How to do Lakshmi Puja in Diwali?

Question: What is the best way to do Lakshmi Puja in Diwali?
So how should one go with the following before starting with the puja?

What are the things that we need to use?
What is the actual process?
Answer: Remember One thing that every worship or prayer needs your faith and The Holy Spirit
and it is the core component of a successful worship

Worship must be conducted with a calm frame of mind. One should be calm and the mind should be quiet while doing this worship and afterwards too.
This is not easy, but one must try patiently and assiduously for this calm frame of mind. This is very important.
Calmness is a result of one's confidence and faith in God.

Worship Procedure
Print out the two photos of Sundara MahaLakshmi and her consort Kamala Varadaraja and frame them. Click on the links below to get these photos:

Keep these photos in front of you at the level of your eyes when you are seated. (If you have a home shrine, that much better!)
It is a good idea to light a minimum of two deepa lamps and place them on either side of or in front of the deity photos. Lighting a minimum of two incense sticks and keeping them near the deities is also a good idea. If you don't know how to do this, skip to the next step.
Sit down in front of the photos of Sundara MahaLakshmi and lord Kamala Varadarajar. These photos should be at the level of your eyes.

Chanting following Verse

Ya Sa Padma Sanastha Vipula Kati Tati Padma Patrayat Aksi
  Gam Bhira Vartana Bhistana Bharana Mita Subhra Vastrottariya
  Ya Laksmir Divya Rupa Irmani Gana Kha Citaih Sna Pitahema Kumbh Aih
  Sa Nityam Padma Hasta Mama Vasatu Grhe Sarva Mangalyayukta Swaha
Comment: Any chance you could provide a Latin alphabet transliteration of the verse?
Answer:
The consort of Lord Vishnu, Lakshmi is the Goddess of wealth and
  prosperity. She bestows eight kinds of wealth. In Hindu households she
  is the most commonly worshipped Goddess. It is believed that there
  will not be prosperity if Goddess Lakshmi is not worshipped. Vidya
  lakshmi bestows knowledge, Vijaya Lakshmi is associated with success,
  Dhanya Lakshmi is for food and prosperity, Soubhagya Lakshmi for a
  happy marriage, Dhairya Lakshmi is for courage and Santana Lakshmi is
  worshipped for children.
Goddess Lakshmi is believed to exist in various forms. The most
  important of them are Neeladevi, Bhoodevi and Sridevi. Sridevi
  represents movable assets and Bhoodevi is known for immoveable assets.
  When Lord Vishnu has taken avataras or different form to save the
  universe, Goddess Lakshmi also came in other forms to support him.
  During Ramavatara, Ram's wife Sita is considered to be Goddess
  Lakshmi.
Lakshmi is also known as Sri or Thirumagal as she is associated with
  six divine and auspicious qualities. Diwali and Kojagiri Purnima are
  celebrated in the honour of Gddess Lakshmi.
Lakshmi's other names
Goddess Lakshmi is known with several names. Padma, Kamala,
  Padmapriya, Padmamaladhara devi, Padmamukhi, Padmakshi, Padmahasta,
  Padmasundari are some of them. She is worshipped with her special 1008
  names as mentioned in the scriptures.
In praise of Lakshmi
There are several slokas which praise Mahalakshmi. Some of the most
  popular prayers are "Sri Mahalakshmi Ashtakam", "Lakshmi Stuti",
  "Kanakadhara stotram", "Agastya Lakshmi Stotra" and "Sri Sukta".
According to Kalki Purana, when Vishnu will incarnate as Kalki,
  Lakshmi will appear in the form of Padma and two sons will be born.
Business people worship Goddess Lakshmi every day before commencing
  the work. Thursdays and Fridays are considered auspicious for
  worshipping Goddess Lakshmi.

Source
Answer: The rituals for performance of Lakshmi Puja on the night of Dipawali are mentioned in the Padma and Skanda Purans.
According to Padma Puran Uttar Khand:

Before Viṣṇu has got up, he should awaken Lakṣmī through the women. When a man has awakened Lakṣmī at the time of her getting up through a good woman, for one year Lakṣmī does not leave him. The haters of gods (i.e. the demons) scared of Viṣṇu obtained fearlessness from the brāhmaṇas, after knowing (that Viṣṇu) was asleep in the Milky Ocean, and Lakṣmī had resorted to the lotus.

"You are the lustre, Śrī Ravi (i.e. the Sun), the Moon, the Lightning, the Golden Star; the lustre occurring in the lustre of the lamp is the lustre of all the lustres. That Lakṣmī that lives on the earth, in the cowpen on the auspicious day of Dīpāvalī in Kārtika, may grant me a boon."

Śiva and Bhavānī took to playing with dice as a sport. Lakṣmī, propitiated by Bhavānī remained in the form of a cow. Formerly Pārvatī vanquished Śiva in the game of dice, and sent him away naked. So this Śiva is unhappy. Gaurī always remains happy. He who gets victory first (passes) the year happily. When the night passes like this, and people have their eyes half-closed, Alakṣmī is driven out of the courtyard of the house by the joyful city-women by means of sounding the musical instruments and drums.

The Kartikmasmahatmya of the Skanda Puran tells us:

On the fourteenth day in the dark half of the month of Āśvina, on the new-moon day and on the first day (of Kārttika) which is in conjunction with Svāti constellation, one should take these three days as the festival days of lights.

Further the text mentions:

At the time of daybreak on the new-moon day, O leading sages, one should take bath and devoutly worship and bow down to Devas and Pitṭs. He should then perform the Pārvaṇa Śrāddha with curds, milk, ghee etc. None but children and sick persons should take food during the day time.

Then, at nightfall, he should worship the splendid Goddess Indirā (Lakṣmī). He should then erect a clean and beautiful pavilion for Lakṣmī by means of various kinds of cloths. It should be wonderfully decorated with various kinds of sprouts and flowers of various colours. There he should worship Lakṣmī as well as Devas.

Goddesses (such as Sarasvatī, Kālī, Gaurī) too should be worshipped with many types of offerings and services. He should devoutly massage the feet of Lakṣmī and others. Formerly it was on this day that Devas were set free from the prison of Bali. Lakṣmī too was released (therefrom). Thereafter, the Devas went to the Milk Ocean along with Lakṣmī. They slept soundly for a long time.
Hence, O great sages, the cots are to be made with twines within and there should be fine cotton beds. They shall be covered with excellent sheets resembling milk and foams. The devotee should install those Suras and Lakṣmī in the proper directions to the accompaniment of Vedic chants. Freed from the fear of Daityas, Lakṣmī slept soundly within the lotus. Hence, here too, all amenities for sound sleep should be made.

If a person makes a bed of lotuses on that day, for increasing the happiness of Lakṣmī, she will not go anywhere else leaving his house. If persons do not provide such amenities for the sound sleep of Lakṣmī, can those men sleep at night without being worried about money? Hence a man should worship Lakṣmī making all efforts. He should be rid of poverty and become well-established among the members of his own community.

Cow's milk should be boiled along with nutmeg, cloves, cardamoms and camphor. Sugar should be added as much as is necessary. Laḍḍukas (ball-shaped sweets) shall be made thereby and dedicated to Lakṣmī.

All the four types of foodstuffs also should be made and offered saying, "May Śrī be pleased." Even before Hari wakes up, Lakṣmī should be wakened through women devotees. If a woman or the man wakens Lakṣmī at the (proper) time and then takes food, Lakṣmī never forsakes her or him for the whole year.

Demons became frightened of Viṣṇu. After getting shelter and immunity from fear from Brāhmaṇas they went to the Milk Ocean. After knowing that Lakṣmī who had resorted to the lotus was asleep, they eulogized her: "You are the refulgent splendour of all the luminous bodies like the sun, the moon, fire, lighting, gold and stars. You are the splendour of all luminous bodies. Obeisance, O Goddess stationed in the (bright) flame of the lamp. May that Lakṣmī who is present on the meritorious day of Dīpāvalī on the earth, and in the cowpen on the Kārttikī day be the bestower of boons to me."

Thereafter the lamp should be offered in the early part of the night. A firebrand should be whirled round one's own head. It is preventive of all calamities and misfortunes.

'Light-trees' should be made according to one's capacity in temples etc., quadrangles, cremation grounds, rivers, mountains, houses, roots of trees, cowpens, levelled square-shaped plots of sacrifice, etc. The grounds along highway should be decorated and beautified with cloths and flowers.

After the midnight passes thus, when men are asleep with half-closed eyes, the delighted women of the city begin to drive away Alakṣmī (Ill-luck, Misfortune) from their respective courtyards with winnowing baskets and small Ḍiṇḍima drums.

So to summarize, the rituals to be followed are:
1. An early morning bath, offering Shraadh to Pitris, feeding Brahmins and fasting yourself.
2. Preparing a pedestal for Goddess Lakshmi and other forms of god which should be decorated with bright clothes and flowers.
3. Making cots with soft cotton for the gods to sleep in especially using lotus flowers for Goddess Lakshmi.
4. Sweets made of cow's milk, sugar and certain aromatic spices to be offered to Lakshmi.
5. Women of the house to wake Lakshmi by reciting a hymn used by the Asuras in older days.
6. Lighting lamps and waving firebrands around oneself before lighting diyas in and around the vicinity.
7. Driving out of Alkashmi from the courtyards/cowpens by the women by creating noise and beating drums.

How to do Lakshmi Puja in Diwali?


