Comparing multiple regression to iterated linear regressions

Question: Will running multiple regression including 2 independent variables give the same output for each independent variable if we run linear regression using the same independent variables separately/individually?
Comment: ... have you tried it?
Comment: Yes I have tried it before posting here....just wanted to have a double check on what i am thinking is correct or not...
Comment: Okay!  Sorry to ask, then, but you'd be surprised how often people ask questions that could be answered by just doing it.  Double-checking your thinking is always welcome!
Answer: The short answer is "No".
The longer answer is "Only if the 2 independent variables are orthogonal", but that is only true of the parameter estimates, the variance and standard error estimates will still be different.  The only case where everything will match is when all 3 variables are orthogonal (so there is no relationship at all).
Another longer answer is "Why not try it for yourself?".  Just get some real data, or textbook data, or generate your own random data and run the 3 regressions and compare them.  Do this for different datasets with different relationships and you will quickly see that the slope estimates change.
Another thing to try is to do the regression with both x variables, then do the individual regressions and also regress x1 on x2, then regress the residuals from y vs. x1 on the residuals from x2 vs. x1, then compare that estimate to the slopes from the full model.
Comment: Thanks for your response. I did it myself what you suggested and also had the same opinion. Just wanted to double check on it. That helps...thanks..

The independent variables could be inter correlated to each other which could give different results.


Should I replace the soil every year in a raised bed that's on top of concrete?

Question: I have a raised bed that is on concrete. My local greenhouse told me I needed to replace ALL the dirt in there every year due to pollutants. Do you know if that is true as there is a lot of dirt and I don't think I could do that every year. The bed is probably 7'x3' and about 12-15" deep.
Comment: Two big questions, where are you, and what will you be growing in your raised beds?
Comment: I live in Denver and was planning on some tomatoes, leafy greens and maybe zucchini
Answer: drainage doesn't have to be straight down, if your raised bed is 15" deep and is made of stacked wood or block you probably have some drainage
I really wouldn't worry about it until you think you could have a problem, and then it would be just making drains in the bottom sides of your raised bed.
as for replacing your soil every year: I would guess that the man at the garden center gets a commission on selling soil, because that just isn't how it works.
if you are worried about a particular pollutant then you could test for that, but soil doesn't just get polluted without being exposed to pollution.
If your soil does get polluted every 2 years to the extent that you can't eat tomatoes grown in it, do not eat tomatoes that are grown in soil that has 1 year's pollution, and also... MOVE FAR, FAR AWAY NOW!
Answer: By 'pollutants' they probably mean pathogens as well as sourness of the soil, disregarding completely anything that might be in the air. Drainage is essential, as others have said - without it, soil can easily 'sour' and various pathogens build up, and it may even develop a noxious smell. The bio diversity in soil which drains is not the same as that existing in undrained situations, so I'd guess that's what they mean, but the best thing is to check whether there is drainage and if not, put that right. Punching holes through the concrete to soil beneath at regular intervals should do it.
Answer: Is there any way you could punch through the concrete. You HAVE to have drainage to grow anything.  Pollutants...the only thing I can think of is lime leaching into the soil and bringing the pH up, or alkaline. It is relatively easy to change the pH to favor whatever kind of plants you want to grow.
Get a pH test...a soil test from your extension service will give you the pH as well as nutrient deficiencies or excess.
Are they talking about pollutants from chemtrails? The test should give you a profile on the heavy metals present.
Dig down to the concrete and use an iron bar or pick to break the concrete into pieces.  Pull out as much as you can.  Water it to see if the water drains.  If it does, use a good potting soil since you are essentially planting in a pot.  Potting soils come with mychorrizae fungi, bacteria...life that plants need to take up different nutrients. Don't use ordinary garden soil.
How is the lighting?  If it doesn't get sunlight at least 6 hours a day, you need to rethink what you want to plant.
Comment: Thanks @stormy.  It has great light.  Direct sunlight all day.  The bed came with the house when we purchased it, so I would dig down.  Who knows, maybe the previous owners did punch through the concrete already!
Comment: I hope that is true but concrete isn't that tough to break-up...unless it's reinforced with rebar.  Send a picture, sounds as if it would be big enough for year 'round shrubs as well as vegetables.
Answer: Essentially you have a large pot with soil with an impermeable bottom layer.  If you have any slope at all to the concrete you'll achieve drainage.  If not, you'll still achieve drainage as the sides won't contain all the water but you'd be better off with the base of the bed layered with small branches.
As for whether you need to change the soil each year, that's clearly impractical and not what happens in nature.  When you grow things in a bed, certain pathogens do accumulate for a season or so, and some plants might preferentially extract some nutrients rather then others unbalancing the soil.  The best approach is what has been done for centuries, and is to practice crop rotation.  Normally that's done on a bed basis, but perhaps you could divide the bed into 5, and rotate each year through the 5 minibeds.  At least one bed should be planted with a green manure crop.
Each year you should layer down some compost over the whole bed to replace the nutrients you have removed with the plants you've grown and removed. There is no need to mix it all in. As it decomposes further, nutrients will be released to the new plants.
Replacing lost nutrients is the law of return.


How to show the count of members that belong to a group?

Question: I have a view showing a list of nodes of type group. How do I set it up to show the count of members that belong to each group?
Answer: I finally figured it out:

(enlarge image)
The steps are:

create a view for "content" type "group". Use "fields" and show "content:title", that's the name of your group
add relationship "Group: Node group" (required), then "(group) Organic groups group: OG membership" (required).
add filter "(OG membership) OG membership: Entity_type " and set to "is equal" to "user"
"use aggregation"
add field "(OG membership) OG membership: Entity id" and use "count distinct" option. That's your count of members.

If you want the count of nodes that are "linked" to a group you would just change the filter from "user" to "node".
Comment: a brilliant MotoTibe thanks. Ill go give it a go and thanks for the reply
Comment: as i feared things seemed to have changed in 7.2. No longer have the Group: Node Group relationship. OG membership: Group Node from OG membership could be what it is now. ill try that
Comment: but we also have OG membership: Group User from OG membership. Maybe it could be OG membership: OG membership from Node group though
Comment: or Group membership (og_user_node) :(
Answer: I have discovered something that might help. In the header section of the view, click on "add" and choose "OG membership: Group membership overview". That single entry will add something that looks like the following:
<code>Group overview

 - Group manager: admin
 - Total members: 4
 - Total content: 0
</code>
I desperately need those to be individually available in the "fields" section of the view where if can be displayed with more flexibility ... and per row.
I will dig into the code and add those views fields. Hopefully things go well. If so, I will post the code back here, and a patch on the OG project page, or an custom module.
I am starting to think that Drupal module builders seriously need to organize focus groups regarding the usability and the necessity of some new features. The OG seems so disconnected from the end users needs that I am starting to have serious doubt about using it. Unfortunately, there is no alternative that I know of.
(Note from different user: Had this exact same problem, and comment #62 on this issue worked for me: https://drupal.org/node/1101102#comment-7404856)


US Visa on Old Passport with Cancelled Stamp

Question: I have a US B1/B2 visa on my old passport. The old passport has a cancelled stamp on the second page. The visa is still intact with no physical damage. My new passport is of the same type and has the same name as in my old passport. I have read on travel.state.gov that it should be fine. I am a bit concerned about the 'cancelled' stamp on the old passport. The bio page on the old passport is completely legible and of course the visa is perfectly intact without any damage.
Can someone tell me if I will have any issues travelling to the states?
Comment: The cancelled stamp is your government stating your old passport is no longer valid. This has no application the US Visa which is issued by the USA and can only be cancelled by the USA. Bring both passports and you'll be fine!
Comment: Thanks! It worked out and I was able to travel without any issues.
Answer: As per the OP's comment yesterday, it worked out and had no issue.  Bringing both passports to present at the border provides the requirement of evidence.


Is paying double on a car loan the same as choosing half the term?

Question: If I get a $13000 car loan and have 3% interest and a 60 month term but pay double each month is that the same as getting a 30 month term?
Comment: - the 30 month term will probably come with a different interest rate
- on the 60 month term a bank will probably charge extra for the right to terminate the contract early
In any case, the outcome will never be exactly the same, but the exact difference will depend more on the two contracts than on the theoretical mathematic difference.
Moreover, you fail to indicate what you mean by "the same", but let's not get into that rabbit hole :-)
Comment: There seem to be a few assumptions in the question that the different answers do not address:
Answer: No.
It's perhaps a bit obvious, but with the shorter term loan you would be contractually obligated to pay the higher monthly payment. By paying double on the longer loan, you retain the flexibility to pay less.
And you would pay less interest if you truly doubled your payment on the longer loan. This is because you'd be paying off more of the principal more quickly. (But you'd also be making a slightly higher payment than on the shorter term loan.) You can play with the amortization calculator at Bankrate to understand this.
Comment: Good point about retaining the flexibility to pay less; even if the math comes out to roughly the same, that flexibility is very valuable, and worth keeping in mind.
Answer: Yes, by paying double the amount each month you would have in effect paid the loan off in less than half the time.
For $13000 at 3% over 60 months your monthly repayments would be $233.59.
If you double your monthly repayments to $467.18 you would end up paying the loan off by the end of the 29th months, more than halving your loan term, as long as there are no penalties for paying the loan off early.
Answer: As usual it depends, but fundamentally, an interest rate is just a function of a party's creditworthiness and the length of time the money is being lent out for.

When a bank loans you money, they forego other opportunities to loan that money to someone else.
When you reduce the terms of that loan, they don't forgo as many opportunities as they receive the principal back sooner.
Additionally, their risk profile on the loan is reduced as they have a better understanding of the overall financial market over the next 30 months versus the next 60 months.
So they can afford to offer you a better rate to compete with other lenders.

