What's the advantage of using Ubuntu One vs. other services like Dropbox?

Question: What features does Ubuntu One provide that others services do not have? Can I use Ubuntu One only on Ubuntu machines? What about sharing data/folders with others who do not have Ubuntu One?
Comment: **Note that Ubuntu One was shut down in April 2014.** The name "Ubuntu One" is still used for user accounts on Ubuntu related websites but the file storage service by that name no longer exists.
Answer: Ubuntu One has several advantages over Dropbox and other services.
Synchronisation
Like other services, Ubuntu One allows synchronisation of files across machines and does this by synchronising any file you put in the <code>~/Ubuntu One</code> folder. In addition, it allows you to synchronise all of the files in any folder in your home folder. However, it lacks the ability to synchronise files using symlinks.
A particular feature that Ubuntu One has that is lacking in other services is the synchronisation of your desktopcouch databases. Some applications use these databases to store data and settings. This allows automatic synchronisation between applications on multiple machines. Examples of such applications include Tomboy (which synchronises its notes) and Evolution (which synchronises contacts).
Storage Amount and Pricing
Ubuntu One provides a relatively generous 5GB of free storage compared to 2GB provided by Dropbox and SpiderOak and 1GB provided by Wuala. With Ubuntu One you can add 20GB increments for 2.99 USD/month. This allows flexible pricing that is more cost effective than Dropbox or Wuala. (See Comparison).
Platform Support
The Ubuntu One client is available on Ubuntu and Ubuntu based distributions and should theoretically work on most other distributions. A beta is available for Windows. There are also apps available for Android and iOS.
There is also a rudimentary web interface for accessing and publishing files. The publishing feature allows you to share files with people who don't have Ubuntu One.
This is not as many platforms as, for example, Dropbox so this may be a disadvantage if you use multiple platforms.
Music
Ubuntu One provides a music store and allows music streaming via smartphone applications. The music streaming costs money. Other services do not support this.
Freedom
The Ubuntu One client is free software, although the server is proprietary.
Comment: You can also sync Tomboy notes via Dropbox. Ubuntu One now has a Windows client available.
Comment: You've missed one of the main points - it can sync entire folders maintaining the directory structures across all the Ubuntu machines.
Comment: In fact, all your desktopcouch databases are synced unless you tell them not to be. Since this is fairly new stuff, there are relatively few applications that make use of that yet, but it's growing. I think that's probably the coolest feature of Ubuntu One, although filesync is really useful. And yes, you can publish files on the general web and just give people the url.
Comment: I believe the dropbox client is also open source. Although, like the ubuntu one client, it's useless without the server, which is closed source.
Answer: The paid Ubuntu One service helps subsidize Canonical, which means that (theoretically) signing up with U1 helps improve the platform.
Answer: One advantage of using Ubuntu One is that eventually many of your settings will be saved in a CouchDB database and shared between all your machines (should you choose to allow it). You can do this manually using Dropbox or similar services, but with Ubuntu One, it should be more or less automatic.
Answer: One disadvantage of Ubuntu One is that you are stuck with a directory "Ubuntu One" (spaces and capitals, ugh) in your home directory that you can't remove. According to the Ubuntu bug tracker, the solution is to remove U1 completely.
Dropbox allow you to put their "Dropbox" directory anywhere.  I put it $HOME/.db/Dropbox then have a symbolic link  $HOME/dropbox to it.
Answer: For me, Ubuntu One has one very significant feature - share/sync any folder inside your home folder, so you don't need to use the main single folder like Dropbox does (I mean a folder which is used for all your Dropbox shares).
Regards.
Answer: The most important thing for me is that I can sync all my config files - outside the ubuntu one folder. Dropbox can't.
And the second thing is that Im supporting Canonical (Im a paid user).
Answer: As for security, Dropbox does encrypt the files, but they possess the keys and reserve the right to allow the U.S state to see what you are holding. Since they possess the keys it means that hackers could also get them. Ubuntu One does no encryption. However it is possible to encrypt data on your own machine prior to syncing it with Ubuntu One and it will be safe since you alone would possess the key. There is another service called Wuala that does encryption, while making sure that they have no knowledge of the encryption key. They store the data in several European countries in a peer-to-peer thingy for redundancy, they offer a Linux client and the servers are run on 100% green energy!
Comment: Once can, of course, encrypt files on a Dropbox directory in the same way that you would do on an Ubuntu\ One directory
Comment: Another alternative to Dropbox, which stores the encryption key locally on your machine, is [Spideroak](https://spideroak.com/).
Answer: Canonical closed down Ubuntu One cloud file services 2014:
http://blog.canonical.com/2014/04/02/shutting-down-ubuntu-one-file-services/
Answer: Dropbox is cross platform. It has a html folder for hosting webpages. I believe you can only use ubuntu one on linux machines.
Ubuntu one is good for sharing between ubuntu machines; but if you have a dropbox account, you should be good. :)


How to teleport a player who activates a command block without using @p?

Question: Using command blocks, how can I make the person that touched the command block's button get teleported, not the person closest to the command block?
Answer: This is impossible. The closest you can get is by specifying that it should teleport the player closest to the button, like this:
/tp @p[x=buttonX,y=buttonY,z=buttonZ] newLocationX newLocationY newLocationZ

e.g.:
/tp @p[x=420,y=42,z=-1337] 1024 37 2000001

Answer: The thing about command blocks is that they are operated by redstone signals, which can vary from circuts as small as a single button to circuts as huge and sprawling as mob farms to complex circuts like self-powered timers. Redstone signals do not carry identity (they may not even have it), so there isn't a way to tell who pushed a button.
The Guy With the Hat's answer is good to use - teleport the player closest to the structure. You will likely get more perfect mileage if you use a pressure plate on top of the block instead of a button, and then you can use a radius limiter on the @p (I think it's r=1 or whatever other number) to ensure that some random player won't get teleported when a mob presses the button.


How to make sugar coated fennel seeds at home?

Question: Fennel seeds have a great flavor and are good for digestion. I tried sugar coating them at home. But drying them up once the seeds got added to hot sugar syrup became a problem. At the same time seeds became gooey and it got all the more tough to take them out on a plate. I want to know what is the proper technique to sugar coat fennel seeds. Plz someone help!
Comment: OP, I think your question would be much better understood by our very international community using images. Are the images in my earlier comment actually what you are asking about?
Comment: Sugar coated fenel similar to sugar (or caramel) coated almonds?
Comment: This is the iconic: https://www.amazon.com/Spicy-World-Sugar-Coated-Fennel/dp/B000JMBFZ8 to draw a comparison with almonds, I'd think of these: https://www.amazon.com/Jordan-Almonds-Pastel-3-lbs/dp/B0061Q7IQQ/ref=sr_1_1_s_it?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1474265748&sr=1-1&keywords=candied+almonds
Comment: @Jolenealaska (and OP): We use [aniseeds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muisjes) over here for those. The [Dutch wiki](https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muisjes) has a (very) limited description of how they are made. If this is what you're looking for, and google translate doesn't do a proper job of translating, I'd be happy to provide a translation.
Comment: Hi @Jolenealaska, the item shown in the image shown in the link: http://amazon.com/Spicy-World-Sugar-Coated-Fennel/dp/B000JMBFZ8 is exactly what I am looking to make. It looks quite similar to sugar coated almonds as discussed in the above mentioned comment.
Answer: The product in your link has been sugar panned, a process which uses a rotating drum to add a thin candy shell, such as on nuts or seeds. To achieve that effect, you would need either a machine or a panning attachment for a mixer such as Kitchenaid, as illustrated on Pastry Chef Central.
Comment: There's [another drum that's produced by this company](https://www.100x100chef.com/shop/gb/tecniques/36-confi-kit.html?search_query=confi+kit&results=48#/option-kenwood_serie_major_or_chef) which I think would perform better than the one which is linked above. This drum features _"... two stainless steel rotating curved arms. They favor food turning and get a better and homogeneous coat. Thanks to this improvement, Confi Kit guarantees now a stable and continuous mix...."_ It also comes in two different versions, one for KitchenAid, another for Kenwood.
Answer: The process for making sugar-coated candies, also called comfits (usually with a core of fennel seeds, or nuts) is called panning.  It's a tricky process, but not impossible - it was one of the oldest candy-making methods.  Machines like those Dorothy mentions may be used commercially (or to make it easier for those who make in bulk), but it isn't required.  Comfits can be made with a simple bowl or wide pan... or any number of elaborate suspended pans and setups that come between the simple pan and the mechanical panners.
A recipe made with sugar syrup, has the syrup heated to a soft-ball stage, and small portions of the syrup slowly mixed with the seeds in a bowl with high sides, with time to dry between each coating.  The key is to keep the additions of sugar syrup small, like a tablespoon or so at a time, and the stirring constant - as the syrup cools and dries, the seeds will clump together, and as you keep mixing them, they will break apart into individual seeds with a very thin layer of sugar on them.  Once they're dry, the next layer of sugar can be added with another tablespoon or two of sugar syrup and stirring.  The comfits may need to rest additional time between layers, or periodically, to let everything dry thoroughly if the candies are becoming sticky.  You need to add layer after layer after layer (as many as a hundred) until the coating is thick enough for your candies - a lot of repetitive work, but with a nice payoff.
If this is the method you were using, it sounds like you were trying to coat the seeds in a single layer, and maybe adding too much syrup at once, or not stirring enough to get all the way through the clumping stage until the seeds were dry before resting or adding the next layer. If you want to get a thicker layer to begin with, and are less concerned about the appearance, you can try making a thicker and dryer syrup, which will give the comfits a more raggedy appearance.  Drizzling in a thinner stream from higher up should let the syrup cool a bit before it hits the seeds, giving a more uneven appearance but a thicker coating with the same effort.  You might even drift a little powdered sugar in your pan to thicken and dry the coating on the seeds as they are stirred.
As an alternative to stirring the seeds in a bowl, they could be made in a wide pan - especially useful if you wanted to make a larger quantity, since they needed enough room to spread out while drying.  The seeds could be tilted or swirled in the pan instead of stirred (that would be why the larger panning machines get the look from) - with the momentum being used to mix the seeds and break up clumps.  You can use a spoon or even your hands to break up clumps as you go.
A couple recipes add gum arabic to help the sugar stick to the seeds in the first place... but not all of them do, so maybe keep it in mind if you end up having trouble with the first layer only (sugar sticks to itself for subsequent layers).  It may depend on what you're using as a seed (that is, the gum arabic might be brought over from recipes where it's really needed into recipes where it isn't indispensable).
I'm almost certain I have seen a "raw" comfit recipe, I can't seem to find it at the moment, where the seeds are added with a small amount of confectioner's sugar in a wide pan, and water spritzed over the pan and it's swirled about.  The water encourages the sugar to clump, and stick to the seeds, and the tilting and swirling the pan breaks up the clumps (merely moist sugar doesn't have that, that much sticking power).  More water can be spritzed on as needed, or more powdered sugar added, to keep the layers forming.  This process will give a fine sugar coating over the seeds each time - and the seeds are let dry, and the process repeated, until the layers form a thick enough coating.  Being raw, so to speak, means the texture may well be different form a comfit made with cooked sugar syrup, molded sugar instead of spun sugar candy.  I think this might be a newer recipe, since making a sugar syrup was a lot easier than grinding loaf-sugar to fine powdered sugar consistency by hand - so it would make sense as a recipe after commercial powdered sugar became available.
Comment: Thanks @Megha, I will try comfit technique for sure. Buying a $600 piece for panning candies is not for me, although I learnt about panning, which is in itself a huge help, thanks again to Dorothy. I am not big on having sweets so making boatloads of candy is out of question. I just need something to sweeten/freshen-up my palate which is why was looking out to make sugar coated fennel.
Comment: @SaurabhCooks - Glad to help :)  The technique sounded interesting when I saw it, even if it also sounds like it will take a lot of effort to do by hand!  I think it's also good to have Dorothy's commercial and easy answer as well as my cheap method -  dedicated equipment for making stuff can be all kinds of fun, especially if you're planning to use it a lot, but there are also hacks and workarounds for those who don't have equipment, or only need a little sometimes - if nothing else, from back in history when everyone was figuring out techniques and how the dedicated equipment should be
Comment: Indeed @Dorothy's approach is direct and easy and I wud have loved to buy that piece had I been a candy lover. But anyhow I gained a huge amt. of knowledge from both these techniques.


