How do I hide chat on minecraft?

Question: I don't want to see offensive messages on public server chat? Is there a way to stop it? I don't want too see strong language!
Comment: Related http://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/44762/how-can-i-set-up-a-language-filter-for-minecraft
Answer: This can be done in the multiplayer settings.  Hit escape to bring up the menu, then click Options.  On the Options screen, click Multiplayer Settings.  Then click the Chat: button to set it either show commands (which could be useful in some instances) or just be hidden.  And you're done.  New chat messages from other players won't be shown to you.  Note that you won't be able to chat either.
Comment: This answer does answer the title question, however. (Upvoted)  Ask an unspecific question, get an unspecific answer.
Comment: I think he was asking on how to hide vulgar languages etc., not how to hide chat completely. (Downvoted)
Comment: @aytimothy why do you think it's appropriate to downvote an answer based on what you think the question is asking? Especially when there isn't anything explicit in the question to support your assertion.
Comment: @MBraedley: I am using Minecraft v1.16.201 that I purchased form the Windows Store. Unfortunately, I don't see the same options at all. For example, when I hit ESCAPE, I don't have "Options". I have "Settings". Then, in these settings I have nothing related to "Multiplayer settings". Do you know what is going on?
Answer: Go to "Settings" -> "Multiplayer settings" and click on "Chat shown". You can set it to commands only or fully hidden. I would recommend you to set it to "Commands only", since you can still type commands. Also, some servers allow you to ignore players by doing "/ignore ". That can also be useful.

How do I hide chat on minecraft?


Magento 2.1 redirects in Observer after payment

Question: I'm creating a payment method gateway, that requires after place order in the frontend, redirects to the custom controller that I've created.
I created an observer sales_order_payment_place_end to catch payment order and redirect to my controller, but this doesn't work and redirect to success page.

Edit:
I'm trying to build a payment gateway like PayPal (place order and redirect to its page, login and pay, and finally redirect to store to sucess page)
Answer: You don't need to sales_order_payment_place_end event for redirection.
I donot thin you have build the payment module properly,please follow
https://github.com/magento/magento2-samples/tree/master/sample-module-payment-gateway
 or
Follow the article https://www.classyllama.com/blog/how-to-create-payment-method-magento-2


What is the probability the two-headed coin is chosen from among the coins that came up heads?

Question: An urn contains 3 coins; 2 biased with $P(H) = p$, and the other is a two-headed coin. All the coins are tossed at once.  If a coin is selected from those that came up heads, what is the probability that it was the two-headed coin?
Answer: Hint: For each $n\in\{0,1,2,3\}$,

calculate the probability $P_n$ that there are exactly $n$ heads.
calculate the probability $Q_n$ that, if $n$ heads have appeared, then the two-headed coin is chosen

Then the probability that the two-headed coin is chosen overall is
$$P_0Q_0+P_1Q_1+P_2Q_2+P_3Q_3.$$
(Do you understand why?)
Comment: very helpful thank you
Answer: HINT: The possible results are three heads, with probability $p^2$; two heads and a tail, with probability $2p(1-p)$; and one head and two tails, with probability $(1-p)^2$. That gives half of the information embodied in the following table:
$$\begin{array}{rccc}
&3\text{ heads}&2\text{ heads}&1\text{ head}\\
\text{Probability}:&p^2&2p(1-p)&(1-p)^2\\
\text{Probability of choosing a head}:&?&?&?
\end{array}$$
You should have no trouble completing the table. How can you use these six numbers to calculate the desired probability?


Validation of a new block

Question: A new block is added to blockchain if more than 50% of miners say that it is solved correctly. Does it mean that all other miners also do the same proof of work by including the same transactions as in the broadcasted block, and same nounce, as used by the miner of latest block?
Answer: Each full-node checks the validity of blocks. Checking the validity of a block is indeed done by repeating all steps of building that block and checking for adherence to all consensus rules. If a block infringes any rule, a full-node will consider the block invalid, ignore the block, and ban the node that sent it to him from his peers for 24h for sending invalid information.
As each miner should be running a full-node to stay abreast of the current blockchain-tip, either all miners or no miners should consider a block valid (as long as they are in agreement on the consensus rules that apply).
Comment: Just want to confirm one thing, I suppose the block validation is done after the block was mined by a miner, but once the block is rejected by the maximum full nodes, then the blockchain with that block leading is ignored and a new valid block is mined by another full node, and then the valid block will lead the blockchain, until another block is added above it.
Comment: I'm not sure that I understand your question, but every node _independently_ checks validity of blocks and ignores invalid blocks, invalid blocks don't get created usually.  If they do get created  they don't get seen by most of the network, as they don't get relayed.
Answer:
A new block is added to blockchain if more than 50% of miners say that
  it is solved correctly.

wrong. you can not caclulate the percentage. you can either accept block to your chain or reject it
Comment: If other nodes / miners in the network simply accept or reject it, then there is suppose to be a threshold whether in number or in percentage that decides, whether block is to be added to chain or rejected.
Comment: you can not caclulate the percentage. you can either accept block to your chain or reject it

Validation of a new block


Unique path in a directed graph

Question: I'm designing an algorithm for a class that will determine if a directed graph is unique with respect to a vertex $v$ such that for any $u \ne v$ there is at most one path from $v$ to $u$. I've started by using BFS (breadth-first search) to find the shortest path from v to another vertex u, and then running BFS again to see if an alternate path can be found from v to u. I think this is too time consuming however. Does anyone have any hints as to how the solution can be found with a shorter execution time?
Answer: Use BFS to work backwards from v, flagging each vertex as 'visited' as you go.  If you ever hit a vertex you've previously visited, your graph doesn't have the uniqueness property.  Otherwise, it does.
Answer: Look at the Max Flow Min Cut algorithm.
Answer: It's a simple modification of any graph traversal: if you find an edge to a previously marked node, then you have multiple paths.

Unique path in a directed graph


Do I need a visa to connect in Thailand on separately book tickets?

Question: I am arriving in Thailand (BKK) on the 23rd at 8.00 am by Air India and leaving at 17.00 hrs on China Eastern to Guangzhou. Do I need a visa to collect my checked in baggage? I don't intend to go outside of the airport but both tickets have been booked separately.
Comment: What is your nationality/what passport are you traveling on?
Comment: If you need a visa for Thailand, then most probably yes. Air India and China Eastern belong to different alliances, so it is unlikely that your baggage may be checked through. However, for a definitive answer, you should contact Air India. Also check if you can avail yourself of a visa on arrival (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_Thailand#Visa_on_arrival_for_normal_passports).
Answer: Yes, you need a visa for this, because you will need to leave the international area, collect your bags, and check them in for your next flight. This is because you have purchased separate tickets from airlines in different alliances.
Fortunately, Indian citizens can apply for a visa on arrival at BKK.
From Timatic:

Nationals of Bhutan, India, Romania and Ukraine with a
    normal passport traveling as tourists can obtain a visa on
    arrival at Bangkok (BKK and DMK), Chiang Mai (CNX), Chiang
    Rai (CEI), Hat Yai (HDY), Krabi (KBV), Phuket (HKT), Samui
    Int'l (USM), Sukhothai Int'l (THS), Surat Thani (URT) and
    Utapao (UTP) for a maximum stay of 15 days. They must have a
    confirmed return/onward ticket with a departure within 15
    days from arrival date, 1 recent passport photo and at least
    THB 10,000.- per person (or THB 20,000.- per family). Their
    passport must contain at least 1 unused visa page.

Note that you must show you have 10000 baht (~ 22483 INR), but the cost of the visa on arrival is 2000 baht (~ 4497 INR). It must be paid in cash and in baht, so you will probably need to use an ATM on arrival. To save a few minutes filling out paperwork at immigration, you can apply online for the visa on arrival and bring the printout with you.


Do chromosomes uncoil in interphase II?

Question: During interphase II, there is no S phase in which DNA replicates. However, in this stage, do the chromosomes remain wound? Or have they unwound into chromatin form, and recondense during prophase II?
Answer: In many cases the chromosomes do undergo some dispersion, they do not reach the extremely extended state of the interphase nucleus, this all happens in telophase -I. It would be correct to refer to the stage between two meiotic divisions as interkinesis which is generally short lived.
The prophase-II is initiated immediately after cytokinesis, usually before the chromosomes have fully elongated.
Answer: According to the diagram found on this site, chromosomes do unwind during Interphase II of meiosis.
Sparknotes, although it's not necessarily a reputable scientific source, seems to concur:

Once the nuclear envelope has re-formed after the first meiotic division, the cell enters a short interphase. This interphase is not as specific as mitotic interphase; during meiotic interphase, chromosomes may decondense as the cell waits to proceed with meiosis.

Finally, this website provides a clarification in stating that there is no true "interphase" between meiosis I and II (I guess true interphase would be marked by replication of DNA which, as you state, does not occur):

The period between meiosis I and meiosis II is sometimes called "interphase," this is confusing because it is not a true interphase such as that seen between rounds of mitosis because no synthesis occurs (all chromosomes have two chromatids throughout this stage).
Answer: Interestingly, the very own existence of an interphase II between meiosis I and meiosis II is highly questionable, and a search on Pubmed found an article by Vernet et al., according to which interphase-II exists only in male meiosis.

Do chromosomes uncoil in interphase II?


Re-checking with another airline at Incheon

Question: I am taking a flight from Bangkok to Incheon with a connection time of 2 hours. I have 2 bags. I need to go through immigration, pick up my bags and re-check again with Delta Airlines.  Do I have enough time to do this?
Comment: This is not enough time. Are you sure you need to recheck your bags?
Comment: I have 2 separate tickets n Airlines do not check bags thru unless in a single ticket x Anyways appreciate your response x now I know x merci
Answer:
Do I have enough time to do this?

Impossible to predict with any certainty but it's likely you will miss your connection.
Delta closes the check in for international flights 1 hour before departure https://www.delta.com/us/en/check-in-security/check-in-time-requirements/international-check-in
Incheon Arrival procedures are here: https://www.airport.kr/ap_cnt/en/arr/entmap/t1/ent_t1.do
So you have only one hour to

get off the plane
Clear immigration
Collect your baggage from the carousel
Clear customs
Go to the Delta check in counter and bag drop.

