We have 2 almond trees but we cannot crack the shells because they are so hard. What am I doing wrong

Question: We find it impossible to crack the almond shells on our almonds from two trees we have. What are we doing wrong?
Comment: How are you trying to crack them?
Comment: I don't know if there are different types of almonds, but I know with pecans, there's a wide range in how tough the shells are.
Comment: @Joe The same applies to almonds. The shells range from paper thin to very hard.
Comment: We used to have an almond tree like that.  The vise was the best tool for opening the nuts.  But the flavor was so strong, we soon gave up on them entirely.  It was like eating almonds that were soaked in almond extract.
Comment: If you think almonds are hard to crack, try macadamias. We tended to resort to the vise in the garage for those.
Comment: @mrog sounds like (poisonous) bitter almonds
Answer: I don't think you are doing anything wrong, some almond shells can be notoriously hard, depending on the species.
Maybe you are used to having soft shell almonds and your trees produce some hard shell variety.
Soft Shell Almonds

Hard Shell Almonds

Make sure they are ripe and dry enough (no fresh pulp around it), greener shells are generally slightly sturdier and harder. They tend get a bit more brittle/crumbly when they get ripe and less humid, after the soft skin falls off.
When I was a kid I used to eat fresh almonds straight from the tree during summer vacations at my grandmother's, and the only way we could crack the shell was literally hammering it with a small stone against the ground, and specifically on a hard surface, like a curb stone or something.
And even then it requires some skill, because hitting too softly won't crack the shell all the way through, hitting too hard will smash it completely crushing the edible part into a mush.
To do it at home a regular "pliers shaped" nut cracker should suffice, though it will require strength and more pressure then say most walnuts for example.
If you aren't afraid to break a door, a common workaround is to put it near the hinges, between the jamb and the frame and slowly close the door, that should crack it open easily.
Be warned this can damage the door, break the hinges, and dent the wood. Don't blame me for damaged property! ;)
Answer: I think the writer may be referring to the outer husk that is the issue. I have two large trees as well. Here in Florida, the almond husks do not split on their own revealing the inner shell. They may as well be coconuts trying to get inside. Without a vise or similar for leverage and a saw, good luck opening them. If you can manage to remove the husk, then they are no different than other almonds. For me, the trees are pretty. I've long since given up on trying to get the almonds.


What is the oldest instrument ever?

Question: What is the oldest musical instrument played other than the human voice, but body parts are acceptable?  Did Neanderthals use instruments to play music?
Answer: It's probably not possible to tell. Wood and bone can often be inherently musical when struck, so some kind of proto-claves likely existed before recorded history. Rocks may have also been used for percussion from very early on.
In 2012, the BBC reported on a finding of bone flutes as the "oldest instruments" ever discovered, at 42,000 - 43,000 years old.
Obviously if simple bones, sticks, and/or rocks were used as percussion instruments in prehistoric times, it is likely impossible to tell at this point. Unless they are carved in some way, there's no way to know how they were used. Evidence of shaped lithophones (resonant rocks) exists from as far back as 10,000 years ago.
See also: Prehistoric music (Wikpedia).
One final note: In addition to excluding the human voice, I also did not discuss hand claps, feet stomps, etc., both because it seemed like the question didn't mean to include those and because none of those constitute "instruments", as I understand the word. It seems likely that the earliest music was created simply by parts of the human body.
Comment: "It seems likely that the earliest music was created simply by parts of the human body." - armpit farts?
Comment: @LamarLatrell - possibly construable as 'musical'. Google 'Le Petomane'.
Comment: @dfhwze You thought *what* was some kind of flute? The answer already mentions the discovery of a forty-thousand-year-old flute, but also explains why this was probably not the oldest instrument that *existed*, only the oldest *identifiable* instrument that we've *discovered*.
Comment: There is a conjecture that the development of speech is connected to rythmic, ritual dancing and chanting, not only or perhaps even not primarily to the passing of rational information. Scenarios are easily to imagine: Many activities (grinding grains, hunting, fighting) are noisy; re-enacting it, reproducing the noise, in a celebration of achievements is already almost a dance. Also connected: modern age chanting of forced laborers, sailors etc., potentially with their tools of the trade.
Comment: A shell or a horn can be blown, and somebody digging it up aeons later could probably find no evidence of that fact until the art advanced to tuning or ornamenting it.
Answer: I've been told that civilization began in Africa. That causes me to guess that drums of the sort, like hollow logs and improvised claves, might have been the original instruments. I don't know this for a fact, but I can easily picture music as we know it, starting out as simple rhythmic patterns and native chants used in fertility rites and rain dances. That said I have to add that your guess is probably as good as mine.

What is the oldest instrument ever?


Can insects metabolize poisons?

Question: I am new to this community, and I was wondering if insects could metabolize poisons. I'm not sure if I use the correct concepts, I simply wonder if insects can get rid of non-lethal doses of insecticides, and live as they have never been exposed at them. I know that human liver does this task for us, but I don't know if insects have this mechanism.
Answer: Insects absolutely can metabolize poisons. This is because plants are absolutely chock-full of them, precisely to avoid insect predation, and in return many insects have developed immunities to many of these poisons. Or as this paper "DETOXIFICATION OF PLANT TOXINS BY INSECTS", which looks like it would be the answer to your question if it were free to read says:

It is estimated that all plants
  contain some type of defensive compound (Rhodes
  and Gates, 1976). However, plant defensive compounds
  are not universally toxic to insects (Janzen,
  1979). Since almost all plant species are attacked by
  some insects (Schoonhaven, 1972), it is obvious that
  phytophagous insects have been able to develop
  countermeasures which allow them to feed successfully
  (Jones, 1972).

There are three main ways for an organism to neutralize a toxin: sequestering it where it will not harm the rest of the organism (and conveniently, may make the organism itself toxic to its own predators), excreting it (i.e. getting it out of the body altogether) and metabolizing it, i.e. chemically converting it into safer compounds. Often you will actually get combinations of those.
The first page of the paper sadly does not get into details about the extent to which insects use the third strategy, but it clearly states that they do.
This picture from Wikipedia shows some of the digestive organs that contribute to metabolizing toxins:

Organs that appear to deal with neutralizing toxins include the midgut (13), the fat body (not pictured), the hemolymph (not really an organ, it's the blood-equivalent liquid that all the organs bathe in), and the Malpighian tubes (20), though the latter (the apparent equivalent to our kidneys) probably serve more to physically get rid of the toxins than to metabolize them. From the Wikipedia page :

In insects which feed on plant material containing noxious allelochemicals, Malpighian tubules also serve to rapidly excrete such compounds from the hemolymph.

And from here:

Some small organic molecules are also
  actively transported into the tubule
  lumen by the transcellular pathway,
  including alkaloids (plant compounds
  which may be toxic to the insect).

This PLoS One paper (so, free to read) studies the enzymes that insects use to metabolize some toxins and notes among other things that:

One of the best studied examples is the CYP gene superfamily of Papilio butterflies (Papilionidae), which have adapted to furanocoumarins, the toxic components of their food plants [15], [16]. These toxins are degraded by inducible CYPs that are expressed in the midgut and also in the fat body [17], [18].

and

For Tyria, senecionine N-oxygenase (SNO), a soluble enzyme located in the hemolymph, has been shown to convert the pro-toxic free base efficiently into its non-toxic N-oxide [22] (Figure 1).

(emphases mine)
Another paper, "Chemical detoxification vs mechanical removal of host plant toxins in Eucalyptus feeding sawfly larvae (Hymenoptera: Pergidae)" describes how some sawfly larvae have special mechanisms for getting rid of and sequestering toxic oils, but also says :

The oil sequestration is, however, incomplete and chemical gut content analyses by gas-chromatography (GC) revealed that 1,8-cineole does enter the midgut and is metabolised to hydroxycineole.

Another paper studying a class of enzymes generally associated with detoxification (but note the paper itself is about how those enzymes have other roles as well):

Insect monooxygenases can be detected in a wide range of tissues.
  Highest monooxygenase activities are usually associated with the midgut, fat bodies and Malpighian tubules [9], but again the expression of individual P450s can vary between these tissues [17].

Insofar as insects have an equivalent to our livers it would seem to be the fat body. Like the liver this organ has many functions, including fat storage, energy metabolism and regulation, but also metabolizing toxins. From "INSECT FAT BODY: ENERGY, METABOLISM, AND REGULATION" (free to read):

Whereas many insect tissues have vertebrate analogs, the fat body is an organ unique to insects (77). The fat body is a relatively large organ distributed throughout the insect body, preferentially underneath the integument and surrounding the gut and reproductive organ (36). Unlike the solid structure of the liver, the insect fat body is a loose tissue.

and

Most of the insect's intermediary metabolism takes place in this organ, including lipid and carbohydrate metabolism, protein synthesis, and amino acid and nitrogen metabolism.

and

In addition to its role related to storage and utilization of nutrients, the fat body is an endocrine organ (65), produces several antimicrobial peptides (44), and participates in detoxification of nitrogen metabolism (74).

And from the other link:

As in vertebrates, the oxidative metabolism is mediated via the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and the electron transport enzyme systems. The fat body contains enzymes mediating the gluconeogenesis process as well as enzymatic systems with a detoxification role to manage harmful endogenous metabolites and toxic xenobiotic compounds. Detoxifying enzyme systems include microsomal mixed function oxi-dases, in which the cytochrome P450 is predominant, various hydro-lytic enzymes (esterases, phosphoesterases), and conjugating systems.
Comment: Maybe it's just a matter of semantics, but if an insect can metabolize a toxin, is it still a toxin to that insect?  There seem to be a good number of instances where species A can happily eat something that is toxic to species B.  E.g. dogs and chocolate, or acorns & avocados reportedly being toxic to horses.
Comment: @jamesqf I think it's mostly semantics as you say, but I will note a context in which an organism could be able to metabolize a toxin but it would still make sense to call that compounds a toxin for that organism: consider that the processes that metabolize or otherwise neutralize the compound may be limited. For example humans can metabolize alcohol, but you can still die of alcohol poisoning if you drink more than your liver can handle, and you'd be dying of basically the same thing as you'd have died of if you couldn't metabolize alcohol at all, so that clearly makes alcohol a toxin.
Comment: But if you follow that logic, pretty much everything is a toxin in high enough doses, even things like water that are absolutely necessary to life in lesser amounts.
Comment: @jamesqf excess water doesn't kill you by overcoming the defense mechanisms you have against water, without which even a little water would kill you. So no, it's not the same logic at all. (Note that I brought up alcohol as an easy go-to poison, and it's a decent example for the point I was making, but "poison" and "toxin" aren't synonymous, and I don't think alcohol is a toxin given the definition of the word).

