Vitamin A dose for 7 month old

Question: Is there a recommended vitamin A dose for 7 month old babies in some countries? Is it good to have a Vitamin A supplementation at that age? I heard too much vitamin A is not good during pregnancy, but I am not sure how about the first year of the baby.
Comment: we can't know this. Vitamin deficiency depends in a large part on diet. Is he still breastfeeding (in which case does the mother have a vitamin A deficiency?) or is there some underlying medical condition? Why are you worried about vitamin A specifically?
Comment: Asking strangers on the internet medical questions is not a good idea, because we aren't all highly trained medical professionals and are more likely than not to give you the wrong answer. If your baby's doctor recommended or prescribed Vit A, I suggest you address your concerns, including what you've heard, with them. They know your baby, where the baby lives, the causes and effects of Vit A deficiency and the risks and benefits of treating it. Thanks.
Answer: Please see the full text of the review by Imdad et al (2017) for the benefits
and side effects of the supplementation.
This review (and my answer) does not address recommendations for areas
without vitamin A deficiency.
Note that giving too much vitamin A can be harmful
(Hypervitaminosis
A).
Therefore, like any supplement, vitamin A supplements should generally
only be given if there is a risk of vitamin A deficiency, which
depends on the child's health and nutrition - in particular, vitamin A
deficiency is rare in developed countries.
Please consult a medical or nutrition professional before deciding to give supplements.

Is it good to have a Vitamin A supplementation at that age?

Whether it is "good" or not, depends on the specific case.
In areas with significant Vitamin A deficiency, supplementation is beneficial:

Vitamin A supplementation is associated with a clinically meaningful
reduction in morbidity and mortality in children.

There are general recommendations for some countries, or, more
exactly, areas with vitamin A deficiency (VAD). For example, see:
World Health Organization (2011) Vitamin A supplementation for
infants and children 6-59 months of age:
https://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/micronutrients/guidelines/vas_6to59_months/en/
According to a more recent Cochrane review of 47 studies across 19
countries (Imdad et al., 2017), for 7 month-old children living in
areas with vitamin A deficiency, the recommended vitamin A dose is
100,000 IU every six months.
Imdad A, Mayo-Wilson E, Herzer K, Bhutta ZA. Vitamin A supplementation
for preventing morbidity and mortality in children from six months to
five years of age. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2017, Issue
3. Art. No.: CD008524. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD008524.pub3 :
https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD008524.pub3/full
Again, please see the full text of the review for the benefits and
side effects (added in bold) of the supplementation. And, again,
this review (and my answer) does not address recommendations for
areas without vitamin A deficiency.

The World Health Organization (WHO) currently recommends [vitamin A
supplementation (VAS)] to children between 6 and 59 months of age,
in a dose of 100,000 IU for children aged 6 to 12 months and a dose
of 200,000 IU for children aged one to five years, every six months.
Based on updated results, we suggest continuing this policy for
children under five years of age in areas at risk of [vitamin A
deficiency (VAD)]. However, the global policy for universal VAS must
be revisited for populations where VAD no longer remains a public
health issue and VAD-associated deaths have markedly declined
(Stevens 2015). [...]

(from the abstract:)

A meta-analysis for
all-cause mortality included 19 trials (1,202,382 children). At
longest follow-up, there was a 12% observed reduction in the risk of
all-cause mortality for vitamin A compared with control using a
fixed-effect model (risk ratio (RR) 0.88, 95% confidence interval
(CI) 0.83 to 0.93; high-quality evidence). [...] Nine trials
reported mortality due to diarrhoea and showed a 12% overall
reduction for VAS (RR 0.88, 95% CI 0.79 to 0.98; 1,098,538
participants; high-quality evidence). There was no significant
effect for VAS on mortality due to measles, respiratory disease, and
meningitis. VAS reduced incidence of diarrhoea (RR 0.85, 95% CI 0.82
to 0.87; 15 studies; 77,946 participants; low-quality evidence) and
measles (RR 0.50, 95% CI 0.37 to 0.67; 6 studies; 19,566
participants; moderate-quality evidence). However, there was no
significant effect on incidence of respiratory disease or
hospitalisations due to diarrhoea or pneumonia. There was an
increased risk of vomiting within the first 48 hours of VAS (RR
1.97, 95% CI 1.44 to 2.69; 4 studies; 10,541 participants;
moderate-quality evidence).
Vitamin A supplementation is associated
with a clinically meaningful reduction in morbidity and mortality in
children. Therefore, we suggest maintaining the policy of universal
supplementation for children under five years of age in populations
at risk of VAD.

See also:
Imdad, A., Yakoob, M.Y., Sudfeld, C. et al. Impact of vitamin A
supplementation on infant and childhood mortality. BMC Public Health
11, S20 (2011) doi:10.1186/1471-2458-11-S3-S20 :
https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-11-S3-S20
Map of areas with vitamin A deficiency:
https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-11-S3-S20/figures/13

American Academy of Pediatrics ( https://www.aap.org/ ) has no
recommendations on vitamin A supplementation for children that I could
find at the time of writing (compare this to well-known and publicized
recommendations for vitamin D supplementation)
"vitamin A" site:https://www.aap.org: https://www.google.com/search?q=%22vitamin+A%22+site%3Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.aap.org
"vitamin D" site:https://www.aap.org: https://www.google.com/search?q=%22vitamin+D%22+site%3Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.aap.org

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Dietary Supplements
(ODS) is rather terse regarding vitamin A supplementation in the
United States and other developing countries, see: NIH ODS, Vitamin
A: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals, October 11, 2019:
https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminA-HealthProfessional/ :

Frank vitamin A deficiency is rare in the United States. However,
vitamin A deficiency is common in many developing countries, often
because residents have limited access to foods containing preformed
vitamin A from animal-based food sources and they do not commonly
consume available foods containing beta-carotene due to poverty.
[...]
In developed countries, clinical vitamin A deficiency is rare in
infants and occurs only in those with malabsorption
disorders. However, preterm infants do not have adequate liver stores
of vitamin A at birth and their plasma concentrations of retinol often
remain low throughout the first year of life. Preterm infants with
vitamin A deficiency have an increased risk of eye, chronic lung, and
gastrointestinal diseases.
[...]

(In other words, again, vitamin A supplementation should be
case-dependent and under supervision of a medical professional)

The federal government's 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for
Americans notes that "Nutritional needs should be met primarily from
foods. ... Foods in nutrient-dense forms contain essential vitamins
and minerals and also dietary fiber and other naturally occurring
substances that may have positive health effects. In some cases,
fortified foods and dietary supplements may be useful in providing one
or more nutrients that otherwise may be consumed in
less-than-recommended amounts."
Comment: Thanks to all for edits! I expanded and clarified the answer in the spirit of your suggestions, as well as "first, do no harm" principle. I also slightly reconciled the edits of @sleske and anongoodnurse in the first part. Deleted my old comments as they are no longer needed.
Comment: @DavidHedlund: Well, the problem is not information off the internet, but information that is relevant to the local situation. But I agree - the answer should point out that vitamin supplements are only required if there is a risk of deficiency. I edited to try and clarify. Hope that's ok.
Comment: Also what is very important to note is diet. Even in area's of vitamin A deficiency the case a) breast feeding, b) formula (which often contain extra vitamins), c) "regular" nutrition are very different.
Comment: Nice edits! +1.
Comment: I agree, +1. I'm still of the opinion that this kind of question is not a good fit for this site, but that's not a criticism of your answer.

Vitamin A dose for 7 month old


What is this small space-themed set from possibly the early 90's?

Question: I have a bunch of LEGO bricks mixed together.  I recognize a few of them as going together for some small set that I no longer have the instructions for.  I believe I got this set in the early 90's.  The minifigure rode some sort of small contraption.  What set is this?
Comment: Welcome to Bricks.SE!
Answer: This is most probably Ice Planet Scooter:
Answer: Ice Planet - Looks like Star Wars before Legos marketed for Star Wars.
https://lego.brickinstructions.com/en/lego_instructions/set/1711/Ice_Planet_Scooter
Comment: @mindstormsboi No, your point made sense, because the older answer from the day before seems to have more useful information in the link there. This answer doesn't seem to contribute much that the other answer didn't already have.
Comment: The link does not seem to bring any more useful information.
Comment: @mindstormsboi It contains the building schematics and a picture of the rest of the result. It's a source. There's nothing wrong with the link.
Comment: Oh, I was paying attention to the orange box saying ther's  no instructions and yet there are instructions. Couldn't you have clarified that?


Can a district rescind an offer of employment?

Question: I applied and interviewed for a school counselor position--I am highly qualified, have experience and fantastic references. The principal called me at 6 pm to offer me the position. I said I wanted to speak with HR to discuss the salary in the morning. The Board met that evening and an internal applicant who is NOT certified but wants the school counselor position came forward, and the board voted against hiring me--the principal called me in the morning to rescind the offer of employment. Can they hire someone who is not qualified and rescind my offer of employment? Are they not obligated to hire the most qualified applicant?
Comment: Talk to a labor lawyer.
Answer:
Can a district rescind an offer of employment?

Yes.
Any contractural offer can be withdrawn so long as it has not been accepted. You did not accept it, so the withdrawal is legal.

Can they hire someone who is not qualified ...

That depends on the particular law that mandates the qualification.
As a general principle, anyone is allowed to work at anything unless there is a law that says "you cant do job X unless you have qualification/licence/accreditation/whatever Y."
So you need to actually read that law. Some allow a grace period for a person to do X while they get Y and some are outright prohibitions. And there are some things that people think require a specific qualification because everybody has one but there is actually no legal requirement.
For example, I'm a qualified arbitrator, adjudicator and mediator. I need the qualification to work as the first one in australia and I it to work as the second in queensland but not new-south-wales but I don't need it anywhere to work as the last one - most mediators have qualifications but they are not legally required. I am not a qualified lawyer because I don't need to be to work as any of the above and, indeed, merely being a lawyer does not allow you to work as an arbitrator.

… and rescind my offer of employment?

The eligibility of the person they chose to hire has no bearing on their decision not to hire you.
If they have hired an unqualified person then that is for the relevant regulator to deal with and has nothing to do with you.

