How did Catholic Church adapt after the Black Plague in Europe if at all any adaptation occurred?

Question: Correct me if I am wrong here. There were various reformations in the Catholic Church for example the reformation led by St. Catherine of Cienna, the reformation led by St. Theresa of Avila, Second Vatican Council led by Pope John the XXIII, etc. So just wondering after the Black Plague was there any adaptation that had to be undertaken in the Catholic Church?
Comment: I believe the word **reform** would hold more sense and meaningfulness in a Catholic perspective than the word **reformation**. The connotations are obvious.
Comment: Do not believe that the reforms of St. Catherine of Sienna are called a reformation by Catholics at all! The reforms of St. Theresa of Avila  with the internal reforms of her Order and were not a reformation properly speaking.
Comment: @KenGraham So after the Black Plague was there any huge transformation in the Catholic Church? How did the Church adapt to this change?
Answer: The Church played a significant role during the Middle Ages because religion was an important aspect of daily life for European Christians. When the Black Death struck Europe in 1347, the Church struggled to cope with the plague's damaging consequences and its reputation suffered as a result. The Black Death contributed to the decline in the confidence and faith of the Christian laity towards the institution of the Church and its leadership.
Bishop Ralph Shrewsbury of Bath and Wells delivered a renowned decree in 1349 on the matter of Christians dying without the sacrament of penance. He explained the cause of this when he stated that "priests cannot be found to take on the cares of these places, neither out of devotional zeal nor for payment, or to visit the sick and administer the Church sacraments to them, perhaps because they are infected or have a fear of being infected. The Bishop ordered the clergy of his diocese to publicize the fact that a sick
or dying individual should make a confession to a layperson if a priest was not available.
From the 1350s, on papal orders, new stress was put on indulgences, or grants of time off from purgatory bestowed by the church, which drew on what it termed a 'treasury of merits' or good deeds accumulated from Christ, the patristic fathers, and saints. Indulgences were not given freely, but usually in anticipation of a gift of money; always mindful of turning a profit, church leaders began to sell them in increasing numbers to a richer public.  These instances were significant in that they pointed to the practices that incited the radical change that transformed the Church in the sixteenth century, and the Reformation.
Another change initiated by the Black Plague was the rise of charities and private chapels, because of the Church's dimished reputation. This charity system of private worship played a large role in late medieval religion and represented a considerable blow to monopoly over church services held by the traditional Christian hierarchy. Records from testators show that before 1348, only 5% of them gave money to hospitals, but this number increased to 40% between 1350 and 1360.
Another movement that gained popularity after the Black Death was the increase in pilgrimages undertaken by Christians. Between 1349 and 1360, the number of pilgrimages taken to Rome and other shrines increased dramatically. The increase in pilgrimages was a significant movement that further detracted from the reputation of the clergy because it was another way for the laity to find their path to salvation without their assistance.
In 1351, a group of parish clergymen presented a signed petition to Pope Clement VI in anger due to the emergence of mendicant orders. They were upset because the mendicants were providing the laity with religious services, and they believed that the right to give those services belonged only to them. The Pope defended these friars and "accused the clergy of wasting their wealth 'on pimps and swindlers and neglecting the ways of God.' The fact that the Pope himself was voicing the same complaints held by the laity speaks to the damaged reputation of the Church at this time.
Another consequence that resulted from the Church's failure to fulfill all the
spiritual needs of the laity was the emergence of mysticism and lay piety. Mystics held
the belief that God lived through every person and that individuals could strengthen their
relationship with God through austerity and commitment.
The Black Death also saw the rise of the flagellant movement, groups of men and women who publicly flogged their bodies while they traveled to and from European cities, preaching their version of Christianity without the permission of the Church. These bands posed a great threat to the authority of the Church and exposed its weakened hold over the Christian laity.
Another disturbing movement that emerged in the wake of the plague was the widespread violence directed against the Jewish population. The Church officially opposed this slaughter, but did nothing to not stop the maddened public from taking action. Jews had long held a tense relationship with their Christian neighbors, and when the plague arrived, European Christians violently attacked the Jews in the belief that Jews had spread the plague.
Comment: Can you please add a few linked sources to support your statements.
Answer: How did Catholic Church adapt after the Black Plague in Europe if at all any adaptation occurred?
As a result of the Black Plague, the Catholic Church saw the condemnation of blaming the Jewish people for causing the pandemic. It also saw the rise of the flagellants and religious movements, as well as an increase of vocations due to the the great number of priest that were claimed by the Black Plague (1347 to 1351). It also in a small sense, set the stage for the actual Reformation.

Flagellants and religious movements
Black Death plague resulted into the development, rise, and spread of flagellants' religious movements. It is believed flagellants movements started in Northern Italy before spreading to other European nations. This movements attracted and appealed most to the monks who from their tradition had embraced self-mortification which top them was a way of identifying with the sufferings of Jesus Christ.
Many monks would whip themselves for thirty-three days, which resembled the years Jesus Christ lived and carried out his work and as atonement for the sins that had resulted into the Black Death. Early literatures on flagellant movements indicates that all classes participated and generally put on white robes and marched in barefoot in procession from one particular town to another while engaged in singing hymns and wielding iron-tipped scourges.
After the Black Death, the Jews became victims to the movement anger where the movement would associate the Jews to poisoning of wells. Many members of the movement in instituting the punishing seen and believed to be carried out in order to avert the world from experiencing another disastrous plague would meet in market places and participate in burning up the Jews. Describing the movement after the Black Death, a religious historian, remarked that, "as the fervor mounted the messianic pretensions of the Flagellants became more pronounced.
They began to claim that the movement must last for thirty-three years and end only with the redemption of Christendom and the arrival of the Millennium. Possessed by such chiliastic convictions they saw themselves more and more not as mortals suffering to expiate their own sins and humanity's but as a holy army of Saints".
The historian further note that the flagellant movement during this period graduated into a complex social phenomenon as its apocalyptic desires largely became manifested as motivation to personal mysticism, anticlericalism, and social revolutionary ideas that among its many issues pivoted on destruction of private wealth.
Further, the movement became the bear or the symbol of European view and reaction to pandemic where they believed it was due to sinful acts of the Jews hence the movement took a greater part in persecuting the Jews.

In 1348, Pope Clement VI condemned those who blame the pandemic on the Jewish people.

From a cultural perspective, the disease was often seen as a punishment by God, who was punishing humanity for its sins. Other religious people blamed the Jewish people because of pogroms that erupted throughout Europe during those times. Pope Clement VI, the pope at the time, had to release two papal bulls in 1348 condemning people who blamed the Jews for the plague, saying that they had been "seduced by that liar, the Devil." He, showing a lot of common sense, wrote: "It cannot be true that the Jews, by such a heinous crime, are the cause or occasion of the plague, because through many parts of the world the same plague, by the hidden judgment of God, has afflicted and afflicts the Jews themselves and many other races who have never lived alongside them." - The Catholic Church's Actions Might Have Contributed Greatly to the Black Death Plague

At the end of the pandemic, the the Church saw a rise in priestly vocation that were poorly instructed and trained properly. The selling of indulgences and other evils helped set the stage for the Protestant Reformation.

Effects of Black Death on the Catholic Church
Prior to the Black Death plague many Christians were undergoing persecution but a story detailing the tribulation of Sebastian who was a Roman soldier indicate that, after the plague many people resorted to accepting Christianity and abandoning their paganism nature[31].
When the Black Death plague struck, the Catholic Church accelerated efforts to raise money through the sell of masses for the dead and indulgences, which were believed, to pardon dead individual's sins. Due to these activities, the church became a victim of heavy criticism where many religious leaders not in support of this move accused the church of hypocrisy.
In addition, the plague had a long-lasting effect on the religious thought as it resulted into despair throughout the entire family of Christianity. Many people re-visited their relationship with God and looked up to the church to mitigate the effects of the disease but more shocking to the Christianity family was the fact that even clerics died in great number from this disease.
As a sign of lack of faith in church, the Catholic Church lost its earlier "prestige, breaking down blind allegiance to the church and setting the stage for the Protestant Reformation".
As a result of the Black Death plague, the number and the quality of clergy decreased in number as more clergies succumbed to the deaths of the disease leading to the church to scramble in trying to fill the positions. Lastly, the Catholic Church became largely to be associated with scandals that made its followers to severe relationship with the church.
Many looked for new ways of how morality of societal values could be restored and in away to show their lack of faith and trust in the church they explored others avenues.
Conclusion
Black Death plague has for a long time remained a significant period in the history of humankind. Its significance is traced to the devastating effects of the plague to the population of the humankind, the art world, and the literature materials. This is a period that Christianity foundations were shaken and severed, leading protestant reformation in later years.
At the same time, this was the period when the flagellant movements translated its values and it become more involved in social issues; while at the same time, promoting persecution of the Jews. What became important feature of this plague is that the role and position of the church in society underwent tremendous transformation. People doubted the powers of the church since prayers seemed not to work and miracles to save people became scarce.
Further, the responsibility of the church to take it upon itself the collection of tithes and sell of masses resulted in more discontent as more reports of corruption and misappropriation of funds became more pronounced among the followers. Attempts to rectify these anomalies failed as struggle for power and enrichment through corruption of alms and tithes heightened, the Catholic Church was unable to glue its fabrics that put it together, and reformations became inevitable which culminated in the split of the church. - The Catholic Church and the Black Death in the 14th Century Essay


Is there any way I can get a Schengen visa as a Syrian citizen?

