Mule ESB: How to achieve unlimited Retry till the consuming Service is up and running

Question: I'm not sure how to apply logic to handle this issue.
I have a simple flow, Where I'm consuming the service in between the flow. I have tried until successful, but it required Max retries field( but I dont want to limit my retry by giving any number). To my scenario, I'm not sure when my consuming service is up, But need to retry until the service  up and running ( not required retry exhausted). Could anyone suggest to handle the scenario.
          <flow name="newFlow1" doc:name="newFlow1">
    <http:inbound-endpoint exchange-pattern="request-response" host="localhost" port="8081" path="ttt" doc:name="HTTP"/>
    <byte-array-to-string-transformer doc:name="Byte Array to String"/>
    <logger message="**********test****#[payload]" level="INFO" doc:name="Logger"/>
    <until-successful doc:name="Until Successful">
        <http:outbound-endpoint exchange-pattern="request-response" host="localhost" port="8089" path="new"  method="POST" doc:name="HTTP"/>
    </until-successful>

    <set-payload value="'Return Response'" doc:name="Set Payload"/>

   </flow>

Also tried Max Retries in until successful as '-1'( to make as unlimited retry) but it is not accepting the negative value.
   Tried using HTTP connector retry connection strategy(but it seems to be work for JMS or JDBC).
Could you please anyone suggest to handle this issue.
Thanks in advance.
Edited:
 <http:connector name="HttpConnector" doc:name="HTTP-HTTPS">
<reconnect-forever    />
</http:connector>

<flow name="new1Flow1" doc:name="new1Flow1">
    <http:inbound-endpoint exchange-pattern="request-response"   doc:name="HTTP"   path="ttt" responseTimeout="30000" host="localhost" port="8081" />
    <logger message="***entered***" level="INFO" doc:name="Logger"/>
    <http:outbound-endpoint exchange-pattern="request-response" host="localhost" port="8089" path="new" connector-ref="HttpConnector" method="POST" doc:name="HTTP"/>
    <logger message="**Http StatusCode***#[message.inboundProperties['http.status']]" level="INFO" doc:name="Logger"/>
</flow>

It is not doing retry, since the service is down I could see the following error message in console for one time only.( But we should get multiple times the error message in console until service up)
     Failed to route event via endpoint: DefaultOutboundEndpoint{endpointUri=http://localhost:8089/new, connector=HttpConnector

Please suggest.
Comment: Did you get some solution?
Answer: You can first define a http Connector which will have a property of reconnecting forever
<http:connector name="HttpConnector" >
    <reconnect-forever  frequency="2000"  />
</http:connector>

then you can have your inbound-or outbound endpoint use that connector reference
like this
 <http:inbound-endpoint connector-ref="HttpConnector" .../>

or
<http:outbound-endpoint connector-ref="HttpConnector" .../>

Hope this helps!
Good luck!
Comment: Thanks for the response.I have tried this scenario earlier, but no hope, it is not doing retry, Please find my edited response above as you suggested. Actually it has to retry with the same message till the service is up. Kindly suggest if any other options are available.
Comment: I ended up using roll back strategy instead of until successful.Since I didn't get any solution with until message processor.


What is Magnitude and Phase actually represents in Fast Fourier Transform?

Question: When we reconstruct the image from its magnitude only using Inverse Fast Fourier Transform, then why the resulting image looks nothing like but the original image? Can someone please explain me in detail, what is the role of magnitude and phase in FFT and IFFT?
Comment: Does this answer your question? [Image Reconstruction:Phase vs. Magnitude](https://dsp.stackexchange.com/questions/16995/image-reconstructionphase-vs-magnitude)
Comment: See also https://dsp.stackexchange.com/questions/21758/is-it-possible-to-reconstruct-an-image-using-its-magnitude-only https://dsp.stackexchange.com/q/9126/11256
Answer: This question is longstanding, and not fully resolved, IMO.
It hinges upon data dimensionality (1D, 2D, 3D), size (short, large), sampling (loose, tight), and mostly morphology (smooth vs. sharp).
Basically, in natural images with distinguishable objects of different contrast/texture at different scales, the data is far from stationary. Fourier applies, but sines can have very complicated relative locations, therefore phases. And to make sense of an object, sepia or luminance-distorted images still work. So, disregarding relative amplitude of components, what may matter is their relative position. Hence, phase can be primordial.
But for more stationary 2D data, with less "objects", phase can have a minor effect.
Answer: I like this perspective:
The Fast Fourier Transform is an algorithm that implements the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT), so I will stick with DFT in my description.
The DFT decomposes ANY single valued complex time domain function into individual spinning phasors each with a constant magnitude and starting phase. Each spinning phasor rotates at an integer spin rate starting with no spin (DC), then spinning at the fundamental frequency which is 1/T where T is the duration of the time domain signal, and then higher multiples of that frequency. The cool thing is when all those spinning phasors (in time) are summed together, then net result will land exactly on the original sample locations, at the time for that sample.
That said, the Magnitude and Phase of the DFT is the magnitude and starting phase of those spinning phasors in the time domain. This is what occurs specifically during the IDFT: it gives each component in time of the form $Ae^{j(\omega t + \phi)}$ (a spinning phasor) a magnitude $A$ and starting phase $\phi$ that will then properly reconstruct the time domain signal at those sample locations only.
Consider the plot below to explain this further. Here we see a complex continuous time domain function in blue plotted on a complex IQ plane. The dot corresponding to n=0 is t=0, and the function moves forward through the other sample locations as time moves forward. This function is sampled 11 times as indicated with n=0 through n =10. If you take the DFT of those 11 complex time domain samples, you will get 11 complex values for the DFT, each typically indexed with k and having a magnitude and phase given by the complex value $X[k]$.  The inverse DFT is to assign those as magnitude and starting phase to complex phasors rotating in time such that the sum will land on the original sample locations exactly (and there will likely be large deviations at the locations in between if you observed it as a continuous time signal):

Consider the IDFT written as follows where this reconstruction in the time domain as a sum of spinning phasors ($e^{j\omega n}$) is clear:
$$ x(n) = \frac{1}{N}\Sigma_{k=0}^{N-1}X[k]e^{jk \omega n}$$
where $\omega = 2\pi/N$
The reconstruction sums N phasors that each rotate as n counts from 0 to N-1. Each phasor is indexed by k, starting with k =0 (DC, does not rotate, with magnitude and phase given by X[0]. Added to this is the phasor from k=1, which rotates the slowest going from 0 to 1 sample less than $2\pi$ on the unit circle landing on all N samples (given by $\omega$). This phasor has a magnitude and starting phase given by X1. Added to this is the phasor from k=2, which rotates twice as fast, as it goes around the unit circle twice since the N samples in this case index by 2$\omega$. This phase has a magnitude and starting phase given by X[2]. So this continues for all N phasors, and if this is done as directed in the formula, the summation of all that will land on the original time domain samples!


Path-finding with obstacles that can be destroyed

Question: There are several buildings on the map with size n * n, and a lot of tiles of obstacles that can be destroyed.  Suppose I put one soldier on (x,y) of the map, the soldier can reach a building by moving and destroying the obstacles.  I need a way to figure out the best choice for the soldier and because there might be a lot of soldiers I hope this process can use as little computing resources as possible.  I have come up with path finding and K-D tree finding the nearest neighbor, but neither fits well, since K-D tree works with no obstacles and  path-finding needs to traverse a lot building.  Besides, the destroying obstacles will affect those have made one path plan.
Answer: A* and other standard path finding algorithms let you assign costs for each move. You simply need to assign an appropriate cost to destroying an obstacle that represents how long it would take to destroy it.
When an obstacle is destroyed, you may want to recalculate paths for all moving units, as they may now have a more efficient way to reach their destination.
Comment: First I need to decide which one is the best for the target, even if I add weight to the obstacle , I need to calculate all possible path with A*. In other words, I don't want this violent way to do it, I hope to do A* on as little building as possible to find the best or more sub-optimal. About the destroying obstacle, if there are lots of soldiers on battle field, recaculate all will be a huge cost and not every soldier needed to recalculate.


What is Dalvik and dalvik-cache?

Question: I know this may be a basic question in Android. But what is Dalvik and dalvik-cache?
Answer: Dalvik is the virtual machine that is used by Android. It is generally thought of as a Java virtual machine, although this is not precisely correct. It uses an object model that is identical to Java, and its memory model is also nearly equivalent. But the dalvik VM is a register based VM, as opposed to Java VMs, which are stack based.
Accordingly, it uses a completely different bytecode than Java. However, the Android SDK includes the dx tool to translate Java bytecode to dalvik bytecode, which is why you are able to write Android applications in Java.
When you say "dalvik-cache", I assume you mean the /data/dalvik-cache directory that can be found on typical Android devices. When you install an application on Android, it performs some modifications and optimizations on that application's dex file (the file that contains all the dalvik bytecode for the application). It then caches the resulting odex (optimized dex) file in the /data/dalvik-cache directory, so that it doesn't have to perform the optimization process every time it loads an application.
Comment: Correct. There is no effect, other than increasing the next load time, as it is rebuilt.
Comment: What if I delete these Dalvik Cache? Will there be any effect except the app will take time to load as it needs to rebuild it's Dalvik Cache?
Comment: Art compiles the dex file into native code. That compiled code is what is now stored in dalvik-cache, with art.
Comment: Why does Android Lollipop (version 5) still have Dalvik cache now that the VM is ART ? Some people told me it's for compatibility, but I've noticed it takes a lot of space (around 900MB).
Comment: As someone posted on another duplicate question, here is your gratuitous wiki link "The Dalvik cache is an essential part of your Android. You can read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalvik_%28software%29"
Comment: Note: Deleting does broke, that apps does not start. But on device reboot dalvik-cache is restored and all works normal. This was on MTK device
Answer: Dalvik is the java based Virtual Machine that runs Android Apps on Android. Dalvik-cache is the cache area for Dalvik VM, it is created when the Dalvik VM optimizes your app for running.
You can look up more on the internet about the differences between Dalvik VM op-codes and a "normal" Java VM Op-codes if you want.
Answer: Dalvik Caches are nothing but the temporary compilation of application code being stored as executables.  As these can be compiled dynamically from the original application code sitting outside the Dalvik Cache, you can clear the Dalvik Cache without any real penalty.
Comment: @AndroidKiller that would be bytecode or binary images, depending on the presence of Dalvik or ART.  Not graphical images.
Answer: The Dalvik cache is no part of modern Android versions anymore; Android 4.4 KitKat was the last to make use of this construction. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalvik_(software) for more details.