Baggage time and immigration/customs time vary a lot and are notoriously difficult to predict with any certainty. It certainly helps if you have status with the airline, fly business, or have some other means of getting priority treatment.
If all things work really well, than you have a chance of making it, but the odds are 50/50 at best.
Please note that if you miss your connection, you are entirely on your own and may have to buy a completely new ticket on the spot. As far as Delta is concerned you are a "no show" by your own fault.
I strongly recommend against this. Rebook, if any possible
Comment: And if the second flight is not the last on a ticket, then all subsequent flights on that ticket may be cancelled as well. If you are self-connecting, either take a flexible fare, or have as much time as possible between the flights, especially if the second flight is expensive.


SSL redirection

Question: I want to redirect one of my domain hosted in a domain provider to a different server where I have a Tomcat based application installed. I have purchased SSL for the server with Tomcat installed. The redirect works fine, however in the browser I see the message "server's certificate does not match the url".
Comment: Unless is its a wildcard cert if it was issued for www.you.com its not valid on somethingelse.you.com, whats the cert domain and the tomcat domain?
Comment: Do you mean you use an internal redirect? If so, you need to have your certificate installed in the first receiving server. If you do an external redirect: do you still get the error going to that server directly?
Answer: What this warning means is, that the CN of the certificate being presented by the server during SSL handshake does not match the URL the user requested.
To be honest I am not quite sure how you network configuration should change.
As a first comment, you could just ignore this, since you already purchased the certificate.
But if the configuration on the client side is stricter (i.e. to validate the host name, your server would not be accessed as "untrusted").
I suspect that the certificate is issued to an IP and not an FQDN.
If it was issued to an FQDN and your server's IP (you redirect the request to) resolves to that FQDN you would have no such issue.

SSL redirection


2,4GHz Spectrum Analyzer with wireless card

Question: I am new in the world of Radio Technology and I would build an idea with Bluetooth 4.0 and want to see the frequency for debugging. So I will need a Spectrum Analyzer, but won't buy one of these. Bluetooth 4.0 works with 2,4GHz and that is now my question. Can I build a Spectrum Analyzer with a wireless antenna and maybe setting the interface in passive mode for this kind of action?
Answer: Probably not. Most radio equipment of this sort only gives access to the demodulated-and-decoded signal.
The requirements for being an (uncalibrated) spectrum analyzer of this sort are essentially the same as being used for software-defined radio. So if any particular cheap consumer hardware is usable in the way you want, we would have heard of it as possible SDR equipment. And I haven't heard of any repurposed Bluetooth (or WiFi) devices.
What you can do, which is still cheaper than a proper spectrum analyzer, is get a hobbyist SDR device that covers 2.4 GHz, such as the HackRF One or bladeRF.
In any case, the primary thing that you lose by not using a real spectrum analyzer is calibration — being able to determine the true power of an observed signal at any frequency. The lower-cost equipment will still be able to show you the presence or absence of a signal, and its strength relative to other signals at the same frequency.
Comment: An even cheaper option, since the OP is interested specifically in the 2.4GHz band, would be the ~$120 [Ubertooth One](https://greatscottgadgets.com/ubertoothone/) from the creator of the ~$300 HackRF One. It's an SDR transceiver with 1MHz bandwidth [which probably isn't sufficient for WiFi but likely is for Bluetooth, certainly more than enough for BLE!].
Comment: @natevw-AF7TB for BLE, Bluetooth (AFAIK) doesn't do the wide frequency hopping. For most other bluetooth modes, you'll need a lot more bandwidth. (more even than for WiFi, which uses 12, 20 or 40 MHz wide channels, whereas bluetooth hops through 1MHz wide channels over a lot of the ISM band; see my answer)
Answer: In addition to what AG6YO said in his answer (No, a network card is a network card and is built to find networks, not "spurious" power of another standard) – Bluetooth as is is a protocol especially hard to capture with a spectrum analyzer.
The reason is very simple: Bluetooth works by jumping through separate, small 1MHz wide channels within a large overall bandwidth (up to 79 MHz IIRC). That hopping happens at up to 1600 hops per second.
Now, there's specific exceptions to that in the Bluetooth standard: Bluetooth LE only uses a single 1MHz bandwidth – but you only mention you're using Bluetooth 4.0, which is the most recent release of Bluetooth, and contains all low- to extremely high rate-modes.
At the same time, classically, spectrum analyzers work by "tuning" in sequentially on small parts of the spectrum, measuring the power that's passing through a narrow filter (the narrower the filter, the higher the spectral resolution) for a short duration of time, moving on to the next frequency and so on.
Hence, for sweeping spectrum analyzers (SAs), the intercept probability of bluetooth is really low. Without a lot of luck and/or  experience, you won't be able to configure your SA to even stand a chance of noticing bluetooth, let alone debug it.
So, a spectrum analyzer is clearly not the only device you'd need for bluetooth debugging. As Kevin pointed out, the right choice will be an SDR – something that continously samples what signal is on the air over a large bandwidth, giving it to a computer, so that software there can either generate a visualization of all the spectrum at once (as opposed to SAs, which visualize spectrum in small steps, but with more precision / higher dynamic range), or even try to decipher the Bluetooth communication.
If you can't restrict how much your Bluetooth system will jump (in general, you can't), however, you will need to cover all of the aforementioned 80 MHz at once. Which means you'd need an SDR device with at least that bandwidth – and that's just the beginning of your fun, since actually processing let's say 100MS/s isn't going to be easy on any hardware, and even just getting these samples out of the SDR device into e.g. a PC is a costly feat.
For the 1MHz-only Bluetooth variants, however, the devices mentioned (or basically, most SDRs that cover 2.4GHz) could do the job – a hackRF, the ubertooth, a lot of the more costly USRPs etc.
That still leaves one question open: What is it that you want to debug? Bluetooth is still a complex standard, and though you can capture a few modes and even extract the raw digital packets from the analog signal, my blind guess is that this kind of approach to understanding what happens between your bluetooth devices might be a bit too low-level to actually help you advance, unless you already know well enough what you're looking for.


How does the acceptance rate affect papers decisions?

Question: Some conferences do maintain a percentage for the number of accepted papers to the total number of submissions.
Does this mean some good papers will be inevitably rejected just to maintain the acceptance rate? How conference chairs deal with the acceptance rate? or it is not related at all to the acceptance/rejection process.
Comment: I think the _total number_ rather than the _percentage_ is the more common constraint.  There is only so much time and space at the conference.
Comment: Interesting question! In my field I have not heard of such limits at conferences. In most cases it seems many drop out during th eprocess so volumes end up "thinner" than expected. I look forward to see the answers to your question.
Answer: Yes.
But it would be more accurate to say that conferences have a fixed budget of papers that they can accept, due to scheduling constraints.
At most computer science conferences, every accepted paper is presented in a 20-minute talk; for a three-day conference with no parallel sessions, this practice imposes an upper bound of about 50 accepted papers.  Of course larger conferences have parallel sessions, but program committees generally do not have complete freedom to add another parallel track, partly because of space constraints at the conference venue (which is planned long before the submission deadline), and partly because major changes to the conference organization usually require input from the community.
So inevitably, if a conference attracts a large number of strong submissions, it must reject some of them.  This is generally considered better than the alternative, which is that the conference must necessarily accept some bad papers.
This answer is specific to computer science.
Comment: As theoretical computer scientist, I am required to give the following ritual answer: *What's a "poster"?*  More seriously, poster sessions also have physical constraints.  Moreover, people who publish in conferences with poster sessions are fond of reporting which of their papers were accepted for _presentation_, which leads others to ask what percentage of submissions were accepted for presentation, which brings us back to square one.
Comment: What about posters?
Comment: Many conferences in CS have gone to poster mode, but that doesn't change the fact that space and time limitations determine the total capacity, rather than quality.
Answer: In very large number of conferences, acceptance rate is not really important since authors are paying high for getting their works published. In general, acceptance rate is used as a metric to claim/show reputation and popularity to encourage authors for more submission. I came a cross situations where authors write to the program committee to inquire if the paper is in the scope or not and they are encouraged to submit. Once submitted, they get quick rejection. By doing so, the conference is getting lower acceptance rate which is likely collecting more credits for future. The more submission, the better visibility, the less acceptance rate and higher competition for the next year. I personally believe the acceptance rate is more like a business trick to tempt researchers to submit. Because, if the conference organizers are bound to certain number of publication, they can simply - in plain language- announce the number of papers acceptable for publication rather than saying, we have only 10% acceptance rate. By putting rate, authors are encouraged to submit. If the limit exceeds, the organizer rejects the likely good works and the authors of rejected paper have an excuse that the acceptance rate was very low and nothing wrong with my paper!!! So try harder for next year and this circle goes infinite. Who wins? orgaznier ;)


How do I completely remove Symantec Endpoint Protection?

Question: I've tried to uninstall through the app but it asks for a password from the "Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager administrator". I'm an admin for this account on the Mac so I should be able to remove everything manually. How do I do that? I'm specifically using version 14.0.1.
Comment: [Uninstall Symantec Endpoint Protection for Mac](https://support.symantec.com/en_US/article.TECH132120.html)
Comment: Tyson, weird. You just posted that link but when I go there, I get "Sorry, we can't seem to find that page." Are you logged in using your support account? I had this problem with a bunch of pages I found using Google.
Answer: Looks like there's a tool that will completely uninstall Symantec software from your Mac. This page describes how it works. Here's the direct download link to RemoveSymantecMacFiles.zip.
In case the first link goes away, the easiest way to run it is to control-click on the download, choose "Open with..." -> "Terminal" and follow the instructions. You'll need to have admin privileges on the Mac but you won't need the "Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager administrator" password.
Comment: Confirmed. This works.


