Usage of "pragmatic" vs. "practical"

Question: As adjectives in general usage (not in jargon terminology), are the words pragmatic and practical synonymous? If not, how do their meanings and proper usage differ?
Comment: 'Cognitive synonymy' is usually met with in the question "Are x and y 'true synonyms' (ie completely interchangeable)?". We've found perhaps 1 pair of examples here. With your pair, the term 'pragmatic marker' doesn't accept the swap. A 'pragmatic joke' is unacceptable. 'Pragmatic' can have the different denotation 'pertaining to affairs of state' (and a weasel use of this has been made) ...
Comment: @EdwinAshworth: The term "practical joke" is more of an idiom or phrasal noun, don't you think? It has a meaning completely different from "a joke that is practical" (in the same sense as "a plan that is practical").
Comment: And "pragmatic marker" is a linguistics jargon term that would never be encountered in general usage, and therefore outside the scope of my question.
Comment: @Rathony: Sorry that you overlooked the explicit qualification "in general usage, not jargon" that appeared in the question as originally written. I've refactored the question to make this more readily apparent.
Comment: And you edited the question just to remove the period from "vs."? Eyeroll.
Comment: 'Are *pragmatic* and *practical* fully interchangeable (as [cognitive synonyms](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_synonymy)), or are there shades of difference between them such that there are  ... ?' conflicts with '(in general usage, not [jargon])': either you're talking cognitive synonyms (words always interchangeable **in all senses**) or you're not. '[A] word is cognitively synonymous with another word if and only if all instances of both words express the same exact thing ... which means that the words' interchangeability is not context-sensitive.' (your Wikipedia article).
Comment: @EdwinAshworth I agree that it is clear that _pragmatic_ and _practical_ are not cognitive synonyms. You said that we've found perhaps one pair of examples here, which example do you mean?
Comment: I forget who suggested them, but 'abstruse' and 'recondite'. Even here, you could argue that register differentiates.
Answer: Let me start with my general sense based on usage that I've read and heard. To me, pragmatic refers to how something is realistic, sensible, and deliberately so. Practical is similar, but has more to do with actually doing something, and being effective. Also, pragmatic is more likely to be an attribute of a person. Practical could equally be a person or an idea.
Let's compare the definitions (from Merriam-Webster):

pragmatic: dealing with the problems that exist in a specific situation in a reasonable and logical way instead of depending on ideas and theories.

practical: relating to what is real rather than to what is possible or imagined / likely to succeed and reasonable to do or use / appropriate or suited for actual use.

So here we have a contrast between an idea of being "logical" (pragmatic) versus being "real" (practical).
It's also worth noting that the adjective pragmatic is also related to the philosophical idea of pragmatism Wikipedia, where the noun practicality clearly doesn't contain the same connotation.
For this reason alone, the words are not true cognitive synonyms. At best, one might consider certain usages/definitions of these words to be cognitive synonyms of each other, but in any event there are counter examples. Practicality/Pragmatism is just one example. A practical joke (*pragmatic joke) is another. (Thanks Edwin Ashworth for this latter example.)
In terms of usage where one is clearly more appropriate, I would consider the following sentences:

She loved him and needed to see him again, and so she did the only practical thing she could do: she sold her car and bought a plane ticket to go visit him.

Her practical implementation of the theory formed the basis for further research.

In the first example, the woman is acting (at least in part) out of something more than just logic. She is taking real action, even if it's not pragmatic. In the second, its the "real" aspect of the implementation (versus theory) that makes "practical" the better word choice.
As a side note...this doesn't really answer your question, but it's interesting to note that practical is used dramatically more frequently than pragmatic (see this ngram). I wouldn't go so far as to say that pragmatic will die out in favor of practical (if anything the usage of these words is actually converging), but I suspect that practical will continue to be the more popular word for the foreseeable future.
Comment: I think you explained very well on *practical*'s practical usages.
Comment: Nice explanation, which seems to share some aspects in common with mine but certainly goes further
Comment: The use of *Pragmatism* as the name for a school of philosophy comes under the exclusion of "jargon" (use in a specialized context) that I excluded in my question. (In fact, I had that specifically in mind when I wrote the exclusion.) So that part of your answer is not germane to the question.
Comment: Fair enough. I would still argue that the words are not cognitive synonyms, even if one only includes the "principal" non-jargon definition of each word. But thanks for clarifying what you consider in-scope for "jargon."
Comment: I question jdmc's assertion that "pragmatism," even if used to describe a philosophical movement, constitutes "jargon." Is "absolutism" jargon because it is often used in history? Is "arpeggio" jargon because it is used in "music"? The fact that Webster's has the meaning of "confused, unintelligible language" as part of its primary meaning indicates to me that the sense of jargon in this context is that it's language that is often deliberately used to obscure meaning by the members of a particular group (as is ubiquitous in, say, the corporate or computer world).
Answer: Interesting question. They are relatively close synonyms, but I'd say "practical" is the more all-purpose, general word while "pragmatic" is more specific and related to a way of thinking. Pragmatism is, for instance, a philosophical line of thinking that eschews symbolic representations and ideas in favor of real instruments or, according to Webster's is:

a reasonable and logical way of doing things or of thinking about
  problems that is based on dealing with specific situations instead of
  on ideas and theories

The adjective "pragmatic" is:

: dealing with the problems that exist in a specific situation in a
  reasonable and logical way instead of depending on ideas and theories

"Practical" is:

relating to what is real rather than to what is possible or imagined

Both quite close, but as you can see there seems to be bit of a connotative difference, with "pragmatic" being a bit more academic. I'd probably argue that while pragmatic seems more related to a line of thought, practical refers to actions. For one thing, you seem to always hear someone say "Be practical" but you don't seem to hear "Be pragmatic."
Comment: The general/academic aspect and the thought/action aspect are useful and helpful distinctions. Good explanation.
Comment: While it's true that *practical* is used more frequently than *pragmatic*, that alone doesn't imply that advice to "be pragmatic" or to "be practical" would have any difference in meaning.
Comment: @jdmc -- It's generally a good idea to read more carefully before commenting; I never say anything about practical being used "more frequently" (nor do I necessarily think it's the case).
Answer: methinks that the wannabe-considered well-read types and writers for TV-talkers have recently started substituting "pragmatic" in place of "practical" ...because it sounds more important + it (purposely) obscures their meaning -since no one knows why they are substituting the high-highfalutin-sounding, similar-but-incorrect word for the simple, normal and sensible one.
Comment: Why the -1? I agree that this is happening way too much: To "leverage" something, instead of plain ol' "use", or even "take advantage of" something. To assist someone, instead just helping them. To "revert" to someone with some business information, than than replying to them. (Of course, "revert" does not mean what the sender intends to say in this case. However, it's well worth using poor English to avoid the risk of appearing uneducated). Have a +1 to (partially) undo the bad karma that is seems the "wannabe-considered well-read types" are trying to force on you here :)
Answer: Pragmatic and practical are only synonyms in one sense: when describing something guided by practical experience and observation rather than theory.
Practical can be used to say a result or a thing has some quality in almost every respect. Pragmatic doesn't have this definition. ie. a practical failure or Tim is a practical wizard when it comes to coding.
You can also use practical to describe something put to a practical purpose or use. You can say practical applications of calculus but to say pragmatic applications of calculus is another thing entirely.
Answer: This answer comes from [this definition][1], where pragmatism is described as: "action or policy dictated by consideration of the immediate practical consequences".
I interpret that as: You can discuss an approach on solving a problem pragmatically; knowing the cause and effects of the 'parameters' being discussed. Like: if we investigate the issue first to find a root cause, the chance of applying a solution that actually works is higher.
Now consider being practical (without being pragmatical) about solving a problem: you just start doing something differently. It is about the doing part, doing is practical. Thinking is not practical. It comes from the word practice. You do not practise soccer by thinking, but by 'doing' the soccer. Being practical about soccer is actually playing soccer.
Being pragmatic about soccer is like knowing that if you sprint too fast too soon in the game (to outrun your opponent), you may be too tired too soon to give a good directional kick on the ball to get it in the goal, when you get a good chance to do so. You do not need to play soccer at the moment you are pragmatic about it. SO being pragmatic about soccer is that you would save your energy for a better chance later in the game, for instance.
But maybe this is just my interpretation. I like this one better than just interchangeably using the words practical/pragmatical, because then there is no distinction.
I think the confusion comes from from people who like to discuss problems, and come up with exotic ideas, to which people reply: "let's be pragmatic." Not meaning to start doing something right away, but rather stay more close to one's experience to come up with solutions, rather than dreaming exotic ideas that could be just fun to try.
Comment: Thank you for your answer, @Mike, and welcome to the site!
Answer:
Practical - doable or relating to actions in real
  world

I will say pragmatic is a theory which is practical

Pragmatic - relating to practically verified theory i.e verified practically that the theory is true

When you say a book is practical, the book shows the way to do actions.
When you say a book is pragmatic, the book has the theory which is verified that it can be converted to actions.
Answer: To me a pragmatic solution/decision would be a wise, feasible one, based on common sense.
A practical solution could be as above, but most of all it's smart and inventive, maybe ergonomic.
Answer: Following on from the discussion above, I'll attempt an example of sorts: You may have several practical (hands-on, concrete) options to solve a problem you are facing, but you make a pragmatic decision about which one to go with, i.e. a decision that is logically/strategically speaking the best suited to your goals, aims, and needs at that point (and that may even depend on an agenda that is not obvious to others and perhaps not even related directly to the problem itself).

Usage of "pragmatic" vs. "practical"


Can one use an adjective as a noun in French?