What is Dalvik and dalvik-cache?


How was analog video converted to an electrical signal?

Question: Before the invention of the CCD, how were analog video images captured? Specifically, what process occurred between the optics of the camera, and the resulting analog electrical signal (not necessarily ready to transmit)?
Answer: Before understanding the answer to this question, you need to understand analog video displays, usually called Cathode Ray Tube Televisions (CRT TVs), often shortened to just "CRTs" in casual speech. There are plenty of answers here on this site, and a more technical one on the CRT Wikipedia Page.
Now, before answering the question, there were a multitude of technological advances that led to the collection of 'standard' Video Camera Tubes, each with its own pros and cons, and advancements throughout the years. In this answer, I will assume a black and white system, will ignore the optics, gloss over the physics of electron beams and photo-cathodes (you did read and understand the CRT wiki page... didn't you? :D ),  and I will ignore the electronics and technology involved in the camera, as well as those in the encoding, transmission, reception, decoding, etc. as those items each are far beyond the scope of this answer. (Many have their own dedicated Stack Exchange!!) For a very simple overview, see here.
Here is the short answer:
Analog cameras were the reverse of CRT displays, and the incoming photons from the optics were converted to an output signal in broadly one of two ways.

Incoming photons hit a photo-cathode plate of some type, which emitted electrons. These electrons may or may not have hit a secondary plate with the ability to amplify the electron (not photon) image. This image was then scanned past an aperture (note that the entire image is scanned, not just one beam). Behind this aperture the signal was detected and converted to an electronic signal via a dissector tube (again, many technologies).

The incoming photon image hits another type of photo-cathode plate. In this second technology, an electron beam of constant strength is then shot towards the rear of this plate (scanned and focused in the way a display CRT is), and the plate in the middle creates a voltage relative to the strength of the photons on the front. This voltage is the output signal.
P.S. This answer is in response to an unanswered question asked here by J. Doe


Entity Framework core many to many not inserting

Question: I am using EF7 and have a scenario which needs a many to many relationship.
I have a ParticipantSIR entity and a ParticipantAssessmentReport entity. There is a link table ParticipantSIRAssessmentReport between them.
public class ParticipantSIR
{
    public int ParticipantSIRID { get; set; }

    public virtual ICollection<ParticipantSIRAssessmentReport> ParticipantSIRAssessmentReport { get; set; }
    public virtual Participant Participant { get; set; }
}

public class ParticipantAssessmentReport
{
    public int ParticipantAssessmentReportID { get; set; }

    public virtual ICollection<ParticipantSIRAssessmentReport> ParticipantSIRAssessmentReport { get; set; }

}

public partial class ParticipantSIRAssessmentReport
{
    public int ParticipantSIRID { get; set; }
    public int ParticipantAssessmentReportID { get; set; }

    public virtual ParticipantAssessmentReport ParticipantAssessmentReport { get; set; }
    public virtual ParticipantSIR ParticipantSIR { get; set; }
}

modelBuilder.Entity<ParticipantSIRAssessmentReport>(entity =>
        {
            entity.HasKey(e => new { e.ParticipantSIRID, e.ParticipantAssessmentReportID });

            entity.HasOne(d => d.ParticipantAssessmentReport).WithMany(p => p.ParticipantSIRAssessmentReport).HasForeignKey(d => d.ParticipantAssessmentReportID).OnDelete(DeleteBehavior.Restrict);

            entity.HasOne(d => d.ParticipantSIR).WithMany(p => p.ParticipantSIRAssessmentReport).HasForeignKey(d => d.ParticipantSIRID).OnDelete(DeleteBehavior.Restrict);
        });

This appears to be the way this needs to be setup with EF core including the third entity. I got some of the information from. http://ef.readthedocs.io/en/latest/modeling/relationships.html#many-to-many
When I insert data the 2 outside entities get populated but not the link table.
Since there are no navigation properties between the ParticipantSIR and ParticipantAssessmentReport then I'm not sure how to add the linked data.
  _db.ParticipantAssessmentReport.Add(participantAssessmentReport);
            foreach (var sir in participantSirs)
            {
                _db.ParticipantSIR.Add(sir);
            }
            _db.SaveChanges();

Answer: Assuming we're talking about EF Core 1.0rc1 it looks like you have created your model correctly (except the virtual keyword doesn't do anything yet as lazy loading hasn't been implemented).
As many-to-many hasn't been implemented yet as of 1.0rc1 you need to do some extra work. See https://github.com/aspnet/EntityFramework/issues/1368#issuecomment-180066124 for the classic blog Post, Tag, PostTag example code.
In your case you need to explictly add to ParticipantSIRAssessmentReport, something like this:
    var participantSIRAssessmentReport = new ParticipantSIRAssessmentReport {ParticipantSIR = participantSIR, ParticipantAssessmentReport = participantAssessmentReport };
    _db.ParticipantSIRAssessmentReport.Add(participantSIRAssessmentReport);
    _db.SaveChanges();

Answer: To map Many-To-Many relationships in EF you need to add the following to your DbContext's OnModelCreating() method:
modelBuilder.Entity<ParticipantSIR>()
    .HasMany(e => e.ParticipantSIRAssessmentReport)
    .WithMany(e => e.ParticipantSIR)
    .Map(e => e.ToTable("ParticipantSIRAssessmentReport") //Name of the linking table
           .MapLeftKey("ParticipantSIRId") //Name of the Left column
           .MapRightKey("ParticipantSIRAssessmentReportId")); //Name of the right column

From here the relationship will be handled using the Collections inside each of the classes.


How to know the two meanings of a German verb that can be both separable and inseparable when used with different sentences?

Question: Some verbs in German can be both separable and inseparable and it depends on the the meaning of the sentence that you want to say, verbs like "durchlaufen", "umfahren", "umkleiden", "durchschauen". Is there a way to know the different meanings for those verbs or a site or a dictionary, because i use dict.cc and Wiktionary and sometimes they don't show that the verb can be in two conditions or they don't show the different meanings.
Comment: But with these 4 examples dict.cc marks them.
Comment: My mistake because i wrote them quickly as an example for the kind of verbs i'm talking about, but also with verbs like "umgeben" and "unterstützen" it doesn't differentiate between them or it's there somewhere and i don't see it i guess.
Answer: Any good dictionary will differentiate those verbs in some way. Using durchschauen as an example.
The German Wiktionary labels them as trennbar or untrennbar: https://de.wiktionary.org/wiki/durchschauen
DWDS says Präsens: schaut durch and Präsens: durchschaut. https://www.dwds.de/wb/durchschauen
Duden uses two separate entries that link to each other: https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/durchschauen_hindurchsehen_durchblicken
and https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/durchschauen_erkennen_verstehen.
In addition, the past participle may be used to differentiate: durchgeschaut versus durchschaut.
If an indication of stress is given, that would also work: [ˈdʊʁçˌʃaʊ̯ən] versus [dʊʁçˈʃaʊ̯ən], with ' marking the syllable with primary stress. Dict.cc uses [' – – –] and [– ' – –]. (Or you could listen to the pronunciations, which would be really good practice. ) https://www.dict.cc/?s=durchschauen


Is it true that there is a spider that eats parasites from caterpillars

Question: I think I once saw a video of a caterpillar that could get infected by a parasite, and could die of that, unless a specific kind of spider would eat the parasite, and so once the caterpillar is infected it goes looking for that spider. I can't find that video anymore though, nor any reference on this, so I'm beginning to doubt myself. Does this behaviour really exist?
Answer: Oddly enough it is a bit difficult to find good field studies where the diet of spiders was studied.  I have a feeling it's a hard thing to get funding for.  Luckily some do exist.
Peucetia viridans has been shown to eat from the Chrysididae family and Lepidoptera order, but I didn't find an explicit statement that it ate the larvae out of the caterpillar.  Likewise Oxyopes globifer was found to have eaten from the Braconidae family and Lepidotera.
At this point you might be wondering why I'm looking for spiders that have been shown to eat both parasitoids (Chrysididae and Braconidae) and caterpillars (Lepidotera).  It my assumption that in the scenario you describe a spider that would normal eat ether the caterpillar or the larvae would be just as happy to eat them both if it was lucky enough to find them.
I could find one example where it seems wolf spiders under the right conditions might seek out larvae, and I found a fun photo of a wolf spider eating larvae (though not the kind in the study).
I never saw the video you were talking about, and I too could not find it.  It is not unreasonable to assume that an opportunistic spider wouldn't just take the opportunity to feed on both, or that it might find the larvae more tasty and just eat them.  I've not found a spider seeking caterpillar as of yet.
Comment: That's no fun photo! Thanks for the search. Actually the way I remember it it was actually even more crazy than the spider looking for the caterpillar; it was the caterpillar looking for the spider. It was a rather small spider, couldn't eat the caterpillar, but the larvae was a good meal.
Comment: @JasperKennis Again I would be very interested if someone could pull that up. Under the right pressure I could imagine such behavior evolving, but I am unaware and couldn't find an instance where it is true.  It might be worth noting that plenty of insects/spiders eat pray that are larger than they are.