Can insects metabolize poisons?


With or without apostrophe?

Question: Why is it "King's Road or Queen's Road" but "Princes Road"? Also Wikipedia says that "Kings Road" is okay but would it be alright to say "Prince's Road"?
Comment: Because that's the *name* of the road. The road doesn't actually belong to any prince, even if that's the derivation of the name. And names are not necessarily logical.
Comment: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2544696/The-pedants-revolt-Grammar-guerrillas-make-mark-battle-against-Cambridge-councils-war-street-sign-apostrophes.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/4602491/Second-council-bans-apostrophes-in-street-signs.html http://metro.co.uk/2009/01/29/birmingham-bans-apostrophes-from-road-signs-406036/
Comment: @ Kris: Thanks for the links. They're amazing! And I had no idea that 'apostrophe' has been very much a subject for debate!
Answer: The apostrophe in names is a matter of spelling.  Consider it the 27th letter.
Downers Grove, Illinois used to be Downer's Grove, but in 1873 it lost its apostrophe.  Until then, it was spelled with an apostrophe.  Since then, it's been spelled without one.  This is the sort of fact you need to memorize or look up, not something predictable from first principles.
I suggest you spell Princes Road and King's Road the same way everyone else does.  Why?  No reason other than consistency—we're used to seeing things spelled a certain way, and departure from spelling conventions only causes confusion.
Answer: Originally it seems to have been the Post Office that dropped apostrophes from street and place names (possibly to make automated sorting easier?) and now many councils are making it even more official, as discussed in Kris's links.
The apostrophe brings out the etymology of the name, but the names have lives of their own, independent of the etymology, and their simple use as labels takes priority.

With or without apostrophe?


Unique domain for each organic group

Question: Im trying to make it that each OG has its own URL eg. www.group1.com, www.group2.co.uk etc There was a module to do this apparently but not for D7. You'd think it streight foreward but it isnt. Probably due to path module. Everything I try gives me permission errors. Im using D7 and Cpanel. Any help would be really appreciated.
Thanks
Steve
Answer: You can accomplish this with the Rules module, and the Domain Rules module.

Adding Rules module actions related to Domain Access module.
  Allowing automation of different actions needed to create/modify/delete domains.
First version includes:

rules_action_create_domain - create new domain using given arguments
rules_action_delete_domain - delete existing domain
rules_action_set_user_defaults_domain - set a given role access to a given domain
rules_action_set_node_domain - set domain to a node
rules_action_set_domain_theme - set a theme to a given domain
Answer: I created GitHub project that provides a OG sub-module called OG Domain Access which does exactly this. It also allows you to override CSS/JS/Template suggestions per domain group. At the core of the module, hook_node_grants_alter is used to prevent access to content that does not belong to the domain the user is logged into.
Answer: You could use the Subdomain module in its "one subdomain per organic group" mode, and then additionally provide DNS CNAME aliases from your domains to these subdomains that were assigned to the Organic Groups.

Unique domain for each organic group


If I own a steam bundle and content gets added, do I get that content too?

Question: I am thinking about buying a game bundle on steam, and I know the game developer is still going to add more stuff to the bundle, like their new DLC's.
Do I need to re-buy the bundle, or do I get all the content that gets added anyway?
Comment: Do you have any scenario where that's happened?
Answer: No. Bundles are for getting a collection of a specific set of games and/or DLC's. Some games with a lot of DLC's have multiple bundle options with different sets of DLC's (often including the main game). If content is added later on, the bundle would need to be updated - which often happens. A good example if the publisher bundles where you can buy all the games and DLC's of a certain publisher. When new games are released, they are usually directly available in the bundle as well.
A bundle is also a special type of collection, where you only pay for the content you do not yet have. However, sometimes it is actually cheaper if you have most of the content already, so make sure to double check. So buying the bundle again later on, might give you a discount on the new released content. In my experience the bundle discount is usually around 10%.
The version where the DLC's would be included are often called a 'pass', like Season pass. These passes usually allow you access to all current and future content of the game the pass is meant for.
Comment: Bundles do get updated.... Valve's own Valve Complete Pack is a good example of one that does.  However, you don't get the games that are added to it after you buy it.
Comment: @Powerlord I'll rephrase that first bit. Now I see it isn't clear if they get updated, but of course they do :)
Comment: Perhaps worth noting that even the "season's pass" bundles are usually only going to cover new content for a finite period of time (usually the coming year, in my experience.)  Some games put out a new "Season's Pass" each year (I'm thinking in particular of games like Fortnite.)


Trying to identify a short sci-fi story about a human that is "resurrected" by malignant aliens

Question: I'm trying to locate a short sci-fi story I read years ago about a human that is "resurrected" by an arrogant and malignant alien species that discovers him in a "museum" on an earth where the inhabitants, though very advanced, had been wasted by a close encounter (I believe) with a neutron star.
He is the third or fourth human they "reconstruct" and it turns out that he is an advanced mentalist, disappearing at the moment of his "resurrection".
He outwits the aliens and eventually tricks them into plunging their ship into the sun in order (they think) to prevent him from finding out where they come from.
Any suggestions?
Answer: This is The Monster/Resurrection by A. E. Van Vogt.
Actually I've ID'd this story before in A short story from 1968-1971 about alien archeologists re-animating human remains for questioning.
Comment: Spot on bullseye! Thank you!
Comment: Should you ever return, @Clark, don't forget to mark the answer as Accepted.
Comment: I remember reading this in some story collection when I was a kid. Really weird seeing it again here >_>
Comment: "The Monster" is a classic.  Randall Garrett wrote a comedy short story that name-checked this one... aliens who believed a human had amazing powers said "we've got a monster here", and from what I know about Randall Garrett this was almost certainly an intended affectionate hat-tip to "The Monster".  It's a funny story, called "The Best Policy" and it's available in this collection: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Best_of_Randall_Garrett
Comment: http://www.prosperosisle.org/spip.php?article220 A link to the story


How long could a human being survive after being swallowed by a whale?