L-sit on paralletes vs floor

Question: I am a beginner who wants to L-sit, should I begin the appropriate progressions on the floor, or on parelletes (I have both)? Paralletes seems slightly easier. Thanks.
Answer: L-Sit Progression
Foot Supported L-sit
Sit down on the ground with your legs straight in front of you. Put your hands next to your thighs and push yourself up (straight arms!), leaving your feet on the ground. Hold for the assigned time period.
One-Leg Foot Supported L-sit
Do a foot supported L-sit, but raise one of your legs up from the ground.
Tuck L-sit
Sit down on the floor with your legs bent (about 90 degree angle at the knee, 45 degree angle at the hip). Put your hands slightly in front of your butt and push yourself up (straight arms!).
Advanced Tuck L-sit or One-Leg L-sit
Either tuck less than before (extend your legs outwards), or stay tucked and extend only one leg straight like in a real L-sit.
L-sit

Common Issues
I can't push up! Are my arms too short? Should I use paralletes?
No, your arms are not too short to do an L-sit. You just lack the ability to push down through the shoulders (depress the scapula), or to compress enough (see here for a demonstration of maximum compression)). The foot-supported L-sit from the progression will help with the former, compression work will help with the latter.
My upper leg cramps up and hurts! What do I do?
Massage it out and continue onwards. It'll get better with time.
Comment: Not to contradict your point on compression, but notice the guy doing on the video has a long arm/short torso/long legs body type. Also, he supports himself elevated on the fingers which is almost like using paralletes, only that the latter is safer.
Comment: Unless you are missing an arm or have a serious medical condition, your arms are long enough to do a L-Sit.
Comment: Sure, my point was that parelletes are not necessarily useless at some stage of training for some people.

L-sit on paralletes vs floor


Temperature gauge between half and 3 quarters?

Question: I have a '98 Oldsmobile Intrigue and after about 20 minutes of driving the temperature gauge is between one half and 3 quarters. I was wondering if is this a problem? The coolant is at the right level, and it looks brown. The car has almost 170k+ miles on it. Thank you for your time and any maintenance tips.
Comment: Are you asking because it was normally on the 1/2 way mark and now its higher?  When you say brown, is it like clear water brown or like milkshake brown?
Comment: Before today it would go a tiny bit above half, now it goes to halfway between half and 3/4, the coolant is pretty dirty i bought the car like that
Comment: Well, the definition of _dirty_ is pretty important here.  Normally when "brown" and "coolant" get put together you start to worry about oil in the coolant, and more importantly how oil got there.  Does it look like Yoohoo?  Pictures?
Comment: No its like a clear brown, definetly no oil in there
Answer: What stands out the most is that the coolant is brown. I have never heard of a coolant that is supposed to be brown. They are generally a yellowish green. It sounds like you need to replace the coolant, and then see where your gauge goes. For a specific car, without a specific temperature label, it's hard to know if that reading is too high or not. Perhaps if there is a red band on the gauge, if you're getting close, then it is too high.
As to how to change the fluid, first thing, look up what kind of coolant your car calls for. The Chilton's, or Hayne's manual will have that, as well as your owners manual. Get the right kind of coolant your car was designed for.
I don't know about your car in particular, but generally speaking, older cars have a drain valve / petcock on the bottom of the radiator. Put the car front end on jack stands (NOT just a floor jack, jack stands) and put a large bucket under the drain. With the engine cold, open the valve and let the coolant drain into the bucket. After it slows, remove the lower radiator hose to drain the remainder of the fluid. Once it stops, replace the hose, close the valve, and fill the radiator with the new fluid. Your manuals will tell you how much coolant your car needs.
One thing about about this. Your coolant is really dirty, and there will still be pockets of that nasty fluid inside the engine after you drain it this way. Hopefully one of our experts here can suggest a way to cycle that nasty fluid out so you only have to do this replacement once.
NOTE: That bad coolant is very poisonous to pets and animals. It's also very sweet so it tends to be irresistible to them. It should be bottled and taken to a recycling facility for proper disposal. You can even pour it into the jug you bought the new fluid in.
Comment: Good advice.  You beat me too it - I was worried about oil.  I've done a flush by running distilled water through the engine, but not sure if that's the _right_ way to do it.
Comment: @JPhi1618 how is that done? Disconnect the bottom hose at the engine end and keep putting fresh water into the radiator as the engine runs? Or is it something else?
Comment: Oh, I just filled with the recommended amount of only water (so it was full) and let it run for a while after getting up to operating temp.  Water was not clear when I was done, so it flushed something.  It made sense to me and I didn't waste any $$$ VW G12 coolant.
Comment: Did it run hotter because it was just water?
Comment: Maybe it did, but I don't remember.  It was only 10 minutes in the driveway.  It wasn't all put together so I didn't drive it.


Using right fingers for Classical Guitar Arrangements

Question: What the best method to use the right or true fingers for any Guitar Arrangements?have you any tips?
Comment: Fingertips...? Are you considering fretting fingers or plucking fingers?
Answer: Your question is not very clear.  What do you mean by "right"?  What are "true"?  And, lastly why are you referring to arrangements?  Previous answers offer some advice on left hand fingering and right hand plucking techniques but are you asking how to determine authentic arrangements of the "fingerings" or voicing of the song?  If so this needs to be answered on a case by case basis.
I would point out that there are competing schools of thought of the "correct" way to use both the left and right hands.  And I am of the opinion that "schools of thought" can become cult like.  I'd advise you to use common sense principles if you are NOT a beginner.  If you are a total beginner you need a simple book to teach basics.  Free stroke and support stroke for right hand are both valid and with practice the free can produce good tone and volume.  As for left hand "on the finger tips" vs.  slightly flattened.  I'd say that the common sense approach is that you do not want to accidentally dampen string that would resonate with the notes being played if at all possible.  This leads to "on the tip" approach.  But in reality you will need to adjust with the situation.
Also, with the right hand use of index, middle, and ring should start as soon as possible.
Other good books to add to Mel Bay series are Carcassi and Pepe Romero, also for beginners Parkening's book.
Answer: The whole idea is to make it as easy as possible.  So with the left hand (fretting), as much as possible, you're going to use one finger for each fret - first finger on first fret, second finger on second fret, etc. for all four fingers, in whatever key you're playing in.
As for the right hand, there are several options.  I would get an intro book on classical guitar to see - Mel Bay makes a decent one.  In Flamenco (which I play) we often use a rest stroke, where your thumb stays on the 6th string, your first two fingers alternate playing notes, and they stay on the strings after they play.  (This is easier to see than explain - I would look at these videos on You tube - "Flamenco rest stroke" or just "guitar rest stroke".). Mel Bay also has a Flamenco book if you want to learn more.
Hope this helps!
Jamie


Transfer function of a bandpass filter

Question: I have to calculate the symbolic transfer function of this bandpass filter. I tried to do the calculations, but I would like, if it were possible, to check them out and let me know if the transfer function is well calculated.
Comment: @Carmen González: Mathematica (or other symbolic mathematics tools) *do* solve it analytically, i.e. as (intermediate or final) results you get mathematical expressions; and BTW you don't need Mathematica; you can use e.g. sympy, a free symbolic maths package for python. See my post.
Comment: If you have access to Mathematica, simply input the various node equations, and let that tool compute the transfer function.
Comment: @analogsystemsrf I do not have access to Mathematica and I have to deliver the resolution of this exercise done analytically. I did not want to make a bad figure in front of my teacher. Could you please check if the calculations are correct, please? Thanks in advance for your attention
Answer: The formula you have derived using KCL and KVL looks correct. However, the result you have obtained is completely untractable in the sense that you cannot distinguish poles, zeros or gains. In other words, your transfer function is a high-entropy form whereas a low-entropy form is desirable. The expression kindly offered by Subas Thomas using Mathematica approaches this format but it can still be further factored in a simpler form. To show how to proceed, we need to invoke the fast analytical circuits techniques or FACTs. To use these techniques, you determine and combine all time constants of the circuit when studied in two different configurations: stimulus reduced to 0 (\$V_{in}=0\;V\$) and the response (\$V_{out}\$) is nulled despite the excitation presence. To proceed with this example, I have recaptured your circuit using the labels you have put in your original schematic:

By looking at this circuit, I can count two energy-storing elements \$C_1\$ and \$C_2\$, this is a second-order circuit. The denominator of the transfer function will follow the form: \$D(s)=1+s(\tau_1+\tau_2)+s^2\tau_2\tau_{21}\$ in which \$\tau_1\$ and \$\tau_2\$ are the time constants involving \$C_1\$ and \$C_2\$ when the excitation is 0 V and \$\tau_2\tau_{21}\$ in which \$\tau_{21}\$ is the time constant associating \$C_1\$ while \$C_2\$ is replaced by a short circuit.
The numerator is a bit more complex and can be written in a generalized manner as: \$N(s)=H_0+s(H_1\tau_1+H_2\tau_2)+s^2H_2H_{21}\$ in which the \$\tau\$ are those of \$D(s)\$ and the \$H\$ are simple dc gains determined when \$C_1\$ or/and \$C_2\$ are replaced by short circuits. When you assemble all these elements, you have your transfer function in a well-ordered form.
Let's start with the dc gain, \$H_0\$. Open all caps and solve the transfer function considering infinite-gain op amps. To simplify the analysis, I can consider the network made of \$R_4\$ and \$R_5\$ as a divider \$k_1\$ equal to \$k_1=\frac{R_5}{R_5+R_4}\$ and biasing the (+) pin with \$k_1V_{out}\$. If you analyze the circuit for \$s=0\$, the gain \$H_0\$ is 0. Now, replace \$V_{in}\$ by a short circuit (reduce the excitation to 0) and "look" at the resistance driving \$C_1\$. In other words, you inject a current source \$I_T\$ across \$C_1\$ terminals and determine the voltage \$V_T\$ you obtain. The ratio of these two variables leads to the time constant \$\tau_1=0\$ considering infinite open-loop gains for the op amps. If you do the same for \$\tau_2\$, you should find \$\tau_2=C_2\frac{R_2R_3k_1}{R_1(1-k_1)}\$. The second time constant uses \$\tau_2\$ and \$\tau_{21}\$. For this last one, replace \$C_2\$ by a short circuit and determine the resistance driving \$C_1\$ in this mode (the excitation is still 0 V for the study of \$D\$). If you do the maths ok, you should find \$\tau_{21}=R_1C_1\$. This is it, we have our denominator: \$D(s)=1+s\tau_2+s^2\tau_2\tau_{21}=1+sC_2\frac{R_2R_3k_1}{R_1(1-k_1)}+s^2C_2\frac{R_2R_3k_1}{R_1(1-k_1)}R_1C_1\$. For the numerator, we have \$H_0\$ which is 0. We know that if we short \$C_1\$ to get \$H_1\$ then we also have 0 in the output. And if we short \$C_1\$ and \$C_2\$ to get \$H_{21}\$, we will also get 0. The only gain we have to determine is when \$C_2\$ is replaced by a short circuit. You can go with a separate schematic as in here to obtain the result:

