Can we ask what Key a piece is in?

Question: Some websites, Tunebat as one, are exceptional in showing you details like a pieces Key, BPM and danceability. Sometimes, however, a piece is not on there. Research concluded first, are we then permitted to ask the tonal centre on here?
Answer: I suggest asking the question in chat.

It circumvents any issue of being on or off topic.
It would be really nice to see a more active chat room.
Personally, I don't feel this kind of question is a good fit for the main site, but I enjoy answering them, so would be a likely answerer in a chat discussion.
Should enough of these pop up in chats, then a good case could be made for making them on topic for the main site.

Can we ask what Key a piece is in?


getting text to be horizontal as opposed to vertical

Question: I just downloaded GIMP and am trying to work with text on a photo.  What I write appears vertically, how do I get it to display horizontally?
Comment: Hi.  Welcome to GDSE.  Generally software support is off topic here, but we'd need more information to help. Could you post a screenshot perhaps? Also is it a Dynamic text box or Fixed text box? Have you tried other fonts? Which version of GIMP are you using?
Comment: Thanks for the reply, after poking around GIMP for awhile I've decided to stay with Photoshop for now.  May be back when I have more time to explore.
Answer: If you are using Gimp 2.10 you are able to change the text to vertical by simply creating a new text box, adding text, then right-clicking on said text and at the bottom of the menu, you should see different options of aligning the text.
Comment: When I right click on said text I do not get any options for default text direction.


Why does the Crew Dragon seem to rely primarily on a low bandwidth downlink for voice communications?

Question: What are the particular reasons that the Dragon Capsule is not communicating via Starlink, or that it seems that the audio and video downlinks from the Dragon Capsule are on separate streams?
Comment: Can you mention what it is that leads you to believe 1) "...Dragon Capsule isn't communicating via Starlink...", 2) "...audio and video downlinks from the Dragon Capsule are separate...", and 3) "...there is an ancient hand-held walkie-talkie style radio..." and mention what a "beamforming microphone" is? You can add a link to a video and mention a time within it and/or link to something you've read. *Thanks!*
Comment: @JörgWMittag where are these "rules of this site"? I've never seen them.
Comment: BTW, if you have three questions, it is much better to ask three questions, not one question. E.g. I have an answer to question #1, but I cannot post it here because it does not answer the question.
Comment: @JörgWMittag removed the 2nd part
Comment: Unfortunately, I still cannot post an answer because you are asking two questions, and I only have an answer to one of those two, therefore, by the rules of this site, my answer does not answer the question you asked. Sorry.
Comment: @uhuh: An answer must answer the question. Since the question contains two questions, and I only have an answer for one of them, my answer doesn't answer the question.
Comment: @Dagelf - I noticed that during the YouTube livestream with the Inspiration 4 crew, the audio and video was quite noticeably out of sync, and the picture quality was not great - pretty grainy.  Crew interaction starts at about 10:17 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E71ffwc13y4  If that is what you are referring to, perhaps you can edit that into your question.
Comment: "Must answer the question" does not specify which of the questions... neither does it say "all of the questions".  :-p An answer with one answer, I am sure would be acceptable to most rational human beings...
Answer:
What are the particular reasons that the Dragon Capsule is not communicating via Starlink...

As @JörgWMittag points out the capsule orbited at an altitude higher than the Starlink satellites.
The Starlinks currently have three types of internet-related communication:

downwards with customers fixed on the Earth's surface below the satellites (except an occasional individual exception one can read about)
sideways with other nearby Starlink satellites
downwards with Starlink ground stations for connecting to the internet.

They just don't have the hardware to talk upwards to spacecraft orbiting above them, and they might not be able to maintain communication with something below them moving at orbital velocity. It's not that it wouldn't be possible, it's just that it would require different and more complicated operation than talking to fixed points on Earth's surface registered to known customers.

...or that it seems that the audio and video downlinks from the Dragon Capsule are on separate streams?

It is most likely that for the purposes of the live broadcast the far lower bandwidth audio is transmitted over a different and more reliable channel than the video so that if the video link drops out the audio (and therefore the program) can continue and a frozen image will still appear.
It's common/normal to process audio and video separately, thus we still use those clapperboards or some facsimile thereof even in the 21st century to synchronize separate audio and image channels.

Man with a clapperboard as a scene is ready to be filmed. Production shot from KUHT-TV's Doctors in Space program with Drs. John Rider (center) and Hubertus Strughold (right).
Comment: The question doesn't specifically state Inspiration 4, maybe relevant: from  https://www.inverse.com/innovation/spacex-crew-dragon-upgrade, "For Inspiration4, NASA provided communications between the ground and capsule through the Near Space Network...NASA's network uses ground stations to offer line-of-sight communications with missions. It also uses relay satellites, placed in geosynchronous orbit, ...the crew only had limited opportunities to use the network, remarking that they only had so many ground station passes to transmit video because NASA and other agencies had priority."
Comment: Musk's Twitter feed also mentions future Dragon to Starlink connectivity https://mobile.twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1439035515517509636
"Elon Musk
Sep 17
...Dragon will have a food warmer & free wifi next time :)
Everyday Astronaut
Sep 17
Will Starlink be able to provide service for vehicles below AND above them? ...
Elon Musk
Yeah. We'd use our Ka parabolics or laser links for Dragon, Starship or other spacecraft as soon as they got above cloud level."
Comment: OMW!!! So that's what a clapperboard is, and is for!!! Thank you! :-D
Comment: @Nathan I think you have enough for an excellent answer!
Answer: Why audio/video on the Dragon Capsule are on separate streams / limited bandwidth?
@uhoh's answer gives insight  into the practical reasons for separating audio and video streams.
An apparent example of these broadcast characteristics can be seen in the Inspiration 4 live orbit broadcast starting at about 10:17

I have not seen enough Dragon live orbit transmissions to know how that broadcast compares with more "typical" missions, and note that Inspiration 4 also had lower priority than other missions on the NASA Near Space Network.
From https://www.inverse.com/innovation/spacex-crew-dragon-upgrade

For Inspiration4, NASA provided communications between the ground and capsule through the Near Space Network. This connects missions with various agencies and commercial entities up to two million kilometers (1.24 million miles) away from Earth. This network brings down around 30 terabytes of data per day.
NASA's network uses ground stations to offer line-of-sight communications with missions. It also uses relay satellites, placed in geosynchronous orbit, that can help provide continuous communications.
Jared Isaacman, the missions' funder and a passenger on board, explained on Twitter that the crew only had limited opportunities to use the network, remarking that they only had so many ground station passes to transmit video because NASA and other agencies had priority....

Why doesn't dragon communicate via Starlink
Starlink was not a priority - Dragon was built for working with NASA so designed for its communication networks.
@uhoh's answer also points out that Starlink's design is not primarily oriented around communicating "upwards" to a space craft.
However, shortly after the Inspiration 4 mission landed, Musk indicated that Dragon to Starlink communication is likely in the future - https://mobile.twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1439035515517509636:
Comment: @BrendanLuke15 - the whole context of the tweet is orbital - you wouldn't care much about the food warmer and Wi-Fi on your way up. The tweet was also in response to this "
Inspiration4
inspiration4x
·
Sep 17
"Can't believe we're eating cold pizza in space. It's extraordinary!"
Comment: The use of the word "cloud" leads me to think he ignored the *above* part of the question...


How to display large amounts of data on one page with existing tabs as navigation?

Question: I have a web application that uses the left navigation for major functionality and tabs for displaying different information within a function. One function is to enroll in something. There are several steps, with the last step displaying a summary of your selections before you submit. (All data selected during this process needs to be shown here before you click on the Submit button.) What is the best way to display all data if tabs are already used for the steps? More tabs or using an accordion and showing one or two sections expanded and the other sections collapsed or something else?
Comment: It's difficult to analyze the description of your application' functionality, especially because it can have different interpretations. A visual representation (even simple mock-up) of existing layout would be very helpful.
Answer: I'm sorry, but making selections in order before submission seams so nineties! This was how the web and ERP:s worked back in the days. You should at each single selection filter results returned accordingly and not have your user play guessing game. Now go back to your development team and tell them they need to be coding for real time, right now!


Poor quality Lawn.

Question: Lawn was set 28 years ago. The lawn was planted in June and a prolonged dry period followed. Grass was slow to appear,but weeds took off immediately. I suspect that sub soil was used, rather than top soil, when the lawn was set.  In Winter or during damp summers, moss appears in most parts of the lawn. Over the years  the lawn hasn't really improved.  Grass seems to suffer greatly even after a short dry period.
Should  I now take up the lawn completely and bring in new top soil,  should  I dig it up, clean off weeds, moss etc and lay new seed  again or this there a Plan C?  What is the best time of year to attempt this work?
Comment: I'd echo the 'where are you' query and also wonder what you mean by the lawn was planted or set - does that mean turf (sods) or seed? And is the lawn in a shady area?
Comment: lawn, and weeds are the same thing. Some lawn plants are less desirable than others.
Comment: What part of the world is the lawn in and how important is it to look perfect? As the saying goes "You can have it: fast, good or cheap.  Pick two"
Comment: if you are seeing moss, I'm guessing the area either doesn't get much sun OR the area is in a depression that holds water. Both conditions are detrimental to turf growth. You would need to choose seed varieties that are shade tolerant and not too finicky about water. Fescues tend to tolerate shade better than the bluegrasses. If your concern is mostly about aesthetics vs playing croquet or some other activity, I would highly recommend trying a native grass like Agrostis perennans or Deschampsia flexuosa. Both will do well in shady areas and don't need too much attention.
Comment: @Frank Reidy Personally, I would just call a lawn care company. Tell them to come in and scarify, aerate and fertilize the lawn this season. If it hasn't recovered by the end of the season then you can think about getting new sod.
Answer: Do not worry about the use of subsoil versus topsoil.  I've seen sod laid out over 5/8 minus gravel in our yard and THRIVE.  Amazing.
Are you set on seeding your lawn?  I would call around to get bids on a lawn seed spray company.  Gosh I am hoping you are in the northern latitudes with cool season grasses.  Those I know very well.  I prefer using sod, worth every penny and I've never seen that sod was a worrisome expenditure or even a noticeable expenditure.
If you have warm season grasses, use St. Augustine.  I've got the guy who knows St. Augustine very well...his videos that I have perused and was very impressed by.
Just wacking down the grasses and weeds (before producing seed hopefully) then raking and rolling !!!!! filling in depressions then raking and rolling again is all you need to prepare your lawn for sod...again.
If you send pictures we could be help you decide to use a sod cutter to remove the top 2" of weed seed filled soil and organic debris if necessary before new sod.  Sod is great as it smothers weed seeds quite well.
If you are able to get a vigorously growing grass crop that crop will be able to out compete any weeds.  If you are using a cool season grass seed mix, or St. Augustine, you have to learn maintenance techniques such as mowing HEIGHT.  How to water correctly to train the roots to be drought tolerant.  How to fertilize correctly.  How to sharpen your blades sharp sharp sharp...it isn't tough to have a magnificent lawn, just need to know how this monster the lawn works!