Question: I want to visit a friend who lives in Spain. She will be covering the cost of living and everything; she's willing to send me an invitation letter. as well. However, I have never traveled before and, with the situation I'm in, it's very confusing. Is there any way I can get a Schengen visa in Syria?
Comment: With Saudi residence about to expire and an expired Syrian passport, application to visit Spain might be refused as it may seem that you're trying to avoid returning to your country (and that, once in Spain, you wouldn't). A passport needs to be valid (and for at least 3 months beyond the intended duration of stay) in order to apply for the visa.
Comment: I agree with @Giorgio; one of the criteria to assess if you are likely to leave Spain is if you have a stable live somewhere else. But so far your "stable live" seems to be in Saudi Arabia and so it is coming to an end, and in Syria you do not have anything or anyone preventing you from living elsewhere (as shown by the fact that you have been residing in Saudi Arabia). You will need to make an strong case of showing your ties to Syria and that you do intend to return.
Comment: Do you have permanent residence somewhere other than Syria? This would make it much easier to get the visa.
Comment: I do, i live in Saudi Arabia atm but im ending the residency in few months and live in Syria, since my passport is expired and it costs a lot of money to renew it if im not in Syria, i need to get it from there :(
Answer: It depends. You have to convince the Spanish officials that you are a genuine tourist. That means you plan to come, see the sights, and leave again.

They will want to know who pays the trip and why. If it is "a lot of money" for your friend, she has to explain why she will spend it.
They will want to know what reasons you have to return to Syria. One of the best reasons is a stable and well-paid job. Other ties like owning property or many relatives who do not travel with you you can help, too.

Obviously Syria is not very stable right now, and any jobs in Syria are not very stable for the same reason. Think about what reasons you have not to overstay, beyond your honesty which is difficult to judge from your application.
Comment: @Adiga, the services would either be handled by another Schengen embassy/consulate in Syria or by an embassy in a nearby country. I don't know which one it is, perhaps you should check with the embassy in Beirut.
Comment: Thank you very much, i know the situation in syria and how other countries see it,  and i do plan to come back of course it's just a visit for a month or so.
another question if you can possibly help, im reading that there's no spanish embassy in syria, its been closed for few years and im wondering if i can get still get the visa? thank you again.
Answer: I'm Syrian and I applied for a Schengen visit visa to visit 2 of my friends, one was a greek and the other one was a UAE national getting higher education in Athens. I live in the UAE and I have a stable job and a good salary. My passport was valid and my residency as well and I provided proof that I've never lived in Syria nor was I going to because my residency here is fixed. I was rejected both times out of fear that I was trying to seek asylum. Your case is way more severe with your residency coming to an end in KSA. So I'm guessing it would be rejected.
Answer: If you have residency in other country rather than Syria and stable, it will make a difference. Moreover, if you can prove you are really connected to this country, then you have high chances of getting the schengen visa but not 100% guaranteed.
So basically you have to prove you are a genuine traveller and you travelled to other countries before and did not break their visa. I am Syrian living in Egypt. First time I applied for a Schengen I got rejected I think because I did not have any travel history except Syria and Egypt. After travelling to the far east of Asia and coming back, I applied for a Schengen first as a visitor not as a tourism but this time with very strict documents that I am genuine traveller with very detailed documents about my ties to Egypt and I got it approved.
Once you get approved for the first time, It would be very easy to apply again.


At the age of 27 is it worth changing graduate schools and starting again?

Question: I am interested in areas of theoretical physics/mathematics which simply don't exist in my institute. I tried 2 or 3 different groups here which were not in my interest (but I felt I had some transferable skills) and it didn't work out.
Comment: This depends on many factors, such as your current situation, your ambitions, ... As it stands, this question seems impossible to answer.
Comment: Are you expecting an answer like, you should do it if you were 22 years old and you should not do it because you are already 27 ?
Comment: @MarcClaesen I am currently in a top-notch grad-school in the US just that it simply has no group in anything that interests me and my attempts to shift interests have failed. Any other data that you would want?
Comment: Age discrimination is illegal in the US.  By law, nobody cares how old you are, except maybe you.
Comment: Are you asking if your age is a problem in terms of an academic career?
Comment: @Bitwise May be...
Comment: @JeffE  The problem is if the selecting committee looks down upon the fact that in my current grad school I wasn't really attached to any specific advisor but was floating between different groups doing small projects in each. Will this be trouble?
Answer: There is no age limit for graduate studies. People are free to apply at whatever stage of life they choose, if they feel it's the right move for them.
As an example of this, a very good friend of mine was a social sciences major as an undergraduate, and worked in Washington, D.C., for a number of years before leaving politics and starting a PhD program in medical physics—and he did this in his mid-thirties. I've worked in the same department as other postdocs who made the career choice even later—they were in their early fifties!
So I would not look at your case as hopeless at all. If you find something else that inspires you, go for it.
Comment: It depends on how long this went on. The longer you were there, the bigger a challenge it will be.
Comment: Three years? That's going to be a tougher sell. But you've accomplished something. If you have the support of the professors for whom you've worked previously, you've got a shot.
Comment: @aesmail The problem is if the selecting committee looks down upon the fact that in my current grad school I wasn't really attached to any specific advisor but was floating between different groups doing small projects in each. Will this be trouble?
Comment: @aesmail Yeah..first year I was doing courses - and then 2 years more I shifted between 3 groups - doing small projects and trying to get myself interested (wrote a small paper from one and another result from another) - but all the while only feeling more frustrated that I wasn't getting to do the subjects I really wanted to! Finally I decided to try moving out!
Answer: As your question stands, the only honest answer is it depends but probably yes, it does.
Your question is lacking in essential information for a definite answer. Are you currently doing a masters or a phd? What is your background? Do you want to make a career in academia, ie. research oriented, or in the industry? Are you self-motivated? etc...
I would not rule out changing grad schools based on your age alone as there's no age limit to right a wrong. However, use common sense: be pragmatic and take time to analyze your options. Perhaps your advisor would allow you to collaborate with groups from other universities? Or maybe you could even do an exchange program? Is wrapping up what you have and moving on to something you're more interested in an option? If your project has been given a grant, ponder carefully the implications of leaving your current grad school.
If you feel that changing grad schools is your only option, then unless what is hidden behind starting again is that 400 lb gorilla, I see no obvious reason why you should not live a more fulfilling academic life.
Final note: if I were to review your application to a new grad school, I'd like to understand the reasons that brought you to your current grad school if no group was seemingly doing something that you're interested in.
Comment: @user6818 I answered because I've been there myself: top-notch dept. in a top-notch university and on an insultingly high stipend. The kind of conditions for which 95% of grad students would easily kill each other without hesitation. Yet no amount of rational thinking like _think of how lucky you are, grad students next door are in the basement and hunt for free-food_ will ever make up for absent/lost passion/excitement. I mistakenly down played my average interest in the field and realized that you cannot fool yourself through a phd. Through a masters, probably you can. Research is different.
Comment: @user6818 The moral is but simple: everyone makes mistakes, no bigger deal than that. The fact that yours occurred now and in this form makes it all the bitterer. But look at the facts: you got into a top university once. You can and will probably do that again. This time around though you'll be a little less rookie with yourself and hopefully know better what dazzles you, and what doesn't. Find your arena and fight like a lion.
Comment: what is the gorilla that you are expecting?
Comment: @user6818 it's that overwhelming and invisible thing in your head that keeps you from doing what you truly want.
Comment: If I am generous to myself, I would think that it was a stroke of terrible luck that I ended up at so-called top-notch institutes but never where there are people in my areas of interest. [..often its just so hard to explain to anyone the problem since from outside people tend to think that I am merely whining although I am at the "big" places...I have a hard time telling anyone that being at a "big" place is hardly a thing when the departmental focus is so different from what subjects excite me!...]
Comment: @user6818 Research frustrates and makes you humble. So I could pull it for a while but the intellect feeds a lot on the satisfaction of achievements (articles, experiments, _ah-ha!_ moments) and persistence in absence thereof. Oftentimes I saw my relationship to this phd like the one you probably already for a girlfriend (or boyfriend) for whom you have a strong attraction but without chemistry: You just know that there's a shelf life.


Why is Holy Quran in Arabic?

Question: The question is simple. Why is Quran in Arabic? There are many other languages besides Arabic, so why Arabic is selected specially by ALLAH SWT?
Comment: Why did you write this question in English? Maybe because English is the primary language of this site and post in, say, Swahili would be useless to the community here? Try extrapolating....
Comment: @Caleb so If the Quran had been given to a group of people other than Arabs, it would have been given in a different language? I'm not Muslim, but I think many Muslims would disagree. Islam holds Arabic as holy and superior to other languages. I think many might say that the Quran had to be in Arabic regardless of who it was revealed to.
Answer: This is a good question.
Quran was revealed in Arabic because:

Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was Arab.
The people who were the first recipients were Arabs.
The language of people of many surrounding areas and countries around Makkah and Madinah was Arabic (different dialects).
Arabic is not a dead language. From the time of Prophet (SAW) till today, there has always been a rich collection of literature in Arabic. It allows addition of new words and terms.

Why is Holy Quran in Arabic?


Weeping cherry tree shooting straight up

Question: My weeping cherry tree is 3-4 years old. It's blooming now but has a large section of growth shooting straight up in the air. That section is covered in leaves but it never flowered. Should it be pruned during the dormant phase?
Comment: Welcome, it is common practice to post pictures s/t people can see what you are talking about. Is there any chance you could post a picture of the tree in question?
Comment: Yes, let me try to get that downloaded here.
Comment: I added the photo. The over growth is at top right of tree
Comment: Where does the upright growth originate from? Is it coming straight up from the ground, or off another part of the tree?
Comment: Where do you live? To you have late freeze (e.g. on top part, bottom part seems protected by other trees)? And I agree with Bamboo: looking the photo, it seems that the sucker come from bottom part (root, or just below grafting point): in that case cut it immediately.
Answer: I think you have a case of a "reverting" weeping cherry.
This means as if you cherry wants to go back to its non-weeping form. This is not uncommon with weeping cherries. Here are some links describing similar cases:

Help, my cherry no longer weeps
Weeping cherry going straight
Weeping cherry tree reverting

If you don't do anything, the straight part will most likely become a dominant part, and you must remove it - completely.
If it was just a smallish branch, I would advice you to remove it immediately, no matter what the time of the year is. However, this a fairly large composite branch, and it may be better to wait for late fall/winter/early spring, and remove it at that time. That way, the shock for the tree will be much smaller.
And, please, make the cut as clean as possible. Pay really good attention to the place of the cut, and definitely apply so-called three-cut technique. Here is a step-by-step overview of three-cut technique:

Prepare your tool
(CUT 1) Make the undercut
(CUT 2) Remove the branch (except the stub)
Locate the branch collar and decide on the main cut place/orientation
(CUT 3) Remove the stub.