Image quality get low in Craft 3 after applying image transform

Question: As of now I am using Craft's image transform to render images according to the size.  If this still appears low quality even Image Transform setting with qulity "Maximum".
Comment: Are you using the GD or Imagick image library on your server?  Imagick tends to produce higher quality output and supports a wider range of image formats.  You'll also want to make sure you're running recent versions of either.
Answer: If the dimensions of the image are being displayed is larger than the transform dimensions it will show pixelation in the image. Just double up the dimensions of the transform image to see if this fixes it.


how to make the original picture transparent to draw over the destination picture the missing lines

Question: I've just converted a colored picture with Akvis Draw into a sketcked picture. Now,what I want to do is to draw the missing lines by hand,closing perfectly the figure. The next step will be the automatic coloring of the empty space with a click using Windows Paint (or another similar tool). But,to do that I need to make the original picture a little transparent because I want to draw over the destination picture being able to see the original picture that's behind. In this way I can easily close the missing lines. Which kind of tecnique and tool do you suggest to use ? thanks.
Comment: Depends on what program you intend to use. There are several paid and free programs that can make an image slightly transparent and also have layers.
Answer: Akvis Draw is photo to (fake)drawing converter and quite advanced one - at least if one believes on their flashy advertising. You have left only some main outlines and scrapped nearly all possible surface shadings. But that's your decision.
A.Draw outputs a bitmap image. You can do the wanted job nearly in any multilayer image editing program. I guess you do not have high cost mainstream graphic programs such as Photoshop and you aren't going to purhase nor rent one.
I suggest you to try freeware. Get Paint.NET or Krita.  They are simple to use, Paint.NET especially. GIMP is substantially harder to get started, but it has got a massive amount of add-ons for demanding users.
Even free vector graphics program  Inkscape could be recommended, if you could fight yourself over its steep learning curve. If you aren't familiar with vector graphics, keep it as a separate project.
In Paint.NET you simply put the photo and the created "drawing" to different layers and make the upper of them partially transparent. You can open 2 or more files at the same time and copy stuff from one to another.
You can draw more to third layer which you have created on the top and keep all what you have intact - just in case of an error or to have a possiblity test something else. That's the basic benefit of multilayer programs. You can combine layers later, if you want, but as soon as one has got used to layers, he understands that the multilayer version should be saved, too.
You do net need Windows Paint, because Paint.NET can be used as well for coloring.
Transparency isn't the only way to make different layers visible at the same time. Multilayer programs have various layer blending modes. Here the upper layer is inverted to make lines white and the rest of the image black. (screenshot from Paint.NET). It's blended with the photo with mode = Additive:

Not asked: You will quite soon find that it's very hard to insert own lines, curves and colorings to an already existing base image so that the style fits. Clunky drawing tools such as computer mouse will make it many times harder.
Graphics tablet will remove a great part of those problems which are caused by the coarse response of ordinary mouses. But if you want to develop your drawing skills, pen and paper are superior tools both in price and accuracy.
ADD due a comment:
I wouldn't at all try to insert strokes, if I for some reason have to mangle a photo to resemble something self-made. I would use simplifying (=edge complexity and number of colors reduction filters) at first. Then I must fill nothing, filters make filled areas. Often they make too complex borders, which must be simplified manually. An example:

I have no right to use grabs from movies nor generally anything for which I haven't a written and signed permission to use. Technically even this image can be illegal because its based on an image that I do not own. If I publish recognizable images of celebrities or copy existing art, I take a risk of collecting a hefty bill. This is one reason for the removal of face features. Another reason is the difficulty of making them plausible and good looking.
The image has got heavy manual detail reduction after applying a color simplifying filter. I have made polygonal lasso selections and refilled areas (=pushed with smudge brush against selection border) with single color to get simple clean borders. The background is totally repainted in this elementary way to make the subject better visible. I have left some original filtering results around the eyes and nose.
Comment: user287001 You said : You have left only some main outlines and scrapped nearly all possible surface shadings : which kind of effect would you like to use ? I've chosen this style because it leaves a lot of empty space that I can paint only with a mouse click. If I choose a more detailed style,I should make more work,because I would need to close more areas and more areas means more mouse clicks and a less homogeneous coloring.
Comment: I like the effect that you have obtained. Is exactly what I want to achieve. An heavy  modification of the face features. Problem is that you have obtained it by doing some manual steps. Since I have a lot of pictures to modify in this way,I will spend a lot of time. I need to create an automatic script that do it for me.


When Ruby on Rails server change to using a DB session store, then users need to "clear the cookies?"

Question: Maybe I can summarize the question: If a Rails app goes into Maintenance for 30 minutes and the Rails Session Store is changed from using cookies to using DB, then any user who  has the browser open won't be able to use the Rails apps for any session store capability unless the user clears all the cookies or restart the browser.  Is there a way to fix this behavior (because users who didn't do that will get stuck and possibly frustrated).

Details:
To understand Rails' session store better, I created a new project that at first uses cookie as the session store (using Rails 2.3.8 with Ruby 1.8.7)...
and values can be stored in the session.  and then without closing the browser, I stopped the Rails server, removed the # in front of
#ActionController::Base.session_store = :active_record_store

and did a rake db:sessions:create and then a rake db:migrate (to create a sessions table in the DB).
But now, my browser was never closed, and when I print out the session variables, it won't work, and when I set some values into the session, using FoosController#show, and print out the session values in FoosController#index (in the view).  Although the values can be set in show, they don't show up in index.  I have to clear out the cookies in my browser (or exit my browser and start it up again, so that the values can be set in show and then index will show it correctly now.
I guess for a thing like changing the session store from cookie to DB, the server will be shut down, meaning the site will be down for a few minutes to a couple of hours... but the users may not close the browser during this time... and
1) any session values that was set previously won't show (probably acceptable)
2) any new session values set by the server now also will not go into the user's session store.
I think (1) above is ok, but (2) can drive the user crazy... keeping on trying for 30 minutes, and wait an hour, or two hours later, still won't work (for example, cannot log in and read a second page as a logged in user, because session[:user_id] cannot be set successfully.  The user will probably call tech support and the tech support may or may not suggest "clearing the cookie"... but is a pretty crude way to fix something.  (or restart the browser will work too... but the user may have so many tabs open that he actually need to go through all the tabs and bookmark anything and then close and restart the browser.)
So it this true for a Rails server?  Or somebody know the newer versions of Rails already fixed that issue?
Answer: Try changing the secret_token (located in config/initializers/secret_token.rb in rails 3) when you switch from the cookie store to the db store.  This will in effect invalidate all outstanding cookie sessions causing the users to be prompted to login again (assuming your app has such a mechanism).
Hope that helps.
Comment: yeah that makes sense... although I haven't tried if that actually works or not.
Comment: let me know if you do... I haven't tried it either :-)  But, like you said, it makes sense.


Vedana: does it include feeling sleepy, dizzy, alert…

Question: I am a (somewhat lackadaisical) follower of S.N. Goenka's meditation teachings.  After a couple of 10-day retreats and reading some articles such as this: http://www.vridhamma.org/Why-Vedana-and-What-is-Vedana I'm still not sure how to regard sensations that at least in Western terms are not simple sensory input, but which also do not imply any attachment or revulsion —  feelings like the ones above, or hunger, fatigue  and so on. Are those vedana, and hence proper objects of mindfulness?
Answer:
I'm still not sure how to regard sensations that at least in Western terms are not simple sensory input

In the Pali suttas, 'vedana' refer to: (i) pleasant; (ii) unpleasant &; (iii) neither-pleasant-nor-unpleasant feelings that occur with sense impressions.
When the mind lacks mindfulness-&-wisdom, pleasant feelings give rise to the defilement/urge of greed/lust/love; unpleasant feelings give rise to the defilement/urge of hatred/anger/irritation; and neither feeling can give rise to confusion.

but which also do not imply any attachment or revulsion

Vedana/feelings are not attachment or revulsion. For example, if you break your leg, that is an unpleasant feeling. The revulsion (hatred) or attachment is a separate matter.

hunger, fatigue and so on.

Hunger begins with an unpleasant/painful feeling but, ordinarily, quickly gives rise craving. You should try to separate the painful feeling from the craving. Feeling/vedana is not an 'urge' & not 'thinking'. Feeling is the mere painful sensation.
Fatigue is not a vedana. It is a lack of energy, either related to exhaustion of the physical body or defilements of the mind weighing down the mind. Fatigue is classed as a 'hindrance' ('nivarana') rather than a 'vedana' ('feeling').
Thus hunger is a proper object of mindfulness, where the meditator is vigilant towards & subdues craving & excitement towards food; thus attentive only to the painful stomach sensation.
Fatigue is a difficult & subtle object of mindfulness; unless one is a very skilled meditator. Generally, if fatigue arises, the meditator should focus on their physical posture; or change posture to standing or walking; or otherwise have some rest and sleep in bed. Refer to this link about 'sloth & torpor'.

Bhikkhus, dependent on the eye and forms, eye-consciousness arises; the meeting of the three is contact; with contact as condition there
  arises a feeling felt as pleasant or painful or
  neither-painful-nor-pleasant. When one is touched by a pleasant
  feeling, if one delights in it, welcomes it, and remains holding to
  it, then the underlying tendency to lust lies within one. When one is
  touched by a painful feeling, if one sorrows, grieves and laments,
  weeps beating one's breast and becomes distraught, then the underlying
  tendency to aversion lies within one. When one is touched by a
  neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, if one does not understand as it
  actually is the origination, the disappearance, the gratification, the
  danger, and the escape in regard to that feeling, then the underlying
  tendency to ignorance lies within one. Bhikkhus, that one shall here
  and now make an end of suffering without abandoning the underlying
  tendency to lust for pleasant feeling, without abolishing the
  underlying tendency to aversion towards painful feeling, without
  extirpating the underlying tendency to ignorance in regard to
  neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, without abandoning ignorance and
  arousing true knowledge—this is impossible. MN 148
Answer:
Are those vedana, and hence proper objects of mindfulness?>

Yes. Feeling and sensations are conjoined hence not easy to separate. In that case been aware of all feelings and sensation is Vipassana meditation.


Public Intoxication in Texas

Question: I was recently arrested for public intoxication after my friend was pulled over about 100 feet from his home. I was a passenger and had consumed 2 mixed drinks before being driven home
. Both of the arresting officers had body cameras and there's no way I could be considered a danger and I have no criminal record at all. One officer asked me to step out after my friend had also been asked the same and after talking with the officer, I was arrested and imprisoned over night and released on a PR bond. All of this appears extremely harsh and not proper but I've been told this sort of conviction is difficult to contest. Is there any point fighting this or spending lots of money on a lawyer (Cheapest one here is around $1,500)?
Comment: Hiring a lawyer with respect to a criminal charge is almost always worth it if you can afford one. If the criminal lawyer can't add value worth paying for, the lawyer will usually tell you in an initial phone call or meeting.
Comment: One value in fighting the accusation is the possibility of avoiding a criminal record, for a Class C misdemeanor (i.e. it's not like a speeding ticket).
Comment: This question is unclear.  You will have to appear in court, at which point you can plead not guilty, at which point the state has to prove at trial that you are guilty of the charge.  If you don't believe you are guilty, you should certainly "fight it" in that manner.  You can "fight" by negotiating with the DA, or drawing public attention to your case in an effort to pressure the cops and/or DA not to pursue unpopular charges.  And you can "fight" by representing yourself in court *pro se*, or by seeking pro bono defense if your situation seems sufficiently unjust.
Comment: @markb, okay, so it's not like a speeding ticket *elsewhere*
Comment: @user6726:  I'm not sure your comment "it's not like a speeding ticket" is how you intended. In Texas, a speeding ticket IS exactly a class C misdemeanor. They are considered criminal here in Texas, and if you are cited for speeding, you can get a jury trial for them. Many people who've been found guilty for speeding here I guess have a criminal record. Tho in Texas you can't be jailed for speeding.
Answer: I'm guessing when you say 'public intoxication' you mean this:

§ 49.02. PUBLIC INTOXICATION.
(a) A person commits an offense if the person appears in a public place while intoxicated to the degree that the person may endanger the person or another.
[...]
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (e), an offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.

