What is the Chinese Mythology Cinematic Universe?

Question: In posters such as the below, the theatrical release of "Ne Zha" (2019) was promoted in English-speaking markets as "a must-see in the Chinese Mythology Cinematic Universe". But what actually is the Chinese Mythology Cinematic Universe? Apart from Ne Zha, what other films does it contain?
Comment: I think this is just a marketing trick since this movie is not connected with anything else. However there have been some other Chinese movies based on mythology popular lately, so this is what they could be referring to.
Comment: Is this an official poster? or somewhat fan art? Or, is it quoting something from critic and/or article written about it?
Comment: @Vishwa it's definitely an official poster and not fan-art. I saw this film yesterday at the Odeon Haymarket in London, and this poster was displayed outside the cinema advertising the film. This particular image was downloaded from the internet rather than from a photograph I took of the poster, but it's the same poster. The actual quote is not attributed as you can see from the poster, so I don't know whether it comes from a critic article, or from some company directly associated with the film or its distribution.
Answer: Without any definitive answer, I can guess that it may be referring to a series of animated Chinese mythology movies produced by Coloroom Pictures:

Monkey King: Hero is Back (2015)
Big Fish & Begonia (2016)
Ne Zha (2019)
Master Jiang and the Six Kingdoms (2020)
Phoenix (2020)
Monkey King: Havoc in Heaven (2021)

The name is obviously intended to make people think of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And in typical MCU fashion, the post-credits scene of Ne Zha also serves as a preview of the next film, Master Jiang and the Six Kingdoms.
Also, one of the two mid-credits scenes of Ne Zha heavily teases a (yet to be announced) sequel to the film.


How to access hive tables in pentaho

Question: I was used pentaho data integration 4.4.0 and using mongo hadoop connector using this  I was created successfully hadoop and mongo connections. Then I installed hive 0.11.0 and using above link I was created hive and mongo connections successfully. In my mongo contains one database name as pentaho and I created database in hive name as demo and using following command I was created new table name as pentho
CREATE TABLE pentaho
(
  id INT,
  region STRING,
  year INT,
  q1 INT,
  q2 INT,
  q3 INT,
  q4 INT
)
STORED BY 'com.mongodb.hadoop.hive.MongoStorageHandler'
WITH SERDEPROPERTIES('mongo.columns.mapping'='{"id":"_id"}')
TBLPROPERTIES('mongo.uri'='mongodb://localhost:27017/pentaho.sales');

then I was write select * from pentaho; command on hive shell it shows all records presents in sales collections.
  Then I was created model in pentaho using hadoop hive datasource set host as localhost database name as demo and port as 10000 and click on test then it shows popup connections made success. But when I was click on ok then new coming popup windows options like Schemas, Tables, Views, Synonyms but in table not contains any table which I was created in hive. So how can access hive tables in pentaho data source?
Answer: After time I found where I was missing I set in my local hadoop conf/mapred-site.xml file I set port as localhost:9001 and when I start bi-server same port used for hsql. Then after changing mapred-site.xml port other than 9001 it work fine. :)

How to access hive tables in pentaho


Intermittent Error SQL Server Error 67 and 17

Question: We are running Windows SQL Server 2012 Standard on Windows Server 2012.
There is a SQL Database with an Access Front End which we migrated from older versions of Access and SQL.
The Access front end communicates with the database most of the time without a problem.
However, sometimes Access just stops responding and then the user gets the following error:
Connection failed: SQLState: '01000' SQL Server Error: 67
[Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver][DBNETLIB]ConnectionOpen(Connect()).
Connection Failed:
  SQLState: '08001' SQL Server Error: 17
[Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver][DBNETLIB]
  SQL Server does not exist or access is denied.

The person who maintains the Access and the SQL Databases provided the following summary:
The spontaneous issue affects everyone connected to the SQL Server at the same time, and manifests itself in a slow or non-existent connection.  It resolves itself in a few minutes to a few hours.  The ODBC trace did not yield any useful information about the problem.  We tested with up to 5 simultaneous users with no problem.  When we observed the issue of Friday, only four users were in the database, and closing these connections did not immediately resolve the issue.  There appeared to be no problems with the network for file system access to the server during the down time.
Based on this information, it definitely is not an issue with MS Access, the ODBC configuration, or the database structure.  It appears to be an intermittent connectivity issue with SQL Server itself, perhaps due to configuration problems, licensing (as you mentioned), conflicts with other software/processes, or due to some other SQL Server process.  Unfortunately, this is outside of my expertise and we do not have dedicated SQL Server or IT resources.
I had another IT Person look at the issue, he found the following:

Sally's PC  was getting SQL error. Logged into her PC to look at it
  (logged in as Sally and as cleAdmin).
Looked at server name, want to verify that in the  Control Panel > Adminstratrative Tools > ODBC > Connections
  There was no odbc connections under User DSN,  System DSN or Fie DSN
Created new System DSN connection Specified server:
CLE-VM-SQL-FILE\CLESQLSERVER
The rest were default values Clicked  test and it was successful

Unfortunately, the problem started again soon after these changes were made.
It was suggested there could be a hardware issue, so we have replaced the switch and made sure the drivers on the Network Adapters are current.  Plus we have never seen any indication of a loss of network connectivity while testing using a PING Test.
Has anyone else experienced this issue and if so, how did you solve it?
Comment: I also face similar problem with my SQL Server Express edition. [Connection failed: SQLState: '01000' SQL Server Error: 67 Connection failed: SQLState: '08001' SQL Server Error: 17], the local ODBCAD32 and ODBC test from my laptop was working fine to the SQL server.
Answer: Depends on situation there are a few most common reasons:

Driver that does not "know" how to work with AlwaysOn groups: you need to use MSOLEDB or MSODBC driver
Make sure TCP/IP protocol on SQL server is turned on
SQL Server Browser service on SQL server is running
Firewall / Connectivity issue.

You can check this article for details.


Reusing part of my thesis within the same thesis

Question: Doing an engineering thesis, and I have presented a detailed summary of my data in the abstract.  Is it ok for me to copy/paste entire paragraphs of my abstract to my conclusion without changing a word?
Comment: Yes, but do be advised that the abstract and conclusion serve different purposes, and you are missing an opportunity to expand upon ideas and build upon the main body in the conclusion.
Answer: Yes, of course. There are no issues with this at all. Self plagiarism only occurs when you don't cite your own words from other publications. Within a single document there is no problem. The reason that we self-cite is to let readers easily find the original source. But that doesn't apply here.
OTOH, make sure that it doesn't read "awkwardly" when you do this. It is just a style consideration, though.
I'm assuming that your abstract is actually part of the thesis, say a preamble.
However, if the abstract is to be published separately from the thesis, you should cite the thesis in the abstract. But you would do that in any case.


My hosting company does not support SUPER privilege - can I use CiviCRM with them?

Question: I finally after a week and 3 tickets got CiviCRM/Joomla to install on my Startlogic hosted server, but I can't add anything to the database.  The final response I got from Startlogic support was "Hello Michael, We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you. It looks like the extension which you are trying to install requires super privilege which is not supported. Also, we do not support binary logging which the extension requires. Thus, you are receiving the error message. You can try using any alternative extension and check."  At this point I think they are blowing me off and about to go through the headache of switching hosts.
Is there anything I can do get CiviCRM to work on the Startlogic server, as they seem not to want to help.
Comment: As far as I can remember, not allowing root/superuser/admin access on a hosting account is fairly common practice if you use a "plain" hosting account. I haven't used one for ages, because of this problem, using instead service providers that offer a virtual server (more work to get running, but you are not limited by the account type).

That said, I believe there are providers offering "root access" - you just need to examine what's being offered. It's not blowing you off (rather trying to provide a secure service for all) unless they guaranteed something else originally.
Comment: Did you get this figured out?
Comment: *"Is there anything I can do get CiviCRM to work on the Startlogic server, as they seem not to want to help."* - for your/your org's sanity, host with an organisation that supports the tools you use fully.
Answer: There are only two scenarios in which CiviCRM requires the SUPER privilege:

You're using a very old version of MySQL.  Versions of MySQL 5.1.6 and higher support the TRIGGER permission.  Before that, SUPER was necessary.  MySQL 5.1 reached its "end of life" at the end of 2013.  No modern server should have it installed.
You're attempting to use the advanced logging feature: Administer menu » System Settings » Misc, Logging set to Yes.  If you need this feature, you really need a VPS.

All that said - @Christia is right.  StartLogic is entry-level hosting.  CiviCRM has heftier requirements than entry-level hosting gives you.  Expect poor performance unless you move hosts.
Answer: You will either need to get a hosting plan that allows root access and "binary logging" or pay your host to install it. I recommend the former. In my experience, managed types of hosting don't tend to be easy or possible to use CiviCRM and offer a limited list of software or extensions already preloaded. There are hosting companies out there that are familiar with civicrm that can give you more control.
Answer: Unless you need Super Privilege for the two scenarios Jon G outlined - you should be able to use a shared host without an issue. Its unlikely a shared host would give you Super Privilege anyways. If you are on a budget and need a shared host, may I suggest one of the following:

CiviHosting - Specializes in CiviCRM hosting. (Founding CiviCRM Supporting Partner)
TMDHosting - Shared host with CiviCRM expertise. (CiviCRM Supporting Partner)
Stablehost - They have no expertise with CiviCRM - but I have used them with no problems and they are budget (look for discount codes).
Electric Embers - Affordable hosting - but no cpanel - I recommend only if you have the expertise. (CiviCRM Supporting Partner)

Good Luck with your project.
PS: Avoid any and all hosts owned by EIG (such as startlogic)


How to filter Follow-Up Emails in Gmail?