A command for toggling between text colours

Question: How might one write a command that toggles between the settings hi Normal ctermfg=8 and hi Normal ctermfg=12 ?
Answer: I think you could add this code to your $MYVIMRC file :
nnoremap <leader>t :call ToggleForegroundColor()<CR>

function! ToggleForegroundColor()

let fgcolor=synIDattr(hlID('Normal'), 'fg#')

if fgcolor == 8
    hi Normal ctermfg=12
else
    hi Normal ctermfg=8
endif

endfunction

After saving and sourcing it, you should be able to toggle between the two values by pressing <leader>t.
If your <leader> is the comma key, it would be ,t.
You can define your <leader> key in your $MYVIMRC file with something like this :
let mapleader = ","

To explain the code :
nnoremap <leader>t :call ToggleForegroundColor()<CR>

This line maps <leader>t to a function called ToggleForegroundColor.
The function is defined just afterwards and is responsible for toggling the value of the ctermfg argument.
let fgcolor=synIDattr(hlID('Normal'), 'fg#')

This line assigns to the variable fgcolor the value of the foreground color number of the Normal highlight group (ctermfg if you're inside a terminal, guifg if you're inside gvim).
For more information about the built-in functions used here, you can have a look inside the help : :h synIDattr and :h hlID.
The rest of the code is a simple if else endif structure which tests the value of fgcolor to change the value of ctermfg accordingly.


Which one is a Jyotirlinga "Omkareshwar" or "Mamleshwar"

Question: I have read in wiki about Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga. Before I knew this one is called Omkareshwar, But when I read in wiki, they call it Mamleshwar. I got confused. Can anyone give insight on it? Thank you.
Answer: Omkareswara is the 4th one among the total 12 Jyotirlingams.
It is situated in Shivapuri or Mamaleswara, a place in Madhya Pradesh.
Refer to the "Dwadasa Jyotirlinga Stotram" found here:

Sourashtre Somanadham, cha Sri Shaile Mallikarjunam, Ujjayinyam Maha
  Kalam, Omkara Mamaleshwaram, Paralyam Vaidyanatham, cha Dakinyam
  Bhimasankaram,

Meaning of the words in bold:
In Mamaleswara the Jyotirlinga is called Omkara.
So,both "Omkareswara" and "Mamaleswara" refer to the same Jyotirlingam with Mamaleswara referring to the place where the Jyotirlinaga is situated and Omkareswara to the name or the form of the Lingam.
Also refer to this page ,where the name of the 12 Jyotirlingams are given in bold:

The Dwadasa Jyotirlinga Stotra Saurashtre Somanaatham Cha Sree Shaile
  Mallikarjunam Ujjayinyaam Mahaakaalam Omkaare Mamaleswaram Himalaye to
  Kedaram Daakinyaam Bhimashankaram Vaaranaasyaam cha Viswesam
Trayambakam Gowtameethate Paralyaam Vaidyanaatham cha Naagesam
  Daarukaavane Setubandhe Ramesham Grushnesam cha Shivaalaye

Edit-
 I'm adding yet another source which says exactly the opposite of what is being said in the above.It says Omkara is the place where the Jyotirlingam is situated and the Lingam is called Amareswara.
It is a stotram composed by Nandi(the Bull) and is found in the Shiva Purana.
Quoting from this page,the following is the description of the 12 Jyotirlingams as given by Nandi:

Kedaro Himavatprushthe Daakinyaam Bhimasankarah
Vaaranaasyam cha Viswestriumbako Gautami thatey
Saurashtrey Sommanathasva Srisaile Mallikarjunah
Ujjainyam Maha Kala Omkare cha Amaresvarah
Vaidyanathaaschitha bhumo Nagesho Daarukaananey
Sethu bandhe cha Ramesho Ghrusneswara Siva lingo
Avatara Dvadasakamethchhambhoh Paramatmana
Nandiswara described the Most Celebrated Twelve Jyotirlingas of Maha
  Deva as follows:
Kedarnath in Himalayas
Bhima Sankar in Dakinya
Viswesvara in Varanasi
Triambaka on the banks of River Gautami
Somnatha in Saurashtra
Mallikarjuna in Sri Sailam
Maha Kala in Ujjain
Amareswara at Omkara
Vaidyanatha in Chitha Bhumi
Nagesa at Daruka
Rameswara at Setu Bandhana, and
Ghrishneswara

Also if you see the images of the 12 Jyotirlingams in the above page then you will find  that the fourth Jyotirlingam there is mentioned collectively as

Sri Omakaramamaleswara,Sri Amalaeswara

Now, both of them can't be a Jyotirlingam each because there are only 12 of them & not 13.
So,both taken together constitutes one Jyotirlingam.This is the most rational and acceptable answer.
Comment: But in wiki, It is written: *On a request of all the gods and the sages Lord Shiva made two parts of the lingas. One half is called Omkareshwara and the other Mamaleshwar or Amareshwar.*
Comment: @TheLittleNaruto I have added another link.Omkareswar is the Jyotirlingam and Mamaleswar refers to the place.
Comment: In wiki, it is also written, *There is a bridge over Narmada river connecting Omkareshwar temple and Mamleshwar temple.*
Comment: Omkareswara is the Jyotirlinga.Another temple is certainly there ,its called Amaraswara or Mamleswara like u have said, but that is not the Jyotirlingam as per the Dwadasa Jyotirlinga Stotram.So,the answer to ur question is-OMKARESWARA.
Comment: The first link you shared in your answer, there also, it is written, *"Other story says that the Shivalinga was split into two upon the request of the Devas. Thus, the formation of Omkareshwara and Amareshwar."*
Comment: Hence both of 'em counted as one among 12 Jyotirlinga
Comment: @TheLittleNaruto Check now.I have modified my answer with more citations.:).Hopefully now you'll be satisfied.
Comment: lol that *last edit* . You have dug a lot. I give you that. ;)
Answer:
सौराष्ट्रे सोमनाथंच श्री शैले मल्लिकार्जुनम् |
उज्जयिन्यां महाकालमोंकारममलेश्वरम् ||

In this verse, Mamleshwar in Omkareshwar region is called Jyotirlinga. Both Omkareshwar and Mamaleshwar are in the form of the same Jyotirlinga, Mamaleshwar on the south bank of the Narmada and Omkareshwar sits on the Omkar Parvat towards the north and the mother Narmada sits in the middle.
Reference: Mamleshwar Jyotirlinga


Toon shading using realistic textures?

Question: I'm trying to figure out a way to give a model a toonish look,but retaining the texture details. Is that possible?
This is my current setup.
Comment: Can you show an example of what you are trying to do?
Comment: Try using an actual *Toon* Shader
Comment: My bad I uploaded the wrong node setup.
Answer: Sometimes an NPR  surface effect, or half-toning, etc. is best achieved by using a Shader to RGB node in EEVEE, or the Blender Internal renderer, either of which can feed the light-response of a surface (as a color) back into the rendering pipeline for further manipulation. This can't be done directly in Cycles, where shaders don't produce definite colors on their own - they are functions determining what to do with (possibly a large number of) incoming samples of light.
If you want this kind of non-physical feedback from Cycles, you can do it indirectly, by baking the colors resulting from shading into a texture before using the texture in another material in another render, or by using the colors resulting from shading in compositing. But that can be expensive, in processing time, and your time.
Here's a simple example using Blender Internal:

The sphere has a couple of mixed textures influencing its normal. The effect of the normal on the lit surface is then put through a color ramp, with this result, after a Freestyle outline is added:
Answer: Use toon bsdf shader on cycles.

Toon shading using realistic textures?


Can the mouths of wormholes migrate over time?

