Struggling to use my new telescope

Question: I recently got my first telescope, a Bushnell reflector telescope. I spent a good while setting up my alignment. And I can see the moon perfectly! I went to look at another, Mars. I got it aligned in my finderscope. And i go to focus to see. And i see....basically the mirror in my scope with the lines. Its clearly getting light from the star....but i can't get it to focus on the star at all! Help!!
Comment: If you have the focus set from looking at the Moon, you should not need to change it when looking at another object (unless you change eyepieces). What does Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars look like when you try this?
Comment: It looks like the photo i attached. No matter my attempts at focusing
Answer: It looks to me like you have two problems.

You need to adjust the focus. All telescopes come with a knob that alters the focus. This is pretty easy.
the shadow you see is from the secondary mirror, and it is off centre. I don't know what the word for this is (off-collimation?), but I had it the other night and I fixed it by wiggling the secondary mirror and making sure it was flush with the hole it's supposed to fit in.

Try using the focus and if it's still bad, take another shot and post it here and maybe someone with more experience than me can help.
Comment: I tried focusing, and it didnt fix anything. I will try again tonight!
Answer: It's very disappointing that you have received only one reply to this so far.
But @Ingolifs is correct, the image is clearly out of focus since you can see the spider.
And as he has indicated, it also clearly needs to be collimated.  The mirrors are very badly out of alignment.  Just follow the manual.  If you're part of a club, most of the members can show you how to do it.  You probably didn't get a collimation cap with your 'scope so you'll have to go back to the store and get one.  Or you can make one.  Or, if you're part of a club, there will probably be members who have uber-cool collimation tools to help you out.
The first time you do it by yourself you'll want to have good, daytime-level light.
I'm guessing at the lines:  they're probably a product of the poor alignment and may just go away after proper collimation.  They may be an indication that your primary is being "pinched".  There may be something twisting or squeezing your mirror.  Make sure it's not mounted too tightly.
Hope this helps.  Good luck with it.

Struggling to use my new telescope


Visualforce Page as the Default Layout of an Object (Standard/Custom)

Question: Is it possible to make a visualforce page as a replacement for the standard page layout for viewing Contacts record detail page for instance? I'm not talking about inline Visualforce page addition to the Contact layout. I meant to use the whole vsp as the standard view of said object. Thanks in advance!
Answer: Yes, simply add a Standard Controller to the page:
<code><apex:page standardController="Contact" ...
</code>
And then you can go to Setup > Customize > Contacts > Buttons, Links, and Actions, and edit the View button. All users will then see the new Visualforce page when viewing a contact.
See Overriding Buttons, Links, and Tabs with Visualforce for more information.
Comment: Gee, I was dissecting the Contact Layout for this and it was in another setting all along. That helped, thanks a bunch!


Are grammars corresponding to DFAs unambiguous and those to NFAs ambiguous?

Question: Are grammars corresponding to DFAs unambiguous and those to NFAs ambiguous?
According to what I studied, every DCFL is guaranteed to have an unambiguous grammar though there are multiple grammars generating them.
Every regular language is also DCFL, hence they will follow the same, but I doubt if every grammar corresponding to a DFA is non-ambiguous and that of NFA is ambiguous.
Comment: What do you mean by "a grammar corresponds to an automaton"?
Comment: Hint: A non-deterministic grammar can be unambiguous.
Comment: Hint: There are infinitely many regular grammars (and automata) for every regular language -- some of them deterministic, some non-deterministic, and some ambiguous.
Comment: what i mean is we can draw a DFA or a NFA and convert it into right linear grammar (rlg)
Answer: Let us consider the following construction of a regular grammar from an NFA. We will have a non-terminal $S_q$ for each state $q$. The starting symbol is $S_{q_0}$. If there is a transition from $q$ to $q'$ upon reading $\sigma$ (possibly $\sigma = \epsilon$), then we add the transition $S_q \to \sigma S_{q'}$. If $q$ is an accepting state, we add the transition $S_q \to \epsilon$. Whether the result is a regular grammar or not depends on your definition of a regular grammar (and on whether you allow $\epsilon$ transitions), but let's ignore this aspect.
You can check that this grammar is unambiguous if and only if, each word $w$ accepted by the NFA has a unique accepting path in the NFA, where an accepting path is something that looks this way:
$$
q_0 \xrightarrow{\sigma_0} q_1 \xrightarrow{\epsilon} q_2 \to \cdots \to q_f,
$$
where $q_f$ is an accepting state, and the symbols on top of the arrows spell $w$. Such an NFA is known as a UFA (U stands for Unique).
Every DFA is a UFA since every word has a unique path through the DFA (or, depending on your exact definition, at most one path). Some NFAs are UFAs, others are not.


How do I fix a corrupted file in Minecraft Pocket Edition 0.9.5?

Question: I have a big horrible annoying problem, but on my sisters Android Tablet. What happens is: say you press on a world, or new world, then it instantly comes up with 'This is a corrupted file, this world can't load' or something like that. I'm so confused and my sister is really upset about it. I've tried deleting it and re-installing it but it's still the same because it still has the same worlds.
Answer: Try deleting some worlds then try again. This happened to me and I deleted some worlds and then it worked.


Why do my toilet valves seem to have started running at the same time?

Question: I had a bad toilet that started running last year. This was in a bathroom that is not used at all (guest bedroom). So, i just closed the valve to that toilet and decided to look into it later. I haven't had a chance to fix that yet but last night but master bath toilet started running. Does this indicate a root cause problem. The house is around 20 years old and may be these toilets are really old too and if so, it is fine. I just want to see if there might be any other reason such as water pressure or something like that causing it. I measured my water pressure on an outside faucet and it seems to be ok, around 70 psi or less. I don't exactly remember that number right now but I remember it was well within the recommended psi.
Answer: Run enough water to get the hot water heater to start its cycle, then close everything and measure the pressure until the heater gets to the end of its cycle. If you have a check valve and no expansion tank, this can cause a pressure issue that wouldn't be detected with a quick test. Instead, it will slowly rise as the water heater runs, and then drop back to normal when the first faucet is run.
It's also possible that all the toilets have the same parts and are therefore failing at the same time. But before replacing everything, it's worth it to make sure they are really faulty.
Comment: Hi, I'm not sure if i understand this correctly. Yes, I don't have an expansion tank. Could you please give me the steps. I run hot faucet until heater starts heating completely, close everything? then how do I measure pressure, because I'll have to open a faucet?
Comment: @codernet As long as the faucet with the pressure gauge isn't leaking water, you can just leave that open for the entire process. The important thing is to not take any pressure off of the system while the water heater is heating. If there's a check-valve in your system, you'll likely see the pressure slowly increase while it's heating. Otherwise, it will remain steady and the toilet valves likely need replacing.
Answer: If you dont mind me asking....
Couldn't you just check the flapper? Fluid master
Just seams kinda silly to do a pressure check because the water in the tank dropped, check to see if water in running down the inside of toilet bowl.
You will always have pressure in the lines unless your toilet trickles out water in the tank when flushed.


The emptiness of nirvana

Question: Maybe a strange question, but I wonder if emptiness (sunyatta) is also a characteristic of the state of nirvana?
Comment: Welcome to Buddhism.SE! I hope you found use in the answers to your question. I've removed your reply answer since it didn't answer the question, comments and upvotes (and accepting answers, which you've done) are more traditional ways of indicating that you appreciated an answer.
Answer: Yes.
Emptiness characterizes everything, including Nirvana and even emptiness itself.
Have you read the Heart Sutra?  I highly recommend that for an example of the all-permeating nature of emptiness.
Answer: Yes, but if you look around nirvana is right here, right now. Nirvana is simply heaven on earth.
You might read The Heart Sutra Explained by Donald S. Lopez. It explains the fullness and emptiness of shunyata.
Answer: Actually, Nirvana... is something beyond emptiness.
Emptiness (sunyata) is the stopping phase of cultivation.
Nirvana is the "seeing" phase, where you transcend even that stopping, which is a type of total non-existence, still dual.
Nirvana is beyond all dualism. It is not existence nor non-existence.
Heart sutra is reccommended.
Nirvana is a synonym for the enlightened state. The Enlightened state is beyond non-existence ("emptiness") and existence (experiencing the skandhas) and is capable of existing and exercising its function anywhere, no matter what, be it in hell or heaven. N onetheless, we must experience both sides fully, existence and non-existence before we can enter into the non-dual, indescribeable, open awareness of Nirvana.
Note: despite this, emptiness is still the first step, especially in this age where everyone is obsessed with materialism and existence. Finding emptiness IS the first step. You must make your mind empty and clear and must discover and BECOME emptiness, particularly through attainment of samadhi before you can truly succeed on the vipassana path.
Of course, others have differing perspectives saying that "dry insight" is enough to get to Nirvana but I don't think it's that easy or even reliable as a path.
Calm your mind (emptiness, samatha practice, focus your mind on clarity), and see (Nirvana, vipassana, let go of everything and just witness).
Comment: @Methexis thank you! hail mommy buddha accepting of all as-is, can be chanted anywhere :)
Comment: Good answer, @Ahmed. (Also love your Cundi profile picture. )
Answer: I think not: because "empty" is a characteristic of 'conditioned' phenomena, but nirvana is unconditioned.
Answer: Yes. Nirvana is empty in two ways.
Firstly, Nirvana is empty of a self. This is covered by "all phenomena are not self" (sabbe dhamma anatta from Dhp 279) and the Suñña Sutta.
Secondly, Nirvana is empty of the essence given to it by mental conceptualization / objectification-classification/ reification/ papanca. Please see this question for details.
MN 1 covers both, making the former a specialized case of the latter.
Answer: I have some analogies

A statement [expression] is eg 'xyz' and it is in & by itself empty of context other that what we give it for context and whatever context there may be, that context is empty of the expression. The expression is not context and context is not he expression.