Question: I create a filter for someone's email and it automatically goes to a folder.
For all of his following emails, they go into that folder. But for anyone who REPLIES to His email it goes directly in my inbox.
Is there a setting in Gmail that will filter these replies (follow-up) emails into the same folder as the sender's?
Comment: Try adjusting the filter to look for the triggering email address in the From: To: and CC: fields. That can tag the emails you send in reply as well, keeping the whole of the conversation in the same folder.
Comment: Note that Gmail uses labels, not folders.
Comment: Yes... well how do I forward replies to my filtered emails into those same Labels?
Comment: are you using conversations, or have you disabled conversation view?
Answer: It seems you have a filter like this:
from:firstname.lastname@example.com
apply label: jdoe_messages

The simplest way to have messages from John Doe, as well as message sent to him, is:
has the words: (from:email@example.com OR to:firstname.lastname@example.com)
apply label jdoe_messages

That way, any message from John Doe, or with John Doe's email address in the to: field, will be seen by the same filter.
Comment: This works great except for emails that are sent to certain mailing lists, which will keep the `to` field as *just* the mailing list address for any replies. For those, you can add the following to the "Has the words" field: "firstname.lastname@example.com wrote" OR "John Doe wrote" (including the quotes and the OR). Email clients differ in how they do replies, hence the OR.


Co-variance matrix, Eigen vector and Eigen values

Question: What does eigen vector with largest eigen value mean and how it has effect on covariance matrix?
Answer: PCA finds the eigen vectors of XTX. These eigen vectors form a basis such that the first eigen vector represents the dimension which accounts for the highest amount of variation within X. The second eigenvector represents the dimension accounting for the second greatest amount of variation, etc. So, by projecting the data onto a basis made from the first n eigen vectors, we create an approximation of the data set, and where each new dimension added accounts for an increasingly small amount of the detail of variation.
Thus, in a 1,000 dimensional space, the first three dimensions might account for 99% of the variation of the data, and we might want to project onto only those three dimensions.
This wikipedia article covers the details reasonably well.


Can a person only send large amounts an have a $500 transaction log between us before he could send? How can i get around this?

Question: Recently I going to receive a donation from a man and he tried sending a large amount. The amount wouldn't send he said we had to have at least $500 in transactions before it would go thru. Does this make sense ? He said he could only send large amounts. How can I receive the donation without the transaction log?
Comment: Seem like a scam
Answer: Sounds like a scam; that's not how Bitcoin works. I wouldn't have high expectations about the outcome of this. The goal is to get you to send them money.

I would say the following:

Send me the $500 and I'll partly refund you once your transaction is confirmed.

This is because, unlike bank transactions, transactions in Bitcoin are irreversible and it's not possible for them to "transact and cancel the transactions".
Answer: This doesn't make any sense at all. This is a 100% scam. Don't trust this person. Block him forever and don't reply to his messages. Cryptocurrency transactions don't require any backlog history.


2D Animation: Drawing new strokes makes the existing layer disappear?

Question: Not sure why this is suddenly happening but when I draw any new strokes/fills (the pink blob in the example photo), it deletes the previous strokes/fills on that layer (the sand colored layer in the top photo). How do I fix this?
I've also tried creating a new empty grease pencil as the top layer but when I draw a colored fill (no stroke), it gives a weird thin white line as a stroke.
Answer: lol i figured it out. my lines and fills were locked.


Is it possible to get a work permit in Mexico without a job offer?

Question: There are a few jobs being offered here in Mexico City for fluent English speakers but they require a work permit. Is it possible to get a work permit here before I have a job offer?
Comment: I don't think so, I think you and the company need to apply for the work permit to do the particular job they are offering. More than this, if you are there as a visitor now I think (since 2012) you'll need to leave Mexico and apply for a residence visa at a consulate once the work permit is approved. Don't trust this, though, my experience is all pre-2012.
Answer: No, to obtain a work visa, you need a job commitment first, The Just Landed guide explains.
>

In order to work in Mexico you need a Mexican work permit from the Institute of Immigration (Instituto Nacional de Migración - INM). With the work permit you can apply for a residence visa.
Since a change in legislation in 2012, you need to have a job offer or work contract from a company registered in Mexico to apply for a work permit. The company has to apply for the work permit with the INM and you can stay in Mexico on a tourist visa until you are cited to collect your visa in the Mexican consulate of your home country. You then have to leave Mexico and pass an interview at the consulate abroad, after which you get your work permit.
For the application, the company has to submit various documents, e.g. a proof of tax payments, a list of employees and their nationalities, the personal identification of a designated representative. Furthermore, a copy of your passport or other ID has to be submitted.
Once the application is accepted, the INM will process the case and make a decision within 20 days. If the application is approved by the INM you will have to go to your Mexican consulate and pass an interview to collect your work permit.
After your arrival in Mexico you and your family members must register at the INM within 30 days. Your spouse and children will normally get dependant visas but they are not automatically granted a work permit. If your spouse wants to work in Mexico he or she will have to apply for their own work permit separately.
Can you convert your visitor status to a work status in Mexico?
  Technically, no. Foreigners with a visitor status can have a company they want to work for apply for a Mexican work permit with the National Institute of Migration (Instituto Nacional de Migración). While the application is processed, visitors can stay in Mexico until they are cited by said Institute to collect the permit at the consulate of their home country. They have to leave Mexico and collect the permit. Only after that can you apply for a residence visa.


Why are my marshmallows getting crunchy after baking?

Question: I am making a recipe for red velvet cookies with marshmallows on top. I use homemade marshmallows on top that are always very soft when cutting and very sticky, however I have noticed when I put them on top of the cookie and bake them they turn a nice golden color but get very... crunchy? They lose their marshmallow quality and have the texture almost resembling honeycomb. When I use storebought marshmallows, however, the marshmallows turn nice and golden and remain gooey inside, but I like the taste of homemade marshmallows better and prefer them. Is there a way to prevent them from going crunchy while baking but still have that golden color?
The cookies are being baked at 350 for 11 minutes. The marshmallows have no egg or corn syrup.
Comment: I reckon you should include the recipe for the marshmallows (also for the cookies, but the difference sounds like it's in the marshmallows) in case there's something out of the ordinary about them that causes them to caramelise quicker
Answer: This sounds like your marshmallows are fully caramelizing on top of the cookie.
I see two directions in which you could go.
The first, and probably easier, is to add the marshmallows later in the baking. With experimentation, you might be able to find out the exact time they need when they are already melted, but not yet caramelized. Hint: for this kind of experiment, you don't need to bake the whole cookies, you can try a series of baked marshmallows on a silicone mat, to systematically find your perfect baking time.
If this doesn't work out, then your marshmallows are unsuitable for melting. Then you are left with the second option, which is to try out different recipes, until you find one that melts well. Look for recipes with higher liquid content than your current one -  but note that for any liquid that goes into the syrup part of the candy making process, it is not the initial amount that counts, but the final temperature at which you use it.


How to make Java auto-update for small organization with non admin users?

Question: I'm stuck with an issue regarding Java which is a real pain in my ass.
I'm managing small office networks where I get great results using AD and GPO to set everything up and automated. In each of this small companies, I have a "key user" which is a little more used to IT and can do basic tasks, so I granted him/her a separate Admin account to get thru the UAC prompts and unlock some situations without the need to contact me.
BUT
Java needs admin privileges to update.
Java is bothering sometimes every week with a new update.
Even when selecting Remind later, after some weeks the Java plugin is disabled because it is marked by Sun as Obsolete.
Java plugin is critical in their offices because it is used by their partner's VPN portal, mandatory for them to work everyday, all day.
So, I have my key users going from PC to PC to enter the admin credentials so Java can update, and they feel kind of bored of doing this almost every week.
Giving end users admin privileges is not an option because they used to have it, and kept installing crapware and visiting untrusted websites (impossible to set strict rules in small offices like you can in big companies).
Using an update management software is not an option because too expensive for those small offices.
Downloading an MSI and setting up a GPO or worse, an WSUS server rule every week is also not an option because it's too complicated for those key users.
So, what could be a solution for this ? Isn't there a way to setup a Windows Service on every client computer that could run under an admin account and run a silent command every week or so to silently update Java without UI ?
Answer: I have the same situation as you are, and I ended up writing my own script based on someone's work and run the script using scheduled task.
You may find the script I used at https://github.com/VeryCrazyDog/Auto-Java-Updater.


DHCP on Meraki MX64 or Windows Server 2012R2?

Question: I'm new to the Cisco world and I would like some advises. Currently I'm configuring a Windows Server for a small bussiness (less then 50 users). Normally the Windows server would have the AD, DNS and DHCP services installed alltogether and configured, thus disabling the DHCP server on the ISP router. But since we got a new gear (Cisco Meraki MX64), they recommend me using the DHCP server on the Meraki itself and let it control all the ip assignment and routing. One main reason is because of the cloud based managment of the Meraki. My question is: Does it really make a difference who controls the DHCP? If by any reason I use the DHCP on the Cisco Meraki, how do I connect the DNS and AD services with the Meraki? How does it work? I couldn't find any tutorial regarding this. We also have a Cisco Meraki switch controller. Thanks guys for your help!
Comment: One could argue this question is a matter of opinion. There is one relevant fact, which is that you seem to understand Windows DHCP fairly well and Meraki DHCP is not as clear to you. That is at least an entry in the column in favor of using the Windows DHCP. Also, cloud management isn't inherently better, as far as I know. What is the supposed advantage of cloud management over server admin tools or RDP management?
Answer: Use Microsoft's DHCP if you're running Active Directory and DNS.
The Meraki's cloud management is irrelevant. Your environment is going to hinge more on the smooth operation of the Microsoft services than anything else.
A normal use case for running DHCP on the Meraki would be a home or branch office situation where there's no server presence. Not this.

The Meraki MX-series has a very basic interface and set of capabilities. So for anything more complex than the barebones DHCP functionality, you should use a server.
Answer: If you have other Meraki gear in your network (or other cloud-managed network equipment), it's a good idea to use the firewall to provide DHCP on your management vLAN.  You don't want trouble with your server to cause the entire network to go down.
Let the Meraki firewall handle DHCP for vLAN 1, and let your Windows server handle DHCP for your data and other vLANs.


What are the Pros and cons of GIMP?

