Overstay schengen visa on ground of emergency?

Question: My mother is a frequent traveler to Europe. She has visited me every year for the last 9 years. This year, we left for the airport and, during our journey, she had an angina attack. We drove to nearest doctor who advised her not to fly;  that was the last day of her visa, as well.  We were finished with the doctor by 15:30, and the immigration office closed at 16:00. There wasn't enough time to visit the immigration offices. My mother insisted on flying home, regardless of the risks. We reached airport, but she missed her flight and she was forced to book another ticket, but it was in 3 days. We did book and she flew to her home country, resulting in a overstay of 4 days in total. Border control asked the reason for the overstay and she presented a medical certificate. She was not fined, and was not given a ban. I checked with immigration and they said they don't see any problem. Will she be able to get Schengen visa again?
Comment: If border control said "we don't see any problem" then that is a more definitive answer than you will get from anyone on this site. Border control knows much more about this than we do.
Comment: @SalmanKhan is your mother dependent on you or any of your siblings?  If so, she can enter under EU freedom of movement.  That would mean that she's entitled to a free Schengen visa, but, more importantly, that her duration of stay cannot be limited, and that she cannot be excluded for reasons other than those of public safety, public health, or public policy (in other words, that a past overstay could not result in a ban for her).
Comment: I forgot an important (indeed, critical) detail in suggesting EU freedom of movement: are you or any of your siblings citizens of an EU country other than Sweden?  I suppose probably not, so in fact, it may be that she cannot benefit from it.  But nonetheless, she should have no trouble from her medical emergency.  @GayotFow I have a meeting in 10 minutes but can post an answer in a couple of hours.
Comment: @pnuts, your call, but do bear in mind that it improves the site when it has lots of great answers from different perspectives.
Comment: Everybody says there's no trouble, so I guess she will.  Why do you doubt that?  Just keep the records of the medical services in case she is ever challenged in the future.
Comment: @pnuts I think you meant "nobody but the consular visa office can be sure" (border control doesn't issue visas), but otherwise I agree.
Comment: thanks for reply, i just doubt when people leave schengen they encourage even immigration didnt answer my question before she left Sweden. The immigration said we ll answer after her departure and after departure they said we dont see any problem. She presented her medical certificate. I am just worried because my mother is the only family member who live abroad rest we siblings live here in Sweden. my father passed away if she cant visit us once a year ? I will rather run away to her. But one tragedy in life change alot :)
Comment: Yes, I am from pakistan and she depend on us. All i want is that she can stay like a free bird and fly whereeva and whenever she want. I dont wanna apply resident permit for her if immigration will refuse thats gonna take almost 2/3 years to take  yes from immigration. She is 68 and diabtese patient from last 15 years. she cant stand any stress. anyways guys thank you very much for your reply n support.
Comment: @phoog or pnuts, you guys can summarise this comment trail into a spectacular answer! Why not both of you add an answer and then ping me so I can up vote them. Thanks.
Comment: Excellent! That leaves the ball in @pnuts court to put in another one.
Comment: @phoog: we all are national in Sweden.
Answer: Short answer: Yes, she will be able to visit Schengen again, but more questions may arise on your mothers' next visit
Long answer:
There are clear regulation and guidelines on whether a traveler is granted or refused a visa in the Schengen area.
The following conditions might result in Visa refusal of an EU Member State:

A visa is refused if the applicant:

presents a false travel document;
gives no justification for the purpose and conditions of the intended
stay;
provides no proof of sufficient means of subsistence for the
duration of the stay nor for the return to his/her country of
origin/residence;
has already exhausted the 3 months of the current
6-month period;
has been issued an alert in the Schengen Information
System (SIS) for the purpose of refusing entry;
is considered to be a threat to the public policy, internal security or public health of one of the Member States;
provides no proof of travel medical
insurance,
if applicable; presents supporting documents or statements
whose authenticity or reliability is doubtful.

In this case the relevant points (marked bold) can be broken down easily.

You did not specify how long your mother visited you, but without having to apply for a longer term visa she cannot exceed the 3 month stay per 180 days limit. I do not expect this to be an issue but included it for the sake of completeness.
It is very unlikely that your mother has been flagged for future refusal, especially as you indicated that border patrol did not mention anything upon departure. If this would have been the case border patrol has the obligation to inform you.
Given there might be a comment on her record of overstaying visa period, yet justified by medical reasons, the next time more questions and proof of a valid health insurance policy might be requested.
Comment: Actually the most relevant refusal reason would be "your intention to leave the territory of the Member States before the expiry of the
visa could not be ascertained" (it's on official forms, e.g. the model attached to the Schengen Visa Code). I don't consider that likely in this particular case but that's what a consulate could use to refuse a visa to someone with an history of overstay.
Comment: I would agree on that, except that in this case medical justification was provided, thus the agent can state beyond reasonable doubt that it is very unlikely that the visa terms would be broken, again. In a more general sense this is indeed an important factor.


Financial Products Markup Language

Question: I am asked to map financial products into XML. It can be in any format. I know there is an open specification FPML. Is that worth to adopt FPML rather than my own standards? Also, how common FPML is in the industry?
Answer: we used fpml all the time in morgan. Of course its not surprising given their involvment in it.
Answer: Quite common - such products as Calypso and Murex use their own derivations of FpML: CalypsoMl and MxML respectively.
Comment: I'd agree with quite common. In addition: I personally find that FpML and CalypsoML differ quite substantially in a number of design decisions, so I probably wouldn't call CalypsoML a "derivation" of FpML. I could imagine that mapping between the two can be quite a pain.
Answer: Be prepared to extend any specification you will use.

Financial Products Markup Language


Eclipse broker publishes off on subscribe

Question: I'm testing an MQTT client setup with the Eclipse test server. I noticed off is sent automatically to every topic my client subscribes to, and the retain flag is set. I can see the logic behind it but so far, I haven't found this broker feature documented anywhere so I was wondering if anyone has had a similar experience or has more details about any documentation for this broker. Is it intended or is the public broker topic-space just global and I'm getting someone's messages?
Answer: Without seeing your code so we know what topics you are subscribed to this is really hard to answer.
But, yes this is a totally public broker with a single shared topic space for all users. So it is very likely that you are receiving a message published by a previous user.
It should really only be used to test MQTT client implementations and not for anything of value since at any time anybody could publish to any topic or it could go down (the eclipse broker is set to change URL and implementation soon [July 2019])
Comment: Thanks, sort of expected that. I'm using the Python Paho library. Here's the code: http://github.com/brianrho/mqttsn-project, though there's no chance I sent it myself somehow since the string "off" isn't even mentioned anywhere. For tests, I just used generic topics like "led" and "state", apparently too generic since it seems I'm getting someone's messages. Same for a bunch of other public brokers I tried, except they sent different payloads but the same retain flag is set.
Comment: Why not just run your own mosquitto instance locally, it really isn't hard
Comment: It's not a problem really, its just for tests, I just want to be sure of the behaviour I'm seeing. I'll likely run a Mosquitto broker eventually but for now it's just easier to enter an address and port and get connected to a broker.


Where can you park your bike?

Question: I've started biking and see its potential for being able to go around the local area. But when you are running errands (biking to a store or the bank or something) you have to physically put it somewhere while you shop. The one time I ever did this was to pick a pizza. I put it in the place of a car, grabbed the pizza inside, and left. (I put a light lock on it) I don't know if this is proper or even legal. This is a very stupid question, but I can't find the proper phrasing for an answer.
Comment: Depends on local laws. Where are you?
Comment: Totally depends on what's available around you - I've used a cable lock around a ~5 year old tree before, and once when meeting my other half for lunch, I locked my bike to the rear wing on her car cos there was nothing else around.
Comment: Congratulations on getting 10k views on this question.  Clearly it was not a stupid question !
Answer: You have various options, mostly depending on your local regulation, facilities and length of your parking time:

Bike lockers
Bike stalls
Trees, poles or rails (ironically in the picture the bike is locked to a signal pole telling that bikes parked outside the allowed spaces will be removed)
Bike parking spaces
Building facade
Car parking space

The last two are less recommendable, as

your bike won't be linked to something hard to move (a thief can simply load it on a pickup and remove the lock with calm in a quieter place)
it might be unlawful or impeding others (pedestrians, drivers)
it might not be appreciated (I have seen bikes thrown in the bushes when left in the car space, and 3) understandably really pisses off car drivers)

I am leaving out naive or dumb other parkings
which are possible but, well, do not praise your smartness (I have seen people locking their bike to a stranger's one)
Comment: Please don't park your bike in a car parking space. It's tough enough already being a cyclist on the roads and we really need to avoid making it even worse by being jerks to car owners.
Comment: Great answer. You should probably add "bike lockers" (google image search for this) to be complete.
Comment: If i saw a bike in a parking spot such as the photo, i may not throw it in the bushes, but i would certainly move it to the lined space to the left and then park there lol

If i have to leave mine to run into a store where it will not be locked, i always put it in a horrible gear or cross chain it or click the shifter several times so that if someone does attempt to ride off its not going to go well and ill hopefully be able to run them down
Comment: I love the bike lockers in my area, especially given the high crime rate here.
Comment: I'd be careful with any tree small enough to fit a U-lock around. At least in my city thieves will break/cut down smaller trees to steal a bike, which kills the tree and leaves you without a bike.
Answer: A secure bike rack is my first choice.  Many business offer them.
I avoid cheap racks that are not as strong as my lock.
If there is a parking garage there will often be a bike rack in the garage.
Not all places want you to lock out front.  One of the sports arenas in my town will have the police impound the bicycle if you lock in front of the building but they do offer a rack in the garage.
Careful with street poles as some pull out easily.
You don't want to just put it somewhere you want it to be there when you return. Get a good lock.  A larger lock will give you more options.
Some businesses will let you bring a bike in.  I forgot my lock one day and the grocery store let me shop with my bike.
One store I go to has nothing so I have to lock to a trash can.
I know this should not need to be said but don't block walkways or exits.  Don't lock to operating equipment.  I saw a guy lock his bike to a fire water valve.

