Are ability bonuses added to skills you don't have?

Question: In 5e I know you add your ability modifier and proficiency bonus to your skills that you chose when creating your character, but what if you don't have that skill, do you still add the corresponding modifier ie; acrobatics=Dex, or no bonus at all?
Comment: Do you have the Players Handbook? If not, are you aware of the [free basic rules](http://media.wizards.com/2016/downloads/DND/PlayerBasicRulesV03.pdf) that cover most of the core mechanics, available at WoTC's web page?  Welcome to RPG.SE.  Please take the [tour] and visit the [help] to get a feel for how this Q&A site is different from other sites.
Answer: Yup, you always get your ability score bonus.
Despite common misconceptions, D&D5E doesn't actually have "skill checks". It has ability checks, that sometimes get a proficiency bonus, too.

For example, a Dexterity check might reflect a character's attempt to pull off an acrobatic stunt, to palm an object, or to stay hidden. Each of these aspects of Dexterity has an associated skill: Acrobatics, Sleight of Hand, and Stealth, respectively. So a character who has proficiency in the Stealth skill is particularly good at Dexterity checks related to sneaking and hiding.

Note that it is not a "Stealth check", it's a "Dexterity check" with some extra stuff. Other bits of nomenclature bear it out the same way: characters do not make a "Perception check" to spot something, they make a "Wisdom (Perception) check".
Proficiency Required
Note that some checks may require proficiency. Most common this is seen with picking locks - it's still a Dexterity check, but a character often needs proficiency with Thieves' Tools to roll at all (but gets to add proficiency bonus).
The same thing can happen with skills like Arcana. If the bit of trivia is something that any character living in a magical world might know, the DM could call for an Intelligence (Arcana) check - the DC will probably be low, so characters without Arcana proficiency could pass, while smart people with Arcana training almost certainly will. If the DM determines it's something more exotic or esoteric, they can either raise the DC (something every first-year wizard's apprentice should know) or require proficiency (something only people who've properly studied the subject have any chance of knowing).
Comment: +many for your first paragraph. Ping me when the question's old enough--I'd love to throw a bounty this way!
Comment: @CaptainMan The word "may" in the first sentence is very important to parsing the second sentence, but I've adjusted the grammar slightly anyway.
Comment: The second to last paragraph about Thieves' Tools is worded a little funky to me, are you saying you cannot attempt to pick a lock if you are not proficient in Thieves' Tools?
Answer: Yes you do.
In 5e if you have the proficiency in something like acrobatics, you would add your dexterity modifier to the roll and your proficiency bonus. But if you didn't have proficiency in the acrobatics skill you would only add your dexterity modifier to it and not the proficiency bonus. This rule applies to saving throws as well.
Other things that can require proficiency
There are also other things other than ability checks that might require your proficiency bonus such as crafting something or trying to pick a lock. Crafting things or picking locks also fall under this rule of adding your proficiency bonus if you have proficiency in it. If you don't have proficiency in the picking locks or a crafting skill, such as metalworking or cooking, you just add your ability modifier to it.
Comment: Picking a lock is not a great example. [Basic Rules, Using Ability Scores](https://www.dndbeyond.com/compendium/rules/basic-rules/using-ability-scores#WorkingTogether): "For example, trying to open a lock requires proficiency with thieves' tools ...". The descriptions of the [Lock](https://www.dndbeyond.com/equipment/lock) and [Manacles](https://www.dndbeyond.com/equipment/manacles) also imply that the proficiency is needed to attempt it at all.
Answer: Yes
If you lack proficiency, you still add the ability bonus. See the Player's Handbook, page 174, "Ability Checks" (emphasis mine):

Sometimes, the DM might ask for an ability check using a specific skill-for example, "Make a Wisdom (Perception) check." At other times, a player might ask the DM if proficiency in a particular skill applies to a check. In either case, proficiency in a skill means an individual can add his or her proficiency bonus to ability checks that involve that skill. Without proficiency in the skill, the individual makes a normal ability check.


Graph for properties with a big gap between them

Question: I'm thinking how would an ideal graph for 3 properties look when one of them is much bigger than the others, like A - 2, B - 10, C - 1000.
Any ideas?
Answer: Typical solution for this case would be applying logarithmic scale to a normal graph.
In your case it's only 3 properties, so best option would be a bar chart.
With your example that would mean log(2); log(10); log(1000) == 0,3; 1; 3. Apply some coefficient to it so it's readable, and you will get something like A = 30 px; B = 100 px, C = 300 px.
This way the graph will look absolutely reasonable in the UI.
Fig. a — your values, fig. b — log values.

You can find logarithmic calculator in Google. https://www.google.cz/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=logarithm+calculator
Answer: 100 or so per milestone on the axis?
It strikes me that the purpose of such a graph is to show that C is overwhelmingly far and away the bigger/better/most popular/whatever.
That B is 8 bigger than 2 doesn't particularly matter at all when you're comparing them to C. 8 is negligible vs. 1000.
Having a smaller scale graph nearby with milestones of 1 or 2 to nitpick amongst the small values could be an option if their exact values are also important.
Clearly writing the values covered in the graph could help too.
Certainly don't start with 1-2-3-4 then suddenly cut away to 100s or go up to 10 and then have a big 'tear' before starting again at 991. You see these solutions sometimes and they really aren't great. Defeat the point of having a graph in masking the sheer size of the larger value.


Why does corrosion take place at certain stressed regions?

Question: Why does certain parts of metal show more corrosion at the place where there is high dislocation density in comparison to the place where the dislocation density is less? I do sincerely feel that this is particularly because of the fact that the activity is less in that particular localized region where the corrosion is taking place. I think the situation is similar where grain boundaries act as stressed region but what has this to do with the activity. A detailed answer to the above situation will most certainly be welcome.
Answer: One of the mechanism that affect corrosion is known in the literature as Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC). The idea is that tensile stressed regions are prone to crack development. Crack development essentially maximizes the area that corrosion can develop. Since corrosion, degrades the properties of the material, this accelerates further the crack development so its a downward spiral.
However, like you might have suspected:

tension tends to have adverse effects while
compression tends to mitigate stress corrosion cracking.

There is a lot of literature in the subject. A quick google search yielded the following articles:

Effects of compressive stress on localized corrosion in AA2024-T3
Xiaodong Liu, G.S. Frankel, DOI: 10.1016/j.corsci.2005.12.003
John Beavers, Thomas A. Bubenik, in Trends in Oil and Gas Corrosion Research and Technologies, 2017
Answer: In the real world ,I don't believe I have seen CORROSION at STRESSED areas. Corrosion may be accelerated at STRAINED areas; the strains introduce energy to the microstructure which may promote corrosion. Cracking is another story - which you did not ask about . Hydrogen cracking of high strength steels is likely the most common case . It can often occur with no apparent corrosion ; In particular cathodic protection which prevents corrosion ,can introduce hydrogen which causes cracking.
Comment: I am not sure I understand the actual difference your are exclamating between stressed and strained. In the hope of understanding this, would you mind providing a common case example, were a material is stressed but not strained, or the opposite?
Comment: My bad , I meant plastic strain.  Any component will normally be under stress and elastic strain.
Comment: Ok, that makes more sense. Essentially, if I get it correctly, you associate the dislocations  that occur during the plastic strain with the onset of corrosion.


Vegetarian Fish

Question: My wife and I are trying to go vegetarian for a month.  We enjoy fish quite a bit.  Is there any way to replicate the taste of say salmon, tuna, or cod with vegetarian, or better yet vegan, ingredients?
Comment: Fish has a very unique texture and flavor; I don't think this can be done with vegetables.  You would be better served by exploring great vegetable dishes that you like and which highlight those ingredients.
Comment: What are you trying to use the substitute in? Imitating tuna salad is very different from imitating a grilled tuna steak.
Comment: You may be able to get somewhere with various seaweeds and plants and tofu/miso-paste.  Checkout your local Japanese grocery store.  Otherwise as @SAJ14SAJ says, just focus on enjoying and discovering new yummy stuffs available on the list.
Comment: This question would be on-topic here: http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/94068/veganism-vegetarianism please commit!
Answer: I have been around vegan meat/fish substitutes for a while being vegan myself, and often you can find (in specialized vegetarian stores - especially asian vegetarian stores or online) stuff labeled as "vegan fish" which most of the time refers to soy, seitan or some other protein pieces with a seaweed "skin". Sometimes recipes call for linseed oil ... presumably adding a fishy flavor. None of this really tastes like any fish I ever ate ... but I guess it comes quite close in texture and some components of the flavor, for people who really don't want to give those up.
I like japanese cuisine where a lot of seaweed is used ... which gives a "sea" taste to food, but again I wouldn't really call it fish flavor (whereas a longtime vegan friend of mine wouldn't eat seaweed cause it reminds her of fish too much, so I guess it depends on your taste).
I agree with what @SAJ14SAJ says in the comment above. And I believe it would be really hard to perfectly imitate the fish texture and flavor. And for me, being vegetarian means giving up eating animals, and to accept that this means not eating a couple of foods that might taste very delicious. However, if giving up fish is hard for you, I hope some of the "mock fish" products are close enough to make it easier for you to keep up the vegetarian path/cause!
Just as a fun side note: recently I watched a (otherwise horrifically annoying) TV show where a young chef using some fancy high-tech machinery pressed dashi (which is a kind of japanese seaweed or fish broth) into cubes of watermelon and the people who ate it (none of which seemed to be vegetarian) all thought the texture and flavor were like tuna (hard to test if you don't get catered to by someone owning the machine).
Answer: If you freeze a block of regular (non-silken) tofu, it will take on a flaky texture kind-of-sort-of like cooked white fish. If you combined this with the fishy flavor of kelp powder, you might be able approximate something cod-ish.
It might be easier to identify what aspects of fish you want to replicate and aim specifically for those. For instance, if you want something that's a little bit fatty and mildly fish tasting, you can make a "tuna salad" with mashed garbanzo beans or flaked frozen tofu and dulse flakes or kelp powder. If you want to approximate the whole texture, flavor, and mouthfeel of grilled salmon, you're going to have a much harder time.
Comment: Does the tofu retain the texture on thawing? If it has to be eaten frozen, it's going to be quite a different experience!
Comment: @PeterTaylor Sorry, yes. You freeze the tofu, thaw it, and  then it has a drier & flakier texture.
Answer: I found this great recipe for mock fish http://spiceislandvegan.blogspot.com.au/2008/08/how-to-make-vegan-fish-or-mock-fish.html
They use it in a most vegetarian Asian restaurants. For me taste just like fish or the closest you will get to it. Have fun and all the best :)
Comment: Welcome to Seasoned Advice! Whilst this may theoretically answer the question, [it would be preferable](http://meta.stackexchange.com/q/8259) to include the essential parts of the answer here, and provide the link for reference.
Answer: you can make chickpea sandwiches:
http://www.theppk.com/2013/07/chickpea-salad-sammiches/
there's lots of great recipes on the ppk site.
(here's a great dessert recipe; that my friends (who are omnivores) love: http://www.theppk.com/2011/02/berry-creme-tart-with-cocoa-olive-oil-crust/)
Comment: Are you suggesting that chick-peas taste of fish?

