I'm trying to translate or verify a quote from Terry Pratchett: "Ab Hoc Possum Videre Domum Tuum - I Can See Your House From Here"

Question: The What and a bit of Why, in short: I'm trying to translate the phrase "I can see your house from (up) here" to use it as a motto for a "Lodge"/"Order" I'm a member of, and for the heraldic shield I'm designing for us at the moment.
The How and Where (more or less), in short: I usually have considerable skills in Google-fu, but for this I just can't trust all the different results I get, and even if I find Latin fun I only know it in the "Veni, Vidi, Vici"-kind-of way. I also find my knowledge, and my English (I'm Swedish, and a lousy engineer at that. Please don't judge me!), a bit lacking when it comes to the more language-technical words and discussions, so I can't get by the language barrier. Therefore I humbly beg for some help here.
The phrase, or maybe more correctly the quote, "Ab Hoc Possum Videre Domum Tuum" comes from the book "Jingo" in the Discworld-series by the late Sir Terry Pratchett, and it is described as meant to be "both a boast and a threat". It was also through a Pratchett fan group on facebook I stumbled on this site.
Ok, so that's my short version of the situation. Here comes the longer version...
Ok, sooo... To start with a bit more of the What and Why, I'll probably has to explain a bit about this "Lodge"/"Order" I'm part of... "Melonordern", or "The Order The Melon" as it would be in English. Well, first of all we're nothing as organized as a true "order", we're more of a group of friends that met and started hanging out together at The Medieval Week (Always in w.42, in the beginning of August) in the city of Visby on the Swedish island Gotland some 13-15 years ago, and have steadily expanded until we now number some 25-30 people. We, amongst many other similar whimsical groups there, mostly hang around just outside the walls of the old town (where we're allowed to drink) and having fun. Most groups has a "thing" or a common theme, and it's not strictly adherent to the year of 1361 which is the Medieval Week's "Official" year. We have Vikings, a couple of different Knight-orders, LOTS of pirate groups, some Prussians (with one group spelling it "Pråjsen". Don't ask.) and Landsknechts, amongst others. The seriousness of every individual and/or groups can range from really hardcore, historical correct history buffs ("They didn't invent THAT kind of seam until a hundred years later!") to SCA-people and down to people who just casually don a long shirt and add a belt on top.
And us. And we're the Scots. In Great Kilts and all of the possible, and sometimes impossible, attributes and attachments you can think of. In terms of correctness we're somewhere in the middle, but on the laid-back side (If anyone asks me what sources we used I usually replies with "Braveheart" and see what reaction I get). We mostly Sing (I also make a song book every year, most Scottish and Irish songs, but some sea shanties and Monty Python songs can also be found therein), Drink (Whiskey, good and bad) and tell horrible jokes on the Gotland/Scotland theme... And, since we five guys who where the foundation of the order, got the bloody brilliant idea (when drunk) to claim the hillside at the furtherest end of the moat where everybody hangs out as our own (and call it "The Gottish Hielands"), we look out over the "lowlands" and the other groups. There has also always been a bit of friendly contest or animosity between the different groups, as usual. We have borrowed quite a lot from Pratchett and added it to our nicknames, titles and theme (if you have read the Tiffany Aching-arc in the Discworld-series you can probably guess whom our inspiration comes from. ;) ). And that's why the quote would fit us so good, just as sir Terry described it: as both a boast and a threat. But how good is his version, as written above? For this I'd like it to be actual latin, and even if I revere Sir Terry I don't trust his latin, or "Latatian", at all.
The long How and Where: Well, there's actually not so much more to say about this. I've tried to translate it back and forth myself on and off for at least three or four years now, but I'm stuck. The closest I've come to something I think might work is "Hinc possum videre domum tuam", or "From here I can see your house". It's the only sentence I've managed to find with Google translate that doesn't change when translating back and forth multiple times. If it's relevant I'd prefer if it sounds like a direct, in-your-face threat to a singular person, from a singular person. I think that would fit our "style" best.
If you could help me I'll tell you of the time we built a copy of Hadrian's wall and defended our turf against the Romans, who came and threw dices at us.
Answer: Replace domum tuum with domum tuam and you're mostly okay. Ab hoc also sounds okay to me, but I'm less sure about that. Maybe de hoc [loco] would be better.
Comment: I looked into *ab hoc*, *de hoc* and *hinc* a bit more (thanks for the tip!) and realised an important thing about the original quote. In the book the main character finds the quote written on a big dais where an enormous statue had stood, and of course *ab hoc* refers to THIS dais. So if I would refere to the spot/area we occupy, [loco] seems fitting to add, maybe also "nostro". *Possum videre domum tuam ab hoc loco nostro* or maybe better *possum videre domum tuam hinc loco nostro* looks good the first time I translate it (Google Translate+MyMemory), but not back again. Any thoughts?
Answer: I like your "Hinc possum videre domum tuam" but I would word it thus - "Hinc tuam domum videre possum."


Small bugs during review in software tool paper

Question: I am reviewing a software library tool at the moment.
During the review, I found some minor bugs while running their examples. However, it seems like nobody else has these bugs (at least I cant find them on the Github issue page). Otherwise, the library seems to be great. Should I recommend an accept pointing to these bugs or post the issues on Github (which could technically reveal my identity though, which would be against the blind review process).
Answer: You should submit the bugs with your review, not through Github.
Answer: If those bugs and bug-fixes are critical to your review, you should submit it with it and don't make a pull request from your official GitHub account. You still have an option of creating a one-time account and point to those issues/submit pull request fixing them in GitHub – that will not reveal your identity.
If your review does not really need those bugs to be mentioned (they are tangent to the subject of the review and don't influence the evaluation much), you can omit them from the review and post them officially through GitHub. That still has some possibility of identity reveal if the bugs are very special, and there are very few (say, 2) reviewers that participate in the peer-review process.


Type of Energy from Meditation

Question: I'm wondering whether 'physical pliancy' and 'mental pliancy' -- found in many meditation texts on samatha -- refers to physical energy. Is this linked or equivalent to virya? Would samatha meditation, despite not being a physical exercise, give one more energy and fight fatigue?
Answer:
I'm wondering whether 'physical pliancy' and 'mental pliancy' -- found in many meditation texts on samatha -- refers to physical energy. Is this linked or equivalent to virya?

It probably refers to the balancing of the Five Spiritual Faculties, especially
Concentration (samadhi) and Energy (viriya).
If the Energy faculty is unbalanced, leading to the 3rd Hindrance of Sloth and torpor (thina-middha), one needs to arouse energy. This can be done in a number of ways such as;

One can splash cold water in the face before a meditation session
One can do walking meditation in a brisk pace before sitting meditation
One can go to a high place, e.g. a mountain or building and practice
One can make a firm determination to practice effortly and sincerely
One can practice Death-contemplation (Maraṇasati ) to arouse a feeling of urgency
One can reflect on the 5 daily recollections, i.e. That one will grow old, become sick and ill, die, loose everything that one holds dear and that one is the sole heir of one's actions.

In the book "The Way Of Mindfulness" by Soma Thera, it's described how to overcome to the hindrance of Sloth and Torpor. Here he writes about the perception of light. I have made highlights in the quote:

3. Sloth and Torpor
Through wrong reflection on a state of boredom and the like, sloth and torpor come to be. Boredom is just dissatisfaction. Lassitude is bodily laziness. Languidity of body is the bending of the body torpidly in getting up and in similar actions. Lethargy after a meal is a dizziness or slight faint which is due to eating a principal meal. It is also called the discomfort which follows such a meal. The mind's sluggishness is the dullness of the mind. An abundance of wrong reflection on boredom and similar states of mind produces sloth and torpor. Therefore the Blessed One said that much wrong reflection on boredom, lassitude, languidity of body, lethargy after a meal, and the mind's sluggishness, is a condition for the production of fresh sloth and torpor and the increase and expansion of sloth and torpor already come into being.
Through right reflection in inceptive energy and similar states of mind is brought about the overthrow of sloth and torpor. Inceptive energy is the effort first set afoot. Exertion is more powerful than the inceptive energy because it leaves indolence behind. And because of its assailing further and further of the destructive condition, progressive endeavor is more powerful than exertion. By the exercise of right reflection intensely on this threefold strenuousness sloth and torpor are cast out. Therefore the Blessed One said that the condition for keeping out new sloth and torpor, and for casting out sloth and torpor that is old, is abundant right reflection on the element of inceptive energy, of exertion and of progressive endeavor.
There are six things which lead to the casting out of sloth and torpor: The seeing of the reason of sloth and torpor in the fact of eating too much or gluttony; the changing of the postures completely; reflection on the perception of light; staying in the open; sympathetic and helpful companionship of the good; and stimulating talk that assists in dispelling sloth an torpor.
There is the following explanation of these six things: The bhikkhu who has eaten gluttonously is assailed by sloth and torpor while doing his recluse duty of meditation in his day or night quarters as by a mighty elephant pressing down on him, but that one who practices moderation in food is not troubled thus with these hindrances. In one who thus sees the characteristic of sloth and torpor in gluttony there is the casting out of sloth and torpor.
Sloth and torpor disappear in him who changes over from the posture which induces sloth and torpor to another; in him who reflects on the brightness or the light of the moon, a lamp or a torch by night, and on the light or brightness of the sun by day; in him who lives in the open; in him who associates with sympathetic and helpful companions, like the Elder Maha Kassapa, who have dispelled sloth and torpor; and by stimulating talk connected with a strict recluse-regimen.
Therefore it is said: Six things lead to the casting out of sloth and torpor. The yogi understands thus: sloth and torpor cast out by these six things are stopped from arising forever in the future by the attainment of the path of arahantship.
The bhikkhu who has eaten gluttonously after the manner of the well-known types of Brahmanical gormandizers mentioned in ancient Indian books. There are five kinds of these greedy eaters: (1) He who eats until he has to be raised up by the hand from his seat. (2) He who lies rolling just where he has eaten and eats as long as he likes. (3) He who eats until he slips off his waist cloth. (4) He who fills himself with food in such a way that it seems as if a crow could peck at the food in him. (5) He who having filled his belly full and vomitted eats more food again, or he who eats until he vomits.
On the light or brightness of the sun by day: The meaning should be understood thus: Sloth and torpor vanish in him, too, who at night is reflecting on the image of the perception of the brightness of the sun he got by day.
Here it may be helpful to state the eight ways of dealing with torpor taught by the Master to the Elder Maha Moggallana: (1) One should neglect to mind the thought which says that drowsiness is descending on one, or (2) one should reflect on the Dhamma, or (3) repeat or recite the Dhamma, or (4) pull both earlobes and rub or massage the limbs with the hands, or (5) getting up from the sitting position, apply water on and rub the eyes, and look into the distance, at the constellations in the starry sky, or (6) reflect on the thought of light, or (7) fix the thought on the ambulatory, aware of the ends of it with the controlling faculties of sense turned inwards and the mind kept in, or (8) sleep conscious of the time of waking and on awaking get up quickly thinking that one will not give oneself to the comforts of lying down, reclining and languor, when all other seven ways fail.

