What exercises can I do with a fully automatic compact camera to help me learn?

Question: I own a Nikon Coolpix L120 camera. It's fully automatic. I am really interested in photography. Can anyone suggest me some exercises or experiments to do with this camera so that I can make a good use of it for learning?
Comment: Take a look at our learning tag(http://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/learning) if you have a specific question after reading some of those threads, come back and ask it here!
Comment: Any photo any place any time. Push the limits of what you think the camera can do. Low/high light, subject motion, photographer motion, depth of field, focusing on objects in midst of others, high low contrast, ... .  Look at fantastic photos. What makes them fantastic. Can you do that? Why not? [It may be that you cannot match many shots - but trying will teach you things.]
Comment: Also follow http://www.todaysposting.com/ on a daily basis. They set excercies/topics to take pictures off. You can compare your photos to others on that day. Composition, imagination and style are all equally important as taking the shot correctly.
Answer: My first recommendation is that you familiarize with the basic photography concepts, starting with the exposure triangle. All cameras are based on these principles, so it is important to understand them, even for the cameras like yours that don't let you set some of these settings.
Understanding the above will make you realize that calling your camera "fully automatic" is an exaggeration. While it is true that there is nothing even remotely close to manual mode in this camera, there are many ways in which you can affect how the camera takes pictures, so you do have some amount of creative control. Examples:

Exposure compensation: In lieu of a true manual mode, the camera allows you to set an exposure adjustment that is applied on top of the calculated auto exposure. So for example, if you take a picture and in the LCD you notice it came out too bright, you can set the exposure compensation to -1 stop and take another picture, and it should be darker.
Scene modes: The scene modes are like presets for exposure settings that work well for certain types of pictures (portraits, landscapes, sports, etc.). So while you can't choose a specific aperture, shutter speed and ISO like you would if you had manual mode, you can go with these presets to get you closer to the type of picture that you want to take. If you want to learn what each preset does you can (a) read the manual, or (b) if you are technically inclined you can take a picture and then look at the EXIF data to find out the exact exposure settings that were used.
White balance: This helps you get the right colors in your picture for the type of lighting in the scene you are photographing. An advanced use of the white balance control is to add an intentional color cast to a picture.
Manual control over ISO: while the aperture and shutter speed can only be controlled indirectly via exposure compensation and scene modes, you do have full manual control of the ISO, which in some situations may help you get cleaner pictures, with less digital noise. You can also see this control as yet another way to indirectly affect the aperture and shutter speed.
Flash on/off: This one is pretty obvious. Pictures lit only or mostly with on-camera flash do not look very good, the harsh and direct light from the flash is unflattering. The ability to turn the flash off is very good to have.

As far as inspiration to learn, my recommendation is that you do a 365 project. This is simply the task of taking one picture per day for an entire year. The pictures can be thematic (i.e. self-portraits, landscapes, etc.) or just whatever you can think of each day. You can upload the pictures to Flickr and share them on groups devoted to 365 projects (there are many of them), or you can just do it for yourself and keep the collection of pictures privately. But the fact that you have to get out there and take a picture every day will give you the motivation to improve and learn.
I also have to give you the bad news. If you follow my advice and get into the habit of taking pictures, you will eventually realize that you need a better camera. So you may want to start saving, for when that moment comes ;-)
Good luck!
Answer: Shoot pictures, and then shoot pictures, and after a while try to read, or re-read, the manual for your camera cover to cover.
If the reading is too terse, buy a book that explains how to get the most out of your specific camera model. ("Magic lantern guides" for instance ... I haven't read any of these books... yet. But that's not the point).
THe point is that I, after seriously studying the manual for my camera (Olympus pen E-P1), I discovered many hidden features and even basic concepts of operating it. DIgital cameras are quite complex beasts if you go beyond the basic shooting mode.
A simple experiment with a technical focus: You could try to test how fast your memory cards really are. http://www.smallcamerabigpicture.com/olympus-omd-em5-memory-card-test/
Answer: You can search for tips for using compact camera on the internet, but IMO the best way to understand what your camera is capable of and to find personalized tutorials, is to look for images taken by your camera and maybe ask their photographers about their techniques, for a start check Nikon Coolpix L120 on Flickr.
Answer: There is already an answer covering technical aspects, however, I want to (at least try) to focus on the other side of photography: The artistic one.
Composition. My sugestion on the excercise is to take several pictures of the same subject, placing it in different points of the frame. (I recommend to forget about the pictures for a while, a couple of days would do) And review them later, decide where the particular subject fits better, where it draws your attention or where it looks dull. Decide whether you follow the Rule of Thirds or not, of if you preffer The Golden Ratio or Golden Section. Also try switching from landscape to portrait framing, and vice versa. Do not follow any rule, take the both shots, make a safe copy, forget about them and review later! :)
Ligthing! Not all about a photo is about the amount of light on the picture (Exposure, over exposure, underexposure) but also about light falloff, light, shadow and gradation is extremely important, to the point that most of the time it defines the feel of a photo. The correct light setup can make a person hate a portrait of themselves or fall in love with it. Make several essays, ask a person to be your model and photograph them in several setups. By the side of a window, against a window, in sunlight, in the shade. If you use lamps (can be household lamps) take shots with the light coming from the front, from the side, from 45 degrees, from 135 degrees, from below, from behind, etc. Also try to shoot photos in a very dark room (if you have access to a black one, the better!) so the only light on your subject is coming from the lamps.
Flash management! You can modify your flash without tampering your camera. You can use difusers made from household materials. You can use trasnlucent papers or plastic bites. You can use white materials or tinted ones. Play with your camera's white balance to enhance the effects. You can use a small handheld mirror to bounce the flash on the ceiling or on a wall. The color of the ceiling, wall or whatever object will affect the photo, for good or for bad. Try making cardboard cutouts to create weird shadows with your flash or to control where your flash iluminates the scene and where it doesn't (Create a small snoot). Just a tip: Whwnever you put something in front of your flash, don't put it right against the flas lens, you may burn something, and it could be the flash (some of them generate a small heat wave). Instead keep a distance of two centimeters or more, but to avoid flare, whatever you place in front of the flash, place it no further than the lens front element.
Production! The fact that you are not using a DSLR must not prevent you from arranging your Photo Studio! Plan your sesions, don't just press the shutter. Take into account location (the best room in your house, for example), the furniture, accesories, clothing, makeup, time of day (specially if outdoors). If taking portrait shots, consider the animic state of your model. Arrange all your setup prior to bringing the model(s) in, so you don't exhaust their patience, make them feel relaxed so you get better smiles. Know your subject so you can predict reactions and catch the perfect moment where the smile is natural, etc...
Gather knowledge Of course you can read books, but you can also apreciate photograps in magazines, or expositions. Look carefully for "photographic composition" in movies (Have you noticed there is always a "Director of Photography" among the credits?). Go to museums and apreciate not only photography, but also paintings, sculpture. Analyze them. Do you like them? Why or why not? How are the elements arranged in the composition? Perspective? Space management?
Chances are you can replicate much of these characteristics, effects and techniques, because they all are external to the camera, but if they are in the image, they make part of the photo, and can make it great or dull.
All of these excercises, combined with the more technical ones will lead you to really know your cameras strong points and limitations, you will get to know it characteristics beyond the specifications in the manual so you can better exploit your valuable resource.


getting the unspent bitcoins based on bitcoin address

Question: im new to bitcoin and want to find out which is the best API or way for getting the bitcoin balance of a bitcoin address for any bitcoin address in C#
Answer: The easiest way would be to use the API of a block explorer. Several provide such an API and some have wrapper libraries for C#.
For example the blockchain.info blockchain explorer has such an API and has a C# wrapper as well. Consult their Blockchain Data API which explains how to get the balance (among other data) from an address. More specifically, you need to call the following (HTTP) API:
<code>https://blockchain.info/address/$bitcoin_address?format=json
</code>
The result is a json object and "final_balance" is what you need.
If you use the C# wrapper you can find an example on how to get the balance of an address (and many other things) here.
Alternatively, you could query a bitcoin node directly. The easiest way to do that in C# would be to use a wrapper library.
Comment: ok, i'll look into the Blockchain Data API and see if I can figure it out. Thanks
Comment: I edited the answer to add the API needed plus an example using the C# wrapper library.


What does PvP logging mean in Minecraft?

Question: I was playing on a Minecraft server and a guy was killing other people and suddenly it said he was killed for PvP logging. What does that mean?
Answer: "PvP Logging" describes the practice of logging out during PvP when it looks like you might lose. It isn't unique to Minecraft, but occurs in all competitive games where losing in PvP incurs any kind of penalty, even as slight as simply increasing your "death" count, thus reducing your kill-to-death ratio. In some cases (such as in Minecraft) simply closing your client or quitting the game instantly logs you out, even in combat; for others, it's a bit more complicated, but people found ways regardless.
There are a few plugins for Minecraft servers to combat this behaviour, like CombatLog and PvP Tag for Bukkit. They all have the problem that the Minecraft servers can't discern between someone trying to log out to save their hide and their clients simply crashing. As such, those plugins can lead to unfair situations as well, especially if somebody finds a way to crash someone else's client.
Answer: PvP logging means logging out in the middle of a fight so as to avoid dying.  It is frowned upon on PvP servers and on some it is a bannable offense.
Comment: @ratchetfreak Not exactly, someone who logs out to not die is far from raging - they're trying to gain an unfair advantage in stats. I'd consider it closer to team-switching in COD 4 to avoid deaths.
Comment: On some servers, they have a plugin which forces you to drop your items upon PvP logging.
Comment: aka rage-quitting
Answer: PvP Logging is where you are fighting someone and then they log out quickly before they die so they dont loose there stuff. Sometimes you will wait there or build a trap but others they dont come back on until like ages
Answer: PvP Logging means that if people are almost dead, they will disconnect because they won't
lose their stuff on PvP servers.