Vegetarian Fish


Is there some technique to surpass noises when meditating?

Question: I'm having a lot of troubles with noises. I try to close my ears with cotton, but it does not works great.
Is a little bit difficult to me try to meditate rounded by noises (here, where a live, people seems to be sensible to noise, and worst, they like to put their automotive stereo system at high decibels despite the fact that it is forbidden by law (here the State does not get to apply its own laws), its like some kind "meat show").
So, is there some technique to surpass noises when meditating?
Comment: When I was a boy and occasionally had to spend days at my grandma's I remember having sit on the floor, may be looking into a child's book with fantastic frogs and trees and elfes and mushrooms around a spot of water, sometimes I simply sat there without looking and in the silence between the steady ticks of the wooden clock I "got lost". When then the sound of the tram or a bus or a truck came into my ears, they they did not "protest" - it just came in and it become the same type of noise which one can have, when one sits silent at the beach and hears the ocean. Sometimes I resort to that ...
Comment: What type of meditation do you do? They way you are supposed to react [to noise, and so forth] depends on it.
Comment: Some years ago I was trying, I'm not sure, "*nispanda bhava*". But, some week ago,  I come back to try meditation, and now I'm trying to practice  [this](http://www.dragonsofjustice.org/regular/removeBarriers.html).
Comment: I am not familiar with it. Is it actually Buddhist? It seems related to yoga and practiced by yogis and babas. Still, to come back to my first question: what do you emphasize among the three factors that are: mindfulness, concentration, and alertness/introspection?
Comment: ... mental mood: just letting in the sound and letting make itself familiar with me. However, that's not completely true. The omnipresence of the noise here in my town kills that mental ability. It needs a special moment to concentrate on this, and because I cannot make it a continuous mood for over the whole day it is not a real recipe, only a hint. It is still possible for me outside of the town, when noises are not permanent. I remember a film about the annexion of Tibet, where there was a statement: they (the conquerors) kill the silence and this is the most effective weapon.
Comment: Good earplugs are a simple fix and can make you acutely more aware of your body.  When your awareness of your breath and your body is strong and regular then you will not need the earplugs.
Comment: @TenzinDorje , the "*nispada bhava*" is surely an Yoga practice, concerning [this] (http://www.dragonsofjustice.org/regular/removeBarriers.html), I don't really know, I just found it after watch a Buddhist priest talking about "*Pingala, Ida and Sunshumna*", and then  I searched on Google.
I'm searching a way to get energy, internal peace  and annihilate bad thinkings, no matter what way: Buddhism or Yoga meditation, Catholic or Islamic prayer, etc.. But, I feel that Buddhism and Yoga may be the better way to get some spiritual progression individually.
(continue...)
Comment: (...continuation) I don't know surely what to emphasize among mindfulness, concentration, and alertness/introspection - just know I have a lot of introspection, and I need both mindfulness and concentration.
Answer: Noises are going to be a problem if you are just starting out.  This is especially so if they are the abrupt, jarring type of sounds that you seem to be contending with.  I would highly recommend that you do your best to find a quiet place to sit at first - even if this means leaving your home and sitting somewhere else.  You might be surprised to find that many of the more liberal Christian denominations and the Unitarians might offer you some space in their respective sanctuaries to practice.  The same goes for campus chapels.  My own sangha has used everything from a classroom in a Methodist Sunday school to a yoga studio!
If you must sit in a noisy area, my best advice is to treat sound just as you would any other distraction or phenomenon you might encounter on the cushion.  This is going to vary depending on your tradition, but coming from the samatha school that I practice, I'd advise you to double down on your meditation object.  If you are following the breath, continue to watch the whole body of your breathing as closely as you can.  Be with it for its entire duration.  Watch the blankness in the space between your exhalation and inhalation.  Sound is a difficult obstacle to work with, but like pain, agitation, sensual desire, or really any of the five hindrances, it won't be able to gain a foothold in a mind that is closely applied to its object.
Also, for the love of Pete, don't spend your time on your cushion fantasizing about how much better your meditation would be if only it were quieter!  That'll kill your concentration faster than the sound of a truck driving through a nitroglycerin plant!
Answer: This sounds like perfect opportunity to practice insight meditation! If you watch your mind when these noises happen, you can notice how you become unhappy due to the mismatch between "is" and "should" (aka "this" and "that"). If you examine this mismatch very carefully as it happens in your own mind, and learn to let go of the "that" - you will realize the meaning of the Third Noble Truth.
Another technique as per Thrangu Rinpoche is to imagine even worse sounds (shrieking screams etc.) and reflect on how much nicer the present sounds are, in comparison.
Answer: You should watch this Youtube video, in which Ajahn Brahm speaks about his experiences with mosquitoes in Thailand, when he first became a monk. As a monk, he is not allowed to kill them and his teacher also did not allow them to use mosquito repellants or coils.
Instead, his teacher Ajahn Chah, told his students to see the mosquito as their teacher. From then on, they became Ajahn Mosquito (Ajahn means Teacher in Thai). He explains that when he went deeper into his meditation, he became unaware of the mosquitoes. If his mind wandered, the pain from the mosquito bites would draw him to that fact, and he would go back to his concentration. Later on, the mosquitoes left him, possibly because his metabolic rate dropped and he produced less carbon dioxide that attracted mosquitoes.
Similarly, I suggest that noises can also be considered a training medium.
Answer: Shamata meditation would be beneficial as it improves continuous focus and awareness of the mind state. I did read about advanced stages of Shamata practice which would produce a kind of trance, but it would require a lot of meditation within reclusive retreats.
But I think at the beginning it is mostly impossible to meditate with the kind of sounds you describe. There are sounds with more abstract nature like of wind, birds, people walking or whispering and even machines, cars, trucks and horns. Its possible to to not get disturbed by these sounds and keep the meditation going. Now if there is loud harsh music or people is chatting close to you it is very likely these sounds will inevitably pull your attention to them, and out of the practice.
Of course this division is arbitrary. People can get annoyed with birds singing, others aren't bothered by the neighbor's late night party.
My advice is that the best way to surpass these intrusive noises is going to a quiet place. I think that in the beginning you need some silence to learn and progress. And with practice you can train to be mindful even in noisy situations. There is no need to make it difficult right at the beginning.
Answer: My recommendation maybe it's not the more orthodox, but the best way to ignore noises, if your meditation skills do not allow you to ignore them yet, is to hide them with another noise less annoying and easier to ignore. These kind of noises are called "White Noises", and you can find a lot of resources online:
(Wind, waves, rivers, rain, fire, etc..)
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=white+noise
Answer: I'm with the 'Old School' on this one.. if noises are a problem while you meditate, then you should surround yourself with noises.. perhaps gradually, perhaps abruptly..  thus your practice will become rapidly better, even though it may seem at the time that it is very difficult.
If it is not noises, then it will be something else. The idea of meditation is not to get into some kind of state, but to practice, over and over again, in different conditions, the discipline of meditation and thus improve.
In that sense, any type of meditation has "The Goalless Goal"


Possible to travel on VWP (ESTA) if previously granted a visa

Question: My husband had a DUI conviction (no harm to property or persons) in 2006 and successfully applied for a B-2 tourist visa to visit the US in 2008.  There have been no convictions since.  The ESTA eligibility questions have now changed and he is able to answer 'no' to them all.  Would he now be able to apply for an ESTA without the need to apply for another visa? (it was an extremely long and expensive process!)
Answer: I assume that your husband disclosed his conviction in his earlier B-2 visa application.  Because he was already issued a B visa and admitted to the US with this conviction, you can conclude that the conviction does not make him inadmissible to the US.
The statutory requirements for admission under the VWP do not go very far beyond those for a B visa, and nothing you've said suggests that he would fail to meet any of these additional requirements.  Therefore, your husband should apply for ESTA authorization and, if it is granted, use it.
If ESTA authorization is not granted, he will need to apply for a visa, but if he doesn't apply for ESTA, he'll certainly have to apply for a visa, so he might as well try.
Comment: @lafemmecosmique the current version of the crime question appears to be qualified with the clause "...that resulted in serious damage to property, or serious harm to another person or government authority?"  The (TSE) question further states that the husband can answer "no" (truthfully, I presume, because of the mention that the crime involved "no harm to property or persons").  So I don't think the question is about the checkbox itself or about whether or not to lie on the application.
Comment: @phoog, yes my husband did declare his DUI when applying for a visa.  We went through the process of obtaining a Police Certificate etc. to take to his Embassy appointment.  Because it was a DUI conviction he then had to make a further appointment with an Embassy approved doctor and his visa was subsequently granted.  You are correct re the crime question "... that resulted in serious damage to property"... he can truthfully answer 'no' to this.  Many thanks for your advice, I think we will go ahead and apply for ESTA authorisation
Comment: @MBJ please do come back and let us know what happens.
Comment: I think what OP is asking about is the little 'ever convicted of a crime' checkbox. I have a similar situation - I disclosed a misdemeanor at the age of 14 to Australia and was granted a work visa to that country. I got the visa, but I'm not sure if I could get an ETA to visit Oz in the future. Obviously I am 'admissible' but the ETA granting process is automatic and depends on the little check box. I don't want to apply and get a 'no', but I also don't want to lie. OP wants to know if the automatic process will override her partner's 'admissibleness' or if he has to apply for a new visa.