A person's name or the name of a thing, is in & by itself empty of meaning. If we say a word in a foreign language it lacks a linguistic context and is meaningless. Meaning is not the same as the word.

Thinking in & by itself is empty, void and is without context [linguistic structure], as one can be thinking about anything, it is not thought of as being that which is thought about and is that word which is said to entertain the object [theme] of ideation.

That which is thought of as 'that which perceives', 'the perceived' & 'contact' are thought of as the context in which that which is thought about is thought to occur.
It is said 'delusion is making of limits' one needs a context for an expression and context limits it, it collapses the probablity function and it becomes 'a special case' of expression contextualized.
Nibbana can be spoken of in several ways;

as to it being approached
as to the effect of approaching
as the principle which is seen by approaching
as the principle upon which one is said to become absorbed
as to emerging from said absorbtion
as being a destruction of delusion
as a removal of delusion which is a narrative & a making of
limits
as that which is void of delusion, void of limits, void of
objects & objectifiction; one can speak like this in a qualified & definitive sense.
as the unobjectified, unborn, unspecified, uncollapsed, as being empty of this
or that, as a freedom, as unrestricted, unrestricted as potential, as emptiness, as empty of change, empty of
elements & variables.

therefore the categorical answer depends on the exact referent. EG

"Bhikkhus, there are these two Nibbana-elements. What are the two? The
Nibbana-element with residue left and the Nibbana-element with no
residue left.
"What, bhikkhus, is the Nibbana-element with residue left? Here a
bhikkhu is an arahant, one whose taints are destroyed, the holy life
fulfilled, who has done what had to be done, laid down the burden,
attained the goal, destroyed the fetters of being, completely released
through final knowledge. However, his five sense faculties remain
unimpaired, by which he still experiences what is agreeable and
disagreeable and feels pleasure and pain. It is the extinction of
attachment, hate, and delusion in him that is called the
Nibbana-element with residue left.
"Now what, bhikkhus, is the Nibbana-element with no residue left? Here
a bhikkhu is an arahant... completely released through final
knowledge. For him, here in this very life, all that is experienced,
not being delighted in, will be extinguished. That, bhikkhus, is
called the Nibbana-element with no residue left.
"These, bhikkhus, are the two Nibbana-elements."
These two Nibbana-elements were made known By the Seeing One, stable
and unattached: One is the element seen here and now With residue, but
with the cord of being destroyed; The other, having no residue for the
future, Is that wherein all modes of being utterly cease.
Having understood the unconditioned state, Released in mind with the
cord of being destroyed, They have attained to the Dhamma-essence.
Delighting in the destruction (of craving), Those stable ones have
abandoned all being.
Iti 44

When one speaks about the mind of the Arahant, it is void of delusion in a qualified sense but it is not the extinguishment principle which is a truth & reality by seeing which defilements come to an end and the attainment of final extinguishment which is an abandonment of all modes of being, context & expression. The mind of the Arahant is contextualized and is not thought of as not being a part of the story of the Arahant, contact and feelings which can be grasped with wrong view to be personal for the Arahant.

The emptiness of nirvana


Why are weights not initialized with mean=1?

Question: I wonder why weights are initialized with zero-mean. It is one of the reasons, why deep architectures cannot be trained without skip connections. Without the skip connections, the zero initialization becomes problematic, because the identity function cannot be learned in earlier layers (this is a simplified explanation I know). But why can we not initialize weights around one? This would enhance the intrinsic learning of the identity function. Of course, the skip connections also allow a better backpropagation of the gradients, but couldn't this be helpful anyways? Can anyone tell me, why this is not done?
Answer: Interesting question,
I can come with 2 explanations why we don't initialize weights with 1 mean value :

It may be easier for the network to learn identity function, but we may have a similar issue about not being able to learn comparison, comparison is quite an important reasoning in my opinion, this is why having negative weight values is important, and initializing all weights around 1 may make it difficult for the network to get negative weights.
Maybe it causes an issue with the non-linearity of the activation functions. If we use ReLU function for example, it only is non linear if there are negative values in the network. It is not uncommon to have positive inputs for a network, so initializing all weights around 1 may lead to have only positives values on the network, which makes ReLU function linear.

Anyway weight initialization has always been a complicated topic and it seems there is no definitive answer to what should be done about initializing weights. I am not an expert of the topic, just giving you my thoughts about it.


The manchild in Revelation 12 has a clear endtime setting, who is the manchild?

Question: In Revelation 12, that the beast with 7 heads and 10 horns refers to the antichrist system is, in the context, clear. How can the manchild then refer to Christ? Also, the saints are said to be allowed to rule the nations with Christ in Rev 2:26-27, which is promised to the manchild. Are these the overcoming saints who are caught up to God and His throne of verse 5? Mary never went into the wilderness as the woman does here, and it is never mentioned in scripture that Satan made war against the brothers and sisters of Jesus (the remnant of the woman's seed of verse 17). Could this be the raptured saints?
Comment: I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because this question has too much going on. It's asking at least four different questions: (1) Who is the child in Revelation 12.5, (2) Who are the saints in 2.26-27, (3) Is the woman Mary in 12.1, and (4) Are the saints in 2.26-27 'raptured'. Since the child seems to be the primary focus, the question's title and body both need to be edited to focus on that: "Who is the male child of Revelation 12.5?"
Comment: This appears to more a systematic theology question requiring an answer from within the framework of a pre-trib rapture theology.
Comment: the point is that this is hermeneutics SE and to assume a pre-trib rapture hermeneutic in your question makes the question pointless because you have already decided on the answer that needs to be presented (IMO)
Comment: I agree. This is one of the strongest pre-trib rapture scriptures is largely overlooked due to the assumption this is Christ and Mary. This assuming blocks any real study of what can and cannot be allowed by the facts in Rev 12:. How could it be said that satan is enraged "knowing he has but a short time left". Two thousand years? That is not a short time left if this is the time of Christ. So, this chapter deserves so much more than a cursory brushing aside as Mary and Christ.
Comment: I'll need more time and research for a complete answer, but I'd like to offer a Historicist perspective. It is not Jesus, as he actively ascended, was not passively "snatched". Rather it is the church (the woman) giving birth to the child. The beast is Rome. The child is Constantine. The Dragon is Satan who's tool to persecute the church (Rome) has been taken, so he pursues the the woman. She is the remnant, the true church, preserved from the now popular and nominalist church (v17 identifies the rest of her offspring). This is of course gross simplification.
Answer: The "man-child" caught up to the Throne of God is clearly Christ. From Hippolytus(An Early Church Father) "On Christ and Antichrist" pgr. 61

by which is meant that the Church, always bringing forth Christ, the
  perfect man-child of God, who is declared to be God and man, becomes
  the instructor of all the nations. And the words, her child was caught
  up unto God and to His throne, signify that he who is always born of
  her is a heavenly king, and not an earthly; (Taken from here)

Also taken from the same source "the woman" is the Church, yet she represents both OT and NT saints. She is 1st mentioned in Gen. 3:15, where "her seed"(Christ) will crush the head of Satan's seed (Antichrist).

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy
  seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his
  heel.

The time of Christ being "taken up to God and His Throne" is clearly the Ascension.
To answer the question, "How can a singular Christ be in context with a "composite" Antichrist" we have to understand the nature of "seed". While most cases can be made for a plural "seed"(zera), the following source adds this perspective,(A SYNTACTICAL NOTE (GENESIS 3:15):IS THE WOMAN'S SEED SINGULAR OR PLURAL? Jack Collins)

From these data it becomes clear that, on the syntactical level, the
  singular pronoun hû' in Genesis 3:15 is quite consistent with the
  pattern where a single individual is in view.(Taken from here)

This is important to understand, because "Christ" or "Messiah" can be denoted singularly when the pronoun is involved(hu), whereas the "serpent's seed" is given no such pronoun and must be represented plural. Therefore, based on God's original judgment to the serpent, who is recognized to be Satan, his 'seed' will collectively resist Christ, ultimately putting Him to death, whereas His foot, through His victory over death will 'bruise/crush' Satan's head under our feet.And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. (Rom.16:20)
This Rom. 16:20 passage is also indicative of the role we play in Christ's singular victory over Satan, which explains the 'woman's'(churches) role in overcoming him.
The context for Rev. 12 is figurative, because man child=Christ, woman=OT/NT church.
Comment: We are not in debt to church fathers opinions. Scripture best interprets scripture. None of the facts fit Mary. Satan wasn't cast down in 33 AD since we wrestle with principalities and powers "in the heavenlies". It was not a "short time" from 33 AD till now. The theme of the "beast" flows directly into chpt 13: which is an obvious governing system in the end of days. A third of the angels were not cast down in Christ's day. None of this fits that grid.
Comment: @JamieHansen Several responses: 1) Yes we are indebted to the Early Church Fathers-especially Hippolytus and Irenaeus. Without them, we wouldn't have had the Book of Revelations, which they vehemently defended against 'gnostic' works which were circulating at that time. 2) Mary was NOT the woman of Rev. 12-Hippolytus identified 'her' as being the "Church". "Christ" IS the man-child, being the Mystery of Godliness(1 Tim. 3:16) from before the beginning of time.
Comment: @JamieHansen The problem which most people have when studying Revelations is they read it as if they are reading a best-selling novel, or watching a baseball game. At the beginning,(Rev. 1:8) He says, "I am the Alpha and Omega". Therefore, He knows the beginning and the end and everything in between. The narrative does NOT follow chronologically; John is not writing a good story to please his editors, he is describing the timeless dimensions of the Kingdom of God. He 'saw' the beginning, middle, and end as it is revealed in Heaven. The Rev. 12 narrative "backs up" from a progressive narrative.
Comment: @JamieHansen wrt the short time, 2000 years is not a short time for humans, but in the context of eternity it is.
Comment: It seems the Church Fathers had a better understanding of the Revelation than most do today.
Comment: @JamieHansen Hippolytus lived 100 years before the events of chapter 12 take place according to the Historicist model. One can hardly hold it against him if it is correct and he was wrong :). To Tau: when did or will Christ rule with a rod of iron?
Comment: @JoshuaBigbee "One Version" of a Historicist model is one that you propose-I use the same 'methodology' to arrive at another conclusion. Christ will "rule with a rod of iron' during His Millennial Reign-"all things will be put under His feet" (1 Cor. 15:23-28). The Millennial Reign is a continuation of the future unveiling of the plan of God.
Answer: The man child in Revelation is Jesus the Christ. This symbolic scene has already taken place. If one compares chapter 12 of Revelation to Matthew chapter 2, all the characters listed in chapter 12 of Revelation are revealed in Matthew chapter 2.