How to interact with a cat that has fleas?

Question: I'm returning home to my outdoor cats. The problem is that they were not given flea medication during this time. This is what I'll do as soon as I'm back and see them. Between the time it takes for the medication to work and kill the fleas, how should I interact with the cats? Should I wash my clothes after? How? And is washing my hands enough to prevent me from getting them?
Comment: Which flea treatment are you using?
Comment: fipronil is the active ingredient
Answer: While it is possible for a cat flea to bite you, they usually don't do it. Cat fleas don't survive for long feeding on humans, so you don't need to worry about an infestation.
Just vacuum your home regularly.. the medication on your cats will take care of them eventually.
Reference: Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
Comment: The summary of your reference supports your answer, but in the body it says "*In laboratory conditions, fleas were fed human blood to see if they would produce eggs. When female fleas were allowed to feed for 12 consecutive hours, viable eggs were produced.*" I think you are correct in general but there is room to expand on the answer.
Answer: Fleas are pests, but they do not infest you or your clothes. What they can do is bite, and that can be a bother.  While not particularly painful, some people will exhibit a minor inflammatory response (slight swelling and reddening at bite site), they can itch, and leave unsightly little bite marks until healed.
I recommend the use of a veterinarian-approved neurotoxin usually administered monthly by breaking the seal on a small liquid-filled vial and pushing the liquid onto the cat's skin between hairs on the back of their neck.  Once it reaches the cats skin there, it actually spreads to cover the skin's entire surface on the cat. A good quality neurotoxin will kill fleas in all stages of their life cycle. The other most likely candidate for a flea poison would be those places where the cat usually sleeps. There you would find a spray that you may use safely on furniture or fabric.
Fleas are hard-bodied (very difficult to kill manually) and they jump.  They are easy to spot if there are many of them.
Of much more concern are ticks that the cat can carry in from fields and grasses outside - including deer ticks which have been known to carry and infect humans with Lyme's disease.  The same neurotoxin mentioned above kills ticks as well.
I have had from one to four cats at any given time throughout my life. They are fine companions and fleas can be managed with regular care.


1980's children's novel about present-day post-nuclear USA?

Question: I'm looking for the title to a book I read in the 80's about a family set in the present day surviving after a nuclear holocaust. The whole family survives for a time. The little girl hides under a table and suffers less radiation sickness than her family. Eventually the survivors emerge from hiding and start a new society, but they don't live long because of radiation sickness. It was a terrifying young adult novel.
Comment: possibly the same as https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/113538/3-part-ya-book-about-nuclear-war-in-the-uk-any-ideas (which is newer and unaccepted but confirmed by OP comment)
Comment: This is indeed Children of the Dust. The little girl that hides under the table marries a farmer that survives outside, while the rest of humanity live in giant bunkers that break down over the years. The bunker people end up referring to themselves as 'dinosaurs in bunkers' to show that they know they will be extinct soon, while the mutated people outside the bunkers are at home in the new world.
Comment: also Alas Babylon - but that's from the late 50's but also often read in classrooms
Answer: Children of the Dust. The book details three generations of a family during the aftermath of a nuclear war. The survivors of the blast suffer through radiation, nuclear winter, feuds between rival groups and radiation-induced mutations, eventually evolving into a new species, Homo superior. The new species has adapted to the loss of the ozone layer and the abundant radiation, and will become the dominant species on the planet.
From a trivia website about that book:

Catherine. Catherine is known by three names. Catherine, Kate then Old Kate. Catherine was her first name. She was eight as she lived under the table in the living room while there was the fall of nuclear dust.
Answer: Are you certain it was a novel, or could it have been a novelization of a movie? The most famous post-nuclear attack movie of the 80's involving families was The Day After. While reading your question I immediately settled on the memory of Steve Guttenberg carrying a little girl's body out of their last refuge. Also starred Jobeth Williams and Jason Robards. It was a big deal, a multiday television event that sparked much political notice and debate. Wikipedia says there were viewers guides distributed to schools; I'm sure the movie would have followed with a book.
Comment: This is exactly what came to mind for me -- *The Day After*. I don't recall if it was a theatrical release or a made-for-TV movie, but it completely traumatized me as a kid growing up in the 80s during the Cold War, heh. I don't know if *The Day After* was a novel as well. For what it's worth, I had the same images pop up in my mind when I read the question, and I *think* that *The Day After* was set in Kansas (not sure) and that Jason Robards's character sees the mushroom cloud in the rear view mirror as he's driving on an interstate. This is just from memory, so take it for what it's worth.
Answer: I believe the answer is Brother in the Land. This story is similar to your memory, it was also read in a lot of school classrooms in the 1980s. It has to be the bleakest children's book ever written.
From Goodreads:

Denny, a teenager, is one of the unlucky ones, a survivor, one of those who have come through a nuclear war alive. In plain language he sets down all that has happened to him, what he sees, and what he feels in the first days after the bomb has dropped. This novel won The Other Award for 1984.

It only covers a single generation, with the 1994 reprint revealing that one of the females is pregnant courtesy of one of the male protagonists after two of them die, one explicitly of radiation sickness.
Comment: Can you please elaborate, i.e. how does the story match the OP's criteria?
Answer: There is a children's book called "Outside" that also might be relevant to your question.
Comment: Can you provide more information that might support the similarity?
Answer: After the Bomb by Gloria Miklowitz
Edit: Misread the prompt!  Yet still a good book.
Comment: Hi, welcome to SF&F.  So you're saying this _isn't_ the answer?  Regardless, you should explain how this does, and does not, match the points in the question.
Answer: This is a partial match to Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien. This is a young-adult novel, which is frequently read in schools.
This story is told by a girl/young woman (teenager rather than young girl), who has survived a nuclear bombing apocalypse in the USA during a war. She survived in a valley with a "meteorological enclave" weather system and narrates the arrival of a stranger to her valley after the deaths of her family shortly after the war. The stranger arrives in a self-contained (and self-made?) radiation proof suit with radiation proof gear.
It tells the story of her meeting with the (male) stranger, who tries to take over her life, and his attempts to make her an "Eve" to his "Adam". The events that follow culminate in her leaving the valley in search of other survivors, based on dreams she has of children waiting for her to teach them and the stranger's reports of smoke from fires rising to the West.
The deaths to her family and a couple of other survivors (heard over radio?) occur fairly early on in the story and are the result of heading out of the valley searching for food and other survivors. I don't recall any other deaths after this time (i.e. not much match to the question), though the stranger does become sick from radiation poisoning shortly after his arrival in the valley and washing/drinking from a contaminated stream.


Purpose of network address in IPv4?

Question: While broadcast address in IPv4 is used to send traffic to all the hosts in the network, then what is the purpose of network address in IPv4 network?
Answer: It's simply an identifier, used to tell the start of a particular network segment. This is more useful when you get into subnetting and VLSM, where there are several smaller-sized networks.
Answer: IPv4 address are used to locate a network host (PC, Laptop, Ip Phone, cell Phone and a large etcetera...). Each host must have a IPv4 Address when you need a type of traffic called unicast, wich means a communication between two  network hosts, like visiting a web page, senf a file or send an email.
If each communication send a broadcast to every network host, each host can view the web page, the file or the email (this is not exactly technically, but illustrate my point)
and last, to make an example, if each communication are a broadcast, is like every phone call is share by every phone, or every letter is send to everyone.
Hope Helps!

Purpose of network address in IPv4?


Is the vapor pressure of a liquid dependent on the pressure of the atmosphere in which it is measured?