How does my camera's multiple exposure feature differ from a single long exposure?

Question: I'd like to learn the applications of the multiple exposure function on my camera (D700), but I can't even figure out what the difference would be between using it and just using a single exposure at a slow speed.
Obviously, I have a lot to learn. Could someone please help?
Answer:
what the difference would be between using it and just using a single exposure at a slow speed

The difference is that you can take several completely different exposures all in the same frame. There are lots of ways you can use it.
For example, you could take a shot of a landscape and then a shot of a person against a dark background. The effect you'd get would a semi-transparent person layered over the landscape.
Another, perhaps more likely example: You can take several exposures of a single person in different poses in different parts of the frame. This works best with a black background, so that nothing in the background bleeds through the images.
A more common variation on the same theme is to fire a strobe multiple times during a single long exposure to freeze motion at several points.
This kind of thing was much more common in the film days. With digital, it's so easy to combine images in different ways after the fact that it's not necessary to do it in camera. It's still fun, though, and might get your creative juices flowing.
Answer: With a single long exposure everything that happens from start to finish is included in the frame.
With multiple exposures you can pause to allow changes to the scene to be made without the time during which those changes are made being included in the photo. You can even totally change the composition by changing aperture, focal length, or even to a different lens, where the camera is pointed, where the camera is placed, etc. This also frees you to use short shutter times. Two shutter actuations shot at 1/500 second each can be combined without the requirement that everything in both exposures happen within 1/250 second (1/500 + 1/500 = 1/250). Instead, you can take as long as you want between the two shutter actuations to recompose the framing or modify the scene.
Answer: In addition to the more content related answers, I'd like to add that multiple exposures result in less noise than one long exposure.
The phenomenon is described in more detail here and is a standard technique in astro imaging, also called stacking.
Comment: You're not wrong, but you're talking about a different thing. In this context, I think the OP is talking about the [multiple exposure](http://www.nikonusa.com/en/learn-and-explore/query/h4lfxzs5/multiple-exposure.html) feature that lets you essentially add several exposures into a single image *in camera*. With film cameras, you did this by reseting the shutter without advancing the film, so that the same frame was exposed more than once. The digital equivalent is similar to image stacking, but you only ever see the final image.


Should I make extra payments to my under water mortgage or increase my savings?

Question: Currently I have a mortgage that I am underwater on by about $10K - $15k, and I am looking to move to a different state in the next year for several unrelated reasons (not buying a new home). I have about $800 to $1000 extra each month to put toward savings or principal, but I am not sure which is better in my current situation. I don't have other debt that needs to be paid off. So should I pay the extra money against the mortgage principal even though I might be in short sale situation and I would lose the extra principal I paid? Or should I keep the money in a savings account so that I have more cash for the closing?
Comment: Are you still responsible for the difference if you do a short sale? I believe it varies by state, so any answer given would depend on that.
Comment: Good question; I will probably need to contact a local tax attorney or real estate attorney to find out. Make sense though that if I am still responsible for the difference, I might as well pay the majority of my monthly excess to principal while saving some in a cash account.
Comment: I would say the regardless of the decision, you keep an emergency fund of $1000 in a savings account.  Actually, if you are really paid off on everything but your house, I would build that emergency fund up to 3-6 months expenses then start paying extra on the house.
Answer: I'd pile up as much cash as you can in a savings account - you will need money for the move (even if it's just gas money) and it's going to be hard to predict where house prices are going so you might or might not be underwater when it comes time to sell the house. Or you might be so deep underwater by then that the extra money doesn't make much of a difference anymore anyway.
Once you're actually in the process of selling the house, you can figure out if you can (or need to) use the savings to cover the shortfall, closing costs or if you just built up a little wealth during the time you put the money aside.
Answer: You say you are underwater by $10k-15k.  Does that include the 6% comission that selling will cost you?  If you are underwater and have to sell anyway, why would you want to give
the bank any extra money?  A loss will be taken on the sale.  Personally i would want the bank to take as much of that loss as possible, rather than myself.  Depending on the locale the mortgage may or may not be non-recourse, ie the loan contract implies that the bank can take the house from you if you default, but if 'non-recourse' the bank has no legal way to demand more money from you.
Getting the bank to cooperate on a short sale might be massively painful.  If you have $ in your savings, you might have more leverage to nego with the bank on how much money you have to give them in the event the loan is not 'non-recourse'.  Note that even if not 'non-recourse', it's not clear it would be worth the banks time and money to pursue any shortfall after a sale or if you just walk away and mail the keys to the bank.
If you're not worried about your credit, the most financially beneficial action for you might be to simply stop paying the mortgage at all and bank the whole payments.  It will take the bank some time to get you out of the house and you can live cost-free during that time.
You may feel a moral obligation to the bank.  I would not feel this way.  The banks and bankers took a ton of money out of selling mortgages to buyers and then selling securities based on the mortgages to investors.  They looted the whole system and pushed prices up greatly in the process, which burned most home buyers and home owners.  It's all about business -my advice is to act like a business does and minimize your costs.  The bank should have required a big enough downpayment to cover their risk.  If they did not, then they are to blame for any loss they incur.  This is the most basic rule of finance.
Comment: I agree business is business, but hurting your credit now will affect your options later.  Carefully weigh how much you can save vs what everything else in life will cost you when you have a poor credit score.
Comment: I won't vote this down, but I can't quite justify voting it up yet either.  I agree in principle, but it feels like a rash reaction.
Comment: If foreclosure wouldn't put my job in jeopardy, I might consider this (especially considering this recent information that a short sale is almost as bad as a forclosure to your credit: http://bankinganalyticsblog.fico.com/2011/03/research-looks-at-how-mortgage-delinquencies-affect-scores.html).


What is the difference between sautéing and stir frying?

Question: I put 1 tablespoon of oil in an iron Kadhai. Then after it gets a bit heated, I put a chopped onion in it, and start moving it with spatula so that it doesn't get burnt and gets cooked evenly.
So, what am I doing, stir frying or Sautéing?
Comment: related : http://cooking.stackexchange.com/q/125/67
Answer: It mostly depends on the heat used. If you are cooking at a high enough heat that vegetables and thinly-sliced meats (if using) are cooked through in only a few minutes then it matches with the term generally used as "stir-frying". In this heat, if you stop stirring even for a moment, pretty much, the food at the hottest part of the pan (at the base, near the flame) will start to burn. It needs to be in motion constantly.
That's the stir part of the stir-fry -- constant motion up the curved sides where it is cooler and letting other parts of the food go to the bottom to the heat and around and around. A full dish of meat, veg, noodles, etc can be completely cooked start to finish in just about 5 minutes.
This recipe demonstrates stir-frying baby bok choy in 2 1/2 minutes of cooking time for the veg, this one for 2 minutes, and an outlier at 3-5 minutes.
Sautéing should also be at a fairly high heat and generally with less oil (although stir-frying doesn't use a lot of oil either, usually). The heat is lower than what is implied by stir-fry. With sautéing you are still generally keeping things moving, but it doesn't need to be quite as frantic. You can let things stop a moment, and it can help to let them start to brown and caramelize.
To demonstrate, this recipe for sautéed baby bok choy cooks them for 7 minutes, this one for 9-11 minutes, this one is another outlier cooking it for 4 minutes. The fastest of these is twice as slow as most of the the stir-fry or about the same as the slowest stir-fry. The slowest of these sauté recipes is nearly 3-5 times as slow as the stir-fry with fairly similar ingredients, especially similar to the slowest of the stir-fry recipes.
But to be fair, in my comment on the other post I was, strictly speaking, abusing the term sautéing by conflating it with even more moderate temperatures (which are more properly simply called "pan frying").
A kadai is a good implement to use for stir-frying, but a kadai can also be used for cooking at a slightly lower temperature. Simply using a kadai does not 100% determine the end result will be either a stir-fry or a sauté or a gentle fry, or even deep-frying. It's a versatile vessel. :-)
Comment: Stir frying is cooking with oil and steam at extreme heat. Watch a professional wok chef, they add liquid (stock) regularly, and flip and mound the contents of the wok to be in the steam zone. Sautéing is medium heat cooking in oil
Answer: The (unsupported) assertion you quoted is a bit extreme. Stir frying and sauteing are roughly analogous - both involve cooking in a pan over a high heat with a small amount of oil by constantly moving the food. The only real difference is that stir frying usually involves a wok, and higher heat. Sauteing is usually done in a saute pan and the heat is usually less fierce. But they are basically two sides of the same coin.