The woman, (symbolic for a church), is Judah, or the Church in the wilderness, (see Acts 7:38), for Judah was not divorced like Israel, (see Jer 3:8), and Judah, (see Isa 50:1).
I agree with Jamie's assessment of the, "beast with 7 heads and 10 horns referring to the antichrist system".  King Herod's government was that system. It was the Dragon/Satan that gave this government/system its power, and it tried to kill the infant JESUS. King Herod himself is symbolic for the "red" dragon. Red is symbolic for blood, which was shed in the killing of the children of two years and under by the king.
The third of angels/messengers are not literal angels in heavens. These messengers, (symbolic for angels), are earth bound, but with the heavenly message of where the King of the Jews is born, and these third of angels are  identified in Matthew chapter 2. First of the thirds is the chief priests. The second of the thirds is the scribes, (see Matthews 2:3) and the third of thirds are the wise men, whom the red dragon "gathered", with his tail, to seek out where the man child location, and time of birth was.

In conclusion, we have the man child, Jesus the Christ, which answers the question by Scripture. Also the woman, the church in the wilderness/Judah; the red dragon, king Herod; the symbolism of the man child, is Judaism giving birth to Christianity.
Answer: This is mostly from an answer I gave on Christianity.SE
https://christianity.stackexchange.com/a/45859/24841
Is it really end-times?
There are many who would debate that Romans 12 is "clearly" end-times.
The Historicism interpretation see's much of Revelation to be prophesying of literally "things that will soon take place" (Rev 1:1).
A such, this understanding holds that the woman is the church.
The dragon is Satan's pagan Rome seeking to destroy the church in the 3rd century AD. But the woman/church is divinely rescued and preserved even through brutal persecution.
Apocalyptic Language
Revelation is largely apocalyptic language, specifically "dream-like apocalyptic" prophecy. This means we must be careful not to read it like we would read a narrative or the same way we would a psalm. There is a lot of symbolism involved and the safest way to interpret it is to look for consistency in the meaning of the symbols.
In Genesis 37 we immediately accept that the sun, moon and stars bowing to Joseph represent him being bowed to by his family one day due to his authority in Egypt. Celestial bodies are commonly used in apocalyptic language to refer to political authorities.
The Man-Child
In this, Revelation 12 is no different. The man-child is Constantine. Born in a time that the church was under persecution, Constantine was divinely protected until his time came to take control of the empire. His rise to power stopped the persecution and established the political power (the sun and moon under the woman's feet) of the church and ruled with a "rod of iron".
The attempt to flood the woman represents the dragon's change of tactics as he has lost his authority over the Roman Empire. In Rev 12:13 the dragon is thrown to earth from heaven,  this is again symbolizing a loss of power. The flood is his attempt at deception and false teaching which then arose in the form of heresies such as Arianism, demanding the the statements of creeds such as the Nicean Creed.
Satan continues to wage war with the church throughout much of the rest of Revelation, as we, the church, are to this day.
Finally, the rest of the woman's offspring of the woman are identified as "those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus" showing them to be the people of the church.

You can find the commentary I have consulted here, The Final Prophecy of Jesus by Dr. Oral E. Collins.
For those possibly unfamiliar with the Historicism understanding, I suggest you check out this useful site: http://historicism.com/tour/tour4.htm
Historicism was a major view among Protestants for centuries but has largely been forgotten over the last several decades.
Comment: While I applaud your effort in introducing the Historicist Hermeneutic, it remains the most abused and maligned of all interpretive methods.
Comment: (cont.) Constantine can in no way imaginable be 'caught up' to the Throne of God', neither can any credence be given that he was 'birthed' by the church-it wasn't until later in his reign that he received the vision from heaven, and it is questionable whether he even was a Christian-though his mother, St. Helena certainly was, and used her influence to build and preserve many of the sites in  Jerusalem.
Comment: Now, if you were to argue that Constantine was the rider of the white horse of the 1st Seal, I would have a more difficult time refuting this argument. Constantine did set in motion the means by which Christianity was carried around the world, and that was through the aegis of Western Government. As Western Governments expanded their influence, they brought Christianity with them. Even the US in 1898, broke a promise to Phillipine guerillas who aided them, in order that the Phillipines might be "Christianized", in the words of  Wm. McKinley, President at that time.
Comment: I do agree that the 'floods' were heresies, along with the constant persecutions the church faced up until Constantine. The church was "preserved" in the deserts(wildernesses), where out of the limelight of public view the scriptures could be transcribed and the life of the gospel could be imitated. All the major reformations up until the 14th century came from these 'monastic movements', which challenged Rome to live a simpler, holier life.
Comment: @Tau I'd encourage you to read the commentary I link at the end. At least the section on chapter 12. As you said,  this was only an introduction.  There is much more to it being Constantine, including how the empire was divided into thirds at that time.  The celestial bodies,  stars in this case,  continue to be political powers,  adding to the interpretation's consistency.
Comment: You still the issue of "being caught up to the throne of God"-there's no way you can hang that 'figuratively' or 'literally' on Constantine. Actually, this should be the easiest to affirm from a Historicist framework: 1) Christ fulfills the prophecies concerning the one who will come to "rule with a rod of iron"(Ps. 2), 2) Christ "saw" Satan's defeat(Luke 10:18), 3) Christ was delivered from Satan (as Herod tried to kill Him), Joseph being warned. One cannot ignore the obvious to 'interpret figuratively' historical events.
Comment: @Tau I'd love to [discuss this in chat](http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/33915/historicism-discussion).
Answer: The woman's description in Revelation exactly parallels that of Israel as dreamt by Joseph; see Gen. 37:5-11. To briefly summarize the account, Joseph was sold into slavery, but in time he rose to power in Egypt and his parents and brothers bowed down to him. In addition, Revelation makes a large number of references to the Old Testament, so there is clear precedent for interpreting this particular "sign" in Revelation as an OT reference.
If that is accurate, then it follows that the "man child" is in fact Jesus, who was "birthed" from Israel. But as for being "snatched up", there are two issues. One is that Jesus was indeed taken up to heaven as his disciples watched (Acts 1:9-11). The other is that many OT prophecies are interpreted as having both near and far fulfillments, such that the snatching up in Revelation does not necessarily follow immediately in time. That is, things are not as linear and sharply defined as we'd prefer.
Answer: The man child cannot be Jesus Christ because of Revelation 1:19.  John was to write the things he had seen, events of chapter 1; the things which are (existing at the time of the vision), which is the churches of his day; and the things which shall be hereafter, everything from his experience that day forward.  The birth of Jesus was a thing many years past, and even if you take the things he 'had' seen as being John's whole life, he did not see Jesus born of Mary.   Also, Jesus was not taken up to God as soon as he was born as this man child is.
There are others along with Jesus that will rule with a rod of iron with him.  See Revelation 2:25-27.  Jesus says to the overcomers of the church of Thyatira that the overcomers of that church will receive to rule the nations with a rod of iron just as he had been given to do by his Father. You may have to go to the KJV or check several versions that are not paraphrased because not all translations include the "...even as I received..." part, but it is there in the Greek.
These overcomers are part of the church and as soon as the complete child is brought forth from her it is taken up to God.  Therefore the woman is the church.
My conclusion is that it is believers who overcome this world even as Jesus overcame who are 'raptured' to wait until the time when Jesus returns to restore all things and rule and reign in glory.
Not all of the church will be caught up to God at the time of Revelation 12:5.  The woman will be 'trepho', Stong's G5142 meaning nourish, feed, bring up, however it is from the base of G5157, trope, which has the connotation to turn, to change.  This feeding/nurturing change is something done to her or for her in the wilderness/place prepared for her by persons unnamed. She must be turned/formed/changed into an overcomer as well, though she is not as zealous about it as her child.
That's my take.
Nita
Comment: Why couldn't John have 'seen' the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ in a vision?
Comment: Yes Nita, I believe you are seeing this correctly
Answer: Daniel is the man-child... he is BACK and shall rule all nations with a rod of iron. He has the wrath of Almighty God on his right hand; and he is waiting to take position under the 1,000 year reign. He hath also, been made King of the Eunuchs, for these creatures have been led astray, and he shall bring his people back to righteoussness with the word os his sword. A sharp sword going out of his mouth also, and ye shall find he is also the voice of the 7th angel, who is ABOUT TO SOUND.
Comment: Welcome to Stack Exchange! If you haven't done so already, check out the [site tour](http://goo.gl/5U2gsX) and read up on how this site is a [little different](http://goo.gl/wCxRAv) than other sites around the web. In particular, pay attention to what constitutes a good answer and consider revising this answer to meet those guidelines. Please note that "showing your work" is [required](http://goo.gl/BoMPLJ) and answers should be in excess of 500 characters. You will be able to post things less than 500 characters once you have at least 10 reputation on this site.