May this be of use to you.
Answer: Energy arises from purification, similar to how a rain gutter cleaned of leaves flows more efficiently.
In contrast, fatigue (sloth) is often systematic of the mind weighed down by defilements.
Therefore, the energy or refreshment related to genuine samatha (tranquility) is due to mental purity; which requires bodily purity as a foundation or cause.
The suttas (AN 10.61) say the three types of unwholesome actions (by body, speech & mind) are the nutriment (food) for the five hindrances (of which sloth or fatigue is one of the hindrances).

And what is the nutriment for the five hindrances? It should be
  said: the three kinds of misconduct. The three kinds of misconduct,
  too, I say, have a nutriment; they are not without nutriment. And what
  is the nutriment for the three kinds of misconduct? It should be said:
  non-restraint of the sense faculties. Non-restraint of the sense
  faculties, too, I say, has a nutriment; it is not without nutriment.
  And what is the nutriment for non-restraint of the sense faculties? It
  should be said: lack of mindfulness and clear comprehension. Lack of
  mindfulness and clear comprehension, too, I say, has a nutriment; it
  is not without nutriment. And what is the nutriment for lack of
  mindfulness and clear comprehension? It should be said: careless
  attention. Careless attention, too, I say, has a nutriment; it is not without nutriment. And what is the nutriment for careless attention? It should be said: lack of faith. Lack of faith, too, I say, has a nutriment; it is not without nutriment. And what is the nutriment for lack of faith? It should be said: not hearing the good Dhamma. Not hearing the good Dhamma, too, I say, has a nutriment; it is not without nutriment. And what is the nutriment for not hearing the good Dhamma? It should be said: not associating with good persons.

Type of Energy from Meditation


What is the reason behind complex conjugate pairs in Linear Phase FIR filter analysis from the Pole Zero plot

Question: When we say that a Generalized Linear Phase System must satisfy the pole zero plot with the condition that a complex zero not on the unit circle exist's in a pair of 4. Then I understand that I need the conjugate pairs to have real coefficients. Why do we need the complex conjugate reciprocal pairs and what role do they play for the FIR filter? I am aware that we use complex conjugate reciprocal pairs in case of all pass systems but how does that relate to the Linear Phase System if it even does.
Answer: The impulse response of a linear phase FIR filter is odd or even symmetrical. This has as a consequence that if $z_0$ is a zero, $1/z_0^*$ must also be a zero. If in addition to the linear phase property you also have real-valued coefficients, complex zeros always occur in complex conjugate pairs. So if a real-valued linear phase filter has a complex root $z_0$, you automatically get $z_0^*$, $1/z_0$, and $1/z_0^*$ as roots.
Complex roots on the unit circle just occur in complex conjugate pairs (because $z_0=1/z_0^*$, and real-valued roots just occur in pairs $z_0$ and $1/z_0$, unless they're on the circle (i.e., $z_0=1$ or $z_0=-1$).
In sum, for real-valued linear phase FIR filters, there are four types of "clusterings" of roots:

complex roots with $|z_0|\neq 1$ occur in groups of four: $z_0$, $z_0^*$, $1/z_0$, $1/z_0^*$
complex roots on the unit circle occur as complex conjugate pairs $z_0$ and $z_0^*$
real roots with $|z_0|\neq 1$ occur in pairs as $z_0$ and $1/z_0$
real roots on the unit circle ($z_0=1$ or $z_0=-1$ ) don't imply another root

Mathematically, for a real-valued length $N$ FIR filter the linear phase condition in the frequency domain is
$$H(z)=\pm z^{-(N-1)}H\left(\frac{1}{z}\right)\tag{1}$$
where $N$ is the filter length (number of taps). From $(1)$ it is clear that if $z_0$ is a zero of $H(z)$ then also $1/z_0$ must be a zero.
Comment: I understand you completely. The thing is I missed a word in my question my fault entirely. I wanted to know just like you said "Linear phase FIR filter must have a complex conjugate reciprocal zero for each zero not on the unit circle". Why do we have this reciprocal conjugate zero? What effect do I see in the frequency response because of it? Cause in all pass we have a zero and a pole at the complex conjugate reciprocal location which gives us unity mag response.
Comment: @PowerSurge: It's caused by the symmetry of the filter coefficients. Note that for an allpass filter the numerator and denominator polynomials are mirrored versions of each other. That's why you have a zero at $1/p^*$ where $p$ is a pole. Same for FIR filters, just that the polynomial is a mirror of itself. That's why you get another zero at $1/z_0^*$ for each zero at $z_0$.


Are pumpkin sprouts edible?

Question: While pumpkin flowers are common in some gastronomical cultures, are edible the sprouts of pumpkin? I've cooked the sprouts (the first two leafs) of melon, which are close relatives, and it's delicious.
Answer: Looks like it might be. According to The Self Nutrition Data (© Condé Nast):
This food is very low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Calcium, and a very good source of Protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Copper and Manganese.
And there are proposed ways to cook them.

Are pumpkin sprouts edible?


GIMP: image in linear colour still uses perceptual gamma values

Question: After I set the GIMP image preferences to 32bit floating point en using Linear Light, I created a new image. Then I set the foreground colour to R=50%, G=50% en B=50% and fill a rectangle with this foreground colour. To my surprise the Colour Picker tool now shows RGB values of 0.2140 instead of 0.5000 as I would expect because I am using linear colour. 50% is 50%. Since 0.2140 is the linear colour equivalent of 0.5 in the perceptual gamma space, it seems that GIMP treated my colour setting as a perceptual gamma number and converted it to linear light. Really strange. Why does the program think I started with Linear Light in the first place?
Answer: AFAIK the color picker doesn't display the values, you must be talking about the pointer tool display (Edit: I stand corrected)
When you set the color to RGB(.5,.5,.5) these are gamma-corrected values. "Linear-light" is about internal values and processing.
In the color picker and the pointer tool, there are various display options. The Pixel one shows the internal values  (ie, RGB(0.2122,0.2122,0.2122) for the middle-gray)., the others are gamma-corrected when it makes sense (RGB(0..255), RGB(%), HSV).

Another place where you have the choice between linear and gamma-corrected values is the histogram.
Comment: No, I am talking about the Colour Picker tool and I have the option "Use info window" checked.. In the info window there is a drop down box where you can indeed select "Pixel", "RGB" and "RGB%" etc.
Comment: Ah, overlooked this... but this doesn't change the rest of the answer, the display options are the same, and the "Pixel" option shows the linear values.


How can I see a nebula?

Question: I've recently been seeing a bunch of pictures of nebulae and I'm just fascinated by their beauty and complexity. Is there any kind of telescope that would make it possible to view it from here on Earth?
Answer: Yes, indeed! Many nebulae are visible from Earth in a small and cheap telescope, and even to the naked eye (if you are standing in a sufficiently dark place).
In fact, yesterday I was watching the Orion Nebula with my 4.5" telescope (which is worth $200 or so) from my apartment in the middle of Copenhagen.
The term "nebula" is a bit of a… well, nebulous term, as it covers several distint phenonomena, for instance:

Galaxies,           e.g. the Andromeda Galaxy (though this is an old expression)
(Open) stellar clusters,   e.g. the Eagle Nebula
Globular clusters,  e.g. 47 Tucanae
Planetary nebulae,  e.g. the Eskimo Nebula
Supernova remnants, e.g. the Crab Nebula

However, you should be aware that even in a large and expensive telescope, the nebulae do not look anything like the beautiful images you find on the internet. With your eye, you will merely see diffuse, whitish clouds. The beautiful colors arise only in images taken through telescopes with long exposure times. If you want to make such pictures, you will need a telescope with a motor (since the telescope must follow the rotation of the sky) and the possibility of attaching a camera to it.
People are often disappointed when shown a nebula through a telescope. I think the beauty of it lies in knowing what it is that you are seeing, knowing for instance that it lies 600 lightyears away, that you are looking 600 years back in time, and that stars are right now being formed there.
Googling something like "nebulae visible in a small telescope" should get you started. Good luck!
Comment: @pela has given a great answer, but I just wanted to confirm that it is totally possible to view Nebula without a lot of kit. I've only recently discovered the pleasure of looking at the Orion Nebula on these clear crisp nights in the UK (it's easy to find!). I would love to take photos of it, but that is a whole different game.
Comment: Thanks for your help dude! I live in Texas so driving a little bit to find someplace that's dark with no pollution and clear skies shouldn't be a problem!
Also, wordplay ftw! #DanishPeopleAreCool
Comment: Thanks, you're welcome. I'm actually very little of an observer, and I didn't know that the Orion Nebula was visible to the naked eye, as @Mashton mentions. Even if you don't have a telescope, you can still get very nice pictures with a normal camera on a tripod. Try with an exposure time of a few minutes. If it's longer, the motion of the sky will "draw" objects and blur the image. This can create a cool effect for stars, though, as their color becomes easily visible, and you can see the temperature: Blue stars are hot, red stars are colder.
Answer: Some filters also help improve the view as seen through the telescope.
Even a simple and cheap red filter would help,as it will remove most part of the light pollution spectrum and will let Ha reach your eye :)
Answer: As previously mentioned, most nebulous Deep Sky Objects are difficult to view with a traditional eyepiece.
Electronic Eyepieces are a recent technological development that replaces the traditional eyepiece with a small camera. The cameras image is viewed on a monitor screen instead of through the eyepiece.
These cameras are much more sensitive than the eye. Like a microphone and speaker  amplifies sound, the camera and screen amplify the visual signal. The cameras can be adapted to any telescope that uses 1.25" and 2" eyepieces.
The CCTV type camera signal can be viewed on an analog screen like a TV or on a computer equipped with a analog to digital signal adapter commonly refereed to as a Frame Grabber. The USB equipped cameras have to be viewed with a computer.
The electronic view like the eyepiece view is dependent on several factors. Telescope size and speed, sky conditions and camera sensitivity.
I use several Mallincam cameras in my observatory. They are mounted on a 10" f10 SCT, a 5" f5.6 SCT, a Canon 20mm DSLR lense and a fourth camera that I use with a variety of Canon SLR and DSLR zoom and fixed lenses.
I can easily view all the Messier objects visible at my Latitude with any of those cameras/lens combinations. As for what is visible with my 10" SCT, I made up a list of 26761 assorted Deep Sky Objects for a PC viewing list. One way or the other any of those objects that are above the horizon will be visible with my cameras. That text document list can be viewed or downloaded at
https://groups.io/g/MallinCam/files/Text%20document%20containing%2026761%20Deep%20Sky%20Objects.
The Mallincam iO group has a photo section with thousands of images made with Mallincam electronic eyepiece cameras
https://groups.io/g/MallinCam
A Google with the term "electronic eyepiece" will result in several pages of information about other brands of cameras.
The Mallincams are not available through regular sources but are sold directly from the manufacturer. Google "Mallincam" for that information.

