Long-distance relationship: Going to UK for 6 months

Question: I'm planning to go to london for 6 months to visit my boyfriend. As a singaporean i don't have to apply for a visa and can just be in london on a normal social visit visa but i'm afraid of getting detained at immigration if they know that i'm going there for 6 months to visit my bf. I don't intend to overstay my visit and have plans to go home after that. I have a return ticket booked but it's for a week. Any problems if i just say i'm intending to stay for a week but change my return ticket date to 6 months later after i go through immigration?
Comment: Are you asking us 'is it OK if I lie to the immigration officer?'?
Comment: I just realized that's a very risky thing to do. But i just don't want to risk getting refusal of entry. If i change my flights to October and be very honest, what documents do i have to bring to prove that i'll be coming back? I just want to go visit my bf and not be refused entry at the borders!
Comment: Even though you don't need a visitor visa, I suggest reading the rules for applying and questions here about denied visas. You might even be able to apply for one to reduce the risk of being refused entry.
Answer: You are in a long-distance relationship and want to visit for 6 months. You also want to avoid any discomfort in your landing interview by lying to the Immigration Officer about the length of your visit. So is this OK?
Internet couples try this all the time and some succeed, some do not. A single woman from 10 time zones away queueing up at immigration wanting to stay for a week or so is a dead-giveaway. How good are you at landing interviews?  If the IO suspects something is amiss they will probe and try to trip you up; if you are caught out, you will be removed from port (that's a bad thing).  You can read in our archives where this happened to people in your situation.
But paradoxically, it's worse if you succeed. It means thereafter you will have to perpetuate the lie if you get married or engaged or study or work permit or any other situation that requires a Singaporean to obtain an entry clearance. Let's look at the form...

Lying on an entry clearance application is covered in Paragraph 320 and attracts a 10 year ban. Your exit details are provided to UKVI by the airline.
So our response here on Travel.StackExchange.Com is strictly party line: tell the truth to the Immigration Officer.  If you want to be pre-approved for your visit and avoid the distress of wasted airfares and removal from port, then you can open an account at visa4UK and apply for a Standard Visit Visa.  It's fine to explain to them that you are in an LDR and applying in order to avoid the distress, etc etc. They have seen it all before.

Notes: the seminal analysis of decision making by immigration officers is "Exploring the decision making of Immigration Officers: a research study examining non-EEA passenger stops and refusals at UK ports" which was commissioned by the Home Office in 2007.
Comment: @Andrea Information about your sabbatical, and when it is due to end, might be useful for showing intent to return home.
Comment: I'm a single woman. I have traveled for long term employment, short term business trips, pleasure, and academic conferences. I don't think I've ever encountered special scrutiny because of my gender or marital status, regardless of the number of timezones.
Comment: Thanks everybody, I just changed my flights and i'm just going to be very honest to the IO and bring along my bank statements or anything to prove that i can financially fund my 5 months trip there just in case. We've been tgt for awhile now and i've been flying back and forth and so has he, this is just the first time that i'm on sabbatical and planning to go over for a longer period of time.
Comment: @PatriciaShanahan, added some support for my statements. Suggest reading the report(s). It's 7 volumes and can be tedious, but gender specific criteria is absolutely part of the process. Maybe not for you however :)
Comment: @GayotFow I have limited experience of UK immigration officers. Maybe they would view me with suspicion if I did not present a UK citizen passport.
Comment: @PatriciaShanahan, I trained with the IAS helping detainees at Heathrow/Gatwick and met a lot of them. On balance they're fine and a common thread is a great sense of humor.


What is Ticks on Uniswap?

Question: I'm a very beginner in dex protocol. Can someone explain to me what is a uniswap Tick? Many thanks.
Answer: in uniswap v3 we have concentrated liquidity. User has to decide in which price range s/he wants to have their liquidity gets traded. for this, uniswap has to find a way to decide the price ranges. this is why tick is used in v3.
this is from uniswap v3 white paper

It is the same concept in traditional finance. A tick is the smallest increment by which the price of a security can move. If you follow the different stock prices, they all have different ticks. some increases by  $0.01,some increase by  $0.1.
Answer: Basically bondaires between price space (according to they doc). In pratice the price of the currency can be aways represented as a tick, thus it will be in a range represented by ticker upper and ticker lower.
If the current price is inside the tick range in which you has liquidity inside ( minted a nft represent your position ). You will be earning the fees from the pool.
Answer: Ticks are simply a way to represent token prices in Solidity. It's one way to work around the peculiar nature of performing complex math operations in Solidity, since it enables representing token prices as integer number.
You can imagine the Tick being another form of the token price, and here is the exact formula for converting ticks to prices and vice-versa:

What is Ticks on Uniswap?


Use God with multiple applications and start them automatically after a reboot

Question: I'm currently trying to monitor various processes/daemons of in total three Rails/Rack Applications using god. Monitoring works great, the problem is that i'm not able to configure god to autostart all processes after a reboot.
My Setup: I'm running a Linux VPS with Centos & Plesk.
I have a non-root linux user "deployer" which is used to deploy & run the three Rails/Rack Applications. Two applications are running with the passenger apache module, the third application uses a thin Server (that's necessary because the application doesen't work with apache). The two Rails applications, that are using passenger have additional rake tasks that run in the background - these and the thin Server are monitored by god.
The god gem is specified in the Gem File of all three Applications.
In every deploy.rb file i have a method that looks like
namespace :misc do
    desc "restart woekers using gog; restart webserver"
    task :restart, roles: [:web, :resque] do
        run "touch #{current_path}/tmp/restart.txt"
        god.all.start
        god.all.reload
        god.all.terminate
        god.all.start
    end
end

After a reboot of the server, if i run the cap misc:restart for all three applications manually, all processes are booted up and monitored correctly.
Every try to start god automatically on boot and start all necessary processes failed so far.
I tried many different things, but nothing worked. My approach so far was to create a cron task with @reboot that runs three of the following script:
#!/bin/bash -l

cd /path/to/app/ && bundle exec god -c /path/to/app/config/god/resque.god && bundle exec god load /path/to/app/config/god/resque.god && bundle exec god start resque

This works great for the first application: god and all processes are started.
When the script is executed for the second application (of course with the with the correct paths), god is not able to start the tasks.
I enabled logging in god and the error message (in case of the Rack Application) was "thin: command not found".
When I'm starting the Rack Application first, thin is started correctly and the commands of the other task are not found.
I don't get whats wrong with my configuration. I added the bundle exec command in front of the god calls as you can see above (so the commands should be executed in the environment of their respective application) - nevertheless, it just doesen't work.
I would really appreciate if anyone could help me getting god to start automatically.
If you need further information please don't hesitate to ask!
Thanks in Advance!
Answer: Am working on something similar and took this approach:
Use upstart or something similar to launch the god daemon on system boot, for me this is done like so:
/etc/init/god.conf
description "god"

start on runlevel [2]
stop on runlevel [016]

console owner

exec /usr/local/rvm/bin/rvm_god -c /etc/god

respawn

That guy runs god specifying one ruby god configuration file with the -c option:
/etc/god
# Load the configs

God.load "/home/dangerousbeans/kitten_smusher/config/config.god"
God.load "/home/dangerousbeans/irc_nommer/config/config.god"

This ruby dude loads in the individual application god configs and running God.load causes them to boot up.
The individual files look like this I guess as I'm using RVM:
/home/dangerousbeans/irc_nommer/config/config.god
God.watch do |w|
  w.dir = "/home/dangerousbeans/irc_nommer"
  w.name = "IRCnommer"

  # scary rvm magic begins
  gemsets_path = [
        "/home/dangerousbeans/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125@irc_nommer/bin",
        "/home/dangerousbeans/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.3-p125/bin",
    "/home/dangerousbeans/.rvm/bin",
      ENV['PATH'] # inherit this
    ].join(':')

   w.env      = {
    "PATH"        => gemsets_path,
        "GEM_PATH"    => "/home/dangerousbeans/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125@irc_nommer"
    }
  # scary rvm magic ends

  w.log = "/tmp/ircnommer.log"

  w.start = "ruby /home/dangerousbeans/irc_nommer/irc_nommer.rb"
  w.keepalive
end

Answer: The key point is the environments is different between manual and automatic while god execute the [start] command.
So you can add command env to the command. like:
God.watch do |w|
  w.start    = "cd #{your_app_directory}; env >> log/god.log; your-real-command >> log/god.log 2>&1"
end

There'll be some differences as you type env in the same directory.
Check the difference and add required/correct paragraph to god's env.
Today I encounter an issue, I deployed 2 rails apps in 1 server, both uses god. The App#2 can't startup the command correctly. After do above test I found the cause: God hold an environment variable [BUNDLE_GEMFILE] that points to App#1. So I add a simple line then error gone away:
God.watch do |w|
  w.env = {
    "BUNDLE_GEMFILE" => "#{$rails_root}/Gemfile"
  }
end


What defines a forcing move with major/minor pieces?

Question: I have been taking various training tests and the answer almost always involves some sort of forcing move.  Clearly attacking a king will always force a response but when another piece is involved (whether it be major or minor) an attack does not need to be forcing.  Are there rules of thumb to help identify forces in these cases?  I tend to look for mates, royal forks followed by forks and then winning exchanges.  Where I stumble is if a test involves a forcing attack that leads to mate.  I always just assume I would sacrifice the piece to stay alive.
Answer: Forcing move is a term for a move that leaves an opponent with a few options, only one of which does not lead to an immediate loss. This could refer to a variety of circumstances. For example, you might see a mate in 3 puzzle in which the first move is a forcing move because the opponent's only other legal move falls to a mate in 1. The term can also be used in opening theory, like in Ruy Lopez situations where black's b5 forces Bb3, or the loss of the bishop. The term may also be used for situations like 1.e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6, after which white is left with one good option, 4. Bxc6, and several bad options, such as 4. Ba4, which just loses the bishop, 4. Bc4, which allows black queenside expansion while losing another move, 4. Bd3, which blocks the d-pawn, 4. Be2 which is probably the best alternative but yields the b5 square without a fight, and 4. Bf1, which severely hampers development. While white has other options, they are strategically weak, and it could be said that black's a6 is a forcing move. So there is a wide spectrum between checkmate situations and less dramatic situations in which there is only one reasonable move.
Comment: When there is only one move that doesn't lose, I've seen that called an "only move" (represented by □ in annotations). A forcing move limits the opponent's options, but they may still have more than one choice. For example, if you capture a piece, your opponent is "forced" to recapture (unless there is a zwischenzug or a sound sacrifice), but there may be more than one reasonable way to recapture.
Answer: In the context of your training tests, some positions may require  identifying some weakness, and then exchanging or driving off the most important defender by coming up with a "forcing move". You are often advised to begin your thinking by looking for forcing moves, but not every forcing move is good. When you find one, ask yourself what it positively achieves. Another plan is to begin by seeking the weakness, and then looking for forcing moves that relate to it.
Answer: Many things in life are a matter of degree. An attack on your king is absolutely forcing. Attacking your queen requires attention, but you may have a better plan than defending her. Such is also true for a pin. A piece pinned on your king is absolute. Pin on the queen or rook is relative.


