Logo appears too small on website

Question: I used Photoshop but have started to recreate same logo in Illustrator because that's what I'm use to but for some reason I ended up using PS and against my better judgement it's now finished in PS. It's being saved "for the web", GIF file. I've increased the pixel size double of the original and it's only made it slight bigger. What am I doing wrong? The website is not mine but I made the logo for the company. It's my first logo being used in a website and they are the one placing and editing the website so I don't know if it's something I'm doing or they're doing wrong. Need some advice!
Answer: All image sizes on web pages are controlled by the HTML/CSS. You can write markup to change the size of any image easily. Essentially, the image doesn't change. It is scaled to meet whatever dimensions the HTML/CSS tell it to be.
You need to ask those in charge of the web site as to why the image is being resized. It may be to match the existing design.
Answer: Thank you for your answers and you're 100% correct, after reading this and going back to my contact and questioning them it was indeed the CSS used, in creating the website they did not correspond with the web designer on size needed for the placement of logo. This helped me know it wasn't something I did wrong.
Answer: If you've saved the image correctly for web in a resolution you've had in mind (e.g. 400x100 px) and it appears quite a bit smaller on the webpage itself then there is a very big chance that the logo location has been marked up with CSS.
CSS can give a max-width to your image which scales it down.
You're stating that this isn't your website, so I'd advise to get in touch with the creator of the website if it's not showing well.
What you can do to 100% make sure it's not your image messing up, is to place the image anywhere else on the page to see if it's still smaller than you intended. If that's the case you might have to re-export the image.
Normally a CSS adjustment like this isn't a very big one.
Good luck! :)

Logo appears too small on website


Accepting Queen's Gambit

Question: Why is it considered a disadvantage to accept Queen's Gambit? How should I play to take advantage of an accepted Queen's Gambit?
(All online guides I've seen simply state not to do it, but don't explain why it's bad or how to take advantage of it.)
Answer: White has a slight advantage in the Accepted line, but it will depend what level you play at.  Even at the higher levels both Anand and Kasparov have played it.
You give up the center in the QGA as black, but white has an isolated Queen's pawn to deal with.  There are too many alternatives for the QGA to go over them all here.
In general, white is taking the center, and hopes that his advantage will compensate for the pawn.  A very logical move then is 3. e4, grabbing the center with a pawn duo, though 3. Nf3 has been more popular.
If Black tries to hard to keep the pawn, he'll only hurt himself.
Comment: On 3.e4, black can counter-gambit to good effect with 3...e5
Answer: The reason it's discouraged for lower-rated players is that black gives up a center pawn and allows white to develop his bishop with a gain of tempo - two things we are trying to teach the players not to do.
However, in higher levels it's considered ok, since the half-open d-file gives black control of d5, and in many lines white's d-pawn becomes isolated.
Of course, in the end, at lower-level play the opening doesn't really matter.
Answer: I'm not sure it is a disadvantage. Here's a quote on the QGA entry on Wikipedia:

At the end of the 1990s, a number of players among the world elite included the Queen's Gambit Accepted in their repertoires, and the line is presently considered sound.

It has gone in and out of favor over time, but apparently it's in vogue now. Maybe it's discouraged for beginning players?
Answer: Generally, the Queen's gambit it's not considered a true gambit, because white comes out ahead with an accepted queen's gambit. White is offering a wing pawn in exchange for a center pawn.
Theoretical disadvantage of an accepted Queen's Gambit:

d4 d5
c4 dxc4
Qa4+ c6 (or Qd7, or Bd7, or Nd7)
Qxc4

Now white has a commanding control of the center of the field, and is not down any pieces. (though the queen is out and exposed very early)
At least that's how it was explained to me 20+ years ago.
Not that this is the way it's usually played, but white players consider that other things they can do with an accepted queen's gambit are better than this.
Answer: Accepting the queen's gambit pawn is considered disadvantageous under the old, German school of thought. In fact, Tarrasch would play, 1. d4 d5  2. c4  e6 3. Nf3 c5 as BLACK, offering a QB pawn to white.
The newer, "Russian" school of thought is that captures c4 is a fighting move that puts a thorn in White's side. Sometimes the pawn can be held if White emphasizes the king side (e.g.) 3: e4 e5; at other times, recapturing the pawn takes White out of his way and dulls the attack.

