My 1yr 3month old daughter crying every night

Question: Don't know what could it be but my daughter keeps on crying every night.
She's sleeping and suddenly she starts crying.
Hungry ? (She drinks her last bottle of milk around 8pm.)
Maybe teething? (every night, don't think so)
Miss being in mommy's and daddy's bed? (she cries even if she's in our bed)
I'm out of ideas, and we are kind of exhausted!
Any ideas what might be the reason for her to cry every night?
Comment: Does she wake up at about the same time every night?  Did this start recently? (And my sympathies.)
Comment: Does she calm down when held?  did you try giving her something to eat? (she may be growth spurting). My 15 month old has NEVER slept through the night at wakes at least once, to be held or fed. He always cries, but stops as soon as we are there - it is just his way of letting us know he is awake.
Comment: It's almost at the same time. And sometimes is more than once. She's started a couple a week's ago.
Comment: Have you taken her to the doctor and had her checked for possible physical causes?
Answer: From my experience, it seems like every parent I know (including myself) has this exact same problem sometime around their child's first birthday.  Their kid goes from being a stellar sleeper to suddenly waking up in the middle of the night.  Sometimes their child is upset; sometimes they just want to wake up and play.  Sometimes approaching new milestones can cause this; sometimes a growth spurt.  Lots of things are going on in your little girl's body and any one of those things could be waking her up, and she doesn't really know how to get herself back to sleep.  And she's probably disoriented.  I agree with Jaysker.  Check to see if she's comfortable.  Your body temperature goes down when you sleep, so while she might be perfectly comfortable in her summer jammies at bedtime, after she's slept for a few hours she might wake up cold--especially since the weather is starting to get cooler (and, if she's anything like either of my children, she kicks the blanket off of her).  The solution might be as simple as putting on a pair of socks for the time being.  If it's a growth spurt, she might be waking up hungry or thirsty.
It could be teething--especially if her back molars are coming in. Every time one of them flared up in my daughter, she was miserable until it either subsided or finally came through (it was so bad that she'd wake up bleeding from her gums, but I've been told this is exceptionally rare and is not something I experienced with my older son).  Tylenol helped, but it takes about 15 minutes to kick in.
If you don't think she's sick or that she has any food allergies that could be aggravating her, give it a few more weeks and see if it sorts itself out.  I know that's not the solution you want to hear, but it really does seem like it's a phase most kids go through.  You can find various methods for teaching her to self-sooth and working through those (this website discusses various methods for sleep training your child and dealing with night wakings).  It may take awhile for your daughter to figure this all out.  My son was about three before he finally got to the point where he could put himself to sleep and stay asleep in his bed all night, and he still occasionally comes to our room in the middle of the night wanting to get in bed with us, but that's a different story.
Answer: Excellent answers so far! I want to offer another idea:
Has she had leaps in development (mental, motor, etc.) in the last couple of weeks? At her age, she is rapidly learning new things and discovering whole new topics in herself and her surroundings. That's a lot for a young mind to handle, and while she sleeps her brain tries to make sense of it all and sort it into mental bins. That is a lot of hard work for the brain, and this might upset her just enough that she wakes up without being able to give you any exact reason. She can't really say my brain is too busy.
Ideas for "cures:"

It might help to have a longer quiet period before going to sleep, especially if she doesn't sleep for long before she starts crying.
If you're introducing many new things or activities, you might want to slow down a little so that she has a little bit less to mentally process at night.
Did her surroundings change? It is suddenly much darker outside than it used to be (seasonally)? See if a night light would help, or some white noise, or less light or less noise if possible.
Comment: When she's  in bed, she relaxes with her favorite toy, then falls asleep by herself most of the time. She's going to daycare now, maybe and I guess she's learning new stuff just like other kids. Where I live, temperature changed to a little cooler but don't think that might be it. I did noticed she's sleeping better from night to night and my guess is because we dress her more warmly. (maybe in summer she couldn't bear the heat!?). Thank you for all your suggestions!
Answer: I would suggest talking to your doctor.  Is it possible she is having stomach pains?  How easily does she soothe when you are up with her?  Is the temperature comfortable for her?
So here are my suggestions:
evaluate what she is eating/drinking? For example lactose intolerance may be showing up like this.
experiment with what she wears to bed.  Perhaps her pjs are too warm or too cool for her.
We all wake up many times in the night, but mostly we put ourselves back to sleep.  Children are not born with that skill however, and so often when they awake it is distressing to them.  If it does not appear that there are other physical factors, such as lactose intolerance or some discomfort, just reassure her that you are there and tuck her back in.  Do this in the least interactive manner possible, preferably just talking to her but not touching her except to give back a soother or cover her up.  Good luck - it will pass eventually.
Comment: Don't think she's lactose intolerant, she's been drinking cows milk for 6 months now and her crying started couple a week's ago.   We calm her down each time and falls back to sleep. We are new parents and I find it hard to know if she's cold or hot but we do our best. Her next doctor appointment is due for December. Thank you for your suggestions
Answer: I had the same problem, I tried many ways but fail and loose many sleepless night for a month. But one day while trying all the ways I gave her Gripe water thinking she may be crying due to Gripe and that night she slept well. Actually this idea struck me as I observing her cry is like colic cry. Hope! this help, I know what you are going through.
Comment: I think I'll give it a try.Thanks for the advice.
Answer:
Hungry ? (She drinks her last bottle of milk around 8pm.)

Could well be hungry. Offer her more milk (when she cries in the night) and see if it helps.

Maybe teething? (every night, don't think so)

Could be every night.
Tried teething gel?
Tried baby painkiller e.g. Calpol Infant?
On a scale of 1 to 10 (where "1" is "I am mildly concerned about the world economy" and 10 is "My toes are being eaten by a wolf"), how distressed is the crying? How long does it go on for?
You're checking her nappy (diaper) each time, right? Any nappy rash?
It could be worth trying carrying her in a sling for a few hours during the day or in the evening:

Sling babies cry less. Parents in my practice commonly report, "As long as I wear her, she's content!" Parents of fussy babies who try babywearing relate that their babies seem to forget to fuss. This is more than just my own impression. In 1986, a team of pediatricians in Montreal reported on a study of ninety-nine mother-infant pairs. The first group of parents were provided with a baby carrier and assigned to carry their babies for at least three extra hours a day. They were encouraged to carry their infants throughout the day, regardless of the state of the infant, not just in response to crying or fussing. In the control, or noncarried group, parents were not given any specific instructions about carrying. After six weeks, the infants who received supplemental carrying cried and fussed 43 percent less than the noncarried group.

http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/health-concerns/fussy-baby/baby-wearing/benefits-babywearing
(I understand that the problem is at night not during the day, but getting them more comfort during the day can help them to sleep better).
Have there been any recent changes in your baby's life or your family's life?


Should a question be understandable even by people that don't play the game?

Question: I'm referring specifically to this question: for an Ingress player it's clear what it's being asked, and I've edited it to refer to the "passcodes" game-specific term, instead of the generic "codes". For someone not playing the game the question may not be clear at all, could this be a rightful closing reason? It can be further edited to explain in detail what passcodes are, but from a player standpoint it is redundant: they already know what passcodes are, and if they are on this question they don't need it to be explained.
Answer: I don't see any particular reason why a question should have to go out of its way to make itself understandable to someone not familiar with the game or else face closure. If that were the case, every League of Legends question would need to be closed.
What's important is that the people who have the game understand it, and the people who could answer the question understand it. Now, if you want to take the extra time with your question to make them understandable to people unfamiliar with the game, great! Taking that kind of care with our content can really set this place apart from forums or Yahoo! Answers. But in my mind, that should be upvote/downvote criteria, not close vote criteria.
That said, we're all human here and we make mistakes. You may just need to call attention to questions when they are incorrectly closed in this way. People unfamiliar with the game probably truly believe the question is unclear. Hopefully when the situation is explained to them, they won't argue against the question being reopened. In this case, it looks like the question has already indeed been reopened.
Comment: Mind you that our answers should be understandable by people who _have just installed_ the game and, perhaps, played the tutorial. If your answer relies on the knowledge of more advanced concepts, it might be worth it to link to some other question/resource. For example, DOTA 2 teaches you about attack cancelling and denying in the tutorial, so you probably can assume most people know about it.
Answer: The question doesn't need to be understandable by everyone, but it should look like it's understandable to those who play the game. If not, there's the chance it gets incorrectly closed as unclear, which is what happened here. It's a lot better to explain that extra little detail before it gets closed than it is afterwards.
I'm not saying looking like understandable is a requirement. I'm saying it's better than the alternative.

Isn't that the reason why the "Skip" button exists in the review queue? If I'm not familiar with the game I prefer to leave the review to people that know what we're talking about. –  Kappei

It would be great, if this was the case, but there aren't 5 active people for every game we have questions about, and that's not a realistic goal either. That said, I would have skipped that particular question had I seen it in review.
Comment: Agreed. Might as well avoid the problem before it happens, if you recognize that it exists. However, sometimes when you're thinking within the context of a game, you don't even stop to think about how it might make not sense to someone who hasn't played it.
Comment: If a reviewer isn't familiar with the game, and it isn't obviously a non-question or whatever, they probably should be skipping the review...
Comment: I feel like, if there's a situation where as you say, a game lacks enough of a 3K+ body of experts, instead of simply VTC due to a lack of understanding, maybe bring it up in Meta or chat? I would've absolutely skipped the linked question if it came up in the review queue.
Comment: This is exactly why I cast my close vote. I was looking for a little more detail, for instance where these codes are provided, so that onlookers like myself could at least understand the problem, even if they had no idea what the solution would be. You'll also note that I was not the first to cast a close vote on this, even though I had the option to. I was initially unsure if the question should be closed, but seeing as how others thought it should be closed for the same reason I had considered, I decided to cast my close vote. I was relying on the judgement of others in making my decision.
Comment: @MBraedley you shouldn't relay in other decisions or POV unless you agree with them. If you aren't *sure* just skip ;).
Comment: @Braiam speaking specifically about Ingress, there are only [seven 3kers](http://data.stackexchange.com/gaming/query/160665/closing-users-who-know-about-a-tag) who have at least one answer at +2 or more.  There may be a couple others if we expand the scope to anyone who has asked or answered a question about Ingress, but the point is that seven people isn't enough to reliably close questions.
Answer: No, because otherwise questions about in-depth game mechanics would literally have to explain the whole game mechanics to be understandable. Even questions which don't actually go that deep would read like this:

Where in Final Fantasy VI (an RPG game by SquareSoft in 1993) can I
  obtain the Magicite (Magicites are like the "souls" of so-called
  espers which you usually get when you defeat them in combat. You can
  equip them on your characters, from which you have a lot, but only
  four at a time at most. When you do so they can learn their magic
  which you can use in combat. Combat is the most important element of
  the game, and having lots of spells makes the game a lot easier) of
  the esper Raiden (which is, as I heard, not that easy to find, in
  contrary to most other espers which you can't miss because they are at
  fixed points of the story. But this one is hidden and can be missed.
  It is one of the most powerful ones. It
  gives you the "Quick" spell which is really useful because when you
  cast it your characters can act twice as often in combat, so many
  players want to have it. Also, it's interesting for completionists who
  want to make sure that they get everything there is to find in the
  game).