Poor quality Lawn.


is the 24v transformer output ~27v normal?

Question: i found my carrier 58pha090-016 furnace had no flame with the igniter on, and exhaust fan running, etc. it kept trying 3 times then stop. i reset the power switch of the whole system, the same cycle repeated. of course, i confirmed the main gas valve to the furnace from house was open, and the heater near by working fine. i testeded the power cable to the gas valve (White Rodgers modle 36j24-618, 1 stage, 24V) had 27V after the igniter on, and no voltage when the system off, that meant the control board and limit switches etc were all functional. More likely the bad gas valve.  I could replace the gas valve. however, i am not sure if the 27V output from the control board was the root causing the damage to the gas valve from the first place, or it's still a acceptable range? Ichecked the gas valve manual there's no range in its specifications.  i checked the output from the transformer (with label of 24V output) the reading was 27V.   some people online said the transformer range could be from from 24V to 28V.  if anyone has any experience about this, pleait's greatly appreciated for your advises.  thanks in advance!
Comment: What type of meter did you measure the voltage with?
Comment: ...by the way, the air condition, blower are still working fine.  the gas valve problem only happened recently.   I just want to know if i should spend extra $$ to replace the transformer.  it'd be a waste if 27V is the normal range. thanks.
Comment: i used a cheap $7 multi meter. but i measured the house outlet for reference and i got ~121V that's close to the expected 120V.
Comment: Yes, but you had load at your house...
Comment: Note that the voltage at a house outlet can vary considerably as a function of the time of day, house loading and loading of other users, etc. Expect a range of at least 110 to 125 volts.  The point is that it shouldn't be relived on to check the calibration of a voltmeter.
Answer: It does sound like the valve and/or solenoid is bad. You measured 27 volts, but that's only about 10% above the specified value, which is pretty close for a random transformer. The voltage will likely sag as you approach the rated current draw from the transformer, but even if it doesn't that's pretty close.
Comment: I wouldn't worry about three volts over with no load.
Comment: thanks for your responses


Predicting future automobile sales

Question: I am new to Machine Learning. Recently I am trying to build a model to predict the sales of a particular automobile make and model of a dealership and to which location. The data given to me has information about the dealer name, state, zip code, owner state, zip code, vehicle make, model, year, vehicle segment, body type, odometer reading, new/used indicator. How do I build a model to do predictive analysis?
Comment: Hi Simi, Welcome to DS Stack Exchange. This question is a bit broad right now. What do you need help with? Perhaps you can share what you have tried so far, if even to just reference other blogs and explain what you don't understand.
Answer: Welcome to the forum (and machine learning). Choosing an estimator/model can sometimes be the hardest problems, as such there are many different opinions and ways to do so.
The first thing I notice with your problem statement is that you're wanting to predict the Sales (either in $ or quantity, I would assume). Because you're not trying to predict a category or binary label, we can rule out classification models and look at instead regression style models.
A logical starting point for this would be to explore using a Linear Regression. This assumes that you have some existing data with the price, quantity, or target you're trying to predict.
Linear Regression is a logical starting point as they're simple to implement, yet can get some pretty good results. Scikit-learn has a nice package in Python on linear regressions.
If you don't get satisfactory results using Linear Regressions, you may wish to explore Decision Trees, either scikit-learns implementation or xgboost. This rules out classification models.
Briefly, I think it's important to note that the features to your model are nearly all categorical, eg. make, model, etc. To handle these features, you'll need to encode these features, a guide on that is here.
Take your time, explore your data a lot and start with a simple model. The more you understand your data, the more you'll understand the model. Enjoy and have fun! :)
Comment: Thank you so much James for replying. What I am unable to understand is that since I neither have the price of the vehicles sold or the count, is it possible for me to build a regression model? I just have information about the dealership(name, state, zip), customer(state, zip), vehicle(make, model, odometer reading, year, vehicle segment, body type and new or used) and year purchased. With only this information available is it possible for me to build a regression model. I am trying to predict the count of the make and model sold by a dealership.

Predicting future automobile sales


How to access ms word text and its styles using MSAA api in python

Question: From past 1 week i am searching for accessing ms word using msaa api in python, but i didn't get any info in python. So please help me on this.
I want headlines in ms word doc using msaa api in python
How to do this?
I am getting headlines in normal ms word doc form python, but i don't know how to get form msaa api.
Please help me on this
Answer: I don't think MSAA is the most easy or appropriate way to access document text... maybe Office has a different API from Microsoft to extract data...
I recommend you check out if MSAA is supported by the object you want in ms-word using tools like Inspect32 or AccExplorer.
after that in msaa usually you do the following (in any language)
Search for the window or take the foreground window, get accessible object from handle to window and for that object get class, name, value... (accValue, accName)
You could use a library like: https://github.com/phuslu/pyMSAA
or use COM calls.


We really need to stop these questions

Question: Questions like these are bad. All of us know that. They simply ask "what song is this", give almost no information about it, and offer no actual information to be given other then "this is the song". (Frustratingly, each of them also had a +1 on them before I saw them, leading me to believe someone's grinding for a badge - Civic Duty comes to mind - instead of legitimately earning it.) I have the fear this'll be downvoted to hell because of something I missed, but can we please do something to stop these questions popping up all over the site?
Comment: I honestly don't see what's bad about it. They provide a sample of the song they want to identify. What is so great about a Music Fan site that doesn't allow song identification questions?
Comment: Identifications have been on-topic for almost two months now, as a trial period. Maybe it is time to poll the experience so far, so I created a meta thread here: http://meta.musicfans.stackexchange.com/questions/243/update-regarding-the-status-of-identification-questions
Comment: Because it turns the website into a butchered Google?
Comment: Why don't they use Shazam?
Answer: This is one of the areas where the mods can't help all that much.
The problem, in a nutshell, is that beta sites are living, growing, changing sites. The decisions as to what is and is not on-topic are not set in stone. Because of this, mods often leave the problem of closing questions to users who have the vote-to-close privilege (500 rep) - unless the question clearly and blatantly violates the site scope.
A mod might cast the fifth and final vote, but they will rarely cast a vote any sooner than that. I know this makes it seem like mods are useless, but the reality is that a mod-vote is a big hammer. If they wield them carelessly, it could be seen as interference with the user community's collective ability to determine the site scope. There have been user rebellions against "high handed moderator interference".
ID questions have a long and colorful history on art-related SE sites with both fans and haters.
On this site, they were initially banned by strong acclaim. Then most of the people who banned them went inactive, and a new group brought them back. Currently, they are allowed.
So what can be done? Vote to close, encourage others to vote to close, and downvote. Chat rooms are a good place to coordinate votes-to-close.
Comment: We are in a trial period regarding id questions. Maybe it's time to create a new meta discussion so we can share our experiences with them and decide if we keep them all, keep some, or get rid of them.
Comment: Created an update thread here: http://meta.musicfans.stackexchange.com/questions/243/update-regarding-the-status-of-identification-questions
Answer: The problem is, if we start to blast every newcomer with downvotes and closed questions, he will likely never come back. Are we trying to create an empty community?
I think the first thing would be to ask for more details in the comments if possible and try to edit the question to make it more complete. Then, only after a few days, or a few weeks, if the guy never comes back, doesn't even have the Informed Badge we can start downvoting and or close the question.
My point is we should first encourage a nice behaviour instead of blasting people out of this community... what message do we want to deliver with a downvote or a closed question ?
Comment: "Are we trying to create an empty community?" - well, we've done a great job of it, whether we were trying or not!

We really need to stop these questions


selecting key performance indicators for a stock

Question: Say, I read a financial statement of a company, and it reports, maybe 20-30 metrics, both generic, like revenue, free cash flow and specific to the company, like iphone sales etc. Is there a reasonable statistical procedure to determine which metrics actually drive the company's performance?
Answer: borrowing from arbitrage pricing model, say we have $R_{t,t+1} = X_tf_{t,t+1} + \epsilon_{t,t+1}$, where $R$ is stock return, $X$ is your estimation universe consisting of numerous factors you mentioned in question, and $\epsilon$ is estimated from residual. Then for each day/any time frequency you have given company stat updated, estimate factor return by OLS (you can also use WLS etc), so under this model we can have a vector of factor return, $(X_t^TX)^{-1}X_t^TR_{t,t+1}$ and explains it as how much each factor contributes to the stock return.
And since it's a linear regression model, each coefficients' (factor returns) statistical significance can be calculated if you assume log of return is normally distributed and error term is normally distributed also (or other distributions that you see fit).
Comment: Suppose I have 3000 metrics instead of 30. Would you agree, that this approach would just overfit on the historical data and may not have much use for future?
Comment: @LazyCat I'd say no matter what models you use, if you have 3000 metrics you're going to see the curse of dimensionality. Real question is, why would we use 3000 metrics blindly in the first place?
Comment: I don't want to use all 3000 metrics, but I want to figure out which of them are important. The curse of dimensionality is more of a problem of the approach you suggest.
Comment: @LazyCat if you're more focused on selecting features, try run the same model in forward or backward selection and see what subsets of features the above methods give


Does thin airfoil theory work at very high angles of attack?