How is the Toad Rally score calculated?

Question: The numbers at the end of the Toad Rally don't seem to match the game. How is the number calculated? Is the real time number displayed without modifiers? Do the purple coins count for an added amount? Do coins collected while Toads are cheering (such as when I have a star) count for more? And what is the bonus score added right before the final tally? Is it random? When are the enemy level multipliers added? And are there any bonuses for doing things besides getting checkpoints and mushrooms?
Comment: You asked a lot of questions, it will take me a while to answer.
Answer: It looks like the real time number is displayed without modifiers. Purple coins DO count, (I believe 10). All coins are the same. The bonus score is calculated from the number of Toads you have. It is not random. The enemy level multipliers are added as you are destroying them. (For example, jumping on a Goomba. There are bonuses when you step on multiple enemies at once. (e.g. jumping on 3 Goobas in a row gives you 1, 2, 4 coin respectively in the order, plus the enemy bonus level.) Hope that answers all your questions.

How is the Toad Rally score calculated?


What happens when you test a smoke detector?

Question: When you press the test button on a smoke detector it obviously beeps, but I'm assuming it doesn't just test the speaker. So, how does the test work? I can't see a practical way to release smoke within the alarm itself, so does it use some other measure in order to break the flow of radiation?
Answer: Ionization smoke detectors use a radioisotope to generate a very small electrical current, which when interrupted causes an alarm to sound.   These types of alarms use a metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) to prevent the alarm from sounding, as long as the tiny current is flowing from the detector.
A simple dumbed down version of the circuit, might look something like this.

Notice the 9V battery is connected to the Source contact of the MOSFET, the detector is connected to the Gate, and the Alarm is connected to the Drain.  This means that as long as there is a current on the gate, current will not flow from the source to the drain.  If something (smoke) interrupts the current flow to the gate, current will flow from the source to the drain and the alarm will sound.
If you add a normally closed switch to the circuit, like so.

Opening the switch will prevent current from flowing to the gate, simulating a loss of current flow from the detector. Which in turn, will cause the alarm to trigger.

So when you press the test button on an ionization type smoke detector, you're not actually testing the circuits ability to detect smoke. Rather, you're testing the circuits ability to react to a loss of current flow to the gate contact of the MOSFET. You're also making sure the battery is not dead, and has enough juice left to sound the alarm if need be.
Comment: Awesome. Perfect. Excellent answer. I'm running out of adjectives.. :)

It makes perfect sense now!
Comment: +1 for *"making sure the battery is not dead"* which is almost certainly the most likely cause of failure.


mountain lion server - web services wiki only work on host computer

Question: We have macmini with os x mountain lion server app installed. The web services and wiki only work on the host machine, not on any of the other computers on the network, using network users.
 When we set up the server app, the modem/router failed and we were unable to set the ip address of our server until we sorted our router out, which took a while. In the meantime in our excitement we tried to set up web services / wiki etc.. So I think that may have caused the issue.
Any ideas what we can do to fix this?
what direction to go?
Answer: I'm sorry to post this as an answer instead of a comment; I don't have enough Reputation here to comment.

Can you ping the server from another host?
If you can ping, try firing up a terminal with tail -f /Library/Logs/wikid/error.log and see what happens when someone tries to access the wiki service - that'll give you something to work with

Alternative to tail, use Console.app from your /Applications/Utilities folder


What happened to Peter's parents?

Question: In The Amazing Spider-man, Peter's parents leave him with his aunt and uncle at the start of the film.  They're never heard from again.  Where did they go, what happened to them?
Answer: In the film, this is slightly unclear.  During a montage, Peter searches for information about Dr. Connors and his parents.  This shows that Peter's parents died in a crash.  However, later in the film there are two scenes, one where Peter yells at Uncle Ben, another where Dr. Connors is talking to Osborne's henchman, which both make it sound like their disappearance is a secret/mystery.  I recall hearing dialogue in one of the trailers that also suggested their vanishing was a mystery.
I'm not the only one to notice this.  This article posits that there were some last minute re-cuts made to the film.  As a result, the released version contains hints that Peter's parents' fate is a mystery that Connors and Osborne are involved in.

The last two trailers released have Dr. Connors saying, mid-Lizard transformation, 'If you want the truth about your parents, Peter, come and get it!' What truth is that? There's no 'truth' in the film, and Connors and Peter never have a good conversation about Peter's parents. Going by the "ASM Deleted Scenes #1" image that line of dialogue may very well take place during the sewer encounter with Mr. Ratha.
Comment: there is also this scene mixed with the credits, where some mysterious guy talks to dr.connors, and asks about peters parents
Answer: At this point, we now know the correct answer; they died in a plane crash.  This was fully established in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, where it is explicitly shown.  There is also a DVD extra that shows Parker's father is alive, having survived the plane crash, but since it was a deleted scene it is not canon.
If you're looking for "out of movie universe" information, in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #5 (published in 1968) it is revealed that The third Red Skull, Albert Malik, was responsible for their deaths when he had an assassin, the Finisher, kill the two by sabotaging their airplane and causing it to crash.

What happened to Peter's parents?


Should an edit notification appear in the inbox?

Question: If someone edits your post, it appears under the "Responses" activity stream on your profile, but doesn't trigger an inbox notification.  Should it?   I for one would like to know if someone's editing something I wrote, without having to check my profile all the time.  I know edits are generally minor and done in good faith, but sometimes they have the potential to unintentionally change the author's intent/meaning.
Comment: I think it should invariably be notified. Sometimes the edits may even change the post significantly, so much so that some existing answers can become irrelevant, etc., changing the whole scenario. This has happened in a few instances I have seen. If the OP fails to notice, he may even continue to post comments that do not agree with his own question any more.
Answer: I'm not generally in favor of aggressive edit notifications because I think it leads directly to edit wars.
Most edits we see are quite small and it is extraordinarily rare for an edit to cause issues as you describe.
And as you noted, you can periodically check your profile to see what edits have occurred on your posts, and take action as you see fit.
Comment: +1 The convenience would not be worth the strife.


What is the use the plugs over this deadbolt's bolt holes?

Question: When re-keying our house, I came upon these unexpected bolt hole plugs in the deadbolt assembly. Is there a graceful way to remove them? I'd prefer not to take a small prying tool and force them out, to avoid marring the assembly, and I'd like to avoid drilling them out for sure.
Comment: Those plugs are part of the security of a double cylinder deadbolt, if they were easy to remove, the lock would be easy to open from that side. Typically they are drilled out but if they weren't securely installed you might be lucky and be able to pry them out. You might end up damaging the lock... the price of security.
Comment: Those look to me like press studs . Holding the key cylinder to the face plate. You will find the are solid pins. They are integral to the lock
Answer: Those are screw caps, to prevent nasty people from tampering with the cylinder. They are generally removed by drilling them out.
Comment: Great link; these plugs were easy enough to remove with a prying device, although it's easy to see that they could have been far worse. I did not damage small flat-head screwdriver I used to remove them with gentle force.


what can we call someone who gives false promise to someone repeatedly but intentionally break the promise?

Question: someone promised me to help solve my problem but he did not help me. he promised me again but still intentionally make excuses. or someone borrowed money from me and gave me many dates to repay but intentionally he gave me so many excuses every time. is there any idioms or phrases to explain their intentional dodgy behaviour?
Comment: Behaving like a 'politician'.
Comment: Liar, perhaps? And why would you repeatedly trust such a person? What does that make you? (Hypothetically)
Answer: Perfidious - :  of, relating to, or characterized by perfidy
perfidious
Answer: Consider dodger

A person who engages in cunning tricks or dishonest practices to avoid something unpleasant

Oxford Dictionaries Online
And if they are skillful at it, perhaps artful dodger
Comment: Why should a dodger promise? Cunning tricks needn't be promises right?
Answer: I think the word you're looking for is "deceptive". They are promising to help you with your problem, or pay back your debt, yet their promises don't reflect their intentions.
Answer: Use the adjective "habitual" to make clear that behaviour is repeated, e.g. "a habitual liar", a "habitual promise-breaker" (or "habitual promise-maker" with the implication that he makes them but does not keep them) or a "habitual borrower". We most often think of habits in terms of bad habits, so "habitual" sounds rather disapproving although strictly speaking it is neutral.
Another term for a person who borrows repeatedly without paying back the loan is "a bad credit risk". This is quite a recent coinage from the world of business. It could apply to both someone who keeps borrowing without any intention of ever repaying the loan and to someone who, while having no intent to deceive, keeps failing to repay due to mental incapacity, addiction, or habitual (that word again!) over-optimism about their ability to earn money.
In order to specify that the repeated borrowing was done cynically, you could say that the person was a "habitual borrower in bad faith".
To describe the person who always promises to help but never does, a colloquial expression is "he's all talk". A specifically British version of that is "he's all mouth and no trousers". A related American expression is "he talks the talk but he doesn't walk the walk". Those apply to any sort of failure to match deeds to words. To narrow it down to your example, you could say, "he's always willing to help, in theory." People will get the implication that theory and practice differ.
Both the people you mentioned could generally be called "untrustworthy".
Answer: untrustworthy

: not worthy of trust or belief; an untrustworthy person.
WordNet by Farlex


How does erasing a NAND-Flash memory work?