Question: Let's say that we made a wormhole time machine where one mouth was held in my backyard right now in the present time, and the other mouth travelled into the future for 100 years.  What happens to the mouth of the wormhole that is in my backyard right now over time? Will it still be there in 10 years?  Obviously, the "future" mouth existed for 100 years and the one in the "present" had to be able to accelerate to keep it from advancing in time, so if the mouth in the "present" can start travelling into the future after the creation of the time machine, then how do you know what time you would come out if you went into the relative "future" one?  Doesn't the "present" mouth have a world line, or move in space and time itself?
Comment: Indeed, even if it "stays still" in one reference frame, it won't "stay still" in all others.
Answer: Wormholes defined using General Relativity don't work in that way.
As far as most realistic scenarios go, they may be able to exist with both ends positioned on the same space-time, meaning that the current time near each of the wormhole end points is the same.
All of the time warping effects would be simply the result of time dilation caused by the space-time shape necessary around a wormhole. That shape would be very similar to a black hole. This means that there would be a huge time slowdown effect near such an object. So in a sense, if that effect somehow wouldn't stop the passage of time entirely as you approach the wormhole endpoint (as it most likely should when approaching a black-hole), and passage was possible, then besides traveling to a different point in space-time through the spacetime tunnel being the wormhole itself, you would effectively time travel into the future. The problem here is that if you were to go back, you could only go back to the same point in space-time as before, but in an even more far future.
It's often stated that traveling faster than the speed of light could make you effectively travel back in time, but that still purely assumes that you can't travel faster than the speed of light in the present (meaning that the additional speed would be gained by gaining not only speed through space, but also gaining "negative speed" through time (and that brings up all kinds of problems)).
In a more "reasonable"(haha) approach, where we would not obey such a limit, if you were traveling faster than light, than time would most likely stop for you for the time of the travel (causing you to effectively travel through time into the future as in previous examples), but you would be able to overtake any light-speed emissions, so in a sense you could peek into the past, by enabling yourself to, for example, quickly travel in 10 years, 60 ly away from Earth, and then  turn around, move a bit sideways, and observe light and all light-speed emissions from Earth that are 50 years older than the moment at which you left Earth (and if you came back in the same way in total 20 years would pass, so there would be still no actual backwards time-travel through spacetime).
This is as close you could get to traveling back in time, while it already requires breaking the fundamental, known limits of spacetime, so I think it's safe to assume that actual time travel into the past in a single point in space will be never possible.
So in summary:

Considering that the ends of a wormhole should look similar to a black hole, there's no reason really why a wormhole's ends couldn't move around (there's also a problem of how exactly can you define any object in spacetime as truly static since it depends on the observer?).
As far as GR goes, if a wormhole was possible it would practically be a time machine that only goes into the future, similar to simply traveling near the speed of light.

Ps. To clear up the "one end traveling near the speed of light" does not mean that the present in that end would change or stop. The time dilation effect affects matter, not the spacetime itself. So this way would not introduce any time difference near the ends of a wormhole.


the preposition after "get stuck"

Question: I would like to ask what is the correct preposition after the phrase "get stuck" when you want to figuratively express that you are bogged down. For example you are dealing with a logical task and you are not able to find out the correct solution. Is it "I have got stuck with/on/with…"?
Answer: Consider these possibilities:

I am stuck on the database problem.

This means you can't continue because you can't figure out how to solve the database problem.
You could also say

I am stuck at the database problem.

This means much the same thing, with the nuance that you are stuck at the point of the database problem among a set of tasks you are trying to address serially. You probably can't do anything else till you solve that one. If you use on it might suggest you could do other parts of the task while waiting for enlightenment on the database issue. But on and at are pretty much interchangeable here. I would expect to hear on more frequently.

I got stuck with the database problem.

This means someone left you or assigned you the database problem to solve (with overtones of it being an unpleasant or difficult task).
Answer: There are several possibilities:

You can get stuck with your mother in law for the weekend.
You can get stuck by the side of the road.
You can get stuck in the mud.
You can get stuck half way up/down a mountain.
You can get stuck climbing through a narrow window.
You can get stuck on a difficult problem - or a window ledge.
You can get stuck between a rock and a hard place.
You can get stuck for hours.

But in your example, you're probably stuck with or on...whichever suits.
Answer: If you are unable to find out a solution, you should use the preposition "on" after stuck, for example:
I have got stuck on this problem.
It's appropriate to use the preposition "with" instead of "on in this sentence.  You use the "with" when you are unable to get rid of someyhing that you don't want.  For example:
I don't like to wash dishes. I am stuck with this job.

the preposition after "get stuck"


Whistle Design - Optimizing sound initiation pressure and volume

Question: Assume you can use any whistle type, is there a way to choose the pressure point at which a whistle makes noise? For example I have a whistle that starts making noise at 2 psi but I would like to lower that to 1 psi. Would I change the area of the inlet, outlet? what feature would you change to accomplish this?
Comment: Personally I would change the length of the whistle, specifically the inner chamber. Sound pressure decreases by half, each time the length of the whistle is doubled.
Comment: @loogle can you expand on that an post it as an answer?
Comment: @loogle - yes please explain your comment. do you mean that if I double the length the whistle will start making noise at half the psi the prior whistle needed to make noise?
Math: Sound starts at = n = 2psi; Max sound at = m = 3psi; Whistle Length = L = 2 inches
if L = 4 then n = 1psi?
2L results in  n/2?
Answer: The most serious and comprehensive information about whistles is provided by the folks who work on pipe organs: expensive instruments which endure critique by serious listeners, and which require maintenance where they are installed because of their size.  A pipe organ's Flue Pipes are in fact no different from whistles.
A whistle is a noisemaker that uses no reed.  In this sense, we might say that a brass player's lips and a singer's vocal cords are reeds, while a flute player is playing a kind of whistle.
A whistle has two components: a resonator and an air supply.  The resonator's opening may be called its mouth, and the air supply must flow freely past the resonator's mouth in order for it to work.
The air flows over the resonator's mouth and sucks out a bit of pressure from the resonator by the Bernoulli principle.  Once this pressure is lower inside the resonator, the free air supply flow changes course and starts packing into the resonator, increasing its pressure.  This sends a high pressure wave through the resonator which may either bounce back (for a closed resonator) or depart (for an open resonator).
At some moment in time while the air is flowing into the resonator, the pressure inside increases enough to divert the airflow away from the mouth of the resonator.  Once the flow is diverted away from the resonator, it begins to remove air from inside and lower the pressure, creating another pressure wave inside.  Now the cycle repeats.
The sound you hear originates both from the opening at the top of the resonator and an opening at the bottom (for open resonators) where there is this fluctuating air pressure.
The sound is at a tuned pitch (or frequency) that is the result of the pressure wave bouncing from top to bottom, bottom to top in the resonator.  The frequency is a simple matter of length with flue pipes, but I can't even explain what's going on in an ocarina.

How can I reduce the pressure of my whistle?

In order to make a sound, your instrument must initiate the aforedescribed cycle, and also convert the air source's energy into acoustic energy.  Improving either (by initiating sound earlier or converting energy more efficiently) may enable your instrument to use less pressure.  Here are some conditions which may affect either, in order of my guess for the most important first:

Velocity of air supply (high velocity = earlier initiation of tone)
Cross-sectional area of resonator near its mouth (smaller cross-sectional area = earlier initiation of tone)
The resonator being stopped or open (stopped = earlier initiation of tone)
Volumetric flow of air supply (high flow = more volume)
Length along the flow direction of the resonator "mouth" (must be optimized)
Length across the flow direction of the resonator "mouth" (must be optimized)
Distance that the air supply travels freely (must be optimized)
Laminarity of the air supply (unknown effect by me whether more or less sound)

You might increase the laminarity by passing the air supply through a long, straight tube, for instance.

Intended pitch of the resonator (higher pitch = more sound, to a point)
Length of the resonator (shorter length = more sound, to a point)
Atmospheric condition (ambient wind may "kill" the free flow of the air supply)
Cross-sectional area of the resonator's other opening for open resonators (bigger rear opening = more volume)

There's a reason tubas, gramophones, Alpenhorns, and megaphones have a flared end: the smaller volumetric velocity produced by the large cross-sectional area enables more sound energy to transfer into the open air, making the best use of the player's effort.  This is called impedance matching.

As suggested elsewhere, dividing your airflow among multiple resonators may solve your issue.  Good luck!
Further reading on pipe organ flue pipes ("whistles")
Comment: Hi Elliot, Could I explain another environment/ set up. I'm interested to see if I can get a sound from it, if its possible. I've done some testing using what you mentioned but haven't been successful. I think mostly do to "Atmospheric condition"
Comment: Hi!  Have you tried using a funnel to make the air flow more intense?
Comment: Environment: open area living room. 72 degrees
Source of air flow: 24" by 24" Box fan with a 24" by 24" by 24"card board box taped to sucking air side of the box fan (this is here to create a air tight chamber). I am then going to cut a opening in the cardboard box in which to stick the whistle or anything that would make noise.
The box fan can normally pull air through on the sucking side at 20mph 900 cfm.
I tried using a beer bottle and get the air passing throw the hole I cut to make the beer bottle whistle. it didn't work. I tried just sticking a kazoo in the hole. nothing.
Comment: I have not used a funnel, I will give this a go
Comment: I think the sucking side may be harder to turn into a whistle than the blowing side, since the jet created by the hole in the box begins to spread out toward the fan blades once it enters the box (presuming the whistle is in the box).  Or if you are placing the whistle outside, there's no jet anywhere on that side, so the mouth of the whistle won't do anything.  I do suggest using the blowing side instead of the sucking side... if you want, you can make a manifold with several funnel jets for several whistles at the same time!
Comment: Another thing to try: Put a cardboard tube up to the hole on your box, and make a hole in the side of the tube about at the middle of the length of the tube for your bottle to plug into.  The tube provides a higher velocity than the open hole of the box, that might initiate the Bernoulli-suction cycle of the bottle (i.e. whistling) more efficiently.
Answer: A whistle works based on flow. For a given whistle design, a certain flow is required to generate the pressure oscillations which generate the sound. You can think of it like suddenly filling the resonator chamber with air, then draining it with the venturi effect, over and over. Below a certain flow rate, the flow is laminar and just exhausts without oscillation.
The volume of the chamber will change the freqency of the sound because it takes more time to fill and drain a larger volume. This will in turn change transmission and energy characteristics of the emitted sound. However, it will have a very small effect on minimum flow required to produce sound.
If you wish to have a whistle trigger off of pressure you will need to configure your system to have your pressure trigger point deliver the minimum airflow to the whistle.
To go from a low pressure to a higher pressure trigger point on the whistle, you can restricting the airflow with a throttling valve, orifice, or a small pipe. Alternatively, you could divert part of the flow to a different path or even a second whistle in parallel.
To go from a high pressure to a lower pressure trigger on the whistle, you will have to decrease the air passage area such that the operational pressure drop across the whistle is high enough for the lower pressure to deliver enough flow.
Comment: do you want to make the whistle sound using the pressure of the wind, as for instance next to a moving vehicle?