So, no, if your credit entitles you to a 3% APR on a 60 month term, then it should entitle you to a better interest rate over a 30 month term. Perhaps not double, but better.
Comment: @Victor given that your answer says "in effect [yes]", Dheer's says "Approximately Yes", and Todd says "No" it would seem, taking nothing else into account, that "it depends" is a very reasonable answer.  Even if not, this answer is a reasonable exploration of the issues, I don't believe it deserves to be discarded offhand or downvoted.
Comment: You don't negotiate the rate, you negotiate terms. If you want to borrow $13,000, you can ask for a different rate for different terms. Which is what  my answer suggests the user does. But you seem pretty insistent on defining what is "relevant" here, so I'll leave you to it.
Comment: It does not depend, the answer is yes.
Comment: @dimo414 - I did not down-vote you, however your answer does not even answer the question, it does not ask about risk or changes of interest rates for reduced terms. Do you realise that some lenders may place a penalty if some loans are paid off early (especially if you have taken the loan at a higher fixed rate and interest rates have since come down). Also, the answer is not NO, it is reduced by just under half as both myself and Dheer have stated. The loan will be paid off in 29 months instead of 60 months if repayments are doubled.
Comment: @Victor It's not dimo's answer, but my own. My answer was not about the specific loan, but about the advantages of identifying the lowest term duration you feel comfortable meeting and then negotiating a rate based on that term. You answered about the specific loan, so you gave a different answer.
Comment: Also, in any case, this is the wonderful thing about SE sites: post your answers, let the votes sort them out, get some discussion going, help answer the questions being asked.
Comment: @KyleHale - yes I realised it wasn't dimo's answer after posting the comment. Again, your answer does not answer the actual question at all, and most times you cannot negotiate a rate, especially if borrowing only $13000. So your answer is irrelevant to the OP's question.
Answer: Approximately Yes. However as you are paying more, the interest accrused would be less.

So for $13000 at 3% over 60 months monthly repayments would be
$233.59
At Double payments, $233.59*2 = $467.18 the tenor would be
Aprox 28.5 months, less than half
For $13000 at 3% over 30 months monthly repayments would be $450.32


Volume of first Assassins Creed extremely low

Question: So a while ago I purchased the first two Assassins Creed games for the PC from target. Recently, I decided to actually begin playing them for the first time. However the volume for the story line is so low that I cannot hear it. I tried playing around with the settings, increasing the system volume, increasing the speaker volume, and even several sets of speakers (one 5.1 set, one 2.1 set and one generic stereo speaker system). I looked online but it was no help. Is this just the first one? I haven't installed the second one yet. I am running Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit with 5 GB DDR2 ram, a Radeon HD 6570, and a Creative SoundBlaster sound card.
Comment: Turn on Loudness Equalization in the properties of your sound device
Comment: When Vidic or Lucy are talking, are you turning your camera towards them?
Comment: Yes, camera is facing them.
Answer: I experienced the same problem a few years ago, I think it has to do with the Hardware Acceleration Sound setting in your PC, the step is as below:

Select your speakers
Click Properties
This box will have an checkbox to disable the hardware acceleration if the option is available. (It should be there if you have a Creative card and are using their drivers rather than the ones from Windows Update.)
Comment: Please add the relevant steps into your answer.  That way, if the video ever disappears, your answer still works.


Replaced a light switch and now it's always on. Pops if you flip the switch

Question: Replaced a light switch with a dimmer and now the light won't turn off and pops if you turn the switch off. The box contains 3 black wires, 3 white wires, and a ground. Only one wire is hot, the black one with the piece of electrical tape. The 3 white wires were connected together and the three black ones together. It was a single pole switch and replaced with a single pole dimmer. I even tried putting the old switch back on and it's the same issue. You can see all 6 wires in the pics. There is an outlet box below the switch nozzle not sure which wire goes where. House was built in 1982. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Comment: What was originally connected to the old switch?
Comment: Just had a regular single pole light switch. Controls one overhead light.
Comment: It sounds like you have a switch leg. The hot coming in and another device like another outlet being powered from the 1 hot by connecting the wires together it creates a short on the switch leg. White is not always tied to white in this case, White was supposed to be remarked usually with black tape but this step was rarely done even though code required it.
Answer: It appears in this box, all the whites are actually neutral.  Splice them together, fullstop.
Now, splice the known-supply-black (hot) to one of the other blacks.  Hopefully one of two things will happen, either a lamp will light continuously, or some downline outlet that is now dead will spring back to life.  If that black wire turns a lamp on, mark it with red electrical tape, sold in 5-color packs for $4.
Now at this point all the black wires should be always-hot and all the red wire(s) should be lamps.
Go get the instructions for your dimmer.

identify which wire is ground (the green one, grounds are always and only green, yellow+green or bare). Unscrew the ground wire off your old switch and splice it to that wire.
Identify which dimmer wire is always-hot/line.  Splice that to the black wires.
Identify which dimmer wire is switched-hot or load. Splice that to the wire(s) you marked red.  A yellow or orange wire nut shoudl be about the right size,  you should own wire nuts.

Test, button it up.
Next time you do this...
You got into trouble for reasons. Learn them and don't do them again.
Don't take apart more than absolutely necessary.  The actual job involved only interacting with the two wires landed on the switch backstabs, and its ground.  All that other stuff was out-of-scope for the project.
You should have yanked the two wires out of the backstabs on the switch, (or cut them, those are pigtails, cutting pigtails is fine).  That would have given you only two wires to deal with, lots easier than six.   You would have quickly figured it out.
The usual reason we see people do this is curiosity.   Now let's pause and think about the rationality of this.   You don't know the craft. You want to know the craft, so you want to see how things are put together.  Fair enough.  But learning electrical by dismantling your house doesn't seem very efficient, does it? It's not.  Get a book.  Go to a library and pick a 2011 or newer book on home wiring that feels accessible to you, and devour it.  Learn all about grounding electrodes and receptacle tabs and switch loops and subpanels.  Don't attempt to "learn on the internet", because Google only answers questions, and you need a well-rounded primer on the field to know which questions to ask.  In other words, Google only gives you swiss cheese knowledge: you don't know what you don't know.
Having done so, you're ready to lurk around here and read answers and try to guess who the smart ones are.  A few answers might come out of you - we'll tell you if it's wrong.
Don't cut off in-wall wire length unless you absolutely have to.  That length is too precious to waste, as it can't ever be replaced without demolition work.  Cutting those wirenut/twists off was senseless.  You will simply be putting the white wires back as they were, and the black wires were already correct with a pigtail that you could've attached the dimmer to.  Shame, the splices were very well done.
It's much better to untwist that wirenut or side screw, or twist-pull a wire out of a backstab... (which wrecks the backstab, but that's alright, you'll never use a backstab.)
Of course, don't use backstabs; they have a lot of reliability problems.

Replaced a light switch and now it’s always on. Pops if you flip the switch


Can one formulate a fluctuation-dissipation theorem in presence of non-Gaussian noise sources?

Question: The fluctuation dissipation theorem relates the linear response of a system to Gaussian fluctuations. The natural question that comes to my mind is the possible derivation of an analogous FDT in presence of non-Gaussian noise. I would like to know if such an attempt has already been made with links to relevant literature. If not, then what are the difficulties (conceptual or technical) towards such a derivation?
Answer: You might be interested in the nonlinear fluctuation dissipation theorem. Here are some sources:
1) A review by Lucarini and Colangeli
2) The classic book by Stratonovich on nonlinear fluctuations (very advanced)
3) One of the original papers by Efremov
4) Application of the nonlinear FDT to classical plasmas
5) A more readable paper (with references) on the application of nonlinear FDT to plasmas that I wrote a few years ago
6) Kubo's second book on statistical physics (might be one of the best sources if you can get a copy)
EDIT: Here are some possibly more relevant references for you on a linear system driven by non-Gaussian noise:
A paper by Kanazawa et. al.
A presentation by Kanazawa
A paper by Dubkov et. al.
A paper by Field et. al.
A proof by Grafov
Comment: Thanks for the references. I will take a look at them. I do have the Kubo's two volume book and it's a great reference. I just wanted some clarification on FDTs for linear Langevin systems driven by non-Gaussian noise. Would appreciate any comments on that. I am not explicitly asking about non-linearity in responses here.
Comment: @noisyoscillator Added a few additional references that might be more what you're looking for.
Comment: Thanks a lot Joshuah. These latest additions are more in line with what I was looking for. I was going through Kanazawa's work and his Springer thesis while you posted the links. I appreciate your help in this regard. Cheers and a happy new year!
Comment: Still it looks like a general FDR for linear systems driven by non-Gaussian sources is missing. I found a paper discussing an FDR when the system is driven by Lévy type noise.


Could you provide an outline of switching the side of the rear fog light?

Question: I am obliged to have my rear fog light on the left side, but it is on the right. I've never fiddled around with my Fiat Punto '94, but I'd like to make the switch myself, if you don't advise against it. Could you provide an outline of switching the side of the rear fog light?
Comment: May be something is "lost in translation", but in the U.S. fog lights are mounted in the front and on both sides. Perhaps a photo of both rear sides will make it clearer to those of us on the other side of the pond, what you are trying to do.
Comment: Which bit are you uncertain of? Physically opening up your light shells? Swapping the wires over from right to left?
Comment: @rory do I have to open the light shells? Do I have to swap wires? If I do, how?
Comment: Do you have after-market fog lights attached to the bumper? It is older car, so I assume something like that. Or is it an OEM equipment? Why can't they just put two fog lights anyway?
Comment: [This is a nice video about it](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jINrFUW7MKk). In Lithuania, preferably there should only be one rear fog light and it is obligatory that it is on the left side (driver side). My rear fog light is on the right side and I have been told to change it to pass the technical examination.
Answer: As fog lights are physically different to 'ordinary' ones, you will have to swap bulbs and wires - my assumption is that the reversing light is in the equivalent position on the other side.
If your light housings are transparent, then this is as simple as opening up the housing, swapping the bulbs over and swapping the wires over (either in the boot/trunk or under the dashboard)
Open the boot - remove the little plastic cover near the roof and pull the cloth lining away towards the bottom of the boot. There is 1 nut behind the top one and 1 behind the bottom one. Use a socket set to remove them. Then you can just pull the whole light assembly off. The wires are connected by a clip, so you'll need to pop this off to get the whole light assembly off. Once it is off, just unscrew the 4 or 5 phillips screws to get at the bulbs.
Unfortunately on a 94 Punto the shells are generally tinted, so it won't be as easy. If you swapped the bulbs then the reversing light would end up red, which is probably going to breach driving regulations where you are (in the UK it is illegal) so you need to buy new shells.
Comment: You can probably get light shells from a scrap yard, in order to have the clear/red sections on the correct side.


