Mobile Installation in 2016 Chevy Cruze

Question: I purchased a Yaesu FT2900,a mobile antenna and mount. The install question is for a 2016 Chevy Cruze.  Is there an easy way to run the power cables from rear of  radio to the forward engine compartment?
Answer: Welcome to ham.SE, and congratulations on the new mobile rig.  Alan K0BG has an excellent website that has everything you might need to know about installing a mobile radio and operating mobile.  His page about wiring and grounding recommends drilling a new hole through the firewall, if there isn't a spare hole available, and using a rubber grommet to prevent chafing to the wire, which could start a fire.  He also recommends fuses on both the negative and positive leads to the mobile rig, and connecting the negative lead to the same chassis ground point as the vehicle battery's chassis ground point.
While you're perusing Alan's site, also be sure to read his installation notes page, which has lots of other stuff you'll want to read.
I don't know if you'll consider Alan's recommendations easy, but if you follow them you'll have peace of mind from knowing that you've done the job right and that the installation will be as safe as possible.  Good luck and have fun!
Comment: Thank you for the response!  At present I am at my day job (FM Radio Announcer) but I will check out the site and perhaps attempt the project this weekend.
Answer: I agree with the suggestion of Alan's sites for mobile installs.  Actually, Alan has a few photos posted of my installed antennas and rigs.
I also have a Chevy but it is a Silverado 3/4 ton pickup truck.  I went to a local retail business called "Car Toys".  It is a chain of stores over west coast states and I think they have a few in Texas and Colorado.  But, that is not the point, the point is that I paid someone to do what I wanted to have done.
My install was a 100-watt HF Transceiver, Icom 706 MkIIG, and a Yaesu FT-7800R 2 meter, 70 cm, transceiver.  The job of the Car Toys business was to run new wires from battery to the rear crew cab section of the truck coming in under the floor through a hole drilled by them.  The hole was protected with rubber grommet and after installation a thick liquid plastic stuff was inserted to seal the hole from water.  Current capacity of my wires was 80 amps as I was thinking of also putting in a 350 watt linear but I never did that.  Car Toys, as a business was very skilled in this sort of thing as putting in high-power audio amplifiers was a good part of their business.
I also have them drill and install a extension coaxial connector into the floor board that I could hook PL-259 connectors to it for my HF mobile antenna (HiQ 4/80).  I have photos of all aspects of this installation and would be willing to share or even post here if there is interest.  However, this one particular photo shows the main parts:

The view is under the seat (which is lifted up and out of the way) of the rear seat of the crew cab of the pickup truck.  The lower part of the photo you see the power distribution units where the red and black wires are connected.  The power cables come up through the floor board where they run along the chassis frame from the engine compartment (the firewall is never pierced).  You can just barely see where the cables come up.  Just to the right of that spot is my coaxial connection for my HF antenna which comes up through the floor.  The coax runs along the chassis frame (inside cable wrap) and to the rear part of the pickup truck bed where it comes up through the bed floor to feed the HF antenna.  The black box you see is the Icom IC-706 transceiver with the control panel remote up front with easy access to driver.
Since this photo was taken, I have made one other change and that is installing a West Mountain Radio power distribution strip (fused for each circuit) using Anderson Power-pole connectors for all rigs and power needs.  Not shown is that the base unit for my Yaesu 7800R also sits there under the rear seat.  Both rigs are velcro stuck to the carpet so that they will not move around.
In addition I had grounding straps placed at about 6 key spots on the undercarriage of the truck to make sure that there is solid continuity on all metal parts of the truck as it is important for HF operations.  This is something that Alan (K0BG) emphasizes on his web site.  Probably not as important for VHF/UHF radios.
Back in 2005, total cost was about $400 including the horribly high state sales tax of about 9.6 percent.  This included all high-current capacity cables for power but I supplied the straps used for grounds.  In addition, both battery cables are protected by in-line fuses and a nice power distribution unit was included that is bolted into the floor of my truck under the rear seat in the crew cab.
Comment: Thank you for all of the great information.  Since my original posting I have invested in a Yaesu FTM 3200DR which is considerably smaller in form factor and physically lighter as well.  I have also discovered that the battery is indeed in the truck of the Chevy Cruze so installation was far easier.

Mobile Installation in 2016 Chevy Cruze


How can I find duplicate photos?

Question: What can I use to find duplicate photos, including photos that have been resized?
Comment: Related: http://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/26026/how-can-i-find-duplicate-photos-in-about-100gb-of-data
Comment: Also see http://askubuntu.com/a/480712
Answer: digiKam
Add all the photos to your collection. In the menu, select Tools / Find duplicates. This will look for duplicates across your whole collection.
findimagedupes
A command line tool. Pass all the images you want to compare on the command line.
Geeqie (formerly GQview)
In the menu, select File / Find duplicate. Drag and drop image files do the duplicates window. You can drop directories to add their contents recursively. For visual comparison of images, there are specific, non-default options on a drop-down menu. The "custom" level of similarity allows restricting pairings only to the highest degree of similarity, but it has to be set on Preferences as 99. Even then, it does not work perfectly at least for some kinds of images, like line-art. It unfortunately does not provide an automatic selection mechanism with rational criteria, such as resolution, date or whatever, the automatic selection seems to just randomly just pick the first image found as the reference to preserve. Deleting many images can be extremely slow, as it tries to update the result count at every delete.

All three of these tools find visual duplicates, not just files that are identical byte for byte.
Comment: I found that **Geeqie** works the best. It has a robust set of search modes(name,checksum,size,etc...), powerful Image similarity scanning, detailed info of found duplicates, Simple UI, and there's no need to add images to a collection or album first. My only Cons is that the Duplicate Finder is hidden under the File menu and you have to Drag&Drop from Nautilus(or other FM) in order to add Images/Folders to be searched. Other than that it gets the Job done and does it well.
Comment: *Geeqie* can find similar images and it works pretty well, but I found it a bit slow for exact matches and it tedious to remove many duplicates with it.
Comment: @wbkang How to "batch" remove multiple duplicates in Digikam? How to ensure only the lower (or equal) resolution duplicate is deleted in this exercise?
Comment: Another choice (which seems to work rather well), is this tool also called [findimagedupes](https://github.com/opennota/findimagedupes), but is unrelated to the tool hosted on Sourceforge.
Comment: Digikam has an amazing duplicate finding interface. I highly recommend.
Comment: `findimagedupes` works well.
Comment: I just noticed an issue where Digikam never actually deletes the duplicates from the original location. For example, if you point it to an image folder that you want to search for duplicates in, digikam will find the duplicates, but if you try to delete them it will only move it to an internal "Trash" folder, and NOT actually delete the original file.
Answer: FSlint
fslint is a graphical program that can find duplicate files of any type by md5sum. If the images are not identical, they won't be flagged as duplicates. The image below shows a bunch of duplicate pdf files in my Downloads directory:

You can change the advanced search parameters to search by file type and restrict yourself to images only. That's done through changing the "extra find parameters" as find command options. For example, here I am only looking for *.jpg files (in the same path, only looking at my "Downloads" folder:

fdupes
fdupes is an equivalent command-line based tool. Both are available in the repos.
Comment: Note that I doubt these programs will find resized duplicates.
Comment: The OP explicitly states "including photos that have been resized" so this is not an answer.
Comment: @Vadi that's a different, and more complicated question. [Tineye](http://www.tineye.com/) does image identification which doesn't rely on metadata, hashes, etc (it can identify similar looking images) but that's an online service. They provide an [API](http://services.tineye.com/TinEyeAPI) but I'm not aware of any applications that take advantage of this yet. The other complication is that you wouldn't *want* to remove similar images all the time, for example if you edit photos but want to keep copies of the originals. Removing identical duplicates is much safer.
Answer: fdupes
You can use a command line tool called fdupes to find duplicate files (see man fdupes for more details). I don't know of any way to find 'duplicates' that have been resized. A program that did this would require some sort of intelligent algorithm that analyzed the image contents, because when an image is resized its data is changed, so traditional duplicate finding methods would not work.
To install fdupes in all currently supported versions of Ubuntu open the terminal and type:
sudo apt install fdupes

Comment: fdupes does not handle duplicates that have been resized, nor changes in metadata.
Comment: fdupes will also miss duplicates in different directories; let's say you have two copies of a photo one in folder birthday-party/ and the other in family-stuff/ ... "fdupes -fr ." will miss this duplicate.
Answer: imgSeek
imgSeek can find duplicates as well as similar pictures (so it should be able to find resized photos and photos with different filenames and metadata) and even search photos based on a sketch. It is available in desktop and server versions.
I haven't actually tried it myself, though.
Comment: only available for Ubuntu 10.04, though there is a perl library for 12.04
Comment: The server version `isk-daemon` works on 12.04, though I found I had to install from source (`pip install` as per [the instalation page](http://www.imgseek.net/isk-daemon/documents-1/install-and-usage) didn't work)
Answer: dupeGuru Picture Edition works absolutely great, and is worth trying.
They have a Launchpad PPA, dupeguru (new all-in-one package) or dupeguru-pe (old picture edition package) can be installed from it using those commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:hsoft/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install dupeguru

Comment: Looks like dupeGuru now has no separate editions. It works well, though UI could be better. It's also available in AUR if you use Arch.
Comment: This is heavily outdated now, last version in PPA is xenial, the web doesnt work anymore...
Answer: I've written this Python script to find visually similar images, and delete all but the largest one.
It uses findimagedupes internally, to find the duplicate images.
It can be invoked with the -d and -r options for your use-case which would:

Not delete (the lower-sized visually-similar) files.
Output a "dups.txt" file which would contain the duplicate (visually-similar to be precise) files.

https://github.com/AnirudhKishan/DeleteVisuallyRedundant
Answer: Visipics
Visipics is a free Windows application for that function, but works just fine on Linux, via wine, of course (It's better than geeqie/gqview regarding the sorting of the duplicates (geeqie's results are absolutely "un-sortable")).
You can tell it to auto-select the images based on criteria such as smaller file size, non-compressed type, lower resolution (it won't do the opposite though, you'd need to do it manually, which wouldn't be much better than doing it on geeqie, except that the selection doesn't require holding Shift/Ctrl), and even prioritize folders (but the last priority is folder priority).
You must pay attention to symbolic links, though -- it can "randomly" select to save a symbolic link to a file while deleting the actual file as a "copy". That's a shame.

How can I find duplicate photos?


Reference request: three types of actions

Question: I'm looking for a sutta in which the Buddha is recalling past lives, including, I believe, lives as the great Brahma, and asks himself on account of what actions he ascended to a position of such great power; he investigates and answers that it was because of three things. I remember two--abstention and giving--but can't remember the third. If anyone knows what passage I am talking about it would be much appreciated.
Comment: i remember it.. i will look it up for you but maybe someone can help faster..  On this occasion, Buddha looked back 91 aeons and saw during that during that period he had never fell into anything unfortunate..   i recall 3 things at the end of this sutta,  Dana (giving), Dhabba (spell check me- self controlled when hit by sensual desires , and indriya samvara - sila or control of faculties.
Answer: The 3 qualities:

dānassa giving
damassa self-control (or desires can't control you)
saññamassā'ti restraint (have control over your faculties)

§ 22.   {Iti 1.22; Iti 14}

This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: "Monks, don't be afraid of acts of merit. This is another way of saying what is blissful, desirable, pleasing, endearing, charming — i.e., acts of merit. I am cognizant that, having long performed meritorious deeds, I long experienced desirable, pleasing, endearing, charming results. Having developed a mind of good will for seven years, then for seven aeons of contraction & expansion I didn't return to this world. Whenever the aeon was contracting, I went to the realm of Streaming Radiance. Whenever the aeon was expanding, I reappeared in an empty Brahma-abode. There I was the Great Brahman, the Unconquered Conqueror, All-seeing, & Wielder of Power. Then for thirty-six times I was Sakka, ruler of the gods. For many hundreds of times I was a king, a wheel-turning emperor, a righteous king of Dhamma, conqueror of the four corners of the earth, maintaining stable control over the countryside, endowed with the seven treasures[1] — to say nothing of the times I was a local king. The thought occurred to me: 'Of what action of mine is this the fruit, of what action the result, that I now have such great power & might?' Then the thought occurred to me: 'This is the fruit of my three [types of] action, the result of three types of action, that I now have such great power & might: i.e., giving, self-control, & restraint.'"
Train in acts of merit
  that bring long-lasting bliss —
  develop giving,
          a life in tune,
      a mind of good-will.
  Developing these
  three things
  that bring about bliss,
          the wise reappear
          in a world of bliss
  unalloyed.
Comment: Dean, Thank you!
Comment: yup.  i remember because self-control, and restraint were just too similar to me and required quite a few readings to put them together from many sutta.  I have to say- my own conclusion-,  anapanasati covers both self-control and restraint.  example in many sutta, when one is touched by an object of sensuality, he quickly discards it, goes back to breathing, and equanimity remains.  that's self-control or unmovable by sensualities.  Another sutta, anapanasati is a rope that ties 5 animals (5 faculties) to a strong post. That sutta explains the benefit of  controlling of 5 faculties.
Comment: MN 1 is also useful, which equates the above-mentioned godly states to various jhanas. That said, it is difficult to believe the Buddha would teach the above worldly drivel to bhikkhus, as though those bhikkhus would aspire to be Brahma (who is considered to be deluded in many suttas). Its easy to speculate the reason why Sunnata-Buddhism became instinct in India;
Comment: MN 1 is also useful, which equates the above-mentioned godly states with various jhanas.
Answer: In Sutta Nipāta - Māgha Sutta - 3.5. To Māgha on Giving

...
  Māgha
  Who can be cleansed, released and Awakened? With what does the
  self to the Brahma-world go? O Sage, when asked reply to me—one who
  doesn't know— for the Radiant I've seen with my eyes as Brahmā today
  and it's true that you're the same as Brahmā for us. In the
  Brahma-world, how does one arise, O Refulgent One?
Buddha
  The sacrificiant who achieves triple success in sacrifice,
  achieves their results through such gift-worthy ones; so perfected in
  sacrifice and complying with others' requests, that one arises, I say,
  within the Brahma-world.
  ...
Comment: Thank you for your answer but this isn't what I was looking for.


What charging pads are compatible with Verizon's HTC 8X?