Was the alleged Christian influence of Norse Mythology primarily due to Snorri Sturluson's writings?

Question: Since Snorri himself was a Christian, and his works are some of the most popular sources for Norse Mythology, is he to blame for the modern "Christianized" interpretation of Norse gods and beliefs?
Answer: Short answer: probably yes. He's our primary source for a lot of myths, which makes it hard to say our interpretations are accurate to what was believed a thousand plus years ago because we don't have anything to compare it to. He was Christian, and likely fudged/altered much of his recording of the myths to make them fit into the Christian worldview.(such as demonizing Loki or at least making him fit more the Christian role of an evil/demonic figure rather than the classic trickster figure he's more likely to be, the whole Ragnarok myth isn't actually recorded elsewhere, the idea of Heimdall becoming a Christ-like figure after Ragnarok, a man and a woman repopulating the world after the end of the world... there's a Lot.)
However, it's not all his fault, probably. He was writing several hundred years after Christianity became a major force in Iceland, so many of the myths may have changed already by the time Snorri was born. And the myths we know now are Norse myths are primarily just from Iceland, which had a lot more integration with Christianity than a lot of other Scandinavian countries, iirc. There are a lot of factors, but it's largely due to Snorri. It's a lot like basing all your knowledge of current world religions off a book aimed at teenagers on the subject.
Comment: Do you have any source to back up your claims? I am referring in particular to Snorri "demonizing Loki", "Heimdall becoming a Christ-like figure after Ragnarok", and Iceland having "a lot more integration with Christianity than a lot of other Scandinavian countries". Also, it's not true that the Ragnarok myth is not recorded elsewere, as it appears in several poems from the Poetic Edda (as well as in the archaeological record). And why would "a man and a woman repopulating the world after the end of the world" be a Christian motif?
Answer: I will say Snorri's works cannot be simply brushed off as fiction. There are countless stories of this type from several cultures, and they in many ways connect or resemble each other. So to count his stories as imagined or made up I believe is unfair. Although, I do not see how he could have had anything to do with influencing Christianity. Seeings how Christianity was born in AD 30-35. His accounts not even written until well after 1200's. So, as far as being the soul influencer is not even logical, in my opinion. I would also like to include the fact that the Catholic religion was far more of an influencer. The Roman Empire actually adopted Christianity as its religion in 380. This around the time Christianity separated from the Jewish background, which was where it began. Due to the newly founded doctrine at in motion, with help from the Roman Empire.
By the 1st century the religion had already began separating itself into sects, due to unlike ideals about Scripture. In 364-378 successor Theodosius made it legal that only those that followed Trinitarian Christianity would be considered, Christian Catholics. All others were considered heretics and their practices illegal. Docetism, was out to directly erase the ideal of the Nicene Creed. Wanting all to believe and honor their new Orthodox Christianity. Which, by the way, was completely created and established, merely due to what they told their followers the Scripture was saying, not actually what it said or depicted. Although the Roman Catholics adopted Christianity, they only adopted the name. Reason being that after the 4th century, there were numerous sects made for Christians. As they all had their own opinion on what the Scriptures depicted and what each sect deemed depicted, by the Scriptures. It wasn't until the begining of the Medieval Era, that they finally let it be known they were never really "Christian" they still used the term, but returned to Roman Catholic. And by 1120 they had left a trail of corruption and devastation, effecting multiple nations and countries. Persecuting relentlessly, anyone whom did not confirm and obey.
I would have to say this would be a more satisfactory example of influence on Christianity.


Wi-fi login Network Accounts are Unavailable

Question: I work support and mainly work with PCs so my mac experience is limited. Right now one of the mac laptops we support is not utilizing the wifi at the user login screen and displaying "Network accounts are unavailable." I can login with the local admin and the wifi automatically connects as it should then, but I can't seem to jiggle anything loose to restore the wifi connection at login screen. I would appreciate any help or advice on how to restore this functionality as all of the laptop users need to be connected to the wifi for their domain accounts to be granted access on the laptop.
Comment: I've downloaded and installed the drivers off of lenovo's site and still no change in how the wireless functions.
Comment: → Joshua: Which version of MacOS X is running your Mac?
If it is running `Lion` or `Mountain Lion` is the Wi-Fi icon in the top right corner `on` or `off`?
Comment: Wi-fi icon is on, and OS version is: 10.7.5
Comment: I think I've figured out the issue. Basically on the windows machines I support (95 % of my systems, I'm a mac neophyte too) it doesn't matter if I put the domain name as GENERICEXAMPLE or genericexample.com, but the mac seems to need genericexample.com for wifi logins to process correctly although both GENERICEXAMPLE and genericexample.com bind correctly to the domain.
Comment: → Joshua: You might be on the right way. MacOS X is based on Unix which is a case sensitive operating system. Which means that for many names E ≠ e…
Answer: I presume you mean this error message:

I have had this problem in the past, due to an incorrectly configured DNS on the local machine. If it's only the Wi-Fi that the network accounts are unavailable on (as it was for me), try changing the DNS to point to the correct server for Wi-Fi connections.
<code>networksetup -setdnsservers Wi-Fi <server-ip>
</code>
Answer: What kind of authentication does the Wi-Fi network use?
If it's just password-based then the password should be stored in the System Keychain (check within Keychain Access) rather than the login keychain. Move it if it's not.
If it's certificate-based, you'll need to set up a login window (or system) profile to configure it:
http://www.afp548.com/2013/03/07/another-way-to-enable-wi-fi-at-login-window-with-profiles/
Answer: You need to bind the domain to the exact domain url
First I want to thank everyone for trying to help me in comments and in answers.
Being used to windows I assumed that like windows I could bind the domain to either the exact domain url "example.com" or the domain name "EXAMPLE". While both would bind successfully for the laptop, the difference was what was causing my wi-fi login issues. By binding it to "example.com" I was able to easily login with any domain credentials.


How to smooth filter response?

Question: I have a filter designed in matlab with the function cheby2( N, Rs, Ws, 'stop'). The filter would give nice frequency response with for a given parameter set when the filter order is 2 or 4 (N=4). But if I increase the filter order to say 14 the magnitude plot of filter response is not at all smooth in fact in the stop band it gives very high gain instead of attenuation. Any suggesetion what is going on. What I should look at? Do you need any more information to access the problem. The parameters I am using are:
Rs = 40;
Wc = 0.2;
Wb = 1/128
Ws = Wc +0.5*Wb*[ -1, 1];
Comment: I recommend you to use the matlab function `fvtool`. Besides the magnitude and phase it also shows you the Pole-Zero plot. Here you will see that your design results in a filter with poles outside the unite circle, which leads to the instability of the filter
Comment: I suspect it's about numerical precision (and a bit of unorthodox design). Inverse Chebyshev crams the poles near the Y axis (zeroes, too), if the imposed constraints are too tight. For example, here you determine N based on attenuations and frequencies, then increase N manually -- this results in the filter adjusting either the attenuations, or the frequencies (most likely). The resulting filter should have very tight transition widths, which can result in tight placement of the poles/zeroes.
Answer: You have a very narrow stop band which means that all the poles are crammed in a very small area of the complex plane, close to the unit circle. This can result in severe numerical problems, even for relatively small filter orders, even with floating point arithmetic.
Another important point that you might not realize is that if you design a band pass or a band stop filter using the command cheby2 (and all other similar commands), then N is the order of the prototype low pass filter, and not the order of the resulting band pass or band stop filter. So if you choose N=14 then you've designed a band stop filter of order $28$. Such a filter is very hard, if not impossible to realize because of numerical problems.
Also note that calling cheby2 with [z,p,g] (zeros, poles, and gain) as output argument usually results in higher accuracy than using the polynomial coefficients.
I would actually suggest trying a notch filter instead of such a narrow band band stop filter.

How to smooth filter response?


Oracle DataGuard

Question: Oracle DataGuard is a technique to replicate data stored in an Oracle RDBMS across several Oracle engine instances. I'm wondering whether DataGuard really provides a linear scalability for a RDBMS. Do you have any experiences with the DataGuard? How does it behave under heavy load conditions?
Answer: DataGuard is typically used for business continuity, i.e. to have a failover database when the primary is unavailable.  If you're looking for scalability, then you want RAC (Real Application Clusters), where multiple instances on separate hosts mount and share the same set of database files.
Generally, RAC scales out if you have a well-designed (db-centric) application that is bound by database host memory and CPU limitations.
Answer: We don't need instantaneous failover at our installation, so we use a DataGuard physical standby database on a separate server. It works by shipping archive log data over TNS to the physical standby and for our environment (not particularly heavy) it works fine. We typically have 1-10 log switches (57Mb log files) an hour and the standby has no problem keeping up.
It's not what you're asking about but there is an issue with logical standby databases and using Oracle auditing of sessions - you need 10.2.0.4 minimum with some exclusion logic to keep the audit records out of the standby else it can't keep up.
Comment: Logical also has issues with transporting types, not xml, etc. I think this is resolved in 11g.

Oracle DataGuard


Numbers floating sheets

Question: In Numbers, how can I get the spreadsheet to remain stationary on the page? I have tried to double tap thinking that would display and anchor the sheet but it doesn't work.
Answer: In your question, you mention:

double tap

So is it safe to say you are referring to Numbers on iOS?  If so, to lock a table or element do the following:

Tap the Format icon (Paint brush)
Tap the Arrange tab.
There you will see a Lock.  This will lock the element from moving and prevent editing.