Query or filter the data where the start time is past 3:00 pm

Question: I've started using Google Sheets for our logbook and it's been a great help. I have data with a time component in it (start and end time) and I'd like to query or filter the data where the start time is past 3:00 pm.  I tried looking it up but most answers are with regards to the date.  Any help, please?  Column C contains the start time and Column D contains the End time.
Comment: Found one working with importrange and cell reference here:
https://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/124809/google-sheets-query-with-date-and-time
With Demo here: https://i.imgur.com/N82AZG0.gif
Answer: The query would be like this:
=query(A:D, "select * where C > timeofday '15:00:00' ")

(or >= if you want to include 3 PM sharp)
Here, the single-quoted string 15:00:00 is preceded by the keyword timeofday, indicating its meaning. This is similar to how date strings are preceded by date. Note that the format of query string is fairly rigid: it has to be 24-hour time, with the seconds field included (HH:mm:ss). However, the time data in your spreadsheet can be in whatever format you want.
See scalar functions for more examples of manipulation  with timeofday values.
Comment: Glad it works. On Stack Exchange, one can mark an answer as accepted by clicking the checkmark to the left ot it; this is our way of saying "thanks" without posting...
Comment: Hi !  Thanks for the reply !  Great help !  Just did your suggestion on my worksheet.  I'll have a look at the scalar functions.  Thanks again !
Answer:
3 PM is 15h so you can do:
=FILTER(A1:D, HOUR(C1:C) >= 15)
Answer: If you don't want to use any formula you can use filter view by clicking filter view > create new filter views. The filter view icon can be found at the right top corner before the sigma symbol. After that, click the icon on the cell title (make sure the cells have title). It will show a dropdown menu and choose filter by condition. Choose any option available for numbers because, hours can be treated like numbers in google sheet.


Is it possible to make a clean graphic logo from a pen sketch with PaintShop Pro 2018?

Question: my friend made me a sketch for a logo with pen and paper. The only graphics software I have is PaintShop Pro 2018 and I'm not too familiar with it. What I'm trying to do is to find an automated method to catch the lines of the sketch and make them clean and nice (digitalize?)!
Thank you in advance!
Comment: Welcome to GD.SE!
Comment: PaintShop Pro doesn't have such functionality. There are manual path drawing and editing tools. With them one can redraw an image - for ex. a scanned pencil sketch can be kept visible in the bottom layer and one can draw new clean lines. by tracing the sketch manually. There's Inkscape, a free vector drawing program which has automatic bitmap image tracing. Unfortunately pencil sketches are often too messy for successful tracing. If one has drawn a line several times and finally got it right he can see the right form in the middle of trash, but Automatic tracing probably cannot see it.
Comment: (continued) As a vector drawing program Inkscape offers much more possibilities than PSP. Attach one of your sketches or a part of it to the question. Then some of us might tell how to vectorize it.
Comment: Thank you for the answers! I shall give a try with Inkscape. I added the sketch to the question.
Answer: As said in a comment, PaintShop Pro doesn't have such functionality. There are manual path drawing and editing tools. With them one can redraw an image - for ex. a scanned pencil sketch can be kept visible in the bottom layer and one can draw new clean lines. We call it "manual tracing". This video shows the idea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkbl_plgQBg I guess you have already seen it and want something easier (=automatic, as you wrote).
Inkscape is a free vector drawing program which has much more capability in that area than PSP. There's also automatic bitmap image tracing. In the past I have seen automatic bitmap image tracing been available also for PSP as an separately sold add-on.
But pencil sketches often have low and varying contrast lines which in addition are repeated or fuzzy where the artist has chalked out the wanted form. Your image is full of it. Inkscape nor other programs which are not based on artificial intelligence cannot trace it right (see NOTE1).
A human may see immediately what's the wanted line, but Inkscape doesn't. I'm afraid your only low cost possibility is to either make a version which has solid black lines and apply automatic tracing to it. Or trace it manually. Your image is quite easy to be traced manually in Inkscape, but that's true only after one has passed the steep learning curve of how to draw and edit paths. To get started prepare to work at least a week through the elementaries. After it one gradually finds numerous tools how to utilize the symmetry, repeating forms, regular shapes and computer fonts. For ex. the rope can be drawn quickly by using pattern along a path -effect.
There's a big obstacle which prevents getting good automatic bitmap tracing results even if the image was redrawn on paper with perfectly clean solid lines. You have uneven light. You must learn to shoot perfect photos or use a scanner if you expect perfect tracing results. An you must get rid of dirt and wrinkles, too. But for manual tracing your current image is well good enough.
I checked if your image could be adjusted (in Photohop, PSP or GIMP) to make it more solid. It's hopeless due the low contrast, uneven light, wrinkles and dirt. The result was at best something like this:

For manual tracing this is much worse than your original because so many lines are lost when trying to fade the greyness. But my image shows what you can expect to get in Inkscape when you use the tracing and adjust the treshold so that you get white background.
NOTE1: Artificial intelligence developers have also paid some attention to making sketches solid. Read this writing: https://medium.com/coinmonks/simplifying-rough-sketches-using-deep-learning-c404459622b9 It's not a ready to use product that you can start to use, it's programmer's writing for other programmers, but it tells also what's going on.
Comment: @mortar-1 If you are interested in Inkscape's pattern along a path, there's an answer about it [here](https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/a/96295/89608)
Comment: Wow! Thank You for the effort you put in to this! Even though it seems like there is no "easy" way around this. Though, if I get it done the way you tell me, I can be proud of my self :)  . I'm really interested in the pattern along a path -effect for the rope, so I'l definately gonna look in to that! Thanks again!
Comment: You'll find here in GDSE a few examples where rope is drawn by repeating a short piece either by using an image brush (not available in Inkscape) or pattern along a path. Search for rope.
Answer: Several things to unpack here. I am writing this so you can check some concepts underlying the process you want to do.

Is it possible to make a clean graphic ... from a pen sketch with PaintShop Pro 2018

Yes. You can make a clean image just by adjusting levels or curves... But if the original image is intended to be as an "original". In the case of this image, it is not possible by any software for now.
The way an "original" is made from a pen drawing is by providing a final art, where the line widths really reflect the final result.
What you could do with this image are some options.
1. Treat it as an original (This is a bad idea)
If it were some drawings or manuscripts of Leonardo, make your life easier by taking time to make a proper photoshoot.
a) Place yourself in front of a large light source, like a window without direct sunlight.
b) Flatten the image. Press it with a glass from a photo frame you have around.
Then you need to "restore" the image in Paint shop Pro. Masking here and there, dodge and burn, leveling... To much work.
2. A real "Ink" original
If the intended look is a vintage look you need to use the image as a base template to redraw by ink on another layer, probably vegetable paper, but you need stylographs and ink.
The idea is what the traditional animators did, or comics and manga are normally done. Taking a pencil drawing and using it as a base for a paint drawing on a sheet of plastic.
You can do that is Paint Shop Pro, by drawing on a new layer. You probably need a drawing tablet.
3. Use it for what it is. A sketch for a logo
On the quote I made from your title I omitted the word Logo. No logo is done on a raster image software. They should be done in a vector program.
Use Inkscape to redraw the image you have. But a logo is a process of abstraction, so the end result needs to have adaptations to make this idea into a real logo. Proportions, weights, spacings.
4. If the logo is important
If they will spend a decent amount of money, on stickers, branding, etc. A good idea is to leave a professional designer deal with it.
Comment: Thank you, a lot to think here! :)


Record screen problem

Question: vivo 1902 - unable to capture the screen of this interface due to app limitation on
how to override this situation when record screen from some apps. If I use the app recorder it just blanks when I play it again.
Answer: You cannot do screen recording on apps which restrict taking screenshots and recording. Your only solution will be root access, I believe.

Record screen problem


Question about the relevant physical parameters to build a backyard observatory

Question: I live in a big city: São Paulo, Brazil. I would like to build a simple telescope dome to do some amateur sky obseravtions. But the whole project lies on the viability to see something interresting more than just some stars. Due to high luminosity of cities this is a good question to ask.
So, which physical parameters are relevant to decide if a backyard observatory is a good holiday DIY project?
Comment: Can you see the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds with the naked eye from your backyard?
Comment: To construct the mirrors will be hard, but good luck!
Answer: Many astronomers are using electronic eyepieces to overcome light pollution. You may want to see what these devices can do in your area'
I use several of the Mallincam cameras in my observatory.
https://www.mallincam.net/
https://groups.io/g/MallinCam/topics
Some photos of my observatory and assistants
https://www.flickr.com/photos/142615862@N04/sets/72157672437929982
More home observatory sites
http://obs.nineplanets.org/obs/obslist.html
Answer: You've identified sky brightness as a potential concern for your observatory project. In that case, you should start by trying to measure it. Unihedron manufacturers sky quality meters that you can use to get scientific measurements in mag/arcsec2. This could give you a baseline for your considerations. You could roughly convert this measurement into a class on the Bortle scale. (But keep in mind that the conversion is approximate.) You could research whether the objects you might be interested in could be seen under that class of sky. More simply, you can use this site to see a map of light pollution in your area. Keep in mind that this map is generally accurate, but may be somewhat inaccurate at your specific location (as there are a huge number of factors that might affect sky brightness). You could, of course, buy a telescope and try to observe objects of interest with it. This would be the most direct way, obviously, to determine this project's feasibility in terms of what you're interested in observing.
I'm sure you realize that such an observatory should not be directly in the path of any artificial lights. It should be (obviously) on flat, sturdy land with an unobstructed view of the horizon. If you're asking specifically about building the dome itself, I have no experience with it. Someone else would have to add information form their experience.
I hope this helps.