Forgot Monero Private Key and Spend Key

Question: I logged out of MyMonero.com and I never recorded "View Key (Private)" and "Spend Key (Private)", but I once noted "Account Address (Public)". How is the solution ?, I have XMR amount in MyMonero.com Wallet. Thanks.
Answer: When you create an account on mymonero.com, you are given a "Private key login" which is a list of 13 words. You are also given your private spend key (the private view key can be recovered from the private spend key).
In practice, they are the same thing, represented differently. So if you have one of the two you will be able to recover your wallet.
Because Mymonero.com doesn't store your private keys or private key login, if you have lost both you will not be able to access your wallet.
Also note that your public address is something you can share with other people so they can pay you with monero and can not be used to access your funds.
Comment: It couldn't be better displayed when you create an account.  `Below this you will find your thirteen word "Private Login Key". Keeping this secure and private is very important, as it is the only way that you will be able to login to your MyMonero account.`
Comment: Wow ... means my balance will be gone forever? Since I do not have both, I only have a Public Address.

Forgot Monero Private Key and Spend Key


Is it possible to give a person an allergic reaction in a very specific place?

Question: Can I give a person an allergic reaction at a very specific spot in a tissue?
And if so, how accurate can i get?
Comment: You might want to look at the [patch test](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patch_test_(medicine)).  Though I'm a little concerned by the motivation of this question.
Comment: Thank you this did help :)
Lets say I know a persons allergic reactions will it be possible to do the following? and if so can I change the hypersensitivity level reaction in this proses?
Comment: I don't have enough information to make a full answer, but I'm allergic to mangoes. When I eat one, the parts of my skin that the mango touched will get a bad rash, but anywhere it didn't touch will be unaffected.
Answer: Depends on the kind of allergic reactions you want to create. If your target tissue is skin epithelium sure you can.
That's actually the way the skin allergy test is all about: The physician tries a wide variety - last time I did it were 28 well known kinds - of substances in liquid form (drops). If an allergic reaction is caused, the physician takes note. Even very small quantities can cause allergic reactions.
These tests are usually made in a secured environment (physician's office, hospital, etc) at a very low level which most of the times, if result is positive will cause just an irritation. The level of irritation will be self-explanatory, so even a non trained patient can understand what is going on.
Not sure if that what you were asking though.
Best Regards,
pa
Comment: Funnily, the severity of the reaction does not correlate to symptoms the allergy might cause... of all allergies I have, dust mites gave the weakest skin prick reaction; but it's the only symptomatic allergy I have. The prick test can vary a lot, depending on the purpose; I don't think there's a standard set of allergens they test, apart from ready-made allergen "sets" such as "grasses" or "trees".
Comment: Well, yeah I was referring to allergies about trees, grasses, dust, etc.  But sure, allergies are not 100% understood anyway.
Comment: Thank you this did help :) Lets say I know a persons allergic reactions will it be possible to do the following? and if so can I change the hypersensitivity level reaction in this proses?
Comment: You say "do the following", but there's no "following" sentence, so I don't know what you mean by "do the following". :-) - The hs reaction usually is "linear" but might have more than one variables, so I'd say that it's kind of dangerous to try it out on your own... Better visit a physician.
Comment: as in following i mean the patch test mentioned earlier :)
and i wont this is a part of sum recerch Im douing ill go to the universality to figer out more soon thank you.


Writing a custom character on an lcd

Question: I am using a 16*2 lcd display as a dashboard computer.
I want it to display a logo at the very beginning of the code, but some letters occupy the space of 4 characters, and are using both lines of the display, and creating those letters character by character (some actually require 6 characters) is very difficult.
Is there anyway i can address the lcd as a big matrix ?
there would be 16 lines ( the oringinal 2 lines * 8 lines of each character) and 80 columns (the original 16 columns * 5 columns each character has).
This would make it A LOT easier.
Comment: Model of the display and links to technical documentation?
Comment: The display:http://www.ebay.com/itm/1602-16x2-Character-LCD-Display-Module-HD44780-Controller-Blue-Arduino-/171983948287?hash=item280b0ac9ff:g:RsQAAOSwtnpXmusW

Data:
https://www.sparkfun.com/datasheets/LCD/HD44780.pdf
Comment: In the character generator RAM, the user can rewrite character patterns by a program.  Page 13 of the datasheet.
Comment: If I remember correctly, you can create up to 8 custom characters (custom bitmap). You can then use those characters anywhere on the display. There is no way to directly set pixels.
Answer: The chip you are using (HD44780) only works with characters; you can't address single pixels. If you read the datasheet, the word "pixel" is absent.
Of course, you can add a wrapper that implement a drawPixel(row,col) function by defining custom characters and then sending it to the display.
The result will be unpleasent to the eye, because there is a gap between chars on screen, and another gap between rows.

A better alternative is an OLED display like this:

You can find the same display with I2C or SPI interfaces. Basic model is B&W, but you also have color and touch sensitive variants.
Answer:
some letters occupy the space of 4 character

use CGRAM to define 4 characters and display them over two lines.

Writing a custom character on an lcd


How to unlock / build the "Imperial March" retail level?

Question: I tried to add a new retail level, but it says that no more levels are available at my current progress. The other 10 retail levels have been built, but now it says 10/11 retail levels. The only one left is called "Imperial March" but it has a lock icon and no option to unlock. Has anyone been able to build it yet? Are there conditions that must be satisfied before you can unlock it?
Comment: I think this may be a reward for one of the new Imperial quests.  The update says that finishing them will give rewards including new levels, costumes, bitizens, etc.
Comment: I thought I saw the same thing too, like getting VIPs as rewards, but all 3 new missions have gold as reward, which is really useless to me since I've accumulated more than 25M gold at this point. Maybe if you complete some, some new ones show up, but it's going to take a while given the high requirements (plus I would have to spend more gold just to finish it than what I would earn back).
Comment: Yeah.  I'm basically done with this game.  This update pushed me over the edge.  I don't mind spending the credits, but I've stockpiled tons of Imperial items, and I don't want to spend the time building all new ones.  Too much time for too little pay out!
Comment: David, don't give up on this game yet. Who will answer my questions if you are gone?!?!? Anyway, I was giving myself loony goals just to make myself interested in the game like accumulating 100 million credits to see if I could crash the game (would it? I only got as far as 16 million credits before this latest update came along). Go for the limited edition rewards. And you can build all items on all imperial floors at once without having to wait for the VIP guy so just go crazy! :)
Comment: @Han we'll see. If I get bored, I'll start playing again.
Answer: I believe Imperial Marches is similar to Panna City Medicines for the Christmas Event and you will unlock it after you accumulate enough medals from building the new Imperial items on the Imperial floors.
If my memory serves me right (please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong), these are the rewards I've unlocked for accumulating service medals:

100 medals - Costume (Rebel pilot for me, not sure if it's the
same for all)
250 medals - VIP (Level Upgrader)
500 medals - VIP (Recruiting Agent)
975 medals - Bux (10 if I noticed the increase to my total correctly)
1200 medals - 3 Droids: R2-Q5, R4-19, & R5-J2
1725 medals - Imperial Marches

That's all.
Comment: The next reward after recruiting officer is bux not a new level
Comment: I never considered that. In my excitement, I thought the rectangular shape must mean its a level and never considered that it could be bux. I'll edit my answer. Thanks for the clarification.
Comment: Will you keep posting the progression here, so people can follow it?
Comment: Yep, this is the definitive answer to the question. This was a pretty cruel challenge - it took me almost 7 days to get all of the medals playing pretty consistently - I don't think you could finish it if you played casually without dumping some bux into it if you didn't get the last update very quickly.
Answer: After you unlock recruitment officer it's then bux then r2d2 then imperial march
Comment: Is it R2D2 or a different Astromech droid such as R4?


App Install Button 'Grayed Out' in iTunes 12

Question: I'm trying to install new apps on iPhone 4S via iTunes 12. Music, info, photos are no problem, but iTunes will not allow me to install apps I have downloaded on my Mac via the App Store. All new apps have their respective "Install" button 'grayed out'. I have had no problems up to this point installing new apps. I have changed nothing on either the Mac or the device. All of the apps I want to install are free. Over 2 GB of free space in device.
Comment: I know this is late, but check settings on the iPhone, specifically whether "install apps" is turned off.
Answer: Without knowing the actual apps you're trying to install and what version of iOS you're running on your iPhone 4S, any answer you get is likely to be at best an educated guess.
There are a number of possibilities for your situation, but my first thought is that although you say nothing has changed on your Mac or iPhone, that doesn't mean something else hasn't changed.
Specifically, what I'm thinking is that many software developers are busy updating apps at present due to a number of updates (e.g. iOS 10, Xcode 8.1, Swift 3, etc). In doing so, many apps may become incompatible with older hardware and/or operating systems.
In your case you've downloaded the apps on your Mac, so there's no built in check going on as to compatibility. What I mean by this is that browsing/downloading the apps via the App Store on your iPhone will only allow you to download versions of apps that will install on your device, but there's no way for this to happen via the Mac as you could be downloading them for any number of devices.
Another factor is that your model of iPhone cannot run a version of iOS later than 9.3.5, so any apps requiring a more recent version will not install (and that's assuming you're even running iOS 9 (many iPhone 4S owners aren't).
You'd be best to use your iPhone to download apps as many developers (me included) do allow older versions of their apps to remain on the App Store for superseded devices etc.
Hope this helps!


Where can I get an application to work with my kml files?