Question: This is common in Latin, as there are genders for adjectives therefore "stultus pecuniam semper laudat," means "a foolish [man] always praises money." We know that this is a man as the adjective stultus is masculine. Therefore, could we say in French "Un beau veut toujours d'être sur son trente et un" instead of "Un bel homme veut toujours d'être sur son trente et un?"
Answer: Yes, many adjectives including beau can be substantivized but the resulting sentence is slightly odd in your example.
Un beau veut... is not really idiomatic although un vieux beau veut... would be.
Comment: @Qu'arrhesrententsanshune I relied on https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/substantive#Verb I pick the most used, thanks!
Comment: I'd certainly choose *substantivized* here too. Or "an adjective can be a substantive" for some metagrammar.
Answer: Un sot trouve toujours un plus sot qui l'admire. -- Nicholas Boileau


how can i config Menu Type: Category Articles

Question: I bought a theme for my joomla webpage "joomla 3.6.5". This template uses very handy feature: all articles belonging to a category displayed vertical in a row with an navigation button at the bottom of the list. Tried to copy this layout on anothe Website i can not find the Munu Item Typ: "Category Articles" (Outputs articles from the specified category). How is this Menu item type configured?
Comment: I'm not exactly sure what your question means. Both the menu item type "category articles" and "gallery view" are not default Joomla menu items types.  Hence they must be added by something else - if they are integrated with a theme then it is unlikely that you can get exactly the same layout on another site without rebuilding the layout with your own custom layout.
Answer: You could look in the html-folder in your bought template and try to copy the files there and try to adjust them to your own layout then.
Here's a link where you can see how to add a custom blog layout, it should help to analyze the bought templates structure, so you maybe can change it for your needs.
https://www.ostraining.com/blog/joomla/custom-category-layout/


What is the CR/XP-Character Level relationship for opponents?

Question: I can't seem to find information in the Monster Manual for how to design an opponent with class levels of an appropriate challenge for my 7th-level party. Perhaps this appears in the DMG?
I want to make a human assassin entirely using class levels, rather than using the premade assassin in the back of the book.
What is the CR/XP vs. character level relationship for creating opponents in 5e?
Answer: The basic chart for CR to XP appears in the Basic Rules; specifically, there is a chart on page 5 of the Basic rules for DMs. You can also see this chart online in D&D Beyond's Basic Rules section.
In the DMG, the "Creating Encounters" section in Chapter 3: Creating Adventures has the XP Thresholds by Character Level table and a procedure for Evaluating Encounter Difficulty, including a sidebar on how CR fits into it.
The DMG also has rules for determining the CR of monsters you create, including class-leveled NPCs, in Chapter 9: Dungeon Master's Workshop, the "Creating a Monster" section. Note that you shouldn't assume that a character of a given level has a certain CR. Instead, the DMG says

[...] determine the NPC's challenge rating just as you would for a monster.

A little before the DMG's version of the CR to XP chart, there's another chart showing expected proficiency bonus, hit points, AC, damage per round, and etc. There are a series of instructions for how to use this chart (as well as a Monster Features list); that's all quite too long to list here, but as a final note:

Creating a monster isn't just a number-crunching exercise. The guidelines in this chapter can help you create monsters, but the only way to know whether a monster is fun is to playtest it. After seeing your monster in action, you might want to adjust the challenge rating up or down based on your experiences.

Another good bet is to look at existing examples and eyeball equivalents, but if you want to geek out about it a little more, see for example this detailed blog series analyzing monsters in D&D Next playtest materials and continuing through official 5e.
Answer: I've come up with a tangled bit of logic that might at least put you within a reasonable range. Please note that I've never actually played an encounter calculated this way, so I have absolutely no idea how it would work in the wild.

A Deadly encounter has a "substantial chance of character death"
A character fighting an exact duplicate of itself would have a 50-50 chance of surviving
A character is at least a Deadly encounter for itself or, by extension, for a character of equivalent power

So, by this logic, a level 7 NPC would be roughly equivalent to a Deadly encounter for a single level 7 character (i.e. about 1,700 XP).
There are some major caveats here:

An encounter with a 50% chance of death is probably harder than Deadly, so this approach might make an excessively dangerous encounter
The encounter might be harder still if the party is arriving at it with depleted resources (reduced HP, expended spell slots/abilities)
The encounter difficulty table probably incorporates some item acquisition, so the NPC would need appropriate equipment to really be the equivalent of an equal-level PC (this might be a way to reduce the deadliness somewhat)
The PC classes seem calibrated to function in a party, so even a high-level solo NPC might not perform optimally by itself (Rogues really benefit from someone to duck behind with Cunning Action and to allow them to sneak attack without having advantage)

As nerdy as this sounds, you might want to play out the encounter by yourself a couple of times to get a feel for how the dynamics would play out. My feeling from the Assassin Rogue's abilities is that the combat would be short and one-sided, for one side or the other. Hopefully this still gives you a starting point...
Answer: At first level a PC is probably CR 1/2 - 4 of them would be a Deadly encounter for a group of first level PC's.
Unfortunately, this seems to vary a little from level to level.
On average I would assume that an NPC generated in the same manner of a PC would have a CR of 2 below it's class level.
Using the same logic, a group of 4 level 20 PC's could face 4 CR 15 Monsters as a deadly encounter.
You may notice that the Humanoid NPC's in the Monster Manual aren't quite the same as the PC's. The archmage for example is an 18th level wizard in terms of casting level, but lacks many of the special feature that a PC would have at that level. He has a CR of 12.
PC's also have other advantages; Permanent Magic Items, One shot items, Preprepared team tactics, potentially dozens of practice battles.
This is just as well, as the GM has so many more things to juggle, they probably won't "benefit" from a running a group of characters of a level of complexity equal to the player characters.
So in conclusion: the formula for adding class levels would not be straightforward, thankfully you have already mentioned the level of your party. For a creature of CR 4+, I would add 1 to the CR for each 3 class levels you add, but strip out some of the complexity.


Raspberry Pi C++ IDE

Question: I would like to be able to code in C++ on my Raspberry Pi. I know that you can edit, run, and compile with only the command line, but I would like a more familiar IDE, such as Visual Basic or CodeBlocks. Are there any I could use?
Comment: Umm, how about *CodeBlocks*, lol?  May also be of interest: http://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/q/36398/5538
Comment: Thanks! That's what ! originally did, just forgot to close the topic, lol.
Comment: Related https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/a/75403/19949
Answer: I was going to just add a comment but did not have enough reputation. I use code:blocks (currently version 13.12 in the repository) for C++ development which can be installed via the terminal using:
<code>    $ sudo apt-get update
    $ sudo apt-get install codeblocks
</code>
Then run from the command line with <code>$ codeblocks</code> or from the menu Start > Programming > code::blocks. This has been tested on Raspberry PI models A, B, 2B, 3B using Raspbian Jessie.
Comment: Facing an error when downloading codeblocks this way with this error message appearing on my terminal ==> The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 codeblocks : Depends: codeblocks-common (= 16.01+dfsg-2) but it is not going to be installed              Recommends: xterm
Comment: Google searching for solutions and implementing them doesnt lead anywhere, any clues as to what is going on?
Answer: If you are using windows, I'd recommend using Visual Studio.  I see that Visual Studio 2017 is now out, and supports both Windows and Mac operating systems.  The number one reason I'd recommend this, is there is a Visual Studio Marketplace tool available "Visual C++ for Linux Development" that is pretty amazing for anyone pushing code to remote devices.  You write code on your desktop/laptop in Visual Studio (VS).
VS pushes code to your remote device (raspberry pi) for you.  You don't have to SSH login to the PI. You don't have to copy code from one place to another.  This makes it much easier to manage your project, keep track of updates, ete...
More importantly, that tool includes GDB (Gnu Debugging) which enables you to step debug content on your Raspberry Pi, directly from Visual Studio. If you've got content based on GPIO inputs, you can see exactly what's going on real time.
Here is friendly introduction for using Visual Studio with the  Orange/Raspberry Pi. that shows the use of the extra "Visual C++ for Linux Development" tool, including some sample code.
Note: I've been using Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 Community Edition (which is free) up until now.  Its not clear on the cost of Visual Studio 2017 (if any)
Edit: It turns out other Integrated Development Environments (IDE) also support GDB debugging.  Here's a link describing the process for JetBrain's cLion's IDE.  The JetBrain software is way cool, but obviously not free.
Edit #2: Scratch Visual Studio for Mac. That seems to work only for Android/iOS apps and .net.  Seems to be no go on C/C++, Python, Node.js ... there is no extension manager option, unlike normal Visual Studio. Sigh.
Comment: Er, yes but.  Visual Studio works wonderful as a complete integrated development environment (IDE) for raspberry pi, working from a desktop computer and pushing to Raspberry Pi.  You can debug, keep copy of code on desktop, etc...  No, it does NOT work on the PI itself. Am I the only person who considers raspberry pi software content 'temporary'?  (easily wiped, easily replaced...) I always want Pi content backed up somewhere, and with that assumption, I can't imagine a strong reason to use the pi as a coding platform (although you could argue Git push to a repository somewhere would work...)
Comment: It seems that the OP wants to code on their Pi, locally. Since you seem to be mentioning visual studio, does VS Code support ARM?
Comment: VS `Code` (not sure what that is... Is that the new lite version, sort of like using Atom.io? )  I've been using Visual Studio COMMUNITY Edition.  It's free, works great with Arm processors.   Armbian Linux (Debian) is still Linux.  Check out [this link...](http://dogfeatherdesign.com/debugging-cc-code-on-a-raspberry-pi-with-visual-studio/)
Comment: [VS Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/) is a mini-IDE, so it has built-in debugging and running. Atom (or at least me looking around for 5 minutes in it) doesn't do that. VS Code is designed so that the whole application runs on the computer itself, instead of writing code on another computer. It doesn't have builds for ARM, but [one person](http://www.hanselman.com/blog/BuildingVisualStudioCodeOnARaspberryPi3.aspx) shows how to compile it on a Pi.
Comment: Excuse me, zipzit, but I don't think that vs has compatibility for ARM processors :P
Comment: That's an amazing solution and works well on VS 2017.  Too bad it's not the answer the OP was looking for, but I gave you a bump.
Answer: I use Code::Blocks (http://www.codeblocks.org/home) with wxWidgets (http://wxwidgets.org/) on RPi and i386. Since CodeBlocks 17.12 I have not had many problems with it.
Both CodeBlocks and wxWidgets can be installed on your RPi from the command line or graphical package manager. I prefer Synaptic as a graphical package manager over the one that comes with Raspberry Pi OS.