Are they not obligated to hire the most qualified applicant?

No they are not.
Employers have the discretion to choose the applicant they consider the "best". And they can assess how your better qualifications weigh up against someone else's past history with the organisation.
Provided they do not consider things that they are not permitted to consider under discrimination law and that the process is not corrupt, they can weight the various factors how they wish.
However, if an employer has stated that they will weight various applications is a specific way, then they have to do that.
Answer: It is highly likely that you misunderstood the principal, or the principal was mistaken, in making the offer. "Offers" from the principal / department head etc. are not generally actual offers because the principal is not authorized to make an offer, they are contingent on approval by the overseeing board. I assume the principal didn't give you a letter (which typically states the contingent nature of the offer).
The board has the sole discretion to determine which candidate is "most qualified". That candidate isn't necessarily "the one who is certified" or "the one with the longest CV". It is possible that there is a specific qualifications law in your jurisdiction, and it would matter which school district you are talking about / whether this is a public vs. private school.
Comment: Public school. I believe that certification is a mandate and if a district hires someone who is not appropriately certified, the district will have to submit some sort of justification, such as "no qualified applicants" or some such-which obviously they cannot say without lying.


Is there any methods to avoid the pcr control contamination?

Question: Why do I use the primers in the D1-D2 region to amplify the fungus, and using water as a negative control has a weak band that is the same size as the target fragment? When using the ITS primer, using water as a negative control in the ITS region, there is no band. why does this happen?
Comment: Can you add some more information on the regions and also your protocol? What do you do for the PCR and how do you do your controls.
Comment: It would be great if you could use the edit function to add this information to the question. To understand this right, if you amplify the D1-D2 region and use water as a negative control you get a weak band, when you do the same blank control on the ITS region (with the ITS primers of course) you get a blank negative control?
Comment: I use the NL-1F and NL-4R primers to amplify the D1-D2 region of fungi, using the Thermal cracking method to obtain the fungi DNA template. Control does't add DNA template. PCR program is 95℃ 5min, 95℃  30s, 51.5℃ 30s,72℃ 1min,72℃ 5min, 4℃.36 cycles. The electrophoresis result is that the control has a weak band. I use the ITS1-F and ITS4-R primers to amplify the ITS region. Only change the annealing temperature to 55℃。The control doesn't have band. why does this happen?
Comment: yes, i use water as a negative control has a weak band that is the same size as the target fragment, when amplifying the D1-D2 region? When using the ITS primer, using water as a negative control in the ITS region, there is no band. why does this happen? thank you very much.
Answer: I think you have a contamination problem. Most likely the primer used to amplify the D1-D2 region are contaminated with your DNA. This can happen easily and underscores the importance of proper negative controls.
Since your negative control with another gene is clean, this points against a contamination of your other reagents (dNTPs, water) or even your pipette (yes, this can happen and I have seen this in the lab). Otherwise the negative control of this reaction would show a band as well. I suppose that all reagents except the primers are the same for both reactions, so this clearly points to a contamination of the primers.
This is easy to solve: Make a fresh dilution of your primer working stock - preferrably at another working space where you do not work with your fungal DNA. If possible use filter tips when doing PCR work to avoid cross contamination of samples.
Comment: I don't think you can say where the contamination is and would treat all reagents and pipettors as potentially contaminated. The contamination could be  D1-D2 PCR product which would explain the other control being OK.
Comment: I agree with Chris. You don't want to have handled amplified PCR product at the same workstation (or with the same pipettes) used for setting up reactions or diluting primer stocks. Filter tips are strongly recommended. And I'd also consider decontaminating all of your work stations and pipettes with a diluted bleach solution or something like DNAzap (check pipette user manual for cleaning instruction first to make sure it won't cause damage, but shouldn't).
Comment: @Michael_A I would agree, if the negative control of the other gene would also show a band. Since it doesn't (and I suppose that all reagents except the primers are the same between these two reactions) this is highly unlikely.


What's an inexpensive substitute for Port wine?

Question: Is there a good substitute for port? It's for a slow cooked pork loin recipe. I'm not concerned about the alcohol, but I would like to keep the cost down.
Answer: Decent port is not necessarily expensive; you may find yourself spending more on the meat.  For example, Sandeman's Founders Reserve 750 ml runs about US$15 before taxes, Dow's Fine Tawny 750 ml is about US$13, and Graham's Six Grapes Ruby 750 ml is about US$8 (and this is just the start of the list).  These are, perhaps, not the connoisseur's choices, but they are hardly undrinkable.  Depending on the laws where you live, you (or your favorite wine shop) can order any of these online from a variety of sources.
Port has a unique character that is not easy to replicate with any other wine or fortified wine.  If you are trying to replicate a result, do not substitute.  If you really want something else that will serve the same role even if it will taste different, I would look to a Madeira, a cream sherry, or sweet Marsala (depending on your tastes).
Comment: You make an excellent point. Jeff Smith who wrote "The Frugal Gourmet Cooks With Wine" stated that you need to make a decision when using wine. Either you want to showcase the wine you are drinking with the meal or showcase the dish you have prepared with wine as a compliment to your meal. I think I will buy the ruby port and if I can't find a cheap bottle I'll just "suck it up" and pay the listed price per bottle.


The service has not been started

Question: Warning: I installed Ubuntu manually. 18.04 is installed, and when I run it manually from the Windows 10 PowerShell it opens. When I attempt to open Ubuntu in the Programs list by clicking on the Windows logo and clicking on Ubuntu it fails with the message above. If I open services I see nothing for Ubuntu so the fail makes sense. There is a longer error note as follows:
C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\CanonicalGroupLimited.Ubuntu18.04onWindows_1804...\ubuntu1804.exe above the fail. I follow all this to double click on the executable and a window flashes open and closed in a millisecond. Uninstalling and reinstalling results in the same behavior. I had to stop working 15 years ago so I'm no longer well versed in Unix or Windows much less Linux. If you have an answer please phrase it as you would for a junior high school student. Thanks.
Comment: Ru this as admin in CMD `sc stop LxssManager & sc start LxssManager`.
Comment: Can't read file "LxssManager"  Then it opened what looked like a spreadsheet with capital letters along the top edge and numbers down the left side. The same error message appeared when I tried to click on the program listing and there's no service listing.
Answer: Turns out that WSL was never meant to run anything other command-line Ubuntu. I was referred to a Microsoft page which said Gnome, etc. will not operate under the Linux Subsystem; it was never intended for that.

The service has not been started


How to prevent commands being removed from history?

Question: I have noticed that when I go up through my commands using the arrow keys, UP and DOWN, that if I then edit a command, it edits it in history, and I can even remove a command like that, however I do not want it to have this affect on the commands in history, I don't want it to actually delete them in the history, only allow me to edit what I am typing, but not actually modify the history through this. So how can I make it so that this does not actually modify the history, but just the command that I execute?
Answer: I asked something quite similar in Unix & Linux: How to undo changes in the commands-history?.
The great answer I got from Gilles says:

As long as you've edited a history entry but not pressed
  Enter yet, to go back to the original entry, repeatedly
  press Ctrl+_ — the undo command — until it
  doesn't make any further change. You're back to the original entry.
Comment: So is there no way to disable the feature which means you are allowed to edit and delete previous entries?
Comment: @fedorqui it's stored in your home directory in a file called .bash_history (if you're using bash)
Comment: If you check the information with `history`, you will see it stores the initial info. So the data that is being changed is not that one, but the one you access through the arrows (which I don't know where it is stored).
Answer: I encountered the same problem and while I was playing around and struggling to understand what was happening, I just figured out the following:
If you call from the history a command line that you have actually typed earlier in that same current terminal session and then edit it (maybe deleting it) but then interrupt your edit by leaving that (history-)command line using for instance the Down arrow to come back to the prompt of the actual current command line, then later on when you exit the terminal the edits get recorded in the .bash_history file.
This behavior does not happen if you edit and interrupt your edit on a command line that was already recorded in the .bash_history file before you started the terminal session.
In other words, while a terminal session is open, the newly typed command lines are only kept in memory, not in the .bash_history. You can recall them using the up arrow or invoking the history commands, and you can edit them while the session is open (when invoking the historycommand, the lines of modified commands will then be indicated by an asterisk *). It's only when you exit the session that the commands of the session get recorded 'as is' in the .bash_history file, thereby keeping the last edits you have made on them before exiting the session.
See also the answer from falconer there.


After upgrading to El Capitan, Preview opens the sidebar. How can I permanently disable it without having coding skills?

Question: After upgrading to El Capitan, Preview opens the sidebar. How can I permanently disable it without having coding skills? I saw other answers to this annoying problem, but I don't have the capacity to do it and don't want to mess up my computer trying it. Is there an alternative?
Answer: This should work. Type the following in Terminal:
cd ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Preview/Data/Library/Preferences/

defaults write com.apple.Preview PVPDFSuppressSidebarOnOpening true


Proper Way to Address a President in a Formal Letter

Question: I am supposed to write a formal letter in Chinese addressing a president concerning  the rise of hunger in the country. I am not sure how to address someone in the said position but I have knowledge on other positions.
Answer: President of a country (e.g. The United States) is called 总统 in Chinese
A President or Chairman of a political party (e.g. Communist Party of China ) is called 主席
To formally address The President of a country in writing, you should use an honorific like 阁下 or 先生 or even 大人 and call him 总统阁下; 总统先生 or even 总统大人 (kind of too old fashion and too humble if you ask me)
Example:
奥巴马(name) 总统(title) 阁下 (honorific)
习近平(name) 总书记(title) 阁下 (honorific)
Edit:
Sometimes people would call 習近平主席/总书记 as 'President Xi'
Even Wikipedia refers 習近平 as 'President'
President of the People's Republic of China
Answer: Addressing leader of the country is not simple. There are head of state, leader of the ruling party, head of government, command-in-chief of the military, and many more. Some countries have these roles split but some countries have one person holding multiple roles. In the latter case, one person can be president, chairman, and general. But there is only one preferred (correct) way to address this person.
For China, Xi is head of state (as president), but also chairman of the ruling party. So although in English, he is "president Xi". He's never 习总统 in mainland China,always 习主席. Head of government for China is 李克强总理 Premier Li Keqiang.
Kim Jun Un is "the supreme leader". And you still remember Colonel Gaddafi?
So for your case, you need to find out what country it is and address correctly. If it's just a hypothetical country, then using 总统 is fine.