Question: The Verizon version of the HTC 8X supports inductive charging. However, I could not find a charging pad on Verizon's website, and Verizon Support told me that they don't sell the pads. Where can I buy a compatible inductive charging pad?
Comment: I think you should change your question to "What charging pads are compatible" since "Where can I buy" could lead to unwanted advertising.
Answer: As far as I know the Verizon HTC Windows Phone 8X also supports the Qi charging standard (compare: http://www.zdnet.com/nokia-lumia-920-or-htc-windows-phone-8x-a-purchase-made-with-the-head-instead-of-the-heart-7000007211/).
So you can buy any Qi compatible charging pad (like e.g. the Nokia or Blackberry ones) in your favorite store.
Answer: I purchased a pad called Samsung easy charge at Best Buy. It was for some Galaxies, not all, but it charges my Nokia Lumia 920 beautifully. I tried it at the store before buying. Best Buy does not deal with Windows phones so they don't sell the pads for Nokia, but this worked for me. My grandson has a Samsung Galaxy, and the charger did not work for his phone.
Comment: Any Qi compatible wireless charger should work.


Too much 'Tik-tik' noise from Rocker box after driving 10-15 km from cold engine condition in my classic 350

Question: My bike is driven 15000 kms and rocker box started noise problem since 8000 to 9000 kms.
Even oil and oil filter is changed today but problem of noise is still going on.
Can be rocker box adjusted? Or what can be done ?
Comment: Does the noise disappear above 3500 rpm?
Comment: @Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2  ya at high rpm noise dissappears
Answer: Your Valve Lash Requires Adjustment
Valve lash is the distance between your valve stem and, in your case, the rocker arm.  You have a camshaft inside your engine case or 'bottom end'.  The reciprocating actuation is transferred to the top end via a push rod which contacts the rocker arm which actuates your valves.
Increased valve lash over time is a normal event and is a part of normal maintenance of your vehicle.  Over time, as your engine wears in, and valve lash increases.  The sound is a repetitive ticking noise that matches the RPMs of your engine.  It can be a bit loud and annoying but it isn't a critical event.  You do need to get it adjusted or do it yourself though, if not, it will continue to wear and possibly damage your engine.
Valve lash can be adjusted by removing the rocker box cover to reveal a threaded shaft and a lock not adjust shaft length.
Here is some additional information regarding your valve tick.
Answer: What you are most likely hearing is the Auto Decompressor which is used on the newer (2010+) Royal Enfield bike engines. It is used to automatically release the pressure in the bike for when you go to start it. Without it, there is the possibility of a kick-back on the engine when trying to start, which could cause damage to the engine/bike and/or the rider.
You can take it to a RE mechanic for adjustment, but other than the annoying noise, there shouldn't be an issue with what's going on.
Comment: Like I said, you could possibly take it in for an adjustment. From what I've read, this isn't something the average person would be able to do (as you figured out when taking the rocker cover off). If you don't like the noise, take it to a mechanic to see if it can be quieted. If you don't want to take it to a mechanic, you'll just have to live with the noise. If you do leave it alone, there shouldn't be an issue.
Comment: Noise is coming from Rocker arms because once i opened head of bike engine to check if something can be done by me but didn't done anything because i don't have that much knowledge about internal parts and settings
Comment: Since the Auto Decompressor runs off the cam and gearing, the noise would come from the rocker arm area of the engine.
Comment: But before few thousand kms that noise wasn't  there. Thats why i am doubting about rocker arms
Comment: going to mechanic would be better option for me. Will post after some peroid of time about it.
Comment: can i apply greese on rocker arm ?


How do miners handle transactions when a different miner creates a new block?

Question: If all transactions are broadcast to all nodes, and all nodes are mining these transactions into blocks.  When a block is created and the block is broadcast to all nodes, it may contain transactions that other nodes are currently trying to put into their blocks.....what happens in this scenario?
Comment: @Luke Mlsna please post answers as answers rather than comments :)
Comment: @LukeMlsna .... so, if a new block comes in, does a miner stop mining their current block? ....and start on a new block with new transactions?
Comment: They waste time mining until they get the newest block. This time lag, or rather, attempts to lessen it by not validating before mining on top of it, is what caused the last network split. Generally it's only a few seconds and 2 miners rarely find blocks at the same time. If they do, then the chain splits until one side finds the next block fastest, and everyone moves there and orphans the competing chain.
Comment: Yes, they immediately drop what they are doing and start mining on top of the newest block. Because any time spent mining a stale block is wasted.
Answer: Not all blocks are mining the same transactions in their respective proofs-of-work. Each miner collects enough transactions via gossip until they reach the block size limit. Not all transactions will make it into a certain block, so those will be more likely candidates to make it into the next block. Miners decide which transactions to include in a block with the following equation:
priority = sum(input_value_in_base_units * input_age)/size_in_bytes


Windows 7 Taskbar Right Click Options

Question: I have a set of dictionaries installed on my computer. Unfortunately, they are all in separate programs (English-Italian and Italian-English are two separate programs).
I would like to add one dictionary to my Windows 7 Taskbar, and when I right click on it, I would like to get the option of selecting the dictionary I want.
To make it clear: Office Word is a "thing" on my taskbar and the documents I recently worked on appear when I right click on it. For my dictionaries, I would like a "recent" list but then with all my possible dictionaries in it.
I hope I made myself clear.
Answer: Something like application group in task bar? Try this: http://www.oneupindustries.com/bins/

Windows 7 Taskbar Right Click Options


Existence of non-trivial ultrafilter closed under countable intersection

Question: Under what conditions on $\Omega$ does there exist $\mathcal{F} \subset \mathcal{P}(\Omega)$ such that $\mathcal{F}$ is a non-trivial ultrafilter and, for every sequence $(F_{i})_{i \in N}$ of elements of $\mathcal{F}$, $\bigcap_{i \in N}{F_{i}} \in \mathcal{F}$?
Answer: This is actually a very strong property.  It is an old result that if $\kappa$ is the least cardinal such that there is a countably complete nonprincipal ultrafilter on $\kappa$ (i.e., the ultrafilter is closed under countable intersections), then that ultrafilter is actually $\kappa$-complete (closed under $\lambda$ intersections for all $\lambda < \kappa$), and therefore $\kappa$ is a measurable cardinal.
Therefore the cardinality of $\Omega$ must be at least the smallest measurable cardinal.
Addition: The main point of this being that measurable cardinals may not exist.  For example, it is a result of Dana Scott that measurable cardinals provably do not exist in Gödel's Constructible Universe.  At a more basic level, as measurable cardinals are strongly inaccessible if $\kappa$ is the least measurable cardinal, then $V_\kappa$ is a model of ZFC and $V_\kappa \models \not\exists\text{ measurable cardinal}$.
Comment: Thanks for the answer! Believe it or not, this question appeared in a Statistical problem a friend of mine is working with. From your addition, it is very clear that statistical hypothesis testing is never done on subsets of $\Omega$ with a measurable cardinal.


Can I use any bulb in lighting my aquarium?