Question: I am trying to understand how the NAND-Flash memory works and I think I understand how programming a page works but I don't see why inverting all the voltage would not lead to erasing the page. So, why is it that the whole block has to be erased (instead of a finer grained page-erase)?
Answer: What you say is more similar to old EEPROM and NOR Flash, in which the erasing process basically consists in the injection of the same amount of opposite charge. The problem is that the cancellation has to be really accurate, otherwise the risk is to not discharge completely the gate or charging it with an opposite value.
The Flash NAND memories use the tunnel release principle, that (if I remember well) basically consists in making the charge flowing away from the floating gate to one of the active regions, avoiding the risk of injecting other charges.
Probably it's not so clear, but the reason why it doesn't discharge with an opposite voltage is because with NAND Flash you discharge the Floating Gate as you would do with a capacitor, simply letting the charge flow away; while the other technologies require the injection of an opposite charge.
(Take this answer with caution, it's not fully accurate but based on what I remember from the course...when I'll get the material again I'll give you a more accurate answer)


I-130 form for Sibling visa - Is beneficiary signature required?

Question: I am looking at the I-130 form and the corresponding instructions here: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/form/i-130instr.pdf. While it is obvious that the petitioner has to sign the form, I could not find any mention of whether the beneficiary has to sign the form. Is the beneficiary's signature not needed at all?
Answer: No, the beneficiary doesn't have to sign the form. The petition is only filed by the petitioner and the beneficiary is not involved. Only at a later stage when a visa number is becoming available and the beneficiary is going through consular processing to get an immigrant visa will the beneficiary get involved.


Indian passport validity

Question: I'm on a Tier 2 general visa valid till 2020 and I have to go to India for an emergency next week. My passport is valid until October 2018. Will there be any problem during travel at any stage, particularly at Indian immigration when I'm returning back?
Comment: It would be helpful if instead of just naming the visa you have, you also named the country to which that visa applies
Comment: It's a Tier 2 general visa in UK and I hold an Indian passport
Answer: Many countries will allow their citizens to enter their own country even if they have no passport at all (as long as they can prove their citizenship). Travelling into India with an expired passport should be possible, although you would need a valid passport to leave. (Although it might be tricky boarding a flight to India with an expired passport, but that's up to the airline.)
If your passport has any validity on it at all when flying to India, you will have no problem entering India.
You will need to get a new passport while you are in India, and either get your UK visa transferred to it at a British embassy/consulate, or take both your old passport (containing your valid UK visa) and your new passport with you when you go back to the UK later.

Indian passport validity


What's the minimum panel for a single scene in a comics?

Question: What's the minimum panel for a single scene in a comics? I guess it's one, but if a single scene consists of 1 panel it's going to be hard to understand when you have 9 scenes in a single page and each of them has a single panel. What are some rules of determining how many panel a comics scene should have and when can there be an exception to these rules? I know this might be subjective, but there has to be some kind of consensus rules on this to make a comics "flow" better.
Comment: What style of comics? The Bayeux tapestry could be considered a comic, and it tells the whole story of the Norman conquest of England in one "panel". You can in fact have multiple scenes play out in a single panel. Barely any of the webcomic artists I follow of followed had any knowledge of "rules" they "should" adhere to. And for a good many that was their charm.
Answer: This is not how comics work
Comic panels are not storyboards. They do not need to be sequential. They do not need to depict actions. They do not need to depict time. They do not need to depict a film's concept of a 'scene' (ie: a character at a location saying dialog).
You need to look at some actual comics, rather than trying to imagine the 'rules' that comics must follow to adhere to an idea of how comics should emulate a movie.
Once again i strongly recommend Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics, where the language unique to comics is explored and explained in depth.
Minimum number of required panels on a page is 0
In chapter 3 of Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics, McCloud discusses many different narrative properties of the space between the panels – what he calls the 'gutter' – can depict, and how readers perceive what is implied by those spaces.
McCloud says the Western  mainstream idea of comics as sequential actions comes from the extremely influential artist Jack Kirby in the 1960s. But in Japanese manga – specifically Osamu Tezuka from the 1950s – the idea of sequential action is often replaced by an Eastern narrative concept of 'being there', experiencing a feeling over time, or settling into a realization or conviction.
Understanding Comics is told entirely in comic form. It is sometimes heady and philosophical since it is analyzing art and story methods that are subjective. These concepts are easier to understand when you see them in action – hence the entire essay is also a comic.
On pages 81-82 of my edition, McCloud shows an example where the panels drop out entirely, leaving empty space where a panel should exist suggested by the established regularity of panels coming before. The empty space is emphasized because it is also the end of a page, and the reader is required to turn the page to continue, only to find a similar empty space where the first panel of the new page should be. My describing this effect in words does not have the same effect as experiencing it as a combination of turning the printed page, the implied narrative tension of a gap in the storytelling, and 1st-hand meta-experiencing the idea at the same time it is being described.
By extrapolation, any number of blank pages could be between the missing panels, implying many narrative concepts: amnesia, government agency redaction, a 'glitch', a traumatic experience the character has disassociated, fading memories and identity, censorship or an in-story disagreement with the publisher, etc.
Readers subconciously know how this is suppose to work
The Rest of McCloud's book is packed with examples we recognize, but have taken for granted – far too many aspects to list, often several revelations per page. It has 215 pages. He (literally) illustrates concepts from how faces are depicted to how words are represented, and how they inform the reader and influence the story.
As an analogy to this inherent language of comics, the Disney+ comic-to-tv adaptation WandaVision deconstructs the historic language of episodic television comedies, as Wanda invents her fantasy family on a template of sitcom re-runs. The artificial (almost inane) conflicts of the world-within-world TV shows are an inherent fabric of family television. The situations don't need explanation, it's a language that already exists in which the audience is very familiar. That allows the show to tell 2 stories simultaneously, one in which the things we are shown are both familiar and obviously untrue, while a second story about psychological trauma and manipulation is being teased. There is no need to explain the concept to viewers, since deconstructing the 'expected' formulaic sitcoms immediately tells us the story is more complicated than what is on the surface.
WandaVision is arguably better in the first 3 episodes while it is subverting the well-known language of tv sitcoms, than in the later episodes where it becomes a 'normal' MCU show that un-ironically fits the format of episodic television.
Answer: I think a comic is much like an illustrated storyboard for a movie. The moments you want to capture are the turning points and points of conflict. In character development, or changes, etc.
The moment your hero realizes they have been betrayed. Earlier, the moment their betrayer makes a decision to betray. Earlier than that, the moment that made your hero trust the betrayer.
All of these are turning points and points of conflict; something changed that bends the plot, even if the audience does not quite understand that yet.
You, as the author, have to justify these changes, so those are the panels to illustrate and tell the story, these critical lines and images.
I'm sure you have seen the "Previously On..." clips in TV series to explain the plot so far. A few minutes of clips, seconds long for each, of previous scenes with one line spoken, one punch thrown, one door closed with determination.
Those are the critical moments. Now obviously you can do more than that for humor and to not make the plot move too fast; but if you want a scene with just one panel, make sure it is a critical moment. You can use captions or subtitles to explain the time line.

"Yesterday."
"Across Town."
"In London."
"The Oval Office."
"A Nuclear Facility, Hours Later."
"Last Night."
"This Morning."
"Subsequently."
"Now..."
Answer: I distinctly remember the scene that made me realize the answer is zero.  I think it was "Astérix gladiateur" and in one panel you saw Obelix walking in a group with others and turning his head looking askew at a Roman soldier, in the next panel he was rushing to catch up with the group carrying a helmet in his hand.  The connecting scene was left out but clearly implied.
Unfortunately with the demise of the original writer Goscinny, narrative ideas were employed much more economically, spreading similar content over pages.


Why do properties of colloidal solution depend only on dispersion medium's physical state?

Question: According to a past year JEE question, properties of colloidal solution depends only on dispersion medium's physical state and not on nature of dispersed phase or dispersion medium, or temperature of system. I cannot find any further information on this subject. I would like some clearer guidance on this. Would someone please help?
Comment: Which properties? I guess that's only about things like melting/boiling point.
Answer: The assumption that properties of colloidal dispersion only depends on the medium is completely incorrect. The vague part of the question is "properties" in the question, because the examiner is not clear about what type of properties he/she is talking about. It is not uncommon to find open ended questions in public exams. The properties of colloidal solutions heavily depend on the temperature (since their viscosity is temperature dependent as well as flow rate dependent). Similarly, the size of colloidal particle controls the optical properties of the dispersion. Similarly the surface charge on the particles determines the sign/magnitude of the zeta potential. If you want to read further, read DLVO theory (named after four persons) on the stability of the colloids from Wikipedia. One should not worry about an incorrect question. If it were a true-false question, one can simply mark it false.


I need help with a 12 piece wooden puzzle

Question: 12 pieces. See picture. Can't find any solutions online.
Comment: @Randal'Thor There are hundreds of variants of Burr puzzles (just like there are hundreds of distinct puzzles classified as twisty-puzzles), and it could be that this particular one was marketed under a specific name or was made by a specific puzzle maker. Knowing its name or origin would help with finding an online solution. I see no contradiction there.
Comment: Try [12 piece burr puzzles](https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/375346950167119044/). Some are solved on YouTube.
Comment: I can't find any on YouTube that have these variety of shapes.
Comment: I'm pretty sure the finished puzzle is similar to the second picture on [this page](https://www.puzzlemuseum.com/month/picm06/200612chinese3.htm) (except your pieces are all the same length) so you have 4 pieces along each axis, each parallel set arranged as 1x4. In your picture, the top two and bottom four pieces form the 3 centre pairs, the other six pieces are the outer ones (the shorter ones in the page I linked to).
Comment: @Bass Your tag edits are a bit self-contradictory. Does the OP want us to identify the puzzle type (as suggested by the [tag:puzzle-identification] tag) or do they already know what it is (as suggested by the [tag:burr-puzzle] tag) and want to know how to solve it?
Answer: Using Burr Tools I've made an image of the solution steps.