Where can you park your bike?


Refiner value is not populated in Refiners tab of Search Results Web Part

Question: I have created a site column called "mySiteCol1" and performed search such that this column must be populated in the Refiners tab on Search Results Web Part and I can filter the search results.But the column itself is not populated in this tab. What may be the issue that, this site column is not populated? I have already performed full crawl,checked the checkbox for Refineable and sortable and generated managed properties. Any extra configuration do I need to add in the search schema or search results web part.
Answer: In order for properties to show up in the Refiners you'll have to make sure that the Managed Property has at least Queriable checked and Refineable set to Yes - active.
Also make sure to update the Refiner webpart on the search page to include this Managed Property.
Comment: Thanks for your replies.Yes, all the steps you have mentioned is been configured. Its perfectly working in my dev and test environment but when I configured the same in customers UAT environment, this site column did not show up in the refiners list box under the Refiners tab.
Comment: am not getting your suggestion, "Also make sure to update the Refiner web part on the search page to include this Managed Property." Why should I update the Refiner web part, if I am not using refiner web part in my search results page.I am using Search Results Web Part only.
Comment: Is there data in the column?
Comment: @Mathew, Thanks for your reply. No there is no data in this column.
Answer: Do you check Searchable for managed property?
Is your managed property mapped to crawled property of mySiteCol1?
Are search results you get related to the value of the managed property? Refiner value only is shown up when having relation with search results.


When do I have to hold during an instrument procedure?

Question: Trying to stay fresh on instrument regs, and I'm reviewing when you are able to bypass a procedure turn. I'm reading that if you perform a teardrop entry for a hold, you may. Does that mean you have to do the entire hold before proceeding the approach when you do a parallel entry?
Comment: Can you provide the reference for where you read that?
Comment: The rule of thumb is overfly the holding fix twice.  The first time cross it fly the proper entry and the second time you pass it you are on course and continue with the procedure.
Comment: It was from an online document my cfi showed me.
Comment: In that case, yes, the "teardrop" in your question and my answer is not the same one that you do when entering a hold. You might want to edit the title of your question to reflect that.
Comment: That is a good rule of thumb, thank you.
Answer: I suspect you are thinking of AIM 5-4-8 (b)(2) [page 5-4-31], which states:

When a teardrop procedure turn is depicted and a course reversal is required, this type turn must be executed.

If so, have a look at the Instrument Flying Handbook, page 7-31.  The teardrop procedure turn is not referring to the same thing as a teardrop entry into a hold-in-lieu-of-procedure turn, it's something different entirely.


What did Nerevar promise Dagoth Ur?

Question: In Morrowind, Dagoth Ur repeatedly mentions a promise that Nerevar made to him when they were both mortal.  I've read multiple lore wiki articles and in-game books about Dagoth Ur, Nerevar, the Nerevarine, etc. but I can't tell what this promise is.  The only promise I see is Dagoth Ur promising Nerevar to never use the Tools of Kagrenac or the Heart of Lorkhan.
Comment: Well, Dagoth wanted to destroy the Tools, and promised to guard them until that time. However, Nerevar was persuaded NOT to destroy them by his wife. Perhaps Dagoth was referring to the "promise" of destroying the Tools? Or maybe Nerevar just took too long to return? It's hard to tell since Dagoth is quite insane by the time we meet him in Morrowind.
Comment: I'm pretty familiar with the *Morrowind* lore and I also can't think of anything that Nerevar promised Dagoth, but I don't have *Morrowind* installed anymore. Can you provide some quotes from Dagoth Ur referring to these promises, maybe I can figure it out.
Comment: @Michael Edenfield: Unfortunately I deleted some saves because I was running out of save slots so I can't go back and screenshot it, but I'm planning another playthrough and will try to post some up.
Answer: I've found only one reference of a promise that Neverar made to Dagoth-Ur. It is on the www.uesp.net wiki, in the story about Nerevar at Red Mountain:
"Stay here, loyal Dagoth-Ur, until I return."
Here Neverar promises to return to the Red Mountain as soon as it is decided what to do with the Tools of Kagrenac.
Comment: Good answer, that was about the only thing I could come up with as well. So I'm guessing Nerevar took too long to return, and eventually Dagoth used the Tools & went nuts... although not necessarily in that order.

What did Nerevar promise Dagoth Ur?


Converting .okular file to pdf

Question: I am using a djvu file, and with okular I have annotations in it. Now, I wish to be able to use this file in Mendeley, which supports only pdf extensions. I know that I can save annotations in okular using Export As -> Document Archive. But that is saved with .okular extension. How do I convert it to .pdf?
Answer: From this U&L question and by extension the Okular documentation, you should be able to do this using File -> Save As to save a copy of the annotated document as a PDF.
I quote the relevant part of the documentation:

Since Okular 0.15 you can also save annotations directly into PDF files. This feature is only available if Okular has been built with version 0.20 or later of Poppler rendering library. You can use File → Save As... to save the copy of PDF file with annotations.
Comment: I have okular version 0.14.3 with KDE 4.8.4. I use deian wheezy and I dont know how I can upgrade to 0.15 version.
Comment: @lepto that would be an entirely different question.
Comment: @ Joseph, is there an easy way to upgrade okular from 0.14.3 to >0.15?
Comment: @lepto Short answer: switch your repos to testing and upgrade `okular` or download the `okular` 0.15 source and build it yourself, but I still maintain that you need to ask this in a separate question.

Converting .okular file to pdf


Jawbone UP on Shabbat

Question: I recently received a new gadget: The Jawbone UP band. Look it up on Google, but the basic idea is it is a bracelet you wear 24/7 that measures all kind of things while you move around.
Should it be removed on Shabbat?
Comment: It would be better if you could edit the question to briefly describe this gadget.  We prefer that questions be self-contained, without requiring readers to resort to Google (and anyway, that device might not be as Googlable in a year).
Comment: related: http://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/26084/solar-powered-wrist-watch-on-shabbos http://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/8725/wearing-watches-on-shabbat
Answer: TL;DR: Please do CYLOR, but one should probably remove it. I would not try to argue that it is clearly forbidden or not, though I would assert that the issues below make this complex enough that one should avoid it until they can consult with a competent halachic authority.

There are three major issues, that I can see, with wearing one of these bands, like the Jawbone UP or the Fitbit Flex: Carrying outdoors, Measuring, and Electricity (as @trying mentioned, Writing is often discussed too). Each of these things are generally forbidden on Shabbos, with some exceptions.

Carrying
In order to allow wearing one of these outdoors, one would have to argue that they are considered a "garment," (or for women, an "adornment"). This is not insurmountable, and one could argue that it's similar to a watch, which many authorities allow. CYLOR
Measuring
The sages forbade any acts of measuring (where not essential for health or food), on Shabbos. These bands measure and record one's physical activity, and could certainly run up against this issue. CYLOR
Writing (because why not?)
Could be an issue, although the fact there is only an electrical recording, and nothing visible (even on a microscopic scale), may make this a non-issue. Then again, it may not. CYLOR.
Electricity
Essentially, these activity wristbands contain electrical sensors to measure things like movement and vibration. They then record the measurements, again, electrically. CYLOR

There are some factors that may allow one to be lenient in specific cases. For example, indirect usage can be used as a mitigating factor. @trying gives the example of opening a refrigerator, which could indirectly cause the compressor to turn on by lowering the temperature. Some authorities allow this, usually provided the effect is not immediate. It seems to me that activity bands cannot make use of this leniency, since there is no indirectness in one's activation of the sensors. They directly sense and record any movement by the wearer.
Another possibility alluded to by @trying, is the idea of "psik reisha," unintended results that were unavoidably caused by one's actions. Cases where the unintended result is also undesired are called "psik reisha d'lo nicha lei," and can be combined with other mitigating factors to allow certain activities. This is less clear, and I can see some arguing whether walking/moving/sleeping while wearing these bands would be activating the sensors "unintentionally." That seems unlikely to me: one is wearing the band for the express purpose of recording movement! Additionally, it would be difficult to argue that the resulting measurements are "lo nicha" (unwanted).
Comment: possibly related http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/5591/759
Comment: @DoubleAA Thanks! That's strictly mechanical, no? Isn't that about boneh and tikkun maneh, not electricity? (In other words, grama could apply there, but not in the same way here, even if you hold that electricity is under boneh.)
Answer: R. Gil Student here quotes R Yisrael Rozen of Tzomet (an Israeli institute dedicated to seamlessly merging Halachic Judaism with Modern Life) regarding a Fitbit with all displays turned off during Shabbat. R Rozen rules that

if you normally wear the FitBit so that it has nothing changing on its
  screen due to human movement and no alarms or alerts, then technically
  you may wear it on Shabbos. You are wearing it the normal way and it
  does not do anything observable nor cause anything you desire to
  occur. He compares this to using water that is measured by a water
  meter. When using the water, you are not directly doing anything
  forbidden nor causing anything observable to occur.
However, Rav Rozen adds that as a matter of public policy, people
  should avoid these types of things absent a serious medical need.
  There is a slippery slope of using electronic devices improperly. This
  device can also be considered a debasement of Shabbos or an
  interference with the Shabbos atmosphere. He adds that you certainly
  should not use such a device to wake you up on Shabbos.
Answer: Firstly: cylor.
Secondly: I see two possible questions:

(1) is it a problem to do something on shabbos which will trigger an electronic device?
(2) is this type of writing to the hardware considered "kosev"?

Here are some sources which may shed some light on this topic.

though most Shabbat observant Jews permit opening and closing a refrigerator during Shabbat, some authorities require that the door only be opened when the refrigerator motor is already running. Otherwise, the motor will be caused to go on sooner by the increase in temperature indirectly caused by the flow of heat from the outside. Most refrigerators and freezers automatically set the motor to turn on and blow cold air whenever the thermometer registers a temperature that is too high to keep the food cold. However, Auerbach and most authorities permit opening the door because this result is indirect, and because there are additional grounds to be lenient.

and

While most rabbis have ruled that the example of intentionally letting cold air into the room to operate the thermostat constitutes a violation of Shabbat, if the person opens the window for some other, legitimate, reason, and the cold air enters as a side effect, no violation has occurred. Additionally, most agree that if a person who has no intention to operate the thermostat does something which happens to operate it, no violation has occurred.