Question: I've been using Photoshop to retouch photos on windows and would like to try Ubuntu. That's why I'm wondering if I switch to Gimp what features will I lose or gain.
Comment: We have a version of this question on the photo-SE site that has been mostly constructive. See [What are the key photography-related features from Photoshop that are missing in GIMP?](http://photo.stackexchange.com/q/556/1943)
Answer: Cons

Less buttons than photoshop

Pros

Less buttons than photoshop
Free

If you're used to photoshop, or some kind of professional GIMP probably isn't enough for you. If not, you'll probably be perfectly happy with GIMP
Answer:
I'm wondering if I switch to Gimp what
  features will I lose or gain.

Try it. Find out.
Answers here wont really tell you what you'll miss, because only you can know that.
Potentially, answers could tell you of new features you'll gain, but if you already have PS then - other than the glow of using GNU Free Software rather than proprietary Adobe software - I'm not sure GIMP has anything to offer feature-wise.
And don't forget that you don't necessary need to switch, as dual-booting and/or virtualisation are potentially both options that allow you to primarily use Ubuntu but still use Photoshop.
Comment: A lot of people have Photoshop running in WINE - and there are tons of step-by-step guides on how to do the same.
Comment: Could we maybe, just for the sake of argument, assume that this individual uses *every* feature of photoshop, and attempt to provide a summary of those which are not implemented in `gimp`?
Comment: You can, if you want to. I have better things to do with my time than manually compile a list which will be out-dated each time either one changes.
Answer: First of all Gimp is much cheaper than Photoshop;-)
The user interface is another thing:
GIMP's GUI, well I think you either love it or you hate it...
The Photoshop GUI on the other hand has set the standard for most other image editing software.
And finally GIMP has no CMYK support.
Comment: From http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/CMYK_support_in_The_GIMP : CMYK color model (or CMYK mode) is used mostly by DTP professionals that need to output images intended for printing on a commercial press. For an average home user or even professional photographers, support for separating images using CMYK color is not necessary. Most ink-jet and color laser printers print color images using sRGB color, so you do not need CMYK support.
Comment: There's a reason for that ;)
Comment: Does it support Lab colour? That's far more useful.
Comment: @U62: No, not really, it is possible to decompose to Lab (or CMYK), but otherwise there is no support.
Answer: GIMP is based primarily for Web / Screen editing.
There's no CMYK support in GIMP because it's not intended for print use.
For the most part, you can find a bulk of the essential Photoshop features in Gimp -
however, if you're a PS power user like myself, you'll find that different keyboard shortcuts and different tools to do the same task as PS are extremely frustrating.
Comment: Have you tried gimpshop? http://www.gimpshop.com
Answer: From what my wife tells me, Gimp doesn't allow for color correction/calibration.  Until this makes it in I'm on the shelling out $$$$ to Adobe program.  Otherwise I find it really useful but Paint.Net gets Kudos too.
And my wife was wrong...  see comment below.
Comment: Color calibration and profiling in gimp: http://manual.gimp.org/en/gimp-imaging-color-management.html
Answer: This isn't directly answering the question, but you can run Photoshop quite nicely in Ubuntu using Wine. See the WineHQ entry for more details.
Answer: It's free, it's got versions for various OS's, and it does lots of stuff. I haven't used it for retouching photos, but we have it here on a WinXP computer and it interfaced flawlessly with a scanner.
Answer: Photoshop is industry standard so there is much more support for it of course. Also more tools such as brushes and the lot, but with all this comes a price. GIMP is 100% free on the other hand, but you will not have all the same features at hand.
I can't complain... there's an old saying "you get what you pay for".... and you get more than your money's worth with GIMP.
Answer: Try GIMPshop
Coming from Photoshop, I found GIMP bewildering and gave up. The whole arrangement of the UI was alien to me.
There is a flavor called GIMPshop that's supposed to be more like Photoshop. I haven't tried it, but it might make things easier on you.
Comment: From my limited experience, I'd say it's not really stable. Mine kept crushing and was somehow more confusing than the GIMP interface is at first.
Comment: It hasn't been updated in a long time and I couldn't even tell the difference in the UI.
Answer: The feature I missed the most when viewing PS tutorials was the brush engine.  In PS it is very powerful and you can create all kinds of greatness with it.
Of course, if you are going from PS to Gimp you'll probably hate it but if you are starting out new then Gimp will be an awesome tool ... to a paint.  Then you can decide whether to get PS if that's the case.

What are the Pros and cons of GIMP?


What kind of heating lamp?

Question: I keep my room at about 68 degrees all year round, i have a heating pad for my gecko but what type of lamp should i use? He never really comes out of his cage. He is an albino Tremper.
Comment: Are you able to post photos of your setup?
Answer: Roughly three things are important when considering lighting:

Temperature
Day-night cycle
UV

All three of these can be provided by heat lamps. However, they can also be substituted by something else.
If your room temperature and heat mat provide sufficient heat for the Gecko, that's fine. Also, if the light in your room follows a day-night cycle already, you don't need to add that either.
Most heat lamps have some UV light in their spectrum to emulate sunlight. Animals need a bit of UV light to synthesize some specific nutrients. This is harder to substitute, but might be doable with food supplements, but I'm not sure about that.
So, to consider are whether the heating you provide now gets the tank to a sufficient temperature. If so, you could get a heat lamp with a low wattage (25W-ish), so it doesn't give too much heat, but does provide the light (daylight and UV) for the other things.

What kind of heating lamp?


Where can I find visualizations of quantum field theory equations?

Question: As I work through A. Zee's "Quantum Field Theory in a Nutshell," I'd love to be able to visualize the different equations so I can explore the effects of different terms.  Any suggestions? Python script, Matlab, Mathematica, or are there any tools or videos already out there that cover this subject?
Comment: Which equations?
Comment: There's a [Royal Institution lecture](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNVQfWC_evg) with a visualisation at about 23mins of empty space according to QFT that may be of interest?
Comment: I've been looking for visualisations as well, it's surprisingly hard to find. You can of course go through the work yourself with Mathematica or numerically in python with scipy/numpy (the latter being free software). If you do, please post nice graphs somewhere google can find them ;)
Answer: The difficulty of visualizing a quantum field comes from the large number of degrees of freedom it has: Even if you discretize the field to a 2-dimensional mattress of, e.g., $100\times100$ points each of which can only oscillate in one dimension (similar to how Zee does it in one of the entry examples of his book), you already need a state function $\Psi: \mathbb R^{10\,000} \to \mathbb C$ (i.e. from a 10 000 dimensional real space to the complex plane).
One way of visualizing such a high dimensional function is to use a parallel axes diagram and plot only a relatively small number of randomly chosen points.
You can see how the result looks like in this paper:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321684743_A_new_way_of_visualizing_quantum_fields
Best regards
Helmut
Comment: Link-only answers are not really good. Could you summarize the main points here?


Menu to be displayed as jCarousel

Question: Is there a method to show a menu as a jCarousel? My requirement is to show each menu item as element of a jCarousel.
Answer: Short: If your "menu" was actually a taxonomy tree, it would almost trivial to do what you want, and much more, as most contrib modules operate on a entity basis.
Longer: This answer will mostly be applicable to someone that does not already have a menu structure created, so for some people, it will be of little use.
While displaying a Drupal menu in essentially any way is certainly possible, the menu system in Drupal is rather aged compared to a lot of other functionality.
Generally, whenever you wanna do fancy stuff, I would recommend you avoid the menu system completely. You can even disable it completely in D7. Yes, this type of setup will require more work initially, but is a lot more flexible.
Answer: I recommend using the Views and Views Slideshow modules.
Using Views, create a View that lists the titles (or whatever fields you want) of whatever entities you're interested in, and displays them as links. This simulates a menu. Then choose "slideshow" as the display format, and configure to your heart's content.
It won't have hierarchy unless you have grouping fields to use, but a slideshow can't make much use of hierarchy anyway.

Menu to be displayed as jCarousel


How did Doctor Strange understand the writings in the Book of Cagliostro?

Question: How did Doctor Strange understand the writings in the Book of Cagliostro? Just by reading the book he learned how to make hand signs to control the power of the Eye of Agamotto.
Comment: I suppose he learned it? I can't remember the movie, what was special about the language in the book? Please [edit] your question to add more details.
Comment: That is also what I'm thinking. But given that is it an ancient language, I'm just curious. Thanks for the response, mate.
Comment: ... A wizard did it.
Answer: It seems clear that whatever language the Book (and others) were written in was learned by Stephen Strange during his somewhat lengthy stay at Kamar-taj.
He's already read several other obscure magical books which may or may not have been in English such as

The Book of the Invisible Sun.
Astronomia Nova.
Codex Imperium.
Key of Solomon.

When moving on to more "advanced" works Wong says...

WONG: This section is for Masters only. But at my discretion, others may use it. We should start with Maxim's Primer*. How is your Sanskrit?
STRANGE: I'm fluent in Google Translate.
WONG: Read it. Classical Sanskrit.

*A primer (in this sense usually pronounced is a first textbook for teaching of reading, such as an alphabet book or basal reader. The word also is used more broadly to refer to any book that presents the most basic elements of any subject
Answer: Please remember that Stephen(Dr. Strange) highlights the fact that he has a very good photographic memory, which helped him a lot in his medical career.
(I suppose that he saying this to The Ancient One was actually the story-writers' way of logically stating the fact that Stephen is good in learning new languages.)
It basically concludes that it was easy for him to remember new languages (remembering the alphabets, word formations etc as photos).
Also, no matter how old a book is, certain translations or helping aids are passed down the generations along the book as well, most importantly, the skill to read a language is passed along generations, no matter how much specific group of people may be in it, they can always enable others to do the same.
Comment: you mean photographic memory, not photogenic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eidetic_memory
Comment: or eidetic memory
Comment: remembering details even after a slight seeing is bit different than focusing on things and having them in the memory, I meant the later one, viz Photographic memory !