Comment: Very nice, but it is not immediately apparent which piece type each color represents. Also, the pieces in the image appear to have overall dimensions of 6x1x1, whereas yours are 5x1x1. This, of course, does not affect the solution.
Comment: That's SO fantastic! Totally worked! I'm so impressed. The colour coding really helped and I could deduce which colour was assigned to each part. A little tweaking required but considering I had no idea what the final shape was supposed to be this is a great outcome. Very grateful!!!! Thank you!!!!!


What is that hissing and buzzing background noise on some of NASA Apollo audio recordings?

Question: As example: https://archive.org/details/Apollo10/10-030702_4-OF-6.wav
Buzzing, sometimes pulsating and rather loud background sound, very annoying. Reminds me of old time dial-up modem or something like that. What is this?
How I can filter it out, if possible?..
Comment: Listening in stereo there is one constant buzz in the right channel, and voices and different buzzes and sounds in the left channel. That's curious!
Comment: related: [Does the Apollo 10 "music" still occur on modern spacecraft?](https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/14166/does-the-apollo-10-music-still-occur-on-modern-spacecraft)
Comment: I couldn't imagine upvoting incredibly bad sounds. Until now, that is. This is a good question.
Comment: This may be either EM interference on the transmission, or sound in the spacecraft. Anyway, you can try a "band pass filter" or "remove background noise" effect.
Comment: well, I've tried to use Noise Reduction tool in Audacity, but it is supressing that "wooo" too. Problem is - both signals are in same frequency band. But I'm more curious about origin of this sound. My guess is - this is telemetry data leaking from adjacent channel inside S-band transceiver. But I need to check it, still searching for detailed bandmap
Answer: The performance of Apollo voice communications is discussed in Apollo Experience Reports D-6739 Voice Communications Techniques and Performance and D-6852 Communications System Flight Evaluation and Verification.
Both documents discuss interference in the voice signals, yet neither attempts to identify the source of the interference.  Perhaps this is because it is futile to identify the exact source.  Some of the potential sources:

Earth-based sources near the receiving antenna dishes.  Two major stations were outside Madrid and Canberra, both capital cities of major nations.  To reduce this effect, the dishes were placed in areas surrounded by mountains.
Spacecraft-based sources of noise.  However, these would likely have been found during testing and on previous missions.
Interference from active noise reduction.  The headsets including a second microphone to pick up ambient noise, which was then subtracted from the signal of the microphone near the astronaut's mouth.  However, D-6739 reports that this tended to suppress the pilot's voice, not add other sounds.
Thermal noise from the vibrations of atoms is a well-known radio phenomenon.  It was reduced by cooling the receiving antenna, but cannot be completely avoided.  Further discussion follows.

Noise in radio equipment is expected, and the equipment is designed to process the signal in the presence of noise.  We often talk about the "signal-to-noise ratio."  You want to maximize the signal, which will depend on the power available to the transmitter.  For the uplink to the spacecraft, the transmitter is on Earth and is there is more than enough power available for the signal.  But the downlink from the spacecraft is limited to the spacecraft's power.  This is why spacecraft downlinks are more susceptible to noise than uplinks.  You also want to minimize the noise, which is addressed in the bullet points above.
D-6739 states that the Apollo voice downlink was designed for a signal-to-noise ratio of 14 decibels for primary communication links and 4 decibels for the backup links.  These are equivalent to signal-to-noise voltage ratios of 5.0 (primary link) and 1.6 (backup link), respectively.  So it's not surprising that the noise is audible.
Both papers also discuss problems with the squelch circuitry when on VOX mode.  This was particularly a problem on Apollo 12 and 14.  However, this would cause the astronauts' voices to cut out, not add additional noise.
Finally, the voice channel was also used for ranging tones.  According to the Apollo Program Summary Report:

Because the VHF ranging requirement was added to the system late in the development program, certain limitations were imposed on the system to keep design modifications to a minimum.    One limitation, a time-sharing of voice and ranging tones, resulted in a certain amount of voice distortion during ranging operation.  Also, it was necessary to preclude all conversation during ranging acquisition.  Preflight briefings and laboratory demonstrations for each crew helped to prevent flight problems because of these limitations.

D-6739 states that the ranging tone was a psuedorandom code at 30 kHz.  That should be inaudible to humans.  However, if digital sampling is not properly done, an effect called "aliasing" can occur which brings signals down in frequency.  That might be the tone that you hear in the .WAV file.
Comment: I don't know; my sources don't specify the format of recordings.  D-6852 talks about post-flight analysis that led to some changes in the communications system including ranging, so it's at least *plausible* that they were recorded that way.
Comment: Well, aliasing can be an issue, but I guess those record are digitized from tapes. Did tapes recorded voice and ranging data in same channel?


predict future sale from past 3 month data

Question: I have the 3-month sale(branch wise) and I want to predict next month sale. There are huge differences between total sale in between months. The simple average of the month's to predict next month sale is not valuable. delta(change sale in the month) between months is important and take into account.
Any help, tips, pointers, recommendations, or directions would be extremely helpful and I would be eternally grateful!
Answer: The Facebook Prophet API might be the place to start. I imagine that the data is daily.
This package is avaiable either for R or Python, and it's very simple to use. You can get predictions easily, and if you have some knowledge about Time Series analysis you can tune some parameters to best fit your solution.
From the link above:

Prophet is a procedure for forecasting time series data based on an additive model where non-linear trends are fit with yearly, weekly, and daily seasonality, plus holiday effects. It works best with time series that have strong seasonal effects and several seasons of historical data. Prophet is robust to missing data and shifts in the trend, and typically handles outliers well.

Here and Example with R.


How to safely transport external hard drives during air travel?

Question: I plan to take a few external hard drives from Boston to Paris (air travel). How can I safely transport them? Beyond backing them up, bubble wrapping them and taking them as in cabin-luggage, what else can I do to reduce the likelihood of damage? I am mostly afraid of screening machines and in-flight vibrations.
Comment: It's been quite a while since I looked at a datasheet of an HDD, but it wouldn't surprise me to hear that you will actually die before your harddisk does. I just downloaded a random one and it says temperature -40°C to 70°C, shock 900g(1ms), vibration 5g 15Hz-500Hz, humidity 5%-95%, altitude -300m-12000m (note: this is really air pressure, not altitude, aircraft cabins are typically pressurized to less than 3000m, the FAA mandates below 2400m). So, the answer is: don't worry, what kills your drive is going to kill you, too, apparently :-D
Comment: @JcomörgWMittag: In particular, commercial airplanes are typically only rated to withstand sustained forces of up to 4g or so.
Answer: External drives (or internal ones - same drive, different case) will have zero problems with commercial air travel. X-rays don't affect them, and any in-flight vibrations capable of damaging a disk drive will also destroy the airplane.
Now that's assuming it's turned off. Running drives don't like to be knocked around, but that applies on your desk too. As Ital mentioned altitude is a factor for spinning drives, but the altitude limits are well above standard cabin pressure. If the yellow masks pop out of the ceiling it's time to put your computer away anyway, as you will be landing very soon.
So unless you drop it down the stairs, or it falls off the baggage cart and gets run over by an aircraft tug, it will be fine.
Comment: "If the yellow masks pop out of the ceiling it's time to put your computer away anyway, as you will be landing very soon." Well, that's a bit of an understatement :)
Answer: Quoting this, this, and this:

External disks are no different that internal disks, in terms of media and components. Laptops have been going through X-Ray machines for decades without incident, so I see no issue with external drives doing the same safely.
Answer: It seems you have done your homework already. The most crucial part is to avoid shocks which is why it is better to handle it yourself.. Turbulence can occur regardless, so it is best to keep hard disk drives padding in bubble-wrap or foam. An anti-static bag would also help with an unexpected electric discharge, just to be safe.
The only additional caution I can suggest, is keeping them off. This parks the head and is safer. On most flights though, a hard-drive will generally operate safely as the cabin is pressurized quite well on modern aircraft except for very small ones. When the pressure goes below about 68kpa, small-platter (2.5" & 1.8") HDDs often fail. A 3.5" one usually work as low as 56kpa. This is why there is a maximum altitude rating of 10,000' for small drives and 15000' for standard ones.
Comment: Already a convert, 7 SSDs so far! Definitely much more reliable for transport and rugged.
Comment: I know this is old, but would you really need an anti-static bag for an _external_ hard drive?
Comment: Get an SSD, no moving parts..
Comment: and much faster!
Comment: @Valentin - Of course, it is *less* needed but it mostly depends on the casing. Some are made of metal, while others are entirely plastic with the rubber padding between the disk and case. The latter would not need an anti-static bag.
Answer: You can also use storage case bags that are specifically designed to carry external hard drives such as this one:
Answer: Been travelling worldwide with my 3 Samsung 500 gig HDD's for over 5 yrs now and never experienced a problem. Airport scanners include LAX, JFK, HKIA, Ben Gurion, and the dreaded "heathrow" (don't go there!!).
Comment: now i am curious about Heathrow
Comment: The OP wouldn't asking the question unless he's looking for a much smaller risk of failure than could be inferred from one person not having a failure in 5 years. This answer is a bit like telling someone asking about cycle helmets that you've been cycling without one for five years and you're still alive.
Answer: Modern hard drives put their heads in a safe position when the device is powered off.
This reduces the chances that moderate shocks damage the platters, contrary to what happens when a spinning drive is shocked.
As pointed out, the shock required to damage a hard disk that is powered off is enough to show visible damage. The disk may have to call from the baggage store towards the floor. At that point, a lot of different hardware will be compromised as well.
I still recommend bubbles anyway.


How can I find the "center" of a dungeon?