Are there any modern theories on 5-part harmony?

Question: Are there any modern theories on 5 (or more)-part harmony? Preferably something involving overtone series and chromatic chords
Comment: There's really not much of a difference between the number of voices you are using except as the number grows, they become more interdependent for obvious reasons. The principals and tenants  of normal 4 part harmony will apply.
Answer: It's true that from some points of view, five and six part harmony is mostly the same as four.  If you're working in the style of Bach chorale's, you're still going to (mostly) respect rules about resolution of sevenths, dominants tending to tonics, don't double this voice or that one, be wary of parallel motion, and so on....  The primary difference is that there will be more interactions between the voices so you'll have more to keep track of, and you'll need to be more conscious about maintaining independence of voices.  If that's your concern, a big book about orchestration is your friend, maybe Samuel Adler's for example.
But I don't think that's what you're interested in.  Personally I find that I need the option to employ at least 6 simultaneous tones to achieve the harmonic complexity I'm looking for, in part because, as we start to add more voices into the harmonic picture, our nondiatonic possibilities greatly expand.  Four and less voices simply do not support counterpoint that heavily features equal divisions of the octave (augmented and diminished harmonies), because, in order to establish the harmonic character, we've already used up our voices and constrained ourselves to highly parallel motion.  (Additionally, in closed progressions, with the notes close together, none of the fundamental or lower overtones coincide !)
To respond to your comment above, I don't think it's Neo-Riemannian theory that you're looking for in this question.  Neo-Riemannian theory works by distilling music to a skeleton of fundamental chordal objects (either major/minor triads or dominant/half diminished sevenths) and then abstracts to the transformations between these objects, and the focus of the theory is on the latter: more voices are essentially obstacles to the theory, or auxiliary coloration, depending on how you look at it.  There's a lot of insight to be gleaned from the Neo-Riemannian approach when it's sagely applied (to the right music), but the theory only possesses the capacity to address triadic music.  That said, sometimes it's very interesting to analyze music that is ostensibly nontriadic by trying to find a triadic reduction that seems to "accomplish" the same harmonic function.  I'd highly recommend Richard Cohn's book "Audacious Euphony" for an extensive introduction, or Julian Hook's work if you enjoy the algebraic aspect of the theory.  I should also say that, in theory Neo-Riemannian methods could hope to account for some richer harmonies by considering minimal perturbations of the six-part equal division of the octave (whole tone scale) as its dual chordal objects — analogous to augmented triads and fully diminished sevenths — but in practice this is totally uninteresting because there are only two transpositions of the whole tone scale, and so the voice-leading/transformational aspect is incredibly shallow.
When we allow ourselves to add more voices, and not just for the sake of doubling, a lot opens up.  Shoenberg writes about this over a hundred years ago in the last sections of his classic instructional text, Harmonielehre.  With a couple additional voices, you can organize your harmony to simultaneously convey qualities of conventional consonance and that ambiguity characteristic of the whole tone or diminished scales.  These "vagrant" harmonies possess a degree of stability from their consonant internal interactions but also strongly suggest resolutions by proximal voice leading.  You might think of the vocabulary of five and six note chords as being "derived" from the triadic vocabulary by minimally perturbing a couple voices.  Two early 20th century movements treat this vocabulary quite differently:  the impressionists considering the objects stable unto themselves and the late romantics as ways to fluidly transition between tonal regions, resulting in heavy chromaticism.  You could also do as Schoenberg eventually did and start thinking about a vocabulary which comes largely from tone clusters and is not designed for bringing out independence of voices — rather the opposite — in which you take a pointilistic approach such that tones lose their individual identities and lend themselves to composite "colors".
Hindemith might also be of interest to you as a proponent of a "pandiatonic" approach.  The term is terribly abused, but here I mean it as someone whose relevant notion of consonance was to be confined to a diatonic scale, but still drawing harmony freely from it, often full of suspensions and dissonant sevenths and without resolution.  In this way of thinking, you might be also interested in reading some of Dmitri Tymoczko's work about scalar networks, which is very useful in studying "nonfunctional harmony."   The fundamental scalar objects in this theory are the "locally" diatonic scales, nameley: the diatonic, the octatonic (diminished), the acoustic (e.g. G A B C# D E F), and the whole tone scales. "Averaging" any whole tone step in an octatonic scale yields an acoustic scale, as does splitting any tone in a whole tone scale; meanwhile raising the fourth scale degree of an acoustic or diatonic scale yields a diatonic scale.
In essence, you can start thinking about harmony as the compact presentation of a scale, and focus your attention on modulating between scales. An always-good exercise if you play a polyphonic instrument is to lay out a path in the scalar network and improvise over it with a walking bass and large random-esque harmonies above.
I apologize that this post is all over the place and by no means thorough in any place, but I hope it gives you a few ideas about places to look.
Answer: Two through thirty-six or more part harmony is essentially the same. The only real change as the number of parts goes up is in the relaxation of the doubling rules. By happenstance, four-part harmony has the toughest rules on voice leading. Applying the usual ideas of avoiding parallel fifths and octaves still apply but successive octaves or fifths by contrary motion is permitted in five or more parts. It's easier to construct a full V-I cadence in root position in five part than in four part harmony (also easier in three part.)
Some of the older books like Ebenezer Prout's have a bit of discussion on the subject. http://petrucci.mus.auth.gr/imglnks/usimg/4/4a/IMSLP240170-SIBLEY1802.15874.d6d5-39087009937881text.pdf page 250ff.
Comment: As a general rule I would regard anything written by Ebenezer Prout with some scepticism.  I remember reading some of it when I was at school and being told to ignore it all by my harmony teacher;  he seemed to think that Prout was introducing lots of "dos and don'ts" without any justification.
Comment: I've decided to ignore anything that doesn't involve overtone series + chromaticism, because it's been hundreds of years since these things were discovered and I think it's about time a unified theory exists that actually justifies rules. In my quest for such a theory, I've found Hindemith books and Neo-Riemannian theories. But it's gonna take me a while to see if they actually provide what I'm looking for.


Bringing Linux Accounts in Active Directory

Question: I'm trying to centralize user login information via Active Directory. Currently I have AD running on Server 2008 R2. I do have Identity Management for UNIX installed on it. I also have a few Linux clients mainly using CentOS 5.X and Fedora 14. I've set up Samba on a CentOs machine and have joined the machines to the AD domain. Users in AD are able to login to Linux clients using the AD credentials. My question is that is it possible for the Linux users to login to Windows machines. I'm new to setting up integration as well Samba. Is there any setting in Samba that'll allow the users in Linux machines to login to Windows? I'd appreciate any help/tips/suggestions. Thank you very much.
Answer: It's certainly possible if you add the Linux users to Active Directory.
Samba doesn't do much for you here. The real "magic" is being done by LDAP and Kerberos. In an ideal setup, OpenLDAP enumerates the users from Active Directory, and Kerberos handles authentication. Samba is not necessary for the use case you're describing (unless you insist on having the computer accounts in AD, which is mostly useless).
CentOS has some detailed documentation on how to accomplish directory-based authentication. You will probably do a lot of Googling to get LDAP/Kerberos going correctly, but the starting point is to edit /etc/openldap/ldap.conf and /etc/krb5.conf with the correct values for your AD setup. You'll also want to export an OpenLDAP copy of your AD server's certificate in PEM format if you want to connect to AD via SSL.
The trick here is to ensure that the "Linux users" in use are actually LDAP (Active Directory) users, and not just local accounts stored in each unique machine.


To what extent can Ānāpānasati be related to Vipassanā?