Android how to set transparency to custom part of ImageView

Question: I would like to set a custom part of an image view to be transparent. However, the partial view inside  does not have to be a rectangle. It could be parallelogram, triangle, etc... I know I can retrieve the corners of the shape that I want to set to transparent, I just don't know what to do with those inputs.
Any help is appreciated!
Answer: You will have to manually manipulate a bitmap that you set to the image view.
Bitmap someBitmap = BitmapFactory.decodeResource(getResources(), R.drawable.someimage);
bmp.setPixel(x,y,Color.TRANSPARENT);
someImageView.setBitmap(someBitmap);

Code not tested.
Comment: Thanks this was useful, but if I want to set the partial image inside, I would have to check all x,y values to the boundaries and set those specifically and this becomes expensive.
Answer: Try this
imageView.setBackgroundColor(Color.TRANSPARENT);


Area Lamp in Viewport in Blender Internal Engine

Question: I want to ask is there any way to make area lamp visible in viewport in Blender Internal Engine(GLSL) in Blender 2.79.
I cannot use Blender 2.8 due to some hardware limitations that is why I use Blender 2.79 Internal and Game Engine for my animation stuff.
Summary__How to get area lamp in viewport in Blender Internal Engine GLSL.
Answer: Area lamps, as you may already know are not supported in BGE/UPBGE 0.2x, however we can still bake lighting such as area lamp lighting onto an image.
Cycles bake tutorial. The same can be done with Blender Render, just with different, compatible materials to that particular render engine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pcjenAfFto


How can I set up a triple-monitor panoramic view?

Question: My three monitors have varying resolutions if that matters.
Comment: You will need to give us a little more information. What motherboard, and graphics cards do you have?
Answer: To have multiple monitors working with Flight Simulator X, you need a Video Card that allows you to hook up those monitors. If that is the case, configure them correctly via the control panel of Windows.
After that is all working, proceed with these Steps:

Start Flight Simulator X.
Click Learning Center.
Click the Index tab, and then click the letter D to go to the Display section.
Under Display, click Using Multiple Monitors.

Next, open the folder "%AppData%\Microsoft\FSX-SE" by pasting this path into your local explorer. Then open the file fsx_se.cfg with any text editor of your choice. Look for WideViewAspect=false and change it to WideViewAspect=true.
After doing that, you should be able to set a resolution that works with your setup in the options of FSX. However, I am note quite sure if this works with monitors with different resolutions. I assume this will only work correctly if you have 3 feature identical monitors.
Comment: As mentioned you will need at least 1 graphics card that supports this.
Comment: Thanks, this was very helpful in getting things set up.  I already had my three monitors set up, of course, so no issues on the hardware front. :)  The information in the Learning Center helped significantly, though it was a little incomplete for a beginner like myself (it wasn't obvious to me how to pan a view, for example, but I found it through a little experimentation: holding space while moving the mouse).  The varying resolutions didn't end up being an issue, but I'm using windowed mode right now, so I can't confirm whether any of this works in full-screen mode.
Comment: @Josh1billion If it was helpful and solved your issue, you should mark it as answer, so the question is higher rated in searches.


Spoofed number?

Question: I got an offensive text message from a phone number I don't recognize. I looked up the number with reverse look up. It says the number is a land line. Have I been "spoofed"? Is there a way to find out the original phone number? The text was highly offensive and threatening.
Comment: It is possible to spoof a phone number, in which case you will not be able to find the original number on your own. If it appears to be a credible threat, you should contact the police, otherwise just ignore it.
Comment: I do not know if it is spoofed or not, but just as a remark: There are possiblities to send text messages from land lines.
Answer: If you have any reason to be concerned or frightened by the message you should immediately pass the information on to your local police station.
There are a number of companies that offer the service to send SMS from your computer so if you are keen on finding out who sent this you would need to know which carrier owns the number you need to use a carrier lookup service.  One of which is TextMagic.  Once you have the carrier you can contact their abuse department.  Of course, as mentioned, it is also possible to spoof a number and this doesn't necessarily solve your direct problem.
Again, depending on your situation, the content of the message and whether you believe the threat to be real you really need to make sure you provide this message to the relevant authorities and potentially look into your own personal security until you have a resolution to the matter.  It is important to share this information with people close to you so they can potentially assist you and at the very least be aware of your situation.
Make sure you keep the information.  The number and the message.  Try, if you can, to look for patterns in the message (specific language, spelling mistakes, grammatical errors or nuances) that might help you identify the sender or at least give you some insight into the individual.  There are plenty of idiots in this world some of whom think it is funny to frighten people but in this scenario it is always best to err on the side of caution and do whatever you can to ensure that you are safe.
If you aren't getting anywhere by yourself you could enlist the help of a PI to get to the bottom of who sent the message.
Good luck...

Spoofed number?


How do I export & import files between Android devices and Windows OS?

Question: How do I export and import binary files between Android devices and Windows OS as well as syncing the files between the two?
Answer: You can connect the device to the PC with a USB cable and access it via Explorer in the same way that you would a thumb drive.  In addition, I like using Dropbox to sync files in a wireless fashion.  I find this to be much easier and does not restrict movement of handset.
Answer: You mean Desktop Windows, right? If you are using Eclipse, you can pull/push files using the DDMS perspective.
You can also use the command-line tools to accomplish the same. Have a look at Stack Overflow - Moving files to SDcard on Android.
Answer: Installing new apps can be done using adb tool from the Android SDK:
platform-tools\adb.exe install abc.apk

Same for downloading files:
platform-tools\adb.exe pull /sdcard/filexyz

Or you use a GUI for ADB like DroidExplorer.
Via WLAN you can use software that shares the Android file system via HTTP or FTP. For example, if you use SwiFTP and change the shared folder from /sdcard to / you can access every file on the phone.
A connection via ADB is also possible in case you have a rooted phone - eg. via ADB wireless.


How to start "emacsformacosx" in terminal

Question: I am using MAC OX 10.6 , and install the emacs from here http://emacsformacosx.com/
I want to know how to start it in terminal, so my ecb can open current directory
Answer: It is actually quite easy, just run it from terminal like this:
/Applications/Emacs.app/Contents/MacOS/Emacs -nw

the -nw option means to start emacs without the gui frame.
You can put the following in your shell (on my mac .zshenv) :
alias Emacs="/Applications/Emacs.app/Contents/MacOS/Emacs -nw"

Then I just have two commands:
Emacs : for emacs version 24
emacs : for the apple version of emacs
Of course you can just alias the Emacs.app to emacs, but this allows me to customize the two differently - for instance Emacs 24 allows me to use list-packages and so forth. emacs 22 ignores most of this, so I can always revert to a 'bare metal' emacs if need be. Your usage may vary, but if you don't remember the arguments to emacs you can find them by doing this:
emacs --help

Some interesting ones:
Emacs.app --fullscreen
Emacs.app --line-spacing
Emacs.app --vertical-scroll-bars

More info here : http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Option-Index.html#Option-Index
Answer: The answer from @Toymakerii is a good one, but you might also consider adding:
export PATH=/Applications/Emacs.app/Contents/MacOS/bin:$PATH

This way, you can use emacsclient to open files in an already-running Emacs instance:
emacsclient -t SOMEFILE   # Open SOMEFILE in a terminal frame
emacsclient -c SOMEFILE   # Open SOMEFILE in a new graphical frame

Depending on your Emacs version, you might need to put the following in your ~/.emacs.d/init.el (or ~/.emacs, if you're old-fashioned):
(require 'server)
(unless (server-running-p)
  (server-start))

Answer: In my ~/.profile i have the following:
function emacs
{
    if [ -e "$@" ]
    then
        command open -a emacs "${@}"
    else
        touch "$@"
        command open -a emacs "${@}"
    fi
}

(The reason for having a function is to make it also work when the specified file does not yet exist when emacs is started)
Comment: Finally I can open emacs from terminal the proper way. thanks!
Answer: By default terminal will open /usr/bin/emacs on OS X.
You can change this behavior by changing what the "emacs" command will do. Open up ~/.profile and type the following:
alias emacs=open /Applications/Emacs.app

The next time you open a prompt this change will be active.  (or you can run "source ~/.profile")
Comment: The correct command is ``` alias emacs='open /Applications/Emacs.app' ```,  but I need to run "source ~/.profile" each time .
Answer: The easiest is to simply do
open /Applications/Emacs.app --args foo

An alias would then be
alias emacs=open /Applications/Emacs.app --args "${@}"

or in csh/tcsh
alias emacs 'open /Applications/Emacs.app --args $1'

edit: this seems to need a full path to open the correct file... I don't know if this is a problem with Emacs.app or with tcsh