And if you do the maths ok, again considering infinite open-loop gains, you should find \$H_2=\frac{1}{k_1}\$. Cool, we have the entire transfer function now since \$N(s)\$ is a single-element expression:
\$H(s)=\frac{s\frac{C_2R_2R_3}{R_1(1-k_1)}}{1+sC_2\frac{R_2R_3k_1}{R_1(1-k_1)}+s^2C_2\frac{R_2R_3k_1}{R_1(1-k_1)}R_1C_1}=\frac{\frac{s}{\omega_z}}{1+\frac{s}{\omega_0Q}+(\frac{s}{\omega_0})^2}\$
If now factor the term \$\frac{s}{\omega_z}\$ in the numerator and \$\frac{s}{\omega_0Q}\$ in the denominator then rearrange, you obtain a true low-entropy transfer function defined as:
\$H(s)=H_{00}\frac{1}{1+Q(\frac{s}{\omega_0}+\frac{\omega_0}{s})}\$
in which: \$Q=\sqrt{\frac{R_1C_1}{C_2(\frac{R_2R_3k_1}{R_1(1-k_1)})}}\$, \$\omega_0=\frac{1}{\sqrt{C_2C_1\frac{R_2R_3k_1}{(1-k_1)}}}\$ and \$H_{00}=\frac{1}{k_1}\$
When all of these terms are captured in a Mathcad sheet, you obtain the below graphs

Of course, it will be tough to show these equations to your teacher : ) However, the takeaway is that obtaining a transfer function for a pure numerical application is ok - regardless of the method. However, what truly matters is the low-entropy well-ordered form which tells you what terms contribute gains, poles and zeros. Without this arrangement, there is no way you can design your circuits to meet certain goals. To my opinion, the FACTs are unbeatable to obtain these results. As a student, I encourage you to acquire that skill because once you have it, you won't go back to the classical approach. You can discover FACTs further here
http://cbasso.pagesperso-orange.fr/Downloads/PPTs/Chris%20Basso%20APEC%20seminar%202016.pdf
and also through examples published in the introductory book
http://cbasso.pagesperso-orange.fr/Downloads/Book/List%20of%20FACTs%20examples.pdf
Good luck with this circuit!
Comment: Very nice and complet answer
Answer: If you don't have access to Mathematica:
you can use sympy, a free symbolic maths package for Python:
I've prepared an annotated step by step solution for your problem.
You can use it to verify your (final or intermediary) results and adapt it for other problems:
# Deriving the transfer function of a Band Pass filter
# using symbolic mathematics package sympy:

from sympy import *

# (1) Define symbols (s, R's, C's and V's)
s = Symbol('s')
R1, R2, R3, R4, R5 = symbols('R1 R2 R3 R4 R5')
C1, C2 = symbols('C1 C2')
Vin, Vout, Vx, Vy = symbols('Vin Vout Vx Vy')

# (2) Define generically impedance of C:
def Xc(C): global s; return 1 / (s * C)

# (3) Define impedance of C's:
X1 = Xc(C1)
X2 = Xc(C2)

# (4) Define currents:
i1  = (Vin  - Vx) / R1
iC1 =         Vx  / X1
i2  = (Vx - Vy  ) / R2
iC2 = (Vy - Vx  ) / X2
i3  = (Vx - Vout) / R3
i4  = (Vout - Vx) / R4
i5  =         Vx  / R5

# (5) Solve nodal equation system:
solvedEqSystem = solve([
        i1 - (iC1 + i2), # equation (1)
        iC2 - i3,        # equation (2)
        i4 - i5          # equation (3)
    ],
    [Vout, Vx, Vy]
)

# (6) Divide expression for Vout by Vin to get the transfer function
#     H(s) := Vout(s)/Vin(s)
H = solvedEqSystem[Vout] / Vin

# (7) Collect same powers of s:
H = collect(H, s)

# (8) Show final result:
print H

Result:
C2*R2*R3*s*(R4 + R5)/(C1*C2*R1*R2*R3*R5*s**2 + C2*R2*R3*R5*s + R1*R4)

Answer: Your answer looks correct. Here is the screenshot of the Mathematica calculations:

And the input form of the code:
ExpandDenominator[First[Subscript[V, 0]/Subscript[V, i] /.
   Solve[{(Subscript[V, i] - Subscript[V, x])/Subscript[R, 1] ==

   Subscript[V, x]/(1/(Subscript[\[ScriptCapitalC], 1]*s)) +
             (Subscript[V, x] - Subscript[V, y])/
     Subscript[R, 2],
         (Subscript[V, y] -
      Subscript[V,
       x])/(1/(Subscript[\[ScriptCapitalC], 2]*s)) ==
           (Subscript[V, x] - Subscript[V, 0])/Subscript[R, 3],
         (Subscript[V, 0] - Subscript[V, x])/Subscript[R, 4] ==
           Subscript[V, x]/Subscript[R, 5]} /.
 Subscript[R, i_] :>
         1/Subscript[G, i], {Subscript[V, 0], Subscript[V, x],
       Subscript[V, y]}]]]

Transfer function of a bandpass filter


Where do these magic runes come from?

Question: I am encountering runes a lot in campaigns, like protection runes at doors, but have not seen any source on how to create them. What is the source of such magic? Is it even possible to play a rune mage?
Comment: Do you want official Paizo rules for rune magic or *any* company's rules for rune magic?
Comment: I would perfer the official rules since in our campaigns other rules are not allowed. But for other readers a hint to the other rules would be beneficial as well, i guess.
Answer: Paizo has no official concept of "rune magic," rather both arcane and divine magics can create glyphs, runes, sigils, and symbols that have various effects. For some examples,

Sorcerers and wizards, as well as anyone with the rune domain, can cast the explosive runes spell, which creates runes that, well, explode when read.
Clerics, inquisitors, oracles, and witches can cast the glyph of warding spell, which harms those who attempt to bypass it.
Clerics, oracles, sorcerers, witches, and wizards can cast the symbol of death spell, which kills those who are too close to it when it is triggered (typically by looking at it, reading it, touching it, or passing over or under it).

The rune domain includes many of these sorts of spells, and would be quite fitting for a character who is supposed to be particularly interested in runic magic. But ultimately, that character would just be a regular spellcaster who favors certain spells that share a theme, not someone who uses a special or unique type of magic.
For a more unusual sort of rune, there are the sin runes, which are basically a special sort of magic item, of which a character can have only one and can activate it with a command word as a standard action. They can be created using the Inscribe Rune item-creation feat, which is available to any spellcaster with caster level 3rd, but the prices of the runes are much too high to consider for a character of that level (the cheapest, by a lot, are the rune of the inscrutable one, at 36,000 gp and the rune of resistance at 45,000 gp; the next cheapest is the rune of razing at 91,000 gp and the rest are all above 100,000 gp). Thus, Inscribe Rune is probably only worth considering at quite high levels, and only if a couple of people in the party would otherwise pay full price for a sin rune.
Finally, third-party book Ultimate Psionics includes a variant on page 142 for treating their psionics rules as rune magic, by simply renaming things. It's a rather interesting take that I enjoy much more than the above.
Comment: I appreciate your precise answer!  Thanks!
Answer: There are a variety of rune based spells in pathfinder. I'll list a few (though this is not a fully comprehensive list).

Glyph of Warding
Fiery Runes
Arcane Mark (particularly with Instant Summons)
All the Symbol Spells (i.e. Symbol of Death)

There is also a cleric domain called Rune Domain that will let you create "blast runes" and at 8th level let you attach other spells to your blast runes.
Additionally (though this does not create an actual rune but does make a magical trap) there is a Word (from the UM wordcasting system) that will allow you to attach word effects to someone else opening an object called Lock Ward

Where do these magic runes come from?


Draft Beer or Draught Beer (In Canada)

Question: There's a few threads on here about draft vs draught, but I couldn't find an answer to my question.  As a preface, I'm Canadian, and know that draft (US) and draught (UK) are generally interchangeable, but I'm not sure which is correct in Canadian English.  As an example for a document we use draft, for a leak in the window we use draught.
For what it's worth, I've written draft beer.
Comment: This might be better suited for https://alcohol.stackexchange.com/
Answer: According to the Canadian Oxford Dictionary (2nd ed.)*, which is the standard dictionary used by the majority of Canadian editors:

draft beer noun (also esp. Brit. draught beer) beer drawn from a keg, not bottle or canned.
draught beer esp. Brit. var. of DRAFT BEER.

As both spellings are listed, both versions are correct—in other words, either can be used.

This is mostly the same thing as colour versus color. In Canada, colour is the more common spelling, and what would be used in lieu of any specific guidance to the contrary, but color is not actually wrong.
For example, here are those respective entries:

colour (also color)
color etc. var. of COLOUR etc.

Notice how the primary spelling of each word is indicated. If you are looking at a secondary spelling, it will say it's a variant of the all-caps primary spelling. Similarly, if there is nothing shown in all caps, the secondary spelling is listed second. (Also, only the entry for the primary spelling will include actual definition text.)
So, while both draft beer and draught beer are acceptable in Canada, the more common spelling (according to the official dictionary) is draft. Barring specific guidance to the contrary, that's the version that would normally be used.

* Note that I cannot provide links to online entries for this dictionary. I have transcribed these entries from the physical copy on my bookshelf.