In Texas, a Class C misdemeanor is like a speeding ticket, or a theft by check of a small amount offense (Yes, speeding tickets in Texas ARE class C misdemeanors).
So you might want to see if there is a fine and what the city wants in terms of the fine. If you want to pay it, you'll have it on your record.
If it were me, I'd show up to the arraignment and then ask the prosecutor to agree to deferred adjudication and a few hundred dollar fine. Deferred means you promise to not get another citation for public intoxication for the next several months (whatever you can get the judge to agree with - which is typically 3 to 6 months) and then they'll dismiss your case - but only after you pay a disposition fee, which is likely a few hundred dollars more than the fine you'd pay, plus court costs.
But if they balked I'd make them give me a jury trial, and fight it pro se (on your own). If you truly only had 2 drinks and the video showed that you were a passenger, and weren't (as the law states) "intoxicated to the degree that the person may endanger the person or another" then I'd ask for a not guilty verdict from the jury based on that.
If you really want to be sure to keep it off your record, then hiring an attorney might be best, but I think in that case all he'd do is ask the prosecutor to agree to deferred disposition and then ask the judge to agree to it.
Comment: Please do not use codeblock when quoteblocks should be used.

Public Intoxication in Texas


Hardware Solution to connect to multiple ISPs for one WAN

Question: I'm looking for a piece of hardware to connect to different types of ISPs, normal DSL, cable DSL and USB egde sturfstick to offer one Internet connection with a higher cumulated bandwidth. I'm pretty sure something like this exists, but I don't know how to call it or where I can find something like that.
Comment: http://www.barracudanetworks.com/ns/products/link_overview.php
Comment: You have several older questions with answers.  If the answers provided solved your issues, please accept them, or at least leave comments / update your question and explain why they answers don't solve the problem.
Answer: It is link aggregation and one of the more popular technologies to achieve this at the carrier and higher-end networking level is via MLPPP (Multi-Link Point-to-Point Protocol).
Answer: Something like the Peplink Pepwave Max Mobile Router would accomplish what you're looking for.
http://www.peplink.com/max-mobile-router/
Answer: That's called link aggregation, but with the added complexity of differing media types. Hope this helps in some manner.
Answer: If you want a cheap router to do it, you can buy a DD-WRT compatible one (I'm running an ASUS RT-N16 in the office, it's great!) and config it yourself
http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Dual-WAN_for_simple_round-robin_load_equalization


How to merge 2 partitions on macOS

Question: I have an MBP running macOS High Sierra. There are 2 partitions. How can I get rid of BC1, and merge the space into Macintosh HD? Know very little about macOS. Please help. Thanks!
Answer: I think I got the answer.

Open Disk Utility
Select the root of Internal drive on the left pane.
Click Partition button on the top pane.
Delete un-wanted partition(s).

It's easy if you know!

How to merge 2 partitions on macOS


Why do most Togruta wear headdresses?

Question: I understand the Akul tooth headdress is a sign of bravery and skill, but many Togruta sport other headwear (including Ashoka in later canon material). Is there a reason that most of them seem to wear a headband where their montrals meet their skull, or is it purely ornate?
Comment: It's called fashion, dahling...
Comment: You're telling me that's not a part of them?!?
Comment: @valorum that's what I'm asking. Is there any canonical evidence that it is just fashion?
Comment: Hmm...  How many Togruta do we see deliberately *not* wearing a headband / covering of some sort?  3-year-old Ahsoka when Plo Koon first meets her, but any other / older ones?
Answer: Well, this question is actually answered with more detail on Wookieepedia.
The main headdresses Togruta wear are the akul teeth headdresses. We see Ahsoka Tano and Shaak Ti with these. These headdresses are gained from a Togruta coming-of-age tradition, hunting down akul. An akul is a predator on Shili that had incredibly negative effects on its environment. In a coming-of-age ceremony, a Togruta is sent to hunt one down alone, and if successful, they are to wear the teeth of the dead akul to signify their success. We can assume Ahsoka completed her trials sometime before she turned 14 and became Anakin's padawan.
The beads that we saw Shaak Ti wear? Well, that's most likely another Togruta tradition that was unspecified. It could just be fashion, though.
In Star Wars Rebels, we see a 31-32 year old Ahsoka Tano with a sort of tiara-like headdress. It's never specified where she got it or why she wears it, but we can assume she just decided to discard her akul tooth headdress after the Jedi Purge and found those. Because we never see her without any headdresses, we can also assume that Togruta are required to wear something between their montrals and foreheads. This is similar to the Twi-lek requirement that females cover at least part of their lekku.

Why do most Togruta wear headdresses?


IIS 8.5 .NET Classic Session timeout

Question: I recently moved a web-based barcode scanning system to a new server and a newer version of IIS.
I have been looking through this site's explanations (and several other sites') for an answer to this problem but nothing seems to help the issue.  Logging, IIS or app log, doesn't record when the session expires, only the initiation of a new session.  I feel like I have tried nearly everything, I must be missing something....
Running IIS 8.5 / MS Server 2012 R2 / Amazon EC2 instance
The site is an application running under the default site in IIS.  The application pool is one I set up running .NET Classic and .NET CLR version of "No Managed Code".  The application pool is set for suspend on idle timeout (have tried all settings I believe) and the recycle interval is set for the default 1740 minutes (29 hours).
Users are getting a session timeout after about 30 minutes of inactivity - which is weird as the defaults (if I missed setting one) for these settings are 20 minutes and a 20 minute test does not expire the session.  This is a problem as the scanning guns end up missing scans because the users miss that the session expired.  This causes lot tracking problems down the line.
I have set the application pool idle timeout to 0 for testing.
I have set the asp timeout to 20 hours.
There isn't a web.conf file on the application but there is one on the default site that the app is under.  The web.conf file has
<code><system.web>
     <session.State timeout = "34560" />
</system.web>
</code>
I installed the asp feature in IIS to attempt to attempt to handle this session timeout issue but this did not affect the behavior.  Some explanations recommend setting session variables on the asp.net feature as well.  This isn't an asp site, it is a index.htm that redirects to a .dll file using ISASPI handlers so the asp.net feature doesn't seem like it is necessary.  Once it hits the .dll all the functions are contained in this .dll.  Perhaps I need to install that feature anyway?
While I am less experienced with IIS, I have not had this problem before the server change.  If I can positively determine that IIS is not the issue then I can push for the other team to address things in the .dll file.
Any assistance is always appreciated.
Respectfully,
SWhite
Answer: Turned out to be something on the application end not related to IIS settings at all.  No wonder I was getting nowhere.
Thanks for the opportunity to ask.

IIS 8.5 .NET Classic Session timeout


Password Recovery

Question: Currently we use Offline NT Password & Registry Editor for machines we do not have admin passwords for. It is a really nice tool but has some flaws. Is there something better/more modern?
Comment: What flaws have you found? I've used it for years and not had a problem. I ask this genuinely out of interest.
Comment: Under the FAQ they cite EFS and AD PDC as being unrecoverable. While I love this tool for workstations, these other two can create a problem if you are taking over.
Comment: Well the above comments are by design, if you have ever played with the other features such as setting passwords, enabling accounts, etc., it works probably 60% of the time. Obviously the best thing to do is just blank admin pass and restart. That would be a cool automated tool.
Answer: I've had success with OphCrack
http://ophcrack.sourceforge.net/
Answer: Before it was pulled, l0phtcrack was the way to go.  L0pht went commercial and the tool was pulled.  ophcrack is a "branch" of this and will provide you with what you need (see Kenvin Dente's answer for linky).
This may or may not apply to your situation, but to avoid this issue, the Local Administrator account is set to a different password, and is never given to anyone for any reason.  So, even if the machine is disconnected from the network, and you've used up your 15 cached attempts (the default), you can still get in and affect changes as needed.  Users that need special privs (when it's absolutely required because the program's concept of security is botched) we grant them "Power User", etc.
Answer: Kryptos Logic Kon Boot works well. No need to overwrite passwords, but it can do it as well.

Password Recovery


want bokeh blur with custom shapes

Question: I have a 2d texture and a shape matte, the matte could be any shape, like a star, heart, and so on, and I want to use this matte to generate different-shaped bokeh blur, how can I do it? and normally, creating bokeh blur needs iterations, how to cope with the efficiency problem. hopefully, realize it in glsl
Comment: One approach is to use the stencil buffer to mask out the areas to keep in focus. This allows a variety of shapes to be used at once, they can move, etc.
Comment: any detailed code? i'm still a little confused...
Answer: Here is a basic implementation for a rasterized scene.

Bind and write the depth buffer as usual.
Bind and write the stencil buffer with the shapes that need to be masked out. A simple 1 or 0 will do here.
Generate the color buffer
Run the bokeh filter as a full screen quad post processing effect.

The order here isn't terribly important the only step dependent on the other 3 is doing the actual blur.
In the fragment shader:

read the stencil and color buffers. If the stencil value is 1 return the unmodified color.
read the depth buffer.
Run the blur kernel.