Driving a raw LCD

Question: I was hoping I could drive the raw lcd by somehow using one of my Arduinos. I am using a lcd on a rangefinder and have figured out the following. The raw lcd is 24 pins, 8 of which are com pins and 16 which are data pins. Using the circuit that used to drive the lcd, I also discovered that one whole cycle through all 8 com pins takes about 32 milliseconds. I have done some looking into lcd controllers with a 1/8 duty cycle but I am still confused. I have already made a chart showing which com/data pin combinations turns on what segment on the display. I can individually drive a segment by connecting the com to 2.5v and the data pin to an alternating 0v-5v source, but I'm hoping I can independently drive all segments with the data coming from the arduino. I'm not sure if you can directly drive a raw lcd with an arduino or not, but the simplest solution would be best.
Comment: LCD panels use digital signals, but the signals are not binary ... multiple voltage levels are involved ... an LCD segment cannot be exposed to net DC voltage on the average ... this prevents segment failure
Comment: What is the resolution of the LCD ? Perhaps the segments are multiplexed in time. You have to drive each segment one after another in quick succession to give the feeling that the segments are all active at the same time. Is there a part number on the LCD ?
Comment: Is your driver HD44780?
Comment: No, there isn't any part number, and I was watching videos and yes, the lcd needs a net voltage of zero to not to permanently polarize the crystals, breaking the lcd.
Answer: I assume (from your wording) that you are trying to drive a muliplexed LCD directly from binary GPIO pins. That might not be totally impossible, but it is certainly not the simplest solution which you deem the best.
Driving a multimplexed LCD directly requires continuously driving the LCD with interesting waveforms, which are not just 0 and 1, but also inbetween (often just 1 level inbetween, but I am not sure about that). You might be able to do this with a GPIO pin and a resistor divider, switching the pin between 0, 1 and input. Read your LCD datasheet carefully to check whether this is sufficient.
If this works, it will require constant attention from your CPU, so doing anything else beside driving the LCD will be an interesting challenge.
Note that there are microcontrollers that have the hardware support to do drive a multiplexed LCD directly, but the Arduino's chip is not one of these.
By all means, the simplest solution is to use an LCD with a (built-in) driver chip.
Comment: Yes, thank you, the thing is that the lcd is built into my rangefinder and all there is is a 24 pin FPC coming out of it, and so I was looking for maybe a lcd driver that I could control with my arduino or if that wouldn't work somehow drive it with an arduino. I am planning to use multiple arduino ATmega328 chips on a pcb working together for my project and have already figured out how that will work, the only problem now is figuring out how to drive the lcd. I wouldn't mind using an entire chip(wouldn't have to be a ATmega328) to control the lcd.
Comment: There are some PIC micro-controllers that have a built-in hardware preipheral for directly driving LCDs. But that would require you to learn and program and entirely different MC.
Comment: I have used one of the small pic controllers before, but I did some research and it looks like they only have an interface to drive lcds with a built in driver, not raw lcds
Comment: @MiguelFlores-Acton [stm32duino](https://github.com/stm32duino/Arduino_Core_STM32) has support for STM32L053 and STM32L073, which have raw LCD drivers in them. I recommend [Nucleo L073RZ](https://www.st.com/en/evaluation-tools/nucleo-l073rz.html) for the large flash, board support in stm32duino and an Arduino-compatible header (3.3V only). As an extra bonus, those Nucleos are _cheap_
Comment: Thanks, I looked into the nucleo board and it looks like it would be able to control the lcd. The only problem is that I'm hoping to make this into a pcb, so is there a way to take the necessary components of this microcontroller and put them on you own designed pcb along with the other circuitry I have.
Answer: I have figured out how to control the LCD  with my Arduino using this code. I also used 10k resistors connected from every pin to 2.5v to prevent static. So all you have to do to turn on a segment is you would set booleans in the array to true. So if I wanted to turn on the segment that corresponds to com 4 and data pin 5, I would just say pins[3][4] = true and it will stay on until you turn it off. The only downside is that the segments aren't super dark, but it is fairly well lit and I'd say for its simplicity it works well.
<code>const byte comPins[] = {2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9};
const byte regPins[] = {22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37};
bool pins[8][16];
void setup() {
}
void loop() {
  for (byte com = 0; com < 8; com++) {
    setCom(com, true, true);
    setPins(com, LOW);
    delayMicroseconds(1500);
    setPins(com, HIGH);
    setCom(com, true, false);
    delayMicroseconds(1500);
    setCom(com, false, false);
  }
}
void setPins(byte com, boolean onState) {
  for (byte i = 0; i < 16; i++) {
    if (pins[com][i]) {
      pinMode(regPins[i], OUTPUT);
      digitalWrite(regPins[i], onState);
    } else {
      pinMode(regPins[i], INPUT);
    }
  }
}
void setCom(byte line, boolean active, boolean state) {
  if (active) {
    pinMode(comPins[line], OUTPUT);
    digitalWrite(comPins[line], state);
  } else {
    pinMode(comPins[line], INPUT);
  }
}
</code>

Driving a raw LCD


Dedekind cuts and circularity

Question: Can someone help me understand the concept of Dedekind cut? I'm having trouble understanding it because it appears that in order to understand what Dedekind cuts are I already must have a very developed idea of real numbers. For example, the picture of a cut is the set of rationals smaller than a real number. Also, when I examine the definitions of addition and multiplication, they seem kind of like randomly constructed definitions, I don't think "yes, this definition really defines the addition". It seems I have to prove that the definition corresponds to some concept of addition and multiplication of real numbers that is already very understood. Thanks.
Comment: Remember that real numbers were used long before they were axiomatized, and thus we knew "what we wanted" when these definitions were made.
Answer: There are all sorts of things going on here, so it is difficult to untangle them.
We do have an intuitive idea of the real numbers as being "the complete number line with no gaps". We know that this isn't the rational numbers because they don't include $\sqrt 2$. But we have also an idea that the rationals are dense, so we ought to be able to get as close as we want to any number on the line by choosing a suitable rational number. Actually we notice that any number $x$ on the line divides the rational numbers into two disjoint sets - the rational numbers $\le x$ and the rational numbers $\gt x$. And that is all the rationals. Different points on the line give different sets of rationals.
With that intuition in mind, we turn the idea around. If we have two disjoint sets of rationals $L$ and $R$ which between them contain all the rationals and where every member of $L$ is less than every member of $R$ (and depending on treatment we might say that $R$ has no least element), we imagine there might be a gap between $L$ and $R$, so we need a number to fill the gap which we might call $L:R$. In this way we have defined some new numbers on the line which fill in all the gaps.
But are they numbers? We know that the rational numbers obey the basic laws of arithmetic (the axioms for a Field). And each of the gaps we've identified is very close to a lot of rational numbers, so we hope they will work for the new numbers - but we need to check.
Then the numbers are on a line, so we need to check they are properly ordered, so that our intuition about the line is satisfied.
Then we were worried about gaps in the line - have we managed to fill them all? We need to check that the new numbers are complete.
So we show that our construction gives us a complete ordered field - the Real numbers. We could have given an abstract definition of such a thing, and hoped that it would exist. The Dedekind construction shows that it does - in essence it is an existence proof - it tells us that we can choose our system of numbers to have the good properties we wanted it to have.
In another part of the forest we can show that there is, up to isomorphism, only one complete ordered field - a proof of uniqueness - so when we talk about Real numbers, all our definitions and constructions are equivalent. That too is very useful - we know what we are talking about.
Answer: I'm going to give a slightly different perspective to try to answer the underlying question. Dedekind cuts aren't "the real numbers", as if there were only one collection of numbers that can fulfill that role. What Dedekind cuts do is to give one of many different ways to construct a collection that has all the properties of real numbers that had been previously 'known' or rather assumed. For example we could use axioms to stipulate real arithmetic and the 'fact' that any set of real numbers with an upper bound has a least one. However, how do we know that there really is such a collection of objects satisfying the axioms? That last 'fact' is in fact not one that is obviously true. But if we accept the existence of the field of rational numbers, then we can indeed construct its completion which we can then prove to satisfy that fact.
Besides Dedekind cuts, another way to construct 'real numbers' is to use Cauchy sequences of rationals, which may or may not seem more natural in the sense that we generally do use such approximation sequences to approximate real numbers in the real world. Furthermore, the operations we need to define on these Cauchy sequences to get arithmetic and supremum are natural as well.
If constructing 'real numbers' is the only goal, then any way would do, because we can subsequently prove that any such collection is essentially unique, meaning that any two such collections are isomorphic, and furthermore that the isomorphism itself is unique. This means that we don't gain or lose anything at all by using one construction over another, and hence we can call any such collection as "the real numbers".
However, Dedekind cuts do have something to offer that Cauchy sequences don't. They can be used to complete any total order, although there is no arithmetic. On the other hand, Cauchy sequences are more constructive in a certain sense. There is an interesting question at Math Overflow on a set theoretic model where they are different.
Answer: Consider the subset of Dedekind cuts in which the left-hand cut has a greatest element (or right-hand cut has a least element, depending on whose definition you used).  That is, consider the cuts that correspond to rational numbers.  You should be able to make definitions of addition and multiplication of these cuts that match the existing definitions of addition and multiplication of rationals.  That is, it makes sense to define addition and multiplication of cuts in such a way that the sum of the cuts corresponding to rational numbers $p$ and $q$ is the cut corresponding to $p + q$, and the product of those two cuts is the cut corresponding to $pq$.
If you do that, then the definitions of addition and multiplication of irrational cuts should make sense.

Dedekind cuts and circularity


Closed question has "{migrated}" in the title on the target site

Question: For example, this question on Programmers was migrated in from Stack Overflow and subsequently closed. Now it says [migrated] in the title when it should still say [closed].
Comment: @Khez An open migrated question doesn't show anything in the title on the destination site (which makes sense -- it's just another question far as that site is concerned), so I think just [closed] would be fine. I'm guessing the new feature doesn't identify if the post is on the destination site and just looks for closed migrated questions.
Comment: [Here](http://superuser.com/questions/269026/backup-software)'s another example - the original is on SO, was pushed to SU where it was closed but is marked `[migrated]`.
Comment: I'm guessing the correct title should be [migrated, closed]. Good catch though.
Answer: Changed from
if (post.IsClosed)
   if (post.IsMigrated)

to
if (post.IsClosed)
   if (post.IsMigrated && post.ClosedDate <= post.MigrationDate)

Answer: It happens (I assume) because the site uses the MigrationDate field to decide whether to show [migrated] or [closed], but MigrationDate is used both for the date the post was migrated to another site, as well as the date the post was migrated from another site (so it can show the "migrated from X site Y days ago" box)


Find out which certificate authorities do not come with the system

Question: I believe that some of the programs I downloaded in the past have installed some root certificate authorities on my Mac (the OS is Mavericks). After learning more about SSL/TLS, I figure that this is a security risk and I want to fix it. How do I distinguish these CAs from the ones preinstalled with the OS so that I can get rid of them?
Answer: You could use the reverse engineering method.
Here is the list of all aps that come with Mac.
So any CA you find in key chain that are not those are the one you are looking for.
Answer: The list of trusted roots in Mavericks can be found here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT6005
However, I'm not actually aware of a way to modify the "System Roots" keychain, so any new certificate authorities installed would appear in either the System or Login keychains.


how can you survive /kill?

Question: So there's a video by Zyph and according to him it is possible but it is 1.8 and you have to have resistance level 5 to survive /kill but can you survive this op command in 1.16?
Answer: No, it is impossible to survive this command as /kill originally dealt 1,000 damage, which used to allow it to be possible to survive with Resistance V, but as Penguin said, it just instant kills now.
Answer: No, /kill literally just kills the player. There are no effects, armor, etc. that can allow you tp pass this.
Comment: Totem of undying has no effect on the /kill command. Commands like these often ignore items like ToD and execute their function unless specifically told otherwise.
Comment: Totem of undying?
Comment: oh, because i remember my totem getting popped when someone tried to /kill me a while back, so this feature was removed just for /kill?

how can you survive /kill?