Draft Beer or Draught Beer (In Canada)


Fix wobbly storage shelf

Question: I just built this storage rack for my basement out of 2x4s and plywood. It is relatively stable but does have some front to back wobble. More than I would like. Is there a way to increase the stability of the unit? I've read something about adding diagonal braces but am unsure how exactly that would work. Any help would be much appreciated.
Answer: Most things we build are rectangular, and rectangular structures are prone to racking, which is illustrated in this drawing of a deck, but the same problem affects your rectangular shelves:

As you see a structure can collapse due to racking if the joints flex without tearing apart.
There are various ways to counter racking.  Other shapes, like triangles and trapezoids, are not prone to racking.  In the picture, by adding knee braces, you attach the rectangle to triangles, which are not prone to racking.
Another way is to make joints that are not as flexible, it looks like the vertical boards in the front of your shelf are attached in a way that won't flex and allow your shelf to rack left to right.
Another way to prevent racking is to attach a sheet over the rectangle.  For example, if you attached plywood over the sides of your shelf unit, there's no way it could rack front to back.  The sheathing doesn't have to cover the whole side.  You could add gussets - just a triangle of plywood in the four corners - and make the shelf nice and solid.
Comment: Thanks for the detailed response! So just cutting some plywood triangles and screwing them over the four corners on each side would prevent the racking?
Comment: Just to make sure I understand, you mean like this? https://imgur.com/a/UF5LAqt
Comment: @agentbanks217 - exactly.  The wider they are the stronger the bracing effect.  Thickness won't matter much at all.
Comment: Yes but I am not sure from your picture but it doesn't look like the base is in the same plane as the posts, so you may not be able to screw them right on.  If that's the case you could just make four 6" strips of plywood to span from front post to back post, and attach one at the bottom and on at the top on each side.
Answer: I would consider

Joinery
Bracing
Tethering

You probably can't retrospectively improve the joinery but it is worth noting that some methods of fixing pieces of wood together result in a more rigid joint. A well-made and glued mortise and tenon is one of the most rigid joints, more so than say a single screw.
Adding diagonal bracing can make a very large improvement, This can take the form of struts, tension-cables or sheets.
Simply bolting the top rear rail to the wall behind it (perhaps through a shim or solid spacer) will in many cases stop any forward and backward wobbling. If the shelves are free-standing in the middle of a room, your options are much more limited - but in a basement maybe a tall post secured to both shelving and to a joist might be feasible.
Comment: @agentbanks217: Ideally, both back corners to opposite front corners. Though one is often enough. An alternative is across the corners of the sides.
Comment: Thanks for the reply! Where would the diagonal bracing go?

Fix wobbly storage shelf


Roofing insulation nightmare

Question: We bought a house built in 1972. It has cathedral ceilings and tongue and groove throughout. The house is u shaped and the tongue and groove is not only the ceilings but the north and south walls, thus the roof extends down and encompasses the exterior walls. None of it is insulated and ventilation is poor. Needless to say our power bills are atrocious! It is time to re-roof/side our home and we want to fix the problem. We want to keep the tongue and groove on the inside. We had a mold re-mediator come and inspect and fortunately we don't have much of a problem. The roof is leaking in a few spots causing some moisture. I am looking for the best way to fix all of these issues at one time. My husband thinks he is capable but I won't let him on the roof at 72 years old...HELP!
Comment: Don't let him on the roof! Unless your husband is amazingly fit for his age, this is a job for a team of young professionals.  Falling off a roof can lead to life changing injuries. Getting up to inspect is one thing, but working for extended periods is another.
Comment: Where is this--state and city?
Answer: I have nearly the same situation, although we have 1" of rigid foam insulation over the T&G. We could have added insulated roof panels when the roofing was replaced, but it was very expensive. The materials aren't cheap, and further it requires replacing the fascia to accommodate the increased thickness.
It's not an easy project. Imagine replacing the roof. Now imagine something much harder. I wouldn't attempt it without help, and I'm a lot younger than 72.
It's possible you could sneak some rigid insulation and a layer of decking in when the roof is replaced, and cover it with extra wide drip edge to avoid replacing the fascia. It's not going to be great insulation, but compared to none at all it's a significant improvement. The seams between panels should be taped to provide a vapor barrier. If the warm, humid interior air can't leak through to the cold exterior and condense, you don't need ventilation.
https://buildingscience.com/documents/digests/bsd-149-unvented-roof-assemblies-for-all-climates
If you are looking to save some money on heating and cooling costs, I'm almost certain there are more cost effective things you could do. In my case, it was more cost effective to take the money that would have been spent to install insulation on the cathedral ceiling, and use it instead on a more efficient HVAC system.
Better still, a house built in the 70s is probably full of air leaks. This is something you can fix yourself, with very little money, without the hazard of climbing on a roof. It's also probably the only job where a can of Great Stuff is legitimately a good idea.
Answer: For a 1970's era home (I own one, and with a T&G ceiling), you are losing far more heat to air infiltration (air leaks) than heat radiation (insulation leaks). Look up one of the free on-line manual J calculators and play with the numbers. You'll find that, for instance, a loosely built home (like the 1970s) improved to a tightly built home will save 4x as much on heating as going from R5 to R50 insulation in the ceiling (the model that I was looking at for my own home).

Roofing insulation nightmare


Debugging with FF3 in VS2008

Question: I am using Firefox 3 to debug my ASP.NET applications in Visual Studio 2008. How can I configure either FF3 or VS2008 so that when I 'x' out of Firefox I don't have to hit the stop debugging button in Visual Studio? (The behavior you get with IE)
Answer: My solution to this has been to manually attach the debugger to the relevant browser and the aspnet_wp process. When I'm finished, I simply detach all.
Answer: Extending upon Raithlin's suggestion, Ctrl+Alt+P is a useful shortcut to bring up the Attach to Process window.
Answer: I have the same thing. I assume you're working with Cassini (the integrated web server).
I've yet to find an answer to that (I just go back to VS and press Shift+F5 to stop the debugger), but I can tell you that if you check the "Edit and Continue" box in the project's properties (web tab), your web server will stop and restart whenever you run your application.
It doesn't solve the whole of the problem, but it suffices for me.

Debugging with FF3 in VS2008


Lighting Candles when eating Out on Friday Night

Question: If one is going out to eat (such as at a simcha), should Shabbos candles be lit at home or at the hall? I heard that some rabbis do not allow candles to be lit at the hall in the shul but instruct whomever is making the simcha to advise their guests to light at their host's home where they will be sleeping.
Comment: Welcome to Mi Yodeya, and thanks for bringing your question here! I hope you get good answers, and that you also look around and see what else around here is of interest, perhaps starting with our dozens of other [tag:candle-lighting] questions. Please consider [registering](https://judaism.stackexchange.com/users/signup-unregistered) your account, to [enable](http://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/44557/why-should-i-register-my-account) more site features, including voting. Also, I suggest [editing your profile](http://judaism.stackexchange.com/users/edit/current) to give yourself a name!
Answer: Aish.com says one should light at home, so long they will remain lit until they return - or alternatively stay home until it is dark before going out to eat.

What if we won't be home for dinner Friday night? Light your candles
  at home if you will be returning to sleep there, as long as they will
  still be burning when you return home. Otherwise, light your candles
  at home and stay until after dark before leaving for your dinner
  "out." (If you are afraid of candles burning unsupervised, simply
  light them in a sink that you won't be using during Shabbat!)

Rav Doniel Schreiber says that one should light in their own home, however if that is not an option they can light in their hosts home.

Laws of Candle lighting When One is not in His or Her Own Household
Eating Out   One who eats at a friend's house but sleeps at home is
  not considered to have left one's own household.  If a couple eats the
  Friday night meal at a friend's house they do not fulfill their
  obligation of nerot Shabbat with their hosts.  They must light their
  own candles..  Similarly, children who are benei mitzva ate the Friday
  night meal at a friend's house, but will return home to sleep, fulfill
  their obligation of nerot Shabbat with the candles which were lit in
  their own home.  (Radiance of Shabbat, pp. 8-12, in the name of Rav
  Moshe Feinstein zt"l.)   If one is not eating at home, where should
  the Shabbat candles be lit?  Their  hosts have already fulfilled the
  primary obligation of nerot Shabbat when they lit in their household.
  Therefore, it is preferable that the guests light in their own home to
  fulfill their own primary obligation.  However, some benefit from the
  light of the candles must be derived before the candles burn out.  If
  lighting in their own home is not an option, the wife may light in
  their host's home even with a berakha since she has contributed
  secondary light to her host's household (Radiance of Shabbat pp. 11-12
  in the name of Rav Moshe Feinstein zt"l).
Answer: I asked a notable Orthodox Rav in the 5 Towns area, this question on Shabbat.
He stated that, technically, one can do it either way. His explanation.
The problem that often occurs is that the host's or eating place is not walking distance from your home. Once, you light the candles, you have accepted Shabbat, so you cannot drive. Thus, people drive to the shul or host's home, and once they arrive, light candles there.
The rav explained that another option is to light al t'nai - on condition - that one is lighting now, but states that he has not yet accepted Shabbat restrictions until the time for Shabbat has arrived. I don't understand all the details about this, but, I gather the concept is that this would allow one to light at home yet still drive to shul.
Comment: The question is not about accepting Shabbos, but about where (at home or at the host's home) should candles be lit when one eats elsewhere but will be returning home.
Comment: I think I answer the question in explaining that the places where you can light depends on where or how you accept Shabbat.
Comment: The question also involves if you can light at home when eating out even when it does not matter where you accept Shabbos. For example, eating next door but not returning home until the candles have burnt out. Of course, this assumes that one puts the candelabra in the sink or uses closed bulbs with oil for safety.
Comment: Do you have more info or sources on lighting at shul? I've only heard about lighting where one will sleep or where one will eat. I'm wondering if it's OK to light at shul if I would neither sleep nor eat there.
Answer: It has become standard practice (and as such it attains the full strength of Jewish law) for women to accept Shabbat with the kindling of Shabbat candles, unless the woman specifically had in mind while lighting the candles that she wishes to delay the acceptance of Shabbat for a short period of time.1
This unspoken stipulation is often employed by women who wish to drive to the synagogue for services after they light the Shabbat candles—especially on Yom Kippur eve when traditionally all women attend services.
Chabad.org
Comment: Since you cite chabad.org, you should put in the actual link and the relevant quotation. In any case, that does not answer the question.
Comment: Not very relevant, but I'm pretty sure it's more traditional for women to attend services Yom Kippur morning; I think polishe Chasidic women don't  go for kol nidrei. Please someone correct me if you know otherwise


Magnifying glass cursor

Question: I have had a quick look on this site but haven't found anything to help me (unless my search terms were poor). Anyway I came across a post a while back saying that for the cursor on zoom, a magnifying glass with the plus sign inside is the best way to go. However from what I've seen in the past and what I personally find to be the most visually appealing, is with the plus sign to the right of the glass. I was just wondering what your thoughts on this are? Which is better? Or is there an alternative way I'm missing that just dwarfs the first two examples?
Comment: Whoever voted to close this question:  I understand why you might have considered this opinion-based (and I thought about closing it too!), but upon reflection I think there is an objective, usability-based approach to answering this question which I have outlined below.
Answer: Think about what your users need
The magnifying glass is a very well understood idiom for zoom, so it's probably the right cursor to use.
The use of inset (plus on the inside) vs offset (plus to the right) will depend on the size and use of the cursor.  For example:

For large cursors the inset cursor is visually simpler than the offset cursor, so option B below is better than A.  For small cursors, the plus sign is hard to discern for the inset version, so the offset cursor is typically used in this situation (i.e. C is better than D):

The inset cursor provides better affordance of precision for users because it's reasonably clear that the focus of the icon is inside the magnifying glass.  For the offset icon, it's unclear where the 'tip' of the icon is.  So for detailed work, the inset icon is more suitable:

...so by focusing on user needs rather than what is most visually pleasing, you're more likely to arrive at a more usable choice for your app.

