Which has more positive implication "I'm envious of you" or "I'm jealous of you"?

Question: I read some definitions about "envious" and "jealous"
but still not sure which has more positive implication and is common used in conversation. If you were me which would you choose? For example, if you're a bachelor and your friend get married to a very cute lady, but you're really happy with that.
Comment: Envy is a deadly sin, as opposed to jealousy.
Answer: The Motivated Grammar blog has this useful summary:

Envy is pretty well restricted to the feeling you get from wanting someone else's stuff. Jealousy is a bit more inclusive, allowing you
  to either want to have someone else's stuff or want to keep your own
  stuff.

Grammar Girl, however, dispenses this caveat:

The trouble is that "jealous" and "envious" have overlapping meanings
  and are often used interchangeably, but some people argue that they
  mean different things.
If you wish to be precise, make a distinction between "jealous" and
  "envious" in your writing, but don't be surprised when the definitions
  are blurred in pop culture.

My usage tends to agree with the one from Motivated Grammar; by that measure, it would be more positive to tell your friend, "I am envious of your good fortune."
Answer: I think you can in good conscience say you envy your friend, and it will be taken as a friendly remark.  I don't see jealous as quite so innocent, but in general there isn't much to differentiate the two terms.  For example, wiktionary usage notes for jealous say

Some usage guides seek to distinguish "jealous" from "envious", using jealous to mean "protective of one's own position or possessions" – one "jealously guards what one has" – and envious to mean "desirous of others' position or possessions" – one "envies what others have".  This distinction is also maintained in the psychological and philosophical literature. However, this distinction is not reflected in usage, as reflected in the quotations of famous authors (above) using the word jealous in the sense "envious (of the possessions of others)".

When taken to extremes, neither envy nor jealousy is a positive emotion; for example, envy is known as the second deadly sin.  But if you are envious or jealous, to say otherwise would be lying, which generally is not recommended except in social situations where the truth will offend.
Answer: If I were forced to differentiate between the two in your particular example,:

I'm envious of you could just mean that you are envious of him getting married - and that you would like to get married.
I'm jealous of you could mean that you would have liked to marry his wife.

Note that these are not definitive answers, and context (or tone of voice) can considerably affect the implied meaning. Also, as others have said, there is considerable overlap,, and people may use them in different ways.
Answer: Both envious and jealous have similar definitions:
Compact OED defines envy as

a feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else's possessions, qualities, or luck

It defines jealousy as the state of being jealous and defines jealous as

feeling or showing an envious resentment of someone or their achievements, possessions, or perceived advantages

While they can often be interchanged, jealous can also be used to refer to a guarding of ones own possessions or rights.  COED offers

feeling or showing a resentful suspicion that one's partner is attracted to or involved with someone else: a jealous husband
fiercely protective of one's rights or possessions: the men were proud of their achievements and jealous of their independence
(of God) demanding faithfulness and exclusive worship.

While both envy and jealousy are usually fairly negative emotions, in American English the phrases "I am envious of you" or "I am jealous of you" can be used to express an admiration of the position of the listener. More frequently, the phrase "I envy you" would probably be used.
Perhaps a better construction, to emphasize the positive aspects of your views, would be "I admire you".
Answer: The important thing to keep in mind is as follows:  jealousy is triggered by a third party.  I'll say it again:  jealous feelings are triggered by a third party.
Let's modify the example you gave by adding the following component:  you are very much attracted to your friend's wife.  If your friend finds out about it and sees you chatting up his wife, he would likely display a measure of jealous behavior.
On the other hand, let's keep your example as it is.  You say your friend's wife is "a very cute lady."  Fine.  Of you it could be said, "You're a little envious!"  In other words, you might want (deep in the recesses of your unconscious mind!) what is not yours to have.  Envy, by the way, is called the "green-eyed monster."  Another saying is, "The grass is always greener on the other side of the hill."  But I digress.
True, there are three parties involved in both of the above scenarios, but what triggers jealous feelings is one party's right (within reason, of course) to protect the third party (i.e., his wife).  Your friend does NOT want to share his wife with another person--even you, his good friend.  This is normal.
Jealous feelings get out of hand, however, when a husband becomes so suspicious of his wife's behavior, that every time she talks to another man, her husband flies into a jealous rage.  Clearly he is overreacting (if in fact his wife is simply talking with another male in the normal course of events).  Maybe she's just asking a guy for the time!
Jealous feelings can become a cancer in a committed relationship, because a critical element in the foundation to a good marriage is trust.  When trust evaporates, jealousy rears its ugly head.
Being envious can also be destructive, like a cancer.  An envious person is never satisfied with what she has but is forever gazing enviously on the abilities, gifts, possessions, and good looks of others.  Contentment eludes her.
Which has a more "positive" implication?  Offhand, I'd say neither.
Nevertheless, it is perfectly acceptable in normal conversation for you to say to your friend in a friendly, non-threatening way, "Hey man, I'm really envious of your for marrying such a great gal!  I hope I do as well as you did when the time comes for me to marry!"
I've noticed that people today use the terms envious and jealous almost interchangeably, which is OK, I guess.  If they use the word jealous, however, usually they mean envious, and when they use envious they could mean jealous.
Is it worth correcting people when they mix the two words up?  If you're the teacher and they're the students, then OK; otherwise, just pride yourself on knowing the difference between the words envious and jealous and keep this knowledge to yourself!
Answer: In this situation, I would sidestep the possibility of offense by saying "You are a man of obvious good fortune."  That said "envy" has had a less covetous flavor in my experience than "jealousy."


What do Cohle's hallucinations represent?

Question: Cohle has had a couple of hallucinations in True Detective, especially during the final showdown. I am wondering if those hallucinations mean anything in particular.
Comment: Related (if not even duplicate): [What was the galaxy formation Rust saw before confronting Erol Childress?](http://movies.stackexchange.com/q/21515/49)
Comment: It ties into the construct of how Cole perscieves the universe, although I remember that some of his philosophical musings tended to contradict his expirience. The problem w/ getting 2 the bottom of this, has to do with "magical realism" as device, because despite seeming like it has supernatural macrocosmic phenom., NP stated that it wasn't and so we are to draw real-world explainations for these things. But to even use these surreal elements would I think be about questioning either the nature of characters reality or their own identites, which at the very least adds tones of uncertainty and
Comment: dramtic suspence. Despite that I feel one can interpret it both ways (real-world surrealism or some form of cosmic magic), at the end of the day the story is about little shards of light being able to fight against the darkness, not matter how we specifically identify "good" or "bad". It's more about the struggle within in order to deal with the struggle without and Cole's musings/hallucinations reflect that idea IMO.
Comment: I am at work and sadly don't have the resources to post a full explanation, but   the hallucinations can be seen as physical manifestations  of Cohle's larger Nihilistic philosophy. The second image you posted is a direct reference to the nihilistic speech Cohle  had just given, about how there had once only been a void (giant space funnel) but now there is light. If I can remember this when I get home tonight I will post a detailed answer , but in case I forget I wanted to give you somewhere to start.
Answer: At the time when I watched it, those scenes made me believe the things the killer was saying about being reborn etc.  I think they were intended to help the viewer question the reality of the show.


How many questions is too many when profiling a user?

Question: We are building a fit finder for a client that enables users to find out whether or not there is a career that fits their competencies, their soft skills and hard skills. But we don't want to lose them with too many questions. Is there research that tells us at what point do users drop off when there is too many questions?
Comment: We did just build a thing like that, but it was released last week, so there's really no data to provide from that. Atleast yet. Not going too much into the specs, but we have it so that the user can decide how much detail he/she wants to provide. So to have perfect fit the user might need to provide more details. It's win-win after that effort.
Answer: The little research I found has this to say
"Keep the survey short so that the user can finish it about 5-10 minutes", that said,there is no definite point at which all users will drop off but there is always an increase in the drop off rates as the number of survey questions increase. To quote this article from survey monkey

So what did we find?
As expected, the more questions per survey, the higher the respondent drop-off  rate from start to finish. However,
as can be seen in the graph below, the relationship between survey
length and drop-off rate is not linear. Data suggests that if a
respondent begins answering a survey, the sharpest increase in
drop-off rate occurs with each additional question up to 15 questions.
If a respondent is willing to answer 15 questions, our data suggests
that the drop-off rates for each incremental question, up to 35
questions, is lower than for the first 15 questions added to a survey.
For respondents willing to answer over 35 questions in a survey, our
data suggests they may be indifferent to survey length, and are
willing to complete a long survey

That said, this article on Mobile surveys suggests that 15 questions is the limit while asking users to perform surveys on a mobile device. To quote the article

15 questions is enough
While we advise to ask as few questions as possible (but as many as
necessary) the recommendation is to stop at 15. To many this is a
surprisingly high number of questions as the conventional thinking
goes that people lose interest quicker on a smaller screen. Mobile
surveys can be fairly long without seeing much drop-off in completes.
Every question beyond 15 cuts response rate by 5-10%.
Keeping your survey shorter, using routing to ask more questions only
from a sub-set of the respondents is recommended. Add more questions
only if you absolutely have to and your audience is large enough to
compensate for the higher drop-off rate.
Answer: Use as few as possible - and provide convenient places to stop the survey. THEN ask the user if he would like to continue. You can get more involved by letting the user chose among a set of questions to answer (assuming you have a series). And you can get even more creative but the gist of it is: AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE.
You need to let the user opt in again and again.
From what I've observed (in informal testing) people start dropping off at around 5 UNLESS they are keenly interested in the topic and providing answers. Granted the testing I've done revolved around commercial sites trying to find out more about the preferences of their customers.
Answer: This is a very domain specific question. People's attention will depend on how much they stand to gain from it. If this is a high school guidance counselor's app, the tolerance for more questions may be different than an app for an unemployment counselor.
I'd study your current outcomes. Can you rate the quality of a specific test, such as  "75% of people were satisfied with the results"? If so, perhaps you can identify a subset of core questions that correlate to the most satisfied people. That could help lead you to divide your questionnaire into two sections: recommended and optional. People with more incentive to continue could get more refined or better tailored results, while those with less desire might still get adequate results.
Answer: Luke Wroblewski provides a good insight on this one. To summarize:

Forms are awful and user hate filling them in. The fewer questions the better.
These questions genuinely help the user experience, each is worth the user's time in the long run. The more the merrier.