Question: The figure below shows how vapor pressure of a liquid is measured. Initially the flask is at atmospheric pressure. Then the liquid is dropped in the flask. Once equilibrium is reached, the pressure from the vapor created is recorded. My question is - if the flask were initially at a different pressure - let's say 5 atm - would the vapor pressure of the liquid be different? My thinking is that the additional pressure in the flask would keep more of the liquid molecules in liquid form.
Comment: Yes, it is,see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poynting_effect
Comment: No, it doesn't. Unless it changes the substance. For example turns water into "hot ice". .
Answer: Yes, in principle it could be different, but the effect would be very small unless the increase in pressure were very large.  To put it in simplified terms:  The increase in ambient pressure compresses the liquid, bringing it to a higher-energy state, causing a higher proportion of the liquid molecules to want to escape from the liquid, and into the gas state, thus causing the vapor pressure to increase.  This assumes ideal gas behavior, i.e., that the increased ambient pressure affects only the liquid, not the gas.
DETAILS:
Let's call your liquid "$X$".  At equilibrium, the chemical potential of $X_{(l)}$ equals the chemical potential of  $X_{(g)}$.  The pressure of $X_{(g)}$ at which that occurs is called the vapor pressure.
Now suppose you increase the ambient pressure at constant temperature. Consider what happens to the chemical potential of the liquid: $d\mu = -S_mdT +V_m dP$, where $\mu$ is the chemical potential, and $S_m$ and $V_m$ are the molar entropy and volume, respectively.  Thus, at constant $T$, $d\mu = V_m dP$.  Hence the chemical potential of $X_{(l)}$ increases.  This effect, by itself, would cause the vapor pressure to increase (to get the chemical potential of $X_{(g)}$ to match the increased chemical potential of $X_{(l)}$).
But what about the chemical potential of $X_{(g)}$?  If the gas behaves ideally, then it is unaffected by the presence of other gases, and thus its chemical potential is unaffected as well.  I.e., as with the liquid, its chemical potential is determined by its pressure.  But unlike the case with the liquid, the pressure of $X_{(g)}$ is independent of the ambient pressure -- it depends only on the partial pressure of $X_{(g)}$ itself.  Thus the only effect to consider would be the increased chemical potential of the liquid, and the vapor pressure would increase.
However #1: At high concentrations, gases tend not to behave ideally.  Thus there are two possibilities: the increased partial pressure of the other gas increases the chemical potential of $X_{(g)}$, or decreases it.  If it's the former, and the effect is sufficiently strong, the vapor pressure will decrease.  If it's the latter, the vapor pressure will increase.
However #2: If the ambient gas is soluble in the liquid, increasing the ambient pressure will increase the concentration of the ambient gas in the liquid, which could reduce the chemical potential of the liquid, thus reducing the vapor pressure!
Again, let me emphasize that these are very small effects.
Comment: That math makes sense to me, but does anyone have an intuitive explanation at a molecular level for why vapor pressure increases due to atmospheric pressure.
Comment: @Ryan I've added some language towards the end, in the paragraph beginning "So, to put it in simplified terms..."  Let me know if this helps.
Comment: yes it does help!
Comment: @Ryan: Feel free to accept my answer if you think it addresses your question.


70s or 80s film. Aliens impersonate humans

Question: I'm trying to identify an alien movie from the 70's or 80's in which aliens impersonate humans. At the end theirfeet start to shrink and they start to melt all over, even their faces
Comment: Substitute "Nazis" for "aliens" and this could even describe *the Raiders of the Lost Ark*
Comment: There's very little to go on here. Why not have a look at the checklists on [How to ask a good story-ID question?](https://scifi.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/9335/how-to-ask-a-good-story-id-question) to see what else you can come up with?
Comment: Is this the same as [Astronauts land on planet, met by aliens impersonating their deceased relatives](https://scifi.stackexchange.com/a/169600/4495)? (The question is about the printed story, but the answer mentions a TV series made from it in the 80s.)
Answer: Sounds a bit like They Live (1988), I could be wrong mind you.
Storyline from IMDB:

Nada, a down-on-his-luck construction worker, discovers a pair of
  special sunglasses. Wearing them, he is able to see the world as it
  really is: people being bombarded by media and government with
  messages like "Stay Asleep", "No Imagination", "Submit to Authority".
  Even scarier is that he is able to see that some usually normal-looking people are in fact ugly aliens in charge of the massive
  campaign to keep humans subdued.
Comment: Welcome to SFF.SE! It's usually a good idea to explain what aspects of what the OP said seem to match, to explain why this seems like a good fit, and to mention notable elements of the story that the OP didn't mention, but may recognize.


On Extending the web application of SharePoint 2013, the sharepoint site gives "HTTP 403 Forbidden" error?

Question: I extended one of the web applications of sharepoint 2013, when I opened the site it is giving me error for the web application from which I extended another one. Means the original web application is not opening along with the extended one Why does that happen. The Sharepoint server consists of two front end servers and one back end server.
Answer: This type of error is due to wrong AAM settings or IIS bindings.So make sure

You Alternate Acess Mapping settings are correct.
if their is any bindings at IIS level should reflect the correct
If you are using FQDN with Loadbalancer then make sure DNS point to correct entry.

If still having the issue, Its great if yo share the Screen Shots / Error details from ULS / event log if any.


How to find out missing or deleted site collections in Staging Environment

Question: We have created  some 40+ site collections in staging environment.On the dev machines we used to development and deploy the wsps and run the powershell scripts in UAT to create site collections and sites.Yesterday when we started  doing  normal testing of our portal,we found that ROOT site colelction and another important site collection were missing.I checked the event viewer logs information in the UAT box.But did not find anything mysterious.Can anyone help how to find out why this happened?This happened within 12 hrs of time.If I enable Auditing on this SP Farm, will it help me to find what happened on those sites.I checked the content database of one missing sitecollection.Its intact.Later customer reported us that they faced some issues in their SAN storage environment.I am not able to find the link between these two.
Note-Audit logging was not enabled in the SP application.
Answer: Whenever the site collection was deleted, the Site Collection object is removed from SPSite and able to access using SPDeletedSite.
To get the deleted site collection details, we have to give Site Collection Id or server relative url as input.
PowerShell command to Get the deleted Site Collection:
Get-SPDeletedSite < Site Collection server relative URL >

Get-SPDeletedSite –Identity < Site Collection ID >

Comment: thanks. but when i ran the above command i am not able to see the details of the deleted site.Even my  content db was also not avaialble in my DB box.
Answer: You can use this ...
Get-SPDeletedSite & Remove-SPDeletedSite
Use Remove SPDeletedSite only if you need it.
To get the site collection use the following command
>Get-SPDeletedSite

You'll see the site (or sites) listed, like this:
WebApplicationId   : 009c1289-392b-43a6-8222-146117074738
DatabaseId         : 88efc46f-5a2b-4171-81cb-7577da65bac3
SiteSubscriptionId : 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
SiteId             : 86d69f7e-3a9e-4f65-8eba-550d77f93a18
Path               : /sites/collaboration
Scheme             : Http
Url                : http://portal/sites/collaboration
DeletionTime       : 2014-02-21 11:14:18

WebApplicationId   : c73bb367-d329-4ef2-aef7-323ce207d2a9
DatabaseId         : aeb2d6ab-9f9b-493f-aefc-797d4b591f43
SiteSubscriptionId : 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
SiteId             : 9d0ed313-0353-4cec-817a-a491a8c5fc26
Path               : /
Scheme             : Http
Url                : http://portal/
DeletionTime       : 2014-02-19 15:27:37

And if you wish to remove any of the site collection in future Copy the SiteId and run the following command if any only when you need it
 Remove-SPDeletedSite –Identity SiteId

e.g. Remove-SPDeletedSite –Identity 9d0ed313-0353-4cec-817a-a491a8c5fc26


Is forward scattering = no scattering?

Question: What is forward scattering? If it is equivalent to no scattering, then why not call it "no scattering"?
Answer: Forward scattering need not be equivalent to "no scattering" - and, indeed, will only rarely be indistinguishable from it.
In the usual scattering-theory setup, you have an electron coming in in a plane wave
$$\psi(\mathbf{r})=e^{i\mathbf{k}\cdot\mathbf{r}}=e^{ikz}$$
and impinging on some short-range potential. This will add to the wavefunction a scattered wave
$$\psi_\text{scattered}(\mathbf{r})=F(\theta,\phi)\frac 1r e^{ikr}.$$
The form factor $F(\theta,\phi)$ governs the angular structure of the scattered wave, and the case where $\theta=0$ is called forward scattering.
Note that:

The forward-scattered wave is part of a spherical wave and its amplitude decays with the distance from the scattering centre in a different way to the incoming wave. In practice, the incoming beam will also suffer from wavepacket spreading, but in general the forward-scattered wave will be weaker unless special scattering conditions are at play.
The form factor in general includes a phase. This means that the forward-scattered wave will interfere nontrivially with the incoming beam, providing a delay in the phase of the final wave.
Comment: On the practical side experimenters sometimes use "forward scattering" to mean all $\theta$ smaller than the smallest scattering angle which can be detected because to go closer would cause the halo of beam to fall on the detector. As usual this definition is convolution of the precise one with an experimental resolution function.
Answer: If you want an even more everyday example than Emilio Pisanty's example: "no scattering" would mean that the would be scattering object in question (modelled by the short range potential in Emilio's answer)   would beget no change the the forward travelling wave. Otherwise put, an observer sensing the incoming plane wave could not tell whether or not the object were in between them and the source of (wontedly plane for these scenarios) waves. Forward scattering means that the scattering object leaves signs of its presence in the forward travelling wave.
As an illustration, I don't know whether they still do this in Britain, but it used to be that one must by law buy a licence to have a television set. To enforce this law, the state had people driving around in vans (see them in action here) detecting unlicensed televisions from the scattered wave that must always arise from the television's antenna system whenever it interacts with the electromagnetic field. This scattered wave can be sensed at almost any orientation relative to the receiver and transmitter. In this scenario, "no scattering" would mean that you would be safe from the TV detector man.
Comment: You still need to buy a TV license, and they still have door-to-door inspections. I'm not sure whether they still have the detector vans, though; they are possibly not that useful since you need a license for any device that shows TV content "as live", including streaming from the BBC website.
Comment: ... and apparently they [still have the vans, plus handheld detectors](http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/topics/detection-and-penalties-top5/). More in [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_licensing_in_the_United_Kingdom#Detection_technology).
Answer: The optical theorem (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_theorem) relates the imaginary part of the forward scattering amplitude to the total scattering cross-section,
$ \sigma_\mathrm{tot}=\frac{4\pi}{k}~\mathrm{Im}\,f(0)$, so if $ \sigma_\mathrm{tot}$ is non-zero, so is the forward scattering amplitude.
Answer: In QFT, forward scattering means $\theta\approx0$. So it is basically some kind of small angle approximation. This is the answer to my question.
($\theta$ is the usual angle in spherical coordinates)

Is forward scattering = no scattering?


bitcoin coin selection algorithm

Question: It says here https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/src/wallet/wallet.cpp#L2458
that to choose coins for a transactions we need to solve subset sum.
But subset sum is when you're not allowed to go over a certain amount;
whereas in bitcoin you can go over the amount and give change.
So why is this necessary?
Answer: There are a few goals of coin selection.
Firstly, we want to select enough coins for the user. Secondly, we want to minimize transaction fees. Lastly we want to reduce the UTXO set.
Reducing the UTXO set requires creating less outputs than there are inputs in a transaction. By solving the subset sum problem, we can avoid making a change output and thus help to reduce the UTXO set.
Comment: For those wanting to go deeper in coin selection algorithms, I can recommend reading http://murch.one/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/erhardt2016coinselection.pdf
Comment: that may be the reason they did it. Though it doesn't make sense to me to do a much more computationally heavy procedure to maybe reduce one output.
Comment: @relG It's not just that though. The coin selection algorithm used by Bitcoin Core also results in larger change outputs. A lot of other algorithms end up breaking down the user's inputs into smaller and smaller outputs, which makes it harder and harder to spend those outputs. I highly recommend that you read the paper linked in the above comment as it explains the performance characteristics of various algorithms.
Comment: I'm reading Section 3.4 and it talks about finding the closest thing to the target value if exact solution is not found, which would result in small change.