How can I determine the active site homepage?

Question: We've got a managed app that includes custom Visualforce pages that are exposed via a Force.com Site. We're working on a new version of this Site, that is basically a single page app running within a Visualforce page. So, basically, in order to switch between the old version of the Site and the new version of the Site, I just change the "Active Site Home Page" for the Site. However, there is some back-end business logic that I want to enable when I know that the new Site is active (namely, configuration pages for the new Site). I want to be able to enable this business logic when I detect that the Active Site Home Page is my new Visualforce page, and not the old one. I see there is a queryable SObject called Site, but there is no field on it that records the Active Site Home Page setting. Does anyone know if there is a way to determine which page is being used as the Active Site Home Page from Apex code?
Answer: In your particular case, you don't need actually to determine the active site home page (since this is not possible in the current release).
Instead, you can have some indicator inside the Visualforce Component like this:
<apex:component >
    <apex:attribute name="IsNew" description="Defines if the site is new" type="Boolean" required="true"/>
    {!isNew}
</apex:component>

Then on the new Visualforce page you could use the following code
<apex:page>
<c:Detect IsNew="true"/>
</apex:page>

while on the old Visualforce page you could use the following code
<apex:page controller="CPC">
<c:Detect IsNew="false"/>
</apex:page>

In such a way you could distinguish in Apex Code, for example, in the code of controller for the Visualforce component Detect, which page is used on the site.


ie8 margin top bug

Question: I have no idea why IE8 is doing this, but I have two divs that contain navigation.  One is floated left, the other is floated right.  Both divs have a margin-top of 10px on them.  Everything looks great in all the other browsers except IE8.  The top margin disappears.
I've tried changing the doctype from HTML5, to transitional, to strict and no suck luck.
I've ran a combo of changing the doctype and using the http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge,chrome=1" meta tag as well as http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=9,chrome=1" and http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=8,chrome=1" and it still no change.
I've added a &nsbp and a height:0; to the clear:both; div in the CSS as indicated here:
IE8 - Container with margin-top: 10px has no margin
And that doesn't seem to work either.  So, I am stumped.  Not too sure what else to try.
One thing I forgot to mention is that cufon is applied to the text, so I am not sure if that could be causing any issues or not.
Answer: You could try a reset stylesheet:
CSS Reset
Comment: Already have that within wordpress. but now that you mention it, I wonder if that could be causing some issues?  I'll try commenting it out from the header file and see what happens

ie8 margin top bug


Rambam and R' Yehuda Halevi

Question: Is there any evidence that Rambam was familiar with the writings of R' Yehuda Halevi? The more concrete the better.
Comment: R. Yishaq Sheilat's intro to his book בין הכוזרי לרמב"ם has some information on this topic. I don't have access now but if I recall he argues that the Rambam was indeed familiar with R. Yehudah ha-Lewi.
Comment: Sounds like a good resource. I don't know where to get ahold of one.
Comment: Yehuda Halévy was from Muslim Spain, like the Rambam, and wrote a lot in Arabic.  Rambam wrote that he is familiar with everything written in or translated into Arabic. It is inconceivable that he was not familiar with Halevy's opuses.
Comment: @N.T. I have access to it now. I've uploaded it here: https://gofile.io/d/oTAPBU I suggest downloading it as the file automatically gets deleted after a certain amount of days.
Comment: @Deuteronomy Is it in the public domain?
Comment: @N.T. No, it is under copyright. I believe sharing it with you is fair use. I'll be taking down the link in 24 hrs. Do with that what you will.
Comment: It is possible.
Answer: The most concrete evidence that the Rambam knew of Yehuda Halevi is that Yonatan of Lunel, in a letter to him, listed the Kuzari as one of the books Yehuda Ibn Tibbon translated from Judeo-Arabic:

הרב ר' יהודה אבן תיבון הספרדי , אשר הועילנו והשכילנו ולימדנו מספרי
החכמות , בהעתיקו אלינו ספר האמונות , וספר חובות הלבבות , ומידות הנפש
ומבחר הפנינים , וספר הכוזרי
The Rabbi Yehuda Ibn Tibbon, the Sephardi, who improved us and educated us and taught us from the books of wisdom by copying for us...the Book of the Kuzari...

In another letter, from the Cairo Geniza (T-S 10 K 8.14), a friend writes to the Rambam about missing him, and quotes poetry from Yehuda Halevi to express it. That poem (אחר גלות סוד מה אטמין) was originally written for another Moshe—that is, Moshe Ibn Ezra—and the letter presupposes the Rambam understanding the reference:

And as God put off the appointed time [for writing back], there came to mind the strophic poem having melody, "Why continue concealing when my secret is out," etc., which contains some of his traits coinciding with my yearning and love for him.
--- See Joel Kraemer, "Six Unpublished Maimonides Letters from the Cairo Geniza" (Maimonidean Studies, 1991)

Of course, scholars have devoted much ink to show how the Rambam's writings critically responds to Halevi's, but much of this is theoretical (and the Rambam never explicitly cited him). But, considering Halevi's documented fame in Egypt during the Rambam's time, and the above references, it's certain that the Rambam was at least familiar with his predecessor's poetic and philosophic work. To what extent, and how that might have affected him, is—for now—speculative.

Rambam and R' Yehuda Halevi


How do I choose what my right click menu is?

Question: Ok, so when you right click a file, you get the right click menu. I wasn't sure wether to put this in here or Stack Overflow. I installed Python 2.5 and Python 2.7, and they both have IDLEs. But because I installed Python 2.7 second, it's IDLE opens whenever I right click a python file, but I want python 2.5's IDLE to open when I right click a file and select the Open With IDLE option.  Is there any way to make it so Python 2.5's IDLE will open the file instead of Python 2.7's?
Answer: Assuming you're using Windows 7 you want to visit "Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Default Programs\Set Associations".
Comment: Considering that he tagged his post [windows-xp] I'd say it's quite safe to assume that he's *not* using Windows 7.
Answer: On installation, Python registered the file types with the new installation. If you run ftype it'll produce something like this:
C:\>ftype | find /i "python"
Python.CompiledFile="C:\Python27\python.exe" "%1" %*
Python.File="C:\Python27\python.exe" "%1" %*
Python.NoConFile="C:\Python27\pythonw.exe" "%1" %*

What you can do now, is register additional types for Python 2.5, like this:
ftype Python.CompiledFile.25="C:\Python25\python.exe" "%1" %*
ftype Python.File.25="C:\Python25\python.exe" "%1" %*
ftype Python.NoConFile.25="C:\Python25\pythonw.exe" "%1" %*

and then associate the Python file extensions with the new types:
assoc .py=Python.File.25
assoc .pyc=Python.CompiledFile.25
assoc .pyo=Python.CompiledFile.25
assoc .pyw=Python.NoConFile.25


Unity: "inconsistent line endings" dialog shows up ever time I open VS with unity

Question: Everytime I open a script file from unity with visual studio this dialog shows up about normalizing the line endings? What does this mean? I click Yes every time but still can't get rid of it. It only happens when I open a file from unity.
Comment: Unity's default script & shader template files have Unix/Mac-style [line endings](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newline) in them (LF), but Visual Studio in Windows likes working with Windows-style (CR LF). It usually goes away once you've normalized each file once and saved the result. I keep telling myself I'm going to go in & edit all the templates so I never need to deal with this again, and then I keep not doing it...  (I really wish Unity would just match the convention of the OS or [expose an option to] always silently auto-convert. The constant prompts are really annoying)
Comment: ...or switch to VS Code. There is even a Unity Asset Store plugin for it: https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/tools/vscode-45320
Comment: @AhmedAniss please stop this. Your answer is a link only one and should not be posted as an answer.
Answer: End-of-file (EOF) | Line ending, end of line (EOL)
As Josh Petrie mention, you can solve the problem by changing the line endings of each script you open. First, you need to close the script in Visual Studio. Then go to Unity and double click in the Unity console line ending warning message. Visual Studio will open the script with the missing and a line ending dialogue window will show up. Go to the Line endings section and choose Windows or the OS platform that you are using. Now save the script and next time you open VS, the message will not pop up for this script.
Visual Studio 2019
If it is not working as a workaround you can force normalize using

Edit > Advanced > Set New line > CRLF (for Windows).

This will replace all LF to CRLF.
DEFAULT TEMPLATE
When you make a new script the template can have an incorrect line ending. So if you change the Unity template, each time you make a new script you will not encounter this common problem. To change the default template go where Unity was installed and search for the ScriptTemplates folder:
C:\Program Files\Unity... Hub\Editor\20xx.x... Editor\Data\Resources\ScriptTemplates
In Windows, the default template script can be modified as administrator or using admin password. Now open this script template with VS (file: 81-C# Script-...). In VS with the script selected, go to  File -> Advanced  Save Options, the window will pop up and choose Windows or the platform OS that you are using. Now save the script and next time you make a new C# script in Unity, the message will not pop up for all this new scripts.
INSTALLING Strip'em for VS 2010-2017
Now you can also test if you wish this other tools for VS. This old video (at 10m32s) can help you in the process, but the rest of the video is already outdated. Warning, don't follow this tutorial, it doesn't work anymore. It helps you in the process of using Strip'em (after 10m32s)
https://youtu.be/2PVPz8Pnnrw?t=10m32s
To activate Strip'em in VS 2015, after the installation, press Tools > Strip'em and select your OS.
Strip'em in VS Community 2017, you just double-click the installer and that is all.
http://www.grebulon.com/software/stripem.php
Answer: In Visual Studio, you can disable this check (and thus the warning) by looking in Tools -> Options, navigating to the Environment -> Documents section of the tree, and unchecking "Check for consistent line endings on load."
This suppresses the warning but doesn't actually solve the problem; the source files will still have inconsistent line endings. Ideally you'd solve this problem by configure all the editors you use to insert the same kind of line ending, or to autodetect the existing style and preserve it. Unfortunately not all text editors support such behavior; VS, for example, doesn't have a controllable default (although it will let you configure the style used on a per file basis on File -> Advanced Save Options, but this is really tedious).
Comment: thx for the help... i think developers of these tools dont get many complaints about this so they never fixed such an annoying behaviour
Answer: Unless you're extremely committed to Visual Studio, I've found that literally just opening the file in another text editor (like Sublime or VS Code) and then saving it immediately fixed the issue. I've had poor experiences with Visual Studio in the past, and it's always extremely hard to debug weird editor errors.