Question: In the short story, a man is swallowed by a giant, fictional fish. In fact, he is swallowed whole along with his log cabin and a bunch of hand-crafted tools. In a "The Martian"-like narrative, he miraculously survives as long as he can inside the body of the fish. My major concerns, before doing any research, are how realistically lethal are stomach biles and suffocation risks inside another creature's body? What other serious risks might I be missing? I'm using a whale as a real-world reference, but in the story it is a fictional species of fish--so creative adjustments can be made.
Comment: At least [three days and three nights](https://www.biblestudytools.com/nkjv/jonah/1.html).
Comment: The Jonah account is somewhat backed up by more recent accounts of whalers or fishermen that were accidentally swallowed by whales. https://www.deccanchronicle.com/amp/lifestyle/viral-and-trending/050416/swallowed-alive-man-survives-inside-whale-s-stomach-for-three-days.html
Comment: [The alleged person was a James Bartley, the story has only the problem that its veracity is in question](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bartley). Straightdope has also shed light on [this](https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2294/have-any-real-life-jonahs-been-swallowed-by-whales-and-lived/). So no, you cannot survive long in a sperm whale stomach which is the only one able to swallow an adult whole. Jonah is biblical myth.
Comment: How could a whale, a fish or some similar magical or extraterrestrial creature  swallow a log cabin?  Did a flood wash the cabin out to see where it floated until the sea creature swallowed it?  Giant snakes could get big enough to swallow a grown man whole, but they constrict & kill prey first.  Only a large male sperm whale could possibly swallow a typical man alive, and he wouldn't live long in the stomach.  For a creature proportion like a sperm whale, it would have to have at least 10 times the dimensions to swallow a log cabin whole.
Comment: From the sounds of it, maybe a whale isn't the best creature to go with. If I were you, I'd use some kind of fictional leviathan
Comment: @pojo-guy That particular story isn't James Bartley, but Snopes says it's also a fabrication: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/fisherman-survived-inside-whale-for-three-days/
Comment: Of all known creatures, the sperm whale is most likely to be able to actually swallow a living man without having to rip him to pieces first in order to fit the pieces in its throat.  But nothing could live for long inside a stomach.
Comment: What kind of whale? Orca or Sperm Whale? In the case of a Sperm Whale: is he 50 feet away from a Petunia?
Answer: I'd give your character a minute at best.
Problem 1: oxygen
Contrary to depictions of Pinocchio, a creatures stomach is not filled with breathable air. The stomach contracts regularily in order to store the food in as little volume as possible. In fact, trapped air is regularily expelled as burps. Your character would survive as long as he could hold his breath.
Problem 2: swallowed debris
Let's assume the whale swallowed not only a man within his log cabin, but also a bubble of breathable air. The stomach contracts and moves in order to mix its content with stomach acid to aid digestion. That means, massive logs and other debries are constantly moved around, most likely crushing or otherwise injuring the man. At the very least they would hinder him from keeping his head in the air pocket.
Problem 3: Stomach acid and panic
Now let's assume the man was swallowed with a breathable air pocket but without debries.  He would now swim in one of the strongest naturally occuring acids, in complete darkness. Realisticly he would have gotten the stuff into his eyes and probably lungs as well, causing coughing, burning pain in the eyes and panic. It's damn hard to tell up and down in complete darkness, causing more panic. If the creature is so big that he has to swim, he would swim in the slimy, viscous contents of a stomach which would tire him out quickly. Even if he keeps his eyes and airways free of the acid, he would start to feel burning pain all over his body really soon. Eventually either he gets some of the acid into his airways and suffocates, looses conciousness because of the pain or simply tires out and drowns in acid.
Answer: As other answers have explained, surviving within a whale or a fish is not plausible without either a new kind of fish or some expensive equipment.  Since this person is presumably not a professional fishgut-diver, we need to focus on the qualities of a fictional fish that a human could plausibly survive inside.
He is not inside the stomach, but rather the swim bladder.
Many fish possess a swim bladder - a gas-filled organ that helps them balance out their weight and remain buoyant, making it easier for them to swim.  Some fish - called phytosomes - have a direct connection between the stomach and the swim bladder, not entirely unlike how land animals have a connection between the stomach and the lungs.  These fish are able to fill their swim bladders with air by swimming to the surface and "gulping" the air.  Our fish explorer was not "swallowed" so much as inhaled, which is how they end up in the swim bladder instead of the less habitable stomach.
The details of gas in the swim bladder vary from one fish to the next.  Some use their swim bladders for oxygen exchange, others will actually fill it with oxygen from their blood, though they don't usually keep it oxygenated to any particular level, it just happens to be the easiest gas they have available (your person may actually have a problem from too much oxygen).  Some will store oxygen in it when they are in shallow water and then consume that oxygen later when they dive deeper.  Many don't care about the particular gases in it at all since it's just ballast to them, they just fill it up from the atmosphere and leave it alone - this is probably your best bet for survival, since although the air is limited it is at least still atmospheric air.
Which particular kind of fish you are dealing with depends on how long you want the person to be able to survive, but it is (somewhat) plausible to come up with a giant fish that a person could live in for a fair amount of time.
If you want to get really interesting maybe this fish has an air-breathing symbiote living in its swim bladder; this would explain why the fish maintains a breathable atmosphere inside and also give your person something to interact with (or worry about).
Comment: How do land animals have a connection between the stomach and the lungs? You mean the throat?
Comment: @PelleLundkvist Yes - phytosomes have swim bladders structurally similar to lungs, as opposed to many other fish where there is no direct route from the mouth to the swim bladder, and they instead fill up their swim bladder directly from oxygen dissolved in the blood.
Comment: Ever have a small piece of food go down the wrong pipe?  Now picture that small piece of food as a whole log cabin, and this is going to be one seriously Jörmungandr scale fish.
Comment: You do realize Whales have no swim bladder because they are mammels?!
Comment: @Trish he's not proposing a whale, but a giant  phytosome which is a fish that fills its swim bladder through its mouth.
Comment: Now I want to see someone do an experiment with intentionally being swallowed alive by a whale . Someone [already tried it with a snake](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eaten_Alive_(TV_program)). It didn't go well, but considering the (lack of) size disparity, that's not too surprising. One could imagine this working out better with a whale. (Main issue being I'm not sure how you'd abort, or just end the experiment, without harming the whale.)
Answer: This website is the most detailed scientific study of the Jonah account I've seen: https://bookofjonah2amaic.wordpress.com/2013/07/03/is-the-jonah-and-the-whale-account-scientifically-and-historically-plausible/
Condensing the article, the author seems to believe that the sperm whale is the most likely candidate of whale for the biblical account (considering size and the locations of internal organs), so that's what he's mostly referencing, though your fictional fish can obviously differ.
There's a section that discusses both stomach acid and oxygen. From what I read, the stomach acid wouldn't be pleasant, but also not too deadly depending on the whale (your fictional fish could have a low pH acid for slow digestion).
Growing up in church, we had a youth pastor suggest that the stomach acid could have turned Jonah's skin white (which gave him a lot more attention by the time he reached Ninevah to warn them of judgment). A number of articles suggest this could have happened to Jonah (and did happen to modern men), but some of the articles are referencing hoaxes or fictional accounts--so I'm not sure where the "bleached skin" idea originally came from. Still, it's worth considering.
As for oxygen, the article I linked to above says this:

"Macloskie (1942) argued that the whale has to expel superfluous water
  from its mouth after receiving food. In the process a creature trapped
  in the mouth might reach the laryngeal pouch below the larynx. The
  pouch is big enough to hold a human who would, in addition, use the
  whale's own air supply and have no worries about digestive juices.

He also suggests the possibility of living in the sinus cavities of the whale.
I guess in conclusion, your fish really just needs to have a low pH for the stomach acids and access to the whale's lungs or air. You could have the stomach and the laryngeal pouch connected (like the fish in the article). Having a dude in your lungs probably isn't super healthy for the fish, though, and he'd probably vomit your character out eventually, or die.
Also got to consider if his entire cabin is also swallowed, the guy has to survive being crushed by debris from his house. Unless your fish is a really...big...fish... But hey, Pinocchio's dad did it.
Answer:
The largest apex predator whale is the Orca, aka "the killer whale". It's prey is fish, birds, seals, even other whales. I doubt it has the ability to swallow a man whole.
Larger whales such as a blue whale, the largest animal on earth, feed by sucking in large volume of water and filtering it through baleen, which acts like it's teeth. It then scrapes the food off the baleen with it's tongue and swallows it whole. But the food consumed is krill and small fish. It is really doubtful that a man could be swallowed whole.

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/what-do-whales-eat-for-dinner.html

Assuming that you could find a whale capable of swallowing a man whole, the answer becomes how long can you hold your breath?
What you're going to need to do is invent a new whale. Thankfully, you're posting in Worldbuilding where such a feat is possible.
Good luck and thanks for all the fish.
Comment: You forge about sperm whales.  People have claimed to have crawled down the throats of large dead sperm whales to their stomachs. One scientific account of sperm whales mentioned a human cadaver among stomach contents.  There are some accounts of sperm whales allegedly swallowing whalers during battles.  If that ever happened any live persons they swallowed would quickly suffocate.  As far as I know large male sperm whales are the only creatures that  could possibly swallow a live adult human whole.  Giant snakes can possibly swallow adult humans whole, but always kill their prey before.
Comment: surviving inside a sperm whale for any length of time would be impossible, but at least large male sperm whales might have large enough throats to swallow something as large as a man whole without having to bite and tear his body to pieces first.  Unlike killer whales, there may be some sperm whales that actually could swallow a living person whole.
Comment: I didn't forget sperm whales. There are no verifiable claims that a whale has swallowed a man and the man survived, much less ate a log cabin and a man. However, the idea has been around for a very long time and it would make a great story. It just needs a better whale.
Comment: Orca would chew you into two pieces, then swallow you. They do this to seals. They seem to have a dislike for food still squirming in their stomach...
Answer: I am thinking of a fish like a catfish, that swallows stuff whole.  Catfish also swallow rocks and then later spit them out - presumably behavior like that is why it got the whole log cabin.
I have wondered how animals that swallow stuff whole get away with it.  Especially things like scorpions that can hold their breaths a long time.  The answer is that a stomach is a bad place to be alive.  Strong acid and enzymes, muscular action rubbing stuff around (and up against rocks), no air.
The log cabin is the hope for your guy.  The logs will hopefully hold up against the grinding and rubbing, and won't immediately be eaten away by the acid.  The cabin will hold enough air for him to survive a while.  A fish (or anything else) that eats stuff that proves indigestible (like rocks, or log cabins) will eventually puke it back out.
There will not be much of a view out the window.  It will be very dark inside.  If he understands his situation he will refrain from making a fire because it will consume the air.
Answer: A few hours seems to be the upper limit...
see :  http://www.askabiologist.org.uk/answers/viewtopic.php?id=506
According to this source, some unlucky real life whaler got swallowed by one and survived a few hours.
but I think that this happened pecause the whale was quickly put on air by the humans who freed the whaler, causing the whale to swallow lots of air.
Usually, I think there is nearly no air in a whales stomach, so usually you would survive a few minutes due to oxygen lack.
Answer: A Big Fat Impossible
No whale has ever been recorded eating a human in history, and for a good reason. It's basically impossible. I'm going to use a sperm whale for example. A speem whale, could theoretically swallow a human, but that human would be pushing it for any other whale. And an entire Cabin? No way, Jose.
Also, sperm whales dive down thousands of meters below the ocean, so that guy is going to be crushed by pressure before he gets to the stomach. Make this fish some type gen modified creature, and it could work.
Comment: Sperm Whales are *also* known to fall from the sky if in the company of potted plants.
Answer: I guess the creature would have to have a very big mouth for its size, and a very wide throat for its size, and a very big stomach for its size, if it is less than hundreds of feet long.  Maybe if it is hundreds of feet long too.
So the log cabin floated down a river in a storm into a huge lake or the ocean, and the man sort of steered the log cabin toward an island somehow, but the island was actually a giant water monster that swallowed the man, the cabin, and a lot of water and air in one huge gulp.
The air in the stomach might make the creature unable to dive, but maybe the creature likes to float at the surface for days or weeks at a time.  And maybe the stomach is on the top of the creature, with water at the bottom of the stomach and air on top. And maybe the stomach and large parts of the creature are transparent and there is light in the stomach for the man to see with, or he has flashlights or something to see.
And maybe the cabin was not swallowed by a mouth, but by some other orifice that leads into a different system than the alimentary canal.  Maybe the body system was some sort of siphon for propulsion like squids use, & the cabin is stuck in a large sac storing water and air for later use in propulsion.
Or maybe the cabin is stuck in some vast space full of water and air inside the creature that the creature uses to generate very loud sounds to communicate with others of its kind across vast oceanic distances.
Answer: 5 minutes
The Whale that "swallowed" our poor lad starts existence right around him after an incident with a spaceship drive that runs on improbability. His second-closest acquaintance - after the dude in his mouth - is a potted petunia. While still deliberating if he should swallow the thing on his tongue and what is up and down, the poor sperm whale impacts on the ground after having just fallen about 35 kilometers. You see, our Sperm Whale used to be an ICBM... And impacting the ground not only ends him and the Petunia but also the unfortunate guy.