The answer to this contradiction is not to find a trade-off, but to realize that the user views the website like it views a person. Too many questions up front and the user gets defensive. It's just like in a conversation between two people. For every question, you ask you say something about yourself, or add some 'content' (a joke, an insight, etc).
So the trick is to spread the form throughout the user's use of the website. Let them make a profile with no questions whatsoever (just an e-mail address is good enough, ask for their password on the confirmation page). Let them get some content, show that your site is useful, and add an option to let them give you information when they feel like it. Let them know it'll enrich their experience and show them if you can when a suggestion is a direct result of some questions they answered. This is a good use case for gamification.
This option gives you the best of both worlds. Zero bounce rate, and a potentially infinite number of questions. I don't know if it would work for your context, but it's worth considering.


Are any galaxies partially in the observable universe?

Question: Are there any galaxies that are partially with the visible universe? It seems unlikely as most of the universe is empty space however our circumference makes it seem likely as well. It would be a rather interesting thing to know about.
Comment: While I don't know enough to confidently put down an answer, I am willing to wager that the answer would be "no".  Remember, light has a finite speed, so the further we look, the more we look back in time.  At the edge of the observable universe we're seeing the cosmic microwave background.  The most distant galaxies we'd see would be ones that are early in their formation.  We won't ever just see half a galaxy.
Comment: @zibadawatimmy Phiteros' point still remains. The edge of the observable universe (by any means of observation) will be too early in the Universe's formation for any galaxies to exist. There won't be a galaxy at the edge that we can observe.
Comment: Ah, of course, It completely slipped my mind that the light we would be receiving would be from the beginning of the galaxy. Forgive me for my question.
Comment: @Phiteros The observable universe goes further back than the CMB.  Its a boundary defined by arbitrary light-speed signals, not just electromagnetic ones.  Gravity, for example.  Possibly neutrinos can go back before the CMB, too, though since they are massive and move at sub-light speeds, such neutrinos may lag behind the CMB photons.  We could choose to talk about the "practically observable universe", which is restricted to those (electromagnetic) signals our (current) technology can actually observe. I'm not sure if this changes the technical possibilities, though. Seems plausible to me.
Comment: @zephyr Have our telescopes hit the point where they could resolve a galaxy at a certain distance, but in reality can't because there necessarily couldn't be one?  Last I checked we were still getting "astronomers discover oldest galaxy at the edge of the universe" headlines.  While headlines aren't exactly science, it seems to suggest that we are well short of being able to observe the strictly furthest galaxies. So that there is a transition of "region we can detect galaxies in" to "region we can't, but they should be there". So why couldn't a galaxy be centered at the border between them?
Answer: Perhaps, on rare occasions this will occur.  Quoting from Phil Plait in an  astronomycast ,

Dr. Plait:    Yeah, because the universe is expanding ever faster every
  day, basically the distance we will be able to see, away from the
  earth, is going to get closer and closer to us. Anything past the
  distance will be moving away from us too rapidly to see and so
  eventually, all that is going to be left is some sort of super galaxy
  that is us and the Andromeda galaxy and all of the little dwarf
  galaxy's, will have all combined into, sort of, one thing. Of course,
  all of the stars will be dead and then that's it.
So, you know, if you are a civilization, somehow, that evolves a
  hundred trillion years from now, the universe is going to look way
  different than it does now. You are not going to see any other
  galaxies; it's just going to be you.
Frazier:  You are not going to see any stars, because it will all be
  dark.
Dr. Plait:    That's right and for a long period of time that is all
  there is going to be, it's just going to be that. Even on the scale of
  what we are talking about, we are talking about a long period of time,
  now instead of an octillion years, which is what, ten to the twenty
  seven, now we are starting to talk about ten to the fifty and sixty
  years, so far into the future, that the present age of the universe,
  13 billion years, is so small, that I don't even have, ten to the
  sixty divided by ten to the thirteen is ten to the forty seven, that
  is such a huge number, that there is no ratio that exists today.

On those expansion scales, a galaxy is small (!!) enough that it'll pretty much disappear all at once.
Answer: The observable universe, by definition, is the area of the universe from which light has reached us.
While this boundary could lie in the middle of a galaxy, some of the oldest light (at the edge of the observable universe) could be old enough that it originates from a time before galactic formation. In this case, the cutoff could exist on a semi-congealed mass of gas or whatever structure was present at the time, but there would be no galaxies to speak of.


Can a person be (at the?) state-of-the-art [on/in/of] something?

Question: I'm writing a recommendation for a fellow IT expert, and I want to say that this person loves to investigate the state-of-the-art technology, always checks out the most recent things on the market the minute they are released, and is always on top of what's happening in the technology world. What's the concise way of saying it?
Answer: I'd say something like "always on the cutting edge in investigating state-of-the-art technology".
Comment: Or you could use bleeding edge (as in the tip of the cutting edge) or pushing the envelope. (That term, I think, comes from aviation, courtesy of Tom Wolfe's book *The Right Stuff*.)
Answer: State of the art is, in my experience, only used for technology and not to express the skill or knowledge of a human being. So a weapon can be state of the art, or a computer, but not a person. I would say that your colleague is 'at the forefront of technological knowledge in the field of IT'.


Why is using the singleton pattern discouraged?

Question:
Possible Duplicate:
What is so bad about singletons?

I've read in several answers to Stack Overflow questions that using singletons is discouraged and evil. Why is that?
Comment: `s/Potential/Blatant, exact/`
Comment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singleton_pattern#Drawbacks
Answer: How many times a class is instantiated shouldn't be dictated by the class itself, but from an infrastructure that provides the single instance. Singleton makes it impossible to leave this decision to the infrastructure. It is a reusability issue, which shows up for instance in the unit tests, but also when the infrastructure tries to provide another instance for a certain purpose.
(E.g. there is only one database connection. But for importing data from another database, it needs another connection. If the database access service would be a singleton, it is impossible to open another connection.)
Answer: Singleton pattern makes unit testing far more difficult, as it introduces global state into an application.
It should also be noted that this pattern reduces the potential for parallelism within a program, because access to the singleton in a multi-threaded context must be serialised, e.g., by locking.
Advocates of dependency injection would regard this as an anti-pattern, mainly due to its use of private and static methods.
Some have suggested ways to break down the singleton pattern using methods such as reflection in languages such as Java or PHP.
Answer: The short answer is they introduce a global-state object in to your code, which breaks your separation of concerns (possibly adding complexity).
Singletons are not without other drawbacks, which you should know about:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singleton_pattern#Drawbacks
This article is a bit more verbose:
http://code.google.com/p/google-singleton-detector/wiki/WhySingletonsAreControversial
Answer: The reason is probably that they're basically global variables. Even so, they're used quite extensively in some environments. For example, in long running web services. In Java with the Spring Framework for example, the default bean type is a singleton, and typically controllers, services, and DAO objects are singleton (in the sense that the framework only instantiates one instance). They do NOT require locking and are also thread safe, because by convention they contain no state. Typically a request context is passed in, and the controller/service/DAO operates on that.


Atomic man story identification

Question: I am trying to identify a story where a man drinks a potion of dark matter that makes him increasing smaller so that he slips through atoms and sees universes in them. Story/stories probably between 50's to 70's, probably magazines. I'm reading a non-English adaptation and want to identify source.
Comment: How certain are you that it was drinking a potion of black matter? Because I can give you two stories off the bat that involve different methods of shrinking and then seeing further universes between atoms.
Comment: And given you're reading the adaptation now, can you provide further details? I provided three possible stories below.
Answer: On the off chance that you're mistaking the method used to start shrinking, this question holds two separate answers involving a person shrinking until they start seeing universe between atoms. "He Who Shrank" is a 1936 story by Henry Hasse about a scientist's assistant who gets injected by his scientist metaphor with his "Shrinx" formula and he becomes so small that he is huge in another universe and then continues shrinking until he winds up at Earth.
"Submicroscopic" involves a shrinking machine with the scientist finding a beautiful princess in one of the worls within atoms. The Girl in the Golden Atom involves "a young chemist who finds a hidden atomic world within his mother's wedding ring". :) It's a fairly common trope in science fiction.
Comment: Thanks! That helped a lot! The author who adapted possibly added the dark matter potion angle to the common trope.
Comment: The series I'm reading is in Bengali (prof. nat boltu chakra 1963-2008) and it's author has rampantly borrowed and adapted plot points and novums from mainly golden-age American SF. This one for instance follows the first few sections from "He Who Shrank" and then returns the traveler to his original circumstances.
Comment: He does observe his own Earth around chapter 5 or so. "I tried to do as he said, again I felt the cold probing tendrils in my brain, and a lethargy came over my mind. Shadows flashed across the screen, then suddenly a familiar scene leaped into view: the Professor's laboratory as I had last seen it, on the night of my departure. No sooner had this scene cleared than I entered the room, exactly as I had on that night. I saw myself approach the table close behind the Professor, saw him standing as he had stood, staring out at the night sky; saw his lips move."
Comment: @annem: So, if I'm understanding correctly, Adrish Bardhan adapted an existing story and you're trying to find what source he based it off of? Or is this a translation of a story that you're trying to locate?
Comment: Yep, he's borrowing large chunks (the whole series is like that) from existing stories and I'm trying to pin down sources (dissertation writing); Bardhan also adds and subtracts many plot points and Indianizes locations and relationships. For instance, the traveler in the Bengali story does not observe his own earth or get there by getting progressively smaller. He just gets called back by the power of the dark matter/fohat concoction. Now I'm not sure if the "source" stories were credited in the first publication since I only have the collected volumes..so it's really interesting!