How to access the contents that are created by custom content type using module

Question: I am new to drupal, I wished to view the contents using custom modules. For that, I have created custom content type and added some contents. Now I want to create a module to display all the contents that are created by those content types, in a page. Contents should have title, image, description, date field. How can I do that.?
Answer: You can use Views to list content of custom content type.
Update(Programmatically load nodes):
<code><?php
$type = "custom_content_type";
$nodes = node_load_multiple(array(), array('type' => $type));
foreach($nodes as $node):
?>
<?php print $node->nid; ?>
<?php print $node->title; ?>
<?php endforeach; ?>
</code>
Ref: https://api.drupal.org/api/drupal/modules!node!node.module/function/node_load_multiple/7
Comment: I have already tried that and got succeeded. But, now I wished to bring all those contents using my custom module. So, how can I do.?
Comment: You can use `node_load_multiple` function to list all nodes of custom content type. See updated answer
Comment: @karthik you won't find someone to write your code for you here, it's too broad of a request and would only be useful to you, not future visitors. have a look at the module developers guide on Drupal.org and ask a specific question when you get stuck


Windows 7 machine rebooting during Backup & Restore

Question: Over the last year my computer has been randomly(?) rebooting; I did a clean install of Windows 7 twice, checked temperatures, hard-drive diagnostics, did CPU stress tests & swapped out all the components except for the motherboard & harddrive to no avail. I had not experienced the issue for the last 2 months and forgot about it...
But then just today it happened again & found out how to reproduce this reboot on purpose during normal use.
I was setting up a first backup through the Backup & Restore menu and when I got to the last step in the wizard and clicked on "Backup now", the machine restarted itself.
When I go back into the Backup & Restore menu:

and click on "Manage Space" the machine reboots. I've done this 4 times now and it reboots every time. (Note this is the first time I set up this Backup scheduler, and it's off again now) I have looked through the Event viewer for anything suspicious but I didn't find anything.
What could be causing this? What actually happens during the Manage Backup and Backup now processes? Is there a way to turn on more verbose logging?
*EDIT: I also turned off "Automatically Restart" in Startup & Recovery settings, issue persists.
Answer: I'd strongly suggest doing a full hardware diagnostic on the system.  This could be one of too many things, memory, heat, power supply would be first on my hit parade.  Next would be disk or disk controller.
Isn't there are hardware testing function on the Windows rescue disk?  Or is that type of full diag provided only on the DELL systems.
Comment: I know Dell systems have those, but I don't think I have it available to me. Can you recommend me a comprehensive hardware diagnostic tool?


Where can I find details of the holding models for JFK, Schiphol, Heathrow and Dubai?

Question: Does anyone know the stack (holding) models for the JFK, Schiphol, Heathrow and Dubai airports? I mean, not where the aircraft hold but rather how is it planned and what concepts are used? Or how I can find that data?
Comment: I reworded your question a little, but I'm not sure exactly what you need. Are you asking for a map of where the aircraft hold, or for details of the [holding planning concepts](http://nats.aero/blog/2016/05/is-this-the-end-of-stack-holding/) at each airport? Or something else?
Comment: yes, tnx sir...
Comment: I mean the second one @Pondlife
Comment: Do you want to know the [leg size, radius](http://www.nycaviation.com/newspage/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/europa-620x484.jpg), etc? Or something else?
Comment: It looks like a homework question for university student
Comment: Why do you want to know this? :/
Answer: Most chars can be found in the local AIP. Most charts containing such data are the 'Standard Arrival' charts, such as location, heading and holding time.
For the  Netherlands (Because you asked for Schiphol) it would be http://www.ais-netherlands.nl/aim/index.html
Answer: Here is a website with some information about the holding points at Heathrow: https://nats.aero/blog/2013/06/infographic-why-do-aircraft-hold-at-heathrow-airport/
But it is really a case of trying different keywords in the search engine that are relevant.
Holdings depend on the type of aircraft - due to wake turbulence - as lighter aircraft can not land after bigger aircraft due to violent turbulence that may cause major issues. Another factor is the air traffic in the area. This affects the number of levels the controllers use in the stack. Most holding points have 15 levels - from around 10,000 feet to 26,000 feet missing out 14,000 feet as this is the point where controllers can split the stack so that they have less planes to control at one time - this increases efficiency.
As you probably know, aircraft must be 1000 feet apart from one another whilst in the stack or just generally on course.
Holding points are split into 4 parts and normally take 4 minutes to complete one loop. Each part of the loop takes 1 minute. So if the pilot has a 8 minute delay he will be told by the controller to go around twice (two four minute loops) before he can be passed over to the approach controller in preparation for landing.
This is just the basics of it really so I hope it helps.


Bitdefender detected over a hundred port scans and still detects, what does that mean and what should I do?

Question: I have Bitdefender Total Security 2017 installed on my computer and today especially in the last 10 minutes I got over a hundred port scans (detected and blocked) which is weird cause I usually get like a ten during a whole day.
Answer: People are scanning the whole IPv4 Internet all the time, in the vast majority of the cases this can be considered "background noise" and can be safely ignored.
Security software tend to alert about events like this so that they can magnify their own importance by showing you how many "threats" (= harmless scans) they detected/blocked. These notifications should be even more suspicious if you are not connecting to the Internet directly but through a SOHO router for example, as these would filter actual port scans from your internal network so Bitdefender at your endpoint can't see them (there may be some techniques that'd allow intranet scans, but again, these are highly unlikely to come by).
Don't panic.
Answer: This means that someone is trying to see what ports are open on your computer. There could be many reasons for someone doing this. For example, information gathering, vulnerability assessment to try and exploit vulnerable software, possible DoS attack vectors etc. Depending on your operating system you can enforce certain firewall rules to block certain scans or alternatively block the IP address launching the scans in question.


Java: Why does MaxPermSize exist?

Question: Why does MaxPermSize exist?
Answer: Here is a good article on the Permanent generation in the Garbage collector:
Presenting the Permanent Generation on Jon Masamitsu's Weblog
EDIT:
I haven't seen anything that would indicate why they made the design decision to have a max limit on the permanent generation size.  But i imagine it was done for several reasons.

It makes it much easier to implement, GCs are decidedly non trivial so simplifying your implementation in any way is probably a good idea.
YAGNI (You aint gonna need it)  most applications load a fixed number of classes and usually its not particularly large, so they have probably optimized for the common case and just picked a sane default and left it configurable.
Assuming that your perm gen size is growing to be unpredictably large, then you probably have an error in a class loader (or need to rethink your architecture).  Even in applications that do generate classes at run time (or do other such tricks) the number of generated classes is usually fixed as well, so you should be able to tune maxperm to fit your needs.
I'm no expert on all the details of java class loading and garbage collection but they are both complicated parts of the JVM so i imagine that they would try to keep these two components as orthogonal as possible, and allowing for the perm gen to grow dynamically would probably couple these two components together in complicated ways (especially because both components have serious threading considerations)
There are probably some performance benefits to capping the max perm generation,  allowing it to grow might involve extra copying of the collection, or it might mean that your perm generation no longer exists in a contiguous address space, which could effect the way your other algorithms work for managing the collection.

Obviously these are all speculation.  But even if all these are wrong i definitely don't think that it is 'idiotic' for sun to have chosen a fixed size, there are probably way more engineering and implementation considerations than i could even dream of :)
Comment: That says nothing about why they decided to give it an arbitrary max size. If it were like any other application you would just allocate more space to it a page at a time until you reached the OS limit.
Comment: The link in the answer is broken (bad redirect from Sun), but this link works now:  http://blogs.oracle.com/jonthecollector/entry/presenting_the_permanent_generation
Comment: The perm gen size is managed differently than the 'regular' heap (the linked article mentions this), and it is in fact preallocated.
Comment: Unless they need to pre-allocate the entire heap as contiguous block, which I don't believe, you actually add complexity by introducing a maximum size. And unlike a thread's stack, I can't think of any reason why you would need a contiguous block.
Answer: To present a slightly different perspective, the IBM JVM doesn't have a permgen, but rather goes out to the OS and allocates chunks of memory as it needs them.  (rumor is jrockit does the same, but I can't confirm for sure.)
This is advantageous in that you're not going to hit a (seemingly) arbitrary limit and need to tune it for legitimate growth situations.
On the flip side, it's a problem for runaway apps (that essentially leak classes) - the JVM will essentially go and consume all memory in the address space.  This can result in badness, where native code will suddenly fail malloc() calls, or Java breaking in odd ways - like being unable to allocate new threads (which consumes memory for the stack).  Another downside is that it doesn't provide "cost certainty" about how much memory part of the JVM will consume.
So it's a tradeoff - how do you want to fail in "potential badness" scenarios?
Answer: Its used to size up the maximum permanent generation. In some algos or if you use lots and lots and lots of different classes you could use this. Give this one a read.
But mostly it's used as a question in exams......
Comment: That just says what it is, it doesn't explain why it exists in the first place.
Answer: It exists because it helps tune the Garbage Collection subsystem within the JVM.  Depending on the underlying architecture and memory management, a JVM implementation may have sub-optimal garbage collection (too thrashy for example) ... You can specify a MaxPermSize by hand rather than have it calculated so that the application behaves smoothly...
Java GC Page says more...
Comment: But why have a max size in the first place? Why not let it grow until you reach the OS-imposed limit on a process's memory size?
Comment: @JonathanAllen I've seen issues before within container-based virtualization solutions (OpenVZ) where Java or some other process saw the physical host's available memory and /assumed/ that it had plenty of memory available. Eventually, the container controller killed the process for exceeding the memory limit. `MaxPermSize` can help in such a scenario, by allowing me to tell the VM how much memory is actually available to it.
Answer: The permanent generation is used to hold reflective of the VM itself such as class objects and method objects. These reflective objects are allocated directly into the permanent generation, and it is sized independently from the other generations. Generally, sizing of this generation can be ignored because the default size is adequate. However, programs that load many classes may need a larger permanent generation.
PermSize is additional separate heap space to the -Xmx value set by the user. The section of the heap reserved for the permanent generation holds all of the reflective data for the JVM. You should adjust the size accordingly if your application dynamically load and unload a lot of classes in order to optimize the performance. Basically, he heap stores the objects and the perm gen keeps information about the objects inside of it. Therefore, the larger the heap, the larger the perm gen needs to be.
By default, MaxPermSize will be 32mb for -client and 64mb for -server. However, if you do not set both PermSize and MaxPermSize, the overall heap will not increase unless it is needed. When you set both PermSize and MaxPermSize, for example, 192mb, the extra heap space will get allocated when it will startup and will stay allocated.
Answer: Perhaps you want to give your user the option on how much memory your application will take up, yes the OS does have a limit and will stop it anyways, but maybe the user wants to be able to limit it in the applications settings so they can do other things with that memory later on in the day without crashing your app because it's ALREADY taken up that space and can't release it because it's using it. So in the settings menu you have a "maximum amount of memory we use" slider and they can adjust it which correspondingly adjusts the MaxPermSize.
Answer: By having the MaxPermSize setting your app will throw the GC Out of Memory error at startup, so that you don't think your app is up and running and have your customers calling because the system doesn't work or is very sluggish.
Let's say you have 4gb on your VM and you know that you need 2gb of non-perm space for your app to hit the contractually agreed upon performance metrics. If your perm gen is going to take up more than 2gb, there is no point in starting the app, because you won't be able to meet your performance measures listed in your statement of work.
It is better to know that at startup, and get more memory into the box, or reconfigure your VM to take more of the physical server memory (whatever the case may be) than to start the application, allow the classes, ehcache, or whatever else to load, think everything is fine and then find out from your customers that the system is taking 10 seconds to load a page.
Comment: No, MaxPermSize does _not_ guarantee your app will fail at startup if it loads too many classes. Java can (and will) load classes at runtime as needed, so the limit may only be exceeded when e.g. a certain method runs for the first time, and loads a required class.