Question: Thin airfoil theory says that lift coefficient is directly proportional to the angle of attack in radians. I haven't been able to find any limit, short of stall, for applying this theory. It would give us a huge lift coefficient at 90 degrees, where lift is actually zero, and double even that at 180 degrees, where again the lift is zero. This is basic reasoning. So, what am I missing?
Comment: What makes you think there should be another limit than stall? That seems like a pretty definitive limit to me.
Answer: Of course not. Thin Airfoil Theory produces a beautiful result that relates the zero-AOA lift to the mean camber of the airfoil, as well as the lift slope vs AOA of any thin airfoil is $2\pi$. But that's assuming:

Airfoil is asymptotically thin: such that the mean camber line represents the flow path
Camber is close to the chord: such that the vortex sheet is assumed to lie on the chord while resulting in the flow path that lies on the camber line
AOA and camber are small: such that all angles are linearized ($\sin\theta \approx \tan\theta \approx \theta$); obviously at large angles, this assumption breaks down and the results are worthless
Potential and incompressible flow: by the virtue of irrotationality, stall will not be modeled.

So in all, the result is only valid for small range of AOA on an idealized thin airfoil. For engineering purposes on general airfoils, you'd want to use panel method + boundary layer equations. But even then, extrapolating results beyond stall lead to ridiculous results (certainly at 90deg or 180deg).
More details on Thin Airfoil Theory can be found in Drela, Flight Vehicle Aerodynamics or Anderson, Fundamentals of Aerodynamics.
Comment: *AOA and camber are small* thanks! So that explains why my simulated plane is climbing straight up!


My car won't start but has dash lights headlights n radio all normal

Question: I just got a 2008 Ford Freestyle and I noticed every time I started it to go some where it had less n less cranking power, then when I went to start it at the grocery store it cranked s-l-o-w-l-e-y once or twice then nothing. No clicking no cranking, just dead. Tried a jump start, but didn't help. The lights and other electrical seem to function just fine???? Any thoughts?
Comment: By "Jump Start", do you mean that you used cables to connect your battery to another car's battery?   Did you leave the cables connected for a while before you tried to start the car?
Comment: Welcome to Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair!
Answer: This sounds like a dead or dying battery - jump start or replace battery, but if you jump start it won't start the next time..
And then have the charging system checked just in case.
Edit: so if jumping and it still does not start then it could be the starter or the cable feeding the starter.
One way to check is to put the jump lead directly on the starter and see if it works... But this is now more difficult as vehicles have less and less free space.
Comment: Jump start, but did no good and my dash, head, dome lights n radio all work normally. Could this be a bad starter? I've only had car for a week or so from an auction so I have little to no background on it.
Comment: Just because low current devices like interior lights and the radio seem to work, does not mean the battery is good.  Do the interior lights dim when you try to start the engine? Can you turn the headlights on and see if they look dim?
Comment: You drove it to the grocery then it cranked slowly.  The engine is warm so should crank easier than when cold, even with a weak battery.  I would suspect the charging system first.  It sounds like the alternator is not charging the battery.  Many auto parts stores will test the alternator for free.


I want to link one task as successor to multiple task in MS project

Question: I want to link one task as successor to multiple task in MS project. How it can be done quickly? There is one successor and 50 predecessors.
Answer:
Organize/filter your schedule so that all 50 predecessors are
located together.
Add the Successors column to your task table.
Enter the ID of the desired successor into the successors list of the first of the 50 predecessors.
Select the cell you just entered, then use the autofill cursor (black square at lower right corner of cell) to pull the successor ID into each of the remaining 49 predecessors.  (If predecessors are not adjacent, then use copy/paste, though you'll need to paste 49 times.)

This won't work if your predecessors already have other successors and your intent is to add a new one.  In that case dump the successors column to Excel, manipulate by concatenating strings, then copy/paste back to MSP.
Answer: All predecessors can be added at once by entering into the Predecessor field a comma separated list of IDs of the predecessor tasks.
For example, enter "2,3,4,6,7,8" to make those 6 tasks predecessors to the current task with the default finish-to-start relationships.
See Predecessors (task field) for more details about link types.


Any danger in having spammy Twitter followers

Question: I routinely receive notifications of obviously spammy Twitter users following me, e.g. accounts with names like @freemoneynow, etc.  Is there a danger in allowing them to follow me if I do not follow them back?  They could always send me a direct message with a phishing link, but aside from that, is this something I should be aware of?  It becomes a maintenance headache if I have to actively prune my list of followers (admittedly not huge, but all it takes is one bad apple).
Comment: This question will get closed. But in the meantime, the answer to this question is somewhere in the question, "why are they adding you in the first place?" I'm not sure either.
Answer: They can't DM you if you don't follow back.
You can block them if you want to, or you can use one of the many 3rd party services around to do so.
It doesn't really have any effect. It's basically just a number. You'll probably find a lot of them disappear naturally from time to time when Twitter purges spam accounts or they unfollow you because you're not following them back.
Comment: I've noticed that if you ignore them they tend to disappear after a while.
Answer: They are usually just trying to get you to look at their links (money pyramids, xxx sites..) - basically to generate more traffic. So they probably don't pose too much threat, unless you publish all of your sensitive data online, but that is an issue for itself.
Answer: What I do is have a "locked accout" and thus, I have to approve all of my followers...This cuts down big-time on spammy followers, and many don't even bother to request to follow me...


Is there a standard version of the Bible?

Question: Is there a standard version of the Bible, compared to which, all other versions would be considered either translations or paraphrases? If yes, when was the standardization done? And how common is it to study that Bible? And is it accepted across different denominations of Christianity?
Comment: Are you asking about a list of the oldest and/or most complete Biblical manuscripts, and/or scholarly editions containing almost all their known textual variations ?
Answer: The standard resides in the original languages of Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek.  While there are, admittedly, small variances in the Greek manuscripts (New Testament) in particular, these variances are completely insignificant, consisting mostly of spelling variances for proper names, word order, and very slight verb tense differences, which happen to translate the same into English anyway.
Most advanced students of the Bible will learn Greek at least and oftentimes Hebrew as well and reference the original languages.  My pastor translates each passage from scratch whenever he preaches on a New Testament text.
Comment: @Narnian I wouldn't say the manuscripts we have in hand represent original autographs. We have copies. For example, the earliest surviving fragments of the Gospel of Mark are dated around 250 AD, long after the death of Mark.
Comment: You could say that the Vulgate is or was the standard for the Catholic Church.  You could also say, pretty convincingly, that the Textus Receptus was the "standard" Greek new testament used during The Reformation and the following few centuries.  More recent translations tend to rely more heavily on the minority text manuscripts.  There are now multiple editions of the Greek New Testament based on all of the discovered manuscripts, to varying degrees, but I don't believe any one of them would be considered more of a "standard" than another, at this point.
Comment: When was the standardization done?
Comment: The manuscripts are not standardized at all.  They are just gathered.  So, they represent the original autographs.
Comment: See [wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Greek_New_Testament) for a list of some of the more well-known editions.
Comment: @Narnian 250 AD is not the date claimed for the *writing* of Mark. It's the date of the *manuscript*.
Comment: @MετάEd This cites something much more recent: http://www.dts.edu/read/wallace-new-testament-manscript-first-century/
Comment: @Narnian I saw that, it's a great find if true. I am waiting to see whether that becomes widely accepted by historians. It's a new development and still controversial. I've seen one or two claims of fraud.
Answer: There isn't any one standard copy of the Bible. There are several copies of the books of the Bible primarily in Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic that are used together when translating the Bible. Which books are canonical was decided over several centuries by different groups, a process that wasn't finalized until well into the 16th century. Each part of the Bible was standardized at a different time.
The oldest established section are the 5 books of the Torah. They were canonized sometime before 444 BCE but possibly around the 7th to 6th century BCE. The prophets - Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and 12 more - were also established sometime around the 4th century BCE. There's no agreed upon date for when the remainder of the Old Testament books, called the writings, were established for Judaism. They were still disputed as late as the 2nd century CE. Some of them were included - Ruth, Psalms, Proverbs, Job, etc - while others were not - Tobit, Judith, Macabees, etc. However they were still in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint, that was used widely by early Christians.
The New Testament was compiled over a few centuries and was informally agreed upon as early as the 4th century CE but there wasn't a formally approved canon for Roman Catholics until the Council of Trent in 1546. Trent included 45 books from the Septuigant, the 37 in the Hebrew Bible and 8 deuterocannonical books as the Old Testament plus 27 books in the New Testament. Martin Luther's translation listed the deuterocanonicals under a separate heading in 1543 and the Westminister confession excluded them completely in 1647.
Comment: I think I am more interested in new testament. Because standardization of old testament can be known from "Documentary Hypothesis".
Comment: @Gulshan Is the info I provided enough?
Answer: It is important to keep in mind that the Bible is a collection of books and not one single book.  Therefore, there are standard versions of the bible per denomination..
There have been many attempts canonize the Bible which have had a lot of success.  However it's still far from standardized.  Taking is a step further, the translations and transliterations are also a concern.
The first attempt was the Septuagint which was more of an exercise of translating Hebrew Bible and some related texts into Koine Greek.  Which then became a "canon" for the Greek speaking people.
The first "Christian" canon was in 140AD and it was called "Marcion of Sinope".
The big attempts are mentioned by @crownjewl82.  There are also specific "canons" for Latter Day Saints.
So, to directly answer your question, "Is there any standard version of Bible?".  Assuming that the context is the entire world and everyone in it... "no".
Answer: This is more tangentially related to the question, but in a sense, there are authoritative collections.
I would like to point out that certain translations are considered definitive, though these are much more subject to linguistic evolution. For a long time, the Authorized Version (otherwise known as the King James) was the de facto standard bible translation in English (and modern versions like the NIV and the NRSV are heavily influenced by the KJV). The Vulgate serve that purpose in Latin, and the Septuagint serves that purpose in the Orthodox Church.
Comment: If people dislike this answer, I am happy to delete it, but I thought it worthwhile to at least include it.
Answer: I think the best way to answer this question is to focus on what disputes there are about the canon of scripture between Protestants, Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians (The Big 3).
First, a brief summary on how the translation is done (roughly)
Everything that folks said in the answers above is true: the original copies of all the books of the Bible have long been lost and we possess what has been handed down through the centuries and what is dug up by archaeologists. If you go into a bookstore and pick up a bible you will be reading a translation of what The Big 3 believe is inspired scripture. Biblical source texts are compiled from historical texts and some decisions need to be made about which text to translate from as there are slight variations between some copies from different places. A good study bible will include variant readings from different texts.
King James Only Dispute
There is an ever dwindling group of Protestant churches that believe that the King James bible (translated in the 17th century) is the authoritative Word of God for the modern world. The main argument used against later translations (that is relevant to this thread) is that they use texts discovered after the translation of the KJV which are older, but are viewed as less reliable by the KJV crowd, because they don't agree with the majority of the other sources.
Septuagint (LXX) or Hebrew Dispute
The LXX is the ancient Greek translations of the Old Testament made for Jews living in the Greek world. The Hebrew Old Testament is written in the original Hebrew. The proponents of the LXX claim that the copies of the Greek Old Testament are more reliable, because we have older copies of it and it was the text used and preserved by the first Christians; contemporary and ancient Christians even accuse the Jews of editing the Hebrew so that Jesus looked less like the Messiah (one of the Psalms says "they pierced my hands and my feet" in the LXX but "they were about my hands and feet" in the Hebrew). The proponents of using the Hebrew scriptures claim that translating from the original language is better to get the true meaning of the text (St. Jerome studied Hebrew for this reason). Again, a good study bible will include variant readings from different texts. The Orthodox church uses the LXX exclusively to translate from.
Deutero-canonical Books AKA Apocrypha
There is a collection of books that are listed as a part of the canon in the Catholic and Orthodox churches, but rejected by most Protestants (see list http://orthodoxwiki.org/Apocrypha). Even when included in the canon these books are regarded as secondary in importance. It is worthwhile to note that the apocryphal books were included in the original edition of the KJV. These books should not be confused with the heretical books that are also called apocrypha.
The Secret Gospels
A while ago someone published the "secret" Gospel of Judas. This book was never accepted by The Big 3 as scripture and is regarded as a heretical fabrication by ancient gnostic sects, but a handful of scholars made a translation of it and tried to make the case that it was just as authentic an account of Jesus as the canonical gospels.
If you really want to ask the question of how the books got to where they are, then I recommend a book about it, because its more like an adventure story than a neat logical process. FF Bruce's The Canon of Scripture was a good book. And The Lost History of Christianity by Philip Jenkins has some interesting bits about the evolution of the canon as well as dogma.
If I can summarize then I will just say that the Church decided what scripture was and who the heretics were and who the saints were. If you believe in the Holy Spirit then you will understand this process as the unfolding work of God, if you don't then you will view the church as a political body that rose to power and solidified itself by convening international councils to unify doctrine and canon.
I like to think of the process of canonization much like the building of your own family stories and traditions. The original churches received personal instruction from the apostles which they handed down and eventually shared. Once everyone had shared the letters they received from the apostles, we had the canon.