2 mobile, 2 sim, 2whatsapp account

Question: I have 2 mobile old lenevo with Vodafone sim
 A6000 and new MI note4 with Jio sim.
Both mobile is having different WhatsApp account. I want to use old mobile WhatsApp account with new mobile and vice-versa. Now if I want to exchange my sim card what should I do? WhatsApp is not having logout option.
Once I uninstalled WhatsApp exchanged sim and again reinstalled WhatsApp. But it's not performing well. Groups appears in old Lenovo mobile and individual friends appears in new MI note 4.
Answer:
Mobile number changing in WhatsApp :

Open WhatsApp > goto Settings > Account > Change number.
[ currently, backup both your whatsapp accounts to google drive. Then change number on both phones or clear data on phone. Again open whatsapp, and set the things, restore from backup. Now, you can have all the chats and groups from lenovo to mi device and all items to mi to old device.]

WhatsApp Logout:

Only web version of Whatsapp has logout option. In android, you need to clear data before uninstalling Whatsapp. Also, delete whatsapp folder from internal storage.

Backup: :
You have option to backup your current whatsapp data using google drive. Goto whatsapp settings > chats > chat backup. Set email account in google drive settings and tap on backup.

2 mobile, 2 sim, 2whatsapp account


Where can I find a description of file system mount options in Linux?

Question: Is there some file in Linux that enumerates and describes mount options for file systems like /etc/services describes ports?
Comment: Are you just looking for generic info or is this an indirect version of "How do I mount a filesystem of type [fill_in_the_blank] under Linux?  If generic info I'd suggest a wiki search first, followed by a more specific question here - if you still have one.
Comment: Generic info, so I found it in mount(8)
Answer: If you're asking for "Which filesystems are mounted, and how are they mounted?", the answer can be found by either reading /proc/mounts or running 'mount'.
If you're asking which mount options you have available for the different file systems, you need to check the man page for mount (mount(8)) - it has one section titled "FILESYSTEM SPECIFIC MOUNT OPTIONS", and one titled "FILESYSTEM INDEPENDENT MOUNT OPTIONS" which should give you a pretty good idea of what mount options are available and what they do.
Comment: Thank you very much. I was should to search it in man mount by my self...
Answer: There is no machine-parsable file like /etc/services, as far as I know.
The most accessible human-readable documentation is the man page for the mount command.
Sometimes though the mount command is not completely up-to-date, there can be options that the kernel supports but not mount. The options supported by the kernel are documented in its documentation under Documentation/filesystems/. Options not supported by the mount command are typically experimental and best left alone in any case; but they sometimes appear in /proc/mounts when they are the names of options that are enabled by default and best not turned off.


Using MacPorts to install to another directory other than /opt/local/bin

Question: I'm having a problem of consistency between my machines because I have to explicitly specify the command path for some items like Image Magick.  Port installs them to /opt/local/bin, but for consistency, I would like to install to /usr/local/bin.  How can I specify that?
Answer: Just add /opt/local/bin to your path, like the rest of us.  You can do this in ~/.profile
Trying to force it to /usr/local/bin

is an unnecessary effort
risks executable or library collisions with evil and a potentially disastrous impact
Comment: Either use MacPorts or don't: either way you should avoid using /usr
Comment: e.g. ln -s /opt/local/bin/convert /usr/local/bin/convert
Comment: Like I said originally though I have to explicitly specify the command path in the application code.  We have more than one development machines so some have installed from source (/usr/local/bin) and some have installed from Mac Ports (/opt/local/bin).
Answer: Macports really does not like being in /usr/local. From MacPorts Faq
/opt/local was chosen so as to avoid stomping on other various installations (e.g. fink uses /sw to do the same); /usr/local is not a viable choice for several reasons:

Some software (especially auto* tools from Gnu) look in /usr/local as a default location, which means MacPorts can't be easily isolated when needed
/usr/local is usually reserved for the given system's admin to install items local to that system, and tends to be a bad choice to have taken over by a non-system port system
gcc considers /usr/local to be a standard system directory, causing (at least) the include directory to be unable to appear early in the list of include directories, and hence causing MacPorts-installed items to be difficult to use properly for items which need them (where another version is installed elsewhere, like /usr/X11R6)

Also if you have installs from different sources are you sure that they are exactly the same version. If they are not then you will have odd build and runtime issues.
If after all that you still want to try to us this unsupported method and you just cannot use the path to find things I suspect it would be easier to make your code look in /opt/local/bin then /us/local/bin then choose the one it finds (also what happens if both are there)
Comment: These reasons all seem to boil down to "you might want to use a different package system (or install from source) alongside MacPorts". It's a shame there's no supported solution for users who want to use MacPorts to manage all their packages and keep them in standard locations.
Comment: @JesseMcGrew What do you mean by standard location? Any directory can be used in Unix it just needs to be on the path. e.g. /opt is the standard Solaris location for third party installs
Comment: I mean expected location, I guess. The presence of questions like this one and the MacPorts FAQ entry suggests that many users and software packages expect programs to be installed under /usr or /usr/local, and when MacPorts is the only package manager in use, it may be simpler to reconfigure MacPorts than to retrain/reconfigure everything else.
Comment: @JesseMcGrew you can set up Macports to use another directory but then up to you to debug :( I chose Macports BECAUSE it was in another directory after 10+ years of dealing with Unix and they made the same comments.
Answer: If you know what you are doing, here is how to do it:
Installing Mac Ports from source.
Comment: You should absolutely avoid using /usr as noted by Mark.


Minimizing emerge impact on a low-mem/high load system?

Question: Any best practices on minimizing system performance impact during emerging?
Answer: you can set the variable PORTAGE_NICENESS in the file /etc/make.conf. it sums up a nice value to the emerge process, so that it has less priority on the system. for example:

PORTAGE_NICENESS=10

the above line, in /etc/make.conf, will make portage increment 10 to the default nice value for that process (this will not set the nice value to 10, it will increment that value).
Answer: You could always use a different system to do the hard work using distcc: http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/distcc.xml
Answer: Apart from setting PORTAGE_NICENESS Use ionice to reduce impact on hard disk and reduce impact on user.
For example, for installing evolution I would do:
ionice -c3 emerge -av evolution

Answer: Try cpulimit. It limits cpu usage per process. So, you can tell emerge to use only 10% of your cpu resources.
Answer: @Mark's answer of using distcc sound sgood. Creating binary packages on another system and installing them on the high-load system might be an alternative approach to that one.


Critique: Is this a good way to present images and captions for research document?

Question: I have put lots of pictures/images in my document and I would like to refer them. Below is my attemption after reading this.

What do you think about the font, the alignment, the size of images, etc? Can you give me some advices? Thank you.
Comment: Althougt Academia is also suitable for this question, I think only this site is best because I don't ask about what information I have missed or stuff like that, I'm asking about the good looking. I have edited my question, please come and see.
Comment: Is this also related to your dissertation? Will you be printing it in color or black and white?
Comment: Hi @Ryan, yes it is. It will be printed in color.
Comment: Please visit our [Critique guidelines](http://meta.graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/681/what-are-the-guidelines-for-asking-for-a-critique-of-my-work) before your question gets voted to be closed for being off-topic.
Comment: @Matt, I have read the guidelines and I still don't know how to improve it. I have image, I have specific questions (font, alignment, etc), I encourage the answerers. I can't give many detail as the examples give because I'm not a designer, I just feel something is missing or not good but can't point it out. Also, I just have found that StackExchange has [Writers](http://writers.stackexchange.com/), is this kind of questions more suitable in there? I think no because I want to know how to make a good look, not how to make a good story.
Answer: I think it looks fine since it will be printed in color as long as it makes sense in the larger scheme of your document. The only suggestion I have is since you're printing in color, keep the blue for links but get rid of the underline. It will make them easier to read. You might also consider doing the link with at least the source name like:
National Institute of Health (http://nih.gov/science/)
Nature: International weekly journal of science (http://www.nature.com/news/drug-brings-hiv-out-of-hiding-1.10180)

But really you should probably check a style guide. Maybe the AMA (American Medical Association) if there is no style guide in your country.
According to http://www.evansville.edu/libraries/ama.cfm the correct format for websites is:

INTERNET SOURCES
  Citations to Internet sources aren't as rigid as those surrounding books and articles. If you have doubts about what to include, usually the quick rule is "more is better". Important elements to include are:

Author(s)' last name and first and middle initials (if known)
Name of article/webpage
If it is an abstract, note in [brackets] - OR
Name of journal, if appropriate, with a [serial online] notation, followed by year;volume:pages
Phrase "Available at:" and the URL of the page
Phrase "Accessed" and the date you looked at it

Each element is followed by a period.

Henkel J. Testicular Cancer: Survival High with Early Treatment. FDA Consumer magazine [serial online]. January-February 1996. Available at: http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/196_test.html. Accessed August 31, 1998.
Salvatore S. Study links lupus to Epstein Barr virus. [CNN website]. December 15, 1997. Available at: http://cnn.com/HEALTH/9712/15/lupus.discovery/. Accessed August 31, 1998.
Chabner E, Nixon A, Gelman R, et al. Family history and treatment outcome in young women after breast-conserving surgery and radiation therapy for early-stage breast cancer [abstract]. Journal of Clinical Oncology [serial online]. 1998;16:2045-2051. Available at: http://www.jcojournal.org/abs16_6/v16n6p2045.html. Accessed August 31, 1998.