Significance of 4π in the uncertainty principle

Question: What is the significance of the quantity 4π in the Heisenberg uncertainty principle?
$Δp \times Δx = \frac{h}{4π}$
The focus of the question is to learn why the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, universally known as $π$, is used in the denominator in the term $\frac{h}{4π}$. To put it another way, why is this geometric number relevant in Heisenberg's formula?
Comment: Welcome to Chemistry.SE! Please have a look at [this tutorial](http://meta.chemistry.stackexchange.com/a/88/189) to acquaint yourself with the way math and chemical formulae can be nicely formatted on this site.
Comment: Related Phys.SE posts: http://physics.stackexchange.com/q/69604/2451 and links therein.
Comment: Aha! Now it is clear what are you asking for. For de Broglie plane waves $\pi$ appears naturally in a connection between $x$ and $p$ as I tried to show at the very end of my answer. For a general case connection between $x$ and $p$ is non-trivial, but it still involves $\pi$, as it is postulated by canonical commutation relation.
Answer: The quantity on the right side of the expression for the product of uncertainties basically depends on the mathematical definition of "uncertainty" used. Without rigid definition of this quantity one ofthen just say that the product of uncertainties in position and momentum is of the order of Planck constant (or the reduced Planck constant; since they are proportional to each other it does not matter)
$$ \Delta x \Delta p \sim \hbar \, .$$
To make the statement more precise, one have to define what is actually meant by "uncertainty" and usually uncertainties are defined as the standard deviations.
$$
\Delta x = \sigma_x = \sqrt{\langle (x - \langle x \rangle)^2 \rangle} = \sqrt{\langle x^2 \rangle - \langle x \rangle^2} \, , \\
\Delta p = \sigma_p = \sqrt{\langle (p - \langle p \rangle)^2 \rangle} = \sqrt{\langle p^2 \rangle - \langle p \rangle^2} \, , \\
$$
where angle brackets $\langle \phantom{x} \rangle$ stand for the average value. And with these definitions one can indeed prove that
$$
\Delta x \Delta p \geq \hbar / 2 \, .
$$
Actually, we do even favour the usual notation for the standard deviation to avoid ambiguity
$$
\sigma_x \sigma_p \geq \hbar / 2 \, .
$$
So, from this perspective the 2 is nothing but the factor of proportionality between the product of uncertainties in position and momentum being thought of as standard deviations and the reduced Planck constant. $4 \pi$ is the factor of proportionality between the product of uncertainties in position and momentum being thought of as standard deviations and the Planck constant itself.

In fact, you can prove a more general Robertson uncertainty relation that for any two observables $A$ and $B$ represented by self-adjoint operators $\hat{A}$ and $\hat{B}$
$$
    \sigma_{A}\sigma_{B} \geq \left| \frac{1}{2i}\langle[\hat{A},\hat{B}]\rangle \right| = \frac{1}{2}\left|\langle[\hat{A},\hat{B}]\rangle \right|.
$$
Now, for $x$ and $p$ it is postulated by so-called canonical commutation relation that $[\hat{x},\hat{p}]=i\hbar$, thus, leading to
$$
    \sigma_x \sigma_p \geq \hbar / 2 \, .
$$
From that perspective, the Heisenberg uncertainty relation is equivalent to canonical commutation relation, and $\pi$ actually comes to the first one from the last one (as part of $\hbar$). So now the question really is why do we have $\pi$ in canonical commutation relation? And as user3371583 noted, it indeed has something to do with Fourier transform, but the connection of position and momentum through Fourier transform is not trivial.

Intuitively, however, you can get a sense of it by looking at the simpliest case of a one-dimensional de Broglie plane wave, in which $\pi$ factor in a connection between $x$ and $p$ naturally comes from de Broglie relation
$$
    p = \hbar k \, ,
$$
where $p$ is the momentum and $k = 2 \pi / \lambda$ is the wavenumber. So, wave function for plane wave can be written as follows
$$
    \psi(x) = \mathrm e^{\mathrm i(kx-\omega t)} \, ,
$$
and its derivative with respect to $x$ is
$$
    \frac{\partial \psi(x)}{\partial x} = \mathrm i k \mathrm e^{\mathrm i(kx-\omega t)} = \mathrm i k \psi(x) \, .
$$
If we substitute then $p / \hbar$ for $k$ from de Broglie relation we get
$$
    \frac{\partial \psi(x)}{\partial x} = \mathrm i \frac{p}{\hbar} \psi(x) \, ,
$$
or
$$
    p \psi(x) = - \mathrm i \hbar \frac{\partial \psi(x)}{\partial x} \, ,
$$
which suggest that
$$
    \hat{p} \psi(x) = -\mathrm i \hbar \frac{\partial \psi(x)}{\partial x} \, .
$$
$\hat{x}$ is simple multiplicative operator in this picture
$$
    \hat{x} \psi(x) = x \psi(x) \, ,
$$
so, the commutator between $\hat{x}$ and $\hat{p}$ is indeed $[\hat{x},\hat{p}]=i\hbar$ and through this commutator $\pi$, in a sense, propogates to Heisenberg uncetainty relation.
Comment: @TheStarVoyager $4 \pi$ is just a factor of proportionality. What kind of its significance beyound that you are looking for?
Comment: I am puzzled by the answer that has been posted. Rather than answering my question directly, it introduces a new dimension to my question which, although it may be correct, is not relevant to my specific question. To clarify this commenmt and my original question, I want to know what 4π  means as the divisor in Heisenberg's formula.
Answer: It seems that you are looking for a more mathematical answer.
Actually Heisenberg's inequality naturally comes from using Fourier Analysis. $2\pi$ comes from deriving a Fourier transform and the $2$ that remains comes from playing around with the terms.
For a detailed proof of the Heisenberg inequality that explains every term, you can check GB Folland's Lectures on Partial Differential Equations (pdf) http://www.math.tifr.res.in/~publ/ln/tifr70.pdf and go to page 11.
Answer: I will try to address your question very directly:

why is this geometric number relevant in Heisenberg's formula?

$\pi$ is not a geometric number. Among many things, $\pi$ the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, but it is not its deepest meaning. That is, this geometrical relation can be viewed as a consequence of most fundamental properties of $\pi$. The inclusion of $\pi$ in the uncertainty relationships is due to those other more fundamental properties, and it is not a direct consequence the geometric properties mentioned by you.
$\pi$ arises naturally (after imposing some desirable restrictions) in the solution of the differential equation
$$f(z) = \frac{df(z)}{dz}$$
with $f:\mathbb{C} \rightarrow \mathbb{C}$ (and clearly $z \in \mathbb{C}$)  which is found everywhere in physics, chemistry, etc.
In order to get a more detailed (case specific) answer of how it arises, please take a look at the Wildcat answer.
As I understand it, that is the deepest reason why $\pi$ is found in the uncertainty principle equation.


How do I recover my pre-Kerl IOTA balance?

Question: I bought IOTA in August and transferred the coins to my IOTA wallet.  Then IOTA network changed the hash function from Curl to Kerl.  Now my IOTA balance shows as zero.  How do I transition my IOTA across the Curl/Kerl breaking change?
Comment: if i use the reclaim tool do i create a new seed myself?
Comment: yes with iota you always create the seed yourself!
Answer: There is a reclaim tool built into the IOTA Light Wallet since version 2.5.2.
Just download the wallet and

click on Tools > Reclaim tool.
enter your old seed
enter your new seed
click CONTINUE
now you the Hash of your "Proof Transaction" will be displayed

Once the transaction is confirmed (reattach if necessary), the IOTA foundation knows that you are in fact the owner of your tokens. After they processed your transaction your funds are available on the new seed.
Comment: You will receive the IOTA once your confirmed transaction is processed by the IOTA foundation (so not instantaneously). There is currently some backlog of reclaim transactions, so it may take a few days/weeks.
Answer: Make sure you are upgraded to the newest IOTA wallet. If your balance is zero that means your wallet is connecting. Generate a new receive address and attach it to the tangle and wait a few minutes. If your balance is still zero, generate another receive address and attach it to the tangle and wait. If you have made several transactions using your wallet before the change you may have to repeat this several times to retrieve all of your balance. If this fails you will have to use the reclaim tool in the menu of your IOTA wallet GUI.


Do animals have souls?

Question: I was talking to my Muslim friend the other day and he informed me that the Quran teaches that animals do not have souls and they are only tools here for human's to use. If that is true then how come most animals and dogs in particular have strong emotional bonds with their owners? Animals start gaining trust and respect, they feel that you are helping them and they try to help and serve you in return. That to me is proof of a soul because something like a robot that has no soul would not understand these concepts. Sure you can program a computer to do the same thing you to do it to do it back to you, but animals are different, you can take care of a dog your whole life then when you are in trouble the dog will defend you. Computers won't realize that you are even in trouble.
Comment: did you asked for the reference of his interpretation? if not then please ask him and edit your question to provide reference.
Comment: @Zia I did ask him and he told me his reference is that the "Quran teaches that animals do not have souls and they are only tools here for human's to use." I checked the wikipedia for Islam and animals (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_and_animals) and even there I get a contradicting answer. It states: "The Qur'an strongly enjoins Muslims to treat animals with compassion and not to abuse them." Then later on it says: "The Qur'an explicitly allows the eating of the meat of certain halal animals."
Comment: @Zia  I go into "Halal" and there is only like 15 words regarding animals. The majority of that page talks about halal being "objects and food".
Comment: i mean which aya'h specifically he is talking about ?
Comment: AFAIK every living thing has a soul !
Answer: Yes they have. But their soul is different from that of humans.
Quran says:

And there is no creature on [or within] the earth or bird that flies
  with its wings except [that they are] communities like you. We have
  not neglected in the Register a thing. Then unto their Lord they
  will be gathered. http://tanzil.net/#6:38

This verse says animals will be alive and gathered on the Day of Judgement like humans. If they have no soul this action of God will be meaningless.
Reference:
Question: do animals have soul and if yes do they have responsibility against their deeds?
(you can read this page using Google Translate)
Another answer based on Islamic philosophy
Answer: Yes animals do have souls but no other has any match with humans' soul because humans are best creature of Allah. An interesting analogy can be drawn with the following verses where Prophet Jesus (pbuh) blows something into clay birds to make them into a living being
003:049:

...'I have come to you, with a Sign from your Lord, in that I make for
  you out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, and breathe into
  it, and it becomes a bird by God's leave...

