Does NAT really provide security?

Question: I had an argument with someone on IRC about Network Address Translation. I was under the impression that NAT provided a layer of security to internal networks. I understand that's not the primary purpose of NAT, nevertheless, I can't really see how I could be wrong about that. Anyway, I got laughed at and mocked over it but never really got a straight answer as to how or why I was wrong. So does NAT really provide security? Or not?
Comment: @WhiteWinterWolf It's not quite the same, please just let it ride.
Comment: Could you update your question in order to highlight why the answers from the linked post does not answer your own question too? The point there was that while NAT firewalls indeed provide more security, it is solely thanks to their firewall role, NAT alone not providing any security. Reading again your question, this still seems to quite answer it in its current shape.
Comment: @tjt263: I agree, it's hard to get straight answers to this one. But what about Tom Leek's answer to the question that Wolf linked? (I think that answer's reasonably straight.)
Answer: NAT is often misunderstood because in todays "office routers" there is as good as in every case a combination of NAT/PAT and a firewall which isn't the same. Also when you say NAT most people really mean NAT/PAT which is a combination of Network Address Translation and Port Address Translation.
This means that the router which is providing NAT/PAT functionality is able to map a specific port on the external network to a specific host on a specific port in the internal network. This can provide some extra security by lowering the attack surface of the servers that otherwise could be scanned and attacked directly. Of cause the forewarded services can be attacked anyway...
Comment: In office routers NAT is generally not used but only PAT as there is only one external address to map requests, though this distinction is often lost even in papers, so let's as well. And NAT is not intended to be used to host services behind. Though possible with NAT override rules (I've seen them called "Virtual Hosts" in "office routers"). Normally services are hosted on machines (servers) which are not behind a NAT, to protect those machines a static/dynamic firewall is used. "Office routers" however want to make it easy for the user and offer a solution that combine both firewall and NAT.
Answer: NAT does not provide security, it merely allows many private IPv4 address to use one public IPv4 address. It is not a security mechanism.  It may provide some obfuscation of internal addresses and assets. But I still would not define it as security layer.
Comment: That really sidesteps the point. The question isn't about how you would define or why it exists in the first place. As I mentioned, I know that security isn't the intended purpose of Network Address Translation. I understand the reason for it. However,  it prevent hosts in private networks from being directly addressable via the public internet, does it not?
Answer: You must think this because NAT is used by a device, which can be a firewall, router or computer that sits between an internal network and the rest of the world. The one main reason to use NAT is the shortage of IP addresses, but I can't recall that security is another reason for using NAT.
Comment: Welcome to Information Security Stack Exchange! I think this answer is a bit incomplete; you could improve it if you have an example of how NAT helps or hinders the security of a system (like @TheJulyPlot's point about obfuscation of internal adresses).
Comment: @tjt263, no it doesn't.  That's a firewall you're thinking of.  NAT is often bundled with a firewall, but that doesn't make it the same thing.  A perfectly valid (though silly) NAT strategy would be to broadcast to all internal addresses anything received externally.
Comment: @Menuka Ishan No, I think that because NAT, (or more accurately, RFC1918) prevents private hosts from being directly addressable via the public internet.

Does NAT really provide security?


Experience with booting on a Tempo SSD PCIe card?

Question: I have a MacPro 2009 reflashed as a 2010. I am considering to install a Tempo SSD PCIe card and then put High Sierra on it. This card is advertised to allow booting on it: would anyone have first hand experience with that? The background story is that my boot drive is a RAID 5 Softraid with 4 disks (the four internal slots of the machine) and I have just discovered that High Sierra can't be installed on a RAID. So if I could have put one SSD on that PCIe card and boot on it, the upgrade path would be very simple.
Answer: I successfully installed a bootable High Sierra system on a Samsung EVO 860 (1 TB) mounted on that Tempo SSD PCIe card I asked about. I kept the RAID 5 alongside for the big important data.


Calculations regarding Buffer stocks?

Question: Here's a question which I don't quite know how to answer. Originally, my answer was (D), though when I checked it the correct answer was (A). As far as my knowledge goes, buffer stocks are buying/selling of stocks by the government to help manipulate supply. Please help provide some elucidations, many thanks.
Answer: The answer is indeed A:
Initial farm income is $\$5 \times 2,000 = \$10,000$.
If the supply is $S_2$, then current income is below that figure.
However,  if the government takes away from the market 1,000 tonnes,  then the supply curve will shift left by that amount, resulting in a new equilibrium with 4,000tonnes @ \$2.
Therefore farm income is now:  $\$2 \times 4,000 = \$8,000$. The government buys the buffer at market price,  thus $\$2 \times 1,000 = \$2,000$. We end up with the same farm income as in the initial situation: $\$8,000 + \$2,000 = \$10,000$.
Comment: Oh I see now, I forgot to add on what the farmers' revenue from the govt would be (2x1000), your explanations are very clear, many thanks.

Calculations regarding Buffer stocks?


Webform Drupal 8, node and form, how to pass node field info to form?

Question: I don't understand how node integration with webform works.  How do I pass data from a node with a webform field to an instance of that form?  I created a form with email and location.  Then I created a content type with location, description, date, and a webform field and then I added some content to it. How do I associate the location from the content type to an instance of a form?  How does the "Default submission data (YAML)" work?  I put "[current-page:title]" in there expecting it to populate the form, but I don't understand how to specify what form field it goes to or if I'm using the right syntax or what??
Answer: The location node is considered the 'source entity' and is automatically tracked.
You can use the [webform_submission:node] to pull information from the location node into the 'Default webform submission data (YAML)'. For example, to get the location's title you should use the [webform_submission:node:title] token.
Comment: Thanks, I've got it working.  This is an impressive module on many levels.


Harmonic minor while using descending melodic minor scale

Question: Suppose I'm in a cadence in minor using the harmonic minor scale while playing a dominant V chord, thus using the raised 7th leading tone. At the same time, my melody is descending, so that would be a flatted 7th and flatted 6th against the raised 7th in the harmony. Wouldn't that cause an ugly sound? Can someone tell me how to handle this? I've read a book where all they use is the ascending form of melodic minor scale even when descending. That has made the most sense to me so far.
Answer: You are correct that the flat 7 against the natural 7 would create a dissonance. For that reason, composers would generally avoid the situation.
The purpose of the leading tone is to draw the ear toward the tonic. That is why the seventh is generally raised in minor -- to create a strong pull back to the tonic. But when descending, that pull toward the tonic isn't as desirable, so a composer might retain the flat 7 in a descending line.
In the situation you're describing, you would simultaneously have a harmony pulling toward the tonic and a melody pulling away from it. Not a situation likely to arise unless by specific intention, in which case the dissonance created would also be by intention.
In general, the various minor scales are descriptive of how composers deal with writing in minor keys, but they aren't hard-and-fast structures that must be adhered to. Within a single piece a composer might use all four of the flat and natural sixth and seventh scale degrees.
Answer: The ascending melodic minor in C has A & B natural. Descending it has Bb & Ab. But these rules are needed when you're learning scales, not when you're writing something. How does it sound to you? It can sound very expressive.
It looks like you've come across what are called false relations. The Wikipedia article may help. Generally false relations work better if the clash is approached by step rather than by jumps.
Comment: Good thought to mention false relations.
Answer: A bit more information would be needed in this case.  If the melody is descending, the question of mutated sixth or seventh steps generally doesn't arise. If descending to step 1, a melody generally goes through step 2 (from 3) so the raised 7 will go well with step 2. (One reason that a ii065-i64-V7-i sounds so good.)
If the melody descends through lowered scale steps 6 and 7, it rarely leads to a perfect authentic cadence on step 1 (or equivalently 8). Such a melody may cadence on step 5 with harmony based on the tonic or dominant; in this case, the minor dominant chord is possible either leading to a X-v-i chord sequence or X-v sequence (X is something else).
Another possibility (common in classic styles) is to use the "harmonic" version of the minor scale (lowered 6 and raised 7) in the melody. Unless writing for voice, this works OK too. The melodic line may go through steps, 4,5,b6, and 7 thus outlining a V9 chord.
One other point is the major dominant (in the minor mode) is only "needed" when a strong sense of tonic is needed. Sometimes a piece in minor will end a phrase with a v-i progression then use a V-i progression in the analogous place at the end of the piece. (Greensleeves is sometimes played that way; first verse ends with v-i and last verse with V-i or even V-I.)
It all depends on the sound. These "rules" are just "widely observed practice."
Answer: You don't HAVE to use the Melodic Minor scale coming down  You don't HAVE to write a descending melody using the 6th and 7th degrees of the scale over a dominant chord. If you dislike the sounds these choices make, there are other choices!
You could channel your inner Gershwin (or Hendrix) and do this of course:
Answer: First and foremost - any music theory is just that - theory. It is certainly not a set of rules to be followed faithfully. It's a selection of ideas that have been found to work fairly consistently over many centuries. Guidelines, if you like.
Brief potted history: the natural minor scale notes match the relative major notes - every single one. That left a slight problem as there was no leading note - the note one semitone below the root note in a key, which gave a feeling that it needed to move up by the smallest amount possible (a semitone), in order to reach 'home'.
So, note 7 from that natural minor was often sharpened - in the nat. min. it was a whole tone away from the root. That also meant the dominant chord on a minor key was now a chord with M3, not m3.This is the harmonic minor.
That was a good idea, sonically, but it then produced an interval of a tone-and-a-half, between notes 6 and 7. It was deemed to be a step too far, was probably difficult to sing, so note 6 from nat. min. was also raised, thus giving birth to the melodic minor, rising. Often, when the melody was descending, the old nat. min. was good to go, so was retained - still is - in the 'classical' melodic minor scales we find in so many music exams.Although jazzers tend to have created their own minor 'scale', which tends to use the ascending melodic minor notes rather than the descending ones.
An interesing chord does come out of your idea, though. Using notes 5, 7 and 9 from the natural minor, and 5, 7 and 9 from the harmonic minor, produces what's become known as the 'Hendrix chord'. A sort of major and minor mixed together. As in key Am, it's E, G, G♯ and B (optional D). Strictly speaking, it's considered that the G note is actually Fx,(E7♯9) but the sound should be familiar - and it does work well as a dominant chord.
Given all that, the first 5 notes of all minor scales are identical (not including modes), and every chromatic note continuing upwards can and is used in minor pieces. The best judge of what gets written is our ear. Rather than trying to rely on 'rules', use ears, and they will guide us to what sounds best. Please re-read the first paragraph as a reminder!
Answer: This was common in the 16th century, especially among English composers, although the "minor scale" had not yet been developed as a theoretical concept.  The usual pattern was for the flat seventh to be the upper neighbor of the sharp sixth, however, not of the flat sixth.  For example, in D minor, one voice would have B-C-B against another voice's D-C♯-D.  Wikipedia has more information about this in its articles False relation and English cadence.