Java: Why does MaxPermSize exist?


Why are the human knees and elbows bent in an opposite direction

Question: I can assume that the hands used to be the same as legs. And they got weaken, and changed direction when human started to walk on two?
Also why do the hand palms facing the body and not facing down like the feet?
Comment: What research have you done on this so far?
Comment: Do you want to know evolutionarily why or developmentally why knees and elbows point in opposite directions? The latter question is more easily answered.
Comment: I just found an article talking about god creation, this wasn't what I was looking for. And I still need to read about why human walk on two.
Comment: Your assumption is wrong, hands were never the same as legs.
Answer: I am no expert on comparative anatomy, but I will give this a shot. Please edit if you know more about this subject!
The configuration of opposing elbow and knee joints is a feature we humans share with large group of mammals. For example, below is an image of a shrew skeleton.

Opposing joints are course a major feature of mammalian anatomy, and there are many studies on its functions and advantages. Among other things, this configuration allows for characteristic gaits of mammals such as the gallop of a horse, and it allows mammals to rest with legs protected under their body. See this page for some basic information.
Neil Shubin's book Your Inner Fish on human evolution also discusses the opposing joints arrangement, noting that this is a "key feature that gives us the capacity to walk, one we share with other mammals". A preview of the book is here.
A quick literature search turns up many technical articles on this subject, such as this review series. I'm afraid the details are beyond me (again, experts please edit), but I think it's fair to say that there is plenty of evidence for advantages of this joint arrangement in mammals.
Comment: Good answer+1 Would be great to have answers to the following question: Do we have an ancestor having knees and elbows bending in the same direction? (2) Did joint on forelimbs and hindlimbs evolved simultaneously? Do they use similar metabolic pathway? (Might be worth eventually opening a new post for these)
Comment: @Remi.b I'd add any other mammal species, not only direct ancestors.
Comment: you can add any other terrestrial vertebrate, not just mammals.
Answer: Unfortunately, your question isn't clear. "Why" could mean different things. What course of events led to it? What benefits does it provide? We could just say, it's not disadvantageous this way, so why not. So perhaps you could clarify.
Evolutionarily, through the stages as our ancestors evolved from small mammal to human, the changes that occurred were sufficiently suitable for the species. The joints are oriented well enough for walking, running, and holding things, and there doesn't need to be more reason. As for the hands, they point away from the arms like they do in other great apes. The difference is that in humans, the feet have a hard time pointing down since they are never used as hands, and hands have a harder time pivoting to be perpendicular to the arm because they are never used as feet anymore. Because of these behavioral differences from other great apes, variations that helped feet be used as hands and hands be used as feet were not selected for, but variations that reinforced walking and running ability and that reinforced object manipulation were selected for.
Comment: Good answer. What i meant was that i expcted the 4 limbs to be identical since they all were used for walking. But I got already other good answers here that explained it.
Comment: @RonenFestinger Okay well then I guess you have your answer. You might also be interested in asking an engineering or mechanics question about it, as tetrapods walking robots often have front and back joints that are mirror opposites of each other. You might also be interested in asking a question of why other animals have opposite front and back joints. What you should keep in mind is that although front and back legs are all used for walking, they don't have identical functions. Back legs might spring more, front legs might pull more and grab prey more.
Answer: It's an amazing question, really. And you might be right about your assumption. In the womb, our legs and arms bent in the same direction. But as the foetus continued to develop, the legs and arms rotated to bend in opposite direction (to each other). As of now, there is no rational explanation as to why this happens.
So I guess all we can do is be grateful to the way our bodies have come into being. If, for instance, our knees bent backward (just like our elbows), our legs would bend forward like our arms and we wouldn't be able to walk the way we do. Apply the same to the arms and we'd be lifting things in an entirely different way, and backwards too! Also, we won't be possessing the ability to write.
You can check out this page for more info:https://answersingenesis.org/human-body/your-legs-are-on-backwards/
Comment: "there is no scientific theory to explain this" --- this is clearly not true. See my answer for some basic information and pointers.
Comment: Thanks. That's what I found too before asking this question. But I was looking for a different answer than god created it this way.
Comment: Well I'm sorry I couldn't be of much help, because there is no scientific theory to explain this as of now. You can always do research on it, though.
Comment: When exactly are they bent the same way? http://www.parents.com/pregnancy/what-my-baby-looks-like/ And even if they would change orientation in development, that would mean nothing about God, it would mean something about evolution. For example, turtles in development start out with rib cages, like the reptiles they evolved from, and the rib cages fuse into a shell. This is actually evidence for evolution, because if animals were created separately, it would make no sense to make a rib cage and change it later. Please do yourself a favor and un-brainwash yourself with actual science websites.
Comment: I arrived here four days ago. And not to parade my belief in God (I don't see life that way), but to get better, more informative answers of scientific questions. So if you think I blindly swallow whatever's fed to me, I'm sorry. I don't. Or else I wouldn't be here. This was my first answer on this site, and now that I'm here, I look forward to add substance to it. And ironically, your link above doesn't happen to be an actual science website either, so kindly practice what you preach. (I don't mean any offense.)


point-to-point VS point-to-multipoint

Question: I readed some articles but I still don't undestand the difference,
is point-to-point transmites unicast messages, so point-to-multipoint uses broadcasts ?
is point-to-point consist of one dedicated physical cable, so point-to-multipoint consist of shared routes ?....
and wich topology is used in Internet and Ethernet ?
Comment: Did any answer help you? If so, you should accept the answer so that the question doesn't keep popping up forever, looking for an answer. Alternatively, you could provide and accept your own answer.
Answer: Most of time, the terms point to point or point to multipoint refer to logical topology, not physical topology.  One can configure P2P or P2MP on various type of media, and the ability to use broadcasts depends on the type of media you have.
Ethernet is usually considered a broadcast media, where every station can hear every other station, but modern switched Ethernet makes it act like P2P, because the switch connects a sender and receiver with a single logical connection.  And when you have a single Ethernet cable connecting two devices, that can also be considered a P2P connection although the media is still broadcast.
In the context of OSPF configuration, again it's a logical topology, so you get to decide how it's configured.
Answer: These terms refer to Wide Area Networking at the link layer, i.e., data link layer.  Sites/branch offices can be connected via dedicated end-to-end links (point to point) or they can be connected via a single link to a shared infrastructure, sometimes called a cloud.  The benefit of the mesh topology vs point to point is that spokes/branch offices can:

communicate directly with other spokes without having to route (hairpin) through a central site.
utilize a single link to the mesh cloud (provider) vs having to provision several (n+1) links.

Frame relay and MPLS are often implemented as mesh topologies, called Non Broadcast Multi Access (NBMA).  Layer 2 Ethernet WAN's are very popular now.  This would be a Broadcast Multi Access (BMA).  In any case, these terms refer to the passing of frames.
The Internet (as in Internet Protocol, IP) is a higher layer / level communications model whereby packets are routed based on available underlying links.

point-to-point VS point-to-multipoint


Semicheck or Indeterminate Checkbox Behaviour

Question: We are implementing a semicheckbox in a filter group, but, We don't know which is the standard behaviour after clicking the mother filter.
Should we uncheck or check the children?

Thanks!
Comment: There are some related questions that you can reference as well regarding indeterminate checkbox behaviour: https://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/92070/should-clicking-a-checkbox-in-an-indeterminate-state-check-it-or-clear-it-why, https://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/44646/is-the-indeterminate-checkbox-state-a-microsoft-ui-pattern-only and https://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/63521/an-alternative-to-indeterminate-checkboxes
Answer: I would suggest going with option B.
The reason for this is that it is being used as a filter and the most likely reason for the user clicking the parent is to reset the filter back to a "include all" state (which is having them all checked).
In fact it is unlikely that the user will ever want to deselect all of them anyway, as that would cause the filter to produce no results. However, you should still support allowing the user to move from "checked" to "unchecked" as this will support the cases where the user simply wants to select one or two of the child filter options quickly.
Answer: I would say that it doesn't really matter since both are valid and found in several different tools.
A user should adapt easily by trying it with no real risk for them behind that. Moreover the A and B would have the exact same result for your user if I'm right?
It's filters, if you don't filter anything, you want to show everything, if you include all the filters, you want to show everything too, right?
Also, it's most certainly 1 click more in both case if the user expect the opposite reaction than the one you are giving to them. Let me provide details:

You check some Children filters
Then you decide to check all clicking the Mother Filter
What should happen? I don't know but: It checks everything.
I was expecting the opposite, I can re-check the mother and boom, all uncheck.