Atomic man story identification


Knocking everything over

Question: We have a male cat who is about 1.7 years old. Neutered 5 months ago. Just recently, he has started climbing on cabinets and knocking everything off that he can. He has now reverted to knocking anything and everything off of any surface he can find. Help!
Comment: what have you done to adapt the area for your cat,cat tree-shelves-toys-scratching posts,things to keep the cat acctive that satisfies it`s need to climb and gives the cat an elevated area where it can rest and are able to watch the area from a safe place.
Comment: In addition to trond hansen's comments, what other enrichment does your cat have? Toys, engagement with people in the household, etc? Cats are notorious for knocking things off flat surfaces and it's unlikely you'll completely stop it, but knowing what else the cat has available to do can help lead to an answer on how to reduce the behavior.
Answer: probably, every time he knocks something over, you are giggling, telling him off, shouting, saying he shouldn't do this?
he is loving the attention from you and finding it a wonderful game!
solution: put only invaluable things on the surfaces and ignore him completely when he knocks these things off.  Give it a week or two and he will have become pretty bored by doing it:)
and let him go out!
Comment: Do you mean 'invaluable'? Why would you put your most expensive things out to have them knocked off?
Answer: Your cat is bored, and so it is figuring out fun games to play. If you don't like it, make the thing it's doing less fun, and figure out some other more fun activity for it to do instead. I suggest putting away as many items as you can from your tables and counters, so it has a minimum to knock off. For more appropriate activities, try playing with your cat, or giving it new toys. Experiment and figure out what engages it. If nothing else, try getting it a cat tree and placing it in the area where the cat is climbing on counters, and place toys and such on it that it's allowed to knock off.

Knocking everything over


op_return regex search

Question: Is there a webservice around that allows one to search the OP_RETURN data on the blockchain? More precisely: I'm looking for a service that would return the transaction ids of transactions that contain an OP_RETURN with data that matches the given expression.
Answer: Chain.com offers OP_RETURN data for addresses, transactions and blocks.
Comment: While this link may answer the question, it is better to include the essential parts of the answer here and provide the link for reference.  Link-only answers can become invalid if the linked page changes.
Comment: @cdecker: This post seems to be providing a matching though brief answer to the question. I'd say rather the question is at fault than the answer.
Answer: You can use the Coin Secrets API to obtain the OP_RETURN transactions in each block though it does not yet have a regex feature.

op_return regex search


TableView cell image size

Question: I use Apple's example LazyTableImages to lazy loading image to my table view cell. The default cell height is 60 and icon size is 48 ( in IconDownloader.m "kAppIconSize 48").
But if i change the cell height to 100 and icon size to 90 and it's not working.
When i reload tableView, is show up image with 90 but after 0,5 second return to 48.
I want to show up the covers of films and books with height = 90 and width = 55.
How and where can i edit the code?
In tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath or IconDownloader.m?
Thank You!
Answer: This looks to be a duplicate question of setting the size of the image added to cell in tableview
Basically overwrite -layoutSubviews and set the image size to whatever you want.

TableView cell image size


Steampunk book about alternate universe World War I

Question: I picked up a book a long time ago in a library and I want to read it now, but I can't remember the name. It's about WWI except the US/UK use genetically modified animals to fight, while Germany/Austria uses steampunk machines. I think it also had pictures and involved a Prince of some kind.
Comment: Just hitting on 'steampunk wwi novel' as keywords, is it [Leviathan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leviathan_%28Westerfeld_novel%29)?
Comment: @gowenfawr - The presence of a prince as the main character and "machines vs genetically engineered animals" would seem to clinch it.
Comment: Hope I guessed right about "AU WWI" in the title of your question. Roll back my edit if it was supposed to mean something like "Australian Walking While Intoxicated".
Answer: This is The Leviathan Trilogy by Scott Westerfield.

Prince Aleksander, would-be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is on
  the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless.
  All he has is a battletorn war machine and a loyal crew of men.
Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air
  Service. She's a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant
  danger of being discovered.
With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn's paths cross in the most
  unexpected way…taking them on a fantastical, around-the-world
  adventure that will change both their lives forever.

...

Young adult fiction set in alternate World War I has German Central
  Powers (Clankers) using mechanized war machines opposed by British
  Entente Powers (Darwinists) who fabricate living creatures
  genetically. Heroes are teens Aleksander, son of Archduke Franz
  Ferdinand, and Deryn, Scottish girl with dreams of joining the British
  Air Service with her brother.
Comment: I think that's it.


Timeline on LV 426 in Aliens (1986)

Question: How long is Ripley and the Colonial Marines on LV 426 in Aliens? Ripley states that it took 1 Xeno less than 24 hours to destroy the Nostromo ship and crew and considering the fully formed nest, including Queen, has upwards of 50 Xeno's the time spent on LV 426 couldn't have been much longer? I was wondering as Ripleys reason to go was based on her recurring nightmares and she only seems to get a quick nap while there.
Comment: Just to clarify, I'm asking about the time spent from the Marines landing until Ripley, Ash etc leave to the second drop ship.
Answer: Based on the original script, from the point that Ripley wakes up from hypersleep (ship-time 06:00-ish) to the point that they return to the Sulaco appears to be a little over 26 hours, based on Apone's orders to his men to get ready, his timescale to load the drop-ship, Bishop's projection over how long the reactor will take to blow, Hick's conversation with Ripley and Ripley checking her watch after napping. I've estimated an hour from that point until the return takes place.

RIPLEY: How long until it blows?
BISHOP: I'm projecting total systems failure in a little under four hours.  The blast radius will be about thirty kilometers.  About equal to ten megatons.

and

BISHOP: This duct runs almost to the up-link assembly.  One hundred eighty meters.  Say, forty minutes to crawl down there.  One hour to patch in and align the antenna. Thirty minutes to prep the ship, then about fifty minutes flight time.

and

HICKS: How long since you slept? Twenty-four hours?

and

INT. OPERATING ROOM - TIGHT ON RIPLEY - MED LAB:
as she awakens with a start.  She checks her watch...
an hour has passed.

Assuming they had an hour or two to get woken up, eat and shower (and since prep and dust-off take 7 hours and assuming flight-time is around 1 hour) that means that they were on the planet for a combined time of approximately 16 hours.
Comment: thanks, exactly what I was looking for. Watching it just now and was wondering. Have a few more I'll have a check at before posting

Timeline on LV 426 in Aliens (1986)


Positive synonym for 'exploit'

Question: I want to know a single word which denotes the idea of full or maximum utilization, such as the words exploit or milk. But the trouble is, they both have a negative tone to them. Is there a positive word which can be substituted for 'best use' etc.
Comment: Now that I think about it, optimal seems like a pretty good choice. Like he made optimal use of the opportunity. Has a definite positive ring to it.
Answer: I think it's worth pointing out that exploit doesn't always have a negative connotation, particularly in the context of exploit the benefits of... (or, exploit the advantages of...)

"Hardware support alone is not sufficient to exploit the benefits of multithreading. We believe that the performance benefits of
  multithreading can only be realized when the paradigm is applied
  across all levels..." (M. Zelkowitz)

Most online dictionaries I consulted showed two definitions - one positive, and one negative.  Moreover, the positive sense of the word was usually listed first.  From Merriam-Webster's:

exploit (trans. verb) 1 : to make productive use of; to utilize   2 : to
  make use of meanly or unfairly for one's own advantage

Nonetheless, the negative connotation is undeniably there.  If you're looking for a synonym without that negative connotation, you might try leverage (already suggested) or harness.
Answer: I'm not up-to-date with the latest trends in business jargon, but I know that leverage supplanted utilize as the favoured term for "get the most from".  Optimize also has some currency.
As you say, exploiting people is not OK, but business jargon gets around this by either dehumanizing (are humans really just annother "resource"?) or recasting in a positive light.

Here at MegaCorp, every individual counts.  We strive for excellence in all things, and we work with our team members to help them reach their maximum potential and achieve their career goals.

In other words:

Here at MegaCorp, there is no room for slackers.  Only the strong survive, and you're going to have to give us everything you've got if you want to get on here.
Answer: What about 'capitalize on'? To my my American ear it does not sound negative, but maybe it isn't 'correct'.
Answer: I suggest maximize:

: to make the most of
Comment: [_Leverage_](http://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/leverage) is popular these days.
Comment: Ever since Jack Sparrow mentioned leverage?
Comment: Yes. True. But to be honest, the word maximize has so much been used with the word profit, that it feels like it has a corporate air to it. I mean, semantically speaking it's just the word. But is there any other?
Answer: In Spanish, there is such a verb: aprovechar. But there doesn't seem to be any single English word that captures all of that, without also being prone to pejorative use.
Several phrases, like take advantage of, utilize (or use) efficiently, and so on, present themselves, but in the end they are always about efficiency of manipulating or producing objects, not about people. So there's no way to get rid of the pejorative impulses that surround these terms; they're unavoidable whenever more than one person is involved in the resource being efficiently used or the advantage being taken.
Comment: An 8k person saying this, discourages me. But I would still wait for someone to answer before I accept any :)
Answer: For a more positive connotation that doesn't sound too "corporate" you might try synonyms from the agricultural realm such as: harvest or cultivate.

Positive synonym for 'exploit'


TLS certificate requirements

Question:
Can any certificate be used for TLS?
What requirements should the certificate meet for TLS? SHA1/Sha2 {key specs} etc.
Comment: This is a very broad question. SSL/TLS is complex stuff. A lot of it is explained [here](https://security.stackexchange.com/q/20803/5405) . Warning, there is a **lot** of information in that link. Get some good coffee, you're going to need it :-)
Comment: Your first 2 questions are somewhat related, but the last is completely unrelated and should be its own question. I'm removing that part, but the answer is that the server may be configured to use multiple different versions, and there are multiple tests on the client that tell you what version was *negotiated* and tools that will try every different version to tell you what the server can offer.
Answer:
Can any certificate be used for TLS?