How can I prevent Opera from closing the window if the last tab gets closed?

Question: I've set Opera to allow empty workspace which should not close the window when the last tab is closed. As closing the window in MacOS doesn't close the application, as does in Windows, maybe this configuration is ignored in MacOS, is it?
Answer: This sadly seems to be not available on OSX. You can work around it by pinning a speed dial tab:

As this is not closable via Cmd-W, it will prevent Opera from closing the window on the last tab. I use this for full screen browsing.


How to use time productively in lunch and breaks

Question: I was wondering if anyone had any advice or tips on how to use the time productively during lunch and breaks. I'm generally just browsing the web or working on some projects but never manage to get anywhere. Is there anything that you guys do that generates result both in terms of career development and getting work done. Also how do you keep doing it or stay motivated as I tried learning new things or following tutorials but started drifting off again.
Comment: Browse Stackoverflow.Com and read up on interesting things.
Comment: Do you eat lunch during your lunch break?
Comment: yep, but im a quick eater so it takes me around 10 min to half an hour if I'm really pushing it
Answer: The brain needs rest. The vast majority of people simply can't operate at a high level for 8-10 hours straight. The best thing you can do during breaks is to actually rest up. You'll be more productive and feel better.
A good thing to do for "career development" is to socialize. Being liked and knowing your coworkers, bosses, etc. is important for career growth. You might learn a new skill if you just stay at your desk all day and then get passed up for promotion because your co-worker has been actively engaged with the team and making a name for themselves.
Edit: Just saw your other questions about being an intern. Definitely walk around and talk to people. As an intern you can learn a lot about other projects, new technologies, and how companies/teams operate by being more engaged in your team. That kind of experience you can only get at work. You can pick up skills on the internet any time.
Comment: thanks for the advice, everyones been pretty helpful to a newbie like me
Comment: Completely agree :)  We are humans (well, speaking for myself!), not robots.  We need down time to let the brain process what it did before and to switch off for a while.  Socialising is good for many reasons :)
Answer: During lunch and breaks, eat lunch and take a break.  A short break can increase your productivity afterwards.
If you're really in the middle of something, hot on the trail of a bug, in the groove and cranking the code, or whatever, skip the break.  The point of a break is to give you a chance to catch your breath and relax a bit.  If that would help, catch your breath and relax a bit.  If not, just keep going.
Trying to cram some other deliberate activity into a short break defeats the purpose, and probably doesn't give you enough focus time on the activity to do much meaningful.
Answer: You don't have to "sit still" to take a break.  It just requires that you do something that isn't programming.  When the weather is nice I like to walk as I have lunch.  The physical exercise leaves me with a lot more mental energy when I return.  It especially helps if I have been banging my head against a problem for a while; often I come back with some very good ideas on how to tackle it.
If the weather is bad, listen to music.  Read a good book.  If you don't have a lunch room or don't want to go, eat at your desk.  If you are worried about how it "looks" for you to be at your desk "goofing off" you might bring a large and visible lunch timer so that people know when you are taking lunch (I had to do that at one job when I found out that people were reporting me).
If you feel you absolutely must keep grinding away even during your lunch break, try something unrelated to your normal work flow.  I like to browse through www.stackexchange.com for interesting technical issues.  I learn a lot from the answers and sometimes I can score a few points :)
Like you, I have a tendency to get bored by tutorials.  I need actual projects to keep me interested.  Work on some kind of pet application for your own use (My latest project is an application to import my personal credit card and banking information into an Access database and output budgeting information).  Start a lunch club with coworkers where you share knowledge or work on a communal project over lunch.
Answer: Get out of the office. If you have any errands to run like buying some shampoo, a new book that came out or anything like that why not go do it? You'll buy yourself more free time after work by getting something productive done. The weather has been nice so I've been eating my lunch in the park lately and then reading a book for the rest of the hour when I don't have any errands.
Studying work-related topics is a noble pursuit, but you may find that you can get a lot more done with a bit of a mental break and some fresh air mixed in and not be down any productivity overall. For a shorter 15-minute break take a walk around the block to clear your head.


What would be a hackers first steps?

Question: I currently have access to a server and I am the "hacker" (not really just a demo for class). I have ssh'ed into her machine. What is the first thing I should care about when she logs in? Apparently she is going to log in soon and as an "hacker" what should I look out for?
Comment: This question is much too broad - what services are running on the machine? are you logged in as root? What is the end goal?
Comment: What do you mean care about? There are a lot of things that can happen for the purposes of your engagement only when the legitimate user logs in.
Answer: It really depends what the goal is or what you're wanting to achieve.
In short, you probably want to gather as much information as possible.
Collecting password hashes to escalate your privileges would be a good bet.
I would probably try to identify and analyze any additional vulnerabilities.
You might also want to set up some means of maintaining persistent access.
Answer: For the purpose of the exercise I would try and create an audit trail of what she is doing and report on it. Clues on what she is doing will be found in the logs, so that is the first place I would look.
If it is a Linux box you will find the logs in /var/logs. In particular, have a look at secure.log if it is a redhat based machine, or auth.log if it is a debian based machine, these will let you see when she uses the sudo command. Additionally issue the command last,to see who has logged in and when.
20 linux log files
If it is a windows box then have a look at the event viewer, and you will find the Windows logs there.
Guide to Windows Event Viewer
Hope this helps, and good luck.
EDIT: I misread the question, (I was a passenger in a badly driven car at the time) and typed out the following answer, which is not relevant to the question but you may find it useful so I will leave it.
The first thing a real life attacker should do is scope the attack. Including documenting pre-defined goals, that are agreed on by all parties involved. During this phase you should work out what kind of test it is and what kind of hat you will be wearing.
The next stage is non-intrusive information gathering, this involves finding as much information as possible about the target that can later be used and leveraged during the attack.
Then you will want to enumerate the target, staying aligned to the scope you defined at the beginning. Generally this involves, vulnerability scanning, port scanning, banner grabbing etc.
All this information will help with the exploitation phase (if there is one in the scope).
Have look at the The Penetration Testing Execution Standard, for a good explanation of each phase.
Answer: If there is a goal to be accomplished in the demo, you should achieve that as fast as possible, in case they find out you're logged in. Also, if you can log in through ssh, you should be able to login via SFTP with the same credentials in order to obtain and edit files in there system. Really there isn't much you can do if she finds out you're in, so act fast!

What would be a hackers first steps?