Accepting Queen's Gambit


How come $f^{-1}(Q \cap R)$ = $f^{-1}(Q) \cap f^{-1}(R)$ is true?

Question: $f(S\cap T) \neq f(S) \cap f(T)$
but
$f^{-1}(Q \cap R)=f^{-1}(Q) \cap f^{-1}(R)$
Can you explain it in simple terms, so I understand why and develop the intuition to see if a statement is true or false just by looking at it?
Comment: Please don't get the idea that anybody can tell whether a formula or a statement is true or false just by looking at it. If you've *proved* it, then you may well see afterwards that the proof was easy; if, as in the case that $f(S\cap T)\ne f(S)\cap f(T)$, you've found an easy counterexample, then all will be clear after the fact. But *never* before the fact.
Comment: Formal proof for the second one is given [here](http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/228711/what-are-the-strategies-i-can-use-to-prove-f-1s-cap-t-f-1s-cap-f). Some counterexamples to the first one are given [here](http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/170725/do-we-have-always-fa-cap-b-fa-cap-fb).
Answer: Suppose $x\in f^{-1}(Q\cap R)$. Then $f(x)\in Q\cap R$, and in particular, $f(x)\in Q$ and $f(x)\in R$. Thus $x\in f^{-1}(Q)$ and $x\in f^{-1}(R)$, and we have $x\in f^{-1}(Q)\cap f^{-1}(R)$. This gives us that $f^{-1}(Q\cap R)\subset f^{-1}(Q)\cap f^{-1}(R)$.
On the other hand, suppose $x\in f^{-1}(Q)\cap f^{-1}(R)$. Then $x\in f^{-1}(Q)$ and $x\in f^{-1}(R)$, so $f(x)\in Q$ and $f(x)\in R$, hence $f(x)\in Q\cap R$. This tells us $x\in f^{-1}(Q\cap R)$, therefore $f^{-1}(Q)\cap f^{-1}(R)\subset f^{-1}(Q\cap R)$.
With these two arguments, we have $f^{-1}(Q)\cap f^{-1}(R)= f^{-1}(Q\cap R)$.
Answer: The main difference between the two statements is the following:
Given some $x$ in the $f^{-1}$(something) there exists only ONE $y$ so that $f(x)=y$. This is used in the proof of the other inclusion for the equality....
BUT, given some $y$ in $f($something), there could exists different $x$ such that $f(x)=y$. It is actually easy to see that for a fixed $f$, one can find $S,T$ so that $F(S \cap T) \neq f(S) \cap f(T)$ if and only if this happens (i.e. if $f$ is not one-to-one).
Answer: Here is another way of looking at it, based ultimately on ideas from category theory (adjunctions).
Suppose we have a function $f: X \to Y$. The basic connection between direct image $f(-): P(X) \to P(Y)$ between power sets and inverse image $f^{-1}(-): P(Y) \to P(X)$ is that for $A \in P(X)$, $B \in P(Y)$, we have
$$f(A) \subseteq B\;\;\; \text{iff}\;\;\; A \subseteq f^{-1}(B).$$
If $\{B_i\}_{i \in I}$ is a family of subsets of $Y$, we have
$$A \subseteq f^{-1}(\bigcap_{i \in I} B_i) \;\; \text{iff} \;\; f(A) \subseteq \bigcap_{i \in I} B_i \;\; \text{iff}\;\; \forall_{i \in I} f(A) \subseteq B_i \;\; \text{iff} \;\; \forall_{i \in I} A \subseteq f^{-1}(B_i) \;\; \text{iff}\;\; A \subseteq \bigcap_{i \in I} f^{-1}(B_i).$$
Putting $A = f^{-1}(\bigcap_{i \in I} B_i)$ and reasoning forward, we get $f^{-1}(\bigcap_{i \in I} B_i) \subseteq \bigcap_{i \in I} f^{-1}(B_i)$. Putting $A = \bigcap_{i \in I} f^{-1}(B_i)$ and reasoning backward, we get $\bigcap_{i \in I} f^{-1}(B_i) \subseteq f^{-1}(\bigcap_{i \in I} B_i)$. From both containments, we get equality.
The nice thing about this style of proof is its portability and generality: it extends far beyond the specific set-theoretic context considered here.
Answer: Visualization is by far the most powerful technique for honing mathematical understanding. Lets take advantage of this.
Start by getting out some paper, and a pen. Put 12 points on the left and 5 on the right, representing two sets $X$ and $Y$.
Now draw an arbitrary function. Okay, not quite arbitrary. Make sure that no lines are crossing - this will make it easier to visualize. Also make sure that every point on the right corresponds to at least one point on the left. Again, easier to visualize.
Now stare at your piece of paper a little bit. Observe that