No. There are certificates for example for code signing, certificates which are only used to issue other certificates, ... How a certificate can be used is defined by various parts of the certificate, i.e. mainly basic constraints, key usage and extended key usage.
For some more information see  Which key usages are required by each key exchange method?, Is the Extended Key Usage extension mandatory on the web?, TLS/SSL Certificate - Key usage and encryption, Can I use a code signing certificate as a TLS certificate?, Can I use the same ssl cert to protect my web site and sign my app?.

What requirements should the certificate meet for TLS? SHA1/Sha2 {key specs} etc.

To be wildly accepted the key usage extension should contain at least digitalSignature and keyEncipherment, extended key usage should at least contain serverAuth. Subject alternative names should match the fully qualified domain name, it should be issued directly or indirectly (via an intermediate CA certificate) by a trusted CA, key type should be RSA (better >=2048 bit) or ECC (better >=256 bit), signature algorithm SHA-256 (or better) ... - there are probably some more restrictions in some case like use of X509 extensions for certificate transparency etc. CA's usually do the right thing so just look at the certificate you get for typical web sites.

TLS certificate requirements


What is the smallest microcontroller capable of running Arduino?

Question: I'd like to know which is the most powerful, lightest, and perhaps least expensive micro controller capable of running Arduino.
Comment: Each of those criteria has a different answer.
Comment: There are so many that it's impossible to give a good recommendation based on such general criteria. Perhaps you could describe what you need the microcontroller for? Is it for a specific project, or just general tinkering?
Comment: I want to build a micro quadcopter drone
Comment: Is there not one that meets all the criteria above in some capacity better than others? If not, could you please provide a standout microcontroller for each of the listed criteria? Thanks.
Comment: You'll need some idea of the I/O requirements, calculation load, and RAM requirements for controlling your drone, before you can select a processor to meet thme. Cook your design a bit more. Is this an R/C drone? Autonomous? Does it need on board navigation? Stability augmentation? Must it find it's own way home? Manage it's fuel/flight duration? Yesses to some of these questions will have strong implications for the processor you'll need.
Answer: Well, your questions is quite vague and perhaps overly broad.  I'll answer your main question "what is the smallest," assuming you meant dimensionally, while keeping in mind that you also want the most powerful one in that size. The pricing of different chips like this will be fairly similar so I'll ignore that.
Next, I'm not sure what you meant by saying "capable of running Arduino" which may mean capable of having the Arduino bootloader installed or could mean being capable of running code written with Arduino libraries.  I'll assume the latter since it's the most practical requirement. I'll also assume you want an Atmel chip since it will be the most directly compatible with the Arduino libraries.
So what is the most powerful of the smallest Atmel microcontrollers capable of running Arduino code?
The answer is probably the Attiny 10 which comes in a 2 x 2mm 8-UFDFN Exposed Pad package, or a 2.9 x 1.6mm SOT-23-6 package for about one dollar in small quantities.
Also see this Hackaday article on how to use the Attiny10 with Arduino.
Edit: After more research, I was unable to find an Arduino core for the Tiny10. So while you can program it with an Arduino using assembly or something, writing Arduino code for it won't work.  The smallest Attiny with an Arduino core I could easily find is the Attiny13 in a 3 x 3mm 10-VFDFN package.  The upside is that while not being that much bigger or more expensive, it's a way more capable chip for your project.
Comment: There is no Arduino core for the 4/5/9/10; they're just too small for it to be practical.


How do i get into investing stocks

Question: How do I start investing stocks?
I have around 50 bucks I want to start buying stocks
the problem I don't want pay a commission fee and the second problem is I live in Europe which means I don't have access to apps like Robinhood
so if you guys know any alternatives it would be really helpful!
Comment: Earn.  Fifty dollars is meaningless in the stock market, as well as a couple of thousand.  Earn more money then seek to invest.  Once you earn some more you may want to look into DRIPS.
Comment: @PeteB. I'm in Europe, and I've been investing for some time, and I've never heard of DRIPS. If you're going to acronym-drop, please at least tell us what you are talking about. Are you referring to a [dividend reinvestment plan](http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/dividendreinvestmentplan.asp)?
Comment: Do you absolutely want to get into individual stock picking, or are you simply looking to invest in the stock market?
Comment: @MichaelKjörling do you have google?  Dividend Reinvestment Plan == DRIP.  After establishing an account, one can typically buy fractional shares with little or no commission.  Typically dividends are reinvested to purchase more shares.  You will be forced to pick individual stocks and only those with such plans that are favorable.
Comment: Just get in to gambling instead, it's safer.
Answer: 50 (dollars, Euros?) is a very small amount to invest. The first time I ever bought stock I picked a winner. It went up by about 40% in the first few months. I sold it and lost money. How? I only bought 10 shares at $7.50 each. The profit was less than the two commissions for buying and selling (about $17 a piece). If you are thinking of buying individual stocks, You simply need to save up more money before it will be practical.
If you are not trying to beat the market, which is probably not something an amateur like you or I should attempt, then you should consider low cost index funds. I have money in mutual funds, some of which, have as low as a $100 minimum investment.
I have moved entirely away from picking stocks. It was a good experience and I could afford to lose the money, but as a long term strategy, it just was not working for me.
Note: This is coming from an American. If this somehow does not apply in Europe...
Comment: Ah, yes. I remember that from when I started out investing in the stock market. (Well, "investing" might not be the best word for what I really did, but baby steps and all that...) I bought three (yes, three!) shares of an IT consultant company at what would today be about $40 each. The commission was something like $15 per trade. Then the IT stock bubble burst. Call it lesson learned?
Answer: Spend your first 50 euros on research materials.
Warren Buffett got started as a boy by reading every book in the Library of Congress on investing and stock market analysis. You can research the company filings for Canadian companies at http://www.sedar.com, U.S companies at http://www.edgar.com, and European companies at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/companies-house.
Find conflicting arguments and strategies and decide for yourself which ones are right.
The Motley Fool http://www.fool.ca offers articles on good stocks to add to your portfolio and why, as well as why not. They provide a balanced judgement instead of just hype. They also sell advice through their newsletter.
In Canada the Globe & Mail runs a daily column on screening stocks. Every day they present a different stock-picking strategy and the filters used to reach their end list. They then show how much that portfolio would have increased or decreased as well as talking about some of the good & bad points of the stocks in the list. It's interesting to see over time a very few stocks show up on multiple lists for different strategies. These ones in my opinion are the stocks to be investing in.
While the Globe's stock picks focus on Canadian and US exchanges, you might find the strategies worthwhile. You can subscribe to the digital version at http://www.theglobeandmail.com
Once you have your analytical tools ready, pick any bank or stock house that offers a free practice account. Use that account and their screening tools to try out your strategies and see if you can make money picking stocks.
My personal stock-picking strategy is to look for companies with:
- a long uninterrupted history of paying dividends,
- that are regularly increased,
- and do not exceed the net profit per share of the company
- and whose share price has a long history of increasing
These are called unicorn companies, because there are so very few of them.
Another great read is, "Do Stocks Outperform Treasury Bills?" by Hendrik Bessembinder. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2900447
In this paper the author looks at the entire history of the U.S. stock universe and finds that less than 4% of stocks are responsible for 100% of the wealth creation in the U.S. stock market. He discusses his strategies for picking the winners, but it also suggests that if you don't want to do any research, you could pick pretty much any stock at random, short it, and wait.
I avoid mutual funds because they are a winner only for the fellas selling them. A great description on why the mutual fund industry is skewed against the investor can be found in a book called "The RRSP Secret" by Greg Habstritt. "Unshakeable" by Tony Robbins also discusses why mutual funds are not the best way to invest in stocks. The investor puts up 100% of the money, takes 100% of the risk, and gets at best 30% of the return. Rich people don't invest like that.
Comment: If you visit www.google.ca/finance and look up an individual stock, you can see tags in the stock chart indicating when a dividend was paid and how much it was. There are a number of other freebie stock screeners out there to choose from that will work in a similar way. You can also screen on a whole lot of different metrics with Google Finance so you can slice & dice your search any way you want.
Comment: thanks for this, this was illuminating for me. I'm in a lot of debt at the moment but wish to start investing after I clear those. How do I find out if company X has had a *long and uninterrupted history of paying dividends*?
Comment: Note that Google's finance tool has been moved to https://finance.google.ca/finance
Comment: Now that Google Finance is dead, Yahoo Finance or www.tmxmoney.com are good choices. Both will show a stock's historical performance over years. The charts have flags indicating dividend payouts. Hovering over them shows the payout data. Missing flags indicates a missed payout.
Answer: Everything that I'm saying presumes that you're young, and won't need your money back for 20+ years, and that you're going to invest additional money in the future.
Your first investments should never be individual stocks. That is far too risky until you have a LOT more experience in the market. (Once you absolutely can't resist, keep it to under 5% of your total investments. That lets you experiment without damaging your returns too much.) Instead you would want to invest in one or more mutual funds of some sort, which spreads out your investment across MANY companies.
With only $50, avoiding a trading commission is paramount. If you were in the US, I would recommend opening a free online brokerage account and then purchasing a no-load commission-free mutual fund. TD Ameritrade, for example, publishes a list of the funds that you can purchase without commission. The lists generally include the type of fund (index, growth, value, etc.) and its record of return.
I don't know if Europe has the same kind of discount brokerages / mutual funds the US has, but I'd be a little surprised if it didn't. You may or may not be able to invest until you first scrape together a $500 minimum, but the brokerages often have special programs/accounts for people just starting out. It should be possible to ask.
One more thing on picking a fund: most charge about a 1% annual expense ratio. (That means that a $100 investment that had a 100% gain after one year would net you $198 instead of $200, because 1% of the value of your asset ($200) is $2. The math is much more complicated, and depends on the value of your investment at every given point during the year, but that's the basic idea.) HOWEVER, there are index funds that track "the market" automatically, and they can have MUCH lower expense fees (0.05%, vs 1%) for the same quality of performance. Over 40 years, the expense ratio can have a surprisingly large impact on your net return, even 20% or more! You'll want to google separately about the right way to pick a low-expense index fund. Your online brokerage may also be able to help.
Finally, ask friends or family what mutual funds they've invested in, how they chose those funds, and what their experience has been. The point is not to have them tell you what to do, but for you to learn from the mistakes and successes of other experienced investors with whom you can follow up.