To edit again or move, unlock in the same manner.
Hope this helps!
Answer: Problem
You would like to lock a spreadsheet within Numbers
Solution

Select the table that you would like to lock
In Numbers 3.1 select Arrange Menu and Choose Lock (⌘L)

Apple Support Documentation (Resize, move, and lock a table)
Comment: @IanDundas - It's a 4-year-old question with no further input from the OP but I have to know, How do you know what the OP had in mind? Scrolling was never mentioned in the question. If you found my answer incorrect you might have mentioned the other answer which is essentially the same (go to menu > select Arrange > select Lock). I may not understand your point here.
Comment: Not quite what was asked - they want the table to remain stationary on the page, and not move when you scroll

Numbers floating sheets


Why do we reproduce?

Question: Why do we (including other living organisms) reproduce? Why is it necessary that our race keeps flourishing and multiplying? I couldn't find any useful articles on google except for some yahoo and wiki answers which I don't like much. I would like if someone could suggest me some books or redirect me to some useful articles.
Also,
this might sound more of a question pertaining to biology but do unicellular organisms have mind and feelings? Just in case if they don't, then whats the motivation behind their reproduction?
Comment: Because our ancestors who didn't reproduce didn't have any children.
Comment: This is patently an evolutionary biology question...
Comment: yes.. this question is very biology oriented. It could be improved, giving it a focus towards human beings as I did in my answer, but even so I'm not sure if it would be a philosophical problem (rather than psychological, or sociological); it would require some radical reshaping, definitely.
Answer:
Why do we (including other living organisms) reproduce?

I don't think that "why" is a useful question here- it is akin to asking why we exist in time and space.  In our universe, living organisms reproduce.  That's simply a naked fact.

Why is it necessary that our race keeps flourishing and multiplying?

It is not necessary; in fact, it's highly contingent.  Just ask the dinosaurs.

Also, this might sound more of a question pertaining to biology but do unicellular organisms have mind and feelings?

I don't think that anyone proposes that unicellular organisms are sentient; in fact, very few would suggest that plants are sentient.

Just in case if they don't, then whats the motivation behind their reproduction?

There is no motivation involved.  What is a rock's motivation for rolling downhill?  What is an apple's motivation for falling off of a tree?  There are causes, and there are effects, but there is no evidence for anything resembling "will" involved.
Answer: Since living individuals often die, only those that reproduce may survive (as a species). Humans are still here, so it is necessary that humans as a species reproduce.
The same argument applies to other living beings.
For resources, look up something related to evolution. I can't really recommend anything specific, but maybe start at the Wikipedia article and especially references therein. Or look at the course books of the relevant courses in some university.
Answer: For "why reproduction happens", and all the types of reproduction, you should take a look at evolutionist theory (specially, the differences between sexual and assexual reproduction may be of interest).
Now... as of humans, it is an interesting question, as there's nothing "natural" in the way humans deal with sexuality.
A classic on this is Freud's "Three essays on sexuality", where he delves in the question of what is normal and what is a deviation in human sex life. If sex aims at reproduction, every activity that doesn't fulfill this (masturbation, homossexuality, and even kissing) should be considered a deviation, so he ends up with the idea that there's no normality in human sexuality. In the end, he concludes that, for humans, sex as reproduction needs to be a cultural (moral) value.
Answer:
Why do we (including other living organisms) reproduce?

We reproduce because it was a successful way through evolution for living species to succeed. Of course, you could ask "why did the first living cell reproduced itself". Many believe (it is still not clearly demonstrated) that the reproduction of the first cell was simply a chemical reaction.

Why is it necessary that our race keeps flourishing and multiplying?

It is not. However, our "base code" tell us to keep multiplying. Moreover, we could even say that we are to a point where humanity should ask itself to stop or slow reproduction because more human means more destruction of our environment. We are the first known race that might override its genetic behavior with pure intelligence and logic.

Do unicellular organisms have mind and feelings?

Feeling require an evolved brain. Unicellular organisms obviously don't have brain. Therefore, they can't have feeling.

Why do we reproduce?


Lightweight linux desktop with UI scaling

Question: I am looking for a lightweight linux desktop to use as an Home Theatre PC, that has UI scaling.
Answer: I think you could use Elementary OS for that. It is a lightweight distro based on Ubuntu with a minimalistic UI and HiDPI support. Although, it seems like they are using a workaround for this, according to one of the designers. ("update" paragraph, before the "takeaway" list).
Here is another discussion on that subject.
I hope it helps!
Answer: You might try Linux Window Managers such as Fluxbox or OpenBox.
If you want to install Fluxbox, first install Ubuntu Mini, then install window manager and login manager:
sudo apt-get install fluxbox xorg slim

Then open console by right clicking desktop: Applications > Shell > Bash
Type xrandr to see options, type xrandr -s 1920x1200 to change resolution. Mplayer is a good video player which you can start from console.
askubuntu.com - What is the difference between a desktop environment and a window manager


Which lipoprotein has the highest protein content?

Question: I know that HDLs have the highest protein/lipid ratio but know that the HDLs are very small molecules too and I couldn't find the exact answer for this question. I mean, by amounts which of these lipoproteins have the most protein?
Comment: Please do not use the title of a question in lieu of the question itself. You need to carefully define numerically your concept of "highest protein content" and explain how it differs from protein/lipid ratio. At the moment it is completely unclear, at least to me.
Answer: LDL has the higher protein content than HDL. LDL consists of Apo B48 and Apo B100. These are proteins with higher molecular weights between 250 kDa to 550 kDa as compared to other apoproteins. And these apoproteins are not present in HDL.
And if lipoprotein (a) is included in comparison then it has highest protein content.
(Via:  https://lipidmaps.org/resources/lipidweb/index.php?page=lipids/simple/lipoprot/index.htm)


Play music from Desktop?

Question: I remember there used to be a play button on my music files on my Desktop. I would click it, and it would play that song without opening anything up. Now I can't. I have to make do with opening Finder, switching to column mode, and then playing it. I don't want to use Quick Look, because it disappears when I move away. I may have switched view settings, updated Quicktime, etc. Do you know of a way that I can do this again?
Comment: What kind of file type are you trying to play and what version of OSX are you on? This works on mine (v 10.7.2), but only after the thumbnail changes from the default iTunes icon to the "cover" preview image.
Comment: @MathewHall I'm on OSX 10.6.6
Comment: If you select the file and select "Get Info" from the File menu, in the "Preview" section of the Info window, can you click to play the song? Or does that fail also?
Comment: @nathang I found my problem. As much as I didn't want to, I answered my own question.
Answer: In order to show the play button, the icon needs to be at least 64x64 pixels. It works fine now that I've enlarged my icons from 60x60.
Answer: I suspect you must have installed a very light weight media player at one time and associated your music files with it.
You should try VLC.  It will play most audio files, and if you associate it with your audio files then it will play them with a double click as you had before.  You can change the icon of VLC to a play button image, and then your associated music files will look like play buttons.
Comment: Sorry, I meant that it was on each music file and it wouldn't open anything up. I edited my question to reflect this.
Comment: @CoffeeRain I've edited my post to better meet your needs.

Play music from Desktop?


Where can I ride camels in Morocco (other than in the Sahara)?

Question: Riding camels is widely advertised in the south eastern part of morocco. That is, where the Sahara starts. We might not be able to reach those parts. I am wondering if there are camel rides offered closer to Marrakech.
Answer: Marrakech has a big palm tree garden that seems part of the desert itself (well, like an oasis really). I don't remember the name, but it's really near the city center and every taxi driver knows where it is (just ask for camel riding). There are a lot of camels and people that offers camel riding to tourists. Also, there are travel agencies that offers camel riding experiences (one such is called clickexcursions).
Answer: For the 'proper' desert experience, many travellers head to the town of Merzouga and then onwards into the Sahara desert from there. Sure, you can find camels to ride in Marrakech but I reckon the experience won't feel the same as riding a camel in the desert. For that, I would suggest any of the tour agencies or even your hotel / riad that can arrange day trips to Ourzazate which is right at the edge of the Sahara desert. The shortest trips are just a few hours long: some sightseeing and a camel ride and then back. Longer tours include either a stay in a Berber camp in the desert, or if you prefer more comfortable abodes, inns along the road trip you'll be taking.
My recommendation would be get to Marrakech, and then book one of these short trips through your hotel. The hassle of negotiating with tour agents trying to rip you off in Djemma Al Fana is not worth it, and most hotels do reasonable prices anyway.
Answer: There were camels and their attendants on the beach in Essaouira when I was there ten years ago touting for tourists to take rides.
It's a lot easier to get to than the Sahara and it's a pretty chill place too. But it will just be a ride along the beach, which might or might be suitable since you didn't mention if you wanted to go trekking or not.

A company called Zouina-cheval has a website offering both horse and camel rides as well as trekking in Essaouira, complete with prices and useful details.
A page called "Essaouira Tourist Traps" on the site "Virtual Tourist" has people saying both positive and negative things about touts with camels in Essaouira, you might get some insights there.
You can find quite a few more hits by Googling "Essaouira camel rides".
Comment: Thanks, a ride on the beach is exactly what I am looking for. Due to having small twins, my trekking life is on hold for while.
Answer: Me and my boyfriend went on the Camel Trekking Night Desert Tour and had an amazing time. We booked the trip via email by contacting Hassan from Morocco Excursions company who welcomed us on the day of the trip. It was a long drive to get to Merzouga but it was well worth it.
We were taken to the desert on camels and stopped in a camp for the night. There was around 10 other people with us so the company was great.
Our guides prepared some delicious food and provided lots of fun and entertainment by playing drums and singing traditional Berber songs. We also had a chance to do sand boarding which was really cool.
We slept in the tents, but there was also an option to sleep outside if you were not too scared off spiders and other various desert creatures:) We were woken up before 6 am and watched the sun rise. On our return to the hotel there was some breakfast waiting for us. We could also pick up our backpacks and had plenty of time to shower and refresh.
I highly recommend the tour; the guides made us feel very comfortable and safe.
Comment: Are you associated with the site above?