However regarding the issue of writing, all I can say is Making a mark (even with a fingernail) for a significant purpose is considered kosev midrabanan. but I'm not a rav, so I won't try to make something up.
Comment: Some are lenient in the case of a refrigerator because of _grama_ (indirectness). I don't think that activity bands like the UP or Flex have anything that could be considered _grama_.
Comment: @HodofHod yes, but where do you define *grama*? according to some rabbanim, you can walk under a sensor that turns a light on on shabbos.

Jawbone UP on Shabbat


Drawing many separate lines using mouse OpenGL(GLFW/glad)

Question: So, in order to draw a line, I track the coordinates of the mouse, then I add them to the array and capture it as GL_LINE_STRIP_ADJACENCY. However, for example, I completed drawing a line1 at P1 and decided to start drawing a different line at P2 as shown in the figure, but my two points P1 and P2 joined together, how to fix it? Need to clear the array after drawing at the point P1, actually it doesn't help if I use glClearColor and glClear(GL_COLOR_BUFFER_BIT).. Is there any other way?
Answer: It seems like you're drawing both lines with only one primitive by accumulating vertices frame-by-frame tracked from the mouse position. To fix it, when you're done drawing one line(you release mouse button and press again), you should create another primitive and start accumulating vertices inside it.
Comment: Ok, so, to create new primitive I need create new VBO and VAO, yep? And render in scope 1 frame my old buffer with vertices that present first primitive and new buffer with new vertices, yes? And what if i need draw 100 primitives, I need every time do it??
Comment: @Azazel-San, that's right. But if you want more efficient way of handling this, you should only re-draw window when needed, or completely switch to the way of handling things just like every image-editing software does: that is, do it in raster. Have a big framebuffer where you draw your lines once and then display the framebuffer itself.
Comment: about framebuffers, its glGenFramebuffers/glGenTextures/glGenRenderbuffers ?
Comment: @Azazel-San, that a whole new question. You can find alot of information about framebuffers on the web. An OpenGL wiki page would explain framebuffers better than me: https://www.khronos.org/opengl/wiki/Framebuffer


Why Bitcoin fees are changing?

Question: Why the network fee is changing suddenly from one day to the next? One day transaction fee costs ~20USD, the next day it's already ~30USD. Why is that happening? I always thought that the fee is constant.
Answer: A Bitcoin block can contain only 1 mb of data. A transactiom averages around 255 bytes. A block is built about every 10 minutes and the blockchain forces the difficulty to do so. So per hour, only around 6mb worth of transactions can pass, however there's a much higher demand due to Bitcoin's popularity. If only X transaction can fit in a block but five times X would like to do a transaction, only the highest bidding  X number of transaction will proceed. At this point it's basic supply and demand understanding.
Comment: @Cedrik I still don't get it, especially last two sentences. Why is the fee changing all the time?
Comment: Checkout this site http://txhighway.com/# . Bitcoin Cash allows 8 megabytes so there's a ton of space for cars to go, Bitcoin only allows 1mb and the highway is jammed packed. Much more cars want to get on the road then there's cars that are displayed. Only the highest paying cars will manage to get on the highway.

Why Bitcoin fees are changing?


Does the conjunction AND also means EVEN in Hebrew?

Question: I am studying Ezra.  In chapter 6 verse 14 it says "...according to the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia."  I believe Darius and Artaxerxes are one in the same.  Therefore, should (could) the verse be read as "according to the decree of Cyrus, and Darius, EVEN Artaxerxes king of Persia."?  I appreciate any help on this.  Thank you greatly!
Comment: and by "even" you mean "aka", there are no cases / no other cases one can point to afaik, so I  don't think there's a case there grammatically / in terms of the hebrew..
Comment: [Welcome to MiYodeya](https://judaism.meta.stackexchange.com/a/3887/11501) Don and thanks for this first question. Great to have you learn with us!
Comment: While ba's answer is just great, a simple answer would be No, in Hebrew "and" does not mean "even". However, notice that the interpretations are not limited to plain language (Pshat) and can provide just about any explanation that fits the facts.
Answer: The text says כּ֣וֹרֶשׁ וְדָֽרְיָ֔וֶשׁ וְאַרְתַּחְשַׁ֖שְׂתְּא. The conjunction וְ- is used between all of the names, so it could be translated "Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes."
As to your question whether this implies Darius and Artaxerxes are two different people, I think that grammatically it's possible that this doesn't imply they are two different people. Daniel 4:10 says עִ֣יר וְקַדִּ֔ישׁ מִן־שְׁמַיָּ֖א נָחִֽת, "an angel and a holy one came down from the sky," where the "angel and holy one" is necessarily two names for the same entity, because the verb נָחִת is singular. So the conjunction וְ- doesn't necessarily imply they are three different people.
In fact, the Talmud (Rosh Hashana 3b, following Seder Olam 30) identifies Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes as the same person based on this verse which calls them all "king of Persia."
However, I don't this is a straightforward interpretation of the verse. The verse uses the conjunction וְ- in between three proper names. The Bible is full of people with multiple names, but as far as I know, the Bible never mentions two of a person's names as "[name 1] and [name 2]". For example, Abram/Abraham is אַבְרָ֖ם ה֥וּא אַבְרָהָֽם "Abram who is Abraham" (1 Chronicles 1:27). and Jacob/Israel is mentioned as יַֽעֲקֹ֔ב אֲשֶׁר־שָׂ֥ם שְׁמ֖וֹ יִשְׂרָאֵֽל "Jacob whose name was changed to Israel" (2 Kings 17:34; similar construction in 1 Kings 18:31). Nowhere are they called "Abram and Abraham" or "Jacob and Israel." Calling the same person "Darius and Artaxerxes" is ambiguous and unnecessary if they were the same person; elsewhere in Ezra-Nehemiah (and Haggai and Zechariah), each name is mentioned separately without reference to the other. Reaching the conclusion that all three were one king from this verse alone is a very tenuous conclusion.


vim: replace all character till end of line

Question: Maybe I am being daft but can you replace all the characters from where the cursor is to the end of line by one command?  Then use . to do the same replace on the next line and so on.
Answer: If I understood your question properly, try this:
C (that's a capital C) will delete everything from the cursor to the end of the line and put you in INSERT mode, then you write your replacement, leave INSERT mode, use . to repeat the process somewhere else.
Comment: if anyone was wondering, it is a capital C :)
Comment: Would be good to update the answer to specify that this is a capital C.
Comment: Fine. `:)` You're welcome.
Answer: Adding to sr_'s answer:
If your cursor starts at the same position on each line, you might be interested in the Visual Block feature.
Type the following in order, with your cursor in the initial position:

Ctrl+v: Enter visual block mode.
$: go to the end of the line.
[X]j: replace X with the number of lines you want to go down.

This should create a rectangular selection going from your cursor on the first line to the end of the line [X] lines below.
You can then replace your whole selection:

c: delete selction and go in insert mode.
insert new text
Esc: Exit insert mode; Vim will automatically repeat the step on each line selected.

I use visual block whenever I can, I thought I'd share
Comment: +1 nice answer indeed. But not really what I want since sometimes my code is not nicely formatted like that ^_~
Comment: @sardathrion; RE comment, 'nicely formatted'. Creating tables in [Markdown](https://help.github.com/articles/github-flavored-markdown) I was able to auto fill spaces in `n+1` lines, after creating line `n` by Visual Block selecting *backwards*! In other words the shape was similar to backwards 7 or vertical flipped L, or 'not nicely formatted'. lol.
Answer: C or c$ is for "change" and R is for "replace".
Two almost similar behavior. The former would get the line deleted before you start typing; while the latter would let you type over the characters and possibly go beyond the limit of the old line's characters displayed.
Answer: To change every character on a line with a single character from the current column until the end of the line while keeping the line length unchanged:
:.s/\%>.c./-/g where - is the new character

.s/./-/g would replace every character on the current line with -
\%>.c matches from the current column
Comment: This is the only true answer. Even the visual method does not work from the middle of the line.
Answer: Just press 'C' i.e. Capital C in the command mode, and type the replacement text.
Answer: The other answers missed these, they don't enter insert mode.

D Delete to the end of the line
d$    Deletes from the cursor to the end of the line

Then of course use .
Comment: @Sardathrion-againstSEabuse, you specifically did *not* ask for insert mode.  You simply said "replace all characters."  That is ambiguous at best.  You could want to replace with `p` for example, or replace with `$rX`, or anything else under the sun.
Comment: -1 for not entering insert mode since that is specifically what I asked for.  +1 for completeness sake.
Answer: As it can be useful, once we are trying to change till the end of line.
I have created an insert mapping to perform this task, it not uses D because in insert mode this key is used to decreasing indentation. So it is Ctrl-k
:inoremap <C-k> <C-o>C


Centralized Log Monitoring

Question: I'm looking for some program or utility to create a centralized log monitoring server for a mixed Windows and Linux environment.  Any suggestions?  Essentially we want a place to look at the system and event logs for over 100 servers.  Free is always better
Answer: splunk
http://www.splunk.com
I think your overall best option is probably to go with Splunk since you're in a mixed environment.  Depends on how much you want to log and if you can afford to pay.  If you're selective about what you want to log you might just be able to get away with it for free.

OSSEC
http://www.ossec.net
While not EXACTLY what you're looking for, OSSEC will aggregate all of your logs to a single server with a fairly small amount of configuration.  OSSEC can also integrate with Splunk which makes it even more interesting.  Here's a snippet from their home page:

OSSEC is an Open Source Host-based
  Intrusion Detection System. It
  performs log analysis, file integrity
  checking, policy monitoring, rootkit
  detection, real-time alerting and
  active response.