bitcoin coin selection algorithm


Can't deploy SRV in Elite: Dangerous

Question: I'm trying to deploy a Surface Recon Vehicle (SRV) in Elite: Dangerous (with the Horizons DLC), but the option to Deploy the SRV in red / greyed out, so I can't select it.
Question: How do I deploy the SRV?
Answer: If you ever encounter non-functional systems in Elite: Dangerous, there's a very good possibility that you've disabled one of your ship's modules, and simply forgotten about it. It happens to me on a regular basis.
Thankfully, this is an easy thing to check:

In your ship, visit the Systems Panel, on the right (4 by default)
Use the Q and E keys to navigate to Modules
Select your Planetary Vehicle Hangar from the list of modules
Activate the module
Go back to the Role Panel (the bottom one) and try to the SRV again

If this doesn't work, make sure you have a SRV in the Planetary Vehicle Hangar (PVH). If you destroyed your SRV, you might need to purchase a new one. Some PVH's hold more than one SRV, for backup purposes.
Comment: Also make sure you are landed
Answer: It's also worth making sure you have an SRV equipped in your vehicle hangar, as they aren't automatically purchased along with a vehicle hangar.
Answer: Remember to deploy your Landing Gear as it's possible to land with it up & there are no warnng sounds. This prevents the SRV deploying (lowering the LG while on the ground landed also allows you to deploy).
Answer: When you land make sure it says secured ship.
Some places you can land, but the ship wont be secured to the ground, if that's the case then it cannot be deployed.
In most case just move the ships around abit in the area, until the HUD no longer says the terrain is unsuitable for landing.
Answer: 0) Buy and equip the SRV hangar module, and buy at least one SRV for it
1) Fly to a landable planet (they have the blue crescent over them in the system view)
2) Enter orbital cruise, then fly down til you hit orbital glide.
3) After exiting orbital glide, fly down to the surface of the planet.
4) Deploy landing gear.
5) Find a flat spot to land on (your landing HUD will turn on and help you as you get close to the surface).
6) After landing, activate the SRV/fighter panel (default mapping is "3").
7) Select the option to deploy the SRV and enjoy driving around.
Answer: When your ship is over terrain that you can land on it will highlight as yellow / gold. I flew around slowly in expanding circles until my ship did a yellow 'blip' and then strafed backwards until finding that spot. Once I found that spot I came straight down and landed, secured, and was able to launch the SRV.
Answer: I ran into this problem too, specifically after a multicrew session. To fix it, I landed anywhere on the planet, then hit ESC and went to Menu. Then, relogged back in. Fixed.
Answer: Also make sure that your Planetary Vehicle Hanger is powered under the Modules tab -- if you don't, the option to deploy will be greyed out.

Can't deploy SRV in Elite: Dangerous


Do we need to spend Gas to move ERC20 token inside a bip32/HD wallet

Question: I just wondering to know in order to move erc20 token inside a bip32/HD wallet from child to parent to we need to spend any gas? (example: imagine I made a HD wallet which supporting ERC20 tokens and my HD wallet structure has a parent and 10  child, if one of child receive few ERC20 token from an ICO  under his/her public key  and want to move/transfer it to parent public key does he needs to spend any Gas in ETH or same token ?
Answer: One private key corresponds always to one public key and one address. HD wallets are just a way or organizing your private keys in an easier-to-manage way.
In the end a HD wallet is just a collection of different private keys and therefore a collection of different public addresses. In order to transfer tokens (or Ethers) between different addresses you need Ethers to pay for the gas costs.
Answer: If you want to transfer ERC20 token from child to parent of hd wallet, then gas used in ETH from you child wallet.


Any automated system to compute the linear length of a letter(s) in a word or phrase?

Question: I may be way out of league asking this question but is there a way to get the linear length of a letter or words.  That is,  if you were to take the word "super" and measured the outside border of the letters you'd get a measurement.  Is there something out there that would tell me this measurement if I give the font and the font size?  I'm a rookie here so be gentle.  thanks in advance.
Answer: This is trivial to do using TeX/LaTeX (though you'll want to use a newer version such as xetex or luatex so as to be able to easily access OpenType and TrueType fonts):
<code>\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{fontspec}
\setmainfont{Myriad Pro Black Condensed}% <<-- change to desired font
\usepackage[nomessages]{fp}
\makeatletter
\newcommand{\printer}[3][in]{%
\FPeval\temp{round(\expandafter\strip@pt\csname#2\endcsname/72.27:#3)}%
\temp#1}
\makeatother
\begin{document}
\newlength{\samplewidth}
\settowidth{\samplewidth}{Test} % <<-- change to the text which you wish to measure
\printer{samplewidth}{4}
\end{document}
</code>
which will output: 0.2060in
OpenType features are supported:
<code>\settowidth{\samplewidth}{Test 0123456789}
\printer{samplewidth}{4}\par
\addfontfeature{Numbers={Proportional,Lining}}
\settowidth{\samplewidth}{Test 0123456789}
\printer{samplewidth}{4}
</code>
which outputs:
0.8425in
0.7911in
Comment: When it comes to contextual alternates, discretionary ligatures and the gamut of OpenType features/substitutions, I don't know that "trivial" is quite the word I'd use... :)  [BTW: Haven't we met on the InDesign listserv, or are you a different LaTeX aficionado of the same name?]
Comment: Which OpenType feature would you like to turn on --- they all work and are accessible (enabling options in a pre-written program qualifies as trivial, no). Yes, I'm the willadams from the InDesign list.
Comment:  Only a true-blue, fully-paid-up, geek's geek could call 14 lines of code "trivial" in the first place, so I suppose on that basis that adding the necessary OTF parameters would similarly qualify.
Comment: Great to see you here, though. You have several areas of knowledge that aren't much represented here otherwise (said LaTeX being a good case in point).
Comment: @AlanGilbertson 14 lines can be hard but its not hard if they have no algorithmic effect, and are copied from a documentation, when used in exactly the scope they were designed. Line count does simply enter the picture.
Comment: Perception is everything. Given how most people I teach react to simply *running* a bit of javascript, far less writing it, 3 lines would appear non-trivial. In this case, given the OP is a dba to start with, that's possibly not the case.
Comment: @AlanGilbertson Yes i know, but it applies to everything people just resist change. Its quite normal that people use FAR more time on justifying why they do not need to understand something, versus the time it takes to understand it. Often 10 minutes of learning would be accompanied with 20 hours of resisting learning. Same thing happens when i teach indesign to nondesigners it seems overly convoluted. In either case, it does not change how simple something is.
Answer: In terms of commonly-available tools, no, there's nothing that will take [random-font] [size] and [characters] as inputs and spit out a length. There are several reasons why this will always be true, but the main one is that every normal (not monospaced) font has its own kerning table that can and often does vary somewhat from one release of the font to the next, not to mention the fact that different type foundries publish their own versions of popular typefaces (Futura, Times, Gill Sans, etc.), with their own variations in character outlines and kerning. All that, and we haven't even mentioned ligatures, tracking, custom kerning or automatic character alternates or swashes such as are commonly available in OpenType fonts.
So although a measuring tool of the kind you're asking about could in theory be made, the practicalities involved in making it actually useful would probably make it too expensive to be worth the effort.
All is not lost, though. Every design application has some form of measuring tool (even, as WillAdams points out, specifically for type in the case of LaTeX) that can be used to measure anything on the page. In the Adobe applications it's found nested with the Eyedropper tool. It's manual, but it works.
Comment: If it seems over your head, just pick up the individual bits of terminology you're not familiar with and google them. Terminology is 90% of the battle in getting comfortable with and being able to become facile with any subject.
Comment: Thanks for the detailed answer.  Although over my head it's not completly difficult to understand what you're getting at.
Comment: Indeed.  I'm a dba/report writer thrown into the postion.  This topic however is just for a personal project. :-)
Comment: In that case, you'll want to take a look at: http://www.pytex.org/texd/
Comment: I'll check that out as well, looks interesting and something I'll probably end knowing too much of just for a personal side project, lol.  Always learning!
Answer: There are many ways this could be done. I'm showing here how a engineer would approach the problem. The point is to show that the approach is in many ways analogous to many other fields. Enumerating it aloud seems boring and in simple cases like this its done silently in the head. This just illustrates the method.
Warning long explanation.
Stage 1: Define solution

Get width of string.
Using specific font.
Preferably in a technically usable way so minimal human intervention.
Using font encoding: Unknown ask clarification, affects solution
Purpose: Unknown ask clarification, affects solution
How often is the tool needed: Unknown ask clarification, affects solution if often
need batch processing: Unknown ask clarification, affects solution if needed
user input: string plus font? Disambiguate
output: for a automated process or for manual use?
use environment: What operating system? Unknown ask clarification, strongly affects solution
unit: Pixels, pt, inches or mm? Unknown ask clarification, affects solution

As you can see there's a lot of unknowns that need to be answered. Especially if one wants to have a good solution that could be shipped to client. Always strive to understand the problem.
Stage 2: Search for methods in literature (or brainstorm)
First stage is to list applications and methods that could yield answers:
<code>Graphics applications (adobe has scripting api OK)
Page setters (TEX solution above)
Operating system (windows has methods for font metrics)
Manually parse fontfile (Infeasible, many formats in one need to implement a lot of routines)
postscript interpretters (solution known)
GUI toolkits (QT can do this)
Other Tookints (Graphing tools like Scipy have this info)
</code>
The list is sufficent go test
Stage 3: Prototype (sketch)
using postscript
Postscript is a known method, problem with postscript is what engine do you use to do this as they have slightly different effects. Using gohostscript following batch file works:
<code>:: usage stringWidth string systemfont
set "ps=(%1) /%2 findfont 12 scalefont setfont 0 0 moveto true charpath pathbbox pop exch pop exch sub pstack"
gswin64c -dQUIET -dBATCH -r1200 -dNODISPLAY -sFONTPATH=%windir%\fonts -c %ps%
</code>
Works on windows, returns point width, probably also works linux with a few changes. Border constraints unknown. Ask clarification. Problems: need to fix char encoding or use intermediary ps file. Otherwise no spaced string works. Nasty encoding issues, manageable if using western languages.
Using Illustrator and javascipt
using illustrator manually: If you outline the path you can read the width of the text in the width box in the gui. Once this is understood it can be scripted.
This can be codified in javascript:
<code>#target illustrator

var doc = app.documents.add();
var text = doc.textFrames.add();
text.contents = "test";
text.textRange.characterAttributes.size = 12;
text.textRange.characterAttributes.textFont = textFonts.getByName("Onyx");

var outline = text.createOutline();
var bounds = outline.geometricBounds
var width = bounds[1]-bounds[3]
alert(width+" pt")
</code>
Works, but needs Illustrator may or may not be a problem. Result may be refined for some technical aspects if needed. Same thing could be done in VB or applescript, or using COM with C, C++, python, perl, ruby etc. Can be used trough command line too if its necessary.
And after some of the ones above are tested choose one for refinement.
PS: Could op clarify?
Answer: It's easy to do in JavaScript. Here's a little tool I wrote that outputs a table of character widths for the ASCII character set 0 to 255. The numbers are expressed in proportions of font size, so for an uppercase "M" (ASCII code 77 decimal) you would take the number at array index 77 and multiply it by the font size to get the character width of "M".
This was made for use with the OpenSCAD 3D design software, but it should be pretty self-explanatory. Usage instructions are at the bottom of the page.


