Can I invite to share my screen with iOS user?

Question: I have noticed Messages App in macOS has the option to share screen, I was just wondering if could use this to share my mac screen with user watching this on iPad/iPhone?
I have tried this, within Messages I clicked Buddies > Invite to Share My Screen and it started loading, but the user hasnt received anything. Any thoughts?
Answer: I understood you wanted to show something on your screen to a lot of people that are using iOS devices correct?
You also don't want them to have to install another app.
The solution I've in mind is recording your screen with QuickTime. Save it as a small movie and send that movie by iMessage.
Answer: I haven't used them but RealVNC make a Viewer app for iOS and a Connect app for macOS.
https://www.realvnc.com/download/viewer/
Comment: Lets say this RealVNC would work, but that is not what I want. I work in company where we all have iPhones and sometimes I just need to quicky share screen and show them something. Understand I communicate to mass so I cannot tell all people to install something, I need something native and ready to use. From what I understand Messages App should allow this but I dont know how :( Perhaps it works only macos > macos way?
Comment: Yes it only works mac-to-mac


If Spiders Were the Size of Horses, What Sound Would They Make?

Question: I'm worldbuilding an alternate earth which has less gravity and the high oxygen levels of the late carboniferous. Thus, resulting in very large invertebrate life. In one scene, the main character is pursued by a giant spider. But, as I was writing the scene, I realized that I don't know what sounds a spider of that size would produce. Let's assume that the spider in this world are almost identical to the American Loxosceles reclusa in every way save for size. Realistically, what sounds would such a creature produce that would be audible to humans?
Comment: Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been [moved to chat](https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/127452/discussion-on-question-by-smartbulbinc-if-spider-were-the-size-of-horses-what-s).
Answer: There would be a mechanical clicking or clacking sound as it moves. (I'm extrapolating that it becomes a loud clacking sound based on size.)
The largest spider in the world makes a clicking sound as it moves through the jungle undergrowth. Link
Further, this species makes a strange noise as a warning to other organisms to stay away called stridulation. Youtube
The mechanics of the sound are sort of like how a cricket performs its chirp. Presumably, your giant spider might make any sort of sound that uses a similar mechanism.
Comment: @fho I prefer to imagine that spiders are never larger than 1cm across and that they are inherently terrified of humans. I refuse to imagine a "tack tack tack" sound moving closer to myself.
Comment: The dude in the article doesnt need to extrapolate: "Its feet have hardened tips and claws that produce a very distinct, clicking sound, not unlike that of a horse's hoofs hitting the ground," [The one dude in the first link]
Comment: Imagining a huge cricket using the same mechanism of rubbing "teeth" against other body parts would sound crazy ... imagine being alone in the wood and suddenly there is a loud "tack tack tack tack tack tack tack" ... pause ... "tack tack tack tack tack tack tack" ... coming closer :-)
Comment: It should be noted that some stridulating spiders produce a sound only when rubbing against a surface, unlikely to apply in the OP scenario of a giant spider chasing prey.
Comment: @JohnO, I've had what I think was a wolf spider in my bathtub, waiting for me. With the legs, it was larger than my "man-hands". I had to take the strainer off the drain for it to be washed down, after unloading 1/8th a can of spider spray on it. https://www.healthline.com/health/wolf-spider-bite#identification Also, https://youtu.be/u68RFrusWOw?t=111
Answer: No sound at all
The majority of spiders alive today are some form of ambush or trap predators.  Making sound kind of spoils the surprise that the spider was planning.
For a giant spider that is actively pursuing a tasty main character, I would expect the spider to be eerily silent. I would not expect any vocalizations from the spider at all while it is hunting. The goal of the spider isn't to scare, or warn its prey, the goal is to capture the prey with the least effort required.
It is rare for spiders to work in groups or packs (yes, social spiders exist, but it is rare). It is not likely that spiders will want to warn other spiders of nearby threats. There probably aren't too many predators that try to take down a horse-sized spider which a spider would want to scare off using its voice. Overall, there are few reasons for a spider to want to vocalize ever.
Any time the delicious main character is not looking at the spider, it is difficult to tell exactly where the spider even is. And looking at a pursuer while trying to run away means you're not looking where you are running towards... making it all the more likely for the juicy main character to stumble or crash into a tree.
The reason you don't know what sounds a spider would produce are mostly because it is in the interest of spiders to not produce any sounds.
Comment: Given the *Loxosceles reclusa* is not known to make any sounds and simply scaling it up isn't going to make it start, this is the obvious and correct answer.
Comment: You are assuming the only sound it makes would be vocal and during hunting, yet the question is about what sounds it would make. If it's chitin would create sound as it moves that would be noticeable. We also see other ambush predators like Tigers to be very capable of emitting very very loud sounds. This specifically to scare away other predators or others of their own species in a bid for territory. So the reasoning does not hold up.
Comment: @Demigan from the OP in the chat regarding this post:
"I'm referring to the sound of any internal vocalization. Not the sound of the spider interacting within its environment."
This clarification is the basis for my answer.
Answer: Whatever you want
One of the limiting factors on the size of spiders and other arachnids is their relatively simple, primitive respiratory system.  However, increasing the atmospheric percentage of oxygen from today's 21% to the late Carboniferous 35% will only allow a modest increase in the size of a spider.  So a bird eating spider might be able to chow down on sparrows rather than hummingbirds, but it's not going to be eating emus or humans.
The bigger limiting factor on land-based arachnid size is the size constraint on exoskeletal creatures in Earth's gravity.  (Except where the weight is supported by water, which is why very large crustaceans are possible.)  The effects of the square cube law literally do not support large arachnids.  Increasing the percentage of oxygen in the atmosphere will not change this constraint at all.
So you can make a giant spider's vocalisations sound any way you want them to, because they need a completely reworked, more efficient respiratory system (which can incorporate any sound-producing characteristics you like) and magic to overcome physical size limits.  With a rebuild that complete the sounds produced could be anything from ultrasonic bat-like sounds used for sonar to pig-like squeals to Celene Dion, whatever you think is most frightening.
Comment: I have a new phobia. Spiders Singing Celine Dion.
Comment: Spiders and insects don't have the same kind of respiratory system. Not at all. [Spiders have lungs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_lung), and their blood carries oxygen. (That's in general. *Some* spiders don't have lungs, but that is a secondary adaptation.)
Comment: The question explicitly states lower gravity so I guess it might be possible.
Comment: @Ant: Any practical difference in gravity isn't going to make much difference.  Your planet's gravity has to be high enough to hold an atmosphere, allow running, &c, so maybe about Mars' 1/3 g.  You need a total redesign: e.g. an 8-legged creature with a vertebrate-like endoskeleton, efficient lungs & circulatory system, &c.  Once you've done this, having it make any sort of sound, from a simple roar to a lyrebird's vast vocal range, is trivial.
Comment: @jamesqf Holding an atmosphere is not governed by the gravitational acceleration $g$ at the surface; it is governed by the depth of the gravitational potential well (roughly, $g$ times the planet's radius -- the square root of this gives the escape velocity). A planet with low surface gravity could hold oxygen at ~300 K (like the Earth) if the planet is *big*. Such a planet would need to have a low density (hollow?).
Comment: @nanoman: But you're not going to have a such a low-density planet, unless it's some sort of artifical construct.  And you still have to have a certain amount of fairly high gravity in order to allow running, otherwise creatures would just bound, like astronauts on the moon.
Comment: @ITAlex, you mean a spider the size of a horse isn't bad enough? I could totally deal with a spider singing Celine better than I could one that's big enough to ride.
Comment: @AlexP the spiders with lungs have "book lungs" which are unrelated to the type of lungs mammals have and do not scale up well, to the best of my understanding.
Comment: I should have included this in the original prompt, but this alternate earth is artificial in nature. Human can control the exact strength of the gravity of this planet in question.  @jamesqf
Answer: Expanding on this answer:
If Spider Were the Size of Horses, What Sound Would They Make?
Arachnids have at least some variability in breathing apparatus.  Most arachnid species use book lungs:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_lung

However harvestmen use trachea (not the same as human trachea, but holes in the side of the body that extend inwards creating surface area) that are thought to derive from book lungs.  This is likely an adaptation for their small size, as mites also have the same structure.
It's also thought that lower oxygen levels were not the cause of the extinction of large land invertebrates, but the evolution of vertebrate predators which could out-compete and prey on even with invertebrates larger than these vertebrates.  Which is to say that higher levels of oxygen don't lead to significantly larger invertebrates, but a lack of vertebrate predators might.  We can even see this with the massive coconut crab, whose large adult form spends the vast majority of time on land, can weigh up to 10 pounds, and be about 1 meter in diameter.  The coconut crab likely is larger than the largest spider ever in history despite lower oxygen levels today, and said spider did not look like modern spindly arachnids, and would have been incapable of chasing a rat down, let alone a full grown human.
Such a planet would also not be able to have that much less gravity than earth, as at a certain point the escape velocity of essential molecules is so low that your atmosphere disappears (mars is such a planet, so no going below 1/3 gravity) so unless you're being chased inside a pressurized habitat, these spiders won't have a chance to live on the planet at all, though even on mars it would take millions of years for the atmosphere to disappear.
Comment: It is also entirely possible book lungs  evolved directly form gills not trachea, and trachea may have evolved from book lungs. https://www.zobodat.at/pdf/Arthropod-Systematics-Phylogeny_77_0267-0284.pdf
Answer: Spiders are known for making clicking noises. Nesting spiders often lie in wait for hours and days at a time waiting for unfortunate victims. They are tuned to the vibrations of the environment and any slight disturbance to their web will provoke a reaction. This attunement to vibrations is based on their hair - which form "elaborate arrays of sensors".
Spiders have no need for complex vocal cords and air breathing, although they do require oxygen. Combined with a reworked breathing system, I imagine spider breathing and communication would sound like a series of fast rhythmic clicks and hisses.


Same monomers, different water content?