Oh but make sure they're aligned the same. Consistency, consistency, consistency. Right now the top image has the caption one line up from the bottom. The second caption is aligned with the bottom. The third one looks like your screenshot was cut so its hard to say.
Comment: Thanks for your help, I'll take that. About guide style, I do have recommendation but also I can choose them freely, as long as the thesis contain full information. About AMA, they only say about word references, not image references. I also don't know if it's best to cite the authors and websites of the images because they are also freely in the internet, one Google click is easily to find them. Not only that, the consequence is I don't know the origin sources. However I'll rethink about that.
Comment: +1 to Ryan's suggestions, adding to that, if you really want to add the links to the data that you are presenting, QR-Codes would be the best supporting Graphic that would allow quicker access of the information and the page that would give better insights for the content in the research document.


Visualforce page in Partner Communities shown in Classic UI

Question: I have implemented some VF Pages that use lightningStylesheets="true". As internal user, the page is displayed properly, however when i log in as a Partner user, the pages are shown with the classic UI. Has anyone faced this issue? Any suggestions on how i can overcome it?
Screenshots below:
Internal user:

Partner user:
Answer: Can you try the approach mentioned in the article and see if it fixes the issue

Visualforce pages using lightningStylesheets="true" and that display with Classic styling in Lightning Experience are a result of the UserPreferencesLightningExperiencePreferred field for the user experiencing the behavior. In order to check the value for that field on a User record, you can use the following steps.

As a System Admin user, run the following query in the Developer Console or Workbench: SELECT UserPreferencesLightningExperiencePreferred, Id, Username FROM User where id = 'userId'
Check if the result of the query shows the UserPreferencesLightningExperiencePreferred field value as "false"
When the field value is false, Visualforce pages with lightningStylesheets="true" will use Classic styling in Lightning
Experience

This field value will usually change when users use the Lightning
Experience Switcher to change between Salesforce Classic and Lightning
Experience. If the user's Profile has the "Hide Option to Switch to
Salesforce Classic" permission enabled, you will need to use the
Salesforce Dataloader or a similar tool to update their User record to
update their preferred UI experience.
Comment: Hi Swetha and thank you for your response. The field value at user level is set to "true". :( I suppose something has to do with the managed package from which this VF Page is invoked. I have a managed package that invokes my custom VF Page. When in Salesforce (Internal user) it pops-up in LEX, when in Community, it pops up Classic UI. So i will ask them for support...
Comment: Great! Let me know how it goes...
Comment: Hi Swetha, unfortunately, this is a Salesforce issue. In fact, lightningStylesheets isn's supported in Experience Cloud Sites. https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.pages.meta/pages/vf_dev_best_practices_slds_lightningstylesheets.htm. I think i should reconstruct all the VF Pages and use the apex:slds option. https://salesforce.stackexchange.com/questions/195511/apexslds-vs-lightningstylesheet-option


Dual Boot Windows 10 and Linux Ubuntu on Separate SSD

Question: I am brand new to Ubuntu. I have just built my new PC, it has 2 separate hard drives installed in it. I would like to install Windows 10 on the first SSD (They are both 250GB Samsung 850 EVO) and i would like to install Ubuntu on the other and be able to choose to use either one or the other on dual boot. As i said I am brand new to Ubuntu. In fact, I have not downloaded or installed it as yet. So, one I would like to know if this dual booting from separate hard drives is possible.
Comment: Yes, this works. I'll recommend to first install Windows and then Ubuntu. Also, you can set the Ubuntu bootloader in the bios to be the one to be booted first. So you can choose either Ubuntu or Windows in the GRUB menu.
Comment: Expanding on @Deepak's comment, if you install Windows first, and after that install Ubuntu, the Ubuntu installer will guide you and make all the arrangements to create a dual boot PC. You only have to be careful to choose the right disk to install Linux (e.g. if Windows is installed in /dev/sda, choose /dev/sdb for Linux).
Comment: I have not tested it but I don't see why this would not be possible ?
Comment: @Deepak Yes but I would also like to know what the correct and complete step by step procedure is
Comment: Refer to user797138 below! Great answer! Please upvote it!
Answer:
In this installation answer session for dual-booted desktop with two separate SSDs, the required procedure will be fully explained in detail.
The act of plugging and unplugging of SSDs from their sockets for dual-boot installation were discouraged and completely condemned because that act was going to harm your computer hardware.
This act of plugging and unplugging of SSDs have been practiced by a few just to avoid "an extraneous GRUB entry is being installed on the EFI Boot Partition of the Windows 10 SSD".  It is wiser to attempt to remove such an extraneous GRUB entry instead of practicing this 'harmful' method of dual-boot installation. The removal of this extraneous entry is the role of Part-IV of this answer-session.

You should never unplug anything and never mess around your computer Hardware.

Plugging & unplugging SSDs may cause neighboring components
connection issues and your computer may not start or malfunction and
is difficult to diagnosis.
While unplugging SSD with tight socket fittings, you may apply force
which may disturb the other parts of Motherboard and there will be
always the possibilties of creating loose connection. i.e. if you
work on one component and if you are little careless, you may disturb
others. I did once a blunder and my front-panel audio and USB ports
were stopped working. It tooks me days to identify the problem and
resolve it. It was simply a loose connection!
If you have not properly plugged SSD back into socket tightly, this
will create a situation which is hard to diagnosis because computer
will work sometimes and suddenly there will be malfunction. May be
read/write errors and so on.

Part-I:   Install Windows 10 on first SSD (/dev/sda)
The first mistake was to purchase identical 250 GB SSD of same make. If I were you, I would go for a Kingston 250 GB SSD and a Samsung 250 GB SSD.  When you open up BIOS setup screen you can immediately observe the bootloaders bearing the SSD brand. This will be helpful to find out what is where. Whenever your PC is opened up later for any reasons, from the color of SSDs itself, you can tell that, for example, Windows-10 was installed in 250 SSD Kingston (red in color) and Ubuntu was installed on Samsung 250 SSD (some other color) respectively.
While installing windows-10, you will see two devices appear in front of you and you will be asked to select any one to continue with installation. Select /dev/sda for windows-10 installation. This way you will always remember that sda is meant for windows-10 and you will always remember it.
You should never partition SSD! Allocate entire 250 GB to 'C' drive and have all the windows related systems and other programs in 'C' drive. Never keep any data in SSD.
Suppose you wanted to install complete Visual Studio Community 2017 RC (a free, fully featured version), then it is going to take around 80 to 90 GB of 'C' drive.
Other point of suggestion, is go for a hard disk at least 1 TB size. You need a place to keep your data, downloads and other stuff without disturbing your SSDs.
The following link gives you step-by-step installation of windows-10. Just follow the link and you must get Windows-10 installed.
Windows 10 Installation step-by-step
After Windows-10 installation, you complete the formalities such as installing cumulative/security updates for your build version and so on. After finishing them along with other essential tasks, then you may resume back your journey towards installing Ubuntu 18.04.

Part-II:   Install Ubuntu 18.04 on second SSD (/dev/sdb)
As you have already admitted in your question is that your new to Ubuntu.
I welcome you to the fascinating world of Ubuntu whole heartedly.
I also made my Ubuntu entry recently, like you, just 7 months ago!
The first complexity begins during the installation is to partition your 250 GB SSD. There are varied theories exists and no second person agree with your partition! There is always a debate because every body is right!
I have a 120 GB SSD where Ubuntu was installed. Here is my partition details:
Sl.No:  Partition  File System           Device         Allocated Size   Partition Type
1       efi        FAT32                /dev/sda1       0.5 GB           Primary
2       swap       Swap area            /dev/sda2       16 GB            Primary
3       /          ext4 with journaling /dev/sda3       6 GB             Primary
4       /usr       ext4 with journaling /dev/sda4       16 GB            Primary
5       /opt       ext4 with journaling /dev/sda5       44 GB            Primary
6       /tmp       ext2                 /dev/sda6       16 GB            Primary
7       /var       ext4 with journaling /dev/sda7       8 GB             Primary
8       /home      ext4 with journaling /dev/sda8       13.5 GB          Primary

I arranged this partition setup particularly with Oracle 18c (Enterprise Edition) in mind. I would never ask you to follow my foot steps. Please never do that! You may have 2 partition or 3 or sometimes no partition, it is up you. This is the toughest part for a new entrant like you to negotiate with.
So, please do a thorough planning before you begin installation.
My partition table serves you as an example for an understanding of what partitions are. You may begin installation once your partition plan is frozen.
Next, during installation, at the time of dividing your SSD into partitions, be careful enough to select /dev/sdb. Because device /dev/sda has Windows-10 already installed. Once you cross this hurdle, the remaining part of installation is a cakewalk.
Now follow this link and you can easily install Ubuntu 18.04. This step-by-step procedure covers extensively regarding partitioning and teaches you how to do that.
Ubuntu 18.04 Installation step-by-step

Part-III:   Post Installation of Ubuntu 18.04
1.  Setup WiFi: Configure WiFi connectivity if you have one.
2.  Setup Password for Firefox Browser: Configure Firefox Browser with email-ID
3.  Set the Root password.
Set a password for root user in a single go:
$ sudo passwd root
Test it your root password by typing the following command:
$ su -
4.  Disable lock screen.
To disable lock screen just follow this:
Settings -> Privacy -> Screen Lock -> change 'Automatic Screen Lock' to 'Off'

To disable lock screen through command line permanently, issue the following command:
$ gsettings get org.gnome.desktop.lockdown disable-lock-screen 'true'

If you are unhappy with the new setting you can reverse it using:
$ gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.lockdown disable-lock-screen 'false'

Figure-1: Disable Screen Lock
5.  Adjust the Dock-styled Launcher
Ubuntu includes a dock-styled launcher (also known as "dock") on the left of your screen. If you don't like its position and the size of the icons on the launcher, you can adjust it easily through the settings.

Click the Applications button and select "Settings".
Select "Dock" on the left column.
On the right column, drag the slider of "Icon Size" to the left for
a smaller size, or right for a bigger size; and change the dock
position to the bottom or right of the screen.