Schlage single cylinder lockset won't release from the door

Question: I have a nosy homeowners association that enters anytime they want....my privacy is not respected. I have purchased an identical Schlage set, have removed all the screws I can, but the covers don't drop off. Any suggestions for removal without damaging the wooden door?
Comment: Landlords (and presumably your HOA) must notify you ahead of time or it is illegal for them to enter your residence. If you have proof, you should write the board directer and all board members a "cease and desist" registered letter threatening legal action.
Comment: Wait... your HOA has a key to your house? Yikes!!!  It may be easier to get the existing lock rekeyed by locksmith. You may also want to check your HOA agreement to ensure that they won't start suing you for changing the locks, though. If there's a clause in there about that, I'd move, but that's just me and OT for this discussion.
Comment: I think you're either misusing the term HOA, or you live in a very odd place.  But back to the question... Is the door painted?
Comment: I have to point out that 90%  of ongoing home intrusion claims from adults of middle are or higher are actually mild memory loss symptoms causing what amounts to mild paranoia. I would strongly suggest asking your doctor about this ad well as -- and probably sooner than -- a security specialist, to rule out that simpler explanation. Happens to many of us, nothing to be ashamed of, and understanding it will give you more peace of mind than changing the lock and still thinking someone is coming on.
Comment: Install a hidden camera (or several), and deliver the footage to the police; post it on the web as well.
Comment: What's the model number of the lockset? Schlage makes many different models.
Answer: If you have an identical lockset, then you know exactly how many fastening screws there are. If removing them all doesn't loosen the cover plates, they must be held in place by adhesion to the door's finish.
Using your sharpest knife, carefully cut the paint or varnish adjacent to the cover plates. Score it all the way round, the gently work the knife point under the edge of the cover. Be very patient and pry only a little bit at a time.
You will improve with practice, so work on the inside cover plate first, leading to less damage around the outside cover to attract the attention of the HOA snoops.
Comment: Hitting the lock with a rubber hammer (carefully) or even the heel of a boot might be enough to knock the adhesion loose if it's not seriously painted on to the door.
Comment: @JPhi1618: The problem with knocking or prying it off before cutting it loose is that the paint may stick to the cover more firmly than to the door under the paint. This will pull off large flakes and require tedious sanding, color matching, and repainting. You can't tell how seriously it's painted on to the door until you seriously damage the paint.
Comment: Yes, removal of the old lock set only required some prying. The installation of the exact model went quickly and once again have privacy ! Thanks!
Answer: Some types of locksets the whole cover screws on and off, using something like a strap wrench. Normally the inside cover is the one you can unscrew (for obvious reasons.)
If, as would be implied, you own the home, you could also bore for and add a new lockset, to be non-subtle about it. Or half a dozen, to be REALLY non subtle about it, and a few chains as well for when you are home.
However, I do think that gaining video and/or photographic evidence would be an excellent idea, particularly if it turns out to be some other person with a key gaining access. I consider replacing all the locks to be a critical part of moving into a new house - you have no idea who might have a "spare key" from the former occupants, or know that there's one under the third rock to the left of the door they forgot to tell you about. Clear video evidence can be very useful, even if all you do is make sure that every one of your neighbors and the local media has a copy of it before the next homeowners association meeting, so you can foment a tidy revolt.
Comment: +1 for good answer especially the bit about fomenting rebellion!


Linear solve using CHLOMOD in C

Question: I am using the open-source CHLOMOD (as here http://faculty.cse.tamu.edu/davis/suitesparse.html) in order to solve a linear system Ax=b (performing A/b=x) in my domain decomposition code but I am unsure how to use it in my C serial code on a regular CPU rather than a GPU. Could someone give me an example of how to import this into some example  of code that solves for a system of equations? I am fairly new to C and am unsure how to do this. Thank you so much!
Comment: Did you look at "Simple example program" on page 10 of the CHOLMOD User Guide? It is only 33 lines long so I doubt it someone can come up with a much simpler example. What is it you didn't understand about this example? Using CHOLMOD on a CPU is the more typical and simpler usage; using it on a GPU would be more challenging.
Comment: Thank you taking the time to respond. I was trying to locate a guide of sorts, I read all the read me files but I could not find an example. I am sorry if this seems like a silly question, I can't seem to find it, where did you see this user guide? I do not see it within the tar file nor on the webpage.
Comment: The doc is in SuiteSparse/CHOLMOD/Doc/UserGuide.pdf after SuiteSparse is built. I also found copies of it on the web using a simple search.
Answer: Here is how I call CHOLMOD from a C program. It uses as input my own C++ structure for a sparse matrix (in standard Compressed Row Storage format).
There are several gotchas: understanding the conventions for lower and upper triangular (stype parameter) was what took me some time (CHOLMOD silently fails if this is not correct).
<code>#include <suitesparse/cholmod.h>
#include <suitesparse/cholmod_check.h>

namespace {
    using namespace OGF;
    /**
     * \brief Solves a linear system with CHOLMOD.
     * \param[in] M a reference to a matrix. The matrix is de-initialized
     *  on exit.
     * \param[out] x_out a pointer to the solution vector
     * \param[in] b_in a pointer to the right hand side
     * \retval true if the linear system could be solved
     * \retval false otherwise
     */
    bool solve_linear_system_with_cholmod(
        SparseMatrix& M, double* x_out, const double* b_in
    ) {
        ogf_assert(M.m() == M.n());
        index_t n = M.n();
        NLSparseMatrix& MM = *M.implementation();

        // Compute required nnz (works if MM in symmetric and
        // MM is in full storage mode).
        index_t nnz = 0;
        for(index_t i=0; i<n; ++i) {
            NLRowColumn& Ri = MM.row[i];
            for(index_t jj=0; jj<Ri.size; ++jj) {
                if(Ri.coeff[jj].index <= i) {
                    ++nnz;
                }
            }
        }

        // Step 1: initialize CHOLMOD library
        //----------------------------------------------------
        static cholmod_common c ;
        static bool cholmod_initialized = false;
        if(!cholmod_initialized) {
            cholmod_start(&c) ;
            cholmod_initialized = true;
        }

        // Step 2: translate sparse matrix into cholmod format
        //----------------------------------------------------

        cholmod_sparse* A = cholmod_allocate_sparse(
            n, n, nnz,    // Dimensions and number of non-zeros
            false,        // Sorted = false
            true,         // Packed = true
            1,            // stype (-1 = lower triangular, 1 = upper triangular)
            CHOLMOD_REAL, // Entries are real numbers
            &c
        );

        int* colptr = (int*)A->p;
        int* rowind = (int*)A->i;
        double* val = (double*)A->x;

        // Convert Geogram Matrix into CHOLMOD Matrix
        index_t count = 0 ;
        for(index_t i=0; i<n; ++i) {
            colptr[i] = int(count);
            NLRowColumn& Ri = MM.row[i];
            for(index_t jj=0; jj<Ri.size; ++jj) {
                const NLCoeff& C = Ri.coeff[jj];
                index_t j = C.index;
                if(j <= i) {
                    val[count] = C.value;
                    rowind[count] = int(j);
                    ++count;
                }
            }
        }
        geo_assert(count == nnz);
        colptr[n] = int(nnz);

        /*
        geo_assert(cholmod_check_sparse(A,&c) != 0);
        if(n < 10) {
            cholmod_write_sparse(stdout,A,NULL,NULL,&c);
        }
        cholmod_print_sparse(A,"A",&c);
        */

        // Step 2: construct right-hand side
        cholmod_dense* b = cholmod_allocate_dense(n, 1, n, CHOLMOD_REAL, &c) ;
        Memory::copy(b->x, b_in, n * sizeof(double)) ;

        // Step 3: factorize and solve
        cholmod_factor* L = cholmod_analyze(A, &c) ;
        geo_debug_assert(cholmod_check_factor(L,&c) != 0);

        if(!cholmod_factorize(A, L, &c)) {
            std::cerr << "COULD NOT FACTORIZE !!!" << std::endl;
        }

        cholmod_dense* x = cholmod_solve(CHOLMOD_A, L, b, &c) ;
        Memory::copy(x_out, x->x, n * sizeof(double)) ;

        // Step 4: cleanup
        cholmod_free_factor(&L, &c) ;
        cholmod_free_sparse(&A, &c) ;
        cholmod_free_dense(&x, &c) ;
        cholmod_free_dense(&b, &c) ;

        // To be called at exit.
        // cholmod_finish(&c) ;

        // Commented-out sanity check
        /*
        vector<double> check(n, 0.0);
        M.mult(x_out,check.data());
        double err = 0.0;
        for(index_t i=0; i<n; ++i) {
            err += geo_sqr(b_in[i] - check[i]);
        }
        err = ::sqrt(err);
        std::cerr << " CHOLMOD || Ax - b || = " << err << std::endl;
        */

        return true;
    }

}
</code>

Linear solve using CHLOMOD in C


How can the Rambam say anointing a King requires a Sanhedrin, when Shmuel anointed King David alone?

Question: The Rambam says a King must be anointed by a Sanhedrin, why did Shmuel seemingly go alone in secret?
Comment: Where does Rambam say this? Where does it say Shmuel did that?
Answer: The Rambam never says he has to be anointed in the presence of a Sanhedrin. I assume you refer to Melachim 1:3, where he writes – and uses Shaul as a proof! –

אֵין מַעֲמִידִין מֶלֶךְ בַּתְּחִלָּה אֶלָּא עַל פִּי בֵּית דִּין שֶׁל שִׁבְעִים זְקֵנִים וְעַל פִּי נָבִיא. כִּיהוֹשֻׁעַ שֶׁמִּנָּהוּ משֶׁה רַבֵּנוּ וּבֵית דִּינוֹ. וּכְשָׁאוּל וְדָוִד שֶׁמִּנָּם שְׁמוּאֵל הָרָמָתִי וּבֵית דִּינוֹ:
We only initially appoint a king on the word of a court of 70 elders and a prophet, like Yehoshua, appointed by Moshe and his court, and like Shaul and David, appointed by Shmuel and his court.