Raspberry Pi C++ IDE


Can I claim my bitcoin gold if I have used my bitcoins few days ago?

Question: I had my bitcoins on blockchain.info when the fork happened. A few days ago I sold my bitcoins. Now I am wondering if there is a way I can claim my bitcoin gold? Blockchain.info support has said I can export my private keys and get them but I have no idea on how to do it. Please guide. Thanks.
Answer: You should be able to claim your Bitcoin Gold with your private key. The snapshot of ownership for Bitcoin Gold was taken on October 25th, if you had bitcoins at that time, you'll get Bitcoin Gold.
In order to redeem it, you'll need to import your seed/private key in a Bitcoin Gold wallet, but beware of fake wallets that just want to steal your coins.


What is the best way to add gradient to many complex shapes?

Question: I'm trying to replicate a color sales exhibit that we use for a specific client, the software that was previously used is no longer supported by AutoCAD, and we are trying to find a solution. I've been trying to use Illustrator/Photoshop to get the desired results, but I'm having trouble finding an efficient way to get the results that are desired by the client. The previous program was able to use a paint bucket style fill with a preset gradient that would automatically generate to the shape of the lots. Obviously, Illustrator and Photoshop's gradient tool does not work like this. I've been able to use the pen tool to get a similar result, but I've found that it isn't very efficient and can be quite sensitive when you are clicking along the lines/curves to trace the lots. This has led to me spending about a minute or two at least, to get the desired look of the lot. Now, when I have anywhere up to 500 some odd lots in a subdivision to color and get the look right, this time really adds up. So, I was wondering if there was a more timely solution or an alternative way of getting the correct look. Thanks!
Answer: For Illustrator use Graphic Styles.
Create the appearance for one object, drag it to the Graphic Styles Panel. Then select other object and click the Graphic style you just created.

You can change/update a Graphic Style by altering the appearance and then holding the Option/Alt key down and dragging the object on top of the style in the Graphic Styles Panel. All objects with that style applied will update to reflect the new appearance.

Or mix and match, by creating multiple styles...

(Horribly ugly gradients here to keep gif file sizes to a minimum.)

Be aware, I've outlined how to apply gradients to multiple object above. However, your sample of the original image is not using simple gradients. They are contoured highlights which are specifically shaped to match the overall object shape.
Another option, which can also utilize Graphic Styles and create the contoured highlight appearance, is to create an appearance using two fills and some alterations to one of the fills....

Again, drag the object to the Graphic Styles panel and you can apply the stacked fill appearance to multiple objects.


How to get the return type of a function of an already deployed contract?

Question: I am currently working on a real estate blockchain project. Now I have 2 contracts user.sol and property.sol. The person who is registered on the website through user.sol can only buy or sell property in property.sol. I have a modifier in user.sol contract named CheckingRegistration which checks the person who is requesting to buy or sell property in property.sol is registered or not. I have deployed my user contract on blockchain. Now my question is how do I access the state of a person that whether he is registered or not in my property.sol which will deploy later.
Comment: Please share your code. It is hard to refer to your question otherwise.
Answer: You can add a Instance of user to the property contract like this:
contract User{
    function CheckingRegistration...
}
contract Property{
    User us;
}

Then u have to write a function where the User in Property is given to the deployed User address like:
function Property(address _a}...{
         us = User(_a)
}

After that u can call the CheckingRegistration Function for the specific User.
Cheers


What are some ways to decrease turbulence?

Question: I know there are ways turbulence can be reduced, but what are these ways that keep the ride comforting and also with better stability.
Comment: Turbulence can't be reduced.  It can be avoided and the effect of this natural phenomenon can also be minimized.  The common ways of doing this are avoiding areas of turbulence by altering your route or altitude, and by slowing down your airspeed.
Comment: The only turbulence you can reduce is the one created by the aircraft (wake trubulence) and it is done by aircraft's design. Otherwise you can reduce effects of turbulence when flying into. You may edit your question to clarify you are asking for reducing effects of turbulences and not turbulences themselves
Answer: There is no way to really decrease turbulence per-se since its a factor of the air around you. There are ways to mitigate its effects and some are.

Climb: In some cases the air higher up is less turbulent or you can climb over the weather system causing the turbulent air. In this case climbing to a higher altitude may help
Divert: Similar to the climb situation you can divert around the turbulent air if you know where its occurring.
Timing: This is the one you may have the least control over if you are talking about commercial flying and its not always true but generally speaking the winds and thermal activity tend to be calmer in the early morning and evening. Flying around these times may allow you to find smoother air.
Size: Again this one is hard to control but there is some truth to the fact that big planes will be less effected by turbulent air than small planes. By this I mean that a 777 is going to bump around less than a Piper Cherokee. But it holds more or less true across the board.
Comment: The 787 Gust Suppression System should probably get a mention.
Comment: I used to fly Fairchild/Fokker F-27s. Fokker believed in, designed, and built rigid wings. The consensus at the time was that this resulted in a slightly rougher ride, a belief that I subscribe to.
Comment: Sometimes descending (rather than climbing) gives a better ride.  NOAA has a great turbulence modelling tool which includes a "side view" of the turbulence along a route and can be used to forecast the best altitude (for turbulence avoidance) to fly at.
Comment: See also ["Valse des Ailerons"](http://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/8598/is-the-a380-ailerons-kinematic-modified-in-alternate-law) - Airbus descriptions give purpose as "turbulence alleviation". [Video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqLyKwx8KNE). This may not be the kind of (more severe?) turbulence intended in the question. [Skybrary](http://www.skybrary.aero/bookshelf/books/2275.pdf)
Answer: You're not going to reduce the actual turbulence, but you can smooth out the ride a little bit.  Slowing down certainly helps.  If you are doing 230KIAS and you hit some bumps it is going to hurt more than at 180KIAS.  The PC12 is notorious for this in my experience.  I found in the Navajo that dropping the gear made the airplane a little more stable in rough weather in the mountains.
I heard an old-timer tell me that pushing the props forward helped because the props work like a gyroscope and remain "rigid in space."  I tried it on a particularly rough day where I was making a round trip in SE Alaska in a PA32 and noticed no difference, maybe someone with a physics background could chime in and explain how the guy is right, but in practice, it was just as rough on the way over as on the way back.


Does Acquia Dev Desktop allow 2 or more local sites using different core versions?

Question: The goal was to assemble a local version of a live Drupal 7 site, plus a new installation of Drupal 8 which would become the upgraded version of the Drupal 7 site. But whether I create the Drupal 7 or the Drupal 8 version first in Dev Desktop 2 ("DD"), it seems not to allow the 2nd version in a different Drupal version. Despite different database names clearly defined in DD, a second site added is always being confused as associated with the 1st site's database. What needs to be done differently, if indeed it should be possible to have these 2 versions coexisting in the DD sites list?
Answer: Yes Aqcuia Dev Desktop 2 allows you to work on Drupal 7 and Drupal 8 sites together. I have multiple 7 and 8 sites built on Dev Desktop 2.  I do however keep the codebases for them in different directories. My D7 production copy sites are not kept in the Sites/devdesktop folder. Also, they are all imported to Acquia, not generated by Acquia. The only "crossing of wires" I ever got was in cloning composer built 8 sites, and those were actually Acquia generated sites.
My D8 composer sites, though they are in Sites/devdesktop are also imported, not generated by Aquia, as I am using this composer based Drupal 8 project: https://github.com/drupal-composer/drupal-project
Drupal has docs on it here: https://www.drupal.org/docs/develop/using-composer/using-composer-template-for-drupal-projects
There is also a short YouTube video on how to install it with composer here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IhWAegz8glk
To import a site rather than letting Acquia build it, do the following:

click the + button on the DD UI panel and select "import local Drupal site".
Select the directory of the  codebase
name the site,
choose php version.
create a new database.
Click OK.

You can then use backup and migrate to restore your D7 data in your case.
I'm honestly not sure if it's the importing feature itself, or the separate directories that is doing the trick, but it has been working great for me!
Let us know!
Comment: Thanks much for those suggestions! At this point, I have had some new success but it is incomplete. I have not yet understood how and why to use Composer. But I did get both the old D7 site and the new (currently empty) D8 site listed as enabled in Dev Desktop, without "crossed wires." The problem now is, the D8 site's URL (from DD) is opening "in maintenance mode" and I can't get a login screen to change that. The D7 site is not configured to display a login screen, but adding "/user" to the URL fixes that. This same method does *not* work in the D8 site. Do you have any suggestions?
Comment: If it's installed correctly, you should be logged in on your first visit. Hard to say without looking at it.
Comment: Composer is in short a dependency manager that when it installs modules for example, it also installs all libraries and other modules that module depends on. There's a little headache in getting it installed but it will save you TONS of time down the road. The file directory structure on a composer built site is also different and preferred.
Comment: https://getcomposer.org/doc/00-intro.md


Real-time GY-85 IMU sensor interfacing with Simulink

Question: How do I read real time values from the GY-85 IMU sensor at Simulink connected via Arduino? Also, I intend to interact with the Virtual Reality environment at Simulink using this GY-85 IMU sensor.
Is this possible?
How do I make MATLAB read real time values from this GY-85 IMU sensor connected to Arduino via I2C communication ?
Please help!
Answer: Interfacing with Simulink has sometimes been a pain, I've developed a method to simplify it by putting a middle-man app between the arduino and Simulink:

Read the IMU data from the Arduino and print it in comma delimited
ASCII

This Arduino library can help you with reading the IMU from the Arduino.
Your Arduino application would simply read from the IMU, and send the data over serial or TCP/IP.