How can I see a nebula?


Could someone please write this argument's form

Question: "No rock is sentient. Some mammals are sentient. Hence, no mammal is a rock."
I wrote a form and it's apparently wrong, but I don't get how.
Comment: Do you have a textbook to review? There are clear written rules about how to handle syllogisms. In this case a fallacy is committed. You need to understand some concepts first to get this stuff. It is not common sense. You ask here because you don't understand the concepts in the textbook. There are generally 6 rules to know about syllogisms that would solve this for you.
Comment: I got it! The marking scheme was wrong and that confused me. Thought I was missing something. Thank you everyone still for helping out!
Answer: Suppose that there is a Mammal (call it a) that is also a Rock.
By first premises, a is not Sentient.
Thus, a is a Mammal that is not Sentient.
But this does not contradict the second premise, that states that some (not necessarily all) Mammals are Sentient .

The logical form is:
No Rock is Sentient --- ¬∃x(Roc(x) and Sen(x))
Some mammals are sentient --- ∃x(Mam(x) and Sen(x))
Therefore: No mammal is a rock --- ¬∃x(Mam(x) and Roc(X)).
Answer:
"No rock is sentient. Some mammals are sentient. Hence, no mammal is a rock."

X = rocks
Y = sentient things
Z = mammals
No X are Z.  Some Y are Z.  Therefore, no Z are X.
Euler diagram looks like this:
<code>╭─rocks─────╮     ╭─sentient things───╮
│           │     │                   │
│     ╭─────┼─────┼────╮              │
╰─────┼─────╯     ╰────┼──────────────╯
      │                │
      ╰──mammals───────╯
</code>
The "rocks" bubble and the "sentient things" bubble do not intersect as provided by the first premise.  The "mammals" bubble intersects with the "sentient things" bubble as provided by the second premise.  Nothing in the two premises says anything about whether the "mammals" bubble intersects the "rocks" bubble, so it may, making the conclusion invalid.
Comment: That's an [Euler diagram](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euler_diagram). Venn diagrams also show the excluded options.
Comment: @Sandejo ah yes, ty
Answer: Suppose there are just two Mammals, one is a rock and the other is sentient, this satisfy the first two propositions, but contradicts your conclusion. If you read "thinking fast and slow" a great book by Daniel Kahneman, you would always want to Try and change the arguments into humanly relatable statements,  an example of changing the arguments above and make it simpler to understand is :
No babies are quantum-physicists, some humans are quantum-physicists.
now the conclusion " No humans are babies " is easily rejected.


maftir: an honor?

Question: A bar mitzva or bridegroom is usually (in congregations I'm familiar with, or, at least, Ashkenazic ones) given maftir. Why is this, considering that it's the lowliest of all the aliyos (e.g.)? (The question is made even stronger by the fact that a katan can get maftir even according to the common custom not to give him another aliya, so it seems a very odd choice to give a new gadol.)
Comment: I discovered today that this question was asked of the _Riv'vos Efrayim_ ([volume 8 number 422](http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=1082&pgnum=290)); I don't see that he answered it.
Answer: Conceivably, another point might be the fact that maftir is more of a "public performance," so to speak, than the other aliyos. Nowadays most people who get an aliyah don't read their own portion, but the maftir nearly always does (except on the rare occasions where someone is called up for it and doesn't know how to read it properly).
Comment: "... nearly always does [read the Haftarah]," (as opposed to the Maftir Torah reading itself) right?
Comment: @Isaac, yes, that's what I meant.
Answer: I don't really know why, but here are two possible ideas:

Acharon, Acharon Chaviv (The last is the most beloved) - Rashi Bereshit 33:2
To give the same Aliya to every bar mitzvah boy (or bridegroom). Since the bar mitzvah boy (or the bridegroom) may be a Kohen or a Levi, he couldn't get any other Aliyah besides the Kohen, Levi, or Maftir Aliyah. If the bar mitzvah boy (or the bridegroom) was not a Kohen or Levi, he couldn't get the first two aliyas. That leaves only one Aliyah that could be uniformly given to everyone, The Maftir.
Answer: Many Chasidishe Shuls give Maftir to the Bar Mitzva boy the week prior to his actual Bar Mitzva. They can not give the Bar Mitzva boy any other Aliya as he is still a Katan. Those Chasidishe Shuls that give the Aliya after the Bar Mitzva give a regular Aliya, not Maftir.
I would imagine that this Minhag of giving a week prior has led to some giving it the week after. It also may be as they want to give the Brachos of the Haftora to the bar Mitzva boy.
Comment: Seems to be the Eretz Yisroel (Yeshivish? Yerushalmi?) minhag, as the Misnagdim (a.k.a. Litvaks) do that too, here in Jerusalem.
Answer: I learned it as a combination of Menachem's point 1 (Rashi on beloved) and Gerson Gold's last sentence (the additional honor of the haftorah brachot).

maftir: an honor?


1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee Looses Power Engine light on. Then goes away Engine light off

Question: Jeep looses power after driving for 15 miles or so. Happens when I come to a stop like at end of freeway ramp. Then when I try to accelerate it boggs down and sometimes stalls.  Soon after the engine light comes on. Then when I turn car off or start up after stalling it seems ok.  After accelerating from a stop it will sometimes not shift like it should and then shifts at around 3000rpm. After I drive it the next day or so the engine light goes off on its own.
Comment: You need to read the codes.  Even if the light is off, a good scanner will probably read "history" codes.  When the check engine light comes on, is it flashing or solid?  We need a bit more information, but I'd start with the basics like a fuel filter - and verify pressure and volume. One instinct with these vehicles is a failing crank position sensor.  I've replaced dozens over the years.  But that's only a guess at this point.  The other strong possibility is dirty/sticky idle air control, but that's probably not causing the acceleration problems.
Answer: Great news! Your Jeep is equipped with OBD (on-board diagnostics), so you should be able to do this without much hassle.

When it happens, immediately pull over and turn the Jeep off, and turn the key 3 times in succession, turning the key just until the odometer lights up. On the 4th key turn, the CEL (check engine light) codes will flash (either one, or multiple).  Write those down!  They will be a PXXX number.
Post up the error code here or use a site that details the code reasons, which will tell you what is going on with the vehicle.

If your Jeep is making the CEL disappear when you turn off the ignition, make your way to an Autozone/O'Reilly's type of place while the light is on and have them plug in their diagnostic tool.
I will inform you that my 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee had similar issues to what you describe, and a cam position sensor had gone out.  I replaced that and it fixed the issue.
Answer: Most modern cars will go into a 'safe' mode if they detect a problem which could potentially damage the engine this will typically retard the ignition and reduce the rev limit to reduce engine load as much as possible but still allow  you to get home.
The sort of intermediate fault you are describing suggests either a sensor problem or an ignition or other electronic issue.  A bad crankshaft sensor often causes these sorts of symptoms.
As others have mentioned the first step is to plug in an OBD sensor and read the fault code which will at least narrow down the problem. You can either buy one yourself fairly cheaply or take it to reputable mechanic.
In many cases a particular code will either be just a bad sensor or relate to some known issue with that particular make and model.


Why did the Klingons side with Humans after the Tomed Incident?