Question: I have a 2watts led bulb and I am planning to use it as a lighting in my aquarium of volume 20 gal. My question will be can I use it without harming my fishes? And in general can I use any bulb as a lighting for my aquarium? Thanks a lot.
Comment: In aquariums I've seen, there was always a recommendation on what light bulbs you should use. Were there any recommendations in the sheet or no?
Answer: @Derrick K has the answer, first. You want to check with the specs on your aquarium. Sometimes the hood will say right inside it, or outside it, or include a sticker. You might also be able to look up the part online.
You can use any light bulb in any light socket, but it's not a good idea. You want to stick within the parameters of your particular equipment. You have to remember - this is something that's going to be on 8 or so hours a day constantly, and it can get pretty hot and become a fire hazard if not within the parameters. It can also heat the water excessively.
Comment: Safety and heat are certainly the first questions to look at, and low-voltage LEDs ought to be very good for both of those (unless you've actually been depending on the lights to help keep your tank warm). I've seen both incandescent and fluorescent tank lights, so at least their manufacturers seem to think the exact spectrum isn't critical. But that's anecdotal evidence; what you really want is studies saying how fish (perhaps specific kinds of fish) react to different spectra and intensities of light. Sounds like it could be a great a amateur-scientist/science-fair project...
Answer: Well, there are definitely multiple answers to the basic question, and reading the manual as has already been suggested is typically the best bet for any lighting fixture, definitely never go HIGHER in wattage than recommended.
However, talking LED bulbs, 2 watts is so low that I seriously doubt you would ever have an issue with the heat being generated.  Unfortunately the lighting industry is not at all friendly to the end user.  Wattage truly only relates to how much power is used to generate the light, it in fact has no real bearing on how many lumens you will receive regardless of wattage.  Lumens is the actual amount of visible light you get.  In general higher wattage does end up giving a brighter light, but ONLY when comparing lighting of the same type.  IE a 20 watt incandescent is much dimmer than a 20 watt fluorescent, and both are much dimmer than would be expected by the same amount of power used for a LED type of fixture.
You can easily get real technical in all of this, but looking for specific colors in LEDS will make a difference in how things show up in your tank.  There are LEDs that are great for plants, but look a little purplish in color, there are of course white, red, blue etc LED bulbs as well.
If you are looking for a light to just provide general lighting, general color etc, then a standard white LED will be fine, and should not cause any issues with your aquarium, assuming of course, that the fixture for the LED is designed to protect against moisture.  If you want a light that will brighten the colors of your fish, the higher bluish range is better, the brighter the better.  For mood lighting, generally people prefer a more yellowish tinge etc...
I know that I purchased a fixture from walmart that is using blue tinged leds and that they are generating a lot of algae where the beams are directed on the glass, the rest of the aquarium using white leds, has no issue, so there must be something in the blue led that is feeding the algae pretty well!
For one of my 55gal tanks, the only one using LEDs right now, it has a fixture that contains 100 white leds arranged roughly 1 inch apart along both front, and back sides of the fixture and that seems to be a really bright light... beats the look on my 75gal tank that is using VHO builbs in the 750watt range each, and it takes 2 bulbs for that... big as in HUGE waste of power but the plants love it.  The VHO (very high output) system is an incandescent system, and is way out of date by today's standards... I will be gladly replacing it with LEDs shortly.


Where should questions about mobile devices, phones, gadgets, etc be asked?

Question: I was wondering where should I post slightly off-topic questions. As I've read on SuperUser its only about computer hardware and software. Do the various USB gadgets fit in the 'hardware' category? What about mobile phones, PDAs, GPSes, etc?
Comment: see http://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/41570/where-can-i-ask-questions-that-arent-super-user-questions
Comment: Google? (Joking)
Answer: It depends on what you're doing with the devices;
if you're talking about programming for devices such as phones or pda's, I'd say thats a SO question.
If its problems using phones or devices themselves, then the only possibility is the electronic gadgets site. If your question is about interfacing it with a computer (sync, data transfer, etc), then you can ask it on Super User, but this is the only case.
If its problems getting USB hardware to work with a computer, SF is a good bet, but again, device specific forums are probably your best bet. Exception being getting data from a device, such as GPS, into a computer program, SO is the best place to try.
Given that you don't state any examples, I'd say put it where you think is apprpriate (given the above) and let the community/moderators migrate it or close it on a case-by-case basis.
Hope that clears things up!
Comment: the SU policy, in a nutshell, is: "problems using phones or devices *with a computer* "... getting USB devices to work with a computer is, by itself, more of a SU question than SF, unless it has to do with a pro IT environment in some way.
Comment: This question has been used as "reference" by a user on SU. I fixed the SU part to reflect the actual situation.
Comment: Your cited *gadgets* site does not exist. "Yet", as the polished up 404 error message states.


Use Easily.Do offline?

Question: I installed Easily.Do on my android device, which is offline. But says I have to sign in. Is there a way to use EasilyDO without internet on my phone?
Comment: If you have to sign in then you'll need the Internet. You could ask the developer?
Answer: You have to at least sign in once in the app, it cannot be used without connecting an account to it.
Now how much the app rely on online data to work, it's hard to tell without actually using it. So far, I've tried it and some informations like appointment and the weather are accessible (cached), but the app warns you that no data connection is available. Obviously, you won't receive any update while offline.

Use Easily.Do offline?


How to write good test cases for filters in Grid?

Question:

How to group test cases for filters in Grid? There are few filters options: dx popup with ranges and dx filters menu with list of parameters.
How to do this on high level instead of describe every column and every filter option.
Comment: write test case with searching combinations, first search with each single field, then write for test case for searching with combination of fields..
Answer: Initially start writing test cases with single filter with all the condition like
1. Exact match
2. Like with
Next start with a combination of fields in positive and negative condition with all combinations of filters in the grid.
Answer: As per my understanding It is look like some charts or report related application page.
Try with following approach :
1. Make BVT / Smoke scenarios :

First determine the smoke scenarios (which configuration is mostly used by client )
Ask help from Domain specific person / Product Owner / Experience tester in same product.
Make some test cases with only check single value in all the filters.

2. Write test case related to only one component :

Most of time development team use single code or component for all type of filter and other common development.
So just make single test case which check only any one component with all scenarios.

3. Use tool for test case generation :

Use following tool to generate category based testcases. Test Case Generation
Here test case cover each and every single scenario with all fields and all values as well.

4. Use automation :

After some extent of testing it would be very tedious task to check all scenarios.
So automate this scenarios for less risk of any component.


Inherited IRA for minor in interest-bearing federally insured account? Do any financial institutions support this?

Question: Some minors were listed as beneficiaries on a 457 plan and the plan owner passed away such that the minors inherited it.  The local court requires that the money be held in a zero-principal-risk vehicle (i.e. federally-insured, interest-bearing), and since it was a 457 plan (i.e. tax deferred), it's going to be rolled into an inherited/stretch IRA.  Do any institutions support something like this or is this too uncommon of a scenario and IRAs have to be in something else like stocks / funds / etc.?
Answer: My local credit Union has insured IRA accounts or IRA certificates that get the same low interest rates that non-IRA accounts receive. They get NCUA insurance, which is the equivalence of FDIC insurance.


export/import attachments using dataloader only

Question: I am trying to simulate a backup and restore of a sandbox, before doing it in production. I need to export attachments from a source org to a target org. My problem is, when I export the Attachments, I get the files in binary format, but when importing, dataloader can't intrepret the file. I have to do it via dataloader, not via dataloader.io, because we are actually doing a backup using the standard schedule data export. And the files obtained are csv files. Has anyone been able to achieve this via dataloader only?
Comment: I'm a big fan of Ezra Konigsberg's FileExporter appexchange package - https://appexchange.salesforce.com/listingDetail?listingId=a0N30000003Iz0jEAC
Answer: Not 100% sure I understand the question, but I have been able to take a weekly backup that includes attachments, and then load them into another org. If you include the attachments in the weekly backup, you also get a CSV for the attachments object that provides a link to those files. As long as the file path in the CSV matches where the files are and the parent ids exist in the system, they should load ok.
But - if you are doing a backup/restore, you'll need to link the old parent ids in the attachment csv to the new records you create as part of the restore I think? Also, I would reduce the batch size for the dataload to something like 5, because you quickly hit heap size limits.
Comment: What i wanted was to be able to import an attachement/document using dataloader based upon extracted attachments/documents from dataloader itself. The biggest problem, is the content. I am getting the body in base64, which is quite normal, but the problem is that datalaoder can't upload it. Using the standard scheduled data export of salesforce, the documents is well generated into a csv and a folder with the contents, but not with dataloader. And i can't use the standard fucntionality because salesforce support told me that this is available only on production environment


Why do so many kanjis express idea of "hiding": 隠、 覆、 忍、 匿、 潜?