Here is a basic fragment shader implementation:
uBlurRadius is a uniform passed in to set the blur kernel size and uResolution is the width and height of the color buffer.
<code>float stencil = texture(stencilBuffer, uv).r;

if (stencil == 1.0) {
  // Keep the pixel in focus.
  gl_FragColor = texture(colorBuffer, uv);
  return;
}

// Compute the depth of field mask.
float focusDepth = texture( depthBuffer, uv);
float blurDepth = focusDepth + uBlurRadius;
float blurAmount = smoothstep(focusDepth, blurDepth, depth);

// Apply the bokeh blur effect.
vec4 color = vec4(0.0);
float totalWeight = 0.0;
for (float i = -uBlurRadius; i <= uBlurRadius; i++) {
  for (float j = -uBlurRadius; j <= uBlurRadius; j++) {
    vec2 offset = vec2(i, j) / uResolution;
    float weight = exp(-length(offset) * length(offset) / 2.0);
    totalWeight += weight;
    color += texture(colorBuffer, uv + offset * blurAmount) * weight;
  }
}
gl_FragColor = color / totalWeight;
</code>
The biggest issue with this code is that fragments that are in focus can bleed/smear into those that are out of focus inside the blur kernel. If you implement this and look closely at the edges around scene elements that are in focus you will be able to see the effect it has. But the code is simple and relatively fast. The blur kernel size can be used to limit blur and improve performance which can be an easy way to make this work on a variety of hardware.
Comment: I don't think this is what Caleb's asking for—it sounds like the goal is for the bokeh shapes themselves to be non-circular, as described (for real-world photography) in [this Instructables article](https://www.instructables.com/DIY-Heart-shaped-Bokeh/).
Comment: All the elements are there to do that exact effect.

want bokeh blur with custom shapes


CPU Cards for Parallel Computation?

Question: I remember reading some time ago that there were cpu cards for systems to add additional processing power to do mass parallelization.  Anyone have any experience on this and any resources to get looking into the hardware and software aspects of the project?  Is this technology inferior to a traditional cluster?  Is it more power conscious?
Answer: There are two cool options.  one is the use of GPU's as Mitch mentions.  The other is to get  a PS/3, which has a multicore Cell processor.
You can also set up multiple inexpensive motherboard PCs and run Linux and Beowulf.
Answer: Have you looked at the various GPU Computing options. Nvidia (and probably others) are offering personal supercomputers based around utilising the power of graphics cards.
Answer: GPGPU is probably the most practical option for an enthusiast. However, DSPs are another option, such as those made by Texas Instruments, Freescale, Analog Devices, and NXP Semiconductors. Granted, most of those are probably targeted more towards industrial users, but you might look into the Storm-1 line of DSPs, some of which are supposed to go for as low as $60 a piece.
Another option for data parallelism are Physics Processing Units like the Nvidia (formerly Ageia) PhysX. The most obvious use of these coprocessors are for games, but they're also used for scientific modeling, cryptography, and other vector processing applications.
ClearSpeed Attached Processors are another possibility. These are basically SIMD co-processors designed for HPC applications, so they might be out of your price range, but I'm just guessing here.
All of these suggestions are based around data parallelism since I think that's the area with the most untapped potential. A lot of currently CPU-intensive applications could be performed much faster at much lower clock rates (and using less power) by simply taking advantage of vector processing and more specialized SIMD instruction sets.
Really, most computer users don't need more than an Intel Atom processor for the majority of their casual computing needs: e-mail, browsing the web, and playing music/video. And for the other 10% of computing tasks that actually do require lots of processing power, a general-purpose scalar processor typically isn't the best tool for the job anyway.
Even most people who do have serious processing needs only need it for a narrow range of applications; a physicist doesn't need a PC capable of playing the latest FPS; a sound engineer doesn't need to do scientific modeling or perform statistical analysis; and a graphic designer doesn't need to do digital signal processing. Domain-specific vector processors with highly specialized instruction sets (like modern GPUs for gaming) would be able to handle these tasks much more efficiently than a high power general-purpose CPU.
Cluster computing is no doubt very useful for a lot of high end industrial applications like nuclear research, but I think vector processing has much more practical uses for the average person.
Answer: OpenCL - is an industry wide standard for doing HPC computing across different vendors and processor types, single-core, multi-core, graphics cards, cell, etc... see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenCL.
The idea is that using a simple code base you can use all spare processing capacity on the machine regardless of type of processor.
Apple has implemented this standard in its next version Mac OS X. There will also be offerings from nVIDIA, ATI, Intel etc.
Answer: Mercury Computing offers a Cell Accelerator Board, it's a PCIe card that has a Cell processor, and runs Yellow Dog Linux, or Mercury's flavor of YDL. Fixstars offers a more powerful Cell PCIe board called the GigaAccel. I called up Mercury, they said their board is about $5000 USD, without software. I'd guess the GigaAccel is up to twice as expensive.
I found one of the Mercury boards used, but it didn't come with a power cable, so I haven't been able to use it yet, sadly.

CPU Cards for Parallel Computation?


The CCTV cameras that show black and white images, do they have bayer filters attached on their CCD/CMOS image sensors?

Question: I need a black and white camera. Since the cameras in the market, the ones available for astro-photography are quite costly, I am thinking of converting a digital camera to black and white. I see that the CCTV cameras are quite cheap and they tend to be black and white, but are they pure(no bayer filter attached) black and white cameras?
Comment: I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it appears to be an XY problem.  We cannot answer a question that has not been asked.  http://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/66377/what-is-the-xy-problem
Comment: You might consider asking that question of the manufacturer of a camera.
Comment: Usually manufacturers make color cameras adding a bayer filters to B/N sensors and changing electronics or software that processes the images to synthesize colors from grayscale data. So, strictly speaking, any camera has a grayscale sensor. For example ZWO sells several B/N and color astro cameras that are based on the same sensors, [as you can see here](https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/product-category/usb-3-0/). Removing bayer filter and changing camera inner workings may require more work and money (for the tools) than buying a plain B/N camera. So, why don't you just buy a b/n camera?
Answer: If you want to do "astro-photography" , spend your money on the telescope and tracking gear. The camera is almost incidental by comparison.
While a grayscale CCTV camera may be cheap, it'll also have crappy resolution and lousy signal/noise ratio.  Even with the loss due to the color filter, almost any consumer digital camera will be better.  it'll be better even if you just take color pix and flatten to greyscale in processing.
If you can collect RAW images and simply sum the RGBG pixels' signals by block, you'll get a nice boost in  SNR per final pixel.
Comment: I think the point probably still stands. Can you explain your project?
Comment: @EkdeepSinghLubana The vast majority of digital cameras do not have CCD image sensors, they have CMOS image sensors.
Comment: I don't want to do astro-photography, it's for a project
I just need to ensure that the CCTV camera has a CCD image sensor which is the same as in a digital camera and that there is no bayer filter attached. SNR and resolution are not of much concern


Macbook air boot time

Question: I've heard that Macbook air saves more power and boot time is very short and it is pretty fast in boot time. I know that instead of HDD it uses flash memory but how can it save more power and boot faster?
Comment: Hi Sweet, Not sure if you are asking for an explanation of why it's fast/low power, or suggestions for more speed and less power still?
Answer: There are a number of benefits to flash memory over HDD:

No moving parts
No spin up time
No electric motor using your battery charge
"Seek Time" isn't really a thing, since there's no drive head moving to read a different sector of HDD platter

During boot, your computer reads a lot of software from your boot volume into memory. The time it takes to do this is drastically reduced when using a SSD (flash) instead of an HDD.
Comment: What about battery and energy usage? Does it differs?
Comment: Yes--as I mentioned, the HDD has an electric motor used to spin up the drive platters, which contributes to higher energy usage (and lower battery life).
Answer: An SSD (flash memory) uses less power, so battery life tends to increase (additionally, a Macbook Air uses less power than most other computers in general, which also helps battery life).
Additionally, a SSD is much faster.  There are two important methods of accessing data on a drive - sequential and random access.  Sequential access is when you are accessing a large amount of data in the same spot (a movie, for example).  Hard drives are best at this, though SSD's are still a few times faster (2x-5x, depending on the drives in question - the one in the Macbook Air will tend towards the lower end of this range).
Random access is when you are accessing data that is stored in small amounts all across the disk.  Here, SSDs are much better than conventional hard drives (20x-100x faster).  This is because there is basically no seek time for SSDs (there is no spinning disk).  Seek times are what slow conventional hard drives down so much.  This sort of access is common when booting up, launching applications, and switching between applications, which is why the Macbook Air boots quickly and will generally feel faster than its other tech specs would suggest.
In short, an SSD provides a massive performance boost over a normal hard drive.  The only issue is that they tend to be expensive, which is less of an issue with the Macbook Air (though it does explain why the hard drive in the Macbook Air is so small).
Answer: Access time from flash memory is faster. Traditional platter-based hard drives are operated by a motor to spin the platters; flash memory does not use any motors.

Macbook air boot time


merge two DEMs of different resolutions?

Question: I have two DEMs, the first one is in 30 meters of résolution and the second: 5 meters, and will like if there is a possibility of merging them to extend the area where I do my research?
Answer: I can think of two options.

Mosaic the two rasters to a new raster dataset, using the Mosaic to New Raster tool or the Workspace to Raster Dataset tool. If you do, you need to choose a single cell size, which means you'll be downsampling the 5-meter DEM or upsampling the 30-meter DEM. (You should add some metadata to the mosaicked raster to explain what you did, especially if you upsample the 30-meter DEM by choosing a cell size of 5 meters. You don't want to make anyone think that the whole raster was originally 5-meter data.)
Create a mosaic dataset. That way you're not resampling anything. ArcGIS analysis tools will treat a mosaic dataset as if it were a single raster dataset.

I prefer #2, since it preserves all the original data.


MySQL query / clause execution order

Question: What is the predefined order in which the clauses are executed in MySQL? Is some of it decided at run time, and is this order correct?