Question: I have files in .kml format. In windows 7 I opened them with Google Earth, but Google earth for Linux wrongly determines the place of workout on map.
What application can I use to work with these files?
Answer: You can view them online with GPS Visualizer.  You load them directly with Viking GPS Analyser.
You can also convert them to GPX files using Viking or GPSBabel.  Both are available from the Ubuntu repos. See Viking GPS Documentation for details.
Answer: GPSPrune claims to support KML for read, view, edit and saving. It is java application and available for linux:

https://apps.ubuntu.com/cat/applications/gpsprune/ - ubuntu's page for GPSPrune
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/GpsPrune - OSM wiki's page for GPSPrune with detailed description:

GpsPrune is a free, open source, cross-platform program to view and edit coordinate data like GPS tracks.
Viewing data with a map view using OSM maps
Editing data (delete individual points or sections, variable compression, combine and rearrange data, create and edit individual points)
GpsPrune can read files in the following formats: kml, including zipped and gzipped kml files and kmz files
GpsPrune can also save data to files in the following formats:
  kml and kmz files (kmz files can include photo thumbnails)
Comment: Source code: https://github.com/activityworkshop/GpsPrune
Answer: If you're having problems with Google Earth in Ubuntu then you could try using Google Maps to view your .kml files.
As detailed on one of the Official Google blogs:

To view a KML or KMZ file on Maps, just go to Google Maps, and instead of searching for a geographical address like 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, 94043, search for a complete Web address (including the "http://" part) of your KMZ file, like http://kml.lover.googlepages.com/cropcircles.kmz. Need your own web space to upload some files? Try Google Page Creator.

Google Page Creator has been shut down and Google now encourages to use Google Sites instead.
Comment: I tried and it seems this option does not work anymore.
Answer: Any software reliant on GDAL for data input should be able to import KML files. On Ubuntu the most recommendable option is QGIS, that supports KML seamlessly. Using the Add Vector Layer dialogue you can import directly a KML file for visualisation and analysis.
Answer: I also suggest to use a free conversion tool, like this one: kml2gpx.com to convert them into gpx files. It is a simple and convenient way to get the results you need.
Answer: For even more possibilities, you can try OSGeoLive, a Xubuntu-based live DVD loaded with GIS software.
Comment: What software from OSGeoLive will work with KML files?
Comment: Please check the http://live.osgeo.org/ site to learn what applications there are that might suit your needs.


How to drag and drop images into upload target of minus.com?

Question: I'm using this service to upload images: http://minus.com Is there a way to drag and drop images directly from another website into the "drag files here" area to upload? For now I need to download them first to my desktop to make it work.
Answer: There's a Select hyperlink up at the top which will bring up a dialog box, which will allow you to upload in batch.  That way you can download all of the files onto your desktop from the other site, and then batch upload them to minus.
Hazarding a bit of a guess, I think what you are suggesting would be tricky due to measures against cross site scripting attacks.  Dragging something over from another website probably wouldn't have the proper information coming along with it.


Apple Script Calendar permissions with a locked screen

Question: at my work machine I've written an AppleScript that writes an reminder email for our group meeting. It is triggered by an event in Calender through Open Application at time of event and then reaccesses another Calendar in the Calendar app to get the next meeting date. At the end it sends an email with both event dates. And everything works fine when I'm at the machine and the screen isn't locked.
But when the screen is locked, the app asks for permission to access the Calendar (which it does not when the screen isn't locked) and if I don't grant it, nothing happens of course.
And if I then unlock the screen and go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy I see an app with a cryptic name (i.e. 737C530B-...D34B47.app) under the Calendar permissions tab. So this must be some kind of hashed name of my original app that I want to execute.
So, my question now is:  how can I permanently app my own AppleScript .app to the Calendar permission s.t. I don't have to grant them every time? Or how to I avoid this whole permission shizzle once and for all?
Edit: Here's the code snippet of the call to Calendar:
<code>-- Date
set theMeetingDate to ((current date) + 1 * days + 3 * hours)

-- Get next meeting date
tell application "Calendar"
tell calendar "Reminder"
    set theNextMeetingDate to (start date of (first event whose start date ≥ theMeetingDate)) + 1 * days + 3 * hours
end tell
end tell
</code>
Thanks a lot for your help!
Cheers,
P
Comment: Did you find any solution to that?
Answer: This link might help. Scroll down to the section to codesign your app.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5914
Comment: Link not working.


Should Carrier Ethernet traffic be encrypted?

Question: I'm looking for a best practice answer.  We have a 100Mb point to point Carrier Ethernet circuit between a corporate office and an offsite data center.  Basically we have SQL traffic replicating to the data center.  It is mostly customer information but nothing like credit cards or social security numbers.  Is it best practice to set up a VPN tunnel between the sites for encryption or just treat it like a regular Ethernet connection?
Answer: Any network segment that you don't fully control can be considered as a public  network, so if you would encrypt traffic over a regular public network, do it for your case as well.
NB: With full control I mean that you have full and sole control over any network devices that are part of the connection, so a port on e.g. a router or switch you don't own doesn't qualify.
Comment: +1 - Encrypt it. It's the only way to be sure. (Wire speed 100Mbps encryption also costs, like, next to nothing today.)
Comment: Also, even if you have "full and sole control" over the hardware, it will be difficult to enforce it. You cannot patrol every meter of a kilometer-long cable.
Answer: No not really.  Most encryption devices will slow down things like DB and fileserver backups to a crawl.  Private line is reasonably secure and most people do not encrypt over it.  The only people that can reliably intercept data over private line or cloudy line are ominous three letter government agencies. Everyone else gets in via your DMZ or tricks your users somehow.


How can an old dead tree suddenly spring to life and cast its petals on Aragorn's coronation?

Question: There's a dead, gnarly old tree in the courtyard outside of Denethor's 'throne room' on the top level of Minas Tirith. Gandalf told Pippin that it's called the White Tree of Gondor. We see it several times in 'Return of the King' and it's obviously dried-up dead. Yet after they defeat Sauron and Aragorn is crowned King just weeks later, it's suddenly flowered and in full bloom, blowing its petals across the coronation. How can that be?
Comment: That "gnarly old tree" happens to be one of the most important plots in the books, especially *The Silmarillion*...
Comment: And don't even get me started on all that fire coming out of some old man's walking stick.
Comment: @BorhanMooz Yes Jimmy Shelter's answer below also shed some light on that exceedingly valuable plot point.
Answer: One word: Jackson.  A second word: nonsense.
The story is different in the books - Aragorn finds a sapling of the dead tree and plants it, which becomes the new White Tree:

Then Aragorn turned, and there was a stony slope behind him running down from the skirts of the snow; and as he looked he was aware that alone there in the waste a growing thing stood. And he climbed to it, and saw that out of the very edge of the snow there sprang a sapling tree no more than three foot high. Already it had put forth young leaves long and shapely, dark above and silver beneath, and upon its slender crown it bore one small cluster of flowers whose white petals shone like the sunlit snow.

This ain't no normal tree either:

Verily this is a sapling of the line of Nimloth the fair; and that was a seedling of Galathilion, and that a fruit of Telperion of many names, Eldest of Trees.

And Telperion, as one of the Two Trees of Valinor, the light of which was captured in the Silmarils, is therefore quite central to all of Tolkien's work.
(Quotes from RotK Book VI Chapter 5)
Comment: I'm glad the movies have inspired more people to be interested in the stories but I do wish they would read the actual stories -- the books are SO much better than the movies.
Comment: @AakashM: Unless I'm mistaken, Sauron existed before the world too. He's just not as powerful as Melkor.
Comment: Wow!! I had no idea!...The first sources of light for all of Arda were two enormous Lamps: Illuin, the silver one to the north and Ormal, the golden one to the south. These were cast down and destroyed by Melkor. Afterward, the Valar went to Valinor, and Yavanna sang into existence the Two Trees, silver Telperion and golden Laurelin shedding light comparable to moon and sun. Each tree was a source of light: Telperion's silver and Laurelin's gold.
Jealous Melkor, later named Morgoth by Fëanor, enlisted the help of the giant spider-creature Ungoliant to destroy the Two Trees.
Comment: He could do that!? Compared to Melkor/Morgoth, Sauron is a wimp.
Comment: @Morgan we know from [Ainulindalë](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ainulindale) (published with the Silmarillion) that Melkor existed before the world and was one of the singers of the song that brought it into existence, so, yes.
Comment: @GeorgeT indeed, but not (as Melkor was) a principal player.
Comment: @AakashM, I just read that Ainulindalë link. Very informative background info, thanks. I think I'll make a reference chart of who-is-who then re-read the Silmarillion with greater understanding.
Answer: Indeed, Peter Jackson did somewhat over-dramatise this part, though I find the original fairly dramatic/moving in of itself.
Further to Jimmy S's point, Tolkien describes the history of Minas Tirith, where the White Tree would regularly start to die but the King/Stewards would plant a new sapling:

When King Telemar died the White Tree of Minas Anor also withered and died. But Tarandor, his nephew. who succeeded him, replanted a seedling in the citadel.[LotR appendix A., I(iv)]

The first sapling was planted by Isildur (before he lost the ring), when the city was still Minas Anor. [LotR Book II, ch. 2, The Council of Elrond]
Also, the finding of the sapling in the snow was a prophecy linked to the return of the king, and the fact the the White Tree died without a sapling was indicative (allegorically) of the petering out of the line of Kings/Stewards:

When Belecthor II, the twenty-first Steward died, the White Tree died also in Minas Tirith, but it was left standing 'until the King returns', for no seedling could be found.[LotR Appendix A., I(iv) The Stewards]

As an aside, yes Sauron wasn't as powerful as Morgoth, but that's because he was only his "lieutenant" - he was a Maia like Gandalf. He still fooled the Elves into making his rings and engineered the destruction of Númenor though!
Comment: +1, and regarding "Sauron is a wimp", see HoME 10, "Note on motives in the Silmarillion": "*Sauron was 'greater', effectively, in the Second Age than Morgoth at the end of the First.*"
Answer: Others have answered in terms of the books, but another answer is possible if we ignore the books (I can't believe I just said those words!), and look only for movie-logic
Basically the answer is, "it's magic". But it's not completely abrupt. There's a moment in the movie (when Denethor is en route to immolating himself) when we see the tree in the foreground, and just for a moment the camera lingers on a single flower that has appeared on the "dead" tree!
It's also not quite as lame as "it's magic" might suggest. I see it as a kind of "fisher-king" thing: the life of the tree is tied to the kingship; as Aragorn's day approaches, the dead (or at the very least, extremely dormant) tree begins to awaken.