To wrap up, I feel you and the need to have a precise answer here, but I think both can be expected and both are valid, but picking one instead of another solution is not really a big deal…
Totally a personal opinion though, better is to test with some of your end users, of course
Answer: Users might or might not remember what it does, so it doesn't matter but...
Consistency is key when people do expect it to work exactly the same as last time or as other controls.
Don't leave users in the dark as it might not do what the person was hoping or expecting. People might have to click twice to get the desired result. This gets even more annoying when each click means reloading data from a server for example making the process slow and tedious.
Is a checkbox the best option? Consider using buttons; no possible wrong expectations or double click needed to get the desired result:
Select: [All] [None]
Answer: I have seen both done, and both are equally valid.
I'd consider the workflow, and see which is the more likely scenario for what the user wants to do:
For example:
User expands an installer, and the bare minimum is checked. Am I more likely to want to add the extra features, or remove them all for this module.
Account creation:
Does the average user want to sign up under "You can use my information" to:

Send updates about my order(s)
Send deals
Send Daily specials
Send me the newsletter

If the most likely scenario is the user wants to uncheck them all, then make that the first scenario.
And even if you get it wrong for one customer, two clicks is still better than 4/5.
Answer: I agree with other answers that either option A or option B is valid. But in some cases, this could highly depend on the

Filter types
Device type
Page type
User

Read the analytics based on the above factors and decide it. Usually, the result will be closer to 50-50 but in rare cases, it could go to near 80-20. By that, one can decide which option to choose.


Word for doing something because you want to

Question: I forgot the name of an adjective which means that you do something because you want to. It has a complete anytonym which sounds similar (I think they just have different prefixes) but means you do it because of outside factors. Any help is appreciated :)
Answer: The word you are looking for is intrinsic, and its antonym is extrinsic:

Intrinsic motivation involves doing something because it's personally rewarding to you. Extrinsic motivation involves doing something because you want to earn a reward or avoid punishment.
Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation: What's the Difference?
Answer: voluntary
done, made, brought about, undertaken, etc., of one's own accord or by free choice
His joining the army was voluntary, not because he was drafted.
The opposite is "involuntary."


PhD application SOP - include several research ideas or just one?

Question: I'm an older PhD applicant (Business-Marketing) with 20+ years of industry experience. In my SOP, should I include the several research projects I have already started, or should I focus on just one idea?
Or should I reach out to a faculty member who might be interested in discussing my ideas first? I have no geographical ties, so I can go anywhere.
Answer: First, stop identifying yourself as an "older" PhD applicant. Instead, use some terms that come with more leverage like "mid-career." It implied that you're from an earlier cohort, and you also come with real world industrial experience.
Then, this statement:

I have no geographical ties, so I can go anywhere.

does not help because while it may appear flexible it also sounds clueless. Since you come from the industry, do you really think your industry welcomes any one with a PhD from any country? I'd suggest try talk to your peers and get a sense of where they studied or what degrees and institutions seem to be well-respected by them. You can also browse some related academic or business journals for some ideas on hot topics and prominent institutes.
As for how PhD application works... it's as varying as everyone's favorite grandma's recipe. Some will give you scholarship based on merit, some will require a professor's endorsement to pay for you, some will only consider if you come with a research grant/fellowship... that's why devising application strategies now without a shortlist of schools is just going to waste a lot of time.
Compared to the number of research interests, it's more important to think about if they are relevant to the faculty, well-balanced between realistic and ambitious, insightful in the short- and long-term plans, and genuine/authentic. The magic number will rely on your stated reasons for doing a PhD at that particular institute. A very general recommendation I often give is to diversify into a main thematic interest, a sub-thematic interest, and a methodological interest. I like this layout because it shows the applicant is not a one-trick pony, and yet not spreading overly thin nor easily distracted, and the last methodological interest can emphasize the applicant's flexibility, strengthening the potential as a collaborator.
In any case, do the research. Decide on some schools from different tiers, and start knowing them. Website, brochures, information sessions, booths at business conferences, etc. are all very accessible resources.


Custom Unity launcher localization

Question: I would like to localize Unity launcher using own texts. At the very least I would like to change "play!", "quit", "Graphics" and "Input" to own arbitrary labels. How can I achieve that?
Answer: It depends of your OS :

If you are running on OS X you can use Interface Builder to create your own launcher interface.
If you are on Windows you will have to create a special configuration so that your game launches automatically without having a launcher window. If you really want to change the buttons text and design you could also use some software like ResHacker, it is a bit tricky but I guess it should do the job.

Regardless of your OS you can modify the 'Graphics' part of your launcher as you can see in the documentation.
Comment: The buttons text would do, if I started meddling with style, I could as well re-write the whole launcher. Do I understand you correctly that the only way is resource hacking? (I was unable to find localization in the linked configuration manuals)

Custom Unity launcher localization


How can I use the whole potential of DES?

Question: I have recently programmed the DES algorithm. Right now it works just with integers (or better to say chars) in the range <0;255>. How can I use its whole potential - using just ASCII would be a waste (there are many characters I would never use).
Comment: DES, like all modern crypto algorithms, works on a sequence of bytes. How you encode the message as bytes is out of scope for crypto. For text UTF-8 is the standard choice, if your data is different, you need to choose a different encoding.
Answer: Programming your own DES is usually a bad idea (unless as an exercise to understand the algorithm better), but OK. By definition the algorithm works with blocks of data that consist of 8 bytes (i.e. integers in the range 0..255), and the key is 7 of those bytes (or 8 with unused parity bits).
What the data means (text or binary files like Office documents or zip files) etc. is irrelevant. I don't see what you mean by "full potential". You can just use it for ASCII text. It doesn't really matter what range the bytes are in. The encoding of the data is up to you (you can pack lower ASCII data into 7 bit characters, that overflow into the next byte, as SMS does, e.g.), and not a part of DES or any crypto-algorithm. Bytes are bytes. DES handles bytes.
Answer: DES is an old (by itself insecure) block cipher. Block ciphers work on blocks of bits. Due to the nature of modern computer the input and output of the cipher is however normally limited to 8-bit bytes or octets. The time that a byte could have 7 or 9 bits is long gone.
Again, due to the nature of computing, everything inside a computer is encoded in bits and, at a slightly higher level, bytes. This data - whatever it represents - can be encrypted using a block cipher mode of operation such as CBC. If you have a char* you have a direct representation of the bytes though; a char in the C-language is actually just a byte, not a character.
With higher level languages or constructs - e.g. Java - you may not be able to directly access the internal encoding. It may also be that the internal encoding is not specified or standardized. In that case you need to perform the encoding and decoding yourself. So you first encode to a byte array (char[]in C) and then encrypt the result. Encoding of entire objects to a byte stream is referred to as "serialization".
If you think you are wasting bits then you have two options: either you use a smaller encoding for the data to encrypt (e.g. UTF-8 instead of UTF-16 or 7 bit ASCII instead of 8 bit ASCII), or you can compress the result (e.g. zipping it) before encryption. Note that the length of the ciphertext is dependent on the length of the plaintext. That means an attacker may be able to extract information from the size of the ciphertext.
Sometimes you need the encryption result to be of the same format as the input. In that case you need to encrypt using Format Preserving Encryption. This is a special branch of cryptography that requires quite a bit of knowledge and is probably best used by experts and scholars on the subject.

As said, DES is insecure if just because of its small key size. If you want to use it to successfully protect data for confidentiality you should only use it as building block for (3-key) TDES (also known as triple DES, TDEA, 3DES, DES-EDE etc).


Necessity of Fermentation Temp Control while Brewing in Rural Paraguay?

Question: I'll be brewing for my second time in Paraguay and have a quick question in regards to the summer conditions down here. How important is it to maintain the fermentation yeast temperature range after primary fermentation? My main issue here is the heat (I live in a small hut with no AC). Also when it comes to bottling, if it's in the high 80s will that simply equate to a faster carbonation time or it may also potentially have negative effects?
Answer: It could be OK, the majority of flavour compounds form in the first three days of primary.
You will almost certainly get faster carbonation, and you may get a slightly more ester rich aroma but I think you should be fine. I bottle in summer in the UK around 25C/77F and I get good carbonation and no ill effects. I conduct primary at 17C to 20C in the cellar, but bottles get stacked up in the kitchen.
Answer: You might also consider brewing beverages that are ok to brew in warm temperatures, i.e mead. I've had great results with mead at 75°F, using Lalvin wine yeast for white wines, especially Prise de Mousse, the champagne yeast. Plus, you probably have unique honey available to you there.
Answer: A suggestion I got from a home brewer when I was concerned about heat (not as high as yours) was to drape an old t shirt around my carboy and keep the bottom of the shirt in a bucket of water. The capillary action wets the shirt and evaporation will cool things down. Not an accurate way to control temperature but it should be somewhat cooler.
Good luck!


up to which capacity an OTG capable phone could support external usb storage?