Magnifying glass cursor


Can i charge a lipo nano tech battery over imax b3 charger

Question: Can i charge a lipo nano tech battery over imax b3 charger. 2650mah 35/70c 3s is the battery
Comment: What do you mean "Lipo nano tech battery"? Do you have a part number for the battery and charger, or better, can you link to the datasheet for each?
Comment: From first looks, the imax b3 charger only outputs ~0.7A for 3 cells, which means it's going to take quite a while to charge a single 2650mAh Lipo. Hobbyking claims you can charge the 2650mAh 35C 3S battery at 8A, so it might be worth while to look for a charger that can supply more current.  A safe rule of thumb is to charge at 1C for Lipos, so 2.65A here.  iMax B6 might be a good charger to look at.
Comment: @JMarple - sounds like a good answer, so could you put it in an answer?
Comment: Will imaxb3 charger damage that battery.
Comment: On stack exchange, it is better to edit your question to add information requested in comments, rather than adding more comments. Comments are for helping to improve questions and answers, and are distracting, so we try to keep them to a minimum. If all of the information needed to answer the question is contained within it, the comments can be tidied up (deleted).
Comment: I mark you as off topic. @booth
Answer: Disclaimer: I have never actually used the B3 so trust this only 90% ;)
The iMax B3 is specifically marketed towards 2/3 cell Lipo Batteries and reviews suggest it works ok, so the B3 should be fine to use. As I mentioned in the comments, it can only supply 0.7A for 3 cells, so a 2.65Ah battery is going to take a very long time to charge.  Can the B3 damage the battery?  As long as you dont get faulty hardware (which is true for all chargers), and the fact you certainty won't have overcharging problems, it'll be completely safe.
I suggest investing in the iMax B6 as you can charge at a much faster rate and those will last you a decent amount of time (I've had mine for 2 years no problem)


Show error messages on top of form ? Or beside each individual fields?

Question: Which approach do you all think is better?
Answer: Next to each field, highlighting each field in a distinctive color or with an easily distinguishable mark, so it's self evident where the problems are, especially on a long form. Also place a help icon next to each failure providing more information in case it's needed by some users. In addition, do not forget to preserve the data that's correct in between failures.
Answer: I put a summary of the errors at the top of the form that gives details as to why a field value is incorrect such as "Field1 is Required and must be an integer". I also add visual indicators on the field that errored, typically an asterisk next to the field or changing the color of the input area.
Answer: It will always depend on the situation, but...
I prefer to do a non-obtrusive indicator (* perhaps) beside each field and show more detailed messages or a summary message at the top (or bottom) of the form with longer forms.
If the form is shorter, you can probably get away without providing a "summary". I changed my mind on this, you should probably provide a summary.
Answer: Identifying the field with an error is important, definitely.  However, a summary at the top letting the user know that there are errors below can be helpful for a long form. Additionally, you can put more details in the top summary section that you might not have room for below.
Answer: We supply a small indicator next to each field with an error.  When you roll over the indicator a tool tip gives you what needs to be fixed.  We then also give a summary at the smae time so they can see all of the errors they need to fix.


Why do companies have a fiscal year different from the calendar year?

Question: There are many companies that have their year end occur on dates other than December 31.  What are the advantages to this?
Answer: I know some companies or entities have large incomes or expenses at certain times of the year, and like to close their books after these large events.  For example where I work,  the primary seasonal income comes after summer, so our fiscal year ends at the last days of October.  This gives the accountants enough time to collect all the funds, reconcile whatever they have to, pay off whatever they have to and get working on a budget for the next year sooner than a calendar year would.
There also might be tax reasons.  To get all of your income at the beginning of your fiscal year, even if that is in the middle of the calendar year would allow a company to plan large deductible investments with more certainty.  I am not to sure of the tax reasons.
Comment: And sometimes, your company goes public in March and just starts from there...
Answer: I can think of a few good reasons:

A company, especially public, usually wants their fourth-quarter earnings to be the strongest of the year. That ends each fiscal year on a high note for the company and its investors, which helps public sentiment and boosts stock prices. So, travel agencies and airlines usually like ending their year in October or March, in the lull between the summer and winter travel seasons with a large amount of that revenue falling within the company's fiscal Q4. Oil companies sometimes do the same because fuel prices are seasonal for much the same reasons.

The downside of the above approach is that you make or break your entire year on your last quarter, which can cause problems for companies with scheduled dividends. Usually that's not a huge concern, as dividends are based on profits, so if there aren't any profits there aren't any dividends. However, in such cases a bad Q4 which also sends the entire company's year into the red is a double-whammy for stock prices. If this is a concern, a schedule with strong Q1 and Q3 earnings, with decent Q4 (second or third-best season) and a "dump" in Q2 (weakest season) is typically the best overall bet.

December is a really bad month to try to close out an entire year's accounting books. Accountants and execs are on vacation for large parts of the month, most retail stores are flooded with revenue (and then contra-revenue as items are returned) that takes time to account at the store level and then filter up to the corporate office, etc etc. It also doesn't tell the whole story for most retail outfits; December sales are usually inflated by purchases that are then returned in January after all the hullaballoo. As a result, a fiscal year end in January or even February keeps the entire season's revenues and expenses in one fiscal year.

The downside of the above is that a February fiscal year-end normalizes your December earnings. Investors expect bad Q1 reports for most retail; consumers are looking at credit card statements and tightening belts. Conversely, investors expect huge calendar Q4 numbers; to lump some of the bad news of returns and lower revenues in with your best sales quarter may cause you to continually fail to meet speculator's expectations which will cause your stock to be devalued relative to competitors.
Answer: My grandfather owned a small business, and I asked him that very question.  His answer was that year-end closeout is very time-consuming, both before and after  EOY (end of year), and that they didn't want to do all that around Christmas and New Year.
Answer: Every day is the end of a year
The Earth is at the same point in its orbit from where it was a year ago every single instant of every single day.
Choosing which one to observe as "the end of the year" (calendar or fiscal) is completely arbitrary. 31 December as the end of the year was adopted by Julius Caesar when he introduced the Julian colander, however, most provinces continued to observe the old New Year in March and places outside the Empire naturally ignored it.
Britain and its colonies continued to observe New Year at the end of spring on 24 March until it adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1752. However, 5 April remains the end of the Financial year (because 24 March 1752 Julian was 5 April 1752 Gregorian) for private businesses and individuals, however, government accounting years end on 31 March.
Businesses adopt the financial year that suits their operations.
Many countries do not end the financial year on December 31
Canada is 31 March. Australia is 30 June. The United States is 30 September. The United Kingdom has two as discussed above.
Business with cyclical revenues usually end at the end of one of those cycles
For example, most retail outlets have strong weekly cycles so many end their financial year at the end of the week. This means that some years have 52 and some have 53 weeks but that still gives more accurate accounts than ending one of Wednesday and the next on Friday.
Seasonal business end at the end of the season
Many sporting clubs and businesses have a winter season (e.g. most football codes) or a summer season (e.g. cricket). It makes no sense to end the financial year in the middle of the season. Even year round sports (e.g. tennis) have seasons and end their fiscal year at the end of one of those.
Similarly, academic institutions end their financial year to coincide with the academic year.
Foreign subsidiaries usually adopt their parent's fiscal year
Because their accounts have to feed up into the parent's accounts.
Answer: Maybe it's just because of the foundation date. If I start a company on August 1st, I would like its FY starts on that date too, in order to track my first whole year. Would be quite useless to finish my year on December, after just five months. I want to have data of my first year after a twelve months activity.
Answer: In addition to the company-specific annual business cycle reasons and company-specific historical reasons mentioned in the other answers, there is another reason.
Accounting firms tend to be very busy during January (and February and March) when most companies are closing and auditing their calendar-year books.  If a company chooses its fiscal year to end at a different time of year, the accounting firms are more available, and the auditing costs might be lower.