Macbook display black on boot up with external monitor

Question: It's probably a minor thing but since I'm new to Apple I can't really figure this one out. I have an external monitor plugged into my 15' MBP Retina via Thunderbolt - VGA adapter and when I turn on the computer only the external monitor turns on. The notebook display stays black. I have to unplug the external monitor, turn on the computer and then plug it in for them both to work at the same time. Do you guys have any ideas how to set it up permanently?
Comment: yep I too don't want my Mac to treat external display as primary display during boot up.
Answer: OS X remembers the configuration for each individual external device you plug in and should restore the last setup.
You should get an extra icon in the top menu bar when you have an external display plugged in, and clicking on this will give you the options to rearrange the displays and choose which are on.
It may be that you are booting up into 'closed screen' mode (see this Apple support article).
You don't say which version of OS X you are using. Before Lion the behaviours were different and if so things might improve after upgrading.


Is a professional camera cleaning needed after a dirty, dusty photography adventure trip?

Question: I recently returned from a photography adventure in Nepal. It's a very dirty, dusty country. I have a Canon 5D mk3 and a 35mm f1.4L lens. I have been inspecting my camera for damage induced by Nepal and have found that some dust/dirt has gotten into my focus ring. I believe the 35mm is dust sealed, but at the price point this camera is at, I was wondering if this sort of thing requires a professional cleaning by Canon to protect my investment? It has a tiny bit of grinding sound and feel to it, but nothing that seems to be hurting functionality of the focus mechanism at all.
Comment: good edits @mattdm
Answer: Weather resistant, which is what Canon and other manufacturers claim about their gear, can be a far cry from dust sealed. If you read Roger Cicala's blog you learn very quickly how little he regards the weather sealing claims of the camera makers. Here's the one about the fly inside a "weather sealed" lens. Also note his 1/25/2013 at 6:17 a.m. comment to this blog entry. He has found one camera that he really likes in terms of weather sealing. Roger is the CEO and Chief Technical Guru at lensrentals.com.
If your EF 35mm f/1.4 L has any sort of grinding sound and feel to it when moving the focus ring, then you should probably take it seriously and have an authorized Canon service center clean it.
Comment: Brilliant! Just the advice I was looking for. Thanks!!


Amending the Calendar form in Sharepoint 2013

Question: I have a question about the Calendar app. I made the Location field compulsory from the Validation settings and a red warning message appears, when you try to save an event without its location. How can I make the Red asterisk appear next to the Location field, showing that it is compulsory? The SharePoint I can't be amended via InfoPath, otherwise I'd just change the form and add a new required field. I saw that people with similar issues simply hided the field, which they didn't want to appear via the css, and added a custom field. However, I wonder if there is a simpler way of doing this?
Answer: You can use jQuery for putting this dynamically.
Edit Following pages

EditForm.aspx
NewForm.aspx

Add a Script Editor Webpart and use below


Will the Falcon Heavy be far enough in 12 seconds to not cause damage?

Question: Elon Musk has stated that he will consider it a success if the Falcon Heavy gets far enough away from the launch pad to not cause damage if it blows up. The Falcon Heavy underwent a 12 second static fire. Let's say there was some critical issue that wouldn't show up until just after the duration of that firing. Would the Falcon Heavy be far enough to not cause significant damage to the launch pad in 12 seconds?
Comment: Well, after 12 seconds, it will be about 450 meters up (source: math), but I don't know how much damage would be caused if it failed from that distance.
Comment: What did the most damage during the Amos-6 event? The explosion itself? Fuel spilled onto the pad and burning slowly? If the latter then just spilling the fuel from some height might help mitigate the problem by mixing it with air and burning fast still in the air?
Comment: It depends on when they start their pitchover maneuver. If it's still going straight up at 12 seconds and 450 m altitude (which works out to an average acceleration of 6.25 m/s^2, which sounds a bit high for the liftoff phase), damage to the pad & its structures from the failure: minor. Damage from the impact of some 8,000 MT falling from >450 m, & the resulting conflagration: major. At 6.25 m/s^2, 12 s yields 75 m/s upwards, so continue upward ~7.6 s, ~287 m, then ~13 s to the ground (missing the stand). If pitchover occurs before ~10 s, even 1 m/s of lateral velocity misses the structures.
Comment: Of course, the above assumes that the malfunction doesn't steer the stack *toward* the structures!
Answer: Not even close. In fact, at 12 seconds in, you're looking at maximum damage to not just the pad itself, but the surrounding area as well. You're going to have tons of debris (most of it burning and possibly carrying even more unburnt fuel) fall from 1500-2000ft range in a giant umbrella of destruction.
In 1997, a Delta II carrying the GPS IIR-1 satellite exploded 13 seconds in. While nobody was killed, check out the video of what happened to the vehicles parked outside the blockhouse.
Comment: It's possibly worth noting that Falcon Heavy is approximately ten times the size of the Delta II producing that rather impressive explosion.
Comment: Umbrella of Destruction - thanks for naming my new metal band. Or DND spell. Maybe both.
Comment: In the comments, internet_user estimates that it'll be about 450 meters up, which is actually a bit high for optimal damage from an 8kt explosion.
Comment: The Delta II had SRBs which are much worse than liquid fuel detonations.
Comment: OTOH Delta was fueled by RP1, with SRBs strapped on, meaning pretty much a napalm bomb when exploding. Liquid methane evaporates very rapidly if set on fire, so it's quite probable nearly nothing would be on fire by the time of reaching the ground.
Answer: To avoid damage to the pad, the rocket must have traveled down range far enough that if it exploded, the debris would not land back on the pad. The issue isn't height, it's horizontal distance. 12 seconds, as mentioned above, wouldn't get you downrange much. 30 seconds definitely would.
Answer: According to the Falcon Heavy press kit, the engines are lit about 5 seconds before launch. The acceleration should be a bit faster then a standard Falcon 9 mission. Let's look at the last launch seen below:

In the above image, at T+0:09, the rocket still appears to not have cleared the tower. I'm sure the Falcon heavy will accelerate quicker, but even at T+0:12, it still is only a few hundred meters above the ground. It takes until T+0:25 until it is a full kilometer away.
A few other points of reference. Max Q happens at about 1:06 for Falcon Heavy, 1:10 for Falcon 9. It seems that the acceleration won't be significantly higher during the early stage of flight. The biggest gain seems to come from using the middle core less until outside of the atmosphere.
Bottom line, if anything that results in an explosion within the first 30 seconds after engine ignition happens (T+25), I strongly suspect there will be significant damage to the launch pad. And if it happens within T+15s of launch there will almost certainly be at least as major of an effort to fix as with the previous explosion.
Answer: When I was reading LM-3A series LV User's Manual I found this information:

In the period between T0 and T0+15 sec (for LM-3B), or T0 and T0+17
sec (for  LM-3A/3BE/3C), the LV will not be destroyed by ground
command even though an anomaly  occurs, unless LV explodes itself.
This is to ensure that the launch vehicle flies over 400 m  (range
protection radius) away from the launch pad for the protection of the
launch facilities.

LM-3B weighs 425t, less than 1/3 of a Falcon Heavy, so it's safe to assume that Falcon Heavy needs more than 400m of down range clearance and more than 15 seconds to get there.
I have not found this information in the Falcon User's Guide.


Oven Temperature: How to be sure the selected temperature is correct.

Question: I suspect that my - fairly new - oven gets too hot, so I bought an oven thermometer, which confirmed this.  So I called the supplier.  They say that in order to obtain the correct actual  oven temperature, for any setting, you take the highest reading on the thermometer, and the lowest, and then divide both readings.   Is this correct?
Answer: The "correct" temperature is determined by using a properly calibrated thermometer. This will likely not match the 'setting' which you have dialed up on your stove because oven thermostats are notoriously unreliable. You should be able to arrive a correlation between the setting you use and watching the thermometer you bought. Remember that each time you open the oven a significant amount of heat is lost.
If you can place the thermometer where you can read it through a window into your oven and make note of the setting/actual you should be able to arrive at a useful guide to your oven.
That said, there is often very little difference between cooking something at 325F vs. 335F. But I would recommend you depend on time@temp less than internal temperature (using an instant read thermometer) to correctly gauge the 'doneness' of your dish.
Comment: @Clara: Oven temperature *always* "fluctuates" - the heating element is sometimes on, sometimes off, keeping it in the neighborhood of the right temperature. 20C is a bit more than I'd expect, though, unless your thermometer is very close to the element.
Comment: Thanks, Cos.  Reason why I am apprehensive about the response by the oven supplier is that my thermometer reading fluctuates (I bought a reputable German product).  If, e.g., I set the temperature to 170°C - I'm from South Africa; we are using metrics - then my thermometer may move up to 185°C, then down to 165°C, then up again..... If this is 'normal', as the oven supplier insists, how would I know what the true temperature is I am baking at?
Comment: Oh, ok then. So that fluctuation IS normal! Thanks, Jefromi! Clara


Can I name my daughter Riyah

Question: We are planning on naming our daughter Riyah. I would like to know the meaning of this name and if it is OK to name her riyah. Also I read tat it has a meaning of 'victory' , 'strong'. Is that true?
Comment: That depends on the language, in Arabic Riyah basically is plural of Reeh and means wind/winds. Whether there's a connection to victory or strong must be checked, as both might have connections to wind in some expressions etc.
Answer: Yes, it's a unisex name. Riyah/Reyah رياح literally means wind or scent and it's used in the Qur'an:

And it is He who sends the winds as good tidings before His mercy
  until, when they have carried heavy rainclouds, We drive them to a
  dead land and We send down rain therein and bring forth thereby [some]
  of all the fruits. Thus will We bring forth the dead; perhaps you may
  be reminded. [Al-A'raf 7:57]
وهو الذي يرسل الرياح بشرا بين يدي رحمته حتى اذا اقلت سحابا ثقالا سقناه
  لبلد ميت فانزلنا به الماء فاخرجنا به من كل الثمرات كذلك نخرج الموتى
  لعلكم تذكرون
Comment: Oops, I reckon presenting the answer by giving a Quranic verse would be constructive for the questioner. Jazak Allah Khaira dear adam.
Answer: All Praise to Allah Subhan o Taala and blessings on Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him His family and companions

Narrated AbudDarda': The Prophet (ﷺ) said: On the Day of Resurrection
  you will be called by your names and by your father's names, so give
  yourselves good names.(Sunan Abi dawud)

As answered by brother the name means wind but I want to remark that our scholars have mentioned that those names should be avoidable which are not easy on tongue and eventually can be pronounced by some similar names with bad meanings suppose it is similar to Riya which means Showing off or Ostentation and when people would call that name in a flow some could skip the letter (ح) so keeping in mind now it depends on you to choose a name.
Allah Swt and His Messenger knows best.