Question: From what I understand of the Klings, I'd think that after humanity suffered such a huge and embarrassing loss, they would ally with the Romulans. Wouldn't Klingons would see that as a failure? Either the Humans couldn't develop technology fast enough to prevent such an event, whether by detection of cloaks, or some type of advanced shielding. What I also know of their character would suggest that they would see that as a weakness. But, can someone perhaps correct my vision?
Comment: The Klingons are always portrayed as being loathe to ally with the Romulans who they consider dishonourable.
Answer: You probably should have linked to the Tomed Incident, since it's not a very well-known event, even among Star Trek fans. With that said, the Klingons and the Romulans had a long and storied history, including a period of alliance, followed by a violent falling-out. This culminated in the Khitomer Massacre.
From a geopolitical standpoint, the Klingon-Romulan Alliance seen in the final series of TOS - though the series was cancelled before the alliance was openly acknowledged, the plan was definitely to have the two powers officially ally against the Federation - was aimed at the growing threat of the Federation. If the Klingons and Romulans were attempting to utilise traditional "balance-of-power" (for the record, I have a background in international politics, and I think BoP is a crock in both theory and practice, but that doesn't diminish its popularity) politics against a common foe, it would make perfect sense for the Klingons to switch sides if the Federation became too weak and it appeared that Romulus was the greater threat. This is a very similar argument, after all, to the one Benjamin Sisko and Jadzia Dax have regarding the Romulan treaty with the Dominion during the DS9 classic In the Pale Moonlight. Even the Federation Alliance which resulted from the events of that episode was an uncomfortable one, especially where the Klingons and Romulans were concerned, and that was with the threat of the Dominion as a catalyst.
Even though the Tomed Incident took place before the Khitomer Massacre, it took place after the Khitomer Accords and possibly (this is uncertain from the films and television programs) after the signing of the Treaty of Alliance between the Federation and the Klingons. It would have required an incredible volte-face on the part of the Klingons to turn on their Federation allies to side with the despicable Romulans just because of a major setback to the former. It would also have been very dishonourable, and the Klingons place a very high stock on honour, even though most Klingon politicians seem pragmatic enough to set honour aside when necessary for the Empire.
Comment: Not really, unfortunately. The incident is only mentioned in passing during a single episode of (I think) *TNG*. The only follow-up to the Tomed Incident is through the aforementioned novel, and, as it is a novel, even that is not canon. To be honest, the novel itself isn't very good, at least not from what I remember. It focuses far too much on the idea that Section 31 is the illuminati of the Federation, at the expense of actual story-telling.
Comment: Excellent answer. I had not heard of the Tomed Incident - must be time for me to bite the bullet and watch TOS and Enterprise. The linked wiki article does not make clear what the Klingons knew about the operation, when they knew about it and the how and why of their reaction. Your answer provides some of that. Are there any sources that go into that aside from just reading the novel they mention?
Answer: James' answer is a good primer on the political side of things, but perhaps even more important is the cultural aspect. The Klingon culture ideally places much higher emphasis on honor than they do victory. In fact, a recurring theme throughout DS9 and The Dominion War is that the culture was shifting towards a policy of victory before honor - something that ultimately started swinging back the other way when Martok took office as Chancellor. Humans, while initially threatening from a political standpoint, ultimately proved to be fairly honorable - both as opponents AND allies - whereas the Romulans (who embrace a "win at all costs, especially through guile & deceit if possible" attitude) proved to be less than reliable during the brief Klingon-Romulan alliance.
Even following years of war between the two, the Federation offered the Klingons assistance when Praxis - the primary energy production facility of the Klingon Empire - was destroyed. This compassion confounded the Klingons, but eventually they came to accept the humans as allies. Had the Romulans offered the aid instead of the Federation, it's entirely possible that things would have turned out differently... but compassion is not in a Romulan's nature. Reinforcing that aspect of the Federation later was the Enterprise-C's destruction while attempting to save a Klingon colony from a Romulan attack.
Comment: *enterprise C's destruction" (from TNG Yesterdays Enterprise!)
Comment: @Steven Wood : Oops - thanks for catching that!


Can I popagate this soil-suffocated Dracaena node? Is it dead?

Question: While transplanting my Dracaena into a larger pot. I noticed what looked like a stick or root laying in the soil that had shook loose. After looking closer its a underdeveloped nodeI think. Its about 5 inches long. It's not dried out, and the soil it was in is still good. It's strange... I'm wondering if this is still alive? And if so, what can I do to get it going? Help out if you know. Thanks!
Answer: Because it is white it looks alive; they are tough. The first ( and only ) one I bought was a 3 inch length dry stem ; but I forget if I rooted it in soil or water . I think potting mix would be best but not critical. 60 years later I have descendents.


Link InDesign documents so that all are updated when one is changed

Question: Im working on a 300 page catalog with tons of "items" on each page. The information in the catalog is also put on a separate InDesign document for a "spec sheet" and sometimes, price sheets or flyers etc. I'd like to know if there is a way to find all InDesign documents with the same "item" on it. So if I have an edit in the catalog, I can be alerted to change the other documents. Im thinking this would also help in creating an index in the back of my catalog? If I could link all documents together so that if one is changed it would change the others but I think I need a genie in the bottle for that!
Comment: I haven't used this before, so I won't post it as an answer, but I've read you can link stories across documents. If you created each "Item" as a story, export it, then you can place it in all the documents. Edit that story and the rest will need to be updated as a link would be normally.
Answer: You might be able to use InDesign's book feature.  This will allow you to group all of the related documents, and the InDesign index features can create an index that includes all of the documents in a single book.
It also allows you to easily open all of the documents included in a book, by opening the book file (which has an .indb extension), highlighting all of the documents in your book, and double clicking on one of them.  Once all of the documents are opened, you can run search and replace functions and use the "All documents" option to change the elements that need to be changed in all of your individual documents.
@GoofyMonkey's comment reminded me of another option--placing your items into a Creative Cloud library. I haven't used them much, so I can't attest to how well this functionality works, but the idea is that you create an item in one InDesign document, add it to your library and then take it out of the library to add it into a second document.  If you have to make a change to that item, make sure to update the version in your library, and when you open any documents that also include that item, you will be notified that the item has changed (I imagine it might show up in your links panel just like when a linked image is edited).
You can definitely also combine the two--place all of your documents into a book file (for keeping track of which documents are related to which other documents, and index creation) and then use the CC libraries for placement and updating the items.


Can a Muslim girl make accounts on social media?

Question: We all know that Islam teaches a woman to reveal herself only to her family & other females.
If I make account on Instagram and upload my photos, then is it correct?
Because here I am revealing myself to everybody but only by photos & not physically. So, By doing would it be against Islamic Laws. I mean it wouldn't be something like losing my 'pardah'.
Comment: Part of the religion, in fact, a great percentage of the ISLAM is about Modesty. Modesty is not only limited to your dress code but how you behave, talk, act etc. Basically everything that makes you human includes modesty. When you talk about "reveal herself only to her family & other females", I am assuming you're talking about dressing more freely?
Comment: Secondly, when you ask "If I make an account on Instagram and upload my photos, then is it correct? Because here I am revealing myself to everybody but only by photos & not physically"...and u are saying u're gonna upload photos of yourself...what does that "yourself"/"myself" mean? Are you referring to revealing yourself to the world, while you r displaying your awrah, are you revealing yourself to the world with impolite or immodest speech, are you displaying yourself to the world with immodest attitude? If you doing none of that, I don't see why it would be a point of objection.
Comment: Note, I'm not a scholar. I'm just talking from the perspective of an average Muslim, who happens to research a quite obsessively on Islam.
Answer: It is not recommended for a Muslim girl to make a social media account, and also not recommended to upload photos of oneself online as it causes a lot of fitnah and destruction.
You can have WhatsApp with only your family and female friends, without your photo on profile pics.
MAY ALLAH GUIDE YOU THE RIGHT PATHS.
Comment: Salam and welcome to IslamSE the Q&A site about Islam. This may be more useful if you could provide evidences to support your claims. See [answer]
Comment: @Syed ghouse Please provide evidence as to why is social media "haram" for a Muslim woman. Secondly, if the picture of a woman leads to fitnah, then I'd say revealing her face in the public would cause finish as well. Well, in that case, it's haram to go outside of the house....is that what u're implying? Please help me understand, brother.
Answer: Islam teaches both men and women to be modest. What modesty means is interpreted variously by various cultures. Islam also teaches men and women to be at home in the world. As social media is part of the world, it is not against the use of social media. It is what one actually writes or does that matters.


Boolean + Subdivision Modifier: How to cut a perfect round hole?

Question: I have two Cylinders. To the first I apply a Subdivison Surface Modifier first (see the right object in the picture). Then I create a second object (cylinder left) and apply the Boolean Difference Modifier. The result is not a hole as I expected. How to cut a perfect round hole?
Comment: I just tried this and it creates a perfect hole, if the Subdivision is above the Boolean Modifier, but that is what your screen shot shows. There must be something else about your Meshes/setup that is causing the issue. Conversely, when I put the Sudivision below the Boolean Modifier then I get the hole problem you show. If applying Modifiers remember to apply them top down.
Answer: It looks from the screenshot that you don't have an object selected. This, in and of itself, is an odd behavior, as nothing at all should be happening, but it may possibly fix itself as you continue. Click on the orange cube in the Boolean Modifier (a list should pop down) and select the other object, or click on the eyedropper and select the other object that way.
As a note, no aspersion intended on rob, I'm certain it was a mistake, when applying modifiers, you apply from the bottom of the list upwards.
CLARIFICATION: Whatever order modifiers appear, they should be applied in the order they're affecting the object. First in, first out.
Comment: Interesting. If I try to apply the bottom modifier first I get an info warning that "Applied Modifier was not first results may not be as expected"
Comment: What, really? Did they change the order of modifiers? I'll edit to be more specific as to the intended result.


How do nutrients get to the cells they need to get to?

Question: I understand the basics of digestion. I know that nutrients get absorbed by the microvilli, enter the bloodstream and travel to the liver but after all that, what is the biological mechanism that guides these nutrients to the proper receiving location?
Comment: Just dropping this link here for reference - it contains some info on membrane transporters which is of relevance to your question: http://themedicalbiochemistrypage.org/membranes.php
Answer: Broadly speaking, nutrients that enter the blood from the gut, and those that are released into the blood by the liver, are available to any cells that require them. So there is no "guiding to the correct location" in the sense that you suggest.
Lipids for example are present in the various lipoproteins and can be acquired from these by all cells. Iron is bound to transferrin, and any cell with transferrin receptors can internalise the transferrin and take the iron. Glucose is available in solution in the plasma, and free fatty acids are bound to serum albumin in the blood. During starvation the liver produces ketones ("ketone bodies") which are taken up by many different tissues/cell types.
Comment: Are you saying that myriad nutrients just float along through the blood stream just bumping into myriad receptors at random and when there is a connection, the nutrient will be absorbed?
Comment: @max Basically, yes.
Comment: Pharmacokinetics must be a fun field! How different a concentration of iron, e.g., do different organs see? Clearly depends on rate of flow vs binding rate...


Can I purchase just the Skylanders disk, without the starter pack?

Question: We purchased the Swap Force starter pack; the kids have figures from that, giants & swap force, all which play on the original portal. Now they have completed Swap Force game, I am hoping to buy another disk, but must I buy an entire starter pack with a new portal? It is my understanding that only the Trap Team figures need their own portal, and so far all of our figures (no trap team ones) have worked great on the original Swap Force portal... Do I have to buy another Giants/Spyros Adventure/etc. Starter Pack with a new portal?? (Original Wii console)
Answer: Swap force actually includes the second portal. The original Skylanders and Giants uses a different portal (I have not tried to see if the Swapforce one is backwards compatible).
Originally the first game was only available new with the portal (since there was no reason to buy the game seperate) you may be able to find just the disk used. However Giants had two packages, one that included a portal and another that did not. (again you may need the old portal to play).