Playing a D Major in D minor

Question: So there's this song called "Tell Me What's On Your Mind" by Allah-Las. I'm pretty sure the song is in D minor. At least the lead melody is, and the Internet says so as well. But their main Chord Progression is D F C F. So no Minor Chords. I'm wondering how this is possible. I mean I get it that it just sounds nice, but what's the theory behind it. Can you always replace a Minor Chord with a Major one? Or at least the root. And if yes, why is it possible to play the Minor Pentatonic above it? I'm pretty confused to be honest. Would love if anybody could help me.
Comment: Basically, what you ask has been going on for 60+yrs minimum. The playing of minor  - usually pentatonic notes over a major sequence. It's what the blues, and a lot of jazz is based on. By using flat 3, flat 5 and flat 7 notes, all of which have a dissonant tendency, the song is 'spiced up' by these 'sweet and sour' notes. They just don't appear to belong (they're certainly not diatonic!) and it's mainly the fact that they shouldn't be there (theory-wise) but they work, in certain situations, that makes us think 'hang on...'.
Comment: Without listening to the song, it's a standard blues/jazz thing, flirting between major and minor. The same flirting happens when you play notes from the minor scale over a major chord. Take a song in X major and play X minor pentatonic or blues scale over it. The same flirting happens when you switch the backing chords between major and its parallel minor or the parallel minor's relative major, for example first play like in D major, but then take chords from D minor or F major. Try it. Play songs, chords, toy around with it.
Comment: thank you for your quick answer. I've been playing for a bit more then 2 years now, all self taught, and I've always kind of played around and tried to find out what sounds nice and what doesn't. But now I'm at the point where I think I have to learn all the theory behind what i'm able to do. So now I try to spice up my soloing on the fret board by playing other modes etc. So to me it sounds like I just have to feel the blues for those Major/Minor Changes haha
Comment: "So to me it sounds like I just have to feel the blues for those Major/Minor Changes haha…" - yes!  To me musical theory or "rules" are a roadmap that show you lots of different ways to get from one place to another, some more direct and some more eccentric. The more you learn the more you find alternate, perhaps not-so-obvious routes. And the more you travel, the more you'll discover unmapped, "rule breaker" routes that better suit your personal journey. In this case it's only rock& roll (but I like it,) and rock & roll (not to mention its parents, blues and jazz) is all about breaking rules!
Comment: " I mean I get it that it just sounds nice" is "the theory behind it".  That is how theory evolved, as a means to describe what just sounds nice.  Not everything fits into western music theory.  There are whole cultures with music that does not have a theoretical description or justification.
Comment: @Tim more like 130+ years minimum.  The blue note probably comes from West African scales.
Answer: In addition to the comments on the question itself, it may help to recognize that, when determining a tonality, preference is often given to the roots of the chords.
Since the D chord in this example is major, we may think that we are in D major. But since the roots of the successive chords are F and C—both indicative of D minor—we tend to view the entire progression as in D minor.
This is not a universal rule, and there are plenty of caveats and non-conforming examples. But in "traditional" music theory, all things being equal, we give preference to the collection of chordal roots as opposed to the collection created by all of the chords tones themselves.
Answer: The D major chord is clearly D major and would seem to indicate a D major key.  But F is the minor 3rd of D so in that context you have the tonality of D min in the progression. Also, the C is the b7 of D.  There is no key that contains these chords.  You might try G major with the C and D being the IV and V but that is not very satisfying.  F major would have the Maj F as I and the Maj C as a V chord.  The D would be the relative minor and making that Maj is not uncommon in Jazz for example (see Oleo, Anthropology, Dexterity, etc).  Not having heard the song I'd say that it is a variant of a common device and playing minor melodies over it works.  No need to over analyze it.  It is my experience that a lot of modern musicians perambulate about cycles of major chords, or even "power" chords, in ways that do not stay in key.  Playing D min or blues over it would work just as playing F maj over it would work despite the b9 (or #1).
Comment: It's worth a listen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiJYecS0vU0 I think the chord sequence is great, the edgy D major and how it quickly moves away back to D minorish taste via the F chords, it really makes it memorable and unique in some way. Like adding sour lemon to sweet icecream. We can describe it with theory, but IMO the more interesting thing is, how to have the courage to come up with stuff like this. :) You can replace the whole D - F - C - F chord sequence with, say, D - D - Am7 - Am7, and it will be kind of the same, maybe more r&b'ish, but a bit more boring too.
Comment: Not everything fits into western music theory.  The blues is the prime example.
Comment: It fits theory in the sense that we can describe it. But it (most probably) wasn't made from that point of view, so who cares about such descriptions. :) I think the most natural way to look at it would be with a guitar in hand, and explaining it in terms of things you do on the fretboard. Because that's how a lot of rock and blues is actually made - looking at the guitar, not theory charts from music school. Grab a guitar, start playing chords and notes, keep what you like, move your hand and fingers differently if you don't like it. (could be a slight oversimplification)
Answer:
I get it that it just sounds nice, but what's the theory behind it

You can make the observation that the blues often uses a minor third over a major chord and then try to make some comparison to this song. But just a stylistic comparison. It's true. And it probably is an appropriate comparison. But it doesn't explain why musicians do it.
I think an important theory idea to consider is the difference between tonal scale degrees and modal scale degrees.
The tonal degrees are the tonic and the perfect fifth above it and the perfect fifth below it. Those three degrees are present in many different scales and they set the solid foundation for a tonality (key or mode.)
The modal degrees are the third and sixth tones of the scale (and to keeps things simple include the second and seventh degrees.) These degrees determine the key/scale/mode like major, Phrygian, Freygish, etc. etc.
In very broad terms the tonal degrees stay in place, but the modal degrees can change around in various ways.
In this song there is a D major chord using F#, but there is also an F major chord the root of which is F natural. Also, while the D major chord is played there are melodic tones of F natural so that F# and F natural sound simultaneously.
The changing F# and F natural is the first concern. Generically those tones are the third scale degree above D, the mediant of D, a modal degree. This fits nicely into our general concept that tonal degrees stay fixed but modal degrees are variable.
Secondly the F# and F sound simultaneously. That may seem strange, because relative to each other the two tones are a very dissonant minor second. When two tones differ chromatically like this, but occur in close proximity or simultaneously is can be called a false relation (or cross relation.) In various "classical" music styles there are sometimes false relations in the minor more between form of the sixth and seventh degrees. The blues does something similar, but with the third degree.
But that's dropping back into stylistic comparisons. Why is this clashing of false relationships acceptable?
I think the answer is that while to the tones seem to "contradict" each other they make sense as belonging to individual parts. Parts here means contrapuntal or melodic parts. In classical style if there is a false relationship of the sixth or seventh degrees it's usually because two parts are moving in opposite directions and direction is a factor determining the quality of those degrees. In blues and rock the quality of the third is usually separated by part. The guitar may play the major third in accompanying chords, but the voice sings a minor third in the melody part.
If the parts are considered separately, you will normally find nothing unusual in the treatment of tones. Only when the parts are combined does the clash become apparent. You could say the integrity of the individual parts trumps the "vertical" combination of parts. Which is sort of like the classic counterpoint versus harmony view.
In this song - if I'm hearing thing correctly, and also watching the singer's left hand on guitar in the video - the guitar part has a smooth chromatic line on the top of the chords F# F♮ E F♮, while the refrain of the melody is built around an embellishment of a D minor chord D D D F♮ (G) A. The integrity of the two separate parts is perfectly clear. One is a slinky chromatic line, the other is a broken triad. Two parts that sound great separately go together and we don't mind the dissonant false relationship.
So, the theory behind it...

modal scale degree are variable in many styles of music
dissonant false relations work when the clashing tones make sense within individual parts
dissonance works when handled properly

Playing a D Major in D minor


How to find a homolog that has a PDB structure available

Question: I tried to find a homolog that has a PDB structure available so I can use this PDB file for comparative modeling. I ran a BLAST search but none of the search results seemed to have a known structure. Is there any way to find the results I want?
Answer: You could use HMM-based comparison, for example with HHpred. This is generally the best way to find structural templates because structure is more conserved than sequence, and comparing HMMs will turn up hits of the same structure but minimal sequence overlap.
If HHpred turns up nothing you are in the region of de novo modelling, which is a different problem. However, it has advanced in recent years to the point where it may be useful to you. For example, you could try our method DMPfold.
Answer: If you are using NCBI Blast and blastp against the pdb database gives you nothing, you can do a psiblast against the normal refseq database, do a few rounds, save the PSSM matrix and submit a new job with the PSSM matrix but against the PDB database.
You might need to limit the species of you get lots of too close homologues —say blasting E. coli protein for which you'd want to exclude Enterobacteriales.
Answer: To expand the first answer by @MatteoFurla: re-run the P-blast and under database option, which is set by default to non-redundant database (nr) select Protein databank (PDB), the third option from the bottom of the menu. All the Blast results will be from PDB and thus all results will have associated structures. Also note that the Genbank codes will be PDB codes.
If you have zero hits then consider PSI-Blast, how I suspect you are running P-Blast via the nr database.


A key-value datastructure with fast (on average) member move and nearest neighbors search?

Question: I have a 3 dimensional float key search space (say a simulation world). I want to keep my values (ints, agent ids) in a data structure that can perform nearest neighbors search (with search for N neighbors in a range surrounding a given key) as fast as possible in terms of search algorithmic complexity (on average). Also I need a fast (on average) remove-insert or key update mechanism in that datastructure. I wonder what is such structure?
Comment: Currently I use KD-tree, I think on moving to OpenVDB. I wonder if there is any specialized data structure or one that can feet my needs better.
Answer: An octree or k-d tree are standard data structures for this sort of task, and should provide reasonably efficient support for all of the operations you listed.
Answer: The Covertree is a specialized data structure for neighbour search. However I don't know it's update performance.
A better option may be the PH-Tree (my own implementation). It is similar to a quadtree, but implemented as a prefix-sharing bit-level trie.
Advantages:

Maximum depth of the tree is 64 (assuming 64bit per dimension)
No reordering, ever. This is important for insertion/deletion/updates, at most two nodes are modified for every insert/delete.
It has a dedicate update() method for moving points. This is especially efficient for moving 'small' distances.
Very good N-neighbour-serach performance, especially for low numbers of N, such as closest 10 neighbours or so.
Quite space efficient in memory
Scales very well with large number of entries (1,000,000 or more)
Very good with clustered data (it prefers clustered data of evenly distributed data)

Disadvantages:

Less efficient for small data sets
Complex to implement, currently there is only a Java implementation available, see link above. (One reason: Nobody has yet managed to write a C++ implementation that is faster than the Java version...?!?!)


What the value of a misprinted Graverobber Spider?

Question: Could anyone give me an idea on on how much a misprint Magic card could sell for? It's a Graverobber Spider, rarity is uncommon.
Answer: Due to their rarity and inconsistency, there isn't really an established market for misprint cards. You may be able to find individual collectors who are willing to purchase misprints, but the value will often depend both on which card it is and how it was misprinted.
Answer: As murgatroid says, there isn't a good estimate for any card, but there are a few guidelines. Major misprints are more valued by collectors than little ones, so miscuts where some other card from the sheet is visible are better than off-kilter cuts or shadowed text. More famous or rare cards typically have more demand, because misprint collectors are still collectors, and they still want prominent cards.
From that criteria, I can't give an exact figure for your spider (and especially because I don't know the nature of the misprint), but unfortunately I think I'd have to guess it isn't worth much more than a non-misprinted one.