Abnormal overheating Rpi3

Question: My raspberry pi gives me heat warning after 5 minutes it is turned on. I tried heat sink on my Pi and the only difference it made that it gave me warning after 10 to 15 mins rather giving it the moment it was turned on. Now i used fan along with heat sink. It dropped the temperature to 56 degree celsius. This is a quite abnornal behaviour. I am not running ANY program on pi and CPU usage is always 1 to 7 percent.
Comment: Does it have good ventilation?
Comment: Yes it has. It has the same environment and peripherals and everything before it was overheating. I dont know why but it has started overheating to abnornal level from few days back.
Comment: What are you running on it? I used to have a RPi3 that I would run mining software on and I always ran a fan with it. With a fan the cpu temp hovered at around 50 degrees celcius
Answer: This is likely caused by a faulty (over-voltage) power supply, static damage, over-loading the 3V3 rail, over-loading a GPIO or some other wiring mistake.
Answer: Apart from raspberry pi, I have seen in Lab that when an IC starts abnormal overheating, It means its near death. I wish, it may not happen to Your Pi, dear Muhammad Naufil, but ... and (base on what You have said), I am concluding (based on my experience), that You should have an other Pi.

Abnormal overheating Rpi3


What are reasons we know insects evolved on land rather than water

Question: I am reading up on the evolution of insects, and insects supposedly evolved on land rather than water. How do people know?What evidence is there that insects evolved on land and not water?
Answer: The sister group of hexapods (Insects plus Collembola, Protura, and Diplura) are thought to be Remipedes. Remipedes are cave-dwelling aquatic pancrustaceans. The most recent common ancestor of Hexapoda and Remipedia was likely aquatic. But somewhere along the pathway to becoming modern hexapods, after they split from the lineage leading to modern remipedes, the ancestors of modern hexapods developed tracheal respiratory systems that function on land. So the evidence comes from the fact that the extant lineages of insects, close to their most recent common ancestor, including Collembola, Protura, Diplura, Archeaognatha, and Zygentoma are all terrestrial.


Concrete and simple applications for bipartite graphs

Question: I am looking for concrete and simple problems that may be solved using bipartite graphs or bipartite graph properties. Any idea along with explanations are welcome.
Comment: Hello, and welcome to Computer Science StackExchange! Unfortunately, in its current form, this question is overly broad; it would be too hard to judge one answer more or less right than another, and I can imagine (maybe short) books being written on this subject. Please try to narrow the scope, at which point the question may be reopened. Thanks for your participation, and again, welcome!
Comment: What do you mean by *problem*? Do you want a real-life application?
Comment: Yes, preferably
Answer: Assignment Problem would be one such example:

There are a number of agents and a number of tasks. Any agent can be
  assigned to perform any task, incurring some cost that may vary
  depending on the agent-task assignment. It is required to perform all
  tasks by assigning exactly one agent to each task and exactly one task
  to each agent in such a way that the total cost of the assignment is
  minimized.

Hall's Marriage Theorem would be another:

Imagine two groups; one of n men, and one of n women. For each woman,
  there is a subset of the men, any one of which she would happily
  marry; and any man would be happy to marry a woman who wants to marry
  him. Consider whether it is possible to pair up (in marriage) the men
  and women so that every person is happy.

The Mutilated Chessboard Problem can be solved using The Hall's Theorem:

Suppose a standard 8x8 chessboard has two diagonally opposite corners
  removed, leaving 62 squares. Is it possible to place 31 dominoes of
  size 2x1 so as to cover all of these squares?
Answer: There are loads conceptually simple and interesting such problems here: http://uva.onlinejudge.org/
I don't remember the actual problem numbers, though, but you can search the forum for bipartite graph problems.
Comment: Thank you for the pointer but it seems there is only one problem about bipartite numbers which is not what I am looking for :(
Comment: I know I have solved more than one bipartite graph problem there. Probably 2-3, so there are more than that. But perhaps those problems are not identified as bipartite graph problems, and/or can be solved in another way. A quick search in the forum seems to give tens of problems that involve bipartite graphs.


How to measure the current in different brands of alkaline batteries?

Question: I need to measure the current in different brands of alkaline batteries - 1.5v AA and AAA, as well as 9v (6F22) - using a multimeter, and a resistor as load. How much resistance must the resistor have in order not to "blow up" both the batteries and the multimeter?
Comment: Well, that depends on the specific battery and the multimeter...You also forgot to ask what wattage the resistor requires to not blow itself up. You also did not mention what kind of test you want to...whether you want intense and short or slow and long.
Comment: There are actually published data sheets for batteries, that's a good place to start. Most of them are very brief, like 1 or 2 pages of mostly typical operating characteristic graphs, but it's worth reading. That should give an idea of the steady drain current as well as the maximum pulsed current available.
Comment: This is what I get when I search for "energizer aa datasheet": http://data.energizer.com/pdfs/e91.pdf
Comment: I work with pyrotechnics in theater, and need to be able to measure the current (short and "intense") for different brands of batteries in order to determine which type is best suitable and which provides the most power. There is a difference in the power of 9 volt batteries, and I have to find the battery (s) that have the most current.
Comment: @HansA Take a look at the links that I provided. The internal resistance of the battery has a significant contribution.
Comment: https://www.powerstream.com/9V-Alkaline-tests.htm
Answer: A 4 ohm 10W resistor is good place to start.

Read Measuring Internal Resistance of Batteries
Note: Battery Internal resistance has significant influence in battery current.
You also could find Questions regarding CR-P2 battery specification. There are few links including the one referenced in the comments that you might find interesting
Answer: You want to measure ESR and also Voltage for State of Charge.  There's many ways to do this.
A quick short circuit on the 10A scale might be hard to get a steady reading. It should peak then decay slowly but only be done for < 1 second to not waste power.
The ESR=Voc/Isc for open circuit voltage and short circuit current. Meanwhile it is heating up with Voc*Isc = P power . Alkaline are pretty safe doing this test but also a pretty fast way to kill a battery.   But a 1/4 to 1 second is no problem.  Even 10 seconds but overkill to get a reading.
What you are looking for is to determine your pyrotechnic resistance ranges and use those using a non-inductive bifilar wound length of wire to give the equivalent resistance as your squid.  Then see what the voltage drop ( and thus drop in power P=V^2/R).  Now the squid rises quickly in resistance when it heats up so your expected load current should drop until it fires.  IF you can measure that as well, then you can now define your power vs time spec.
Other
Since 9V batteries are made from six series 1.5V cells , each cell ESR adds up and a 9V Alkaline cell ought to be able to pulse > 1 A into a short circuit briefly but not 1A at 8V which requires a battery ESR (resistance) almost 10 times lower like that of the Lithium primary cell.
To measure it safely into a meter, choose low resistor values that generate 100mV max and then use a DMM with a 199mV scale or so.  Although 50mV Current shunts are pretty standard for low power dissipation, you also need a more sensitive meter or just an old Analog meter with the right Ohms/Volt sensitivity.
Thus with 199mV/2A = 0.1 Ohm that will dissipate 199mV*2A = 400mW.  Any resistor that you choose, will operate at 150'C if you sustain the power, but a brief pulse is all you need.
They use thermal sensitive inks and a heater resistor to measure battery power on some which barely get warm so unlikely to generate more than 1/4W but is valid for indicating Voltage for State of Charge(SOC)
Comment: I have to admit that I am a novice in terms of electronics, measurements and the like .. I just need a quick, approximate measurement of the batteries to be able to decide which ones can be used and which ones can not be used for the highest possible current. Instead of using a resistor to measure 9 volt batteries in this way, can I make a closed circuit where I use a miniature light bulb as a load, for example a light bulb of 12v 0.2A. Then, using Ohms law (R = U / I) to determine the resistance I find the resistance in the bulb to be 60 ohms. Will this be sufficient for an OK reading?
Comment: If the bulb is a representative load ,then it is   a valid test because the bulb resistance is only 10% of the hot resistance unlike a fixed resistor.  So OK or not O depends on what you need.  Primary ( non-rechargeables) have a resting voltage that indicates remaining capacity. Go lookup the specs.  Car Lead Acid may do this unless there is a flaw in the electrolyte and one cell rises rapidly in ESR under a heavy load. Perhaps you have had that experience. THen a minute later, it suddenly starts.  SO then a Short circuit pulse test is better.


My Toshiba Satellite 580GB drive continues to loose about 30GB and 20GB a day

Question: I have been backing up the entire C: drive on a WD Passport** - also have moved almost 900GB to a Seagate Free Agent GoFlex 3TB drive, which I use almost exclusively for Movie and Video files (Panasonic) On my C: drive I have 128GB of My Pictures (quite a bit of Video (Cannon)) and on My Video I have reduced it to only 78GB My Music and all my programs, etc. I have 30GB in the Windows folder and I think are around 25GB for the rest, so where are the 'missing' 200+GB? How do I see? How do I do a 'master' sort of file size for every thing?  I do not do system backups on my C: drive.  I get 25GB from Norton - at one time it covered all my Pics, now I guess all non-Pictures and Videos files.
** The WD Backup window shows almost 900GB copied, but I believe this is the second and triple backups & there is over 200GB of Other - which I guess I am looking for
Comment: possible duplicate of [Unexpected free disk space decrease?](http://superuser.com/questions/260285/unexpected-free-disk-space-decrease)
Answer: I suggest 2 actions to get a clear picture of what is on your disk:
A) Run WinDirStat which will give you a complete picture regarding all system and user files on the disk.If you have big colored chunks on the picture, you can click on them and it will tell you above what it is.
B) Run the command below in an elevated command prompt. That will tell you the allocated space for shadowstorage (that's where system restore points are being kept). This space is not shown in the WinDirStat list.
vssadmin list shadowstorage


How to combine line items without losing unique fields in excel?