Is there a way to convert an image to grayscale?

Question: Is there a way to convert a colored image to grayscale both for printing as well as screen viewing through pdfLaTeX?
Comment: if you run the `latex`->`dvips`->`ps2pdf` sequence it can be done from within latex
Comment: @Herbert Thanks! I was  always sure there was a way but could not figure it. Also I still have the gut feeling that one could hack straight into the pdf.
Answer: I would suggest using a tool like "convert" of the ImageMagick package (which is usually installed if you're running Linux, but is also available for Windows).
convert -colorspace gray originalfile outputfile

Comment: There is no color ocnversion code inside pdftex, but if \write18 is enabled, you could hook the external conversion into the compilation process transparently. I assume the graphicx package manual will explain how that is to be done?
Comment: Unfortunately, `convert` only works with raster images. Used with PDF (or any vector format) it produces poor results.
Comment: Of course, this is a preprocessing step, and not something done by pdfLaTeX as such.
Comment: exactly, I was looking for a way through LaTeX
Answer: Just a note on this, in respect to Linux tools:

convert can convert color (mode) of bitmap/raster images to grayscale (it can also convert a pdf to a bitmap/raster image)
ghostscript can convert pdfs (that include images) into grayscale pdfs (see comments in graypdf.sh, though; there's problems with metadata)
options monochrome to (x)color for pdflatex will cause mostly text color (and, I guess, related vector objects) to be grayscale

So, basically there would be two approaches to generating a gray pdflatex document:

pdflatex it in color - and then convert the whole document to gray using ghostscript
Use pdflatex with \write18, and use definitions of commands that will generate grayscale image on the fly.

Note that even if converting the whole PDF, the process will not necessarily be straightforward (for more, see Converting (any) PDF to black (K)-only CMYK).
For the second option, there is an example of a \includegraphicsRS in:

Can pdflatex (or any tex package) automatically rescale included images which have been reduced in size? #5811692

, which calls convert under \write18 to generate resized versions of images; I'm guessing it can be relatively easily modified to generate grayscale images instead (it may also be possible to force convert to return the image data through stdout - so it is directly embedded in the pdf stream, instead of generating an intermediate file; but I wouldn't know how to solve that at the moment).
Anyways, hope this helps someone,
Cheers!


What is a good substitute for ground veal?

Question: I found a great looking recipe that calls for ground veal.  What other meats would be a reasonable substitute for flavor and texture for ground veal besides the obvious ground beef?  Lamb?
Comment: I think you should take out the whole ethical part of the question and make it just what are the best substitutes for veal in terms of flavor and texture.
Comment: @Jay \I'm not opposed to eating calf meat, just the way it's inhumanely raised in the U.S.
Comment: @JeffAxelrod The beef ain't treated so nice either.  At least the calf gets put out of misery earlier (j/k).  Drive out of town for 1hr and find a nice farmer.  see [the book Omnivore's Dilemma](http://michaelpollan.com/books/the-omnivores-dilemma/).
Comment: @MandoMando There were really two questions embedded, and I ended up splitting off another question if your answer is recvoverable:  http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/32679/where-can-i-buy-free-range-veal-in-the-us/32680#32680
Comment: @MandoMando most calves used to make veal are bull calves, they're not treated any different from any other calf that's then raised to adulthood. A more important reason to want substitutes would be unavailability (see that here, just can't get any veal, it's all exported to where the price is better) or high price (could special order it, paying 2-3 times the price of already expensive beef).
Answer: The original recipe calls for a total of 2 lbs of ground meat, 1/2 beef and 1/2 veal.
I would suggest a close approximation to the effect can be had by using either (in decreasing order of preference):

50% ground pork, 50% ground beef -- Some of the mild flavor of veal, with tenderness and flavor from the pork
100% ground beef -- It won't be as tender or as subtle, but still will be good

I would avoid trying to use as part of your substitution mixture:

Ground lamb, goat, ox, and so on -- flavor is too strong
Ground chicken or turkey -- these are extremely low in fat, likely to toughen your overall mixture, and likely to make it taste more poultryesque

Personally, I would also switch from whole eggs to just the yolks, which will bring the binding and tenderizing qualities of the yolk, without the slightly rubber-like texture of albumin based white, to more closely approximate the qualities the veal would have brought to the dish.
Comment: Before seeing your answer, I made it to the grocery store; I briefly considered lamb but ended up going with ground pork because that's what I found Cooks Illustrated used in their recent meatloaf recipe.
Answer: I have used ground turkey as a substitute in several receipes with ground beef .  I have never had a poultryesque (did I spell that right) taste, especially when you are using quite a bit of seasoning (and stout in this receipe.)   Ground turkey is low fat, readily available and tasty.  I recommend it heartily!
Comment: I made up the word poulreyesque, so you can spell it any way you want :-)


How do electrons carry thermal energy in Peltier coolers?

Question: I've read that when electrons enter from metal to semiconductor type N, they gain thermal energy and make that side cooler and the reverse happens when they leave semiconductor to the conductor.
Why does this happen?  How do electrons gain, hold, transfer and lose this thermal energy in this process?
Answer: What happens is that the electrons need to gain energy to jump the energy gap at the metal-semiconductor junction.

The valence band is shown in the shaded area. In conductors the conductance band and the valence band overlap. In semiconductors there is an energy gap between the conductance and valance bands, as shown in the figure. A conducting electron must gain energy as it transitions from the conductance band in the conductor to the conductance band in the semiconductor and must lose energy vice versa. This energy is the thermal energy, hence heating or cooling. A similar argument applies for p-type semiconductors.
Comment: @PooyaEstakhri with a p-type semiconductor the figure looks the same but instead of electrons in the conductance band you have holes. The same argument applies but the hole needs to gain energy to jump the barrier. If you think about it, a hole moving from the conductor to the semiconductor is equivalent to an electron going the other way. So the thermal relationship is reversed.
Comment: So in type P semiconductors reverse is correct ? their conductance band is lower than conductance band in the metal ?
Answer: This appears to simply be an observable effect.  The best explanations are probably in mathematical equations, but the simplest phrasing I could find was that:

"The Peltier effect is caused by the fact that an electric current is
  accompanied by a heat current in a homogeneous conductor even at
  constant temperature.  The magnitude of this heat current is given by
  \$\Pi \cdot I\$"

(Pi times current), where \$\Pi\$ is the peltier/seebeck coefficient of that material.
This coefficient can be positive or negative and as a result materials can be paired and alternated in a zig zag to produce a favorable series electrical arrangement along with a parallel thermal arrangement.
I've been unable to find anything regarding the precise mechanism (it makes sense to me that electrons would carry thermal energy in the direction they are flowing, but I'd like to know why thermal energy would flow against the actual flow of material).  It could be an effect at the barrier regions of the materials as some of the other papers seem to suggest, with the electrons accepting a transfer of thermal energy in order to cross the barrier between different materials.  This would appear to better account for negative coefficients.  I think you should consider migrating this question to the physics stack exchange as they may be able to provide a more in depth model.
Comment: I fixed your markup. Look and see what changes I made. Also **ALWAYS** highlight quoted material and **ALWAYS** name the source and provide a link. Your answer is very shallow without the extra info. In the future please write a more complete answer to avoid downvotes.
Comment: I stand corrected. In this case the capital Pi symbol is used. Please find the source of your quote.
Comment: @Sparky256 fixed.  Hopefully I can find more though.  Hmm actually I think the first article has it later in the same paragraph.  Lol.  I have to read this again a few times.
Answer: Better question is, how do electrons carry thermal energy in any metal?
On the other hand, we could crudely answer OP's question in terms of the semiconductor physics behind LEDs and PV cells.  In LEDs, if a wandering electron falls into a hole, both carriers cancel, and this releases energy, either EM waves (photons) or lattice vibrations (phonons.)  The opposite is also true, where either lattice vibrations or EM waves can be absorbed, elevating a carrier to a higher-energy band and producing an electron-hole pair.
The hot-junction of a Peltier device is like an "LED for phonons," emitting energy as the carriers cross a junction and fall down an energy-hill (the built-in junction-potential,) falling to a lower energy-band.  The cold junction is opposite, where carriers can cross the energy-hill but only if they randomly absorb ambient energy and rise to a higher energy-band.  Don't forget that Peltier arrays involve Nonrectifying Junctions, where no depletion zone is blocking reverse currents.
Won't ordinary diodes exhibit these effects?  Yep.  But any thermal emission at the PN junction is exactly countered by thermal absorption at the metal-N and P-metal connections, where the diode's metal leads connect to semiconductor.  If you made yourself an inch-long germanium diode with a pn junction in the center, you should notice that when the junction becomes warm, the metal contacts both become cold.  And no diode is needed: your junction could have been (++p)-metal-(--n).


