Is Philosophy the source of all other fields of study?

Question: [CONTEXT]
I started a self-education plan to learn computer science from foundations. then, I found my self in need to learn electrical engineering, after that I understant that I should learn Physics -essentially Electromagnetism- the thing that requires mathematics -essentially Calculus (derivations, integrals..)-.. here I found myself in a really huge quantity of knowledge that makes me wondering about its foundations and I was truly surprised how much the foundations of maths are related to philosophy..
all this transitions are motivated by my desire of checking the foundations of any new discipline and this what guided me -obviously- to Philosophy..
[CONTEXT]
So, is philosophy the source or the foundation of all sciences.. what is the foundations of philosophy?.. can psychology explain to me how philosophizing is done?
Comment: NO. In ordr to build a bridge you have to know the relevant laws of physics and the rlevant mathematical techniques used to perform modelling and calculation. To do this, the philosophical foundations of math and physics are not necessary. If you are interested into "foundations", this is a discipline by its own.
Comment: If you try to learn from foundations you will never learn anything, foundations are used to collect and organize what you already know on some level. No wonder you are overwhelmed, you do not need electromagnetism, calculus or philosophy to start learning computer science. It is pretty autonomous and electronic implementation is incidental to what it is about. The more relevant "foundations" are logic and the theory of algorithms, but even those won't do you much good until you have a solid practical grasp on programming itself.
Comment: Also No, as per @MA above. In addition, you don't need physics, E&M, EE for computer science, but you definitely need some math (more modern algebra than calculus). Perhaps take a look at https://www.u-cursos.cl/ingenieria/2010/2/CC3102/1/material_docente/bajar?id_material=322214 (a .pdf of Papadimitriou's  book), and/or https://www.u-cursos.cl/ingenieria/2010/2/CC3102/1/material_docente/bajar?id_material=322208 (a .zip containing a .djvu of Sipser's book). These are both roughly junior/senior undergraduate level (for USA).
Comment: @Conifold  Actually my plan of learning is based on learning from Zero.. for example I am familliar with binary and javascript and some of php.. even python. what I'm trying is to start learning -for example learning computer science- from the point where we don't have a computer I mean from the first beginning.. I think this is good because it gives me full understanding of what I learn and how this science or discipline develops.
Comment: Already Plato realized that there is no learning from zero. A look at CS history may be helpful for motivation and ideas but do not expect the world from it. Nothing will give you "full understanding", and attempting it may just clutter your mind with irrelevant details. What is you *purpose* in learning computer science, is it for art's sake, as it were? Try to focus on some specific problem, or puzzle about it, something suited to *your* skillset, not zero, and keep it in the back of your head while reading up. It may help focus your efforts and help you organize and imprint what you learn.
Comment: @Conifold this it truly convinving, but often, I have a question of where this came from .. and its relationship with another concept for example. By the sequence of these questions it is true that I often find myself somewhat far away from what I want to learn.
Answer:
So, is philosophy the source or the foundation of all sciences.. what
  is the foundations of philosophy?.. can psychology explain to me how
  philosophizing is done?

You can find the following quote in the following link.
The quote:

One morning Sri Bhagavan quoted from a journal the following sentence:
  "Where psychology ends, philosophy begins" and added his own remark,
  "Where philosophy ends spirituality begins."

http://www.arunachala.org/newsletters/1992/jan-feb
This means, the subject itself is the foundation of philosophy.  When each subject ends, its philosophy begins.
Answer: Philosophy is traditionally considered as the "mother" of all other disciplines. It is also true that when you get deeply into the foundations of nearly any discipline, it begins to overlap with philosophy, which is why the doctorate for most disciplines is called the Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD).
The foundation of philosophy is the question "Why?"
Comment: you cleared the relation between philosophy and other disciplines fair enough. But your statement about the foundations of philosophy may make philosophic thinking necessarily a teleological thought.
Comment: I disagree. The foundation of Philosophy is: "What To Flag?"


Can an attacker sniff Mac addresses on a wifi?

Question: If an attacker turns on wifi but doesn't have the security key to connect to an access point in range, can he still sniff packets that travel between the access point and clients connected to the access point, and thus get the Mac addresses of the clients? If the access point is a public wifi and there is no security key but there is Mac filtering, does that make a difference?
Answer: An attacker can always determine the client's MAC address if they can sniff packets to or from the client.  This is true regardless of whether encryption is used or not.  The MAC address is in the outer encapsulation layer of the 802.11 packet, and there is no encryption applied to that level.  Here's a good link at Microsoft that lays out the packet encapsulation, including where encryption happens in 802.11.
This is kind of the expected result.  By definition, the physical and data link layer information has to be openly available to other network devices so that they all can figure out who's supposed to send what where.
Standard tools like Netstumbler will display MAC addresses for you.  Your followup question will be "But doesn't that make it trivial to bypass MAC address filtering as a security measure on the AP?"  And the answer is, yes.  Yes it does.
Answer: As @Gowenfawr has the answer nailed I'll just focus on that final bit of your question.
Mac filtering doesn't really make a difference if someone actually wants to connect.
All it is good for is stopping devices connecting automatically, which can sometimes help with load and contention, but really - do not rely on it for anything...you need stronger authentication, such as a security key or an end to end VPN.
Have a look at this CNN article about the Wifi network at Decon for some scary reading:-)
Answer: From the client definitely yes, an attacker can sniff packets. This is not dependent or related to the MAC address at all. The OSI model bi-furcates the physical access and makes it openly accessible, which means that this is possible. Said so, there are ways as well to bypass filtering for MAC addresses on different access points making it a little difficult to identify and work with from the attacker's perspective.


Why does logistic regression become unstable when classes are well-separated?

Question: Why is it that logistic regression becomes unstable when classes are well-separated? What does well-separated classes mean? I would really appreciate if someone can explain with an example.
Comment: I explain in detail, with a proof, here: http://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/224863/understanding-complete-separation-for-logistic-regression/224864#224864
Comment: And I also had some demo to explain the question: http://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/239928/is-there-any-intuitive-explanation-of-why-logistic-regression-will-not-work-for
Answer: It isn't correct that logistic regression in itself becomes unstable when there are separation.  Separation means that there are some variables which are very good predictors, which is good, or, separation may be an artifact of too few observations/too many variables.  If that is the case, the solution might be to get more data.  But separation itself, then, is only a symptom, and not a problem in itself.
So there are really different cases to be treated. First, what is the goal of the analysis? If the final result of the analysis is some classification of cases, separation is no problem at all, it really means that there are very good variables giving very good classification.  But if the goal is risk estimation, we need the parameter estimates, and with separation the usual mle (maximum likelihood) estimates do not exist.  So we must change estimation method, maybe.  There are several proposals in the literature, I will come back to that.
Then there are (as said above) two different possible causes for separation. There might be separation in the full population, or separation might be caused by to few observed cases/too many variables.
What breaks down with separation, is the maximum likelihood estimation procedure. The mle parameter estimates (or at least some of them) becomes infinite. I said in the first version of this answer that that can be solved easily, maybe with bootstrapping, but that does not work, since there will be separation in each bootstrap resample, at least with the usual cases bootstrapping procedure.  But logistic regression is still a valid model, but we need some other estimation procedure.  Some proposals have been:

regularization, like ridge or lasso, maybe combined with bootstrap.
exact conditional logistic regression
permutation tests, see https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15515134
Firths bias-reduced estimation procedure, see Logistic regression model does not converge
surely others ...

If you use R, there is a package on CRAN, SafeBinaryRegression, which help with diagnosing problems with separation, using mathematical optimization methods to check for sure if there is separation or quasiseparation!  In the following I will be giving a simulated example using this package, and the elrm package for approximate conditional logistic regression.
First, a simple example with the safeBinaryRegression package.  This package just redefines the glm function, overloading it with a test of separation, using linear programming methods. If it detects separation, it exits with an error condition, declaring that the mle does not exist. Otherwise it just runs the ordinary glm function from stats. The example is from its help pages:
library(safeBinaryRegression)   # Some testing of that
                                # package,
                                # based on its examples
# complete separation:
x  <-  c(-2, -1, 1, 2)
y  <-  c(0, 0, 1, 1)
glm(y ~ x, family=binomial)
glm(y ~ x,  family=binomial,  separation="test")
stats::glm(y ~ x, family=binomial)
# Quasicomplete separation:
x  <-  c(-2, 0, 0, 2)
y  <-  c(0, 0, 1, 1)
glm(y ~ x, family=binomial)
glm(y ~ x,  family=binomial,  separation="test")
stats::glm(y ~ x, family=binomial)

The output from running it:
> # complete separation:
> x  <-  c(-2, -1, 1, 2)
> y  <-  c(0, 0, 1, 1)
> glm(y ~ x, family=binomial)
Error in glm(y ~ x, family = binomial) :
  The following terms are causing separation among the sample points: (Intercept), x
> glm(y ~ x,  family=binomial,  separation="test")
Error in glm(y ~ x, family = binomial, separation = "test") :
  Separation exists among the sample points.
    This model cannot be fit by maximum likelihood.
> stats::glm(y ~ x, family=binomial)

Call:  stats::glm(formula = y ~ x, family = binomial)

Coefficients:
(Intercept)            x
 -9.031e-08    2.314e+01

Degrees of Freedom: 3 Total (i.e. Null);  2 Residual
Null Deviance:      5.545
Residual Deviance: 3.567e-10    AIC: 4
Warning message:
glm.fit: fitted probabilities numerically 0 or 1 occurred
> # Quasicomplete separation:
> x  <-  c(-2, 0, 0, 2)
> y  <-  c(0, 0, 1, 1)
> glm(y ~ x, family=binomial)
Error in glm(y ~ x, family = binomial) :
  The following terms are causing separation among the sample points: x
> glm(y ~ x,  family=binomial,  separation="test")
Error in glm(y ~ x, family = binomial, separation = "test") :
  Separation exists among the sample points.
    This model cannot be fit by maximum likelihood.
> stats::glm(y ~ x, family=binomial)