Question: I am currently working with a spreadsheet that has a unique student id as the first heading. Each student has one or more emergency contacts. Each emergency contact has their own set of phone numbers. So if a student has two emergency contacts he/she will have two lines in the spreadsheet. I need each student to be on only one line, while preserving the unique phone numbers into their own cells. So instead of having two entries for the same student under "Home phone" I would like there to be a "Home phone_1" and "Home phone_2." I am an excel beginner and any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Comment: Is this a one-off thing or something you'll be doing routinely?
Comment: It should only be a couple of times a year. I'm going to have to do this again for the staff. There are a total of about 8000 lines.
Answer: I'm going to assume you have only two columns: Id and Phone. You'll need to create a helper column that counts how many occurrences of a given Id there are in every row above the current row. Here's what that's going to look like:

Notice that I added a "Home Phone_"& to the start of the formula in C2 to match the desired output in your question. Feel free to change that.
Also notice that A$1:A1 has to be locked in row 1 (that's what the $ is for -- you can toggle locks manually or by pressing F4 when you enter a formula).
The formula in C2 has to be copied down all the way to the last row in the table.
Next, we're going to select our entire data (including column C) and create a Pivot Table by going to Insert > Pivot Table (or pressing Alt N V T).

Hit Ok on the next dialog box, then on the pivot table, drag Id to Rows, Phone to Values, and N to Columns.
Here's what the result should look like:

You can remove the totals by playing around with the commands available in the Pivot Table menu in the Ribbon.

EDIT -- If you have more than one column, you'll want to make the N column just a number and the layout of the Pivot Table changes a bit.

And now the Pivot Table:

Notice that the Σ Values column is above N in the pivot fields pane. Additionally, please refrain from editing the names of the columns directly in the cells (i.e. changing Sum of Office Phone to Office Phone). You'll instead want to click on the arrow on Sum of Office... in the Values pane and change the name there, as well as edit the number formatting.
Comment: That looks great. Heading home in a few minutes so don't have time to test today but will in the morning. I actually do have more fields I need to do this with (mobile phone, work phone, etc). Can I just repeat these steps to get it working for all fields I need?
Comment: @user2884621 I've edited the answer to show you how to do that for multiple fields. Hope that's easy enough to follow. Good luck!
Comment: I am making progress with this and it seems to be doing what I need. However I am running into an issue that instead of showing the individual phone numbers in the pivot table, all of the numbers are returning as a 0, not the 10 digit phone number.
Comment: @user2884621 that's because your phone numbers will need to have only numbers in them, with no dashes or parens. you can apply formatting to the cells to make them look nicer after the fact


SVG content of Telerik RadHtmlChart

Question: Currently, I have an aspx page in vb that launches a RadHTMLChart and I want to grab the SVG code of that chart. However, since the chart is rendered client-side, I have to launch this aspx page and then grab the SVG code from a second aspx page during postback. Currently, I am using Server.Execute (firstpage.aspx) to grab the SVG code but this does not work. I want to use the SVG to generate a PDF document but the Server.Execute command seems to run in the background and the code that comes after it do not wait for it to finish first, hence I am not grabbing the SVG content. Does anyone know of another way to grab this SVG content?
Answer: It seems you need all of this done on the server, so you need to find a way to launch a browser on the server, get the needed data from it and close it. I think a tool called PhantomJS can do this for you, so you can give it a crack (it's free I think).
Here is an example on exporting an HtmlChart, but it relies on a user interaction (which can be automated via some scripts) but it needs the page opened on the client machine: http://www.telerik.com/support/code-library/exporting-radhtmlchart-to-png-and-pdf. Anyway, it may still be helpful for ideas and to show how to get the SVG string.

SVG content of Telerik RadHtmlChart


Derivatives with a floating Libor leg

Question: If Libor is found to be fraudulently fixed, are any of the derivative contracts with a floating libor leg still valid?
Comment: Are you asking a legal question? Something like that depends on your contract and what your lawyers say.
Comment: This is not necessarily a quant question.
Answer: I assume that rate derivatives refers to a given underlying libor index that is published by either BBA, EBF or so and that than no counterparty can deny its liability wrt the contract. As such contracts are still valid between the counterparties eventhough one counterparty can suite the responsible of the fraud itself.
Comment: Read this dealbreaker post, and consider changing your answer; turns out the contracts aren't so strictly worded. http://dealbreaker.com/2012/06/libor-can-be-whatever-you-want-it-to-be/
Answer: I read this dealbreaker post (via a link from Deus Ex Macchiato), which explains that many (most?) contracts detail something like 'the number on the Libor01 Reuters page' rather than 'the rate published by the BBA as the 3m LIBOR'.
So, as Levine argues, if the BBA rephrase Libor as something else, even a trade-driven value, many of those agreements would still be valid. As he also points out, that could step into territory arguable as a change of contract, if it was a significantly different rate.
Note also that Libor is just the BBA's fixings. Everyone other than UK, US and some Euro participants who use Libor instead of Euribor should be ok until Euribor undergoes the same crisis.
Frankly, the value of Libor has already diverged so far from the risk-free rate for so long that instrument holders must have already had to reprice everything. One more change might just instigate a round of revaluations, depending on which way the fixing went.
Presumably the SEC-defined swaps will be stricter on the floating rate, or at least detail some eventualities for Libor ceasing to function.

Derivatives with a floating Libor leg


Can my employer here in germany withhold money from my salary based on a mistake

Question: I work minijob in germany as a receptionist in a hotel and my employer found a mistake that was made when another employee was working. She called me and said I need to be held equally responsible for this mistake because I need to check the work of that employee even though I'm just a receptionist and not a manager there so she will withhold half the money that was lost during the other employee's shift from my salary as a minijob. I quit then and there but can I sue her?
Comment: You need professional advice on German employment law.
Comment: In this case an employment lawyer will love to rip someone in that company a new one.
Answer: No
They are not allowed to withhold money. That would be illegal and I would suggest you get a lawyer to make sure you get your money. Most of the time, a letterhead to prove you mean business is all it takes.
Your employer can only withhold pay, if you acted "absichtlich oder grob fahrlässig" (intentional or with gross negligence).
An employer certainly cannot withhold pay on actions of another, unless you were an accomplice in their intentional or grossly negligent act.
Making mistakes normal for your job is neither. You cannot be docked pay in Germany for doing a bad job. You can be reprimanded, get written warnings and/or eventually be fired, but all of it at full pay until your very last day.
Comment: @Hilmar I get the "can they" vs "are they allowed" argument, but I think we both know how the OP meant it, and I answered in the same way. I'm not "trying" to said it's illegal, I do. It's the first line of text actually. The same first line that says "get a lawyer" as the practical way.
Comment: Semantically the answer is wrong. Of course they CAN withhold money. They already did. I think you are trying to say it's illegal for them to withhold the money. But what the law says and what actually happens are two very different things.  I vaguely remember a German saying "recht haben ist nicht recht bekommen".  The real question here: what is a practical way for the OP to proceed.
Comment: There are exceptions to that - but they often come by law with tax free risk funds per month. I.e. it was normal when I was working the job long time ago in germany for cashiers (which got some money every month as risk offset) to be responsible for the correctness of their cash. Exceptions would be outside forces (robbery), but if something went missing - the cashier paid it.
Answer:
I quit then and there but can I sue her?

You can sue the company. You cannot sue her.
Talk to your lawyer to see if you have any chance to win.


What do the terms par value, purchase price, call price, call date, and coupon rate mean in the context of bonds?

Question: I am having a hard time understanding municipal bonds. What is the par value vs. purchase price? What is the call date? What is the call price?  The coupon rate is just the interest paid out to you for investing in a bond, right?
Comment: This is actually several questions in one; note that the second big question about investment strategies is off-topic because it's specifically asking for investment recommendations. Can you trim your question down to one main question, e.g. "what do these terms mean in the context of the municipal bond market? ... etc"? The [Investopedia guide to bonds](http://www.investopedia.com/university/bonds/) might be a good resource for you too.
Comment: Yea I can trim it down and make it more concise and on topic, I love investopedia! I read that article but I've still got a couple questions.
Comment: I gave you a brief summary of each of these terms, but definitely read the Wikipedia articles I linked to (even if you only read the introduction at first) and the Investopedia introduction as well. If you have more questions that would be [on-topic](http://money.stackexchange.com/help/on-topic) (for example, not too broad, not specifically asking for investment advice, etc.), you can ask a new question and we'll be happy to help.
Comment: Remember that if you found Keith's or my answer hepful, you can accept one by clicking the checkmark next to it. There's no pressure, though; only if an answer actually *answered* your question to your satisfaction.
Answer: Unless stated otherwise, these terms apply to all bonds.
Par value vs purchase price
The par value or face value of a bond refers to the value of the bond when it's redeemed at maturity. A bond with a par value of $10,000 simply means that if you purchase the bond and hold it until the maturity date specified in the contract, you receive $10,000.
The purchase price, however, is exactly that: it's what you paid for the bond. Bonds may sell below, at, or above par. Continuing the example from above, if you paid $9,800 for a bought a bond with a $10,000 par value, you bought the bond below par.
A bond selling below par is said to be selling at a discount. For bonds selling above bar, they're selling at a premium. If the purchase price and the par value are the same, the bond is selling at par.
Call price and call date
These terms apply to callable bonds only, which are bond contracts that allow the issuer of the bond (in the case of municipal bonds, the institution or agency who created the contract) to buy back from bond holders at a given date (the call date) and at a given price (the call price) before the bond reaches maturity and pays the holder the full par value.
Coupon rate
Yes, the coupon rate is essentially the interest paid. It's usually represented as a percent of the par value, so if the $10,000 in the example above had a 5% coupon rate, this means that it paid out 0.05 * 10,000 = $500 each year. Usually, this payment is made as two semi-annual payments of $250.
Some bonds are zero-coupon bonds, which means exactly what you would think; they don't make any coupon payments. U.S. Treasury Bills are one example of a zero-coupon bond.

All of these factors are linked, because the coupon rate, callable provisions, and par value, along with the overall economic environment, can affect the purchase price of a bond.
Answer:
Par Value: The "face value" of the bond, which will be paid at maturity.
Purchase Price: The current market price to buy the bond (or the price at which you bought it)
Call Date: The date on which the bond can be redeemed, prior to maturity, for a "Call Price" at the bond issuer's option. Differs from the "Maturity Date", which is the date at which the par value will be paid by the issuer to the current bondholder. Basically allows an "early payoff" option, but incorporates a "payoff penalty" in the form of a higher call price.
Coupon Rate: A percentage of the bond's face value which is paid periodically (usually annually, though some have semi-annual or quarterly coupon payouts).