Oranges are disappearing from my trees

Question: I have 2 navel orange trees that have always maintained a healthy productive yield of oranges every year here in North Florida ar the eastern Jacksonville area more specifically, Nassau county which is Callahan Florida.if looking at the map. This year, as a normal yeild was on it's way, about a month before prime picking time they started disappearing. They were disappearing randomly in no particular pattern or order and no specific depth or height of the tree and now I am down to about only 8 oranges between both trees. Well the easy answer would be a 2 legged pest however, I am in a very rural area and the only accessible ways to access this part of my property (by human access that is) is covered by trail cameras that have shown no people and of course there is access through the thick woods however I would without a question be able to tell if a human came through any other way. The cameras are not on the trees, just on the access point to that part of my property but the idea of it being a person is a very very far stretch.  Otherwise, it looks as if they were picked just like anyone would pick an orange with the exception of it appears that the same limb the orange picked off of seems to have leaves missing a little further up the same branch (like you would put your fist around the leaves and pull them off). The other catch is, absolutely no sign of anything eating them right there. No peelings or anything on the ground at all that would be expected from an animal. I have raccoons, deer, domestic horses (horses do not have access to the trees), possums, foxes, coyotes and just about any other typical wildlife. As crazy as it is for me to ask, is there a wild animal that could be guilty of picking my oranges and taking off without leaving any evidence? Thanks for any input as I am lost.
Comment: It is very possible. E.g. foxes, or racoons (https://homeguides.sfgate.com/raccoons-eating-oranges-trees-69332.html). But also some medium/large birds. I do not think we could really answer you
Comment: Thank you for responding. I know its vague without a whole lot to go by, it just really baffles me that i have never had this problem and all the sudden, SURPRISE lol. Thanks again for the response.
Comment: If it is raccoons there should be a place near by that they take them to eat them, they're not known for hoarding.   Horse would definetly eat peel and all so would deer.  They would also strip leaves from trees.  Deer should at least leave evidence of visiting.  Do a lot of the same type of animal scat, both old and new?   They should also be on your CCTV?
Comment: Plenty of videos however, prior to the disappearing oranges, the cameras were pointed on the paths that humans would have to take which is why I almost have to rule out people, the cameras would pick up the only people accessible path but of course animals can access from all directions regardless of how thick the growth/ brush is.
Comment: Roof rats? They have them in CA. Not sure about Fla.
Answer: I never encountered that (I live in the city) but here is my detective suggestion:
1- No clean cut: Animals don't use shears to cut the fruit, so you will see a jagged edge at the break area. Often, a small portion of the peel remains at the base.
2- No peels: Animals don't peel the fruits. They eat it whole. Some may take the fruit to their den to eat it. Small animals may avoid the peel because it is not to their taste. However, it is unlikely they will preoccupy with peeling it in the open, but rather drag the fruit to their den. Scan the area for peels discarded at the den entry. I don't know about raccoons and whether they eat all of the fruit or not...
3- Larger animals: Bears may break branch tips while attempting to pick the fruit. Deers will grab them with their mouth, pull and then chew them. They can reach higher branches with less damage that that of bears.
4- If you have a dog, watch how it responds to animals entering the property. This may offer a clue.
5- Animal footsteps: Can you identify them? Tracks/wheels: Definitely a human stealing your crops!
6- Time: Do they disappear at night, at some time in the day, or equally the same?
7- Poop: Animal leave their marks even around the area where they eat. This can also give identification of the animal...

Oranges are disappearing from my trees


How thick does an aluminium vacuum cylinder have to be?

Question: Take a hollow aluminium cylinder with outer radius $r$ and length $h$, capped with two circular endcaps.  How thick does the aluminium have to be, that is what is the inner diameter of the cylinder, to withstand 1 atm on the outside and 0 mbar on the inside, without crumpling?
Comment: So you are just looking for an equation? There are also various strengths and types of aluminum.
Comment: @hazzey Any necessary info not given in the question could be either specified or parameterized by the answerer.
Answer: I found this formula here:
$$p_{crit}=\frac{2\,E\,t}{D}\left(\frac1{(n^2-1)\left(1+\left(\frac{2\,n\,L}{\pi\,D}\right)^2\right)^2}+\frac{t^2}{3(1-\nu^2)D^2}\left(n^2-1+\frac{2\,n^2-1-\nu}{\left(\frac{2\,n\,L}{\pi\,D}\right)^2-1}\right)\right)$$
So you should set $p_{crit}$ to about 3 atm to be safe, then find $E$ and $\nu$ for your aluminum, plug those in along with your diameter, and length. Then plug in a few integer values of $n>1$ to find a thickness $t$ that is strong enough for all values of $n$.
Comment: $\nu$ and $E$ are probably the Poisson Ratio and Tensile (Young's) Modulus of the material, respectively. The "shape" of the equation terms and factors suggest that, especially the factor $(1-\nu^2)$. It is also a "thin-walled" formula, from the link. That suggests $D$ is assumed to be approximately both diameters, i.e. the wall is assumed to have relatively small thickness. In other words, $t \ll L$ and $t \ll D$.
Comment: $p_{crit}$ is the buckling pressure, $t$ is the wall thickness, $D$ is the (inner?) diameter, $L$ is length, $n$ is a positive integer.  Do you know what $\nu$ and $E$ are?


Can I install a 2018 Subaru Forester bumper onto my 2016 Subaru Forester?

Question: Can I install a 2018 Subaru Forester bumper onto my 2016 Subaru Forester? I like the style and it looks more sporty. Also, can I install the 2017-18 tail lights for the same car?
Comment: Welcome to Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair! I can't tell you for sure, but since they are of the same generation, there's a *very good* chance it will. The fourth gen goes from 2013-2018. There may be more which would have to be changed for it to line up, but rather these parts should most likely attach to body mounting points.
Comment: https://www.subaruforester.org/
Answer: If the tail lights are the same size, shape and depth, then probably yes, if they are different as in size, shape or depth then probably no... unless you want to do some serious bodywork modification.


Jewish History and exiles

Question: When are we in exile in Jewish History? Is it when no Jews live in Israel? Is it when Jews are not in charge of Israel? (For example, we know that when the Babylonians were in charge we had the Babylonian Exile, did this continue under the Persians and then the Greeks; did we have the Persian Exile and the Greek Exile?)
What does it say about today? Are we in exile if we have Israel?
Comment: The question is more complicated then you realize :).  First exile is Babylonians kicking us out of Israel.  Second exile is the Persians taking over the babylonians before the temple is rebuilt.  Third Exile is from the Greeks desecrating the Temple but Jews still live in Israel.  4th exile is the Roman exile when the temple was destroyed.  But when the romans were killed off, or lost Israel, nobody declared the exile over.. until the third temple is rebuilt.
Comment: Therefore my gamartria answer makes sense for 278, although how many redemptions have we had if we have 4 exiles? 3?
Answer: Generally, the list of exiles corresponds with the four empires that Daniel envisioned (Daniel 2:37-43 and chs. 7-11). According to most commentators, they are: Babylonia, Persia/Media, Greece (Alexander the Great and his Hellenistic successors), and Rome and her cultural inheritors. Each of these indeed ruled over the majority of the world's Jews in its time. (Note that for nearly half of the Second Temple era - 206 years, according to Avodah Zarah 8b-9a - the Romans exercised greater or lesser direct influence over the Land of Israel, even though for part of that time it had Jewish rulers, first the Hasmoneans and then the Herodians.)
Another view (R. Saadiah Gaon and Ibn Ezra) makes Rome an extension of Greece (which it was, to a large extent, culturally and perhaps ethnically), and the fourth empire is Islam.
Some later commentator (might be Abarbanel - I forget) counters that an empire counts for this purpose only if (a) it took over all of the territories of its predecessor, or (b) it destroyed the Beis Hamikdash. So he explains that Babylonia counts under both criteria, Persia/Media and Greece under (a) only, and Rome under (b) only; the Islamic caliphate, by contrast, failed to meet either one.
Be that as it may, the idea would be that we're still "in exile" until Moshiach comes and the Beis Hamikdash is rebuilt (see Dan. 2:44).
Comment: @jake, it is and it isn't. :) It's a prototype of all future exiles (see Bereishis Rabbah 16:4), but it's not usually counted as one of the four exiles themselves, probably because it happened before the Jewish people fully became a nation at the Giving of the Torah.
Comment: So Egypt was not an exile?
Answer: Exile means expulsion from one's native land by authoritative decree.
Secondly, exile denotes the distance from G-d as the Source of Creation and distance from man shaping his destiny.
Rebbe Shimon bar Yochai says that night represents exile - the banishment of the Jewish nation from its land. Yet, the Shechinah is with us in exile, suffering along with us. Exile typifies departure from one's natural place. Any exile which the Jewish nation suffers is only temporary and has no ultimate reality. Exile is not a home. Exile is not redemption, no matter how sweet it is.
Read Exile.
Comment: This answer has the same problems as your other answer.

Jewish History and exiles


Firewalls vs DMZ

Question: What's the difference between Firewalls and DMZs?  These terms seem to overlap at time and I'm not clear on the difference. Maybe a DMZ is achieved using firewalls?
Answer: Simply, a DMZ is portion of your network carved off and isolated from the rest of your network. A firewall is the appliance that creates that isolation, by restricting traffic both between the intranet and the DMZ and the DMZ and other networks it's exposed to.
Answer: Firewall is a device.sometimes it can be a software as well.
DMZ is a Logical or Physical Network.
DMZ or demilitarized zone is a physical or logical subnetwork that contains and exposes an organization's external-facing services to an untrusted network, usually a larger network such as the Internet. Firewall can help to separate this network from your lan. wiki
A firewall is a network security system that monitors and controls incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predetermined security rules. A firewall typically establishes a barrier between a trusted internal network and untrusted external network, such as the Internet. Wiki

Firewalls vs DMZ


1997 Ford Thunderbird, pulls right while driving intermittenly, always pulls left while braking

Question: 1997 Ford Thunderbird, pulls right while driving intermittenly, always pulls left while braking. It makes a loud noise while driving, but when the front end is on jackstands, and no weight on the wheels, it stops making the sound. it is not the power steering pump making the sound, the brake pads on both sides are in tact, and less than a month old, the tires are new, alignment was done, no parts on the suspension are loose enough to make them budge /at all/ by hand. Any ideas would be helpful.
Answer: Check the condition of the brake flexi hoses. These perish over time, and can often clug inside, effectively either locking the relevant brake on or preventing it from applying fully, thus casuing the car to pull to the side.
Suspension bushes can be worn enough to cause issues without being bad enough to move by hand - try using a small lever to move them and see if anything there looks suspect.
Thunderbirds are rear wheel drive aren't they? Have you checked the rear suspension as well? The symptom of a car pulling one way when driving and the other when braking is typical of worn suspension bushes on one or more driven wheels, allowing the wheel in question to pull forward under power and drag backward under braking.
Comment: It is definitley, without a doubt, coming from the front. while having an assitant turning the wheels, I could feel the vibrations and hear the sound coming from the front driver side wheel well with my hand on the hub (I am the original poster, just not logged into the stackexchage account)
Comment: Update: the rotors are not warped, and to clarify, the sound it is making is like a groaning, creeking type sound, only while turning.
Comment: Still sounds like a suspension problem to me. Have you checked that there is nothing bent or misaligned in the suspension on that side?
Comment: My bet is on the right hose being a bit clogged, especially since the car pulls the opposite direction when not braking, which is likely because the brake doesn't fully disengage on the right side.
Answer: Check the donut shaped strut rod bushings that go into the control arm. They look like rubber donuts. Have someone sit in the car and drive it back back and forth when they hit the brake. If the bushings are bad you will see the wheel actually move when you hit the brake.
Secondly check the ball joints. jack up the control arm so the weight of car rests on it and check for any play. They are known to fail on these cars. You should replace the entire arm if that is the case.