If Cryptokitties could take so much computing power in Ethereum network, how can the network support dapps with scale?

Question: There has been so much hype about developing dapps on Ethereum. However, even transactions of cryptokitties could clog the network, how could Ethereum network ever support some application like Whatsapp decentralized alternative?
Answer: It's not exactly true that cryptokitties clogged the network; The network was already near capacity, and cryptokitties was the straw that broke the camel's back.
However, there is currently very little room for the additional growth that will be needed if dapps are successful. The three main approaches are:

Increasing the efficiency of software like Geth and Parity, and improving the hardware and network connections on which they are run, which will allow for increases in the gas limit, producing more capacity
"Off-chain" systems that process transactions without talking to the main blockchain in the typical case; These include state channels and plasma.
Sharding, which is currently under development, which will allow each validator to only validate a proportion of the blockchain, allowing for much greater capacity.


Can your finger bones grow thicker after extreme pressure or use?

Question: I've noticed that after I put extreme, ridiculous pressure on my fingers one night, my fingers for the last week look really chunky, a lot rougher and thicker. I feel like it's the bones themselves, not retention. If, very hypothetically, you put as much pressure on them as you would in 1 year in a few days, would there be the same amount of change? I know I sound like a hypochondriac, but would it technically be possible? Would the bones go back to their original size after less use?
Comment: That's not bone growth and also not muscle strengthening. In adults, bones under pressure can become stronger, but not thicker. It's most likely swelling of the tendons and other soft tissues.
Answer: Bones and tendons take quite a long time to condition due to pressure. Generally the remodelling you do see see happens over a prolonged period of time. The sort you see most frequently is in athletes, power lifters and body builders. That would be remodelling that is not associated with trauma, but with conditioning.
When you investigate the bones (in an anatomy lab) of individuals who did resistance training, you can see the effect on the bones, like on the clavicle for instance, where the pectoral muscle attaches. You will see that the bones remodelled over time to accommodate the increased stress.
This type of process of bone remodelling is subject to tendon and ligament conditioning and remodelling which takes 18 - 24 months to remodel. This is one of the reasons you see athletes get repeat injuries. Once an injury has been rehabilitated, such that the pain is gone and the muscle strength restored, the ligaments and tendons aren't fully healed after only 8 weeks.
As for bone only, that happens a bit quicker than the connective tissue like tendons and ligaments.
To answer the question though.
Think about this, can you fix your broken finger in a very short period of time, by waiting? No. It takes 4-6 weeks for the bone to reattach, and that is if it remains immobilised.
I suppose, theoretically, you could remodel the bones in a similar period of time, if the exposure to the stressor was also applied consistently over the same period of time (4-6 weeks).
Though probably not thickening of the bone. Thickening of bones is primarily in response to stronger muscles that consistently add longitudinal pressure on the bones over a long period of time by virtue of being trained over a long period of time.
In the short term, what you are experiencing is probably just inflammation.


Job Offers Contingent on Background Check and Giving Notice to Current Job

Question: I currently have a job, but am actively looking for a new one. I have a criminal record (several misdemeanors for marijuana and alcohol, which occurred over 2 years ago). In the past, I have had 2 job offers rescinded because of this. One such offer was from a consulting firm that worked with government agencies, another was one that worked heavily with financial institutions.
As a result of this, I have only been applying for jobs that do not deal with any government agencies, do not require a security clearance, and any companies that may do extensive background checks (e.g. medical facilities, financial institutions, large corporations, etc.). I mostly apply to small, privately owned companies now. The company I work for now did not do a background check, or they may have done one and overlooked my charges (which I think is doubtful).
Here is my predicament: If I do get an offer, there is a high possibility that it will be contingent on a background check.
If I accept the new job and put in my two weeks notice at my current job, there is a chance that the offer will be rescinded once the background check is completed and the new company discovers my criminal record. I will then be left without a job for possibly months.
However, if I wait until the very last minute to ensure that the new employer either doesn't do a background check, or is willing to look past the charges, I will not give my current employer any notice, and will burn this bridge. I have three people at work that could be very useful as references.
What am I supposed to do in this situation? It seems like both options are not ideal. I've always been told to follow a "don't ask, don't tell" policy with things like this, since there is a chance an employer may not find out about my charges (due to error on their end, or either not running a background check at all).
Does being upfront about this ever help in these types of situations? I have read up a little bit on this, and some people are saying do not give notice until the background check is complete and everything is finalized. But wouldn't that arouse suspicion on the new employer's end of things? Is there any scenario where I can give 2 weeks notice without having to risk being unemployed?
Also, I work as a software developer. I am not looking for your moral opinion on drug / alcohol abuse. I am currently in treatment and have abstained for 6 months now.
Thanks for any advice.
Edit: I realize this is question is somewhat similar to the other post that is mentioned, I apologize for that. I did find some useful information there, however, given that in my scenario there is a red flag likely to come up on my background check, how should I handle it? Should I tell the employer they are going to find something?
Comment: Some useful information here about this type of scenario, but I have added something to this post specific to mine
Answer:
What am I supposed to do in this situation? It seems like both options are not ideal. I've always been told to follow a "don't ask, don't tell" policy with things like this, since there is a chance an employer may not find out about my charges (due to error on their end, or either not running a background check at all).

Outside of applying for a Pardon that seems like your only option.

Does being upfront about this ever help in these types of situations?

It might help if you were a Councilor for parolees, in a non-governmental organization.

I have read up a little bit on this, and some people are saying do not give notice until the background check is complete and everything is finalized.

That, or say you need 3 weeks whilst your employer only wants 2 weeks.


Where to practice for vocal examinations?

Question: I always wonder where do sopranos, alto, and tenor practice their vocal, so that there do not disturb their neighbours? Especially those who are taking examinations like the ABRSM, Trinity, etc. I live in apartmemt and I'm really curious about the answers.
Comment: Don't worry about the neighbors.  What can you do?
Comment: Is it assumed that basses can manage quite alright thankyou..?
Answer: Do you know your neighbors? If not go meet them, talk to them, and work something out. Maybe they can't even hear you. Maybe they can but don't mind.
Give them your phone number, tell them to call if they are ever bothered and you will stop. This gives them a chance to tell you if they are sick, or need to work, or need quiet for any reason.
Also ask if there are any times that are bad. Maybe they have a kid that naps at a certain time, or go to bed early on one night of the week.
It may also be good to find out your local noise ordinance times so you are not violating them. This will at the very least keep the police from visiting.
I played in a band in college and we rented the first floor of a house and practiced in the basement. We had upstairs neighbors. When new neighbors moved in we met them and did what I said above and they said "Listen, you don't call the cops when we have parties and we don't care when you practice." It worked out really well. We would have practice, they would party, the party would spill into the basement and we gained a lot of fans that would then come to our gigs.
Bottom line is get to know your neighbors and it may work out fine.
Answer: If you have to ask, I assume you are not studying at a music school because you'd have access to practice rooms. There are still a few options.
If you are studying somewhere,chances are it has a music room (if it's a high school), or a music department (if it's a college). All jokes we instrumentalists make about vocalists aside (we make them because we can't sing ;), chances are the instructors and students will be sympathetic to your cause and let you practice there.
Many recording studious offer rehearsal space. People tend to think about Abbey Road or something when they think about recording studios, but in fact they come in all sizes and shapes, and many are a lot cheaper than you may think.
Since you need no gear or help from the audio engineers to practice, you can go for the cheapest. You may be able to get an even better deal if you can come at odd hours.
And then there's the sneaky option. If you have connections at some music school, you may be able to sneak into an unused practice room, especially at hours of least demand for them. I know people who have done that, including one person who simply walked into a random music school with his instument, asked the staff if it's ok to take an unused practice room, and got an affirmative answer.
Answer: I practise in the car, on the motorway. No reading, of course ;) but I have playlists on the phone/carplay specifically for routining.
Those lucky enough to afford or be donated rehearsal space would probably use that, with or without tracks, though I kind of like to not be singing in silence.
I do occasionally do vocal work in my own workroom - but I am quite aware of the fact I can be heard through the entirety of my own building & half of next door's too. I do it when I need to, rather than just when I want to.


Could my Cipactlis exist?