Call:  stats::glm(formula = y ~ x, family = binomial)

Coefficients:
(Intercept)            x
  5.009e-17    9.783e+00

Degrees of Freedom: 3 Total (i.e. Null);  2 Residual
Null Deviance:      5.545
Residual Deviance: 2.773    AIC: 6.773

Now we simulate from a model which can be closely approximated by a logistic model, except that above a certain cutoff the event probability is exactly 1.0.  Think about a bioassay problem, but above the cutoff the poison always kills:
pl  <-  function(a, b, x) 1/(1+exp(-a-b*x))
a  <-  0
b  <-  1.5
x_cutoff  <-  uniroot(function(x) pl(0,1.5,x) -
                       0.98,lower=1,upper=3.5)$root
### circa 2.6
pltrue  <-  function(a, b, x) ifelse(x < x_cutoff, pl(a, b,
                 x), 1.0)

x <- -3:3

### Let us simulate many times from this model,  and try to
    # estimate it
### with safeBinaryRegression::glm  That way we can estimate
    #the probability
### of separation from this model

set.seed(31415926)  ### May I have a large container of
                       # coffee
replications  <-  1000
p  <-  pltrue(a, b, x)
err  <-  0
good  <- 0

for (i in 1:replications) {
    y  <- rbinom(length(x), 1, p)
    res  <-  try(glm(y~x, family=binomial), silent=TRUE)
    if (inherits(res,"try-error")) err <-  err+1 else
                      good <- good+1
}
P_separation  <-  err/replications
P_separation

When running this code, we estimate the probability of separation as
0.759. Run the code yourself, it is fast!
Then we extend this code to try different estimations procedures, mle and approximate conditional logistic regression from elrm. Running this simulation take around 40 minutes on my computer.
library(elrm)  # from CRAN
set.seed(31415926)  ### May I have a large container of
                        # coffee
replications  <-  1000
GOOD  <-  numeric(length=replications) ### will be set to one
           # when MLE exists!
COEFS <- matrix(as.numeric(NA), replications, 2)
COEFS.elrm <- matrix(as.numeric(NA), replications, 2) # But
                 # we'll only use second col for x
p  <-  pltrue(a, b, x)
err   <-  0
good  <- 0

for (i in 1:replications) {
    y  <- rbinom(length(x), 1, p)
    res  <-  try(glm(y~x, family=binomial), silent=TRUE)
    if (inherits(res,"try-error")) err <-  err+1 else{
          good <- good+1
          GOOD[i] <- 1 }
    # Using stats::glm
    mod  <-  stats::glm(y~x, family=binomial)
    COEFS[i, ]  <-  coef(mod)
    # Using elrm:
    DATASET  <-  data.frame(x=x, y=y, n=1)
    mod.elrm  <-  elrm(y/n ~ x,  interest= ~ x -1, r=4,
                       iter=10000, burnIn=1000,
                       dataset=DATASET)
    COEFS.elrm[i, 2 ]  <-  mod.erlm$coeffs
}
### Now we can compare coefficient estimates of x,
###  when there are separation,  and when not:

non  <-  which(GOOD==1)
cof.mle.non  <-  COEFS[non, 2, drop=TRUE]
cof.mle.sep  <-  COEFS[-non, 2, drop=TRUE]
cof.elrm.non  <-  COEFS.elrm[non, 2, drop=TRUE]
cof.elrm.sep  <-  COEFS.elrm[-non, 2, drop=TRUE]

Now we want to plot the results, but before that, note that ALL the conditional estimates are equal!  That is really strange and should need an explanation ...  The common value is 0.9523975. But at least we obtained finite estimates, with confidence intervals which contains the true value (not shown here). So I will only show a histogram of the mle estimates in the cases without separation:
hist(cof.mle.non, prob=TRUE)

[
What is remarkable is that all the estimates is lesser than the true value 1.5.   That can have to do with the fact that we simulated from a modified model, needs investigation.
Comment: (+1) But it's rather strong to say we *need* an estimation procedure other than maximum likelihood. Infinite odds & odds ratios can be sensible point estimates; often enough the problem caused by separation is just getting good interval estimates.
Comment: Some relevant references:  http://andrewgelman.com/2014/02/06/bootstrap-averaging-examples-works-doesnt-work/#comment-381134      https://www.jstor.org/stable/20640647?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents    http://2011.isiproceedings.org/papers/950654.pdf
Comment: @kjetilbhalvorsen Apologies to revive an old thread, but I was wondering if you are aware of a similar package in python?
Comment: Sorry, but I do not know about python.  But it should be possible to run R from within python.
Comment: @kjetilbhalvorsen Hi, can you explain about the exact conditional logistic regression? What does it do for this case?
Answer: There are good answers here from @sean501 and @kjetilbhalvorsen.  You asked for an example.  Consider the figure below.  You might come across some situation in which the data generating process is like that depicted in panel A.  If so, it is quite possible that the data you actually gather look like those in panel B.  Now, when you use data to build a statistical model, the idea is to recover the true data generating process or at least come up with an approximation that is reasonably close.  Thus, the question is, will fitting a logistic regression to the data in B yield a model that approximates the blue line in A?  If you look at panel C, you can see that the gray line better approximates the data than the true function does, so in seeking the best fit, the logistic regression will 'prefer' to return the gray line rather than the blue one.  It doesn't stop there, however.  Looking at panel D, the black line approximates the data better than the gray one—in fact, it is the best fit that could possibly occur.  So that is the line the logistic regression model is pursuing.  It corresponds to an intercept of negative infinity and a slope of infinity.  That is, of course, very far from the truth that you are hoping to recover.  Complete separation can also cause problems with the calculation of the p-values for your variables that come standard with logistic regression output (the explanation there is slightly different and more complicated).  Moreover, trying to combine the fit here with other attempts, for example with a meta-analysis, will just make the other findings less accurate.
Comment: (+1) This is a very helpful illustration of the problem.
Comment: one interesting aspect your diagram shows is that you ideally want the sample to come from the "x space" that leads to 50-50 probabilities (e.g. points in the range 12<x<15). in fact i think you would probably want to collect more data from this middle region (10<x<17) in a real life scenario that provided this result.
Comment: @probabilityislogic, that's right. Most of the information about the relationship is in the data from the middle region.
Comment: So, this is basically because logistic regression is, at heart, linear regression - just monkeywrenched (via logit) into providing a categorical output. And when you try to optimize the probabilities, it will push it all the way to infinite slope. But is there a way to control the optimization, not take it to extreme? If there is, then you might avoid the infinities, right?
Comment: @FlorinAndrei, no, I wouldn't put it that way.  Logistic regression is trying to pick out conditional means (just like OLS), but with binary data, those conditional means are conditional probabilities.  When you have separation, the only probabilities that can be seen are 0 & 1.  You can restrain the optimization, though, using Bayesian or penalization methods.
Answer: It means that there is a hyperplane such that on one side there are all the positive points and on the other side all the negative. The maximum likelihood solution is then flat 1 on one side and flat 0 on other side,  which is 'achieved'  with the logistic function by having the coefficients at infinity.
Answer: What you are calling "separation" (not 'seperation') covers two different situations that end up causing the same issue – which I would not call, however, an issue of "instability" as you do.
An illustration: Survival on the Titanic

Let $DV \in (0, 1)$ be a binary dependent variable, and $SV$ a separating, independent variable.
Let's suppose that $SV$ is the class of the passengers on the Titanic, and that $DV$ indicates whether they survived the wreckage, with $0$ indicating death and $1$ indicating survival.
Complete separation is the situation where $SV$ predicts all values of $DV$.
That would be the case if all first-class passengers on the Titanic had survived the wreckage, and none of the second-class passengers had survived.
Quasi-complete separation is the situation where $SV$ predicts either all cases where $DV = 0$, or all cases where $DV = 1$, but not both.
That would be the case if some first-class passengers on the Titanic had survived the wreckage, and none of the second-class passengers had survived. In that case, passenger class $SV$ predicts all cases where $DV = 1$, but not all cases where $DV = 0$.
Reversely, if only some second-class passengers on the Titanic had died in the wreckage, then passenger class $SV$ predicts all cases where $DV = 0$, but not all cases where $DV = 1$, which includes both first-class and second-class passengers.

What you are calling "well-separated classes" is the situation where a binary outcome variable $DV$ (e.g. survival on the Titanic) can be completely or quasi-completely mapped to a predictor $SV$ (e.g. passenger class membership; $SV$ need not be binary as it is in my example).
Why is logistic regression "unstable" in these cases?
This is well explained in Rainey 2016 and Zorn 2005.

Under complete separation, your logistic model is going to look for a logistic curve that assigns, for example, all probabilities of $DV$ to $1$ when $SV = 1$, and all probabilities to $DV$ to $0$ when $SV = 0$.
This corresponds to the aforementioned situation where only and all first-class passengers of the Titanic survive, with $SV = 1$ indicating first-class passenger membership.
This is problematic because the logistic curve lies strictly between $0$ and $1$, which means that, to model the observed data, the maximisation is going to push some of its terms towards infinity, in order, if you like, to make $SV$ "infinitely" predictive of $DV$.
The same problem arises under quasi-complete separation, as the logistic curve will still need to assign only values of either $0$ or $1$ to $DV$ in one of two cases, $SV = 0$ or $SV = 1$.

In both cases, the likelihood function of your model will be unable to find a maximum likelihood estimate: it will only find an approximation of that value by approaching it asymptotically.
What you are calling "instability" is the fact that, in cases of complete or quasi-complete separation, there is no finite likelihood for the logistic model to reach. I would not use that term, however: the likelihood function is, in fact, being pretty "stable" (monotonic) in its assignment of coefficient values towards infinity.

Note: my example is fictional. Survival on the Titanic did not boil down just to passenger class membership. See Hall (1986).