Similarly, you can also auto hide the dock.
6.  Install Updates:
$ sudo apt-get update           # Fetches the list of available updates
$ sudo apt-get upgrade          # Strictly ugrades the current packages
$ sudo apt-get dist-upgrade     # Installs updates (new one)

If you have successfully upgraded, then you move on to step-7.
If there are any issues due to "metered" internet and upgrade command interrupted, then upgrade can be resumed through following command:
$ sudo apt-get install --fix-missing
And then issue:
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get upgrade

7.  Install aptitude
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install aptitude
$ sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

8.  Install Grub Customizer:
Grub Customizer is a graphical interface to configure the grub2. The application allows the user to add, remove, freeze, rename and reorder boot menu items.
Open up terminal by hitting Ctrl+Alt+T and run following commands one by one:
$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:danielrichter2007/grub-customizer
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install grub-customizer

How to use?

Once installed, hit Gnome dash and search for "G" and double-click
Grub-customizer icon to open up.

Figure-2: Type 'G' in search box in order to cause 'Grub customizer' to appear
Grub Customizer will always request you for authentication. Type
your sudo password.

Figure-3: Type sudo password authentication
Now using this graphical tool you change the boot order of GRUB by
bringing up Windows bootloader to the top of the chain. This can be
done by moving the desired loader up until it reaches the top.

Figure-4: Place the cursor on 'Windows bootloader', then right click for drop down menu to appear and use 'move up' menu item to lift 'Windows bootloader' up in the ladder until you park it on the top.
Once Windows bootloader parked at the top of the ladder, the first
thing you should do is save the settings. There is a save menu item
at the top-left and click that to save your GRUB configuration. You
should never ignore this step!
So by default windows-10 which you have set will be booted after 10
seconds. Just click General settings marked by a red arrow to get
the following figure-5, where you can alter this 10 secconds delay
interval.

Figure-5: GRUB interval 10 seconds may be altered here
You can always  explore this tool without any fear because you can
always quit from the tool without saving!
This is how you configure Grub using Grub Customizer tool. Very reliable!

9.  Now Reboot your system
Check the GRUB menu which should contain Windows bootloader at the top of the chain.
10.  Now Log into Windows System
We have the following important task to complete before bringing this procedure to conclusion.

Part-IV:   How to delete "extraneous" GRUB files from a Boot EFI partition in Windows 10?
What is this extraneous GRUB files?
This entry is done by GRUB (refer figure-8) after Ubuntu has been installed.
Whenever you do a dual-boot installation, this is an unwanted gift you will be presented with. This is reflected in BIOS setup screen as boot option #3 (refer figure-9).
Nevertheless, we will remove this extraneous gift subsequently. After this removal, BIOS setup screen will contain only two entries (refer figure-13).
Before proceeding further, I must introduce you my desktop configuration, otherwise it is difficult to follow the screenshots which you are going to face subsequently.
My system is a dual-booted desktop with a 250 GB SSD (Windows-10 installation), another 120 GB SSD (Ubuntu 18.04 installation) and 1 TB hard disk with three NTFS partitions which are mounted on Ubuntu as CodeWrite (read-only), ShareMe (read-only) and Warehouse (read-write) respectively. So, this 1 TB hard disk is sharable between Windows-10 and Ubuntu 18.04. All the copies of installable downloads not only for Windows-10 but also for Ubuntu 18.04 are kept under ShareMe. This arrangement helps to preserve storage space on both SSDs!
Note-1: When I assembled my desktop, I went for two 120 GB SSDs. I planned my desktop very carefully right from the beginning, made sure that my motherboard should have in-built Wi-Fi as well as Bluetooth and so on. The only blunder I committed was that I never anticipated that Visual Studio Community 2017 will take up my entire 'C' drive! This fellow has simply eaten away around 78 GB disk space on my 'C' drive. Thus, this oversight has costed me double the money, i.e I had to re-invest again on SSD by replacing the 120 GB SSD with a brand new 250 GB SSD. How much ever careful are you, sometimes you slip! So this was my story.
Note-2: The screenshots were all taken when I had two 120 GB SSDs of identical size. Please bear this in mind.
Press  + X and select Command Prompt (Admin) and run diskpart command.

Figure-6: Using 'diskpart' to list hard drives detected on Windows 10
After the target disk has been selected, its partitions are listed, so that the partition (volume) that corresponds to the Boot EFI folder can be identified.
In figure-7 below, that partition is Volume 3. It's usually the only volume with FAT32 in the FS (file system) column, and System in the Info column. After it has been identified and selected, you assign it an unused drive letter to make it easier to work with. In this example, I assigned it a drive letter G.
DISKPART> sel vol 3

Figure-7: Select volume number corresponding to the EFI partition and assign a drive letter
The final task involves changing into the Boot EFI folder, listing its contents to identify what subfolder the GRUB files would be. It will be in the EFI folder. The GRUB files for the distribution that was installed will be under a folder of the same name as the distribution.
For example, if Ubuntu was installed, as in this example, the name of the folder will be ubuntu. Delete the folder using the rmdir /s command. That's the Windows 10 equivalent of the Ubuntu Linux rm -r command.

Figure-8: Removal of extraneous 'ubuntu' boot entry from windows-10 EFI
To make sure that ubuntu has been removed, issue dir command again:
DISKPART>dir /B

The output will show only two entries.
Exit from diskpart command.

Figure-9: GRUB has created an extraneous boot entry in SSD (Kingston) drive where in windows-10 installation exits.
Now Look at the three boot entries in BIOS as shown below:
The Boot option#3 is the culprit which should be removed not only from SSD (Kingston) but also from GRUB boot loader:
We have already followed the steps in the beginning of Part-IV (How to delete "extraneous" GRUB files from a Boot EFI partition in Windows 10?) until now and removed the extraneous ubuntu directory from windows-10 EFI successfully.
Now restart computer and login into Ubuntu system.
Open up terminal by hitting Ctrl+Alt+T and run following command:
$ sudo efibootmgr               # issue this command to show boot entries

Figure-10: Output for command: 'sudo efibootmgr' showing 3 entries
Boot entry 2 should be removed. How to confirm this?
$ sudo efibootmgr -v                    # issue this verbose command

Boot entry 2 has the same UID for SSD disk as boot entry 0 which is windows loader.
$ sudo efibootmgr -b 2 -B               # where 2 is the boot entry Boot0002.

Now the entry has been removed.

Figure-11: The process of removal of the extraneous boot entry created by GRUB
To confirm the removal, just issue the following command:
$ sudo efibootmgr                   # issue this command to display boot entries

Figure-12: Confirmation of removal of extraneous boot entry created by GRUB
From the figure-12, it is clear that only two entries are present rather than three. Just see the entries marked with *.
Let is finally see BIOS setup screen below figure-13, to make sure that only two boot loaders are present.

Figure-13: The extraneous 'Boot Option #3' has been totally removed from BIOS (compare with Figure-9).
Part-V:   Conclusion
In this installation answer session for dual-booted desktop with two separate SSDs were fully covered.
The act of plugging and unplugging of SSDs from their sockets for dual-boot installation were discouraged and completely condemned because that act was going to harm your computer hardware.
This act of plugging and unplugging of SSDs have been practiced by a few just to avoid "an extraneous GRUB entry is being installed on the EFI Boot Partition of the Windows 10 SSD".  It is wiser to attempt to remove such an extraneous GRUB entry instead of practicing this harmful method of dual-boot installation. The removal of this extraneous entry is the role of Part-IV of this answer-session.
The Part-IV covers in detail the extraneous entry introduced by GRUB in windows 10 efi partition which was also reflecting on BIOS setup screen. This part provides detailed instructions to remove the extraneous entry not only from Windows 10 efi partition but also from BIOS setup screen one after another.
Comment: This all seems like a crazy amount of effort for what would take 10 seconds of physical effort
Comment: @Marmayogi Great tutorial!
Comment: @ubfan1, Figure 8 is not bash, it is plain **Windows Command prompt** (CMD.EXE). The syntax is right and the options are valid.
Comment: I have a question. I will discribe the situation. I installed each system separatly (by removing ssd before each installation). It did a trick and I have two systems, one didn't know about another. Of course in that case I boot from bios to system I need. Ubuntu booted without showing grub menu. But later grub menu appeared after some update in ubuntu and windows entry was in it. How to make that grub menu never appear with any additional entries? To make systems don't know about each other (I mean once and for all).
Comment: How were you only 7 months into your Linux journey when you wrote this?
Answer:
Install Windows 10 on the first SSD.
Unplug this first SSD.
Now install Ubuntu into the second SSD while the first is still disconnected
(Please note that failure to disconnect the first SSD while installing Ubuntu in the second SSD will  see to it that GRUB is installed on the EFI Boot Partition of the Windows 10 hard drive, which is not something you want)
Connect the first SSD (the one with Windows 10) and boot into the second SSD (Ubuntu). You can do this by pressing ESC, F2, F12 (or whatever your system works with) and selecting the second SSD as the desired boot device.
Once logged in to Ubuntu, open terminal and run sudo update-grub
and Grub will detect Windows 10 in the first SSD and add it to the grub menu entries.
Reboot your computer and get into BIOS setup and set the SSD with Ubuntu as the first device in the boot devices. Save settings and exit the BIOS setup.
In your next boot, Grub will allow you to select which of the two operating systems you wish to boot into.

You might find this article useful:

How to dual-boot Windows 10 and Ubuntu 15.10 on two hard drives
Comment: @SergioOlivieri For boot selection, you have three choices: the bare BIOS Boot Menu (usually opened by F8 upon boot, not recommended), the GRUB bootloader (the solution suggested by this question) or a boot manager like rEFInd (most recommended if you have a UEFI BIOS: it has a very nice GUI).
Comment: Works like a charm
Answer: Unplugging or not unplugging the internal drive depends on how you intend to use your Ubuntu system.
When to unplug (or disconnect) the internal drive

If you want a portable Ubuntu system, that can boot via USB or eSATA in many (different) computers, you want the whole boot system in the drive with Ubuntu, and this is easiest to do, if you unplug (or disconnect) the internal drive.
The same applies if you do not want to touch the internal drive (obviously).
In these cases you can use the method described in this link,
How do I install Ubuntu to a USB key? (without using Startup Disk Creator)

When to install/modify the bootloader into the internal drive

It you intend to use the Ubuntu system in the computer, where you install it (and do not want to port it to other computers), you need not, and should not unplug (or disconnect) the internal drive. Instead create a dual boot system, where Ubuntu is installed alongside the previous operating system (for example Windows), and Ubuntu creates a grub menu with entries (lines), where you can select to boot either of the operating systems.
In this case I suggest that you

Boot into Windows and reboot, when the live USB drive with Ubuntu is plugged in. This way Windows will not be semi-hibernated, and Ubuntu will 'see' the Windows file system with the operating system.