Question: I've read that the two can somehow be used in Unison, with benefit. Can anyone expand on this?
Answer: Anapanasati is divided into 4 tetrads which correspond to the 4 Satipatthana hence the pratice of Anapanasati is actually a forms of Satipatthana / Vipassana. A thorough introduction to Anapanasati and how to develop this into Vipassana is difficult in this format hence it might be worthwhile to read a more elaborate book on it: Anapanasati: Mindfulness of Breathing by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu. You can complement this book with: Right Mindfulness: Memory & Ardency on the Buddhist Path by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Comment: Best answer possible. I'll learn a lot from this. Thank you.
Answer: In this post I will touch on one aspect of the Vipassana side to Anapanasati meditation - Contemplation of Mind Objects. Contemplating on Impermanence, He Trains (as part of Anapanasati Meditation) "Contemplating impermanence, he breathes in. Contemplating impermanence, he breathes out. Thus, he trains himself."
Anicca means 'impermanence'. Being able to see everything in terms of impermanence is not something that comes automatically after gaining concentration of mind. Now, he trains himself to breathe in contemplating impermanence, and he trains himself to breathe out contemplating impermanence.
Some meditation teachers declare that impermanence is something that just becomes visible to a mind, like appearing in a meter, and enables one to gain something called 'vipassana nana' (insight knowledge) by continuous determination. This theory or view is not in accordance with the Supreme Buddha's Dhamma.
Impermanence of Breath
Anapanasati is something that should be developed and pursued mindfully and discerningly. Now, he trains himself to breathe in focusing on impermanence, and to breathe out focusing on impermanence. Purity of mind has been achieved through the elimination of the hindrances (nivarana). His effort, mindfulness and concentration are now being directed towards focusing on impermanence. He is contemplating on impermanence within anapanasati. He can see the impermanent nature of his own breath in its rise and fall; the impermanence of his body; and the impermanent nature of the pleasant feeling and perception that he experienced.
Impermanence of Body
What has he seen in the body? What does this body consist of? This physical body contains and comprises the four great elements, which are known as: solidity/earth (pathavi), fluidity/water (apo), heat or temperature (tejo) and air (vayo). We generally use the word rupa (material form) to denote the body. When he is breathing in and out, he is focusing on impermanence of material form which is derived from the four great elements.
Impermanence of Feeling
Thereafter, he is focusing on feelings. Dependent on contact, feeling arises. What is contact? Contact is the coming together of three things. For example, eye, form and eye-consciousness come together, and it is their convergence, that is called contact. Similarly, with ear and sounds, nose and smells, and so on, through to mind and mental-objects.
In this instance, when body, tangible object and consciousness come together, there arises contact. With the arising of contact, simultaneously, there arises feeling (vedana) – feeling born of body contact. Since feeling is conditioned by contact, feeling differs in accordance with the change of contact. This way, he contemplates on the impermanence of feeling.
Impermanence of Perception
Then, there is the recognition of perception. This is called sañña (perception) which is also subject to change as it is conditioned by contact. Perception changes due to impermanence of contact.
Impermanence of Formations
Perception is followed by sankhara (mental formations). If the mental factor was directed to a certain matter, on that occasion there is volitional activity, and this is called sankhara. Here, he observes the impermanence of the mental formation with the change of contact. All these are based on the activities of the mind.
Now he understands every aspect in this life process which was considered as self (form, feeling, perception and formation); or anything pertaining to a self. He has real wisdom to see things as they really are. One may contemplate on impermanence saying "anicca, anicca" continuously, but still be holding onto the notion of "I am" or "mine". To avoid this, it is important to realize the impermanent, no-self nature in inhalation-exhalation and in any other external object.
Impermanence of Consciousness
Finally, he sees the impermanent nature of all that has been cognized (the rise and fall of breath, rapture, joy, feelings, and perceptions). It is through this insight that the true nature of the five aggregates of clinging is understood and seen in the light of impermanence:
material form (rupa) derived from the four great elements,
feeling (vedana) that is conditioned by contact,
perception (sañña) that is conditioned by contact,
mental formations (sankhara) that is conditioned by contact, and
consciousness (viññana) that is conditioned by mentality-materiality (nama-rupa)
Being fully concentrated on anapanasati, he now dwells ardent, with full awareness, and clear comprehension of impermanence. With the base of this awareness, established in anicca (impermanence), he develops an understanding of his own life, the impermanent nature of others who breathe and live, and the impermanent nature of material form, feeling, perception, mental formations and consciousness (the five aggregates of clinging).
Thus, he observes the impermanent characteristic of phenomenal existence, internally and externally. He does not see a difference in him and the outer world. He sees the characteristic of phenomenal existence as subject to cause and effect. Now he is gaining knowledge, and his comprehension is increasing. He sees things as they really are, in whatever material form: whether past, present or future, far or near, external or internal. He sees the impermanence even of the rapture and pleasure that he is experiencing in breathing mindfully. Now, based on the impermanent breath, he understands the impermanent nature of the five aggregates of clinging.
He realizes that whatever is impermanent and subject to change, is suffering (dukkha). And, whatever is impermanent is without self (anatta). It is through this insight that the true nature of the aggregates is clearly seen; in the light of three signs (ti-lakkhana): impermanence (anicca), suffering (dukkha) and without self (anatta).
He sees the impermanent, suffering and no-self nature of all conditioned and component things. As a result, he knows there is no "I", no self, or anything pertaining to a self. When he trains himself to breathe in and out focusing on impermanence, he understands that anything taken as 'mine' is impermanent; anything taken as 'I am' is impermanent; and anything that is taken as 'my self' is impermanent. He realizes that whatever is impermanent, is without self. That which is without self, is not 'mine', not 'I am', and is not 'my self'. Thus he sees everything as it really is – with wisdom.


Segulah of Kvatar: Source

Question: Is there a source for the claim that being a Kvater (person who carries a baby to/from his Bris) helps cure infertility?
Answer: The author of the Sefer Shaleiach Teshalach (English edition p. 98) writes that he was personally told by R' Elyashiv and R' Chaim Kanievsky that "there is no Midrashic or Rabbinic source whatsoever connecting the honor of kvatter with being blessed with children." He also cites R' Shlomo Zalman Aurbach to this effect (from the Sefer V'aleihu Lo Yibol). [Link here - search term "kvatter".]
I once tried doing a computer search for this, and the earliest sefer that mentions anything about it was by a contemporary author (written in the 70's, IIRC).
Comment: I can't locate it now. But I did find a suggestion in "yiddishworld" (http://www.yiddishworld.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=265677&sid=6bfeb620f8b43c3355635bf8224e1c64#p265677) that the source of this practice is a Midrash which says that someone who does not have children should be involved with Bris Milah. See there for the details.
Comment: Segulot are somtimes Kabbalistic and not always  Midrashic or Rabbinic, so Dave I would appreciate the Contemprary sefer you found Thanks
Answer: In the Book Bris Secrets
a source is brought from the Sefer Sharie Ahron a Posuk in The Torah!!!
it says:
וְאֶתְּנָה בְרִיתִי, בֵּינִי וּבֵינֶךָ; וְאַרְבֶּה אוֹתְךָ, בִּמְאֹד מְאֹד
Translated in This context as:
Ones who brings the Child into My Bris (The Kvater) that is between me and you and I will Multiply you very Much.
Comment: The pasuk cannot be translated or understood that way even midrashically. The subject is Hashem, the object is Avraham, and the indirect object is the bris. I.e. the only way to understand this is God saying that He will place His bris between Himself and Avraham. I don't see how anyone would connect this to the Kvater.
Answer: There are many sources against such an idea.  To many Rishonim such as the Rambam the idea of some action or vehicle of Mitzvah to bring about some "magical" outcome would be extremely problematic.  Even to suggest that by the performance of a Mitzvah you raise your level to merit a new Providential relationship to receive the desired outcome would be a stretch when applied to merely having some honor in assisting to do the Milah.  However, if the person believes that by being a Kvater it may help with their infertility the psychological impact might make a difference.  There have been many studies that have shown the relationship between the mind and the affects on the body.  Certainly infertility at times may be impacted by the psyche of the parties involved.
So you may not want to stop the practice, but I am not sure you want to encourage it.
Lephi Aniyas Daati

Segulah of Kvatar: Source


Creating points on multiple lines

Question: How would I create points along a line on multiple lines?
We are mapping our vineyards, and in some cases the rows are straight, and parallel. So for example, I've got 86 rows, and each row has 93 vines. How do I first create the 86 rows without having to copy parallel every time, and then how do I create the 93 vines along each one of those rows without needing to construct points every time?
I've been messing around, and can't figure it out.
Answer: If I understand you right you are looking for a function similar to AutoCAD's "Copy Multiple". I don't know about a similar tool in ArcGIS. So what I suggest here is just a work-around for your question.
I'd use the free Station Points function in the otherwise commercial ET GeoWizards.
For each line it allows you to create evenly distributed points along the line. You have to compute the length of each line first and divide it by e.g. 92 to get the distance between the stations, which is an input parameter to the tool. You may run the tool for all lines with precisely the same length at once, but you have to repeat the proecdure for each group of lines with their own length.
You still have to draw your rows beforehand, so it is really just a work-around.
Answer: If I'm reading you correctly, this solution might work.  Use the ArcToolbox>DataManagementTools>Create Fishnet tool to create an initial 86 x93 grid.  This will be equivalent to your 86 rows, with the intersections of the lines being equivalent to the point locations.  You can then use the ArcToolbox>DataManagementTools>FeatureVertices to Points tool to create points at the intersections.  You can then remove the lines that you do not need.  Just an idea, may or may not do what you need.

Creating points on multiple lines


What is the difference between IAAS and web hosting?

Question: I've been googling to find out exactly what IAAS (Infrastructure As A Service) is, but I don't understand how it is different from web hosting?
Answer: Definition of Infrastructure as a Service

Infrastructure as a Service is a provision model in which an
  organization outsources the equipment used to support operations,
  including storage, hardware, servers and networking components. The
  service provider owns the equipment and is responsible for housing,
  running and maintaining it. The client typically pays on a per-use
  basis.
Characteristics and components of IaaS include:
-Utility computing service and billing model.
  -Automation of administrative tasks.
  -Dynamic scaling.
  -Desktop virtualization.
  -Policy-based services.
  -Internet connectivity.

Definition of web hosting

A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to make their website accessible via the World Wide Web. Web hosts are companies that provide space on a server owned or leased for use by clients, as well as providing Internet connectivity, typically in a data center.

As you can see IaaS offers more functionality and flexibility then web hosting. But at a cost.
Answer: No difference really other than Flexibility.
Iaas :
The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing," in IaaS, "the capability provided to the consumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and other fundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy and run arbitrary software,
which can include OSs and applications. The consumer does not manage or control the
underlying cloud infrastructure but has control over OSs, storage, and deployed applications; and possibly limited control of select networking components
Hosting Fits the same definition As Iaas.. like Iaas there are different products that allow for more (resource ,controls, etc..) at a cost.  your site could be server side scripted .. in a sense it is an application . that then runs on Hosted servers. Web , App, DB etc.


What is a beat?