Read the ASCII string, convert it to a known binary structure and publish it on a TCP/IP port.

An excellent utility to do this is 'csv-to-bin' and 'io-publish' from the comma library.
An example command-line would be "cat /dev/ttyACM0 | csv-to-bin 9f | io-publish tcp:9000", which would read from the serial device /dev/ttyACM0 (assuming you're on linux) then convert the comma-delimited string to a binary struct consisting of 9 floats, then publish it on TCP port 9000.

In Simulink, use the TCP read block with the binary structure you selected.

In your Simulink model you can use blocks from the Instruments Control Toolbox to read the data. You must set the data types and sizes in the structure being read.

The advantage of using ASCII in step 1 is that you don't have to worry about the binary representation of the data when reading from the IMU or Arduino, and you can then explicitly convert that data into your selected binary structure for reading with Simulink.
Comment: This is an interesting way to do it. Is there any other way which does not involve use of TCP / IP ?


What is Generation Stage Meditation also known as Utpattikrama?

Question: There are many forms of meditation found in Buddhism.  Zazen is possibly the most well know form of meditation in the West.  However, in there are many different types of mediation.   In Vajrayana there appears to be many different types and stages of mediation as well.  One form is called "generation stage meditation" or also known as utpattikrama.  What exactly is "generation stage meditation" and how is it practiced?
Answer: Generation stage meditation is meditation targeted at transmuting ones neurotic traits into aspects of enlightened mind. It is done through visualizing (and on more advanced stages through identifying oneself with) a specifically selected yidam deity.
Generation stage meditation is similar to the first jhana, in the sense that it involves deliberate generation of certain mindset.
Answer: The Generation stage (Utpatti Krama in Sanskrit, Kye Rim in Tibetan) is the first stage in the practice of Anuttara Yoga Tantra, or Highest Yoga Tantra in Vajrayana Buddhism. In this stage one engages in the practice of deity yoga. The meditator, after receiving the empowerment into the practice of that particular deity, practices a set meditation ritual called a Sadhana which involves various visualizations such as various Buddhas and Bodhisattvas appearing, sending out rays of light, receiving rays of light, different things appearing on multicolored lotuses with sun and moon discs, etc... while preforming various prayers and ritual offerings of things like water, cakes called tormas, and prostrating.
This visualization culminates with visualizing oneself in the form of the figure of that practice (for example, if someone was practicing the Sadhana of Yamantaka they would visualize themselves as Yamantaka) possibly surrounded by an entourage or with a consort and they would recite the mantra of that deity, often while visualizing the words of the mantra revolving on the circle of a moon disk in one's heart or something like that.
After one has gained mastery over the generation stage, the meditator moves on to a practice called the Completion stage (Sampanna Krama in Sanskrit, Dzog Rim in Tibetan) in which one engages in vizualization practice inside the subtle channels in the body called Nadir in Sanskrit (Tsa in Tibetan) The point of this practice is to manipulate the winds (Sanskrit: Prana, Tibetan: Lung) and drops (Sanskrit: Bindu, Tibetan: Tikle) to move around the body. The goal of this is to bring the winds of the body into the central channel, which is believed in Tantra to cause the arising of the mind of clear light, a state which is direct and pure, and most importantly, is a state of mind beyond concepts, and the purpose of attaining it is to use it to contemplate emptiness using this non-conceptual clear-light mind. Doing so is supposed to be much faster in bringing one to enlightenment than the conceptual realization of emptiness attained using non-Tantric methods.
The different aspects of Completion Stage practice usually include Tummo practice (Also called the Yoga of inner heat) in which one visualizes various drops to bring down the white Bodhicitta from the chakra in the head all the way down to the root chakra by visualizations of flame, and Gyulü (called illusory body) in which one creates a Buddha body out of one's subtle winds.
These practices of Generation Stage and Completion Stage are the two main stages of Tantric practice of Anuttara Yoga Tantra in the New Translation schools of Tibetan Buddhism (that is, the Kagyu, Sakya, Gelugpa, and Jonang schools. The Old translation school (Called Nyingma uses a slightly different categorization scheme.)
I'm going to try to put together a list of reference books and edit them back in here for further reading of anyone interested because I can't remember them right now.


How old is this brick?

Question: How old would you say this brick is? It has the code 2837 on the inside of it. Any info would be appreciated.
Comment: You can find the history of almost any piece by looking it up on Bricklink.
Answer: It looks like part of the old 9-Volt motor that was made from 1990 and 2002.

The full thing's part number is listed as 2838 which I assume is the mold ID stamped on dark grey base, while 2837 is the mold ID of the top part.
I don't think it's supposed to come apart, it looks like there are 4 clips on each sides which have been broken off of your piece.
Comment: Had a few of these, definitely wasn't supposed to come apart.
Comment: Broken and buried in the ground from the looks of it.  Or is that grease from the motor the inside is crusted with?
Comment: Definitely broken: in the bottom view, you can see where all eight of the tabs that held the motor housing together have broken off.
Comment: Thanks guys. It had been in the dirt. I didn't recognize the shape at all and the hollowness of it made me speculate it may be old. Broken housing makes sense. Thanks for the info.
Comment: Tyler, it sounds like you agree with this answer.  If so, it would be nice to click the checkbox beside it to show that you accept it.  Since you asked the question you are the only one with this power.
Answer: Your brick appears to be the housing of the motor for the Lego Technic Dune Buggy, and may be upwards of 30 years old.
Comment: Buggy aka RC Motor is totally different motor.
Comment: The one I have is identical to the above-pictured.  Don't make me find it!
Comment: Do you happen to know which set exactly you are referring to? 8475 or 8284 maybe? I don't see any "Buggy" sets with a motor mentioned in another answer.
Comment: @Alex Hi, I cannot provide exact clarification for you.  Might edit to include uncertainty?  Meh.  Focusing purely on the title of question, I would maintain the second half of my submitted answer.

How old is this brick?


How do I get the residue of the given function?

Question: I'm reading the solution of the integral:
$$\int\limits_{-\infty}^{\infty} dx\frac{e^{ax}}{1+e^x}$$
by the residue method. And I understood everything, but how to get the residue of $\frac{e^{az}}{1+e^z}$ (the book just states that the residue is $-e^{i\pi a}$).
I know there is a simple pole at $z=i\pi$ and that is the point where I want the residue.
Since it is a simple pole I tried using the formula $a_{-1}=f(x)(z-z_0)$ by using the series expansion of the exponential function and I got to this formula
$$a_{-1}=-e^{i\pi a}\left[\frac{\left(1+\sum\limits_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{(z-i\pi)^{n-1}}{n!}(z-i\pi)\right)^a}{\sum\limits_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{(z-i\pi)^{n-1}}{n!}}\right]_{z=i\pi}$$but I believe thats wrong and I couldn't find my mistake or another way of solving it.
Answer: Make change of variables $u=e^x$ to get
$$
\int\limits_{-\infty}^\infty\frac{e^{ax}}{1+e^x}dx=
\int\limits_{0}^\infty\frac{u^{a-1}}{1+u}du
$$
then see this answer.
Comment: On this link he doesn't show the steps too, and I couldn't find it myself even using the function used on the link.
Answer: $$\lim_{z\to\pi i}(z-\pi i)\frac{e^{az}}{1+e^z}\stackrel{\text{L'Hopital}} = \lim_{z\to\pi i}\frac{e^{az}}{e^z} = -e^{a\pi i}$$.
Answer: Let $g,h$ holomorphic and $z_0 \in \Omega$ such that $h(z_0)=0$, $h'(z_0) \not= 0$ and $g(z_0) \not= 0$. Then the equality $$\text{Res}_{z=z_0} \frac{g}{h} = \frac{g(z_0)}{h'(z_0)}$$ holds.
In this example we obtain $$\text{Res}_{z=\imath \, \pi} f = \frac{e^{\imath \, \pi \cdot a}}{e^{\imath \, \pi}}  = - e^{\imath \, \pi \cdot a}$$


Installing over stove microwave

Question: Can I just hardwire microwave and leave
the connected 2 wires with nuts and the
gound connected in the cabinet resessed
space under bottom of cabinet?  And because the electrician who the owner of our building just paid to rewire the entire place, put all the fuse boxes, for each unit together, mine being 2 places over , outside in another persons back yard who has the gate locked, I hope I can do this hot.
Comment: When you say "all the fuse boxes" -- does that include the boxes that protect/feed individual branch circuits in each unit, or is that just the master metering/service complex? Also, is this an apartment you rent, or a condo you own?
Comment: Most modern microwaves are not allowed to be hard-wired. They must have a suitable outlet in the cabinet above.
Comment: @isherwood I just spot-checked a couple of installation manuals for major brands and you are correct.
Answer: Danger!
Working hot is problematic, especially if you are not a pro.
Rental
A rental is not the same as owning your home. For the same reason the electrician owner had to pay someone else instead of doing it himself, you shouldn't be doing any real electrical work here either.
Use As Designed & Tested
Most current models of over-the-stove microwave ovens (I checked a Whirlpool and GE but have no reason to think others are different) are designed to plug in to a standard outlet. Unless specifically authorized by the manufacturer, replacing with a hardwired connection will likely void the warranty and could lead to other problems.
In addition, if you ever need to repair the oven (and I've actually done that successfully on a similar oven after a thermal overload due to user error (a.k.a., food cooked way too long and caught on fire...)), you would not have an easy way to shut off all power while you work, because you couldn't simply pull the plug.
Proper Installation
No matter who is doing the work, all splices (with certain exceptions) must be inside equipment or junction boxes, not in ordinary cabinets.
Comment: It sounds like there's a serious Code issue afoot as well, that locked gate could very well be a 240.24(B) vio if the keys aren't accessible to all building occupants

Installing over stove microwave


How do I 'pan' the camera around an axis for an animation?