Let the computer boot into the live USB drive with Ubuntu, and use the installer.
At the partitioning window, you can select 'Something else' with means manual selection of drive and partitions to install Ubuntu.

Prepare the partition(s), where you want Ubuntu.
Continue with the installer ...

You can also select 'install alongside' and check very carefully, that the installer selects the drive, where you want Ubuntu. (If you find it difficult to see if things are OK, it is better to use 'Something else'.)
In this case the answer here by @Marmayogi can be helpful.
Answer: I have recently done this. I first installed windows 10 onto a harddrive.
Then unplugged the HD and plugged in the HD to be used for Ubuntu.
I installed Ubuntu from a USB Stick then, when I was happy with the install I turned off the PC and plugged the Windows HD back in.
I now turn on the PC and just press F12 to get to the boot menu and choose which HD to boot from.
Comment: After you installed Ubuntu on the 2nd HD, @PeterB, did you configure Grub? How many loaders appeared on BIOS setup screen? Remember you have already unplugged 1rst HD.
Comment: Look further up the thread, there is a post telling you how to configure grub, it is the second post.
Comment: You have not answered me. @PeterB, please read my comments carefully and come out with your reply.
Comment: I ave answered your post. Look further up the thread, there is a post telling you how to configure grub, it is the second post.
Comment: Please @PeterB, I am not asking you how to configure GRUB. While installing, did you configure Grub? What was your observation? How many bootloaders were listed by BIOS setup screen? My questions become significant in the context of plugging and unplugging SSDs from their sockets. Hope you see my point.


Do Assassins Respawn?

Question: In Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, when one of your assassins dies, will there be another person somewhere that can replace him, or am I permanently short a man?
Answer: Yes, whenever you have slots in your assassin roster, you will find "assassin recruitment" missions around the world map.  The most typical of these missions is to save a citizen who is being harassed by 4 guards.  After a while you'll get used to the canned animation and dialogue that occurs when you win.  "If I can help others as you've helped me - nods I surely will."
Destroying Borgia towers increases the number of available slots.  Whenever your total assassin count is less than the number of slots you have available, new assassin recruitment missions will appear around the map.
Note that the new assassin will be at a low level, and you'll have to call them into battle or send them out on contracts in order to raise them back up again.
Assassins can be killed in combat if you call them in against overwhelming odds, and they can also die during contract missions, rarely even when the chance of success is 100%.
Answer: Unfortunately, no, once they die, they are dead forever. Therefore you must be careful about sending out recruits at low levels (1-5) because they can die easily. Once you get your recruits to levels 9 and Assassino (10), they become pretty much invincible and you don't need to stay with them when they're fighting because they can survive on their own.
Hope this helps!

Do Assassins Respawn?


InstallShield Silent Installation

Question: I am attempting to put together a package for the silent (no user interaction) install and uninstall of an application using InstallShield. I did not create this application and don't have access to any kind of source for the installation. I created a response file using setup.exe /r for both the install and the uninstall, named install.iss and uninstall.iss respectively. When I run setup.exe /s /f1"%cd%\install.iss" with the program uninstalled, it runs just great. Trouble is, when I run setup.exe /s /f1"%cd%\uninstall.iss" with the program installed, I get an error code! (number 3) Did I not create this response file correctly? Why should it work with the install and not with the uninstall? Program is Teradata Manager 12.0, any input would be appreciated.
Comment: V. Romanov's question is a good one. You should probably re-record your silent uninstall after having run a silent install. My experience with InstallShield and playing back .ISS files is that if even one single dialog is different during the install or uninstall process, as compared with when the .ISS file was recorded, the wheels come off and it explodes. (Frankly, I think InstallShield is a bag of crap. Why people can't just use Windows Installer is beyond me...)
Comment: Does it uninstall manually after the silent install?
Comment: Yes, it does uninstall manually even after silent install. I went back and recorded another .iss after silent install to see if it would make a difference, but it didn't seem to. The dialogs are still the same, the files are exactly the same, and it still won't run. I'm going to have to agree with your assessment of InstallShield, Evan :)
Answer: You are probably dealing with an installer that was built using "Custom" dialog boxes and scripts that do not support the silent mode install or uninstall.
You could try running the installer using this :
<code>setup.exe /s /f1"%cd%\uninstall.iss" /verbose"%cd%\logging.txt"
</code>
Which will create an MSI engine logging file. This is very verbose, but that might help you troubleshooting this issue. But this unlikely...
Unfortunately, I recently troubleshooted that same kind of issue in a setup I had the code for, and that "ErrorCode=-3" is pretty much useless, ranging from internal MSI variables not being set, to error messages being displayed by the installer and not being handled properly...
Answer: Since you're apparently using exe rather than windows installer, you might try using InnoSetup instead of InstallShield to package the install. We've had good luck with it for putting together complex installation packages, and it has /silent and /verysilent modes for unattended installs. It's free, so there's no risk in trying it out.
Big downside is that it can't make msi files for deploying w/ GPO, but it's great for exe installs.
Comment: Well this might work, I don't know. Since I didn't create the program in question (it's off-the-shelf), I was hoping I could make use of the intall that they provided without trying to hack into things too much. This silent install package isn't crucial, so I think I will just leave it there, unless I am missing your point?
Answer: See this page in InstallShield's documentation that lists its command line options Setup.exe and Update.exe Command-Line Parameters for further options.

InstallShield Silent Installation


How to Create a Bootable ISO from Folder Directory?

Question: A week ago borrowed Windows Operating system Dvd from my friend to install a new OS on my computer. And after installing it I also copied all the files of DVD to create a backup of it. So that I can also have one copy of my friend's DVD which I can use anytime to install. But after some days I realized that instead of copying files from that DVD I have to create a bootable iso file from it. And Now he also doesn't have the Dvd. So is there any way I can make a bootable iso from files copied from it.
Help me in solving this issue.
Comment: I suppose you could try and create an ISO out of it, then use Rufus, to create a bootable installation media but that is more work, then simply downloading a valid bootable ISO from Microsoft for free.
Comment: Please see the documentation here https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/oscdimg-command-line-options
Comment: What is the version of Windows on DVD in question? Windows Vista/7/8/10? As user Ramhound suggested, you can simply download a valid ISO from Microsoft. However if you want to learn how to create bootable ISOs from the source, then you can use OSCDIMG tool which is part of Windows ADK. Windows ADK is a big download, so standalone OSCDIMG is available on third-party sites for download and it should just run file on Windows 7 and above. You will have to study the command line options applicable in your case be it Legacy only UEFI only or Legacy+UEFI multiboot.
Comment: Windows instructions here: In your case skip most of step 3 since you have the extracted files already, just be sure they are in the c:\windowsiso folder you created in step 1.>>>>http://michael.anastasiou.me/how-to-create-a-bootable-windows-dvd/
Answer: I totally agree with you, downloading ISO from Microsoft and using a USB drive is a nice idea. And USB works really quickly as compared to DVDs. But what if the user wants to create bootable iso for Windows 7. In that case, you cannot download the iso from the Microsoft official website without the genuine product key.
And in that case, creating an ISO from Windows installation files would be a better option.
And Yes it depends on the user to user.
So if you want to create bootable iso from folder or files follow this guide:

Install ImgBurn tool
Click on create an image from files/folder
Now Select the folder directory
Now Make ISO image bootable
Configure advanced bootable settings

For more info, you can also follow the original source link.
That's it. By using these steps you can easily create an iso file & use it in USB.
Thanks.


How to clip Background Sky Texture to above Horizon

Question: As the title says, I'm looking for a way to clip a Sky Texture Background to above the Horizon only, anything below it should be black.
I tried using the clip function of the mapping node but the result is something else. I also tried combining the sky texture with an rgb node with a mix shader and using the mapping node as Fac but didnt find a solution.
Please show me a working node setup.
Comment: you talking about cycles here?
Answer: You can use Generated texture coordinate with World to read Z axis on -1 to 1 range. Here -1 is straight under, 1 is straight up and 0 is the horizon. Taking it from there, you could simply use Math node to test for Greater than 0. Math node returns 0 for under 0 and 1 immeadiately above 0 so you can achieve a sharp mask.

For smoother options you could use Color Ramp node, it even conveniently ignores anything below 0 in the range.
EDIT: Here are couple setups for Color Ramp. First ColorRamp range from horizon to Zenith, horizon is on the left of the ColorRamp at value 0.0.