Red candlestick and volume bar on trading view

Question: On trading view, I get the idea that if closing price is less than the opening price, then we will get a red candlestick on the price chart, and if closing price is greater than opening price, then we will get a green candlestick. But what determines the color of volume bar that is at the bottom of the chart. Does volume bar always gets the color of the candlestick or can there be a mismatch between the two?
See this image
Comment: I saw this answer (https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/117889/what-do-the-green-and-red-bars-show-in-this-yahoo-chart-and-its-impact-on-stock?rq=1) and the the answer mentions that green bars represent days when price rose. what does the user mean by that? Prices rose in respect to opening prices or previous day's closing pricec.
Answer: The volume bar color is based on whether the price was higher (green) or lower (red) at the end of the period than it was at the beginning of the period.  In other words, there should never be a mismatch between the candlestick color and the volume bar color because they are based on the same thing.
Remember that the "price" is what was paid on a trade, and a trade always executes within exactly one period, however, most candlesticks show up immediately after the close of the previous candlestick, even if no trades have happened, and the price is simply based on the bid/ask spread, which represents the difference between the highest price that buyers are willing to pay and the lowest price that sellers are willing to accept at the beginning of the period.
Of course, a specific graph software may deviate from these norms.


Customize maven build

Question: Is that possible to customize a maven build lifecycle without writing a plugin? I want to customize my project to package it without running tests, then run the tests. The background is that the tests are running on HTTPUnit and it needs a fully constructed web application directory structure.
Answer: As suggested by khmarbaise you can use maven-failsafe-plugin which is an extension of maven-surefire-plugin.
Maven lifecycle has four phases perfect for your intent:

pre-integration-test for setting up the integration test
environment.
integration-test for running the integration tests.
post-integration-test for tearing down the integration test
environment.
verify for checking the results of the integration
tests.

generally speaking during the pre-integration-test we start the server
eg:
   <executions>
      [...]
      <execution>
        <id>start-jetty</id>
        <phase>pre-integration-test</phase>
        <goals>
          <goal>run-exploded</goal>
        </goals>
        <configuration>
          <scanIntervalSeconds>0</scanIntervalSeconds>
          <daemon>true</daemon>
        </configuration>
      </execution>
      <execution>
        <id>stop-jetty</id>
        <phase>post-integration-test</phase>
        <goals>
          <goal>stop</goal>
        </goals>
      </execution>

I use this plugin with Hudson; in Maven Build Customization - Chapter 5  you can find further details.
Answer: It seems that you are writing integration tests.
You could use maven-failsafe-plugin. This plugin is executed by default at the integration-test phase of the maven build lifecycle (which is after the packaging phase)...
Answer: For those purposes you need the integration-test phase which exactly is intended for such things. It's after the packaging phase but before install/deploy phase.
This can be achieved by using the maven-failsafe-plugin. You can find a full example here.

Customize maven build


Why don't I gain disk space back when emptying the site collection recycle bin?

Question: I'm trying to recoop some diskspace on a test SharePoint environment of mine. I've removed as much content as I can in the portal and also emptied the site collection recycle bin but the free space on the disk hasn't moved. What am I missing?
Answer: In order to recuperate the space you will need to manage your SQL Server database files (MDF/LDF). My suggestion is that unless your disk space is critical that you not do this. Shrinking databases has some serious implications for performance and can cause some headaches. IMO, unless you really need the disk space, just leave it.
Here are some sources to back this opinion up from SQL Server MVPs:
http://www.brentozar.com/archive/2009/08/stop-shrinking-your-database-files-seriously-now/
http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2011/01/19/sql-server-shrinking-database-is-bad-increases-fragmentation-reduces-performance/
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sqlserverstorageengine/archive/2006/06/13/629059.aspx
Answer: Personally I have never had an issue when shrinking SharePoint DBs - Keep in mind I am only releasing the white space, but have had no performance impact to any of my sites
Comment: +1 Me too. It is ridiculous to avoid db shrinking on development/testing sharepoint environment as well as it is clear that performance and disk space size work in opposite directions and there should be a trade-off between them
Comment: So long as one is aware of the potential issues that can come with shrinking large DBs, do as you will is my philosophy. However, I will say with out any reservation that the number one performance bottleneck for SharePoint is SQL Server and you should never just perform operations like this on production systems without knowing potential pitfalls. For dev/test - shrink away!
Comment: If you're dev/test environment is really good it should have data volumes which are similar to production. In that case you should avoid Shrinking the database. It doesn't just release whitespace, but first moves data into empty spaces causing fragmentation and bad tables out or index order, then releases the free pages.


TCP Behavior on Packet Loss

Question: Let's say the cwnd currently is set to 100. And TCP (Reno) sends out the whole window. And the first packet gets lost. So basically the window should be set to approx  half. But won't that cause the other unacked packets to be sent again. What does tcp do in this scenario?
Comment: Did any answer help you? If so, you should accept the answer so that the question doesn't keep popping up forever, looking for an answer.
Answer: The congestion window (CWND) would be cut in half, which in your example would be 50, and now your ssthresh. The CWND would be 1 due to the packet loss. The other packets would be sent again in subsequent RTTs but only after the lost packet has been sent and an ACK received. So, packet 100 would be sent, and when an ACK is received for said packet, then packets 101 and 102 would be retransmitted, so on and so forth.
In the attached figure, see the red boxes. The protocol I described takes place no matter the state: slow start, congestion avoidance, or fast recovery.

TCP Behavior on Packet Loss


Do I need to play Bioshock 1+2 first before I play Infinite?

Question: I know that Bioshock 1+2 are considered good games, but do I have to play them in order to understand the story in Bioshock Infinite? Or can I just start with Infinite right away?
Comment: "*primarily opinion-based*"? Does that mean, whether a game has an independant storyline, or whether it expects the player to know everything that's happened before, is now considered a matter of "opinion"?
Answer: No.  Bioshock Infinite's story is completely separate from that of Bioshock 1+2, which are somewhat tied together. Only in small parts (and in DLC as part of the Bioshock Infinite Season Pass) do the stories from 1+2 overlap with that of Infinite's.
So this is what I think:
If you are getting the DLC for Bioshock Infinite, play Bioshock 1 + 2 to get a good grasp of the timeline.
If you aren't getting DLC, you won't be spoiled by much other than miniscule overlapping parts from Bioshock 1 + 2 in Infinite.
Answer: The storylines of 1 & 2 could be considered to roughly coincide, but Infinite stands alone in terms of storyline. The Universe is also completely different, but follows a similar structure to 1 & 2.
So to put it plainly; no. If you play Infinite before you play 1 & 2, you won't spoil anything.


Why can radio telescopes use wire mesh as their parabolic dish?

Question: Radio telescopes use wire mesh to save cost. How does that work? Won't the waves go through the gaps?
Comment: It is also to save on mass, reduce air drag, and a solid surface is not necessary when the wavelengths are meters but your mesh gaps are centimeters.
Answer: Depending on the source, radio waves are said to have frequencies from as low as 3 kHz up to 300 GHz. The corresponding wavelength $\lambda$ can be calculated via
$$
\lambda = c / f
$$
where $c$ is the speed of light and $f$ is the frequency. This gives us $\lambda = 3 \mathrm{m}$ for $f=100 \mathrm{MHz}$, a typical FM radio frequency. If a wave encounters a material with holes in it, like wire mesh, it doesn't necessarily "see" those holes. Because they are much smaller than the wave itself, the dish might as well be solid to the wave.
You can see this very nicely with your home microwave oven. Microwaves are roughly a few cm in wavelength, and the mesh of the viewing window has holes a few mm in diameter. Visible light is much smaller than that, so it can get through (meaning you can see the inside of the oven), microwaves "see" a solid wall they get reflected off from.
Now, since wire mesh is basically the same as using a solid dish, it's really obvious to use it, because it's much lighter and thus allows you to build larger dishes that can also be moved quicker.
This is the "nice and easy" answer.
Comment: You might also mention the fringe fields that die off exponentially beyond the fine mesh.  I'm not sure you'd want to lick the door of a microwave oven while it's on just because what's inside looks yummy.


When was proto indo iranian spoken?

Question: Can we tell when was PII spoken ?
I read somewhere that it has to be before indo iranian split and the The two things which really anchor it are the common words for chariots and camels. Proto-chariot esque wagons were developed since around 2200 bc ish
Answer: Some sentences of Vedic have the nearly exact equivalents in Avestan. Both languages can be dated to the late second millenium BC.
This suggests that about 4,000-3,500 years ago, Indian and Iranian were more or less dialects of the same language. So Proto-Indo-Iranian was probably spoken during the 3rd millenium BC.
Comment: The dating both of the Avesta and of the Vedas is debated. Many Iranists now put the oldest parts of the Avesta (Gathas of Zarathustra) around the beginning of the first millennium .
Comment: Even as late as 600 to 700 BC.
Comment: Mid 3rd millenium BC or early ?

When was proto indo iranian spoken?


How can I represent Conditional Probability Table based Bayesian Networks in Winbugs?