What's the price of a lookback call option in the arbitrage-free CRR-model?

Question: If we consider the CRR-model in two periods, i.e. T=2. Let $S^1$ be the risky asset with $S_0^1=100$ and $S^0$ the bond with $S_0^0=1$. Furthermore, we assume the model is arbitrage-free with $y_b=-0.1<r=0.05<y_g=0.2$. Therefore, an unique equivalent martingale measure $\mathbb{Q}$ exists with $$\mathbb{Q}(\lbrace\omega\rbrace) =0.5^{Z_1(\lbrace\omega\rbrace)+Z_2(\lbrace\omega\rbrace)}\cdot 0.5^{2-Z_1(\lbrace\omega\rbrace)-Z_2(\lbrace\omega\rbrace)}$$, where $\omega\in\lbrace 0,1\rbrace^2$. Furthermore, the lookback call option is given by $$\gamma (\omega)=S_2^1(\omega)-\min_{t\in\lbrace 0,1,2\rbrace}S_t^1(\omega)$$. I see that the price of the option depends on these numbers a lot, but I want a general approach. In some literature I have found out that the hedging price ( or arbitrage-free price) is given by $\mathbb{E}^\mathbb{Q}\left[\frac{f(S_2^1)}{(1+r)^2}\right]$, but how exactly do I determine the function $f$. If it was a call option with a fixed strike price $K$, i.e.  $\gamma' (\omega)=(S_2^1(\omega)-K)^+$ I assume the $f$ would be given by $f(x)=\max(x-K,0)$. But how do I model the dependency of $\gamma$ on $\min_{t\in\lbrace 0,1,2\rbrace}S_t^1(\omega)$?
Answer: I thought about it and think that in this case it does not really matter how $f$ looks exactly, because $f(S_2^1(\omega ))=\gamma (\omega)$ should be true. Then, with the formular for the equivalent risk-neutral measure $\mathbb{Q}$ given above we can compute the probabilities $Q((0,0))=Q((1,0))=Q((0,1))=Q((1,1))=0.25$. Furthermore, in the CRR-model it holds, that $$S_t^1(\omega )=S_0^1(1+y_g)^{D_t(\omega)}(1+y_b)^{t-D_t(\omega)}$$. So for the numbers above we get $$
\begin{split}
\frac{1}{(1+r)^2}\mathbb{E}^\mathbb{Q}[\gamma]&=\frac{400}{441}\left(\mathbb{E}^\mathbb{Q}[S_2^1]-\mathbb{E}^\mathbb{Q}\left[\min_{t\in\lbrace 0,1,2\rbrace}S_t^1\right]\right)\\
&= \frac{400}{441}(0.25\cdot(81+108+108+144)-0.25\cdot(81+100+100+90))\\
&=15.87
\end{split}
$$
Could someone validate that ? Furthermore, it does not really answer the question on how to proceed, if no specific numbers are given. How should one approach this problem in general ?


How the pitch of a blade must change along the length so that the blade does not stall?

Question: I have to finish an assignment in the next couple of days. One of the questions asks to show how the pitch of the blade must change along the length so that the blade does not stall. I have no idea what I have to do or how, can someone help me please?
Comment: If the blade is a propeller blade or a rotor blade, think about how the airspeed changes from root to tip.  Or look at actual propellers!
Comment: It is a rotor blade but unfortunatelly I still don't understand what I have to do
Answer: The question should really read, "how the pitch must change along the length to keep lift distribution reasonably constant while respecting stall considerations" or something like that.  Rotor blades twist nose down going outboard, like propellers but with less twist, to account for the higher velocity toward the tip, so that the slower moving root end is doing a decent amount of work making lift.
This tends to make the root end operate closer to stall AOA than the tips.  Whether it actually stalls or not is a more complex function of blade forward velocity (rpm) and vertical circulation velocity down through the rotor disc, whether forward airspeed is involved, whether you want to optimize for hovering or forward flight, and so on.
You're going to have to do some reading.  I found an ASE post from a couple of years ago by @Koyovis, relating to a question about blade twist, that links to a great information source, a book at Google Books that you can read online, called  Helicopter Aerodynamics Vol. 1 by Ray Prouty, who wrote a column for Rotor & Wing for many years.  You should be able to assemble the information you need from that.
Answer: Consider a helicopter in hover, and the airspeed of the blades near the hub and at the tips.  Also consider that downwash is being produced through the rotor disc, so the blades must be inclined somewhat to maintain a positive AoA.
Answer: As referenced above I'm assuming that it is a (helicopter?) rotor blade.  The way this is normally dealt with is blade twist, such that there is a high angle of attack (AoA) close to the root, which progressively reduces out along the span such that is there AoA is perhaps 10-20 deg less at the tips. Some more modern machines with composite blades also incorporate variation in camber and chord thickness along the blade, for the sane purpose.
The thing is however, none of these tricks actually prevent part of the blade from stalling. The inner 1/3 (roughly) of the disc has tangential airspeed, from the rotation,that is still low it is nearly useless. The middle section and the tips do most of the work. I think you'll be wise to ignore the inner part, assume zero effective forward airspeed, no variation in camber or thickness (ie take it to be a uniform chord blade type) and do some math on the pitch angle changes required along the blade span, to compensate for increasing airspeed as radius increases.


Focusing mode for macro photography

Question: New to macro photography.  Shooting Nikon D5000 with 60 mm macro lens.  In manual (or any P, A, S) what focusing mode should I use; i.e. Matrix, Spot or what?  Are these "live" in Manual mode?  I would like to take photos of flowers, leaves etc. that fill the whole image and are sharp basically right across the photo, rather than just in one dedicated spot.  I know I can do this with focus stacking, but would prefer not to.  Can anyone help please?  thank you.  PS.  As you can tell, I am new to all of this.
Comment: "*i.e. Matrix, Spot*" these are metering modes for the light meter and are not related focus.
Comment: They can be semi-related if the metering system links to the active focus point and gives more weight to that portion of the scene.
Comment: Possible duplicate of [How can I take a photo with everything in focus with my DSLR?](http://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/30976/how-can-i-take-a-photo-with-everything-in-focus-with-my-dslr)
Comment: This question has a key misconception about how focus and focus points work — as did also the question linked above. That one wasn't about macro, but I still think you'll find the answers helpful.
Answer:
what focusing mode should I use

Any AF mode that works for you is fine, but many people prefer to set the camera to manual focus mode and make fine adjustments to focus by moving the camera. You can mount the camera to a macro focus rail and mount that on a tripod to make it easy to make and maintain small front/back and side to side adjustments.

Matrix, Spot or what?

Those are metering modes. Again, anything that works for you is fine. That said, it's easy for the light meter and auto exposure system to be fooled when doing macro work. For example, filling the frame with a white flower can cause the camera to think the scene will be overexposed and try to compensate, giving you an image that may be much darker than what you want. For that reason, it's a good idea to work in manual exposure mode and adjust the exposure parameters (shutter speed, aperture, ISO, flash) yourself to get the shot you want.

I would like to take photos of flowers, leaves etc. that fill the whole image and are sharp basically right across the photo, rather than just in one dedicated spot.

That's a depth of field problem more than a focus problem. When the subject is very close to the camera, you get very narrow depth of field and it can be hard to get everything in focus at once. Using a small aperture helps, but you may need to add light to the scene (via speedlights, for example) to get the exposure you want.
The problem is compounded if you're hand holding the camera, because very small movements can have a big impact on focus. In that case, you'll want to use a servo autofocus mode so that the camera is continually adjusting focus right up until you take the shot. Image stabilization will also help if it's available.
Answer: For smaller objects and larger magnifications manual focus is recomended using live magnification, it is funny that many times it is better to use zoom ring or moving camera backward-forward than turn the focus ring.
For flowers and leaves autofocus on chosen point would give good results. If you want better result and not want to use stacking, then tilt-and-shift lens recommended, which enables turning the plane of focus.
Comment: Thanks for the info.  I do use live magnification.  What I was really trying to get at was: are the metering options live when using Manual focus? I can't really determine whether they are on my Nikon D5000.

Focusing mode for macro photography


Modify framwork-res with same signature?

Question: According to this post, you can modify the framework-res.apk to remove carrierIQ software from the phone. Unfortunately a lower post, and others, suggest that this doesn't work, causes infinite boot loop, since recompiling it will make a different signature. If true, is there a better way to do this?
Answer: The core android framework, the UI and lockscreen are all compiled into the framework-res.apk. So naturally messing with it and improperly modifying this will result in infinite boot loops, strange overall bugs and "wonkyness."
If you have the ability to flash new framework-res.apk, it means that you have a custom recovery and root access. So just flash ROMs that don't have Carrier IQ. These are usually builds built from AOSP and CM as both of these code bases are given straight from Google and are clean of any third party proprietary software like Carrier IQ.
Comment: and replace the entire OS with one from the internet, just to remove CarrierIQ? These instructions seem easier and safer... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1333203&page=8


Why did Bella choose Edward over Jacob?