Some volition is also inferred by the following verse which speaks of the animal kingdom in general.
006:038:

There is not an animal in the earth, nor a bird that flies with its
  wings, but (are) communities like you. Nothing have we neglected from
  the Book, and they (all) shall be gathered to their Lord

Do animals have souls?


Black Screen Installing with AMD Graphics Card

Question: When I try to run Ubuntu 11.10 on my laptop of a CD (also happens with wubi) I get a black screen. When I get the black screen I can't do anything except to force shutdown (by holding the power button). I have an AMD Radeon HD 6000G Series Card. My laptop: HP Pavilion G6
Answer: For those that have AMD A-Series APUs, you need to get a minimal ISO for Oneiric (11.10) and then install complete system, or a Precise release newer than Alpha2 (12.04, although not recommended because it is still in development), this is because the fixes for your bug were on updates that appeared after the official release on Oneiric (11.10).


Loki OpenGL issue with VMWare Workstation 12.5

Question: I'm struggling to get VMWare Workstation 12.5 to enable 3D support for guest Windows VMs.
Currently I see an error telling me I need to update my drivers.
Google has suggested using a drivers utility in system settings but I don't have that panel in Loki.
I'm using Intel Corporation Broadwell U Integrated Graphics (rev09) and it would appear that the new Intel driver update utility for Ubuntu doesnt work with Elementary OS.
Any advice appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
Answer: Virtual machines aren't well supported on elementary OS, but you should be able to install Intel drivers at least. I'm not sure what errors you received that you couldn't do the install on elementary OS.
As for the drivers utility, I think you want:
<code>sudo apt install software-properties-gtk
</code>
Comment: Intel Graphics drivers are inside the kernel. He could install `intel-microcode` so maybe it gets some update.

Also, you can "tell" the intel driver utility that you are using ubuntu so that it installs. But I dont remember the correct procedure.


What's the best way of managing Google Chrome for users with a mandatory profile?

Question: The users on our network all use mandatory profiles, and the settings of certain applications are hived to a remote filesystem when they log on or off.  Recently I've been attempting to make Google Chrome work this way and I've been struggling.
Firstly Chrome doesn't really use AppData\Roaming for its settings as it really should do.  Instead it uses %LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome.  I've attempted to mirror this folder onto the remote share when users log on/off (excluding the Cache and Media Cache folders) and this works well, except for one thing:  Bookmarks/history/extensions are all restored but Google's link to the cloud is lost.  It appears that Google must store some credential information which it uses when communicating with its cloud service.  However, no amount of procmon is showing me where this information is stored.  It's not stored in the form of Windows Credentials/Certificates and I can't see anywhere in the filesystem/registry where it's stored.
Has anyone got any experiencing of managing Chrome for the enterprise?
Comment: Did you try Chrome for business? http://www.google.it/intl/en/chrome/business/browser/
Answer: You can check out Google Chrome for Business http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/business/browser/
This support document from Google, may help better guide you and answer any additional questions.
http://support.google.com/chromeos/a/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=187948


Awakening of Kundalini is possible without mentor/guru?

Question: I have read much about Kundalini in yoga. There are few yoga postures for awakening the kundalini. Without these yoga postures and without a guru, is it possible to get the experience of awakening of the kundalini?
Comment: Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been [moved to chat](https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/83620/discussion-on-question-by-dhanashree-deshpande-awakening-of-kundalini-is-possibl).
Answer: Whether it is possible with asanas and related practices?
Yes it is technically possible. Some basic and  advanced yogic methods can make Kundalini awakening or activation of chakra.
It can also happen spontaneously due to something called shaktipaat which means grace. There are examples of people getting movements of energy and kundalini experience at some high energy place such as any siddha kshetra. Also during initiation by guru it can be spontaneously activated during diksha.
However some asanas , mudrAs and bandhas are extremely useful in undertaking this sadhana.

In the ancient shastras many references are made regarding mudras. For
example, the Siva Samhita (iv, 12-15) describes mudras as follows:
"Now I shall tell you the best means of attaining success in yoga. The
practitioners must keep it secret. It is the inaccessible yoga. When
the sleeping goddess kundalini is awakened through the grace of guru,
then all the lotuses and the bonds are readily pierced through and
through. Therefore, in order that the goddess, who is asleep in the
mouth of brahmarandhra (the innermost hollow of sushumna) be awakened,
the mudras should be practiced with the greatest care. Out of the many
mudras, the following ten are best: mahamudra, mahabandha, mahabheda,
khechari, jalandhara, moola bandha, vipareeta karani, uddiyana,
vajroli and shakti chalini."

MahAmudra and mahAbandha along with prAnayAma are excellent practice for kundalini yoga as told by maharshi Patanjali in his ashtanga yoga.

The Three Bandhas I n the Yogataravali Sutras it is said: 'Jalandhara
bandha, uddiyana bandha and moola bandha are situated in the throat,
abdomen and perineum respectively. If their duration can be increased
then where is the fear of death? By the practice of these three
bandhas the dormant kundalini awakens and enters into the sushumna.
The breath becomes still {kumbhaka). With the performance of these
three bandhas the reckaka (exhalation) and pooraka (inhalation) ceases
to function. With this the senses become purified and kevala
(enlightenment) takes place. I pray for that vidya (knowledge)
residing in kevala kumbhaka" (YS, 5,6,8)
Through the perfection of bandhas the yogi is able to lock himself
into the 'eternal now' devoid of the dualities of existence, motion
and change. His consciousness is unfettered by the modifications of
thought enabling him to merge into the field of unified consciousness.
As such, the bandhas induce pratyahara {sense withdrawal) and are
preliminary techniques for meditation
When kundalini shakti is awakened and arises from her sleep, she is
the vehicle for the expansion of consciousness, enabling the
individual to fully develop his innate potential and rise beyond the
mundane realm of birth and death to the level of divinity.

Lastly I would say that there is a lot of uncertainty about Kundalini especially in the West and in India too where people are mostly talking about its dangers and warnings. However most of them haven't even taken up that practice nor have they seen people going mad due to kundalini yoga. Most of the cases are just hearsay. So do not get frightened or discouraged by such opinions.
Definitively spiritual path is not easy it is full of challenges as one ventures into world of unknown. But this path is for the brave.
As per Tantric tradition, women have an advantage when it comes to kundalini due to their anatomical and pranic build up. Hence require relatively less sadhana than men.
Ashtanga yoga / kriya yoga are good ways to undertake kundalini yoga under a genuine master.
Answer: It is usually impossible to achieve any form of success in Yoga without the Guru.
Every bit of the practice has to be done under the guidance of the Guru only. See few verses from various chapters of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika:

When the Yogî remains inwardly attentive to the Brahman, keeping the
  mind and the Prâna absorbed, and the sight steady, as if seeing
  everything while in reality seeing nothing outside, below, or above,
  verily then it is called the Sâmbhavî mudrâ, which is learnt by the
  favour of a guru. Whatever, wonderful, Sûnya or Asûnya is perceived,
  is to be regarded as the manifestation of that great Śambhû (Śiva.)
Having seated in such a room and free from all anxieties, he should
  practise Yoga, as instructed by his Guru.
Posture becoming established, a Yogî, master of himself, eating
  salutary and moderate food, should practise Prânâyâma, as instructed
  by his guru.
He should practise mudrâs properly, as instructed by his guru.
  Then sitting with Padmâsana, he should hear anâhata nâda attentively.

And the following verse, which clearly states that one needs the Guru's grace to activate the sleeping Kundalini.

Suptā ghuruprasādena yadā jāgharti kundalī Tadā sarvāni
  padmāni bhidyante ghranthayoapi cha ||
When the sleeping Kundalinî awakens by favour of a guru, then all the lotuses (in the six chakras or centres) and all the knots are
  pierced through.

There are actually certain things, like the secrets of Yoga, which one has to learn from the Guru. By reading only books one can not really do so as the following verse says:

The whole of the nectar, possessing divine qualities, which exudes
  from the Soma (Chandra) is devoured by the Sûrya; and, owing to this,
  the body becomes old. To remedy this, the opening of the Sûrya is
  avoided by excellent means. It is to be learnt best by instructions
  from a guru; but not by even a million discussions.

So, in short it is almost impossible to attain success in Kundali Yoga or the state of Samadhi without the Guru.

Indifference to worldly enjoyments is very difficult to obtain, and
  equally difficult is the knowledge of the Realities to obtain. It is
  very difficult to get the condition of Samâdhi, without the favour of
  a true guru.

Adding a couple of more verses from another Yogic treatise, the Shiva Samhita, where Lord Shiva says that knowledge of Yoga is useful only when it is imparted by the Guru.