Question: All these kanjis have word that contain aspect of hiding or concealing in their meaning: 隠、 忍、 匿、 潜. My head is spinning. Some are used in verbs others are used in compound words. Why do we need so many characters for the same idea?
Comment: 英語にも hide, conceal, cover, sneak, lurk とかいっぱいあるやん。
Answer: Kanji are just a representation for (Old Chinese) words, so your question would be "Why were there so many Chinese words for hiding/concealing"?
Looking up the characters on wiktionary, their meanings are given as (just a selection):

forbear, stifle, hold back
hide, conceal
cover
shield, cover up
shelter

Why are there so many English words for hiding/concealing? ;)
Answer: This is part of the beauty of the Japanese writing system (and Chinese too).  The kanji are able to represent a wide array distinctions that may or may not come across in the spoken word.  I recommend seeing this as a particular kind of elegance that is possible in the written word in Japanese.
In these cases where you seem to find a profusion of words meaning the same thing, I would recommend digging deeper.  As a first such step, gather as many example sentences using these words and study them.  You may begin to discern subtle differences between them (think of the difference between the English cache and hidey hole).  As a later step, I would just recommend chucking the Japanese-English dictionary.  More often than not, I've found them potentially better designed for native speakers of Japanese trying to learn English; and, even the more recent dictionaries aimed at learners of Japanese still seem aimed too low.  Get a decent Japanese dictionary designed for native speakers of Japanese.  漢和辞典 are often very good at comparing and contrasting such characters.  As a learner of Japanese interested in learning to read kanji, possibly the best such dictionaries are ones aimed at school age learners of kanji.
My 漢和中辞典 lists 蟄 as yet another kanji meaning to hide or conceal.  It lists the readings of this character as チツ (on'yomi) かくれる (kun'yomi) and then explains some of its nuances: 虫などが土地にかくれていること.  The dictionary then lists a variety of words formed using this character.
One of these listed words is 蟄伏{ちっぷく}.  Denshi Jisho rather unceremoniously defines this word to be hibernation; staying home or in place.  My 漢和中辞典 gives as the first definition of this word 虫などが地中に冬ごもりすること, clearly a rather more nuanced meaning than hibernation alone conveys.
Another fascinating word related to 蟄 is 蟄居{ちっきょ}, my dictionary elaborates on this as follows: 江戸時代に武士に課した刑で、自家の一室にとじこめて外出させぬこと.  Now just imagine this: yes, it does just mean house arrest, but how boring.  The kanji evokes a deeper, more confining meaning--imagine how a bug crawled away into the earth to sleep away the winter is deprived of physical freedom, access to food, and most other enjoyments of life.  You might say, "that's clear enough from house arrest itself."  But, then I think you're missing the beautiful imagery here.
Now you might be responding to this by saying, "I don't need to know such words like 蟄伏 and 蟄居.  I'm neither a biologist (or entomologist) nor someone interested in the miserable lives of samurai under house-arrest."  That's fine.  You're interests are what they are.  But I still recommend digging into a kanji dictionary meant for native speakers and you'll discover how the nuances of these various words distinguish themselves.
Keep in mind that like my example above regarding cache and hidey hole, English is replete with many words having very similar meanings--here are some more that all have uses similar having a hiding place: hideout, cover, recess, niche, dugout, coverture, stash, cubbyhole.... and the list could go on.  So, try to think of these various ways of saying hide in Japanese--or whatever the next such kanji is (みる is another word with numerous ways of being expressed in kanji)--try to think of these as an enrichment of the language and an opportunity to plumb deeper into the meaning of these words.


What are the features of Ask Ubuntu?

Question: What are the features of Ask Ubuntu??
Comment: Can you explain more precisely what you mean?
Comment: Features like posting a question,deleting etc etc..Can anyone list all the feautures of askubuntu..??
Comment: Have you seen [How does Ask Ubuntu work?](http://meta.askubuntu.com/q/257/)  This seems like a duplicate, or at least reading that post and all the linked content would greatly help you.
Answer: There are a ton of features on Ask Ubuntu - However, the platform is designed to be "Documentation through Discovery". So you won't find a list of features - StackExchange keeps things "interesting" by always adding and changing features and letting the user discover how to use the site. If you're wondering "What things can I discover" you may wish to view your available privileges. This should give you an idea of what to look forward to and what you can do now.
Answer: I found askubuntu.com/review
This shows low rep new users, it's useful for guiding new users on how to use the site, etc. Low quality posts is pretty useful too -- though I suspect it's mostly useful for people who do a ton of editing and/or moderation than the average user.
More information on the parent meta.
Answer:
the platform is designed to be "Documentation through Discovery ...  letting the user discover how to use the site". So you won't find a list of features ...

I really like Ubuntu & the very helpful community. A website called 'Ask Ubuntu' will attract anyone with a query but unfortunately it's not at all clear how to navigate the site. It needs a Site Map and a simple Site Guide & a Users Guide. eg the Front Screen needs something like:
"Welcome to Ask Ubuntu.
1/ Pose your question in the box at the top left of the screen to see if it's been asked before.
2/ If not then Register yourself and
3/ ASK your question by typing it in the box at xxx.
4/ You'll find how to format your question by clicking on yyy which you will find at zzz"
Not only will this help anyone new to the site to use it: it might well increase the takeup of Ubuntu & other flavours generally.
I expect this has been explored before, but I can't find it [poor navigation skills? or sophisticated site design?!?]
Comment: You may find a new question asking for this feature or help with navigation would be better than posting an answer to this 7 year old out dated question. This is unlikely to receive many views or comments here.

What are the features of Ask Ubuntu?


Does the protools hardware make a difference?

Question: My brother is an excellent singer/song writer/guitar player and he's looking to get protools to record on the computer. I asked why he NEEDS protools and he can't just use a quarter inch to eighth inch converter and plug his guitar into the computer, and he said that the hardware does something with the signal that would otherwise be lost. Is there anything to this, or is it $40 of scrap metal?
Comment: Just answered this, but really I think it would be better migrated to avp.stackexchange.com (Audio/Video Production SE site)
Comment: You're right about Pro Tools, he doesn't necessarily need that — there are many other good DAWs about. But he _does_ need good hardware, there's no way to get a really good sound when recording through a consumer sound card.
Answer: The quality of audio-digital hardware you use does make a lot of difference to the quality of any recording you will make through it.
Good ones will have wider frequency response, less susceptibility to interference and mains hum, and will have low latency. These are essential if you want to make a recording sound its best.
Answer: The main benefit of Protools (consumer level systems) is the software, not the hardware.
Digidesign requires the presence of one of their hardware interfaces attached to the computer for their software to launch.
No Digidesign hardware, no ProTools software.
Their hardware is great too, but the main benefit is the ProTools software since that is the ubiquitous software in the recording world.
But yes, especially in the higher end systems the ProTools hardware is very highly engineered and dedicated to recording extremely high quality audio.