FROM clause
WHERE clause
GROUP BY clause
HAVING clause
SELECT clause
ORDER BY clause
Comment: select and group-by overlap each other somewhat, especially when aggregate functions are being used. you can't really strictly sort these in order.
Comment: I could not find anywhere else where this topic is discussed in detail.
Comment: This question appears to be off-topic because it appears to lack research
Answer: The actual execution of MySQL statements is a bit tricky.  However, the standard does specify the order of interpretation of elements in the query.  This is basically in the order that you specify, although I think HAVING and GROUP BY could come after SELECT:

FROM clause
WHERE clause
SELECT clause
GROUP BY clause
HAVING clause
ORDER BY clause

This is important for understanding how queries are parsed.  You cannot use a column alias defined in a SELECT in the WHERE clause, for instance, because the WHERE is parsed before the SELECT.  On the other hand, such an alias can be in the ORDER BY clause.
As for actual execution, that is really left up to the optimizer.  For instance:
. . .
GROUP BY a, b, c
ORDER BY NULL

and
. . .
GROUP BY a, b, c
ORDER BY a, b, c

both have the effect of the ORDER BY not being executed at all -- and so not executed after the GROUP BY (in the first case, the effect is to remove sorting from the GROUP BY and in the second the effect is to do nothing more than the GROUP BY already does).
Comment: alias can be used in GROUP BY so I guess it is parsed after select. (SELECT name as n, count(name) FROM test group by n) works
Comment: @Shafizadeh . . . The interpretation of the query starts with the `FROM` clause.  The execution path is determined by the optimizer.
Comment: Not correct. groupby should be before select! how about joins?
Comment: Are you sure `FROM` is first one? I think `WHERE` is the first, Consider this: `SELECT * FROM table WHERE false`. I think it will be faster if `WHERE` clause be executed sooner than `FROM`.
Comment: Could you please give the exact page of standard states the interpretation order? I downloaded a draft of `SQL:2003`, but found nothing about that order
Comment: @GordonLinoff You say "the standard does specify..." Would you please provide a reference to this?
Comment: @flow2k . . . This question is about MySQL.  There is actually no reason to go to the standard, because MySQL is quite explicit about the ordering:  https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.0/en/select.html.
Comment: IMHO it would be more accurate to place SELECT right before ORDER BY, seeing as both GROUP BY and HAVING can make use of columns that are not included in the SELECT clause. I.e. SELECT is executed (i.e. removes columns) only after HAVING and GROUP BY are executed.
Answer: This is how you can get the rough idea about how mysql executes the select query
DROP TABLE if exists new_table;

CREATE TABLE `new_table` (
`id` int(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
`testdecimal` decimal(6,2) DEFAULT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (`id`));

INSERT INTO `new_table` (`testdecimal`) VALUES ('1234.45');
INSERT INTO `new_table` (`testdecimal`) VALUES ('1234.45');

set @mysqlorder := '';

select @mysqlorder := CONCAT(@mysqlorder," SELECT ") from new_table,(select @mysqlorder := CONCAT(@mysqlorder," FROM ")) tt
JOIN (select @mysqlorder := CONCAT(@mysqlorder," JOIN1 ")) t on ((select @mysqlorder := CONCAT(@mysqlorder," ON1 ")) or rand() < 1)
JOIN (select @mysqlorder := CONCAT(@mysqlorder," JOIN2 ")) t2 on ((select @mysqlorder := CONCAT(@mysqlorder," ON2 ")) or rand() < 1)
where ((select @mysqlorder := CONCAT(@mysqlorder," WHERE ")) or IF(new_table.testdecimal = 1234.45,true,false))
group by (select @mysqlorder := CONCAT(@mysqlorder," GROUPBY ")),id
having (select @mysqlorder := CONCAT(@mysqlorder," HAVING "))
order by (select @mysqlorder := CONCAT(@mysqlorder," ORDERBY "));

select @mysqlorder;

And here is the output from above mysql query, hope you can figure out the mysql execution of a SELECT query :-

FROM  JOIN1  JOIN2  WHERE  ON2  ON1  ORDERBY  GROUPBY  SELECT  WHERE
  ON2  ON1  ORDERBY  GROUPBY  SELECT  HAVING  HAVING
Comment: Very nice. I love that you took an empirical approach to this. I wonder why for me it only prints "FROM  JOIN1  JOIN2  WHERE  ON2  ON1  HAVING" (MySQL v8.0.26).
Comment: Also: How come WHERE and HAVING are printed twice in your results?
Answer: It appears that the generalized pattern in Standard SQL for Logical Query Processing Phase is (at least from SQL-92 - starting on p.177) :

from clause
joined table
where clause
group by clause
having clause
query specification (ie. SELECT)

You can find and download newer Standard SQL Standardization documents from here:

https://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/Developer_FAQ#Where_can_I_get_a_copy_of_the_SQL_standards.3F

For MSSQL (since it tends to stay farily close to standard in my experience) the Logical Query Processing Phase is generally:

FROM <left_table>
ON <join_condition>
<join_type> JOIN <right_table>
WHERE <where_condition>
GROUP BY <group_by_list>
WITH {CUBE | ROLLUP}
HAVING <having_condition>
SELECT
DISTINCT
ORDER BY <order_by_list>
<TOP_specification> <select_list>

From: Chapter 1 of Ben-Gan, Itzik, et. al., Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2005: T-SQL Querying, (Microsoft Press)
Also: Ben-Gan, Itzik, et. al., Training Kit (Exam 70-461) Querying Microsoft SQL Server 2012 (MCSA), (Microsoft Press)

It should be noted that MySQL can be configured to operate closer to standard as well if desired by setting the SQL Mode (although probably only recommended for fringe cases):

https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.0/en/sql-mode.html

For MySQL, I searched both MySQL and MariaDB documentation and could find nothing other than the few statements that Gordon Linoff mentioned in passing that were in the MySQL documentation for SELECT.  They are:

If ORDER BY occurs within a parenthesized query expression and also is applied in the outer query, the results are undefined and may change in a future version of MySQL.
If LIMIT occurs within a parenthesized query expression and also is applied in the outer query, the results are undefined and may change in a future version of MySQL.
The HAVING clause is applied nearly last, just before items are sent to the client, with no optimization. (LIMIT is applied after HAVING.)
From MySQL JOIN Documentation:  Natural joins and joins with USING, including outer join variants, are processed according to the SQL:2003 standard

Given that a quick skim through of SQL-92 from "from clause" to "query specification" showed that the Logic can be conditional at times depending on how the query is written, and given that I could not find anything in the MySQL or MariaDB documentation (not saying it is not there, I just could not find it), and other articles on MySQL's Logical Query Processing Phase were conflicting in their order, it seems that the best way that MySQL gives to determine some sort of Logical Query Processing Phase (or at least the steps used for join optimization for the query plan) for a specific query is to do a trace on the query execution by doing the following (from MySQL documentation "Tracing The Optimizer/Typical Usage"):
# Turn tracing on (it's off by default):
SET optimizer_trace="enabled=on";
SELECT ...; # your query here
SELECT * FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.OPTIMIZER_TRACE;
# possibly more queries...
# When done with tracing, disable it:
SET optimizer_trace="enabled=off";

You can interpret the results by looking at MySQL documentation's Tracing Example.
Basically, it appears that you want to look for  "join_optimization" (which says that the from/join statements are being evaluated for the specific query, the specific query being the one stated as "Select#"), then look for "condition_processing: condition", and then "clause_processing: clause".  As it says in the MySQL documentation for General Trace Structure:

A trace follows closely the actual execution path: there is a join-preparation object, a join-optimization object, a join-execution object, for each JOIN... It is far from showing everything happening in the optimizer, but we plan to show more information in the future.

Interesting enough, I found that running a query like the following in MySQL gave me that its apparent process order for query optimization was FROM,WHERE,HAVING,ORDER BY, and then GROUP BY:
SELECT
    a.id
    , max(a.timestamp)
FROM database.table AS a
LEFT JOIN database.table2 AS b on a.id = b.id
WHERE a.id > 1
GROUP BY a.id HAVING max(a.timestamp) > 0
ORDER BY a.id

I am assuming that since "condition_processing" and "clause_processing" are within the "Select#" group that these are processed before SELECT - which lines up with SQL-99, but it is an assumption.
In terms of operators and variables, Zawodny, Jeremy D., et. al., High Performance MySQL, 2nd Edition, (O'Reilly) states that:

The := assignment operator has lower precedence than any other operator, so you have to be careful to parenthesize explicitly.

I only mention this since sometimes it may not be order of Logical Query Processing Phase as much as precedence of assignment operator when working with a variable, or variables, that could be an issue for troubleshooting if the query is not executing as thought.
Answer: I think the execution order is like this:
(7)     SELECT
(8)     DISTINCT <select_list>
(1)     FROM <left_table>
(3)     <join_type> JOIN <right_table>
(2)     ON <join_condition>
(4)     WHERE <where_condition>
(5)     GROUP BY <group_by_list>
(6)     HAVING <having_condition>
(9)     ORDER BY <order_by_condition>
(10)    LIMIT <limit_number>[, <offset_number>]

Comment: This is no the order of execution. This is the writing order...nothing to do with the execution order.
Comment: Why do you "think" that?  What's your source?
Comment: I think `SELECT` should be 5th

MySQL query / clause execution order


Need help installing QGIS 2.0 Need GDAL then SQLite3 3.7.16

Question: OSX 10.7.5  I need help installing QGIS 2.0   It says I then need GDAL.  When I try to install GDAL it says SQLite3 3.7.16 or newer framework is required.  I can't find SQLite3 3.7.16.
Answer: The KyngChaos page is full of all the software and updates that you should need for QGIS 2.0. I recently just downloaded the new QGIS and it is working well.
The SQLite3 3.7.16 is there about halfway down the page.
http://www.kyngchaos.com/software/frameworks
Comment: The user would be best suited by installing the GDAL_Complete.framework and possibly the GSL.framework (known to be needed by georeferencer plugin). Those should be the only supporting frameworks needed for a base Kyngchaos.com QGIS 2.0.1 install. If there is an error beyond that, please contact Kyngchaos.com about it.


Temperature in Condo hotter than thermostat setting- Gas Furnace

Question: I recently bought my first place (a condo) and I have a gas furnace. The thermostat is set for 72 and most of the time it seems to be following this alright but periodically even though the thermostat is still set at 72 the furnace comes on and the temperature in the condo goes up to around 77-87. There isn't a day/time setting on the thermostat (though the thermostat is digital). Any advice as to why this might be happening?
Comment: I would remove the thermostat from the wall and make sure the hole in the wall where the wires come through are sealed so no cold  draft will come out the hole and affect the thermostat. Sometimes it is as easy putting some putty into this hole to stop the draft.The draft could be from a kitchen or bath exhaust vent pulling air out of the house. If this is not the cause " no harm no foul"
Answer: I ended up having to call the furnace repairman. It turned out that the gas valve was stuck in the open position, leading to the overheating issue.


Which God has the 'Bird is the Word' dance emote?