Bonds are valued based on all of this, using the concept of the "time value of money". Simply stated, money now is worth more than money later, because of what you can do with money between now and later.
Case in point: let's say the par value of a bond is $100, and will mature 10 years from this date (these are common terms for most bonds, though the U.S. Treasury has a variety of bonds with varying par values and maturation periods), with a 0% coupon rate (nothing's paid out prior to maturity). If the company or government issuing the bonds needs one million dollars, and the people buying the bonds are expecting a 5% rate of return on their investment, then each bond would only sell for about $62, and the bond issuer would have to sell a par value of $1.62 million in bonds to get its $1m now.
These numbers are based on equations that calculate the "future value" of an investment made now, and conversely the "present value" of a future return. Back to that time value of money concept, money now (that you're paying to buy the bond) is worth more than money later (that you'll get back at maturity), so you will expect to be returned more than you invested to account for this time difference. The percentage of rate of return is known as the "yield" or the "discount rate" depending on what you're calculating, what else you take into consideration when defining the rate (like inflation), and whom you talk to.
Now, that $1.62m in par value may be hard for the bond issuer to swallow. The issuer is effectively paying interest on interest over the lifetime of the bond. Instead, many issuers choose to issue "coupon bonds", which have a "coupon rate" determining the amount of a "coupon payment". This can be equated pretty closely with you making interest-only payments on a credit card balance; each period in which interest is compounded, you pay the amount of interest that has accrued, to avoid this compounding effect.
From an accounting standpoint, the coupon rate lowers the amount of real monies paid; the same $1m in bonds, maturing in 10 years with a 5% expected rate of return, but with a 5% coupon rate, now only requires payments totalling $1.5m, and that half-million in interest is paid $50k at a time annually (or $25k semi-annually). But, from a finance standpoint, because the payments made in the first few years are worth more than the payments made closer to and at maturity, the present value of all these coupon payments (plus the maturity payout) is higher than if the full payout happened at maturity, and so the future value of the total investment is higher.
Coupon rates on bonds thus allow a bond issuer to plan a bond package in less complicated terms. If you as a small business need $1m for a project, which you will repay in 10 years, and during that time you are willing to tolerate a 5% interest rate on the outstanding money, then that's exactly how you issue the bonds; $1 million worth, to mature in 10 years and a 5% coupon rate. Now, whether the market is willing to accept that rate is up to the market. Right now, they'd be over the moon with that rate, and would be willing to buy the bonds for more than their face value, because the present value would then match the yield they're willing to accept (as in any market system, you as the seller will sell to the highest bidder to get the best price available). If however, they think you are a bad bet, they'll want an even higher rate of return, and so the present value of all coupon and maturity payments will be less than the par value, and so will the purchase price.
Comment: The call date *isn't* equivalent to the maturity date; the [call date](http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/calldate.asp) is the date that a [callable bond](http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/callablebond.asp) can be redeemed by the issuer *before* the maturity date, at a given call price.
Comment: Not to nitpick, but the call price is usually higher than par value. It's very rare for the call price to be *below* par value because this discourages investors from purchasing the bond (since both the par value and call price are in the bond contract, they're known to investors). The [Wikipedia article on callable bonds](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callable_bond) has a lot of good information on callable bonds if you're unfamiliar with them.


How to remove GRUB selection?

Question: I was trying to find /boot/grub/menu.lst OR /boot/grub/device.map as usual on Ubuntu Desktop or other versions  to change the GRUB selection, but there is no file munu.lst or device.map in the grub directory. Where can I find GRUB's configuration file? to modify the grub selection
Comment: I can't follow what exactly you are trying to remove, but you are using GRUB2, not GRUB. Its configuration file is `/boot/grub/grub.cfg`, but unless you provide more details, it's difficult to give you advise.
Answer: The file you need is /etc/default/grub and run sudo update-grub after you've made your changes.
Comment: Or just `/boot/grub/grub.cfg`, that's the file that gets generated when you run `update-grub`. Anyway, your way indeed is better as otherwise your `grub.cfg` would be reset every time `update-grub` is used.
Answer: You can also try GRUB Customizer if you'd like to work w/ a GUI.
Answer: sidenote : Ubuntu 10.10 will keep grub-legacy if you upgrade from a previous ubuntu distribution but install by default grub2 otherwise. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2 has information about both upgrading grub-legacy -> grub2 and reverting grub2 -> grub-legacy if you happen to experience problems with the new approach.
otherwise, yeah. /etc/default/grub is the place where you now need to check. Note that the "automagic options" system has completely changed, too.
HTH.
Answer: Spy on this, please: Grub-Customizer (How to fix your dual-boot in case you miss the right boot option)

How to remove GRUB selection?


Application of linear constant coefficients ODE of the second order

Question: I've asked this question in math forum. Apparently this question is not welcomed there. So maybe here I can get a proper response. Consider ODE in the form of
$$y''+ay'+by=f(t)$$
where $a$ and $b$ are constants and $f(t)$ is a function of $t$. In every book I read there are two applications of DEs of this kind: RLC circuits and mechanical oscillation of an object attached to a spring (with or without damper). Is there any other physical system that can be modeled using this DE? I am not expecting a detailed answer, just a short one containing 1 or 2 examples of related physical systems.
Comment: Crossposted from https://math.stackexchange.com/q/3032499/11127
Comment: The answer to this question largely depends on what your criteria are for two applications to be distinct. Is a damped pendulum undergoing small oscillations a "different application" than a damped spring? Because you classified them both under "mechanical oscillations." Yet, at the same time, you did _not_ categorize, for example, an RLC circuit and the motion of a charge in a parabolic potential as both "electromagnetic oscillations," even though they are similar in much the same way. So what is your criteria for two applications being distinct?
Comment: Also, the most general application for this system is: any system whose state can be parametrized by a single parameter, subject to a potential energy that has a local minimum, and where the parameter is driven in some way and whose second derivative depends linearly on its first derivative. Using the loosest possible definition for distinct applications (two systems are distinct under this definition if they have different equations of motion), this is _the_ application for this ODE.
Answer: Such differential equations can also occur in Control Theory. You have some Input quantity $A(t)$ that can be some physical or chemical quantity and a System that has the Output function $y(t)$. However, the System tries to react such that e.g. the Output variable is kept constant as much as possible. This can be realized with some Feedback controls that can be (besides controls proportional to an input):

react proportional to the time derivative $y'$
react to the time integral over the Output quantity $\int y dt$

Many biological Systems or Subsystems (e.g. blood-sugar regulation) can be modelled with Control Theory.


Is this the strongest steel?

Question: I found this link where it described steel with UTS at 5200 MPa (755kpsi), is this the strongest steel or just a typo because value is seemed to be unreal?
Comment: Note that this is described as a "high vanadium tool steel" produced with some special process. The wikipedia claims that [highspeed tool steels is one of the main uses for vanadium](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanadium#Alloys).
Answer: The link does not work for me either, but it is not obvious that this is a typo (http://cartech.ides.com/ImageDisplay.aspx?E=111&IMGURL=%2fCarpenterImages%2fA-ToolandDie%2f23-TS23-MicroMeltA11%2f05_TS23_3Point.gif&IMGTITLE=3-Point+Bend+Test ,http://www.matweb.com/search/DataSheet.aspx?MatGUID=638937fc52ca4683bc0c3f18f54f5a24 ). And it looks like this strength is indeed the highest for an alloy (http://gofygure.hubpages.com/hub/What-is-the-Strongest-Metal-The-Hardest-Metals-Known-to-Man )
Comment: It wasn't a typo, it just had session data in the URL. I fixed it in the question.

Is this the strongest steel?