Question: My phone (Sony Xperia M C2005) supports up to 32 GB SD Card and has OTG capability. I want to know up to which capacity it could support flash memory as external USB storage.
Comment: Compared to capacity, I think the current it draws is a much more important factor...
Comment: @AndyYan CZ88 128GB is the largest I've reached so far.
Comment: @iBug Hard drives go much larger than that, and there are plenty of successful examples around the web of hooking hard drives with OTG. Hard drives do draw much more power, so like I said, if OP is concerned with maximum capacity, he should also be aware of the current it will potentially draw.
Answer: TL;DR As long as you have a large flash drive.
Theoretically, infinite, as long as there's something to drive it.
There are many factors that affect this. One major being power supply. Your phone can't probably power a hard drive (well, tablets do, though), so flash drives are best for OTG. There are some special cables that have an extra "power cord" that you can plug into another power source, rendering it able to power up a portable hard drive. A flash drive usually doesn't exceed 64GB (although Kingston made a 1TB one, but who wants to buy it?), so a common upper limit for OTG is 64GB. (128GB models do exist, but fairly rare)
Another factor is filesystem. Modern Android phones support the FAT family, but only one of them supports volumes over 32GB. If you want to use a drive larger than 32GB, you have to format it into exFAT. No NTFS support on Android and EXT family will simply fail without extra tweaks.
So in all, you can use drives of any size with OTG, as long as your phone can handle it.
Answer: It always depends on the Mobile Device, never on OTG Cable. Because my ASUS T00J mobile supported 500GB External Hard Drive through OTG, but not other phones. It needs the certain amount of energy as well to get connected. and usually all the phones get connected till 64GB flash drive...


proper time for changing timing belt

Question: Is it recommended to wait until it reaches the recommended mileage  before changing the timing belt even if it is already 3 or more years
Comment: Better to know the specifics of your vehicle before making a suggestion.  Certain vehicles (eg Volvo) I would advise my customers to replace before the mileage "expires".  Also, most maintenance schedules recommend a CHECK of the timing belt at regular intervals (perhaps every 25k - 40k miles) to potentially discover a fraying, cracking, teeth chipped,  or worn belt before any issues arise.  Some vehicles (notably Subaru) use the back "smooth" portion of the timing belt to drive the water pump.  This makes *both* surfaces critical in these applications.  Beyond this, there is only opinion.
Answer: The condition of a rubber timing belt will deteriorate both through wear during use and through exposure to the elements (temperature cycles, salt, rain etc) which is why both the mileage and the age matter.
It's difficult to be more specific without knowing the exact make and model of the car, as SteveRacer points out some cars such as Subaru's have a belt configuration that means they are more sensitive to belt aging than others but I can't think of one where I wouldn't recommend changing the belt on whichever condition occurs first age or mileage. A timing belt failure can easily scrap most engines so while it's often an expensive job it's far cheaper than an engine rebuild/replacement so ignoring it is false economy.
Comment: And usually in most manuals it mentions the "use" of the vehicle  - change more frequently for lots of stop / start driving or mostly motorway use etc.
Comment: @SolarMike yep.. the "jolt" the belt receives when starting the engine or from sudden changes in rpm means that frequent, short journeys can be more wearing then infrequent longer ones, another reason for the timed aspect to the change schedule.

proper time for changing timing belt


Read-only field - Label visible in edit mode

Question: I had created a custom field on one of the objects and its type is selected as currency. In the field level security i had made is as ready only for all the profiles. When i create a opportunity for which this field is created i see the label visible but not the input field box when i go into the display mode after creation i see the label and the input field box. how do i stop the label from display in create or edit mode just like the formula field?
Answer: If you are a system admin, check your profile settings. If "EditReadonlyfileds" checkbox is checked on settings, it allows you to edit all read only fields. You can login as actual user and test it.
Comment: I have checked it and cloned to a copy. the issue is the label being displayed in display mode which doesn't happens when the field is a formula type...so how to make a field label not visible for a read only field which is not a formula ?


Internal memory almost full

Question: I've got Samsung Galaxy J5 with Marshmallow 6.0.1 and in this phone I've got internal memory of 8 gb and a memory card of 8gb. I've stored every little picture and audio in external memory and many apps too but the system memory takes up 3.28gb and the apps take 3.83gb and there's no space left after that. I don't know what to do I don't even have many apps and games in this phone. Please help me on how to save up internal memory space without having to move everything to external memory?!!
Comment: Welcome to Android Enthusiasts! Have you already checked with our [insufficient-memory tag-wiki](https://android.stackexchange.com/tags/insufficient-memory/info), which contains a lot of first-aid and other helpful links?
Answer: Adopt SD card so it becames like internal storage, but backup data from SD first. Also you can disable (uninstall updates) for google apps you don't need.

Internal memory almost full


How to verify a US based company?

Question: I have been recently hired by a US based company to code on their platform.
Living in a different country, how can I verify that the company is legit and how do I find any information regarding the company.
Like in my country the government has a portal where I can check the registration details of the company including the registered office address, board members, paid up capital etc.
I have requested the registration information of the company and they have provided me with the registration file number.
But I cant find an official site, where I can cross verify them.
Any help would be appreciated.
Comment: Do you happen to know which US State the company resides in?
Comment: yes, State of Delaware
Answer: To verify a US corporation, limited liability company or similar, check with the Secretary of State for the state in which the business is registered.  Most of them will have a "Business Portal" link where you can get this sort of information.
If the company is not incorporated or have a similar legal status, then check the business license department in the city that the business is in.

How to verify a US based company?


Jacob and Jesus

Question: As a Muslim it is my understanding that Jesus was born to Mary(P.B.U.T) and the person who took care of him was Zakaria. However, I am reading a book on Jesus (written by a Christian) that claims it was Jacob who took care of Jesus. It never mentions Zakaria. I wonder how and where this relationship between Jacob and Jesus came into existence.
Comment: Also, Zakariyya (as) took care of Maryam (as), not Jesus (as).
Comment: Correction. The man who raised Jesus in the Bible was named Joseph and is (also) not the prophet Joseph (Yusuf).
Comment: You should note though, the Jacob who raised Jesus in the Bible is *not* the prophet Jacob (Yaqoub). They just shared the same name.
Answer: According to bible script, I think it is Joseph the carpenter who help Marry (A.S) to raised Prophet Jesus (A.S). Bible mention that Marry was engaged with Joseph and then the miraculous birth of Prophet Jesus happened. For the records, Holy Qur'an  doesn't have any record for the Marry (A.S) marriage and for Joseph the carpenter.
Don't mix this Joseph with Prophet Joseph (A.S). They are different people.
Comment: Salam and Welcome to Islam.SE, we suggest suggest you check out our help-center.  Please note, that the bible is not a source of Islam, nor a source for answers here on this sit.
Comment: Ok ... But Brother asked for both account and I tried to tell him with my little knowledge. Anyway, will be careful next time.
Comment: As Bible is not source of Islam, but is honored in Holy Quran. "Ask those who read the book revealed before thee." Sura 10:94. Whether or not it is prescriptive, it shows some respect to Scripture which was written before Holy Quran.

Jacob and Jesus


Is The Phoenix part of Jean's mind or a separate entity?

Question: In X-Men: The Last Stand, the Phoenix is shown as a part of Jean's subconscious that needed to be "walled off". Is this the case in the comics as well, or is the Phoenix a separate entity that takes Jean over?
Comment: I don't have canon sources in front of me, but as I recall, the Phoenix force was a separate entity that took over Jean's mind for a time in the comics.  It destroyed a Star for fun and that's what landed Jean in hot water with the Shi-ar
Comment: The issue has been the subject of multiple retcons, so there probably is not one definitive answer.
Answer: It's an entity, and an overpowered one as is.
According to the Phoenix Force's entry on Marvel's website,

The Phoenix Force is an immortal, indestructible, and mutable manifestation of the prime universal force of life, derived from the psyches of all living beings.

Basically, the thing exists as is and does not need a physical body, but for various reasons (notably as an workaround when it can't be in its natural state due to some kind of a jinx) it can take over a human, Jean Grey being the main one, though alternate realities have her daughter Rachel Summers to be the Phoenix.
It's worth underlining that the "entity takes over" thing might not be quite what one would think: in its first appearance, the Phoenix Force didn't just pick Jean Grey because he liked redheads and boomed itself over her consciousness. Jean was dying, and they sorta made a pact where it resurrects her by duplicating her body. Jean being quite mentally strong, they happen to share it.
First appearance (Uncanny X-Men #101, 1976):

Long story short, after Jean is taken over by a villainous psi, Phoenix lashes out and becomes Dark Phoenix. Jean dies, is resurrected, dies, is resurrected, as comics go... Phoenix takes over other hosts, but is always linked to Jean.
In the most recent Phoenix-related comic series I can think of (Phoenix Resurrection: The return of Jean Grey), Jean

 was overrun by the Phoenix presenting her an other life than her own, but eventually breaks out of it thanks to the X-Men actions. She then completely lets go of the Phoenix, never to allow it to be with her again.

Until Marvel writers decide to scratch that and make an other run, of course, but that's another question.
But, Jean had indeed "phoenix traits" before encountering it.
Which would basically be why the Phoenix Force chose her as its host.

Jean's astral avatar was part phoenix, still from Marvel's website:

a part of her mind manifested as a Phoenix raptor (prior from her first encounter with the actual Phoenix)

Her powers are pretty much infinite even without adding Phoenix Force juice to them. I guess an almighty entity wouldn't want a lower-class mutant (or even worse, a regular Homo sapiens!) as its host.
Comment: Also, of course, the Phoenix was around while Jean was dead. The Rachel Summers who traveled backwards in time to the main Marvel universe/timeline (pja Earth-616) at least appeared to be a host of the Phoenix for a while. And, of course, in *Avengers Vs. X-Men*, the Phoenix Force bonded with 5 of the X-Men, then tried to bond with Hope (the first mutant born after the "No More Mutants!" thing). Unless those have been retconned. And, I suppose, one could choose to believe that the Phoenix was really some part of Jean even then.
Comment: And, just to complicate matters: After the pact you mention, Jean's actual body went into stasis to heal, and the Phoenix continued Jean's life. The Phoenix duplicate of Jean was the one in the original Dark Phoenix saga (*X-Men* 129-137, from the late 1970s), and dies. Years later, Jean's body finished healing, and the real Jean came back. She somehow picked up the memories of the duplicate at some point, I believe. I don't believe she merged with the Phoenix Force again before she died in the 2000s, although there were occasion hints that she could or had.
Comment: Back in the original day, the storyline read like it was entirely Jean Grey.  The Marvel Universe had solid precedent that humans had staggering potential for power (Rick Jones, the High Evolutionary) waiting for them in the evolutionary future.  With her mutant psionic brain, it only made perfect sense Jean made the leap to nigh-ultimate power at this extreme critical moment.  Only later did the writers take their big retcon hammer and anvil to the whole deal to create this Entity idea.