Every $f^{-1}(y)$ is non-empty.
If $y$ and $y'$ are distinct, we have that $f^{-1}(y)$ and $f^{-1}(y)$ are disjoint.

So the preimages of the elements of $Y$ partition $X$. And each block $B \subseteq X$ on the left has a very sensible "name" or label, namely the unique $y$ on the right such that $f^{-1}(y) = B$. So in some sense, the blocks on the left and the elements on the right are "the same." They're in bijective correspondence.
Now whip out a pencil. Draw two subcircles $P$ and $Q$ on the right, compute their intersection. That's three sets of interest, namely $P,Q$ and $P \cap Q$. Now compute the preimage of $f^{-1}(P).$ Notice in particular that $f^{-1}(P)$ is the disjoint union of all the $f^{-1}(p)$ such that $p \in P.$ Its a disjoint union of blocks, just like $P$ is a disjoint union of singletons $\{p\}$ with $p \in P$.
Compute also $f^{-1}(Q)$ and $f^{-1}(P \cap Q)$. Does the intersection of $f^{-1}(P)$ and $f^{-1}(Q)$ precisely equal $f^{-1}(P \cap Q)?$ It sure does. Why are they equal? Because the elements of $Y$ behave just like the blocks of $X$.
Okay, now whip out an eraser, get rid of the pencil subsets, and draw some new ones. Wash, rinse and repeat. Pretty quickly, its going to be making a lot of sense.
Now get your pen back out, and add some redundant points on the right such that $f^{-1}(y)$ is empty. Then do another computation (in pencil!) to convince yourself that essentially nothing has changed.
The next step is, practice visualizing it in your mind. The trick is, don't get bogged down in the details. Does some particular $f^{-1}(y)$ have three elements, or five elements? WHO CARES! The important thing to be able to see in your mind that the points on the right in the range (image) of the function correspond in a bijective fashion to the blocks on the left. Once again, let me reiterate that its okay to imagine the function as consisting of non-overlapping line segments. Essentially no generality is lost.
Pretty soon (it may take anywhere between 10 minutes of intense thought and 5 weeks of ongoing practice), its all going to seem pretty obvious. Once it seems obvious, try to prove the statement yourself, based on introspection. Keep asking youself: "Why is it so obvious to me that it must be true?" and this will guide you to writing a proof that is maximally insightful for you.


About the logarithm of the negative unit

Question: $${e}^{iz} = \cos(z)+i\sin(z)$$
and
$$e^{i\pi}=-1$$
But then
$$\ln(-1)$$
can be infinite many numbers (positive and negative), as $z$ is the natural logarithm of that number and the solution to the initial equation. My doubt: Is
$$\ln(-1) = \pm (2k-1)i\pi$$
where $k$ is an integer, true? Is correct saying $\ln(-1)$ is, for example, equal to $-3i\pi$?
Answer: The logarithm can just be chosen branchwise. That means that you have to fix one $k$. Of course it will not extend to a continuous function on $\mathbb{C} -0$ exactly because running around $0$ one time adds an imaginary angle.
In particular the complex $e^{z}$ has no inverse, for all $z \in \mathbb{C}-0$.
Answer: The logarithm is what is known as a "multivalued function" in complex analysis.  That is, $\log(z)$ is not just one complex number, it is the set of all $w$ such that $e^w = z$.  If $w_0$ is one of these, then these are $w_0 + 2 \pi i n$ for all integers $n$.  For many purposes we would like to single out one particular choice: a "branch" of the logarithm function.  A popular choice (the "principal branch", often denoted as $\text{Log} (z)$), is given by $\text{Log}(r e^{i\theta}) = \ln(r) + i \theta$ for $r > 0$ and $-\pi < \theta \le \pi$.  So $\text{Log}(-1) = i \pi$, but all other odd integer multiples of $i \pi$ are also values of $\log(-1)$.