New plumeria cutting

Question: OKKAYYY I got this cutting as a gift and was told to put it in a small vase of water, change out water weekly, and wait for it to root.. Well, my sister in law did the same thing and hers started to grow small leaves at the top and then it rotted from the bottom up. Mine started growing leaves months after her plumeria, but after hers rotted, I started doing research and got scared it would die from too much water and that potting it was a better solution... So naturally, I panicked because I want this shit to grow nice and big!!! I went to the store and bought Miracle-Gro cactus, palm, & citrus potting mix (fast draining formula), Miracle-Gro perlite, & Brotone II Rooting powder. I mixed it all up, dipped it in the powder, and planted that thing as soon as I got home. Obviously I have no idea what I'm doing and need some help on what to do.
The leaves were already purplish before potting and I potted it a couple of days ago as well as watered it. I have not watered it since because the soil has stayed damp, which I feel like is a bad thing? The two bigger leaves have grown a bit more since potting I FEEL like. The top of the soil (I assume from it staying damp) had little specs of mold on it so my brother suggested I mix in some Diatomaceous Earth.. and I did. Not sure if that was a bad or good move and I also made sure the holes on the bottom of the pot weren't clogged. Should I completely repot and get smaller pot? I think this is 2 Gal.
Someone PLEASE help me I have absolutely no clue what I'm doing and would love to gain the knowledge. Thank You!
(https://i.stack.imgur.com/vmeFW.jpg) (https://i.stack.imgur.com/lxeAy.jpg)
Answer: Don't over-think it, as long as it has drainage and is watered occasionally , not wet, no fertilizer, it should grow. In Houston area they are sold as a foot or two of bare wood and all the way to a blooming plant in a large tub. I understand , some have success sticking the bare wood in the ground in a shady spot in the garden ; I would put them in a plastic bucket with a shovelful of soil. When it grows leaves and roots in a couple months, it will need full sun if you want blooms. They were easy to grow, I gave them up because I could not give them enough sun for more than an occasional bloom.
Comment: Haha thanks! It has tons of small purplish/green leaves growing at the top, but no roots yet. I also have a grow light that I put it under for a couple of hours a day.
Answer: Plumeria is normally taken from good cuttings at least as long and thick as your middle finger. This gives the cutting a lot of stored food in the cutting to survive the month or so as it makes roots, and will be plenty of food to produce leaves at the tip before any roots are formed. When preparing the soil to receive the cutting make sure the soil is moist but not wet; you should be able to take a handful and squeeze it into a ball with zero moisture coming from your hand. Just moist enough to keep it together. Once potted up keep it in a humid, warm, protected place, and only water it enough to replace the water lost from transpiration and evaporation - you can track this by weighing the potted cutting and only adding water to bring it back to that weight. Too much water and the cutting rots.
Answer: You rescued it by pulling it out of the water! Good instinct!
I have been keeping Plumeria in Dallas area for several decades and have about 42 semi-dormant Plumeria in my heated garage right now, 12 are trees (Temps below 42 can kill them). There are times when you will want to take cuttings from your tree when it gets big and this is a pretty good video that explains the entire process from cutting to rooting a cutting. When rooting a cutting you will want to keep it on the dry side. I highly recommend a rooting hormone powder that you can get at the store. Wet about 1-1.5 inches of the end of cutting and dip it well in the powder. Then, stick the cutting in your rooting medium and try not to move it around much while rooting. Water it well once then let the soil dry out completely. This encourages rooting and minimizes losing cuttings to rot. The sun and warmth is what will force rooting, and keeping it on the dry side. Everyone has their own process. But, I usually wait about two weeks and water again in 85+ Fahrenheit weather with pots sitting on concrete in full sun, which means the pot has been dry for about 10 days after I last watered it. It won't root well in temps below 75. Continue that process until you see a couple sets of new leaves. This is when new roots have formed. I usually wait until 4 leaves have formed and then carefully repot the cutting to its new home. When you get 10 leaves or more you can step up the fertilizer to 1/2 strength. But, I only give it full strength rarely when trying to force flowering on a 6-9' tree in the Summer. Otherwise half strength is fine for Plumeria, and more economical. I like Carl Pool's BR-61 as a fertilizer. The combination of this and 8+ hours of direct sun will help force it to bloom. This fertilizer has gotten a little more pricey and may have to be purchased online, but it has a very large Phosphorous number (the middle number of the NPK rating) which is all you will ever feed a Plumeria. Green Light Super Bloom is another good fertilizer for Plumeria. Other tips: A cutting will usually take about 3-5 years to start blooming. You never want to use Nitrogen fertilizer (high 1st number) on a Plumeria, ever! When you take cuttings from the plant, let the cut end dry and harden for at least a week before trying to root the cutting to avoid allowing disease and insects into the cutting. Then use the rooting powder as described. Placing the pot in full sun on concrete ground to warm the pot is great, it encourages rooting and speeds of the rooting process. Cold, dark and wet feet are it's enemies! Full sun and warm feet is its friend! Good Luck! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHQ777SALj0

New plumeria cutting


Is it possible to export/import a Sharepoint 2010 subsite?

Question: Is there a way to import/export or backup/restore a sub site?  I have a site collection at http://someurl.mycompany.com/sites/content.  I have sub sites under that site collection that were created by going to Site Settings > Site Administration > Sites and Workspaces, and then clicking the 'create' button.  Are there any powershell or stsadm commands for exporting/importing one of these sub sites?
Answer: You can do it in powershell via the Backup-SPSite command:
<code>$backuppath='c:\backups'
$siteCollection = "http:\\mysite.com"
add-PSSnapin Microsoft.Sharepoint.Powershell

$sites=Get-SPWebApplication $siteCollection |
    Get-SPSite -limit ALL|
       Get-SPWeb -limit ALL

foreach($site in $sites){
    Backup-SPSite -Identity $site.Url -Path "$backupfolder\$($site.Title)" -Force
    Write-Host "Successfulle backed up $($site.Url) to $backupfolder\$($site.Title)"
}
</code>
The example above backs up all subsites for the given site collection.
You can also do it in SharePoint Central Admin by going to:

click heading 'Backup and Restore' -> Export a site or list
drill down to the site collection and subsite you wish to backup
the filename field will be the path on the server that the central admin application is running on (ie, 'C:\backup.cmp' ).  If you want to write to a network share, you can enter that as well.  Just make sure that the account that SharePoint is running as has write access to the specified location.

To import the site, you can also use powershell.  The only caveat is that you must first create the subsite as a 'dummy', and you MUST use the same template.  For example, if the site you backed up was based on the 'Teamsite' template, the URL that you are trying to restore to MUST already represent a subsite and it MUST be based on the Teamsite template.
The powershell command for importing a subsite backup located on the server at "C:\Backup.cmp" is:
<code> Import-SPWeb -Identity http://mysite.com/targetSubsite Path c:\\Backup.cmp -IncludeUserSecurity
</code>
Answer: You can use the Export-SPWeb and Import-SPWeb cmdlets:
Import-SPWeb: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff607613(v=office.14).aspx
Export-SPWeb: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff607895(v=office.14).aspx


organization browser inside my site in sharepoint not working

Question: organization browser inside my site in sharepoint not working and it displays "WebPage Not Found" what may be the reason?
Comment: I have the same issue. Organization Browser link in Mysite redirects to "Web page cannot be found".
Can anyone help me to fix this issue.
Comment: Even i have the same issue. .. :(
Answer: Has this already functioned?
If not, you'll need to verify that  User Profile Synchronization service is active in Central Administration. Once its started go to your service applications and select User Profile Service application and click Manage on the ribbon. Once you do that under the profile synchronization connections create a new connection. Wait until the profile synchronization is over and then go to the organization browser and you will see the the results.
For screenshots alongside the steps, visit the following site: http://sampathlive.wordpress.com/2010/03/03/organization-browser-in-sharepoint-2010/
Comment: It was functioning before . But Now Its Not Working. Please Give Me Solution.Otherwise if Organization Browser not functioning means what may be cause?
Answer: It got fixed!!! :)
First thing you need to check when u get "Webpage cannot be found" issue is:
1.  check Organizationview.aspx page is renamed or removed , you can check this by opening mysite using sharepoint designer.
Hope this will help you.


Why has Susan Collins rejected all attempted forms of healthcare reform as it relates to the ACA lately?

Question: What are her given reasons? Could it be posturing for when her term is over?
Comment: @JasonBam - I have removed the last question, as it is offtopic for this site. Also, try to stick to only one question per post. Feel free to change your question to rollback and/or improve it.
Comment: Because a healthcare reform bill hasn't been put to vote, only healthcare reduction.
Answer: Your original title question was a tad misleading/presumptive: she has never rejected all forms of healthcare reform.  She has only rejected the most recent handful of attempts made by Republicans in the last several months.
She's had several interviews where she expounds on her reasons.  This CNN article includes several quotes from her (emphasis and link mine):

"I'm concerned about the impact on cost and coverage," she said. "We already have a problem under the Affordable Care act with the cost of premiums and deductibles, and finally, I'm very concerned about the erosion of protections for people with pre-existing conditions."
...
Collins' concerns over Graham-Cassidy have ranged across a host of issues, including the way the bill would end Obamacare subsidies and Medicaid expansion, and instead give states a set amount of funding through block grants. Collins has said that she fears Graham-Cassidy might also take away protections for people with pre-existing conditions if insurers in certain states are allowed to charge more based on a person's health history.
"I'm reading the fine print on Graham-Cassidy," Collins said, according to the Press Herald. "The premiums would be so high they would be unaffordable."

These are essentially the same objections she has raised on all previous incarnations of repeal (and replace): she wanted to see the CBO score, and considered many millions of people being projected to lose coverage as a deal breaker for her. And every proposed bill has been projected by the CBO to do exactly that.
It's impossible to say if her publicly stated opinions and reservations are somehow different from her privately held ones, unless someone who has had private conversations with her about them suddenly produces recordings of them.  And, arguably, as a politician her personal opinions should be largely irrelevant: she's there to serve the interests and wills of her constituents, not herself.
As irregardless' answer mentions, there's the possibility that she has aspirations for other political offices, though there's nothing official to corroborate this.  She isn't up for re-election to the Senate until 2020, meaning she does not have to consider herself pressed to impress and appeal to constituents to retain her position right now.  She can simply wait this out.  She has neither need nor incentive to posture right now.
Answer: One of the reasons would be that there is speculation that she may run for governor of Maine, effectively appealing to her state's primary political views.
Ideologically, Susan Collins isn't actually that much of a Republican. If you look at the ideology score given by gov track, she's actually more liberal than a couple of Democratic Senators.
Otherwise, unless you know Susan Collins personally, we will never know for sure why she voted against repealing and replacing Obamacare.
Comment: Perhaps she just thinks that "repeal and replace" is a pointless exercise?
Comment: a true politician, form over function
Comment: The extreme polarization, where the most liberal Republican is to the right of all but a very small number of Democrats, and vice versa, (http://www.businessinsider.com/animation-rise-partisanship-congress-house-representatives-60-years-2016-4) is being exacerbated by partisans who judge that someone who has differing views "isn't much of a ". Congress accomplishes much more when the tribes intermix


How to prove that the inverse of the given continuous function is not continuous

Question: I have the following problem: Consider the identity map $id: C_{max} \rightarrow C_{int}$ where $C_{max}$ is the metric space $C([a,b],\mathbb{R})$ of continuous real valued function defined on $[a,b]$ equipped with the metric $d_{max}(f,g) = \max|f(x)-g(x)|$, and $C_{int}$ is $C([a,b],\mathbb{R})$ equipped with the integral metric, $d_{int}(f,g) = \int_{a}^b |f(x) - g(x)| dx$.
Show that $id$ is a continuous linear bijection (an isomorphism) but its inverse is not continuous.
I proved continuity in the following manner: Note that it is trivially clear that the identity map $id$ is a bijection. We must then show that $id$ is continuous. For any given $\epsilon > 0$, suppose that $d_{max}(f,g) = \max|f - g| < \delta$ for $\delta < \frac{\epsilon}{b-a}$. Then we notice that
\begin{align}
d_{int}(f,g) &= \int^a_b|f - g|dx \\
&< \int^a_b\delta \\
&= \delta(b - a) \\
&<  \epsilon.
\end{align}
However, I'm absolutely stuck on showing that the inverse of ${id}^{-1}$ is not continuous. My intuition says to us proof by contradiction, but I don't know what to do here. How would I begin going about proving that fact that ${id}^{-1}$ is not continuous?
Comment: hint: $f_n(x) = x^n$ on $[0,1]$
Answer: The sequence of functions $$f_n(x) := \max(1 - n|x|,0)$$ $C_{\text{int}}([-1,1])$-converge to $0$, but $‖ f_n - 0 ‖_{C_{\text{max}}} = 1 \not\to0$.