Question: I keep hearing the word "beat" in Writers.SE, as in "... break your scene into beats" from this question. What is a beat? How is it different from a scene?
Comment: Note that in writing "Beat" has more than one meaning based on context.
Answer: TLDR: Beats are what you make scenes out of.
"Beat" is terminology that probably came backwards into writing from acting. Essentially a scene is made of beats for an actor. To explain: I used to be an actor and one thing that I think always blows people's minds is how an actor can learn the entirety of Hamlet's part in a matter of a few months and then recall it and act it night after night for a play's run. What blows people's minds even more is that the actor can simultaneously go to the shops for milk, bread, eggs, beer, bacon and cigarettes and only recall the need for beer and cigarettes.
When I first started acting I always wondered what would happen when I was good enough to have more than five lines in a play. When I first got to twenty I had enough trouble remembering them. As I continued to act, though, I learned how it is that actors can be so good at memorising parts but hopeless as everyone else at remembering everything else. The secret is in the beats.
The script is one part of making a performance, often compared to a blueprint. There is also a process of breaking down a scene and working through all the lines slowly and painstakingly finding out when it's a good idea to make a move across stage, when it's alright to take a pause, how your part meshes with the parts of everyone else who's in the scene. This process is called "blocking".
Take this beginning to Act II Sc ii of Macbeth. In this short piece of dialogue Lady Macbeth is awaiting the return of her husband from the King's sleeping Chambers. She has plotted with Macbeth to kill King Duncan in order that Macbeth may assume his crown as King of Scotland. Now she knows she has sent him to do it but is uncertain as to the state of the King. She has some concern that Macbeth will be unable to commit:

Enter LADY MACBETH
LADY MACBETH That which hath made them drunk hath
  made me bold; What hath quench'd them hath given me fire. Hark! Peace!
  It was the owl that shriek'd, the fatal bellman, Which gives the
  stern'st good-night. He is about it: The doors are open; and the
  surfeited grooms Do mock their charge with snores: I have drugg'd
  their possets, That death and nature do contend about them, Whether
  they live or die.
MACBETH  [Within] Who's there? what, ho!
LADY MACBETH  Alack, I am afraid they have awaked, And 'tis not done.
  The attempt and not the deed Confounds us. Hark! I laid their daggers
  ready; He could not miss 'em. Had he not resembled My father as he
  slept, I had done't.
Enter MACBETH
My husband!
MACBETH  I have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a noise?
LADY MACBETH  I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry. Did not you
  speak?
MACBETH  When?
LADY MACBETH  Now.
MACBETH  As I descended?
LADY MACBETH  Ay.
MACBETH  Hark! Who lies i' the second chamber?
LADY MACBETH  Donalbain.
MACBETH  This is a sorry sight.
Looking on his hands
LADY MACBETH  A foolish thought, to say a sorry sight.

This is always a favorite for actors to interpret, and ideal for our explanation because there are many beats of different kinds in this one section of dialogue. Here is the same broken into three broad "mood" beats, these are the closest to a writer's beats:
Beat 1: In this beat Lady Macbeth is allowed a moment alone on stage. Later in the play she famously goes mad (or more properly becomes mad in a different manner) and this is a moment in which we start the shift from a state where she is cold and megalomaniacal to a state of incoherent paranoia. This beat allows the scene to start on an off kilter note and Shakespeare inserts Macbeth's off stage comment in order to disrupt the soupy verse of Lady Macbeth's consideration. She starts the monologue truculently considering how the act of murder intoxicates her and then moves on to gloat at the thought of having sent her husband to murder the king and his heirs. After the off stage interruption she has a moment of peevishness that her husband nay be too lily livered to go through with it. This is particularly rich as she later freely admits that she didn't have the stomach for it. The mood of this beat is fairly slow, delirious, a moment of giddy trauma marked by careening mood swings of the sole character on stage.

Enter LADY MACBETH
LADY MACBETH That which hath made them drunk hath
  made me bold; What hath quench'd them hath given me fire. Hark! Peace!
  It was the owl that shriek'd, the fatal bellman, Which gives the
  stern'st good-night. He is about it: The doors are open; and the
  surfeited grooms Do mock their charge with snores: I have drugg'd
  their possets, That death and nature do contend about them, Whether
  they live or die.
MACBETH  [Within] Who's there? what, ho!
LADY MACBETH  Alack, I am afraid they have awaked, And 'tis not done.
  The attempt and not the deed Confounds us. Hark! I laid their daggers
  ready; He could not miss 'em. Had he not resembled My father as he
  slept, I had done't.

Beat 2: Macbeth enters and the next beat begins. The two characters are now "in the moment" of having just conducted an act of murder. Shakespeare shows that these two people are united only in this murderous act. They both panic and although both kind of converse they are more talking to themselves than communicating with each other. Each is alone in their own experience. They both talk about noise but in each case they are talking about something different. Macbeth is talking about the noise of the murdered as he stabbed them in their beds. Lady Macbeth talks about owls screaming and crickets crying, the natural world reacting to the death of a monarch in a more spiritual way. Again Shakespeare is telling you Lady Macbeth is going to go mad one way and Macbeth, formerly uncertain about his capacity to kill for power is already acclimatising to his new role as murderous tyrant. This beat aims for a brief flutter of panic, trying to push the audience's heart rate up a little but only for a moment.

Enter MACBETH
My husband!
MACBETH  I have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a noise?
LADY MACBETH  I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry. Did not you
  speak?
MACBETH  When?
LADY MACBETH  Now.
MACBETH  As I descended?
LADY MACBETH  Ay.

Beat 3: This is really the beginning of a longer beat rather than a whole beat, you can easily find the whole text if you want to examine this practice further. In the next sequence Macbeth and Lady Macbeth engage in a protracted examination of the act of murder, its commission, its possible consequences. The two dance around each other each on their own track. Shakespeare uses this time to convert the characters from what they were before this moment to what they become for the rest of the play. Lady Macbeth in this moment changes from the cold and calculating ice queen whose husband was never good enough into the terrified animal who will eventually snuff out her own life rather than live with the voices that attack her in the darkness. Macbeth goes from the loyal and humble warrior who fights for king and country to power-thirsty dictator with regard for nothing but his own ambition. The mood of this section as it unwinds is a kind of antiseptic stillness, the calm after a hideous storm and the fragmented dialogue pushes the audience into a distant position where they may better regard these two hideous creatures revelling in their own filthy act.

MACBETH  Hark! Who lies i' the second chamber?
LADY MACBETH  Donalbain.
MACBETH  This is a sorry sight.
Looking on his hands
LADY MACBETH  A foolish thought, to say a sorry sight.

Notice how each beat changes the mood of the scene. Lady Macbeth foreshadows her own creeping madness in the first beat. The second beat wipes this soupy descent from attention as the two panicking murderers face each other for the first time after the deed. The third beat shifts gear again as the two, over the initial shock, fall to contemplate the act.
In script writing beats are often portioned out like that. Sometimes scripts are written from improvisational work and in that case you can see that a list of beats would be like a list of mood moments the actors had worked out for the writer to turn into dialogue e.g.

NOTES FROM MACBETH IMPROV - Scene: After The Murder

Lady Macbeth alone, already she is starting to fall into lunacy.
Lady Macbeth and Macbeth see each other, he is bloodied, she ennervated, a moment of panic.
The two contemplate the act. Morosely revelling in their evil.

And so on.
When applied to screenplay writing, as scenes are generally shorter in movies, a beat could be a single scene, it could also apply to a montage of events dislocated in space and time such as a training montage in a Rocky movie. As movies can play a little faster and looser with regard to the Greek unities of time, place and action the beats can be spread to single units of time between two and five minutes in length. Also films have far more liberty in the use of juxtaposition, see Inception for the use of juxtaposition to create a rhythm of visuals and sound that a lot of people seemed to like.
Coming now, finally, to the writer of novels. I doubt that Dickens or Austen thought of their work as being so related to the Shakepearean plays (Ibsen, on the other hand, wrote plays designed not to be performed but to be read like novels, maybe he had more of an inkling about this). The idea of using this micromanagement technique to pace out incidents in a novel is relatively new as it has flowed from the playhouse to the  movie studio and finally back to the writers desk.
When a novel has beats it's more about how one should play the moods of scenes that are adjacent to one another. One chapter in a book could have one distinct mood and explore one set of ideas or aspect of the novel's theme, the next should move away from this to give the reader some variety. There are a number of techniques for this.
In novels broad beats can be broken down into smaller beats. In the novel of Macbeth the scene above is a "Character Beat" where the novel takes a chapter to explore the beginning of strain between Lord and Lady Macbeth. The preceding chapter which details the act of the murder of King Duncan is a "Suspense Beat" in which we want the audience to contemplate the immorality of the act and Macbeth's inevitable comeuppance.
Within both of these broad beats we could break the scene down into further, smaller beats. The murder beat could require a visceral moment of denial, a terrifying moment of action, and a descending moment of realisation of what has been done. Then the character beat can proceed as detailed above.
Comment: @Shan: I'll annotate the example. You have been playing with the tin opener in the canned worm factory I am afraid ;)
Comment: @One Monkey- Go ahead, see how many words you can stuff in one post before you crash the server! ;)
Comment: One Monkey, I can't follow the Macbeth example at all, so I'm ignoring it. In the novel section: If a beat sets a mood, then one scene can have just one beat, as (I'm guessing) the mood stays roughly the same for each scene?
Comment: @Shan, I don't think the mood necessarily stays the same for one scene.  One Monkey is saying mood stays the same for one BEAT, but there could be multiple beats in a single scene.  Re-read the last couple paragraphs of Monkey's post, then pick up your favourite novel (or your WIP) and see if you can spot beats in it.
Comment: Cannot upvote enough!
Comment: @OneMonkey, Amazing! I'm saving this.
Answer: Since "break your scene into beats" was from my comment, let me see if I can add anything to the discussion here:
You originally wrote "I divide my story into scenes, and put those scenes into chapters." So you understand how to break a story into smaller pieces. Let's create an example:
SCENE: James just found out that he's been promoted, and is sharing the news with his best friend Sam. James didn't know Sam was going for the same promotion. Sam is both pleased and jealous, and trying to hide his jealousy.
[My original suggestion here was "forget about word count, and ask yourself 'Did I accomplish the task(s) in my outline in this scene?' " Let's assume that the tasks you want to accomplish are:

show James to be young, enthusiastic, ambitious, and somewhat full
of himself, but not entirely insensitive
show Sam to both love James and see him as a rival
start laying groundwork to set up the big Act IV confrontation between James and Sam.]