How is data stored in the tangle?

Question: What exactly is being stored in the Tangle if I send a set of data to someone? Is the whole data stored in the Tangle or does the data just pass through the Tangle. Is it just like putting a bag in an empty train and someone at the next station opens the door and gets the bags out?
Comment: Do you ask if the data is stored permanently in the Tangle or just temporary? Sorry, it's difficult to fully understand your question.
Comment: Yes that was may question
Comment: Is the question better now?
Comment: If you think your question is properly answered remember to accept an answer. This way other people know there is already answer to it.
Comment: If that is what happens, the bags never leave the train, how could millions of people store massive amounts of data like videos on the tangle? It would soon reach exabyte levels. Permanodes would be like what, data centers?
Comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/Iota/comments/83shll/is_iota_ready_for_permanent_storage_of_data/  Answered here by IOTA's head of engineering.
Answer: Your metaphor

putting luggage in an empty train and someone in the next station opens the door and gets the bags out

is actually quite accurate because that's basically whats happening. Except that nobody gets the bags out. Somebody just takes a look at the content of the bags. The bags stay in the train forever. Until a snapshot. Where everything in the train gets thrown out to make room for new luggage.
Sending via Tangle / Storing data in the Tangle
If you want to send data via the Tangle you are really storing data in the Tangle and somebody else is reading that data from the Tangle.
The Tangle only contains transactions.
Since there are only transactions within the Tangle you can only store your data inside of these transactions. (For more information about the structure of transactions take a look at this)
You put the data inside the signatureMessageFragment of a 0-value-tx (=transaction that sends 0 IOTAs). This is the same place where you would put the signature of a value-tx.
Example for storing data in the Tangle
For more information and a practical example you should definitely take a look at this question which was already asked in the IOTA StackExchange before. It was specifically about storing images within the Tangle
Answer: All the data will remain in the Tangle.
If one could take out the dataset one could change the data and you will never know. By leaving it in the Tangle and distributing it you can always be sure you recieved the original data.
In an older blog post David Sønstebø stated:

Tangle — the permissionless distributed ledger of IOTA — solves this
  issue through guaranteeing data integrity by storing the data in a
  distributed and trustless fashion among the nodes in the network.

By leaving it in the Tangle and not removing it, it is also available to everyone. This way it can never get lost.
Answer: Addresses make up the composition of the tangle. When you send a transaction, whether its 0 IOTAs, 1000 IOTAs, has a tag, has data attached to it, everything you send gets stored at the address you send it to, and can be accessed there. Provided that the address has not been pruned in a snapshot, it is now permanently stored there in the tangle.

How is data stored in the tangle?


Did my former supervisor steal my research proposal?

Question: When I was a master student I worked in a PhD proposal with my master's supervisor. I applied with that proposal to obtain a scholarship from the university, however because I did not get the scholarship, and she didn't have money for paying the research expenses for the study I couldn't pursue the project.
Recently, checking the university page of my former supervisor, I saw advertised the same proposal I wrote and submitted for the scholarship application, exactly with the same words, same theoretical framework, same research questions, etc., she did not change a thing, and she is now advertising it as a "possible PhD project" for a new student that would like to apply for it (and probably get the money we needed for the research). Is that considered as stealing work? Can I report her somehow? I wrote all the proposal with constant feedback from her so I don't know if that gives her full authorship of it?
Comment: it seems to be unethical! Did you brought those ideas of the research proposal on your own? If so, why she didnot contact as long as he had secured funding for prospective students, did you contact her? I have never been in a situation like that before and I would like to know what community should advise in that case.
Comment: Will you do something with the proposal? Do you intend to develop the project?
Comment: Even if OP was not completely independent developing the proposal (I do not know, just an assumption), it sounds like plagiarism as best (and most likely stealing). On the other hand, if she was heavily involved in the writing, revisions herself, it will be mostly a gray area when want to prove it (even if it is unethical).
Comment: She had a little initial idea of something she was interested to look at, so following that initial idea I developed the full proposal.
Answer: It was a proposal, not a publication. The ethics would depend at least a bit on how much she contributed to the effort. But it isn't necessary for her to leave the research undone if you have gone away and she participated. She can certainly follow up on it, even with another student. It would really only be unethical if you brought the proposal to her, relatively complete. In would have been better had she contacted you before proceeding, of course. I don't know if that was possible.
But if you are still in academia, you might be able to get back into this research, even if not as her student. You need to contact her with a request to participate, reminding her of your earlier work on the proposal. You might be able to achieve an authorship position, provided that you continue to contribute. But your past work probably won't be enough.
Note that I'm basing this on the fact that a proposal for research isn't the same as the research being completed. It is a proposal to study something. It is primarily an idea that might go somewhere.
If you can't participate, for whatever reason, you might still be able to get an acknowledgement in whatever results from the idea. You have to ask, of course.
Answer: You say you "wrote it with constant feedback from her" which means that intellectual ownership is difficult to disentangle. It is quite possible that s/he totally stole your ideas and there is nothing you can do about it. It is also possible that all the sensible bits resided in fact in their feedback and that you are a being bit big-headed about your contribution. But this kind of theft is extremely common in academia so do not think that I choose their side by default. However, that is what the system will do.
Now, things could be a little bit different if it was all your writing that now appears word for word on their website. Then you could write to their head of department. Who is still very likely to say "Tut tut, it seems Dr so and so has been a bit naughty. My, my. Now run along now little one."
Don't think I am being cynical or blasé. I am just trying to spare you any further heartbreak. Academia is where the politics are the most vicious, because the stakes are so low.
Answer: Depends. Did the submission form say they owned the proposal you submitted? (This is common in consulting).
If you are feeling unkind, publish the proposal online someplace, RIGHT NOW, and call them out for plagiarism if/when the proposal gets used.
Comment: Proposals don't really get you credit. They may get you funding if submitted to the right place.


Connecting 4 HX711 to one Raspberry Pi

Question: I have four individual scales that are each connected to a HX711, those HX711s are each connected to the Raspberry Pi. I'm a beginner in python as well as this Rasberry Pi. how do i properly code this Rasberry Pi using python to read the weight from each scale?
Comment: I would start by searching for Raspberry Pi + Python + HX711.  You will need to work through some Python tutorials and the HX711 datasheet before you make sense of any code you find.
Comment: I would recommend to start with the SparkFun guide https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/load-cell-amplifier-hx711-breakout-hookup-guide/all  Rpi also has a tutorial https://tutorials-raspberrypi.com/digital-raspberry-pi-scale-weight-sensor-hx711/
Answer: Question
4 HX711s are connected to 1 Rpi.  How to use python to read the Hx711s?
Short Answer
Rpi to HX711 Connection
The Rpi (or its digital buffers/level converters/IO port extenders) can use 8 GPIO lines, 2 each to read 1 HX711.
How to read HX711

HX711 has 1 clock input and 1 results output.
By applying 25~27 clock pulses to set gain (see summary below) at the PD_SCK pin, data will shift out from the DOUT output pin.

HX711 Datasheet
HX711 Summary Notes
Analog Inputs
Channel A differential input is designed to interface directly with a bridge sensor's differential output. It can be programmed with a gain of 128 or 64. The large gains are needed to accommodate the small output signal from the sensor.
When 5V supply is used at the AVDD pin, these gains correspond to a full-scale differential input voltage of ±20mV or ±40mV respectively.
Channel B differential input has a fixed gain of 32. The full-scale input voltage range is ±80mV, when 5V supply is used at the AVDD pin.
Output Data Rate and Format
When using the on-chip oscillator, output data rate is typically 10 (RATE=0) or 80SPS (RATE=1).  See module diagram below to see how to set data rate.
The output 24 bits of data is in 2's complement format.
When input differential signal goes out of the 24 bit range, the output data will be saturated at 800000h (MIN) or 7FFFFFh (MAX), until the input signal comes back to the input range.
Serial Interface
Pin PD_SCK and DOUT are used for data retrieval, input selection, gain selection and power down controls.
When output data is not ready for retrieval, digital output pin DOUT is high. Serial clock input PD_SCK should be low.
When DOUT goes to low, it indicates data is ready for retrieval.
PD_SCK high min = 0.2uS, max 50uS (1/50uS = 20kHz) (typ 1uS)
PD_SCK low min = 0.2uS (typ 1uS, 1MHz)
By applying 25~27 positive clock pulses at the PD_SCK pin, data is shifted out from the DOUT output pin.
Each PD_SCK pulse shifts out one bit, starting with the MSB bit first, until all 24 bits are shifted out.
The 25th pulse at PD_SCK input will pull DOUT pin back to high.
Input and gain selection is controlled by the number of the input PD_SCK pulses.
PD_SCK clock pulses should not be less than 25 or more than 27 within one conversion period, to avoid causing serial communication error.
PD_SCK Pulses / Input channel Gain
25 clock pulses - select A channel with gain = 128
26 clock pulses - select B channel with gain = 32
27 clock pulses - select A channel with gain = 64
Comment: thank you now how would i use that in a python program ?
Comment: Ah, you start with the Rpi GPIO tutorials - https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/usage/gpio/  https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/usage/gpio/python/README.md
Comment: my hx711 are on gpio 0,2,3,25
Comment: Where do the Hx711 x 4 output lines go?