Question: In the movie series Twilight, why does Bella choose Edward over Jacob? What is it about Edward that made Bella so attracted towards him? What was wrong with Jacob? Why a Vampire over a Werewolf?
Comment: It's all right, Jacob, you don't have to hide behind anonymous "user221287" names. We won't judge you.
Comment: Because if she'd chosen Jacob the story wouldn't have as many parts in the series - fewer challenges and story bumps and an earlier resolution.
Comment: I can't believe nobody said "because she had carpeting in her house and didn't want to have to deal with the shedding" :)
Comment: Why all the downvotes? As the answer clearly indicates, it's NOT a dumb nor unanswerable question, despite seeming simplicity
Comment: also: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FirstGirlWins
Comment: I have no idea why anyone would go for cold blooded creatures. I mean, when you can't feel the heat of your partner in the bed, what's the point?
Comment: The only reason Jacob liked Bella is because of the child she is going to have.
Comment: Based on the existing answers, there seem to be a *range* of good reasons why he likes her (and vice versa).
Comment: @Bat I understand that Edward sparkles.  Bella could save a **fortune** on replacement nightlights, and disco balls.
Answer: This question goes to the very heart of the relationships between Bella and the two men. The best explanation from the books comes from chapter 26 of Eclipse (and explains the title of the book - other than the title, it's the only other use of that word). (Jacob and Bella are talking)

Two futures, two soul mates ... too much for any one person. And so unfair
  that I wouldn't be the only one to pay for it. Jacob's pain seemed too
  high a price. Cringing at the thought of that price, I wondered if I
  would have wavered, if I hadn't lost Edward once. If I didn't know what
  it was like to live without him. I wasn't sure. That knowledge was so deep
  a part of my, I couldn't imagine how I would feel without it.
"He's like a drug for you, Bella." His voice was still gentle, not at
  all critical. "I see that you can't live without him now. It's too late.
  But I would have been healthier for you. Not a drug; I would have been the
  air, the sun."
The corner of my mouth turned up in a wistful half-smile. "I used to think
  of you that way, you know. Like the sun. My personal sun. You balanced out
  the clouds nicely for me."
He sighed. "The clouds I can handle. But I can't fight with an eclipse."
Answer: Every one seems to miss the point that Edward is a genetically perfect predator - OF HUMANS. He is designed to be OVERWHELMINGLY attractive to his prey through physical beauty, pheromones, mannerisms etc. When Edward turned his attention to Bella she never had a choice. There was no exercise of free will. She did NOT fall in love, she became addicted, obsessed. Her reaction to his departure in New Moon was a pretty good description of withdrawal from drugs.
This should give  an indication of just how strong her feelings for Jacob grew, that
she developed them even in the crucible of her obsessive feelings for Edward. If Edward had stayed away a bit longer allowing Bella to finish healing and a bit more time for the relationship with Jacob to grow, I think Bella would have easily chosen Jacob.
Comment: This seems, to put it mildly, unsupported. Is there any evidence that vampires have "pheromones" to control humans? Does this account for Bella's continued attraction to Edward after she became a vampire?
Answer: Bella loved  both men in different  ways.
Her love for  Edward  was based  off physical attraction, an unhealthy  obsession,  and  a desire  to be young and  beautiful  forever.  She was always  worried  he was going  to  leave  her and  she  never  felt good  enough  for  him. He controlled  her life and  made the decisions  for them. He was older  than  her (90 years older) and he knows  all the ways to manipulate her and  get  away  with  it. He's  jealous  and  possessive but Bella didn't  mind. He was her first  love...
Her love  for  Jacob was based  off more of a mental  connection. They  shared the same  heart  and  with him she could  be herself  with  out  worrying  about  judgment.  He was her sun. The only  person  who  could  heal her  broken  heart  and  make  her laugh. He
Bella often  worried  he was too good  a person  for  her. He was temperamental  but Bella  never  had  a problem  telling  him how she felt.  He was younger  than  Bella so he was a little  immature  and  he sometimes  made stupid  decisions but Bella always  made  sure  he apologized  and she  forgave  him.
With Jacob  she would  have  lived  a full  life in the sun, had children,  went  to  college,  and  grown into  her full potential.
With Edward,  she will live forever,  never  changing,  never  growing, she'll  raise her daughter  who  will always  be with  them and  never  leave,  she'll  never  go to  college and  out live all  her human  friends  and  family.
I think  she chose  Edward  over  Jacob Because  in the end  she was addicted  to Edward. She also  wanted  what  he could  offer  her. Bella  had low self-esteem  and never  felt  pretty  enough,  or young  enough.  She  always  felt out of place and  Edward  offered  a solution.  If she chose  him she could  become  a vampire which  would guarantee her eternal  youth and  beauty. Also,  she  was lonely  and  Edward  offered  her a family  that  would  never  leave  her. Jacob  could  offer  her life  but he couldn't  offer  her youth  or beauty.  He could  offer  her family  but  there was no guarantee  the pack would  stay  together  forever.  After all they  would  eventually stop phasing and  start  having  families  of there own  separate  from  the pack. Bella  would  have  went  to  college and  Jacob  would  have  joined  her in a year but there was never  a guarantee  that  they  would  last a year  of separation.  Then there was the fear  that  he would  one day  imprint though  if Bella  never  had  a baby  with  Edward  then  Jacob  would  have  been  Bella's mate for  a long  time.  But i guess  she needed certainty and  stability something  Jacob  couldn't  offer her...yet. Edward  was her moon and  Jacob  was her sun. But she would  rather  spend  an  eternity  in the dark as long as she was guaranteed some one  to be there  with  her than  stand  and burn in the sun uncertain  whether her  happiness  would  last  or if she'd  have  to walk  alone.
Comment: You've laid out the reasons she was attracted to each, but why did she choose one over the other?
Comment: Good point about how this choice is about security versus true growth and development.
Comment: @Null because she's addicted. Why else does anyone choose heroin over *anything*?
Answer: With Jacob, Bella would have never been like him. Bella could never turn into a werewolf but with Edward, she could be like him. Also, she was more close to Edward than Jacob and had the same Similarities. In the second book, edward leaves Bella because he thinks that if they were together Bella wouldn't be able to live a normal life anymore, therefore, he leaves her because he loves her. Jacob, however, dosesn't think that his life might impact her's if they were to be together. That means that Jacob doesn't love her enough to leave her for her own safety. Yes, Edward broke her but he did it for her own safety and health, he did it because he thought that her life would be more normal and safe if he wasn't with her. That doesn't mean that Edward doesn't love Bella. Also in the fourth movie after Bella gets better and sees her daughter for the first time she figures out that Jacob has imprinted on her daughter. After she questions why Jacob replies " You know how much you wanted me three days ago right? It's gone now."
Bella: "long gone"
Jacob: " It was her It was nesse"
That proves that Jacob's love for Bella was never love. If he had loved her he would have left her, but he stayed for her daughter. So for all the Jacob and Bella fans are you trying to say that Jacob should date his future mother in law ar should Bella love a guy that doesn't love her?
Answer: Bella simply loved Edward more. She had feelings for Jacob but even when Edward wasn't there and Jacob and her had the tightest connection they had had (the middle of The New Moon) Bella still tried to see Edward through reckless behaviour. When Leron was about to kill her Bella chose her last words to be 'Edward I love you' not 'Jake I love you'. I think Edward and her are soul mates with an indestructible connection and the fact that he will do anything for her happiness makes him even more attractive for her. In Eclipse Jake asks Edward 'What if she chose me? Would you kill me?' Edward says 'However tempting that thought could be....no' he wished for Bella's happiness whereas Jake continued to try to get Bella to admit her feelings for him which is in my view selfish. Edward loved Bella more than Jake did and Bella loved Edward more than she loved Jake.
Answer: Bella was infatuated with both of the men, which made it hard for her to decide who she craved to be with. If she had chosen Jacob, she would have had a normal human life. However, with Edward she would have had a new lust of life, a vampire life which would make her feel more alive. On the first 3 movies, the colours are quite bland and lifeless, but in the last 2 movies, the colour brightens up, signifying that she feels more alive with Edward than with Jacob. It might have seemed sad for Jacob, but deep down he knew that he could never give Bella what she really wanted, and that was to feel alive. Thank You for reading!
Answer: From the first movie,

Edward: I am a killer.
  Bella: I don't believe that.
  Edward: That's because you believe a lie. It's camouflage... I'm the world's most dangerous predator. Everything about me invites you in, my voice, my face, even my smell. As if I would need any of that... As if you could outrun me... As if you could fight me off... I'm designed to kill.
  Bella: I don't care.