And here we have shifted the -1 to 1 range between 0 and 1 by adding 1 and multiplying by 0.5. Horizon is in the middle of the ColorRamp at value 0.5.
Comment: Thank you very much, your a genius! Btw I used it for the Fac of a Mix Shader that I mixed a RGB on black with, now it works as intended.
Comment: Ok, so I added the Color Ramp between the Separate XYZ and the Color/Fac and it works, the only problem is, it doesnt go below the horizon. Gotta figure out how to achieve that. The good thing is you get the easing.
Comment: @JohnMcDon I added some ColorRamp examples.
Comment: Thanks again, I already implemented the Add and the Multiply node to move the border and control the easing. I made a node group for this but it's rather meant to be used as a factor for a mix node. If you wanna check it out: https://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?449053-Node-Group-Texture-Axis-Clipping-WIP&highlight=


Screw doesn't grip

Question: I have just purchased 3/16 x 2-3/4" philips head tapcons and the recommended 5/32" drill bit. I drilled the holes using hammer-drill with ease and plenty deep as recommended. Attempting to drive the tapcon it slides right in the hole, No resistance whatsoever. Feels like the hole is to big, Checking the drill bit it states 5/32 therefore - What the heck?
Comment: "Drive the tapcon"?  How are you driving it in?
Comment: Don't even get to point of the driving of the screw - It slides right in the hole without resistance but was going to use a screwdriver
Answer: with ease
5/32" is just 1/32" smaller than 3/16". My guess is that, either due to a really good hammer-drill or relatively soft or brittle surface, you drilled the holes a little too big. If the location of the holes is critical (i.e., have to be where you already drilled) then get some larger screws - e.g., 1/4". If the location is not so critical then move an inch or two away and use a slightly smaller bit and/or drill a little less aggressively.
Comment: @Blane, use the next size up Tapcons and maybe use a regular drill or take it easy with the hammer drill.  What type of concrete is this?  Like a cinder block?  Cinder block should drill relatively easily without a hammer feature.
Comment: Unfortunately the position is critical and so is the screw size - Guess i'll have to get inventive
Comment: The other possibility is to fill the holes and then use ordinary screws instead of Tapcons. That works great for "toothpicks filling a hole in wood to reinstall hinges on a door with longer screws" but whether that will work here or not depends a lot on the strength needed - e.g., hanging heavy stuff on a wall vs. holding something in place on the floor.
Comment: Drilling into 25-30 year old poured wall concrete, Holding up cubical style desktops so not sure I would trust the toothpick method. I may have to modify my mounts to accept the larger screws
Comment: Definitely not toothpicks for that! But I would use a different material anyway if patching into concrete holes - that was just a comparison to the similar problem in wood. I would try for larger screws.
Answer: Vacuum dust out of hole
Mix some epoxy and inject into hole
Drive in a tight fitting wooden dowel (obviously 3/16 will fit)
Wait for cure
Wood screw
Comment: Just for anyone skeptical, modern epoxies have strengths in the *thousands* of pounds per square inch, so this should be fine so long as you aren't driving a vehicle over the joint.
Comment: Yes, epoxy is the resin that holds together fiberglass boats and carbon-fiber airplane components.  Without the epoxy they'd just be a pile of floppy glass mat.
Answer: Drill a hole in concrete, the fill the hole with Gorilla glue or Liquid Nails then hammer in a wood dowel the use a screw and that's it.
Comment: This doesn't seem to provide anything substantive over the existing "use an epoxy and a wooden dowel" answer that Harper posted over 2 years ago.

Screw doesn't grip


Using Op-Amp to amplify DC?

Question: In all the textbooks the shown inputs to Op-Amps are AC.
Could one use Op-Amp to amplify a DC voltage? if the answer is no, why not?  Why only transistors can be used to amplify DC, aren't Op-Amps made of transistors?
Comment: What textbooks are these that only show op-amp inputs being AC? Opamps can amplify DC signals just fine.
Answer: Yes, you can amplify a DC voltage. Many signals in applications such as temperature, pressure, weighing, etc., change so slowly that they can be considered DC. The amplifiers that condition these signals will often use op-amps1 to buffer and boost the signal level.
1 "Op-amp" is an abbreviation of "operational amplifier". It is not an initialisation or acronym so we don't write it as OPAMP.
Comment: Thank you, fixed it.
Answer: An opamp can certainly amplify a DC voltage.There is nothing inherent it opamp design that prevents DC amplifiction. All opamps are internally DC coupled.  Obviously, coupling capacitors would not be used and the affect of the opamp offset voltage would have to be considered. Generally a dual supply opamp would have to be used to keep the input at close to 0 volts.  Otherwise the opamp will amplify the bias voltages and probably saturate with any reasonable gain.
Comment: Do earthquake signals count as DC? How about the 40 microvolt/degree Centigrade output of a thermocouple, in the exhaust stack of a GigaWatt power plant?
Answer: In principle, yes, you can amplify DC with an op-amp, subject to the constraints of the amplifier. Mainly, the amplified output voltage must be between the output limits of the op-amp. An amplifier powered with +12V and -12V cannot produce a 50V output, for example. A rail-to-rail op-amp can produce an output all the way to the supply voltages; others will not go all the way to the positive or negative supply voltage, but a few volts shy.
But why would you want to do this? A DC input never changes. So instead of, say, amplifying a 0.82V input signal by 10 to produce 8.2V out, just use an 8.2V power supply.
On the other hand, you can make a fixed power supply with a low-power accurate voltage reference as input to a fixed-gain amplifier, which feeds an external power transistor. (A fraction of the final output of the power supply is fed back to the op-amp's negative input to regulate the overall circuit.) So an op-amp is often part of a power supply.

simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab
The circuit has a 5.1V Zener diode as a reference, and the output is divided by 10/(6.2+10) = .62 to amplify by 1/.62 to produce 8.2V.
Note you still need to power the amplifier with something greater than the output. Here's it's a 12V DC supply, but it could be a transformer and rectifier that runs from AC wall current.
If what you mean is an input that only slowly changes, for example when someone turns a knob, that's still AC. It's just very boring AC.

Using Op-Amp to amplify DC?


iOS stretch image to full screen

Question: I have a scroll view with a image view inside. I was wondering whether it's possible to have the image inside the image view be much smaller than the resolution of the screen, and somehow be able to stretch it to fit the screen.
Answer: Set contentMode on the UIImageView and change its size.
[UIImageView setContentMode:UIViewContentModeScaleToFill];

Check the docs for more informations regarding UIViewContentMode:
http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/uikit/reference/uiview_class/UIView/UIView.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40006816-CH3-SW69
Answer: Sure, just change the bounds of the imageView.
Am I missing something here?
Comment: You missed the scroll view. :)
Answer: Your UIImageView is within an UIScrollView I understand?
That would work by adjusting the scroll view plus adusting the image view appropriately. However that is not advisable to do. You will get lost in small errors with annoying effects.
I'd suggest to add an additional UIView that can match the bounds of the screen.
Add that view to the underlying "view" object and use the bringSubviewToFront method.
You could as well make sure that this new UIView is the first subview of the most underlying view object. You could achieve that by manipulating the subviews array structure - which I do not recommend in general wihout having fully understood everythng about the view hierarchy.
You can as well achieve that by adding the additional view at first before adding any other view. (Within IB just make sure that the new view is the topmost in the tree, coming next to the view controllers "view".) And then make it hidden until you actually need it. Then you unhide it. When it is not needed anymore then hide it again and neither delete it nor erase it from its superview.

iOS stretch image to full screen


mysql: Copy table structure including foreign keys

Question: I know how to copy a table using create new_table like old_table, but that does not copy over the foreign key constraints as well.  I can also do string manipulation on the result from show create table old_table (using regular expressions to replace the table name and the foreign key constraint names), but that seems error prone.  Is there a better way to copy the structure of a table, including the foreign keys?
Comment: Did you ever manage to do this? I'm trying to figure this out right now, but can't really get it working.
Comment: It's sad that CREATE TABLE LIKE creates 95% of out tables... I [wrote about my final solutions to duplicating a db](https://medium.com/@igorsantos07/a-not-so-small-rant-on-mysql-based-techniques-to-copy-database-structures-4333f8ff8384#.8qiega4cq), if that's useful to anyone. I glued together several linked issues, like the one presented in this question.
Answer: Possibly you could write a procedure that after the create table like prepares ALTER TABLE ... statements, based on information from:
SELECT *
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.KEY_COLUMN_USAGE
WHERE TABLE_NAME LIKE '<table_name>'
AND TABLE_SCHEMA = '<db_name>'
AND REFERENCED_TABLE_NAME IS NOT NULL;

Answer: If a little side-scripting is OK, you can take advantage of SHOW CREATE TABLE in a few lines like so (PHP but concept works in any language):
// Get the create statement
$retrieve = "SHOW CREATE TABLE <yourtable>";

$create = <run the $retrieve statement>

// Isolate the "Create Table" index
$create = $create['Create Table'];

// Replace old table name with new table name everywhere
$create = preg_replace("/".$newname."/", $oldname, $create);

// You may need to rename foreign keys to prevent name re-use error.
// See http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12623651/
$create = preg_replace("/FK_/", "FK_TEMP_", $create);

// Create the new table
<run the $create statement>

Not very elegant, but it works so far.  I'm doing this in a testing environment so I put this in my setUp() method.
Comment: This is the best approach if you're dealing with a scripted operation. It's sad that CREATE TABLE LIKE is 95% complete. I [wrote about my final solutions to copying a db](https://medium.com/@igorsantos07/a-not-so-small-rant-on-mysql-based-techniques-to-copy-database-structures-4333f8ff8384#.8qiega4cq), if that's useful to anyone. I glued together several linked issues, like the one presented in this question.
Answer: Wrikken's answer inspired me. Let me extend it.
Well, things are more complicated. See: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/create-table.html. It says, that there are going to be problems also with TEMPORARY tables and other things. The solution  mentioned by Wrikken is a good approach, however, you will need at least one more lookup to get information about UPDATE and DELETE rules:
SELECT *
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.REFERENTIAL_CONSTRAINTS
WHERE TABLE_NAME LIKE '<table_name>'
AND CONSTRAINT_SCHEMA = '<db_name>';

So, it might be a good idea to get a tool that simplifies the task. I personally use Adminer (https://sourceforge.net/projects/adminer/). It comes with an option to export whole DB (with all tables, triggers, foreign keys, ...). Once you export it (in SQL syntax) you can change DB name easily and import it back. I wrote about that at the bugs section of the project (see ticket 380).
Maybe you already have your favorite DB manager and do not want another one. You could follow these steps then:

Dump the DB using mysqldump -> you get file.sql
Create a new DB
Execute file.sql in the new DB

Both Adminer and mysqldump have an option to select only specific tables so you do not have to export whole DB. Should you need only the structure, not the data, use an option -d for mysqldump or click it in Adminer.
Answer: If you have phpMyAdmin, you can export only structure of your table, then change old table names to new in your .sql file and import it back.
It's rather quick way
Answer: If you just want to clean your table, you could copy all relevant data to your copy table. Than truncate and copy back. Result is, that you have your FK preserved.
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS t_copy LIKE t_origin;

INSERT INTO t_copy
SELECT  t_origin.*
FROM t_origin;

SET FOREIGN_KEY_CHECKS = 0;

TRUNCATE t_origin;

INSERT INTO t_origin
SELECT t_copy.*
FROM t_copy;

DROP TABLE t_copy;

SET FOREIGN_KEY_CHECKS = 1;