Question: I want to be able to have the camera rotate around an axis, while still remaining pointed at the center of said axis. The camera should pan around the model in a circular motion with the model always in the center of the view. How do I do this?
Answer: Another trick that might help is to track the camera to a target.
If you have a specific object you want to orbit around and the motion doesn't have to be absolutely circular then you can add a Track To constraint to the camera with the object in question as your target. If you keep Space as World Space <-> World Space, you'll want to switch the Up: to Y and the To: to -Z.
Instead of directly tracking to the object in question you could add an empty of course, and make sure the empty is where it should be. You then can move the camera freely around, it will keep tracking its target. Set your key frames for camera location where you need them, rotation is handled by the Track To constraint, keeping the camera trained on its target.
The quick way to do this is to first select your target, then Shift + select your camera. Shift + Ctrl + C will give you a constraint popup, select Track To. The first selected target will be automatically assigned the target for your constraint.
Comment: This is my default setup: a sun lamp and a camera tracking to an empty. (You can also select the camera, then select the target, then press `Ctrl-T` and select "Track To" for the same effect.)
Answer: You can parent the camera to an Empty to do this. While in the 3D Viewport, press Shift + S and select Cursor to Selected or Cursor to Center. Add an empty (Shift + A > Empty > Plain Axes). Parent your camera to that empty by selecting the camera first then hold shift while selecting empty. Press Ctrl + P and select Object (Keep Transform), now you can rotate the empty 360 degrees based on Z axis so your camera will pan around in circular motion.

Hope you find this useful!
Comment: Instead of parenting, it would be much better to use the Track To constraint. That way you can animate the location of your camera, without having to worry about its rotation.
Comment: This is a lot more professional than the idea I had in mind, I was going to set the camera's center to origin and then rotate the camera, your way is a lot cleaner. Great answer.
Comment: @jesterKing feel free to add another answer if it sheds more light or an alternative approach to the question.
Comment: @aditia With this method is there any way you have found to make the camera spiral in while focusing on the subject?
Comment: @JustWondering you can use constraint for that, like track-to constraint
Answer: Script versions
This is a reduced version of https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/176762/15543  The idea here is to pan around z axis at (0, 0, 0) but keep the focus of original camera.  The default scene cube is at (0, 0, 0) the default camera focus does not pass through (0, 0, 0)  The scripts make a duplicate camera with same transform as original scene camera such that they can scribe or follow an orbit, starting from original camera
Add empty parent
Quite simply, duplicate camera, add empty at desired location, parent camera to empty. Now rotating the empty on its local z axis makes the camera scribe a circular path.
The only property to set is the z https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/176762/15543rotation of the empty.
import bpy

context = bpy.context
scene = context.scene
cam = scene.camera

if cam:
    bpy.ops.object.empty_add(location=(0, 0, 0))
    mt = context.object
    mt.empty_display_type = 'SPHERE'
    mt.empty_display_size = 4
    cam2 = cam.copy()
    cam2.parent = mt
    context.collection.objects.link(cam2)

Note since am using the global origin as pivot point, adding a LOCAL to LOCAL copy transform constraint on copy to original, will adjust radius automatically based on originals location.
Move the camera by rotating the empty.  Possibly worth noting that to see for example a turntable rotation, without reference points like grid and directional lighting could have stationary camera and spin the cube, or spin the whole scene (sans cam), spin the camera as shown, or orbit a circle path... result would appear same
Drivers

To animate with drivers. Add a driver to the z rotation euler property of the empty
driver = mt.driver_add("rotation_euler", 2).driver

Set the expression. For examples below No driver variables are needed as frame is "known" (a member of the driver namespace) to be  current frame, as is the noise module
Spin 1 rev per 24 frames. Zero at frame 1.
driver.expression = "2 * pi * (frame - 1) / 24"

Random location on ring
driver.expression = "2 * pi * noise.random()"

IMO particularly handy for a "turntable" animation.  The image above switches scene camera to active object. The first half is driver 1, the second driver 2.
Keyframes
Adds a random location at every 10th frame starting from 1, sorted by order of angle.
frames = range(1, 250, 10)
angles = sorted(random() for f in frames)
for f, a in zip(frames, angles):
    mt.keyframe_insert("rotation_euler", index=2, frame=f)

Make an orbit
Here we make a circular orbit. A camera with a follow path constraint with follow curve, tracking -X axis with Y up focuses camera with no transform on the path center.
Here is a script to add orbit, set up a new camera copy, put it on orbit.

Once again notice that the camera is not focused on (0, 0, 0) and orbiting gives the impression of cube rotating on (0, 0, 0)
Now only the offset of the follow path constraint need be animated. 0 is same position as orginal. 1 is same position (one full orbit)  At 0 and 1 the added camera match the orginal scene camera.
import bpy
from mathutils import Vector, Matrix
context = bpy.context
scene = context.scene

while scene.collection.objects:
    bpy.data.objects.remove(scene.collection.objects[0])

cam = scene.camera
mw = cam.matrix_world
r = mw.translation.xy
r3d = Vector((r.x, r.y, 0))

h = mw.translation.z
from math import degrees
R = Matrix.Rotation(
        r.angle_signed(Vector((0, -1))),
        4,
        'Z',
        )

T = Matrix.Translation((0, 0, h))

bpy.ops.curve.primitive_bezier_circle_add(
        location=(0, 0, 0),
        radius=r.length)
path = context.object
cu = path.data
cu.transform(R @ T)

cam2 = cam.copy()
cam2.matrix_world = Matrix()
fp = cam2.constraints.new('FOLLOW_PATH')
fp.target = path
fp.use_curve_follow = True
fp.use_fixed_location = True
fp.forward_axis = 'TRACK_NEGATIVE_X'
fp.up_axis = 'UP_Y'

context.collection.objects.link(cam2)
context.view_layer.update()

cam2.matrix_basis = cam2.matrix_world.inverted() @ mw
scene.camera = cam2
context.view_layer.objects.active = cam2

Pros. Can see the orbit, can edit to be non circular.


Has anyone charged a percentage on printing costs?

Question: I have a client who wants me to handle the printing as well. Is there an industry standard figure like 10% or 15% of the total print cost that I should bill to the client? or should I charge a fixed figure as print handling?
Comment: Personally I would bill the time it takes me to get the printing set up, sent & collected, as thats actually what your doing.
Comment: As a side note, although I think this is a fairly common practice, if you are part of a professional design association, you may want to take a look at their Code of Conduct to avoid getting in trouble. I know in my region, the institution who regulates design practices frowns upon this practice. It's part of the ethical code they ask graphic design members to follow.
Answer: Very old question....
If I cover printing for a piece, I charge the printing costs + 20% up front as a minimum. I've been burned by clients refusing to pay for printing due to some error they missed when they proofread something. It's never fun to get caught with a large invoice your client should be paying.
I honestly try and avoid doing anything other than acting as a liaison for printing for any project where printing costs are over 3 figures. Not because I couldn't cover it, but because there's too much risk vs reward.
Answer: If you are wanting an industry standard the percentage would be closer to 40% of the cost, although that is going to vary depending on the product and the average retail cost they could expect to be charged elsewhere.
For instance a set of full color business cards at a wholesale print shop will run you around $20 - $30 and your percentage on them would be 50% - 75%.
It may seem high but this isn't just a convenience charge, once you start "taking care of the printing" you become in essence a print shop, that also handles file management and design.
Most importantly you assume all risks associated with production and ensuring the client is happy with the end result.
If something goes south you want enough padding to cover most if not all of the cost of a reprint.
Even if something goes wrong on the printers end and they cover the cost of reprint you are stuck with the headache of customer relations and with hoping they get it done right the second time.
Billing can be very difficult to get in the beginning because of a misguided belief of overcharging. Make sure you research your local market to know what " everyone else " is charging, and find yourself a good wholesale printer with consistent pricing, and you can develop a rock solid price structure.
Don't be afraid of making Money!


Tags for specific models of cars?

Question: Currently you would tag a question about 2003 Honda Civics by using the honda and civic tags.  Would it make sense to make more specific tags like 2003-honda-civic and 2005-honda-civic which are both synonyms for seventh-generation-honda-civic (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Civic_%28seventh_generation%29)?  Then we could subscribe to questions that affect cars we own or have experience with.
Comment: An additional problem with specific tags is they'll eventually be removed after 6 months if the tag is only one one question.
Answer: I'm with Bob here, I think more general tags are better. In the case of the example you give, a question about a 7th gen Civics might be something that is easy to answer for someone who owns an Accord, as there are parts in common between different models in a range, so the Honda tag would attract them, wheras a specific tag would not.
Answer: Personally, I'd rather have several inclusive tags rather than a single exclusive tag.  Example: the 2002 WRX (in the US) and the 2004 WRX models have many points that are similar (e.g., the engine, turbo, etc.) and other points that are different (e.g., the headlights).  I have a 2004 but could probably provide someone with useful advice about their 2002.  If nothing else, I'm closer to their ballpark than a non-WRX person.
EDIT much later because I don't think I was clear: a single "wrx" or "civic" tag is potentially more useful than a "2004-wrx-wagon" tag.
Comment: It makes sense to have multiple inclusive tags... it lowers the possible permutations of tags, and makes them much more manageable on a stackexchange website.
Answer: Some questions really are specific to a particular model in a particular year or range of years.  I don't think there is a consensus yet on how to tag such questions.
General questions should use general tags, sure.
Somebody asking a question about a 2003 Honda Civic quite possibly does not know how much a Civic has in common with different Honda models of a similar vintage, though.  Let them ask their question and take their best guess at tagging it, and if it really is a more general question, somebody who knows better can retag the question.
Comment: Tag-wise I'm not sure, but the full model/year should always be in the question if the model matters at all.