And, in the second movie, Bella gave answer to your question to Jacob: "Edward is my first love."
Answer: The reason why Bella chose Edward over Jacob was because he was her first love. He became a drug to her and she couldn't live without him e.g. in 'New Moon.' I don't agree that Bella and Edward are closer than Bella and Jacob because I think Bella talks to Edward more and they do make jokes about stuff e.g when Edward told her about how Charlie was feeling.You guys might not think like that because of his old fashioned tone and his over protectiveness.  Jacob is close with Bella. They do talk like friends but I think they should just be best friends.
Answer: I think that Bella chose Edward over Jacob because he was simply the best option, his family loved Bella, not to mention Edward's deep infatuation with Bella, and although Jacob offered her a pack and a somewhat normal life, I don't think she would be happy, mainly because she still loved Edward.
No matter how great of a time she had with Jacob, she will always love Edward more because he gave her an option, if she wanted to be with him or she did not, whereas Jacob did not give Bella much of a choice, he made sure that she payed attention to no one else other than him and he was extremely jealous when Bella was with Edward. Therefore, Edward was the best option for Bella because even though she could have lived her life to its potential with Jacob, perhaps she did with Edward.
She loved Edward and her child more than anything else in the world, and who knows, if she had a child with Jacob and she almost died, like with Edward's child, who would have been there to save her, to bite her, to capture her beauty and Heath in one frame. But most of all, who would have been there to save her life. Her child would constantly live in vain, due to the fact that him/her would had never had the chance to meet her/his mother.
Edward was the best option for Bella for many more reasons than Jacob.
Answer: Bella chose Edward over Jacob simply because she loved Edward more. Edward always tried to have Bella's best interests in mind and whenever he was angry with her (rarely), it was because one or both of them wasn't being careful with Bella's fragile, human body. Many people say that Bella was addicted to Edward like he was a drug, which may be true because love and attention are things craved by nearly every human. True love drives people a little bit crazy. Beauty attracts the eyes, but love attracts the heart. Yes, Bella was originally attracted to Edward's beauty, but she fell in love with him. Love is only truly felt through the heart. Yes, Bella and Jacob loved each other, but it was more of a sibling or best friend love, than that of lovers.
   Bella loved Edward because he was talented, beautiful, and cared about her in a way that no one else did. Edward loved Bella because she was down to earth, compassionate, brave, and didn't realize how amazing she really was. Bella wanted to be a vampire because she wanted to be with Edward forever. She was afraid that if she grew old, Edward would leave her because, like most teens, she was self conscious about her appearance. However, she was also excited about the perks(beauty, grace,etc)
(https://i.stack.imgur.com/E6zCw.gif)
Comment: I choose neither, thank you! :P
Comment: Also, Bella didn't want him for immortality, but if immortality was the way for her to stay with him forever, that's whst she wanted. She also wanted to be beautiful so that it would make sense to her as to why Edward loved her.
Answer: I feel Bella liked Edward more not because she was addicted to him like a drug or felt he controlled her. I feel it had to do more with her feeling a sense of overall attractiveness toward Edward just like the waiter did in the diner. If anyone felt like they were addicted to someone like a drug then it has to be Edward who said

Her blood was like his own personal brand of heroin.

By the way if Jacob wasn't her type it wasn't because he imprinted on Bella's baby because he loved her way before the baby appeared or was in Bella's stomach. He liked her and so did Edward for one reason and one reason only.                    That reason was she wasn't like other girls in the face of all she saw she stayed and stuck through it all when many would of fled.
Has the thought she liked Jacob maybe for a second she thought God he's hot and I'm cold you could keep me safe and warm. Then just maybe these darn vampires wouldn't want to kill me.
However, since the moment she saw Edward sparkle and said what he was a "Vampire" she knew she liked him more then he even realized. Until one biology class later sitting side by side. So to all that believe in love at first sight that is just what Bella believed in when she saw Edward and his siblings walk in to that cafeteria that first day of school.
For wanting to be a Vampire is purely only because she doesn't have to die before him or without him. Just like the quote

If I live to know you and love you and you live a hundred days I hope to live one day less so I'm never without you.
Comment: But why did she not choose Jacob? What was wrong with Jacob?
Answer: I'd say that Edward was more of drug to her. A girl looks for someone who is a younger version of her father or paternal figures. Everything she gave up when living with Renee resurfaced as soon as she met Jake and the pack. Aside from that. Would any parent just accept the return of the emotional abusive boyfriend after he turned her into a vegetable emotionally.
If id been Bella, once I connected to Jake and his pack, I'd look to the future, live up to my true potential and accept what he had to offer, I wouldn't hold on to the past. And not when the man who has hurt me this much emotionally asks for a second chance and he gets innocent bystanders, including a man who was probably a paternal friend, or more to me, killed.
Yes she loves Jake, but Jake is everything a father is looking for in a future suitor. Jake is a healthier choice, a much healthier choice.
Comment: Answers are better if they explain that they are based on the book/movie, rather than being personal opinion.
Answer: I think Bella just became addicted to Edward and because of that she did not love Jake back. In my point of view I think that's a bit selfish because Jake loved her with all of his heart and she just killed his feelings. Jake loved her for who she is and who she will be where as Edward just wanted her and she wanted Edward because he offered her immortality.
Comment: While you are entitled to your opinion, can you explain why we should consider this to be the correct answer?

Why did Bella choose Edward over Jacob?


What are amateur radio satellites passes?

Question: On the website heavens-above.com, there is a page dedicated to the amateur radio satellites passes over a location.What is that and why this particular information? Also, since the website gives out the frequencies, can you tune into these satellites (I don't support illegalty)?
Answer: In short broadcasting to these satellites is subject to various laws and licence depending on where you are.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_radio_operator

Amateur radio operators have been granted an amateur radio license by a governmental regulatory authority after passing an examination on applicable regulations, electronics, and radio theory and operation

These satellites are designed to be used in a number of ways to extend the range over which an amateur radios operator can broadcast. But they can only be used while in range (while in line of sight) which makes a website that lists their locations and frequencies useful.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_radio_satellite:

These satellites can be used for free by licensed amateur radio operators for voice (FM, SSB) and data communications (AX.25, packet radio, APRS). Currently, over 5 fully operational amateur-satellites in orbit act as repeaters, linear transponders or store and forward digital relays.

They are intended for public and free use, though I cannot comment on details of law.
Comment: With right equipment you should be able listen to these satellites. Note that they may be sending non-voice data.
Comment: I have also seen in the list the International Space Station and a Russian military satellite.
Comment: @Archa The ISS is listed because they have an  [amateur radio](http://www.arrl.org/amateur-radio-on-the-international-space-station) on board. I do not understand the spy satellite being listed with the rest. Could you share its name? I'm curious.
Comment: There are some Kosmos satellites. Kosmos 2504 and 2491.
Comment: Just another question, can you listen to these satellites or you can only send broadcasting signals? I don't plan to do anything, just curiosity.
Comment: @Archa I've asked about the spy satellites in http://space.stackexchange.com/questions/17493/why-do-these-spy-satellites-carry-amature-radio-packages
Answer: The matter of communicating with the satellites is adequately covered by the previous answer. You'll be able to communicate with the amateur radio satellites, or use them to communicate with other receivers:

These satellites can be used for free by licensed amateur radio operators for voice (FM, SSB) and data communications (AX.25, packet radio, APRS). Currently, over 5 fully operational amateur-satellites in orbit act as repeaters, linear transponders or store and forward digital relays.

But you may have to be content just to observe many of the other satellites on the list, although if you tune into the listed frequencies, you should detect a signal while they pass.
The table of data lists time that a satellite rises above the horizon, its setting, and the zenith, or highest point, of various satellites. The location of the zenith is listed as degrees above the horizon (altitude), and degrees clockwise from $0^0 (N)$ (azimuth).

By TWCarlson - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Azimut_altitude.svg, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17727911
You can click through on the satellite name to get a short description, including when and from where it was launched. The default location is $00:00:00^0$ by $00:00:00^0$, the longitude of Greenwich at the equator, but once you set up an account and provide it with a location, the table updates to tell you just when the satellites are passing overhead where you are now.


How to make my bathtub slippery

Question: We've rented an apartment and the bathtub surface is not slippery enough. I know that being slippery is a downside for bathtubs, but it causes so many problems. The main problem is that the water doesn't slip well on it and after finishing the shower the remaining water doesn't wash all the hair and dirt down to the drain. They tend to remain in their place and we always have a dirty bathtub after showering. How can I handle this problem?
Thanks for your help.
Answer: If you think that

water doesn't wash all the hair and dirt down to the drain

then the bathtub is actually doing a service to you, by not being slippery. Long hairs should be collected from the water before they have a chance to go down the drain, exactly for the purpose of keeping the drain from clogging.

It depends what material the bathtub is made of.

A generic solution is to apply a layer of lacquer on the surface. Works with all bathtubs. Choose the lacquer according to the material.

Apply a layer of enamel, if the bathtub is metallic.

If you feel heroic, polish the surface. There are countless videos on the net showing how to polish. After polishing, a protective layer is recommended to be applied.

Buy another bathtub and replace the current one.
Answer: Unless you have the perfect not-stick bath, soap etc will build up, so it is hygienic to clean the bath frequently with a soft non-scratch pad and bath cleaner. One possible reason why the bath retains hair and soap, is because the previous tenants used an abrasive pad.
If so, the damage is done now. It is not your bath, so I would not recommend any serious surface treatments, except possibly a Teflon™ spray coating. But be careful what you wish for – you might slip over and hurt yourself. I would have thought that a non-slip bath was an asset: people buy rubber mats for the bath so that it isn't slippery.
Other ways to clean off the hair and soap are

If the shower head detaches use that to wash away hair etc.

If not, use a plastic jug to sluice water around the bath to remove the residue.

In any case, clean the bath frequently as mentioned.

Hair can build up in the outlet grating. That's a good thing, because it prevents it from clogging the drain itself. Every week or so, pick out the hair with a toothpick or something like that, and put it in a waste bin.

How to make my bathtub slippery


Why was my flag for the "Three endorsements before solo" question declined?

Question: I am here again for the second time in a week to ask about what types of questions are on-topic here.  My recent flag for this question with a current net score of -3 was declined recently.  The poster is asking for information that can easily be found elsewhere.  To me, it looks an awful lot like a homework question.  I'm not I pilot so I could be wrong about the ease of finding a suitable answer but in my opinion, this question is off topic.  It appears that three other people agreed with me.
Comment: You"re not a pilot. There are many users here who are, and have detailed knowledge about the procedure. They may disagree with you, that is why the voting mechanism exists. I'm not a pilot either, and I don't vote on questions like these.
Comment: @Koyovis Certainly.  I flagged it from the review queue because it looked like a very basic question and had a negative score.  Are you saying that I should completely avoid such questions?
Comment: [This post](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/225370/your-answer-is-in-another-castle-when-is-an-answer-not-an-answer) has good info. Downvoting is not the same as closing.
Answer: The questions lacks a jurisdiction, which was pointed out in comments, and indeed may resemble a homework question.
No knowledge of that topic is required to agree that it is low-quality and lacking applicable jurisdiction, but since the answers usually assume FAA jurisdiction when not specified, I don't have strong feelings about it. The downvotes look fair (for the lack of research).
Answer: Your vote is exactly that: one of the votes required to close the question. The spirit of this site is that the community decides, and a majority of votes closes the question, a minority does not.
Here's a post on Aviation Meta on the closing of questions. I personally agree with what is stated in that OP, and I press Skip a lot when I reckon that others are more qualified than I am to make a decision on the quality of the question. Not many people seem to object to a question that can easily be Wikied, since those articles often have much room to be improved upon on this site.
This one from Meta is on the closing of posts that are flagged Low Quality.