How do i get into investing stocks


magento show filters in toolbar

Question: I would like to show the brand, discount and category filters in the toolbar. I want to show it like this - Sort by - category - Brand - Discount - in the toolbar above the category products. Please help me i am a new to magento. I tried to echo filter.phtml in toolbar.phtml and list.phtml but it doesn't seems to pick the code, tried to change it through xml but no help at all. I don't know what else to do, please help. Thanks in advance..
Answer: The sort by attributes are built in the function Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Config::getAttributesUsedForSortBy. What happens here is that the attributes are selected from the table eav_attribute with a join on the catalog_eav_attribute table.
The key here is that it filters on the table catalog_eav_attribute and looks for attributes with the column used_for_sort_by set to true.
Answer: To add this functionality, you should overwrite Mage_Catalog_Block_Product_List_Toolbar block and Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Product_Collection model
Click here for reference

magento show filters in toolbar


Convert 3.3V PWM of Beaglbone black to 5V PWM

Question: I have a Beaglebone Black revC. I want to use a brushless motor (EMAX XA2212/1400KV) with ESC (hobbywing skywalker 20) . Beaglebones Vpp voltage is 3.3V and ESC gives ( gives beep about 2 sec interval) "Throttle signal is irregular" trouble signal. I think this ESC accepts only 5V Vpp. How can fix this? How can i change 3.3V PWM to 5V PWM
Comment: The premise of your question is probably erroneous.  Likely your problem is an actually unstable signal.  Note that using a multitasking linux system to drive something controlled by an ESC is probably a bad idea.
Answer: There's lots and lots of ways to do this but will depend upon your constraints, such as switching speed, acceptable losses, etc.
Something like this would work. When the GPIO is high, Q1 is on, bringing the gate of M1 low and therefore turning it on:

simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab
Answer: One alternative option would be to use an op amp circuit (non-inverting might suit you best to keep things simple). Consider timing requirements, though.
Another option would be to use a CMOS inverter circuit (two MOSFETs; one n-type and one p-type). The CMOS inverter will, naturally, invert your signal, so just invert your PWM in the software (instead of leaving the output as "PWM_output=125", write "PWM_output_inverted=255-PWM_output"). The CMOS inverter will re-invert your signal back tot he correct polarity. Again, remember to take timing constraints into account for switching frequency.
Comment: An op-amp is the wrong choice.  A CMOS buffer in an appropriate logic family could be the right one.  However, it's more likely that the entire premise of the question is mistaken.  ESC's are usually built with MCU's that are quite happy to accept a 3.3v signal.


Do I need to play any of the previous games in the Fallout series prior to Fallout 4?

Question: Is Fallout 4 reasonably self-contained, or are there important pieces of backstory that would be better understood by playing earlier titles in the series?
Answer: There are nods to other Fallout games, and the game takes place in the same universe, but you will be able to enjoy Fallout 4 without having played any of the previous ones. The introduction of the game explains the premise quite well and gets you up to speed quickly.
Comment: In all honesty, Fallout 4 provides more of a backstory about what happened than any of the other ones.
Comment: Not to mention there are always tidbits of backstory EVERYWHERE. And that doesn't apply to just FO4.
Answer: I think the main thing you need to take from the lore in my opinion is the war of 23 October 2077 - The day of the nuclear holocaust, and the resource wars between the US and China that led to it (China being often referred to as the "communist threat"). The theme of the game is that of a futuristic 1950's due to how the timeline of fallout diverges from real history after the second world war. Instead of microprocessors, the world chose to pursue nuclear research, hence the nuclear themed world (cars using nuclear fission and even drinks!).
You will not be lost at all if you did not play the previous games. Those of us who did play them all will get a little extra kick out of the game when we are faced with the references and the throwbacks to some of the older games. Having said all that... do not worry, you will enjoy the world of Fallout and if you get sucked in you can always visit the older titles at a later date if you wish (which I can highly recommend -  but it is my biased opinion).
Comment: As has already been noted on this game, the backstory you refer to in this answer is better explained in Fallout 4 than any of the previous games.
Answer: I played all Fallout series including beta-version of Fallout Van Buren which was to buggy to play but just interested to start.
In my humble opinion you can leave F1+F2+Tactics only for fans, not to play in 2019, you will be completely disappointed with graphics and after could wondering - why these games are so epic? But they were miracle in 1998, not now.
Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas, Fallout 4 mainly use the same interface, system and style - there is no big connection story between these games, not even the same place but the same universe.
So you can start with any but everybody love New Vegas as the game with incredible possibilities of choices.
In F4 your character was frozen during all the years and starts just now to see the new world. There are no important characters from old games, nothing to deal with so it is completely other history. And also - both prevous games are FPS Action-RPG with quests, no any settlements construction possibilities.
Yes, you can dig out - what happen with BoS and where is Enclave. But if you didn't play other games you will not have this question. There are a little bit from previous series but really a little. For example in Fallout 3 you can meet little child Macready.


When a graduate student be a part of a research grant, does he get paid in addition to a university stipend?

Question: This year I will graduate from a European university and willing to start a Ph.D. program in the USA. As a graduate student, there is a "guaranteed financing" opportunity of approximately $ 32,000 per year. My question is when a graduate student is part of a research grant (ie NIH / NSF grants) of his PI -in their own lab-, does he receive payment in addition to the guaranteed funding stipend? Does income from the research grant -if some- and guaranteed funding stipend different things?
Comment: Your stipend comes from those grants. That is what you get paid.
Comment: No, but the full range of how stipends are funded at various places is too broad a topic. Where I went years ago, the department pooled funds to support students for the first year, then you found an advisor with funding to support you. But the stipend was the stipend unless you got an external fellowship (industry, NSF) that specifically had a given salary.
Comment: Funding for students will be specific to each grant and each university or lab. Each one will have different rules and conditions. And these may change suddenly, such as when an election puts a new government in charge of funding. You should discuss this carefully with the folks in charge in your lab and university.
Comment: So the grants are not "research group specific" but "university specific"?
Answer: In my experience, "guaranteed funding" means that (depending on field) you will be either working for a PI who has grant money to pay you or working as a TA (with the possible exception of your first year, where their may be general department support while you find an advisor). Because graduate stipends are typically on a pay scale, working on a grant can be expected to bring you up to the guaranteed level, but not put you above it.
To support the guarantee of funding, the university (or a unit within the university) may have a reserve fund with money that can be used to cover gaps in PI funding (which may come with TA obligations).
Comment: In my experience the stipend levels are also department dependent. A full time TAship might be less than the program's stipend; the program/dept would then fill in that gap with the reserves like you suggest, or from a partial RAship.
Answer: It varies, so you need to check with the program. For example, if the grad students are unionized at that institution, the CBA might specify that the PI can't sweeten a grad student's base stipend out of a grant. There might also be distinctions between what's permissible during the academic year and what's permissible during the summer.
Answer: I doubt that it would happen. You don't say what the stipend is for. If it is an RA then you are already being paid for research help and it might actually come out of any grants. If it is a TA then you will have certain (teaching related) duties for that and the research project is probably more associated with your own degree than as an "assistant".
But, I suppose it could happen, but don't expect a doubling of the basic grant or anything close to it. Maybe some small increment over the "guaranteed" part. The institution has to serve a lot of students and the funds aren't unlimited.
And "free money" in US universities is pretty rare.
Comment: Although there are definitely differences, especially legal ones, when I was a PhD student funded by an RAship to do work that would contribute to my thesis in the US, it certainly felt more like being an employee (possibly an underpaid one) than a student. Certainly little different from being a post doc in the day to day. But yes, "guaranteed funding" for a PhD in the US means "we will find you work to fund at this level" not "this is a minimum you can add to".
Comment: They did not mentioned about RAship or TAship mostly but some schools pay extra for TAship so main stipend is from RAship I believe. Coming back to the question and to be more specific, if you are in a lab, your lab get a grant from NIH/NSF and you are a part of this grant, do still get payment for 2-3 years in addition to the base stipend? Because you will get this payment most of the European universities. Otherwise people would struggle to complete their PhDs in my opinion.
Comment: Every situation is different, but yes, students struggle. You need to ask the university about specifics.
Comment: So the main question here should be "are you sure to coming US for the PhD instead of your home institute?"
Comment: The systems are different. In some German and Hungarian institutions, I've been told, being a doctoral  student is like having a job. Here it is like being a student. Very different philosophy.
Comment: Totally right, whole different stories in two continents


Was Caleb a foreigner (Non-Isralite)?