How do I choose a good supplier for buying insects online?

Question: I live in an urban area and I don't have a car so it's not practical to go to the pet shop every week to pick up new live insects when I don't need anything else from there. There are plenty of suppliers online for live insects - the pet shop itself has its own website, as well as assorted vendors on Amazon and other places. When choosing where to buy them from, what factors should I consider? Or should I just try a few sellers out and judge the quality of the insects that they send?
Answer: Reviews help a lot, so when you're looking, make sure you can read what other people are saying they received. If there aren't any reviews, it's just a shot in the dark. A lot of places will only take orders on Mondays through Wednesdays, so that the crickets won't be sitting in a box over the weekend.
Something to keep in mind though, is that crickets have a pretty short lifespan as adults, and they're extremely susceptible to temperature drops, mishandling, and other factors. So No matter what, you'll have some dead crickets in your order from a combination of crickets that were old and going to die during the shipping process, and some that couldn't handle the stress of bouncing around, if there wasn't enough food packed with them, they'll start to eat each other, etc.
The temperature shouldn't be too big of a factor unless it gets cold where you are right now. Basically you want to avoid ordering crickets in the winter, and if you do, don't let them sit outside.
If you have the space it's really easy to breed your own crickets. Especially if you start by ordering several hundred online, you'll have a good start towards a colony where you'd only want to get some new crickets every few months or so, just to keep from inbreeding them too much.
As far as other insects go, I don't have too much experience with them, but generally speaking they should all be hardier than crickets. Mealworms and superworms are generally kept refrigerated anyways, so unless it's extremely cold outside, they should be fine with a little temperature drop. Since they are larvae, if you're shipped some that are at the end of their larval stage, it's possible you might get a couple that have turned into beetles. Which is something that you might want to check if you're buying them in a store anyways.
Dubia roaches are cockroaches so they'll survive the apocalypse I'd think. I'd be worried about the caterpillar type feeder insects like hornworms. I haven't had any experience with them, but I imagine them to be fairly sensitive to temperatures.
Comment: Thanks, this is a great answer. For completeness, it might be worth touching on other insects besides crickets (for example, mealworms).
Comment: `Something to keep in mind though, is that crickets have a pretty short lifespan as adults` If you are ordering younger crickets for a smaller reptile/amphibian does the part about expecting some to be DOA still apply? And if so to what degree?
Comment: I added some thoughts on other insects, I don't have a whole lot of experience with shipping insects other than crickets though, so hopefully someone can add more detail to it. As for baby crickets, they'll be a bit more sensitive to temperature because they're smaller, but really there's not much difference between the small and large crickets except for the size. It generally only takes a week or two for the small crickets I get to grow into large ones.


How to contact multiple companies after the job fair

Question: I have attended a job fair last week. A few companies said that they are interested in my work and gave me their business card to contact them. I was wondering what will the best way to contact them and ask about the job or internship?
Comment: Send an email, that is why they gave you a card.
Answer: Normally I would advise emailing them at the address on the cards. But after seeing multiple spelling and other errors in such a short question it might be best to give them a ring and see if you can arrange a meeting.
Comment: English might not be OP's mother tongue, and this is a website in English. I'd say emailing them is the way to go, double-checking there are no spelling errors.
Comment: @Charmander it's not mine either, I know well the difference between using another language and just spelling errors. One is spelling phonetically, the other is just laziness
Answer: Unless they told you to use one specific method of contacting them, then either phone or email will work. Depending on the information on their card they could also ask you to contact them via social media or a contact method on their website.
One advantage of email is that they don't have to be near their phone and free to talk  at the moment you call. Email also is easier for them to respond to you during non-standard hours. Of course email can get lost if it is viewed as spam.
I would lean towards email.


How to retrieve Content Items (HTML EMAIL) In Content builder through Soap Api?

Question: I am using classic builder for template in my integration using SOAP API, Now Exact target launch new Content Builder functionality, Is it possible to retrieve the Content Items (HTML EMAIL) In Content builder folder using SOAP API.
Answer: No, you need to use the REST API.
Content Builder uses a separate data store for its content, and this has a new API. Unfortunately this also means you can't send a Content Builder email via the SOAP API without rendering it into a HTML template first and sending it the classic way.
The call you need is
<code>GET {{hostEndpoint}}/asset/v1/content/assets/{{id}}
</code>
documented at https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.mc-apis.meta/mc-apis/content-api.htm
Answer: You cannot use SOAP API on Content builder, only the REST API.
The SOAP API will only interact with items on the Classic version.  Content Builder is hosted in a different location and will only allow REST API interaction.


Does putting too many items on the floor cause it to collapse?

Question: I know in Animal Crossing: Wild World, if you put too many things on the floor in a room, the floor would give out. Does the same mechanic exist in Animal Crossing: New Leaf?
Answer: The floor does not actually collapse in either version. Instead, after 24 items have been placed in one room in Wild World or 48 in New Leaf, the game will not allow you to place more. The ingame text in Wild World gives "the floor will collapse!" as the reason for allowing no more items to be placed. I don't know what the equivalent text in New Leaf.


Is bash scripting the same as shell scripting?