How does the transitive and intransitive verbs work when modifying a noun?

Question: How do they work in relation with the particles? Like for example わたしの知らないこと vs 私に分からないこと. I notice that the 知らない doesn't really go with the particle に like in the other one. Why is that and do transitive verbs need to have an object in modifying clauses? Like comparing ケーキを食べる時間 for example, both 食べる and 知る are transitive, then why does 知る not have an object in modifying clauses? I understand it makes sense when you hear it, but I am not sure how it really works.
Answer: The noun phrase わたしの知らないこと is the result of replacing the placeholder in the following sentence with the noun こと and modifying it with the rest of the sentence.

わたしが_____を知らない。

What comes in the placeholder is the direct object of the verb 知る and therefore marked with を in the original sentence. However, when it is converted into a noun phrase, the particle that goes with the modified noun needs to be dropped.
The の in the noun phrase is because the subject marker が can be replaced with の in a noun-modifying clause as explained in the following question.

How does the の work in 「日本人の知らない日本語」?.

わたしが知らないこと is also grammatical.
The sentence that resulted in わたしに分からないこと is the following.

わたしに_____が分からない。

If you are not already familiar with these usages of に and が, you may want to take a look at the following questions.

が and に interchangeability and difference in meaning
Why is it 日本語がわかります instead of 日本語をわかります?.

This usage of に is uncommon, if not ungrammatical, with the verb 知る.
The が is dropped in the noun phrase for the same reason the を is dropped in the first example.
ケーキを食べる時間 is the result of replacing the placeholder in the following sentence, which expects a time expression (e.g. 3時), with 時間 and modifying it with the rest of the sentence.

_____にケーキを食べる。

The に gets dropped for the reason explained above, but the object marker を remains because it goes with ケーキ, not 時間.


Can I use "distilled" water to water plants?

Question: My apartment is very humid, and I regularly use a dehumidifier. Is it OK to use the resulting water to water my indoor plants? Since it's basically distilled water it does lack minerals. I usually use tap water that I leave for a day or so to remove chlorine.
Comment: I think air plants would enjoy the water from dehumidifiers. Tap water can kill them.
Comment: Rain water is effectively distilled, isn't it?  So it's hard to imagine why this would cause any problems.  A bigger concern, if any, might be any substances leached from the metal or plastic components of the dehumidifier itself.
Comment: @NateEldredge Rainwater does have a low mineral content, but it does pick up some particles and gases from the air. See http://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/2495/what-is-the-difference-between-distilled-water-and-rainwater
Answer: Provided that you are feeding the soil/plants the macro and micro nutrients they need there shouldn't be an issue. Epsom salt (1tbsp/gallon) every now and then helps with some of the micro nutrients.
Minerals for your plants can be supplemented via plant food, rock dust, azomite or greensand if needed or through the soil/potting mix of the plants unless you are using a sterile potting medium.  Provided that you repot every now and then you should be fine.
Like everything else it depends on the plants and their needs.  Some believe you should provide as many trace minerals as possible and let the plant decide what it needs.
Comment: Given adequate light, plants will grow as long as no essential nutrient is limited.  The fertilizer you are using may not be "complete".  Most fertilizers focus on providing nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium (NPK).  There are micronutrient supplements you can use to fill in the gaps.  A good one is "Plantex CSM+B".  Make a solution in water and store it in the fridge to prevent nasty stuff from growing in it.
Comment: I'm using a fertilizer (I can't remember the brand at the moment) 35 ml / 5 liters (as recommended on the bottle) every 2 weeks. Can it be used instead of the Epson salt ? or the Epson salt should be added also ?
Comment: @Sorin Yes you can just use the fertilizer.  Epsom salt is magnesium sulfate.  It helps with flowering and makes the plants more green.  More than likely your fertilizer may already provide what your plants already need.  You can check the ingredients and if you see magnesium in the plant food then there would be no reason to add more.
Comment: Note that some plants come from soils that may have low levels of magnesium or may not require it. If you decide to add Epsom Salt in addition to your fertilizer try a half dose like 1 or 2 teaspoons per gallon / month and see where that goes.  As far as I know most plants need it, but again I don't know if there are plants that it could harm.
Comment: @kenchilada Thanks for the reference to Plantex CSM+B and a vote up to your comment.   It looks like a good trace mineral supplement.  I will have to look into it some more but I like the Iron content.  I have a Camellia bush in a garden bed that this may pep up. The pH is right, but it just doesn't produce the blooms even though I pamper it.
Answer: Just over a hundred years ago, in 1915, a chap called M.C. Merrill did some experiments on this (that link may be paywalled, sorry) and found that, while plants would grow with distilled water, it was not a great choice. (If you prefer to read the very lengthy report of that study in its entirety, it's available for free in the Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden.)
As Charles says, you'll probably be okay if you're adding liquid fertiliser, but your plants will likely be happier if you stick to tap water instead.
Comment: If you live in a hard water area and want to grow lime-hating plants, watering with tap water would be a very *bad* idea, because it contains the *wrong* dissolved chemicals for the plants. In general, anything in the water supply will become more concentrated in container-grown plant's environment, because the only options are that it is taken up by the plant itself, or it remains in the compost "for ever".
Comment: I cook with bottled water, that's how much I trust the tap water! I would like to avoid the tap water as much as possible.
Comment: It all depends on where you live. Here the tap water is of better quality then bottled water. The former is regulated, the latter is not.
Comment: It appears to me that Merrill's study was about growing plants **hydroponically**, i.e. in water alone, with no soil.  It sounds like the OP's plants are being grown in soil, so the study doesn't seem relevant.  Given that wild plants usually grow in soil and receive most of their water from rain, which is effectively distilled, I would be extremely surprised if there were any problems specifically related to using distilled water. (It could be, of course, that the minerals in tap water have some beneficial effect which would be lost.)
Answer: Disclaimer: I've done all of this in my own apartment too, and is based on my personal experimentation/research.
I recently grew plants hydroponically in distilled water. It worked fine, but I had to manually measure and re-add the required minerals for the plants to be healthy. If you can't or don't want to carefully re-add minerals I recommend you avoid distilled (or reverse osmosis or similar) water for plant survival.
I also trialled adding a product based on chloramine (marketed as "Pythoff") to the hydroponic setup, which is a chemical sometimes used in tap water (chlorine + ammonia), to stimulate root growth and it worked quite well. It basically works by giving the plant roots a sterile environment to grow in, removing both good and bad bacteria. Removing chlorine from tap water is absolutely not necessary for plant growth and will simply encourage bacteria and mould growth, for better or worse. Depending on the environment, you may not want to encourage this type of growth in your garden. If your apartment is very humid, it might be better to leave the chlorine in the water to help fight unhealthy microbeasties.
Currently I have an aquaponics setup with live fish, worms, snails and a beneficial bacterial colony. For this I cannot use chlorine or chloramine as these chemicals would kill all bacteria immediately. Without bacteria to process fish poop, ammonia would quickly build up to the point of becoming lethal to fish. Chloramine itself is also lethal to fish. Chlorine + fish poop = Chloramine. If you want live animals (including bacteria) in your water, you do have to remove the chlorine somehow, but a tiny amount of vitamin C will neutralise both chlorine and chloramine (http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/vitamin-c-for-chlorine-chloramine-removal.76953/). However, building beneficial bacteria colonies requires specific environmental conditions (oxygen, light, temperature, time, food, substrate). If you can't reliably provide these conditions 24/7, you're more likely to be left with only bad bacteria/mould as it tends to outcompete the good bacteria outside these specific conditions. This bacteria/mould can make your plants sick in the long term, especially so if they are nutrient deprived (from persistent use of distilled water).
It may also be worth checking that your water is actually being treated with chlorine and not chloramine (check with your local water supplier). In the case of the latter, simply leaving it out may not be enough for the chemicals to break down/off-gas (this is why chloramine is used, as it tends to stick around).
Based on my own experience/experimentation however, I would recommend that you either simply use tap water directly on your plants, or commit to creating a setup that accommodates distilled/RO/de-gassed water in a healthy way.
Comment: It's also important to note that chlorine is acidic, and lime is alkaline. They probably balance each other some in many tapwaters, maybe even creating calcium chloride.
Answer: It's common when searching for the answer to this question to see answers that say the condensate is full of heavy metals acquired as the water condenses over the metal components of the dehumidifier, gathers bacteriae, fungal spores and viruses from the air, may even be growing legionella.  However, most of these things are highly unlikely to be harmful to your plant, and if you have plants that don't tolerate chlorine or fluoride such as Dracaena sanderiana (lucky bamboo) and tillandsias, then the water from a dehumidifier will likely be much better for your plant than your municipal tap water.
Most dehumidifier companies say the water is not safe to drink, but few have published analyses of the water produced.  Quest Hydro is one company to  have published some data, and have found that the water is even safe to drink ( though clearly it's not recommended ).

If you wish to be surer your unit is safe for your plants, you could test the water with a TDS meter to make sure that the ppm is less then your tap water, and check the pH to ensure it's in range for your plant.
Answer: I would like to point out that the water produced by your dehumidifier is not "distilled" but "condensed".  Distilled water has been raised to a boil, converted to STEAM and then the steam is captured and allowed to cool, this water should be exceptionally clean, because impurities have been removed by this process.  The water produced by your dehumidifier is referred to as 'condensate', has NOT been brought to a boil and is probably not very clean.  It is probably all right to water your plants with it, but by no means should you drink the condensate.  It is NOT pure "distilled" water by any means!
Comment: And drinking distilled water isn't such a good idea, either. I used to drink bottled (jugged) distillled water for years until I realized it had been giving me tooth alignment and upper spine issues, which went away when I switched to other waters. Filtered tap water is my choice, now, above all bottled waters.
Comment: condensing is the process of bringing a gas (in this case "STEAM"/ water vapor) to a liquid. The fact that the evaporation didn't take place at the boiling point doesn't make it not clean. Lookup solar stills for example. Water vapors do not carry other elements.


Why is there none of the lighter weights of Helvetica Rounded?