Question: Was Caleb a foreigner, even though he represented the tribe of Judah (Numbers 13:6) and was one of the first judges of Israel (Judges 1)?  In Numbers 32:12 and Joshua 14:14 we read that Caleb is the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite.  And in Genesis 15:19 we read that the Kenizzites were some of the original inhabitants of the land promised to Abraham.  Also, the name "Caleb" means "dog," a term used for foreigners (according to the BDB Hebrew lexicon).
Comment: Check out Chronicles I Chapter 4
Comment: I bet [Caleb](http://christianity.stackexchange.com/users/30/caleb) can answer this
Comment: http://biblehub.com/hebrew/3611.htm Where did you see about foreigners?
Comment: See [*T'mura* 16a](http://hebrewbooks.org/shas.aspx?mesechta=34&daf=16&format=text) for a discussion of Caleiv's identity.
Comment: see related http://thetorah.com/what-was-caleb-the-kenizzites-connection-to-hebron/
Answer: Divrei Hayomim 2:18 says that Caleb was the son of Chetzron. Radak there says that this is Caleb ben Yefune. Radak says he was known as ben Yefune since he turned away from the Meraglim's blasphemy of the land.
Ibn Ezra disagrees and says his father's name was Yefune and his grandfather's name was Kenaz.
Answer: Rashi (Numbers 32:12) says that Calev is called "Kenizite" after his stepfather Kenaz (so "the Kenizzite" refers to him, not to Yefuneh). And I Chronicles 4:15 (thanks @DoubleAA) says he had a grandson named Kenaz (or maybe Ukenaz), probably named after his stepfather.
Answer: From Wikipedia

There were provisions for a Gentile to be included in Israel as were
  clearly spelt out in the regulations for Passover (Exodus 12: 48,49).
  Some consider Kenizzites as an Edomite tribe, in which case Caleb
  would be a descendent of Jacob´s brother Esau.
But many view Caleb as a true Israelite by birth, since he is
  associated with and represented the tribe of Judah as one of the 12
  spies. Jephunneh could have descended from some member of the
  non-Israelite Kenizzites (Ge 15:18, 19) who associated with the
  descendants of Jacob (Israel), marrying an Israelite wife. Perhaps the
  name Kenizzite in his case derives from some ancestral Judean family
  head named Kenaz, even as Caleb's brother was so named (Joshua 15:17;
  Judges 1:13; 1 Chronicles 4:13).

Was Caleb a foreigner (Non-Isralite)?


Why do I get blurry pictures when I take a lens attachment off?

Question: I bought a Canon D3300 bundle. This is my first dSLR. It came with a couple lenses. On Easter, I decided to use a wide angle lens to get all the action. Now I can't use my camera without this lens because it is so blurry. I have tried putting it on Auto, and restarting it. For now I'm just not getting it. I want to use my 18-55mm lens. Please help.
Comment: Nikon D3300 I'm assuming. Canon does not have a model D3300 that I'm aware of.
Comment: Is your other lens on manual focus? Look on the side and see if the switch is on M or A.
Comment: Is your wide angle lens a separate lens or an adapter you screw onto the front of your 18-55mm lens?
Answer: Actually, this just happened to me and the last answer scared me until I realized that I had left a piece of (the bottom half of) the new lens attachment I'm using, on the camera! :) LOL
So check again! (I know this is a year later for the original question) :).
But yea, you might have done like me and just need to REALLY unscrew that bottom half of your new lens attachment off of the camera too.
After I did this, my lens worked perfectly no blur etc. just like before.
This post did make me aware though to be mindful of how I attach and use my lens attachments with my lens, and to just be mindful of everything previously mentioned in the other answer.
Hope this helps everyone. I had to share this relieving discovery. :)
Answer: It sounds like you might have damaged the 18-55 lens by twisting on the "wide angle" lens when your 18-55mm lens was set to autofocus. The force of twisting the screw-on "wide angle' adapter onto your lens with the focus motor connected may have damaged your lens' focus motor to the point it can no longer focus on distant objects when the wide angle lens is not attached.


Changing a cassette and adjustments after

Question: I just changed my cassette from a 32 to a 34. All is good but on the big sprocket in the front it will not change properly on the big sprocket on the rear. On the small sprocket on the front it will shift good onto the big big sprocket on the rear. What am I missing? Adjustment or a longer chain?
Comment: Can you please add the rear derailleur model and cage size, and your front chainring sizes to your question.
Answer: If you can change to biggest sprocket on the small chainring, sounds like the chain is too short. If it's new you can add a link in (if you have the left over links), otherwise you'll need to replace and resize the chain.
You should probably also check that your rear derailleur can take a 34 tooth max cassette sprocket, and you have not exceeded the derailleur total capacity (difference in chainring tooth counts plus difference between largest and smallest sprocket tooth counts).
Comment: Agree with this. It's usually a good idea to replace your chain when you replace your cassette anyhow. You may be able to improve shifting by tightening the "b" screw on the back of the rear derailleur, which will change the angle it hangs at. Finally, there is a gizmo that lowers the whole derailleur, which might help if nothing else does.
Comment: I did adjust the derailleur ( a bit lower ) have not adjusted the angle of the derailleur. How do I do that?
Comment: @Creighton Tightening the B screw moves the top idler away from the cassette (i.e.,'lowering it'), but also changes the derailleur angle as a side effect due to the derailleur rotating around the B pivot. There are no separate height and angle adjustments.
Comment: If the derailleur couldn't cope with the cassette, wouldn't it be unable to shift into the big cog from the small chainring, rather than just the big one?
Comment: @DavidRicherby Yep, that's why I think it's chain length, but recommended checking derailleur specs. Messing with B-screw 'aint gonna fix this.


How can I change the bitrate when I watch a video with Netflix on a PS3?

Question: I know that when watching streaming Netflix videos on the computer is it possible to change the video quality when watching a video. Is is possible to do the same thing when using Netflix on a PS3?
Comment: Are you trying to determine how to get better quality videos, or how to lower the quality (because of buffering, etc.)? What's the specific problem you are having?
Comment: I know that Netflix as lowered their quality since a movie could take up to 7Gb of bandwidth and consume a lot of it in a fast pace. But this was in Canada, dunno in Argentina if it's the same.
Comment: I'm trying to get better quality videos since the videos at the default quality are so blocky they're completely unwatchable. It's even worse than the lowest quality YouTube videos. I don't know if the lowest quality in USA is this bad, but I have a 3Mbps connection BTW. I guess I'll have to use my computer to watch Netflix...
Comment: @Magnus A shot in the dark, as this setting is really meant for the Canada-type situation in which you want to specifically lower video quality because of bandwidth caps, but you might want to check https://account.netflix.com/HdToggle to see if it happens to be set to a lower setting on your account.
Answer: There is a way to abstractly manage your streaming video quality on Netflix through the website. After logging in click on Your Account & Help in the top right corner. Follow this up by clicking on Manage Video Quality on the right side about half way down the page.

Finally, select the video quality you'd like to use and click on Save.
Answer: Regardless of whether you're streaming to the Netflix application on the Wii, the PS3, or the Xbox 360, the answer's the same: the Netflix application contains no such controls for this platform—or at least, no readily available controls.
Enterprising users may be able to unlock the ability through software modification by making use of a hacked console; however, these methods have a variety of associated dangers such that I have never bothered to investigate them.


What war is referred to in the TV Show 'Gotham?'

Question: Gotham is referred to as a timeless series, so they can't be referring to a specific war we know of. Such examples of references to the war is where Captain Barnes talks about the war he was in when explaining to Gordon about 'the line'.
Comment: Related: https://scifi.stackexchange.com/a/68220/31029
Answer: Haven't you just answered your own question: it can't be in reference to a particular war due to the timeless nature of the series, so it instead refers to some unspecified past war?
Given the technological time frame of Gotham, the story has to have happened in the last 50-60 years in the US; and there has been no shortage of past wars in this timeframe. Even if you expand it to 100 years, you'll still find that there will always have been a recent past war.
Comment: I said a 'war we know of.' By this I meant a war in real life. It could be fictional. What I was wondering is if there is any actual specification to this war either in this show or any other DC medium such as the comics
Comment: @yolo: Even then, in order to be timeless, you can't delve into specifics. Wars tend to showcase top technology which can very quickly date the war and thus no longer make it timeless. The only way to avoid that is to avoid any specifics about the war itself and only focus on the aftermath of it. I'm not saying it can't be done but it'd take some effort to pull off without breaking the timeless constraint, and the war is simply not in focus enough for the effort to matter.
Comment: Ah yes- but by timeless, in context of what BC referenced in the OP's comments was that it isn't a time in our history but Gotham has its own time- fixed but not relevant to us. Therefore it can have RPGs *and* old fashioned radio systems. So I think gotham has time but only relative to the events within it. For example batman is around a decade after gotham and I presume the war is around a decade before gotham


C code is very slow using it as java native code

Question: i call a C code, as native code, from Java with JNI.
So, i had created a dll and I load it from Java code.
It's very strange but if I run the same C code as .exe It's more fast than the same code used as native code.
Why??
I use Windows 7 64 bit, jdk 32 bit, Cygwin, a dll at 32 bit
Is there any difference between debug and release mode building a dll?
Answer: There is certainly a difference between debug and release mode. In debug mode the compiler will avoid aggressive optimizations because they tend to make debugging harder. In release mode it will not. So if your .exe is built in release mode and your DLL in debug mode, that could produce the effect you describe. (Whether it actually is the cause of the difference, there isn't enough information here to say. Can you make sure both are built the same way and report back on whether the speed difference goes away?)


Temperature time series forecasting predictions converging to a certain value

Question: I am trying to forecast the value of the ambient temperature based on given data on Python. The data frequency is 15 minutes. In order to predict future values, I am using a simple autoregressive model and I have tried different orders. I have also split the data into train and test datasets, with the the train dataset being the 70% of the whole data and the test being the remaining 30%. Here is a plot of the whole data.

The problem that I encounter is that the predictions deviate quite a lot from the real values. Moreover, the prediction converges to a certain value after some steps, which makes the prediction useless. You can see an example of the prediction vs the real data here.