Roll your own
This appears to be an older post but it might help anyway:
http://www.johnhsawyer.com/2006/03/centralized-logging-for-windows-using.html
You can also take a look at a previous question I answered here regarding sending log files securely to syslog-ng.  (at least for the Linux side anyway):
How would you send syslog *securely* over the public Internet?
Hope this helps.
Comment: Thanks for the answer.  I'll definitely check out these products.
Answer: If you're stupidly wealthy, splunk is pretty deadly. If you're not, it may be worth looking at some combination of syslog (-ng or rsyslog), Ossec-hids, and octopussy.
Since writing this, several interesting options have shown up for this. Logstash, graylog2. and ELSA all seem to replicate most of the features of Splunk, and are free/OSS.
Really though, you probably want splunk.
Answer: I'd recommend EventSentry since I work at the company that makes it. I don't want to turn this into an advertisement so I'll leave it at that.
Answer: Splunk!!!! Splunk!!! Splunk!!!!  I use it for a mix of Networking devices, Linux, Solaris, Windows.   The only issue is to keep under the free level, you need to be very specific what logs you want to keep, but I found as long as I was diligent in cutting down on chatter, and really only logging the info I needed, I had no problem.
http://www.splunk.com/
Comment: Excited   much?
Comment: For Splunk?  Yeah.  Love it... or rather more specifically, I loved the solution I was able to get to Pointy Haired bosses. "WOW!!! Pictures that move"
Comment: Yeah... that is the issue.
When I originally spec'd it out, I think the cost was 100k :-( I eventually scaled it down to just critical systems.
Comment: lol.  pictures that move.

My only issue with splunk is in my environment, the things i NEED to log, are way way over 500mb / day.

Centralized Log Monitoring


How to calculate preflop equity in hand vs hand

Question: What I really want to know is how is the procedure that pokerstove like software use to calculate the equity of one hand against another.
Answer: I don't have inside information about the mechanisms Pokerstove uses to calculate the winning chances for each range but it's rather straightforward to compute them.
The first thing they do is to create / use a library that allows them to compare a 5-6-7 card sample vs another 5-6-7 card sample to calculate who's the winner of the 2 hands. That needs also to be fast, like something CactusKev evaluator.
The second thing is then to run a great number of simulations (in the magnitude of tens or hundreds thousands or even millions), having these inputs:

A specific hand(s) (empty ranges of pokerstove in the left)
A specific board (up-right of pokerstove)

For each simulation, pokerstove takes a random hand from the input per player. For example, if for a player the input range is like 22+,A2o+, then it breaks down the whole range into something like 22,33,44,55,66....A2o,A3o,A4o...., then picks a random hand from it, that become the hand for the current simulation. The same happens for every other player (if they're filled).
The third step is for every missing board card (etc. if the given board is like Ah Kd 7c, 2 more cards are added randomly for every simulation to produce always a complete 7-card sample to define the winner in the showdown; that is the winning chance, it's always defined with all cards shown)
For each simulation, you have a winner between 2+ hands; these results are stored internally, then they're divided with number of simulations to produce the so called winning chance. It's sort of brute force.
Comment: Actually I'm going to try to simulate every possible outcome, for every hand vs hand possible. I think is going to take a week or so of computation, but then it will be easier I think :p
Comment: Brute force huh. That's what I intended to do in the first place :D, but thought there was a better way, but I think I'll try and see what happens, thanks for the answer.!
Comment: @Albert Nope, it comes down to simulating a great deal of hands in the end. There are computations like the [4-2 Rule](http://www.thepokerbank.com/strategy/mathematics/pot-odds/4-2/) that doesn't involve simulating but the input has to be exact (eg. flush draw). For plain winning chance for _any hand_ you can't avoid simulation. The EV concept its based on this as well, no prob :)
Answer: Many good simulation tools are available. I like ProPokerTools because it calculates equities against ranges and exact hands for the games I play.
I've made an example that shows the odds of a particular hand winning vs a range of hands. Note the odds in the bottom 3 charts for 99, TT & JJ. At first glance it doesn't seem to make sense that 99 has more equity than JJ pre-flop. It's an artefact of the chosen ranges.
There is software that can select the chosen ranges your opponents statistically hold, live, at the tables. The problem of getting data on all opponents (10 billion hands in your HUD) is overcome by software that was once legal. Personally I always considered it cheating, never used it and now major sites prohibit such software.
Anyway, if I model the chosen ranges at 10% and 1% instead of 10% and 15%, you see 99 becomes > JJ because 10% and 1% ranges contain more cards/combos JJ wants to hit (other Js, 789TQKA).

If you wonder how the equity numbers are actually calculated, it's not that complicated.
So there are 1326 unique hole card combos which condense to 169 distinct hands - 13 pocket pairs, 78 suited hands and 78 unsuited hands. The top 10% of hands = best 17 hands, etc.
With that info you can then compute the odds of a single hand/range against a group of single hands/ranges or against a random hand/range on any street.
Holdem is by far the least complicated version of poker. Omaha has 16,400 hole card combos, 5-card Omaha has 134,000 hole card combos


What vessel to use for baking cheesecake

Question: I am wanting to bake my go to cheesecake.  It is baked in a 9" springform pan but I want to half the recipe.  (Well, I don't really WANT to, but my waistline says I should!!!) Anyways, what type of vessel would work best for this?  I am wondering if a large pie plate would work.
Comment: Do you want to be able to release it so that it's free from the pan the way a normal cheesecake is? That's why you use a springform. If you use a pie pan, you won't be able to remove it from the pan.... it also won't be as tall and won't have straight sides. What's your goal?
Comment: Doing a half-cheesecake is going to impact cooking times and stuff like that, isn't it?  If you can find a recipe for a smaller volume, overall, then it will probably also have a recommended vessel to use.  Might be easier (much, much easier, since cheesecake is involved) to recruit a couple friends to make the ultimate sacrifice (aka "eating most of your cheesecake") for the good of your waistline. Or make mini ones in muffin pans. I'm pretty sure I've seen it done that way. There must be recipes out there.  I'm doing this as a comment since I don't have an actual recommendation that answers.
Comment: Don't listen to your waistline.  You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
Comment: Best advice yet!!!
Answer: A 9" pan has a surface area* of 81π/4 square inches. A 6" pan is 36π/4, or just under half, so the depth will be similar (~10% deeper). 6" springform pans are easy to get.  If your existing pan is dead-on 9", you might like a 6 that comes up a little big, as many pans do.  Or you could make a 2/3 quantity in a 7" pan, something I often do with 3-egg recipes.

*The factor of π/4 cancels, so you only need to consider the ratio of the square of the diameters.  In fact, because π/4=0.79≈1, you can often ignore it when converting between rectangular and round pans, given that the limited range of sizes available.
Answer: After halving your recipe pour the custard into 4oz ramekin (about 2/3rd full each) until you are out of custard. This will allow you to scale your servings down (or up) to whatever recipe you are using.
You might try baking them in a bain marie (water bath) as that would be more forgiving to over cooking as you experiment with times to match the new portion size.
(if you are doing the traditional graham cracker crust you can press that to the bottom of the ramekin then pour)
Answer: I suggest that you bake an entire cheesecake, then freeze 1/2 or even 3/4. I have frozen cheesecakes for years without any change in flavor or texture. Also, bakery supply houses supply smaller size springform pans.  If your primary reason for making a smaller cheesecake is to reduce your caloric intake, try a reduced-fat or reduced-calorie cheesecake recipe. I have found this type of recipe in "The Joy of Cooking," the old "Woman's Day Encyclopedia of Cooking," and America's Test Kitchen cookbooks. You can also reduce calories in any cheesecake by substituting Neufchatel cheese for the cream cheese. Because my husband has type 2 diabetes, I also substitute Splenda for 1/2 or all the sugar. Good luck!
Comment: I will definitely be giving your suggestions a try, especially the Splenda. My husband also has Diabetes.  Thank so much!


Is the Bramhamuhurta timing different for mumbai and delhi?

Question: Bramhamuhurta time is same pan India?
What shall one do in Bramhamuhurta?
Comment: it should be different as sunrise timings are different....
Answer: Brahma muhartha varies wrt sunrise timings. There is a small time delta between sunrise timings between Mumbai and Delhi. So, It varies a bit.
Brahma muhurtha kala starts everyday at ~3.75 naligas before suryodhaya and ends at ~2.5 naligas after suryodhaya.
Assume, if sunrise is at 6am IST, then brahma muhurta starts at ~4:25am IST and ends at ~7am IST.
Brahma muhurtha is considered to be an auspicious time as per hindu panchangam.
During Brahma muhurtha, One can perform spiritual activities like yajnam, vedhabhayasa, upakarma, nadhabhyasa, yoga, surya namaskaram, any vidhyabhyasa related activities, etc. One can get more benefits.
Waking up before Bhrama muhurtha and perform all our nitya karmanushta makes our life beautiful and successful.
It is believed that one can neutralize the effect of tridhosa(vaadha, pitha, kabha) by waking up before bhrama muhurtha. It helps us to maintain a good health and mind.


Peer-reviewer asks the author for the manuscript to be reviewed by two other experts

Question: I have received a peer-reviewer's comment that states that my manuscript needs to be reviewed by experts on two different fields. Is it possible that I am being asked to find those two experts myself and ask them to review my manuscript, or is this probably a mistake/missunderstanding (that is, maybe that comment was not meant to be sent to the manuscript's author)?
Comment: What does the editor say? Have you ask the editor?
Comment: I have sent an ad hoc email asking about that.last Monday. No answer yet.. The decision is "minor revison" but then the reviewer's comment is "need to be reviewed by two other experts". And I also would not know of any of those two experts to whom I could ask to review my manuscript. I hope the manuscript is not reject because of this!
Answer: Without seeing the actual text, I would guess you are mistaken or the review has a confusing grammatical mistake.  The peer reviewer normally addresses the review to the editor, not the author.  The reviewer is telling the editor that they should select other reviewers.  It is possible that the editor has already done this.  (Did you receive more than one review?)  Probably there is no need for you to do anything.
Comment: Yes, these things are handled by the editor and not the author. Remember the editor has every right to ignore this request as well.
Comment: The reviewer's comment that was sent to me (the author,) was: This manuscript needs to be reviewed by an expert in X and by an expert in Y.. To me, this comment looks like a comment which was intended to be sent to the editor. It is impossible that they are asking me to find such two experts and ask them to review or support by manuscript, right?...There was only one reviewer.
Comment: Thank you very much for your responses. Now I feel more confortable with writing to the editor about this.