How to enhance list of accounts for the Truffle tests to run against Ropsten testnet

Question: I am working on the my contracts testing scripts. But I want to run tests not on the local TestRPC or Ganache but in the Ropsten testnet. How can I predefine a list of accounts (private keys and addresses)?
Comment: What node are you connecting to Ropsten with?
Comment: @goodvibration basically I am working with Shasta and TRON now. There no such big community for TRON, so I asked here and want to port solution to the Tronbox+tronweb+Shasta stack.
Answer: You can use HDWalletProvider to connect to a provider (infura or your local node) using a mnemonic phrase. In case you are using truffle, you can do it by seting you config to something like this:
...
    networks: {
    kovan: {
          provider: () => new HDWalletProvider(mnemonic, `https://kovan.infura.io/v3/${infuraKey}`),
          network_id: 3,       // Ropsten id
          ...
        }
      }
    ...

Attention that HDWalletProvider is deprecated. But I, personally, still use it often for testing environments.
Comment: I know you are right .. it has been renamed. But this specific repo(https://github.com/trufflesuite/truffle-hdwallet-provider)  is, citing, "deprecated".
Comment: The message says the "repo" is deprecated, that repo doesn't have the most recent version. It was moved inside truffle's monorepo https://github.com/trufflesuite/truffle/tree/develop/packages/hdwallet-provider. If you follow npm instructions you should get the most recent version `npm install @truffle/hdwallet-provider`.
Comment: It is not deprecated, it was renamed/moved to truffle's monorepo. The current package is at https://www.npmjs.com/package/@truffle/hdwallet-provider.
Answer: You can use truffle-hdwallet-provider and provide it with mnemonic which has addresses funded with Ropsten Ethers.
var HDWalletProvider = require("truffle-hdwallet-provider");

var mnemonic = "mountains supernatural bird ...";

module.exports = {
  networks: {
    development: {
      host: "localhost",
      port: 8545,
      network_id: "*" // Match any network id
    },
    ropsten: {
      // must be a thunk, otherwise truffle commands may hang in CI
      provider: () =>
        new HDWalletProvider(mnemonic, "https://ropsten.infura.io/"),
      network_id: '3',
    }
  }
};

Comment: Here is a real life example https://github.com/miohtama/viral-aave-save-game/blob/master/truffle-config.js#L17


How easy is it to make a malicious bank/identity card?

Question: I recently got a magnetic card reader that plugs into my computer because I was bored. I decided to scan my ID and bank card through it and I was surprised to see my ID number/bank card number show up plainly on the screen. Therefore, can you load a custom value onto a blank card (say, another number or SQL injection string) easily with off-the-shelf equipment? And do these attacks occur frequently?
Comment: The attack you describe is known as [white card fraud](http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=4773999) and (used to be extremely) commonplace.  It is one of the main reasons that EMV was introduced: see [Why are chips safer than magnetic stripes?](http://security.stackexchange.com/q/49234)
Answer: The ID and bank card number isn't exactly private information. After all, these numbers are simply printed on the physical card, so it makes sense that they can be read out as-is by an electronic card reader. This information is analogous to a user name of an email account, for instance.
Actions that involve using the card's embedded microchip, except the most basic ones, require its holder to successfully authenticate, usually done by entering the card's associated Personal Identification Number (PIN).
The cards contain (at least) one certificate (usually X.509), which can be used to sign a document digitally, e.g. a financial transaction (among other things). The document's receiver can then use the digital signature to validate the signer's identity claim.
The certificate(s) comes from a trusted certificate authority (CA), which are also digitally signed by the same CA. In the case of an electronic identity card, this is most commonly the government who issued the card.
So can you easily forge an chipped ID or bank card? The answer is no, because

You'll need more than just the card to use it effectively;
The certificate on the card is very difficult to forge.
Comment: You are conflating the magstripe with the EMV chip.
Comment: Indeed, my answer is about the microchip. I edited my answer to make this more clear. I haven't encountered an identity card that has a magnetic stripe.
Comment: Unfortunately, in the US, that is all we have.


Hardware questions?

Question: I was looking at this question and wondering if we really want to be a hardware support site. Generally speaking hardware has a (relatively) short life span, which is why most sites don't allow product recommendation questions.
Comment: I'm downvoting because I think the question itself includes a "disallow" answer, which I disagree with. I would recommend editing it to be more answer-neutral and posting your own "no" answer below with your arguments, then people won't have to choose between upvoting a good and interesting question vs. downvoting because they disagree with your answer to it.
Answer: I think allowing hardware is a good idea, for several reasons:

The scope of this stack is already narrow. If we narrow it down too
far there won't be enough activity to sustain it.
There will be many questions that relate somewhat to hardware and
you'll end up with lots of meta discussion over time as to what
kinds of hardware questions are okay and what are not. I have
personally found it annoying with one stack I'm involved with that
the same natural pressures come up over and over and over but
several individuals feel it is there duty to beat back the pressure so lots of energy is expended for little gain.

Here's example questions during the commitment period that at least somewhat concerned hardware:

Is there a measurable difference in terms of eye strain reading on an
E Ink device compared to an LCD screen?
If I get the Kindle with Special Offers can I upgrade to disable the
ads?
Do the new backlit e-books have noticeably less battery life?
Which e-book readers [or manufacturers] have a mode for viewing
three-column pdfs?
Can I replace the internal battery of my Kindle Touch and if so how
do I go about this?
Will I damage the battery in my Nook color if I don't charge it up
all the way before I unplug it?
What liquids can be used for cleaning the screen of my Kobo without
damaging it?

All of these questions receive 10 votes. While some of these questions are obviously about hardware, it is not at all clear for several others - so then you have to develop a complex set of guidelines as to what constitutes hardware, and what doesn't.
Comment: @Ian As with other parts of stack exchange, a general convention can be applied: Questions of extremely limited scope should be avoided. Your sample question is arguably too limited in scope.
Comment: How specific? For example, "My NST freezes at X step during the rooting process; how can I fix it?"
Answer: This is not product recommendation question, but specific question about hardware failure. The reason why most sites don't allow recommendation questions is independent from whether hardware questions should be on-topic here.
But answering your second concern, I think that such hardware questions should be on topic. They are allowed on Android SE, for the same reason they should be allowed here. Hardware for reading e-books is the crucial part of the whole e-books concept, and the audience of the site will be the people interested in such topic.
Coutering your accusation that hardware has a relatively short life span - I hope you're wrong and my Kindle will still be fully functional after 10 years :) It's quite a while, longer that SO exists...
Answer: Plain hardware issues are not really ebook related. They should be off-topic, or we will be overrun in no time by those questions.
Comment: I actually want the site to be for ebooks and ebook readers, so in my opinion hardware questions should be on topic. If we exclude them this site will be reduced to ebook editing and drm.
Comment: While I agree with you, we are apparently being outvoted. That's democracy for you.
Comment: Agree, we should avoid hardware questions that aren't closely related to ebooks, or this site might as well be e-reader support

Hardware questions?


What unclean water can I give to my plants?

Question: Since water is scarce here, I would like to water my pots with used water. I guess that it is not a good idea to use water with soap, but what about water with food remnants? For example, I washed the trays of my food dehydrator with water only. The water is now full of vegetable remnants and no soap. Is it safe to give this water to my plants?
Comment: related : http://gardening.stackexchange.com/q/167/505
Answer: If the greywater is from food preparation, it's fine to use if it doesn't contain salt, oil, or big pieces of food. I'd use a strainer, to get all the pieces. I think the water from the food dehydrator is fine, if it was used only for plant matter, not animal.
So no animal, no salt, no oil, and I'd say if you were baking in the kitchen, don't use rinse water from the dry mix bowl or the wet one. both of these will contain too much material for good health, and possibly even are unsuitable (baking soda/powder, eggs, so on would be bad).
Don't use it if you can't clearly see through it, you want it to be as clear as possible. If you have some that is too concentrated, mix it with more clean water, until it is clear enough to see through properly.
Comment: Note that "no animal, no oil, no salt" is basically the same rules as for composting. For obvious reasons.
Comment: These questions are on the same topic http://gardening.stackexchange.com/search?q=greywater
Comment: @keshlam You *can* compost animal matter, but it takes more oversight and ou have to be more careful. If you don't have the time and energy, it's better to simply leave out the oil/animal part.
Comment: @J.Musser: True. It's still basically the same reasons, though -- selecting stuff that breaks down easily and doesn't attract undue attention from critters.


How do IRS pre-tax commuter benefits work?

Question: I'm moving to NYC for a job and my new company offers a plan for Pre-tax commuter benefits. From what I've read the federal maximum for pre-tax dollars towards this is $245/month. I'm wondering how this amount is regulated and how it is given out to employees: Can I use it for anything? Do they give me a check? A debit card? A subway card directly? Can I use it to buy my girlfriend a subway ticket? Is it just something I can deduct at the end of the year, or is it taken out of my taxable income every pay check?
Answer: Your situation may be different if your employer contracts with a different company to manage these benefits (or manages them themselves), but I'll give you my experience. My employer contracts with WageWorks. I log on to the WageWorks site, select commuter options from a predefined list, e.g. public transit passes, gas debit cards, parking passes, etc. and the cost of my choices is automatically deducted from my paycheck each month, up to the limit. WageWorks either sends me whatever I purchased in the mail or reloads the card automatically, and the process continues each month.
In my case, I couldn't use this to purchase a ticket for someone else, but I could choose the subway option for myself and let another person use it.
Comment: Thanks, my company actually uses WageWorks too. Does it reduce the income tax of state and city as well as federal?
Comment: @Dave It reduces your pre-tax income, which is the basis for *all* your income taxes. My city (Chicago) doesn't have city income taxes, and the pre-tax deduction doesn't affect sales taxes, property taxes, etc.
Answer: Two companies I worked for in the DC area also did WageWorks. The commuting money could be used for the Subway, Bus, and commuter rail. A separate pot of money was used for parking.
We had to estimate the amount of money that would be used the next month. We had to decide by mid-June how much we would spend in July. The money was automatically added to the metro fare card on the first business day of the month. When I first started they put the money on a special debit/credit card that could only be used at commuter system. It would be rejected at the department store.
If parking couldn't be paid using a special card, there was a way to claim the money with or without receipts.
If the company, like the US Government does for their employees, paid the commuting expenses any excess funds at the end of the month were pulled back from the card. They were just starting to do this in 2012 for employee pre-tax funds. They were supposed to add it to your next paycheck any excess at the end of the month.
There was also a way to use post tax funds from your paycheck so that all your commuting expenses could be on one card. Of course any post-tax funds would be left on the card.
There was no real way for them to audit this because the system would never know if you were going to work or going to the dentist. I ended up using two cards, one for work and one for non-work usage.
Comment: +1 for details on how parking/gas works. I purchase a public transit card through WageWorks, so I don't know the specifics of how the other options work.