Can I name my daughter Riyah


mp3 player recommendation

Question: I would like to have an mp3 player that only displays a menu in the bar on the top of the screen or / and notifications. I don't want any complex music management, playlists etc., but I want to be able to quickly see (without switching to another desktop or window) what track is being played and select a directory or a particular track. Is such a player available for Ubuntu 12.04 or 13.04?
Comment: [Audacious](http://askubuntu.com/questions/86669/how-to-integrate-audacious-in-the-sound-menu) can do this - there may be others in [our list of players](http://askubuntu.com/questions/42532/what-media-players-are-there)
Answer: Most music players for Ubuntu can be minimised to an indicator. I know gmusicbrower is one that can.
Comment: Well, I downloaded and tried gmusicbrowser. I did not manage to add my music, to start music playback or to minimize to an indicator. But thanks anyways.

mp3 player recommendation


Can I monetize a Pokemon themed App in Google Store

Question: I have created a Pokemon themed app , and I'm going to upload it to Google Store but I have some doubts. I have two versions of the app , one free and another "premium" which costs 2$ , also I want to introduce ads in the app in order to get some money . Is this legal ? Can Pokemon turn down my app ? Do I need to specify something in the description in order to tell Pokemon that the content I use don't belong to me ?
Comment: Does this answer your question? [If I add a copyright disclaimer to my app, am I exempt of charges?](https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/55070/if-i-add-a-copyright-disclaimer-to-my-app-am-i-exempt-of-charges)
Comment: Related: [If I add a copyright disclaimer to my app, am I exempt of charges?](https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/55070/if-i-add-a-copyright-disclaimer-to-my-app-am-i-exempt-of-charges)
Answer: Your app is a simple case of copyright infringement. All the Pokémon are copyrighted, the lettering and names are also protect by trademarks.
Trying to claim fair use will be outright impossible: you'll use huge portions of the individually protected Pokemon (the iconic ones like Pikachu) and you are usurping a market they are already in. They have given licenses for apps (Pokemon Go). Pokemon are artistic and some form of fiction. The last straw might be if you'd do a rather obvious parody, but even then, I see no way to show Fair Use with what you stated. No disclaimer can change that, and publishing your work might open you to a huge lawsuit with damages for each individually protected Pokemon you infringed on. With between 750 $ minimum and 150,000 $ absolute upper limit per infringed item (last is for willful infringement), you don't want to infringe on Pokemon, as you could be very easily liable for a number in the 6 to 9 digits! Even if Nintendo might only try to get the statutory damages for all the 900 Pokémon, that is a number of at least 675,4000 $.
And that's before looking at Trademarks. Pikachu has about 6 live word marks and there are 111 different Pokémon trademarks filed (some expired or dead)!
Comment: @NexussimLements Other reasons why the Pokemon Company did not take those other games down yet could be that they haven't found those games yet or that they expect that the infringing parties are litigation-proof (live in some exotic country where legal actions are futile or wouldn't have the money to even pay for the legal costs). Or perhaps they are already on the todo-list of the Pokemon Companies legal department and will receive their C&D in the next weeks. do not waste your time on developing fangames. It's not worth it.
Comment: They either don't know or don't care that they are liable for extreme amounts or they hope to fly under the radar long enough and then shut down when they get a C&D letter. It takes someone reporting it to the Pokemon owning company so they could take action.
Comment: And how is possible that there are Pokemon apps like mine in the store actually ? Why these aren't being reported ?


Should a meal with beer as an ingredient be paired with that same beer?

Question: I was wondering if it's generally a good idea to pair beer-based recipes with the same beer that you use to cook them.  For instance, should you drink a Guinness with Beef and Guinness Stew? Should you drink the same beer that you use to make your batter when you make Beer Battered Fish and Chips?
Answer: There is no culinary basis to make that generalization. The choice of beer (or wine or any other ingredient used to add depth) may be selected to enhance, balance, contrast, or even counteract one of the other ingredients. But that doesn't necessarily make it the beverage of choice to accompany the resulting dish.
The beer-as-an-ingredient may not even be the dominant flavor of the dish. And if it is the dominant flavor, that doesn't necessarily mean "more of the same" is the best accompaniment.
For example, (I'm drawing an analogy) I might add a dry white wine to a pasta sauce to add depth or a sweeter white wine to help cut acidity. But tomato-based pasta dishes are traditionally accompanied by a red wine, not white.
These are broad generalizations, but there's nothing to say that my favorite bread recipe enhanced with a light lager must (or even preferably) be matched with a lager.
It's the overall flavor of the dish that determines the best accompaniment. Not the beer ingredient.
Answer: Yes, a meal with beer as an ingredient can be paired with that same beer. This is a great way to enhance the flavors of both the food and the beer.
Answer: Definitely yes. you could add the beer of your choice to add some extra flavour to the sauce and enjoy the whole dish with a nice beer at the right temperature.
For the right temperature I would refere to that:
What temperature should I serve my beer?
In my humble opinion, you can also refine your stew with wine and drink the same one while eating.


Acquired Ether in the presale. Using Mist, how do I split into ETH and ETC?

Question: Acquired Ether in the presale. Using Mist, transferred ETH into an account. How do I split into ETH and ETC? Want to take the ETC to an exchange. Thx.
Answer: this might be what you are looking for:
https://theethereum.wiki/w/index.php/The_DAO_Refunds
Answer: Assuming Mist doesn't deal with EIP155 which makes your transactions appear on only one of the Ethereum blockchain or the Ethereum Classic blockchain (depending on which you choose), and assuming you do now have ETC (you can check your balance using a blockchain explorer for ETH and ETC) you have at least two options:

Import or send your funds to a wallet that supports EIP155 such as recent versions of geth and Parity, ensuring that you use the same address on both chains. Importing avoids an extra fee for gas (transaction price). Then load your EIP155-supporting wallet and send your ETC to an exchange.
Use the splitter contract to send your ether to two different addresses -- one on the ETH chain and one on the ETC chain. You can probably list the exchange deposit address as the recipient of the ETC transfer without issue to avoid paying for even more gas.

In all cases, you should send a small amount of ether as a test and ensure that the transaction only appears on the chain you expect. That being said, the more reputable exchanges might be able to help you if you ended up sending a transaction on both chains to the same address, but I wouldn't count on it.
Comment: lungj, thank you for your response, info and links very helpful. Not sure I have enough info to figure out how to move forward, perhaps you can help.
Comment: Downloaded Mist v0.8.10
Loaded presale json file to Mist Wallet, Main Account (Etherbase)
Created new account in same Mist Wallet, ETH Deposit Account (Account 2)

Utilized ReplaySafeSplitV2 to moved most ETH to ETH Deposit Account (Account 2)

Verified the following on gastracker.io
Main Account (Etherbase) contains all my ETC (10 ETC) and a portion of my ETH (0.8 ETH)
ETH Deposit Account (Account 2) contains the remainder of my ETH (9.1 ETH) after gas expense.

Still not able to send my ETC to an exchange, which is the goal. Thx in advance for your assist!
Comment: I'm not quite sure I followed what happened here. Gastracker.io only looks at ETC. What should happen is you have your ETH-ETC account (A). You create a pure ETH account (B) and a pure ETC account (C). Using the splitter contract, you send _x_ eth from A to the contract, providing accounts B and C. Afterwards, account A should have _x_ less ETH and ETC. Account B should have _x_ more ETH and 0 ETC (or not be seen on the ETC chain). Account C should have _x_ more ETC and 0 ETH (or not be seen on the ETH chain).
Comment: All accounts A, B and C in the same Mist wallet, yes?
Comment: That might work, but I was thinking that the accounts are created on separate installations/configurations of Mist (sorry, I only briefly used Mist -- can't provide more details), each synchronized to a different blockchain (ETH, ETC).


how to check transmission fluid in a 2006 Mazda 3 with standard transmission

Question: My 2006 Mazda 3 with manual transmission does not have a transmission dipstick. How can i check the fluid level? and thus how can I refill it?
I have checked the manual and there is no mention of where to check for it nor how to refill it. It only mentions the kind of fluid to replace it with. I also searched online for information but I can't seem to find anything that has a straight forward or clear answer.
Answer: Virtually no cars with manual transmissions have transmission dipsticks, because the only practical option is to drain and replace the fluid, not to top it up, and you wouldn't normally even think about changing the fluid until 100,000 or 150,000 miles.
Transmission oil is usually much thicker than engine oil - for example 75W85 or 80W90 grade, not 0W20 or 5W30. Unlike engine oil it doesn't get burnt when the engine is running, so unless there is a visible leak the level will never change. Unlike auto transmission fluid, it doesn't get hot either - in a manual transmission the heat when the transmission is "slipping" is generated in the clutch, not in the gearbox.
If you really want to check the level, take the filler plug out and look inside, but unless there are symptoms that something is actually wrong with the transmission, doing that is a waste of time.
To change the fluid, there will be a drain plug and a filler plug on the gearbox somewhere. Often, the best (or only) way to refill with fluid is to use some sort of pump device attached to the fluid bottle - there is no way to just pour it in, as you do with engine oil.
Comment: It might be interesting to note, Tremec specifies automatic transmission (Dexron VI) fluid for it's manual transmissions, namely the T-56, T-56 Magnum, and TR-6060 (probably others as well). The TR-6060 is the transmission used in the 5th/6th gen Camaros. The T-56 was used in 4th gen Camaros, Mustangs, Vipers, and probably many others.