Question: We're currently studying "the chemistry of contact lenses", which is mostly polymers and gels. I just looked at the package of two pure hydrogel lenses made out of the same monomers, but they have different water content? Why?
Answer: There are a few things that influence the properties of polymers:

Molecular weight of the chains, i.e. how many monomers are joined in each chain, can drastically alter the polymer's properties. For example, for polyethylene, UHMWPE has extremely long chains and produces a very strong material suitable for bullet-resistant vests, whereas LLDPE has much shorter chains that produce a weaker material that is much more ductile (think about how easy it is to stretch a plastic shopping bag or the like).
Another factor that affects a polymer's properties is branching. Branching is when a polymer is not made up of nice straight chains, but chains that occasionally fork off into several different chains. The difference between LLDPE and LDPE is that LDPE has a lot more branching. This keeps the chains from packing as nicely so LDPE isn't as strong.
The other big factor (other than adding another monomer to make a copolymer) is the introduction of crosslinking. Crosslinking is where different chains are connected to one another, often by addition of a molecule that can bond to a chain at both ends, e.g. rubber vulcanization crosslinks the different chains with linear sulfur chains. Natural rubber is very different than what most people think; it's a soft sticky material that doesn't hold its shape. The polyisoprene chains it's composed of aren't crosslinked and can easily slide past one another, but once crosslinked, the chains are connected and aren't free to move as much. Depending on the degree of crosslinking, you can go from something somewhat soft, like a bouncy ball, to something very rigid, like a car tire.

Hydrogels are not simple linear polymers. While they're mostly made from a single monomer, small additions of related molecules are used to control how they polymerize. N.B. These apply generally to silicones, other polymers may have other branching/termination processes. If the monomer only has two sites at which it can connect to other monomers, naturally the only structure that can be formed is a linear chain. One can control the length of the chains by adding a small amount of a terminator—a monomer that can only make one connection. If a terminator reacts with a growing chain, it stops the growth as it can't connect to anything else. The more terminator added, the shorter chains are, on average. Similarly, if you add a monomer that has more than two reactive groups, branching and crosslinking will occur. Often, a non-crosslinked polymer is supplied as a liquid, then a crosslinking agent is added to harden the polymer. Dow Corning has a great primer on the actual chemistry involved.
What makes a hydrogel special is that it's a polymer network that encapsulates water, i.e. it's an extensively crosslinked polymer that is hydrophilic. If the polymer was just a series of individual chains, it would just dissolve in water since nothing is holding the different chains together. When crosslinked, water can get in, but the mesh of polymer is linked together enough to hold its shape, though it may swell to accommodate the water. Depending on the degree of crosslinking, more or less water can fit within the structure. A less linked polymer can fit more water since there are fewer crosslinks resisting, but is less rigid when hydrated for the same reason (think Jell-O). A more crosslinked polymer won't absorb as much water, but will be much more rigid (like a contact lens). Contact lenses have to balance holding their shape, oxygen permeability, surface hydrophilicity, etc. so there are many reasons why, despite being based on the same primary monomer, two different brands may have a different blend of the other stuff that lets one control the hydrogel's properties.
Answer: When a polymer is produced, the final result does not only rely on what the monomers were. For example, there is "extended" polystyrene and "extruded" polystyrene. Or there are polystyrene sulfonate chemical polymers and etc.
Since nowadays, we need polymers to do many things for us (sheathing, sheltering, and sometimes even heat conductivity), we usually tend to modify their structure to make them more temperature-resistant, harder, stronger and ...; and that is because researches on new polymers are not always cheap or successful.
Let's explain with an example. Imagine you have $10000$ ethylene monomers that you will need to make a polymer from. Each of the PE polymers require $100$ ethylene molecules to form. Since you need this thing to be a little bit stronger, you would pressurize it, heat it, liquify it etc. So the result is a set of well-arranged polymer molecules [You can imagine lines of pupils standing in a school's yard, waiting to go to their classes] They are resistant to minor temperature rises and can be used in places where hard polymers are needed. (actually, not yet, but you are currently imagining :))
On the other hand, Imagine the raw "plastic" that is industrially produced with $10000$ monomers and the polymers are made of 100 ethylene molecules. This time it seems as if the pupils are dispersed through the school yard, though in tact with each other. You can easily conclude that this polymer is potentially weaker and is more vulnerable to temperature differences.
The first example is called "extruded polyethylene" and the 2nd one is called "expanded polyethylene". Notice that the monomers are the same, but the result is different in as big of a range that includes usage to specific heat capacity.
This is not the only case. You remember that I mentioned PS sulfonate. Sulfur, in here, is added to polystyrene to make chain-like "links" to polymers. For example, imagine the lines of pupils again. These sulfonates act as some older students that hold the pupils still and do not let them escape. These chains make polystyrene sufonate ideal for being an agent for dying clothes (since it becomes resistant to dissolution).
In your case, Hydrogel monomers are the same, but as I described above, either the how of their production or additional materials that modify the behavior of the Hydrogel or both are different.
Sorry, I didn't find any appropriate applicable images without license and I hope the description is not that vague. Hope I've helped.
Answer: I don't konw much about contact lenses. But for hydrogel, the reason may be as followed:
Conventional synthesized hydrogel is chemical crosslinked polymer network. Except the monomer, another reagent named crosslinker with multi-functionality such as the MBAA(N,N'-Methylenebisacrylamide)is needed. Then the swelling ratio or the water content of a hydrogel is strongly affected by the relative amount of crosslinker. Higher the crosslinking density, lower the water content.
Comment: It's better if you use capital letter after a full stop.

Same monomers, different water content?


Determinant of d'Alembert Operator $\mathop\Box-m^{2}$

Question: In quantum field theory, the partition function of a free scalar is
$$\mathcal{Z}=\int\mathcal{D}\phi\exp i\int d^{n}x\frac{1}{2}\left[(\partial_{\mu}\phi)(\partial^{\mu}\phi)-m^{2}\phi^{2}\right]$$
$$=\mathrm{Det}^{-1/2}(\mathop\Box-m^{2}).$$
My question is on what spacetime manifold does the d'Alembert operator $\mathop\Box-m^{2}$ have zero modes. If it has zero modes, how does one define the above path-integral?
Comment: This is the standard partition function of a free scalar. By itself it is not observable, and it usually gets absorbed in the normalization of the path integral.
Answer: Well for example Minkowski spacetime (just plug in a plane-wave ansatz).
The malaise arrives because the formula with the determinant is valid for Gaussian integrals, i.e.
$\int e^{- \pi A_{ij} x^i x^j} d x = \frac{1}{\sqrt{\det A}} \ . $
Here $A$ is symmetric positive definite. First i will show that the same holds if in the exponent there is an $i$, i.e.
$\int e^{i\pi A_{ij} x^i x^j} d x = \frac{1}{\sqrt{\det A}} \ . $
To do so, deform the integration contours as to obtain an integration of $e^{i \pi A_{ij} x^i x^j}$. For simplicity consider the one-dimensional case only, i.e. deform the integration contour of
$\int_{-\infty}^{\infty} e^{-\pi a x^2} d x =  \frac{1}{\sqrt{a}} \ .$
Approximate the integrals by an integral over the interval $[-R,R]$. Now decompose this contour in a contour $\gamma_1$ from $x = -R$ to $x = -(R + i R)$, then a contour $\gamma_2$ from $ x = - (R-iR)$ to $x = R+ i R$ and then a contour $\gamma_3$ from $x = R-iR$ to $x = R$. We have:
$  \int_{-R}^{R} (...) d x = \int_{\gamma_1}(..)dz + \int_{\gamma_2}(..)dz + \int_{\gamma_3}(..)dz \ ;$
or, more explicitely:
$\int_{-R}^{R} e^{-\pi a x^2} d x = \int_{-\frac{R}{\sqrt{2}}}^{\frac{R}{\sqrt{2}}} e^{i \pi a x^2} d x  + I(\pi a R^2) \ , \  I(w) = 2 e^{-w} \int_0^1 e^{w x} \cos(2 x w) d x \ .$
If we can argue that $I(w) \rightarrow 0$ for $w \rightarrow \infty$, then we have obtained our formula. This however is not so hard, first note that
$I(w) \leq 2 e^{-w} \int_0^1 e^{w x}  d x $
and then use the first mean value theorem for definite integrals (cf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mean_value_theorem#Mean_value_theorems_for_definite_integrals) to conclude
$I(w) \leq 2 e^{-w(1-x_0^2)} \ , $
with $x_0$ strictly smaller than 1. This is enough to conclude our formula and thus
$\int_{-\infty}^{\infty} e^{-\pi a x^2} d x =\int_{-\infty}^{\infty} e^{i \pi a x^2} d x$
Now comes the punchline. The above argument shows that for a positive definite $A$ one may freely switch between having an $i$ in the exponent or a $-1$. However the operator in your question, $\Box - m^2$, has positive, negative and zero eigenvalues, where the Gaussian integral no longer makes sense, while the imaginary Gaussian still might make sense.
In fact, consider the same argument with contours from $x=-R$ to $x = -(R+iR)$ etc., which gives
$\int_{-\infty}^{\infty} e^{-\pi a x^2} d x =\int_{-\infty}^{\infty} e^{- i \pi a x^2} d x$
Hence reading this backwards leads to the conclusion
$\int e^{i\pi A_{ij} x^i x^j} d x = \frac{1}{\sqrt{|\det A}|} \ . $
Hence the negative eigenvalues do not pose a problem. What about the zero eigenvalues? Well they are a problem in general but they may drop out in a similar way how one can integrate a square root singularity.
In particular, if $A$ has an eigenvector $v$ with $Av = 0$, then the Gaussian integral has a flat direction and the determinant is infinite. However, going to infinite-dimensional vector spaces allows for more interesting things to happen. In this case the Gaussian integral may or may not make sense as a limit of finite-dimensional integrals; here i will make some remarks on the determinant.
Let's take $A$ to be a self-adjoint operator. Then the spectrum of $A$ consists of the point spectrum, i.e. real numbers $\{\lambda_i\}_{i\in \mathbb{N}}$ s.t. there are vectors $v_i$ with $A v_i = \lambda_i v_i$. But additionally, A may also have a continuous spectrum. This is the set of $\lambda$ for which $\lambda - A$ is injective, but not surjective (additionally one also asks it to have dense spectrum). Roughly speaking, this means while $\lambda - A$ maps all vectors in the vector space to non-zero vectors, it is still not possible to invert it. The reason is that there might be approximate eigenvalues, for example how narrow wavepackets are almost eigenstates of the derivative operator. Anyhow this means that if we take now the logarithm of the determinant it consists of two terms:
$ \log |\det A|^{-\frac{1}{2}} = - \frac{1}{2} \sum_{i =1}^\infty \log|\lambda_i| - \frac{1}{2} \int_0^\infty \rho(\lambda) \log \lambda d \lambda  \ .$
Here $\rho(\lambda)$ is a positive function, indicating how many eigenvalues are in an interval $[\lambda,\lambda + d\lambda]$.
Note that if $A$ is a differential operator, one typically has to regularize this expressions, but this will not be of interest here. Instead, let's focus how zero eigenvalues can become a problem. First of all, like in the finite-dimensional cases, if a proper eigenvalue is zero, the determinant vanishes. But what if the continuous spectrum extends down to zero? we can see from the formula, this is not too problematic, since $\log(\lambda)$ is integrable at 0, as long as $\rho(\lambda)$ is not too singular for small $\lambda$.
Let's do an example, the real scalar field on Minkowski spacetime. Then $A = \Box - m^2$ has only continuous spectrum:
$ \log Z = -\frac{1}{2} \int \frac{d^n p}{(2\pi)^n} \log|p_0^2 - \vec{p}^2 - m^2| =  -\frac{1}{2} \int_0^\infty \log(\lambda) \rho(\lambda) d \lambda $
with the function
$\rho(\lambda) = \int \frac{d^n p}{(2\pi)^n} \delta(\lambda - |p^2 - m^2|) = \rho_< + \rho_> \  $
with
$ \rho_<(\lambda) = 2 \int \frac{d^{n-1} p}{(2\pi)^n} \int_{0}^{\sqrt{\vec{p}^2 +m^2}}\delta(\lambda + p_0^2 - \vec{p}^2 - m^2) d p_0  = \\ =  \frac{\text{Vol}(S^{n-2})}{(2\pi)^n} \int_0^\infty p^{n-2} \frac{\theta(p^2 + m^2 - \lambda)}{\sqrt{p^2 + m^2 - \lambda}} dp  $
and
$ \rho_>(\lambda) = 2 \int \frac{d^{n-1} p}{(2\pi)^n} \int_{\sqrt{\vec{p}^2 +m^2}}^\infty \delta(\lambda - p_0^2 + \vec{p}^2 + m^2) d p_0  = \\ =  \frac{\text{Vol}(S^{n-2})}{(2\pi)^n} \int_0^\infty p^{n-2} \frac{1}{\sqrt{p^2 + m^2 + \lambda}} dp  $
subtracting the infinite constant $\rho(0)$ we get the renormalized density
$\rho(\lambda) -\rho(0) = \frac{\text{Vol}(S^{n-2})}{(2\pi)^n} \int_0^\infty p^{n-2} \left[\frac{1}{\sqrt{p^2 + m^2 + \lambda}} + \frac{\theta(p^2 + m^2 - \lambda)}{\sqrt{p^2 + m^2 - \lambda}} - \frac{2}{\sqrt{p^2 + m^2}} \right] dp $
Let's check what is the behaviour for small $\lambda$. For simplicity specialize to $n = 4$.
$\rho(\lambda) -\rho(0) \sim \frac{3 \lambda^2}{16\pi^3} \int_0^\infty \frac{p^2}{(p^2 + m^2)^{\frac{5}{2}}} d p \sim \frac{1}{16\pi^3} \frac{\lambda^2}{m^2} \ \ \ \ \text{ as} \ \ \lambda \rightarrow 0 \ . $
Hence there seem to be no problems from zero eigenvalues here.
Comment: Really like your exposition about gaussian integration and deforming to get i. The part with tge zero mode seems a bit unconnected though.
Comment: Thank you very much. I will try to digest your answer, but I am suspicious of the renormalization of the density. Why does one have to subtract $\rho(0)$? Any comment on the topological conditions for manifold such that there does not exists any zero mode?
Comment: i have to admit the renormalization is more ad hoc. Since the momentum integrals are UV divergent, one needs to choose some renormalization point, and choosing $\lambda = 0$ seemed convenient. I'm also inclined to note that whatever $\rho(0)$ is, it does not enter the partition function because there we integrate over $\lambda$ (Changing a function on one point does not affect its integrals).
Comment: For a d'Alembertian to exist on a manifold, it has to have a trivial Euler invariant. For the compact euclidean case, there is also _Hodge theory_, i.e. the connection between harmonic functions (those that have $\Delta f = 0$, i.e. zero modes), and the de Rham- Cohomology $H^0$. However since $\Delta\geq0$, the determinant $\det(\Delta + m^2)$ is well-defined. For the compact Lorentzian case i am not sure. As a manifold with a Lorentzian structure and the same manifold with an euclidean structure have the same topology, i am not sure if the conditions will be of a topological nature.
Comment: @LorenzMayer Thank you very much for your explanations.