Question: I've been pondering on this for the last hour or two, I can't remember at all which god it is and it's bugging me.
Comment: I didn't know that existed, maybe Ra?
Answer: The dance you are talking about is done by Hun Batz, but the actual reference for that dance is NOT "Bird is the Word".
It is a dance called 'The Monkey' that is known also as 'Johnny Bravo's' dance, and can be seen here.
Comment: That makes sense, I don't often play Hun Batz. Thanks :D


XPS viewer similar to Adobe PDF viewer

Question: Is there a way to open Microsoft XPS documents on Android, similar to the way Adobe PDF documents have "Adobe Reader for Android"? I took a look in the Market but I didn't find anything.
Answer: I'm looking for an XPS reader too.  Two points.  First, Google Docs Viewer supports .XPS files (Getting to know the Google Docs Viewer) but Google Docs Mobile Viewer does not, per my experience and this support page (Viewing files from within Google Docs).  I spent time trying because this cached page's article title is

Google Docs Mobile Viewer for Android, iPhone, iPad has Been Released

and has this list of tags that made me think I'd found a solution.

Article Tags:xps Android, xps viewer android, android xps,
  xps viewer for android, android xps viewer, android xps reader,
  XPS reader android

Second, perhaps if enough people show interest there will be an XPS Viewer available from the Android Market.  I added to the Android Market XPS Viewer Feature Request thread.
Comment: this is no longer true, see the other answers
Answer: I use Documento - office viewer to open XPS files.
Answer: There's an app called EBookDroid
Comment: Worth noting: this is open-source (always nice to be able to see what the apps you are installing are doing on your device)
Comment: No longer an open source app!
Answer: Docs Viewer is a free app on the Play Store that you can use to view XPS files and other documents in a big number of formats on your Android devices.
Answer: mupdf supports viewing XPS and is free / opensource:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.artifex.mupdf.viewer.app

XPS viewer similar to Adobe PDF viewer


Weird shadows in arrayed floors in EEVEE

Question: When sun light is at particular angle.
These weird shadows appears between floors.
how can i fix this?
in cycle it doesn't happen.
Answer: You need to increase the quality of shadows in the Render Properties panel. Play with them until they look good. Also, try to make sure the surface area of your light is as small as possible if you want sharper shadows, the larger the surface area, the softer the shadows will be.


This company is telling me that I need a firewall. Do I?

Question: Do I need to buy a firewall? The website networksecure247.com is trying to sell me one. They call and say that "alerts" keep coming up on my network. I have a 2013 Dell computer, and the firewall from Microsoft expired on August 16. This company, Network Secure, is telling me that I need a firewall. Do I?
Comment: `Alerts keep coming up on my network` sounds like something you'd hear said in an Indian accent by somebody claiming to be from the Microsoft department. In other words: To me it sounds like a scam. I hope you haven't followed any instructions given to you by those people.
Comment: How would some random company know about alerts on your network?
Comment: FYI that website is flagged as a phishing website.
Comment: "the firewall from Microsoft expired on August 16" -- Why do you think that?
Comment: How do they know your phone number?
Comment: @copper.hat these scammers call random numbers, they try their luck with anyone that answers and hope the person lacks basic common sense and takes out their wallet.
Comment: If _"the firewall from Microsoft"_ is the built-in Windows firewall, it's free and does not expire.
Comment: I'll just add my two cents. The site is a scam until proven innocent.
Comment: I usually ask them to tell me what IP address my network has, that these supposed alerts came up on. They generally hang up without another word. They've *never* taken a chance on me being bluffing and not knowing my own IP address, so I haven't even had to deal with them guessing a number. I suppose it's not in their script.
Answer: You needn't buy anything from someone who calls you unsolicited and tells you need to buy something from them.  In fact, you're generally better off not buying things from people who call you unsolicited.  In fact, you're generally better off not even listening to people who call you unsolicited to sell you things, and just hang up on them instead.  Particularly when they lie to you about things like "alerts keep coming up on your network" which is patently absurd.
The Microsoft firewall does not expire. Not on 8/16/16, or on any other date. It is a component of Windows and is good for all eternity, or as long as your computer lasts, whichever comes first.  There is no need to buy an additional host-based (runs on your computer, in other words) firewall.
Comment: Just hang up? Where's the fun in that? I much prefer to waste their time and keep them on the line, with a heave dose of trolling.
Comment: @AlexanderO'Mara Well that's an option too.  And if you have time to spare, there's an epic example of that tactic documented here: http://blog.drsolly.com/2016/04/the-tech-support-scam-saga.html
Comment: Ah, this is right up there with the "We see your computer has viruses, let us tunnel into your computer and steal your financial information so we can fix it for you"
Comment: In fact,  you are way better off after this answer :-)
Comment: @Xander And don't forget https://egbg.home.xs4all.nl/counterscript.html
Comment: @AlexanderO'Mara http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-37084009
Comment: s/needn't/*shouldn't*.
Answer: Xander answered the main question, so I'll focus on the unspoken half of your question - namely, the helpful people at networksecure247.com!
Glancing at their website, I can see:

Typos in their banners ("Hear to help you")
Weird formatting for their North America toll-free number (1800 is virtually always shown as '1 800' or '1-800')
Their telephone support line is a Skype line
Their website gives me no indication of what they actually do
Their website doesn't indicate what company they are or where they are registered
Frequent examples of English usage by a writer that is probably not a native English speaker, and perhaps not even human ("Detect virus and protect PC Less crashes No missing files Stability of computer Less errors Replacing Old PC with new one Buying up a new computer is never a recommended solution to the problem.")
Their Facebook link doesn't go anywhere

Any of those items alone is something that would embarrass a company and their web designer.
All of these together tell you this website is a scam. The company doesn't exist. It's a front for scam behaviour, so that they might fool their victims who might think I'm not sure exactly what they said, but their website sounds like they know what they're doing...
As Xander explained in a fantastic answer, this company can't know anything about your home computer's security or network settings. They are just phishing, hoping to manipulate you into doing something on your computer to give them access.
These calls can be difficult to interpret for non-technical people. It's always safe to just hang up on anyone calling you. If it was a legitimate, important call, they will follow up, often by mail. It is always best to assume that if you aren't expecting a call, the person is calling you for a reason that benefits them and not you. That applies to "honest" telemarketers as well as scammers.
Comment: I am not a mechanic and if people call me randomly saying I need to take my car to their garage, or that I need to change my water supply to their company, I wont think twice about scoffing at them. It is not about non technical people; it is about the gullible and the vulnerable elderly.
Comment: "this company can't know anything about your home computer's security or network settings" This is not true. If your computer is a zombie attacking their company, they know about your security and have a reason for an unsolicited call asking you to put a firewall. But receiving ALERT from another unrelated computer is indeed bullshit trying to scare you into buying their crapware(plus, how did they get your phone number from your IP?)
Answer: This is a well-known scam trick. The aim of the scammers is to get you to pay for their "services" whilst they pretty much destroy your computer under their ruse of installing a firewall.
There's a few main points you've mentioned:

Do you need to buy a firewall?
No. Windows Firewall is sufficient for home users, and doesn't ever expire.
'Alerts' are coming up on their network - This is an attempt to seem genuine. If they tell you that your computer is alerting them that it needs a firewall, you're more likely to buy the story. In reality, your computer should never normally tell a 3rd party that there's a problem - Windows has warnings built in that will only ever tell YOU.
The company is telling you that you need a firewall - every company that attempts to sell you something will say that you need it, this is part of Sales 101. Again, Windows will tell you if there's no active firewall.

I've also done a little of my own research - the WHOIS for that website is pretty much hidden. We know it's hosted by GoDaddy in Singapore, but it doesn't tell us who, or where it is registered. A reputable company usually has no issue displaying this information in their WHOIS data. Their website, as stated by Stefan Mohr is absolutely shocking, and is certainly not one I would trust to browse, let alone download any software from.
Unfortunately, there's not much more we can do about this. I would suggest you find a way of blocking the number from calling you and heed this information for the future. No-one at all should ever call you to tell you there's something wrong with your computer. If they do, it's pretty much 100% always a scam.
I will say that I'm glad you didn't just go ahead with it, and had the foresight to ask someone else first.


What is the difference between taxvat and vat_id

Question: \Magento\Customer\Api\Data\CustomerInterface has method getTaxvat() and \Magento\Customer\Api\Data\AddressInterface has method getVatId(). Do they store the same data? What is the difference?
Answer: They do not store the same data.
Customer address has a VAT ID field that is stored to the vat_id field in customer_address_entity table.
Customer entity on the other hand has a different Tax/Vat field that is used for example when customer is registering and he is put to certain customer group. This is stored in the taxvat field in customer_entity table.
Answer: The VAT ID is a proof that the company is registered for VAT and identifies the company for VAT related transactions, usually, it's in the form GB 12345678, where GB is the country 2 letter ISO code. You can read more about this here.
The TAX ID identifies the company to the inland revenue, which is separate from VAT related transactions.
Even if in some countries they are practically the same numbers, keep in mind that they serve different purposes.