So to create beats, you kind of micro-outline your story.

Sam is sitting at his desk working. Sam's thoughts: both he and James
interviewed. Sam has been working very hard for this position and thinks he has finally convinced Big Boss that he deserves the responsibility. Sam knew his interview was strong, but he also knows
James is a charmer. Wonders if interviewer told James that Sam was
interviewing. Wonders how James did. Wonders what it would be like if
James had to report to him, and if that would cool their friendship.
Leads to tangent reverie about happy childhood memory with him and
James.
James comes in the room extremely excited. "Sam, I got the job!"
Eagerly recounts how he was just told. Starts to rattle off future plans for the position. James doesn't notice the smile
has frozen on Sam's face. Sam's thoughts racing as James bounces
around the room, oblivious.
James finally pauses for Sam's reaction. Sam forces out something
positive. James's smile falls as he realizes Sam isn't nearly as
excited as he expected. Asks what's wrong. "Aren't you happy for me?"
Jumps to conclusions and starts reassuring Sam that James will
certainly insist that Sam join him in the new department as his
right-hand guy. "I'd never leave you behind, Sam, you're my best friend." Adds something about refusing the promotion if Sam can't come with him, speaking with a great air of gallantry.
Sam recognizes James's genuine devotion to him, and is able to smile
more normally. Thanks James for his offer and reiterates his pleasure
at James's promotion.
James is up and running again, rattling off ideas, but this time it's more give-and-take, and Sam finds himself caught up in the excitement of the new project. This feels more natural, more right — the two of them working together to solve a problem.

Those are beats. They are bubbles of action, of thought, of mood, which each contribute something to character or plot.
Answer: I think One Monkey's answer shows the way 'beats' is used on a scene basis (and the way it was being used in the answer you referenced), but the word is also used in relation to dialogue, as a way to break up a wall of text and acknowledge the pauses and ticks of traditional conversations.
Without beats: "I can't believe you'd do that.  I mean, we've talked about it so many times, and I really thought we had it all figured out. We knew it would be hard, but...I really thought we'd make it work.  I guess I was wrong.  So I guess now, we just have to figure out what the hell we're going to do about it."
With beats: "I can't believe you'd do that." She shifted in her chair, moving her body away from him.  "I mean, we've talked about it so many times, and I really thought we had it all figured out.  We knew it would be hard, but... I really thought we'd make it work." Another shift, and this time her eyes left him, too.  He wondered how much longer he had before she stood up and walked right out the door. "I guess I was wrong." She paused, and then her gaze returned to his, and her look was so fierce that he found himself wishing for the earlier distance.  "So I guess now, we just have to figure out what the hell we're going to do about it."
That example is kinda over-beated, but you get the idea.  The beats give information, but they also make speech feel more natural, and give the reader a chance to absorb the emotions.
Comment: Oh yes, of course that's the micro micro beat, sometimes even written into scripts. "Marriage is a wonderful institution. (Beat.) But who wants to belong to an institution?" That's where the whole thing started, of course. Good spot.
Answer: So pleased to read those valuable answers, as an theatre and movie actor I can testify that beats in a dialogue, are an indication about where the character is at a particular key moment of the scene. It helps determine what motivates him to jump to the next thought or action.
It means that a beat marks a change of intention, desire or objective.
If the the character's objective  happens to stay the same, then what's determined is the action he decides to take, consequently to the information he just received (line, action or reaction) in order to reach his main target as character. However I would have been happy to see OneMonkey's annotated example.

What is a beat?


Mailing list member received unexpected opt-out message

Question: Using CiviCRM 4.3.4 (update necessary, I know) one of our mailing list members has received an opt-out message, that he was unsubscribed from all mailing lists. In fact this is not true. He is still member of all those groups and has never been removed. Now I'm wondering why he received this e-mail. Any ideas?
Answer: In civi, you have two ways to be removed from a mailing: unsubscribe from the group or opt-out (from any mailing).
The later doesn't remove the contact from any group, but change the status of the email and automatically exclude the contact from any mass mailing.
When you do to the contact summary, do you have a red icon next to his/her email?
If you want to have the contact receive mass mailing again, you need to edit the contact and uncheck the opt-out (beware, you should only do that for contacts that actually want to receive emails)
As for why she/he was opted out, it's likely the email was forwarded around, and one of the recipient that received the forwarded email clicked on unsubscribe. Obviously, instead of preventing friends to forward you emails, it did unsubscribe the original recipient, hence the opt-out message.
Comment: probably email forwarded around. I updated the answer, hope it makes sense
Comment: Yes, you are right. According to the change log no one else has changed his settings. So he might have opt-out himself unconsciously. But shouldn't this has been logged too?
Comment: This could be a possible scenario, indeed. Thanks.
Comment: A hard bounce also sets the same flag. But I don't think it would generate the opt-out email.


Is the atmosphere a part of Earth?

Question: My question is quite simple, but I can't seem to find any answer to it: how do we define the limit of the object "Earth"? More specifically, can we consider the atmosphere a part of it? Or even the oceans, for that matter? I was going for a no at first glance, but that would mean that you are actually leaving the Earth when you fly on a plane. That feels weird. How do scientists define the limit of the Earth?
Comment: The density of the atmosphere gradually gets smaller as we move away from earth. To draw a line anywhere will anyways be artificial. In earth sciences earth is divided to spheres (like hydrosphere, atmosphere) and the outermost layer that is named (and thus can be thought as an attribute of earth) is exosphere and its upper limit isn't defined other than: where objects are still bound to earth's gravitation.
Answer: It's all in how one chooses to define it M.Connor.
Often in physical science courses, we define the Earth system as the lithosphere (rocks), atmosphere (air), biosphere (life), and hydrosphere (water) [also sometimes separately defining a 5th aspect, the cryosphere, which is ice]
In the end, we often just think of the Earth as everything confined by its gravity (not including in orbit) as that's everything still controlled by the Earth.
But in a very true sense, you're still leaving the Earth when you take off on a plane.
Just you're still in a state/region of the Earth's system where what goes up must come down.  So you won't be gone long!
Answer: Yes, the atmosphere is part of the Earth and as others here have stated the atmosphere thins (decreases in density) with height.
The aviation and outer space communities use the Karman Line as the boundary between the Earth's atmosphere and outer space. This line is 100 km above sea level.

Is the atmosphere a part of Earth?


Is "relatively big compared to" redundant?

Question: If I say something like

He is big compared to the other guy.
He is relatively big compared to the other guy.

is the adverb relatively wrong because of redundancy?
Comment: First of all, *relatively* is an adverb, not an adjective. Secondly, "wrong because of redundancy" does not make sense. *Redundant* does not mean "wrong". *Redundant* only means "redundant".
Comment: @RegDwightΒВBẞ8: true, +1.
Answer: It is unnecessary. Relatively implies comparison, and that is already explicit in the verb.
Comment: Okay, so is it even wrong?
Comment: @NickKidman: It's wrong it it doesn't do what the speaker or writer wants it to do.
Answer: "He is relatively big compared to the other guy." -- This is not necessarily wrong, but is awkward, and yes, redundant.
'compared to' conveys the same meaning.
You could even say "He is bigger than the other guy" to mean the same thing, 'bigger' being the comparative.
Answer: The "relatively" changes the meaning of the sentence slightly and is therefore not redundant.
"He is relatively big compared to the other guy". Implies that he is probably not normally considered big. As in "Grumpy is relatively big compared with Dopey".
Answer: I'd likely use "big relative to the other guy", or "a little bigger than", depending on what you're trying to convey.
It seems to me that "relatively big compared to" is trying to use the word relatively to mean "slightly", or "not by much". When you get rid of it, you have "big compared to", which can mean that he's thousands of times larger, or only a little larger.
Depending on context, it could also be a double comparison. The door is 8 feet tall. Guy-A is 8.5 feet tall. Guy-B is 6 feet tall. Therefore, while it is obvious that Guy-A is bigger than Guy-B, what may not be obvious is that Guy-A is big relative to the door, as compared to Guy-B, who is small relative to the door. So, with regard to the door, "Guy-A is relatively big compared to Guy-B."


What is CUPS on port 631?

Question: I recently ran an NMAP scan of my Mac's open ports and discovered port 631 (ipp) was open. Intrigued, I saw it was for the CUPS web interface, and after enabling it I found it had something to do with printing. But what exactly is CUPS?
Answer: From the CUPS website:

CUPS is the standards-based, open source printing system developed by Apple Inc. for OS X and other UNIX®-like operating systems.

On OS X it provides local printer services as well as shared printer services for other Macs to access your printer via the service if the printer doesn't have its own sharing capabilities. CUPS has become fairly ubiquitous across the Linux/UNIX contingent of OSes as the print server if choice.
That open port you found is because printer sharing is turned on on your machine. You can close port via System Preferences > Sharing and uncheck Printer Sharing.
Comment: I would love it if someone passing by who knew why would tell me why the port is open even though printer sharing is off.
Comment: The 631 port is open even with `Printer Sharing` unchecked. This is on `10.10.4` at least.
Comment: see also https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2078738 includes instructions for disabling cups with launchctl
Answer: Actually CUPS (the Common Unix Printing System) was an open source project that Apple bought. Contrary to what is listed at CUPS.org, CUPS existed long before Apple bought it.
I understand that CUPS remains Open Source and that (some?) code contributed by Apple works it's way back into the Open Source version available to and used by other O/S'
Note that CUPS is an excellent (though somewhat complicated) web interface to the printing subsystem on the Mac. In some rare cases it is possible to add and manage printers that do not offer a printer driver for the current version of Mac O/S but do offer one that works with CUPS.
Answer: The open port is for internal (localhost) services only. It should not be visible to a remote host, e.g. via the 'nmap' utility.