Connecting 4 HX711 to one Raspberry Pi


First Amendment - U.S. Constitution

Question: I understand that the first amendment enshrines freedom of speech. However, can the location where someone speaks pose a limit to this? Is it different between public and private property?
Comment: 18 USC 798 prohibits revealing certain classified information, and prescribes up to 10 years in prison for violation. It applies to "whoever", not just employees (breach of contract can't be remediated by prison time, anyhow). 18 USC 797 also imposes a year in prison for publishing photographs of certain military installations.
Comment: Governments are not more able or less able to restrict freedom of speech on private or public property.  Why would you think they might be?
Comment: The government cannot prohibit political speech on public property or on private property. I may prohibit political speech on my private property (but obviously not on public property because it's not mine). The government can also prohibit certain kinds of speech, anywhere, such as revealing top secret information -- not legal anywhere. So location isn't material, only content is.
Comment: @phoog That's *certainly* not true. The government can't ban partisan political speech on private property. They can ban it on an army base.
Comment: @cpast but if they can do that it's because there is a compelling interest that passes strict scrutiny, and that has little to do with the ownership of the property on which the military base is situated.  Are you saying I'm not allowed to go to a military base and say "vote for Sanders"?
Comment: @phoog The Supreme Court has ruled that military bases may flat-out prohibit organized campaign activity on base. The government can also do that in federal office buildings, or in a courtroom, or in a post office, or in most kinds of government property that aren't roads, sidewalks, and parks. Strict scrutiny is not involved; the government has a lot of leeway to regulate speech in nonpublic government-owned forums. No compelling interest is needed, and the regulation just needs to be reasonable given the nature and purpose of the property. Strict scrutiny is only needed in public forums.
Comment: @user6726 - I'm not so sure about speech revealing top secret information. Employees with access to top-secret information sign agreements not to release it and violating that agreement is illegal. Once released, however, I believe anyone can publish it. Isn't this how the Pentagon Papers case was decided?
Answer: I'm going to have to disagree with people saying that location is irrelevant. In some cases, the government does have enhanced power to regulate speech on certain kinds of property, because the government-as-landlord can do things the government can't do in other contexts (just like the government-as-employer has more leeway to regulate speech of employees). The relevant question is whether or not the location is a public forum, which means whether or not it's an area that's open to general discussion and debate. Nonpublic forums include military installations, courtrooms, government office buildings, post offices, etc. None of these places are set up for general public discussion. They all have specific purposes, and are allowed to be regulated to ensure they meet those purposes.
If you are in a nonpublic forum, the government still cannot generally discriminate based on viewpoints (there could be some military-related exceptions when civilians are subject to military law, but the general rule is no viewpoint discrimination). However, it can establish extensive rules to regulate permissible content of speech, and is only bound by the requirement that the rules be reasonable. There is a limit (the Board of Commissioners of LAX passed an ordinance to ban, and I quote, "all First Amendment activities" in the terminal; this was not considered reasonable), but the fact that the government is bound by the First Amendment doesn't mean they have to abandon any authority to control the use of their property.
However, not all government property can be a nonpublic forum. The government doesn't get to designate an area traditionally used for public discussion (like a street, a park, or similar) as a nonpublic forum; it must treat those as public forums. (There's an intermediate level too, which is designated as a public forum for certain purposes but is not a traditional public forum, where the rules are intermediate between public and nonpublic forums). In a public forum, all the normal rules apply; the government can't ban political speech on a sidewalk any more than it could ban it in on your front lawn. The government can impose reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions as long as they're narrowly drawn to advance an important government interest and they still leave plenty of alternative ways to speak, but it doesn't get the deference on content restrictions seen in nonpublic forums. Content-based restrictions in public forums have to meet the same kind of standards needed for the government to impose content-based restrictions on private property.
Which brings us to private property. This is generally classed as a nonpublic forum under the federal Constitution, although some states (like California) class some private property (like shopping centers, which are a modern gathering place equivalent to traditional public forums like town squares) as public forums. Also, under the federal Constitution, in a privately owned company town the traditional public forums are still public forums despite being privately owned. What the distinction means here is whether the trespass laws can be used by the owner to restrict speech. In public forum private property, you cannot be convicted of trespass for engaging in what would be protected speech on a government-owned street.
Other than that, the government is as restricted in regulating private property as it is in regulating public forums, if not more so. The property owner, however, can regulate it, and the state backs them up through trespass laws.
Comment: The first amendment does not protect you from being sued for defamation if your free speech is a bunch of crap that damages someone's reputation of course. This doesn't mean the government can stop you making it, only that you have to pay for the privilege.
Comment: I agree with all of this. I'll delete my answer. I guess I was saying that it's never location *per se* that is the reason but rather, other factors like government control, or *purpose* of the space, etc. However, a plain reading of the question clearly equates those to things, so for the OP's purposes, your answer is probably more right than mine.
Answer: You are confusing the right of freedom of speech with other concepts that can be linked to speech.
Let me give an example. In the U.S. you have the right to say that your next door neighbor has sex with rodents. However, if your your statement is false, you are liable for the tort of slander. You are free to make your slander but you have to pay for any injury you may cause if exercising your free speech interferes with the legal right of another.
This is unlike most countries where you can be jailed or enjoined for making false statements.
The same goes for the location of your free speech. Your right of free speech does not include the right to engage in trespass.
Answer: Edit: Unalienable, not inalienable
It doesn't end, regardless of location or circumstances.  It's "unalienable", which means "unable to be taken away from or given away by the possessor".
The First Amendment, along with the other nine in the Bill of Rights are considered unalienable.  They can be suppressed by oppressive governments, but the Founding Fathers understood that they can never truly be taken away.
You can always speak your mind, even if you're gagged and locked in a room by yourself, or standing in front of a firing squad.
You can always bear arms, because any object can be a weapon, even your own body.
There are some rights listed that are more subtle, like the 4th Amendment, but if they're violated regularly, backlash from the community will be an inevitable result at some point.
The 10th Amendment, also follows this logic, once you consider it.  People decide what their rights are, these are never truly "given" by governments.  People may surrender their rights for a time, but eventually they will reclaim them.  With this understood, it's obvious that additional rights would be declared (not "given") at the state level, and finally the ultimate arbiters, the people themselves.
Comment: Do you have any citations to support your definition of "inalienable" rights or your assertion that the rights conferred in the bill of rights meet that definition?  One's ability to speak one's mind does not mean that one has freedom of speech.  Freedom of speech means that the government can't make laws prohibiting you from saying something.  I am free to go next door and run away with a carton of milk, but that doesn't mean I have a right of theft.
Comment: @jblistener The bill of rights was passed by representatives of the people as a set of constraints on the government. They were passed by the people and they are maintained by the people.
Comment: @jblistener I was correcting your description that they are a "warning" to government, or "reminders" to citizens, or "guideline". The Supreme Court doesn't maintain the bill of rights. It interprets and applies it. If the people wanted to change the bill of rights, they can do so. The Supreme Court wouldn't have a say (other than requiring that the constitutionally established amendment process is followed). The Bill of Rights is maintained only for as long as the people (via their elected representatives) desire it.
Comment: @jblistener Regardless, I can't tell what your answer to the question is. Are you saying that being on private vs public property *does* affect the first amendment analysis? If so, in what cases? I'm not aware of a case where the fact that you are on public property or not was the critical piece of the analysis. There has always been other governmental interests aside from it simply being public land that have been when a speech restriction has been allowed.
Comment: You don't have an unalienable right to theft, because such thefts can be prevented by the property owner making the item inaccessible to you, or simply not possessing such an item in the first place.
Comment: So I have a right of theft, but people can take it away by giving away all of their property? I'm not convinced. In fact, theft is prevented by the government making laws against theft, which it can do because there's no right to theft. Back to speech, they *can't* make laws against what one can say, subject to some limited exceptions, because of the first amendment. Consider a country where there's no right to free speech: someone has the same *ability* to speak that we have in the US, but they have no right to free speech because they can be imprisoned for what they say, unlike in the US.
Comment: You misunderstand.  The Bill of Rights is a guideline the government must follow to hold the Union together.  These rights can and are regularly violated, but doing so in large measure risks a political or violent revolt.  If you read the Founding Fathers' discussions during their creation, they were very clear that these rights were listed as much as a warning to the government as a they were a reminder to citizens.
Comment: @Dawn They were ratified by Congress and 2/3 of state legislatures.  They're maintained by the Supreme Court.  They're enforced by the will of the people.
Comment: @Dawn I'm saying it doesn't matter if the land is public or private, because First Amendment rights are unalienable, therefore location is irrelevant.
Comment: @jblistener I don't think you need to get to unalienableness in order to say that it doesn't matter if the land is public or private. The text of the First Amendment prohibits any law abridging freedom of speech, and courts have interpreted that very strictly, only allowing restrictions when those restrictions pass strict scrutiny. "Unalienableness" isn't a factor that courts have used to judge the relative importance of different sections of the Constitution.
Comment: @Dawn Agreed, that legal test hasn't been necessary.
Comment: and, @Dawn and jbllistener, my question is whether alienability or lack thereof of rights plays any part in their application by a court of law.  Is alienability a useful legal concept?  Does it matter? The right of free speech could be removed by an amendment. Also, free speech can be curtailed as can other rights, like the right to vote and the right to travel freely, with due process of law. If a right can be taken away by a judge and jury, is it unalienable?
Comment: @phoog Alienability or lack thereof hasn't played a material role in any of the Supreme Court's analysis of constitutional rights. I think it's a red herring. The last time it came up was in Justice Thomas's dissent in *Obergefell* when he argued that dignity was not something for the government to *give* to us (via the institution of marriage), but rather, something we all just have due to our unalienable rights. He was arguing that since that is unalienable, it isn't even within the government's power to take or give that dignity away (if I understand him correctly.)