Can I turn off safety prompts on file close?

Question: In Notepad++, I generally run with a bunch of text files that I am using temporarily.
It's annoying that I have to click the confirm prompt when closing a file without saving. Is it possible to turn this alert off and just close the file with a right-click and close?
Answer: I'm sorry Notepad++ doesn't have this option.  Personally I just hit either Ctrl+W (close window) or Alt+F4 (close application), then hit N on the keyboard.  Obviously it would take longer if using the mouse.


SU Retag Request: [applications] --> [software]

Question: applications might benefit from being merged to software.
Comment: At a guess @Diago, it's because Tom doesn't have enough presense in [either](http://superuser.com/search?q=user%3A9666+%5Bapplications%5D) [tag](http://superuser.com/search?q=user%3A9666+%5Bsoftware%5D) to be able to do so directly.
Comment: @TomWij Meta SU does not have enough traffic to make voting a valid way of checking. At some point someone has to go through each request, and since tag synonyms are there, maybe raise it in chat so that it can get faster attention.
Comment: Is there any reason this is posted here, and not created as Tag synonyms?
Comment: @Diago: The page tells me: Users with more than 2500 reputation on the tag, can suggest tag synonyms.
Comment: @TomWij That's fine. But can you motivate some of these. Looking at it I am not sure merging tags or creating synonyms are correct without some background. There isn't always time to investigate every merge request and see if it is valid or not.
Comment: @Diago: Well, people that are interested in cleaning the tags are free to vote. And a high vote count could then point out a moderator might want to look into this... You don't have to go through every single request. :-)
Comment: @Diago: Nice idea, will drop a link to a tag search list of non-completed/rejected retag-requests on the chat in the near future... :-)
Answer: I have merged software into application and created the synonym for it.


Why are verbs with Usted conjugated the same way as with El and Ella?

Question: This is probably a question just for linguists. Is there a reason why verbs with Usted are conjugated the same way as with El and Ella? A historical reason maybe?
Comment: Probably this is some sort of duplicate of [Why is "Usted" grammatically a third person?](https://spanish.stackexchange.com/q/836/5481), since there it's explained why we use a third person conjugation with "usted".
Answer: "Usted" derives from "Vuestra Merced" and is therefore conjugated in the third person, as a way to show respect.
It would be similar to Your Majesty (Su Majestad) and Your Excellency (Su Excelencia), which are also conjugated in the third person even if the person holding that high rank is being directly addressed.
You can see, among others, this source.
Answer: They are conjugated the same way because they are all third-person pronouns.
Let me explain.  Usted comes from an evolved and adapted form of Latin's "vuestra merced" (your grace).  We're talking about a handful of centuries worth of changes too!  Your Grace is a third-person pronoun that expresses praise to the listener, grace even!
Just like today how we shorten longer words to suit our needs, or we say it differently because it's easier to get off the tongue, the word was bastardized to the point we know it as today.
Usted
Here's a good read on it all.
Answer: As explained in usted and its usage

Usted is grammatically third person singular, such a use is called honorific third person [...] Obviously being grammatical 3rd person singular means that the verbs need to be conjugated as 3rd person singular. Also all pronouns must be 3rd person.    see Vartec's answer

As  explained by Gustavson (and in Etymology of "usted")

Vuestra merced (a really antique way to say something like your highness) evolved to usted.

Vuestra merced --> Vusted --> usted
Also, in Why is "Usted" grammatically a third person? is is explained that

Since [Your grace]  was an indirect way of addressing someone, it was inflected in the third person.


Fan speed monitor Software for Macbook Pro Unibody on Windows

Question: I've tried multiple temperature monitor and fan speed software on my Macbook Pro Unibody under Windows 7 64-bit RC. None of them can report the fan speed. Currently I'm using SpeedFan which reports the CPU temperature of each of the two cores, but is not able to detect or interface with the Fans.
Has anyone had any luck with this?
Answer: Have you already tried SpeedFan 4.38 or higher?

4.38
   added full support for Windows 7 32 and 64 bit

Could not confirm MacBookPro support.
Comment: Yes. Using SpeedFan 4.38 already. No luck with that either. I believe its a chipset issue, but I might be wrong
Answer: most likely the reason why none of them apps will give you any info is because most unibody MacBooks do not have fans, and if you are using one with a fan, its fan will only run if the component that it is supposed to be cooling reaches a certain temperature. simple as that.
Answer: As nik pointed out, SpeedFan 4.38 is the best tool available to monitor temperature, but there is currently no tool available to monitor fan speed on the latest Macbook Pro Unibody machines in Windows
Answer: Try CPUID HWMonitor, in my experience it has much better support for various sensors compared to SpeedFan.


What is the difference between "opamp" and "comparator"?

Question: In electronic part seller websites, I see that there are two separate categories for opamps and comparators. As far as I know, an opamp itself is already a comparator if you don't connect a negative feed back and run it in the open loop mode. So, what are these "comparators" exactly? What makes them different than ordinary opamps? When should I prefer a comparator over an opamp?
Comment: My understanding was a comparator is sort of a yes/no voltage output device. Meaning you output one value or another based on a comparison. Whereas an op-amp is used for several other applications like buffers, inverters, amplifiers, etc. I found this article which goes into greater detail (http://encon.fke.utm.my/nikd/latest/sloa067.pdf).  Did you have a questions more beyond the scope of that article?
Answer: Opamps are optimized for linear operation, in which the voltage difference between the input terminals is kept very small via feedback. As a consequence, the performance when using them in a nonlinear or open-loop application tends to be poor. In particular, charge storage on internal nodes tends to cause opamps to respond very slowly when coming out of an "input saturated" condition.
On the other hand, comparators are optimized for speed at the expense of linearity, and are designed specifically to be fast over a wide range of differential input voltages.