What is CUPS on port 631?


Why does Frodo follow Galadriel and offer her the Ring?

Question: Why does Frodo offer the Ring to the Galadriel when Gandalf specifically told him NOT to offer it to anyone!? And why did Frodo follow her from his camp out? Plus, he didn't even look like he was scared or even surprised when her hair blowing away and her talking in a scary voice and her turning all evil mode?! Was he just tired? Is Frodo just immune to being scared or surprised or was he just tired?
Comment: @Max: I always read this scene the opposite way.  Frodo doesn't understand or suspect beforehand that the ring would corrupt Galadriel — he thinks she, with her power, would be better-equipped to deal with it.  But *she* has the wisdom to know that it would corrupt her, so she refuses the offer, and (in her "evil" display) shows Frodo why she must do so.
Comment: Because Frodo is a putz.  Gandalf also tells him not to wear the Ring, to which Frodo responds by saying "I should totally put this Ring on all the time, huh?"
Comment: I always understood that Frodo understood the evil power of the Ring and that he knew it could corrupt the heart of even the most "pure" elf (Galadriel, even if she's not that pure)
Comment: @Max I think that's what he was trying to find out, aside from an easy way out: How could he hope to succeed, if this ring has the power to unhinge one such as Galadriel? He needs to know he's not alone, at least sympathetically.
Answer: This isn't obvious from the movie, but looking at the book gives us some clues for approaching it.
Why does Frodo offer the Ring to Galadriel?
Short version: He's starting to realize how big of a deal this quest is going to be, and he doesn't think he's up to it. This is clear from the book:

'You are wise and fearless and fair, Lady Galadriel,' said Frodo. 'I will give you the One Ring, if you ask for it. It is too great a matter for me.'
Fellowship of the Ring Book 2 Chapter 7: "The Mirror of Galadriel"

Even in the movie, Frodo's offering of the Ring to Galadriel comes immediately after she gives him a pretty pessimistic view of the outcome:

Galadriel (V.O.): The fellowship is breaking. It has already begun. He will try to take the Ring. You know of whom I speak. One by one, it will destroy them all.
Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

Remember that all Frodo knows of "adventuring" comes from Bilbo's stories; Bilbo may have faced danger, but he never had the fate of the entire world on his shoulders. Plus, his old friend Gandalf had just died saving the rest of them from certain death at the hands of thousands of Orcs and a demonic fire-monster.
Frodo is in way over his head, and he knows it. He sees Galadriel, who looks very competent and powerful, and figures "surely she can do a better job of this than I can." The fact that he is hilariously wrong in this assumption is the point of the scene.
Why does Frodo follow Galadriel in the first place?
This is a movie invention; in the book, Galadriel explicitly motions for him (and Sam) to follow her:

[']I hope very much that before we leave we shall see the Lady of the Elves again.'
Even as [Frodo] spoke, they saw, as if she came in answer to their words, the Lady Galadriel approaching. Tall and white and fair she walked beneath the trees. She spoke no word, but beckoned to them.
Fellowship of the Ring Book 2 Chapter 7: "The Mirror of Galadriel"

This obviously doesn't happen in the movie, but the script hints that some magical power is driving him forward:

The Fellowship are asleep on their beds. Gimli is snoring
  loudly. CLOSE ON: BARE FEET tread soundlessly across the
  lawn. CLOSE ON: Frodo's eyes flicker open...as if by
  instinct. GALADRIEL, her White dress glowing in the
  moonlight, glances at him. Frodo follows her...as if drawn by
  an invisible force.
Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

What this "invisible force" could be is unclear. Possibilities include:

Galadriel's own magic. She demonstrated earlier that she could communicate telepathically; it's not a stretch to suggest that she could also communicate non-verbal thoughts like "I want you to come with me." Note that she's not remotely surprised to see Frodo has followed her.
The Ring is driving him. Being claimed by Galadriel is everything the Ring wants; she's a powerful individual who would try to use it directly against Sauron, be destroyed, and then Ring would have achieved its ultimate goal of being reunited with Sauron. Leading its current bearer into a one-on-one situation with Galadriel, particularly if it can sense his growing doubts, is a great way to do this
The will of Eru. Unlikely, but distinctly possible. Even if it's not Eru intervening directly, it could be the same sort of Providence that moved Frodo to accept the burden of the Ring in the first place

Why doesn't he react when Galadriel has her "moment"?
The book doesn't discuss Frodo's reaction to Galadriel's sudden display of power (which is much less pronounced than the movie anyway), but the script suggests that Frodo does react:

Galadriel: You offer it to me freely...I do not deny that my heart has greatly desired this.
Galadriel suddenly seems to rise in stature before Frodo's eyes. Frodo is suddenly afraid of her.
Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

Re-watching the scene from the movie, Frodo looks pretty freaked out basically from the moment he stops looking in the mirror. It's notable, though, that when Galadriel is doing her thing, he does get noticeably more frightened-looking: his jaw drops, and he takes a couple of steps backwards. And once she's calmed down, he has this very concerned look on his face and looks at the ground as if to say "okay, maybe this was a bad idea."
It's very subtle, but the cues are there.
Comment: What do you mean "Gandalf's recent (apparent) death"? Gandalf *did* die. He just got better.
Comment: Maybe, just maybe not the best idea.
Comment: @KSmarts I meant that Frodo didn't know that Gandalf gets better; I've edited to make that more clear
Comment: @KSmarts - Gandalf's body died. Gandalf did not.
Comment: Excellent answer, Jason!  "his old friend Gandalf had just died saving the rest of them from certain death at the hands of thousands of Orcs and a demonic fire-monster."--that's pure gold.
Comment: Looking from the author's point of view, I would say that Frodo offered the Ring to Galadriel so that the darker side of Galadriel's nature could be shown. Tolkien conveyed that even powerful, beautiful, and undoubtedly good beings (such as Galadriel) could not overcome the temptation of the Ring.
Answer: There are several questions here, some of which are specific to the movie. All movie-specific questions are best answered with 'because peter jackson'.
In the book, Frodo accepts Galadriel's offer of counsel, and so of course he follows her to the mirror. He sees Galadriel as a source of help. And when she 'becomes threatening', he is not freaked out, because she does not, in fact, threaten at all. She is making a point. To paraphrase: "Frodo, I shall not accept the ring because it would turn me into a monster."
I recommend a close comparison of Galadriel and Tom Bombadil; two cases in which Frodo looks to unburden himself of the ring to a force greater than himself, which hands it right back. Metaphorically, the ring is the problem of 'the children of Eru' -- human/hobbit-ry can't pass it off to someone else, and neither, as the practical instance of the situation, can Frodo. Passing it off at very best kicks the can down the road, or at worst trigger a worse disaster.
Comment: Well, that's been my reaction to the book since I first read it 30 years ago or more. And I confess that I am much more of a traditional 'read the book at hand' person than a 'read a giant shelf of author notes' person. However, if you want to beef up your answer with canon evidence that she is really having an imperialist moment, I will read it with interest.
Comment: Although "Because Jackson" is basically always the correct answer to these questions, I have to disagree with your first point; there's no reason to believe Galadriel was trying to make a point. Book canon debunks this thoroughly, but even in the movie Galadriel is just as freaked out by her reaction as Frodo is (if not more)
Comment: It's an interesting discussion, but in my opinion it's beyond the scope of this question. It's touched on a bit [in this answer to another question](http://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/28559/how-can-galadriel-go-into-the-west/28572#28572), but it may be worth a dedicated question if you wanted to ask it
Answer: How come Frodo offered up the Ring to the Galadriel when Gandalf specifically told him NOT to offer it to anyone!?
Because Gandalf is not the boss of Frodo, and Frodo has his own choice in how he decides things. Gandalf is not his boss, but is Frodo's wise and trusted friend. Galadriel—one of the oldest living things, sentient or otherwise—is also wise, and Frodo trusts her. Therefore, he seeks her help in unburdening himself of the ring.
And why did Frodo follow her from his camp out?
Because she is wise, and he trusts her.
Plus, he didn't even look like he was scared or even surprised when her hair blowing away and her talking in a scary voice and her turning all evil mode?!
Yup, he didn't even.
Was he just tired?
Naw... it's probably just that she's one of the wisest things alive and he trusts her.
Is Frodo just immune to being scared or surprised or was he just tired?
I would say it has more to do with Galadriel being one of the wisest living beings and that Frodo trusts her.
Answer: Frodo, as he repeatedly says throughout the books (and films) does not want to carry out the quest to destroy the ring, mostly because of fear.  He offers it to Galadriel for the same reason he offers it to Gandalf- he knows they are wiser and more powerful than he is and wants them to do the quest.  Frodo, before going on the journey to destroy the ring, wants to go on an adventure, but doesn't really want to endure the danger- but he is brave enough to carry it out anyway.  He is like Christ at the Garden of Gethsemone- he doesn't want to do it, because he knows he'll suffer and likely die, but he is willing to do it because he knows there is a purpose larger than himself which he is serving- to prevent Sauron from enslaving Middle-Earth
Answer: Frodo offers the Ring to Galadriel because  his quest is a suicide mission with approximately a 0.0000001 chance of success.  Frodo is naturallry afraid of death and torture for himself and his companions.
Frod is also humble enough to know that it is impossible for him to resist the temptation of the Ring long enough to destroy it, and hopes that the wise Galadriel might be stronger than him.
It is a literal miracle that Frodo is able to resist the Ring temptation long enough to reach the Crack of Doom. Considering all the minutes the quest lasted (approximately 129,600 in 90 days) the odds against Frodo naturally succumbing in that one minute are very great.  Frodo lasts as long as he does because Eru grants him extra strength to resist the temptation as a reward for his patient suffering.
Frodo offers the Ring to Galadriel because that is what anyone would do in his situation.
Except that almost nobody else would be dutiful enough to offer to destroy The Ring in the first place, or unambitious enough to be trusted with it by the council in the second place.  So almost nobody else could ever have been in his situation.