Were alchemists respected in Europe?

Question: What was the general altitude towards alchemists? Were they respected? Who funded them?
Comment: [Alchemy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemy) existed in various forms across the European and Asian continents for a long period of time. So your question seems a little broad. You may want to narrow down when and where for your place and time of interest.
Comment: This is a very broad question- Europe is rather large to have the same opinion throughout on a group of people.
Comment: Welcome to History:Stack Exchange. Thank you for your question; please consider revising it to be more in line with our community expectations. Like many other stacks, we expect questions to [provide evidence of prior research](https://interpersonal.meta.stackexchange.com/a/3227/1599). That helps us to understand the question, and avoids our repeating work you've already done. Our [help], and [other stacks](https://interpersonal.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/3224/how-do-i-write-a-good-question) provide additional resources to assist with revisions.
Comment: Not in the middle ages, but Johannes Kunckel and Johann Friedrich Böttger worked directly for German monarchs around 1700. And while respect was not really universal, they both seem to have enjoyed quite considerable credit with their respective monarchs, at least for a while.
Comment: I am not sure that "alchemist" was a profession. Just like physicists, chemists or biologists didn't exist at the time, with few exceptions all kinds of people were doing alchemy (which also included chemistry before the 18-19th century). People like Newton, for example.
Answer: You have to remember that chemistry was not a well-defined science yet. The borders between chemistry, natural philosophy, and alchemy were unclear.
Universities would teach the seven liberal arts, consisting of the trivium and quadrivium. Other fields of study would be classified into this system, or simply called philosophy.
There were people like Roger Bacon, who was a monk, or Albertus Magnus, who was a bishop. Their study could be called chemistry or alchemy.
Other alchemists would have promised rulers to make gold, which was common enough to lead to a papal bull against it. This was an edict against counterfeiting, not against alchemistry as such.
Comment: Many early men of science, such as [Isacc Newton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton%27s_occult_studies#Alchemical_research), dabbled in alchemy.
Comment: @T.E.D. I would say Newton did more than dabble. It is interesting that despite the negative connotation of alchemy today, I think it is very arguable that his experience with processes, dealing with molten metal, etc. involved in alchemical research were extremely helpful to him in his work at the mint.
Comment: If there is no clear understanding of the division of alchemy and chemistry, one could say that he dabbled in chemistry, in addition to his maths and physics work.
Answer: Before roughly 1700, alchemy was simply another word for chemistry (the words are cognate). Any kind of work with chemicals could be called either chemistry or alchemy in Europe, depending simply on what kind of local vocabulary you were familiar with. Books about working with chemicals would be addressed to people doing any kind of work, including trying to make a philosopher's stone.
In 1699, the French Academy of Sciences was founded. They initially had virtually no code of ethics, and members included vivisection and human experimentation among their wish list for scientific experiments. However, "philosopher's stones" were banned from the very beginning.
By the mid 18th century, alchemy was completely excluded from high European society.
Sources:Lawrence M. Principe, The Secrets of Alchemy (2012)Hans Blumenberg, The Legitimacy of the Modern Age (1985)
Comment: Today we should respect the work of the alchemists. There was absolutely no way of knowing then that elements could not be transmuted through chemical processes and in fact they *can* be transmuted. I am not sure the matter is completely settled about transmutation -- I believe some have suggested that biological systems can actually transmute elements. (Although not lead into gold.) The central idea that chemistry and alchemy were the same field prior to 1700 implies that important chemical discoveries were made by alchemists.

Were alchemists respected in Europe?


When the striking surface on box and book matches wears down with plenty of matches to spare, what do you do?

Question: 99% of the time, there will always be matches left over by the time the striking surface is completely useless. Buying strike anywhere matches is not a fix, since that's avoiding the question entirely and certainly isn't a "fix" or a "hack". What's an alternate striking surface for book and box matches when this happens?
Comment: Hi Drew Blood, Welcome to Lifehacks.SE. What have you tried and what happened?
Answer: The Safety In Safety Matches
The striking surface of books of "safety" matches (and on some matchbox containers) contains the necessary chemical accelerant for combustion in addition to a rough surface for abrasion.
The way it works is that "rubbing" the flammable match-head material against the accelerant-containing striking-surface "mixes" the two by friction — producing a flame.
Alone, the match head lacks the chemical activity to lower its point of combustion by most any amount of friction. The coating on the match head will crumble long before enough friction can accumulate enough heat. It is combustible, however, as holding a nearly bare match head will still flare-up.
Using any untreated rough surface alone will not work with safety matches.
BUT
You can ensure they work optimally with the minimum of effort by conserving the best storage practices.

Keep the match heads and striking surface as dry as possible. Humid conditions will allow the brittle surface to soften and discourage prompt combustion energy. The water-soluble soft surface will wear off plugging the rough surface of the striking surface.
Keep the striking surface clean. In addition to supplying a necessary combustion component, a rough abrasion surface loses efficiency with loss of tooth - the ability to grind - as it fills in with dirt, lint, spent match-head material, etc.
Use the minimum amount of force necessary. The match head is quite soft and can rub off to fill the striking surface prior to combustion.
Use the minimum amount of striking surface necessary. Stroking the full length of the surface each time it is used limits its service by the limited width.

While this might not solve your search of alternate surfaces to use for safety matches, it might make future match-overstock less of an energy rip-off.
Answer: With some brands the striking surface wears out before even using half of the matches, with others it lasts for much longer than a boxful of matches (and you can use its striking surface for any leftover matches you have). Just avoid buying matchboxes with striking surface that wears out too quickly. (My web search revealed that the active ingredient of the striking surface of safety matches is red phosphorus, and it also revealed that it is not quite a good idea to deal with it on is own).
Comment: Hi user18894, Welcome to Lifehacks.SE. Your "hack" is to avoid the situation in the future? Can you suggest a hack for the remaining supply now?


Did Plato record actual conversations in his dialogues?

Question: For example, Did Socrates really meet Zeno in Parmenides as a young man and the conversation that took place between them was recorded by Plato?
Are ANY of Plato's dialogues recordings of actual conversations?
Comment: For the basic informations regarding Plato's dialogues, see [Plato](http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plato/).
Answer: Both of the answers are correct to point out that the dialogues are fictitious. It is extremely unlikely any section of any length is a transcript of an actual conversation between Socrates and anyone.
This, however, should not surprise us because the idea of making dialogue in a written work a transcript is a modern concept. No one would have done so until well past 1500 CE.
So in a sense, we need to split this into two parts. Cicero's speeches are also fictitious in that what we have recorded is not what he said but rather a highly polished version written well after the fact expressing what Cicero wanted to express. Same with Julius Caesar and most other classical Greek and Roman writing. But the ideas and thoughts contained therein are Cicero's or Julius Caesar's. (Aristotle's works by and large appear to be an exception -- not as in they are transcripts but as in they seem to be unpolished lecture notes). Let's call this feature "polishing your memoirs." This was and is common and doesn't strike me as wrong (Heidegger's later essays for instance are often papers he delivered several times and revised and improved along the way -- but that doesn't mean we would not say he was delivering the same paper).
A more important thing to notice is that Plato's Socrates often functions as a mouthpiece for Plato and does not necessarily say what Socrates would have said. In Plato scholarship, dialogues are divided into early, middle, and late. Early dialogues. My AOS is not Plato, but the basic gist is that early may be closer to what we believe Socrates himself might have done and said (i.e., someone who didn't claim to know things, asked questions about knowledge claims) and that late dialogues present Plato's elaborate theory of knowledge in sophisticated terms (probably not a view that Socrates held). (this is a key focus of Kierkegaard's dissertation The Concept of Irony and a returning theme in his writing). Let's call this "the Plato-washing of Socrates."
Comment: @virmaior: Thank you. I had googled but found silly things only like Rotschlammdeponie (Aluminium-Oxid Stade / AOS) or Agricultural Ontology Service or AOS Augenoptiker Service GmbH.
Comment: Socrates' remarks are always given in a social context, to a specific interlocuter. Socrates' doctrines, e.g. on the immortality of the soul combined with the idea that learning is merely a recollection by the soul of what it already knows, are said only to Meno in Meno, and only in Phaedo to his followers present that day in the prison where he is put to death in order to console them in their grief. Nowhere else in the dialogues is there the slighest hint of this absurd theory. So to say that Socrates is Plato's mouthpiece is simplistic, despite it being believed by most Plato specialists.
Comment: @virmaior: What is AOS?
Comment: @Heinrich "Area of Specialization" = it's not something I actively research or publish on.
Answer: As far as I know Plato's dialogues are fictitious.
E.g., Parmenides died at about 460 BCE in the South of Italy, while Socrates was born at 470 BCE in Athens. Hence the meeting of Parmenides with a young Socrates, teaching Plato's theory of forms, cannot be historical.
Even when the dialogues are fictitious, some of the interlocutors in Plato's dialogues are historical, e.g., Aristophanes, Alkibiades, Agathon, Socrates in Plato's Symposion. But we do not know, whether such a meeting actually took place and whether the participants hold their speeches as recorded by Plato.
Usually Plato lets others express his own philosophical thoughts and claims, most notably Socrates. Plato's work with the highest probability for historical truth is the Apology, with the two speeches of Socrates.
Comment: Ref: Donald Morrison, On the Alleged Historical Reliability of Plato's Apology, Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie. Vol.82, Iss. 3, p 235–65 (further refs therein)
Answer: As @JoWehler notes, the dialogues are fictitious compositions, though often with real people, including, I believe, two of Plato' brothers in the Republic.
Some passages from Socrates can be compared with Xenophon's works, but it is good to remember that what we possess is only a tiny fragment of ancient writings, and I think it would be very difficult for scholars to cross-reference works and judge accuracy.
Even the near-contemporary historians Herodotus and Thucydides, who ostensibly aimed for accuracy, are assumed to have partially fabricated public speeches they attribute to Pericles and other political leaders.
However, the period still bore many traces of oral culture. It is almost certain that the Greeks had far better memories for long speeches, poems, and dialogues than we do today. So it is possible that large chunks of dialogue were passed down with fewer errors than we might imagine.
Answer: G. M. A. Grube, in Five Dialogues by Plato, indicates that it's likely that the Apology, at least, is at least somewhat faithful to what Socrates actually said, given that Plato is believed to have written it not long after Socrates' trial, and it would have not gone over well had his account been drastically different from others' recollections of what Socrates had said.
Comment: You often hear this about the *Apology*, but there's at least one very good counter-argument: we have **another** *Apology*, by Xenophon, and its content is quite different.
Answer: It's worth noting that no less an authority than Plato's most famous pupil Aristotle classified his dialogs as "fiction."  There's no conclusive way to prove the dialogs are all fictitious, but we should keep in mind the following two facts which are generally true:

Plato's aim was to teach philosophy, not record history (and he's
on record as endorsing the alteration or wholesale invention of
"facts" to suit philosophical or pedagogical goals).
Since Plato himself does not appear as a character in his own
dialogs, we can assume he's not recording conversations where he was
himself present. In order for them to be accurate, therefore, Socrates would have needed to have accurately recounted these conversations to
Plato, who would then have also needed to remember them accurately for (in
some cases) quite a long period of time before writing them down.
This seems especially unlikely in light of Plato's aforementioned
contempt for factual accuracy.  Therefore, while Socrates likely
would have had conversations with many of the people mentioned in
the dialogues (since they tend to have been well-known figures of a
certain social status in a fairly small community), the chances that
those conversations were reproduced accurately are vanishingly small.

The most likely exceptions to this general rule are the trial (Apology) and death (Phaedo) of Socrates.  In particular, the Apology was written relatively close to the time of the event it depicts, and Plato would almost certainly have personally been in attendance.  It's also one of the few of Plato's Socratic works that depicts an event also attested to by independent observers.  Judging by their accounts, Plato's version is neither entirely truthful nor entirely invented.
The Phaedo is generally considered to have been written later, and Plato explicitly mentions in the text that he was NOT present when it happened (which reads like a signal to readers to view it as fiction) so it's even less likely to be accurate.  All the other dialogs are increasingly less likely to be non-fictional, for the reasons detailed above.


How to control music using headset controls?

Question: I've suddenly discovered that double click on headset control button switches to the next song. Is there any other ways of interacting with the phone by using headset controls?
Answer: The exact behaviour can vary slightly depending on the app, but in the Music app, a single press means Play/Pause, double press (as you discovered) skips to the next track, and triple press goes back to the previous track.
In Nokia Mix Radio, the button works the same, except triple press isn't supported.
In Podcasts, single press also means Play/Pause, but double and triple press skip ahead and back, respectively, by 30 seconds.
If your headset has more than one button, then the other buttons generally control playback volume.
For more information, see How to: do more with one and three button headsets on Windows Phone (AAWP).
Answer: The one button headet
One press

Play/pause.

Two presses

Skip forward.

In the podcast app you will fast forward for 30 seconds.
Using the free version of MixRadio, you can only skip 6 songs and after that the 2 presses will be deactivated for one hour.
Three presses

Skip backwards.

In the podcast app you will fast backwards for 30 seconds.
In radio apps like MixRadio, skipping backwards is not supported so the 3 presses is deactivated.

The three button headet
Same as above for the center button but the two other ones control the volume.


How to speed up saving data to database over the internet?

Question: I am using C#, Entity Framework and SQL Server 2008 Express.
I am connected to the database over the internet.
What is the best method to speed up saving/updating data to database?
It takes 87 seconds to save 180 records to the database.
It takes only 3.5 seconds to save the same number of records to local (on the same machine) SQL Server.
For every record that I save/update I check if record with this primary key exists in the database,
if it doesn't exists I simply save it,
if it exists I update it using ObjectContext.ApplyCurrentValues(entitySetName, currentEntity) method.
Answer: A couple of reasons not to use SQL over the internet.

One, to me it would pose too much of
a risk exposing a sql
server on the internet. I do not want SQL attacks :). If you vpn the
traffic, then it's a different story
since man in the middle attacks are
that much harder.
Two, the SQL
protocol is a "chatty" protocol, so a
link between servers with high
latency will impact your queries a
lot.

If possible, I would set up a WCF service on the SQL end, and have my client send the data to the service, which would execute the queries to the database. Any WCF protocol would be less chatty compared to SQL, and you would most likely achieve a speed gain compared to what you are seeing now.
And of course batching the data when transferring it will help reduce the traffic needed to commit the records. You want as few calls over the wire as possible due to latency.
Answer: I would consider sending a string similar to CSV with all your data to a Stored Procedure, then on the server the Stored Procedure would use a SQL Function to split the data and create a temporary table with it, then the stored procedure would continue doing the checking and insert if necessary.
Answer: In addition to what Mikael Svenson wrote.
You could overcome the latency by "brute force" and run on multiple db connections. But in general i really recommend Mikael's advice.


Can i use 5v 3amp. in Raspberry Pi3 B+

Question: i am using Raspberry Pi3 B+ and i am in a confusion that can i use 5 volt, 3 ampare adaptor in my Pi?
Answer: Yes, the Pi will only draw the current (amps) that it needs. Recommended minimum is 2.5 amps.
Its best to have a hard wired power lead with large diameter cable (official PSU has 18AWG cable).

Can i use 5v 3amp. in Raspberry Pi3 B+


ורב להושיע instead of רב להושיע in אתה גבור

Question: Siddur Tefila Yeshara (the Berdichever Siddur) has, in the second blessing of the Shemoneh Esreh, ורב להושיע - "v'rav l'hoshea", "and abundant in deliverance".  Literally every other siddur I've ever seen omits the initial vav for "abundant in deliverance".  Is this attested to in any other siddur?  What is the basis for the change?
Answer: Siddur Ezor Eliyahu claims that ורב was the nusach in מקצת סידורי פולין -- some of the siddurim in Poland, but not found at all in the western Ashkenazic rite. (He doesn't discuss Sefardim.) Berdychiv, while not in modern Poland, is certainly not a western Ashkenazic community so I guess that it is likely just the nusach they have always had and there was no proactive change.
As to why the competing nusach dominates in modern siddurim, I cannot say for sure, but the added vav-hachibbur strikes me as odd when so many other items on that list do not have one unless obviously connected (eg מכלכל חיים then מחיה מתים then סומך נופלים but then ורופא חולים ומתיר אסורים). So I speculate that those without the added vav view רב להושיע as a separate item from מחיה מתים אתה, a read which seems more straightforward to me.
Comment: Interesting.  There's also no preceding vav in the Minchas Elazar's Chemdas Yisrael siddur, but perhaps we could say that Hungarian siddurs are more influenced by the west.  There's also the first verse of [chapter 63 of Yeshayahu](http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1063.htm).  I can see how rav l'hoshea could be tied to mechayeh meisim, but to read the two statements as separate is certainly more *familiar* to me.
Comment: @yoel It's true that I could be being influenced by what I'm used to. Also note that he said _some_ Polish siddurim, meaning not even all the Polish siddurim had the vav, so I don't think you need to expect it in a Polish siddur, let alone a Hungarian one.
Answer: Seder Avodat Yisrael by Rabbi Seligman Baer comments that the nusach with the Vav is found in many old siddurim, while the now-prevalent nusach without the Vav is found in the Tur and in the Abudarham. He adds that he considers the nusach without the Vav to be the "ikkar" as it reflects Isaiah 63:1 (as Yoel pointed out in the comments). Seder Avodat Yisrael was widely respected as authoritative and printers of later siddurim were influenced by its determinations. Link to the page in Avodat Yisrael: http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=42807&st=&pgnum=108
Comment: I wish I could vote this up more than once. Perfect answer to each point raised in the question, including those not directly asked.


Are company dividend reinvestment plans (DRIP) limited to US citizens?

Question: Im moving to the states in 5 months but would like to start investing in US companies, namely through dividend reinvestment schemes. Are these limited to US citizens or can I start investing from before I move out there?
Comment: Individual companies or just US-based companies in general?
Comment: Ive only seen this scheme in US-based companies so far, but I may be wrong. Im also curious as to what the limitations are on international trading (ie. can I be based anywhere in the world and invest in any company or are there limits?)
Answer: There are two kinds of dividend-reinvestment plans. The first is offered by the company you're buying. If you want to be enrolled in this plan, you need to buy stock in the company directly, and maintain multiple accounts (one for each company's stock). The details will vary from company to company, and can have some major downsides, especially when it comes to figuring out how to do the tax reporting. You'll need to find the prospectus and figure out whether you're eligible for the plan by yourself.
These plans are probably best for people whose main set of investments are managed by another party (e.g. a university pension plan) and who want to supplement this with some investment in just one or two companies that they know very well, because otherwise it's hard to get good amounts of diversification.
The second kind of plan is offered by your broker. Brokerages will charge you some money to trade stocks, but they are great because you can have one account with lots of stocks in one place. But unless your broker has a presence both in the US and the UK, you'll probably need to transfer your holdings to a new institution sooner or later. This usually involves a fee for the outgoing transfer (typically on the order of $50-$100). Additionally, the brokerage will liquidate any partial shares (theoretically these shares don't really exist individually; whole shares are held by the brokerage, and interest in those shares' value is assigned to people who hold partial shares). If you're enrolled in a dividend reinvestment plan, chances are you'll have some of these partial shares, and you won't gain or lose much by having it as 'stock' for a few months instead of 'cash'.
In the short term, I would recommend either storing your money in other instruments, or (if you think you can get much more than $50+ in earnings over the next several months - depends on how much you've got) buying individual stocks at a brokerage. When you move to the US and select a brokerage there, you can enroll in a dividend reinvestment plan offered by the broker and combine the cash you've earned from dividends with future investment cash.
There is no tax advantage to using a dividend reinvestment plan (and indeed, if it is in a taxable account, it may complicate cost-basis reporting in the future if you have to report a large number of small purchases).