There is a quick and/or accurate way to kill a crystal lizard in Demon's Souls?

Question: After the fifth lizard I missed to kill, I was wondering: there is a weapon which is the best to do this? All blade weapons don't hurt it because is too short and don't hit it. The crossbow is difficult to aim in close quarters. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.
Answer: I've been using a few methods:

Fire Spray
Sword (usually my Crescent Falchion)
Arrows

But since obtaining the Firestorm spell I've been using that with much more success (though still not a perfect record).
Which method I use depends on the circumstances though:

I use Fire Spray if the crystal lizard is alone and I can afford to chase it (ie. it won't suicide off a cliff to escape you, or it can't get there in time).
I've used a sword for lizards I can corner. Sometimes they are too low to hit though and get away anyway. (Firestorm works better in these circumstances - run the lizard into a corner and then blast him with the spell.)
I use arrows on lizards I don't want to or can't chase. It helps if you have a decent bow so you can kill it with less arrows. (I'm using a Sticky Compound Short Bow +5.) Use the zoom feature to shoot further and more accurately. (Don't use the crossbow - it does not have the zoom feature!)

If you don't have the necessary equipment to easily and quickly kill crystal lizards, I recommend avoiding them until you do. Some lizards are not easily avoided, but many are. Don't try killing them with sub-standard equipment - their drops are too valuable to gamble with.
I'd also recommend manipulating the world into Pure Black World Tendency before finally killing the lizards, to give you a better chance of rare drops.
EDIT: One more handy tip I can give you:
Crystal lizards have a spawn count, which is well described here.
If you have just hunted a lizard (successful or not), you can force a respawn of the lizard by reloading your game (using Load Game from the menu). If the lizard's spawn count has not already reached zero, the lizard will respawn, but the other enemies will not. Use this feature to position yourself and farm the lizards until they no longer appear.
Be aware though that in the final area of a level (where you fight the archdemon), your load position will be at the archstone, not at your previous position.
Answer: You should probably mention your build, so we know which skills you have a your disposal. As I recall, God's Wrath, maybe Firestorm, are quite effective, but you may not have those spells.
The unofficial wiki has a slew of tips for you.
Answer: If you can get a solid hit, it will usually flip on it's back. You can usually wait until it's just flipping back over and hit it again.


How can I open or export a abcddb file in Windows 7 Excel?

Question: I have a file in the abcddb format. This file was saved on a Mac. I am trying to open in Windows 7 in either Excel or Access. How can I do this?
Answer: The file is actually an SQLite 3 datafile.
The closest match would be Access, but it will not open the file as such. You will have to install an ODBC connector, set up a connection and open each table. Not trivial, I am afraid, but doable.
Check http://www.ch-werner.de/sqliteodbc/ for an SQLite ODBC connector. Note: some antivirus show a heuristics alert for the executable, it is probably safe.
Command line:
If you have access to the sqlite3 command line tool (comes standard in OS X), you can list the tables (there are 24) with
echo .tables | sqlite3 file.abcddb

and you can export each table to CSV with
sqlite3 -csv -header file.abcddb "SELECT * FROM TABLE;" > TABLE.csv

and open it with Excel or Access.
Of course, you can "play" with SQL SELECTs. A CSV list of Name, Surname, Phone (with a line for each phone number, hence possibly more than a line for each person) can be got with:
sqlite3 -csv -header file.abcddb "SELECT ZABCDRECORD.ZFIRSTNAME AS 'First Name', ZABCDRECORD.ZLASTNAME AS 'Last Name', ZABCDPHONENUMBER.ZFULLNUMBER AS 'Phone' FROM ZABCDRECORD INNER JOIN ZABCDPHONENUMBER ON ZABCDPHONENUMBER.ZOWNER = ZABCDRECORD.Z_PK;" > telephones.csv

ZABCDRECORD is the "main" table with a row for each contact. But data that cn be multiple for each contact (phone numbers as above, email addresses, physical address, URLs...) is in separate tables, each containing a ZOWNER column that "points" to column Z_PK (autonumeric) in ZABCDRECORD (technically, they have it as a foreign key).
Alternative GUI software: you may download DB Browser for SQLite for OS X or Windows (PortableApps package available too for the later). Just open the file then use File->Export->Table(s) as CSV file.
Comment: That file has virus. Is it safe or not?
Comment: [Virustotal](https://www.virustotal.com/es/file/1753f49a2747a3044f1538441367c0bf987add02c061d880431ab367f64b284c/analysis/1458658796/) shows two _heuristics_ detections (antivirus sees strange code but does not recognize a known virus) for the SQLite ODBC connector. It is most probably safe as the other 54 antivirus do not detect anything, but to be in the safe side it is probably better to use another tool. I am going to add [DB Browser for SQLite](http://sqlitebrowser.org/) above.


Map of water taps to fill bottles

Question: Are there any maps of taps where I can fill my water bottles (bidons) on long rides. I live in Scotland, but would be glad to learn of the existence of such resources worldwide.
Comment: Related on [travel.se]: [Where to find public water taps in the Netherlands?](https://travel.stackexchange.com/q/36473/3221)
Comment: Also living in Scotland I can totally see where you are coming from.  Cafe's don't seem to be as wide spread as in other countries, and in more remote regions, the presence of a shop doesn't necessarily mean its open.
Comment: "Local knowledge" is about the only answer.  I've recently found a fountain behind a cafe, that I didn't know existed for years.
Comment: Yes. I cycled 70 miles to a bike-friendly cafe yesterday. It was closed.
Comment: Personally if in rural Scotland I would be happy filling from a stream direct to the bottle.  There tend to be plenty of streams and the water is generally very pure.
Answer: Openstreetmap with the cycle layer certainly shows some. Here's one
I was very grateful for in the French Alps.  OSM is not complete but it's open source so you can improve it (I haven't added any taps, but I have added bike parking).  This is a good approach, as it also shows cafes and shops where you should be able to buy water if there's no tap (flipping between the "standard" and "cycling" layers can show more facilities).
In the UK, the cafes on Cafe Network will almost all be very willing to fill bottles for customers - I normally plan on a cafe stop every few hours and take the opportunity then.  Pubs and coffee shops generally will too. Some chain fast food places won't - they say they can't. This is problematic late at night when nowhere else is open.
A possible fallback in the UK is churchyards - there's generally a tap outside, but no guarantee the pipes aren't lead.
It's possible to query OpenStreetMap for drinking water by modifying the following link to give an appropriate bounding box (the last 4 comma-separated numbers):
https://tools.wmflabs.org/query2map/featurelist.php?key=amenity&value=drinking_water&types=points-areas-infos&BBOX=-2.9914,51.5871,-1.32,50.81
changing value=drinking_water to value=water_point returns some more (e.g. next to canals, for filling boat tanks).
Of course some are on private land.  I've seen campsites and schools showing all their water points.  But that's fairly obvious from zooming in.  The bigger downside is that many are missing.
Comment: In fact reviewing OSM for this prompted me to add a missing cafe on the same ride I stopped at that spring/fountain/tap
Answer: In the USA free tap water is virtually universal, and I was able to fill up my water bottles at any fast food restaurant and convenience store I stopped at, all over the country. A switch on most restaurant soda fountains will dispense plain tap water. I also filled up at local parks and roadside rest areas.
Comment: We've had issues round here with 24 hour McDonald's saying they can't - it's good to hear that's not the case everywhere.
Comment: @alephzero And these "obvious food hygiene issues" magically disappear if the drinks dispenser is on the public side of the counter. Weird, huh? And, even in the UK, the drinks dispenser isn't in the kitchen; it's in the counter area, where it's handled by staff who've been handling coins all day. Coins are _filthy_.
Comment: @ChrisH In that case, "can't" clearly means "won't". The US has two big advantages in this regard: building codes typically require water fountains in areas that are for public use, and free refills in fast food places mean that the dispensers are usually in the customer area, rather than behind the counter.
Comment: @DavidRicherby of course, but after riding all day reasoning with some poor kid on minimum wage in McDonald's is beyond me (and pointless). It's acceptance or getting grumpy.
Comment: @DavidRicherby There are obvious food hygiene issues if a container "of unknown provenance" has to be taken into the "kitchen area" to be filled. AFAIK in the UK pubs (and probably restaurants) are legally required to *serve* plain water to customers, but not required to provide the customers direct uncontrolled access to it.
Comment: @alephzero I looked into this recently.  It's places that serve alcohol (and yes, only required to serve it to customers.  The last cafe I stopped in filled a bottle for me.  the one a couple of hours before that let me go behind the counter to fill my own because the tap was obvious and it was busy.  A few pubs will fill a pint glass rather than a water bottle - but decanting is easy
Answer: In the UK, we used to pay tax for public services, now everything has been privatised but we still pay loads of tax. There was a time when most railway stations, bus stations, high streets all had drinking fountains. All of these have been removed, for people to buy plastic water and then throw in landfill. I had thought at one point the access to free clean drinking water was a defining mark of a civilised nation.
On a less pessimistic note, using a map to find water courses, coupled with a handheld water filter, or bottle filter should see you right somewhere like Scotland. They are surprisingly affordable, and some claim to remove 99.99% of bad stuff, seen inline filters for drinking bladders.
Comment: You're absolutely correct, but this doesn't address OP's question, (unless time-travel is the underlying answer.)   I'm going to edit your comment into the answer to make it more useful.
Comment: I am tempted to down vote as its not an answer, but a rant this good gets +1 from me :)

Map of water taps to fill bottles


RC Helicopter Connect with computer

Question: I am planing to control my RC helicopter with my computer. I have experience of programming in .Net. Could we use .Net to control RC helicopter?
From where can I start this project?
Comment: Not an answer, but this may be of interest: [Computer control of RC helicopter](http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/14242/computer-control-of-rc-helicopter)
Comment: Yes, as Tut points out, you can control a helicopter from a computer. However to offer any other assistance you really need to ask a more specific question. It helps to discuss what you have tried and what specific problem(s) you need assitasnce with. As it is currently formulated your question will probably be closed as being too broad.
Answer: Yes you can do it and there are a number of different ways
as far as the language you choose its your choice because you can manipulate serial ports with any language. Think of an RC Heli as another computer. What comes to mind is you just need a medium for communication. Choosing what medium of course depends on how much data you want to send and receive and what range you want.
Example:
Bluetooth: if you need only few meters range and small amount of data
RC Transmitter Another way is to connect the RC transmitter to your computer directly. See this blog Post
Wifi can also be used to communicate see this Post
If you need more help give more details what you intend to do.
Answer: You can use onboard microcontroller like FEZ cerb40 which you can program using .NET micro framework. You can use this to control servo and ESC. You can use Xbee or any similar wireless serial communication system to receive commands from your computer using serial terminal program.
Answer: Waqas, your question is a little vague. So the simple answer is of course why not. But do consider the following:
What type of RC helicopter is it?
RC helicopters come in many shape and sizes, and they require special mixing for each type. For example a collective pitch/roll helicopter uses different mixing than a non collective type RC. So given this you will have to think about how many different types do you wish to support.
In some cases the mixing is done onboard the helicopters most commonly known as FlightControllers(FC). At the same time some advanced Transmitters also do certain pre-mixing before sending commands to the FC.
How do I connect to it?
Again the possibilities here are endless. You can tether to it from your laptop, but then you are limited to how far it can go. How about instead you use an onboard controller which you can control using WiFi or bluetooth, try http://www.buildyourowndrone.co.uk/ArduPilot-Mega-s/36.htm. You could build a program to send commands to your ArduPilot over UDP.
How do I start tinkering?