You should accept a post (Looks good)
If you see no problems that would warrant editing or deleting and you are at least a bit familiar with the subject.
  [ANS] Note that answers that are clear and address the question at least a little, but are fundamentally wrong, should be downvoted, not deleted. A wrong answer still "looks good".
Comment: Regarding the bit about answers, MSE is general, and makes sense for programming answers. Each site fine-tunes its own policy*, and [here demonstrably wrong answers are deleted](https://aviation.meta.stackexchange.com/a/1476/14897). (Not just here btw.) SE aims to reduce noise and the typical forums clutter. Example: if a core premise is challenged in a comment, and is ignored, and the post can't be salvaged (no major edits allowed). * A famous example is History.SE requiring checking Wikipedia before asking.


Substitute for "high school"

Question: I was in School of Economics which is substitute for high school, but in my school we have practical training and we are there 4 years not 3. But I don't know how to write it in my essay about my "high school" is it: Technical School of Economics or Technical Secondary School of Economics  or maybe another name?
Comment: Use the official name for your school. It should be on the school's web page, yearbook and student reports, etc. If in doubt, ask at the school's reception.
Answer: "High School" is used in North American English for a school for students aged about 14 to 18. If you are not in a North American education system then you will need to adapt slightly.
If I (a Briton) had to write about my "High School" I would write about my secondary school. It's not an exact equivalence, but close enough. In my essay (written for an American reader) I would include a paragraph explaining the difference between English and American education. Initially, I would use the school's full name, thereafter I would I would refer it as "my high school" for simplicity.
If your school doesn't have an official name in English you can choose to translate or transliterate, depending on whether translation will make things clearer for your reader.
Answer: Call it by its official name, whatever the school calls itself. If there's something ambiguous or confusing about the name, you might take a couple of sentences to explain. But I absolutely would not make up my own name for an organization instead of using the name it calls itself, except as some kind of parody or satire.
Answer: If the phrase is a proper noun, then it should just be the actual name. If you're just providing a description, then it wouldn't be a proper name and therefore not capitalized. Generally, secondary school has a variety of classes, even if it has a particular focus, in which case it would be a technical secondary school specializing in Economics. If you truly studied nothing but Economics, then it would be an Economics technical secondary school.
The only way I see that you would have discretion despite it being a proper noun is if you're translating the name into English. In that case, you may engage in some rearranging of word order to comport with English grammar, although you should give some deference to the original. It's better to give a word-for-word translation that isn't standard English grammar than to try for a loose translation that ends up making sense in neither language. It is also general practice to give the original, then put the translation in parentheses, e.g. "CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research)".
Answer: Direct Synonyms for a school include words such as...

... faculty, centre of learning, educational instituion

However, in your case, you would want to have your official school name in your essay. Here's a sentence to help start you out;

... "with my departure from the Technical School of Economics, I have joined this school to improve on my passion for said subject."

If you're trying to go for a formal essay, try to refrain from just calling it a high school, as technically it's a substitute for it. It would be incorrect to just call it a high school and if you are asked any questions, you'd have to respond with such. Just call it by it's official name, if it's local they should know it anyway.
Answer: Secondary school would be a substitute for high school, as it is the schooling between elementary and post-secondary education
See: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/secondary%20school

Substitute for "high school"


How to crop/change aspect ratio with 3D movies?

Question: I've bought myself a new 3D TV and I'm loving it!
However I'm bumping into issues I never thought existed.. Until now..
Most 3D movies out there are either top/bottom or side by side. They are encoded into one file, and that's where my problems start.
A few times I wanted to crop the movie so that it would be 16:9 instead of having to see any letterboxes, but immediately I started having troubles.
Let's say this is our video file:

The problem with cropping, is that all media players think that is a flat file (which it is..) and crops without any regard to the 3D aspect of it, so I get something like this:

And with that - the top portion of the screen gets cut, and the bottom, along with the sides. It wouldn't be a problem if this was a 2D video, but cropping the top means that the bottom portion of the video is still left with that bit, but the top doesn't have it - it messes up the video when viewing with 3D glasses.

And because one eye still has the video, but the other doesn't - it's just impossible to enjoy or even watch the movie.
Another thing that came up, was one movie was encoded poorly, and didn't include the appropriate black border padding it should've had. I tried changing the aspect ratio, but then again.. Problems.. The issue is, although the aspect ratio get's changed overall:

The middle bits also need to receive padding like so:

Is there any media player out there that supports these video files in a way that I could be able to crop, change the aspect ratio etc and have it do it the right way? I've tried with VLC, but due to the fact that it has zero 3D support I now tend to use PotPlayer. It would appear it could handle these issues, because it lets you set how the 3D file is encoded (top/bottom or side by side), and draws borders to separate them - but cropping or change the aspect ratio again is limited to the entire video, not the separate video portions it's supposed to change.
BTW I'm on Win7 x64
Answer: I can't try it right now, so it's just an idea that might work (but you'll need to elaborate it a bit):

take a look at this page on how to play a 3d movie in another format, just to get the idea / programs you'll use
then take a look at this site to see lots of scripts / functions to Avisynth that deal with 3d movies (including extracting the right/left view)
then take a look at avisynth about croping videos.

The idea? Extract both channels, crop each one, recreate the 3d movie from the processed channels.
Comment: Thanks for the reply. This process requires quite a bit of time, stripping out the separate views, cropping them and then putting everything back together. I was hoping that some player out there supports 3D formats and is more user friendly.. Hopefully VLC will integrate 3D functionality..


Elevator moving near the speed of light

Question: Imagine that you are in an elevator that is moving downward at a constant speed that is near the speed of light (let's say close to the surface of the earth: toy problem, needless to say). Now say that you jump. Then (neglecting any general relativistic effects that hopefully you can explain to me) would it be fair to say that the only relevant acceleration after your feet leave the elevator would be -9.8... and your initial velocity when you jump would be the initial velocity you would have provided for yourself on the sidewalk minus the speed of the elevator? That's my first question (asked just as a sanity check, I think the answer is yes). My second and main question is: are there indeed any relativistic effects? Another way of asking my question is: does spacetime curvature change in general relativity for objects traveling at high speeds, and what does this say about the experience you would have when doing the above jump?
Comment: The acceleration won't stay constant if you're moving vertically at that speed. The Earth's diameter is about 0.021 light-seconds.
Comment: @PM 2Ring I agree that over any appreciable interval of time the -9.8 will not be applicable. But I believe the reason you have in mind for this is the fact that the distance from the center of the earth will change extremely rapidly. If I'm correct about your thought then I do agree with you. Nonetheless, I'm curious about the limiting case where the interval of time is approaching zero (this interval I have in mind is right as the clock just started ticking post-jump). Can gravity "transmit the -9.8 acceleration" even as the initial velocity has such an overwhelmingly large magnitude?
Comment: The spacetime curvature doesn't change, per se, but you do need to take time dilation & length contraction into account when comparing what the curvature "looks" like to different observers. Is that what you're asking about?
Comment: @PM 2Ring Yes it is! Thanks for the clear question. I suppose if I could rewrite my question I would ask how spacetime curvature would appear to a person jumping from the sidewalk, the person jumping from the constant velocity elevator (moving at a speed close to the speed of light), and to an observer sitting on the sidewalk watch all of the activity.
Answer: The key word here is relative.
You are in the elevator and whatever the elevator and you are accelerating relative to doesn't matter to you.  Relative to the elevator your are have zero velocity and zero acceleration.
If you jump, you're jumping relative to the elevator.  Again the elevator's velocity relative to something else doesn't matter, just the relative motion of you and the elevator.
And from that point of view you can happily view this as an entirely non-relativistic event of you jumping up and falling down ...
... unless ...
If the elevator and you were physically connected (you were e.g. holding on to a rail) or you're both in the same field and affected the same way then the acceleration you feel keeps your motion relative and all is good.
But if you letting go of that rail you're holding on to also means you're no longer being accelerated relative to whatever the elevator is accelerating, then you're going to be left behind (or crash into the roof !).
A simpler way to see this is to use a rocket in space.  You're an astronaut.  The rocket is accelerating using it's own rocket engine.  When you're attached you experience that just as expected - there's a down and an up defined by the pseudo gravity of the rocket's acceleration.
Now go for a spacewalk.
Again while holding on you experience the same acceleration.
Now let go.
The ship starts accelerating away at the suddenly not very trivial rate of $9.8 ms^{-2}$ and you find yourself looking at the rapidly disappearing ship while you float in space.
You maintain the velocity both you and the ship had (relative to something) when you let go, but after that, it's accelerating and you (unhappily) are not.
There is no relativistic effect - the velocity you share with the ship relative to something else doesn't matter - zero or 99% the speed of light produce the same result from your point of view.
Answer: Assuming a constant gravitational field, you will perceive your acceleration as 9.81m/s^2 relative to the escalator. However, a 'stationary' observer will measure your acceleration differently, due to length contraction$$L=L_0\sqrt{1-\frac{v^2}{c^2}}$$
So if the escalator was moving at 99% speed of light, the stationary observer will see that you are 14.1% of your height, falling at 14.1% of your perceived acceleration. So to answer the question, yes there are relativistic effects. There always will be relativistic effects if observers have different velocities

Elevator moving near the speed of light


Photoshop: how to clean up edges from overlaid image

Question: How can I clean up the edges of the square photo on top of this t-shirt?
Comment: Are you referring to the edges of the clouds on the image at the bottom?
Comment: I'm sure there's a displacement map answer here somewhere...
Comment: Possible duplicate of [How to creat a bump-map from a image](https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/42929/how-to-creat-a-bump-map-from-a-image)
Comment: From a design standpoint, consider removing something: this is way too busy and unfocused. Also, seriously consider that the Virgin Mary may appear to be popping out the person's pants. This may not be as you intended.
Answer: To clean up the corners of a multiplied layer, use the 'Eraser' tool with a big, soft brush and gradually clean up the edges until they start to fade away. If the comp is not using layers it's more tricky, but still possible with a combination of 'Healing Brush' and/or 'Clone Stamp' tools.
Answer: If you have separate layers, I would recommend using a layer mask on that layers and using brushes (basic or textured) to mask part of it (paint with black on the mask).. Like so you can "unmask" (paint with white on the mask) and make modification to your mask easily instead of 'erasing" (destructive) parts of the real image.
Make sure you have a low "hardness" on the brush and use s big brush to avoid visible edges.
Answer: Ensure the image is on a separate layer above the t-shirt image and then go to the  layers palette. Top left where it says 'normal' change this to 'multiply' and toy a little with the opacity setting too. It ought to blend then with the shading in the fabric.