Why does solidity (*sol) file starts with pragma?

Question: Why does solidity (*sol) file starts with pragma? What does pragma stands for and its origins?
Answer: The version pragma is included because future versions of solidity will likely not be compatible with the current 0.4.* version. Specfically, 0.5.0 will likely have breaking changes.
Pragma was borrowed from other languages, such as C and C++, that use it as a preprocessor directive.
Comment: Compiler directive I believe, but yes. An instruction to the program processing the file, and not an instruction to be compiled.
Answer: It gives the solidity compiler a hint on how to process the code. E.g. if it should allow new features.
For more general information on the usage of pragma in programming you might want to read this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directive_(programming)


What is the difference between ISO 27001 and ISO 27002?

Question: What is the difference between ISO 27001 and ISO 27002? Are they related to each other or not?
Answer: The ISO 27000 series of standards are a compilation of international standards all related to information security. The difference is that the ISO 27001 standard has an organizational focus and details requirements against which an organization's Information Security Management System (ISMS) can be audited. ISO 27002 on the other hand is more focused on the individual and provides a code of practice for use by individuals within an organization. If you compare them you will see that they're structured similarly and that they map to eachother.
The the difference is in the level of detail, ISO 27002 explains one control on one whole page, while ISO 27001 dedicates only one sentence to each control.ISO 27002 provides best practice recommendations on information security management for use by those who are responsible for implementing or maintaining the Information Security Management Systems (ISMS). Whereas ISO 27001 defines the audit requirements.
Answer: ISO 27001 establishes requirements. If an organization wants to certify its Information Security Management System (ISMS) it needs to comply with all requirements in ISO 27001.
On the other hand, ISO 27002 are best practices that are not mandatory. That means that an organization does not need to comply with ISO 27002 but can use it as inspiration to implement requirements in ISO 27001.
For example, in ISO 27001 you have a control that requires the organization to do backups and in ISO 27002 you have the same control but more developed, saying that the backups should be done at planned intervals, that should be tested, that you should backup data and software, etc.
ISO 27002 is more complex and difficult to comply with but it is not mandatory because depending on the context and the business of the organization it could implement the control in another way. ISO 27001 establishes what you have to do but not how. ISO 27002 describes how.
Comment: Note though that while officially no part of 27002 is mandatory, there are some controls in it that are so fundamental that if you don't implement them the 27001 auditors are going to figure your ISMS can't be working right.
Comment: @GrahamHill, in fact, controls in ISO 27002 do appear in ISO 27002 but in the second it is descripted how to implement each control while in ISO 27001 the control is just enunciated and the organization should define how to implement each control.
Answer: Regarding 27002, be aware that 27001 states that:

Control objectives and controls from these tables shall be selected as part of the ISMS process specified in 4.2.1,

where "these tables" mean Annex A (in especially 27002).
So you do have to take Annex A controls in scope, be it that you can place them out-of-scope if you can argue why (for example no software development takes place, or the risk is too low).


Does Intercalation and Deintercalation of Lithium ions occurs in Half Cell?

Question: The important feature of Lithium ion batteries is the ability to  intercalate and deintercalate lithium ions in  anode and cathode . However when we use  half cell, using lithium metal foil as anode, intercalation and deintercalation process occurs in this case too. How the lithium ion moves and what process cause the current to flow in discharge?
Answer: When you're using a lithium metal anode there is no intercalation really, just reduction of the lithium ions to lithium metal:
$$\ce{Li^+ + e^- -> Li^0_{(s)}} $$
The cathode reaction is still the same.


Which kind of stability do aerobatic aircraft have?

Question: I'm designing an aerobatic aircraft similar to EXTRA 330SC.
I would like to know about stability: lateral and longitudinal, static and dynamic.
I read that aerobatic aircraft have neutral static stability.
Some books relate Cm to AoA.  Others relate Cm to CL.
Please detail more about this or provide some bibliography.
Comment: I hope you are designing a _model_ of an aerobatic airplane. If you are building a real one and don't know the basics of its dynamics... I wouldn't one to fly it.
Comment: This is a pretty broad subject so unfortunately I have to vote to close it (generally more focused questions work well here FYI) I would recommend the FAA's Pilots Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge which has a good primer on the concepts of stability in it.
Comment: When I asked Patty Wagstaff how she was able to make her plane do some of the things it did, as I couldn't even imagine how to move my control yoke to make my tail flip over my nose for example, she said the plane was finely balanced to allow it to do that.
Answer: If you are serious about designing an airplane that will one day fly and certify, you should, to the very least, read up Raymer, Aircraft Design: A Conceptual Approach. It has a chapter on stability & control, and would be a good introduction to the lingos.
More in depth coverage can be found in Etkins, Dynamics of Flight. It's pretty much the bible for S&C engineers.
Once you feel like you have the theory down, design guidelines for conceptual design (even preliminary design) can be found in Roskam, Airplane Design.
Since design goes hand-in-hand with certification requirements, a knowledge of 14CFR Part 23 and AC 23-8C wouldn't hurt.
Answer: The farther forward the center of mass is from the neutral point, the more stable the airplane is in pitch.  When the two coincide, the airplane becomes pitch-unstable.  When center of mass is behind, human reflexes are insufficient to maintain controlled flight.
As far as designing goes, center of mass and AoA are different beasts.  Center of mass stays roughly the same, while AoA (especially in aerobatics) changes greatly and quickly.
Others here have explained further.
Comment: Or wait. Did you mean centre of mass? Then write it unambiguously, CM or better CG (even though it's less correct formally), or in full.
Comment: Did you mean center of lift, or neutral point?
Comment: Doh.  NP.  Edited.  Thanks.
Comment: Cm is the moment (coefficient). It cannot be 'behind'. If it 'stays the same', the aircraft stability is neutral by definition. Its _derivative_ by AoA, $Cm_{\alpha}$, stays roughly the same (in the normal operational range of AoA), and if it's _negative_, the airplane is stable. For aerobatics though, the post-stall behaviour is also very important.
Comment: Or use math notation: https://math.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/5020/mathjax-basic-tutorial-and-quick-reference As an added bonus, LaTeX uses a very similar system so you gain transferable knowledge in the process.
Comment: @CamilleGoudeseune If something in your answer is wrong, don't cross it out -- just remove it. Anyone who wants to know what the answer used to say can check the edit history.


Does the "bat wing" aircraft paint design have a proper name?

Question: I would like to do a web search for different planes that have utilised the "bat wing" paint application noticeable on the wings below?  What keywords should I search for?
Answer: Although aeroalias is correct that this is often associated with Gee Bees, I think a more 'generic' term is a scalloped paint scheme, e.g.:

American Champion paint options
C130 paint schemes
Model biplanes
Comment: Scalloped is the term I was looking for but I am still unable to find many aircraft images (other than Gee Bees).  In case is due to my unfamiliarity with aircraft terminology can I ask what search terms you used to return those results?
Comment: @darmi I think I simply searched for "scallop paint aircraft" or something similar, I can't remember exactly
Answer: This particular paint scheme was used in a number of Gee Bee aircraft (in different colors) and is popularly called the 'Gee Bee paint scheme'.

GeeBee R2 Super Sportster By Netweave - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
According to the book Gee Bee:

The Gee Bee's paint scheme was inspired by the Coca-Cola paint signs of the 1930s.

This page, where an image similar (same?) as yours is available also calls it the Gee Bee scheme:

Gee Bee paint schemes have been popular on Fly Babies, but have you ever wondered what one would look like with a small radial engine?


Anatomically correct Goron

Question: Another videogame species, this time the gorons from the Legend of Zelda franchise http://zelda.wikia.com/wiki/Goron . They are a silicon based species (though they can grow hair for some reason) that feed on rocks, but for some reason are particular about the rocks they eat (which explains the plot hole in their chapter in Ocarina of Time). Could something like this evolve in nature?
Comment: I'm voting to close this question because current rules don't allow questions about existing works of fiction and this post just received a new answer. For the sake of consistency it should be closed to reflect current rules regarding pre-built worlds.
Comment: We have to make an adjustment somewhere. The Science Fiction and Fantasy SE is sending these questions here: "[investigating the plausibility of an element of another work of fiction, ask on Workdbuilding Stack Exchange](https://scifi.stackexchange.com/help/on-topic)"
Comment: @VogonPoet Just because other sites are sending questions here doesn't mean we need to accept them. We're not a dumping ground for every question other don't accept.
Comment: @sphennings Agreed. The adjustment should be at SFF if we chose this path.
Answer: Silicon based life could exist, silicon and carbon are chemically quite related. The problem is in the food: we cannot consume carbon dioxide, because you cannot metabolize it with energy gain (plants metabolize it, but they put solar energy into it, converting it to sugars, which they then use for energy (and we use those, too)). So the Goron would either use some energy-source (magic, sunlight, pressure,...) to essentially up-convert the silicon dioxide from stones, and then feed on that product.
Answer: Exotic biology!  Let us make these creatures eat minerals because really they are heat eaters.
Let us sidestep the question of silicon based life form.  Yes they eat rocks, but that doesn't mean they are rocks.  Let us assume a robust, thermally durable carbon based life form.  Perhaps the Goron are colonial archaebacteria?
We like to eat partly oxidized carbon like sugar, because that is what is available on the surface.  Maximally reduced carbon yields even more energy per mole when oxidized, because there is room for oxygen.  Coal would be a fine foodstuff for a subterranean creature.  A problem - oxygen might be in short supply.
Here comes some made up biochemistry.  Calcium carbonate is limestone and is abundant in the earths crust.  Thermal decomposition of calcium carbonate drives off the carbonate as carbon dioxide and leaves calcium oxide: quicklime.