Try maybe starting small, try controlling and RC car, trust me it is a lot easier to get past the initial problems, and you will experience the problems in easier dimensions.
See which parts you can pull out and replace with your application

Try to turn you PC into a transmitter

When ready replace the Car with the Helicopter
If you wish try replacing the FC onboard the Helicopter with your custom version should you choose to.

I am for learning actually doing something similar, by building an onboard framework use to control many types of RC vehicle http://dashee.co.uk. This is very much a work in progress, so I recommend you use ArduPilot to control an RC over Radio/Wifi using your .NET program.
Answer: I've done a similar project before where I wrote the control program with .Net.
I think the first step is deciding how much of a role do you want the computer to play in controlling the helicopter.  If you want the helicopter to be rather autonomous and simply receive commands from the computer but decide how to execute those commands you will likely need to use a microcontroller on-board the helicopter.
If you want to control everything via transmitting sensor data from the helicopter and then having the computer do all the control, you won't need as much hardware on the helicopter itself. You will just need a wireless data link.
When I worked on my project, I used the first architecture because I didn't want loss of communication with the computer to result in a total loss of control.
Do you have microcontroller or assembly language experience?

RC Helicopter Connect with computer


Does the Spotify web player (play.spotify.com) user peer-to-peer connections?

Question: Does the spotify web player (play.spotify.com) use p2p transfers to supplement the bandwidth available for streaming directly from their own servers? I know their software client used to do that but I wasn't sure about the online version.
Answer: According to this, No (but would be yes for the desktop version).


How to make a confinement situation interesting without railroading players?

Question: There are many scenarios where players will be confined for a period of time in a location: Prison, castle under siege, mega dungeon adventure (like Undermountain) or a labyrinth. I'd like to play the Renraku Arcology Shutdown scenario of Shadowrun (but in 2072) and I don't want them to be able to simply blow a window and escape but I don't want them to feel railroaded and whatever they do they won't be able to simply walk out. Of course the party goal will be to exit so how can I let them do that but over at least a couple of game sessions?
Comment: If you can't make being stuck in Undermountain eventful, I cannot help you. ;)
Comment: I don't wanna burn a whole answer on this, but have you considered adding secondary objectives that delay their escape - like rescuing a contact or loved one?
Comment: Not worth an answer in its own right, but my advice would be to give them a really good reason to want to stay.
Comment: Just a side note: most of the time railroading is a _feeling_. There are techniques to make a static story feel responsive and vice versa.
Comment: If the prisoners can escape blowing a window, the prison is not very save, is it? I'd have a harder time figuring out how to make escape possible than how to make not too easier.
Answer: It's OK to confine your players, and it's OK to have in place things that will thwart the easy outs that would be boring for everyone involved.  The point where it will start feeling like railroading is when either A) The reasons why escape methods X, Y, and Z don't work don't make sense or B) The rules keep changing, specifically to thwart ideas that would in fact work otherwise.
Now, this doesn't mean that you have to explain every facet of your reasons in case A, or that you can't adjust on the fly sections you haven't fully defined.  It's a matter of player perception.  By placing the players in this confinement and making leaving a goal, you've presented your players with a challenge.  Like any combat or social encounter there are knowns to factor in and unknowns to discover, but the players will expect that the same social contract that applies in the previous two applies here.
The key lies in not punishing players for solving the challenge in the "wrong" way.  If you have a reason you want them in this confinement for a period of time then relying only on escape is a dangerous proposition.  I'd give them some interesting sub-goals to discover while inside so that it's the players' choice to stick around, and not some feeling of arbitrary content consumption time.  Either way just in case I'd prepare to handle a situation where the players escape and choose not to follow any of the hooks.
All in all, make it as confining and effective as you like.  So long as to the players' view it stays internally consistent and non-arbitrary, and interesting beyond just waiting for the GM to let you out, you should be fine.
(Note that as with all guidelines, selectively breaking them can be done effectively, it just takes work.  For instance, the prison of a reality warper is unlikely to stay internally consistent)
Comment: A side note: don't let there be only one way out of a confinement situation, as this has the same effect as punishing a "wrong" solution.
Answer: Essential

have interesting things to do while confined
have choices of what to do while confined.
telescope time in confinement as long as players want.
remember that no GM's list of the ways out should ever be exhaustive
remember that confinement is a normal tool of dungeon crawls.

Useful

have a reason they want to get out (or to stay in)
have some clues for a good way to get out
have multiple ways out allowed for
have a good reason they have been confined

Interesting things to do
Any place with interesting things for characters to do is a good place for adventure. This can include people to interact with, things to make, and information to share.
Choices to make
All the interesting feels railroaded if there's only one path. Therefore, let the players make choices.
Likewise, if the choices all lead the same place, players tend to catch on... and then get upset. So, make certain the choices are meaningful.
This means also not letting the players notice the rails.
Telescoping Time
If they want to hide in their cells for a week, fine, let them. Narrate the routine they notice.
Likewise, if work is a major part of that prison's environment, no need to dwell on the work. Roll for interesting discussion partners, but generally, reduce work to, "you spend the next 8 hours hacking at the mine walls with picks."
The list isn't exhaustive
As a GM, you are not going to have a complete lis of every way in or out, nor every possible circumvention of the defenses.
So, if they come up with something new, run with it. If it makes sense, let it work.
Confinement is Normal
Classic D&D Dungeons are a clear case of a railroad with choices that matter... each hall is a chunk of rail, and each room and junction a meaningful choice.
Give them a reason to get out (or stay in)
If you want them to engage with the prison itself, give them either a strong reason to leave, or a strong reason to stay and play within.
But, by the same token, if they want to just do the time and get out, don't take it personally... resolve a few "encounters" per month, and let it go by.
Give them clues & Multiple ways out.
If you want them to engage in an attempt to escape, you need to provide the clues for at least two different methods out. Let the players work on a plan. Let them slowly build a reasonable map. Give them the tools to make it out alive, but also let them know what the hazards are.
And whatever you do, if they try the brute force method, remember that it's Okay to kill PC's who do stupid.
Further, remember: a well clued set of 2+ ways to escape means at least one meaningful choice: which way to go. Make certain that the various ways have different risk levels.
Have a reason they're in there
Confinement as a deus ex machina event is bad. Confinement that makes story sense is not bad, but might not be good, either.
Confinement for reasons the players can see coming really does make the confinement itself more enjoyable.
Even if the reason they're there is wrong, it needs to be plausible. So, if locked up for a murder they didn't commit, it needs to have been plausible that they could have...
... unless it's an obvious frame-job. But then the frame is the reason they're in, and it needs to have a reason.
Comment: I'd add a note to the choices section. Consider also the choices the player makes that you didn't think in advance. It's harder than it sounds. Let them a chance of success, even if it doesn't sound to you the more logical choice (sometimes players won't consider logical the choices you thought). Reward the initiative giving their plans that chance of success.
Answer: Here are the big issues I see with getting locked into a prison in a game like DnD or Pathfinder:

How did they get locked in in the first place? If that's how the campaign starts, that's just about the only way you can justify it to some people. Otherwise, if your party lost a fight, they're going to be sore about losing the fight (insert "that fight was way over our level" grumble here). If it wasn't due to a fight, what happened? Did the party RP their way into the dungeon? Or did you* kind of railroad them into this situation in order to "advance the story"? If players are convinced they could have avoided this situation "if only", chances are good that they're not going to like it.
As a corollary to that first point, it is my experience that players really don't like to lose their stuff. Especially if some of their stuff isn't obviously going to help them get out of a predicament. Sure, you can justify taking their swords and backpacks and so on, but if you're going to confiscate their Ring of Invisibility, you need to play that out and not just drop it in in the middle of their efforts to get out. It will feel like a reverse deus ex machina because in many ways it will be a reverse deus ex machina.
Once they're in, a lot of players do like to react to a situation with a sense of agency. I know that any time I play a game and the DM even does something like put us in a tavern, I'm going to RP my player no matter how he wants to actually introduce the story. If I'm playing a teetotaling cleric, my character might stand on one of the tables and decry alcoholism (a pretty inane thing to do in medieval times, but still). I've been in plenty of "you're in a tavern" situations where guys start a brawl just because, well, brawls are fun.
What am I getting at here? If you put your players in a static situation, do not expect them to react in a static fashion. Either get them out of that jail cell quick or expect them to respond to your "you are locked up for several months" with "okay, on Day 1 I will..." and so on.
Incarceration was not a very commonly used punishment in medieval times. More often than not, if you were locked away somewhere, it was because you got on the bad side of somebody powerful but it's not politically expedient to just kill you off. Or you are awaiting execution. Or you got on the wrong side of someone and they want to torture you until you confess to something. Any way you slice it, the practice of just locking someone up for some long period of time is actually fairly new, coming along with the "penitentiary" system of punishment around the late 18th century.
What's the point of having them locked up, and given the misgivings centered around getting locked away in a game, is there a way you can accomplish this some other way? If you need to get them out of the way while the evil duke ransacks the land and the local princess, you can just as easily do that by sending the PCs off to a remote dragon-filled island or something. If the point is to get the players angry at a particular NPC... well, it's my experience that players will get mad at NPCs for some pretty mundane, non-prisony reasons. If it's because it would be cool to have your party try to exit out of a dungeon in reverse... well, that's where you simply present them with the situation and let them get out of it any way they can think of.