How to apply 2 shopping cart price rules in magento

Question: I wanted to know that how can i apply 2 shopping cart price rules at the same time. For example i have a coupon which will allow you discount of 15% (any cart amount ). Secondly if the cart total is still more then Rs 750 then we will allow a discount of rs. 50 also. Please help.
Thanks
Answer: Create a shopping cart price rule for fixed amount discount having condition of

subtotal equal or greater than 750

It will be automatically applied when the cart subtotal is equal or more than 750.
Create 2nd shopping cart rule for discount coupon code. And apply that code on shopping cart.
Both the rules will be applied.


Electromagnetic force between neutron and proton

Question: In a nucleus, two protons exert an electromagnetic force on each other and if they are able to break the electrostatic repulsion barrier they exert nuclear force on each other. I know that neutrons are effective in binding the nucleus as they effectively break the electrostatic barrier as they have no charge and thus are easily able to exert a force on the protons to bring them together.Is the electromagnetic attractive force between the neutron and proton also a contributing factor?Does a neutron exert electromagnetic force on a proton as well or only nuclear force,in an atom?
Comment: Protons and neutrons are made out of quarks, so we could say that in a sense there is electro-magnetic field interaction; but the superposition of the electric fields from the neutron's quarks is so small because positive quarks' field will cancel negative quarks' field, so overall, there will be almost no big enough electromagnetic interaction in the sense of Coulomb force (practically 0). But the field superposition will be there none the less, even if the sum is 0.
Comment: There is no electromagnetic attractive force between the proton and the neutron. There are strong forces, however. The neutron sits between two protons and glues them together. It also increases the distance between the two which helps in reducing the electromagnetic force between two protons.
Comment: Related: [What is the strong nuclear force between proton and neutron in a deuteron?](http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/30107/what-is-the-strong-nuclear-force-between-proton-and-neutron-in-deuteron)
Comment: Another way of looking at the E&M force between neutrons and protons is via their anomalous magnetic moments.  So there is no coulomb interaction between them but they do interact magnetically.
Answer: The quarks within a nucleon, proton or neutron, are charged, but the ones in the neutron add up to over all charge 0.

The nucleons though are complicated because of the strong interaction which has a sea of quarks antiquarks and gluons within the nucleon bag, so there will be a charge distribution within the neutron which in some models is calculated to be negative in the center ( so positive on the ouside), so it would be a repulsive force with the proton charges.
What saves the day is the magnitude of the coupling constants. The strong QCD force is of order 1, the electromagnetic of order 1/137 and the multiple vertices in the inevitable many body problem Feynman diagrams  will reduce the effect by orders of magnitude.
The spin effects will be more visible, in the way the protons and neutrons are organized within a nucleus, and has to be taken into account in the nuclear models, individual magnetic moments adding up to the magnetic moment of a nucleus.
Answer: There will be electromagnetic force in between, the protons will repulse each other, but the strong force is so strong that it keeps the protons and nutrons inside the nucleus.
Answer: Well the protons and neutrons mostly interact with the strong force. However the neutron has a magnetic moment so this can cause neutrons and protons interact electromagnetically. However this is going to be very very very weak compared to  strong force. The protons are also held together by strong force. Electromagnetism mainly interacts between protons where there is a charge of +1.  Neutrons mostly exert nuclear force or strong force between other protons and neutrons(nucleons).


Matching a Pantone Solid Coated colour with a Metallic Pantone perfectly?

Question: I'm creating some packaging for a drinks company, I'm trying to match the flavour colour used on the bottle with the bottle cap which is metallic. The problem is i'm not getting a good match using pantone premium metallics. Just wondering if its possible to mix the flavour colour (Pantone 2995 C) with a Pantone Silver to get a perfect match? Any advice welcome...Thanks
Comment: Did you try calling the printer? They have the best answer for sure. If I would be in this situation I will send a mail with exactly the same content of your question to the printer. The answers you can get here are hypothetical, knowing that then you will have to give that directive to the printer.
Comment: Yeah ive sent them some questions, i'm waiting for them to come back to me with some solutions, their in China though so just a waiting game....thanks for youre input.
Answer: I don't think it will work very well.  You will probably be disappointed with the result.
Metallic litho inks aren't very shiny/lustrous to begin with. If you mix it with regular ink, you will reduce the lustrous effect even more.  Basically you'll dilute the metallic particles in the ink.
Perhaps look into another printing technology - such as hot foil printing.
Comment: Yeah spot on, thats what i was thinking, metallic are specifically mixed with flakes etc. Yeah foils could be the way to go...Kurz or foilco maybe, dunno if they have those in China though. hmmm.
Comment: Thanks for your'e reply...got me thinking about other options


How to study the effect of sustained exercise and sport on well-being?

Question: I´d like to make a little case study about the impact of including regular weight training in life. I know one man who is going to start to excercise regularly and I have an opportunity to talk with him regularly (for example every month) for about six months, maybe longer. Is there any other option of making this research than via regular interview with direct questions about his view of the impact of sports in his life (for example question: What do you think you´ve learned from training?)?
I mean - If I will watch for example self-esteem and it will grow, how can i know it grew thanks to sports and not because of any other change in his life? How to relate any watched cathegory to the regular training?
Answer: Just to give you a few ideas. The ideas are ordered from better to worse. They are also mostly ordered from serious and expensive research to less serious and cheap research.
Randomised control trial:
If you are really interested in causality, you would randomly allocate a large group of people to either and exercise or one or more control conditions (e.g., no exercise; alternative activity; etc.) . You would then use various well-validated measures to measure the dependent variable of interest. For example, if you are interested in self-esteem, then you might get self-report measures using something like the Rosenberg Self-esteem scale. An even better study would measure a range of related dependent variables (reports by others of well-being; physical health; other life outcomes of interest).
It sounds like you are interested in longitudinal trajectories of this effect, so you'd want to measure these outcome variables on multiple occasions (e.g., baseline, 1 month, 2 months, 6 months, etc.).
You'd probably also want to do some kind of intention to treat analysis. Basically, there are two questions. What is the effect of the intervention for those who actually follow the protocol, and what is the effect of the intervention for those who are assigned to it but may or may not actually engage in the exercise?
One sample longitudinal study:
A simpler design would just be the same as above but without the control group. You'd have more threats to causal inference, but nonetheless, results would still be informative to the effect of exercise on self-esteem.
Single participant longitudinal study:
It seems like this is what you are talking about. There are many issues with this design. Do the results generalise to other people? Is the increase due to other factors in the person's life? That said, if this is just for hypothesis generation or exploring the ideas, it might be interesting.
Qualitative versus quantitative measurement:
Quantitative measurement of self-esteem is generally better if you are trying to test formal hypotheses about change.
Qualitative methods (e.g., asking open ended questions) is often more useful in generating hypotheses and explanations for the obtained results. That said, much more subjectivity can enter interpretation.
As an aside, it is interesting that the vast majority of infomercials selling exercise equipment rely on the cheapest and worst design: qualitative single observation measurement (i.e., anecdotes).
Answer: Take a multispectrum approach. These are a few relevant tests I could think of that would give you a general view of the person's mental and physical health.

Personality test. Myers Briggs, MMPI, Revised NEO Personality Inventory and Kinsey Scale. eHarmony personality test advanced version available to subscribers (multiple times different accounts), iq test, clinical psychology: ask him to describe the happenings in his life major positive and negative events.
Sociocultural views polling.
Sensory analysis. Huntington's disease test.
Mental Health Assessments.
Physical Changes. fMRI, x-ray, Fitness and Sleep monitoring, EEG testing, physical measurements, blood testing, tissue specific genomic testing.


I have a vintage set box with the kids on it. Should I continue collecting era appropriate pieces to refill it?

Question: I have an early vintage set box (with the boy and girl on the cover). I've been collecting vintage pieces in order to restock the box with the hope the complete vintage set will be desirable on the collectors market. Am I correct in my thinking? Or am I just working on a project with an imagined goal?
Comment: which set?  where are pictures of the box?
Comment: All good.  Good luck with finding the rest of the pieces.
Comment: @chicks I just went out to the garage to take a pic. Sadly, a pic is not possible at this time. My cubbie hole has been rendered inaccessible due to holiday piling, shoving, and I doubt a pic will be possible until the new year. It's  a small set, has the kids and a blocky house on it.
Answer: Given the quality of LEGO bricks, I would argue that an original box filled with the correct amount of the correct bricks from the same time period as the box is INDISTINGUISHABLE from an opened box containing the original bricks after use, and as such I would recommend you continue your effort. Just make sure that the bricks are indeed from the correct period (i.e. Colors are right, LEGO vs. Pat. Pend. Vs no markings, hollow underside or tube or lattice, etc.). The only way for a collector to be absolutely sure of the authenticity of the box and its content is to buy a factory sealed box, which are extremely rare given the age.
Answer: If I were you, I would start by looking at the price the full set is selling because I have been surprised recently to see box I was expecting to be vintage treasures selling at very reasonable prices...