Where does the "core" namespace nomenclature derive from?

Question: I'm relatively new to Clojure but I've noticed many projects implement a "core" namespace; e.g. foobar.core seems to be a very common pattern. What's the history behind this and why is it the de facto standard?
Comment: Pro tip: `lein new foo.bar` will create `foo/bar` rather than `bar/core`.
Comment: Probably just following the `clojure.core` convention. However, Stuart Sierra and others are outspoke about every library (and default Leiningen projects) overusing `whatever.core`.
Comment: @noahz do you have a link? I'm curious to read Stuart's opinions about this.
Comment: Sorry, it was on twitter, and it might have actually been someone else, not Stuart.
Answer: It's just a generic name that represents the "core" functionality of something. The core functions of Clojure itself define a general purpose programming language, with very generic functions you might need in many different problem domains. Functions which are only applicable to a specific problem domain go into domain-specific namespaces, such as clojure.string or clojure.set.
Tools like Leiningen can't know a priori what sort of a program you're trying to write, so they set you up with a foo/core namespace by default, modelled after clojure.core -- clojure.core is the core functionality of Clojure, so foo.core is the core functionality of foo.
If you can give your core namespace a less generic name, or just use foo/core to kick off bootstrapping (such as by holding your -main function), that's encouraged, so that the bulk of your code will reside in more semantically meaningful namespaces instead. This helps you find the specific code you want to work on later.


How can I ask a translation question if I don't know any Latin?

Question: I would like to have some text translated from English (or another language) to Latin.
I don't know any Latin myself.
Can I ask my translation question on this site?
If yes, how should I do it?
Comment: Note to advanced users:  By choosing 'Close' > 'Community-specific reason' > 'Insufficient context in translation request' you can vote to close a question so that there is an automatic notification of the issue and a link to this page. Just a couple of clicks and no typing needed.
Answer: You don't have to know any Latin to be allowed to ask questions on this site.
If you have a translation question, please answer all the following questions in your question:

What is the text you would like to have translated?
Where is the text from? It can be something you came up with yourself or something you found somewhere. There might already be a translation out there, and context helps.
What do you exactly want to convey with the text? For example, the motto "above the clouds" will get a very different translation if it is for a commercial airliner instead of someone escaping domestic violence to fantasy world. Give the same thought in different words. Translation is about ideas more than words, so make sure we get the idea.
What would the text be used for? Carved in a wedding ring, tattooed on you, written on a greeting card, or something else?
What have you done to translate the text yourself? If nothing, just state it frankly. If you have found a similar phrase somewhere and would like to have it adapted for your purposes, that helps a lot. Please consider browsing any online Latin dictionary and looking for suitable words even if you can't quite put them together into a sentence.
If you have a suggested translation, where is it from? You, a Latin text book, Google Translate, or someplace else? Don't just say "a book" or "a website" if you know more.
If you have a suggested translation, are you uncertain about something specific?

Including all this information in your question can be done in 15 minutes.
It is a small chore in comparison to what the people giving you an answer might do.
If you have something to add, please edit your question.
Don't just post comments, but edit and improve the question.
You can always do that as long as you have access to your account, which is why it is a good idea to register your account.
If your question was closed or put on hold, edit it to improve and it can be reopened.
Explain and give context.
We realize that if you don't know any Latin, you can't easily offer your own translation.
But you can elaborate on what you would like to have.
The better your question is, the more likely you are to receive useful answers.
Anyone giving you a translation on this site is a volunteer.
Be respectful and help them help you.
If you want us to put effort into it, show us that you've put some effort into it too.
Comment: @Adam I'm also thinking of adding a custom closing reason: "Your question has been put on hold for insufficient context. If you edit your question to elaborate on it, it can be reopened. Please consult [this meta page for instructions for asking a translation question if you don't know much Latin](https://latin.meta.stackexchange.com/q/483/79) and follow **all** the instructions given there. Explain and give more context!" Then anyone can (vote to) leave that comment and put the question on hold with two clicks. [Update: This is now live!]
Comment: This is great and covers any follow-up comments that usually need to be made when someone is asking for translation help. It'll be easy to post a link to this in comments.
Comment: @cmw Then I'd actually be happy to keep their questions closed and give them nothing. I'm not assuming them to read meta first, but I'd close those questions quickly with an automatic note pointing here (see comment above). If we point them to clear and reasonable instructions and they don't react, I don't think we need to react either. If someone really wants to get their translation, they'll put in extra ten minutes of work and we'll help.
Comment: Let me know if I missed something or if you disagree. We get quite a lot of questions of this nature, and I wanted to have a concrete page to give our new users to read if they ask such questions. More general translation discussions: [How can I ask a translation or homework question?](https://latin.meta.stackexchange.com/q/143/79) [What do we do with translation requests?](https://latin.meta.stackexchange.com/q/25/79)
Comment: I think most people who want to ask a translation question don't actually care enough to read the meta, let alone stick around after getting their answer...
Comment: So the point of this question and answer is to set up explicit criteria we can require askers to meet. Improving the question is not that much extra work compared to the work of a volunteer translator.
Answer: (I realize the below is controversial and somewhat against the current praxis of the site, but it's my opinion and perhaps ought to be explicitly stated.)
The guidance in our Help Center about on topic question includes the following among questions should generally not be asked:

translation requests or etymological queries that show no serious research effort using readily available online sources)

The German help center goes a little further:

Translation requests to German should be of general interest and should provide sufficient context. Please understand that we can not be an individual translation service.

I am of the opinion that one-off translations of mottos/tattoos/etc. should not be permitted on this site. Given that a huge majority of the questions that involve no knowledge of Latin are such translation requests, I think they should almost never be in scope.
The reason I say this is that I believe the following made-up question handily meets the criteria outlined above:

I would like to translate the phrase, "winged pigs forever." I came up with the text myself, and I just want a literal translation because it's fun and quirky. The only thing I've done is type it into Google translate, which gives me: "quod reptat et porcos in sempiternum." Is that right?

I think this kind of question should be rejected, since it has no general interest and doesn't ask any question that a Latin learner of any level could benefit from.
I realize that defining a translation of "general interest" is harder in Latin than it is in German, since it's often an interesting and controversial issue figuring out how to translate even common English phrases.
I think it lowers the quality of the questions on this site, though, to permit questions that ask for extremely specific translations that do not meet the minimal bar of asking some question of general interest, e.g.

Is X or Y a better translation of Z?
Can I use the dative in this way?

Perhaps I'm just being grumpy, but I don't want this to become a tattoo translation site.
Comment: I do think that tattoo translations present some danger of making the site less appealing to serious Latinists. However, I'm currently favoring them because tattoos are actually one of the last living elements of the Latin tradition! That is, they're meant as serious, permanent writing, calling for the most elevated register. People ask for these translations because even though they don't know Latin, they still genuinely *feel* the cultural meaning of Latin. As long as the requests are not frivolous, I'm happy to help keep this tradition alive—at the best web site for it.
Comment: 2. With actual citations and explorations of the differences, I think they provide something useful on top of being interesting to the larger community (Disney and Game of Thrones are/were very popular and recognizable by other Stacks). That alone might make these types of questions worthwhile. Where questions fail is when we get nonsensical mottoes without any explanation or context. We should always encourage the question-asker to give context and understand that language translation is never word-for-word replacement.
Comment: What we can and should codify is what is technically valid, and inspecting a part of the border of our scope is one of the purposes of this question. I prefer to keep the threshold of technical validity low enough so that no interesting (from the point of view of our community) question is lawyered into closure. My preferred solution at the moment is to allow such translation requests as long as they adhere to these criteria, but vote them down if they are uninteresting. I have nothing at all against a user systematically voting down all such questions.
Comment: A question behind this meta discussion was: What does research effort mean for a translation request if the user knows no Latin? The question is moot if we declare those questions out of scope. If we allow them, I think it can only mean elaborating on the points I listed in my answer. I don't want the site to be overwhelmed by such requests either. The biggest danger of motto translation questions is their turning the site less appealing to the Latin enthusiasts that comprise our core demographic. I'd be happy to hear how others feel about this danger. (Sorry for the long comment!)
Comment: Thanks! I see where you are coming from, and I would reject the "winged pigs forever" question too. I might change my mind if it has a compelling use case, more than "it'd be fun to know". But on a general level I would make a distinction between technically valid and interesting. If a question is technically invalid, we can close it for it. If it's just uninteresting, we can't, but we can vote it to oblivion. What makes a question interesting cannot be codified but it cannot be ignored either; this site is mainly curated by our collective taste.
Comment: @JoonasIlmavirta That's helpful--particularly the distinction between "technical validity" and "good question."
Comment: 1. I'm ambivalent about this. On the one hand, I agree we are not a translation service. On the other hand, sometimes mottoes can be interesting and highly upvoted. Sometimes answers to insipid questions can be informative. I wasn't aware of the etymology of Disney until I looked it up to answer the Disney World question. The "winter is coming" thread got four answers, one over 20 points, mine at 16, and two others at 6.
Answer: The answer by Joonas Ilmavirta covers all the bases on 'how can I make my translation request valid on Latin SE'. My general thoughts on the matter are simply that 'If it shows effort, it is valid.' By effort, I believe following Joonas' list should be considered the gold standard.
My main issue is with us claiming some right to state what is and what isn't interesting in and of itself. We might not have a particular interest in the word or sentence requested; but it could hold value to the asker, and the why of this, really is none of our business (though there certainly are other interrogative pronouns which are). One of the main goals of this sight is to be a welcoming site for anyone showing an interest in Latin and the study of Classics, and I believe that should be our guiding star, more than what could be perceived as willy-nilly downvoting – one is tempted to say: discrimination – of some unusual question.
Even a single word can be quite interesting in and of itself, such as 'What is "blue" in Latin?' Though one could be tempted to simply reply 'We are not a dictionary', answering a question such as that can be very challenging, given that that very word is the colour which gets its name the latest in almost any given language. If the user lists suggestions and context for this, we have a way of understanding how to answer it and quite the interesting challenge ahead of us – one which surely will reveal linguistics, history and culture to us.
Further, I do not consider it a problem should we be a source of tattoo translations. I myself have a tattoo which I am very proud of and which holds great personal value to me, written in Elvish with great help from cand. philol. Helge Kåre Fauskanger. Key to this translation was our communication back and forth, which gave him the context, the source, its context, what I personally wanted to communicate with it, what it would be used for, the very few things I had found myself using online sources and the book itself, and thus my not very helpful attempt at a translation, and thus why it would be too uncertain to even try to base anything off of it. (Yes, this of course retrospectively perfectly matches the list above; I believe my point has been made, though.)
In summary: If it shows effort (i.e. Joonas' list), I believe we should allow any translation requests. The details of it may not be interesting for the user, but I have yet to come upon a translation which has not yielded some interesting linguistic secrets to me. It is my hope that we will update the site's introduction to include Joonas' list.
Comment: I'm not so sure we should cater to the extemporaneous whims of any given person, especially considering that a good number of these types of questions are asked by people who never interact with the site afterward. They often don't award right answers, follow up comments made, or even say thanks. Seems like a lot of wasted effort just to help someone who for all we know doesn't really care what answer they get.
Comment: Thanks! The point of my list was indeed to make the concept of effort clear and give new users a checklist for elaboration. (The same points have also been written in comments numerous times, and having them all here with an easy way to link here simply saves time.) On your example: I think "What is 'blue' in Latin?" is not that good, but this would be: "I noticed that the word 'blue' is not in this Latin dictionary. Why so? How should it be translated to Latin?" A question should make itself interesting. (This particular meta question was about sentence or motto or tattoo translations.)
Comment: I'd also add that the site is curated by our collective taste, and we should indicate our preferences by voting. If we collectively consider something uninteresting despite being technically valid, I see no injustice. The site is useful and interesting because we filter the content by our personal tastes.
Comment: @cmw on the other hand, someone coming along later just to browse through might find an interesting tidbit related to something they'd like to look at. It's not just about the asker.
Comment: Which is a very good point. The ultimate goal of the SE sites is after all to be the best online source for answers to questions.