*The editorial you here; I am not accusing the OP of anything!
Answer: Specifically:
Make sure they don't have obvious easy tools to escape. In this case, do not let them have rope on them and make sure they are too high in the air to take the fall.
Generally:
Try to consider all the obvious ways to escape the situation with ease. Eliminate those somehow. If they find a way around your plans. YAY! They are smart and should be rewarded.
Comment: +1. It's not railroading. Prisons should not have obvious escapes. Unless their captors are idiots.
Answer: Simple answer:
Make the environment just outside of the prison incredibly inhospitable. The goal wouldn't be to escape the building so much as it would be to secure transport/get to a teleporter/however the prison is accessed. Then, they can leave the prison however they find a way - the building at least. It could even be a part of the adventure, fights on the rooftops and all that.
Examples:

Take a hint from FF8 and put the prison on shifting elevations in a desert.
Place the entire thing on an island, à la Alcatraz.
The air outside of the complex is hazardous without oxygen tanks.
Huge, horrible predators scour the landscape and are visible from inmate's cells.

Complicated answer:
If escape is the first priority, count on them to find a way around a great many obstacles, in which you'll have the choice but to limit their creativity (read here as railroad) on the fly - if you want to stop them from escaping. However, if escape is secondary to acquiring gas masks from the guards' locker room or accessing a central control panel to unlock the route to the necessary seafaring ships, escape becomes secondary to the primary concern of getting the means of escape.
By complicating their escape via adding prerequisites to the escape plan, you not only give room for a couple sessions but also make their escape that much more spectacular. "We jumped the collapsing bridge as guards waylaid us with gunfire" appeals more than "after we tripped the alarm there was enough chaos for us to slip through the service door," at least to my players and I. Then it doesn't have to be railroading. If they find a way around the requirement then they did, but at least it won't be as simple as kicking down the right door (hopefully).
Answer: In D&D, I once constructed a 'reverse dungeon' where players are captured in an ambush by an orc kidnapping ring and inserted into a dungeon at their lair's lowest level.  The idea was for players to improvise their own escape from the cell block and move up the dungeon levels ultimately reacquiring their possessions, gaining new treasure, rescuing fellow prisoners, and gaining revenge.
What Worked
This was a very detailed, and well planned adventure, particularly the cell block.  There were conceivably many ways to escape.  The individual cells all contained unique exploitable weaknesses, the orc guards were on the edge of mutiny, fellow NPC prisoners could be organized, shivs and other weapons could be made, and PC's had a chance to hide some of their smaller items before capture.  I thought it was key that all PC's had a lot to do (not just thieves) AND that there was more than 1 correct answer to the question of escape.
What Didn't Work
I ran this adventure three times.  Two groups loved it, the third despised it - when they were captured, some players actually stood up and walked out of the room (a first for me).  There were two issues.
As mentioned by John Craven above, the players hated the ambush nature of being captured, feeling railroaded.  An improvement would be to present the PC's with a high risk choice to make with a big reward.  If they failed, then they were captured.  This would make players feel more in control of their fate, even if it was a bad fate.  GM's need to put as much thinking into how to run the PC's capture as their confinement.
The second issue was that the third player group was just never gonna dig this kind of adventure anyway.  That group was pretty tame and uncreative.  Every time my campaign presented them with something other than - open door, kill monster, collect treasure, open next door - they'd complain.  The point here is know thy players.  If you want to try something new, make sure your group wants something new.


Is there a way to completely remove the breadcrumbs in the Control Panel?

Question: I'm trying to make the Control Panel as stripped down as possible for clients who get confused easily. Is there a way to completely remove the breadcrumbs from the Control Panel? I see various add-ons to manage breadcrumbs, but I don't see a way to completely remove them. I'm using Zoo Admin for my custom menu, but one of my clients gets confused when they see the breadcrumbs below the menu.
Answer: Well, there's a few ways to go about it. First, the easier way, is to see if you can find a Control Panel theme that better matches what you're looking to do.
https://devot-ee.com/search/results?keywords=theme&addon_version_support=ee2
Search around, perhaps there's already a nice simple theme that will work for you. If not, the better answer is to create you're own theme.
https://ellislab.com/expressionengine/user-guide/development/cp_styles/#customizing-the-control-panel-theme
And finally, the less than smart answer; just hide the control by editing a core _shared file. You want to edit this file system/expressionengine/views/_shared/breadcrumps.php and go ahead and add this HTML attribute to the div with id="breadCrumb":
style="visibility: hidden;"

Comment: Highly recommend you do NOT modify the core file breadcrumbs.php as this will get overwritten on EE update.
Answer: Install Control Panel CSS/JS add-on.
Then add the following CSS:
#breadCrumb { display:none; }

Or for slightly better result:
#breadCrumb { height:22px; }
#breadCrumb ol { display:none; }


Laptop to TV connectivity

Question: How do you you get signal from HPdv7 laptop to TV (Sony Bravia).  I connected HDMI between both, but no computer signal - just TV shows.  It worked for me instantly with a different TV.
Comment: You tried pushing the "Input" button, right?
Answer: Right click the desktop > Screen Resolution and click Detect..
If your tv is listed but grayed out select it and choose to extend your display onto the tv.
Set the resolution and also choose to mirror the display if you want to.
Here's a screenshot of a screen with more than one display:

You can also press Win + P to manage display connectivity.

Laptop to TV connectivity


Why did a witcher help a queen fight humans?

Question: In Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales, Geralt helped Meve, the queen of Lyria and Rivia, to fight the Nilfgaardians. I expect witchers tend to be neutral in wars and don't kill humans unless humans want to kill witchers (except for witchers from some schools such as Viper or Cat). Witchers are trained to slay monsters, not humans. Besides, nobody asked Geralt to help Meve although she was outnumbered by the blackclad army. So, why did he help her?
Comment: Well, Geralt and co. did help Meve in this bridge fighting in "Baptism of Fire". Dunno how it's in game, but what you say seems similar.
Comment: Just played the game and I can see how confusing that part must seem if you haven't read/remember the books. Geralt and Cahir literally appear out of nowhere, with no explanation. I posted an answer with details.
Answer: They tried to avoid the fight, but couldn't. Then fought because they didn't have any other option and couldn't abandon Milva, who was wounded. To quote Geralt (from Baptism of Fire):

"I don't give a shit about this war", the Witcher said, grinding his teeth. "This is about Milva"

The game is mostly in line with the books here.
Meve's guerilla army was fleeing from the Nilfgaard army chasing them, on the Nilfgaardian bank of the Yaruga, near Ysgith.
Geralt's party had heard that there were Lyrian partisans in the area, but also Nilfgaardians. The party had decided to cross the river using a ferry, to avoid getting tangled up in the conflict. Instead, they end up doing the opposite.
In the game there is a barge, on Meve's side on the river, which the Lyrians find stolen. This goes somewhat against the books - in the books, Geralt's party is crossing the river on a rope ferry heading towards Meve. But as they are half-ways across, they spot the Lyrians fleeing from Nilfgaard. The Lyrians had probably hoped to use the ferry - they desperately try to catch it in order to get the Queen to safety. When Geralt's party refuse to cross the river to meet them and instead cut the ropes of the ferry, the Lyrians even fire arrows at them.
So instead of crossing, Geralt's party fight the current and keep the ferry to the middle of the river. Meanwhile, Nilfgaard troops arrive on the the bank Geralt's party came from, also starting to shoot at the ferry. This time Milva returns the fire and kills several, including a Nilfgaard officer. So now both sides want them dead. They keep the ferry in the middle of the river, avoiding both sides.
It turns out that Nilfgaard had laid a trap for Meve, with troops of both sides of the river. So accidentally, Geralt's party actually saved Meve from that trap.
Down the river, Geralt's party comes to a shallow bridge which the ferry can't cross. At the same time, Meve's troops has made it for that bridge, hoping to cross it to escape. But once on the bridge the Lyrians are trapped between the two Nilfgaard forces.
The ferry gets stuck at the bridge and Milva gets shot by an arrow - she was pregnant and is miscarrying, so Regis has to tend to her right there below the bridge.
Cahir, who is an officer, comes up with the idea to rally various Lyrians fleeing across the bridge, to strike back. Geralt and Cahir fights together with the Lyrians in order to save themselves and Milva.
In the game as in the books, Geralt and Cahir appears out of nowhere without explanation, saving the day. Meve doesn't realize that Geralt's party was the same one that was on the ferry. Which we can tell from Count Odo, when he is speaking to Geralt (from Baptism of Fire):

And you saved her and our corps. After some traitors had captured and hijacked the ferryboat, that bridge became our only hope
Comment: Its also worth to point, that Meve wasn't very keen on letting Geralt and Cahir go - former is a skilled fighter, latter an experienced officer and she is in a desperate need for both.
Answer: It wasn't a political decision - Geralt and his crew were looking for Ciri, they needed to get around the Nilfgaardian army, they accidentally stole Meve's boats, and ended up right in the thick of the battle. Geralt continued to fight because he thought the battle was his baptism of fire (found here)
Comment: "Geralt continued to fight because he thought the battle was his baptism of fire" Well, not really... he continued to fight in order to save his friends. Reddit isn't the best of sources :)


HP Pavillion laptop won't start up at all

Question: I last used my HP laptop a month ago. Today I plugged it in and as soon as I pushed the power button it comes on for 1 second and then shuts off. The power adaptor is fine and providing power.
Answer: Another problem that could exist, might be that the BIOS has become corrupted. Do the caps lock and num lock lights flash. If so, count the number of flashes before pausing. Then search HP's website for flash/beep codes. This can also help you to determine if the problem exists somewhere else in the PC, such as the hard drive or RAM. However if it is indeed the BIOS, this too can be fixed using a USB floppy disk drive and a floppy with the BIOS recovery software, which is relatively easy to find.
If your laptop does not have these flashing lights or beeps, the problem could be in the battery and/or power supply. Try taking the battery off and plug in the power supply, then power it on. If the problem persists, it is likely the power supply. If not... the battery is probably shorted.
Answer: My wife's laptop had the same issue recently.  Open it up, find each and every connection in there (cables, RAM, cards, etc.) pull it out, and put it straight back in.  Because computers regularly heat and cool, the plugs can work themselves loose.  Leaving the computer in direct sunlight could cause the same issue.
Answer: Remove the power cord and battery so the computer is completely disconnected from power (except for the BIOS battery), then hold the power button down for a couple minutes and reconnect everything and see if it works then.