Now I shall tell you, how easily to attain success in Yoga, by knowing
  which the Yogis never fail in the practice of Yoga. 10
Only the knowledge imparted by a Guru, through his lips, is powerful and useful; otherwise it becomes fruitless, weak and very painful.
  11
Shiva Samhita 3-10,11

But, in certain exceptional cases it might be possible, if the disciple is carrying forward a lot of merits from the past lives and has already activated his/her Kundalini in the previous birth. But, in general a Guru is required.
Answer: Yes, Kundalini can be aroused without the help of Guru also.
Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda / Volume 1 / Raja Yoga / Chapter IV / The Psychic Prana:

The rousing of the Kundalini is the one and only way to attaining Divine
  Wisdom, superconscious perception, realisation of the spirit. The rousing may
  come in various ways, through love for God, through the mercy of perfected
  sages, or through the power of the analytic will of the philosopher.

Swami Vivekananda has covered the topic of Kundalini in great detail which you can find in the above link.
Answer: See the cases below,

If you are retaining psycho-physical 'I' which is wrong identification of yourself by yourself, you need a mentor or guru whatever the word guru means otherwise it could become dangerous.
If you are annihilating your entire ego masquerading as 'I' then Kundalini will be activated without doing anything and without any guru.

For the 2nd point, from the book Be as you are.

Q: How  can one direct the  prana  or life-force into the  sushumna nadi  [a psychic nerve in the spine] so that the  chit-jadagranthi  [the identification of consciousness with  the body] can be severed in the manner  stated in  Sri Ramana Gita?
  A: By enquiring `Who am I?' The yogi may be definitely aiming at rousing the  kundalini  and sending it up the  sushumna.  The  jnani may not be having this as his object. But both achieve the same results, that of sending the life-force up the  sushumna  and severing the  chit-jada-granthi. Kundalini is  only another name for  atma  or Self or  shakti.  We  talk of it as being inside the body, because we conceive ourselves as limited by this body. But it is in reality both inside and outside, being not different from Self or the  shakti  of Self.

I tend to remember an occasion  where Jiddu also told the same what Ramana Maharshi suggested - One doesn't need to be a part of all this paraphernalia, one can bypass all these practices and attain to the immeasurable. He told to a yogi who had got some psyche powers and intense concentration using intense practices but couldn't find the thing called Love/Reality.

But must the mind travel through all these dark and hidden passages to come to the light? And when through any of these means it does come to the light, is that the light of the eternal? Or is it the light of the known, the recognized, a thing born of search, struggle hope? Must one go through this weary process to find that which is not measurable? Can we bypass all this and come upon that which may be called love? Since you have had visions, powers, experiences, what do you say, sir? from here
Answer: A Guru is necessary to have any spiritual experience.

MR. CHOUDHURY: "Sir, is it not possible to have the vision of God
  without the help of a guru?"
MASTER: "Satchidananda Himself is the Guru. At the end of the
  sava-sadhana, just when the vision of the Ishta is about to take
  place, the guru appears before the aspirant and says to him, 'Behold!
  There is your Ishta.' Saying this, the guru merges in the Ishta. He
  who is the guru is also the Ishta. The guru is the thread that leads
  to God. Women perform a ritualistic worship known as the
  'Ananta-vrata', the object of worship being the Infinite. But actually
  the Deity worshipped is Vishnu. In Him are the 'infinite' forms of
  God.

The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, The Master's Birthday Celebration at Dakshineswar, February 25, 1883

BRAHMO: "Is spiritual knowledge impossible without a guru?"
MASTER: "Satchidananda alone is the Guru. If a man in the form of a
  guru awakens spiritual consciousness in you, then know for certain
  that it is God the Absolute who has assumed that human form for your
  sake. The guru is like a companion who leads you by the hand. After
  the realization of God, one loses the distinction between the guru and
  the disciple. 'That creates a very difficult situation; there the guru
  and the disciple do not see each other.'1 It was for this reason that
  Janaka said to Sukadeva, 'Give me first my teacher's fee if you want
  me to initiate you into the Knowledge of Brahman.' For the distinction
  between the teacher and the disciple ceases to exist after the
  disciple attains to Brahman. The relationship between them remains as
  long as the disciple does not see God."

The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, The Master with the Brahmo Devotees (II), April 22, 1883
There is one important thing to remember about the idea of a Guru. No physical human being can really be a Guru. It is always Satchidananda who is the guru and no one else. If you do get spiritual experience through a human guru then you should realize that Satchidananda is acting through the human guru.
Swami Vivekananda has explained Kundalini in his book Raja Yoga.

'When you practice, first salute all the ancient Yogis, and your own
  Guru, and God, and then begin.'

Raja Yoga, Chapter VIII, Raja Yoga in brief by Swami Vivekananda
Comment: What did vivekananda and others say about Kundalini?
Comment: Vivekananda discusses Kundalini in Raja Yoga. In his summary of Raja Yoga he writes 'When you practice, first salute all the ancient Yogis, and your own Guru, and God, and then begin.' (Raja Yoga, Chapter VIII, Raja Yoga in brief).  I doubt if Vivekananda will contradict Ramakrishna and say that a Guru is not needed in Kundalini Yoga.
Comment: he contradicted many things of sankara samnyasa parampara though. He was not into kundalini but into vedanta.
Comment: Vivekananda called Ramakrishna Avatara Varishta. He will not contradict Ramakrishna.
Comment: acha. Then why he not propagated path of Tantra.?
Comment: Ramakrishna asked him to learn Advaita. Thus he was uniquely capable of teaching Advaita. Moreover Vivekananda categorically says in his Raja Yoga that without awakening Kundalini no spiritual experience is possible. Advaita is the philosophy while Tantra is the practical side. Read his 'Reply to the Madras Address' where he states that 'As to their influence, apart from Shrauta and Smarta rituals, all the forms of rituals in vogue from the Himalayas to the Comorin are taken from the Tantras and they direct the worship of the Shakta, or Shaiva or Vaishnavas, and all the others alike.'
Answer: Yes, Kundalini can be aroused without the help of Guru also.
To explain I want to example of my Guru to answer same question by Me :

"Awakening kundalini can be considered like lighting fire in Deepak.
  If you already have a lightened Deepak you can lighten another Deepak
  instantly. If you don't have lighted Deepak or source of fire, you
  should know how to create fire & have necessary resources for that. If
  you neither have fire or resources to ignite fire, nor you know how to
  find resources you can never start fire."

Now relate example to your question, if you have Guru you can instantaneously get Kundalini awakening by grace of Guru via Shaktipaat.
If you don't have Guru and have resources how to get awakening like Kriya Yoga, bhakti Yoga, Raj Yoga as explained in other Good answers, you can then also get awakening after intense practice & learning.
If you neither have Guru & nor have other resource and also don't know how to get resources then things are very far.
To deduct, in my simple understanding, having Guru is like a Guide in unknown terrain who can let you to destination with his prior knowledge of way & experience of same Journey. Journey without guide in unknown terrain is possible if you have map & how to read map but without Guide, map or know how to read map that will be very long & confusing journey as at each turn you will get confused where to go.
I hope that helps since it removed my doubts too.
Comment: Is your guru sri ramlal siyag ?
Answer: Well it is possible but the route would be longer If you wanna feel awakening try to find about the procedures what to do if kundalini energy is too much and remember what you want to achieve by it just want to test or attain salivation the intent is important but that(salvation) is not possible in one life time.
The best book in my knowledge is "vigyana bhairav tantra" which contain steps that awaken kundalini through breath control and hatha yoga pradipika for more experienced practitioner.
The translated book is "112 Meditations for Self Realization" based on "vigyan bhairav tantra" written by many authors but ultimate authority is  "swami Lakshmanjoo" and he is no more in this world but his disciples wrote some books.
Now the guru part - if religion is not a constraint worship lord shiva and ask him to provide a guru in real life and to guide you as well as a guru not even in this life but in the coming life also, after all he is the creator of all the yoga and mantra.
one important thing i forgot to mention there are various ways of awakening kundalini by breathe control(holistic approach is by 8 limbs of yoga),by worship of 10 mahavidyas or by worship of nav durga or by being a aghori in shamshaan/or by staying with family and doing worship but there are various ways and with sublime differences in the intent.you can even mix and match these paths to attain the desired results but that itself is another topic.
refer the previous answers as well ;will give you a holistic understanding of the subject.
good luck on your journey.


G5RV Jr. fed with ladder line and coax

Question: I am a new ham and I was just given a G5RV Jr. I have about 20 feet of coax plus about 60 feet of 450 ohm ladder line I can feed it with.  Can I extend the G5RV Jr. feed line with the ladder line I have, and then connect it to the coax and still tune it successfully? Would I need the recommended 1:1 balun, or something else?  Thanks.
Answer: That length of 450 ohm ladder line is important. In order to have a reasonable VSWR on the bands that the G5RV was designed for, you should not change it unless you want to cover different bands.
The G5RV and the "Jr.", while good antennas on some bands, was invented before antenna modeling programs (such as EZNEC) were available. After they were, ZS6BKW modeled it and changed a few things.
I have my own improved variation of this antenna design. Much more information about this is here.
Many questions about the G5RV have been asked and answered here.
Answer: A G5RV antenna extended with more ladder line is just a dipole with a ladder-line feed.
You certainly can do that, though to call it a G5RV isn't really accurate. Like Mike Waters explains, the length of the ladder line in the G5RV design is important, as it's part of a stub match.
Even though the result is no longer a G5RV, you may still get a decent antenna since even cheap ladder line has loss comparable to good coax, and thus even a moderately high SWR on the feedline may result in acceptable losses, especially if you either get lucky or fiddle with the dipole length such that the SWR isn't astronomical on any band you intend to use.

G5RV Jr. fed with ladder line and coax


Why does 有机 as in 有机食品 mean organic?