it releases carbon dioxide upon heating, called a thermal
  decomposition reaction, or calcination (to above 840 °C in the case of
  CaCO3), to form calcium oxide, commonly called quicklime, with
  reaction enthalpy 178 kJ/mole: CaCO3 (s) → CaO (s) + CO2 (g)

I propose these creatures fill up with carbonates when they find them.  Carbonate rocks might be stored in the tissues - calcium carbonates are very biologically compatible which is how limestone accumulated in the first place- millions of years of shells.  Full of carbonate minerals, the Goron then retire to depth where the earth is hot.  They can catalytically (=enzymatically) facilitate the decomposition of CaCO3, driving off the CO2 and returning to the surface full of CaO.
The formation of CaO is a way of storing the earths heat energy.  On the surface, the careful, gradual addition of water to CaO releases energy as heat (slaking) much in the way that in our bodies we carefully add oxygen the sugars.  Any exothermic reaction can in theory be harnessed enzymatically to phosophorylate ATP - for us the oxidation of sugar, for the Goron the hydration of lime.
This is why they eat rocks.
1: Pure carbon like coal, because it is easy to oxidize on the surface for energy.  Of course for a snack they might also like fats, waxes, and liquid alkanes.
2:  Carbonate rocks, because they can thermally decompose them and store the heat energy as CaO, later hydrating it for energy.
This is also why too much water is not a good thing for these creatures.  If you slake a large amount of quicklime at once, things get extremely warm.
Answer: Well, it is pretty straightforward, if you think about it.
We are carbon based life forms, and we rely on food based on carbon. A silicon based life form is therefor reliant on silicon based food for nutrition.
Rocks are mostly based on silicon, therefore are a suitable food. Based on the different metabolism, each Goron has preference for different silicates, meaning different rocks.
Comment: Would also explain why they are particular about which rocks they eat. Vast majority of rocks are fairly inert and offer no easy source of energy. Not sure what types of rock would be an energy source for a viable biochemistry. Sulphur compounds maybe?
Comment: While many rocks are silicates, many are not. Feldspars are as common as sillicates, but aren't Co-soluble.  Granite's blotchy appearance is in part because the Feldspar and silicate don't mix. Limestone and chalk are almost pure carbonate. http://ratw.asu.edu has a good cross section of terrestrial rock samples and their compositions. Here you can see that the difference between petrified wood and coal,  for example, is one is preserved with silicate and the other with feldspar.
Answer: The world of Hyrule has some bizarre and obscure zoogony, so the first step to building an answer is nailing down this issue. For this answer, we'll mix some Empedoclism, Lamarckism, and Darwinism, with some divine intervention on top. This seems like we'd get a good evolutionary approximation of Hyrule's creative forces
We will start at the creation of the planet. When the forms and natures of minerals were being decided, one of the divinities decided that it'd be a wonderful idea for some minerals to be able to spread like plants from the heat of the core. And it was wonderful, at least until it started consuming the rest of the minerals and destroying all their lovely work
They needed a solution, and needed it fast. What they settled on is grabbing a piece of this mineral and animating it with muscles, creating a sort of magma worm. This worm, now capable of motion, quickly settled into an animal role, feeding on the plant-like ancestral mineral. Their geology saved, they could move on to other creative endeavors
Once they had nurtured the intelligent races of Hyrule, the divinities realized that there was no species capable of surviving in the burning heat of the great volcanoes. While they had some ability to retrofit animals for these temperatures, plants were out of the question, and so any ecosystem was doomed to fail. Then, they remembered the deep-dwelling magma-worms they had made long ago, which by now had diversified into countless forms. One of the surface-dwelling species was selected, and transformed into a humanoid mineral
There were still problems with this approach. Specifically, that the minerals would go hard and die when it got too cold. This wouldn't be an issue if not for the fact that for them, 'too cold' was synonymous 'not incandescent'. To solve this issue, the divinities had an idea, to combine these minerals with an animal species to get the best of both worlds: The animal resistance to low temperatures, with the mineral ability to live on stone. They found an armoured terrestrial ape dwelling in the volcano, and replaced its viscera with the geological counterparts
Now, with this union of ape and mineral, the Gorons arise

Anatomically correct Goron


EV3 and HiTechnic Color Sensor Block

Question: Can I use the Hitechnic Color Sensor with my EV3?
At the HiTechnic web site I cannot find the necessary files for importing the Hitechnic Color Sensor Block into the EV3 software.
Comment: For 3rd-party product support you might find it quicker to contact HiTechnic via their [support form](http://www.hitechnic.com/support).
Answer: Yes there is
On the HiTechnic website: => download
http://www.hitechnic.com/downloadnew.php?category=38
This is preliminary release of the HiTechnic EV3 Color Sensor Block.  Note that this block only supports the EV3 and will not work with the NXT.  Zip file includes both the Color Sensor block and a sample program that shows the color sensor values on the EV3 screen.  See instructions at top of this downloads page for installation instructions.

EV3 and HiTechnic Color Sensor Block


Is it a good idea to use CNN to classify 1D signal?

Question: I am working on the sleep stage classification. I read some research articles about this topic many of them used SVM or ensemble method. Is it a good idea to use convolutional neural network to classify one-dimensional EEG signal?
I am new to this kind of work. Pardon me if I ask anything wrong?
Comment: A 1D signal can be transformed into a 2D signal by breaking up the signal into frames and taking the FFT of each frame. For audio this is quite uncommon.
Answer: I guess that by 1D signal you mean time-series data, where you assume temporal dependence between the values. In such cases convolutional neural networks (CNN) are one of the possible approaches. The most popular neural network approach to such data is to use recurrent neural networks (RNN), but you can alternatively use CNNs, or hybrid approach (quasi-recurrent neural networks, QRNN) as discussed by Bradbury et al (2016), and also illustrated on their figure below. There also other approaches, like using attention alone, as in Transformer network described by Vaswani et al (2017), where the information about time is passed via Fourier series features.

With RNN, you would use a cell that takes as input previous hidden state and current input value, to return output and another hidden state, so the information flows via the hidden states. With CNN, you would use sliding window of some width, that would look of certain (learned) patterns in the data, and stack such windows on top of each other, so that higher-level windows would look for patterns within the lower-level patterns. Using such sliding windows may be helpful for finding things such as repeating patterns within the data (e.g. seasonal patterns). QRNN layers mix both approaches. In fact, one of the advantages of CNN and QRNN architectures is that they are faster then RNN.
Answer: You can certainly use a CNN to classify a 1D signal. Since you are interested in sleep stage classification see this paper. Its a deep neural network called the DeepSleepNet, and uses a combination of 1D convolutional and LSTM layers to classify EEG signals into sleep stages.
Here is the architecture:

There are two parts to the network:

Representational learning layers:
This consists of two convolutional networks in parallel. The main difference between the two networks is the kernel size and max-pooling window size. The left one uses kernel size = $F_s/2$ (where $F_s$ is the sampling rate of the signal) whereas the one the right uses kernel size = $F_s \times 4$. The intuition behind this is that one network tries to learn "fine" (or high frequency) features, and the other tries to learn "coarse" (or low frequency) features.
Sequential learning layers: The embeddings (or learnt features) from the convolutional layers are concatenated and fed into the LSTM layers to learn temporal dependencies between the embeddings.

At the end there is a 5-way softmax layer to classify the time series into one-of-five classes corresponding to sleep stages.
Answer: FWIW, I'll recommend checking out the Temporal Convolutional Network from this paper (I am not the author). They have a neat idea for using CNN for time-series data, is sensitive to time order and can model arbitrarily long sequences (but doesn't have a memory).
Answer: I want to emphasis the use of a stacked hybrid approach (CNN + RNN) for processing long sequences:

As you may know, 1D CNNs are not sensitive to the order of timesteps (not further than a local scale); of course, by stacking lots of convolution and pooling layers on top of each other, the final layers are able to observe longer sub-sequences of the original input. However, that might not be an effective approach to model long-term dependencies. Although, CNNs are very fast compared to RNNs.
On the other hand, RNNs are sensitive to the order of timesteps and therefore can model the temporal dependencies very well. However, they are known to be weak at modeling very long-term dependencies, where a timestep may have a temporal dependency with the timesteps very far back in the input. Further, they are very slow when the number of timesteps is high.