Import multiple excel spreadsheets to sharepoint 2010 lists

Question: I have a user asking if its possible to import an excel file with multiple spreadsheets to a SharePoint 2010 solution? Each spreadsheet should be turned into one list.
It is an autogenerated excel file with 10-15 spreadsheets, and today they have to save each spreadsheet as a new excel file and import the files one by one which is very time consuming.
Is there any easier solution without the need of coding?
Thank you!
Comment: There might be a third party add-on that can do this for you. I don't know of any way you could do this out of the box without code.
Answer: There are two ways (apart from .NET code) how to import spreadsheets into SharePoint using PowerShell. If, of course, PowerShell doesn't mean coding for you:

Convert each sheet into separate CSV file and use a PS script similar to this one:

<code>$InvFile="file.csv"
$FileExists = (Test-Path $InvFile -PathType Leaf)
if ($FileExists) {
  $tblData = import-csv $InvFile

  foreach ($row in $tblData) {
      $columnValue = $row."Project Code".ToString()
  }
}
</code>

Use Excel com object to open the spreadsheet. This will require Excel installed on the computer you are running the script on:

<code>$FilePath = "C:\file.xlsx"
 $SheetName = "BuildSpecs"
 $objExcel = New-Object -ComObject Excel.Application
 $objExcel.Visible = $false
 $WorkBook = $objExcel.Workbooks.Open($FilePath)
 $WorkSheet = $WorkBook.sheets.item($SheetName)</code>
and then get the data by using:
<code> $worksheet.Range("C3").Text $worksheet.Range("C3:C3").Text
 $worksheet.Range("C3","C3").Text $worksheet.cells.Item(3, 3).text
 $worksheet.cells.Item(3, 3).value2
 $worksheet.Columns.Item(3).Rows.Item(3).Text
 $worksheet.Rows.Item(3).Columns.Item(3).Text
 $worksheet.UsedRange.Range("c3").Text
</code>
There are plenty of tutorials on the web how to open lists and add new items in PowerShell. For example here.
Hope this helps.


What port does OpenLink ODBC Driver use?

Question: I use Avaya Reporting Services and OpenLink ODBC Drivers for db connection. I know that it uses port 5000 for handshaking but after that I believe it uses an random port for communication. I want to deploy my application and it will communicate with the client's system in their datacenter. They are asking what ports should they open on their firewalls. I can't obviously give them a range above 50,000 that I know OpenLink ODBC Drivers use. Can someone tell me what port should I tell my client to open?
Answer: Does the server that will be communicating to your client with the OpenLink ODBC driver have a static IP? If you can't nail down a specific port, you might be able to solve it by having your client allow a range of ports only from your IP address. It's still a range, but significantly more secure than opening up a range to all IPs.
Answer: You indicate the intention to deploy your own application, thus can you confirm if the OpenLink ODBC Driver in use was acquired from OpenLink Software directly or is this the OEM'ed OpenLink ODBC Driver shipped with the Avaya product ? I ask as the latter is only licensed for use with the Avaya CMS applications and not for any other applications, which would require the purchase of a separate ODBC Driver license from OpenLink Software ...
Best Regards
Hugh Williams
OpenLink Software
Answer: The OpenLink (my employer) Multi-Tier Generic Client initiates connections with a call to the server-side OpenLink Request Broker (oplrqb), which listens on port 5000 by default.
The Request Broker responds to the Client with information about the Database Agent which will handle that connection, including the Agent's service port.  By default, the Agent's service port is dynamically assigned by its host OS, and may be any from 5000-60000.
The Broker's listen port, and the port range for Agents, are configurable, in the server-side Broker Rulebook (oplrqb.ini).
Full documentation is accessible on the web, as are the OpenLink Support Forums, and Case System.


What kind of distance sensors should I use for outdoors applications?

Question: I want to measure two or more distances between two or more sensors and a truck-trailer front face in an outdoors (night/day, rain/shine) environment. I've been looking at the different types of sensors, but I still am having trouble deciding between ultrasonic, IR, lidar, and time of flight sensors. For example, I read that infrared sensors are not good in outdoor situations, but also read that you can find filters that will mitigate this problem. I want some tips or advice on which option I should lean towards for reliability and accuracy in an outdoors environment, at ranges of around 2-5 m. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
Answer: You can ideally use any or all the above mentioned sensors for the task you have in mind. Ultrasonics, RADAR and LiDAR are commonly used sensors for this purpose. Each sensor has its own merits and if you want to operate them in varying conditions you will have to account for sensor uncertainty. To be robust, you should use more than just the one sensor and run it through a kalman filter type estimator.


How do I adjust audio balance of my Android phone headphones out?

Question: My earphones are unbalanced - one  is louder than the other, so I need to adjust the sound volume balance to get it right.
How can I do it on Android?
Comment: It is Samsung Galaxy Ch@t GT-B5330 (Android 4.1.2). Rooted, yes. I just thought there is to be an official generic way to do such an essential thing like this.
Comment: Please provide more information! What phone do you use? Is the phone rooted?
Comment: Possible duplicate of [Altering left-right sound balance on Android 6.0.1](http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/151421/altering-left-right-sound-balance-on-android-6-0-1)
Answer: There is a possible quick solution, depending on the phone in consideration:
Go to Settings->Sound->Music Effects and depending on the phone, you may by default have an app that controls the music effects within which you should easily find your desired setting.
But if your phone is rooted, a more reliable solution would be to install the music effects app/driver:     Viper (basically a 3rd party audio driver for android) which can be  turned on or off at will.
The app, in addition to being able to fix an unbalanced stereo has a powerful and wide spectrum of amazing sound enhancement options which is a must have whether you have an unbalanced stereo or not!
In fact I can't enjoy music with it turned off anymore :( - - - - ;)
Comment: This is a bit old but for the record in response to @Ivan, you have to go to **Menu** -> **UI Settings** -> **Expert** for Viper to show you the setting to change the balance. You then have to scroll all the way down to **Master Gate (Limiter)** -> **Channel Pan** to change the balance. Unfortuntely, it only has a predefined list of ratios in increments of 0.1 which, in my case, it slightly inaccurate causing the audio to still be slightly unbalanced, but it's better than nothing. Sound like an issue to report to the developers :P
Comment: There is no such menu like "Music Effects" in my phone. I have also installed an app called "AudioManager" but can't find balance there either.
Comment: @Ivan Extended my solution in response to the extra information you provided.
Comment: So. It took some time but I have rooted the phone finally and installed Viper. So how do I use it to change balance? I can see equalizer and other stuff I don't think I need but no ballance so far...
Comment: There seems to be a working way without installing third party apps to do this. On a rooted phone, edit `/system/etc/mixer_paths.xml`, in `` edit or add ` `, changing the default 83 where needed. RX1 appears to be the left channel, RX2 the right one. Based on the [source file](https://android.googlesource.com/device/lge/hammerhead/+/kitkat-dev/mixer_paths.xml).
Comment: jaxrtech's comment must be added to the ansewer.
Answer: System > accessibility > Hearing
I am using LG G2
Comment: This isn't a stock Android feature unfortunately, so the Hearing controls aren't available on many (most?) phones.
Comment: Doesn't exist on my Razer Phone 2
Answer: Stock Android 10.
Settings -> Accessibility -> "Audio and On-Screen text"
There you have the option between Mono Audo and Audio balance.

Device: Google Pixel 2XL
Comment: All I can do is turn Mono on or off, there doesn't seem to be any other settings on my Razer Phone 2.
Comment: Depends on the version of android Pixel is stock android so can't comment on Razer.


K-means library for android

Question: I'm looking for android library to cluster location points in groups. I want to do it locally on android without internet and group in a way where distance between mean and every point in cluster aren't greater than 500m.
Is there a library for that?
Answer: There are a few options out there:
ELKI: https://elki-project.github.io/

pros:

very good for clustering and outlier detection
fast compared to others like Weka

cons:

not library - is a standalone application

If you need scalability, consider:
Mahout: http://mahout.apache.org/users/clustering/k-means-clustering.html

pros:

integrates with hadoop
scales beautifully

cons:

not very flexible
Comment: none of this solution will work on android as i see
Comment: @Kamil You could include the dependency in your gradle: compile group: 'de.lmu.ifi.dbs.elki', name: 'elki', version:'0.7.5'. A Gradle dependency is essentially equivalent to using a JAR file as the gradle will download the pre-compiled artifact. The dependency contributes all its classes to the build and will be be present in the final apk and work in an offline solution (note this increases the size of your apk if that matters to you). After you have the dependency, you can just follow the tutorials: https://elki-project.github.io/tutorial/same-size_k_means.
Comment: Additionally, if you don't want do not need a custom algorithm, you can just use the pure java api https://github.com/elki-project/elki/blob/master/addons/tutorial/src/main/java/tutorial/javaapi/PassingDataToELKI.java.