Question: 有 and 机 are some of the first characters we learn in Chinese, but only recently did I find out that they mean "organic" when put together. Can anyone explain why this is?
Comment: And 无机 means "inorganic"
Comment: If you add the meaning of each character separately, the "weirdness" will probably be more evident. :D Just my opinion; nice question, anyway!
Answer: As you may know, "Organic" in your case is originally a chemical term and its noun-"Organ" means "a collection of tissues joined in structural unit to serve a common function" from Wikipedia. Once the chemists incorrectly believed that "organic compound" could only be produced by lifes. I think this is how "organic" comes from "organ". I don't find the exact origin of the word "有机" in Chinese, but I believe it originates as "organic" originates in English, from chemistry.
机 originally means

主发谓之机。—《说文》The thing that controls shoot is called 机. 《说文》is an old dictionary.
trigger on a bow. A structure used to shoot the arrow.

Some other meanings extend from the original one.

critical part(point) in a system
organ.  organ is a critical part in the body
mechanical structure. The critical part that controls the movement of a machine.

In recent times, after Chinese came in touch with sciences from the west, some pioneering scientists translated the terms in sciences. In general, they translated them in a liberal way. I think this is why "有机" means "organic", as you have "organic" from "organ" in English.
Comment: "The thing that controls shoot is called 机. trigger on a bow. A structure used to shoot the arrow." I guess the word you're looking for is "mechanism"
Answer: I have thought about this before, but from the perspective of Japanese.
<code>Q: Why does 有機 mean organic?
A: Because the fertilizer/feed that is used to raise whatever it is
   is made from stuff that works biologically rather than just chemically.
   Soooo, yeah... poop.
</code>
So, let us imagine a timeline of word formation.... *wo0Ooo0o~

機(mechanism)⇒ 機能(mechanism-ability = function) ⇒
生活機能(life-function) ⇒ 有生活機能(having-life-function = organic) ⇒
有機(having-life/organic) ⇒ 有機肥料(organic fertilizer) ⇒
有機栽培(cultivation with organic fertilizer) ⇒ 有機食品(organic foods)

So, 有機食品 is just shorthand for 有生活機能肥料栽培食品.
If that's true... then 機 by itself would mean a machine like a wooden weaving loom and by extension, "mechanism" as in "an assembly of moving parts performing a complete functional motion, often being part of a large machine".
Are you having any of that then?
If so, let me go back a little further in pure speculation...

糸(thread) ⇒ 玆(threads),
人(person) + 戈(spear/pole) ⇒ 戌 + 玆 ⇒ 幾(loom),
幾 + 木 ⇒ 機(machines usually made of wood - mechanism)

Yeah? No? Vapid Layman-Guesswork you say! (well I beat you to it, so sticks and stones...)
ALSO! I found that Waseda University has at least two copies of the oldest surviving book with the word 有機 meaning organic in it. I perused it to see where it's mentioned first in the book and of course it was on like next-to-the-last page. This book(舎密局開講之説)is a translation of lectures given by a Dutch scientist named Koenraad Wolter Gratama made by his assistant-professor Shousuke Misaki(三崎嘯輔)at a place called the 舎密局(Bureau of Chemistry) in Osaka in 1869.
The reason this is hilarious is because the characters 舎密 were chosen by the Japanese founders to approximate the sound of the Dutch word for chemistry, "chemie".
Comment: This should be the correct answer.
Answer: I never gave thought about how "有机" came to mean "organic" before.
I search in a dictionary give the following meaning for "机": 有生命的生物体器官的作用 (The functionality of organs in lifeforms). 《现代汉语词典》 the following meaning: 生活机能 (ability to live). "有机" is formed from this meaning of "机". But the usage of this meaning of "机" is very limited, probably only in "有机" "无机" "机能", so it should be save to remember these words as a whole.
BTW: I don't know how "机" got this meaning.
Comment: 有机 was an imported word from Japanese 有機 (ゆうき).
Answer: There is no need to mention any Chinese literature to explain this.
有机 is directly acquired as a part of 有机化合物 "Organic compound". Since "compound" means "化合物" is certain, people think the first half must means 有机.
As a Chinese I can tell you, this is a very awkward translation because 有机 is a word only used in Chemistry, and never used in daily life. But the fact is the concept is so Western and never existed in Chinese culture that we can accept  this new word 有机食物 just as is.
Answer: Actually, I have asked myself the same question some time ago. I find the explanations that take the word "Mechanism"(机制)into account as a reference to biological systems when trying to explain how 有机 is connected to the meaning of "organic" rather good.
However, when I asked my Chinese teacher about it she told me that it also might have to do with 机 as a sound as it sounds similar to the way we pronounce "C" which is the chemical element of carbon which determines wether a compound is organic or not.

Why does 有机 as in 有机食品 mean organic?


What is the difference between Apollinarianism and Eutychianism?

Question: Both Apollinaris and Eutychius believed in one divine subject Christology that the only and whole person of Christ is a divine person, the Logos. Not a divine-humane person. Their Christology were condemned at Constantinople (381) and Chalcedon (451), respectively. Apollinaris teaches that the Logos supplant the rational faculty of Christ not another man. While Eutychius teaches that the flesh of Christ belongs to the Logos and not another man. So that both teach the Logos, a divine person is the only divine subject. How then one in principle manner differentiate their Christology from one another?
Comment: This is exactly the kind of question this site was designed for. Thank you!!!!
Answer: In general, the Apollinarians said that Christ's humanity is incomplete because He has the human body and human soul, but does not have the human spirit, which is mysteriously replaced by the Logos. The so-called Christ is thus formed with these three: Logos, soul, and body (unlike a normal human being which is made up of the spirit, soul, and body).
According to Eutychians, they denied the distinctness and coexistence of Christ's divinity and humanity, but asserted that the two natures were merged into one, which is neither divine nor human, but a third nature resulting through the merging of divinity and humanity - the divinity being dominant, with the humanity being absorbed by the divinity. Hence the Eutychians were also known as the Monophysites.
Eutyches did not seem to reject the full humanity of Jesus Christ. But, even though he did not repeat the exact heresy of Apollinarius, he did reduce Christ's humanity to a "drop of wine in the ocean of his deity".
Justo González, in "A History of Christian Thought, vol. 1", mentions that:

... Eutyches, a monk in Constantinople who lacked theological subtlety,
  and who held that, while the Savior was "of one substance [homoousios]
  with the Father, he was not "of one substance with us.

According to Eutyches, the humanity of Jesus Christ made no different to the the Logos and was swallowed up in the incarnation union with Him. So, not only Christ did not have a human personality or individual human existence, he did not have a human nature like ours at all.
Basically, a third nature in which neither human nor divine but in which the divine dominates.
So, the difference is Apollinarians states that Christ's humanity is incomplete while Eutychians merges both natures into a third, losing the distinctness and co-existence of both.
Comment: This is a good answer (so +1) but if you could find and add references, that would make this great.
Comment: pehkay, according to Oriental Orthodox Eutyches never said what you quoted above. It was misattributed to him by opponents from later century. St. Cyril teach that incarnation deified the Logos' flesh (eg. theosis) so this is hardly heretical. At Constantinople (448) he confessed that Christ's flesh is from the Theotokos so it's impossible for him to think His humanity different than ours. It's difficult to pin point his exact belief but from the Acts of Synod in 448 St. Flavian condemned him for espousing aphthartodocetism that Christ's body was always incorruptible.
Comment: I won't deny that his exact belief [third nature; if that is what you are referring to] was a derived one. Eutyches
do perceived only one person, the Logos of God, with only one nature, the divine nature that had absorbed the Lord's human nature. J. N. D. Kelly most accurately describes the position of Eutyches in these terms. The notion of a tertium quid, a nature neither wholly divine nor wholly human, and which is frequently attributed to Eutyches, is actually a derived one and not precisely his confession.
Comment: @pehkay your answer didn't address  what differentiate Eutyches from Apollinarius? For Eutyches His humanity is finite and created while His divinity is infinite and uncreated. Following Alexandrian allegory, the analogy of a drop of wine in the ocean signify the Creator and creature distinction. The body of Christ according to St Cyril is deified that's why He can stood among the disciples while the door was close, cf John 20:26. Deification doesn't change human nature, it remains the same yet energized. Like boiled water. His human nature is unique, because He has no original sin like we do.
Comment: Whoa! This post is a quite while back. I don't dispute that deification uplifts the our created restored humanity with the divine nature. And that our humanity is not destroyed in the process. I don't think that is the issue here. Let me summarise my answer.
Answer: The orthodox (Chalcedonian) position is that Jesus is fully God and fully man, maintaining the distinction of the natures but also the unity of the natures. Within the human nature, theologians often recognize three components: a human mind, human body, and human soul.
Apollinarians denied Jesus' full humanity. They affirmed his full divinity, and his human soul and body. But they denied he had a human mind, affirming that Christ's mind was the Logos.
Eutychianism denied the distinction of Jesus' natures. They affirmed his full divinity and full humanity, but believed that the two natures merged into one so that there is no distinction at all. Eutyches was apparently not much of a theologian, so exactly what this meant originally is not entirely clear. But he was clearly influenced by the Christology of Cyril, who stressed the unity of Christ's natures to the point that later followers of his (the Oriental Orthodox of today) deny that Christ's natures remain distinct.
For example, we may say that the person of Christ suffered on the cross. But since suffering is something enabled by human nature and God cannot suffer, we may also say that Christ suffered according to his human nature (and not according to his divine nature). That would be Chalcedonian. The Oriental Orthodox reject that distinction. They would say, whatever happened to the person of Christ happened because of his one nature.
Eutyches may not have thought his Christology through, but those who reject the council that condemned his Christology certainly have. There is debate about whether the "miaphysitism" of the Oriental Orthodox can properly be identified with the monophysitism of Eutyches, but it seems the Council of Chalcedon had the same effect on both: putting them out of the church.
Summary: Apollinarians denied Jesus' human mind. Eutychians denied that Jesus' humanity and divinity were separate.
See:

Apollinarianism: Catholic Encyclopedia; Wikipedia
Eutychianism: Catholic Encyclopedia; Eutychianism
Charts of Christian Theology and Doctrine, charts 27 and 28 (pp. 54-55)
Comment: @AdithiaKusno Thanks, makes sense. That should help me revise my answer. Hopefully I'll be able to do so in the next couple days.
Comment: Mr. Bultitude, Apollinaris didn't deny Jesus' full humanity. William Lane Craig explained that for Apollinaris the Logos is the archetype of our humanity. So the Logos can act humanely without having another man's rational faculty. Sadly Bill Craig openly siding with Apollinarius because of this. But nevertheless I think he is right that Apollinaris didn't deny Jesus' full humanity, he just considered the Logos to be the archetype of our humanity.
Comment: Eutyches is wrong on aphthartodocetism but at least on the unity of nature he is consistent with St. Cyril that after union there is no longer two natures but one nature without mixture. The distinction is only in contemplation.