So, an effective approach might be to combine CNNs and RNNs in this way: first we use convolution and pooling layers to reduce the dimensionality of the input. This would give us a rather compressed representation of the original input with higher-level features. Then we can feed this shorter 1D sequence to the RNNs for further processing. So we are taking advantage of the speed of the CNNs as well as the representational capabilities of RNNs at the same time. Although, like any other method, you should experiment with this on your specific use case and dataset to find out whether it's effective or not.
Here is a rough illustration of this method:
<code>--------------------------
-                        -
-   long 1D sequence     -
-                        -
--------------------------
            |
            |
            v
==========================
=                        =
=  Conv + Pooling layers =
=                        =
==========================
            |
            |
            v
---------------------------
-                         -
- Shorter representations -
-     (higher-level       -
-      CNN features)      -
-                         -
---------------------------
            |
            |
            v
===========================
=                         =
=  (stack of) RNN layers  =
=                         =
===========================
            |
            |
            v
===============================
=                             =
= classifier, regressor, etc. =
=                             =
===============================
</code>


Grouping three quarter notes in 6/8 time signature

Question: I'm writing a piece of music in 6/8 time signature. Is it correct to have a bar with 3 quarter notes in this time signature?
Comment: Listen to 'America' (West Side Story). That might help.
Comment: It's fine, but does depend a little on context. Can you post an image of the measure(s) in question plus maybe a little of the surrounding material?
Comment: @Tim  exactly -- as you & I have suggested the last 15 times someone asked about rhythms in 6/8 time  :-)
Answer: This is technically not allowed, but it's one of the common exceptions to the rules that is widely accepted, as long as it's exactly this rhythm.
Here's one way to explain where notes are allowed to be. There are multiple equivalent ways to state the rule, so you may have seen something else and that's okay. It's easiest to describe in simple meters like 4/4, so I'll start there:
First, consider the natural subdivision of notes for the time signature:

Terminology: The whole note is the "parent" of the half notes (who are "children" of the whole note). All of the notes pictured are in their "natural" positions and are of course allowed to be there.
A non-dotted note can also be in a position which is offset by one of its (direct) children, but still within the bounds of its naturally-placed parent. Consider these four examples:

In the first example, the quarter note is offset by an eighth, but within the bounds of its parent half note (in its natural position), so this is correct. In the second example, the note is offset by an eighth, but breaking the bounds of its parent, so this is not allowed, and it should be written as the third example. The fourth is another example of a commonly accepted exception to the rule, as long as it's exactly this rhythm (replacing the first quarter with two eighths or anything else would make it invalid). Offsetting a quarter note by a sixteenth or smaller is always wrong.
For note durations that are not part of the natural subdivision of the time signature, they may only sit in a position fully within the next longest natural duration, and shoved all the way up against one end of it. Examples:

The first example shows the two ways that a dotter quarter note can validly exist in a 4/4 measure--occupying either the first or last three-fourths of a naturally positioned half note. The second example is technically invalid but very commonly used, and whether or not it should be tolerated is contentious. I personally hate it but many people have used it to the point of ubiquitousness. It is properly written as the third example. The fourth is also a contentious potential exception.

In 6/8, the natural breakdown looks like this:

Quarter notes are not one of the naturally occurring durations, so technically they can only fill the first or last two-thirds of a dotted quarter.

The first example is the technically correct way to write this rhythm, but the second is an accepted exception.
Comment: There is no exception I have ever been taught. The grouping rules always aim to keep the ideas of what a beat is constant in the specific time signature.
Comment: I respectfully disagree.  Use of 3 quarter-notes specifically changes the beat pattern, whereas  writing quarter, tied-pair eighths, quarter does not.
Answer: It's not incorrect, but it should be understood that you're temporarily subverting the normal grouping of notes. Think about this: you could give a 3/4 piece a 6/8 time signature, and that would be incorrect. There would be the right number of 8th notes in each measure, but they would be grouped in 3 sets of two notes ("simple triple" meter: "triple" because there are three beats, and "simple" because each beat is divided in two). 6/8 is normally understood to be "compound duple" meter, having two beats divided into three subdivisions. But composers often play with its ability to "go both ways"; Tim mentioned "America," which basically alternates between "1 2 3 1 2 3 | 1 2 1 2  1 2 |" throughout the song. In "Mercury" from The Planets, Holst alternates in 6/8 between measures of three quarter notes and six eighth notes (and, just to complicate things, sets it against a backdrop of 2/4) (https://scholarworks.calstate.edu/downloads/41687m324, p 49 ff).
Answer: The Grade 5 theory examination answer is that three quarters in a 6/8 bar should be grouped like this.

In modern practice, we have the choice. To emphasise the cross-rhythm against a continuing 6/8 pulse, you might still do it that way.  But if you'd been tempted to change to 3/4 for that bar but decided (quite reasonably) not to clutter the score with continual time signature changes, three quarter notes would be fine.  And would probably now be considered the norm.
Here's the classic example:
Comment: I guess the definitive version would be the vocal score of West Side Story.   Notated as 6/8 (3/4).  I'll attach a shot to my answer.  (He actually groups the quavers as a single group of 6, and uses old-style syllabic grouping for the voices.)
Comment: Bernstien did  3 crotchets back in 1957 (?), but strangely, the accompaniment of 6 quavers was grouped into 3 lots of two. Strange?
Comment: Surely it would have been strange if, in the 3/4 bars, the quavers were NOT grouped in twos?
Comment: The rhythm is unlike compound time, not unheard of to give a passage a simple time feel even if the piece is in compound time, but that seems to me to be something a composer of a high level would consider doing. Most of the time making your pieces just clearly simple or compound just works best
Comment: That's the point - they're 6/8 bars, not 3/4. Time sig. doesn't change, so maybe the quavers should've stayed in 3s.
Comment: If we're still talking about 'America', it's alternating 6/8 and 3/4 bars, but he didn't bother to put in all the time signatures.
Comment: Oh, that's fine. All the versions I've seen were 6/8 all through.
Answer: Strictly speaking, it's naughty! But read on... The whole point in 6/8 time signature existing is to differentiate from 3/4. Both contain the same value as far as notes are concerned, but the more than subtle difference is the grouping, making the feel of each very different. 1 - 2 - 3 - 1 - 2 - 3 -is the feel of 3/4, (or 1 & 2 & 3 &) whereas 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 is the feel of 6/8. (Also counted as 1 & & 2 & & ) This splits the bar into two equal halves, which is not what 3/4 is about.
So, if a piece has its basic feel as one or the other, that's the time signature to use. However - since 6/8 is essentially two groups of three quavers, writing the three crotchets is best done using 'crotchet, quaver-tied-to-quaver, crotchet'. That then keeps the division within a bar 'correct'. Although most readers will be able to understand what's going on with a simple 3 crotchets, as is used in several pieces already mentioned.


Are these potted mint plants healthy?

Question: These are some mint plants (Mentha arvensis) that have been grown from grocery store edible mint stems planted in a 60~40 ratio of cocopeat-perlite-compost and garden soil. The new leaves around the meristems seem to be too yellow though. This is planted in a 30 cm diameter rimmed pot. Is this natural or sign of something else? These were planted almost 20~40 days ago or so, and all these leaves are new. Old ones had died and been plucked off. This gets full sun here in Delhi for 6~8 hours. I have been watering it with drinking water since 15 days or so.
Another thing, is it okay to plant newer nursery brought mint plants like this or should I start with smaller pots?
Answer: Yes, they look okay. Mine looked just like that some months ago. I'm not too familiar with the climate in Delhi, but my experience, my mints didn't like full blown sun in blazing hot days. Also, they get really thirsty in the warmer season.

Are these potted mint plants healthy?


How to do a whole genome analysis of Multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Question: I'm looking for tutorials and software that can help me study whole genome sequence data is and genome wide associations. I have Matlab and Bioconductor R so anything involving those packages would be preferable.
Comment: I have made some major edits to to your question to stop it being closed for HWK. Feel free to roll back :)
Answer: You've picked a fascinating and very important organism to study. Unfortunately there are many many steps with many software packages that you'll need and each next step will depend on what you find making any particular tutorial nigh on pointless. I'm sorry to say that I don't think anyone will dump an entire project proposal or workflow as an answer. I'll give you an answer to get you started on your research.
Example
An excellent example of such a study is Fellay et al., 2007 and you can find their materials and methods supplement here.
An introduction to this kind of research
First you need to find the sequences of proteins that you think are significant. There are a bunch of ways of doing this, but I suggest standing on the shoulders of giants and scouring the literature (regardless, find an example where this has been done elsewhere). If there isn't much out there or for an entirely new viewpoint on something, this answer might help for finding proteins in the DNA sequence.
Sequence alignments against other strains is your best bet of identifying mutations (and possibly an indicator of resistance, which is what I guess you're after). There are plenty to choose from, but BLAST is a good tool to start with. You should compare your resistant strain with non resistant strains. Be very careful when analysing the data, not every mutation will be significant.
Comment: Thanks for trying to help me. Nice photos you take, you are a talented photographer. I have 1000 books on bioinformatics and years of software engineering and computations experience. I need  a rational way and the best software for mutation analysis. I don`t like microbes at all.
Comment: biostars.org are a community with a focus on the software/programatic side of biology. Perhaps you could reframe your question there?


Reputation system seems unfair

Question: Why must I gain reputation before I can comment?  I'd like to be pro active and help people out who have unanswered questions.  But many need clarification before I can give an appropriate answer. I can't ask them because I can't comment or contact them.  To me,  this seems like a setup to keep those in power where they are and the newcomer at the bottom.
Comment: Took me 3 days of rep building to get there.  Keep at it!  I'm sure everyone knows something they can help with.
Answer: You must gain reputation because, as it says in the help, commenting is a privilege.
What I did was dive in with a few answers, and if they're good enough they get up-voted and accepted, and before long you're at your magic 50.
... or you could just ask some good questions!
Comment: @LuisMasuelli too much? 5 answers with 1 upvote, 25 accepted suggested edits, 10 upvotes on questions, I don't see how this, (or any combination of these) could be seen as "too much"
Comment: Heck, just suggest 25 edits.
Comment: It seems also unfair to me regarding comments. 50 is too much for such privilege.
Comment: Remember that having set minimums for chat also help to prevent spammers and bots. You can see this often in most online video-games where there are global chats. Often rules are set into place where the player needs a minimum level or some other form of blockage that is harder for a computer to obtain than simply creating an account and logging in.  Also, kudos to Ian, another person with the same name as I! :D
Comment: I would halve the requirement...