Sync problem on windows 7

Question: I use UbuntuOne on Ubuntu 12.04 and Windows 7.  Everything synchronized fine for several months until a few weeks ago when UbuntuOne on Windows offered an update which I installed.  Now my files on Windows 7 no longer sync even though it recognizes my username and password.  It tries to sync and then quits.  How do I fix this?
Answer: Pull all of your files from both systems (just move them into a new folder) out of UbuntuOne's view, restart it, then re add the files. It seems like it's confused on what it has properly synched and what it has not.

Sync problem on windows 7


Asking for coverage of travel expenses

Question: Suppose you have an onsite interview. Is it bad practice to ask the company to pay for a hotel for you if you live far away from the office?
Comment: Some companies do it. It depends how much a) you want the job and b) how much they want you ;)
Answer: No it is not bad practise. If they have sought after you, they likely know where you are located but their answer is hugely dependent on the company policy. Also it will show you have the confidence to put yourself out there which may work in your favour.
In some cases, all your expenses including travel, accommodation and a meal or two are covered. Also another common practice is for a company to pay for your lodging as long as you pay for your transportation. In my experience, potential employees are more likely to be expected to cover their own travel expenses for junior jobs and jobs for non-profit companies.
If you are driving there, I personally would drive there before the interview and sleep in my car after if I wanted the job so much. Although not ideal it is another solution.
If they will not cover your expenses, some of your expenses may be tax deductible. If you travel to look for a new job in your present occupation, you may be able to deduct your travel expenses but this will vary depending on your location.
Answer:
Suppose you have an onsite interview. Is it bad practice to ask the
  company to pay for a hotel for you if you live far away from the
  office?

No, it's not bad practice.
It's good practice to avoid surprises. It's good practice not to assume when you aren't sure.
Ask if the company will pay expenses, which expenses will be paid, what limits there would be, and what the process will be for getting reimbursed.
Either the company will indicate that no expenses will be reimbursed, or they will provide their policy. Then you can act accordingly.
Either way - no surprises.
Answer: It is not bad practice to ask before accepting the invitation for an interview. Further, if they won't pay your expenses it is not a bad practice to then decline the interview. If they say they will, you can ask as many followup questions as you like (what they'll cover, what receipts to keep, how to submit them, and so on.)
It is, however, a bad idea to accept the interview, come to it, and then at the end of the interview ask for the first time if you will be reimbursed. This puts the interviewer on the spot, and if the policy is not to reimburse they may feel really bad about that. Find out in advance.
Answer: If they are paying for your flight to get to the interview, they'll 100% also pay for your hotel as well.  Doesn't make sense to pay for one but not the other.  If you are driving yourself to the interview then it certainly is reasonable for them to pay for a hotel.  But it depends on the level of job as well.  I'd say for junior roles, it's probably not as appropriate.  What kind of job is it and how badly do they want you?

Asking for coverage of travel expenses


Using Chromium 53, I get on flash applets: `Couldn't load plugin`

Question: On every website I get Couldn't load plugin., how do I resolve this? It just started happening in late October. I'm using Ubuntu 16.10 and Chromium 53. Pandora also fails to load, In order to use Pandora internet radio, please install Adobe Flash (v.10 or later).
Comment: I'm removing the 16.10 tag, since if Google Chrome itself has stopped bundling Flash, this will likely affect earlier versions too.
Comment: @muru sounds reasonable.
Answer: This is because on October 2016, Chrome 53, Chrome stopped bundling the Pepperflash plugin. Ubuntu followed suit and disabled it. Here is the official PR from Ubuntu. There are old flash packages in the repo, but they do not work for Chrome:

pepperflashplugin-nonfree - Pepper Flash Player - browser plugin (this is the Google hosted Pepperflash which they stopped hosting)
flashplugin-installer - Adobe Flash Player plugin installer (this uses NPAPI which Chrome doesn't support)
browser-plugin-freshplayer-pepperflash - PPAPI-host NPAPI-plugin adapter for pepperflash (this isn't needed because Chrome natively supports PPAPI)
flashplugin-downloader - Adobe Flash Player plugin installer (transitional package links to flashplugin-installer)

Ubuntu Way
First we make sure we have the partner repository installed. If we do, this won't do anything. Then we install adobe-flashplugin.
sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu $(lsb_release -sc) partner"
sudo apt-get update;
sudo apt-get install adobe-flashplugin;

Now you can go meet Hudson he Muskox on like the last remaining major site to do video distribution in flash (evil eye for Slate).
Comment: @GunnarHjalmarsson valid point! Thanks for the correction.  That method does in fact work, and I was in err. I have fixed the answer. I've also removed the other way because I think it adds confusion and offers nothing if the distro can take care of it.
Comment: Now it's better. :) Dowvote retracted. Actully `flashplugin-installer` works for its purpose in Ubuntu, i.e. installing the NPAPI plugin, which is not applicable in the answer. Would suggest that you drop `flashplugin-installer` from the list of non-working packages as well.
Comment: @GunnarHjalmarsson that actually doesn't work for me, I'm getting [this error with it](https://bugs.launchpad.net/debian/+source/synaptic/+bug/1522675). The actual install doesn't work.
Comment: It's correctly installed despite of that annoying error message.
Comment: @GunnarHjalmarsson i don't think so.. I couldn't find anything anywhere that lead me to believe it actually worked. And looking at the source nothing checks the return of `install_plugin`, it just outputs `echo "Flash Plugin installed."`
Answer: download an older version of chrome ( you need to search for an independant archive). extract pepperflash. copy it to the plugin folder for chromium.
version 58 or earlier should have pepperflash.
https://www.slimjet.com/chrome/google-chrome-old-version.php


What is the least dusty Earthen Plaster mixture to use on interior walls?

Question: What Earthen Plaster mixture is least dusty for use on interior walls?  The Earthen plasters I've seen, usually some mixture of earth, manure (horse or cow) and sand are pretty dusty.  They work, but, well, it'd be nice to have a more cohesive mixture for those sensitive to dust.
Comment: I take it you're talking about dust generated on an ongoing basis by rubbing/bumping the walls after construction is complete?
Comment: Yes.  It brushes off pretty readily ;)
Answer: You could put in an additive (like cooked flour paste) or use a finish layer to protect and keep the dust down. The Wikipedia article has lots more info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthen_plaster
I remember another source of info but can not find it. I will update this answer if I can find it.


Can I charge for public transportation?

Question: My city predictably is having money shortages. I am barely breaking even and have already taken three bonds. Suddenly I remember that I have a very nice public transportation (shuttle bus) system that, maybe, I can monetize. Is there any way that I can set a fare for my buses (or any other public transportation systems) and recoup some of the expenses?
Comment: I would try Ministry of Public Transportation (only one city in a region needs any particular ministry to unlock stuff for all cities). If that doesn't work, then SC works at the proper model — subsidise PT, because it saves money on traffic delays, fuel consumption, road wear and pollution.
Comment: As for money, I only needed PT when I hit 5000. By that time, I borrowed and paid off four bonds, and now make decent amount with healthy cash flow.
Comment: I too have come up to making decent money again. But it would still be nice to know if this is possible.
Comment: I do not believe it is possible to adjust the fares charged by public transport.
Answer: It is not possible to charge for public transport in SimCity. The purpose of mass transit in SimCity is to provide a method to control the traffic and air pollution in your city.
Comment: Unfortunately you are probably right. It is ironic then that the municipal buses from neighboring cities can cause as much traffic as they alleviate.
Comment: Are there any fares at all for public transportation?
Comment: @AaronKurtzhals It doesn't seem so.
Answer: With the current state of the game there are no tollbooths or anything of that manner like there were in SimCity 4. But I am sure in the future whether it is through community mods or DLC there will be such content.

Can I charge for public transportation?


Identifying a story about a hot human and a cold alien

Question: Any idea who wrote a short story about a human male who strikes up a relationship with an ultra-cold blooded female alien? They can never touch or communicate, except by intercom from behind protective temperature controlled walls.  It seem she speaks a language only the computer can translate. At the end, she pulls his hand to her face, or asks him to touch her.  He gets horrid frostbite, and she gets 3rd degree palm print burn on her cheek.  She then says something about it being "worth it". Any idea on the author?  I once thought it was Le Guin, but I've found nothing like it by her.
Answer: I found the answer... only 30 some years late.
The story is called "Snowmaiden", by Kirill Bulychev.  It was assigned to us by an English teacher, and I just stumbled upon that wrinkled and faded assignment sheet in a box of things in the attic.
Thanks for the input folks!
Answer: Wheelers, by Jack Cohen and Ian Stewart (both major scientists, and known in fiction for having co-written the Science of Discworld books with Terry Pratchett. Jack Cohen has also consulted on exobiology for several books and movies.
The book is a story of first contact with aliens who live in Jupiter. The aliens are known as blimps; they can be coarsely described as hydrogen sacks (the way humans are water sacks). The alien biology is rather plausibly and extensively described.

 The human protagonist is Moses Odingo, who has had a difficult and extraordinary childhood, and has a gift to intuitively understand animals. He puts his gift into understanding the just-discovered aliens.
 The alien protagonist is Bright Halfholder. She is a rather unconventional blimp, and has taken it upon herself to save the Earth from destruction while her fellow blimps are not really taking in that there is sentient life on Earth.