This assumes you're interested in owning individual stocks. It is also possible to find yourself a stock ETF or mutual fund. Most mutual funds are pretty good about letting you reinvest your dividends. If you're interested in a diversified instrument where you can buy dividend-bearing US stocks, I'd recommend that you obtain an account at Vanguard (which is renowned for low expense ratios on its mutual funds) once you arrive in the US, and put money in a mutual fund such as the Vanguard Dividend Growth Fund or the Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Fund. (Naturally, you may also select other funds or fund providers based on what your research suggests meets your needs. Read the prospectus and understand the risks and potential returns.)
Of course, you should also consider whether a highly diversified investment strategy involving the whole US stock market (or even the world stock market), and not just US dividend-oriented companies, might be more suitable for your needs. Or a blended portfolio involving both stocks and bonds.
Comment: They should help, at least for the brokerage case, but if you use dividends to buy a stock 4 times a year for 20 years and then liquidate it all at once, you're still going to end up reporting 80 different purchases for the one sale when you file taxes... in addition to the taxes you'll need to pay on the dividend income every year, naturally, but that part ought to be consolidated annually on a handy convenient form-1099. :)
Comment: Maybe for these upcoming 5 months I can just continue to put money aside and continue reading books/blogs on investing, then once I am established in the US I can start up properly. Just don't like the idea of losing these 5 months.
Comment: @Vince, why is the US any different than the UK in this perspective?
Comment: I am hopeful the new cost basis tracking rules will make the dividend reinvestment tracking a bit simpler.
Comment: Thanks fennec, I appreciate you writing such a detailed answer. I am still new to this, from what Ive read mutual funds dont perform as well - I dont like the idea of losing a lot of money over the long term from trading fees which is why I am drawn to the DRIPs. I am basically interested in something to grow steadily over the years with a better return than a basic savings account, I am willing to do the studying to achieve this but Im not interested in anything which requires excessive micro-management (ie. day trading).
Comment: @VincePergolizzi - You are indeed right to be skeptical of mutual funds, and of avoiding fees! However, I have specifically mentioned Vanguard mutual funds because of low fees. A typical mutual fund can have fees of 1% a year, maybe 2% if they're very bad; this does impact performance. A typical Vanguard mutual fund will have fees around 0.2% a year, less if you meet certain minimums, and even-less as an ETF (as low as 0.05%). Fees aside, it is uncertain that a diversified fund will do better or worse than your basket of individual stocks, and you will bear more risk. Your decision here. :)
Answer: You can invest in the US as much as you want. Make sure to get an ITIN from the IRS and to fill the W8-BEN form for each company you're investing in (if directly) or broker (if investing through a broker), and you're good to go. When you become a US resident (for tax purposes, not immigration), make sure to replace the W8-BEN forms with W9's everywhere.


What superstring or brane phenomenology can be observed in LHC heavy ion collisions?

Question: What superstring or brane phenomenology can be observed in heavy ion collisions at the LHC energy densities. Of course, I am aware that LHC experiments can constrain the conclusions from the superstring theory, e.g. by validating particle spectra of MSSM, so, my question is about effects that more directly hints to the strings or branes themselves and some peculiar nature they have?
Comment: Is there a reason you asked about heavy ion collisions and not other high-energy experiments?
Comment: Yes, of course, I have reason. AFAK, LHC ion collisions are the only experiment, where humans actively control the processes and not just observe the effects of naturally occurring phenomena. My hope is that I (we) can discover computing-beyond-quantum-computing, sub-femtoscale computing, computing with quarks and gluons and something like that. And such computing may be implemented by dusty quark-gluon plasmas. Well, all that is in inception, but we should move strive, because quantum computing is quite bounding.
Comment: Your premise is not correct, ion collisions are even "messier" than proton-proton collisions. On the other hand, electron-positron colliders are "cleaner" because the collision energy can be controlled precisely. However, there are _many_ other kinds of particle experiments currently going on where the processes are highly controlled.
Answer: You seem to misunderstand the possibilities of ion collisions at LHC.
The aim of the experiments is to create and study the quark gluon plasma,  many body state studied by the jets produced:

Jets are "hard probes", by nature strongly interacting but moving so fast and with so much energy that they are often not completely absorbed by the surrounding quarks and gluons in the quark-gluon plasma. The degree of jet quenching – a figure that emerges in data from millions of collision events – plus the jets' orientation, directionality, composition, and how they transfer energy and momentum to the medium, reveal what's inside the fireball and thus the properties of the quark-gluon plasma.

Supersymmetry is sought in exchanges in proton proton collisions, sifting through the data to find elementary interactions possible to generate supersymmetric particles. A review of limits of the 7 Tev run is here. There are more data and still there are only limits.
Answer: None.
There are no superstring or brane phenomenology predictions.


How can autotuners be smooth?

Question: It seems like a lot of autotuners have some jaggedness in them, but what's more ideal is something like that glados voice from portal for characters. After preliminary autotuning, how can a voice be made smooth? Can it only be taken care of during recording? Or is it the quality of the software?
Comment: If the original vocal is close enough, auto-tune can be undetectable. If it's a bad vocal, no amount of tweaking will pull it into shape without being able to hear auto-tune working hard.
Answer: Most "auto-tuners" have a setting for how quickly it moves from one note to the next. Just slow it down.
Like tetsujin said, if you're trying to change a lot, or have to fix something really far off the note you want, it's just gonna sound weird.

How can autotuners be smooth?


If a breaker is GFCI/AFCI protected, does the NEC still require garage and exterior outlets to be GFCI protected?

Question: I am looking into upgrading the cabling from very old clothed 14-3 wire to 14-3 MC wire and the outlets in my garage and I understand they must be GFCI protected; however, can I simply replace the current breaker that is installed (which is not GFCI protected) to one that is protected and then install normal outlets in the garage or would the NEC code regulations require the outlets be protected regardless of what is upstream.
Comment: NEC has never required GFCI receptacles.  Where GFCI is required, breakers suffice.
Answer: The National Electrical Code requires GFCI protection in some locations, it does not specify how that protection is provided (well... It gives you options on how you can do it). If GFCI protection is provided by a breaker, then the GFCI protection requirement is met.


My cat recently bit me, what should we do?

Question: When I am watching TV or walking in my house, she jumps up and bites me. I locked her in the cage as punishment. But after I release her, she is still doing the same thing. Why does she like biting people? What should I do?
Comment: please add more details like the age of your cat-what happens before she bites you and does the cat only bite you.cats do not understand the consept of punishment so it is better to use positive enforcement to change the behaviour of your cat(give your cat attention when she does what you want and ignore her when she does not).
Answer: I don't think it's a good idea to lock a cat in a cage as a form of discipline. For one thing, as long as the cat is in the cage, it's not free to take care of its own needs, such as drinking or using the litterbox, which could be harmful to the cat. For another thing, I don't think the cat will understand it as a punishment. Cats generally like small spaces, at least for short periods of time, and so it might not even be motivated to try to avoid being in the cage. Additionally, putting a cat into a cage takes a bit of time, and therefore probably won't be viewed as an immediate cause and effect relationship by the cat. It'll probably just seem to it like you've randomly put it in a cage for some reason.
My best guess given the details is that your cat is bored and attempting to initiate play, but inappropriately. If this is true, I would expect that trying to punish it by putting it in a cage would be even less effective, because it does nothing to help with the problem that the cat is bored. The cat will come out of the cage and still be bored. The better solution is to try to entertain your cat more, and redirect it to more appropriate forms of play.
Try to play with your cat regularly with a feather wand or laser pointer, so hopefully it will be tired out and not want to bite in the first place. Also try to pay attention to your cat, and if you notice it trying to stalk you, get out the feather wand or laser pointer, and play with it before it tries to actually bite you. I also recommend cat kicker toys, which are stuffed toys that are big enough the cat can wrap its arms around to wrestle. Some cats really like play wrestling, so it can also help to toss its kicker toy towards it when you notice it seems like it wants to wrestle.
Answer: The indoor cats usually like to play with moving objects. Its the sign that your cat wants to play with you. This can be the reason, that it is trying to catch you when you are walking etc.
@kai has already explained the reason, but I want to share some additional things which I have observed so far.
Keep some objects with you, and give those to your cat when its getting bored. You can use small balls, feather, catnip stick, shopper, crushed card etc. And try to play with it. She will surely like it.
If this issue will not be handled in time, then your cat may leads to misbehave in future, because you didn't attend it properly when it needs you, and it can be the cause to change its behavior. I have personally observe the same, but was unable to identify the reason on time. And I was too strict with it by providing it punishment (as you are doing now). But it leads her to be aggressive, and not responding on my voices.
Hope this will help you!


What is the difference between a pastor, a priest, and a minister?

Question: No, this is not the start of a joke about a bunch of people walking into a bar.  Rather, I thought it would be helpful to clarify various titles that people give to leadership roles in churches.
Comment: The only real difference is what the bartender says to them.
Comment: Related (but not identical): http://english.stackexchange.com/q/26651/1696
Comment: "What is the difference between a pastor, a priest, and a minister?" Semantics.
Answer: Catholic version
Priest The biblical order of presbyters. One who conducts sacrifices

Vicar, a priest who is the bishop's helper
Dean (arch-priest) a priest who is designated by the bishop to oversee a number of parishes
Monsignor, a title given by a Bishop to an exemplary priest.