Question: I know there are other options, just curious if anyone knew why the limited range.
Answer: If one made it thinner, it would lose its impact, it would be only more difficult to read at least in small sizes.
There exists simple typefaces which are rounded and still readable in small sizes, for ex. Futura Round, but its rounding is very slight when compared to your example.
The loss of impact can be demonstrated:

On the top there's proper Helvetica Rounded Bold.
In the middle is my inferior imitation what it would be as thinned, but having the same fully rounded endings.
The bottom version is genuine Helvetica Light. If we could forget its perfect forms, it would be quite the same as my thinned bold.
The nonexistence of lighter weights is designer's decision and my text, of course, is only an opinion or more likely, a guess. Linotype doesn't credit any individual person due the making of Helvetica Rounded, they only tell that it's created in their design studio in 1978.
Comment: Thanks for the response user287001. True there is less detail available in the lighter weights but it's something others included in Gotham Rounded for instance. Sometimes I find that rounded edge even on the lighter ones does help to soften the texture of the text.


How can I save money on a gym / fitness membership? New Year's Resolution is to get in shape - but on the cheap!

Question: Do gyms ever negotiate or haggle on price?  Do they always insist on a term commitment?  Are there any tips and tricks on ways to avoid paying through the nose?
Answer: If you're determined to save money, find ways to integrate exercise into your daily routine and don't join a gym at all. This makes it more likely you'll keep it up if it is a natural part of your day. You could set aside half the money you would spend on the gym towards some of the options below.
I know it's not always practical, especially in the winter, but here are a few things you could do.

Walk to work
Take a weekly walk with the family. We do a minimum of 3 miles/week at the weekend, more if weather is good.
Take the stairs not the lift/elevator
Do the odd exercise at your desk (unless you make funny faces when you exercise)
Park further away from the entrance to buildings
Get off the bus one stop earlier
Go for a jog in the morning
Make an exercise routine out of unpacking the shopping, e.g. do a few bicep curls with a can
Get a dog
"bench press" your kids, i.e. play games that involve lifting them in various ways (helps if they're younger)
Play social sports like football (proper football, none of that girly stuff with shoulder pads) or doubles tennis/badminton at the local sports centre. Court charges split 4 or 10 ways are much less.
If you mainly do one type of exercise, like rowing, buy a rowing machine. An OK one typically costs about 5-10 months membership. And it is a one off purchase you won't use instead of a monthly recurring expense you won't use.

One of the other answers makes a good point. Gym membership can be cost effective if you go regularly, but don't kid yourself that you'll suddenly go 5 times a week every week if you've not done much regular exercise.
If you are determined to join a gym, here are a few other things to consider.

Ask about an introductory trial. You may be able to get a 1-3 month trial. If you do, keep notes of every visit so you can evaluate if you really are getting value from it.
You may be able to get a discount through work, for example my employers have negotiated a discount with some local gyms.
Don't join up at the beginning of a month, especially January. Like when buying a car, the reps may be keen to get commission near the end of a month/week.
Get together with some friends who are keen and see if you can negotiate a discount for the group to join. You may also find it easier to keep in the habit if friends are going too.
Comment: I love this answer!
Answer: Shop around for Gym January is a great time to look because that's when most people join and the gyms are competing for your business.  Also, look beyond the monthly dues.  Many gyms will give free personal training sessions when you sign up - a necessity if you are serious about getting in shape!
My gym offered a one time fee for 3 years.  It cost around $600 which comes out to under $17 a month. Not bad for a new modern state of the art gym.
Comment: Although many of the other answers provided great alternatives to a gym membership, this one offered tips on how to save money if someone had made up their mind to join a gym.
Comment: Welcome,  Rick!
Answer: Try a gym for a month before you sign up on any contracts.  This will also give you time to figure out if you are the type who can stick with a schedule to workout on regular basis.  Community centres are cost effective and offer pretty good facilities.  They have monthly plans as well so no long term committments.
Comment: Hi Cheetos!  Welcome.
Answer: Find a physical activity or programme that interests you.  Memberships only have real value if you use them.  Consider learning a martial art like karate, aikido, kung fu, tai kwan do, judo, tai chi chuan. :-)   Even yoga is a good form of exercise.
Many of these are offered at local community centres if you just want to try it out without worrying about the cost initially.  Use this to gauge your interest before considering more advanced clubs.  One advantage later on if you stay with it long enough - some places will compensate you for being a junior or even associate instructor.
Regardless of whether this is your interest or if the gym membership is more to your liking real value is achieved if you have a good routine and interest in your physical fitness activity.  It also helps to have a workout buddy or partner.  They will help motivate you to try even when you don't feel like working out.
Answer: The gym I used to use was around £35-40 a month, its quite a big whack but if you think about it; its pretty good value for money. That includes gym use, swimming pool use, and most classes
Paying for a gym session is around £6 a go, so if you do that 3 times a week, then make use of the other facilities like swimming at the weekends, maybe a few classes on the nights your not at the gym it does work out ok
As for deals, my one used to do family membership deals, and I think things like referring a friend gives you money off etc. They will probably also put on some deals in January since lots of people want to give it a go being new year and all
Answer: Look for discounts from a health insurance provider, price club, professional memberships or credit cards.
That goes for a lot of things besides health memberships.  My wife is in a professional woman's association for networking at work.  A side benefit is an affiliate network they offer for discounts of lots of things, including gym memberships.
Comment: Lots of great tips in here I would not have considered! Thanks.
Answer: I came across an article posted at Squawkfox last week.  It's particularly relevant to answering this question.  See 10 Ways to Cut Your Fitness Membership Costs.  Here's an excerpt:

[...]   If you're in the market for a
  shiny new gym membership, it may be
  wise to read the fine print and know
  your rights before agreeing to a
  fitness club contract. No one wants to
  be stuck paying for a membership they
  can no longer use, for whatever
  reason.
But if you're revved and ready to burn
  a few calories, here are ten ways to
  get fitter while saving some cash on a
  fitness club or gym membership. Yay,
  fitness tips!    [...]

Check it out!


Why didn't the Ori attack earth in "The Ark of Truth"?

Question: When the Ori had 7 ships above earth they just stood there until the other story-lines wrapped up, as well as the entire time it took to take the Ark from one galaxy to another.  Why would they do that?
Comment: Because of the mighty power of the plot :-P
Comment: Hallowed *are* the Ori. The flames of ignorance burn without pain. Beware the power or it will consume you before you know.
Answer: Landry offers a few different guesses in his chat with the Prior. You can take your pick which you think is most likely, but to my mind the fact that the Prior mentions Earth's defences suggest that it's the topmost.

The Priors of the Ori are overly cautious. Earth has shown itself to have formidable planetary defences in the recent past. The Ori would be especially wary of those since they're based on Lantean design.
The Priors of the Ori may simply be delaying until they have overwhelming forces in place.
The Priors may be experiencing an existential crisis. Their gods have just died and this may be causing them some level of anxiety and hesitation.
Earth is the juiciest plum in the whole Galaxy. Their goal may be to simply threaten destruction from the sky in the hopes that its people will see sense.

LANDRY: Sure, you've tried to warn us a couple of times, but come on, you can do better than that, can't you? We've been a tremendous
  pain in your proverbial backside. You don't really expect me to
  believe that you—you've just been saving the best for last, do you?
  What's wrong? You guys are never speechless! I'll tell you what I
  think. I say this move reeks of desperation. You're not all that sure
  it's a slam-dunk.
PRIOR: Your defenses are no match for the might of the Ori, which shall rain down apocalypse upon—
LANDRY: Right, right. Now here's a news-flash, the Ori are dead. We killed them. Sent a weapon devised by an ex-Ancient through the
  Supergate and wiped them all out [beat] These beings you call gods,
  the ones who lied to you, manipulated you, for their own selfish,
  power-hungry reasons, are gone, and everything you think you're doing
  in their name is entirely without meaning.


Upgrade to SDL Web 8

Question: We have a SDL Tridion 2011 SP1 installation and are in the process of upgrading to SDL Web 8. Can we directly upgrade 2011sp1 to Web8 or do we need to do this incrementally (2011sp1 to 2013sp1 and then 2013sp1 to web8)?
Answer: In the documentation (http://docs.sdl.com/LiveContent/content/en-US/SDL%20Web-v1/GUID-00D51AA4-1E17-4466-9183-F5F4932E553C) the answer to your question is specifically addressed:

SDL Web supports only a specific set of upgrade paths to upgrade to SDL Web 8.
You can upgrade to the current version of SDL Web (formerly called SDL Tridion) from the following versions:

SDL Tridion 2013 SP1 HR1 (Hotfix Rollup 1)
SDL Tridion 2011 SP1 HR2 (Hotfix Rollup 2)

You can also upgrade the add-on products compatible with these versions. For example, User Interface Update for SDL Tridion 2011 SP1 is compatible with SDL Tridion 2011 SP1 HR2.
Comment: Thanks Bart. I had already read the documentation, however wasn't sure since we don't have 2011 SP1 HR#2 installed. So I think the easier upgrade path would be to first install HR#2 and then upgrade to Web 8.

Upgrade to SDL Web 8


If I switch to LUKS on an SSD, have I just wiped it?