Where can I share great resources I come across?

Question: Say I am studying a particular topic (CS theory) for my work/otherwise and I come across a great resource on the topic. Is this site a good place to share the resource (link/ppt/pdf), or maybe you can recommend some other site ?
Comment: If encounter many of these, start a blog/tumblr/whateverishipnow?
Comment: @Raphael Never came across tumblr. will explore it now. I do have a blog on wordpress, and I have been posting content from quite some time, but I feel that it does not reach as many people as it can reach on this platform. Offcourse, I am not 100% sure. So, I need to experiment.
Comment: I do wish there was some better informal form of communication to the *.SE community. Meta is still Q&A/formal, chat is not good enough; few people would read back into the buffer. I would love a reddit-like message board, where people can simply post links of interest; I am at a loss to communicate to people who I am friendly with on cs.SE about things I think they would be interested in, but is not a question, or answer, or anything about a question or answer, just cs-related. (continued)
Comment: (continued) Something I would share on /r/compsci for example. Example, if I made a cs-related tool, I would to get the community's attention. I wish SE would implement something very simple that would allow this.
Comment: there are a lot of google groups in various areas now, try searching them. also try se chat rooms. re realz' comments, wonder if new reddit communities can be started? see also "social bookmarking"....
Comment: @vzn but I feel like there is no way to communicate these things with *this* community. Ironically, any solution like "start another community " suffers the same problem: there is no place to publicize that new community, and no one in this community will know about it.
Comment: @realz agreed! se sites have their own concept of how a "community" functions within a particular framework which is at times constricting. it is not nec focused on building communities, that is a peripheral aspect of the Q/A type format.... idea: suggest asking a question in main or meta that youd like to see addressed that you yourself answer.... for example "girldegit" has said she's interested in autocomplete & could answer her own question or add comments to her question on it....
Answer: This site (and the Stack Exchange network in general) is a questions and answers site. Questions generally fit the mold of "I have a problem, how do I solve it?". The problem type can be varied — "how do I make my car start?", "how do I prove this theorem?", "how can I understand this text?", etc. But sharing resources doesn't fit. Stack Exchange is not a link collection — we greatly frown on answers that just say "go read this other document", we expect answers to have actual content. So sharing a resource via a question and answer pair would only be appropriate is that resource solves a problem and the answer explains the solution — for example, "how do I prove this theorem?" → "here's a summary of the proof published in <article>: …"
You can post pretty much anything in chat as long as it's related to the site's topic and generally appropriate¹. Just don't overdo it — chat isn't a place for spamming.
There are sites on the web that are dedicated to links to resources or have designated areas for that. Reddit comes to mind: Computer Science: Theory and Application, Algorithms, CS education, CS career questions, … Hacker News is another (at least for sufficiently applied topics).
¹  For example, illustrating a compression algorithm with an X-rated picture would not be appropriate.
Comment: @girlDevelopIt Don't post a question-answer pair just to share a link. Post a question-answer pair to share a solution to a problem — which happens to contain the link as an attribution to the inventor of the solution or as a place to find more background information.
Comment: That said, there is also the [Encyclopedia Stack Exchange](http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2012/05/encyclopedia-stack-exchange/) paradigm. So, *if* you can formulate an SE-good question (in particular, focused enough to be helpful and searchable in specific problem cases while being broad enough to apply to lot of cases) and *if* you can formulate a good answer (see Gilles' answer) that builds on and references the material you found, then it is fair to do so.
Comment: @Raphael. What I understood is that if I come across a great resource while searching for an answer, I can post the question which brought me to that link, on SO/SE, and then answer my own question, the content of which can build upon the link's content I wanted to share (I can also cite that link as reference). Please correct me if I am wrong.
Comment: imho the whole "ask a question that you answer" while encouraged by some is not really a very common use of stackexchange & is not really rewarded with voting patterns typically....
Answer: a great option around here (the stackexchange world) is a relatively newly introduced community blog system on stackexchange. it looks like about 21 se sites/communities are blogging. more info on starting here. the sites may work on a somewhat volunteer system to create blogs. of course you can always start your own blog too. another option is "guest blogging" on someone elses site. some people on here [incl mods] have their own blogs.
also the CS chatroom has been active over the last few weeks. its also easy to start your own public chat room and post to it regularly if you have material over an extended time. the pages are public and URL/web page accessable.
Comment: @RealzSlaw All it takes to have a community blog is people to write the posts. It's better if there's someone who coordinates things and prods people into writing.
Comment: mmm why don't we have a community blog
Comment: @Gilles prod away :P
Comment: @RealzSlaw I was hinting that you should take that job. I won't do it. It really doesn't suit my personality. Feel free to call on me for other tasks such as proofreading and managing access rights.


With Android 4.4 (KitKat), my notification icons are always gray. Am I in trouble?

Question: With Android 4.3 and earlier, gray/white signal icons in the notification bar informed about connection trouble concerning the Google Services (see e.g. What does it mean when the connectivity icons in the status bar go white/gray?). If everything was OK, they were either green (before 4.x) or blue (4.0+). Now they seem to be permanently gray/white. Am I in trouble, or did I miss something?
Answer: You are (not) in trouble. Or at least you cannot tell anymore by simply taking a look at the notification bar. With Android 4.4 (KitKat) came a few design changes; one of them was to turn those notification icons permanently gray, officially to be "less distracting".
So how can you tell if there are issues with your connection to the Google servers? According to an AndroidPIT Blog, you now have to check with the Quick-Settings, where problems are indicated by icons turned red/orange.
Comment: I think the icons show in orange rather than red but other than that you're correct.
Comment: I have not yet seen them, so my information is rather "2nd hand". But it could also be a question of shade: some report their icons are "permanently gray", while others speak of white. Thanks for the feedback, I'll update my answer accordingly.
Comment: I have a dual-chip Moto G running kitkat (4.4.2), upgraded today. On a certain wifi that would be always gray up to ICS, now the notification bar shows wifi and GSM1 gray and GSM2 orange (although mobile data is disabled on both), and if I open quicksettings, everything is orange! Why is so?
Comment: @ThatBrazilianGuy maybe you make that a separate question, that's quite a bit specific (and I don't know to tell)?


automatically find the object "this" refers to in js

Question: Im quite new to javascript and sometimes I find it really hard to find what object a keyword 'this' refers to. Is there a code editor that is able to do that for me? Or any other advice that could help me :)
Thanks!
Comment: Paste some code you're having trouble with. That will make it easier for people to help you.
Comment: I think your are looking for `alert(this.constructor.name);`
Answer: There's a great resource on W3Schools.
In summary:
It (this) has different values depending on where it is used:

In a method, this refers to the owner object.

Alone, this refers to the global object.

In a function, this refers to the global object.

In a function, in strict mode, this is undefined.

In an event, this refers to the element that received the event.

Methods like call(), and apply() can refer this to any object.

Answered with regard to getting function name here and with regard to getting function body here
Comment: Hi, thanks for your answer, but I know how it is used and what i'm looking for is an automatic way to reveal the corresponding object in a long and hard (obfuscated) code. Sorry if I wasn't clear.
Comment: It's evaluated at runtime, so looking at the code won't tell you anything. The code needs to be executed to understand what **this** means. Functions are mutable in javascript and can be defined (created) at runtime. You can have a function which creates functions through lambdas. To say ' I wan't to know what **this** means in a program ' is to say ' I want to know how the program is evaluated up to the point where this line of code is called.' The only way to know that is to evaluate the code.


Navigation bar is on live site but nothing under menu so can't add in a page

Question: I am not a developer but am trying to make changes to a WordPress site that was built by someone else. I have added a new page and want to add it to the navigation bar. However, when I go into appearances, menu there is no existing menu to edit. The pages column on the left-hand side appears and although I can tick pages, it is greyed out. I don't want to start a new menu as worry I will break someone that is currently there. Is there a way I can access the existing navigation bar to make changes? Thanks for your help
Answer: It's possible that the developer hard-coded the menu items in the theme. Check out the Appearance, Customize screen to see if there is a Menu choice in there somewhere.
It may also be that the active theme (assume it was by the developer) doesn't support Menus. That would be a warning sign to me that perhaps the theme is doing other non-standard theme stuff. You may need to find another theme, and use it. If you are not comfortable doing that yourself, you may need to find another (better) developer to help you out. But I'd check the new person's references first to make sure that they are doing things properly.


Autorenew vehicles openTTD

Question: I am playing a scenario (Europe + Cities V2) and despite all settings being correct I can't have my vehicles renewed automatically. Is that because it is a scenario and not a "normal map"? I attached a picture of my settings (I am using version 1.5.1).
If I can't get the autorenw to work I will have to stop my game as I am now spending my play time renewing my vehicles.
All suggestions welcomed.
All the best,
Thierry
Answer: With the settings as shown above, vehicles should be automatically autorenewed. But for autorenewing, vehicles should be inside a depot.
Probably, your vehicles don't visit any depot. This happens when playing with breakdowns disabled and the setting "Disable servicing when breakdowns set to none: On". In this case, you can disable the former setting or send your vehicles to visit any depot (you can send all of them with a few clicks). Autorenewal of all vehicles will take some time.
Autorenewing can also fail if the vehicle has expired and you can't buy new ones. As you can renew vehicles individually, that may not be the case. See https://wiki.openttd.org/Never_expire_vehicles for more information.
In OpenTTD, you also must know that a vehicle can be:
1.- renewed: an old Hereford Leopard Bus is sold an a new one occupies its place.
2.- replaced with a different model (usually with better specs): ie Hereford Leopard Bus -> Foster Bus.
I think that in this case, you would like to autoreplace the vehicles instead of autorenew them. See:
https://wiki.openttd.org/Replace_vehicles
Answer: I was changing the parameters in the main menu before loading the game. I did not know I could change the parameters once my own game was running.
Once my game was loaded, I changed the parameters, and it is all fine.
Comment: @Texenox, remember that we are here as a community. It takes less time to remove the thank you commentary then to post a comment telling OP not to include thank you commentary.
Comment: @Timelord64 ...huh? That's just the review comment, I didn't write that up myself.

Autorenew vehicles openTTD