Tags for specific models of cars?


Vertical Antennas: Compare Cushcraft R9, no radials to 43 foot vertical with ground radials

Question: Small lot, must go vertical.
Which antenna will preform better, with less noise, good DX.
Cushcraft R9, NO ground radials.  Or, 43' with ground radials.
Comment: The question appears to be too broad and would generate opinion based answers. I suggest editing the question to be more generic about vertical antennas, with or without radials, etc.
Comment: It's for questions like this that I wish "too localized" was still a close reason. Unless you expect it's likely someone else will ever happen to have an R9 without radials, and a 43 foot vertical with radials, and a need to compare them.
Answer: 31 foot R9
+: work parts of 80m and ham bands 40m-6m without a tuner
-: 25 lbs, top heavy, requires guys, complex assembly compared to simple vertical.  Probably mediocre on 80m compared to dipole, inverted V, or full size vertical.
43 foot vertical with radials
+: theoretically superior on 40m (7Mhz), with "enough" radials.  Should be good on higher frequencies when used with an autotuner at the antenna.  Easy to understand and assemble.
-:  Requires autotuner for higher bands.  Might be difficult to tune on exact even harmonics.  Probably mediocre and perhaps not tunable on 80m.
Additional Info:
The benefit of the R9 is that you will be able to work various bands from 80m through 6m without an autotuner.  The R9 does use shortened radials and other parts that protrude horizontally.
The Cushcraft R9 claims it will "work" all ham bands 6m-80m.
Looking at the R9 assembly instructions,  here are some facts about the design that you should consider:

multiple loading coils, capacitance hats, and shortened radials are used to present a reasonable SWR on the different bands.  It is more complex to assemble than the 43 foot vertical but will work more bands without an autotuner.
It is only 31 feet tall, but weighs 25 lbs
It can not perform as good as a 1/4 wave on 40m (7Mhz) or 80m (3.5-4Mhz) because it is not 1/4 wave long.
It has a top heavy, wind catching section.
The manual requires guying to achieve an 80mph wind survival rating

Eham only had 7 reviews, with some satisfied and dissatisfied customers.  See http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/11280
A 43 foot vertical with ground radials could be an excellent 1/4 wave vertical antenna for 7Mhz/40m.  It may be usable on higher frequency bands with an antenna tuner, though it could be hard to tune on exact even harmonics in the 14Mhz and 28Mhz bands because exact 1/2 wave verticals have very high impedance.
It is possible to have a 43 foot vertical made of lightweight nested aluminum poles or as a wire laid out on a set of thin nested plastic or fiberglass poles and it will not weigh 25 lbs and will not be top heavy and might not need guying.
Other Options
I use a vertical dipole cut for ~20m that also works on all higher HF frequencies.  It is a half wave antenna with the vertical radiator cut in the middle and fed with ladder line.  The ladder line goes into a balun just outside the home to run coax under a door frame, and is matched with the autotuner in the radio a few feet away.
I also use an 80m spiral wound antenna. This is a low bandwidth design that needs a tuner and/or antenna measurements to get good results.  Like all shortened antennas it is mediocre, but I have worked Europe with it from the southeast US.  Wind ~1/2 wavelength of wire (~130 feet) on a fiberglass pole and add a capacitance hat on top.  I used about 16-20 feet of 2 inch fiberglass and inserted toothpicks every 0.75=3/4 inches to help space the turns.  Got this design from an ARRL Antenna book.


Multiple meshes in one vertex buffer?

Question: Do I need to use one vertex buffer per mesh, or can I store multiple meshes in one vertex buffer? If so, should I do it, and how would I do it?
Answer: You can store multiple meshes in one vertex buffer. You may gain some performance by putting several small meshes in in one buffer. For really large meshes you should use seperate buffers. SetStreamSource lets you specify the vertex buffer offset for your current mesh.
pRawDevice->SetStreamSource( 0, m_VertexBuffer->GetBuffer(), m_VertexBuffer->GetOffset(), m_VertexBuffer->GetStride() );

Answer: TBH generally the reason for putting them all in one big buffer is to save on draw calls.  The cost of switching a vertex buffer is fairly minimal.  If you can merge them all into 1 vertex buffer and render 10 objects in 1 draw call then you are on to a big win.
Usually to merge them you just create 1 big vertex buffer with all the vertex data, already world transformed in it, one after another.  You then set up an index buffer that renders them one after another.  You then have everything drawing in minimal draw calls.  Of course if you move one thing that requires updating a portion of the vertex buffer which is why its an ideal situation for static geometry.
If all the objects are the same you'll only be using 1 vertex buffer (with 1 object definition in it) and 1 index buffer anyway right?  Matrices move or animate the object ...
If all the objects are different and moving/animating then i'd just stick with individual VBs.  I doubt you'd notice any difference by merging them all together.
Answer: Well my experience is that it doesn't make that much difference as long as your buffers aren't really tiny or really huge. I suspect that any inefficency in switching buffers would be matched by an increase in efficiency by giving the driver more operatunities to manage it's memory with more smaller buffers.
Answer: With OpenGL you can use glVertexPointer() to start drawing from a certain offset inside the VBO. not sure about D3D.

Multiple meshes in one vertex buffer?


Surveys on pseudo-random number generator design?

Question: I am interested in generation of pseudo-random numbers for cryptography. Besides Chapter 5 of Menezes/Oorschot/Vanstone; Chapter 8 of Stinson; and Chapter 3 of Goldreich, where else could I find more? I'm interested in general principles for designing PRNGs (desirable properties, tests, etc).
Comment: Not on design per se, but you may be interested in Goldreich's newer book: http://books.google.com/books?id=9k6Lw2U2XCkC
Comment: @S Huntsman: thanks a lot for that! I didn't know Goldreich had a book on PRNGs.
Answer: You might want to check out

Chapters 5 and 6 of Katz and Lindell
Pseudorandomness by S. Vadhan
Parwise Independence and Derandomization by Luby and Wigderson
Pseudorandomness and Combinatorial Constructions by Trevisan
Goldreich's webpage on pseudorandomness, where he has pointers to other sources.
Comment: Most of this is not very relevant to practical implementations of PRNGs for cryptography.  This is not a good set of resources to give an implementor.
Answer: If you are thinking of implementing your ideas, there is a standard battery of tests that PRNG implementations are given.  These tests (DIEHARD and successor DIEHARDER) may be downloaded from its archived webpage and http://www.phy.duke.edu/~rgb/General/dieharder.php respectively.
Comment: Important cautionary note: passing DIEHARD does not mean your PRNG is any good.  This is not a resource I would give to an implementor who needs to implement a secure PRNG.
Answer: Are you interested in implementing a PRNG?  If so, your best bet is not to design one yourself, but just use a standard one.  /dev/urandom is the right answer on most platforms.  If /dev/urandom doesn't exist, generating a random AES key with /dev/random and then running AES-CTR mode to generate lots of pseudorandom numbers is another reasonable approach.
I recommend that you read Cryptography Engineering, by Ferguson, Schneier, and Kohno.  It is an excellent book.  It will teach you a lot about how to design and build real cryptosystems.
If you actually have to build a system that will be deployed in practice, I recommend that you do not take your guidance from the theoretical CS community, but rather from the community of practitioners and practice-oriented researchers.  Much of the theoretical CS work will not be very relevant, or potentially even misleading, to practical implementation of a secure PRNG.  I also encourage you to look at the IT Security stack exchange for those kinds of questions.
Comment: The question explicitly says he is interested in general principles, and the question was asked on the Theoretical CS stack exchange...


ARIMAX and xreg variables

Question: Just wondering how to setup xreg variables for ARIMAX models? I am particularly interested in whether I should be grouping together events for dummy variables. For example should I create 1 dummy variable and store all public holidays or should I create a dummy variable for each public holiday (this could lead to many dummy variables). BTW - I am using R and the Forecast package.
Answer: This was already answered for you here Approaches to Forecasting with Daily Timeseries
You would want a dummy for each holiday.  But what about lead and lag impacts?
Build a regression model at the daily level using promotional variables(lead and lag impacts) and the future expected promotions, 16 U.S. holidays(lead and lag impacts), days of the week with 6 dummy variables, search for special days of the month, months of the year, impact on Mondays after holiday, impact on Fridays before a holiday, along with checking for changes in trend, level shifts, outliers and seasonal pulses to get a forecast.  We recommend 3 years of historical data so that you can get a good measure on the holidays.  For example, in 2010 and 2011 Christmas landed on a weekend so you have no measure of the impact of Christmas on a weekday.  You could include a causal that explains the macro direction of the business (ie # of outlets your product is sold in) always be used as a good causal to help explain the overall trend in the call volume.  You could provide future sales estimates using a forecast to help guide the direction of the forecast as well as allow the managements input on expected future business success for upcoming months.
Read more here http://www.autobox.com/cms/index.php/blog/tags/tag/forecasting-regression-time-series-holidays
Answer:
should I create 1 dummy variable and store all public holidays or should I create a dummy variable for each public holiday (this could lead to many dummy variables).

The basic consideration is whether you anticipate the effect will be the same (or almost the same) for every such holiday, or whether it might differ from one to the next.
If you expect the holiday effect to be essentially exactly that - a single effect no matter which holiday it was - then you would code a single dummy. If you expect there would be substantive differences in holidays, then you'd code them differently.
Usually, one would expect there to be differences, but it may depend on the application (and how much of an effect there is in the first place; if the effects aren't all that huge to begin with, the improvement in bias may not be worth the tradeoff in accuracy).
Beware of anticipatory effects - with at least some holidays, there can often be effects for some days beforehand (especially if you're looking at things like food or fuel sales), and sometimes effects in the immediate aftermath as well.

ARIMAX and xreg variables


test accuracy is so much lower than validation accuracy by 6~10%. What could be the reason?