Anapanasati and Metta

Question: Background
Hi all, i have been practicing Metta and self-compassion meditation for a while but have just switched (back) to following the first couple of exercises in the Anapanasati Sutta (translations: Thich Nhat Hanh, Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
I can successfully practice exercises 1-4, but when i come to 5 and 6 i have a hard time to feel joy and happiness (i have a low-grade depression and also anxiety and maybe this is interfering with my practice)
Question
Can we (is it recommended to) integrate Metta practices in the 5th and 6th exercises of the Anapanasati Sutta?
(And how can this be integrated? We may not want to switch the phrases since these are already provided in the Sutta, but thoughts can still be filled with Metta and help us that way)
I'd like to find a way to successfully practice these two exercises so i can continue in my spiritual development and practice of the Sutta
Please provide references if you have!

Grateful for help!
Kind Regards, Tord
Answer: We cannot integrate Metta practices in the 5th and 6th stages of the Anapanasati Sutta because the 5th and 6th stages of the Anapanasati Sutta arise naturally from the calming of the breathing at the 4th stage. Metta practises can be done separately.

Anapanasati and Metta


Would it be possible to lighten the color of the new top bar?

Question: The new top bar layout is fine, but the black color is very visually jarring/intrusive.  Is using a lighter color an available option?
Comment: User preferences are a crutch for bad design.  The only excuse for the horrible palette is that it's the only one that "matches" all 106 SE sites.  That's a pretty thin excuse - it matches almost all of them equally poorly and makes them all look like they were designed by a chimp.  Designers could make a case study of this mess as an example of when you need to reconsider the problem being solved.  Bulldozing over a hundred sites, most with very carefully chosen colour schemes, is just a lazy solution.  Branding professionals exist.  Designers exist. SE needs to start consulting some of them.
Comment: That could be the answer to all [top-bar] questions.
Comment: I agree with the lightening the color of the top bar... even something like `#404040` would be great... the black is way too intrusive.
Comment: I've now posted [Gallery of custom styles and/or scripts for the top-bar](http://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/210041/gallery-of-custom-styles-and-or-scripts-for-the-top-bar) where hopefully other useful approaches will be posted.
Comment: userscript it...
Comment: A metascript?...
Comment: Black is the only neutral color matching all sites? Ha! White isn't neutral anymore? And the remaining 254 shades of gray? Follow [phils' link](http://meta.stackexchange.com/q/210041/192154) to be proven wrong. Several UserStyles available with nice gray tones. Much more eye-friendly. And better fitting to all SE sites I tried.
Comment: It was tempting @TheGrinch.
Comment: @CodeBlend  It does!  Thanks!  :-)
Comment: I have a userscript under development that's intended to make these userscripts easier.
Comment: @TheGrinch It's a userscript that supports userscript plugins. (Gee, can I call it a metascript?)
Comment: My approach: http://meta.stackexchange.com/a/210013/184087
Comment: https://github.com/imom0/so-topbar-light-theme try this for chrome users.
Comment: +1000. User preferences should offer at least some basic color/theme customization.
Comment: Press down arrow. Voila, top bar out of sight out of mind.
Comment: It's a little lighter black now...
Comment: 69 =) hope it make you smile (I know not a useful contribution but hey once in a while you just have to smile and share)
Answer: It fits well on some sites. On most sites, it's indeed jarring. Beta sites, for example — all light blue/cyan/gray colors except for that black* band.
The color of the top bar should be adjusted for each site, to fit the site's theme.
*  Yeah, I know, not black.
Comment: It's not the color* that I find unappealing, it's the contrast.  A dark-anycolor band against a light page is distracting.
Comment: @JS. Someone understands. I visited SO earlier today, first time with new bar (have been on Meta for a few weeks, so saw the redesign), and I said wow, this is ugly and distracting.
Comment: The blog post says that one of the goals in the new top bar design was to provide a uniform look across all the sites, and that black is really the only option. I wonder if the team would consider at least creating a light color scheme to go with the current dark color scheme, for sites where the light scheme fits better?
Comment: @Gilles: I understand.  I just wanted to clarify my position as Bart was teasing me about pink earlier.  :-)
Comment: @JS. Yes, I meant color as in the whole shebang, not just the hue.
Comment: @hichris123: Yeah, today is the first I've seen it too.  Been on Stack Exchange all week.  Looking through Meta's posts on the changes, these changes have been rolling out for a while.  Guess they just finally trickled into my corner of the Internet.
Comment: It's a network feature, so I actually prefer the uniformly "black" thing.
Answer: Make it transparent (suggestion originally from Sci-Fi meta):
Comment: While this looks great on sci-fi, and probably other sites with dark backgrounds, it wouldn't work on light-backgrounded sites. The foreground text color would have almost no contrast with the background color.
Comment: @BenLee We [just got a post](http://meta.scifi.stackexchange.com/a/3238) that it'll use a darker 80% solid instead of my proposed 40% solid, which should work well on both dark and light sites.  Not sure if Jin meant just SciFi.SE+Meta or everywhere, though.
Answer: Currently, this is not an available option.
But, as a workaround, userscripting should get you pretty far. Then you can have all the color-goodness you like. And let's be honest here, you really want it to be pink.
Comment: Hey, I'm secure in my programmer-hood. :-) Pink works so long as it lowers the contrast.    Guess I'll have to allocate some time to learn userscripting.


Should I accept the best answer or the answer I use?

Question: I've gotten tons of different answers that were really helpful on my instant delivery time travel question, but I've come to a rather hard decision to make. I want to use one answer in the story, but another answer was really helpful and went into a lot of detail. So which do I click as accepted? The detailed one that will help others if they want to do the same thing, or the shorter possibly less quality answer that I use?
Comment: Does this answer your question? [Accepted answer is a mix of given answers](https://worldbuilding.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/7286/accepted-answer-is-a-mix-of-given-answers)
Answer: Like Falling in Love:
There are rewards for giving the most clever answer, and there are rewards for giving the OP exactly what they really want. It's kind of like having the choice between a perfect guy who's funny, charming, and rich - or the one you actually fall in love with (but who might be short, bald, and have a terrible mother).
Voting selects the "best" answer, but you also need to reward the person who picked up on the vibe you had in your mind. Lots of upvotes give the perfect answer a reward. Upvote the perfect answer! But pick the answer that meets your needs the best to accept. Especially when the Mr. Perfect answer is showing it up. Every good answer deserves a shot at true happiness.
Answer: Another option is that you can accept one and award a bounty to all those you deem worthy.
One of the reasons for starting a bounty is precisely to reward an existing answer.


Difference between a content type and a list template

Question: I understand that content type gives the definition for the set of fields in a list which can be reused while creating many other lists and a list template gets a copy of an existing list with or without content and reuses that copy with many other lists. Can anyone explain a clear cut difference between content types and list templates? Moreover, where will the template definition be stored? is it in the file system or in the content Database? Will the Content type definition be stored in the content Database as well? If so, why? can anyone please clear this doubt?
Answer: The difference is, that a list created from a template is not coupled with the template after creation. For example: If you add a new field to the content type, all lists can be updated automatically to include the new field. That is not true for a list template.
All definitions (content types, list templates) are stored within the content database, because it is THE place to store everything related to the content.
Comment: Thanks Marco! I have understood the difference. I just want to clarify something. Can I say both list template and Content type serve the same purpose, that is to provide a layout for list?
Comment: Well, a content type can do something more, like providing an information panel in Office clients, attach Workflows, etc.
Answer: @Marco :- The list created from a template still shares the schema with the template definition which it reads from the front end from the disk. ONLY when you modify a specific list instance schema DOES the schema go into the DB. And even then, only the DIFF from the original schema is put in the DB. At runtime, SharePoint combines the schema in a smart way to render your list.
Getting to the original question:
The difference in short is, content types are a way of grouping fields such that they can be shared across lists.
However list schema are much much richer objects. List schema not only allow you to include content types and fields, they also allow you to describe the views that the lists has and control many important list properties like the ViewForm and EditForm Urls and whether it's a public list or not etc.