Question: I recently found a dungeon in Minecraft, and I have decided to make an XP farm out of it. From watching youtubers do it, I know that you need to have an 8x8 hole around the spawner to maximize spawning space. Since this is an even number and there is only one (1x1) spawner, the spawner cannot be in the center. How do I know what side to put it on? I know that it matters what side you put it on, I just don't remember how I can find out what side.
Answer: What I do is stand where the spawner is, and find which corner moving to causes both the X and Z coordinates to decrease. This is the corner that should be four blocks from the spawner. (Likewise, when both coordinates are increasing you should move three blocks out from the spawner.)
Comment: @JohntheGreen You *could* just dig out a 9x9 area with the spawner centered in it, but the spawner only reaches an 8x8 area. It's a little tricky to figure out (since the spawner isn't centered when the area is 8x8), so this is a quick way to verify the correct way to position the spawner trap.
Comment: I've never heard of this. What significance does it have?
Answer: technically its the best to dig a 10x10 hole around the spawner, not a 8x8 because the spawner picks a block and then picks a 'pixel' (thats the best explenation I can come up with) of that block as middle for the mob. if that pixel happends to be so close to the wall that the mob can't fit in anymore, then the mob can't spawn.
many people don't know this. too many.
Comment: Do you have any proof of this?  Everything on the wiki suggests that it's only tied to the block and nothing more precise.
Comment: I'm a little late to the party, but this is indeed correct, someone did [an in depth video about why](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4lfn0TLfGA).


Why can judges not set aside jury verdicts of acquittal?

Question: Would it be correct to say that the reason why judges do not have power to set aside a jury verdict of acquittal in a criminal case is precisely that that would violate a right to a trial by jury? Would there be other reasons besides that?
Answer: Criminal conviction by a judge after acquittal by a jury would violate the Double Jeopardy Clause of the 5th Amendment. A criminal conviction involves both a finding of fact and the application of the law, and a judge (unless this is a bench trial) doesn't find facts, he makes judgements of law. Overturning an acquittal after a jury trial would thus be in essence a whole new trial (moreover one where the defendant was not given a renewed opportunity to defend himself).
Comment: It seems to me that an appellate court remanding of a case to the original court for a new trial after an appeal from an acquittal would violate the rule against double jeopardy, but if the appellate court reversed the verdict and found the defendant guilty after acquittal by a jury, rather than remanding the case, what that would violate would be the right to trial by jury. Do you disagree with that?
Answer: It's a "separation of powers."The judge's main job is to interpret the law (and the intersection of law and fact). Unless both sides agree to a "bench" trial, which is to say that the judge is then charged with trying facts, as well.
The whole purpose of "trial by jury" was to create a fact finder independent of the judge. Which is why either side can (often) demand a jury. A judge can overturn a jury finding, but only on grounds of "law." If a judge were able to overturn a jury finding of fact, the "separation" would be moot.
Comment: Your edit to the title of the question could cause readers to think the question I was asking was the one in the title rather than in the body of the question. The question you put in the title is immensely broader than what I was asking.
Comment: @MichaelHardy: In that case, "roll it back" to the original. Or leave it the way you now have it. My apologies.
Comment: @Libra Sure, in civil court the judge could rule "Judgement not withstanding the verdict", but as far as I know, once a jury aquits you of crime, that is it.


Is Isopropyl Alcohol 70% a good choice for cleaning electrical wires

Question: I need some wires inside my phone cleaned. And the only alcohol I can find is 70%. Is it safe to clean electrical wires with it? Or would that be too much water?
Comment: IPA is a commonly uses cleaner and usually does no harm. BUT there are some plastics (and other materals) that are damaged by IPA. If in doubt, test on something unimportant first.
Comment: Dirty wires conduct the same as clean ones, and if you're talking about soldering, flux core solder will clean up the joint.  I'd leave the wires dirty unless there's a reason to clean them.
Comment: 100 proof vodka works just as well, and after you clean your electronics you won't be stuck with a bottle of isopropanol you can't drink.
Answer: It might be okay, however usually we use 99% IPA, which has to be ordered from chemical suppliers (and is considered hazardous since it's quite flammable). It's usually okay to clean with water, so provided the water was pure and was allowed to dry before power was applied it might be okay to use water+IPA and a soft brush.
Another concern is what exactly is in the remaining 30%. If it is drug-store (pharmacy) "rubbing alcohol" it may contain other additives that can leave a residue which could affect the operation of electronics. Most of the stuff available from local pharmacies here leaves a nasty white residue, and I would not suggest using it.
Comment: Whether 99% IPA has to be specially ordered depends on where you live. For example, in Canada, you can easily find 99% IPA in supermarkets and drug stores. However, the stuff does leave that white residue.
Answer: There is no need to be concerned whether or not 70% IPA is good for electronics due to its water content, because there is no need to ever buy or use anything other than "99%" IPA.
70% IPA isn't good for anything. If you should ever discover the preceding statement to be false, you can make 70% aqueous IPA easily from pure IPA.
Answer: I often use n-propyl bromide (marketed as Ensolv) for both flux removal and as a general cleaning solvent. It's flux removal ability is nothing short of magical, but it will dissolve some plastics, so be careful. The good thing about it is that it leaves zero residue of any kind, which 70% isopropyl might. I find it also works on cleaning wires and PCBs better than isopropyl.


Why do I keep getting error 31071 when trying to buy gems in Diablo 3

Question: When trying to buy gems in the auction house I frequently get timed out and see "bid failed (31071).  What causes this?
Answer: The cause of error 31071 is not clear but it seems related to auction house server or connectivity problems.

AH transactions are temporarily metered until we can improve
  performance. If you try to buy/sell too quick you may hit a
  31071/31072 error.

from Bashiok - Blizzard Entertainment, Community Manager
There are many users report that it happens when trying to buy gems or tomes, but it could be only a coincidence linked to the fact that these are items with a big market. There are users that got this error also on other equipment.
Answer: Error 31071 occurs when another person buys the item before you.
For example, you search for 10 Square Rubies and the results come up with each gem costing 1,000 gold for a buyout prices of 10k.  This isn't a great deal, but you need them right now so you attempt to buy them.  Well, in the time between when you got the search results and clicked the Buyout button, somebody else was a bit faster and bought all those gems you were hoping for.  The server fails to place your "bid" and returns Error 31071.
The auction house is a bit broken in regards to buying gems and other items that have no true auctions, such as pages and tomes.  I'm sure a fix will come sooner or later, but for now the only thing you can do is keep trying.
As noted in the comments, this error does not necessarily mean you were actually "outbid" on the gems.  The gems auctions are designed so that getting that error is extremely improbable.  Any gold that gets lost due to this error seems to get returned later.  As of right now (11:10 PST 5/23), the Auction House is down for maintenance, so perhaps this issue will be repaired during this time.
Comment: Any gold that has ever been eaten by the AH has appears in the list of stuff I could claim within 24 hours.
Comment: Any gold eaten this way has reappeared in my move to stash menu after I've exited and re-entered the AH.
Comment: This isn't quite correct; I've managed to get the buyout on an auction even with this error.  It took some time for the item to appear, but it did show up eventually.


Is there a way to delete RAW files from Aperture?

Question: I currently shoot everything in RAW+JPEG and import into Aperture as pairs.  I have a large number of photos that I have not (and will not) make adjustments to and it would be nice to remove the RAW files to free up some disk space.  Is there any way to do this?
Answer: Aperture treats the RAW file and the JPEG as a single composite master and won't let you do anything with them individually except create a new master from the JPEG. That new master can be deleted, but it doesn't buy you anything since the original RAW is still there with the JPEG file.

The RAW and JPEG images are treated as a single master. In a RAW+JPEG
  workflow, the two images are treated
  as a single master. If you have
  imported the images as referenced,
  avoid deleting either the RAW or JPEG
  from the Finder - Aperture will lose
  connection with the remaining master
  as well.(Source)

There are ways to delete the RAW files using finder, or terminal scripts, but none that use Aperture such as what your original question asked.
Comment: A complex way to delete them using finder: http://archive.bagelturf.com/aparticles/library/deljpeg/index.php
An even more complex way to delete RAW files using terminal:
http://blogs.oreilly.com/aperture/2007/09/getting-rid-of-unwanted-manage-1.html


According to general relativity planets and Sun bend the spacetime (explaining gravity), but does this hold true for smaller objects?