It's true that Christ suffered humanely, but because He is the Logos it's correct to say that God dies on the Cross humanely. A human nature can't die but a divine person can die humanely because He has a human nature, cf. Paul Gavrilyuk, The Suffering of the Impassible God, Oxford monograph.
Comment: @AdithiaKusno I'm not sure when I'll be able to revise this. My readings on what Apollinaris meant by "archetype" of humanity seem pretty inconsistent. Hopefully I'll be able to dig into primary sources at some point.
Comment: @MrBultitude, I believe there is a connection why at Second Constantinople (553) Origen's eternal humanity of Christ is condemned. Because the Logos didn't have a humanity prior to his incarnation. Therefore, He is not the archetype of humanity but instead He partake humanity from the Theotokos not the other way around as proposed by Apollinaris.
Comment: @MrBultitude have you revise your answer?
Comment: @AdithiaKusno I think I'll leave it as-is. If you believe that the Catholic Encyclopedia is mistaken in its reading of the canon of Constantinople that condemned the Apollinarian heresy, then I think it's on you to provide an alternative in a separate answer. Same goes if you think I've misread the canon.


How can we receive a global ipv6 subnet?

Question: is it possible to obtain a routed IPv6 subnet? We do not have any nearby IPv6 brokers, nor do our local ISPs support it, but we'd like to build an IPv6 network anyways.
Perhaps there's a way to become an IPv6 broker or to register as an ISP?
Answer: You can either register as a LIR (ISP), or you can apply for a PI (provider independent) assignment of IPv6 space.
The RIPE (European) policy is here, but the principal technical requirement is that you demonstrate that it is multihomed, ie that you have more than one independent route to the internet.  You can get a /48 this way (you can apply for more, but "Organisations requesting a larger assignment (shorter prefix) must provide documentation justifying the need for additional subnets").
If you apply direct to RIPE, you're a Direct Assignment user; you pay €2000 to create the account and an annual maintenance fee of €1300.  You'll need to have an AS number already
Alternatively, you can apply for PI sponsored by a LIR.  The LIR pays €50 pa to RIPE for the independent resource assignment (on top of their membership).  They can charge you whatever they like, but the Direct Assignment prices put a cap on the pricing.
You can also get routeable PA (provider assigned) space, which is an allocation from a LIR.  If you get a big enough block (/48 or bigger), that can be routeable (ie appear in BGP) as well.
Regardless, if you want real routeable IPv6, then you need at least two independent routes to the internet (multihomed), which means two permanent lines to two different ISPs, or one such and a tunnel-over-IPv4 for the other.  You will also need to run your own router that will talk BGP to both your upstreams and determine routes for all your outbound traffic.
We have a /24 IPv4 PI allocation and are in the process of getting a /48 PI IPv6 allocation, both sponsored by our ISPs (in their capacity as LIRs).  We have two physical lines to two different ISPs, and routers running BGP talking to the ISPs.  There's several thousand £ of infrastructure there.  But we can change ISP remarkably quickly without renumbering anything, and all our traffic fails over between our ISPs.
Update: ARIN policy also makes an initial allocation of a /48 and charges $1250 for an initial allocation and $100 pa for maintenance - that's in addition to the $500 for an AS number and $100 pa maintenance for an unlimited number of ASNs.
APNIC policy is also for a /48, and charges AUD 4,175 for initial allocation / account setup and AUD 675 pa for renewal.
You can look up LACNIC or AfriNIC yourself if they apply to you, I'm afraid I don't have time (but will bring comments up into the answer with credit).
Answer: You can obtain a tunnel through any of the brokers - Hurricane Electric has a list of geographically diverse endpoints.  Performance is better if you're close to an endpoint, however it isn't absolutely necessary to be near your endpoint.
Alternatively you can become an ISP -- you will need to apply for address space from a local registrar (and you'll need at least a few v4 addresses too - so this is expensive).  You will then need to make transit arrangements with someone to carry your IPv6 traffic (this is VERY expensive), and get connectivity run to your location (this is HIDEOUSLY expensive).
(Nickel's worth of free advice: Stick with a tunnel broker.)
Answer: I might be reading too much into your question, but you said you wanted a routed IPv6 subnet.  The only way your are going to get a route-able subnet without your ISP being involved is through a broker.  Period.
If you don't need a routed address you can get a unique-local-address.  This is the IPv6 equivalent of the 10.x.x.x address space.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unique_Local_Address
Or, if you have a large global network you can get a global address space.  Big organizations like Google or IBM get these because their operations literally span the globe.  But honestly if you were a global operation you would have IPv6 connectivity available to you.
As voretaq7 said ... "Stick with a tunnel broker."
Comment: For reference you don't get the address space because of physical size. You get it to be multihomed, or because you need more than an ISP(LIR) can handout
Comment: We don't use a broker... you can just login to ripe and apply for one...


Reference from previous Job

Question: Generally potential employees are asked to give references from their previous job.  If the last job didn't end on a good note, is it acceptable to say no to providing references? If not, what is the best thing to do in this case?
Answer: There are two kinds of references - personal references and those of former supervisors. When you create a personal reference list, you should be looking for the people who are most likely to say something good about you. You have much less choice about listing former supervisors and their contact information. If the former supervisor has moved on, you can list the name and point out that you have lost contact with this person over time and do not know how to contact them. If he still works at the company, this will be revealed as a lie, so don't try it then. Being caught in a lie is the single worst thing you can do in looking for a new position.
If you have a former supervisor who will have something negative to say, first be aware that many companies do not let their supervisors give out more than dates of work at the particular place. If you were fired for cause, then they may say that as well, but they may not. If you want to find out what the person would say, then have someone you know call and pretend to be the HR person of a company who is checking your references. At least then you will know how serious the problem could be.
If you were fired and you know the person will give a poor reference, then the best strategy is to address that up front. Explain why you were fired, what you learned from it and why you don't think this will be a problem in a future job. It is most effective though if you have other strong references (from other supervisors not just co-workers) that you can point to.
This kind of thing can follow you around for a long time, so be very careful of how you leave a company in the future.
In the software industry, you have the opportunity to spend time working as a freelancere and then have client references that you can point to instead. This can get you past the time when the old poor reference would be most damaging.
Comment: Thanks, it gave me ideas on how to communicate about references.
Comment: "If the former supervisor has moved on, you can list the name and point out that you have lost contact with this person over time and do not know how to contact them." - Will this make you look bad if they are easy to find, say have a profile on LinkedIn?
Answer: Unless you burned your bridges with a flamethrower, there is usually SOMEONE at an old job who would say something nice about you. It will be a bit of a red flag if the person you offer up is only vaguely related to your job function and/or isn't a supervisor, but a weak reference is usually better than none at all.
Answer: In many places, a reference doesn't necessarily have to be from your last job, it could be from a previous job.
If you are still employed, you can even use the justification that you don't want to warn your current employer that you are looking for another job.
If not, you can still claim that a previous employer could provide a more objective assessment, especially if you are in the middle of claim for unfair dismissal.
Finally, in litigious locations, employers are often reticent to provide references which include anything other than verifiable fact. In many cases they will refuse to confirm anything other than the dates you worked there, since even saying how many sick days you took could be considered disclosure of private information and open them up to the risk of a libel case.
Answer: You can be honest about why you'd rather not provide references. If you DO say, up front, why you're not providing them, at least that avoids them "filling in the blank" on their own. Many company's policies are that personal references are not allowed, do there's always the "give them the number to HR" reference, but that's not really a character reference at all, which is what most people are looking for.
It's a tradeoff any way you look at it. One bad experience isn't going to kill your career or resume. It might be a bump in the road, but just keep moving, and make sure to learn from your past experience (i.e. make an active effort to make sure your next reference is a good one). Often times when a previous job's reference would be a bad reference, for example if I'd been fired from my previous position, there were probably opportunities that I passed up to have had an open conversation with my supervisor that would have led me to leave on my own before things went bad, and therefore resulting in a reference that would have been at least fair and level headed, rather than poor because I waited to be fired before leaving.
Answer: To the interviewer the fact that you don't provide references from the last job could be a Big Red Flag.  The thought process when someone refuses to give references from their last position means that there was a conflict between this employee and the rest of the team that noone will give him or her the reference.  This also means that this potential employee will have the same conflict in the new job so it might be better to simply pass on this candidate.

Reference from previous Job