Will STP lose data whilst switching from a failed link?

Question: In a network with a dual-redundant link between two switches, will any data be lost during the switchover from an active link to the blocked link when the active link fails?
Answer: If i remember, default spanning tree (802.1d) takes about 50 secs to reconverge. That is the duration for which you will be losing frames.

A link is detected down by the loss of 10 hello pkts. These are usually 2 secs apart. So total=20 secs. This is called the max-age timer
Next it has to transition another blocked port through listening and learning states into a forwarding state. This transitioning takes 15 secs for listening state, and 15 for learning. So total=30 secs. These are called the forward-delay timers.

Sure, you can modify these timers to make is quicker. Or use RSTP(Rapid Spanning tree), which is more like the defacto now. RSTP is much quicker, as takes just a few secs to reconverge.
Comment: Good answer Ajay, as an addenum to that:                                   Convergence happens when all ports on bridges and switches have transitioned to either the forwarding or blocking modes. The ports on a bridge or switch running STP can transition through five different states. When the network needs to re-converge, the Listening state takes about 15 seconds, followed by the Learning state that usually takes another 15 seconds, and 20 seconds to change to Forwarding, Blocking or Disabled. If no timers have been changed the total time of convergence is about 50 seconds.
Comment: Three advantages of RSTP: link status of each port are monitored pro-actively (instead of waiting for the BPDU messages) to detect network topology changes. RSTP is backward compatible with STP switches.

The Switch ports that participate in RSTP have three states – Discarding (Does not accept/ forward any data but listens to BPDU messages), Learning (Once the network topology change is detected/ activation request comes via the BPDU message and filtering/ forwarding table creation is initiated) & Forwarding (RTSP ports start accepting and forwarding data packets/ frames).
Answer: It is possible, even likely, that at least one (probably more) frames will be lost on any failover.
The speed of the failover is highly dependent on what type of redundancy you are using.  Spanning Tree is the slowest, routing is an order of magnitude faster, and etherchannels are yet and order of magnitude faster than that.
When frames are lost, there is nothing in layer-2 to request that they be resent.  If the data in the frames is TCP, the upper layer will request that the packet containing the TCP segment be resent.  UDP does not do that, so it would be up to the application to request a resend if it is built that way.


How can you assure a torque wrench is working properly?

Question: Torquing to a manufacturer's spec is important when working on an engine but I've wondered how do you properly determine if an adjustable torque wrench has been zeroed out over it's life and is still accurate?  Is there a life to a torque wrench?
Comment: You'd have to use a calibrated testing unit on the torque wrench though some (electronic?) torque wrenches may have some kind of zero'ing feature.
Comment: It might be a ghetto system but if you really want to know without getting to particular measuring gizmo you could compare it to other torque wrenches.
otherwise an example could be in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUD81N_TlS8.
Answer: There is calibration equipment to zero torque wrenches
Snap-On makes this one.

Here is a procedure for calibrating one of their digital torque wrenches.
To answer your question

I've wondered how do you properly determine if an adjustable torque wrench has been zeroed out over it's life and is still accurate?

There are various procedures to accomplish this based upon manufacturer.  Many Craftsman outlets will perform the task free of charge as will Snap-On and Matco in their trucks.  If not, there are typically procedures available if you have the measuring equipment.

Is there a life to a torque wrench?

Some are infinitely rebuildable by replacing failed or out of spec components over time.  I have not seen one that isn't but typically I procuring 'higher end' equipment as was a mechanic in another life.
Comment: Torque wrenches absolutely do fall out of spec, and sometimes the internals reach a point where adjustments no longer bring them back in due to worn springs, etc. The quality of the product does have an effect on longevity, but all springs wear out eventually.


elementary OS going Zesty

Question: Currently, elementary OS Loki is running Ubuntu 16.04 (or .10, amirite?) under the hood. My question is: will the guys working on elementary OS update from the former version to 17.04?
Answer: No. This is because Ubuntu based distros that are not official spins like Linux Mint and elementary OS are based on the latest LTS versions. This is done because LTS releases are more throughly tested and are proved to be very stable. So the next elementaryOS version bump will occur when 18.04 LTS will be released.
Comment: WOW! So no update until April 2018??!!
Comment: At the earliest, likely after that date. eOS releases come "when they're ready". But the team is continually making the experience better all the time.

elementary OS going Zesty


Software to decode selective calling tones

Question: I have a wav file that has a selective calling tone in it. Is it possible to decode a selective call tone from a wav or mp3 file ?
Comment: It would be very helpful if you could at least try to identify the selective call method that you suspect.is being used.
Comment: Ping? Were any of the tools described in the answer of any help to you? You're not reacting to @AndrejaKo's question, nor do we see any acceptance on our answers...
Answer: multimon-ng, which I have used for other purposes, claims to be able to decode selective calling tones of the following protocols, among other things:

ZVEI1 ZVEI2 ZVEI3 DZVEI PZVEI
EEA EIA CCIR

However, I tried it out with a couple of sample files I found on the Internet and it didn't produce any output.
Answer: I would use the application Mathematica (by Wolfram) which has a lot of computational audio features for decoding audio streams via a given codex protocol.  Mathematica is not for everyone and as the name suggests it is a very mathematically oriented application.  Plus, it is something you have to buy yet there is a free trial period you could use to experiment.
As an example of how Mathematica is used to perform various coding and decoding functions from an audio stream, this page describes how Morse Code can be decoded from an audio stream such as wav or mp3 file (note: in this particular example, the audio stream is created as well but you can avoid those steps).
Mathematica has many other audio computation features with a whole variety of graphic display methods.  I use Mathematica every single day for dabbling in computations of General Relativity and also for augmenting the computational and graphic display of antenna analysis problems in concert with NEC4 (the licensed version of NEC, similar to NEC2 but much better).
Answer: So, you mean something that will give you the sequence of calling tone digits like used in ZVEI1 to ZVEI5?
Yeah, those were fun 5 minutes:
I got an example from the sigid wiki (specifically ZVEI1-5), converted it to mono WAV (it's stereo for some unclear reasons), and built this flow graph in GNU Radio companion from scratch:

What is missing is a lookup table at the end that converts frequencies to tone digits. That's about ten lines of Python :)
In action, this looks something like

with the plot showing the instantaneous frequency. You'd just look for the right sequence of frequencies and then you'd have your decoder. (yes, timing recovery aside)


Why isn't clorhexidine gluconate used among humans?

Question: It is used for non-human animals, but as far as I have read it is not used among people. Are there exceptions?
Comment: Not sure what you are asking, it's used by humans all the time. Hibiclens, Dyna-Ex, used as an oral rinse...
Comment: The answer to the question: Because it's usually referred to by brand name instead of generic chemical name.
Answer: It is used among humans it's called:

Hibiclens, Dyna-Hex, Ezy-tm, and Exidine

As also stated by the user JohnP in a comment.
And it works for:

Cleaning the hands
Before surgery or injections
To cleanse skin or wounds
And as a oral rinse

So there is no exception it is used for humans.

But you are right it is also used for animals.


Sitecore came up with GraphQL in 9.2, so internally does they use Sitecore API?

Question: What does GraphQL use internally to query the Sitecore items?
Answer: I want to make it clear that Sitecore did not invent or create GraphQL. GraphQL is a pre-existing standard: https://graphql.org/
The Sitecore GraphQL API is an implementation of that standard with some Sitecore-specific bits.
As I understand it, the endpoint is running C# code on the server that is defined for schemas and extenders. It wraps around Sitecore's context database, and ultimately at the very bottom of the layers the content queries are calling the native Sitecore Item API for single Item requests, and the ContentSearch API for searches.
Make sure to take a look at the examples for customization on the JSS site to get an idea of the various things like endpoints, schemas, extenders, etc.: https://jss.sitecore.com/docs/techniques/graphql/graphql-overview
Comment: @Sudhakar_Mangalarapu if you have further questions, please open another post.
Comment: Hi @jason St, thank you for your answer and my bad of putting the question wrong.. instead of using the word implemented I used came up with as I am already aware of GraphQL org, OK now the actual part, If they are again implementing and making use of SitecoreItemAPI and ContentsearchAPI how this is faster when compared to traditional SitecoreAPI was my question? any help would be really appreciated
Comment: You have changed the purpose of your question now that you have an answer. Please use a new question for your question so you do not invalidate answers.


Mix SATA and IDE drives for dual boot

Question: I have Windows Vista on a 180G IDE HD. I have Ubuntu 12.04 on a 320G SATA HD. I want to put them in the same box and dual boot. How can I do this without goofing up?
The motherboard Acer M1100 has one IDE and the rest SATA. It has a legal install. That is the motherboard I want to use.
Answer: Yes, though if you still have an IDE drive it must be a good 6+ years old now so you probably should replace it.

Mix SATA and IDE drives for dual boot


Should there be a version of the "Informed" badge for reading the code of conduct?