Air conditioning not on, but still giving out cold air when car in motion, and makes hissing sounds

Question: Have a 2000 Honda Accord 4 cylinder. Problem started last week. Turned a/c to cold, cold air not as cold as before, plus a loud hissing sound that seems to be coming from the passenger side, under the glove compartment. So, turned a/c off, and just use air vents (turned off the recycle air button). Hissing sound continues, and cold air comes out of whenever car is in motion, colder than having a/c on. Is the car in big trouble? I have smog check due soon too...Anyone knows what is happening or has experienced this situation?
Answer: It sounds like you have a sticking A/C compressor clutch, with the exception of hissing from passenger side, I would think from driver side. But this is an easy check and worth doing. Your compressor might be turning with the engine and the hissing noise is the scraping of metal on metal down in the lower left(when sitting in the car) of your engine bay. Honda uses cables rather than vacuum for the vent and temp selectors. Some parts are fully electronic with little motors and stuff. So no hissing from vacuum is going to happen.
With your A/C off and engine on, look down at the compressor and see if both the clutch plate and pulley are spinning. Use a flashlight and keep your fingers out of the belts. The plate is on the end of the pulley (coming away from the engine) and is about 1 cm thick with 3 bolts sticking out of it an additional .5 cm. The clutch plate normally will be motionless when the A/C is off. If motionless is not the case, fix it before you start melting things, the induction coil (magnet) will go first, compressor second. There are tiny shims that can be added between the clutch plate and pulley to increase the clearance and fix this problem, should it be the problem. Good luck, and if you don't have time, you can take the A/C belt off. I am pretty sure that the A/C has a dedicated belt in your car, but check before doing it of course.
All information from personal experiences with my Civic and Sister's Accord.
Answer: It sounds to me like you probably have a so-called "vacuum" leak. The "hiss" you mentioned is a tell-tale sign, and your air conditioning mode controls (both hot/cold, duct selection, etc.) are controlled by vacuum lines under the hood. At least, everything I just said it true of my Chevy Blazer, so I assume your Honda could have similar engineering. Sometimes these are easy fixes---especially if you look around where you hear the hissing and see a little hose the width of a pencil disconnected, or perhaps really deteriorated.
These aren't exactly your car---but they're diagnosing similar symptoms.
Chevrolet S10 Vacuum Leak Repair
cruise & HVAC controls vacuum leak fix, Jeep Wrangler TJ
(This one isn't as similar as you might think, as it amounted to a bad compressor, I don't think your problem is as dire.)
How to: 1990 Honda Prelude - Diagnosis Air Conditioning Inop and a Vacuum leak


VNC with Windows 7

Question: I want remote desktop access to a Windows 7 Home Premium machine, but Home Premium does not have RDP server support. What are my options to set up a VNC server on Windows for best remote desktop experience from Ubuntu?
Answer: There are many different types of VNC available for Windows. Your best bet is to look for ones that work on all O/S's and use that one. The two I can think of off the top of my head are TightVNC and RealVNC. Give those a try and see what happens.
RealVNC: http://www.realvnc.com/products/download.html
TightVNC: http://www.tightvnc.com/
Personally I preferred using UltraVNC (back when Windows was my default system), however I had issues with it a few years back when I was slowly starting to make Ubuntu my default system... It didn't like me trying to access it from Ubuntu back then. Not sure if this is still the case, but you could give that a go too.
Answer: I am reviewing this as part of askubuntu clean up. I would add another option, FreeNX.
FreeNX is the (Linux) open source server/client for the NX server
http://nomachine.com/
Install the NX server on windows, use the FreeNX client on Ubuntu.
FreeNX has the advantages of

Much better performance.
Increased security (NX connections are encrypted).

VNC with Windows 7


If I produce a open source algorithm, can a company register a patent with my idea and sued me?

Question: If I produce an open source product with an idea, lets say; an algorithm or protocol that nobody did before, can a company register a patent with my idea and sue me?
Comment: In a word, no. Make sure you publish your algorithm so it becomes prior art.
Comment: Another point to think about is the current preference of algorithm companies to use trade secrets to protect proprietary IP instead of patents, due to current climate surrounding algorithmic patents.  [The Chess Engine that Died so That AlphaGo could Live](https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/the-chess-engine-that-died-so-alphago-could-live-giraffe-matthew-lai).  Thus, your exposure may not be as significant as you fear.  *[That said, it's never a bad idea to model worst-case scenarios;]*
Answer: No.
One of the basic sections of the patent law is 35 USC 102. It describes some of the requierements for getting a patent, especially novelty. While the law is mostly short and doesn't offer a lot of explanation, there is a manual for patent examination (MPEP). The relevant section is this one.

A claimed invention may be rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 when the invention is anticipated (or is "not novel") over a disclosure that is available as prior art. To anticipate a claim, the disclosure must teach every element of the claim.

Almost every publication in any language impedes patents (for the same thing) all over the world.  To some extent oral publications don't meet that criteria, but something which is written and in English makes it impossible for anyone to get a valid patent on the disclosed invention.
But there is one issue - examiners don't always find all the relevant prior art and sometimes, sources are not traceable back to their publication date. You could file for a patent or write a paper to have more certainty, but in this case I would advise you to just make sure you can prove at what point in time you had what part of your open source project available to the public. If really you got sued by someone who was able to patent your invention after your disclosure (note: not likely), you could still easily defend yourself with that prove.
For some more reading on novelty and publications, check this answer.
Comment: Please modify the answer - prior art does not need to be in English. And  yu might note that it is expensive to "easily defend yourself".
Comment: @GeorgeWhite I'm not saying it has to be in English - just that an English publication is a safer bet. I'll modify the answer to make that clearer. As to defending yourself - a reasonable opponent will stop harrassing you if confronted with definite proof that you could invalidate their patent. For others, see the comments below DukeZhou's answer.
Answer: You may also find that filing the algorithm with the copyright office is useful because it makes the content a matter of public record.  Copyright isn't going to protect a procedural mechanism because mechanics are the domain of patents, but as a prophylactic, it may be quite effective, and provides iron-clad evidence of the date of the public disclosure.
Submissions to the copyright office in the US cost $35, and the process can be done online in a few minutes, and does not require an attorney.

This technique alone may not help, because as DonQuiKong points out, an examiner may not find the documentation that shows the malefactor's claims to be non-novel.
Thus, you should probably also heavily publicize the algorithm, what it does, and links to documentation. (Publicization in this case may be simply a matter of posting on forums, etc., using basic SEO strategies such as relevant key-words, and utilizing high-traffic forums so that the posts show up on search engines.)
Comment: It might not impede a patent, but it is a very good defense against infringement claims or to invalidate the patent.
Comment: Even someone with deep pockets doesn't have money to waste by suing someone with definitive proof they'd win
Comment: Well, if the sued party can't afford the defense, they can't afford the damages and will most likely pay less than the prosecution costs. And getting such a small competitor out of business is mostly nonsense. I think for 99% some proof of publication is enough protection. And if someones really after you, they'll find something you don't infringe and still sue you ;)
Comment: But nonetheless your answer provides good ways to achieve this!
Comment: My thinking as well.  The only caveat being that they may not have the funds to challenge a patent, or even an infringement claim, particularly if the malefactor is a large company with deep pockets...
Comment: @DonQuiKong Unless the individual can't fund the defense, in which case the malefactor prevails.  But there would have to be sufficient financial incentive for the malefactor to undertake the financial risk of litigation.


jenkins build when a change is pushed to another repository

Question: I'm sure that this happens frequently. My testing suite is a separate repository from the company's main app. I wanted to know If there's a way to run the suite when a change is pushed to repository other than that of the testing suite itself on Jenkins.
Answer: You should be able to configure a job to watch the app repository and trigger a run when the app repository changes.
It will be easier to configure if the company's application is managed through the same Jenkins server as your testing suite (depending on your source control system one Jenkins server can handle multiple source control repositories), but even if you have multiple Jenkins servers you can create a job to kick off your script run.
Answer: As Kate mentioned, it's lot easier to configure the job on your company's Jenkins...
But if it isn't an option then you can try:
Poll the subversion/perforce/git - monitor a repository. So as soon as the changes are committed to the repository, your build can kick off. Additionally there is "Quiet period" in "Advanced project Options", which will wait additional time before it starts building. This is useful if you want to wait for some time or more commits are expected.
Other hack though but not Jenkins way:
You can script something to monitor the changes. Suppose any file which will represent the build information/timestamp or any changes that you are sure it will get updated whenever company's build succeeds.
You can configure such job in your Jenkins and run it through a cron using "Build Periodically". Whenever script find changes it should succeed or else fail, if succeed you can trigger your test suite if fails nothing will happen. This can be configured from  "Add post build action" > "Build other Projects". You have to save it to see the options

"Trigger only if build succeeds"
"Trigger even if the build is unstable"
"Trigger even if the build fails"


linking external bank accounts to other banks

Question: A well known bank in my area mentions you can link external bank accounts and superannuation funds to your one bank account so you can conveniently see all your funds and net worth in one place, but are there any disadvantages to allowing your bank access to seeing your other external accounts and funds?
Answer: Any linking (even for ACH transfers) exposes you to more risk from when/if a thief (anonymous hacker or family/friend) breaks into your bank and starts taking money.
As far as direct linking... now the bank sees more of your personal information, and buried in the Terms and Conditions very well might be the right for the bank to use that information for purposes not in your long-term best interest.
Personally, I'd never do this.  It's also why I don't use Mint or other account aggregators.
Comment: I was halfway through an answer saying the same thing, but less eloquently. Unless your bank provides a means of allowing read-only access, you don't want to link it to an account aggregator or service like Mint.
Comment: My banks now use two-factor authentication for external transfers. When I initiate an external transfer, they text a security code to my phone which I have to enter to complete the transfer. This reduces that risk enough that I don't worry about linking accounts.