Ultrasound receiver ringing suppression

Question: How can I limit the ringing time and amplitude of an ultrasonic receiver that has just been hit by an incoming wave? [Note - just adding a resistor in parallel does not work well]. Any known techniques?
Comment: Is a "wave" a large wet ocean resident thing that slaps your sensor about the ears while you are trying to monitor a return from elsewhere OR a signal? Answers will vary radically between the two. If it's a signal then you need to say more about what you are doing overall.
Comment: You may need to change its mechanical properties to reduce its Q : down in the audio frequency range, a thin coat of rubbery "dope" on a transmitter  diaphragm is sometimes used... for a microphone, sometimes damping behind the diaphragm is possible.
Comment: Are you talking about the bare transducer or a complete electronic module of some sort? In any case, the high Q is an important factor in both the sensitivity and selectivity of the system. Why is this bad in your application?
Comment: Assuming you're doing some sort of sonar operation, I've had to change the type of transducer to one with a lower 'Q' in order to detect response to an object that is nearby.
Comment: Air, 200kHz, bare transducer. I send it n cycles of sine wave, and want to receive n cycles and then kill the ringing as fast as possible after that. Using it off resonance does not work, because as soon as the sound stops driving it it will return to ringing at its resonant frequency. I need something to absorb the mechanical energy. Thinking maybe some kind of LRC in series/parallel
Answer: In a project some years ago I had this problem (it was a sonar ranging device intended for close quarters- to detect the approach of an irregular heap of material in an unfriendly environment). As background- the problem is that the transmit pulse of a sonar is enormous compared to the return pulse, and if the receive transducer is still ringing from the transmit pulse, you won't be able to reliably detect the return pulse, so objects close to the transducer might not be detectable.
The coupling of acoustic energy to the output is weak enough that passive damping was simply not possible- even shorting the transducer for a period during the transmit had little effect. I had to pick a transducer that had a lower 'Q' so that the ringing died out more quickly.
Downside to that is that the return signal level is lower, and there is more noise from frequencies that the transducer is not (mechanically) tuned to.
You might be able to modify the transducer by adding mechanical damping in the form of a energy-absorbing material as Brian Drummond suggested.
Answer: The sharpness of the passband of the transducer, its Q, and how long it "rings" are directly related.  Any one of these tells you the others without having to know anything about how the transducer actually works.
You therefore need a lower Q receiver.  Many receivers are deliberately tuned to a narrow band to reduce noise.  Often this is desirable, but it also leads to longer ringing.  In your case you want a lower Q receiver.  Look around.  Talk to the manufacturer of the one you are using as a start.  But, be prepared for the additional off-frequency noise such a receiver will pick up, and reduced sensitivity at your frequency.  Basically, you are looking more for a microphone that works at ultrasonic frequencies than a ultrasound receiver tuned to your specific frequency.
Answer: This is similar to a radio CTCSS tone squelch ringing issue.  what is done in a Radio CTCSS transmit circuit is to do one half cycle of Tone that is 180 degrees out of phase from the initial drive signal.  this electronically dampens the ringing.  In a radio the CTCSS signal is low frequency but the same principle would apply to a high frequency.  you may have to experiment with either just 1/2 wave or more to see what works best.

Ultrasound receiver ringing suppression


Why was the dead body of Saul cremated?

Question: We read in 1 Samuel 31 how Saul, his sons and generals killed themselves rather than surrender to Philistines.  The valiant men of Israel retrieved their dead bodies ,burned them and buried the bones under a tamarisk tree in Jabesh. Elsewhere, we see prominent men of Israel getting buried on their death. It is not clear why Israelites chose to cremate the dead body of Saul. What explanation do scholars offer for the same ? Inputs from any denomination are welcome.
Answer: Why was the dead body of Saul cremated?
Simply put it was a time of war and they probably feared that the Philistines might try to desecrate the bodies of the fall men of Israel. Cremation was not a Hebrew practice. Another possibility would be that the bodies started to smell due to putridication or infection.

Cremation was not a Hebrew practice, but in the present case was probably adopted to avoid the possibility of further insult to the bodies, if the Philistines should take Jabesh. The condensed account in Chronicles omits the mention of the burning. - Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

This "burning the corpse" was never the custom in Israel, and was restricted to criminals convicted of a crime of the deepest dye (Leviticus 20:14). The Jews in all cases buried their dead. The Chaldee therefore interpret the words relating this act of the men of Jabesh-Gilead, in the case of Saul and the princes, as referring to the solemn burning of spices, a ceremony which was afterwards performed at the burial of some of the kings of Judah. (See 2Chronicles 16:14; 2Chronicles 21:19; Jeremiah 34:5.) But the language used in these cases is different; here it is expressly stated that "they burnt them." The reason for their thus acting is clear. The mutilated trunks had been exposed for some days to the air, and the flesh was no doubt in a state of putrefaction. The flesh here only was burned. The bones (see next verse) were reverently and lovingly preserved, and laid to rest beneath the friendly shade of the great tamarisk tree of Jabesh. - Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

Valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons—Considering that Beth-shan is an hour and a half's distance, and by a narrow upland passage, to the west of the Jordan (the whole being a journey from Jabesh-gilead of about ten miles), they must have made all haste to travel thither to carry off the headless bodies and return to their own side of the Jordan in the course of a single night.
burnt them - This was not a Hebrew custom. It was probably resorted to on this occasion to prevent all risk of the Beth-shanites coming to disinter the royal remains for further insult. - Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

All the valiant men arose,.... Of the city of Jabeshgilead, fired with indignation at the Philistines' ill usage of Saul and the bodies of his sons:
and went all night; not only for secrecy, but for haste:
and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan, and came to Jabesh; brought them with them thither, the Philistines either having no knowledge of it, or not daring to oppose them:
and burnt them there: that is, the flesh of them, for the bones they buried, as in 1 Samuel 31:13; and this they did, contrary to the common usage of the country, which was not to burn; but this they did, that if the Philistines should come to recover them, they would not be able to do it: though the Targum is,
"they burnt over them, as they burn over their kings there;''they made a burning for them of spices over them; or of their beds, and other household goods, as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe, though they prefer the other sense; see 2 Chronicles 16:14 perhaps the true reason might be, because they were putrid and infectious. - Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
Answer: Probably because his body had already started rotting. It is possible that there may have been a few days between his death and the recovery of his body by the men of Jabesh-Gilead. I can't say that for sure but it is a possibility.

1 Samuel 31:8-13
8 It came about on the next day when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 They cut off his head and stripped off his weapons, and sent them throughout the land of the Philistines, to carry the good news to the house of their idols and to the people. 10 They put his weapons in the temple of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan. 11 Now when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all the valiant men rose and walked all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and burned them there. 13 They took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

Why was the dead body of Saul cremated?


If $A$ is self-adjoint, then is $\langle \psi |A \psi \rangle \in \sigma(A)$

Question: If $A$ is self-adjoint (not necessarily bounded), then is $\langle \psi |A \psi \rangle \in \sigma(A)$ where $\psi$ is a normalized vector in the domain of $A$? This seems to be true, but I can't think of a relatively easy way to prove it.
Comment: Why should it be true? For matrices this would imply that $\langle \psi | A \psi \rangle $ has only finitely many different values.
Comment: You may be thinking of the Courant min/max principle (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courant_minimax_principle), which relates eigenvalues to mins/maxes of expressions like the one you're thinking of.
Comment: What is $\psi$? In any case, I don't think this is true for arbitrary $\psi$ in your Hilbert space, even with very nice operators $A$. In fact, perhaps you want to ask a more specific or constrained version of the question?
Comment: Indeed, as @Chris comments, for bounded, self-adjoint $A$, the sup of such values over $|\psi|\le 1$ is $\pm$ the largest eigenvalue of $A$. This is also sometimes known as Rayleigh-Ritz theorem/principle, especially in finite dimensions.
Comment: $\langle A\psi,\psi\rangle$ is in the convex hull of the spectrum of $A$ if $\psi$ is a unit vector. That's all you can say.
Answer: If $A=A^*$ has unit eigenvectors $\psi_1$,$\psi_2$ with corresponding eigenvalues $\lambda_1\ne\lambda_2$, then $\psi_1\perp\psi_2$ and the following is a unit vector
$$
           \psi(t) = t\psi_1+\sqrt{1-t^2}\psi_2, \;\;\; 0 \le t \le 1.
$$
Furthermore,
$$
        \langle A\psi(dt),\psi(t)\rangle=\langle \lambda_1t\psi_1+\lambda_2\sqrt{1-t^2}\psi_2,t\psi_1+\sqrt{1-t^2}\psi_2\rangle \\
    = \lambda_1t^2+\lambda_2(1-t^2), \;\; 0 \le t \le 1.
$$
It follows that $\langle A\psi,\psi\rangle$ includes every value in $[\lambda_1,\lambda_2]$, even when there are no elements of the spectrum between $\lambda_1$ and $\lambda_2$.


What topical applications can assist wound healing and prevent scarring?

Question: I have used vitamin E to help prevent scarring.  Are there any other topical applications that can assist wound healing and prevent scarring?
Comment: Are you interested in therapies as well?
Answer: It greatly depends on the wound: is it clean or infected? A cut on an abrasion? Acute or chronic. Associated with disease (diabetes), immobility (pressure) or other? Is it a burn?
Honey is often overlooked. It is an antibacterial and a humectant, both helping wounds to heal better. Epidermal growth factor also helps but is not easy to get. Silver is preferred for burns (nanosilver is making an appearance). Collagen gels and other topicals are helpful. The body of literature is huge.
I like an ointment with lanolin and allantoin, both of which promote healing.
Honey: A Potent Agent for Wound Healing?
Wound healing dressings and drug delivery systems: A review
Topical treatments for hypertrophic scars
Systematic review of the use of honey as a wound dressing
Comment: You decided to come join the club. I read your response in chat but haven't replied yet.
Answer: There are many treatments that claim to reduce and improve the look of scars, however if they work, it's another thing.
You may find here Daily Mail reviews of various treatments, however remember, you should always talk to your surgeon or doctor before starting a treatment.

Here are my cherry picks:

Silicone patches are effective over a wound which seems to help a scar to heal better.
Aloe vera gel on the skin and Vitamin E cream as you suggested.

Alternative medicine.
Please don't expect any miracles here.

therapeutic ultrasound
There are three primary benefits to ultrasound:

Speeding up of the healing process from the increase in blood flow in the treated area.
Decrease in pain from the reduction of swelling and edema.
Gentle massage of muscles tendons and/ or ligaments in the treated area because no strain is added and any scar tissue is softened.

If the scar is old, it may trigger natural healing by increasing local blood flow.
infrared sauna (alternative to Sun)
This therapy which can assist with wound healing by deep penetrating heat human tissue and increased blood delivery to the surface of the skin which can speed up healing.
dermatological roller
You may also try dermatological roller which simply is damaging old skin tissue in order to re-heal.
C60/EVOO (C60 in Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
C60/EVOO is an strong anti-oxidant at intracellular level which results in better functioning mitochondria.
Studies in 2009 showed that fullerene nanomaterials potentiate hair growth:

In SKH-1hairless mice fullerene derivatives given topically or subdermally markedly increased hair growth. This was paralleled by a significant increase in the number of hair follicles in fullerene-treated mice as compared with those mice treated with vehicle only. The fullerenes also increased hair growth in human skin sections maintained in culture. These studies have wide-ranging implications for those conditions leading to hair loss, including alopecia, chemotherapy, and reactions to various chemicals.
[...] We report that fullerene derivatives accelerate the growth of hair in mice and human skin. [...]