Question: The new code of conduct is, in my opinion, skillfully worded and worth a read. So, it seems appropriate for there to be a badge awarding those who read it, much like the Informed badge.
Comment: As a note, the downvotes here are not likely due to your question- I mean, it's a pretty decent question. You've got all you need here to be a good Meta question- But voting can be different here on Meta. On feature-requests, which this is, people will often vote on the idea itself. People seem to disagree with this idea, so... You'll get downvotes. But don't worry, downvotes here won't hurt your rep.
Comment: I think I'd prefer that the CoC becomes mandatory reading to get the Informed badge instead.  Don't know how they want to work that into the tour though.
Comment: Another user added those, and honestly... Those are the right tags. :) Discussion does work as well for this one, but in the end, it's still a feature-request, even if you remove the tag for it.
Comment: @speedtsars I [edited in the feature-request](https://meta.stackoverflow.com/revisions/372160/2) because I felt that it was more appropriate.  If you really are looking for pure discussion, you can edit that tag out.  I'd also advise changing the wording of the post so that it's more open to discussion beyond whether a new badge should be added.
Comment: Only if it gets revoked once one of your comments are flagged and the flag is approved as violating the coc, requiring another read to get it back
Comment: also now asked on MSE: https://meta.stackexchange.com/q/313847/158100
Comment: This question has proven to be quite the learning opportunity.
Comment: Thank you @Kendra for the clarification, my heart skipped a beat there! I intended on only using the discussion tag, but feature-request and badges were auto-added.
Comment: I think I will keep the question as-is and restore your tags
Answer: While badges are for encouraging behavior we want to see (mostly), I would argue that, in my opinion, badges for reading something are kinda pointless.
Mainly because we can't be sure that you've read it, just because you scroll down. Any measure we take to ensure that you've read it... Well, it can be beat. Even a test at the end can be beat. And honestly, I'd argue it's not worth the effort. Either people will read the code or not, and if they don't... Either they follow it naturally or they butt heads with the mods and get linked to it again.
Honestly, I also find the "Informed" badge to be pointless, but there it is. I just don't see the point to adding another reading badge.
Comment: When it first came out, it was a nice and surprising easter egg.  So I suppose...I've proven your point...?
Comment: Badges may be pointless in proving, that someone actually did read the content, but absence of badges is a fairly reliable indicator, that someone *didn't* read the content.
Comment: @IInspectable Hmm... I hadn't thought of that. That's a very good counter argument, and a fair point. No badge = Yeah, pretty much almost guaranteed didn't read the content.
Answer: Badges Are Carrots
Badges, like dangling carrots, are an incentive.
An incentive is a thing that motivates or encourages someone to do something.
Bottom-line, we should be motivating or encouraging the reading of updated codes of conducts and badges fulfil this very function as does the announcement banner depicted in the following screen-shot:

Let's be less concerned with the meritocracy of badges and more concerned with the function of badges.
Confirming Reading
Various tiers of (imperfect but no less sufficient) confirmations:

User hits code of conduct URL.
User scrolls to bottom of page.
User answers a singular random multiple choice question to demonstrate understanding.


How to monitor node http requests in node-webkit

Question: How can I monitor http requests that were made by node in node-webkit? When I make a request I don't see it in the developer tools. I can see the request only when I make it with jquery or xmlhttprequest.
I've binded a console.log on the 'end' event and I can see that node-webkit is actually doing the request and it's returning me a correct response. But doing this blind requests is very hard because there is absolutely no way to debug them (except for logging the params that I've called the request method with).
Answer: Such low-level procedures can only be handled by the supported node.js so one of these node.js functions is bound to solve your HTTP header monitoring problem:
https://nodejs.org/dist/latest-v6.x/docs/api/http.html#http_event_checkexpectation


Permission to leave Australia on UK passport as a dual citizen

Question: I was born in the UK, have lived in Australia since 1988, and I hold both passports. With 2 of my children living in Scotland and the potential need to go and see them urgently, can I leave Australia using my UK passport and therefore bypass the need to apply for permission from the Australian Government to leave the country? I understand permission is given only in rare circumstances at the moment. I would plan to re-enter Australia on my Australian passport
Comment: My son has lived in Australia for over 20 years is now an Australian Citizen ,pays UK taxes, still holds a UK passport
Answer: The government's site says

If you are an Australian citizen or a permanent resident you cannot
leave Australia due to COVID-19 restrictions unless you have an
exemption. You can apply online but you must meet at least one of the
following:

(...)
you are travelling on urgent and unavoidable personal business
you are travelling on compassionate or humanitarian grounds

Alternatively you are exempt from the restrictions if

You are exempt if you are:

(...)
ordinarily resident in a country other than Australia

Nothing in the site says that dual-citizens are exempt from the quarantine rules - instead they explicitly say that not just Australian citizens, but non-Australians who are settled have to adhere to the exit guidelines as well. For me this means that even if you (only) show them your UK passport they might still consider you as a settled citizen (they might ask for your visa or other proof on how you are living in Australia in which case you'll likely have to tell them you are Australian and are a resident), and therefore block your exit.
However since you are travelling because of unavoidable personal business and/or compassionate grounds you might get an exemption. If you also give them proof that you wish to remain in the UK long-term and not return to Australia you might also get an exemption, as one of the proofs they accept is

proof that you are moving to another country on a long term basis such
as leases, job offers and evidence your goods are being transported

In any case:

we recommend you lodge a request for assessment at least two weeks
prior to your intended departure.

You can apply for an exemption online here
Answer: Here is what the Australian Department of Home Affairs has to say:

Australian citizens should use their Australian passport to enter and
leave Australia.
The Australian Border Force has more information on crossing the
border.
If you have a passport from another country, you can use that after
you leave Australia.
A passport is the best way to show that you are an Australian citizen.
You might still be able to enter Australia if you are an Australian
citizen without an Australian passport, but it will be more difficult.
The airline might also stop you from boarding a plane to Australia.

Source: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/entering-and-leaving-australia/traveling-as-a-dual-citizen
So it appears that unlike other countries (USA, Canada, Israel etc), Australia does not formally require that you use your Australian passport to enter the country (but they nonetheless recommend it).
However, we are not living in normal times and the question is twofold. You mention current travel restrictions (Covid I suppose). The question is:
Can I use a UK passport (to pass as non-Australian) and bypass travel restrictions normally applicable to Australian citizens ?
I am not familiar with the immigration process, probably they no longer put entry stamps in the passports of foreign visitors nowadays, but departures/arrivals are recorded in computer systems. If you were to show a UK passport at the exit gates, the customs officers would find no recent trace of your arrival, no matching record for your passport number, which could lead to awkward questions, ring alarm bells and force you to justify yourself.
Plus, aren't you required to have a visa as a UK citizen?
Comment: "Plus, aren't you required to have a visa as a UK citizen?" Not for just visiting and and short-term business trips. But it doesn't matter anyway. The fact that they are Australian trumps that in spades. Barring any legal disputes, they are free to leave in accordance with international agreements to which Australia is a signatory. Whether there is a record of their travels is not a requirement of any international law that I'm aware of. That's a problem for the (Australian) government to sort out with itself.
Comment: @ouflak British citizens (who aren't also Australian citizens) require an e-Visitor visa or ETA (visa subclass 651 and 601, respectively) for short-term visits for business or pleasure.
Comment: This answer is incorrect, and I downvoted. SztupY's subsequent answer confirms that the actual answer to the OP's question is "No, you cannot use your UK passport to avoid having to ask for permission to leave Australia."
Answer: TL;DR you must leave a country using the passport you entered it with.
Usually, the way this works is that you enter a country as a citizen of the country whose passport you enter as, and you need to follow the immigration rules as a person of that country.
I am assuming that you last entered Australia on your Australian passport, and therefore have all the advantages that a citizen of Australia have when entering the country. That is to say - you don't need a visa, and can stay for an unlimited time.
If you try to exit on your UK passport, that should set alarm bells off when you try it, because you didn't enter on that passport. The UK citizen with your name has not entered the country, but is now trying to leave.
If you entered with your UK passport, then you would be subject to the rules for a UK citizen entering Australia - you would need the necessary visa (or waiver), and you would be allowed to stay for a limited amount of time. BUT when you left Australia, you would need to leave on your UK passport - or else you would be subject to the laws regarding overstay (fines, deportation, possible blacklisting). Or at least a legal battle.
Also, if you actually succeed in leaving on your UK passport, you would then not have a record of the Australian citizen with your name ever leaving the country, and you would have a lot of explaining to do when you tried to enter again with your Australian passport.
If this is something you are actually considering doing, you should get legal advice from a lawyer with detailed immigration experience.
Comment: What you've said is general advice, but it's not universally true. I am a dual citizen in New Zealand, and have had no trouble presenting either my NZ or other passport when leaving New Zealand. I understand they are both linked to my identity in the NZ systems. Advice specific to Australia would be helpful for the OP.
Comment: "I am assuming that you last entered Australia on your Australian passport, and therefore have all the advantages that a citizen of Australia have..." I don't believe that the privileges of citizenship are based on a passport (much less the passport used upon entry), but based their status as a citizen. "If you entered with your UK passport, then you would be subject to the rules for a UK citizen entering Australia." Maybe upon first inspection, but once the fact that they are an Australian comes out, they cannot be denied entry and have all of the rights (and responsibilities) of a citizen.
Comment: "...or else you would be subject to the laws regarding overstay (fines, deportation, possible blacklisting)" Since Australia is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, they have agreed, by international accord (law), that they will never deport or refuse entry to any of their own citizens. Likewise they will respect the right of their own citizens to leave the country, with obvious regards to internal pending criminal or civil matters. These rights are considered inherent and not tied to any document. A passport only identifies the person, it does confer rights.
Comment: This answer is wrong on several counts, as described in previous comments.  The main exception to first statement is that it doesn't generally apply to countries of which one is a citizen.
Comment: Agreed - hence why I suggested getting legal advice from someone who actually knows in that specific case. But what I said is the general rule.