Xorg mouse sensitivity

Question: Is there any analog of xset m 4/3 7 in xorg config files?
I've tried different options of InputClass sections and noone is working, but xset m working properly.
Answer: What do you mean by "xorg config files"? Were you editing /etx/X11/xorg.conf or the files under /usr/lib/X11/xorg.conf.d/?
AFAIK, this sort of thing is no longer set by Xorg. Instead it is controlled through HAL. Not in all distros though...
In any case, the information on this page should help.
Alternatively, you can just add the xset command to your ~/.bash_profile or ~/.profile (depending on your distribution).
The surest, if not the most elegant, solution is to create a sript called fixmouse.sh (or whatever you feel like) with these lines:
#/bin/bash
xset m 4/3 7

And add it to the startup programs of your Desktop Environment. Can't tell you how to do this because you give neither your distro nor your DE in your question.

Xorg mouse sensitivity


What is the best way to keep everything organized and spend less time setting up?

Question: When playing Dominion, how do you go about organizing all of the various cards and sets while maintaining a priority to getting games started quickly?
Answer: For card selection, I highly recommend the iDominion iPhone app.  Lets you specify which sets to include, blacklist individual cards, require Reactions if there are Attacks, and even re-roll one card of the 10 if you just hate the Smithy.  There's also a "lite" free version.
I have all of my cards (Dominion, Intrigue, Seaside, and Alchemy) in two collectible-card-game "long boxes", sorted by set and by name.  (Mine are sleeved as well, but that's not required).  Use one of the many dividers on BoardGameGeek to assist in locating cards.
It's easy to have one person take each box and pull out the cards you need, and for others to chip in parceling out the gold, VPs and starting decks as they're pulled from the boxes.
You can divide up the work this way with the original boxes, but card boxes take up a LOT less table space and the ordering of cards in the original boxes can be highly confusing.
Comment: If Android is your phone OS of choice, "Dominion Shuffle" is your best bet for a free highly-customisable supply randomiser.
Comment: @Johno [Jack of all Dominion](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.minusik.apps.jackofalldominion&hl=en) is another good choice
Answer: I find Dominion setup much faster than many (most?) board games, but generally we have:

One person who pulls out the gold and VPs and deals out the starting hands
One person that chooses the kingdom types (there's an iPhone app that will make a random selection for you, which probably saves a lot of time)
One person that pulls out the types as they're read off the iPhone

It takes maybe three minutes and we're ready to go
Answer: Fine the way it is?
I don't feel that Dominion's out-of-the-box card storage, setup, or clean-up need any improvement. The box comes with clearly labeled and organized trays: cards are grouped by type (kingdom, victory point, etc.) and then alphabetically. I have basic and two expansion sets and keep everything in the original boxes. It might be a little big if you were flying, but to go over to a friend's house via car it's hardly cumbersome. Plus, once the game's set up the boxes don't have to take up table space. Put them on the ground or on another table or stack them on top of each other.
All the ideas for divide and conquer during setup and cleanup make perfect sense. I assume that almost all play groups do this without even thinking about it.
Several answers have mentioned an iPhone app for selecting Kingdom cards. This strikes me as a solution in search of a problem, and I'm curious why the app is so popular. lilserf explains it's capabilities well, but why is an app easier than the randomizer cards designed expressly for this purpose? What's easier than selecting 10 cards at random from a deck? I can do that before the app even loads. In fact, the old-school method is probably quicker because each card can be handed to someone as it's selected so the deck can be retrieved. Natural division of labor.
If you like to play with cards from all the expansions then shuffle and store the randomizer decks together; otherwise, pick a few from each expansion set based on what kind of game you want. If you pull a card that folks don't like (Smithy for example) just draw another. If you all hate it, remove the card from your randomizer deck. If you're playing with black market, the unselected randomizer cards are the black market deck.
As for tailoring to ensure games with attack cards also have reactions, that undermines some of the charm of the game: learning to adapt to any situation that comes up. Prohibiting something a priori is doing your group a dis-service.
Comment: I don't think there's a huge difference, but I do think the app shines best if you want cards of certain costs, Alchemy picking rules, or to play with Black Market. It really makes those things a lot easier. However, I could totally live without the app, except that I'd refuse to play with Black Market.
Comment: With 89 cards (I'm missing Intrigue and Stash) the BM deck was far too unwieldy, and Alchemy picking rules are actually part of the official ruleset. Still, you make some pretty compelling points. I'm voting your answer up, even though it's not my personal preference. :)
Comment: @Andrew - I agree, if a group wants to place complicated constraints on the selection of cards then they probably need a special computer program to play a board game. I contend such restrictions are unnecessary and will retard the development of the players. Learning to cope with not having cards of a certain cost is a valuable skill. As for black market, nothing could be easier: the black market deck is the set of randomizer cards not selected--BAM!
Answer: Mine is similar to Michael Mrozek, but up until recently, we'd had 5-6 people on average playing, and we've had 8 show up before at once (we split into two games then).
We used to divide responsibilities like this:

One person chooses the kingdom types (using an app)
One person has Dominion to pull out cards the first person names.
One person has Intrigue to pull out cards the first person names.
One person has Seaside to pull out cards the first person names.
If we have any more people, they pull out the treasure and victory cards.  If not, either the person who has Dominion or Intrigue does.

Now, two of our usual players left, leaving us with 3-5 at any given time.  Plus, we now have Prosperity.  We handle this by having the people pulling cards out of two sets instead of just one, alternating between the two pulling cards.
Answer: We do a bit of houserulery and slowly change the game between each session.
At the end of a game each player will pick one kingdom to remove, and then we'll split the randomisers about equally and everyone picks a kingdom to replace the ones they've removed.
We wait to pick the replacements until everyone has selected the ones that are going away, and generally try and keep the various costs between 2-5 in play.
After a 3 player game whomever came in third gets to remove and replace 2 kingdoms. In a two player, both player removes two. This way there are four new cards each time.


Can the DA refuse me discovery because I'm pro se

Question: When I started to strongly feel that my court appointed atty was trying to get me "the best deal" rather than actually defend me against a crime that he admitted there really wasn't evidence I committed I chose to go pro se. The DA said that since he gave the discovery of 3 videos and the police statement to my lawyer he did not have to give it to me. My former lawyer asked the judge if he could make me a copy of the discovery and the judge told him no. Is this legal?
Comment: Why can't the public defender just give you the discovered evidence, rather than copy it?
Comment: What jurisdiction is this in. What country, and if a federal country such as the US or Canada, what state or province? If this is the US, *Brady vs Maryland* would apply. *Under that decision you are entitled to receive the relevant information, an if it is not available to you to prepare for trial, that may be grounds to overturn a conviction, but you should get this into the record.
Comment: Smith County Tx USA. He was left on as back up in case I change my mind about self representation  but the judge said he is not allowed to do anything else as back up, including giving or sharing discovery with me. There was a court reporter there when this was addressed
Comment: The judges actions seem spurious in disallowing your attorney to make copies, you should check the instructions with your former attorney and check out the [Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct](http://www.scjc.texas.gov/).
Answer: No
But that's not what the DA has done.
The DA gave you discovery when he gave it to your lawyer, it is not the DA's problem. Sort it out with your ex-lawyer.
Comment: The judge left him as a back up lawyer but told him he could not give me the discovery and also that he could not help me in any way, only be back up, to take over if I change my mind about going pro se. If fact when the judge gave me a date for my jury trial I asked him why I wasn't given the choice of a bench or jury trial and he told me he wouldn't answer that since I was representing myself. They scare people into taking plea deals in this county and they're very unhappy I'm not going along with that
Answer: Sometimes.
I don't know the rules in Texas, but in some jurisdictions, the rules allow for certain material to be designated as only available to counsel -- usually because of the sensitivity of the information, which might include addresses for police or witnesses, or child pornography, or other records that the court does not want to be widely released.
If the case isn't dealing with that type of information, though, I can't understand why a judge would prohibit your former attorney from letting you view discoverable material.


I get logged out as soon as I log in

Question: New PC, installed Loki, everything was fine until I downloaded the nvidia drivers using these links:

http://forlearning.com/graphic-drivers-for-elementary-os/
https://gist.github.com/jansanchez/ce5b0ca1c5e538f4b266

After I rebooted I try to log in and get kicked right back out. I've tried everything on this thread ( Can't login after upgrade ) besides downgrading the kernel and nothing fixes the issue. When I try to create a new user I can log in via the command line only view, but on the graphical log in screen I cannot pick a new user even though a new user "icon" shows up.
Any help is appreciated.
Update 1: Removed the .Xauthority file per this answer ( https://askubuntu.com/questions/367260/i-am-logged-out-immediately-after-logging-in), restarted lightdm, this did not fix the issue.
Update 2: Moved the .Xauthority file per this answer ( https://askubuntu.com/questions/20929/gnome-x-logs-off-immediately-after-login-which-logfiles-are-relevant/178622#178622 ) this did not fix the issue. Also of note, I can log via text with a different user, but when I try to flip to the graphical mode it boots me back to the graphical log in screen.
Update 3: Per this answer ( https://serverfault.com/questions/384676/linux-closing-connection-after-successful-login ) I made sure /bin/bash was there. It was. I also made sure the shell was there. It was. Something else that might be of interest, I checked the permissions on my .Xauthority file on my working Freya machine, they match the permissions on my Loki machine.
Update 4: This user is having the same problem (I can't login , return to login screen (it isn't Xauthority) ). I uninstalled elementary-tweaks, rebooted, this did not fix the issue. As far as I know I do not have numix-icon installed, whatever that is.
Update 5: Per this site (https://www.computersnyou.com/4947/how-to-solve-ubuntu-login-loop-quick-tip/) I purged/reinstalled lightdm. That did not fix the issue. I purged lightdm and installed gdm. That borked everything. I get a text only login for a second then nothing, my monitor doesn't recognize an input and turns off. At this point I'm researching some sort of repair install. Last resort, reinstall.
Update 6: I can get to a GRUB menu and recovery mode. Not sure what would be the best option here though.
Update 7: Got to the root shell via recovery mode, purged gdm and reinstalled lightdm. That said, it's still not exactly to the way it was before. If I don't get into a text login screen the graphical login screen will flash after a minute or two then the whole screen goes black and the monitor shuts off.
Update 8: Seems like this person was having a similar issue (http://elementaryosandmore.blogspot.com/2013/12/how-to-fix-elementaryos-after.html) I checked for any packages with the word nvidia in them, there were none.
Update 9: Now I'm just trying to uninstall the nvidia drivers via command line. I followed this link (https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1432857 ) and got the following error message when running 'sudo rmmod nvidia' "ERROR: Module nvidia is in use by: nvidia_modeset". I have an xorg.conf file but I'm cautious about changing the settings in the file while the module is still loaded. Additionally, googling that error message got me to this link (https://askubuntu.com/questions/109681/which-process-is-using-nvidia-module) and when I run lsof -n -w -t /dev/nvidia* I get no PID.
Answer: Success!
sudo nvidia-uninstall

killed the nvidia driver I put in there and returned me back to normal. Thanks https://askubuntu.com/questions/206283/how-can-i-uninstall-a-nvidia-driver-completely . Then (bonus)
sudo apt-get install software-properties-gtk

adds the software & updates app into elementary so you can choose an nvidia driver the correct way.