Question: In a world I'm designing, a group of unknown animals evolved into the fearsome Cipactlis. Some traits of these Cipactlis include: having limbs in the stance of toads and wrinkly skin, the tail fin of a fish, but with more crocodilian traits, like armored skin,  a crocodile-like head, and a crocodile body, have retractable claws, are predators, with the males and females being 26 feet long, live for 80 years, store food in the winter, have no extra mouths,  live in large groups called floats, which eat large and very numerous prey like large fish and gazelle and elephants and other mammals or birds, and they are cold blooded.  Given those characteristics, what species could they have evolved from and what evolutionary pressures would lead to them?
Comment: I think this needs more detail: which toad and fish characteristics and which crocodilian traits?
Comment: They obviously evolved from some sort of close relative of the [choanoflagellates](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choanoflagellate), as did all animals. The evolutionary pressures were complex and variable during the roughly 350 million years which separate the first [multicellular animals](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal) from the emergence of the fierce [labyrinthodont](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labyrinthodontia) amphibians.
Answer: Well, every characteristic needs to have a reason for existing in your creature and have given an advantage, even if that reason is no longer there (like our appendix).  This even include behavioral traits.
So the first thing you should look at is which characteristics of fish and Toads and Crocodiles you want.  Make sure you don't get traits working at cross purposes.  Some frogs and toads can absorb some oxygen from water through their skin, but that won't be possible if you want a tough crocodile hide.
Retractable claws in a predator would make sense under certain circumstances.  If I recall correctly, a Cat's claws retract for purposes of stealth and so as not to get blunted with the action of walking and running. Maybe they need to be long claws to help take whatever prey they are after, but the shores the come up on are really hard on the claws.
Some things you want to think about is what is the prey, is it large enough and numerous enough to support a really large predator that lives in family groups.
You may want to consider the floats and food storage to be a winter or hibernation technique, with the float breaking up and dispersing into smaller groups during the warmer seasons.  A large group of large predators will eat a lot, and if they are all concentrated they will clear out the food sources pretty quick.  It's why so many predators tend to be solitary or small family kinds of groups.  This can be mitigated by being cold blooded and therefore not needing as much energy.
Comment: The appendix has use. It houses the gut bacteria whenever the gut is swamped with stuff that kills them. If your appendix is cut off and then your gut is filled with antibiotics, you'll need to replenish the gut microflora from ... [alternate sources](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fecal_microbiota_transplant).
Comment: How about wolves and hyenas and jackals and orcas? They live in groups, do they?
Comment: @MonsterousStrangulator They do.  the group size and spacing is dependent on the amount of food available.  The size of the individuals has a huge impact on that.  Killer whales have ranges that equate to .2 to .4 individuals per 100 km2..
Answer: The hairy frog, Trichobatrachus robustus, creates retractable claws by breaking the bones in its feet.
Many frogs begin their life in a tadpole stage, eventually adding limbs and losing their tail as they age. If there was an evolutionary advantage (such as spending a large portion of their life swimming), the adult form could keep the tail, although it would be different from a fish tail.
Toads' lumpy skin is one of the main features that sets them apart from frogs. The skin is much tougher, giving them a layer of defense against predators and making them a lot more resilient against drying out. This means that toads can live in much drier climates than frogs, such as Australia, where cane toads are a prolific invasive species.
Cane toads are very dangerous to an ecosystem for two main reasons: First, they are omnivores, willing to eat many different things, including plants, insects, and small animals. Reportedly, some toads will die by trying to eat things that are bigger than themselves. Secondly, cane toads secrete a smorgasbord of powerful neurotoxins through their skin. Many animals that eat the cane toad will die.
Amphibians are all ectothermic, or cold-blooded, and some can live for decades. The olm, for example, has an average lifespan of 70 years. However, long lifespan is usually associated with creatures that are large and have a slow metabolism. Creatures with slow metabolisms generally move less quickly. Ectotherms, such as reptiles and amphibians, are sluggish in cold environments, which make them less dangerous.
One way around this slowness is to use ambush predation. This is the very effective hunting strategy used by crocodiles: You wait and stay hidden until prey gets close, then bite it. However, ambush predators gain no advantage from grouping together and rarely eat prey bigger than themselves.
In order to make your animal realistic, you should consider what environment they live in and how they catch their prey, and then choose traits that are optimal for that lifestyle.
Answer: These Cipactlis could be crocodilians that are better adapted to aquatic life. The fish-like tail fin would be useful for an aquatic creature. Paddle-like hindfeet like a toad may also help them to swim through the water. The toadly forelegs may be for grabbing onto giant fish, which its long, sharp claws could then kill. The claws could also be covered in a sheath, to protect them from attacks which don't require them

Could my Cipactlis exist?


where can I find information about my phone by imei

Question: where can I find information about my phone by imei? I want to buy a second hand phone, but I heard that many are declared stolen or lost and after you buy it, police will come and take it away. The phone I want to buy is  htc sensation with android 2.3
Comment: Settings > About Phone > Status
Answer: My suggestion is imeidata.net. I've gotten incorrect data from the sites mentioned in other answers.
For example,  for my phone, imei.info gives the wrong data:

Model: Sidekick LX Brand: T-MOBILE

imeidata.net is correct:
IMEI: 3536910674xxxxx
Allocating Body: BABT
Type Allocation Code: 35369106
Serial Number: 749450
Luhn Checksum: 9
Manufacturer: SAMSUNG KOREA
Brand: SAMSUNG
Model: SM-G355H

Answer: If you are looking for details on a given IMEI, you might want to check with a post at XDA-Developers: Here you can find out what the IMEI can tell you:

The first two numbers is RBI (Reporting Body Identifier) = who registered that type of phone ( verify here )
The next four numbers is TAC (Type Allocation Code) = what type of unit and its complete specifications
The next two numbers is FAC (Final Assembly Code) = who manufacture it
The next six numbers is the Serial Number of the Phone
The last number is sort of a check sum, that verifies the previous numbers

Combined a total of 15 numbers is used by your network to get the complete information about your phone that is used against their database of Blacklisted phones and final approval to connect to their network, IF they were inaccurate or had complaints (like being stolen, not paid telecoms dues etc) it will be rejected and BLOCKED immediately from connecting to that Network
You can verify all this by entering you IMEI here and here
And also here to check if it is blacklisted

(emphasis mine)
To find out the IMEI of a phone, simply dial *#06#.
Comment: the blacklisting database - looks iffy to be honest - have not seen any mobile provider dishing out blacklisted/stolen imei's... three things about it - the linky does not look "reasonable" - the script looks off-the-wall name - `englishaparativbazi.php` and secondly, how did that get their hands on the imei's that are blacklisted in the first place... thirdly, clicking on 'privacy policy' yields a page that has the word resembling 'poo' as in sh!t...
Comment: also, if the imei is blocked, for example in germany, it can be used in france no problem or anywhere outside of that jurisdiction... :D (Sorry if I'm coming across as sceptical and harsh...)
Comment: but I upvoted for your answer - TIL - never knew what those meant *exactly* - keep *rocking on* Izzy :D \o/
Comment: @t0mm13b That "blacklisted URL" looked strange to me as well. But as all the other information absolutely made sense, plus XDA usually is a reliable source, I didn't strip it off my excerpt. Though, browsing through the thread, it seems that the first URL (imei-number.com) is giving wrong info. So only the second URL (numberingplans.com) seems to be useful. Maybe I should update my answer, and include [imei.info](http://www.imei.info/) to have a second good one? Funny that nobody in that thread complained about your "favorite" :)


Is it possible to create workflow to create wiki page from word?

Question: I'm very new to sharepoint and starting to discover things. Is it possible to create wiki page from word? and show those to diff. selected user each wiki pages?
Answer: With a little trickery, you can publish Word content to a wiki page by connecting it via a blog posting first.

Open your Word document
Save it as docx if it is an old doc
Publish the document to a SharePoint Blog
Note: the pictures included in the Word document will be uploaded to the Blog picture library! So do not delete the Blog site later, and make sure your Wiki visitors can read items from the picture library.
Open the Blog entry in your browser and click on the Edit Button
Copy the whole entry
Paste the clipboard to a Wiki page

For more information, check here


Can I ask CreateSpace to *not* add a barcode to my cover?

Question: I'm about to publish a book via CreateSpace. For graphical reasons, I prefer to add the ISBN barcode myself at the size and position of my choice. How can I set it up on CS so that they don't add a barcode on my cover?
Answer: You should ask this question to the CreatSpace community.
Besides that, you can add your own barcode as the help stated.
Comment: Thanks. It seems in fact that barcodes are not added to covers that you make yourself. I guess I'll have to try to make sure.


Do all of the MW3 sniper rifles perform equally for quickscoping?

Question: Or do they have different speeds and accuracy?
Answer: In general, I'd say no.
They each have a different level of Mobility.
This weight / mobility affects speed to bring up the weapon and aim / scope.
They also have different scopes and options that one player may feel is more suited to them over another.
So what one person feels may be "fastest" or "more accurate" another may find awful/slow/inaccurate.
You can tune each sniper rifle with the perks and proficiencies to allow you to aim more quickly and also to allow quicker movement WHILE aiming.
I've tested all the rifles and they all seem to react slightly different in speed to scope and aim.
You can sign up for Call of Duty Elite (free). It goes over each weapon's nuances and also gives tips for what perks and proficiencies to pair the weapons with for recommended performance.
Comment: +1 for the call of duty elite (if you can get in).  the videos describing each of the weapons are amazing and cover very specific details such as exact time to reload (2.03 seconds for example) and what situations warrant the use of the weapon.


Is the Turing test still relevant, as of 2019?

Question: Given the Chinese room argument, and given the development in chatbots and machine learning, isn't Turing test superseded by some other way of evaluating AI's inteligence? Would an positive result of a Turing test provide any value, besides telling that a machine is good at conversations (but possibly nothing more)?
Answer: The Turing test is a good test for AI applications like Siri and Alexa (or, in general, intelligent personal assistants), but it doesn't test a lot of features (e.g. vision) that an artificial general intelligence requires. There are several arguments against the Turing test (and it is definitely not flawless), but is it a necessary (but insufficient) test for AGI. The Turing test is still quite relevant: e.g. if IPAs passed the test, people would use them more often and they would be a lot more useful.


What is the error in bathymetric observations in the presence of vegetation?