Apparently we have a tradition that he got it confirmed by his court before going to meet Shaul. While I'm unclear on where in the story this occurred, perhaps the Rambam is basing himself on Shmuel I:9:22:

וַיִּקַּ֤ח שְׁמוּאֵל֙ אֶת־שָׁא֣וּל וְאֶֽת־נַעֲר֔וֹ וַיְבִיאֵ֖ם לִשְׁכָּ֑תָה
And Shmuel took Shaul and his youth and brought them to his chamber

interpreting "his chamber" as a reference to his court. I have not seen anyone who says this, however.
Answer: The Rambam Melachim uMilchamot - Chapter 1 halacha 3 is talking about the normal situation in which a king must be appointed.

3 As an initial and preferred option, a king may be appointed only by
  a court of 70 elders, together with a prophet, as Joshua was appointed
  by Moses and his court, and as Saul and David, were appointed by
  Samuel of Ramah and his court.

Note that this implies that Shmuel actually convened his Sanhedrin as the Shofeit in charge of Bnai Yisrael to anoint Shmuel as king in front of the people that he had called together.
However, in Shmuel I 9:15 Shmuel is acting on the direct command of Hashem. As a result, when Shaul comes, Shmuel fulfills the prophecy and anoints Shaul as king.

15 Now, the Lord had revealed to Samuel one day before Saul's coming,
  saying,
16 "At this time tomorrow, I shall send to you a man from the land of
  Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be a ruler of my people Israel,
  and he will save My people from the hand of the Philistines, for I
  have looked upon My people, for their cry has come to Me."

The Rambam implies that when Shmuel I 10:17 says

And Samuel called the people together unto God to Mizpah.

that the Sanhedrin was there with Shmuel. However, all of this was done at the specific command of Hashem.
Again with respect to David Hamelech, Shmuel acted on the express command of Hashem as we see in Shmuel I 16:1

1 And the Lord said to Samuel, "Until when are you mourning for Saul,
  when I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn
  with oil, and come, I shall send you to Jesse, the Bethlehemite, for I
  have seen for Myself a king among his sons."

And in verse 13

13 And Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of
  his brothers. And a spirit of the Lord passed over David from that day
  forth, and Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

The implication was that this was the initial annointing at the command of Hashem and Shmuel was acting as the navi and head of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin of Yehudah accepted him initially after Shaul died and the rest of the tribes accepted him later.
When did David Hamelech become king?
Comment: How do you know this?
Comment: Are you going to tell me that the Rambam is talking about a case which never occurred? Because literally no king who was anointed  was anointed in Sanhedrin.
Comment: I quoted the pesukim that showed the command of Hashem. The implication is that Shmuel was the representative of his court and acted for them. @DoubleAA
Comment: @DonielF The implication of the citation from the Rambam and the pesukim is that Shmuel as the navi and head of his court acted in their stead.


Placing a cheirem on a person

Question: Is it possible for a layperson or an important person to put a cheirem on another person or does it have to be a Rabbi?
Comment: [Charem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harem)?
Comment: A person can ban another person, sure... Whether or not that ban is binding or taken seriously is another thing
Answer: One need not be a Rabbi to place someone in Niduy or Cheirem (see Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 334:34). However, there are a number of differences, for example, between a Rabbi's and a student's niduy/cheirem (see Yoreh Deah 334:15–16).
A person must know what he is doing before placing someone in Niduy/Cheirem. Because if you do it to someone that doesn't deserve it, you deserve to be put in Niduy (Yoreh Deah 334:43 – 24).
Answer: Yes anyone can put someone in cherem; it doesn't have to be a rabbi, and not even an important person.
The Rambam writes explicitly (MT Talmud Torah 6:13-14) that "a student" or "any Jew" can excommunicate someone.

If a teacher placed a person under a ban of ostracism because of his
  honor, all of his students are obligated to treat the person in the
  required fashion. However, if a student issued a ban of ostracism
  because of his honor, his teacher is not obligated to abide by the
  terms of the ban. Nevertheless, all other people are obligated to do
  so.
Similarly, when a person is placed under a ban of ostracism because of
  the nasi, all Jews are obligated to abide by the terms of the ban.
  However, if a person is placed under a ban of ostracism because of any
  Jew, the nasi is not obligated to abide by it.

See also 6:14

even if the ban was declared by a person of the lowest stature in Israel

Placing a cheirem on a person


Clicking on the custom component in sidebar should load on the same page

Question: I have created a custom Html area component on the sidebar , which contains links which are linked to corresponding VF pages , how can i make it to load on the same page
Comment: can you be specific ?Like where the custom links need to be loaded ?
Comment: it should load on the same page where the custom component link is being clicked
Answer: I assume that when you click on one of the links (which points to vf pages) on your custom sidebar component, you want the links to open up in the same main page. You could use the below javascript in your component to open the links in the same page:
<code>top.location.href = '/apex/yourVfPage';
</code>
Comment: I think he want to load pages without have to reload the current page.
Comment: @mast0r: So you mean, when the user clicks on the links, the page should be rendered in the sidebar component and not refresh the main page? Anyways lets wait for the OP to comment, just to make sure :)
Comment: Not in the sidebar component but will be included into the page, like `reRender`.


How to polish wine glasses if my hand cannot reach in?

Question: Washing leaves some stains, which I want to get rid of.
It's easy to do with paper towel on the outside, but inside the glass it's a problem.
Comment: I remember once when I was shopping for some glasses, and I tested 'em all by shoving my hand inside.  I was getting the strangest look from one of the employees ... and when I told them I didn't have a dishwasher, they still looked clueless ... I had to explain specifically that if I can't fit my hand inside the glass, it really sucked to clean.  I'm still not sure they understood.
Answer: Wine Enthusiast (and probably many other places) sells a couple of sizes of very soft brush for cleaning wine glasses.
I'd say your best bet is a soft brush or maybe just a piece of soft foam glued to a stick. Nothing very abrasive, and squishy enough that you can reach any small nooks inside if there are any.
Comment: Thank you for idea - got such brush from a local chef's store.
Answer: If your wine glasses are particularly stained trying soaking them in white vinegar for an hour or so before cleaning.
Clean the glass with warm water and a cloth (try bunching the cloth up in order to clean the hard to reach places, the vinegar should have loosened the stains). Another suggestion it to use a small scrubbing brush with a handle.
For a really good clean try boiling some water and putting it in a bowl. Hold the glass over the steam and use a cloth to clean/polish. I wouldn't recommend this for very thin glasses and you definitely shouldn't use extremely hot steam.
Answer: This is a great question.  I have several techniques I use for this exact problem.
1)  Try a wooden spoon with the paper towel wrapped around it.  This works if you can reach most of it by hand and just need that little extra.
2)  Bunch the paper towel in your hand so as to get extra length.  Then use your fingers, extended, to move the bunch around the bottom of the glass.  If this doesn't work, try number 3.
3)  As your wife, girlfriend, son, daughter or other smaller person to help you, as they most likely have smaller hands ;--)
Comment: 4) You can lose weight so your hand will fit in!


Is it worthwhile to collect leaves that fall in autumn from trees for biogas production?

Question: I observe every year in autumn that fallen leaves are piled and left to rot. Assuming there are biogas facilities (say within 10 miles) is there some reason to not ferment the leaves? Is the energy density too low? In cities, the leaves are collected anyway. In forests, could extracting leaves draw too much nutrients from the soil?
Answer: Yes, you could.
Biogas production is heavily depending on outside factors.  If you have to haul the matter a significant distance, you may end up with a net loss. Biogas overall is a way to intercept some energy that would otherwise be lost.
Remember too, that biogas is mostly methane.  If your system leaks, then you are replacing the CO2 that the detritivores would produce with methane -- a much more potent (but shorter lived) gas.
Another way to harvest some of the energy:  Build a large compost bin, run layers of plastic pipe in it, and use the heat of the pile to preheat water for domestic use.  There has been some research setups for this.
If you garden, a better use may be to till the leaves into your garden, or compost them, and distribute the compost to your garden.
Comment: Nice answer, but I'm wondering about scale here. There must be some minimum amount of leaves and other compostables within a particular range of the biogas plant to make it profitable. This amount would also depend on the size of the biodigester.
Comment: @THelper the issue is that leaves are seasonal. They'd start to compost if you tried to store them. Over the course of a year they're a small proportion organic waste, but appear in a glut. Round here food waste goes to an anaerobic digester (along with sewage) but garden waste is composted aerobically, which is much cheaper to set up.
Answer: First, how do we look at the biogas yield of a suvbstrate? We look at the total solids (TS) and volatile solids (VS), and then measure the gas production per VS. TS is the fraction that remains after thorough drying, while VS is the fraction that is lost after heating the dry stuff to a few hundred °C for an hour or so. VS is a handy stand in for the part of the  matter than may be organically degraded.
Yield of leaves is, according to this paper 377 Nl/kg VS Biogas at around 50% Methane. VS is about 82% of TS. The paper gives no numbers, I'd expect leaves when they fall of the tree to have 30%+ TS, but the TS will also vary wildly depending on weather. For comnaprison, good quality corn whole crop silage would be around 660 Nl/kg VS and 65% methane.
The low yield is likely due to to the high ligning content. This paper states a far higher yield for pretreated leaves vs. non-pretreated: Crushing or milling will break up fiber and so make the cellulose inside, that would otherwise be encased in lignin, accessible to the bacteria. However the second paper does not give convenient numbers for gas yield, so I can't do a direct comparison with 377Nl/kg. According to this (german) article one can also prepare a mash and then do a solid liquid separation, the liquid contains an easily gasifiable fraction and the solid fraction would be incinerated. Since this would also work on grass etc. (which are available when leaves are not) such a process could be a worthwhile addition to a biogas plant.
Leaves, when raked of the ground, will be mixed with sand, grit, earth, sticks and other debris. Depending on the biogas plant in question, this can be a problem or not.
AFAIK forest litter plays an important role in a forests nutrient cycle. Gathering leaves from a forest also sounds challenging. so only leaves that would be gathered anyway.
Leaves are 'produced' only in fall. It makes sense to produce biogas from leaves if:

The leaves are collected anyway, off roadways, parking lots etc.
there's an existing biogas plant that can take an extra load every fall
this biogas plant and downstream process can handle the extra grit etc. from the leaves


Accuracy vs Precision GPS

Question: I am doing some research on consumer grade GPS accuracy and precision. I took 5 readings for 20 known locations (100 readings). Am I correct in assuming that the standard deviation between the 5 readings at each location would indicate precision, whereas the average distance from the five points to its known location would indicate accuracy?
Comment: Also depends on the quality of the fix and different chipsets use slightly different methods. See types of fixes http://resources.esri.com/help/9.3/arcgismobile/adf/ESRI.ArcGIS.Mobile~ESRI.ArcGIS.Mobile.Gps.GpsFixStatus.html REAL TIME KINEMATIC is the highest (but most costly).
Answer: With qualifications and suitably modified, this is correct: the standard deviation measures spread, which is inversely related to precision, while the vectors (not distances) to the reference points measure inaccuracy.
Discussion
With only five readings per location several problems will arise:

The standard deviations of the coordinates will vary--by a factor of three or more--due only to random variation.  Thus you might obtain a wide range of standard deviations, leaving uncertainty about what the precision really is.
Unless each group of readings was taken at widely spaced times, they could be autocorrelated: the full amount of possible variation might be much larger than observed.  This is because some components of the positional error "drift" only slowly in time.
One important component of error, the numbers and positions of available satellites, might not be sufficiently well represented in such a small dataset.  This could be evidenced by very large variation in some of the readings (that is, a distinctly non-normal distribution of values relative to the reference points).

The first problem is overcome using an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to obtain a single estimate of the overall variance, which would be based on 20*(5-1) = 80 degrees of freedom, which is large enough to give a reasonable estimate.
ANOVA will not overcome the second problem, which requires customized techniques to estimate the autocorrelation (assuming each reading includes a time stamp).
The third problem requires more careful analyses, starting with a (routine) distributional analysis of the ANOVA residuals.  That is a discussion that would take us too far afield here.
Additional comments
Average distances normally would not be used to estimate inaccuracy: they actually indicate imprecision.  Instead, the difference between the centroid (average point) of each group of readings and its reference point would be more appropriate.
More sophisticated techniques of multivariate statistical analysis could be brought to bear to analyze the variance-covariance matrices of the readings, if there is a possibility that the x- and y-coordinates are correlated.  If that possibility is ruled out by examination of the dataset and on physical grounds (which is the default assumption by many people) then you can just analyze the 20*5*2 = 200 residuals of the separate coordinates (which are their values relative to the reference locations).  In particular, ANOVA software will automatically include a test (the F Test) to determine whether there is evidence of any inaccuracy at all.
Answer: You are correct.
Precision is how close each of the data points are to each other and accuracy is how close to the target the data points are.
Just be carful with how you take your data points. New GPS units use more than just the GPS locations now. So I would check each of the channels and see what data it is gathering and what data is inferred.
Comment: (1) One subtlety inherent in the question is that the average distance between the GPS points and the reference points does *not* reflect accuracy.  Even with perfect accuracy, even a little imprecision will cause some variation around the true point and the average distance cannot be zero in that case. Accuracy is instead measured by looking at the central tendencies of the x and y coordinates separately. (2) Your second paragraph is interesting; it points to potentially useful information. But how exactly would your check of the channels address the question itself?
Answer: Download an app that accesses all satellites and select the ones with the strongest signal. The app claims an accuracy of .1 meter, and considering it is interacting with 10 or more satellites, I would expect good accuracy. You can then go out and cross reference these phone apps with actual Google Earth GPS points to verify accuracy.

Accuracy vs Precision GPS


How to set up Qconfig.py and where is the file?

Question: How to set up Qconfig.py and where is the file? I mean under which folder? Like /anaconda/lib/python3.6/site-packages/qiskit/.
Answer: The Qconfig file was used to hold your API key, so that you could access the cloud based quantum devices and simulators. For the most recent version of Qiskit, it is no longer required. Instead you can use the command
from qiskit import IBMQ
IBMQ.save_account('MY_API_TOKEN')

This is a python command. You can do it in a Jupyter notebook, on the python command line, or wherever else you prefer that accepts python3 commands. You will need to replace MY_API_TOKEN with the token you get from the IBM Q Experience website.
This step of saving credentials only needs to be done once. Afterwards, you can simply load the saved information using
from qiskit import IBMQ
IBMQ.load_accounts()

Full instructions can be found here.
If you still want to use a Qconfig file, you can. You can create one yourself using the template in the link above. Then you place it wherever you want. To import it, using the sys package to append the path to where you have placed the file.


Difference between VC-130 and VC-131 steel

Question: I am a draftsman. I make project of mechanical pieces and machinery. Some pieces works like knifes or sleeve, so to reduce the friction we design the ideal material to manufacture this pieces. The steel Vc 130 or 131 are options of choices. What is the usage of steel grades VC-130 and VC-131? What the difference in applications between them, on tools and gears projects?
Comment: I'm not sure myself but those have a lot of sulfur (~11.5 % for each as seen [here](http://www.tool-die-steels.com/grades/Special-Alloy/45/6645/VC-130.html)). I'm curious what sorts of uses such a steel could have. Typically sulfur causes embrittlement and even grain-boundary disintegration, so perhaps there is an aging heat treatment. The high carbon content must also help.
Comment: Hi Joás, welcome to Engineering SE. This question is very open-ended; is there a specific, practical problem that you're facing here? Can you give us more detail about how you want to use these steels, and why you are considering these grades?
Comment: I am a draftsman. I make project of mechanical pieces and machinery. Some pieces works like knifes or sleeve, so to reduce the friction we design the ideal material to manufacture this pieces. The steel Vc 130 or 131 are options of choices.
Answer: VC-130 and VC-131 are names from the Brazilian standard.  A comparison can be found at Paulo Sergio's website.  Table 4 suggests that VC-130 is equivalent to AISI-D3 and VC-131 is equivalent to AISI-D6.  However, these stainless steels are low sulfur  (see the Villares VC-131 page). I think the "Tool & Die Steels" site has the composition wrong.
The main difference between the two steels is the Tungsten content.  Tungsten tends to reduce pitting corrosion (see the Outokompu page).
Comment: 11% S did seem odd to me. Sulphur is sometimes used to improve machinability but I'm not aware of any free-machining steel with more than about 0.3% S
Comment: 11.5-12% w/w Cr makes a lot more sense than sulfur. I was hesitant to say, but that much sulfur would almost certainly result in garbage. +1 good find!
Comment: Actually based on the PDF, the AISI names may be right there. Note the D3 in bold just above the VC-130 in the Nome column on page 13. (Note I do not read or speak Portuguese, so it could just be a coincidence).


Is there a simple rule of thumb for time when pressure cooking?

Question: Pressure cooking reduces the time of cooking, but I want to know if there is a simple rule to follow. Let's say that I find a recipe that says that something should boil for one hour when boiling it the regular way, can I from this draw the conclusion that it is enough with (just picking a random number here) 20 minutes? Is the relation linear? Does it depend on what you're cooking?
Answer: As found on Chowhound:

some "rule of thumb" are available but there are always exceptions!
  As usual things at high pressure cook three times faster -
  The thing is, that the rules aren't always cut and dry. Chickpeas, for example, cook 90% faster in the pressure cooker (13 minutes instead of 2-3 hours). Your chicken stock, only 30-45 minutes at high pressure!
  These "rules" should be a starting point for figuring out the cooking time.
  Your main resource should be your own cooker's manual. It should include a good list of cooking times as they relate to your pressure cooker. The online chart that smtucker linked to is culled from pressure cooker manufacturer instructions books. There are other, more reliable versions online that have been updated with first-hand experience.
  For example, the chart in the link lists asparagus thick and thin pressure cooking time as the same - actually, you should ONLY pressure cook thick asparagus lest your expensive purchase of thin asparagus turn into soggy mush - a reputable timing chart will make this distinction.
  the given link can help you alot...
  http://www.hippressurecooking.com/p/p...
Comment: Hi, it appears that you copied this answer from https://www.chowhound.com/post/pressure-cooker-cooking-times-876117. You're using someone else's work without giving the author credit. This amounts to plagiarism, and is not welcome on any Stack Exchange site. Remember to always add prominent attribution when using other sources. Thanks!


How ro deal with a manager who does not set clear goals for promotions, but has stated that is serious about promoting me?

Question: My manager and I have had several one on ones where she has stated and asked me if I would like to pursue a lead position, and if so, she would help me set goals and get there. After some initial thought, I did take it up to get into the lead track, and I confirmed my decision to pursue this on my recent meeting with her. However, since 2 past meetings she is not being clear as to what areas I need to improve on, what skills I should look at etc. When I ask her about it, she is extremely vague about the goals i must set to proceed in this direction, but extremely assertive about the fact that she sees me as someone already on the way. I have expressed that I know I am not great in a lot of areas of leadership etc, and would like some direction from her, but to no avail. IS she being too good, and lenient to me, or has she already made the decision that I will be promoted regardless of how I perform? I don't want to get into the position until I have proved it to her and myself that I have worked towards getting the promotion. Something is not straight here. Please advise.
Comment: What answers are you looking for? We don't know your manager, your profile or your company and as a result we don't know what chance you have of being promoted to a management role or what you need to do to get there. That's all information that your manager has and should be able to tell you. All I can recommend is that you go back to her with a set of clear questions that she can't dodge easily and to not allow her to avoid answering. If she's still trying to do so, your best bet is to assume that something's off and plan accordingly. (Posted in comments since I'm unclear on the question.)
Answer: Some folks just aren't good teachers, or good at articulating what they are looking for.
It may help to go to your manager with a list of skills you think are important and ask for help prioritizing which ones to work on or if there's anything obviously missing.
You may also want to contact someone already in this role and ask if they would mentor you. Your manager isn't the only one who can give you useful feedback/guidance.
Answer: She's probably flying by the seat of her pants. As a passenger on her plane, I can see why you might feel uncomfortable if you have no idea where she is going and little confidence that she herself knows where she is going.
Some people operate on instinct.
You don't.
It is clear that she trusts you. Only after some time will you be able to determine whether her trust in you and her good disposition toward you translate into a promotion.
In the meantime, you might want to look for ways to update your resume with specific, increased responsibilities that you are taking on that might be meaningful to your next employer. And be prepared to use your listing of increased responsibilities as your argument for a well deserved in-house promotion, if it comes to that.