How to find shutter count in my Canon 1100D?

Question: I have Canon 1100D camera used for some time. Can anyone please tell me how do I check shutter count? I tried googling it. Installed some softwares but none gives the shutter count.
Answer: Shutter Count from Dire Studio works for me on all of my post-Digic II Canon EOS cameras. Your Canon EOS 1100D is listed as compatible.
Canon cameras released since the end of 2014 do not allow shutter count functionality from the remote control interface and are not compatible with Shutter Count.
Update
Dire Studios has released ShutterCount version 3 (currently for Mac or iOS only) that can now read the shutter counts for the cameras excluded above, as well as some other more recent models. From the updated FAQ page as of July 2, 2017:

Q13 - The shutter count is not displayed for new cameras (5D IV, 5DS/R, 1D X II, etc.)
Update to ShutterCount 3.0 or later on your Mac or iOS device. The Windows version will support these cameras later on.

Dire Studios also now offers an add-on Live View Pack to their Shutter Count app that allows one to see Live View stills and Live View movie actuations of the shutters in selected cameras.
For a list of all supported cameras, please see the Compatibility List at the ShutterCount Tech Specs page.
Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Dire Studios is interested in ever updating the Windows version again, due to the high cost of Microsoft licensing. They once had a statement to this effect included in one of the FAQs, but it seems to no longer be there at their site.
As of 22 February, 2018 there has still been no update to the Windows version of Shutter Count. In fact, the older version compatible with Windows is no longer offered for sale by Dire Studios.
Comment: @flolilolilo At the time that was written, that was the case. As has been updated in several other similar answers here, at a later time they managed to find a way to work around the new limitations Canon put in place. Even so, they seem to be using another method than the Remote Control interface for cameras introduced since the 7D Mark II.
Answer: As far as I know, the most reliable way to find out the amount of shutter actuations for the Canon EOS 1100D (also known in Americas as Canon EOS Rebel T3 and in Japan as Canon EOS Kiss X50) is through the installation of the firmware hack called Magic Lantern.
In my blog post How to Check Shutter Count on Canon EOS 1100D (Rebel T3) I described the whole procedure in 7 simple steps and there is also an embedded video that walks you through the process. I must warn you that it can potentially damage your camera if something goes terribly wrong, but from my long experience with the Magic Lantern hack on different cameras, I haven't ever experienced any problems.
To my knowledge, it is the only available way to read the shutter count of both standard and the live view modes.
Answer: On a Linux distribution, MacOS X, FreeBSD or NetBSD, you can connect your camera via USB cable to your computer and use gPhoto command-line interface as follows:
<code>gphoto2 --get-config shuttercounter
</code>
For example, here's what I get on Linux (additionally showing camera model to illustrate that it works for 1100D):
<code>$ gphoto2 --get-config cameramodel --get-config shuttercounter
Label: Camera Model
Type: TEXT
Current: Canon EOS 1100D
Label: Shutter Counter
Type: TEXT
Current: 13613
</code>
I've actually checked that once I make a shot after this, then turn off the camera and back on, then check again, the counter does increment. So this does appear to be the correct counter.
If you're on Windows, you can try running e.g. an Ubuntu Live ISO image in a virtual machine, passing the USB camera device to the guest OS and doing the above.
Answer: Canon EOS Digital Info.
This simple to used, FREE, Open Source app worked for me (Canon 6D Mark I), and lists the 1100D in the example screenshots. It is Windows only.
Answer: Have you tried www.camerashuttercount.com?  Just upload an image...
Comment: This site does not work for the Canon 1100D - it's not among the list of models tested.