Transaction propagation

Question: I am wondering how transactions are propagaded in an Ethereum network. Assuming a Miner recieves an transaction, how does he deal with it. Does he immediatly send it to his peers, or does he collect income transactions for a certain amount of time before publishing them?
Answer: In Ethereum (and basically any blockchain) speed is vital. So as soon as anyone sees a transaction they should forward it - there's no reason to stack them in bundles of some sort or at least the saved bandwidth is not worth it.
The faster transactions propagate throughout the network the less there are side chains and therefore less uncle blocks and dead sidechains. Ethereum uses uncle blocks to mitigate the problem with (relatively) slow propagation but it's only kind of a backup.
Of course when a miner node receives a transaction he has to do his own processing for it (at least to decide whether to include it in his next block or not). But that shouldn't prevent him from forwarding it first. In theory clients can do whatever they want - maybe even not forward it at all but that wouldn't be a very good client implementation and it wouldn't be used.
Comment: Thanks for your answer. I looked up the geth implementation (https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/blob/master/core/tx_pool.go#L694) and found there the time intverall statsReportInterval  beeing 8 seconds. What does this intverall mean? - That a miner broadcasts it's recieved transactions each 8 second?
Comment: Sorry, I'm not familiar with the client implementations so I couldn't say. My answer may even be incorrect - maybe they are not incentivized to propagate everything asap, but I just can't think of a reason for acting so.

Transaction propagation


Is mud, or berm/swales considered to be worth more in a wetland?

Question: I understand that many animals like frogs need to reproduce in water, but live mostly on land after that. If I create berm/swales in the wetland will this likely increase the value of the land to wetland animals, or not?
Comment: Your definition of "worth" and it's relationship to sustainability is unclear. If you are changing an ecosystem, isn't it likely to benefit some species and harm others?
Comment: Able to keep trees above the water table is worth more for me, but worth more to environmentalists means something else.
Answer: Unless there is lack of upland habitat, for example if you live in a highly developed area, then the conversion of any wetland area to upland area would almost certainly have a net negative impact on the system as a whole. Freshwater wetlands are comparatively rare and have been disappearing rapidly. Populations of the plants and animals that depend on wetlands for part or all of their life cycle have paralleled the losses of the wetlands themselves.
If, however, you are dealing with a manmade pond or some other isolated feature, then it is possible that you could improve habitat through the construction of small islands or other topographic variations within the wetland. In theory you could create habitat specifically for certain plants, animals, or ecosystems. These would benefit different species differently - but they would also negatively impact those species that did not benefit directly from whatever habitat you create.
Finally most freshwater wetlands are highly regulated, in the USA at least, by federal, state, and even local laws. In most cases it would be difficult to get permission to "fill" any kind of natural wetland - this would include just moving the mud around the bottom to make some areas deeper and others shallower or turn them into upland areas.
Comment: I'm thinking about doing strips of higher land next to strips of "streams" to create a few breeding ponds for frogs, and other animals so that the wetland trees are able to stay above water, but the wetlands are still there. There's a lot of fresh water wetlands in MN.
Comment: Apparently there has been an estimated net gain in freshwater wetlands in MN (http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/eco/wetlands/wstmp_trend_report_2006-2011.pdf) but as your attorney I recommend you consult the regulations (http://www.bwsr.state.mn.us/wetlands/publications/MNRegulations.pdf) before taking any action. In my area of NY, you can't do such things within 50-100' of a wetland boundary. YMMV.
Comment: The area is also on a 104 acre area with a fairly steep natural hill.
Comment: Is the area currently considered wetland? If not, you could create berms to create impoundments. But then there is the issue of where the water would come from. If it is a perennial stream or some kind of a seep, then you would be disrupting a natural wetland feature, which would be frowned upon.
Comment: I believe it is DNR protected wetland.


Can people Exercise in the Matrix?

Question: When Neo is brought onto the Nebuchadnezzar, his muscles are stimulated so that they grow (having atrophied from not being used). However, if in the Matrix fighting can cause real damage (since your mind makes it real), why can't your muscles also be made stronger?
Comment: +1 for a good question. But keep in mind, that Neo was a hacker (in the actual sense of the word) *and* a cracker; We can assume, he spent most of his time sitting before computers and didn't get much exercise. Maybe if you free a body builder, they would be able to at least walk on their own?
Answer: There is a difference between receiving actual damage, and responding to damage. The real person does not suffer the physical injuries of the avatar. For example Trinity does not get a real bullet wound when she is shot in the Matrix. She does however react as if it was real, up to and including disruption of various bodily functions.
People who are hooked into the Matrix are in a form of sleep, and so the physical body does not move as the avatar does. This means the muscles would physically atrophy from non-use. This is likely why the machines can just flush the body and expect them to die (with the exception of being picked up by a rogue ship.)
Waking up from the Matrix would be somewhat like waking up from a very long coma.
Comment: You? ... Me too!
Answer: @bitmask's comment is almost certainly correct.
There is no reason to expect or believe that the effects on the body are limited to damage. However, since Neo leads a sedentary hacker lifestyle, his body would be weaker.
Neo is the only character liberated during the movies, but I would expect that anyone who had been physically active/fit in the Matrix would also have a real body that was similarly fit, though perhaps not quite to the same degree.
As to why ships such as the Nebuchadnezzar have a section for stimulating the muscles of newly freed humans, I think that's a side effect of which humans they free.
Going by what it takes to liberate Neo, it is dangerous, difficult and/or expensive to liberate even one person. The human resistance needs to make every liberation count and so they look for people who would be assets in their war against the machines. That means smart, motivated non-conformists - people like Neo, Trinity and Morpheus, pretty much all of whom are hackers with sedentary lifestyles.
Comment: The reason, I didn't post this as answer (in addition to having no references to back that up) was that they seem to have this specialised section in the ship to stimulate muscles of newly freed humans. I assume it's a common thing, and I'd actually prefer if it was a simple overlook by the writers.
Comment: There are other people freed up during the time of the movies (6x more than "in years"), we just not see them being freed up in detail. The Kid is shown for a moment in the Animatrix when he awakes in the Real World. Also, they can deal with "6x more" people, this suggests that it's not that they are picky, it's that there are very few who reject the Matrix.
Answer: Using the logic of the movie I would hazard the guess the following is true. Morpheus at one point tells him that his avatar in the Matrix (not sure of the exact dialog ATM but its when Morpheus was explaining the history and the design of the Matrix. I remember it was at the point that Neo notices is Matrix persona has had and no I/O jack in his neck) is based on what he remembers how he looks like in the Matrix.
Since they can modify the rules of the Matrix but not control the Matrix they can not change what they look like for the most part. Similar to a avatar in a computer game, you can change hair, eye color and clothes but you can not fundamentally change what the avatar looks like.
The second facet is they want to keep a low profile. Heavily muscled people would likely draw attention, since in the logic of the movie the agents do not seem to have complete awareness of all parts of the Matrix. If they did as soon as they entered the Matrix the agents would be right on top of them.
In either case the answer to your question is since Neo and friends are outside the Matrix thier avatars have the same form as they had when they "jacked-out". If they where still fully intergrated into the Matrix they could increase the muscles of their avatar since based on the movie logic (and the best example would be the Oracle).
Comment: I believe the questions asks about the influence of exercise in the Matrix, having an effect on the real body. You're talking about "faking" a very strong RSI, right?
Comment: I answered the question, however you are correct I did not expressly answer it. I will edit my answer.

Can people Exercise in the Matrix?