Question: I have been using an SSD with no system-level encryption. If I now switch to full disk encryption using LUKS + LVM, do I effectively wipe the old data, or is it still hanging around until overwritten?
Answer: No, the data is not wiped. It is trivial to make all data "disappear" by TRIMing the whole drive, but all the data are still on the flash chips and are only slowly wiped in a background process.
Fortunately, most SSDs are already encrypted in hardware precisely to avoid costly full disk wipes. Many consumer SSD brands provide utilities to reset the key which effectively wipes the disk. You can probably also send direct ATA commands using something like hdparm.
Comment: Side note: The hdparm [man page](https://linux.die.net/man/8/hdparm) is one of the most entertaining man pages I have ever read.
Answer: You need to enable TRIM on LUKS and possibly LVM and then trim the SSD with fstrim. This will zero unused blocks of your SSD.
To enable TRIM on LVM, edit /etc/lvm/lvm.conf and enable issue_discards option.
To enable TRIM on LUKS, edit /etc/crypttab. On some distros like Fedora, it's enough to add discard to options. On some other distros it's allow-discards.
Ideally, before placing LUKS, you could use ATA Secure Erase https://ata.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/ATA_Secure_Erase
Answer: It completely depends on your implementation (we don't even know which OS/tools/filesystem you are using).
During encryption configuration, you may see "erase options".
For example:

OSX disk utility lets you select how many times to overwrite existing
data under "Security Options"
gnome disk utility also has "erase
options"
Windows BitLocker has a "encrypt entire drive" which sounds like it overwrites previous data first

With that said, overwriting was somewhat effective in the HDD days. SSDs have been notoriously resistant to sanitizing. You can find a much more in-depth discussion in Can wiped SSD data be recovered?
Comment: I'll update my question with the details, thanks -- but my understanding is that merely overwriting doesn't effectively wipe an SSD? or does that only apply to files and "overwriting the whole SSD" will always work?
Comment: Ah sorry @d3vid, I've added more details about SSDs specifically. I recommend reading the linked answer, it's quite thorough.
Comment: thanks - I've updated my question to be more specific (LUKS + LVM)


php_gmp.dll malware

Question: Prevx said this file was infected. What is it and what can I do about it?
Answer: This file is used by both safe and unsafe programs. Best action would be to do a complete antivirus scan.  I recommend the online scan from eset.com or housecall.trendmicro.com or both.
Answer: That file appears to be part of a PHP library extension for computing large numbers such as floating point numbers and signed integers (according to this forum discussion).
Safe bet would be to run an online antivirus scan, such as the ones suggested by DrJekl.
Comment: Then what do I do if it turns out my computer is infected?
Comment: The scanner will probably be able to remove the infection.
Answer: you might want to peek in the php.ini file in the extensions area and see if that file is even used (it will have a ; or # in front of it if not used, i forget which). php extensions are enabled/disabled in that file. further, you could rename the file to something else. if you can't rename it, then its in use. if you can rename it, then leave it that way and see if it causes any problems. if not, then delete it at your leisure.
-don

php_gmp.dll malware


Why can PPPoE connect to a gateway which is not in the same subnet

Question: We know the host needs to be within the same subnet as its gateway for the routing.
However in PPPoE, the public IP has a 255.255.255.255 subnet mask, it means that the IP is not in the same subnet as the gateway. I wonder how the host passes the packet to the gateway in this case? Many thanks!
Comment: Thanks guys. Say after the pppoe is established. My public ip is
184.108.40.206, the public default gateway is
172.16.10.3, I want to ping another public ip address 220.127.116.11, what is the data flow? 18.104.22.168 -> 172.16.10.3 -> ... ->184.108.40.206 -> ... -.172.16.10.3 -> 220.127.116.11?
Comment: Need to correct myself... 172.16.10.3 is not a public IP, it's in IANA private range, and private ranges cannot be visible to the Internet. There is no way packet could go directly from 172.x.x.x to 31.x.x.x; there's a NAT in between. Data flow from device to device is your workstation -> your gateway (router/modem) -> ISP PPPoE box -> some routers -> target; and back in the reverse order.
Answer: PPP generally establishes a point-to-point link (or session), with exactly two link partners. Everything one of them sends the other receives, no matter what addresses are used on top of the PPP level.
Since Ethernet requires valid MAC addressing (on the data link layer), PPPoE establishes a PPP session over Ethernet, ie. between two link partners. That PPPoE session is entirely independent from anything else that might be running on the Ethernet network - especially 'normal' IPv4 over Ethernet using ARP.
As to routing, the default route can simply point to the PPP interface, indicating that all packets are simply sent out of that interface. The default gateway is 'the next hop beyond'.
On Ethernet, the distinction (or multiplexing) is done using dedicated EtherType values for PPPoE (0x8863/0x8864) instead of IPv4's 0x0800. That way, the network stack doesn't pass the frames to the IP stack but to the PPPoE driver (which in turn may or may not pass extracted PPP frames to the IP stack or any other supported L3 stack).
Answer: Because it's POINT-TO-POINT. Traffic only has one place to go... the other side of the link. /32 routes are added to the route table indicating what is on the other side. One could also just use an interface route. (But a lot of host OSes have trouble with those. And it leads to confusion when people don't understand this.)
Comment: For the record, p-t-p links don't have to have addresses. I've setup many T1's as *unnumbered* interfaces. (internally, Cisco does assign them a number, but that's an artifact of how IOS does (did?) things.)
Comment: P2P links *may* use addressing but they don't need to.
Answer: I'm not sure if I understand your question.
255.255.255.255 translates to "This device, and only this device". Or maybe "this interface" is a better expression. It's not part of any network, so it has no gateway. The IP isn't "public" either in the sense that you could reach it from the inertnets, it's exclusively used in a closed peer-to-peer circuit like DSL.
Let's say your ISP:s "public" address is 22.214.171.124/32 (255.255.255.255). They don't provide you an address range, they provide you a single IP address, let's say 192.0.2.25. I don't have a PPPoE line, so I can't check, but logic says this is also a /32 address - there's really no reason for it not to be. That address would be assigned to the modem's PPPoE interface.
Your modem provides internal IP addressing in the range of 192.168.0.0/24 and reserves 192.168.0.1 for itself to be provided as a default gateway. Any traffic your PC wants to send to the internyet it will send to the modem. The modem NATs the traffic, so the ISP only receives traffic originating from a single host, 192.0.2.25.
Whether your modem has a default route to 22.214.171.124 or if 220.127.116.11 is assigned as a default gateway doesn't change how it forwards the traffic. Anything destined outside of 192.168.0.0/24 will be sent to 184.108.40.206. The ISPs router likely does have a routing table entry; "send all traffic to 192.0.2.25 directly to it" - it knows the host is reachable through the PPPoE link.
So the only place where "gateway" enters the picture in any meaningful sense is your home network.
I hope this helps a bit. I admit I'm not an expert on PPPoE, so I can only try to explain this on conceptual level as I understand it. I'm sure more knowledgeable members of the community will point out my mistakes :-)


Trouble Bouncing a Session :(

Question: I have never had this issue before, but I recorded a session and now it is not letting me bounce it to the desktop or my external (where I normally bounce to).  The error statement it gives me says the requested file size is too large for the file type to support.
I am frustrated and curious as to why this just started happening with this session after almost 2 years of dealing with ProTools 8.
Thanks
Answer: Are you using an old format hard drive? FAT32 has limitations on file size.
Answer: Agree with Panozkp, is it a fat32 volume? If so you are limited to 4 gb minus 1 byte.
Also Wav & aiff files have a 4gb (sometimes 2gb) size limit as well. I think this might be your issue, since it does specify that it's too large for the file type.
What is the sample rate / length / number of channels of your bounce file?
Answer: for many reasons i would suggest not bouncing but busing and printing inside the pt session.

Trouble Bouncing a Session :(


What is the real difference between D&D 4th Edition and Essentials?

Question: I've played mostly 2nd Ed. and some 3/3.5.  I have a lot invested in those materials.  I am intrigued by 4E an Essentials, but am looking for the best way to approach the new editions.  Keep in mind I am introducing my children of varied ages to D&D as well.  The older ones have limited experience with the game, while the younger ones will be new to it.  I am a little confused about the differences between 4E and Essentials. Should I start with Essentials and then move to the core rule books, or just start with the core rules?
Comment: Possible duplicate of [D&D 4.0 - 'Core books' or 'Essentials' - what (set of books and financial outlay) makes a complete game?](http://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/1173/dd-4-0-core-books-or-essentials-what-set-of-books-and-financial-outlay)
Comment: It seems that Wizards is going to be using the Essentials format for all future products. Neverwinter is the latest with the Bladesinger clearly formatted as an essentials class.
Answer: The two have the same rule base and are completely compatible.
However, if you are just starting, pick up either or both of the Essentials books Heroes of the Fallen Lands and Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms (depending on which classes/races you are interested in.  As a DM, pick up the Dungeon Master's Toolkit, the Monster Vault can wait until you have a few games under your belt and are sure you will be continuing.  The Rules Compendium isn't needed as all the rules are in each of the Hero's books.
The main problem with the old trilogy (Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide and the Monster Manual) is that a considerable amount of errata has been issued since those books were released.  I'd recommend skipping them until you have the rules well in hand and can grab those books for any options you want.
Comment: my .02: Essentials classes are a lot more streamlined making games run faster, but sometimes at the cost of more complex character development. Case in point the Knight fighter class's punishment mechanic is extremely easy to run and a knights turn it done in under a minute because he'll always be making some kind of mba (most likely a charge), but you get less power choices than a weaponmaster (normal) fighter. If you have the money, signing up for DDI will give you access to the compendium which is always up to date and has everything mechanical in it (feats, rules,  classes, items, etc.).
Comment: Small correction. MOST of the rules are in the two heroes books. But some rules are not, such as the charachter point buy system.
Answer: This is just to answer the titular question: What is the real difference between D&D 4th Edition and Essentials?
Essentials is a beginners version with fewer races and classes and most of the options removed. So instead of a core 4e Fighter (which might be any one of several builds, and gets a choice of one of several options at each level), the Essentials Knight gets a predetermined option or might have a choice between a smaller set of abilities.
Essentials versions of the classes also have a simpler mechanic by which they (mostly) use their basic attacks and stances instead of the choices a core PC gets.
The real difference is this: Essentials is simpler, but has fewer options. It's a beginners thing— they are the same game.
Answer: 4e Essentials is fully compatible to non-Essentials 4e.
Since you are introducing your children, (I did the same with my 3 sons about 10 years ago), I would recommend getting the D&D Starter 'Red' Box.  It takes you through everything a newbie would need to grasp the game. It has a structured learning system that has you actually playing the game while you are learning.  It is excellent in that regard.  You will find that you can go through it and exhaust what is in it in about 2 weekends.
After that move them to Heroes of the Fallen Lands.  It follows nicely and expands on the four basic character types that are in the Red Box.  Getting  a Dungeon Masters Toolkit at this time will expand the game out to about 3rd level.
Once you are ready to take them beyond that you can add the Monster Vault and Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms for more character types.  The rules compendium puts everything into a single place that is well organized and easy to handle.
Have fun
Answer: The most important thing for you to know is that if you pick up the Red Box, or the Rules Compendium and one of the "Heroes of" books, you have the 4E rules and will be learning to play 4E.  In addition to having the balancing errata after 2 years on the market, the Rules Compendium is a much better read.  After playing 4E from the initial release, the RC gave my group a lot of clarity in different areas of the rules.  I would recommend to anyone new to the game to start with the Essentials products.
While some might describe the essentials classes as 'simple' or 'basic', in my opinion a better word is 'cleaner'.  They're also more distinctive - between the two Heroes books, you'll get a pretty good selection of classes that really play differently from one another.  Yes, there's not as much complexity as the 'Core' Players' Handbooks - but you can easily add that on later.
To be honest, I prefer to play Essentials builds in my current campaigns.  I find combat is a little more streamlined with fewer bookkeeping powers/buffs.  And they play just fine alongside any 'non-essentials' builds.
Answer: As an answer to the question in the title, the Essentials line is full of products that any store that wants D&D can carry successfully, while the D&D 4E line is best suited for hobby and game stores. As a retailer, you can stock Essentials products and be assured of regular turns. Books in the 4E line other than the core three are designed for niches of a small market, and might simply gather dust on the shelves at Target or Wal•Mart.
Answer: The rules are compatible and many of the class options can be mixed between versions.
The real difference is that Essentials limits itself to the traditional spread of classes and races, including some tweaks to how powers are gained and used that preserves some of the play feel of the pre-4e versions of the core classes. By contrast, the full 4e line allows players to create such off-genre things as Warforged Runepriests, Dwarven Invoker/Swordmages, and Shardmind Battleminds. Along with those less traditional possibilities though, the full line gives players a much wider choice of races and classes from which to build their character, which adds a "meta" character-building/advancing, strategic component to the game which is to many players' taste.
Depending on taste, having a full palette to create characters with might be a pro for your group or it might be an unmitigated DM's nightmare. Choosing to start with (or stick with only) Essentials over 4e or vice versa gives you the chance to twist that dial to your preference.
Answer: You probably want to just use Essentials.
Though the rules from original 4e to Essentials are "compatible," Essentials incorporates a bunch of errata and has basically rethought designs for the core classes.  And if you get the four core Essentials books there's very little you are missing from the original core 3 4e books, there's a lot of literal and a while bunch of conceptual overlap.  Mainly you'd get them for obsessive completeness, because there's one sweet power or monster you want from them, or to be compatible with a group that has a lot of them.
Comment: This is simply not true. The errata part is true (errata is incorporated into the Rules Compendium) but you only get a tiny selection of whats available with 4e with Essentials. Most of the classes, most races, most items, the multiclassing rules, the hybrids.. most everything.. are in the other books. Essentials is  great, but it's only a basic version of the game.
Answer: Actually all the classes are in essentials and all of the races.  However, no there are not as many items and at the moment no multiclassing rules/hybrids and weak ritual rules.  Plus with the release of the Sword and Spell compendium for essentials then all those missing rules/other builds will all be available.
Comment: Heroes of Spell and Sword has been removed from WotC's product catalog. They have said that the contents are going to be provided in some format, but they have not given any indication of what that might be.
Comment: "Actually all the classes are in essentials and all of the races." -- this is simply not true. What you get in the Essentials books is a fraction of the whole, and there will not be any new Essentials books.
Comment: Yes. None of the classes or Races from PHB3 or the Player's guides (except Drow, if I remember correctly) are in Essentials. I think they were going for a 3.5 (or older) ed. style of build structure for the classes. My main gripe is the loss of Encounter and/or Daily Attack powers in most of them. The only Essentials build I enjoy using is the Mage.