Question: I trained a resnet101 model using 900 samples / class (50 classes in total ), and chose the best model based on best accuracy using a separate validation set of 100 samples / class, throughout the whole training train/val accuracies were very close, which mean i am not over-fitting the train dataset(?), but the accuracy of a hold on test set of 100 samples / class was lower by 6~10% compared to validation accuracy, what could be the reason?
NB: train/ val/test sets were sampled from the same distribution
Comment: In general an estimate of the performance of the best-performing model on a validation set will be something of an over-estimate, the more so the more models you compare. That's why you have a test set: to get an unbiased estimate of a model's performance.
Comment: What @Scortchi says. Problems arise if you use your results on the "test set" to modify your model - because then the "test set" effectively becomes part of the validation set, which [I argue](https://stats.stackexchange.com/a/309818/1352) is in turn actually part of the training set.
Comment: possibly the test data happens to be different than train/val. Repeat the procedure with another random sampling to make sure that is not an issue.
Comment: just for clarification the val set was used along training at each epoch to monitor performance out of sample, best performing model is saved, while training continues for a chosen total epochs. @StephanKolassa the test set is only for testing generalization, no further modification is done to the selected model.
Answer: You may be "overfitting to the validation set" at this step:

chose the best model based on best accuracy using a separate validation set

Once you tweak your model, or choose among multiple competing models based on the validation set, it is not a true validation set any more - it effectively becomes part of the training set, albeit in a somewhat obfuscated way.
Look at it in this way: suppose you train an astronomical number of models, including all your potential predictors, but also transformations, and completely unrelated predictors like sunspot numbers or frequencies of Mongolian throat singers. Then you apply all your models to the validation set and choose the one model that performs best on the validation set. This one happens to include an interaction term between last year's precipitation in Nowhere, OK and the hemlines at this year's Paris fashion shows - simply because you are fitting noise.
Would you expect this model to perform well on holdout test data, simply because it "worked" best on the validation set?
Unfortunately, there really is no good way around this dilemma. This can even happen with cross-validation and regularization or tree pruning. Differences between accuracy on different test and validation sets are one potential hint that something like this is going on, though. Your best approach would be to be parsimonious in your initial selection of candidate models, and collecting a lot of test data so you can use a "layered" approach with multiple iterated validation and test sets.


I want to be web security consultant?

Question: If I want to be very good at security and especially web security, then must I learn languages? I mean things like PHP, C#, java, etc? If not then what should I learn exactly? and do you know any good book for a beginner?
Comment: Hi @Fadi, welcome to the site! You should probably split your two questions into seperate questions (see [FAQ]), though the 2nd one re books as been asked and answered here numerous times (see [ [tag:books] ] tag). Regarding the main question, there are also several relevant questions that would be interesting to you, but are not quite duplicate - e.g. http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/3772/what-are-the-career-paths-in-the-computer-security-field.
Answer: Security is a complex topic. It involves being able to understand complex systems, work with people, and solve problems with technical, social, and business solutions.
For books, I liked "CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide" by by Shon Harris. It covers the basic theory of security and many sub topics. A great history of IT Security theory can be gleaned by reading Early Computer Security Papers.
I would prefer security experts to know a broad range of relevent topics, because failure to understand a relevent domain can lead to subtle vulnerabilities. However, I was taken to task by Graham Lee, who pointed out diminishing relevance in my list of topics.
First off the three essential components of security are availability, integrity, and confidentiality. Others would add in authenticity and non-repudiation, but I would focus on the first three for someone who is just getting started.
Web security covers all the components, actors, and processes involved in web applications. The major components are the web server, the web browser, and the network connecting web browsers to web servers. The major actors are the web browser user, the web site administrator, the network administrator, and the web application creator. Note that there are typically many people filling a specific role, and there are many more roles.
I'm trying to keep specifics short, so I won't include everything. Specifics are as of this posting (mid-2011).
Web browsers

the web browser application: popularity, features, vulnerrabilities, etc

Specifics: Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome

user's operating system (what the browse application runs on)

Specifics: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Ubuntu Linux, Mint Linux, Fedora Linux

browser layout engines

Specifics: Trident (Internet Explorer), Gecko (Firefox), WebKit (Chrome)

Javascript engines

Specifics: V8 JavaScript engine (Chrome), TraceMonkey (Firefox), Chakra (Internet Explorer 9), Jscript (Internet Explorer 8)

Java virtual machines
Operating system theory: execution environment, process control, memory management, filesystems, IPC
user's network stack: IPv4, IPv6, TCP, UDP, ARP, RARP, DNS, HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, WebDAV
user's network connection: ethernet (IEE 802.3), WiFi (IEE 802.11),
cryptography: symetric key cryptography, public key cryptography, certificates, certificate revocation lists, Certificate Authorities, and hashing.

miscellaneous: black lists, white lists, sandboxing, downloading, password management, caching, and updating.

Network

network hardware: router, switch, bridge, hub, firewall, proxy, Network Attacked Storage (NAS), Wireless Access Point, SIP servers, VPN servers
network protocols: ethernet (IEE 802.3), TCP, UDP, IPv4, IPv6, IPSec, IGMP, WiFi, ARP/RARP, ICMP, IGMP, BGP, RIP, SNMP, SMB, DNS, DHCP, FTP, HTTP, LDAP, MIME, NetBIOS, POP3, RADIUS, SSH, SIP, SMTP, SOAP, WebDAV)
network configuration and architecture

Web server

http servers

Specifics: Apache, Microsoft IIS Windows Web Server, nginx, Google Web Server, lighttpd

operating systems (what the http server runs on)

Specifics: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP Professional, RedHat/CentOS, Ubuntu/Debian, SuSE/openSuSE

programming languages (used to write http servers, operating system, frameworks, etc)

Specifics: C (Apache), C++ (IIS), Java, JavaScript, PHP, C#, Python, Perl

business impacts (usability, updates, changes, software life cycle, user avoidance and circumvention, user education)
databases (relational, objet oriented, architecture, distributed, transactional, SQL, management, security)

Specifics: MySQL, Oracle, Microsoft SQL, PostgreSQL

cryptography (symetric encryption, public key encryption, hashing, random number generation, salts, digital signatures, HMAC, AES modes of operation, initialization vectors, key generation, key distribution, key revocation, certificates)
network (firewall rules, DMZ architecture, proxys, load balancing, Single Sign-On authentication passing)
server management (user accounts, patches, upgrades, logging, log review, Intrusion Detection Systems [IDS])

Communication
In my opinion a good consultant (of any kind) is an effective communicator.

Technical design presentations and reviews
Solution pitches
Business case reviews
Whitepapers
User education presentations

Other nice to have areas:

computer hardware architecture (CPU, RAM, Disk drives, video displays)
peripheral busses (USB, FireWire, RS-232, I^2C, PCI, SATA, SCSI, Bluetooth)
CPU architecture (operating states [protected mode], I/O bus, registers, MMU, TLB, pipelines, and interrupts)
operating systems theory (kernel types [Monolithic, Microkernel], drivers, memory management, file systems, process control, threads, scheduling)
programming language theory (interpreters, compilers, machine language, symbol tables, dynamic libraries, dynamic linking)
executable file formats (ELF, PE, COFF, a.out)
database theory (relational, objet oriented, architecture, distributed, transactional, SQL, management, security)
file systems (fat32, NTFS, ext2, ext3, linux swap)
Comment: -1 I disagree that you need to know the entire of computing in order to do security well. Indeed, many companies don't have _anyone_ covering all of those fields you name (when was the last time salesforce.com needed to know about a.out binaries?) and yet still do just fine. You could have reduced that list down to "1. some stuff. 2. How to make use of other people's results."
Comment: And if he knew "how to make use of other people's results" he would have known how to find out that this was already done. As it was, he didn't, and invented it himself. Exactly my point.
Comment: @Graham-Lee Good criticism, I'll make some revisioms. However, the OP did say 'web security consultant' which to me means you have to be very knowlegeable in a wide range of topic. For your point 2. making use of other people results, I see people who do not really understand the results attempt to apply them blindly and incorrectly. I reviewed a design from a senior engineer at a very large firm who wanted to add checksums to messages sent by TCP. If he knew his networking he would have known that TCP already has checksums built in.
Answer: It depends on what 'good at security' and 'good at web security' means to you.
If you want to help people find flaws in their work, then you'll want to know the languages they use at least on a level comparable to theirs (though presumably with a different focus)
If you want to analyze systems, then you'll want to learn how systems interact (again from a security perspective).  In this case the specific languages don't matter as much as the details of the interactions (APIs / protocols)
As far as 'a good book', I would recommend reading as wide a variety of books / documents as you can.  IMHO 'good' security comes from experience / breadth and depth of knowledge.  If there is a book that you think might impact on something you're interested in, read it.  Even if you only skip to the 'good bits', having another viewpoint will have benefit.
I personally would suggest reading things by Dan Kaminsky and Bruce Schneier for mind-opening takes on security.  Mr. Schneier is probably a bit easier of a read, while Mr. Kaminsky has deep knowledge and sometimes breaks my head.  I like to think of security from a systems perspective, so this selection might show a little of my bias (notably neither of the above authors has a strong focus on 'web security' per-se.)
Comment: +1, I would also add that for blackbox breaking you don't need either of the above, rather an excellent knowledge of HTTP and common web attacks (and a little bit more...)
Answer: A great book for a beginner are the Security+ preparation books as they provide a great, broad discussion of many different topics in the security field.
As far as a language is concerned a great security professional knows a vast majority of languages as it allows them to react to different needs. If it is your first language, I would recommend C++ and then later Python. There is a fabulous book on Python and its use in security titled, Gray Hat Python: Python Programming for Hackers and Reverse Engineers. I might also recommend the CEH test book and the CCNA test prep. These are a few books I couldn't go without.
Hope this helps.
Answer: This looks promising:  http://mdsec.net/

"Online training labs from the authors of The Web Application Hacker's Handbook"
"Do the online labs contain learning materials such as slides, videos, solutions or other training documentation?"
"No, at the present time we only provide self-service labs demonstrating numerous types of security vulnerabilities. We recommend that you work through the labs while reading The Web Application Hacker's Handbook as a study aid. In future, we may offer additional learning materials on a subscription basis."
Answer: You have to learn how to build web applications before you can become "very good" at web security. That means you need to know how to build LAMP (Linux Apache MySQL PHP) applications. That means writing not only PHP code, by SQL query statements.
But you can't stop there. You also need to build ASP pages on top of Microsoft SQL.
But that's just the server side. Hacking the web is also about attacking browsers. You need to learn how to play with JavaScript to manipulate the DOM, and make XML queries to the server application.
Once you know how to build these things, you'll have the knowledge to secure/hack them.
Answer: To be very good, you will need to invest some time in web languages. You can do many things, without, however.
I would suggest that you become able to read HTML, JavaScript, PHP, Java, Python, C#, and Ruby, at least at a high level. Choose at least one (in addition to HTML) to be able to write. Not only will it help with your understanding of web applications, but it will help you to automate your work, change application code, and script exploits & reports.
As to your book question, it's unclear whether you mean for programming, or for security. If security, there are excellent free resources available at the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP). See the Development Guide, Code Review Guide, and Testing Guide. These are available digitally (for free) or print-on-demand through Lulu.