Dr. Moussa has studied the effects of C60 on animals for 18 years and claim C60 in olive oil is safe and anti-toxic (has no toxicity effects).
One researcher who was/is taking C60-EVOO orally/topically for over 3 years, claims:

More youthful skin. Skin pinch test went from 1-2 seconds to 0 seconds. (I had very youthful skin to begin with).
  Two small scars from 8 years ago have disappeared. Two similar scars of much older vintage did not.
  Strengthening of nails, hair regrowth, and the disappearance of small scars that I have observed from my own use could be the result of stem cell action.

However based on my experience, it could work differently on different people, but it's worth to try just topically (e.g. before dermarolling skin).
Comment: The Daily Mail is a disreputable paper, with many unsubstantiated health claims in articles. Just wanted to point that out. Also, while true scars do undergo remodeling, *nothing, but nothing*, can make them disappear.
Comment: Your only scientifically-backed source here pertains to hair-growth. You have no evidence supporting your other claims. Additionally, longcity and researchgate are both broken links, making your total reliable sources 0.


matlab gui- use a button as a switch

Question: I'm programming a robot that has a link to a matlab software.
It an image processing program.
I have programmed the most of the program, now I need to design the gui.
I need to do some sort of switch with the main program, as so:
when I push button 1- program starts run and data analysis.
when I push button 2- program stop running.
main function=> main(preImage) when preImage is a constant 640*480 image.
How can I do it?
Where do I need to set that loop?
Answer: <code>flag <- false

main()
{
  while(1)
  {
    while(flag)
    {
      //your code to analyze data
    }
  }
}

button1_clicked()
{
  flag <- true
}

button2_clicked()
{
  flag <- false
}
</code>

matlab gui- use a button as a switch


Creating realistic shadow of an irregular object

Question: Can someone either point me to a tutorial on how to do this or tell me how? I'm working on an illustration of headphones and I need to make it look as thought the wire coming out of the headphones is sitting on a table and the light source is above and casting the shadow slightly to the left.I did the below test but it looks more like you are looking at the wire from an x/y axis. Any help? Thanks!
Comment: You've got a pretty good start. I think what you're missing is an actual shadow on the wire. Because without it, it just looks flat, but the shadow underneath is good in my opinion!
Answer: If you have a camera, headphones, and a desk lamp, then set it up and take the shot! Then study how the lighting affects the headphone cable. It's better to work from real life than to try and make it work, particularly if you don't already have experience doing so.
As Johannes said in his comment, the wire needs a shadow.
Depending on where the light source is and how strong it is, you might also benefit a gradient that maybe makes the left side a bit darker than the right. Finally, if you do something like that, then the table could use some gradation as well.
Your current shadow is pretty good, slight pixelation aside. It might benefit you to have some ever-so-slight shadowing where the cord hits the table as well. Even if something's flat on the table, it's probably doing some kind of casting.


Can't find an internal IP address of device connected to LAN

Question: Local LAN, Ubuntu laptop and Viasat Surfbeam SM2101 modem are connected to the router, wired connection. I can't find an internal IP address of satmodem connected to the router. Router only show laptop connected. I tried scan network range 192.168.1.0 - 192.168.1.255 use angry ip scanner, nmap, but they does not show satmodem. I'm not sure does it have DHCP enabled or not, there is no reset button. I tried also directly connect ethernet port of satmodem to the laptop and scan with ip scanner, also use nmap -sP 192.168.1.0/24, but it does not show it. The Network LED indicator on the modem is light means it working. I have no manual on that device, but in the configuration Guide for old version of satmodem was specified that during modem configuration, the "Support PC's Operating System" should be configured for a static IP address of 192.168.1.2. Not sure that that's the case, as such configuration was used in quite old hardware.
Comment: The internal IP address of linux laptop is assigned by router, it's within 192.168.1.x
Comment: Alternatively, the satmodem has a static address within a different network, the only othe rpossibility being *192.168.0.0*. To establish whether this is the case, give your Linux pc and address within 192.168.0.0/24, then try a scan as *nmap -Pn -sn 192.168.0.0/24*.
Comment: What is the IP address of your linux pc?
Comment: Did you try *nmap -Pn -T5 -A 192.168.1.2*?
Answer: Please update your question with the exact brand and model of the Satmodem.
Ideas:
1) Start tcpdump -i eth0 (or Wireshark) on laptop, connect satmodem directly to laptop, see if it broadcasts anything (like a DHCP request).
2) You probably did that, but when scanning for IPs, make sure you have the correct address and netmask statically assigned to eth0 (check with ip addr), and no other program tries (e.g. network manager) tries to interfere with that.
3) Connect satmodem directly to laptop, statically assign each of the complete private network ranges to it, scan complete range. Start with 192.168.0.0/16.
4) Sometimes embedded devices behave differently directly after startup when the boot loader is running, e.g. they may react to different static IPs etc. Or there may be special modes you can get into by pressing the power switch for a longer time etc. This might provide an angle.
Comment: How did you scan? `nmap` and portscanners can set the scan interval (which is often "polite" by default). As you are scanning LAN, you can crank this up to max, this will scan much faster. Another idea: Use `ping -b` to do a broadcast ping (not all devices respond to that), or try `arping`.
Comment: 1)I tried `sudo tcpdump -v -i eth0`, modem does not broadcasts anything, only PC communicates. 2) I've checked the connection information, all looks correct. 3) I tried scan the range `192.168.0.0/16`, only laptop IP was found after about 30min scan, but I didn't wait until it finished scanning the full range as it take too long time. I haven't tried a private address space `10.0.0.0/8`, not sure it could be within these range, this range is very broad. 4) it have no separate power button. Also, sometimes hardware are somehow "glued" to the last IP address, and only full reset can unbind it.
Comment: First I used Zenmap with 'regular scan' profile, then tried 'Quick scan' (nmap -T4 -F), both seems slow. Also angry ip scanner with default settings.
Comment: Ok, I tried ping scan (nmap -sn), and managed to got it, 192.168.100.1


Different words for clothing

Question: Whats the difference between kasah (covering) and labash (covering)? And when we look to clothes then what's the difference between kesut and lebush? And what about beged (cloths) ? Please show me some examples from the Torah, and define them for me.
Comment: J.Levi welcome to Mi.Yodeya - Hope you stick around and continue to contribute with your questions and answers.
Comment: Related: http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/35583
Answer: Malbim has an entry in his "Ya'ir Or" about different words for clothing. I will summarize his opinion regarding the words you are asking about.

בגד: This is a general term that refers to all types of clothing. (E.g. Exod. 29:5, Judg. 14:13)
כסות: A garment that is not intended to be worn in the normal way, but rather to just cover up with. (E.g. Job 31:19)
לבוש: A garment that is not intended for everyday, every-person wear, but rather for special occasions or special people. (E.g. Esther 4:2, 6:8; Prov. 31:22)

Now for the verb forms, it's kind of the same idea:

לבש: To wear something in the conventional sense. (E.g. I Sam. 28:8, Num. 20:28)
כסה: To use something as a covering without necessarily wearing it normally. (Or, it seems, even when wearing normally, if the primary reason is to cover up one's nudity.) (E.g. I Sam 19:13, Ezek. 18:7)
Comment: Not to hold you accountable for the Malbim, but aren't the Kohen's (special people and occassion) clothing called בגד?
Answer: Chosem Tachanus page 166 (by Abraham Bedersi) explains the following differences. The word Levush is the standard word for clothing. Beged is something which is not worn - for example U'beged Klayim Shaatnez. Kesus is used for something that covers over. Simla is something you lay upon. Meil is a valuable type of clothing which prestigious people wear.
Comment: Shouldn't it be Chosem Tochnis? ([Ezekiel 28:12](http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1228.htm#12))
Comment: What about the regular term for Tallith Katan = Beged?
Comment: Shaatnez is for things you don't wear?

Different words for clothing


How to find value of beta = (mu*Cox)(W/L)/2 of MOSFET in ngspice

Question: How to find value of \$\beta = \frac 1 2 \mu \cdot Cox \cdot \frac W L\$ of MOSFET in ngspice? Is there any command that displays that? The 'show' command displays many parameters but it doesn't display value of beta's value. Is there any other way by which we can find its accurate value?
Answer: The SPICE deck determines these values; therefore, there is not a way to explicitly extract these values in ngspice.  If you have a level 0 model, you can easily get these from the model file; otherwise, you find that \$\mu\$, for instances changes.  What I would to is sweep the FET from the gate with the process voltage as \$V_{ds}\$.  You can then do a quadratic fit from threshold to about a volt beyond.
Answer: You will need to dig into your MOSFET's .model file.  W & L of course are parameters you set, \$ \mu \cdot Cox \$ is known as KP in most model files, TOX is Oxide thickness.


Are there any examples of neural networks that take two samples as input with a label of {same class, different class}?

Question: There must be examples of this, though I haven't been able to find any. Maybe I don't know what to search for.
Comment: Do you have any data-sample?
Comment: I don't, though if you want an example imagine I took all pairs of digits in MNIST and assigned each pair the label "same" if they were in the same class and "different" if they were in a different class.
Answer: Yes. This is how a face recognition algorithm might work for example, where two pictures might be of the same person or different person.
To build such a system, just pair up your data in a training set, double the input vector space and run a binary classifier that outputs "true" if the two items are the same. Any ML classifier could be adapted to this problem.
In practice, you may want more control over classification, and be robust against new classes that your algorithm has not seen before. A big problem in face recognition is the large number of potential classes, including classes not seen in training data, coupled with an equally large variance of images in the wild. This means that a naive approach as above will have poor performance in practice.
There is a more sophisticated approach: Triplet Loss. This requires that you train with three inputs for each example. Unlike the naive version:

The input is one image at a time. You train in triplets - an "anchor", and a postive match, and a negative match, in order to calculate one loss value for backprop.
The output is not a same/different class, but a vector description of the object. Similarity of objects is the distance between vectors. You do not need a label for this vector, even though this is supervised learning, thanks to how the loss function works.
The loss function is based on difference of distance from anchor example to positive example compared with a desired higher distance to negative example. This encourages learning key features of the inputs by making distance between vectors low (ideally zero) when they represent the same class, and as high as possible when they represent different classes.

In both the naive approach and triplet loss approach, you need to be careful about selecting training data. You want to make the learning algorithm work hard to learn key differences, otherwise it is too easy to get a good loss. So taking MNIST as an example, when looking at negative matches, you want to pair up more (1, 7), (3, 2), (3, 8), (4, 9) etc pairs than (0,1), (9, 5). There are ways to drive this selection based on feedback from previous training epoch.