Question: I'm very new to Ubuntu. I hear people say "shell scripting", "bash scripting".
I wonder are they same? Or they are different?
Comment: There is a useful answer at [SO](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5725296/difference-between-sh-and-bash)
Answer: Bash (bash) is one of many available (yet the most commonly used) Unix shells. Bash stands for "Bourne Again SHell", and is a replacement/improvement of the original Bourne shell (sh).
Shell scripting is scripting in any shell, whereas Bash scripting is scripting specifically for Bash. In practice, however, "shell script" and "bash script" are often used interchangeably, unless the shell in question is not Bash.
EDIT: Actually, the default scripting shell in Ubuntu is dash, while the default interactive shell (what you get if you pull up a terminal) is Bash. Nonetheless, the two terms are still mostly interchangeable.
Comment: @wjandrea  The fact that `/bin/sh` is symlink to `/bin/dash` makes default *system* shell, but it's not default *scripting* shell, i.e. there's no written rule that you absolutely have to use `/bin/sh`. When one uses `/bin/sh` it is primarily for portability reasons, when you expect  your script to be used on multiple Unix-like OS platforms, most of which  have `/bin/sh` as POSIX-compliant, Bourne-family shell.
Comment: What defines dash as the default scripting shell?
Answer: Introduction
Shell scripting and Bash scripting are not the same thing, as other shells exist such as sh that can be used to execute a script; a script intended to be executed by Bash should be labelled as a Bash script. The terms are often used interchangeably because Bash, with its extended functionality as compared to sh, is the one most commonly used to execute user scripts in many distributions. However, there are other shells such as the Korn (ksh), C shell (csh) and the Z shell (zsh), but we will not go into them here as a discussion of sh and bash is most relevant to Ubuntu. A great IBM article here goes into more detail on the evolution of shells in Linux and describes well the shell architecture and how shells differ.
Shell Scripting
Sh was the original Unix shell developed by Stephen Bourne; however Debian based systems and Ubuntu considers dash as their sh shell (sh is actually symlinked to dash). In Debian and Ubuntu, because of the speed of sh, it is more often used for critical system procedures and for executing key scripts at startup; for more detail see the Ubuntu wiki.  Bash stands for the Bourne Again SHell and was developed later by Brian Fox and much extended the original sh. Fox and others' development of Bash was an important part of the GNU project. See this great discussion of the history of Bash for more information.
It is important to note that both sh and Bash, as used in Ubuntu and other distributions, are POSIX compliant, which means they subscribe to a number of standards about how commands are executed in the Shell. This is to ensure that the results  of scripts used in the OS can be predicted reliably, and that the behaviour of the shell can be kept within those POSIX parameters, as that is particularly important for developers. For more information on the standards, see the official documentation.
Often shell scripts have the suffix .sh, even though they are intended to be executed as bash scripts, and have #!/bin/bash at the top of the script. It actually does not matter whether the script is called script.sh or my.script, what matters is whether the call to the interpreter is /bin/sh or /bin/bash. Shell scripts can also be called on the command line with either sh or bash.
However, it is important to note that the results can be different depending on which interpreter is called, as not all bash commands will work in sh, whereas most sh commands will work in bash. In general, most users will want to use /bin/bash for their scripts so they can take advantage of the extended feature set; system scripts can be executed with /bin/sh if it is required.
Resources for Bash Shell scripting
It is sometimes difficult to find useful resources online that follow good practice and that give advice that will allow you to create useful scripts. After man bash, some of the most important resources are Greg's wiki, Bash hackers and Steve Parker's recent book on Shell scripting that focuses mainly on Bash and is published by O'Reilly. A good introduction is also undertaken by the Bash beginner's Guide.
Comment: This answer is actually superior to mine (the accepted answer),  mine just came a week before this one.
Answer: There are multiple shells available for Ubuntu, like bash, zsh, ksh, tcsh and csh.
So anytime someone says shell, he is talking about one of those. However, those shells differ a bit from each other. So, when someone talks about bash scripting, he's using a shell, but when someone is talking about shell scripting, he isn't per se using bash. But as bash is commonly used in scripting for Ubuntu, he usually is. Moreover, the different shells are the same in lots of aspects, so it usually doesn't matter.
Answer: Shell script would be defined as a portability oriented script which can be run by a system shell of POSIX-compliant OSs. Syntax would be identical or similar with the shell scripting language syntax defined by the POSIX standard. That is the standard for most POSIX compatible OSs, like Linux/Unix/*BSD etc. POSIX is the most common ground for compatibility across Operating Systems.
Different OSs from the aforementioned implement different shells for the non-interactive usage (ie. to execute system scripts or scripts that use #! /bin/sh shebang) which beside implementing POSIX commands and syntax, have their own extensions or can possibly be stripped out of some less useful features for performance reasons, but the POSIX ground allows for a very high level of portability of scripts designed for different POSIX-compliant Oss.
Most aforementioned OSs have separate interactive shell which is usually fully-featured bash. Bash is POSIX-compliant in large part, but also has a big pool of additional commands and supports different syntax. Starting Bash with the --posix command-line option or executing 'set -o posix' while Bash is running will cause Bash to conform more closely to the POSIX standard by changing the behavior to match that specified by POSIX in areas where the Bash default differs, see: https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/html_node/Bash-POSIX-Mode.html
Shebang specifier and uniform paths for shell executables on Unix-like OSs
Thanks to the uniform rules on placing executables for shells (they are usually in '/bin/' directory), we can have uniform rules for creating shell scripts, more specifically, we are clear what path to put in the shebang expression to point at a proper shell executable to run the script. Unix/Linux/*BSD file systems don't support extensions intrinsically, so the file extensions serve only as an additional hint, or for indexing purposes.
On Debian/Ubuntu specifically, bin/sh is a symlink pointing to bin/dash which is an executable of a dash shell. That makes dash the system shell, which is estimated to be 4x faster and is ~1/10 size than the more functional bash. source: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/148035/is-dash-or-some-other-shell-faster-than-bash
Debian/Ubuntu interactive terminal is by default, as in many other Unix-like operating systems, bash, for which the path is also uniform: /bin/bash.
POSIX.1-2017 standard: http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/xrat/V4_xcu_chap02.html
General rule would be:

If a command or option isn't defined by POSIX, then don't put it in a
  #! /bin/sh script in the first place.

Convert your script or check for errors
For converting your script from bash to POSIX form, you may want to automatically check for bugs in your shell script or see what changes in your bash script you should make to make it POSIX compatible:
https://www.shellcheck.net/
http://mywiki.wooledge.org/Bashism
Comment: Pretty good answer, +1. Welcome to AskUbuntu !
Comment: Regarding [Dash as /bin/sh](https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DashAsBinSh) on ubuntu, there's an article for that which you also might want to cite. And there's also https://askubuntu.com/q/976485/295286
Answer: $ ls -l /bin/sh
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4 Mar 29 11:53 /bin/sh -> dash*
$ ls -l /bin/dash
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 109768 Mar 29 11:53 /bin/dash*
$ ls -l /bin/bash
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 955024 Apr  3 08:58 /bin/bash*

This shows that 'sh' is a symlink to 'dash', and that /bin/bash, which is the default interactive shell on Ubuntu, is an executable that is almost 9 time bigger than /bin/sh.
Indeed, 'man sh' (1590 lines) vs 'man bash' (5459 lines) reveals that bash is a large superset of the traditional 'sh'.
Read more here:

bash on wikipedia
dash on wikipedia


Class libraries for Java's immense verbosity

Question: I recently got into Java. I have a background in dynamic languages and I'm finally figuring out why people complain about Java's verbosity. Are there any class libraries out there that address this issue? I'd much rather type something like String text = someClass.stdin() instead of the 8 or so lines it takes to get user input in Java.
Answer: In Java 5:
import java.util.Scanner;
...
System.out.print("Enter your name: ");
String userName = new Scanner(System.in).nextLine();

Or, in Java 6:
String userName = System.console().readLine("Enter your name: ");

Comment: +1 Great point, make sure the latest on the standard library doesn't already address it.
Comment: Upgrading to Java 6 now. Thanks for the zen-like insight: sometimes what you're looking for is already there.
Answer: Some of the Apache Commons libraries (particularly Lang, IO and Collections) are designed to hide the verbosity of certain core Java APIs. The verbosity of the Java language, however, we're all stuck with.
Answer: Sure there are several JPython, JRuby, Clojure, Scala...
Answer: Google has also released a number of libraries that complement sections of the standard library, like the collections library. Guice is also a nice lightweight DI framework that, IMHO, is easier to learn that spring.
The standard library is so large I don't think you'll find a single library that replaces everything. You're best bet is to look for libraries that solve individual problems (i.e. I don't like the Collections API, I need an object pool, etc.)
Answer: I'd be interested in seeing these 8 lines to get user input in Java.
I personally think that Java's verbosity becomes an asset as your program becomes larger. Unlike C and C++, everything is done in a more object oriented way. You get the object representing your output, then you issue an operation on it, and so on. Much easier to understand and maintain in the long run.
Is this as quick as a nice printf() here and there? No. Is it as convenient as scripting in Python? Of course not. But that's part of the cost of using a language like Java, just like the lack of Lambdas is annoying.
As an engineer your role is to pick the best tool for the job. I do most of my coding in Java, and some in Python, accepting the tradeoffs of each.
While you can't change the language, you could use libraries that simplify some operations (e.g., Google's or Apache's IO libraries). You could also write your own classes for the things that annoy you the most.
I also think you're confusing the verbosity of the language and of the standard library. The library contains a lot of stuff, most of it you'll never need. I find the existing division fairly straightforward and have never found myself in areas I didn't care about.
If you really can't stand Java, you might want to use hybrid languages like Scala.
Answer: I'm a big fan of leaning on my IDE's live templating features. (IntelliJ IDEA) I can't remember the last time I spelled out StringBuffer or System.out.println("...").