I want to be web security consultant?


Video game mechanics patentable?

Question: Can you patent your video game mechanics? Like if Flappy Bird mechanics had been patented by the guys who made the helecopter game (original flappy bird), could the creator of Flappy Bird be sued for it?
Comment: See also [GamePlay Patent](http://gamedev.stackexchange.com/a/14820/10408) on gamedev.stackexchange.com
Answer: This is a complex question because of changes in patent law relating to three significant cases, namely Bilski, Alice, and Mayo.  The ultra-short summary is that these cases pertain to the question as to whether a purely abstract idea, such as a set of mental steps, is patent eligible. (This is subject may referred to as "post-Alice", because that was the big one relating to this specific issue.)
Thus, can you patent the idea of a virtual object moving up and down in the context of a video game, such as in the classic arcade game Joust?
Patent law has traditionally protected game mechanics, with classic examples including both Monopoly, and more recently, Magic: The Gathering. However, these patents were granted before Alice.
It was surely not the intent of the patent review board to remove this traditional method of protecting game mechanics. Rather, the new uncertainty can be viewed as fallout from Alice. But it is not clear that pure mechanics that form novel games are no longer patent eligible.
Depending on which patent attorney you speak to, you will get answers ranging from "no" to "yes" to "maybe".  It seems as though patent attorneys who consider such patents to still be viable find value in tying the mechanic into a device, such as a computer system, though that, on it's own, is not enough.
I would urge you to read this very recent article from IP Watchdog.
The one comment I will make on the article is that my personal feeling (not as a patent attorney but as a game designer) is that the Smith's patent, which is causing such a stir, may not have had a great deal of merit. I suppose, in the loosest definition, their method of wagering could be a "game", but it required a pre-existing game to function. It might be analogous to trying to patent a method of betting on Chess, which, before Alice, may have been possible.

It is also important to note that a patent is not a monolith, being comprised in most cases, of a series of claims.  Each claim is reviewed individually, and the rejection of one claim does not necessarily mean that all claims will be rejected.
A recent game that may be helpful to consider is Threes!, aka 2048. Would it have been possible to patent that game mechanic? Quite possibly. The more relevant question may be would it have been worthwhile to pursue a patent, which can be a fairly expensive process. (Based on the number of times the clones have been downloaded, I'd lean towards yes, but in this context, it is really an assessment of risk vs. reward.)
The other thing to be aware of is this recent case, Spry Fox vs. Lolapps, which seems to extend protection of game mechanics into Copyright law. It could be overturned at any time by a higher court, but word on the street is it is a kind of "third rail" and no one wants to go near it.  Further, there is some precedent for this extension of Copyright law in Tetris vs. Xio, which is bordering on Design Patent territory.
Comment: There is an article on that: http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2016/08/15/monopoly-patent-ineligible-alice/id=71926/
Better to file a design patent before the patent office acquires some sort of competency after Alice
Comment: @daniel Yup. Just saw it!  (Adding it to the answer with commentary now.)
Answer: I don't know much about this subject but these 2 patents might be interesting to look at:
https://www.eff.org/pt-br/deeplinks/2015/12/loading-screen-game-patent-finally-expires
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-02-08-warner-bros-finally-secures-patent-for-shadow-of-mordors-nemesis-system

Video game mechanics patentable?


Why are level adjustments necessary?

Question: If in 3.5 a monster's CR is intended to be the level at which one PC has a 50% chance of winning the fight, why isn't a monster's CR used as the starting effective character level for a monstrous character of that type?
Comment: "If in 3.5 a monster's CR is intended to be the level at which one PC has a 50% chance of winning the fight" It is not. A CR is based on a standard party of 4 characters facing 4 encounters of CR equal to the average party level per day facing a "reasonable" challenge every time, taking into account base power and spread of resources.
Comment: Welcome to the site. Consider taking the [tour](https://rpg.stackexchange.com/tour) as it's a useful introduction to how things work around here.
Answer: Because monster CR is based on the utility of its powers given that it's going to live about one encounter, while the benefit of those powers to a PC that exists over many combats is different.  This is explained by designer Sean K. Reynolds in detail here.  It's also explained in Savage Species (sidebar under "Basics of Monster Characters"):

(...) The factors that go into making a good challenge
  and a good character are so different that CR is no help in the
  latter case. A monster is only "on the scene" for a very short
  while, usually just a few rounds. A player character, on the
  other hand, is present for almost every scene of the adventure. (...)  Never assume that CR and ECL are equivalent, or even related.

You should probably read Savage Species if you intend to start using monstrous PCs as it has all kinds of important guidance of that sort.
Comment: My standard example is once-per-day vs. once-per-year Wish: they're functionally the same for the typical monster who's going to be on-screen for one encounter, so they'd have roughly the same effect on CR, but wildly different effects on LA.
Comment: Mummy rot was the classic example, I think. Its has long-term effects on its target, and so can have a major effect on the campaign if used against a PC, but against an NPC monster who's probably going to die in five minutes it's basically meaningless.
Answer: You're framing the question wrong.
3.5 is not balanced for 1v1s, and its not balanced for a primarily risk-focused combat encounter.  This fundamentally puts you in the wrong frame when evaluating CR vs. LA if you view it through the lens of 1v1s and risk-focused combats.
The game is instead balanced for party-based combat(4 PCs versus things) and resource-management-based assymetric combat encounters*.
Taking this new frame, we are now better able to evaluate the LA vs. CR balance.  Let's look at a few examples
Succubus - Is a CR 7 that has many at-will abilities that are either of spell level 3 or 7.  Level 3 spells are supposed to be a still-rare resource at APL 7, while level 7 spells are supposed to be an expensive consumable for PCs of this APL.  But let's look at what kinds of PCs a Succubus fights.  A Succubus is a CR+0 fight against 4 PCs of level 7, so her at-will spell-likes let her maneuver and stay safe, but they don't make her significantly more deadly in a straight fight.  If she's with a group, she could reasonably face-off against level 11-13 foes in a group of 4.  At this point, she's incredibly reliant on her spell utility to stay relevant, as her stats haven't aged well into this zone, despite it all.  A succubus would be broken as an ECL 7 PC, but is merely credible as a CR 7 monster.
Lycanthropes - With a CR increase of +2, vs. an ECL of +4 or more the disparity is dramatic.  A werewolf(CR +2 vs. 1 RHD and LA+3) gives DR 10/silver.  As an encounter fight, this werewolf will fight PCs of APL 3 or higher.  Rogues have 2d6 SA.  Fighters can power-attack for +9 or more damage.  Warblades can do 4d6+Str or more damage.  Even if the melee can't do enough to overpower the DR and don't have silver weapons, the casters can still bypass it entirely with elemental damage.  2 Shocking Grasp are enough to kill it.  As a PC, at a base level 5, we have an AMAZING tank.  DR 10 to a rare metal means that this PC is immortal against the CR 1 foes he'll fight, and quite tanky against the singular CR 5s, especially because monsters tend towards more attacks rather than more damage.  Worse, as a PC with DR, any damage absorbed by his DR is effective healing, saving the party resources in the long run by just not being dealt damage.
*By the DMG, a full 80% of encounters are supposed to of a significantly weaker power-level to the PCs.  If the PCs are APL5, a singular CR5(so 4v1) or 4 CR 1s(assymetric power levels).
Comment: Umm, I've played solo characters in adventures both as player and dm, and it's worked out fine... so my personal experience rather disagrees with your premise.
Comment: There's a hint of a good answer here, but I think you got a little sidetracked; It's true that the number of characters on each side of a combat makes a difference, but it's not the only (or even the most important) factor.

Why are level adjustments necessary?


When should my "Date of Formation" be for my LLC Company?

Question: Please let me know if this should be posted somewhere else! Sorry if it isn't in the correct location!
Background
I am starting up a Web Development & Marketing Company in Ohio. I am not finished finalizing all of the small details, but plan to start taking client at the beginning of 2016. When filing for my LLC, what should I write down for my "Date of Formation"? I can only set it at a maximum of 90 days after filing. If I choose January 1st, 2016 is that going to work?
"Date of Formation" Idea?

September 16th, 2015?
December 15st, 2015? (To ensure the effective date is within 90 days.)
December 31st, 2015?
January 1st, 2016?

Forms

Limited Liability Company Certificate of
Amendment.
Articles of Organization for a Domestic
Limited Liability Company

Thanks in advanced!
Answer: There's no requirement that you see clients immediately, but why not wait a few weeks to file so January 1st is within the 90-day period?