Question: How can we determine the error associated with bathymetric measurements when we survey over submerged vegetation? Let's say we are using single-beam echo-sounder over a patch of Posidonia, what are the expected errors and how can we determine them?
Comment: What is the frequency range of the echo sounder used? Lower frequencies should generally be less affected. Also, is the sound velocity in marine plants much different from the velocity in water? If it's similar or slower plants could be hard to detect, even if they are larger than the resolution of the signal. An interesting question.
Comment: Not an expert here, but I believe that it's now possible to distinguish the "hardness" of the "seabed" by analysing the shape of the returned ping, so it might well be possible to tell that vegetation is being seen, and maybe even pick out a secondary echo from the actual seabed. Not sure though, and will be interested to hear from anybody who does know!
Comment: @SimonW Yes, and those who read seismic and singlebeam data can look at the shape of the ping and pick out the bottom of the water column pretty easily, even through sea grass. As you correctly imply however, "seabed" is a complex term that may actually present more error itself than vegetation in most places, even in Posidonia's thickly settled seabeds. The answer to this question depends on several factors, including the type of equipment used, beam frequency and angle, interpretation software, and the depth algorithm used to parse the returns.
Comment: @aretxabaleta Are there time and/or money constraints? Could you conceivably survey in an area with similar sediment cover and no vegetation in order to compare ping shapes?
Comment: My question is a general one. I realize that there is no universal answer to the question. I work with many people that do this kind of measurements. My goal was to provide some basic understanding of the techniques available and the errors associated with them. Many of the comments to the question could be used as partial answers
Answer: As noted in the comments, this is actually a much more complex question than it might seem at first. Answering fully would require a very involved and technical discussion of single-beam surveying's inherent errors and their causes (water velocity, side slope reflection, highly transmissive hydrocarbon-rich anthropocene silt, and other such complications). I will skip those topics—thankfully, I think—and simply focus on the OP's question of what errors Posidonia sea grass might introduce to a hypothetical singlebeam survey. As such this may be more of a partial answer.
Let's say you're using a singlebeam instrument with a fairly narrow pulse angle, like 3º. (Your vessel should not roll too much with this narrow a beam, but it will give higher resolution). You're surveying over a colony of Posidonia on a flat seabed. Posidonia leaves have a density fairly similar to that of the water column. Depending on the frequency of sound you are surveying with, you may get a ping with a slightly different shape from surveying over an area of "bare ground". This is, at least in theory, due to the slight variation in density between the water column and Posidonia leaf blades causing small amounts of reflection and refraction to the sound wave before it hits the root mat and the top of sediment. Just for imagination's sake, I've included the conceptual "bare ground" model below.

Behavior of P-waves and S-waves at a impedance change boundary. Image reproduced from Dragoset, B., A historical reflection on reflections, The Leading Edge, 2005, v. 24, p. S46-S71, Box 1.

A good singlebeam acquisition program will allow you to choose the method of bottom tracking. Often these methods are not associated with the first return but rather the "strongest" part of the first return within some specified distance from the last known bottom position. This allows the minimization of error created by, for example, fish swimming in the path of the beam (see image below), and also the weaker first returns of soft vegetation.

Fish in the water column as seen on a singlebeam survey. A red band indicates the strongest return amplitude. An acquisition program would likely classify the bottom at or near the top of the red band. Image reproduced from the University of New Hampshire Ongoing Education website.

So, if we assume that the acquisition program's bottom tracking capability is acceptable, the errors that Posidonia's leaves introduce will be minuscule, because the leaves do not present a large change in impedance and thus will not reflect much of the beam. You're left with deciding whether or not you want to classify the "bottom" of the water column as Posidonia's root mat, which may be several inches thick in a large colony, or the top of the sediment below. This is where your uncertainty will likely lie. What I don't know, and what may be difficult to figure out without some rather clinical testing, is whether or not the root mat provides a strong-enough first return to trigger the bottom tracking. I suspect it would, but I can't say that with any confidence without looking at a controlled test survey. I imagine companies like Odom and Kongsberg do this regularly and might be able to give you a more specific answer.
Tobbe also correctly notes that lower frequencies won't be affected as much by vegetation as higher frequencies. If you were going to try to run a bathymetric survey over Posidonia—or any area with high concentrations of seafloor plant life—you would want to consider using a device capable of lower frequency surveys...at the cost of diminishing your resolution.


Troubleshooting Noise/Quirks in Audio Circuit

Question: I am working on a project that takes in a single line-level audio channel and outputs 2 balanced/unbalanced +/- outputs from that channel. I have read a number of the excellent published articles online on circuit topologies for balanced/unbalanced inputs/outputs and have been testing the circuit shown in the partial schematic attached. I have tested the output on both a decent quality sony boombox (unbalanced RCA inputs) and a high end QCS amplifier (balanced 1/4"), and have discovered a number of quirks I've been trying to troubleshoot.

1) When connecting to either the QCS or Sony, as long as the audio signal (-) output is at the same potential as GND in the schematic, everything works fine, the sound is top notch. When connecting the Sony with the audio signal (-) as shown in the schematic, I would expect noise since the output is not (probably) at same potential with the Sony signal GND ... this is exactly what I get (a high pitched buzz). However, I would expect that the QCS, having balanced inputs (active I assume) wouldn't care about the actual (-) potential (I measured around 1mV DC, 5mV ACrms). However I get the exact same result with both, a high pitched buzzing noise). Anyone know why that might be?
2) Turning on the project device results in a light pop heard from the speakers, presumably from the initial DC bias current flowing from the cap. Is there a way to reduce or eliminate this? Would a larger output resistor help? (I'd prefer to keep output impedance at 100Ohm if possible.)
3) Without power to my project device, the sound still comes through the opamp follower (via an audio transformer) and is output (albeit very distorted with no DC bias) to the speakers. I wasn't expecting sound output without opamp power ... is there a common/easy way to prevent this?
4) When the device is working unbalanced with excellent sound, it still does add a minimal amount to the noise floor (white noise/hiss). It's not really significant, but what is the best way to minimize this generally?
Thanks for any input.
Answer: Number 3 answer: the ESD diodes on input and on output are the path. Your line-level is a volt or two. Diodes turn on (exponentially, true) at 0.5 or 0.6 or 0.7volt, and once on, the opamp's internal rails (+15, -15v) have a distorted version of the input.
With the +-15 volts wiggling, the output bipolar devices try to turn on at peaks of the audio.


3 white wires and 1 black wire in ceiling fixture

Question: I recently moved into a home that had one of the light fixtures missing in the bedroom, I'm going to assume that it was a ceiling fan due to the bracket that was left behind. I'm trying to put up light fixture that has 1 white,1black and a ground wire. The wires in the ceiling have 3 white wires bundled together with a wire nut black wire with wire nut and the ground wire. How do I know which white wire to use and when I separate the white wires do they need to be wire nut  separately or can two white wires go together
Comment: Can you post a photo of what's inside the box?
Answer: The black wire is the hot wire, the white wires are neutral and ground is ground. You need to connect the black wire of your light fixture to the black ceiling wire, the white wire fixture to the 3 white wires, and the ground wire to the ground wire. You have to maintain the connection of the 3 existing white wires. You may need a larger wire nut to connect your fixture white wire to the existing 3 white wires. It may be better to use a jumper wire and 2 wire nuts to connect the 4 white wires together.


What can I substitute for tomato paste to thicken a marinade?

Question: This recipe calls for 2 TB tomato paste in the marinade. I assume it is to thicken it so more stays on the meat and veggies. I don't want to open an entire can of tomato paste just to use 2 TB. Can I substitute anything else in its place?
Comment: Given that cans of tomato pasta are only 6oz, traditionally, I'd say open it and keep the rest in the fridge. It keeps for quite awhile. The closest thing that you will find is a can of crushed tomatoes, hopefully in tomato puree and not water or juice (too thin). But in that case you'd be opening a bigger can, using the wrong ingredient, and losing out on the magic of the paste. Tomato paste conveys umami and fullness in such a way that I find it to be quite unique and irreplaceable.
Answer: In the future buy real Italian tomato paste in the tube. You'll use it all up, it lasts and lasts.
Answer: It might be there for body, but more likely for the umami kick that tomato past helps with.  I bet you could leave it out with no ill effect...otherwise, try some ketchup.  You could also open the small can, use what you need and put the rest in a baggy in the freezer.
Comment: I did leave it out and it was still delicious. I didn't realize it added umami though. Next time I'll just use the smallest can of tomato paste I can find. Thanks.
Answer: Use your can opener on both ends of the can. They will both continue to stick to the tomato paste, especially the one on the bottom because gravity's had its way. So slowly pull up and grab one edge of the top lid. Then slide it off, pressing it against the lip of the can. Everything that was attached to it will now still be in the can. Carefully discard it.
Now, use a couple fingers (or your thumb) to press firmly on the bottom lid, being sure not to let it rock from side to side. It will slowly rise in the can, pushing a clean cylinder of tomato paste out the top of your can. (Just don't squeeze the can too hard.) When you've extruded the desired amount, use a flat blade or a credit card to scrape it off and add it to your ingredients.
Place the open can in a baggie (or vacuum seal) and then into a cool part of the fridge (toward the back). (If using a Ziploc style bag, seal it all the way, then barely open it, squeeze out as much air as you can and close the seal back up without letting any of that air back in.) When you need more, just pick up where you left off. It'll last a long time, even longer if you dip it in olive oil first. If you ever see it starting to darken a bit, pull it out, extrude that part and scrape it off before returning it to the fridge. Along the way however, be sure to never touch the actual product with your hands or fingers, as you'll impart bacteria certain to reduce its shelf life.
Comment: my apologies that this answer veers off a bit from what's technically being asked for (a substitute product), but I hope it may still be found useful in its own right; I was thinking that the questioner didn't really want to use a substitute but would rather do so than waste so much of the recommended product.


PANIC: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(179,2)

Question: I unplugged my RPi (RPi#1) and moved it to another power outlet, and plugged it back in. RPi#1 is the brains of my distributed setup, containing the database and biggest SD card. All of the data my other RPIs collect are transferred to this one.
After plugging it back in, none of my other RPis were able to communicate with it. I was unable to SSH into it. I noticed the light on the usb-wifi dongle was not activated. I plugged an ethernet cable into it but was again unable to SSH into it and none of the other Pis could contact it.
I plugged the Pi into a monitor and received a few messages of high concern:
<code>EXT4-fs (mmbclk0p2): unable to read superblock

No file system could mount root, tried: ext4
Kernel panic - noy syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unkown-block(172,2)

PANIC: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(179,2)

Entering kdb (current=0xcd828c80, pid1) due to Keyboard Entry
</code>
It was just working right before I unplugged it.
What does this problem even mean? I cant seem to get a comprehensive answer from googling. Some answers suggest this is fixable, others suggest the SD card has been corrupted.
I am now in "kdb" mode. Is there anything I can do to get out of this?
I'm now in a crappy situation for two reasons:
1) I use the RPi to measure the temperature of my homebrew beer. It has data for over 30 batches of beer going back almost a year from now. Some of that data is stored on the cloud but not all of it.
2) I JUST BREWED a batch of beer and I moved this RPi in order to get closer to the new batch. Not only does the RPi monitor the temperature, but it also is connected to a PowerSwitch Tail II and a heating device which increases the heat of the beer when it gets too cold. Without this I'll have to resort to manual methods.
Comment: sounds like the file system on the card is corrupt, step one backup. Best way will be to make a block level copy with dd, but can just try and copy the files. ONce everything is safe then you can try fsck etc.
Answer: I recovered from this by just doing an fsck on the partition which I found using gparted. I had to do the fsck twice. The Rpi now boots. It would appear that SD card are a bit iffy about brutal power off like just unplugging the board.
Comment: What partition was that?