How are both Jyggalag and Peryite the Daedric Prince of order?

Question: I've played Skyrim through several times (as a good guy and a bad guy) and while I'm waiting for the next game, I decided to play Oblivion.  I'm really impressed with the continuity between the two games.  But one thing is really bugging me; in Skyrim, Peryite is the Daedic prince of order and tasks, however in the Shivering Isles expansion of Oblivion, Jyggalag is the Daedric prince of order.  What's up with that?
Comment: @OrigamiRobot I think it's better to leave [oblivion] in the question. I believe Jyggalag only appeared in TES IV: Oblivion, and does not appear and isn't mentioned in the other TES games.
Comment: If you have this question, just keep playing, all will be revealed.
Answer: In Jyggalag's case, I think that "order" refers to logical deduction and determinism. This is not unreasonable considering that his Great Library contained formulae that allowed him to predict all events before it happened.
According to the Librarian, Dyus:

The great library was the height of logic and deduction. Contained
  within its walls were the logical prediction of every action ever
  taken by any creature, mortal or Daedric. Every birth. Every death.
  The rise of Tiber Septim. The Numidium. Everything. All predicted with
  the formulae found within Jyggalag's library.

When the jealous Daedra cursed Jyggalag to live in opposition to all he stood for, they made him the Prince of Madness which is the opposite of logical deduction. In Shivering Isles, Dyus mentions that Sheogorath burned the library because it was the anti-thesis of his new beliefs in personal choice:

When Sheogorath discovered the library he had it burned, insisting
  that it was an abomination and that personal choice defied logical
  prediction.

Thus, I think that the Lore strongly suggests that Jyggalag is the Daedra of Order in the sense of Logical Deduction and determinism.
Regarding Peryite, there are two main in-game sources of information on the Daedra:
Firstly, we have On Oblivion by Morias Zenon

...Molag Bal elects the employment of other daedra, and Boethiah
  inspires the arms of mortal warriors. Peryite's sphere seems to be
  pestilence, and Vaernima's torture.
In preparation for the next instalment [sic] in this series, I will be
  investigating two matters that have intrigued me since I began my
  career as a Daedra researcher. ...

Secondly we have The Book of Daedra

Peryite, whose sphere is the ordering of the lowest orders of Oblivion, known as the Taskmaster.

Neither of them indicate that he's a Daedra of "Order" or that "Order" is part of his sphere. Rather The Book of Daedra makes him sound more like a foreman who manages and "orders" the lesser Daedra around. This is the reason why the primary sources are quick to elaborate that whatever ordering Peryite does is more akin to that of a "Taskmaster".
Notice that in the original text, they add emphasis to the fact that he's a "Taskmaster" by capitalizing the word, but do not do the same for "ordering". This is done to illustrate what his main function is and how he's different from Jyggalag.
Thus, even if we choose to believe that Peryite is a Daedra of Order, it seems clear to me that his sphere of "Order" is distinct from that of Jyggalag's.
Of course, if this is still unacceptable, we could take the cop-out route and simply claim that Peryite took over his Lord of Order position after he became the Prince of Madness! Since Jyggalag was cursed before recorded history, this explanation isn't contradicted by any in-game manuscripts.
Comment: Nice use of primary sources! Seems the wikis aren't quite accurate.
Answer: I think there is some confusion here. With so many Princes it is sometimes easy to forget.
Peryite, also known as the Taskmaster, is the Daedric Prince whose spheres are order and pestilence.
Whereas Jyggalag is the Daedric Prince of Order.
Source 1 : Peryite
Source 2 : Jyggalag
Comment: That... really doesn't clear it up. Even after reading those links ([and more](http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Jyggalag)), I'm still with the asker on this one: how can they be Daedric Princes whose domains are *both* order?
Comment: @One-One I thought that they missed something too, except that the continuity is so "tight" everywhere else.
Comment: Reading the lore, is it possible that Peryite gained the spehere of order when Jyggalag was stuck in the cycle of destruction with Sheogorath? As otherwise there would only be a Daedra of Order for short periods, once per era.
Answer: Put simply, this is a case of the everso common homonym in the english language.
Peryite is a foreman, a person who orders(gives a command) around his daedra and micromanaging his sphere and the rest of Mundus with minions.
Jyggalag, is the master of Order(structure, sequence, pattern, method, Relativity) and he is the all knowing recorder on time-space and existence.
This sadly is why he was cursed... Hermaus Mora didn't like the fact that Jyggalag could see his oh so valuable information so he banded the rest of the daedra against Jyggalag by making them think that they were in danger of having their sphere conquered or , in the case of Bolag Mal that they could enjoy messing with another prince. So he was cursed... then the rest of the story is known through playing the shivering isles DLC Enjoy ;)
Answer: Peryite is more of the "balance/equality in the universe" type of Order.
Jyggalag is more of the straight-lines, grey, "boring" type of Order
Source
Comment: Although I agree, I can't get behind an answer that's based on a bunch of fans shooting the breeze. There's nothing official about that source.
Comment: @SevenSidedDie - true, that source is hardly cannon, but from playing the game you get the idea that Jyggalag represents a kind-of mindless order, like entropy.
Comment: @unclebrad True. That doesn't make sourcing fan speculation into a good answer, though. Your own explanation from personal impression is better quality than passing off some random wiki chatter as a [Source] is! ;)
Answer: From what I understand(and I unfortunately have no sources for this; this is merely conjecture) Peryite is more or less Order in the form of Bureaucracy; he manages the lesser planes of Oblivion.
Jyggalag is ruler of the PLANE of Order. His whole being is dedicated to Order in and of itself, while Peryite simply uses Order as a management tool, trying to make Order from the Chaos that must stem from managing numerous planes of Oblivion.
Hope this at least gives another perspective. ^_^
Answer: Due to both information gained from Dyus (as well as Dyus's personality) and the descriptions of Peryite as a 'Taskmaster,' I believe the difference to be as so:
Jyggalag represents the concept of predeterminism and the ideas of logical prediction and a sort of Holmesian Deduction (different from Herma-Mora, who keeps ancient and secret knowledge).
Peryite represents Order in the sense of the managing and 'ordering' of the different daedra (as the Prince of Pestilence, he might be described as head of the 'dirty work' in the Planes of Oblivion).
In this sense, you could differentiate the two be saying that Peryite keeps order among the daedra while Jyggalag maintains Order in general.
Answer: Actually peruite is of order as is jyggalag.
If you play Oblivion, after serving peryite the worshippers will all say " our work must be put towards prayer so perfect order can be achieved". Meaning peryite is of order just like jyggalag


Form with nested set dropdown

Question: I have to write front-end form in my component with dropdown list of categories and subcategories. Categories and subcategories amount should be unlimited. Should I use a nested sets model to do that?
Answer: If you implement your own categories functionality you can use anything that suits you.
However you can take advantage of Joomla's built-in categories system for your component.
Have a read here:
Developing an MVC Component/Adding categories
Answer: At the bottom of this page it shows you how to do something similar. https://docs.joomla.org/Creating_a_custom_form_field_type
It sounds like you may wish to do an override of the already existing categories form field.
https://docs.joomla.org/Category_form_field_type
Here's a full list
https://docs.joomla.org/Standard_form_field_types

Form with nested set dropdown