ballad books, then my own words that didn't make sense at first started coming out. I'm not the kind of person who will get up in the middle of the night if a thought comes to me, but I will sometimes stay up as late as three or four o'clock to work on something if I'm excited about it. If I have an idea and still remember it in the morning, I carry on with it.

There's nothing in the song which could be interpreted as a metaphor for divorce.  "Awkward Annie" is a song of unrequited love, a love that never was and was never returned. It is not, and should not be read as, a break up song.


Linux Mint not opening when after typing password, goes back to login screen again like a loophole.(EXT4) (More details in desc.)

Question: Title. Before I closed Linux Mint, a notification came saying like: No free space in Filesystem root.(I have /home and root in the same partition) I was surprised and then ran Bleachbit as root and cleared only trash and other files that are quick to clean and those I wasn't afraid it will ruin the OS. Also ran Stacer, cleared out basically everything it can, but then there was still 0 bytes of free space left. I had to go somewhere so then shut it down. Then I was on the login page, then typed my password(It's probably not a password problem because I have basically muscle-memorized the password.), it went to a black screen with a cursor (probably legacy or underline) and went back to then login screen. I was using Cinnamon DE so then I tried out Ubuntu DE and Xfce, but the same thing happened. Then I went in Recovery mode, then i clicked the option for clean drive. Thought it was going to like tell me which packages or files to keep, but just ran "apt autoremove" and I had no files to clean. Sorry if I don't provide enough info, I just don't really know what else to type. I also think that maybe Linux Mint thinks its creating logs in Login, but it can't, and when it checks it doesn't think I'm logging in so it just keeps looping back.
Thanks, nullroot.
Answers to questions:
1: No I don't think I can do that, but I'll try.
2: I don't think this is a Hard Drive failure because I'm using an SSD, and it's in Dual Boot with Windows 10. The SSD was bought couple months ago, so there really can't be any Old Drive failures. I know SSDs also have failures but then they're not the same as HDD failures. I also thought of booting into a live distro of Ubuntu or something like that and then delete some files in the root partition and then boot back into Mint and try to login.
I did system check option and this is what it said about my partition where Mint is installed:
<code> (name or something like that)   Total space    Used space     Avail    Used%

      /dev/sda4                    147G            142G         0b      100%
</code>
So i think that Mint is thinking that the partition is full, or the partition is corrupted, so I'm gonna wipe the disk and start fresh. I actually don't have anything precious.
Comment: Are you able to get a command line terminal with root access in recovery mode?
Answer: What you describe may be indicative of a failing hard disk, especially where you say you have cleared out unwanted files and it is still showing 0 free space. I have experienced that login loop error in the past myself and it can happen if there is not enough free space in your <code>/home</code> directory (or its partition is not mounted as writable).
I recommend backing up your critical data asap and you might want to look at running some hard disk diagnostics and/or get a new one.


Where do I find system sounds?

Question: After installing gm-notify I see the option of hearing a sound every time a new e-mail arrives in my Gmail inbox, but I don't know where Ubuntu (10.4) stores the system sounds to assign one. Any ideas? Thanks.
Answer: /usr/share/sounds/gnome/default/alerts

would be a good place to find sounds for this purpose.
/usr/share/sounds/ubuntu

is a sound theme. Sound themes can be chosen in sound preferences. 'ubuntu' is the only sound theme installed by default (Edit: this was removed in 18.10). I would advise against editing files in this folder directly. A better thing to do, if you wanted to edit the sounds in this folder, would be to copy it (perhaps to /usr/share/sounds/ubuntu-modified) and change the index.theme file to have a different name.
sudo cp -R /usr/share/sounds/ubuntu /usr/share/sounds/ubuntu-modified
sudo -H gedit /usr/share/sounds/ubuntu-modified/index.theme

Once this is done, you can safely edit the sounds in /usr/share/sounds/ubuntu-modified.
Comment: I see the sounds, and the sound config lets me turn up the "cheek-pop" sound - but don't see themes.
Comment: I was about to ask about the license these sounds have. Seems its [CC by SA](https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/bionic/+source/ubuntu-sounds/+copyright) so it seems they can be used to make derivative works, like a song, from these sounds (:D)
Answer: You can find the bulk of the system sounds here: /usr/share/sounds/ with the majority of them being in /usr/share/sounds/ubuntu/stereo
Answer: /usr/share/sounds

If you remove/rename a sound, it should stop. Or you can replace it with an .ogg sound (.wav works too... I think...)
Comment: Thank you all for your responses. I could already assign a system sound to gm-notify and it works beautifully.
Answer: For some sillier sounds (which I sometimes like to use for system events), you can also check here: /usr/share/gnome-games/sounds
You can download more system sounds for Gnome at Gnome-look.org, too.
Comment: I know this was posted over 6 years ago, but that link doesn't work - link rot.  It sure is best if you can post info for how to use sounds.
Answer: You can also try
Sound > Sound Effects
I have mine switched off since I find sound effects annoying

Where do I find system sounds?