Comment: This is actually a good alternative solution. I don't understand the downvotes. +1 from me.
Answer: I created a bash script to copy a table into another database, modifying the keys and constraints by adding a '_1' to them:
mysqldump -h ${host_ip} -u root -p${some_password} ${some_database} ${some_table}  > some_filename
sed -i -r -e 's@KEY `([a-zA-Z0-9_]*)`@KEY `\1_1`@g' -e 's@CONSTRAINT `([a-zA-Z0-9_]*)`@CONSTRAINT `\1_1`@g' some_filename
mysql -h ${host_ip} -u root -p${some_password} ${some_new_database} < some_filename

This works to new database instances as well, but the 'sed' command won't be necessary. It's only necessary when source and destination databases are in the same instance.


new car loan vs use mortgage loan to pay for car

Question: We have a mortgage loan for 3.5%  and just got a car loan for 1.49%. My husband thinks we should pay off the car with our mortgage loan instead of using the car loan because we can claim mortgage interest or something like that. I think that we should use the car loan to pay off the mortgage loan. Does that sound crazy? Thanks for any help.
Comment: How, exactly, can you use the car loan to pay off the mortgage? Wasn't the car loan used to buy the car?
Answer: Why would you trade a lower interest rate over a higher one?  I wouldn't use the mortgage to pay off the car.  Also, you should have loan/lease payoff on your auto insurance, which if the car is totaled means your loan would be paid by insurance.  I don't think you'd be able to take advantage of that if your car payments become one with the mortgage.  Finally not all mortgage interest may be deductible.
Also, I can't think of any way you'd be able to use the car loan to pay off the mortgage.  You wouldn't be able to borrow more than the car is worth, and for a new car it loses quite a bit of value immediately.
Answer: Were you just offered a car loan for 1.4%, or did you sign for a car loan for 1.4%? If you signed, it's too late. If you didn't sign:
You should realise that your car loan isn't really 1.4%. Nobody will give you a car loan for less than a mortgage loan. What really happened is that you gave up your chance to get a rebate on the car purchase. A car worth $18,000 will have a price tag of $20,000. You can buy it for cash and haggle the dealer down to $18,000, or you can take that "cheap" 1.4% loan and pay $20,000 for the car.
So if at all possible, you would try to get a cheap loan from your bank, possibly through your mortgage, so you can buy the car without taking a loan from the car dealer.
Comment: my credit union has car loans for 1.24%, so they may have a 1.4% loan from their bank.
Comment: It's pretty much right. 0 or very low rate car loans are typically provided by a dealer to entice you into buying a car with a bigger markup. They can give you the low rate because they make more money with the markup immediately. If it's from a bank then the bank is likely getting a cut of the markup money from the dealer. Otherwise it wouldn't make sense to loan below the Fed rate.
Comment: Except that the Fed rate is even lower ;) But yes, those are "incentive rates". Not unreal, but large car companies at least in Europe run their own banks that operate on different calculations - not as profit centers but to move goods out by offering cheap financing.
Answer: Gosh don't do either!  Unless you are fully funding you ROTH accounts and even then I wouldn't do it.  Those interest rates are free money.
You are giving away the best bargain in the history of home mortgages.
Don't you think you can make more than 4% on your money invested?
Don't you think in 5 years you will be able to make 4% on bond/cd's/ and other low risk investments?
Don't forget money you pay in the 2020's on beyond to your mortgage are inflationary dollars.  Do you think that money will be more valuable in the 20's and beyond? I don't.
Roths are free money too.  Think if you put 11k in there a year how much would you have at the end of it tax free.  There is a reason you can only put $5,500 in them, they are too good a deal tax wise to let people put too much in there.
Think about this my parents bought their home in 1967 their mortgage was $170 a month.  Inflation hits and the interest they are paying at 8%! mind you, it was still a laughable amount of money each month for mortgage payment from 1977 and on.
Also I bought a $450,000 house 38 months ago.  Instead of putting down 180 I put down 80
I let the other 100k in my investment account and moved 5.5k over to Roth every year.
I now have a roth worth $38k and an investment account worth $105k.  I made 40k on my money those three years and the 38k is tax free!
Get over the emotional need to be debt free and make a logical finical choice.  I am begging you to think about this.  This post could save you tens of thousands of dollars.
Let me put it one more way.  100k in debt with 100k in investments is debt free living.  Especially when you debt is under 4% and a tax write off.
Comment: OP: "We have a mortgage and recently bought a car, should we keep the loans separate or combine them?" you: "don't do either". They have already bought the house and the car, they have two choices how to handle the loans (lump them together or leave them separate) unless you have a third option that I missed. Also, you talking about investing in the stock market or for retirement doesn't address the question that was asked.


Is it necessary to eat supplements for Bodybuilding?

Question: Please tell me whether is it necessary to eat supplements for a bodybuilder. Abs and Muscles etc, can it build as fast as when supplements are taken?
Comment: your question lacks a lot of details, because currently its like a yes or no question. What you'd probably want is that users suggest which, if any, supplements you should be taking while bodybuilding, while explaining why you might need those supplements in the first place. So I suggest you have a closer look to your question to add some more details or information of your own, so the community can better answer your question
Comment: @HimanshuPrasad "Yes/No" type questions do not produce helpful or useful answers. Context is important because it removes ambiguity and tends to uncover what the *actual* question is. Support an answer with facts provides credence and a higher *qualitative* information.
Comment: Hi @Ivo,I wanted an answer with Yes or No.Anyways,Thanks!
Comment: If the edit I just rejected came from the OP of the question, please log back in to your account. Otherwise please ask your own question. And anyway, please spell check before you post, I have no problem with some spelling errors due to language difficulties, but substituting _to_ with _2_ is not acceptable.
Comment: The answer is ultimately "yes."
Comment: [Kali Muscle says he doesn't use any supplements](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOOVwbOFL8s).
Answer: It's not a very specific question, it's basically like asking whether it's necessary to wear running shoes to run a marathon.. the answer is no, but it's a lot harder with leather boots, and even harder without shoes. Unless you can't afford the running shoes, or you made some sort of silly bet, there's really no point in going barefoot.
Also, understand that bodybuilding supplements a not one generic product; supplement is a very broad term that includes many different substances, all of which have unique features. Some supplements are effective, some of them are a waste of money, but talking about supplements in general does not make a lot of sense. It's like asking whether food needs spices. Well, no, not necessarily, but so what?

To answer your question though, it's definitely possible to build muscle as a bodybuilder without any supplements.
First, if you take supplements to mean steroids and such, these are definitely not necessary, and are in fact dangerous. The notion that all or most bodybuilders take steroids is a myth.
Second, if you take supplements to mean protein shakes, weight gainers, and so on, the reason these are useful is they allow you to consume a lot of nutrients very efficiently. They save you time since you have to prepare less food, and it takes less time to consume them. They also enable you to eat more than your appetite would allow. They contain the same nutrients as actual food, only in concentrated and properly balanced form. There is nothing inferior about them compared to actual food; eating "natural food" is not invariably better for your body, although many people falsely think so.
Is it possible to gain muscle without protein shakes, weight gainers, and all the other stuff that falls into the category of "food replacement"? Well, yes, of course. But you'll have to stand in the kitchen all the time (or have someone do it for you), prepare truckloads of food, and spend a lot of time eating every day. Often it will be hard to get all that food inside you, especially at the beginning. Instead of quickly gulping down a vanilla-flavored drink, you'll have a big heap of chicken and rice in front of you. But no, it's not impossible.
Third, if you take supplements to mean creatine monohydrate, L-carnitine, fatty acid supplements and all those other fancy products, they are by no means necessary. All these do is give you a slight edge, if that. They are as necessary as the runner's sweatband, or the garlic in your food. Some swear by them, but everyone agrees you can live without them.
Comment: No such thing as "nutrient quality". A molecule is a molecule, your body doesn't care where it's coming from.  Let's not confuse science and superstition. If "natural" is always better, why not eat some poisonous mushrooms? Mother earth has given them to us, so let's enjoy their fruity flavor. Personally I'll stick with science.
Comment: "They contain the same nutrients as actual food, only in concentrated and properly balanced form.There is nothing inferior about them compared to actual food eating natural food is not invariably better for your body"
REALLY? IS THIS A JOKE?
OF COURSE the nutrients of natural food are of higher quality. for starters they are natural and they contain no (much less) toxins, preservatives, dyes and flavring agents.
Natural food ALWAYS beats processed food ad shakes. The label says nothing about the quality of your micro nutrients. They only reason to take them is lack of time to eat real food!
Comment: Protein Shakes are merely science they are mostly marketing. They do most likely not contain all amino acids necessary but only one or a few that are cheap to extract or synthesize industrially. And they do lack micronutrients or trace elements that natural food contains. I doubt that it is good to replace a great amount of food with shakes.
Answer: You do not need supplements to be a body builder, period.
An argument could be made if you were chemically enhanced...steroids.
Train hard and efficient with a proper program, eat balanced based on macros for your goals, rest on rest days, sleep.  Repeat.
To appeal to the people that love spending money supplements, most of which are COMPLETELY worthless, then go ahead buy some.
If you had the money to spend, buy some protein powder, a good multivitamin, and fish oil.  The rest is just superfluous.


Whats the best statistical metric for two sets of correlated data?

Question: I have a trained GAN that generates synthetic flight data (9 state variables/features). I plotted the correlation for each pair of state variables similiar to Seaborn's pairplot(). But I have two sets of correlations for each pair: one set for the real data (the blue data in the plots), and the second set for the generated data (the red data in the plots). What is a good metric I can use to evaluate how well the red data is covering the blue data? The ideal case is that the red data cluster is perfectly covering the blue data. I have looked at JS and KL divergences, but they are for probability distributions, not data distributions. Both sets of data are 720000 by 9.
Answer: One option is calculating the percent of blue not covered by red. The lower the number, the better the GAN.
Comment: I like that idea. Implementing it would be difficult I think, since its just discrete data points in a plot. I might be able to use support vector machines to make a decision boundary around the data cluster...
Comment: Loop through each point twice. The first time with just blue data, count if a point is blue or no color. The second time with blue and red data, count if blue, red, or no color. It is a data analysis solution, not a machine learning solution.