Dyson sphere construction

Question: Often in science fiction, writers attribute the enormous energy capability of an advanced civilization to Dyson spheres. I've never heard of a detailed schematic of how the energy from the star is utilized. My question is "What is the most energy absorbant form of a Dyson sphere?" Would lining the inside with solar panels be the best option? What about a water heat transfer? Also, what would the most cost-efficient way of transporting this energy be? Long wires? Microwave electricity (Look it up. It's awesome.)?
Comment: I assume by the time we have Dyson spheres, our solar panel technology will be quite advanced.
Comment: Microwave electricity? The term doesn't even make sense. Do you just mean wireless power transmission using microwaves?
Comment: @Samuel Yes, that is what I mean.
Answer: Nothing will be 100% efficient.
It will certainly be solar panels, if the end product is electricity. Using carrier multiplication and radiative recombination the maximum theoretical conversion from sunlight to electricity is 86%.
At least we can do better than nature. Plants, through photosynthesis, max out at 11% for our solar spectrum.
Depending on the output energy type, other technologies might be used to cut out the photoelectric effect middle-man. But 86% is pretty good and it might just be simpler to use the gathered electricity to generate the other energy types.
Comment: @Byte56 The future panels would convert light or dark to electricity with equal efficiency. In the same way bricks do today.
Comment: @Gryphon Right, like night time doesn't exist. It's always night time in space, except when you're looking at the sun, but that's not recommended. Clearly some flat earthers removed my previous comment.
Answer: Yes, I think our best option to capture the sun energy will be solar panels.
In his book "The High Frontier: Human Colonies in Space," Gerard K. O'Neill mentions some alternatives like mirrors combined with different gases; but our current solar technologies have become a lot more efficient and cheaper during these years.
Also don't forget that solar panels are a lot more efficient in space, because the almost continue exposure to sun and inexistant clouds or atmosphere.
As for the transmission of energy, we could use microwaves or laser rays, both of them transfer the energy in highly efficient ways.
Don't think that the idea of building a Dyson's sphere is too far away in the future, how hard could it be to build several small satellites exclusively to collect solar energy? Also if we already have space stations in our time, what could we do in the future with asteroid mining or moon mining?
I even think that we will start building satellites to collect sun energy and with time also space stations (eventually space cities) and this complexes will evolve in huge orbital hives that eventually will become our fabled Dyson sphere.
Answer: All of the energy of the sun is contained within the Sphere. If the wall was too good an insulator the insides would eventually cook. You could use the temperature difference between the inside and outside to generate power.
In addition, unless you enjoy constant sunlight, you would need something to provide shadows for 50% of the time. Either mirrors to direct the sunlight to a solar furnace or solar cells to collect it directly could be used. Assuming that's 50% of the suns output gathered at any one time... that would be quite a lot of energy.
I would think it getting too hot (too much energy) within the sphere would be the greatest problem.
Answer: I have to disagree with majority on the solar panels. It is almost impossible (not quite since we are assuming superscience anyway) to build a solar panel that absorbs the entire spectrum output by the star efficiently. Solar panels also do not absorb the energy of the solar wind and are in fact damaged by it which would require significant energy to be spent on maintenance. You also need to consider the energy needed for manufacture and technology that requires precise patterns of specific materials can't be that efficient if the scale is large enough you need to worry about material supplies.
Instead build an inner shell that receives the energy that the star puts out and is heated to thousand degrees or so. The material or structure is not sensitive, but higher the temperature your alloy or ceramic can sustain, higher the efficiency. And the structure should be robust enough not to need constant maintenance and conduct heat relatively well.
Then build an outer shell radiator that probably also needs decent thermal conductivity and reasonable robustness (should be able to survive impacts from micrometeors left over from construction).
Then put insulation (mostly vacuum and some reflective surface) and a heat engine in between the two shells. The heat engine will maintain a stable and high temperature differential and generate energy from it.
You also need a system to stop the sphere from colliding with the star. I think a system of light sails you can spread over the inner surface to use the light pressure to move the sphere would be sufficient. The energy loss is minimal since the reflected photons will simply go heat the surface of the star or some other part of the sphere. And this requires no propellant. Besides you need some system to shut down sections of the sphere for repairs anyway.
Comment: why do you need to prevent it from colliding with the star? should not the sphere (or it's components) travel in a stable orbit?
Comment: @Burki http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/40739/is-dyson-sphere-a-stable-construction/40741#40741

Dyson sphere construction


On boot, Ubuntu 13.04 reaches 89º C and shutdown

Question: After install Ubuntu 13.04 my notebook, an inspiron 15R n5010, reaches 89ºC and shutdown. I tried to boot on recovery mode and before shutdown seems to say that "ACPI" gave the order. Somebody knows how to fix it? Or at least remember how to turn off the acpi mode. I did it once because of problems on the os but i cant remember how.
Comment: Is the CPU fan working? I do suggest cleaning out the dust bunnies
Answer: You can turn off the ACPI through your BIOS.
Try Re-booting and Hit F2 at dell logo.
Answer: Yep.  Answer 1 is correct.  You may also want to remove and replace your notebook's CPU if you have the technical expertise to do so. The thermal paste Dell used on inspiron notebooks gets old after some time.  Removing the CPU, cleaning the past off of it and the heatsink and applying a better thermal paste (like Artic Silver) then reinstalling the CPU and heatsink could really bring your temps down.  Any compatible OS should run well on your notebook.  The overheating problem is a hardware issue, not software.  ACPI does have it's problems, but it saved you burning out your CPU by shutting it down.  Think about it.


Stop change notification emails in Issue List

Question: We want an email sent when the issues is assigned, but we do not want multiple emails when changes are made.  Is there any way to still allow the assigned emails to be sent but turn off the changes made emails/alerts?
Comment: Check this solution:
["Task has been Changed" Email Alerts Issue](http://sharepoint.ginni.me/2009/11/task-changed-email-alerts.html)
Answer: This is part of the reason I don't like alerts.  I'd turn them off and use a workflow that handles all this.  When the isue is assigned, it emails the user, in a format you want, and that's it.  Changes to the item don't have to trigger additional emails, unless there's something specific you want to account for where a notification might be required.
Answer: The tasks list in SP supply notification emails in two different ways.  There is a 'global' setting on the Advanced Settings page that will send an email anytime a new item is added to the list.  This only fires for the new item and not when the item is updated or closed.
There is also the alert subscriptions.  Alerts are more configurable including the ability to have a notification for any change to an item.  These settings are available in the Document Library ribbon in the List section.
Alerts can be frustrating, but they are very configurable.  In general, these settings can be configured for most of the situations I have encountered.


What is meant by a local Lagrangian density?

Question:
What is meant by a local Lagrangian density?
How will a non-local Lagrangian look like?
What is the problem that we do not consider such Lagrangian densities?
Comment: Related: https://physics.stackexchange.com/q/54792/
Answer: What is a local Lagrangian density?
A classical field theory on Minkowski space $\mathbb R^{d,1}$ is specified by a space $\mathcal C$ of field configurations $\phi:\mathbb R^{d,1}\to T$, and an action functional $S:\mathcal C\to\mathbb R$.  The set $T$ is called the target space of the theory, and is often a vector space.  If there exists a function $L:\mathcal C\times\mathbb R\to \mathbb R$ for which
\begin{align}
  S[\phi] = \int_{\mathbb R} dt\, L[\phi](t),
\end{align}
then we call $L$ a lagrangian for the theory.  If, further, there exists a function $\tilde L$ such that
\begin{align}
  L[\phi](t) = \int_{\mathbb R^d} d^d\mathbf x \,\tilde L[\phi](t, \mathbf x)
\end{align}
then we call $\tilde L$ a langrangian density for the theory.  Finally, if there exists a positive integer $n$ and a function $\mathscr L$ such that
\begin{align}
  \tilde L[\phi](t, \mathbf x) = \mathscr L(t,\mathbf x,\phi(t, \mathbf x), \partial\phi(t,\mathbf x), \dots, \partial^n\phi(t,\mathbf x))
\end{align}
then we say that the lagrangian density is local.  In other words, the lagrangian density is local provided its value at a given spacetime point depends only on that point, the value of the field at that point, and a finite number of its derivatives at that same point.
An example of a non-local Lagrangian density.
Consider $T = \mathbb R$, namely a theory of a single real scalar field.  Let $\mathbf a\in\mathbb R^d$ be given, and define a Lagrangian density by
\begin{align}
  \tilde L[\phi](t,\mathbf x) = \phi(t,\mathbf x) + \phi(t, \mathbf x+\mathbf a).
\end{align}
This Lagrangian density is not local because the value of the Lagrangian at a given point $(t,\mathbf x)$ depends on the value of the field at that point and on the value of the field at the point $(t,\mathbf x+\mathbf a)$.  If we were to Taylor expand the second term $\phi(t,\mathbf a)$ about $\mathbf x$, then we would see that the Lagrangian density depends on an infinite number of derivatives of the field, thus violating the definition of a local Lagrangian density.
What's the issue with theories with non-local Lagrangian densities?
I'm no expert on this, so I'll divert to another user.  I will say, however, that people do study theories with non-local Lagrangian densities in practice, so there's nothing a priori "wrong" with them, but they might generically exhibit some pathology that you might prefer not to have.
Perhaps most relevant, though, if you're taking QFT from a high energy theorist, for example, is that the Lagrangian density of the Standard Model is local, so there's no need to consider non-local beasts if one is studying the Standard Model.
Comment: Nice example! I think that the problem with non-local Lagrangian densities is mostly due to the fact that they need some further structure in addition to the natural local geometry and coupling constants (e.g., you introduced a vector ${\bf a}$ in your example) and these structures have never been experimentally observed. Another way to construct non-local Lagrangian densities is employing some smearing function as in the Bopp's model of (non-quantum) electron (discussed in the Feynman Lectures on Physics).
Comment: @V.Moretti Thanks! I see; that's interesting.  I'll take a look at Bopp's model.
Comment: Here is: http://www.feynmanlectures.info/docroot/II_28.html#Ch28-S4 Unfortunately there is not an exhaustive discussion, nor a Lagrangian treatment just the basic non-local idea.


Unity3d iOS build - where are the textures?

Question: First time building and running my Unity3D app on my iPhone and it appears that all the textures are missing.  Everything is just a solid block of whatever color I made it.  When running in Unity I see everything correctly.  See images below.
To complicate things I'm using custom shaders, and all the objects are custom procedural meshes.  Quads that I build in script.  If I switch the paper backplate shader to a built in shader I still only see white on the iPhone.
So I suspect that somehow the textures just aren't making it to the iOS project.  When I look in the iOS project I can't find any textures.  Where would they be in the iOS project?  For example in Xcode under Build Phases > Copy Bundle Resources the only thing there is the Images.xcassets, which only contains the splash screens and icons.
Surely I'm missing something simple.
I tried renaming the folder where I keep my textures to "Textures".  Also my textures are not built in to the shader but added programmatically like this:
void Awake ()
{
    meshFilterComponent = GetComponent<MeshFilter>();
    Material material = GetComponent<MeshRenderer>().material;
    material.SetTexture(0, paperTexture);
    material.color = new Vector4(1f, 1f, 1f, 1f);
}

Where paperTexture is set up in the GameObject to point to the correct texture.  Is there any way to force a texture to be part of a build?  Let's say that you swap out textures in code, like swapping themes, how would you make sure they're all there to be loaded as needed?
Running On iPhone:

Running In Unity3D:
Answer: I fixed it by changing this:
material.SetTexture(0, paperTexture);

to this:
material.SetTexture("_MainTex", paperTexture);

I don't know why the first one worked fine in the unity window but not on the phone. But that's what fixed it. For some reason the more explicit assignment works better.  But now everything is rendering properly on the device.