Question: According to general relativity planets and the sun bend spacetime, and that is the explanation of gravity. However, does this hold true for smaller objects, like toys, pens, etc.?  Do they also bend spacetime?
Comment: It would be strange if there was an exception for "small objects". That would require a definition of "small" and an explanation why the threshold for "small" and "not small" is exactly that specific size.
Comment: @Holger That comment gets to the essence of the matter better than any of the answers.
Comment: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavendish_experiment
Comment: @Holger That would also require synergy and an explanation of it. Planets and stars consist of smaller objects.
Comment: https://www.amazon.com/This-Book-Warps-Space-Time/dp/0740777130
Comment: Smaller objects *may* warp spacetime, but for all we know they don't. Indeed, very small objects clearly require some theory other than general relativity. In short, general relativity is a great theory for large massive bodies, but we're quite ignorant about how gravity works for smaller objects because experiments are so difficult to perform and because the theory becomes so delicate. Cf https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTMELHUAzSM
Answer: Yes, all forms of matter and energy bend space and time. Size does not come into it, except that where there is more matter and energy gathered together space and time get bent more.
Comment: But if they bend differently then how do they exert equal magnitude of force according to Newton's third law
Comment: They don't bend differently, everything bends spacetime based on the energy present. The sun bends spacetime a lot (in Newtonian terms, has a strong gravitational field) because it has a lot of energy, mostly in the form of mass. The Earth bends spacetime less (has a weaker gravitational field) because it has less mass/energy. Something like a pen bends spacetime even less, because it has much less mass and energy..
Answer: Recently gravity was measured between two 1 mm gold spheres. (Measurement of Gravitational Coupling between Millimeter-Sized Masses by Westphal et al)
Gravity cannot be separated from "bending spacetime". Any force that affects everything equally in a place can alternatively be described as a bent spacetime. So those 90 mg spheres are bending spacetime, and the experiment was able to measure this.
Going to much smaller sizes quantum effects come into play and there are open questions about the behavior of gravity there.
Comment: ''there are open questions about the behavior of gravity there'' ~ That would be putting it somewhat lightly.
Comment: +1: For reference to experiment.
Answer: It seems to be the case that all matter and all forms energy will bend spacetime. Whether or not there is some kind of matter we're not aware of that doesn't is another question. But, everything you'd encounter in your day to day life will bend spacetime, and produce gravitational waves.
Comment: Of course, while we can't know for sure if there exists matter that we haven't encountered that doesn't bend spacetime, the current expectation points in exactly the opposite direction: there is matter we haven't encountered that does very little else *but* bend spacetime!
Comment: To steal a quote: "That's all well and good in theory, but how is that in practice"?
Comment: @NiharKarve: A few hundred years ago, (gravitational) mass was *defined* to physically attract other mass through Newton's law of universal gravitation. Nowadays, it isn't. Physics is not math; you don't have "X is true by definition" when X is something that can be verified or falsified empirically.
Answer: This indeed holds for small objects. Why shoudn't it? But this will barely affect their motion when they make a close encounter somewhere in outer space. A pen and a lemon will pass each other as if the other wasn't present. When the pen and lemon move on though, their very little influenced trajectories (geodesics) will divert from the trajectories they would have taken in absence of the other. Somewhere far away this difference will become visible. You can even say because of this that special relativity doesn't exist in reality. It's always an approximation (of general relativity). But a good one.
When the objects become very small (elementary particles), a quantum theory of gravity is needed to explain the mutual gravitational behavior of matter on very small scales (Planck scale).
Answer: Indeed. You just discovered one of the main building blocks on General Relativity. Anything and everything that does have stress-energy does bend spacetime.

If you use General Relativity instead you'll find that photons make a contribution to the stress energy tensor, and therefore to the curvature of space.

Does a photon exert a gravitational pull?
Yes, even massless photons do bend spacetime. Now back to your question, in your example, toys and pens bend spacetime too. The effect is just so small, because here Earth's effect of bending spacetime dominates, and the net effect is what we feel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy_formation_and_evolution
Then why is this important? Because in free space, two dust particles will bend spacetime so that they will move towards each other, and will clump into ever bigger pieces. You just realized how galaxies were made.
Answer: It is more accurate to say it this way: they affect the determination of (1) which time-like and null trajectories are the trajectories of 0G motions, (2) which space-like paths are straight, (3) which directions in space-time are space-like, time-like or null, (4) which angles are right angles, (5) which space-like directions are directions of "simultaneity" with respect to which time-like directions and (6) which null directions are orthogonal to which other null directions. Items (1-3) are determined by the "connection", items (4-6) are determined by the "metric". The "null" curves are the ones followed by "light-speed" objects.
As best known to date, all of this is the case for all objects of all sizes; but it has not been directly seen - as such - beyond a certain level of smallness, such as by a Cavendish balance. For instance, nobody has successfully probed the gravity of a single atom with a Cavendish balance, much less a single electron or photon.
The 0G trajectories are those which maximize clock time (any non-0G deviation from the trajectory leading to a time dilation) and the straight space-like trajectories are those which minimize path length. The curves are, therefore, called "extremal". There is no similar characterization applicable to null curves that I'm aware of, because both clock time and path length are 0 on null curve trajectories.
In a Riemannian geometry, the connection is determined by the metric (it is the "Levi-Civita" connection of the metric), and the metric is conditioned by the stress tensor of material sources in space-time.
In a Riemann-Cartan geometry (which is the physically relevant geometry, not Riemannian geometry, since only Riemann-Cartan has the ability to directly deal with spinors and fermions), the connection and metric are independent. If the classical 1916 theory of gravity (that is: the theory given by the Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian and action on a Riemannian geometry) is directly transcribed into Riemann-Cartan geometry, it becomes equivalent to the theory given by the Palatini Lagrangian and action. In it, the connection is not independent of the metric, but is forced (that is constrained) to be the "Levi-Civita" connection of the metric.
If, on the other hand, the Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian is directly transcribed into Riemann-Cartan geometry ... but with the connection kept independent ... then the theory is that given by the Einstein-Cartan Lagrangian and action. In that case the "contorsion" = (Connection - Levi-Civita Connection) is given uniquely by the "torsion" (each can be expressed as a linear function of the other), and the torsion is conditioned by the spin tensor of material sources. The Levi-Civita part of the connection and metric, are conditioned by the stress-energy tensor, as in the case of Riemannian geometry.
Since torsion does not propagate outside of matter, in either the Palatini/Einstein-Hilbert or Einstein-Cartan cases, then the spin tensor has no effect on gravity outside of matter and the gravity is the same, on the outside, for both cases.
However, since the determination of which trajectories are 0G and which curves are straight is given by the connection, then Einstein-Cartan and Einstein-Hilbert/Palatini will come up with different determinations ... when inside material media, like air, water or solids; the difference being the result of the contorsion. So, in the case of Einstein-Cartan (as also the case generally in Riemann-Cartan geometries), the straight/0G paths ... which are called autoparallel are not the same as the extremal paths.
Answer: As explained in the other answers, yes. Its so hard to tell because, compared to the other forces, gravity is very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very weak. Only when a whole lot of matter gets together does it become significant.
For example, the Earth is 6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg of matter, yet we can overcome its gravity with an almost effortless jump. So can a good magnet using electromagnetism.
We don't know why gravity is so weak, it remains a great mystery.
Answer: Yes, small objects such as pens, paper, tennis balls etc, all bend spacetime.
Not only does spacetime bend, warp, and stretch, but it also flows. You can see that idea in this video which is a really good visualization of gravity.
Another way to think about gravity is that gravity is a difference in proper time. When an object falls, it falls because there is a gradient difference of proper time. You can see that idea in this video.
I hope that helps.
Answer: A large body is an accumulation of many small bodies. Its properties — mass, and with it gravitation and inertia, heat capacity etc. — are nothing but the accumulation of the properties of the constituting small bodies. And vice versa :-).
Remember that all small objects you hold in your hands were once parts of very heavy stars which did visibly bend spacetime. Their atoms got expelled when that star went nova, billions of years ago, and later condensed again to form our solar system. The atoms in your toy bend spacetime just like they did when they were part of that large star.
Comment: Since this is, I believe, the true explanation, I'd love to hear any criticism.


Why do some people remember about the supernatural, and others forget?

Question: In Buffy, most people who see supernatural things forget about them shortly thereafter. However, there is a fair number of people who do remember. What is the key to remembering/forgetting in Buffy?
Answer: Do they actually forget? Or do they just not talk about it?

At the prom in Season 3, when Jonathan gives Buffy her Class Protector award, he says something like 'a lot of strange stuff happens here, and most of the time we don't talk about it'

I think the majority of the Sunnydale populace adopt an 'out of mind, out of sight' attitude, that they just don't acknowledge the supernatural happenings.
Comment: @Micah: "Gingerbread" is probably an exception; the characters in that episode haven't just *witnessed* the supernatural but are actually under *demonic mind control*.  How they remember that incident probably isn't typical.
Comment: @Tynam Doesn't Joyce remember it, though?  Willow makes an explicit comment in that episode about her parents doing the selective-memory thing that Joyce used to be so good at.
Comment: @Izkata: Correct; good point.  Willow's parents seem pretty repressed at the best of times... so maybe Willow's wrong and they're just *really good at pretending* not to remember.  (They conveniently remember the boyfriend part, after all...)
Comment: The end of "Gingerbread" doesn't really make sense if Willow's parents haven't actually forgotten about what they did during the episode. I think it's pretty clearly a combination of the two.
Answer: I seem to remember that this is called the "Sunnydale effect", but the best reference I could find is from some fanfiction:

We used to call it the 'Sunnydale effect' - people were so unprepared to deal with the realities of the situation that they ignored the evidence around them.

I remember something along those lines being said in the show too.
Comment: That explains how people forget, but not why some remember...
Comment: I guess some people are prepared to deal with it?
Answer: I seem to recall Giles making a comment at the end of the Harvest (1.02) that people will rationalize what they can and ignore the rest. The only people who don't seem to do this are blatantly aware of the supernatural -- usually because they see something supernatural and are given the correct explanation before they've had time to come up with another one in their mind.
Answer: This isn't as far-fetched as it sounds.
Like a cult, if all the people around you accept a given reality or truth, you are much more likely to accept it as well, particularly if you want to believe that reality.  If everyone else who was at "The Prom" (or whatever event is in question) tends to repeatedly deny whatever trauma transpired there, you are likely to actually modify your memory of the event over time.
Those who did remember were those who were around groups who discussed and acknowledged the events or individuals who were particularly strong-willed.  You would also be immune to the shared unreality/denial if you were otherwise "in the know"--for instance if you were practicing witchcraft yourself, you might be less likely to believe that the werewolf attack you just saw was really just a bunch of large dogs.