Volvo engine parts

Question: What is the name of these four elements called? If water gets to them, can that cause a misfire?
Comment: What's actually wrong with your car?  Is it misfiring?  And are you trying to figure out why?  Or is this just an academic question?
Answer: What you have circled are the connectors for the fuel injectors (and obviously the fuel injectors are underneath of them). They have seals which protect from moisture, dirt, and debris, so in most cases there's no chance of misfire due to them getting wet. IOW: The "wet" stays on the outside of the connection. There'd have to be serious deterioration of the connector and seal for water to ingress and cause issues. Even if water does get into them, there's only a small chance it'd cause a misfire.
Answer: Are you actually having a misfire? If so, then assuming the car was otherwise properly maintained, the most likely culprit on these engines would be a failed ignition module. Those are under the plastic cover that has the "VOLVO" brand on it and is visible in the photograph you provided.
Injectors are passive, low impedance components, and moisture won't cause much trouble other than perhaps due to galvanic corrosion. To be sure corrosion isn't a problem, you can try disconnecting each of the wire harness connectors from the injectors, and verify that the contacts don't have green and/or white powdery crust on them.
It's of course possible that an injector may be failing open-circuit, or is gummed up with "crud". Depending on how soon you need the car back on the road, you might want to remove the injectors and send them out to be pressure flushed. Competent providers of this service (google them up!) will measure flow rates for each injector before and after the service, and the test report should generally indicate whether the injectors are considered serviceable or not. That'll of course catch any failed injectors as well, and you'll have hard proof that you may need replace one or more of them.
There can be other sources of faults, such as a failing wire harness or control module, but those are much rarer and I wouldn't be concerned much until other diagnostics are done first. An open injector circuit, for example, will be detected by the engine control module (ECM) and will set a specific code that you can read out with a scanner. The ignition module faults aren't typically detected by the ECM, other than hard faults like a short between control signal input and ground or 12V.

Volvo engine parts


significant SNPs to annotated candidate genes

Question: I have performed GWAS and got some significant SNPs. How can I get candidates genes in the flanking regions of those SNPs and also their functional annotations (eg. KEGG).
Comment: Hi and welcome to BioinfoSE! The amount of information in the post is far too low to answer it. What API you are using? What packages are you familiar with? Any information on biological system is also very helpful. Could also clarify the question, it infers that you already have the genes for the SNPs and annotation of the gene?
Comment: hi. I used TASSEL and the R package GAPIT to perform GWAS and got a list of significant SNPs  with info such as chromosome, location (bp), p value. From these SNPs now I need to identify candidate genes from flanking regions of these SNPs and also need to annotate these genes according to their function which will make it easy to identify the potential candidates. So far information from @plat has been helpful and any further help is welcome.
Answer: You can use BEDOPS' closest-features tool. You only need to have the SNPs coordinates in .bed format and a .bed file with gene locations. BEDOPS will look for the closest genes upstream and downstream of your SNPs. The command will look something like this:
<code>closest-features yourSNPs.bed yourAnnotation.bed
</code>
Then, you can obtain your functional annotations through different tools such as biomart.
Comment: OK thanks very much for the help. Will try this one out.


Who pays for Air Traffic Control services?

Question: I imagine certain fees from flight boarding sales are paid to the FAA, but who is responsible for paying fees for passenger flights?
Comment: Typically there are landing fees for large aircraft at airports. There is no standard amount or standard way of calculating them (or at least there wasn't back in the 1990s). Airports had widely varying fee schedules. Whether there was (or is) a differentiation in fees for pax or cargo I do not know. As I remember the landing fee for a 747 at KJFK back in 1999 when I retired was over $12,000. The fees went to the airport, not to the FAA. It might be interesting to post a question to see what the landing fees are at major airports these days.
Comment: What do you mean "fees for passenger flights"?
Comment: @Terry Thank you for a great explanation. I was wondering what that has to do with ATC though, as per question title.
Comment: @digitgopher I was attempting, perhaps poorly, to respond to the question in your comment as well as to add a little more info as to where money goes. You are right that it has nothing to do with ATC, but as often happens with questions, the question text is more expansive than the title. My comment indeed did not address the title at all, which is why I put it in as a comment rather than an answer. However, it did address, however poorly, what I felt the questioner might have meant to include in "fees for passenger flights."
Answer: FAA Funding is currently a mix of General Fund(taxes everyone pays) and Airway Trust Fund(ticket taxes and fuel taxes) money. The breakdowns are shown in: https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/apl/aatf/media/AATF_Fact_Sheet.pdf


How can I list FDA approved drugs in a year?

Question: I am trying to list all of the approved drugs in a particular year, (e.g. https://www.fda.gov/drugs/new-drugs-fda-cders-new-molecular-entities-and-new-therapeutic-biological-products/novel-drug-approvals-2021), but when I try going through the searchable fields I am not able to find anything relevant. How might I do this?
Answer: The Drugs@FDA endpoint is likely the best to fit your needs. You would want to search for records with submission status of "AP" (approved). Also, you would want to look for submission types indicating a new drug application (for example, Type 2 - New Active Ingredient). Finally, if you know the year, you can filter by the submission status date falling into that year.
Here is an example for the year of 1981:
openFDA API Call
Hopefully this helps
Comment: Thanks for the answer, if I try with submission_status: AP and submission_status_date. it would return supplemental submission approval records as well. but I need only original approvals made in that year. how I can filter supplement submissions?


What cable is needed for Sennheiser ME66/K6 and Olympus LS-12

Question: I`m planning to buy a Sennheiser ME66/K6 mic set and a recorder (possibly Olympys LS-12). What is the cable I would need to connect the mic set to the recorder?
Comment: Are you going to use a single ME66? And do you want to record to one channel, or both?
Answer: The ME66 is a mono microphone, and the Olympus records in stereo.

Record on one channel: XLR to 3.5mm mono jack cable.
Record one microphone to both channels (not recommended): XLR->Jack where the XLR positive terminal is connected to both tip and ring of the 3.5 mm jack.


A graph of North American railroads

Question: I look for a graph-based stats of the US railroad waybills. That is, the freight transported over a particular railway over a year.
So far I found:

National Atlas 2015 - The railroad graph (network) as a shape file that can be imported in Python's networkx and other SNA software.
Surface Transportation Board's Public Waybill Sample - A sample of a sample of the official stats collected from large railroad companies.
Bureau of Transportation Statistics - Various stats for free. For example, the cross-border freight.
Association of American Railroads Online Catalog - Various stats, but non-members must pay.
Regional railroad networks (state, etc.)

A map based on STB's Sample:

The Waybill Sample is close to what I need, but I didn't find how to read their space-separated stats (no headers, codebook, or dictionary file).
So have you seen the freight stats that could be converted to a connected graph with edges like <code>(station 1, station 2, freight)</code>?
Answer: Have you checked this out this website by ESRI ?
http://opendata.arcgis.com/
They have railroad data on that site.

A graph of North American railroads