Looking for an encrypted, persistent and live Linux distro preferably with Tor

Question: I am looking for a live linux distro (for installing on a USB flash) that is encrypted and provides anonymity and is also persistent so that I could install apps on it. The best I have found so far is privatix but it hangs every few minutes and doesn't support my graphic card. Tails has all I need but is not persistent. :(
Comment: If its persistent then is it technically not a "live" Linux distro?  The solution to your problems with privatix would be to replace the graphics card ( seems strange a light weight linux distro would have a problem with any graphics card ).
Comment: What I mean by persistent is that it should be able to save/keep the changes and applications installed. Privatix does that.
Answer: Although you can achieve this with practically any disto by doing a full install to a USB drive, the problem, especially when you want everything encrypted, is that paging to disk is incredibly slow - and default HD installs do a lot of paging. This route will also thrash away at the I/O on your flash drive greatly reducing it's lifespan.
I have yet to find an ideal solution to this. but here are two distros that come close:
Puppy Linux
Yes, the cute name and clunky gui put me of at first - but it is very well put together technically. It uses a persistent overlay to save all changes into an (optionally encrypted) savefile, which it flushes to disk periodically or on demand. However, although Puppy is now based on Ubuntu, it is heavily modified and stripped down, and includes it's own package management system which I found less than appealing. I was not able to get apt-get running.
Liberte Linux
As far as privacy goes - this is hands down a winner. It randomizes network device mac addresses automatically, and automatically channels all network traffic through Privoxy -> Tor. It has a persistent overlay so files are saved in an encrypted savefile which seems to be flushed to disk in real time. It is based on hardened Gentoo and the firewall blocks all outbound traffic that doesn't go through Privoxy. It even blocks dns lookups that have not been tunneled at the firewall level. The downside is that you cannot install your own software. The persistent overlay does not extend to the general system, and portage is not part of the package (neither are build packages). This is designed as a feature, but in reality really hampers the flexibility of the distro (I will not deny there are security benefits to such an architecture though).
Next on my list to try is Knoppix (I don't know why I didn't think of it before, it was the first linux system that I ever used! now that takes me back...). But apparently it supports a full disk overlay (so software installs will persist) and AES256 encryption of the savefile. But this is just what I've gleaned so far.
[EDIT]
Knoppix
It turns out Knoppix has come a long way since I first tried it. In 6.0 onward it does have full filesystem overlay support for persistence, and gives you the choice to encrypt it with AES256 bit encryption out of the box. Download the latest version, slap it on a flash drive, and customize to your hearts content... I was able to apt-get tor and other privacy tools easily, and they persist across reboots. Also, it has got a lot more lightweight and is based on LXDE now - makes for a very smooth and quick UX. One tip, don't install it on VFAT, use EXT3 instead. VFAT has a maximum 4GB file size which means that your persisted data cannot go over 4GB, it also takes a lot longer to initialize the save file on VFAT than it does on EXT3. I should have known to look to Knoppix first for a live distro.
Answer: You should try Tinfoil Hat Linux.
The USB install looks difficult, but just look for a program that burns <code>.img</code> to USB and it should be a breeze.
Comment: I guess [UNetbootin](http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/) would do that.
Answer: For an encrypted install you have to encrypt your USB. You are obviously wanting to install to USB if you want persistence. So basically ... I would use LUKS+LVM to create an encrypted logical volume on the USB then simply get a .ISO file with any linux dist you want.
After you have an encrypted USB drive and you are able to mount the filesystem, use 'dd' to install the .ISO directly to the USB. It will have persistence.
Sorry, this isn't going to be super-easy if you want full disk encryption.
Comment: The encrypted install won't automatically have persistence if it's done that way. Yes, it's possible to use `dd` to install the iso to a USB drive, but your instructions are incomplete and the persistence feature requires following additional steps beyond simply installing the iso directly to the USB.