Install and share Canon Lide 110 on the network

Question: I'd like to setup my Canon Lide 110 and share it on the network so it's visible on the network and is available as a scanner. We have some Mac's on the network so ideally the scanner should be visible to these machines as well.
Comment: please can you clarify - which sharing scanner sharing options have you tried in this community wiki? https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ScanningHowTo
Answer: I don't have a tested clean answer to collect your bounty but the following bread crumbs might help you get where you want be. Your fist problem will be to get this scanner to work with Ubuntu. Some past LiDE scanners weren't sane compatible and won't work. Follow these instructions for the 210 and I believe your LiDE 110 will with Ubuntu, at least comments in the thread indicate so http://www.bottomlesspit.org/2010/12/23/canon-lide-210-scanner-support-on-ubuntu-1010-maverick. As to sharing your scanner between Ubuntu and Mac the following forum post may be get you started http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1007177.
Answer: I suspect your LiDE 110 will work without issue on Ubuntu, as SANE says it is supported.
Instructions on sharing the scanner are here.
Instructions and packages for accessing it via the Mac are here.
An overview of the process is here.


How do I ignore a directory with SVN?

Question: I just started using SVN, and I have a cache directory that I don't need under source control. How can I ignore the whole directory/folder with SVN?
I am using Versions and TextMate on OS X and commandline.
Comment: Similar question answered here [SVN checkout ignore folder][1]

  [1]: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/192824/svn-checkout-ignore-folder
Comment: Possible duplicate of [How do I ignore files in Subversion?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/86049/how-do-i-ignore-files-in-subversion)  (I don't care too much which way the duplicate goes; neither set of answers is obviously better than the other.)
Answer: Set the svn:ignore property of the parent directory:
svn propset svn:ignore dirname .

If you have multiple things to ignore, separate by newlines in the property value.  In that case it's easier to edit the property value using an external editor:
svn propedit svn:ignore .

Comment: Note: This won't work if the directory is already "in" svn.   `svn rm --keep-local dirname` first.  (My svn stat output was huge and I bumped my head into this for a while.)
Comment: If you want to ignore more than one file/folder, add all of their names to a txt file, one line each, and use the following variant: `svn propset svn:ignore -F file.txt .`
Comment: Make sure to check if there is already ignored paths with `svn propget svn:ignore` or `svn propset svn:ignore dirname .` will overwrite the currently ignored paths. Best to use `svn propedit svn:ignore .`. If you already overwritten the svn:ignore use `svn proplist -v |` to get the current values for your specific path then revert that by copy/paste into  `svn propedit svn:ignore .`.
Comment: Thanks for the answer. Pico as an editor: svn propedit svn:ignore . --editor-cmd pico
Comment: @Kouber: Your problem is that the shell expansion does not know about svn:ignore properties. So using '*' as parameter explicityl passes tmp to the commit command. Try something like 'svn commit -m "More accents" .'
Comment: Be careful that you set `svn:ignore` and not `svn::ignore` like I did. You can set arbitrary properties, so the latter one will be set OK, and you can see and edit the property, but it won't make SVN ignore the files you list.
Comment: The property was set, but it will still be listed when you do `svn st`. Is there a way to remove it from the state list?
Comment: @TomBrito You have to commit the property to svn still, that's why you're seeing it in svn status.
Comment: If anyone get `None of the environment variables SVN_EDITOR, VISUAL or EDITOR are set, and no 'editor-cmd' run-time configuration option was found` when using `svn propedit svn:ignore .`, input `export SVN_EDITOR=vim` then try again.
Comment: It doesn't work as expected.

tipi:/var/www/tipi# svn commit -m "More accents" *
svn: '/var/www/tipi/tmp' is not a working copy
svn: Can't open file '/var/www/tipi/tmp/.svn/entries': No such file or directory

tipi:/var/www/tipi# svn propset svn:ignore tmp .
property 'svn:ignore' set on '.'
tipi:/var/www/tipi# svn commit -m "More accents" *
svn: '/var/www/tipi/tmp' is not a working copy
svn: Can't open file '/var/www/tipi/tmp/.svn/entries': No such file or directory
Comment: @ErikAronesty, rm --keep-local is fine in many cases, but not if it's a folder that shouldn't be deleted from other checkouts of your repo. For a solution to this, see http://stackoverflow.com/a/6882073/560114
Comment: on WANdisco's SVN client, the syntax is `svn propset svn ignore dirname`, so without the `:` here.
Comment: On mac osx this may prompt an error. "The document "svn-prop.tmp" could not be opened. The file doesn't exist." For a solutions see http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7384717/svn-ignore-problem-in-os-x-lion
Comment: Is it possible to set this globally?
Comment: only version 1.8 (svn-to-ignore-files-and-directories)[http://superchlorine.com/2013/08/getting-svn-to-ignore-files-and-directories/]
Answer: Here's an example directory structure:
\project
    \source
    \cache
    \other