I get logged out as soon as I log in


Can we take ISTQB exam Foundation Level with version 2011 even if version 2018 is available?

Question: When we prepare for ISTQB exam Foundation Level with version 2011 then a new version 2018 becomes available just before the exam.What shall we do? Shall I reschedule the exam and prepare 2018 or I can take it with old version?
Thanks.
Comment: What is level of exam you are writing? Foundation or Advanced?
Comment: foundation level
Comment: I update my question @Prasannavenkatesh by adding the exam level, sorry for not putting that from the beginning
Comment: Hi I want to write ISTQB foundation Level Exam.Now 2018 version is Available .Which version is preferable to take the test.Please kindly help me
Answer: Yes you can take it still. Looking at istqb.org, there are two links to the 2011 and 2018 syllabus, where the updates a listed on Page 3:

[12-June-2017] Alpha review release - Certified Tester Foundation Level Syllabus Major Update 2018 – see Appendix C – Release
  Notes
[22-November-2017] Alpha review 2.0 release – Certified Tester Foundation Level Syllabus Major Update 2018 – see Appendix C – Release
  Notes for details
[9-December-2017] Alpha review 2.5 release – Technical edit of 2.0 release, no new content added
[15-January-2018] Pre-cross-review internal version 2.9, incorporating Core Team edits.
[19-January-2018] Cross-review internal version 3.0.
[12-February-2018] Candidate beta version
[27-April-2018] Candidate general release version

So according to their revision history, there have been two major updates since 2011, and the press release stated that:

This 2018 syllabus has more emphasis on reviews and less on test
  management, compared with our 2011 version. We have reduced the number
  of K1 learning objectives from 27 to 15 to focus less on remembering
  and more on being able to apply knowledge.," says Klaus Olsen, ISTQB®
  Foundation working group chair.

... and so you could argue that they aren't that major in the grand scheme of things.
If you've been studying for the 2011 version, then you have until June 2019 to take it... before it gets replaced with the 2018 version. Personally, I would keep to your current exam and sit the 2011 paper - good luck!
Comment: Thanks for your clarification and your opinion, me too i prefer to not take risk and not lose more time to take the exam 2011 version then i will learn what changes are, but i'm wondering if one day people who have the ISTQB certification 2011 are obliged to pass 2018 or recent versions and the certification will be out of effect?
Answer: Yes you can take up your exam as per your schedule. As per the press release from ISTQB this 2011 syllabus has the validity upto June 2019 for all English language exams.
This 2018 syllabus has following updates in terms of software development

Agile methods
Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery
Delivery pipelines
IoT

Have a little knowledge on these topics before taking upto the exams. It will be useful for you to have a better knowledge on these topics for your career.
Comment: Yes. It is valid. Foundation and Advances certifications has life time validity. Expert level certificate has valid upto 5 years.
Comment: yeah i have knowledge in those topics but if i pass ISTQB 2011 ; the certification still available forever or it should be updated after a period ?
Comment: Great ! thanks this is the most important thing ;)


Producing stereo sound from more than two speakers?

Question: Is it possible to produce a stereo effect from more than 2 loudspeakers for example(4 full range driver) placing them one on each side of a square?
Answer: Stereo is kind of two separate sound sources. Separation is part of it. Panning hard left or right will be an option, just as keeping the sound source exactly mid centre is. With speakers left/right ( or in this scenario, north/south, the best place to be to hear stereo is in the centre, facing west/east. When there are speakers on all four sides, the stereo image is lessened because the sound from each source is widened. So, with say, left channel at north and east, right channel at south and west, stereo will still be perceivable when you face northwest or southeast.
If you use multi-channel sound, as in some audio-visual amps fot teles, etc., then four speakers such placed won't be enough.
Comment: Thank you for the reply the goal is to create omnidirectionality so i think the compromise to make is not have the stereo effect. I was reading about amplitude difference panning (vector summation of the amplitude from different sound source) could this be used to create stereo effect or the method is to create a virtual sound source in 3D?
Answer: Stereo recording was invented to enable a recording engineer to produce a reproduction of the original performance that emulated what the listener might hear at a live performance.  If you attend a performance of the symphony orchestra - from where you are seated in the audience the brass may be on your right and the strings on your left.  So a producer attempting to reproduce the sound in the way it might be perceived in that instance - would pan the brass more to the right and the strings more to the left.
Ideally when listening to a stereo recording, one should sit equidistant between the two speakers to get the full stereo effect intended by the producer and engineer of the recording.  There is a sweet spot that will give you the full  intended effect and any deviation will give you something different.  Of course you can listen with stereo headphones and you will always be in the sweet spot with the left hear getting a different mix than the right - but each ear getting exactly what was intended by the producer/engineer.
When vinyl records were the primary means of recording, stereo was the most practical way to divide the music.  In the 1970's, there was an attempt to expand the concept of stereo to "quadraphonic" Click here to read Wiki Article - which divided the recording into 4 distinct mixes in an attempt to recreate the effect of room reverberation and capture what a listener might hear bouncing off the back walls of an auditorium in a live performance.  What you describe with 4 speakers, would be the speaker placement pattern one would use in a quadraphonic system.  I still have a quadraphonic receiver that I bought when that format was originally introduced.
The quadraphonic format was a commercial bust partly because it required 4 speakers and specialized equipment to reproduce.  And the sweet spot was even more elusive and impossible to do with headphones.  Also, needles for records had to have 4 diamond contacts vs. two and the quadraphonic action of attacking the grooves in the vinyl from 4 angles reduced the life of the records.
With digital recordings now the prevalent form of distributing music for the average consumer of commercially produced music, it is now easy to encode recordings for "surround sound" which can make audio visual productions (such as movies) sound more realistic by moving the perceived source of the sounds to various places in the room - not only from front to back but from side to side.  Surround sound is great at creating movement of the sound so that the sound of a jet can begin from behind the listener, get louder and move to the front of the listener and fade to emulate what you would hear if a jet flew overhead.   Optimal use of surround sound which will typically use anywhere from 4 to 6 speakers plus a sub-woofer - requires a controlled listening environment where the listener can be positioned so that they are surrounded by the speaker configuration - ideally in the center of a square or rectangle.
But since the brass section in a musical performance doesn't move around as fast as a jet flying over or a car driving by (even in a marching band) - surround sound is not as useful for music reproduction as it is for audio visual productions and again, can't really be faithfully reproduced with headphones or earbuds.  So stereo is here to stay.  Since we only have two ears, there is really not a better way to reproduce a musical performance.
With all that being said, if you want to use 4 speakers to play a stereo recording, you will want to place the speakers in a manner that allows most of the audience to get the stereo effect intended.  Ideally, a listener should hear what the producer intended to put in the left channel, in their left ear and vice versa.  All of the sound should come from in front of (or from the left and right side) the listener for stereo - with nothing coming from behind the listener.
Your multi speaker car stereo is more marketing hype than anything else and helps enhance the sound for rear seat passengers.  Also, in your car, all the speakers are fairly close to your ears so that what you hear from the rear right channel gets to your ear at about the same time as the front right channel.  Plus, multi speaker systems in autos often put tweeters in one location (closer to your ear) and woofers in a different part of the vehicle (where the cavity can act as a resonator for the low frequencies), so it's more about the logistics of using car doors, the trunk and the dash as speaker cabinets than optimal reproduction of the sound source.
Putting speakers in a surround sound configuration such as 4 corners of a square, would defeat the idea of creating a realistic reproduction of what you might hear at a live performance.  The echo from the back wall would need to be at a slight delay and much quieter than the sound coming from the front of the listener.  So even if you lowered the volume of the rear speakers, the timing would have to be retarded to get the proper effect.
If you wanted to try to make that work (four speakers with two behind the listener and two in front), you might be able to mix your source by using two stereo recordings of the same music through two stereo mixers if you could synchronize the two recordings to get the timing right.  If you can solve the sync piece, then you could send a lower volume, slightly delayed signal to the rear speakers through one mixer or stereo amplifier with the main recording being sent to the front speakers at full volume through a different mixer/amp. There are delay effects but they are stereo effects and would be sent to both channels equally.  They don't do left/right front/rear.
Good luck with your experiments. Perhaps you can find a way to create a unique listening environment that will wow your audience.
Comment: Since i started this topic just want to make sure if what is written in this article is possible (which i think is not because we need two channel) but i cant think of reason to debunk this theory convincingly?https://orbitsound.co.nz/airsound/
Comment: @ShashankThapa  I followed your link and looked at the basic info.  It might be able to create something better than mono but they must route both the left and right stereo signals to the center speaker and then the side speakers each get one of the two.  The side firing speakers would need more volume or the center speaker would drown them out.  But because the higher frequencies are more directional than the low frequencies you won't get the full stereo effect or hear the full spectrum in stereo.  High frequencies would not be heard much from the side speakers.
Comment: Isn't the delay etc. adjustable on newer surround sound systems, with perhaps 5,6 or 7 separatley controllable amplifiers, each going to a separate speaker?
Comment: @Tim  Good question.  I haven not set up any of the surround sound systems I have acquired but I have been thinking about experimenting with using surround sound in a homemade PA system for guitar and vocals to see if I can create some pleasing effects for small venue applications.
Comment: Sounds (!) like a fun idea. Sadly, though, I believe there is one good (best) place to sit and get the best out of a surround system. Would you put the audience all in that spot? Or would it be a performance for one or two special people!? There's also a lot of setting up, wiring, etc. Although with the advent of bluetooth speakers, it could help a lot. Even most p.a. systems tend to use mono, even when most are stereo, so maybe it's just too complicated. Be interested to hear it though.