The human and blimp protagonist manage to communicate and establish an emotional relationship. In one of the last scenes, they briefly touch each other, causing discomfort, and perhaps minor frost burns on the human, but no specific injury is described.
Heaven, by the same authors, is set in the same universe, but with different characters, in fact depicting different species.
Comment: Interesting, but not the story I had in mind.  Part of the sting in the story from my question was that the male and female were seemingly compatible, flesh and bone, except for the language and temperature differences.  And I recall nothing as elaborate as threats to Earth, or a human with a childhood back story.
Answer: I'm not certain, but this sounds like something James White would have written about in his Sector General series. Many of his novels were episodic, with multiple disparate stories in each (so would give the feeling of a short story). And this sounds familiar to me... but I cannot find a specific story by him with this plot right now.
So I just have a gut feeling that it's him, but no proof. Perhaps that will help someone else.
Comment: This is a good instinct, but a quick check of my shelf says there was no such Sector General story.  Thanks for making me reread White, though!


Rotation of a rod on a smooth plane

Question: Why does the rod rotate only about its center of mass after being hit anywhere except its center of mass? Can it be proved mathematically? In case I'm wrong then show about which point the rod will rotate after being hit at any point other than the center of mass (mathematically). I don't need any physical interpretation cause its been discussed with logical support previously, please try to show it mathematically.[The rod is kept unhinged on a smooth horizontal plane]
Comment: The rod is under the action of a force whose line of action is through the centre of mass of the rod which produces a translational acceleration of the centre of mass and a torque whose magnitude is independent of axis which produces a rotation of the rod about an axis as shown here https://physics.stackexchange.com/a/235555/104696 and look up Chasles's theorem here http://web.mit.edu/8.01t/www/materials/modules/chapter20.pdf
Comment: See [this](https://physics.stackexchange.com/q/53465/392) and [this](https://physics.stackexchange.com/a/580836/392).
Answer: The rod doesn't "only" rotate about its center of mass. The rod doesn't "only" rotate about any one axis, in fact, because the choice of axis of rotation is arbitrary. That being said, there is a reason why we often choose to measure rotation from the center of mass.
In order to properly study the rotation of an object, we must isolate its rotational motion, eliminating its translational motion. In other words, we must be in a frame in which the axis of rotation is stationary. It is also a basic fact of rotational dynamics that, in the absence of external forces, the center of mass of an object does not accelerate.
If you choose an axis of rotation that is not at the center of mass, then when you're in the frame in which the axis of rotation is stationary, the center of mass will rotate (i.e. accelerate). This means the reference frame in which you isolate rotation is non-inertial, which means there will be all sorts of fictitious forces (inertial forces, Coriolis forces, centrifugal forces) that you would have to add in to get the right physics. But if your axis of rotation is chosen to be the center of mass, then the center of mass is, by definition, stationary in this frame, so no fictitious forces will need to be applied.
What this means is that defining the axis of rotation to be through the center of mass makes it much easier to study rotation than putting it anywhere else, for a free object. If your rod is, for example, pinned at one end, then there will be external forces on the object (for example, the force that the pin exerts on the rod) that will make the center of mass accelerate. As such, if you were to choose the axis of rotation to be through the center of mass now, you would be in a non-inertial frame with fictitious forces. In this case, the frame that would make the study of rotation easy is one in which the axis of rotation is through the pin. Since the pin is stationary by definition, we know that this frame is inertial.
Note that a "natural" inertial frame that makes it easy to study rotation does not always exist, and in general requires either a complete absence of external forces or very special configurations of external forces (e.g. external forces that keep one point on the object fixed). But, for the case of an object rotating without any external forces applied, choosing the axis of rotation to be through the center of mass gives this "natural" inertial frame.
Comment: Your answer was fabulous, but if u calculate torque at the center of mass it won't come to happen to be zero, so how can it be the center of rotation? [Far I know, center of rotation must have total torque = 0]
Comment: @BandhabKumarDas The situation I was assuming you were referring to was this: you hit an object (i.e. apply a force for a short period of time), and then you watch it as it rotates in the absence of further external forces. If there are no external forces after the rod is hit, then there are no external torques, either.
Comment: But if u consider the situation at the moment the rod gets hit, and calculate torque; cause thats the moment its rotational motion is introduced.
Comment: Your question asked about the rod _"after being hit"_, which implies no external force.
Comment: But u gotta consider that particular moment its getting hit, in order to calculate torque, or predict everything about the introduction of rotational motion in the rod, right? So can u answer how the net torque at center of mass is being 'zero' at the moment of collision?
Comment: It's not. Which is why this answer is only valid _after the rod is hit,_ which is what you asked about. Unless you give more information about the specific nature of the force that's acting on the rod in the time interval that it's being hit, that's all you can say.
Comment: If the "hit" is actually an elastic _collision_, as you seem to indicate in your last comment, then the rod experiences an infinite amount of torque in an infinitesimally short time, which gives it a finite angular momentum about its center of mass after being hit.
Answer: Let's assume for the sake of simplicity you hit a rod with an elastic ball, the energy of collusion which is the vector impulse difference of the ball before and after collision divides between:
the ball ricochet velocity and direction, the rod-spinning around it's CG and also moving laterally away from the impact. While the rod is turning and laterally moving it also retains some of the energy by vibrating like a snake.
If we simplify and ignore impact effects that are of smaller orders, the energy of impact to the rod is divided between its angular momentum and kinetic energy of linear movement, proportional to the inverse of those quantities.
Angular momentum: $$I. \alpha$$ and $$I = 1/12 ml^2  $$ and its Kinetic energy $$ E = 1/2 mv^2$$
 For example, a long rod will absorb most of the energy accelerating laterally with smaller angular acceleration.
Answer: When you say that the rod rotates about its centre of mass I believe you mean that the centre of rotation of the rod is at its centre of mass. This is not necessarily true. In fact the point on the rod which temporarily has a zero velocity depend on the point of hit as well as the magnitude of the hit.
Please refer to this solution that I had provided in Quora: https://www.quora.com/In-space-a-uniform-rod-of-length-l-is-initially-at-rest-It-is-tapped-at-one-end-perpendicular-to-its-length-How-far-does-its-CM-translate-while-it-rotates-once-completely-Is-this-problem-valid-considering-that-there-are-no-given-parameters/answer/Rajan-Pal-23
The solution here can be easily manipulated to find the point where the velocity is zero. Hope this helps.
Answer: A rod hit offset from the center of mass will not only rotate about the center of mass but also translate at the same time.
There is a simple geometrical relationship between the impulse offset $a$ from the center of mass, and the location of the center of rotation $b$ away from the center of mass. The impulse happens in a direction $\hat{j}$ that is perpendicular to the offset $a$.

The rotation center is always on the other side of the center of mass, at a distance $$b = \frac{I_{\rm CM}}{m\, a} $$ as shown above.
The larger $a$ is, the smaller $b$ is and vise versa. At the two limits when $a=0$ and the impulse is through the center of mass, the rotation center is at infinite (designating a pure translation). When $b=0$ and the body is rotating about the center of mass then $a$ is at infinity designating an impulsive couple (short-lived torque).
All of the above is a consequence of the equations of motion of a rigid body. Actually, it is a consequence of the definition of momentum.
Momentum
Rigid body momentum (translational and rotational) is defined as follows
$$\begin{aligned}
 \vec{p} & = m\, \vec{v}_{\rm CM} \\
 \vec{L}_{\rm CM} & = \mathrm{I}_{\rm CM}\, \vec{\omega} \\
\end{aligned} $$
Now if the perpendicular line from the rotation center to the impulse has direction $\hat{i}$ and goes through the center of mass. The kinematics of this situation are such that
$$ \vec{v}_{\rm CM} = \vec{\omega} \times (b\, \hat{i}) $$
and if the impulse has magnitude $J$, the impulse vector is decomposed into magnitude and direction as $$\vec{J} = J\,\hat{j}$$
Finally, the momentum of the object is solely due to the impulse and thus
$$ \begin{aligned}
  \vec{p} & = J\, \hat{j} \\
  \vec{L}_{\rm CM} & = (a\,\hat{i}) \times (J\, \hat{j})
\end{aligned} $$
Together these are combined into
$$\begin{aligned}
 J\,\hat{j} & = m\, \vec{\omega} \times (b \hat{i}) \\
 (a\,\hat{i}) \times (J\, \hat{j}) & = \mathrm{I}_{\rm CM}\, \vec{\omega} \\
\end{aligned} $$
and use the first into the second, as well as define the direction $\hat{k} = \hat{i}  \times \hat{j}$ as where rotation happens with $$ \vec{\omega} = \omega \hat{k}$$
$$ (a\,\hat{i}) \times \left( m\, (\omega \hat{k}) \times (b \hat{i}) \right) = \mathrm{I}_{\rm CM}\, (\omega \hat{k}) $$
or in scalar form
$$ \left( a \, m (\omega b) \right) \hat{k} = ( I_{\rm CM} \omega ) \hat{k} $$ recognizing that $\mathrm{I}_{\rm CM}$ acts along $\hat{k}$ and that $\hat{i} \times ( \hat{k} \times \hat{i}) = \hat{i} \times \hat{j} = \hat{k}$.
The above is simplified by eliminating $\omega$ into
$$ I_{\rm CM} = m a b $$ or $$ b =  \frac{I_{\rm CM}}{m a} $$

Rotation of a rod on a smooth plane


What is the appropriate size for album art to display correctly the iPad's retina display?

Question: What is the appropriate size for album art to display correctly on the 3rd generation iPad's retina display?
Answer: This is difficult to answer without any of us having access to an iPad with the retina display.
Therefore, I'll suggest the resolution which Apple provides when you get your covers via the option Get Album Artwork in iTunes. I hope this is fine, as long as you do not use coverflow in full screen mode.
The dimensions are:

max. vertical: 600 pixels
max. horizontal: 600 pixels

If a cover is not square, then one size dimension has less pixels.
Comment: gentmatt is correct. If you can find it, you might be safe with a 1000x1000 image. But it's doubtfull that you'll be able to find album art at that high level of resolution until the new iPad is out and about.
Comment: I think it might be best to leave this open until the iPad 3 comes out and we can see whether it will actually take advantage of higher resolution art. 600x600 would be pretty tiny (or blurry) on that screen.
Answer: The new iPad has a resolution of 2048-by-1536.
For good results, I would suggest a multiple of the smaller dimension, assuming you are using square album art, which you should but isn't always the case.  This will allow for double scaling in much the same way as a non-retina enabled app will do.
As such, something like 768 square should yield good results.  Failing that 384 square may actually scale better (4x exactly) than something arbitrary like 600.