How should I run this conduit for security cameras across a flat roof?

Question: I am putting in three new security cameras on a far corner of a building that already has cameras around all the other sides. The reason this corner was left for last is that it is the hardest to run - there is no way to run cable inside the building so the only way to install it will be a 65 foot run along the edges of the flat roof.
In the image below, the red line indicates the cable path and the yellow circle is the camera mounting location (for all three cameras, facing different directions).

As I see it (and as several installers and electricians have told me), I have three options:

Just run outdoor-rated cable without any other protection.
Run flexible non-metallic liquid-tight conduit all the way from one end to the other.
Run Schedule 40 PVC conduit on the roof, then switch to a short piece of liquid-tight for going over the (slightly raised) ornamental parapet and into the camera mounting boxes.

I mentioned the first option just for completeness. I really don't want to do it, even though it is the easiest and cheapest, because I'm worried about animal damage and about how to secure loose cables to the building. So it will have to use one of the two conduit types.
The primary issue is how to properly secure it to the building.
The first 30 feet of the run are alongside a taller part of the structure (which is also where the cable comes out from) so I can anchor either type of conduit to the wall. After that the roof has a short parapet (between 0.5 in tall at the left side of the picture and 4 in tall at the right, as the roof slopes to allow drainage) and the cables must run along the top of it or just inside it.
I think that a single run of liquid-tight all the way from end to end might be the easiest way to do it. However, I don't know how I would attach the liquid-tight to the roof. The entire roof was just redone, and I don't feel comfortable drilling all the holes in it that would be required to keep flexible conduit in place.
If I run Schedule 40 PVC, I can rely somewhat on the rigidity of the conduit to use fewer attachment points. There is another solid conduit already on the roof (not installed by me) that is not attached to any flat roof surface but is still solidly attached to the building in several vertical locations and has weathered many major storms over approximately the last 7 years. However, a run this length will probably require at least one expansion joint to deal with temperature changes and will require at least 10 conduit pieces and fittings to be glued together. Each additional one of those joints is another possible entry point for water in the future. I will also need to secure a junction box at the corner in order to transition to liquid-tight over the edge down to the camera mounting boxes on the wall.
It seems like there are so many downsides to both conduit methods that I should just run outdoor cable and not deal with the other options.
What is my best option for running this cable?
Comment: Run Sched 40 PVC conduit to the very visible and prominent fake cameras.  Use the conduit as cover to hide the cable to the well-hidden real cameras.
Answer: Attach to the wall and the back of the parapet. Drilling holes in the flat or sloping parts of a roof can end in tears down the line.
Consider passing the wire through the parapet instead of over it.
Conduit joins welded using the correct method, solvents and glues will not leak.
you probably don't need an expansion joint, just don't put a bracket within one foot of the corner (allow the bend to flex as the expansion joint)


Orbiting around a black hole

Question: Is it possible (for either a satellite or a planet) to orbit around a black hole? Do they attract everything around themselves into the center? Or they just affect gravitational force just like stars?
Answer: Absolutely possible. There's nothing magical about a black hole. The gravitational pull of a black hole reaches as far as gravity would for another object of the same mass.
If you replace the Sun with a black hole of the same mass, everything would continue to orbit it just as it currently does.
Anything with mass has a gravitational force itself, and a black hole will attract anything with mass. Again, it's the same as our star having an effect on the Earth, and the Earth having an effect on the Moon.
Comment: They are like whirlpools but just like a whirlpool, it only reaches so far. If you've got a bigger hole in the middle of the whirlpool (i.e. higher mass) then it will suck in stuff from further away. No different than the effect a large star of the same mass would have.

The different being, that with a black hole, there is a point-of-no-return, where if anything gets pasts that point, there's no way for it to escape.
Comment: The soure of misunderstanding was that I wasn't clear enough, how black holes work. I always imagined them as "suckholes" like whirlpools in the water.
Comment: Are there known black holes with the mass of the sun? I suppose that the supernova genesis of standard black holes leads to larger masses. (If the remaining mass of a star when it has used up its nuclear fuel is as low as the sun's it will not collapse into a black hole.) Of course there is speculation about low-mass black holes, but do we know any?
Comment: @Peter No, the smallest known black holes have masses around $3.3 M_\odot$ (solar masses). And the largest known neutron stars are around $2.2 M_\odot$, and possibly as high as $2.7 M_\odot$. Wikipedia's article on the [Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff limit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolman%E2%80%93Oppenheimer%E2%80%93Volkoff_limit) has lists of both. That page is frequently maintained, but the mass values may be a little "optimistic". Eg, if a neutron star could be in the range $1.9 - 2.4 M_\odot$ it's likely to be listed with the higher value.
Comment: @Peter Stellar mass BHs and neutron stars are formed by core collapse, aka a [type II supernova](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_II_supernova). It seems quite likely (due to the TOV limit) that there's a sharp dividing line between the heaviest possible neutron star and lightest possible  BH. If there's enough energy (including mass) & pressure you get a BH, otherwise you get a neutron star. OTOH, core collapse is a messy asymmetric process, and difficult to model accurately. But if we found a BH lighter than the heaviest neutron star, or vice versa, it would be *big* news.
Comment: @PM2Ring There is always a possibility of primordial BH, but I understand that's speculative. Since many of them may not be anywhere close to significant amounts of matter they may be fairly... black. One could say... dark.
Comment: @Peter True, yes primordial BHs could be any size. And very hard to detect. I should also mention that there *is* another possibility for stellar mass BH formation: direct stellar collapse without a supernova. AFAIK, that would create a larger black hole, not a smaller one, but I'd be happy if an actual astrophysicist could confirm that. ;)
Answer: For the purposes of comparison, here's flat, Minkowski spacetime in spherical coordinates:
$$\mathrm{d}s^2 = -\mathrm{d}t^2 + \underbrace{\mathrm{d}r^2 + r^2(\mathrm{d}\theta^2+\sin^2\theta\,\mathrm{d}\phi^2)}_\text{Euclidean 3-space}\text{.}$$

The soure of misunderstanding was that I wasn't clear enough, how black holes work. I always imagined them as "suckholes" like whirlpools in the water.

That is not entirely incorrect. The Schwarzschild spacetime of an uncharged, nonrotating black hole in the Gullstrand-Painlevé coordinates is
$$\mathrm{d}s^2 = -\mathrm{d}t^2 + \underbrace{\left(\mathrm{d}r + \sqrt{\frac{2M}{r}}\,\mathrm{d}t\right)^2}_\text{suckhole} + r^2(\mathrm{d}\theta^2+\sin^2\theta\,\mathrm{d}\phi^2)\text{.}$$
Where it deviates from ordinary, flat Minkowski spacetime is entirely in the middle square term. Here, the time coordinate $t$ is not the Schwarzschild time, but rather the time measured by an observer free-falling from rest at infinity. The last bit, if adjoined with the $\mathrm{d}r^2$ term one would get by multiplying out the middle part, is ordinary Euclidean $3$-space written in spherical coordinates.
If you recognize from Newtonian gravity the quantity $\sqrt{2M/r}$, or $\sqrt{2GM/r}$ in ordinary units, as the escape velocity, then the picture is very peculiar indeed: according to an observer free-falling from rest at infinity, Euclidean space is sucked into the singularity at the local escape velocity. The event horizon is the surface at which the speed at which space is "falling" at the speed of light.
This is an additional reason why sonic black holes are good analogues to their gravitational counterparts. In a sonic black hole, there can be an actual "suckhole" that drains a low-viscosity fluid at an increasing velocity, up to and faster than the speed of sound in that fluid. This forms an acoustic event horizon that is one-way to sound and is expected to have an analogue of Hawking radiation.
The corresponding structure for charged black holes is similar, and for a rotating one more complicated, although can still be described as "sucking" with a certain additional twist that rotates the free-falling observers.
Answer: They don't attract gravitational force; they have mass, so they exert a gravitational influence upon other objects.
So yes, it is possible for an object to indefinitely orbit around a black hole. Just because the mass it is orbiting is called a black hole does not mean the object is doomed to spiral in on the black hole.
Answer: proof exists that something can orbit around a black hole.
The star S2 orbits around the central 4 million solar mass black hole of our galaxy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S2_(star)
Note that if you find an object orbiting around your target object, then you can
calculate the mass of your target object.
In fact, for something orbiting around a black hole, it is very difficult to fall in. This is for the same reason why it is easier to send a probe from Earth to Mars (outward from Sun), than from Earth to Mercury (inward toward Sun), and also the same reason why it is impractical to get rid of toxic waste by throwing it into the Sun. It would require an enormous amount of energy to reach the Sun.
See basics of space flight for details.
Comment: I've wonder why scientists say that when the milky way and andromeda collide that the massive black holes in their centers will merge.  Why won't they just enter orbits around each other or continue on in the same directions they are headed now?
Comment: @JasonGoemaat I suppose that there are several effects which could be described as "friction". One that got a lot of publicity lately are gravitational waves emanating from massive objects circling each other. IIUC the energy loss was responsible for the black holes orbiting closer and closer until they merged, as LIGO observed. Another effect leading to deteriorating orbits could be collisions between bodies and perhaps tidal forces, heating up the bodies and debris circling the black hole while slowing them down. I suppose that is why matter from the accretion disk is sucked in, constantly.

Orbiting around a black hole