Using tab as indentation in anaconda-mode with spacemacs

Question: I recently installed spacemacs with the python mode and would like to change the default indentation to be TAB instead of four spaces.
What I did is I added (setq-default indent-tabs-mode t tab-width 4) to my just after(setq initial-major-mode 'text-mode) in my config.el. Unfortunately, when I open a python file, I can see that indentation is still done with 4 spaces instead of one TAB. Did any of you come across this issue before ?
Thanks in advance
Answer: Anaconda-mode is a minor-mode which has nothing to do with indentation AFAIK. So I assume that you actually mean python-mode.
The second line in python-mode is
(set (make-local-variable 'indent-tabs-mode) nil)

which overrides the default value.
So you must set indent-tabs-mode in python-mode-hook:
(add-hook 'python-mode-hook (lambda () (setq indent-tabs-mode t)))

Using spacemacs you can add that line to the function dotspacemacs/user-config in your spacemacs initialization file -- most likely ~/.spacemacs.d/init.el or ~/.spacemacs.
Comment: @Stefan AFAIK it is no problem if one uses consistently tabs for indentation. Real problems occur if one mixes tabs and spaces.
Comment: And the previous line similarly sets `tab-width` to 8.  `python-mode` purposefully makes it difficult, because Python's layout rules mean that it's easy to shoot oneself in the foot.  E.g. the Python *language* defines TABs as occupying 8 columns, so using a `tab-width` different from 8 means that the file will not be displayed in the way that python will interpret it.  It may still work, of course, but: buyer beware.
Comment: @Stefan I tended to `(define-minor-mode indent-tabs-mode "Toggle indent-tabs-mode.")  (add-hook 'python-mode-hook #'indent-tabs-mode)`. Is there any reason why `indent-tabs-mode` is not defined as a real minor-mode? (If you want I can also ask this as a proper question here on emacs.sx.)
Comment: Thanks for your answer, I am really new on spacemacs could you advise me in which of the function (`python/init-python ` maybe?) I should paste the code you prioovided in your answer
Comment: @RobinNicole I added some text about the installation of the hook in your init-file at the end of the answer.


Valuing a cross currency basis swap using a third currency as a collateral

Question: Suppose India and South Africa goes into a cross currency basis swap. But the collateral is specified upon USD. How does one value this type of swaps? Or is it even available directly on the markets?
Answer: Multiply each INR (resp. ZAR) leg flow forward value by the corresponding INRUSD (resp. ZARUSD) forward FX, then discount at USD OIS.


Is "a becoming humility" a correct use?

Question: I found the sentence "She accepted the award with a becoming humility" as an example of the use of the word "becoming" in Merriam Webster Advanced Learner's English Dictionary. Is the use of the indefinite article in that sentence correct? I thought that humility can be used only as an uncountable noun.
Comment: But a *becoming humility* and an *unbecoming humility* are faux-countable :) . You can sort of have one of them, but having two or more of them sounds distinctly odd. Better yet, don't think of such terms as countable - think of them as figures of speech.
Answer: Though this may seem esoteric, often the use of a adjectival modifier can render an uncountable into a countable, and this is but one example; you can test this proposition by replacing the adjective "becoming" with synonyms, near synonyms or antonyms, and noting that the resulting sentences still work with the "a" in place.
"She accepted the award with a charming humility"
"She accepted the award with a strange humility"
"She accepted the award with an atypical humility"
"She accepted the award with a shocking arrogance"
"She accepted the award with an unbecoming hubris"
They all work just fine.
Comment: While 'padding' often does allow the use of the indefinite article ('He received a wonderful education' / 'She received the award with a humility it was wonderful to behold' /  ... it is better to consider these still as non-count usages. Numerals etc cannot be substituted for 'a': thus 'I have an understanding of the principles involved' but not 'I have two/some understandings ...'. / / *They accepted the award with [five / various / a lot of] shocking arrogances'.
Answer: Yes, uncountable nouns may be preceded by an adjective plus the article a/an in certain circumstances:

"These circumstances are when you are qualifying or limiting the noun's
  meaning in some way."  MacMillan Dictionary

becoming qualifies the humility.

Truth lies behind this brouhaha.
A greater truth lies behind all this brouhaha.
Honesty can cure many ills.
An unusual honesty characterized their relationship.

indefinite article with uncountable nouns
Comment: The MacMillan article is good up to the point where it classes 'coffees' say as a plural use of a non-count noun. In 'Arabica and Robusta are two coffees, and the two most frequently encountered', the usage is by (CGEL) definition _count_; the process of countification has occurred. Contrast 'Coffee is my favourite drink' /  'An unusual honesty characterized their relationship', where numerals cannot be inserted.
Comment: I don't know any varieties of _tea_. I'd hoped the example was easy enough for most people to relate to. // As I said, CGEL. You can look up 'countification' here on ELU.
Comment: In their example 'Customers can choose from dozens of different teas.' and I'll add 'There are three teas that I can _really_ recommend', 'tea' has undergone countification in this usage. It is a count usage, by definition, as it accepts a numeral. / Use a grammar for grammar issues.
Comment: "As for uncountable nouns that are used in the plural: we use the plural when we are talking about different types of a substance that is normally uncountable:

_Customers can choose from dozens of different teas._' Here, it is ridiculous to class 'tea' as 'an uncountable noun (whether or not 'we use [it in] the plural'. **Usages**, not nouns, are count or non-count. _Customers can choose from dozens of different teas._' shows a count usage of 'tea', not 'an uncountable noun used in the plural'.
Comment: You are completely wrong about the blog post. People can read it for themselves. I am not going to argue about your misreadings of the Macmillan blog post with such comments as: coffees is the plural of a non-count noun. That is not **at all** what they meant.
Answer: Yes, it is correct. See the explanation of Cambridge dictionary A | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary:

used before some uncountable nouns when you want to limit their
meaning in some way, such as when describing them more completely or
referring to one example of them:
I only have a limited knowledge of Spanish.
He has a great love of music.
There was a fierceness in her voice.
Comment: Hello again, SP. I like the third example (no padding!) ... but I'm trying to work out what effect the 'a' has. Certainly, it makes what is to my ear a rather unnatural-sounding  sentence perfectly acceptable. I think the article is a sort of 'crystalliser', making the abstract noun sound less ... well, abstract.
Comment: maybe "a" here means "a sort of"
Comment: @momsta Not impossible, but I don't think so. I'm hearing an intense statement hear: if anything, I'd say there's an intensifier effect. Strange, because with 'There was a kindness in her voice', I'm hearing a softening effect. In any case, omitting the article with each of these two examples seems to my ear to lead to a less natural-sounding sentence.

Is “a becoming humility” a correct use?


Can I use my brothers old SIM card that's in an iPad he gave me?

Question: My brother just gave me his old iPad after purchasing a new one. He accidently  left his SIM card in there because he got a different SIM card for his new one. I won't be able to add to my current carrier plan for another month or so, but when I turned on and activated the iPad in order to get to home screen, my wi-fi picked up and asked for my password. It is now working wth my wi-fi with no problems. I turned the carrier settings off, because I know the SIM card is still activated thru his account. My question is by only using wi-fi with his old SIM card, and leaving carrier data off, (until I transfer on my account) is there any chance at all he would be charged or notified it was being used, etc.?
Comment: Why not take the SIM card out
Answer: If you leave the carrier OFF the card should actually not be charged. At least that's usually the recommendation when using an iPad abroad. As far as I know you could actually even remove the SIM card and still use the iPad over wifi – and maybe that would be the best option if you want to be 100% sure your brother's account is not charged.
Comment: Thank you... I will try to remove the SIM card and see what happens. I just got the ipad yesterday. I just assumed it wouldn't because I asked my brother if you can use a devise over wi-fi if it's not activated through my carrier and he said you couldn't, but I will try it without sim and see what happens. Thanks again
Comment: well – a.f.a.i.k. for iPhones this is true – but iPads work without SIM card inside
Comment: Very good news! Thanks for your help. Haven't got a chance to take it out yet and try it but will soon. It's a gift for my husband so i want to get it figured out before I give him. Thanks again


Good German phrase for "lone wolf"?

Question: I am looking for a good German word(s) for the English "(a)lone wolf". Practically I am looking for not only a simple dictionary translation, but for a secondary/metaphorical meaning as well, if it exists.
Comment: Can You elaborate on what you consider the primary and secondary meaning?
Comment: I don't know the English "lone wolf". I don't know what you came up with when doing your research. Did you use a dictionary? I just tried 3 different dictionaries and those agree on "Einzelgänger". At least, now I know what a lone wolf is. -1 anyway.
Comment: I guess the secondary meaning is not the literal meaning, so in this case lone wolf = a person who depends only on himself and is distant from the other people.
Comment: http://www.dict.cc/?s=lone+wolf
Comment: @Em1 I didn't asked for a dictionary equivalent, but for a metaphorical equivalent, which I mentioned clearly in my question. It differs mostly a lot from the simple dictionary translation (which I also could translate to f.e. "allein Wolf" or so). Although I had to at least check this in a dictionary, simply I didn't thought it could be found it them. My previous attempts to find metaphorical equivalents were mostly unsuccessful based on leo.dict/google attempts, and I though, native speakers could give much better alternatives. Maybe this explanation is enough for a vote change/hold removal?
Comment: @PeterHorvath After your edit I'm willing to retract my downvote. However, I don't see what the "primary" meaning is as imho only the metaphorical meaning exists. If you relate to the "literal meaning" as primary, well, it should be obvious that "Einzelgänger" is not a verbatim translation. Either way, this question is "off-topic" or "unclear what your asking", so I stay with my close-vote and won't vote for reopen.
Comment: Eine metaphorische Äquivalent wurde hier gefragt, _nicht_ eine literale Bedeutung! Das hätte ich auch sehr einfach mit einem beliebigen Wörterbuch finden können. Die Frage sollte wiedergeöffnet werden.
Answer: The literal translation "Einsamer Wolf" is something you could say in German as well.
Comment: Not only could say, but in fact you do. And it has quite a different connotation than "Einzelgänger" (solitaire), probably exactly the same as lone wolf in English.
Answer: For the metaphorical meaning, the idiomatic term is Einzelgänger.
Answer: "Einzelkämpfer" and the similar "Einsamer Krieger" are common; they apply to non-competetive settings but do imply that the person is actually doing something (alone), as opposed to just being alone as a general rule.
Examples:

Alle sitzen in der Sonne, aber Klaus mäht den Rasen, der einsame Krieger!
Viele arbeiten lieber in Gruppen, aber Claudia ist eine Einzelkämpferin.
Answer: Wiktionary lists the (imho) nice alternative "Eigenbrötler" to "Einzelgänger". It adds a little pinch of eccentricity if so desired.
Answer: I have to add a little more explanation, in English there is also the word loner which is best translated as Einzelgänger. The loner might be someone who simply hides and has no contact to outer world. He usually avoids every conflict with others.
In contrast the additional word wolf emphasizes the fact he is brave and a real hard fighter for something even if there might be hard resistance against him or his opinion. In German the best translation is Einzelkämpfer or Einsamer Krieger or Einsamer Wolf.
Answer: If you want a somewhat heavy literary allusion, there's "Steppenwolf"
Comment: Welcome to German Language! Whilst this may theoretically answer the question, [it would be preferable](http://meta.stackoverflow.com/q/8259) to include the essential parts of the answer here, and provide the link for reference.