93 Thunderbird LX priority maintenance?

Question: Purchased from first owner that said he had kept the basic rules and procedures for a stored automobile when I come in from out of town and sees a jump start hooked up this is where I knew it was not at all how it is really..I would like to know if there is any suggestions on the order of Maintenance needing to be done to this car that's been sitting for The Last 5 Years most likely without being started up but every year,,?
Answer: The "basic" list of "rules and procedures" will vary in detail by the number of people you ask - some will add or remove items as they see fit.
If by "maintenance" you mean what you need to do to put it back on the road then that is one thing, but if you mean to keep it in storage that is a different list.
To put it back in the road, I would start with:
Tires - after 5 years probably best to replace.
Brakes, check for condition ie surface rust, change brake fluid as it is hygroscopic.
Change fluids : oils, coolant..
Check items such as lights & wipers
Bearings : the wheel bearings may have suffered by not moving for a long time, so they could become an early fail...
Edit from suggestion below:
Remove any old fuel and replace with fresh, do this from tank to engine...
Comment: Fluids: also fuel. Whatever is left in the tank won't be the same grade as when it was put in! If the owner really followed "basic procedure" for a 5 year layup, the car should have been on supports not standing on its own wheels, so wheel bearings and suspension springs shouldn't have be affected.
Comment: @alephzero The "if the owner really followed basic procedure", well I would hazard a guess if they had then we would have had a better description in the question as in "this and this and this was done for storage ", but as that detail is not in the question then I have my doiubts. Good point about fuel though.

93 Thunderbird LX priority maintenance?


drupal as mobile app backend

Question: Im currently using drupal 7 + commerce for online sales and I have a phonegap app that creates orders. I want to use drupal 7 via a the services module to sync the app sales data with the online store. My concern is speed as drupal requires a full bootstrap for each service call. Is there another recomended way to access the drupal 7 commerce database directly that would perform the crud operations faster?
Comment: Can't give you specific solutions, but just pointing a nice Drupal Group discussing this issue: [Headless Drupal](https://groups.drupal.org/headless-drupal)
Answer: Not sure if "faster" but I'd recommend the integration of Drupal Commerce and Phonegap (I'm guessing you're using DrupalGap already) if you're already using both: https://www.drupal.org/project/commerce_drupalgap
You've got plenty of resources there to get started such as the Commerce Services module.
It's up to you to decide where you need or not a full bootstrap of your backend, I'm thinking you need it to get advantage of user access, permissions and consistency check in your order status, but it depends a lot on your app and where  you're implementing the business logic. If you access the database directly, without any bootstrap is going to be faster, but the same way you build a drupal site, if you bypass Drupal to access directly to the database that'd be faster as well.
Answer: I don't think so, you'll always need a full boostrap to access Drupal data.
The fact that Drupal 8 is a RESTfull server should give a hint that is the good way to do it ;-)
Answer: This doesnt really help you for services, but if you have any custom data endpoints that you want your app to pull in you can use the High-performance JavaScript callback handler module.
It allows you to specify what parts of drupal you need to load to build your data, without loading the parts you don't need.
The module's README.txt file provides more detailed information on how to use it, but basically you are just implementing one additional hook to tell it what bootstrap level you want, what includes & modules you need loaded, etc.

drupal as mobile app backend


How to set scaling on external monitor?

Question: I have an XPS 13 which has a 3200*1800 resolution hooked up to an external monitor that only goes up to 1920*1080. How do I make it so that when I place windows on my external monitor that they are not huge and so that they are properly scaled to its resolution size? It was working on a fresh install but something happened and it doesn't fit right anymore. Thanks.
Answer: try setting your laptop display to 1600 x 900 resolution.
Unfortunately, the current Linux desktop supports only one scale factor for the entire desktop, so either you scale down your HiDPI monitor, or you get double size on your external. For more info check out these blog posts:

https://medium.com/elementaryos/what-is-hidpi-and-why-does-it-matter-b024eabea20d
https://medium.com/elementaryos/top-3-misconceptions-about-hidpi-f5ef493d7bf8
Answer: I'm hoping the trick System76 has developed will be released and we can use it in ElementaryOS, see:
https://www.reddit.com/r/elementaryos/comments/7c7x8x/pop_os_mixeddpi_multimonitor_setup_on_elementaryos/

How to set scaling on external monitor?


Email hacks via RDP

Question: Someone has sent an email from my account that is making me look bad. I am trying to determine if someone either actually did it physically from my computer or via RDP. As there is reason to believe it could have been done RDP although both are plausible but actually doing it from my computer is less plausible but not impossible. I do sleep. My question is if it was done RDP is there anyway to prove it or would it look like it came from me regardless?
Comment: "*As there is reason to believe it could have been done RDP*" What reason?
Comment: Any way you could sanitize and post the e-mail headers ? Also unless you are absolutely positive that it was via RDP don't rule out other sources yet.
Comment: Email systems are prone to spoofing. You'd examine the headers of rouge email and that should reveal the IP address of the sender and email servers used to spoof, and that should give you idea how to protect agaist it. However it's usually not on the side of your email server but the recipient one which should check whatever is spoofed or not, e.g. whatever it came from the right email server as per DNS MX records for example.
Answer: You do not need to have the password, RDP or access to your computer to send an email from you. SMTP is the protocol used to send mail and this protocol does not do any kind of authentication. Take a look at the code below from the library nodemailer.js:
<code>// setup e-mail data
var mailOptions = {
    from: '"Charles Sarver" <email@example.com>', // sender address
    to: 'email@example.com',  // list of receivers
    subject: 'I hate you', // Subject line
    text: 'My name is Charles Sarver and i do not like you', // plaintext body

};

transporter.sendMail(mailOptions, function(error, info){
    if(error){
        return console.log(error);
    }
    console.log('Message sent: ' + info.response);
});
</code>
Source: https://nodemailer.com/
As you can see, with SMTP, you can send an email and specify the sender address to any email because SMTP does not check the authenticity of the sender. I can send the email above and it would say it was from firstname.lastname@example.com. One way to check to see if this email is actually from you, is to check the email headers. In the headers it will specify a source IP address. This will tell you where the email was sent from. Use link below to see how you can view the email header. If you know someone who received an email from you that you did not send then have them use this: https://mxtoolbox.com/Public/Content/EmailHeaders/
After you find the header, copy it and paste it in this tool: http://mxtoolbox.com/EmailHeaders.aspx
Find the header "X-Originating-IP". There should be a number in this format x.x.x.x.
Take that number or IP address and paste it into this tool: https://www.iplocation.net/
This will give you a rough location of where the email was sent from. The false sender could also be using a VPN or proxy which could also spoof this IP address.
You can use this tool to look up your own IP address: http://whatismyipaddress.com/ip-lookup
But this IP can change depending on where you are located and your ISP
Answer: It's also possible it was done with powershell or other terminl connection that could manually send smtp commands to a poorly configured email server. You should be able to tell from the email header, or the server logs, exactly where the email came from. If it came from your machine, you are looking for RDP or powershell sessions connected to your machine. Powershell could have been set to delay, so you are looking for all sessions at the time, or prior.
Anyway, I'd say you should see if there are any logs of the RDP session. Since you have a time when it happened (from the email headers), it shouldn't be hard to localize. If it was powershell it is tougher, because many places aren't logging powershell, because it doesn't log by default, so they don't know they aren't logging it until they need it, and it isn't there.

Email hacks via RDP


How do I breed a sun dragon in DragonVale?

Question: I already got a moon dragon by breeding a chrysalis dragon and a galaxy dragon together! How do I breed a sun dragon? anyone know?
Answer: These are the steps you'll need to take in order to be successful in your breeding:

Go to your breeding cave or the epic breeding island. Your park
  needs to be at level 10 or higher before trying to breed this
  dragon. Tap on the breeding area to make it glow.

For a successful outcome, the elements of Cold and Lightning need to
  be present, and as such, there are numerous possible combinations of
  breeding pairs. Some suggestions for the many possible combinations
  include:
<code>Firefly dragon with a Cold dragon
Blue fire dragon with a Crystal dragon
Ice dragon with a Quake dragon
Cold dragon with a Storm dragon
Fire dragon with a Storm dragon
Scorch dragon with a Cold dragon
</code>

Wait 48 hours for breeding. The egg color will be gold with a sun icon
  in the middle.
      Breeding time can be hastened by spending gems.

Put the egg into nursery and wait another 48 hours until it hatches.

Place the Sun Dragon in a sun habitat. To help it grow, feed it the
  same food as all baby dragons.

source


Minecraft 1.13 /give command syntax

Question: I know that typing /give @p minecraft:redsstone_torch 1 0 {CanPlaceOn:["minecraft:grass"]} in the past used to give a player a redstone torch that can be placed on grass for adventure mode, but when I try doing that in the new 1.13 snapshot, it highlights the canPlaceOn section in red (meaning it won't work). Does anybody know how it is supposed to be typed in the new syntax?
Answer: The syntax has changed to:
/give <players> <item> <count>

where <item> is a combination of ID and NBT (for blocks it's similar, but with state in [] between ID and NBT). So your command is then:
/give @p minecraft:redstone_torch{CanPlaceOn:["minecraft:grass"]} 1

or alternatively with @s, no minecraft: in the IDs (since it's default anyway) and without count (since 1 is default):
/give @s redstone_torch{CanPlaceOn:["grass"]}

Bonus: Maybe you'll be interested in block tags (archive).
Comment: How would we define other states? like the type of dyes?
Comment: They have their own IDs now. For example cocoa beans are no longer "dye 3", but instead just "cocoa_beans". What was once metadata is now either block states (for blocks, like `/setblock ~ ~ ~ dispenser[facing:up]`), NBT (mainly for tools, like `/give @s diamond_axe{Damage:1}`) or separate IDs.
Answer: In 1.12 and earlier <grass> was grass block. Now you need write grass_block like that:
/give @s redstone_torch{CanPlaceOn:["grass_block"]}

Because now "minecraft:grass_block" is real block, if you try
/setblock ~ ~ ~ grass

You place grass, not block.
I think he want this, because its impossible to place in grass redstone torch.
(sorry if i somewhere made mistake, my english is pretty bad)

Minecraft 1.13 /give command syntax