What would be a good sub for pineapple, any other fruit or veggie for a strawberry pineapple mint salsa

Question: I need to sub pineapple with something else, im highly allergic to it.
Comment: Use another tropical fruit such as mangoes, papaya or guava.
Comment: I'm not sure what would be best ... but pineapple has a fair bit of acidity / sourness to it, so you might want to add some lime juice or other citrus along with whatever you substitute
Comment: It might be easier to just look for a strawberry-mint-somethingelse-salsa, instead of trying to modify an unsuitable recipe
Answer: Kiwi.
Don't knock it until you try it. It will have a similar acidity and texture to pineapple. Use ripe kiwi and maybe a touch extra lime juice!
Comment: Plus, it's even more visually exciting and different - a total conversation starter.
Comment: A good idea.  They'd also release a lot of moisture when eating, much like a pineapple.
Answer: Your pineapple in a salsa is going to add some sweetness, a lot of acidity, and crisp chunks that will be important to the texture.
While other tropical fruits would be have the sweetness and interesting flavor, I can't think of anything that adds the acidity and texture. When ripe, mango and guava are quite soft and although there are delicious mango salsas it won't be similar to the pineapple at all.
You also need a fruit that will not be too distinctive of a flavor because that might distract from the strawberry or clash with the mint.
I think that I would use meyer lemons.
The meyers would be sweet enough not to bash you in the face but they still have some of the tartness. The texture pops kind of like a pineapple and the flavor compliments both strawberry and mint.
Answer: Mango, specifically green mango. You'll get a similar texture, some tartness, and it is already a widely used thing in salsas. You could easily pick how tart you want it by switching to s slightly riper Mango.
https://www.google.com/search?q=green+mango+strawberry+salsa&oq=green+mango+strawberry+salsa&aqs=chrome..69i57j33.4770j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Answer: I'd lean towards mango, with some lime juice to help match the acidity.
Answer: other possibilities to substitute for pineapple in that salsa:
1) fresh rhubarb 1/4" cubed, some extra rhubarb juice, and sugar
2) jicima cubed and gently steamed, tamarind paste, and lime juice
3) big blueberries, halved, and sugar
4) tart green apples cubed plus sugar and a little apple cider vinegar


How can I edit my photographs to look like old colorized black and whites?

Question: I like the look of old colorized black and white photos. How can I edit my digital photographs to look like that?
Comment: Could you please give some examples of the photos you think are "crispier" than today's photos, including what you think makes them "crispy"?
Comment: Could you point out specific images with specific attributes that you would like to target (color/scene saturation and grading, color key, etc.)? Many of the renditions drift widely in these areas. Some emulations may be trivial (if starting with a well-exposed color image, via selective color saturation/hue edits), but some will be very labor-intensive.
Comment: I'm sorry. I realised that those are not early color photos but black and white ones colorised later. For example, the ones on this [page](http://pulptastic.com/black-white-color-40-photos-will-change-feel-past/). I believe it's the rich black and the duller colors, but I am not sure.
I understand it's a very subjective question to ask but I would appreciate if someone can clue me on how to edit photos to look like that.
Answer: Crisper images have more contrast meaning the scale or transition from max black to pure white is abridged. This is the vivid color imaging of Technicolor and the original Kodachrome. Photo engineers striving for a more faithful image caused color imaging to evolve. We are taking about lengthening the scale of the image. Some like higher contrast "postal card" images. Some like images with long scale and believe these are more true-to-life. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. To achieve a Technicolor type look, just increase the contrast. By the way, I think Kodachrome II ISO 25 made the most attractive images.
Black and white prints were frequently over coated with water colors or transparent oils. These featured subtle colors you would call them pastel colors.
Answer: Note that the workflow for these images was from film B&W image to digital color, and that it is highly unlikely that a single setting was used for all of them (likely a lot of different tweaking was applied, as the images include some 19th century ones shot on ortho emulsion and some late 20th century ones on panchro emulsion - the color rendition is way different, especially of the blue sky and women's dresses).
But if you must you can try the Nik Collection of filters to your digital work. It is free, integrates well with Lightroom and the Analog Efex Pro can give you results similar to what you want. Pay a special attention to color (de)saturation.
Comment: Analog Efex Pro seems to be almost exactly what I want. Thank you!


Editing RAW files with LR, Photoshop and Nik Software

Question: Assuming one has LR, Photoshop and Nik Plugins for Photoshop, is it possible to edit a RAW in Photoshop (from LR), apply Nik presets, and move back to LR, all in RAW format?
Answer: No, you cannot.
The Nik Lightroom plugins will require you export your files to TIFF.  Really anything you leave Lightroom to do in Photoshop will require moving out of RAW and into a TIFF.
You will then end up with two files:  a raw file with all the non-destructive edits done before you used the Nik plugin, and a TIFF containing the the cumulative edits done in raw, and then by the plugin.  But you can't go back into LR and see any of the plugin alterations in the raw file, you'd have to work with the TIFF from then on.
The Nikon Capture NX2 software (also written by Nik) had better integration with Nik plugins - I remember certain things could be done with raw, but even there I think most filters required generating a TIFF file.
Comment: Surely you can use PSD as well so you don't have to rasterise everything?  According to the 1:1 demo I got from Nik Software at the SWPP show it will save edits non-destructively.
Comment: I am not sure about the Nik plugins but when moving between LR4 and PS6 I use PSD exclusively. But with a little bit of searching it dos sound like the Nik plugins require the use of TIFF.
Comment: A PSD is going to start out as a single layer of some source, which is I think going to be a TIFF.  At the point you start out in Photoshop, that single layer will be the same if it was imported as a TIFF, or somehow a native PSD.  It will be a conversion of your final raw file.  From then on, you can use layers, smart objects etc, and be as non-destructive as possible, but you can't save any edits back to raw, which was the main question.


Was Jesus The Lamb of God or the High Priest (that offers the lamb as a sacriffice)?

Question: Was Jesus The Lamb of God or the High Priest (whom offers the lamb as a sacriffice)?
John the baptist said " Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" John 1:19
And in Hebrews 4:14 it is written "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God".
Comment: Christ Jesus is both, He offered himself sacrifice and or ransom, for he himself was pure and sinless.
Comment: As others say, He was both.  This is key to understanding that He offered as High Priest His own blood ONCE and specifically NOT the blood of others (Heb 9:24-28).  The others who offered another's blood repeated this daily..
Answer: He was both, but offered Himself, His own body as the perfect sacrifice. The book of Hebrews goes into great details. If you have a little time, read an overview commentary of Hebrews; if you have a medium amount of time, read a study Bible or commentary that goes verse by verse; If you have a lot of time, I strongly recommend the Naked Bible podcast by Dr. Michael Heiser, wherein he breaks down the book in great detail using a lot of knowledge of 1st Century Middle Eastern cultural background, but explains things in laymen's terms. He covers the book of Hebrews over several episodes. If you wish, you could focus on Hebrews 10, which deals specifically with the sacrifice.
Starting from verse 4 (I'm using the NLT):
"4 For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said to God,
"You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings.
    But you have given me a body to offer.
6 You were not pleased with burnt offerings
    or other offerings for sin.
7 Then I said, 'Look, I have come to do your will, O God—
    as is written about me in the Scriptures.'"
8 First, Christ said, "You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings or burnt offerings or other offerings for sin, nor were you pleased with them" (though they are required by the law of Moses). 9 Then he said, "Look, I have come to do your will." He cancels the first covenant in order to put the second into effect. 10 For God's will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.
11 Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. 12 But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God's right hand. 13 There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet. 14 For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy.
Answer: There is no need for an "either, or" question here, for Jesus is both! Throughout the Bible Jesus is constantly given a variety of names, titles and roles. Consider Isaiah 9:6 with this list: "And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."
It is the same with the functions he performs. In addition to those ones above (Counsellor and Prince) he is also called the Mediator, the Great High Priest, the Judge of all the earth, the Shepherd of the sheep, the Gate, and so on.
Hebrews 9:11-12 combines two of the functions Jesus carried out, which are not mutually exclusive for God incarnate. They would have been had Jesus not been fully human and fully God, but because he added human nature to his divine nature, he can simultaneously be a sin offering AND the great High Priest who presents his own blood as the only perfect offering for sin there has ever been. Thus these verses say of the resurrected Christ, "But Christ having being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption."  This High Priest used his own shed blood to enter into heaven, not the blood of mere animals that can never take sin away.
It is the same when we read of Christ in heaven, sharing the throne of God. Revelation 3:21 has Jesus saying that he overcame "and am sat down with my Father in his throne". Chapter 5 describes one called the Lion of the tribe of Judah, who is also standing in the midst of the throne as a Lamb that had been slain. Jesus is both a Lion and a Lamb. Chapter 22 twice speaks of "the throne of God and of the Lamb" - one throne. Jesus both sits on that throne and stands in the middle of it. Language is being used to convey to us earth-bound humans something beyond our ken. Things in heaven are so utterly 'other', we have to enter into the literary devices used by the writers who, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, described the indescribable.
Answer: For the start of the answer, lets look at

Colossians 2:16-17 New King James Version (NKJV)
16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.