Pastor The priest who is in charge or a parish, he may have associate pastors - recently ordained priests start as associate pastors.
Minister Ordinary ministers are the bishops, priests and deacons who administer the sacraments to the faithful.  Extraordinary ministers are laypersons appointed by the priest to help in the administration of the sacraments.
Chaplain An ordained person whose vocation is specific to their task (i.e. hospital chaplain, military chaplain etc..) not to a parish.
Preacher Not a specifically Catholic term.
Reverend A title given to any priest deacon or bishop (to varying degrees)
Deacon An ordained person in the order below priests.  Deacons cannot celebrate Mass or administer the sacrament of reconciliation (strictly speaking, they can hear your confession - but they can't do anything about it).  Deacons come in two flavors.  The permanent deaconate (people ordained specifically as helpers to the priests) and transitional deconate (seminarians ordained a few years before their eventual ordination to the priesthood)
Elder Not a specifically Catholic term.
Bishop The successors of the apostles who oversee their diocese or bishopric (in the Eastern Catholic churches). Together with the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, they are the top of the Catholic hierarchy. They are the ones who can confirm with the Holy Spirit (or appoint priests to do so in their stead) and only they can ordain priests.

Primate the Bishop of the first diocese in a nation (the primate of the U.S. is the archbishop of the diocese of Baltimore)
Archbishop a bishop of a larger diocese
Cardinal a title, given by the pope generally to a bishop to serve as an elector of the next pope.
Comment: Oh yeah, that's kind of a Baptist term :)  At its best, "called" means that a person hears from God that he should go and serve a congregation, and the leadership of the congegration, after much prayer, agrees that God has indeed sent this person.  In common practice, it means that a person wanted a church job, answered the ad, and the church hired him.
Comment: If anyone knows exactly what a **rector** is/does, please edit it in there.  I don't think the [Catholic encyclopedia](http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12676c.htm) entry jibes with the modern definition, which seems to be just, the priest who lives in the rectory.
Comment: In an episcopal church, a priest is either a rector (called by the church) or a vicar (called by the bishop)
Comment: What do you mean by 'called'?
Comment: I once read the regulations on appointment of a Church of Scotland minister. It started with "no-one shall be appointed to minister within the Church of Scotland unless he shall be called". I thought that was a great spiritual way to start. Unfortunately the second paragraph went to on describe the exact wording the congregation was to write on the piece of paper that  was "the call".
Answer: An attempt at a generic Protestant version. Note that these are guidelines, and additional tradition-specific versions should be consulted!
Clergy:

Priest One who conducts the rituals that mediate between God and man.
Pastor From a word meaning 'shepherd', one who 'watches over' a church, manages it, and tends to its members. Because of the shepherd connotation, the members of the church are often called the flock as in the flock of sheep under a pastor's care.
Minister One who tends to the needs of others. From the Latin minister=servant, from Latin minus=less. A pastor would by definition minister to his congregation.
Chaplain A person who is called to minister to a group of individuals on an as-needed basis, such as for weddings, funerals, and hospital visitations only. In some very small congregations, chaplains are also called to serve in part-time basis only, if the church meets less than weekly, or if the pastor is not expected to perform regular visitation.
Preacher One who actually preaches a sermon
Reverend A generic title for any ordained persons, one who is to be 'revered' for his special calling
Bishop An overseer of the clergy, most typically involved in a church hierarchy. Baptists, Mennonites, and other congregational churches who reject hierarchies also reject bishops. In African American churches, this can also refer to any pastor who has raised up pastors within his own church, and thus may effectively be just a very successful senior pastor.
Apostle Literally one who is "sent out" (from the Greek) to spread the news. Historically, this refers to those 12 men whom Jesus specifically charged with the task of spreading the news. 11 of these Apostles were originally disciples i.e. students of Jesus

Depends on the tradition:

Deacon Depending on the tradition, can have a wide variety of meanings, although all indicate that one is serving in a capacity. The deacons were so named in Acts 6, in order to relieve the Apostles of duties that were time consuming but not as important as their ministry through proclaiming the Word.  Specifically the line (in 6:2) is "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables."
As an example, a Deacon in a Baptist Church is equivalent to an elder in a Bible Church or a vestry member in the Episcopal church - all of which are non Clergy who in effect "run" the local church which the priest / minister / pastor is paid to lead.  Think of it as the board to the Pastor's CEO.  In contrast, a Deacon in the Episcopal church is a guy who has just been ordained, and in most instances, will become a priest in about 6 months time, but has not yet so been named. As a deacon, they can read the Gospel, prepare the Eucharistic table (but not actually lead the Eucharist), and pronounce the blessing at the end of the service.  All of this to say - an Episcopal deacon is a junior priest whereas a Baptist deacon would be a very senior member.  As you can see, there is a lot of variation.
Elder Also highly dependent on the tradition.
In "Bible Churches", the Board of Elders functions much like a vestry - a board of committed, respected members of the congregation would serve in an advisory or leadership capacity to set the direction of the church.
In the Mormon tradition, since most men are supposed to preach, the elders have more of an organizing role for the congregation.

Note:
In the NT, deacons, elders, and later bishops are the only mentioned leadership positions.
Comment: In your description of the role of deacons you said "The deacons were so named in Acts 6, in order to relieve the Apostles of duties that were time consuming but not as effective in furthering the kingdom."  This statement gives the impression that serving as a deacon does not further God's kingdom work as much as do prayer and ministry of the word (Acts 6:4).  True, after deacons were chosen, the word of God kept on spreading, but the deacons were just as much a part of furthering the kingdom as the apostles; they simply had a different role to fill.  They may not have been as gifted in
Comment: from what tradition are these definitions? eg, in the background I have, several of those terms are synonymous
Comment: In many cases a single person may fill multiple roles- often the pastor preaches, the minister served as priest, etc. but these terms should be fairly consistent across traditions, except where noted.
Comment: Btw , many people assume these terms tone synonymous, precisely bc of this overlap. Still, it's good to know the nuances, because technically they are different roles/jobs in the church.
Comment: Um, although it often ends up that way for practical reasons, many traditions don't have any age requirement on elders (the English term being a misnomer.) Also, in some traditions being an elder ipso-facto means you are  no longer laity! I realize there is a lot of variety in the understandings of that role, but considering it has more Biblical explanation than most of the other roll names you explain here, I think you could treat some of the possible definitions a little more throughally.
Comment: Deacons are not laity. At least not in the Catholic or Anglican traditions.
Comment: preaching and teaching, but ministering to the practical, day-to-day needs of the congregation certainly furthers God's kingdom work.  Jesus said in Mark 9, "'If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all'" (v.35).  Luke adds, "'. . . the one who is least among you, this is the one who is great'" (9:48).  In other words, the apostles prayed and preached and taught the word; the deacons fleshed out the word through their serving.  I think I know what you meant:  the ministry of the apostles enlarged the church numerically.  Deacons edified the church qualitatively.
Comment: @Claudia  Thanks for your edit and welcome the Stack Exchange.  We are glad you are here.  If you haven't done so already, be sure to check out the [site tour](http://christianity.stackexchange.com/tour) to learn what we are about.  I hope to see more of your work in the future.
Answer: Some of the primary differences are due to the believed place of the clergy.
In some churches being  clergyman is considered a "vocation". If someone is called to be ordained they are ordained for life (barring exceptional circumstances). Even if they stop doing the job of a priest, they remain one. The denominations that practice this typically have a three-level clergy: bishops, priests and deacons. These churches include Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Anglican and Lutherans. In these denominations:

Priests are the primary ministers, normally responsible for overseeing the congregation
Bishops are overseers of other clergy
Deacons are either more junior or more specialized clergy. In Catholic and Anglican traditions a deacon cannot celebrate Mass.

Reverend is a title applied to one of these e.g. "Reverend John Smith". To call someone "a reverend" is technically incorrect.
Other protestant churches reject the idea of ordained clergy. A church leader is appointed to a specific job, and can leave it. When a pastor quits his job he is no longer a pastor. These churches use different terms for their leaders:

Pastor From the word for shephered, one who oversees and provides care for the congregation. Many churches reserve the title for their more senior leaders within a congregation.
Minister from the word for servant. One who provides for the needs of the congregation, and typically used for church leaders. Often interchangeable with pastor.
Preacher one who preaches. May or may not also be a church leader.
Apostle originally refers to one of the Twelve chosen by Jesus, and then to other people. It literally means "one who is sent", and is applied to someone who carries the Christian message to others. Wikipedia has a good article. Some churches still use the term. The Latter Day Saints use the term to refer to their highest leaders.
Elder AffableGeek describes this much better than I could. It depends on the tradition, but is frequently used to describe a member of an advisory or leadership committee within the church, separate from the pastors.
Deacon is sometimes also used by these churches for more junior leadership roles or more junior Elders.

Other terms:

Vicar in the Catholic church is a priest who is the bishop's helper. In the Anglican church it is a priest who is in charge of a parish.
Chaplain normally means a priest or minister who serves a specific community or institution other than a church - e.g a prison, military unit or football team.
Comment: Definitely depends on the exact church.  Deacons were laity in the church I was brought up in.  Basically Deacons were junior Elders.
Comment: Good point. I'd forgotten that.
Answer: An etymology-based perspective
Here are some meanings for these roles based on the original meanings as used in the New Testament. Many denominations attempt to use these terms in the same way, such as the Brethren, Presbyterians and some Baptist churches.
Pastor: a shepherd. Someone who looks after the 'flock' of God: his people. Pastors are listed in Ephesians 4:11 as one of the gifts that God has given the church. There are varying opinions about gifts: some think this is a leadership role, and others that it describes regular church members - in both cases they would be the people who are naturally good at caring for the spiritual health of the other church members.
Priest: someone who mediates between a god and people. Jesus is called our Great High Priest, while many Protestants support a doctrine called the Priesthood of all Believers, which is based on 1 Peter 2. Those who support that doctrine believe that all Christians are priests because we are all meant to go between God and the people around us, and therefore the leaders of a church should not be called priests because they are not special in that regard.
Minister: a servant. (We may not think of it that way, but in politics a Prime Minister is the head of the Public Servants, so the meaning is still hidden there.) There is a sense in which all Christians are meant to serve each other, and so we are all ministers, and we all do ministry. There is another sense for people who are particularly gifted at serving others - this is the sense found in Romans 12:7. And there is another sense: the Greek word for 'minister' is 'diakonia', from which we get the word Deacon. Most denominations believe that a Deacon is a person who has been specifically appointed to a position. Passages like 1 Timothy 3:8-13 might be indicating an appointed position, or they might not - I'm not particularly sure either way.
And though you didn't ask for this one, I'll include it too:
Elders, Presbyters and Bishops: Presbyter is a transliteration of the Greek word meaning Elder. The idea is like a village elder, the natural leaders of a small community because of their age, wisdom and experience. In most Protestant denominations except for the Anglicans Bishops are thought to be equivalent to Elders - the word Bishop means an Overseer (which is how some Bibles translate it.) The idea is that they are there to oversee the church, to "hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it." (Titus 1:9)
None of the terms I have described necessarily imply an employed position in a church. Most churches will use one of these terms and use it to mean that the person is an employed staff member of the church, which can give the wrong idea that their title is used because they are employed rather than because they are a servant or an overseer etc.
Answer:
What is the difference between a pastor, a priest, and a minister?