First Amendment - U.S. Constitution


How can I set Thunderbird so keep message as unread in a folder all the time

Question: I have a Queue folder in Thunderbird. I put messages manually in there, and I would like all of them to be in unread status, whether I have read them or not. Like force to be unread all the time. How can I do that?
Comment: Your title contradicts your text. You want them to be *read* (text) or *unread* (title)?
Comment: Not unless they include the feature http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=64313
Answer: Mozilla Thunderbird is built on Mozilla's Development Platform and has the same Add-On Extensions capability that Mozilla Firefox has.
I don't think there is a way to do what you want to do natively, but if you know how to build a Firefox Extension, you could look into building a Thunderbird Extension that could monitor your folder and always mark the messages as unread.
Thunderbird Extensions extend the functionality of the application, giving programmers the ability to add additional functionality to it using the add-on architecture, which is similar to how plug-ins work.
Here is the resource center for building Thunderbird Extensions:
https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Extensions/Thunderbird
Answer: I know that this question is still relevant to a lot of people. Thunderbird now has the option to mark an email as 'unread' in the 'Other Actions' menu that shows up on the right side of the status bar, above the email.


Adopted houseplant, need help with identification and care instructions

Question: I adopted this plant (see image below), but I don't know the name or how to care for it. I live in Dublin with limited sunlight but I have the plant by the window to give it the most amount of direct and indirect sunlight. Can someone please help me identify the plant and if possible, share any tips on how to care for it.

https://i.stack.imgur.com/7mBgc.jpg
Comment: You have an orchid, but I think it's nearly impossible to tell which species without it being in bloom.  They're typically understory plants, so I'd move it out of direct sunlight as soon as possible.
Comment: Thanks for that feedback, I'll it away from direct sunlight. Any suggestions on how to care for it? Watering cycle, etc?
Answer: I'm no expert but have successfully kept an orchid like this growing for several years in a similar climate (NW England).

Keep out of direct sunlight as mentioned by Jurp in the comments. Ours have been fine on an East facing window sill except for the hottest part of summer where we move to a bookshelf inside the room.
Water every week or two. I put 6 drops or so of concentrated orchid food in half a litre of water, hold the pot over a tub, pour over the water, and repeat with the recovered water. These orchids are usually potted in bark so they don't retain a lot of water and the water doesn't soak through like with compost. The multiple passes  help ensure everything gets moist. Don't leave it in standing water.
Repot when too many roots are poking out the bottom or top. Use special orchid compost, often made of bark and bits of dry clay (other types may work too - you seem to have moss). Trim excessive roots. It's different from repotting in normal compost but not difficult: put some bark in the bottom, sit the orchid roots on top with a suitably sized stick to support any future stalks, gently shake or prod more compost into the gaps to support and fill.
Trim dead leaves and stalks to neaten up its appearance.
Support the flower stalk against the stick with a clip. Not always clear which one the flowers will come from until the buds appear but there's no rush. Just be sure to do it before the flowers get too heavy.

Unsure about periods of rest but I assume they benefit from reduced watering and light at some point during the year. Also unsure about dealing with broken roots but I would suggest not watering until they've had time to scab over (to avoid rot).
Comment: Thanks for all these tips, I've been leaving it in standing water, I will change that. I'll also go to the plant store to find some orchid food.

One last question; any tips on how to find which stalk will bloom a flow and which are just regular non-blooming stalk? I'm not sure which one to support and which one to leave as is
Comment: I'm not convinced that even the plant knows that until it's time :-) Eventually one gets buds and you'll know. On the same plant I've had last year's stalk put out a new shoot and flower but I've also seen the old stalks die off and a brand new flowering stalk appear. I've managed so far by just letting the orchid do its thing when it's ready.
Comment: I believe the shoots with the white skin are roots (looking for moisture in the air just as much as nearby moss or bark). The dark green ones are the ones that might bear flowers.
Comment: Good to know, that's helpful to determine the roots from actual stalks
Answer: Looks very much like a Phaelenopsis orchid.
See the old flower stems? Count from the base two buds, and cut above those buds.
The big killer is rot from overwatering. I have killed a few.
Like @Carl says, don't leave standing in water.
Comment: Thanks for that, that's helpful in knowing clear next steps in bringing this orchid back to health
Answer: this is a Phalaenopsis Orchid. It is a hardy plant, just keep away from direct sunlight.
From the image, it looks like you have kept them in a glass with some bit of water / moist soil, is that correct? We would recommend using clay balls. Phalaenopsis Orchids like their soil media to be very airy, and less moist. Also, do put them in a container that has large holes for the roots to come out. Orchids in general like their roots to be fully exposed to air.


Subclipse description of each menu item

Question: Is there a description of each of the menu items in the Team menu for Subclipse somewhere?
The are still a number of items that I don't understand.
Answer: Check these two links, maybe you can find some useful stuff there:

http://help.collab.net/index.jsp?topic=/org.tigris.subclipse.doc/topics/toc.html
http://subclipse.tigris.org/wiki/PluginFAQ

Here are the descriptions of some of them, please specify if there's any other one you don't understand.
Synchronize with repository Compare changes on your version with HEAD in a visual way. It shows incoming updates and outgoing files to commit. If you double click any of these files, you get a visual diff of the changes.
Commit - Commit your changes
Create / Apply patch - Create or apply a patch. (how to)
Revert - Revert your changes
Edit conflicts - In case you have conflicts in your project.
Branch/tag/merging items - See Chapter 4 on the book.
Set property / show properties See Properties.
Export - Use svn export on your project (opens file browser to select where).
Show History - Show svn log in a "nice way".
Mark resolved - In case there was a conflict, mark your version as resolved.

Subclipse description of each menu item


Usage about German 'bis'

Question:
Wir gingen bis an den Rand des Abgrunds. Can I delete an in this sentence? In German usually two prepositions stay together, which makes it a bit hard for me to understand.
Bis auf den Kapitän wurden alle gerettet. Can I delete auf?
Comment: "In German usually two prepositions stay together" - that isn't true. The phenomenon is specific to "bis", which isn't originally a true preposition; it is comparable to "*all the way* to the station". It's possible to delete the following preposition in *some* cases: "bis nach Frankfurt" -> "bis Frankfurt", and this gives the impression that "bis" was itself a preposition, but it's really more of an adverb in use.
Answer: (1) You cannot remove the an in sentence number 1, because it implies that you went up to the edge of the abyss. You can also say :
Wir gingen bis zum Rand Abgrunds.
(2) Again, it is a "no" because if you remove the auf, the sentence will not make sense. The sentence is correct the way it is. There is another way to say it and it is :
Außer dem Kapitän wurden alle gerettet.
Answer: 1
You can not delete "an" but you can delete "bis":

Wir gingen bis an den Rand des Abgrunds.
  Wir gingen an den Rand des Abgrunds.

Both sentences have the same meaning.
The term "an den Rand des Abgrunds" expresses a movement towards a target, which means, that it is the answer to the question "wohin?" ("where to?"). Many languages (among them Hungarian) have a special case for this, which is named "allativ", but germanic languages (like English or German) don't have an allativ. Those languages use a modification of akkusativ to express a movement towards a target.
In English the correct answer to the question "where to" is not "the edge of the abyss". The correct answer ist "to the edge of the abyss".
Same in German: The answer to the question "wohin" is neither "der Rand des Abgrunds" nor "den Rand des Abgrunds". It is: "an den Rand des Abgrunds".
the word "bis" forces the allativ-like construction. If you omit "bis" this type of construction is one of many possible ways to continue the sentence:

Wir gingen bis (wohin) zum grünen Haus
Wir gingen (wie) sehr schnell
  Wir gingen (warum) weil wir nicht fahren wollten
  Wir gingen (wie lange) schon 7 Stunden lang
  Wir gingen (wohin) zum grünen Haus

2
No, you can't omit "auf" because "bis auf" has a different meaning that has not much to do with the meaning of "bis" without "auf":

bis = to, until, up to, till, by
bis auf = except for

So, "bis auf" + Akkusativ has the same meaning as "außer" + Dativ
Comment: "Wir gingen an den Rand" and "wir gingen bis an den Rand" don't have the same meaning. "Bis" makes the brink of the abyss the focus of attention: "Wir gingen bis an den Rand des Abgrunds, obwohl uns alle Einheimischen davor gewarnt hatten". Without "bis", the "Rand des Abgrunds" is one destination among others: "Wir gingen an den Rand des Abgrunds, dann besuchten wir das Wildschweingehege, bevor wir im Gasthaus einkehrten".

Usage about German 'bis'


Where does GSettings store its files?

Question: I would like to have a look at the files the dconf-editor uses to read/write settings, and I'm assuming that they are managed by gsettings. Where are these files stored on the system, and in what format?
Comment: To find out the location of the files, make some change and run `find ~/.[!.]* -mmin -5`.
Answer: Following some advice, I made a change and ran this:
find ~/.[!.]* -mmin -5

Among the displayed results was ~/.config/dconf/user. It's a binary file, a sort of database where GSettings stores stuff.
Comment: If you need to read (parts of) that binary file, [this solution|https://askubuntu.com/a/368160/145568] comes in handy...
Comment: Needless to say, this is NOT the unix or linux way to do it.
Answer: Here's what the manual for dconf had to say:
dconf-editor reads gsettings schemas from $XDG_DATA_DIRS/glib-2.0/schemas to obtain
      descriptions, default values and allowed values for keys.
So to find out where these files are all you have to do is open up a terminal and write this in:
> echo $XDG_DATA_DIRS

There is where your answer will be (provided it is set) if it isn't set try
> set | grep XDG

You should find some variation on that name with a dconf folder inside. For me the variation was. XDG_RUNTIME_DIR which was set to /run/user/1000 and held a directory called dconf with a binary file inside.
Ultimately though, if you want to find any useful human readable information you will be better off looking for the schemas themselves rather than binary files.
Answer: A better method would be strace to find out. Using a binary file, why for some wrong idea about performance, how dumb for multiple reasons! KDE does it right but it's not as light as xfce with nautilus!

Where does GSettings store its files?