Question: Winbugs seem to support either stochastic or deterministic relationship between variables.
However, many Bayesian Networks represent relationships between variables using conditional probability tables. The "visit to Asia", "burglar alarm", "smoking & cancer" examples are classic introductory material.
However, conditional probability tables used in this approach does not correspond to stochastic or deterministic relationships in Winbugs. Google searches bring examples of Gibbs sampling on Bayesian Networks, but these are mostly algorithms that I'd have to implement in either R or another programming language (for example see: http://www-users.cselabs.umn.edu/classes/Spring-2010/csci5512/notes/gibbs.pdf)
Is there a way of using Winbugs for complex Bayesian Network inference? I need to express causal relationships between different variables (a continuous variable and a discrete one, a categorical one etc), so I need to perform MCMC based inference on hybrid Bayesian networks. I am not so sure if I can use Winbugs for this
Finally, would it make sense to try to transform the conditional probability table based, or causal relationships into a stochastic relationships? If I turn CPT based relationships between variables into regression for example, would that be an acceptable way of performing inference on Bayesian Networks using Winbugs?
Comment: "...conditional probability tables used in this approach does not correspond to stochastic or deterministic relationships in Winbugs": How not?
Comment: you are right whuber, I've underestimated the abilities of Winbugs.
Answer: My bad. I am trying to use too many frameworks at once, and failing to cover documentation properly. The asia example in winbugs does exactly what I've been asking for.


How to Solve These Irregular Coupled Second Order Differential Equations

Question: I have a question on how to solve this pair of coupled differential equations.
\begin{align*}
    \omega_1^2 Q_1 &= -\ddot{Q}_1 - \frac{M}{L_1}\ddot{Q}_2 \\
    \omega_2^2 Q_2 &= -\ddot{Q}_2 - \frac{M}{L_2}\ddot{Q}_1
\end{align*}
for $Q_1 (t)$ and $Q_2 (t)$. Generally I would solve these types of equations by using a matrix $M^{-1}K - \omega^2 I = 0$. However, in this case I don't really see how I can create matrices to solve this problem and I can't find any neat trick to solve these equations. If anyone could help that would be great!
Comment: Maybe you can take the Fourier transformation. It'll give you two linear equations which you can solve for $\tilde{Q}_{1,2}$ and then you can transform back to the time domain.
Answer: Meant to be a comment
I have never solved coupled differential equations, but here goes my try:
Let $l_1=\frac{M}{L_1},l_2=\frac{M}{L_2}$.
\begin{align*}
    \ \ \ \omega_1^2 Q_1 &= -\ddot{Q}_1 - l_1\ddot{Q}_2 \\
    +bc\times(\omega_2^2 Q_2 &= -\ddot{Q}_2 - l_2\ddot{Q}_1)\\
\hline
\omega_1^2 Q_1 +bc\omega_2^2 Q_2&=-\left(1+bcl_2\right)\ddot{Q}_1-\left(l_1+bc\right)\ddot{Q}_2\\
\omega_1^2 Q_1 +bc\omega_2^2 Q_2&=-\left(1+bcl_2\right)\ddot{Q}_1-\left(\frac{l_1}c+b\right)c\ddot{Q}_2\\
\star(Q_1 +cQ_2)&=-\star(\ddot{Q}_1+c\ddot{Q}_2)\\
\end{align*}
is only possible when
\begin{align*}
b&=\frac{\omega_1^2}{\omega_2^2}\\
1+bcl_2=\frac{l_1}c+b\Rightarrow bl_2c^2-(b-1)c-l_1=0\Rightarrow c&=\frac{(b-1)\pm\sqrt{(b-1^2)+4bl_1l_2}}{2bl_2}\\
\end{align*}
So, the equations become
\begin{align*}
\omega_1^2(Q_1 +cQ_2)&=-(1+bl_2c)(\ddot{Q}_1+c\ddot{Q}_2)\\
-\omega^2Q&=\ddot{Q}\\
\end{align*}
where $\omega=\sqrt{\frac{\omega_1^2}{1+bl_2c}}, Q=Q_1+cQ_2$.


May I attack myself?

Question: Could I attack myself with  sengir vampire, block with a creature, and get a +1/+1 counter on it
Comment: There are also cards that force your opponent's creatures to attack or block.
Comment: If you're really dedicated about messing around with Sengir Vampire, there are plenty of other ways to have it deal damage besides combat: fighting (e.g. Pit Fight), dealing damage equal to power (e.g. Tail Slash), giving it a "ping" ability (e.g. Viridian Longbow), and so on.
Answer: No, because the rules specifically say that you attack the other player in a two-player game, or opponents in a multiplayer game. There are no cards which change this.
Here are the full relevant rules:

506.2. During the combat phase, the active player is the attacking player; creatures that player controls may attack. During the combat phase of a two-player game, the nonactive player is the defending player; that player and planeswalkers he or she controls may be attacked.
506.2a During the combat phase of a multiplayer game, there may be one or more defending players, depending on the variant being played and the options chosen for it. Unless all the attacking player's opponents automatically become defending players during the combat phase, the attacking player chooses one of his or her opponents as a turn-based action during the beginning of combat step. (Note that the choice may be dictated by the variant being played or the options chosen for it.) That player becomes the defending player. See rule 802, "Attack Multiple Players Option," rule 803, "Attack Left and Attack Right Options," and rule 809, "Emperor Variant."
[...]
802.1. Some multiplayer games allow the active player to attack multiple other players. If this option is used, a player can also choose to attack only one player during a particular combat.
802.2. As the combat phase starts, the attacking player doesn't choose an opponent to become the defending player. Instead, all the attacking player's opponents are defending players during the combat phase.

(There are additional rules for multiplayer variants where there are restrictions on who you can attack, but rather than quoting absolutely everything, I'll just reiterate that nothing ever says you can attack yourself.)
Answer: If you were to Donate your Sengir Vampire, your opponent would gain control of it. If you then activate Mindslaver you'll control that player's next turn. You can then attack yourself from your opponent's side of the board and block with any number of flying or reach creatures like tokens from Call. Then the vampire will gain those +1/+1 counters. On your turn you can then use Control Magic style effects to bring it back under your control and swing with your 7/7 flying. Hurray!
Or, you could just cast Give and call it good.
Comment: Giving a round-a-bout method of obtaining the result doesn't answer the question.
Your answer also appears to lack mention of haste or waiting a turn.

May I attack myself?


What is an example of a word that is different in definition in the Kangxi and Zhengzitong Dictionaries?

Question: What is an example of a word that is different in definition or more clarified in the Kangxi dictionary than in the Zhengzitong dictionary?
Comment: These are two different types of publications. 康熙字典 (Kāngxī Zìdiǎn) is a dictionary for words, 永乐大典 (Yǒnglè Dàdiǎn) is a genre of reference books historically compiled in China and other East Asian countries, it is similar to the "encyclopedia" of books. I don't know what you have in mind, for example....?
Answer: The Zhengzitong dictionary was replaced by the Kangxi dictionary. Both dictionaries are currently out of date and have only archaeological value. Zhengzitong pays more attention to the explanation of the usage and meaning of Chinese characters, while Kangxi Dictionary pays more attention to the detailed description of the phonetic rhythm, shape, explanation and usage of Chinese characters. Both dictionaries are organized by the shape of Chinese characters, which is the most efficient way to look up. When looking up any word, first divide the word into four parts: upper left, upper right, lower left, and lower right. Searching the character according to the strokes of these four parts is the fastest method of looking up Chinese characters currently known. However, the Kangxi dictionary deleted many dialects and idioms in the Zhengzitong dictionary, so the Zhengzitong dictionary still has some value.
Both dictionaries explain Chinese characters, and the difference between the years of two dictionaries is only one dynasty, and the meaning of Chinese characters is usually very stable. The definition of a word in two dictionaries can be slightly different, but basically the same.
If you absolutely need an example, I can show you one, but you'll still see little difference. 热 characters is explained as: "温也"、"烈也" in the Kangxi Dictionary, and in the Zhengtong Dictionary as: "气息运动,物体之势也","情动之气,血液循流也". The explanation of this word in the two dictionaries is quite different compared with others, but if you go deeper into these explanations, you will find that the difference is not that great, and they are basically the same.


Particles from String theory

Question: I understand that the strings in string theory are posited to be many, many orders of size smaller than say, a quark, electron or any other particle. But if this is so, how does the string "expand" to produce the gargantuan, by comparison, particle? Is this expansion caused by its vibrational pattern or is there another way by which the extremely small string manifests itself into a much larger object? I am, of course, under the impression that each "elementary" particle is generated by the vibrational pattern of only one individual string, i.e., one string produces one electron, etc.
Comment: Particles like quarks and electrons are point-like (at least in mainstream QFT). So in fact, string are bigger than particles. That's why strings cure most UV divergences, because there is a fundamental UV cut-off.
Comment: Thanks Adam. But you see, Brian Greene's book explains that strings are about Planck size, but particles themselves are many many orders larger than the Planck size. This is what I'm trying to unravel.
Answer: "Strings" correspond to  relativist quantum fields, for instance a bosonic relativist quantum field $X^\mu(\sigma, \tau)$, with one spatial dimension $\sigma$ and one time dimension $\tau$, and with boundary conditions (different for open strings and closed strings). Quantum excitations of this field (particles) may have different spins , so these quantum excitations may represent different particles (for the same field). Strings  may be understood as a countable set of harmonic oscillators labelled by $n, \mu$, with creation operators $\alpha_{-n}^\mu$. For instance, the simplest  excitation of a open string is $\alpha_{-n}^\mu|0,k\rangle$, and this represents a particle of spin $1$ , momentum $k$, and polarization $\mu$.
Comment: Thanks, Trimok. I'll have to digest your explanation and review my understanding of the string.

Particles from String theory


how to develop the Mapview in iOS6

Question: Can you please tell me what are the changes have to be done to develop the map view in iOS6 in developer perspective.That means any classes or methods or any user interface changes or any thing else.Thanks in advance.
Comment: maybe google might have the answer ?
Answer: The short answer is that nothing needs to be done differently than before. No new classes or methods (or at least that I've had to use) are available (but you can double check the API differences available from Apple dev site).
The long answer, is that if you are Rotating your mapview, then there probably are changes you would have to make if you previously had working code and dutifully put the Google logo in the lower left corner. So that has to be removed at minimum.
Also if you are rotating your map and counter rotating any annotations (so they remain horizontal), then there is a bug with that where the annotations will get unrotated if the user pans or zooms the map. Bugs have been filed with Apple on this.

how to develop the Mapview in iOS6