Jesus is the true fulfillment of the things in the old testament which are "shadows" or representatives, pointing to the true thing to come.
think of the Sabbath

Hebrews 4:9-11 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

Compare with Christ statement in Matthew 11:28-30

28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

Jesus is more things also, look at the "I Am" statements in John's gospel.

Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. (John 6:35)
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12)
I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture. (John 10:9)
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." (John 10:11)
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die." (John 11:25-26)
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5)

One simply cannot over-state how important Jesus Christ is. The Bible is about him.

Colossians 1:15-17 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist


Does craving include basic survival drives like hunger, thirst, reproduction?

Question: And how does one be free from craving food without starving to death ?
Comment: See also related question; [*"Noting craving for food : Ven. Mahasi Saydaw tradition"*](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/9352/noting-craving-for-food-ven-mahasi-saydaw-tradition).
Comment: [Train Your Hunger](http://zugangzureinsicht.org/html/lib/authors/thanissaro/trainyourhunger_en.html) might give you an answer of benefical use.
Comment: There is also an importand explaining in relation of food given in [First Things First](http://sangham.net/index.php/topic,8261.msg13378.html#msg13378) and to understand food an how to use it to go beyond desire for it, the essay [The Four Nutriments of Life](http://zugangzureinsicht.org/html/lib/authors/nyanaponika/wheel105_en.html) gives also direct connection to Buddhas food.
Answer: Hunger is not "craving" (tanha, technical Buddhist term). Craving is basically when you are in whatever state you are (let's call that X) and you imagine (visualize) some other state Y. And then you label Y as "desirable" and strongly wish that you were there, and then by inference state X becomes "unacceptable", hence you experience [mental/emotional] suffering. Makes sense?
Hunger is just a signal you get from your body: "need food". Craving is conceptual, hunger is not. Craving involves judging, taking sides. Hunger is just raw sensation.
Comment: If it becomes obsessive, sure. If you'd rather be there than here, and go over the scene again and again, that's craving and clinging.
Comment: What about thinking what you will have for dinner, how you will cook it ?
Comment: Who says beyond conceptual thinking of an unreleased being? Any relayable to add?
Answer: Yes and no.

No -- I think that Buddhism distinguishes between (unwholesome) "craving", and (possibly wholesome) "desire".
Yes -- I think that food, for example, can be (though isn't necessarily) an object of craving.

Something similar is true for "thirst":

"Thirst" is literally a synonym for (unwholesome or unfortunate) craving -- see tanha.
It's alternatively a physical need, or "requisite" (and therefore a component of "the holy life").

For a more detailed explanation of craving, see answers to this topic (and the four noble truths).

One of these things is not like the others: although I suppose that reproduction can be, however it does not have to be, considered a "survival drive" in the same category as food and drink. In particular I think that Buddhist dhamma sees food and drink as necessities, but not sex. Monks are expected to need food and drink, but to be celibate -- see for example this sutta for more details.

There's a description is this sutta of how Gotama tried doing without food, or with extremely little food -- and didn't find that resulted in the enlightenment he was looking for, didn't find it conducive to the Enlightenment he was seeking:

But with this racking practice of austerities I haven't attained any superior human state, any distinction in knowledge or vision worthy of the noble ones. Could there be another path to Awakening?'
"I thought: 'I recall once, when my father the Sakyan was working, and I was sitting in the cool shade of a rose-apple tree, then — quite secluded from sensuality, secluded from unskillful mental qualities — I entered & remained in the first jhana: rapture & pleasure born from seclusion, accompanied by directed thought & evaluation. Could that be the path to Awakening?'

In the first thing he said in the first discourse he gave after enlightenment:

There are these two extremes that are not to be indulged in by one who has gone forth. Which two? That which is devoted to sensual pleasure with reference to sensual objects: base, vulgar, common, ignoble, unprofitable; and that which is devoted to self-affliction: painful, ignoble, unprofitable. Avoiding both of these extremes, the middle way realized by the Tathagata — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.
These two extremes, bhikkhus, should not be adopted by one who has gone forth from the home life. Which two? On one hand, the devotion to hedonism towards kāma (sensuality), which is inferior, vulgar, common, an·ariya (ignoble), deprived of benefit, and on the other hand the devotion to self-mortification, which is dukkha (painful), an·ariya, deprived of benefit. Without going to these two extremes, bhikkhus, the Tathāgata has fully awaken to the majjhima paṭipada (Middle Way), which produces vision, which produces ñāṇa (knowledge), and leads to appeasement, to abhiñña (higher/direct knowledge), to sambodhi (true awakening), to Nibbāna.

So, there's some answer to your question in the doctrine of the Middle Way.
Several suttas (including AN 4.37, AN 4.159, and MN 2) advise eating, not with the intention of creating a feeling of fullness, but only with the intention of removing the feeling of hunger:

And how does a monk know moderation in eating? There is the case where a monk, considering it appropriately, takes his food not playfully, nor for intoxication, nor for putting on bulk, nor for beautification, but simply for the survival & continuance of this body, for ending its afflictions, for the support of the holy life, thinking, 'I will destroy old feelings [of hunger] & not create new feelings [from overeating]. Thus I will maintain myself, be blameless, & live in comfort.' This is how a monk knows moderation in eating.
Comment: Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been [moved to chat](http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/69913/discussion-on-answer-by-chrisw-does-craving-include-basic-survival-drives-like-h).
Comment: The Buddha distinguishes between different kind of craving, "Buddh*ism*" might do such as well. Aside of good craving (for release), and *bad* torwad world, there are cravings which might be useful to maintain a certain existence to go beyond. It's propable not conductive to think that hunger is a positive graving since it should merely work as a drive to go beyond. So hunger is like suffering good and required to go beyound it. The statement "only with the intention of removing the feeling of hunger" might be excuse for many things. So maybe some fine adjusting in the answer would be good.
Comment: I added a reference (to a sutta) about "feelings" of hunger. Whether hunger is a craving could be complicated: in my opinion a desire to never be hungry might be *vibhava-taṇhā*; and people can also have sensual cravings causing overeating ... but it's too simplistic to say, "hunger is a craving" if that implies "starving to death" as asked in the OP (I'm not sure but I think that's a Jain doctrine, whereas Buddhism teaches the Middle Way instead).
Comment: "desire to never be hungry might be vibhava-taṇhā" really? Being free of craving seems to be aversive for Chris? Why? Freedom? Staring consciously to death in an desire for not-becoming, yes, that would be foulish. But to let nature take it's cause, giving one remainders just as a field of merits, let it be the cause of others where it goes, such is peaceful and free. Neither in live nor death one delights. But it's not the place for extended discussions. Doors are open on other lanes. Common translation of tanha is hunger or thirst: craving, longing after, grasping, hoping after, this or that
Answer: And how does one be free from craving food without starving to death ?
https://dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=29071&sid=0bb7fa0d6bf8640b3c79212394a23028#p417866

From karuṇā and paññā.

Through his wisdom the bodhisattva perfects within himself the character of a Buddha, through his compassion the ability to perform the work of a Buddha. Through wisdom he brings himself across (the stream of becoming), through compassion he leads others across. Through wisdom he understands the suffering of others, through compassion he strives to alleviate their suffering. Through wisdom he becomes disenchanted with suffering, through compassion he accepts suffering. Through wisdom he aspires for nibbāna, through compassion he remains in the round of existence. Through compassion he enters saṃsāra, through wisdom he does not delight in it. Through wisdom he destroys all attachments, but because his wisdom is accompanied by compassion he never desists from activity that benefits others. Through compassion he shakes with sympathy for all, but because his compassion is accompanied by wisdom his mind is unattached. Through wisdom he is free from "I-making" and "mine-making," through compassion he is free from lethargy and depression.
So too, through wisdom and compassion respectively, he becomes his own protector and the protector of others, a sage and a hero, one who does not torment himself and one who does not torment others, one who promotes his own welfare and the welfare of others, fearless and a giver of fearlessness, dominated by consideration for the Dhamma and by consideration for the world, grateful for favors done and forward in doing favors for others, devoid of delusion and devoid of craving, accomplished in knowledge and accomplished in conduct, possessed of the powers and possessed of the grounds of self-confidence.

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn12/sn12.063.nypo.html

"How, O monks, should the nutriment edible food be considered? Suppose a couple, husband and wife, have set out on a journey through the desert, carrying only limited provisions. They have with them their only son, dearly beloved by them. Now, while these two traveled through the desert, their limited stock of provisions ran out and came to an end, but there was still a stretch of desert not yet crossed. Then the two thought: 'Our small stock of provisions has run out, it has come to an end; and there is still a stretch of desert that is not yet crossed. Should we not kill our only son, so dearly beloved, prepare dried and roasted meat, and eating our son's flesh, we may cross in that way the remaining part of the desert, lest all three of us perish?'>
Answer: When it comes to talking about "craving" (tanha), it is important to take note of a major difference between tanha and sankhara, the cause of tanha (and other mental states): The fact that tanha is conscious (while sankhara is not) prevents an easy understanding of tanha. Sankhara consists of the unconscious mental processes that cause us to make sense of things and to do things that makes sense to us. Strictly speaking, it is unwholesome sankhara that cause the confusion called suffering. Tanha actually means unwholesome motivation caused by unwholesome sankhara. Desire or craving is only one form of tanha. As with the English translation of many Pali and Sanskrit terms, replacing one word with one word can be seriously misleading. Once a person understands the concept of sankhara, it is obvious that hunger and thirst are not caused by sankhara and one has no need to ask questions about the nature of hunger and thirst. The Pali Text Society Pali-English dictionary provides two definitions for tanha: (1) a "literal meaning" in which it means "tormented by hunger and thirst" and (2) a "secondary meaning" in which it means "a state of mind that leads to rebirth." The two definitions are not interchangeable, as some translators seem to think.
Answer: There are 3 parts of basic survival drives, in paṭiccasamuppāda.