Wireless, battery operated web cam for mobile robot

Question: I'm working on a Netduino based mobile robot that's controlled by software on a PC or phone (WP7).  One goal of the project is to be able to steer the robot from another room of the house.  Is there a small wireless (wifi) web cam that runs on battery that may work for this situation?  I don't think the Netduino has enough processing power to stream video, though technially it could using a wifi shield.  If that's out of the question would it be possible to sporatically take pictures using some other camera sensor & the Netduino (photos could be stored on the SD card and later served up over wifi to the client)?
Comment: How is your project going now? I have drawn up a similar plan with arduino and its ethernet shield. I have referred to related articles on website and gotten the same conclusion as mjcarroll(#3) about also arduino. So I have my plan completed as a car(*1) with arduino and a IP-camera on the market(*2). (*1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrEwOXd1hUU (*2) http://www.iodata.jp/product/mobile/lancam/ts-wptcam/
Answer: I don't believe that the Netduino has the processing power that you want to stream video over the network.  I believe that you could get any wifi webcam to work with the robot, though.  You would just need a little extra space in your power budget to account for the camera's additional power usage.
Depending on how soon you need the camera, I would just watch the winter sales on any of the big technology suppliers (Newegg, Tigerdirect, Amazon) for a deal on a wifi webcam that meets the specifications that you are looking for.
If you are looking to make your project entirely self-contained, then you may want to check out the CMUcam.  It provides a good vision sensor, without having to do much processing on your Netduino chip.  It can do most basic vision processing on-board, without the need for your chip to handle the processor intensive image processing.
Answer: I would suggest to use your phone as a camera as well as the controller.
This is what I am planning to do in the near future with an Android phone and Arduino BT (or Arduino + Bluetooth chip) connecting the to devices via Bluetooth.


How do cost reducers affect costs that include XX?

Question: How does Mass Manipulation work with Hinata, Dawn-Crowned? How does the mana reducing ability interact with the XXUUUU mana cost?
Answer: The cost reduction is applied to the total cost, which is determined by substituting your choice of X into the cost on the card.
In the case of Mass Manipulation and Hinata, Dawn-Crowned, you would first choose a value N for X and N targets. Then Hinata's ability would reduce the cost by {N} because the spell has N targets. The result is that the spell would cost {N}{U}{U}{U}{U}.
The steps for casting a spell are described in rules section 601.2. Choosing the value of X happens in step 601.2b, choosing targets happens in step 601.2c, and calculating the total cost happens in step 601.2f.
Answer: In your example, Hinita would basically remove one of the X's If you choose one target the total cost is 2UUUU which gets reduced to 1UUUU because of the one target.
If X is equal to 2 then the total cost is 4UUUU that then gets reduced back down to 2UUUU because of the two targets


How do I replace an uninstalled system application

Question: I mistakenly uninstalled my Download Manager 4.4.4 in my Samsung Galaxy Grand prime G530H. A system application. I tried replacing it with a Download Manager 2.3.5. I did that by using a file explorer to place the 2.3.5 in the system folder. Then I rebooted the phone. It didn't work. The phone doesn't recognize the 2.3.5. Looking through the file explorer I can see the  Download Manager 2.3.5 is still in the system/app folder and I tried deleting it but it won't delete.
I need help on how to get the original Download Manager 4.4.4.
Comment: Mike? Can I call you Mike? what's a custom ROM? If you have one can you send to me?
Comment: Resetting the device might bring back the app.
Comment: Can you just push a custom ROM to your phone and be done with it?
Comment: @okeke I have added an answer that will hopefully help :)
Comment: Custom ROMs are like different OS. They are based off of android (as android is open source). You don't need Michael Nancarrow to send you a ROM, you can search one up (perhaps cyanogenmod for it's fame), find build, and flash. But that might not be necessary
Answer: Okeke,
Refer to MANI's answer regarding resetting the device, this may assist you, but as far as I am aware a reset does not touch where the applications are actually stored.
What is a ROM?
Read Only Memory. Essentially just a new firmware/software for your Android Phone. For a more detailed explanation and information on a ROM look on this website.
If unsure if you should do this process, read on How To Geek about the "Top 5 Reasons to install a Custom ROM"
Process for your Phone
Here is an example of how to install a custom ROM on your phone (including Drivers, links to ROM etc.)
Here is the Xda Forum for your phone. Covers troubleshooting, ROMS etc. I would suggest you look here also.
Other Resources
Refer to this question on SE that provides a detailed answer (thanks @Izzy)
Hope this helps you. Undoubtedly a Factory Reset could assist, but I am not 100%. The steps for a Factory Reset on your device are located here.
Regards
Mike
Comment: Thank you Mani. Mike. I just signed up at the xda forum. I have requested for help. Just hope someone can help
Comment: @okeke Let me know how this goes.


Automatic Clustering in ArcGIS for Desktop?

Question: Given a set of random data points on a map, I would like to cluster the data points based on number of data points in a cluster, time to travel within all the data points in the cluster,and/or number of clusters needed. Is there a way or extension in ArcGIS Desktop that can automatically create the cluster?
Answer: Without more details in your Question, it is difficult to be certain of your precise requirements.  However, I think your best starting point may to review the help page entitled An overview of the Mapping Clusters toolset:

The Mapping Clusters tools perform cluster analysis to identify the
  locations of statistically significant hot spots, cold spots, spatial
  outliers, and similar features.

You may also want to review How to find Clusters of N Points Within X Distance?