The English words you cite come with an awful lot of denominational baggage.
The word minister was originally used to denote someone who served others (ministered to them).
Matthew 20:28  Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
minister = diakoneō = to be an attendant, to wait upon
The word priest was used to describe someone in the old testament who offered sacrifices in the temple. Hebrews describes Jesus who fulfills all the requirements of the priesthood. Peter refers to believers as a royal priesthood.
The word pastor is used only once in the new testament as a noun in Ephesians and it is grammatically joined with the word teach such that the idea is given that shepherding is accomplished by teaching.


What's the maximum exposure time an iPhone X can reach using manual controls?

Question: Using a manual camera app like Halide an iPhone 6 is able to achieve a maximum of 1/2" exposure time, what's the longest an iPhone X can reach?
Comment: I edited my answer to include the correct information that  answers the question.
Answer: It is dependent on the Third party app you are using and not the phone itself.
I have several apps that allow me to use shutter speeds from fractions of a second up to 60 seconds and even bulb ( as long as you want ). I have used these apps on my iPhone 6 and my new iPhone 8+.
I use Procam 5 as my main app but i have others. It has a slow shutter mode. ( i am not affiliated with procam, just a user )
Do some research when you are choosing an app to see if you can  find out
what the manual control options for each app.

EDIT: I asked the pro cam five support staff the question and here is there reply

"Hi , Thanks for getting in touch with us.
  The longest exposure time supported by the iPhone X hardware is 1/4 sec. Longer exposure time are digitally simulated.
  Please don't hesitate to contact us again with additional questions or feedback.
  Best",
Comment: No, it depends in the phone (actually camera assembly) itself. Applications that offer a longer exposure time than the camera assembly supports fake it by taking multiple images and stacking them together in software (which might work for the OP, or might not).
Comment: Yes, I'm not interested in software manipulation but the actual hardware limitation
Comment: "The longest exposure time supported by the iPhone X hardware is 1/4 sec" meaning it hasn't changed since the iPhone 6s. Adobe Lightroom doesn't go further than 1/4 sec on my 6s. Will have a look at other apps
Answer: Not sure if these are the limits of the camera assembly, or the operating system, or the application I am using, but using Halide I can set the shutter speed between 1/3"-1/50k" on my iPhone X.


How to set up Magit to access a GitHub repository?

Question: How can I set up Magit to access a GitHub repository?
Comment: What aspect of "accessing a Github repository" didn't work? What have you tried?
Comment: magit can do anything command line git can.
Comment: @tarsius: I have not tried anything yet except for reading the Introduction, Installation, Post Installation, and Getting Started sections of the Magit manual. I couldn't find any explanation on how to access a GitHub repository. I don't want to install this package before I know whether it's possible to access a GitHub repository. By "accessing a GitHub repository" I mean creating a branch, downloading the latest version of a file, committing a file, reviewing diffs, merging, etc.
Comment: First, learn how magit basics to clone and "access" the github repository. Then, you'll find [more github tools](http://wikemacs.org/wiki/Github) here, including magithub that extends magit to fetch issues, pull requests, etc.
Answer: Generally speaking you don't configure Magit to access a remote Git repository. Instead you configure git and because Magit uses git, Magit is then also able to do so.
Some issues can arise due to misconfiguration and/or Windows not having a concept of a pty. But even then, the solution is to properly configure Git and/or Emacs. No additional Magit configuration is required. (Except if you use some two-factor authentication, then you might have to adjust magit-process-password-prompt-regexps).
Some of the difficulties that might arise, are covered in this wiki page.
Comment: Assuming that you are already able to "access Github" when using git on the command line, there is a 99% chance that the answer is "none". If you are using Windows, then the probability only is 95%. The 4% difference is due to you possibly having to do "setx HOME C:/path/to/home". I cannot help you any further until you have actually tried. Once you have tried and have run into a problem, I or someone else will help you though.
Comment: Thanks. But my question remains, if in a slightly different formulation: What steps do I need to take, after installing Magit, in order that Magit will work vis-a-vis a given GitHub repository?
Answer:
Use magit-clone to clone a GitHub (or any Git) repo

You can also clone via command line, of course, which I prefer

Open a file in the repo and call magit-status

It is convenient to bind this to a key, e.g. C-c m

Congratulations, you're using Magit.
Howard Abrams' excellent introductory video can get you started with staging, committing, pushing, etc. A comprehensive user manual is also available.

I don't want to install this package before I know whether it's possible to access a GitHub repository.

Uhh...where's the spirit of experimentation?


Antivirus: pros and cons of quarantine and deleting (ClamAV particularity). Clean option

Question: What are the pros and cons of qurantine and deleting in an antivirus? Does ClamAV have some particularity on this point? Also, is there some antivirus or anti-malware which allows to clean the infected file? Thanks in advance
Answer: With quarantine, you can check the status of your quarantined items, restore or delete individual quarantined items, or simply empty the whole quarantine.
so if you found a false positive you can restore it.
This FQA is helpful: http://clamtk.sourceforge.net/faq.html
All antivirus does clean infected files with different degree based on the type of malware.


The Ford Emission Control System light remains steady

Question: I drive a 2008 Ford Escape. The Emission Control System Light turned on because I was running out of fuel. I was able to reach a gas station and put some gas but the light remains. Any thoughts about this?
Answer: Your best bet is to read, then clear the codes. The code may not be what you think it is from (low fuel). If you clear it and it comes back, you know you have a larger issue. If it clears and doesn't come back, all is well in Whoseville.
Answer: If everything is ok with the car then after driving the car a full 3 warm up cycles the light should go out. If it does not then reading and clearing the code is the only option. If something is actually wrong with it, fix it.


Why didn't Asajj Ventress use Force lightning?

Question: I don't get how Asajj Ventress, a powerful Dark Jedi, never used Force lightning. A Jedi, Darrus Jeht, used it on her, and it's not like it was such a secret. Why didn't she try it?
Comment: Oh sorry, she does exist in novels...
Comment: When did someone other than Dooku used force lightning on Ventress? Does she exist outside Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV series?
Answer: Force Lightning has a severe cost, it drains the very soul of the person performing it, not to mention possible physical damage on the user. Just because the force wielder is dark side, does not mean they would be willing to sacrifice some of them self unless it is worth while.
There are tons of reasons why one would avoid force lightning (notably they don't like looking like a shriveled hag)
It is most likely that they just found it not worth it, or ineffective for their purposes.
From Wookieepedia

It was thought that very intense use of Force lightning could drain the user physically, and possibly result in severe facial and body deformations. The deformities Palpatine displayed after unleashing a barrage of Force lightning on Mace Windu, only to have it reflected back upon him by the Jedi Master's lightsaber is an example of this.
When Anakin Skywalker redeemed himself and killed the Emperor, his life support circuitry was critically damaged, leaving him a heavy and lifeless quadriplegic.[2]
Besides draining the user's energy, Force lightning had the added drawback of occasionally charring the hand of the person who used it. When Jacen Solo flew into a rage underneath the ruins of the Jedi Temple on Yuuzhan'tar and attacked his Yuuzhan Vong pursuers with Force lightning, he later found that the blasts had burned charred holes in his palm.
Comment: Side note, She sure got it used against her a lot http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Asajj_Ventress
Answer: Not every dark side user is at a level to be able to use force lightning. Only the most powerful are at that level. That is why Ventress so wanted to be Dooku's student, to learn those techniques which she did not know.
If a force user gets angry enough and if they have the midi-chlorian count for it, then they can generate force lighting at that moment, as Jacen and Jaina solo both did at various times when fighting the Vong.
Otherwise, it's simply a matter of being at that level and possibly knowing the specific techniques to consciously throw the lightning at will as Dooku and Palpatine certainly could.
If you go back and look at the size of the lightning bolts from both Dooku and Palpatine, you'll notice that there is a difference in the size and density of them. Dooku's are smaller and dimmer where as Palpatines are thicker and brighter, denoting a higher level of power and raw power output.
As others mentioned too, there is the draining of that persons appearance, soul and life force or chi when using the dark side at all, not to mention when throwing force lightning. In other books, it was taught that any use of the dark side eventually casuses the splotching and bruising seen in the Emperors appearance. But in ROTS we saw that in palpatines case, it was because Mace was using Vapaad to repulse the dark side lightning and, along with his lightsaber, send it back towards Palpatine.
I personally thought that Palpatines entire human like appearance was a force mask, and that the lightning simply revealed his true visage. I'm not sure if I read that in ROTS or in another book, but I definitely remember that being a possible explanantion.
In other words, his current decrepit appearance IS his normal appearance through the decades of use of the dark side, and his human looking one was simply an illusion. Luke was also able to totally mask his appearance where others could not tell at all who he was. Only other high level force users were able to tell that Luke was using the force to hide his true form.
This is why, IMO, Yoda was looking at Palpatine funny in Attack of the Clones (AOTC) when they were in Palpatines office that time. I think he was perhaps starting to sense or see through what was going on for a second or two. As we know "hard to see, the dark side is", even, apparently, from someone of Yoda's level.
So that's my 2 cents, ha.