One in vipāka-vaṭṭa (fruit), it is physical painful feeling, such as touch-feeling in hungry, happened at physical organs, such as touch-sense-organ. Both are fruit arose by kamma, called kāma-uppatti-bhava.

No one can stop this  basic survival drive part of paṭiccasamuppāda except anupādisesa-nibbāna, nibbāna after arahanta's death.

One in kilesa-vaṭṭa (unwholesome), it is kāma-taṇhā', that is called kāma-string in mahādukkhakkhandha-sutta.

The practitioner can perfect stop this basic survival drive part by magga-kamma, Eightfold Path.

Another in kamma-vaṭṭa (karmma), it is called kāma-kamma-bhava/saṅkhāra.

The practitioner can perfect stop this basic survival drive part by magga-kamma, Eightfold Path.
Answer: In Buddhism, it says that hunger, thirst, and reproduction as old habits.
When craving (Tanha) for old habits they become new habits hence rebirth.


Is it acceptable to leave out implementing some details of a problem solution?

Question: I provided a partial solution for this question which shows a possible approach to the problem posed. The OP doesn't find the answer very satisfactory because I haven't written out a complete solution. Rather, I've addressed what I think is the core problem, but the code I've written has some rough edges, which I've noted in the answer. The OP asks me to create a complete working solution, but I'm not really inclined to do that. Is an answer of the type I gave for that question acceptable?
Comment: Chances are that you'll be asked to write another project even if you were to supply the working code.  Such users don't expect an explanation, but a working code.  Move on.
Comment: It is very obvious that the OP of that question wants someone to write their code for them. You've done well with it, move on.
Comment: Seems fine to me. If people want to be able to demand code written to a spec, they can pay a consultant.
Comment: It is perfectly legit, and, in fact, preferred, to give a partial (but coherent) answer that addresses and elucidates the OP's problem(s) without providing a complete solution.  Anyone who doesn't appreciate such answers should be seeking help on Facebook, not SO.  However, where there are non-obvious (to the OP) "gotachas", limitations, or edge cases those should probably be identified, to the extent that you're able, but need not be fully addressed.
Comment: Nice answer, the OP is clearly asking for way too much here.
Comment: all of the above ...
Answer: "Acceptable" in what sense?
There's no SO rule that says you cannot post a partial answer.
The person who asked the question may find it unacceptable and so are the people who will read your answer. They can downvote your answer if they wish. There's no rule against this.
There's "partial" in the sense that you have a 90% solution the explains the salient issues but does not deal with edge cases, and then there's "partial" in the sense of having a one-liner that merely sends the OP in the right direction but explains nothing. The second case is more likely to get a cold reception.
There's also the issue that if you post a partial answer, someone else can come and post a complete one on the basis of your partial answer. So long as they give proper attribution, doing this is not against the rules.
Comment: There's also the case when you use "..." instead of obvious code if you get the feeling the OP is capable of filling in the blanks by himself. It will make the OP happy but on the long run might not be enough for other people stumbling on the same problem. Then again, people stumbling on the same problems usually have comparable skills, so this might not be such a big issue.
Answer: You're free to post as complete or incomplete of an answer as you want.  If the community finds your answer useful, they will upvote it, if they find it not useful, they will downvote it.
There are no official site guidelines with respect to how complete an answer should be.  The community sets its own guidelines through votes.
Answer: Your answer should result in a reasonable OP knowing what to do to solve his problem.  Whether you achieve this by including implementation details or not is not important.
If your answer leaves out implementation details, it's fine, as long it's reasonable to assume that it will lead the OP to a solution.
If the OP can do the extra work to do the extra work to implement your answer, but just doesn't want to, It's not your fault.  Your answer can still help future visitors.
Answer: This is a question-and-answer site, not a problem-and-solution site.  If a question cannot be answered other than by a complete working solution, it really doesn't belong on this site.  So provided you answer the question, a posting without a complete listing is fine.
Just be careful though to make sure that any code that you do post compiles and runs correctly.  Otherwise, I will find it and downvote it.
Comment: I think it is unfair to expect posted code to compile/run without error.  Eg, I often answer Objective-C questions while working on my Windows laptop and have no way to test compile them.  Anyone making an answer should attempt to post valid code (except when obviously posting pseudocode), and should correct typos in the code if they're identified, but expecting perfection is unreasonable.
Comment: Yes, it is quite unreasonable to expect someone to spend an extra 15 minutes of their time setting up a test environment to verify that a 10-line example is totally typo-free.  Especially when the OP likely didn't spend that much time trying to figure out the problem before posting.
Comment: @HotLicks I think you and I are going to have to agree to disagree on this issue.  I want Stack Overflow to provide me with quality solutions to my problems.  I think that's more important than protecting the egos of those who post.  Therefore, I will continue to downvote "broken" solutions, as well as posting suggestions for improvement in the cases where it's useful to do so.  Note that whenever I downvote an answer, I always continue watching the question for a while, so that I can remove the downvote if the answer gets fixed.
Comment: Then I guess I must be unreasonable! :-)
Comment: @HotLicks, you can use gcc under Windows, as long as you don't need any Mac-specific stuff.
Comment: Right, @HotLicks, but balance that against the needs of future users.  When I use Stack Overflow to find a solution to a problem, I don't want a broken solution - I want one that works.  If you can't take the time to make sure your solution works, then it's probably best not to bother posting it.  If I'm going to post code to Stack Overflow, I _always_ write it in Eclipse and run it, then copy-paste it to Stack Overflow.  This adds a few seconds on to the time it takes, not 15 minutes.  And if it's related to an environment that I'm not set up to run, then I don't post code.  Very simple.
Comment: Again, that's not always practical.  When it's a simple Java program, eg, I'll usually test it, if it's more than a few lines.  But I can do that in under 5 minutes.  And, as I said, if some problem is recognized by myself or others I'll correct it.
Comment: I like good quality answers (not necessarily solutions) too, but the issues preventing that go far beyond this rather trivial one.  Mostly the poor quality of questions is the thing dragging the site down.
Comment: I don't disagree.  There are other posts here on MSO dealing with that.


Can I change the Bluetooth identifier for an EV3 brick?

Question: I'm coaching a number of FIRST Lego League teams and wish to set up our lab so that each computer could potentially be paired with each brick, but I want to uniquely identify the bricks (EV3-Team1, EV3-Team2, etc). Is there a way to change the brick's Bluetooth name?
Answer: I'm teaching an after school robotics program and the kids are using the LEGO MindStorms Education Core Set #45544. I was dealing with the same situation when I had to connect 10 EV3s to Bluetooth or Wi-Fi and I couldn't distinguish from one EV3 to the next.  Anyhow, I figured out how easy it was to give each brick it's own unique identifying name. You want to make sure that the EV3 is connected to the computers via USB cable and that the LEGO MindStorms program is opened. In the bottom right corner of the screen, you'll see the hardware page. Click on the brick info and then just change the name.  See image below.
Answer: You can change it in the NXT 3.0 software itself. Connect the robot to your PC, and in the software itself you can change it in the bottom right hand corner, above the firmware number and the connection type. Hope that helped.


Polycarbonate multi-wall sheeting for a greenhouse

Question: I am making a greenhouse from old aluminium beams designed to take 25mm multi-wall polycarbonate sheeting. Will a sheet thickness of 25mm leave in sufficient light? Or would I have to buy thinner sheets? I live on the South coast of Ireland.
Comment: 25mm seems very thick, but if it was/is a heated greenhouse, that makes more sense.There should be a light transmission % from the manufacturer.  Whether or not 25mm will pass enough light is dependent on what you will be growing.
Comment: 25mm is way too thick  - some info already in this answer https://gardening.stackexchange.com/questions/8379/what-thickness-of-twinwall-polycarbonate-should-i-use-for-my-greenhouse
Answer: This stuff would be great for the north wall, perhaps part of the north slope of the roof and the end walls.  Do not use this for the south slope of the roof!
You need to find the proper greenhouse skin that will not disintegrate in the UV of the sun.  They have this stuff warranted for 4 years and upwards.  One needs two layers if you've got a heated greenhouse.  2 layers of proper greenhouse skin with air in between.  Some even pump air to keep those two layers separated.
No way could this be thin enough to allow enough light and spectrum from the sun into your greenhouse.
When you use a proper greenhouse skin, plastic covering, make sure you know which side is supposed to be on the outside, which side is supposed to be on the inside.  Don't trust the manufacturer so much.  We've got 4 year warranted skin on our greenhouse where the words on the skin were backwards!  So we've got another skin coming for another 4 years?
Use a light meter!  Go rent or borrow one!  Do you have ventilation handled?  Big fans that run 24/7 when growing plants.  Do you have ventilation pulling air out of the greenhouse and one bringing air into the greenhouse?  Are you growing in pots or in the soil in properly constructed beds?  Hopefully, all pots have sterilized potting soil.  Is this your first greenhouse?
Answer: I have a modest green house with only a 8' X 4' clear roof. I have used a few kinds of plastic sheets ; they blocked some light, deteriorated in UV, cracked in hail , and were unsatisfactory . I bit the bullet and put in 1/4 " ( 6 mm) plate glass ; four pieces 2' X 4'. Expensive but worth it. The glass has been through a hail storm that damaged my asphalt shingles so badly the insurance replaced them . And a 100 foot pine fell on the glass , well only the top 15 ft of the tree. So glass is strong and clear and is reasonable cost if you factor in a long life compared to plastics.