K-means library for android


How to encourage version control adoption

Question: I have recently started working in a team where there is no version control. Most of the team members are not used to any kind of version control. I've been using mercurial privately to track my work. I would like to encourage others to adopt it, and at the very least start to version their code as they develop changes. Can anyone give me advice on how I can encourage adoption of a distributed version control such as mercurial. Any advice on how to win people including managers to DVCS would be much appreciated.
Comment: Don't encourage it; demand it.
Comment: I'm with SnOrfus. There are some good answers here, but ultimately, if you don't get a positive reaction *immediately*, it's time to go. Like David Hammen, I'm speechless that in 2011 any developer is in a situation where they need to deal with an issue like this. Lack of version control is a dysfunction that is just not acceptable.
Comment: I would add an answer, but I can't. I am speechless (or rather, typeless). It's been almost 40 years since SCCS first appeared. Are there still organizations out there that don't use version control for anything but the simplest of projects? (Nowadays its the other extreme; some people have their home directory as a git repository.)
Comment: Sneak in one night and delete their hard drives. No, sorry. Temporary lapse of professionalism there.
Comment: The company I am with now consults with far larger companies than we are and I have yet to run into one that is using source control... After thinking about that statement, I can suddenly see why they needed someone else to fix their problem. The first thing we do usually is demand they set it up so we can use it to integrate and manage their changes and ours. As @SnOrfus stated, demand it. You can point to all the documentation that has it noted as a best practice as well.
Comment: I have to wonder what environment your team is working in that might make them so resistant to VCS?
Comment: I'm not speechless. I had to fight with some people *for years* to get them to use version control - and I was their *manager*!
Comment: @DJClayworth - great minds think alike.  I was going to suggest the exact same thing.
Answer: You need to make a case for the use of version control, and first try to sell it to your co-workers, and if that fails, up the chain to project leadership and higher.
To fellow software engineers, your case should be focused on how it saves time and headaches in the long run. Find times from your own past, or published stories (blogs, articles in magazines, white papers) on how the use of version control makes your life easier. If you've been burned by not having version control, make it personal. If your fellow developers have been in the same situation, they should see the light and how these tools can help them.
This is your best bet. Although I can't find the source(s) right now, I've read (in a couple of places) that the most effective changes to process comes from the developers, who have to deal with the changes. If you can get the developers on board, you achieve two things. First, you already have the buy-in from the people who will be impacted by the process change. Second, there is a group of people to convince management that this is a worthwhile effort and will improve the product and project.
However, if you can't get the support of the development team and you still feel incredibly strongly about deploying version control, then you can move up to management. But it becomes riskier if you are going solo, since you not only have to worry about selling the improvement, but also dealing with backlash from your colleagues.
To project, program, and organizational management, the case has to be on how deploying version control can save the organization time and money. The people at this level care about how much money the project is costing, where it stands compared to estimates, and so on. Look for white papers, books, articles, and other professional documents and publications that explain how deploying version control have saved other organizations time and money in the long run. You can also introduce a quality perspective here, if your organization is interested in software quality.
You specifically mentioned that you want to use a distributed version control system. Don't force that down the throat of the team or organization. Introduce them to version control and their options. Although you personally might prefer using a DVCS (like Mercurial), it might not be the best fit for your team and organization. Using a tool that's the wrong fit will only make matters worse through thrashing.
Also, be aware of the risks of introducing process late. Although the use of version control is a commonly accepted best practice, it might be too late to effectively introduce it on the current project without a huge risk to project completion. Instead, I would recommend a focus on improving the status quo for future projects and teams.
Also, this is a general approach that you can follow for carrying out any process or technology improvements.
Answer: The first question is: what do they do currently? Surely each developer doesn't have the source code stuck on his own box that he changes at will. Once you have the process they currently follow, you can suggest some tools that enhance this process - usually a SCM is ideal to help them with this, rather than make them follow a different process.
The main point here is, if they have a pseudo-SCM way of working, maybe storing the current version on a server somewhere, then you need to determine if a DVCS or a CVS is more appropriate, don;t try to sell them Mercurial if SVN is a better fit.
Answer: The quickest way is to convince management that it's needed.
Do some calculations:
Cost of version control software - free.
Cost of hardware to support repository - one server.
Cost of implementing software - a couple of man days for a small team, rising for larger teams.
Cost of not implementing version control:
Best case - days lost due to edits going missing, overwriting each others changes etc., bugs recurring and so on.
Worst case - however many man years of effort your team has expended so far.
This latter figure is the worst case scenario of you losing all your work due to server failure etc. but even the "best case" scenarios should bring home to them why it's needed. The cost of recurring bugs could be greater as it could lead to lost customers.
The development team should also understand these costs and given that most (if not all) version control software integrates seamlessly with IDEs these days they won't even notice it's there most of the time.
Comment: Cost of version control software is not free. The software itself is might be free (depending on your selection), but in an organization that has nothing, you need training for the engineers, you might need hardware for the repositories to reside on, and if the organization rolls it out to everyone, an increase in IT funding to support the new hardware and software requirements. Not to mention the high risk of deploying process late in a project.
Comment: @Thomas - hence my line about the cost of implementing it (which is probably an underestimate)
Comment: The edit makes it much better.
Answer: Management usually cares most about saving money. Emphasize how version control can benefit the team financially and you'll get their attention right away!
Comment: Management does, but it's always easier to get management's attention if you have a group of people saying something, rather than an individual.
Comment: @Thomas indeed, more voices create more noise and thus more likely to get managements attention
Answer: There is one aspect that other folks here haven't touched on that I think you've got in your corner - you're talking about distributed version control - by its very nature, you can sneak it into a de facto practice, one developer at a time.  With a stuffier version control, like what we use in my office (MS Visual SourceSafe), you'd have a hard time going up to the guy in the cube across from mine and selling him, one-on-one on the merits of version control.  However, with (any) DVCS, you can just say "hey, try this, and see if you like it.  I'll show you the ropes, and I'd be happy to answer any questions, walk you through, blah blah blah".  That way, you don't need a "process" from down on high, you can build a grassroots mandate, one person at a time.
Answer: Building on gbjbaanb's answer.
The key thing here is you should adapt the version control process to whatever existing process exists and show how it saves the rest of the team effort.
I personally favour Mercurial as well but I wouldn't necessarily want to foist it on people unaccustomed to version control because it is a little harder to comprehend than an old fashioned server based locking version control system.  That said if it's a true greenfields site it might be best to go the whole hog, skip the '80s & '90s and go with Mercurial.  I'd also look at some of the 3rd party software lifecycle stuff built around Mercurial - I'm sure there's one but its' name escapes me ;)
I'm guessing that you work for a small company & that you are relatively new to the team so it might be a hard sell - especially if the rest of the team is entrenched and has the trust of management.  Might be best to let them stuff something up badly then come to the rescue.  That doesn't mean sabotage, just wait for the inevitable.
Comment: Thanks for all your responses,can this question be made a community question? The powers that be are letting me give a brief talk/demo 15mins on how I have been using it. One hurdle is who uses it? Is it some shareware/bloatware off internet? I would like to calm fears by pointing to some well known companies who are using/supporting Mercurial(any DCVS) commercially. Could anyone help me cite some companies who make use of Hg? Or other well known product using it. There's resistance (unspoken-eyes glaze over) to open-source, some managers seem suspicious of software that they don't pay for.


Only allowing authenticated user on host to relay emails to external address in Exchange Server 2013

Question: I have an application running on a host which is configured to send emails using an exchange account (this account connects to Exchange server 2013). However, only emails destined for other internal exchange email addresses are sent and emails sent to an external address such firstname.lastname@example.com are denied with the Unable to relay message. I have read the following guide https://practical365.com/exchange-server/exchange-2013-configure-smtp-relay-connector/ but it mentions allowing Anonymous Users to relay emails to external addresses. What I want is to only allow the authenticated user on the host to send emails to external addresses and not anonymous users. How would one go about doing this?
Answer: Exchange is already setup to do this - that is what the Client Receive Connector is for. However the client receive connector uses TLS. Therefore if your application can use TLS, switch to the port on the Client Receive Connector and set the application to authenticate.
Otherwise just setup a new Receive Connector to listen to port 25. Configure the remote IP address to be the IP address of the host that needs to send email and copy the settings of the Client Receive Connector for everything else.
Answer: You may need to authenticate before you can send, if you are using SMTP directly.
If you are using MAPI/Outlook, you should be creating a new message in the "Outbox" and then "Submitting" the item so that Exchange can pick it up.


Pros, cons, & differences in investing in 401k vs. IRA?

Question: What are some of the pros, cons, and differences of investing in a 401k vs. investing in an IRA (either Roth IRA or regular)?
Answer: Pro 401K:
 -  Your employer will often match some % of your contributions
 -  You can contribute almost 4x as much per year to a 401k compared to an IRA. *
 -  Contributions comes out of your paycheck before you see it, so you are more likely to fund it even if you aren't a disciplined saver.
 - Although I don't advise it, you can borrow from your 401k for certain types of expenses. Not true with an IRA.
*Unless you happen to be considered an HCE (Highly Compensated Employee) then it gets tricky.
PRO IRA (Traditional):
 -  401K accounts tend to have much higher fees baked into the investments.
 -  You can contribute money from any source up to the limit, 401k has to come out of your paycheck.
 - With an IRA your investment options are much more expansive than the short list of funds the company usually provided in a 401K plan.
PRO ROTH (Both IRA/401K):
 - You pay the taxes now on the money you invest, and not on the much higher principal (and likely higher tax rate when you withdraw it)
Comment: I would also add that pro IRA and pro Roth are the fact that you have much more choices in investments and brokerages/mutual fund companies.  401ks are usually very limited on the choice and only one company.
Comment: @mpenrow - good point, I just added that.
Comment: Roth IRA also does not have minimum distribution requirements, IRA (and I think 401k) do.
Comment: The IRA allows for conversion to Roth any time, so in low income years for your family, you might consider the conversion.
Comment: Regarding the Roth allowing to withdraw  the money tax-free (once one's over 59.5-year-old): it might not be the case if you plan to live/retire outside the United States:  [Tax on money withdrawn from Roth 401(k) and Roth IRA when living outside the United States and over 59.5-year-old](https://money.stackexchange.com/q/86134/5656)
Answer: Someone else has explained the basics. Here's one more difference:
If you're in the 401(k) your company offers, they're probably going to have a limited selection of investments, and fees will eat into your returns. If you put money in an IRA, you can choose from a wide variety of providers and brokerages, and generally invest it in a lot more things (including individual stocks, bonds, options, futures, ETFs, and a wider variety of mutual funds). Most will charge commissions up-front to trade instead ($7-$10 or so is typical) but this is a one-time expense.
The ongoing fees can be a big deal. For instance, a typical small-cap fund from Fidelity (FSLCX) has an expense ratio of 1.25%. The Vanguard small-cap ETF (VB) has an expense ratio of 0.14%. If your company's 401(k) provider is Fidelity, though, you're stuck with the former. Those fees are based on your principal, too: the more money you have just sitting around, the more important this will be for you. Now, the two funds won't have exactly the same performance, but they're likely to be fairly similar. (And for reference, 1.25% is enough of a return to almost double your money in about 45 years.)
If you're only contributing a few hundred a month, the 401(k) is probably cheaper in the short term because you can avoid trading fees. If you're changing jobs, though, consider rolling over your old 401(k) account into an IRA instead of leaving it in place or moving it into your new plan.