Best alternatives to whey?

Question: I don't have access to whey powder. What's the next best alternative food-wise for building muscle?
Comment: Meat is a good alternative. Really anything that has a higher percent by mass of protein is good (eggs, fish, dairy, etc.).
Comment: Also, not as rich as the previously mentioned ones, but also nuts (almonds) oatmeal etc. No better than egg whites tho.
Comment: If you have access to amazon.com, you have access to whey powder...
Comment: @MattBall The problem is finding ingredient lists prior to purchase -- I'm sensitive to many artificial sweeteners.
Answer: According to most points of basic research the main type of protein that your body absorbs in a manner that you'd want is eggs. One of the best absorbed proteins by the body. Can be made to taste almost however you'd need it to with spicing, and is really relatively inexpensive.
You could go with fish, tuna is your best friend, again cheap but straight from the can 26 grams at about 50 cents a can. Can't get better than that if you're aiming for about 200 or so grams a day.
The go to in food again is chicken. Not as good with the protein/fat ratio as tuna, but if you're not worrying about that then you can make it taste way better than the past two.
If you're thinking shakes or things of the sort, you could go about getting into an egg based isolate powder. There are vegan protein powders as well, look into ALOHA plant based powder.
There are a ridiculous amount of things out there with a high protein content. If there's really no health reason behind not wanting to take in a whey protein then you shouldn't avoid it. You can get a relatively good powder in Dymatize that will yield about 80+ servings for about 60 bucks from BB.com if expense would be a reason for not taking it something along the ways of this would be good.
Comment: There is nothing in that article that states egg protein is the best absorbed by the body. It says that it is high quality protein and that it is complete, but that's about it. And by research, I mean an actual study, not a fun article written by joe bodybuilder.
Comment: Do you have a source or a link to the basic research?
Comment: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/eggs.htm This is a bit of a weird diet but it's more or less based on the implanted egg as the start up meal. http://examine.com/faq/are-eggs-healthy/ A bit of another point from examine, I could not find much more on their site, and the other resources I had were from forums from a bit longer ago than I can remember. If more info is highly needed then I can find a way to find them.
Answer: Assuming you are in search of protein-packed foods, let me remind you of your best friend. Fish. An average serving of any type of fish usually will easily provide anywhere from 20-60 grams of protein. Fish is usually somewhat affordable for a middle/working class citizen; at about $6 or $7 a Ib. Heck, if you're up for it or have money problems, you might even want to catch your own fish. But the point is, fish is your friend, and eating it will build strong muscles.
Answer: If you search over the internet for sources of protein, you will get a bunch of results and foods that you can choose from. Even with whey powder, you need to watch your diet as it is healthier to get your protein directly from the food you eat and rely less on the supplements.
If you are a vegetarian, load up on beans and nuts. Best practice would be to eat eggs right after your exercise.
Answer: The wording of your question suggests that whey would be the best protein source, which might be questioned. Whey is cheap (since it is a by-product) and easy to isolate.
Egg protein - others stated - is good, since it has the optimal combination of amino acids, but the yield ratio is quite bad, since one egg has only about 6g of protein. I'd see beans and nuts rather ambivalent because of the high abount of starch and fat respectively. I'm no low-carb or low-fat bigot, but satisfying your demand of protein (especially when you want to build up muscle mass) with beans or nuts would mean, that you'd increase your carb- or fat-intake respectively severly. Good alternatives (besides lean meat - which I will not discuss, for I have not experience with because of my vegetarianism) are (low-fat) curd or cottage cheese. They are not too expensive but contain a quite good amount of casein, which is digested way slower than whey protein, BCAAs (at least curd afaik) and vitamin B12.
And you can easily make shakes out of curd. Just put it in a shaker with some milk, water, etc.; add some vanilla or cinnamon and shake it.

Best alternatives to whey?


Archiving photos sent to Gmail

Question: My only access to computer is my Samsung epic cell phone. My storage is getting full because I take a lot of photos. If I send them to Gmail & archive them. Will this free up some storage space in my phone even though I keep my Gmail app on my phone ?
Answer: Short: Yes. You can send your photos as email attachments and delete them from your phone. It will free up your phone memory. But there are other options which are better than this.
You can use cloud storage facilities to back-up your data and access them anytime and anywhere you want. More details about widely used cloud services can be found in this answer.

Archiving photos sent to Gmail


Extension cord for 220 outlet?

Question: I have a 220 outlet for my air-conditioner. I just got a tanning bed,also 220. The cord on tanning bed is too short to reach the outlet. Is it ok if i make an extension cord to reach the outlet?
Comment: Can you post photos of the nameplate on your tanning bed please?
Answer: Depends what you mean by "make".
If you mean hokey-doke something together out of random bits, then no.
But if you have the skill/experience/attention to detail, that is needed for good workpersonship... and go down to a competent electrical supplier and get some #14/3 SJOOW cordage (noting that cordage numbering does count the ground)... and get a NEMA 6-15R socket and 6-15P plug whose strain relief is compatible with the cord size... and assemble them competently according to instructions... and the strain reliefs work properly on the cable sheath... and you check it in-service for heat where none should be... then yeah. Build away.
It could also be built with 6-20 plug/socket and 12 AWG cordage.  However the plug and socket must match, and a 6-20 plug will not fit a 6-15 (Ms. Nope) socket in the wall.
Comment: Or #12/3 and 6-20. The thing to watch out for is #14/3 with 6-20 (shouldn't happen, but...) or more commonly with **off-the-shelf cords** #16/3 with 5-15. Off-the-shelf (mass market manufactured) cords tend to be a bit too lightweight. Not a problem for a fan or lamp. Big problem for something pushing the limits of the circuit.
Comment: @manassehkatz I'm reluctant to mention 6-20 because if OP has a NEMA 6-15 recep in the wall, the 6-20 plug won't fit.
Comment: Yes but could be other way too - gets 6-15 stuff to make cord and then finds the tanning bed won't fit the 6-15R socket.
Answer: Unless you really know what you're doing, I'd hold off on making an extension cord for your tanning bed. 220 (240) volts is nothing to mess with. The instructions that came with the tanning bed probably say not to use an extension cord and doing so would void the warranty. You can probably get a 220 Volt appliance cord at your home store or an electrical supply company but I wouldn't recommend that. Your best bet would be to have someone that knows what they're doing make a longer cord and terminate it in the tanning bed panel. Any chance of moving the bed closer to the outlet or relocating the outlet closer to the bed? You don't want to be tripping over that cord. Good luck and stay safe out there.
Answer: To make a cord you need $9 and $14 cord ends, cord for about $1/ft, or you could by a $25 cord on Amazon.
If the blades on the plug line up with each other search NEMA 6-15 extension cord, if opposing NEMA 6-20.
The instructions from the tanning bed probably says not to use an extension cord, the instructions are part of the UL listing. Could be due to resistance of the cord length, tripping hazard, compliance with the NEC regarding receptacle location for appliance locations or who knows what other reasons they have, if it says so I won't second guess.

Extension cord for 220 outlet?


Installation on a Surface Pro 3

Question: Is there a distribution of elementary OS that I can use for installation on a Surface Pro 3 with full support for touchpad and Wi-Fi?
Comment: Have you tried normal elementary using live?
Comment: Take your USB drive to the store and disable secure boot on one of the computers and boot from it :)
Comment: Touchpad / mouse click buttons on touch pad and touch screen works but key board keys do not work....still figuring out rest... shall keep posted if I meet with success.
Answer: As @Suici recommended, you should try to run it from the USB to see if your hardware is compatible (out-of-the-box, anyway). If you're unfamiliar with the procedure, when booting from the installation USB of elementary, you can choose to either install it right away, or try it. If you choose to try it, elementary will run full-blown operating system from the USB, and at that moment you can see what works and what doesn't.
It will probably work, since Linux has great hardware support, the only thing that may not work is the touchscreen, but I may be wrong (I never tried installing to a touchscreen device).
Answer: I have Elementary 0.4.1 on my Surface Pro 3.  Basic features all work well, and support has even been added for trackpad scrolling gestures.
I have had problems with the wifi dropping after a few minutes of use when using my university network; however, using my home network does not cause this problem.  One other limitation is that the power button will put the surface to sleep, but then it has trouble recovering. After being put to sleep, the surface has trouble recognizing the keyboard and often just requires a full restart.
Overall though, decent experience.  Elementary looks great.

Installation on a Surface Pro 3


Daisy Chaining Midi: Kaoss Pad 3, Roland RD-300, and Mainstage 3

Question: I am trying to daisy chain my Kaoss Pad 3 to my Roland RD-300sx keyboard to my Macbook Pro (13" mid-2012) in order to use with Mainstage 3 and am having problems. I have a normal midi cable going from my Kaoss Pad midi out to my Roland mini in. Then my roland is connected to my computer by USB. My computer recognizes the Roland but not the Kaoss Pad. What do I need to do to make it recognize both?
Answer: sorry, it won't work like this.
Do you need any interaction between the Roland and the Kaoss, or do you want both of their signals "just" being received by the Mac?
You are connecting the MIDI Out from Kaoss Pad to the MIDI IN of the Roland and then via USB from the Roland to your Mac. With that setup, the Roland would "react" to MIDI commands from the Kaoss, but will not relay them to the Mac.
In order to daisy-chain MIDI devices, they need to have a MIDI Thru port as well.
Check out these pages for example:

Introduction to Computer Music, Vol. I, Chapter 3
MIDI Connections

But why so complicated? Both, the Roland and the Kaoss have USB ports, right? So just connect each of them to your MacBook Pro via USB separately, either with a USB-hub or without if you have enough USB-ports left on the Mac.
Another solution would be to use a MIDI merger and a USB audio interface, but no need to buy all that stuff if two USB cables do the same.
Comment: OK, I see now. I guess I was confusing it with the Thru option which I don't have. I wanted to have the USB port open for an audio i/o but I'll just have to get an i/o with a midi on it. Thanks.


Is an android encrypted SDcard readable/decryptable easily by a desktop machine?