As you can see, the AR model seems to capture the periodic behavior of the real data, but it also has some attenuation as the peaks get smaller and smaller.
Here is the code of my implementation in Python:
<code>from statsmodels.tsa.arima_model import AR
from sklearn.metrics import mean_squared_error
from matplotlib import pyplot
import pandas as pd

data = pd.read_excel('one_year_data_celsius.xlsx')
# split dataset
Nparam = 100
X = data.TAmb_meas
upto = int(len(X)*0.30)
train, test = X[1:len(X)-upto], X[len(X)-upto+1:]
# train autoregression model
model = AR(endog=train,dates=train.index,freq='15min')
model_fit = model.fit(maxlag=Nparam)
until = 24*4*14
predictions = model_fit.predict(start=train.index[-1], end=test.index[until-1], dynamic=False)

pyplot.plot(test[0:until])
pyplot.plot(predictions, color='green')
pyplot.legend(['real data','prediction'])
</code>
I would like to know: is this behavior of the AR normal, or am I making a silly mistake somewhere? Or maybe the behavior is related to the fact that I am trying to predict quite far away (1344 steps, although already after 100 steps the prediction is not good)?I have tried with different AR orders but the only "improvement" that I get is to make the "attenuation" smaller.
I apologize in advance for any beginner mistake that I may have done since I am new in this topic.
Answer: The issue with your ARIMA model is that it is making the prediction based on the values in the early stages of the time series.
From looking at the graph, there is a "zig-zag" type of pattern, where we see only one change in trend to the upside and the pattern continues as normal.
Have you tested for stationarity yet? If not, you should do so as that will give you a good indication as to whether you are using the correct ARIMA configuration.
I can't really advise any further without seeing the data up close. That said, there are two options you could try:

Use the pyramid package in Python, which replicates the auto.arima() function in R to estimate the ARIMA configuration automatically based on best fit. You can find more information here: https://www.alkaline-ml.com/pyramid/
If your data is volatile, which appears to be the case here, then it is possible that you would need to use a GARCH model to better adjust for the volatility in your data. Here is an example of how this is done: http://www.blackarbs.com/blog/time-series-analysis-in-python-linear-models-to-garch/11/1/2016
Comment: I have checked for stationarity but the variance and the mean change month per month, so the data is not stationary. However, I am afraid that the seasonality is one year and I only have one year data only. What can I do in this case? I have also tried the auto_arima function of Pyramid but I do not get better results. Moreover, I have also tried to use 99% of the data as training data but I still get the same results.
Comment: If you have a sudden switch in trend as per the above diagram, then it is likely that the ARIMA model would have confidence intervals that are too wide to draw any particular accuracy about the forecasts. Therefore, your model may be limited unless you can get more than a year of data.


Confluency or confluence, which term is correct to describe the % area covered by cells?

Question: I noticed that both of them are used in many scientific papers. Are these two terms, or can they be used interchangeably?
Comment: I'm voting to close this question as off-topic
Comment: also possibly duplicate http://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/29857/what-does-confluency-mean
Comment: Does this answer your question? [Origin of term 'confluency' in cell culture](https://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/29857/origin-of-term-confluency-in-cell-culture)
Comment: @rg255 Why is this off topic? It seems to be a valid terminology question.
Comment: Because it's an English language problem as far as I cam tell
Answer: Searching Google Scholar for cell confluence returns 239000 hits, while searching for cell confluency returns 75000 hits.
A look at the context in which they are used supports my gut feel, which is that
1:  "confluence" should be used in contexts of "% confluence"
2:  "confluency" should be used in contexts where you describe high or low levels of confluency.
Comment: I have conducted a thorough examination of this and find nothing to support your gut feeling, I am afraid. I have documented this in [a late answer to an earlier question on this topic.](https://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/29857/origin-of-term-confluency-in-cell-culture/93287#93287)
Answer: I have documented the history and current usage of the terms confluence and confluency in cell culture in an answer to another question specifically about the term confluency. As the current question has not been marked a duplicate of that one, and I believe the one answer posted to be incorrect, I am providing a brief answer here and direct the reader to my other answer for full supporting evidence.

Q. Are confluence and confluency two [different] terms, or can they be
used interchangeably?
A. Confluence and confluency, as used in cell culture, have exactly
the same meaning, and usage is a purely a matter of personal preference.

Confluence is a standard English word dating from the fifteenth century, and used as an abstract concept or applied to different phenomena in various fields. Confluency is a term almost exclusively used in relation to cell culture. In this respect, the definition from the short Wikipedia entry on confluency (sic) is pertinent:

In cell culture biology, confluence (sic) refers to the percentage of the
surface of a culture dish that is covered by adherent cells. For
example, 50 percent confluence means roughly half of the surface is
covered, while 100 percent confluence means the surface is completely
covered by the cells, and no more room is left for the cells to grow
as a monolayer.

While there is no guarantee that this Wikipedia entry is correct, it reflects the fact that (1) since the 1960s some authors have used one term and other authors have used the other term to mean the same thing (2) that the same authors have used their preferred term in relation to both the concept itself (without any numerical qualification) and with a percentage qualifier.
I have inspected recent papers in the Journal of Cell Science (referenced in note (9) of my other answer and found that both usages, as above, are still current, as well as mixed usage of both the type prescribed by @MarchHo (confluency, but 50% confluence) and the opposite (confluence, but 50% confluency).
Both terms are accepted by all journals I have looked at, and I have failed to find a pronouncement on the topic by any standards organization or professional body.
Recommendation
Use whatever the people with whom you work use. If you are starting out on your own, make your choice depending on your attitude to the English language or the respect you have for a particular pioneer of cell culture. But, whatever you choose, never tell anyone else that they should do the same.


How to fill the empty space automatically, QGIS 2.16.3

Question: Is it possible to fill empty space inside of polygon?
I have problem, a clever boy drilled my polygons with road polygon,and I want to fill up polygons again, but how? I cannot merge every single polygon by hand, it would be too much. Different color means different polygon with attribute data.Thanks
Comment: you can try using GRASS v.clean snap.
Comment: In FME I would snap area's to area's goup by id and then dissolve. 5 minute job as long as roads are not clipped on borders. Not sure how to do this in QGIS but should be possible.
Comment: I can just remember trying: remove all roads, buffer of average size of roads, dissolve by attributes, buffer the inverse average size of the roads. Although This will lead to small gaps between some borders... But maybe that is less to fix than all roads...
Comment: I don't have a unique field for polygons.  Area merged with dash dash lines is main area and those polygons splitted into smaller polygons.The roads splitted polygons, but the same attribute data. This is an area with a different type of forest. I will try to make unique field.
Comment: I did not succeed in any case. The problem is that, when I fill the road empty space, that empty space has no data. So it can not dissolve polygons. I think there is no solution in this case.
Answer: I have no data, but here is the solution to your problem: 1) Create an external boundary polygon that covers all your data and cut it with your original polygons - the result is your road type - polygon; 2) Polygons to points, then pass polygon attributes to road lines, and from lines with the same attributes, create roads to subpoles; 3) Dissolve the sub-polygons of the road by attributes, i.e. if the sub-polygon concerns polygons whose id is the same, then such polygons combined...
Comment: https://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/132847/merge-two-points-of-two-different-polygons-to-get-one-polygon-at-the-end


Are VIA CPUs vulnerable to Spectre/Meltdown attacks?

Question: I couldn't find any information about the recently published Spectre/Meltdown attacks affecting VIA CPUs.
Are they also affected by this vulnerabilities?
Answer: VIA's global market share in below 1%, therefore they are not even mentioned.
As the "VIA Nano" generation from 2008 onward, is able to do out-of-order execution (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VIA_Nano), it could be highly possible, they are affected as well.
With respect to their ARM-based products, Cortex A8 and A9 were used there, so they would be vulnerable.
Comment: But VIA C3/C7 are safe as they're in-order… from Meltdown at least. Does Spectre affect them? • Also, market share is not a good metric here; we're looking at installed devices, for purposes where these are still good (often even *better* than newer CPUs).
Answer: VIA has just recently announced a new "Enterprise IoT Gateway" in November 2017. Press release here: https://www.viatech.com/en/2017/11/artigo-a630-iot-gateway-system/)
The system is based on a Cortex-A9 dual-core SoC, which is per se vulnerable:
Variant 1: bounds check bypass (CVE-2017-5753)
Variant 2: branch target injection (CVE-2017-5715)
(source: https://developer.arm.com/support/security-update)
Also worse is, that the system is delivered with a 3.4.5 Linux Kernel BSP.  Even this is not the latest release, which is 3.4.113, the 3.4.x branch is already EOL since October 2016
Not only that this particular version 3.4.5 has a long list of vulnerabilities, see here: https://www.cvedetails.com/vulnerability-list/vendor_id-33/product_id-47/version_id-136438/opgpriv-1/Linux-Linux-Kernel-3.4.5.html but this gives a good outlook what to expect. If a new product is released with a Linux Kernel which has been already EOL for more than one year, plus as we are talking about an embedded system where you can not simply choose the kernel you want, it seems very unlikely that there will be a patch for them.


Transparent PNGs lose transparency when uploaded to media library (8.2)

Question: I have some PNGs that I created in Photoshop which have transparent backgrounds. I've saved these as PNGs and when I view the images in my file stystem in my browser, the background is transparent as I expect. However, I uploaded them in Sitecore (using the basic Upload File button in the media library) and saved them, but when I place them on my page they have a white background -- I should be able to see the a background image through them, but instead the background is white.
Comment: Verify you aren't resizing the images or altering in any other way. You would see these actions in the URL of the image on your web page
Comment: note - on the media library item, the extension is PNG and the mimetype is image/png
Comment: This works on a clean install of Sitecore for me, at least on the update I have installed (u2 and u6). You should check on a clean install to see if you are still able to reproduce the problem.
Comment: Any css on the placeholder for background-color ?
Answer: It seems like the image rendering part is not implemented in correct way.
For start with basic you can render the page(consist image) and try to open the image only in new tab(inspect element in browser) and from new open tab try to download the image and see still it is giving you white background or the image is as expected image with transparent background.
If image is with transparent background then you need to do change in the rendering logic of your image.