Adding an optional OrderBy to compiled entity framework linq queries

Question: We have a collection of compiled Entity Framework linq queries that we use to access our SQL data (usual model of static class members).
In certain situations we now have the requirement to provide optional orderings to some of these queries and ALSO have these as compiled entity framework queries.
Now it would be quite easy to just dupe up the compiled queries and create ones for the order by scenarios but we would much prefer to keep a 'base' Expression and then 'append' the appropriate OrderBy to it.
Now this seems to be easily achievable when you aren't using compiled queries.  Similarly i've tried using the AsExpandable extension from Linqkit but the entity framework compiler doesn't seem to like it.
Anyone got any pointers on how i can achieve this (without masses of code wandering down expression trees)?
Answer: One way is to use the (still in CTP, but out RSN) EF for .NET 4.5, which transparently compiles all queries by default, without need for explicit use of CompiledQuery. I don't think there's a go-live license just yet, but if you're willing to wait you get this for free.


How to lower number of parameters passed to ffmpeg

Question: I am processing video with FFmpeg. I am trying to add image overlays at certain times. I have command something like this:
ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -i img_a.png -i img_xx.png -i some_third_image.png -i yy_img.png
-filter_complex overlay=185:H-h-85:enable=between(t\\,0.1\\,0.3),overlay=285:H-h-415:enable=between(t\\,0.3\\,0.7),overlay=185:H-h-35:enable=between(t\\,0.7\\,1.0),overlay=45:H-h-515:enable=between(t\\,1.1\\,1.6)
-c:v libx264 -crf 20 -preset veryfast vid0.mp4

As I am forming/passing parameters to FFmpeg dynamically (programmatically), there can be really very very long parameters list. So large, that I can even receive a message about too long parameter list (based on operating system).
I would like to avoid this. I would like to know how to write code with FFmpeg so there would be fewer parameters passed to FFmpeg? For example, instead of:
-i img_a.png -i img_xx.png -i some_third_image.png -i yy_img.png

can it be something like:
-i "img_a.png,img_xx.png,some_third_image.png,yy_img.png"

And if it can, how can those images be processed by FFmpeg (suppose also by filter_complex overlay)? Please provide an example, if you can.
Comment: You could try use -filter_complex_script option and pass parameters as txt file.
Answer: You can not give fewer parameters, and expect the same functionality.
Instead make use of options -filter_script and -filter_complex_script.
And write all parameters in script file.


Can I enter Spain with a French visa "long sejour"?

Question: I am Brazilian and my husband is French. We are living in Spain currently. I entered in Europe as a tourist. I could stay 90 days as a tourist and it's over, my situation is illegal right now. We try to make my papers here in Spain and it did not work. Then we tried France and it did not work neither. The only option for me is going back to Brazil and ask my visa in the french consulate which is not going to fix my situation in Spain but it does not matter anymore because we are going to live in France soon. What I am afraid of is: I bought my air ticket Barcelona/Brazil/Barcelona. When I arrive back in Barcelona they can deny my entering? Will they accept my french visa?
Comment: @Vince The situation is not quite the same as the OP has spouse who is an EU citizen. The question is whether this has an impact on the travel itself.
Comment: @Vince I think I initially misunderstood it myself but the point is that a French visa is not necessarily a type C uniform Schengen visa. Even then, being the spouse of a EU citizen could have ramifications for entry, which is why the question is not a duplicate. Note that even if the intent is clearly to immigrate, it is still a travel question as it is about traveling elsewhere in the Schengen area than in the country to which the OP is immigrating (immigrants/expats travel too!).
Comment: possible duplicate of [Should my first trip be to the country which issued me Schengen Visa?](http://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/13362/should-my-first-trip-be-to-the-country-which-issued-me-schengen-visa)
Comment: @Annoyed I think the question is unclear. If the question is whether it is possible to enter Spain with a French visa, then it is a duplicate but indeed, whatever the country you enter, the custom agent may refuse entry anyway, especially in the present case. If the question is about immigrating to Spain or France, then the question is off-topic.
Answer: Formally, Spain is supposed to honor Schengen visa granted by France and allow visits from people residing in France but they could still refuse entry, e.g. if they have doubts about the purpose of the stay or, I guess, your intent to go to France (actually, even France can deny entry to the holder of a French visa, it would be unusual but the visa does not guarantee you will be admitted). Your pretending to be a tourist and having stayed in Spain longer than you should in the past will look suspicious in that respect.
It would be nasty for them to do that in your case given the fact that as the spouse of an EU/EEA citizen you enjoy a lot of rights within the European Union and could in principle get a residence permit (i.e. you are not quite in the same situation as someone with a short-term tourist visa or even as a French resident without a French spouse) but I do remember hearing about some issues in the past (don't remember the specifics unfortunately) so you certainly want to be careful.
On the other hand, if you do want to reside in Spain even for a short time, then you need to apply to the Spanish authorities. Same thing if you want to stay there for more than three months (the three-months-in-a-six-month-period rule also applies to non-EU residents of a Schengen country visiting other Schengen countries). Under EU law, you are entitled to a right of residence but this is left to each individual member state to implement so the details of what you need when traveling will depend on Spanish law. This is a consequence of your husband's freedom of movement within the EU and therefore unrelated to Schengen or to the rights enjoyed by other non-EU/EEA residents of France or to the French "long séjour" visa. As you already found out yourself, the fact that you are in principle entitled to stay in Spain does not mean you can enter as a tourist and sort it all out later.
If that's at all possible, I think traveling through France with your sponsor (i.e. your French husband) could make things easier/safer. Your visa will require you to go there relatively quickly anyway. Alternatively, you could ask the Spanish consulate in Brazil for a visa based on the fact that you want to join your husband in Spain (I think that would have been the most proper course of action from the beginning) but this could involve a lot of paperwork first to obtain a residence permit and then to transfer that right to France when you move there.
This service from the EU might also be useful


Why do we only need to buy or sell stock to hedge when the underlying is close to the strike?

Question: Delta mesure the slope of the digital option.It also provides hedging information. Why do we only need to buy or sell stock to hedge when the underlying is close to the strike?
Answer: This is due to the payoff structure of the digital option. The payoff is nothing while the option is out of the money and then instantly goes to a fixed payment amount when it is in the money. It does not gradually increase as the option becomes increasingly in the money like a plain vanilla option.
What makes these options difficult to hedge is that the gamma switches sign at the strike. It is an inflection point and the delta becomes very high as the option becomes at the money, only to start declining as the option becomes in the money. So a delta hedge for a long digital call requires shorting increasing amounts of stock as the underlying approaches the strike and then buying it back as the option becomes in the money.
Answer: In the case of a digital or vanilla option, buying or selling stock to hedge an option only eliminates delta risk. Notably, when the strike is near the underlying price, gamma risk is particularly high. I.e., the change in delta is highly sensitive wrt to a change in the underlying. As AIRacoon points, gamma exhibits particularly asymptotic behavior  digital as the strike nears the underlying.
Black-Scholes is derived by the delta hedging argument because it eliminates risk if and only if trading is costless and frictionless, and if markets are complete (see Fundamental Theorem of Asset Pricing). Only by eliminating the drift component does the Black-Scholes differential equation (basically the Kolmogorov and/or Feynman-Kac PDE) have a risk-free probability distribution.
In reality, however, none of these conditions are fulfilled. An options position which is continuously delta hedged will almost surely incur excessive trading costs. Thus, in the real world, it isn't not necessarily true that we only need to buy or sell stock to hedge an option.


How to hold a microphone on a stand that is too small?

Question: I have a microphone and stand. The microphone is too wide to fit into the holder at the top of the stand. What can I use to keep it securely held on the stand and still allow it to be picked up by its user?
Answer: An actual solution from this Lifehacker Article
This uses only a wire hanger

"Just take a metal hanger, bend it in half a little, then bend the hook down and adjust as necessary. It's pretty stable, being what it is."

To attach this to a stand that you already have, you can cut off some of the wire and then attach the rest of it to the stand with glue or tape.
My made up solution
Disclaimer: I've never had this problem, this is something I made up
First get a piece of construction, or some other type of sturdy paper that can bend. Shape the construction paper into a cone and then put the microphone in. Allow a hole big enough for the back of the microphone to fit through. Then use scissors to cut off most of the construction paper, but not too much because you don't want the microphone to fall out. Then just use glue or tape to attach the paper in the holder if you can (just the back of the paper) or on top of the holder. Not sure how well this will work because I've never tried it before.
Answer: Duct tape. Didn't you know duct tape solves all problems in the world? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0286915/
Comment: I read the question again. I think duct tape would be difficult if you tape the microphone down, but, if the duct tape is applied sticky side up, you can just stick the microphone to the stand and it will stay there. You can pick the microphone back up. I think that would be a good solution.
Answer: Blue Tac.
Blue Tac has featured in a few of my answers on this site and it is rearing its head once again as it would be an ideal solution to you problem.
Just get a nice blob of the stuff (or any other non permanent adhesive putty)  and put it on your mic stand and voila. When you put your microphone in the stand holder thing it should hold true due to the wonders of blue Tac.!