Question: If I encrypt my SDCard on my android phone using the built-in encryption software, and my phone dies for whatever reason, would I be able to easily by just using the pin/password to access that data later on my desktops [OS X, Windows and Linux]?
Comment: Let me know if you think this is more of an Android question perhaps?
Comment: If you are interested in whether the encryption is *possible* to decrypt without the phone (as opposed to the key/similar being stored on the phone), that seems on topic. If you are interested in *how* to do it, that would be better asked elsewhere.
Comment: Disk encryption depends on android version.
Answer: The Android developers page on Full Disk Encryption seems like it has all the info you want, and more! It talks about encryption on the main internal disk (/data), I will assume that it uses the same mechanism for encrypting the external SD Card.
In a nutshell:
When your turn Android Disk Encryption on, it generates an AES-128 key which it uses to encrypt the drive (called the master key). It then takes your Pattern / PIN / Password and uses that to derive a second AES-128 key which it uses to encrypt and store the master key on disk. You know how the first thing Android does during boot-up is ask for your PIN / Password? That's because it needs it to decrypt the master key so that it can decrypt and mount the main filesystem. The reason for having two AES-128 keys is that if you change your Pattern / PIN / Password, it just has to re-encrypt the master key file, not the whole disk.
Is it decryptable on a desktop?
Theoretically, yes.
The location of the master key file is no secret, so if you know the PIN / Password, and you know which key stretching function Android uses to turn this into an AES-128 key then you should be able to decrypt the master key, and then dercrypt the disk. Whether there is freely-available desktop software to do this, or you would have to write your own, I have no idea.
(One possible hitch is that I don't know if it stores a copy of the master key file on the external SD Card, or if there is just one copy on the internal flash memory chip. Finding a way to access the internal flash memory on the dead phone might prove to be the hard part here. You could probably check pretty easily if there's a key file on the encrypted SD Card by popping it into your laptop and looking.)
Comment: It seems this answer is just false for recent Android versions, see https://www.androidcentral.com/should-you-encrypt-your-galaxy-s8s-sd-card over which I based my comment below.
Comment: "master key file" located on the same card would make it possible, otherwise it well might die with the phone. This page is for android 5 and later.
Answer: If it is done properly, you shouldn't be able to do that. The key itself is randomly generated at first boot / factory reset and it is stored (derived) on the device itself. PIN / password is used only to lock the key.
Answer: I know for a fact that android stores its keys on the system storage, not the sd card. I was just factory resetting my phone a moment ago and I got a message warning me that any encrypted files on the sd card will become unreadable for precisely this reason.
So what I did was I made a backup of the entire sd card through android file transfer which has permission to read the encrypted card.
However, not sure if this applies to any apps that have their own encryption (banking apps, password managers etc.).
Answer: This article https://www.androidcentral.com/should-you-encrypt-your-galaxy-s8s-sd-card implies that the implementation now uses a key that's stored only inside your phone, and that it's impossible to decrypt it elsewhere or if your phone for any reason at some point dies, or even just needs a factory reset.
So if you have data on your encrypted SD, really make sure you have regular backup elsewhere.
Right now my phone isn't dead, but it's connector is, and it's really painful to try to transfer many GB by a WiFi that seems to have decided it will be painfully slow.
Answer: It could be that this functionality on your Android phone is implemented in the kernel as device mapper, depending on Android version.
Comment: ...and if that is the case, does that mean it is easily decryptable on a desktop?
Comment: it was never specific enough how much easy it is expected and what is Android version or, at least, kernel options enabled. So, here's a fishing rod.


Multiple languages in HUD and dash

Question: Is it possible to have multi-language support for HUD and dash?
For example, on the Dash I would like to be able to search for "files" (English) and "dateien" (German) or on the HUD search for "open" (English) and "öffnen" (German) and receive the same result.
Answer: This is possible in 13.10, don't know about earlier versions

Multiple languages in HUD and dash


Is there a way to swap shutter speed and aperture dials functionality for Canon EOS cameras?

Question: Is there a way to set exposure compensation with the top dial on Canon EOS (5D Mk ii) in Tv mode? It seems to me more handy that in Tv mode when I have set shutter speed I need more often to adjust exposure compensation and it's easily done with one hand using the top dial instead of the rear one used in other mode to set aperture.
Answer: No, there is no way to do what you want.
You can swap which direction of each dial/wheel increases/decreases exposure. You can swap which dial/wheel controls Av and which controls Tv in Manual exposure mode. But you can't assign exposure compensation to anything but the rear wheel.


Prove or disprove whether L is regular

Question: Let $\Sigma = \{0,1\}$. For every word $w \in \Sigma^*$, let $|w|_0$ and $|w|_1$ denote the count of 0's and 1's, respectively, in $w$. Let $L$ be the language
$$L = \{ w \in \Sigma^* \mid |w|_0 \gt |w|_1 + 2 \text{ or } |w|_1 \gt |w|_0 + 2\}$$
Prove or disprove whether $L$ is regular.
Comment: [Be nice](http://cs.stackexchange.com/help/behavior). This is your only warning.
Comment: This is a pure exercise dump. What have you tried? Where did you get stuck? See [here](http://meta.cs.stackexchange.com/questions/594/the-return-of-the-homework-question) for a discussion why we think your question is bad, and [here](http://meta.cs.stackexchange.com/questions/599/reference-answers-to-frequently-asked-questions) for questions you should check out before asking. Once you include your own attempts, you have posted a question in its own right that can be answered to solve your specific problem.
Answer: Recall that regular languages are closed under complementation. That is, if $L$ is regular, than so is $\overline{L}=\Sigma^*\setminus L$.
Thus, if you manage to prove that $\overline{L}$ is not regular, then $L$ is not regular as well.
Observe that $$\begin{align}
\overline{L} &= \{w\in \{0,1\}^*: |w|_0\le |w|_1+2 \wedge |w|_1\le |w|_0+2\} \\
 &=\{w:|w|_1-2\le |w|_0\le |w|_1+2\} \\
\end{align} $$
Assume by way of contradiction that $\overline{L}$ is regular, then by the pumping lemma, there exists a pumping constant $p$. Consider the word $0^p1^p\in \overline{L}$, then (by standard pumping-lemma arguments) there exists some $i\le p$ such that $0^{p+ki}1^p\in \overline{L}$ for every natural $k$. Choose $k=5$ (any number greater than 2 will work), then $p+5i>p+2$, and therefore  $0^{p+ki}1^p\notin \overline{L}$, which is a contradiction.
Answer: @Shaull's solution is perfect..
here's a slightly different version of it...
try to see, that
$L$ = $L_1 \cup L_2$
where
$L_1 = \{ w \in \{0,1\}^* \mid |w|_0 \gt |w|_1 + 2\}$
$L_2 = \{ w \in \{0,1\}^* \mid |w|_1 \gt |w|_0 + 2\}$
now we will go on to show that $L_1$ is not regular using the pumping lemma.

The pumping lemma states that if some $A$ is a regular language,
  $\exists$ number $p$ (think of it as the number of states of a DFA
  that recognizes $A$) such that if $s \in A, |s| \geq p$ then $s$ can
  be divided into $x,y,z$ such that $s=xyz$ and

$\forall i\geq0,  xy^iz \in A$
$|y| > 0$
$|xy| \leq p$

Now, we do a proof by contradiction, and assume that $L_1$ is regular.
Now again, see that $L_1 \supset L_{1a} \cdot L_{1b} $
where
$L_{1a} = \{ w = 0^n1^n \mid n\geq 0\}$ (it has the same number of 0s and 1s)
$L_{1b} = \{ w \in \{1\}^n \mid n\geq 2\}$
i.e. a regular language is closed under union.
Now we will just show that $L_{1a}$ is not regular.
Proof by contradiction: Assume $L_{1a}$ is regular, then there is a DFA, $M$ that accepts $L_{1a}$. Let $p$ be the num of states.
Let $s$ be some word in $L_{1a}$
Let $s = 0^{p+1}1^{p+1}$
$s= xyz$
$|xy| \leq p $ (from defn pumping lemma)
$|xy|$ has just $0$s
$y$ has atleast one $0$ (from defn pumping lemma)
but $xy^2z$ has more $0$s than $1$s $\rightarrow s = xy^2z \notin L_{1a} $
Contradiction!!!
this shows $L_{1a}$ is not regular
Then this gives a contradiction that $L_1$ is regular, and finally that shows that $L$ is also not regular.

Prove or disprove whether L is regular


Does the Vita's backwards compatibility with PSP games extend to PS1 games?

Question: Specifically, those purchased legally through the PSN Store. It seems like it should, but I can't find a definitive answer anywhere.
Comment: You might want to look at the following question: http://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/51577/are-all-psn-psp-games-compatible-with-ps-vita which possibly contains an answer that could be what are you looking for.
Answer: Update 1: PSOne Classics will come to the Vita August 28, 2012 (Joystiq)
Update 2: On August 28, PlayStation Vita firmware update 1.8 went live, enabling the Vita to play select PSOne Classics. IGN has a list of compatible PSOne games.
Update 3: At this point most, but not all, PSX classics are supported on Vita. As per a recent mixup, all PSX games were temporarily downloadable on PS Vita, and all of them work. The reason any remaining titles aren't available on Vita is likely due to licensing issues.
PS Vita didn't support PSOne/archive titles at launch. You will need to wait.
From Gamespot:

Japanese PS Vita FAQ page reveals upcoming handheld will not play
  archived titles initially, says more details will be revealed later.

And from the Playstation Blog:

Q: Is PS Vita compatible with other PlayStation platform games like
  PS3, PS2, or PSP? Do you have any plan to support other PlayStation
  platforms in the future?
    A: Users can play supported digital PSP
  titles and supported minis. In regard to PSone classics titles, we
  will announce further details when they are ready. PlayStation does
  not have plans to make PS Vita compatible with PS3 or PS2 titles at
  this point.
Answer: At this time, PSone titles are not supported by the Vita, along with the Turbografix and PS2 titles. According to some google translated pages from Japan, the PCEngine/Turbografix and PSone titles support will be finalized/announced at some point in the future. I imagine the only reason it's not supported yet is that they need to finish the emulator, as it should be a simple matter to run them on the vita hardware.
Comment: It is worth noting the PS2 titles aren't even planned to be supported by the PS Vita - http://www.gametrailers.com/side-mission/2012/02/17/no-plans-for-ps2-ps3-games-to-vita-more-in-giant-vita-faq/
Comment: Since I answered this, PSone titles have now had support added, so this is no longer accurate.
Answer: Whilst not helpful if you want to play whilst out and about, I believe you can play PS1 games using remote play through a PS3.
Comment: That's correct. Anything you would've been able to play using remote play with a PSP should work on the Vita as well. Than means videos and music stored on the system, PSOne games and a few PS3 games