Reputation system seems unfair


Greeting potential supervisor in email

Question: A potential supervisor is greeting me with "Hi" followed by my first name. How should I greet him in return? If I say "Hi" followed by "Dr." and his last name, this will look awkward. If I say "Hello" followed by "Dr." and his last name, this will look more formal than his original greeting, and might look like a sign of my trying to distance myself. So how can I keep being formal yet not look awkward or "cold"?
Answer: Reply with "Hi" and his first name. If he's using this format to address you, that's a sign that you don't need to be so formal anymore.
Answer: The answer would depend on how well you know said potential supervisor.
If I have worked with somebody before, either through directly working for them or doing some sort of collaboration I will use their first names in an email.
If it is my first correspondence with them I will always use their proper title and their surname, at least for the first little while until I get to know them better.
Typically, supervisors are not against being referred to by their first names but there is nothing wrong with being formal in a professional environment.
Comment: Then just go with a first name then.
Comment: We've had a conversation with several emails so far. In his signature he only uses his first name or just the first letter of his first name. So I'm not sure what way would be more appropriate to refer to him.
Answer: The answer to this question almost certainly varies with culture - by nation, region, institution, department, or even research group.
However, thankfully there's an easy and non-awkward way to indicate how you would prefer to be addressed in an email: The signature.
A typical academic email will look like

Hi John,
Some interesting and important body text.
Cheers,
Jane

in which case "Hi Jane" is fine, or

Hi John,
Some interesting and important body text.
Best wishes,
Jane Smith

in which case I'd err towards "Dr Smith".
In my experience, it is uncommon - or even vaguely inappropriate - to refer to a student as Mr/Ms Doe. This isn't the case everywhere, but the greeting isn't the best indication of the preferred level of formality.
Of course, it may be the case that they haven't bothered to type a sign-off themselves, instead relying on their automatic email signature (although there's usually at least an awkardly-placed lowercase initial for some reason). That's typically a sign of informality, but you can usually infer from context.
Ultimately, there are no hard and fast rules, and most academics are busy and relatively laid-back people who won't particularly care (if they even notice). And if they do care, you may have an interesting experience with them as your supervisor. If you're really not sure, err on the side of formality - they'll likely respond in a style that gives a clearer clue.
Comment: @sequence That's about as informal as academic emails get. The first name is almost certainly fine in that case.
Comment: What would you say about referring to a potential supervisor who only uses the first letter of his first name in the email?
Answer: I'm a wuss and avoid this question by starting my emails with just

Hello,
about that thing...

I trust they will remember their name even if I don't use it every time.
Answer: I have the following experience with two different supervisors, one is my PhD supervisor and another was my Masters supervisor.
I used to write to my Masters supervisor like this from the beginning.
Dear Professor Jones

The topic that I am planning to discuss tomorrow is ...

Sincerely
Myself

I used the same approach with my PhD supervisor after my first meeting with him. But, he asked me to call him by his first name. So, now I write
Hi Jones

The method does not work with this problem...

Thanks.
Myself

So, if your professor is allowing you to be informal, that is okay. But I would recommend, stay formal from the beginning until (s)he asks you to be informal.
Comment: What would you say about referring to a potential supervisor who only uses the first letter of his first name in the email?
Comment: @sequence Does it matter. It is assumed that you know your supervisor's name. No? Even if he uses J for Jones. You should call Hi Jones.

Greeting potential supervisor in email


Is there a term for music composed of everyday sounds?

Question: Is there a term for music composed of everyday sounds (animal calls, cars honking, etc.) that are timed just right to sound like music together? (I hope this isn't off-topic here)
Comment: [Musique concrète](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musique_concr%C3%A8te) is related.
Answer: This is very often called musique concrète, or avant-garde as a broader term. The technique you are mentioning is also referred to as ready-made or found object (objet trouvé in French). A ready-made is an object/sound/whatever that already existed without any artistic context, which is then turned into art by giving it that artistic concept.
Two relatively well-known examples are Revolution 9 by the Beatles, and Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict by Pink Floyd (yes, that is the title of a song).
In Revolution 9, you'll notice that the sounds aren't actually aligned to a musical rhythm per se. This is usually the case with musique concrète: you throw all rules about music overboard, and create what you think sounds good.
In Several Species (...), the sounds are not actually natural; they're all created by Roger Waters tapping/slapping his own body in various places, making weird sounds with his voice, and speeding all of this up quite drastically. In this song, everything is aligned rhythmically, so it's a good example of how far you can go with this kind of sound: you could even adapt the pitch of each sound to create whatever melody you like. Anything is possible with this kind of stuff, as long as you're imaginative and creative enough. :)
Links:

Revolution 9
Several Species
Wikipedia page for Found Object
Answer: You can call it in various ways, depending on the style of production / performance.
It can be called Found Object if you are using sounds like you mentioned without performing it.
It can be called Experimental, if you are improvising it - sampling it live.
You can call it Experimental Electronic if you are using your computer / digital sampler.
You can call it ambient,
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Found_object_(music)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimental_music
Answer: You could call it "Industrial Music". John Cage, Phillip Glass and even Rassahn Roland Kirk (beating on metal chairs to accentuate his enthusiasm...") used this concept quite a bit.
Comment: Although industrial music may incorporate found sounds, both of your example musicians predate the identification of that genre.
Answer: In the RPM community we refer to this as Spoon Dropping.
Answer: While not a term for this genre as a whole, this thread would be incomplete unless someone mentioned the practice of sampling.
Hip-hop and electronic musicians (as well as those in other genres) often sample sounds from other music, lines from TV shows and viral videos, and environmental sounds like rain and car horns. Sometimes the sounds are autotuned and/or edited to have a certain melody, and other times they are left as-is and the interest comes from how the new song recontextualizes the sampled content. Wikipedia has a good article.
Sampling has spawned many debates about authorship and originality, and the way that hip-hop artists borrow samples from each other (often without giving explicit credit) has been used as a metaphor for the internet and open-source practices as a whole. See remix culture and Cory Doctorow, Information Doesn't Want to Be Free.


My American license will expire in June 2020 but I am living in Berlin, Germany . Is there any way to renew it from abroad?

Question: I am from California. I am living in Berlin at the moment.
Comment: Do you drive in Germany?
Comment: Have you completed a 'Renew by mail eligibility request'? https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/forms/dl/dl410
Comment: @Traveller The content looks like an answer to me.
Answer:
In order to complete your renewal by mail you must meet the eligibility criteria, provide your Social Security Number and be under 70 years old when your current license expires. If you answer YES to any of the eligibility questions below, you will have to make an appointment to visit your local DMV office to renew in person.
• Have your last two licenses been renewed by mail?
• Has your license been expired for more than one year?
• Does your license expire more than 60 days from today?
• Are you currently on any type of driving probation?
• Are you changing/correcting your name?
• Do you have a driver license from more than one state or jurisdiction?
WITHIN THE PAST TWO YEARS:
• Were you convicted of any Vehicle Code moving violations?
• Did you fail to appear in court for any Vehicle Code moving violation?
• Were you suspended for driving under the influence, or for refusing, or failing to complete
  a chemical or preliminary alcohol screening (PAS) test?
• Have you been at fault in one or more collisions, as reported by law enforcement?

Source: https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/forms/dl/dl410
Comment: @Mark Johnson If you have found information about residency document requirements when renewing a California DL by mail that I've missed, or feel I've misunderstood the requirements, please feel free to edit my answer and provide the relevant link(s). As far as I understand the topic from browsing the information on the site I linked to, Residency Documents are required for new (ie first-time ) applications. The OP can renew by post providing their address hasn't changed.
Comment: Adding the needed **Residency Document Requirements** would make this answer more usefull.
Answer: Even if California did renew your license as a non resident, you would not be allowed to use it in Germany after 6 months of residence. California requires the same after 10 days, where proof of residence is required.
So if you have allready been in Germany for 6 months, you may no longer drive with a non EU-License at all.
The U.S. Embassy site does list one existing exception for US-Citizens, if they can prove that will remain in Germany up to 364 days only.

If you become a California resident, you must get a California driver license within 10 days. Residency is established by voting in a California election, paying resident tuition, filing for a homeowner's property tax exemption, or any other privilege or benefit not ordinarily extended to nonresidents.
To receive your CA license if you hold a valid license from another state:

Visit a DMV location and take the CA written test and vision test. If you pass these, the driving test is generally waived and a CA license will be granted and your former state's license will be nullified.

Note: If you have a license from another country, you must take the driving skills test.

Note: I could not find this information on the DMV California site.

As of January 1, 1999, U.S. driver's license holders must be in possession of a German license six months after entering the country, if they wish to continue driving.
U.S. citizens planning to stay less than a year, however, may legally drive in Germany for up to 364 days in Germany on their U.S. driver's licenses. However, they must go to their local driver's registration office (Führerscheinstelle) prior to expiration of the six-month period after arrival and notify that office that they want to continue to drive on their U.S. license until their departure (up to 364 days, as stated above). Note that an official translation of the U.S. driver's license must be brought to the Führerscheinstelle, as well as proof that you are leaving Germany before a year has passed. Proof could be in the form of a return ticket to the U.S., a work contract with an expiration date before a year, etc.
A U.S. license holder requiring a German license must contact a local German driving school which will provide information on the necessary paperwork and register the applicant for testing. Applicants do not need to take theoretical or behind-the-wheel lessons. However, driving schools recommend that applicants take one or two driving lessons in order to become acquainted with the skills to be tested. Total costs (without driving lessons) may average as much as EUR 425 for license holders from states with no reciprocal agreement with Germany.
The U. S. Embassy, supported by the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany, continues to actively press all U.S. states to reach an agreement on the reciprocal recognition of driver's licenses with Germany, essentially a waiver of testing requirements.

Note: California is not contained in the list of states that have a reciprocal agreement with Germany.

Sources:

I just moved to California. How do I get my California license and my vehicle registered? -- DMVCheatSheets.com
Driver License (DL) and Identification (ID) Card Information - DMV California
Driving in Germany | U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Germany
Comment: The OP may just want to keep their US licence up to date for trips back home.
Comment: I don't dispute the severity of the offence, however you are speculating about the purpose behind the question, which the OP doesn't specify. I recall a couple of other questions on this topic from US citizens abroad, as far as I remember their intention was US-focused.
Comment: @Traveller That would speculation since question does not contain that information. Driving without an recognized Driver's License is a serious offence, just as the renewal under false pretences is.
Comment: @Traveller I am speculating only that the OP is *unaware* that in almost all US states, residence is a requirement in most states and that existing ones from other jurisdictions must be coverted to local ones.