Good German phrase for "lone wolf"?


Is there a lightweight implementation/distribution of TeX for Mac OSX?

Question: I'm on an SSD and space is an issue. The MacTeX distribution is over 2GB. BasicTeX seems to be too limiting to be useful to me, unfortunately.
Comment: In what sense is BasicTeX too limiting? Are you missing packages (that could be added) or is it a more fundamental limit?
Answer: BasicTeX is MacTex's little brother. Initially you will miss a number of packages but it is very easy to add these later using the package manager Tex Live Utility to arrive at the distribution that fits your needs.
Comment: Installed BasicTex and installed fontspec. Didn't about tlmgr at all! Thanks
Answer: 'A lightweight distribution' is one of those questions that is hard to answer as one persons idea of 'lightweight' does not necessarily agree with another's!
The question mentions BasicTeX, which is very much a minimal approach. There are a few things that can be done to bridge the gap between BasicTeX and MacTeX. First, you could install BasicTeX and then add only what you need. That of course might be tedious if you need quite a bit. A second approach, if space allows, is first to install MacTeX and then to remove what you do not need, using the TeX Live manager. An obvious place to look there is the documentation tree: there is a lot of documentation in a TeX distribution, and much of it may not be wanted. Finally, you could install TeX Live directly, rather than using the MacTeX 'wrapper'. This brings with it the option to determine which parts of TeX Live are installed (somewhere in the advanced options).


Origin of the idiom "falling off the wagon"

Question: I often hear the idiom "falling off the wagon", as in "Has Robert Downey Jr. fallen off the wagon?" (i.e. Is he drinking alcohol again?). Where did the phrase originate? What wagon? And why is being "on the wagon" synonymous with being sober?
Answer: From The Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, by Robert Hendrickson:

The original version of this expression, 'on the water wagon' or 'water cart,' which isn't heard anymore, best explains the phrase. During the late 19th century, water carts drawn by horses wet down dusty roads in the summer. At the height of the Prohibition crusade in the 1890s men who vowed to stop drinking would say that they were thirsty indeed but would rather climb aboard the water cart to get a drink than break their pledges. From this sentiment came the expression 'I'm on the water cart,' I'm trying to stop drinking, which is first recorded in, of all places, Alice Caldwell Rice's Mrs. Wiggs of the Caggage Patch [1901], where the consumptive Mr. Dick says it to old Mrs. Wiggs. The more alliterative 'wagon' soon replaced cart in the expression and it was eventually shortened to 'on the wagon.' 'Fall off the (water) wagon' made its entry into the language almost immediately after its abstinent sister.
Comment: As far as I can tell, it did originate in the US. Alice Caldwell Rice, whose novel was cited as the first recorded use of the phrase, was an American novelist (also known as Alice Hegan Rice).
Comment: Now I know! Thanks very much. Can you clarify if this phrase originates in the US?
Answer: Meaning
World Wide Words explains:

However, the saying is indeed originally American and it is associated with wagons, of a sort. The original form, which dates from the early years of the twentieth century, was to be on the water-wagon, implying that the speaker was drinking water rather than alcohol and so was an abstainer, at least for the time being. The image of the horse-drawn water-wagon would have been an obvious one at the time — it was used to spray unpaved American streets in the dry summer months to dampen down dust thrown up by the traffic. A direct link with the temperance movement — very active at the time — would seem probable, though I've not been able to establish this for sure.

Wagon
The OED say on the wagon is originally from the US and has it from a 1906 book by Bert Leston Taylor titled Extra Dry: being further adventures of the Water Wagon:

It is better to have been on and off the Wagon than never to have been on at all.

Water wagon
The OED has on the water wagon from a 1904 Dialect Notes:

'To be on the water wagon', to abstain from hard drinks. N.Y.

I found several older examples. The Staunton Spectator and Vindicator (Staunton, Va., May 24, 1901):

Every day we hear men say "I am on the water wagon".

The St. Louis Republic (St. Louis, Mo., January 18, 1903):

Well, I tried to work the gag on a bartender in Cincinnati not long ago. Gammon and I dropped into a quiet place near the theater, and I ordered a high ball.
"I am something of a ventriloquist, as you know, and when I casually asked the dog what he would take, he replied: 'Well, I'm on the water wagon, but I'll take a sandwich.'

The Salt Lake Herald, (Salt Lake City (Utah), December 24, 1903) reports of "An English Blunder":

Charles Warner the English actor tells the following on himself: "A few nights after I reached New York  I asked to have a drink. He replied: 'I am on the water wagon.' 'On the what?' I asked. He explained, and I thought it was a good one and resolved to spring it immediately. Two days later I met Mr. Hawtry and he asked me to join him a high ball. 'Sorry, old fellow,' I said, 'but I am on the washtub, don't you know?' Beastly blunder, but very English, was it not?"

Water cart
I'm on the water cart is claimed to have been first recorded in Alice Caldwell Rice's Mrs. Wiggs of the Caggage Patch (1901), but I found it in The Red Cloud Chief (Red Cloud, Webster Co., Neb., July 06, 1900) in "A Tragedy in Slums: Romance in the Low Life of New York":

She visited a few of her friends and confided to them she was going to get married.
"Have a ball?" said one.
"No, I've cut it; I'm on the water cart for good," was the reply.
Comment: Great answer, thanks! One thing: You don't actually explain where the phrase comes from (i.e. what is the wagon, and why would you be on it?). Nicholas's answer does a great job of that, even if, as you've proved, it incorrect in other areas.
Comment: @DjangoReinhardt: I've added in an explanation.
Answer:
Meaning:  Abstaining from consumption of alcoholic beverages.
Example:  Dean Martin never fell off the wagon. You have to be on the wagon before you can fall off.
Origin:    The origin of this seemingly mysterious phrase becomes clear when one learns that the original phrase was "On the water wagon". A water wagon was a common piece of equipment in the days before paved roads. They were used to spray the dirt roads to help control dust.
Alternative: It dates to Victorian times when prisoners where transported to the Old Bailey on a wagon. The officers guarding them would stop for a drink but the prisoners would have to stay on the wagon.

http://joe-ks.com/phrases/phrasesO.htm
See also: http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/on-the-wagon.html
Answer: Another origin: during the Temperance days, people  repented their sins (often drinking) in evangelical churches and publicly declared themselves "on the water wagon" at town parades.  The water wagon-- or any wagon that would hold a few people-- would be drawn along in a parade and the "repented sinners" would be on it.  There would be some kind of identification-- repenting sinners etc-- and the idea was, you showed your self-reformation publicly so that other people could hold you to it.
If memory serves the opening scene of "The Wild Bunch" has a temperance wagon in it.
Answer: It is probably derived from the earlier idiom, "get on the bandwagon," which had just come into common use a few years earlier.  The original form, "water wagon," may also have been a humorous alusion to "temperance wagons," (like Salvation Army wagons) that drove around cities preaching the gospel of abstinence.  To be "on the water wagon" was to be "on the bandwagon" of abstaining from alcohol.  To "fall off the water wagon" was to start drinking again.
The phrase dates to at least, 1896.  It appeared in the book, Checkers, a Hard Luck Story.  A bicycle salesman from Chicago may have coined the phrase.
http://esnpc.blogspot.com/2014/09/beer-wagons-water-wagons-temperance.html
Answer: the meaning dates back to the 1500's when prisoners were transported from the Tower of London down what is now Oxford st to be hung at the tyburn tree by marble arch. They were taken by cart and along the way they were given drinks by locals lining the street. By the time they'd reached half way they were often drunk and fell of the cart/wagon. Hence the expression
Comment: Please provide documented references.  You also may wish to edit your answer into standard written English.
Comment: So you drink alcohol while 'on the wagon'?


How do I split stacked materials in equal stacks on the crafting table?

Question: I have a single large stack of a material. It's quite difficult to go "gather" four times if I need four of one object. Isn't there some way for me to break up a stack in an equal amount of pieces?
Answer: There is a different way of dropping equal amounts of items into a crafting table that you haven't mentioned in your answer:
With a selected stack of material, hold down left click and 'draw' the shape you want.  This will distribute the stack evenly in that shape.
Answer: You have two options to split the stack:

Right click the stack to pick up half of it.
Right click whilst holding a stack to only drop one of whatever item you're holding.
Answer: To split a stack in half, right click it. To put an even amount of something in a crafting table or chest or your inventory, hold left click on the stack and drag the stack in the shape you want it to be. If you drag the stack over a slot you already placed an item in, it will not affect the slot of items.