Wire splitting to switches

Question: I am running 14-2 wire from a 15 amp circuit.  I want to use 3 dimmer switches for 4 lights on each.  Can I split or connect 3 wires in a junction box to each dimmer switch from the main wire?  I am only using LED lights.
Comment: Are these dimmers at the same location, or physically separated?
Comment: They are physically separated
Answer: Yes, you can do this. The 14/2, with a ground, would be run into your 3 gang box. The black hot would be connected to the three black dimmer switch wires using a wire nut or appropriate connector. Then the load wires from the switches would be hooked up to the appropriate black wires from the lights. The white wires, neutrals,from the lights would all be connected to the white wire from the feed. The ground wires from the lights would be connected to the ground wire from the feed and from the ground wires from the switches. Good luck.
Since the dimmers are separated, run a 14/2 with a ground to the second and third switch box. In the first switch box connect the black feed in with the black feed out with the dimmer hot, connect the white wires together, connect the light load to the dimmer and connect the grounds. Wire the second box the same way. The third box connect black feed to dimmer, white neutrals together, light load to dimmer and connect grounds.
Comment: You do need to make sure the box is big enough for the number of wires & devices (do a box fill calculation, and check against the number of cubic inches that the box is.) That will be different if the junction box is separate from the dimmer locations .vs. if they are all in one big box.
Comment: The junction box must be accessible, it cannot be hidden behind a wall.

Wire splitting to switches


RTV gasket maker

Question: I looked online on different websites for a gasket that I need. In taking off the oil filter adapter on my 2003 Ford Mustang 3.8L V6, I found that the gasket that goes between the adapter and the engine is in need of replacement. Seeing as I could not find tbe gasket online, I was wondering if I could use RTV instead. Probably a terrible idea, but I was just wondering if it was doable.
Comment: Surely any Ford dealer can order one, it's not that old...
Answer: What I'd suggest instead is: if it's a paper gasket, get a sheet of gasket paper (available at most auto parts stores) and very carefully trace the old one onto the paper (be sure to use the finest-tipped implement you can to avoid making the new gasket slightly wider), cut with a razor. If it's a rubber o-ring, they are available in various sizes online as well as in stores. Measure the inner and outer diameter and search using those dimensions. If it's an awkwardly shaped rubber gasket... God help you.
Answer: Short answer - no.
Mostly RTV is just not meant for that kind of pressure. In a pinch, sure - short-term, but not as a fix.
Answer: As Solar Mike said, you can get it at the Ford dealer. This same basic engine was used in a lot of different vehicles over many, many years. The engine model was only replaced in the Ford lineup in the past few years.
You don't want to use RTV, it will never make a good seal, and if you did happen to get it to seal, it could fail at any time, leaving the life blood of the engine out on the pavement. You may not know it until engine damage occurs. Just replace the gasket and call it a day.
Answer: According to This ford specific parts website you are looking for part number 6C639 (or possibly 6600 if I am misunderstanding your description of the part)

Note the square and circle in the top left corner used to denote which gasket is which.  Don't let those prices scare you, searching for the same part number on Amazon finds it for 10 USD.

RTV gasket maker


How to highlight todo in a comment line?

Question: I'll leave ? at the beginning of a commented line to mark a todo item.
-- ? TODO ...
This line will be marked as comment.
How to highlight the ? and the remaining text by Todo color while keep the -- as comment color?
Answer: You'll need to know what syntax item your filetype uses for comments.
The only languages I know that use -- as a comment marker are Ada and MySQL. For these, use the following lines, respectively:
syntax match Todo /--\s*\zs?.*/ containedin=adaComment
syntax match Todo /--\s*\zs?.*/ containedin=mysqlComment

We're matching the entire comment (because we don't want question marks halfway through a comment to be marked as TODO items), but using \zs to tell Vim to only start highlighting at the ?.
Breaking down the regular expression:

--\s*: Match two dashes followed by any amount of whitespace,
\zs: "Start" the match,
?: Match a question mark,
.*: Match anything else that follows on that line.


In Judges 3:16 what is the length of a "gomed"?

Question: In Judges 3:16, Ehud's sword or dagger was said to be a gomed in length. How long is a gomed? I'm aware some translations have cubit, but if it was a cubit, why wasn't the Hebrew word for cubit used?
Answer: The Hebrew word 'gomed' is used, in this verse, to apply to a double-edged dagger which is about a foot long.  The NLT suggests it is about 12 inches long, whereas the NIV suggests 18 inches.  The point is (sorry, no pun intended) this dagger could be strapped to a man's thigh.  A dagger between 12 and 18 inches in length might work.  Certainly, nothing longer.
Source: New Living Translation Study Bible notes (page 424).
Answer: The exact length of the sword is not significant for understanding the text. Translations may use whatever terms readers are expected to be familiar with. Since cubit is fairly well known term, many measures that aren't really cubits are probably translated as "cubit". Some translations even use feet and inches.
Cubit is an English word that refers to various forearm-based measures. What we call a cubit had different names and different lengths in different cultures. The lengths may be based on distances between different body parts, such as elbow-to-wrist, elbow-to-knuckles, or elbow-to-fingertips. Even measures with the same name in the same culture in different time periods had different lengths. Modern measures, such as the meter, have also been redefined several times.

gomed = Strong's 1574
short cubit (from elbow to knuckles of clenched fist) (biblehub)
half-cubit - the measure between a cubit and a span (biblestudytools)
Answer: There were two cubits: the standard cubit of 17.5 inches and a short cubit of 15 inches.
The גֹּ֫מֶד is a short cubit of 15 in. (about 38 cm).

Brown-Driver-Briggs
  גֹּ֫מֶד noun masculine cubit (from elbow to knuckles of clenched (contracted) hand; Aq on Ezekiel 27:11, Ra and others; Greek πυγμή; Late Hebrew גּוֺמֶד cubit; so Aramaic גַּרְמִידָא ChWB1. 155, (lexicons)) — Judges 3:16 of Ehud's sword אָרְכָּהּ ׳ג (see GFM).
Answer: The word in issue is גמד [GMD], instead, the commoner term for 'cubit' is אמה [AME]. According the traditional definition, but also on the basis of some archaeological confirms, the cubit was long 44,4 centimeters.
Now, for the common paradigm, the 'aleph' and the 'he' can be mater lectionis. So, they work sometimes as consonants and sometimes as vowels. If in this case they work as vowels, they do not carry any (absolute/unique) meaning, like that carried by the consonants, but only some cross-meanings (moods, diathesis, etc.), that is, a some meanings commons to every conceptual roots.
Consequently, the only letter (in אמה [AME]) that is re-echoing the original conceptual root is M ('mem'), here working as medial radical. Then, there is the possibility that גמד [GMD] (also here the 'mem' works as medial radical) is the archaic term for 'cubit', derived from an omographic conceptual root.
This supposition is strenghtened by the Akkadian term for 'cubit', that is, AMMATU ('forearm, cubit', in ancient Assyrian/Babylonian) [Chicago Assyrian Dictionary, I:2:70-75]. Take account – please - the common (historical-ascertained) commutation between D > T.
Granted, some hypothize, instead, that GMD could be a different measure (a diminished cubit?), but their backing argument is not solid, because the manners to ideate alternative measurements are virtually a lot. Moreover, if GMD was a 'short cubit' "where else is this cubit mentioned?", asks John Parkhurst (on גמד entry of his Hebrew and English Lexicon). In other words, if GMD was a 'short cubit', why we find – in MT - over 150 times the 'cubit' term, but only once the 'short-cubit' term? And where are the other various possible permutated measures among palms, spans, and cubits? If all those existed, where are they mentioned in MT?
However, there is a possibility that this term is present in MT twice, instead of only one occurrence (anyway, this fact does not modify the unbalanced ratio above mentioned between [standard]-cubit term and diminished-cubit term). In fact, in Ezekiel 27:11 we find the term גמדים [GMDIM, a simple plural of GMD]. Leaving out the 'humorous' Vulgate rendering 'pigmei' (do you picture a lot of 'ferocious' pygmies on the city towers?), we could to focus ourselves on an English term: 'dagger'. Probably, the vulgar Latin term daca was the basis, passing through the Middle Low German term dagge, and perhaps also with a cross-derivation from the Old French term dague, resulting in the Middle English term dag, 'to pierce' (see also Middle Dutch dagge, Danish daggert, German degen, Old Norse daggardr, Walsh dager, dagr, etc.). So, they were not 'pygmies' but 'dagger carriers', or 'daggermen'. I must specify what link may exist between GMD and 'dagger, since the two common consonants (G, D) are not written in the same order of pronounciation (G-D vs D-G). We have to remember that in the MT conceptual roots' corpus there are, in a lot of instances, roots with identical meaning although with a different permutation of the radicals (called 'allographic roots', technically) [some examples: 'To elevate' = MRA (Job 39:18) Vs RAM (Zec 14:10); 'To be stupid' = KSL (Jer 10:8) Vs SKL (Gen 31:28); 'To mourn, to weep tears' = BKA/BKE (Gen 21:16) Vs KAB (Job 14:22)]. Knowing this is easy to see the link above mentioned.
Moreover, we would consider also what we may draw from linguistic comparison.
In Italian language, for an example, the word for 'elbow' is gomito. Would be only a coincidence the striking similarity between gomito and GMD (also in this case you have take to account – please - the common historical-ascertained commutation between D > T), along with the striking semantic affinity between 'elbow' and 'cubit'?
In conclusion, it is more probable that גמד [GMD] indicated a cubit, in a more archaic term compared to אמה [AME]. On Judges 3:16 Keil & Delitzsch commented (bold is mine): "[Hapax legomena][גמד] signified primarily a staff, here a cubit, according to the Syriac and Arabic; not 'a span', σπιθαμή, lxx)".