When in project you see that your cache directory is not added and shows up as such.
> svn status
M  source
?  cache

To set the ignore property, do

svn propset svn:ignore cache .

where svn:ignore is the name of the property you're setting, cache is the value of the property, and . is the directory you're setting this property on. It should be the parent directory of the cache directory that needs the property.
To check what properties are set:
> svn proplist
Properties on '.':
  svn:ignore

To see the value of svn:ignore:
> svn propget svn:ignore
cache

To delete properties previously set:
svn propdel svn:ignore

Comment: One tricky point here that I stumbled over. Make sure you do _not_ add a trailing slash to `dirname`. For example, when typing `svn propset svn:ignore dirname`, if you allow the (bash) shell to fill in the dirname for you, it will add that trailing slash, leaving you with the command `svn propset svn:ignore dirname/`, which doesn't result in the folder being ignored. At least, that was my experience.
Comment: The 'cache' dir still will be listed in 'svn st'. Is there a way to remove it from the view? (without delete from the disk)
Answer: Important to mention:
On the commandline you can't use
svn add *

This will also add the ignored files, because the command line expands * and therefore svn add believes that you want all files to be added. Therefore use this instead:
svn add --force .

Comment: do exactly as @binco said: `svn add --force *` WON'T work. Use the dot, not the star.
Answer: Since I spent a while trying to get this to work, it should be noted that if the files already exist in SVN, you need to svn delete them, and then edit the svn:ignore property.
I know that seems obvious, but they kept showing up as ? in my svn status list, when I thought it would just ignore them locally.
Comment: Don't forget to use the --keep-local option when deleting the files if you just want to ignore them and not actually delete them.
Answer: To expand slightly, if you're doing this with the svn command-line tool, you want to type:
svn propedit svn:ignore path/to/dir

which will open your text-editor of choice, then type '*' to ignore everything inside it, and save+quit - this will include the directory itself in svn, but ignore all the files inside it, to ignore the directory, use the path of the parent, and then type the name of the directory in the file. After saving, run an update ('svn up'), and then check in the appropriate path.
Comment: Very good point, thank you. All other answers missed case of nested directories. So the above example (working) you then type in editor ignored_directory (which is by assumption one level below path/to/dir). This won't work though:
svn propedit svn:ignore .
and then typing path/to/dir/ignored_directory in editor.

IOW: SVN matches objects one level down at a time.
Answer: Set the svn:ignore property on the parent directory:
$ cd parentdir
$ svn ps svn:ignore . 'cachedir'

This will overwrite any current value of svn:ignore. You an edit the value with:
$ svn pe svn:ignore .

Which will open your editor. You can add multiple patterns, one per line.
You can view the current value with:
$ svn pg svn:ignore .

If you are using a GUI there should be a menu option to do this.
Comment: `svn ps svn:ignore . 'cachedir'` results in
`cachedir is not under version control`.

changing to `svn ps svn:ignore  'cachedir' .` worked for me
Answer: Thanks for all the contributions above. I would just like to share some additional information from my experiences while ignoring files.

When the folders are already under revision control
After svn import and svn co the files, what we usually do for the first time.
All runtime cache, attachments folders will be under version control.
so, before svn ps svn:ignore, we need to delete it from the repository.
With SVN version 1.5 above we can use svn del --keep-local your_folder,
but for an earlier version, my solution is:

svn export a clean copy of your folders (without .svn hidden folder)
svn del the local and repository,
svn ci
Copy back the folders
Do svn st and confirm the folders are flagged as '?'
Now we can do svn ps according to the solutions

When we need more than one folder to be ignored

In one directory I have two folders that need to be set as svn:ignore
If we set one, the other will be removed.
Then we wonder we need svn pe

svn pe will need to edit the text file, and you can use this command if required to set your text editor using vi:
export SVN_EDITOR=vi

With "o" you can open a new line
Type in all the folder names you want to ignore
Hit 'esc' key to escape from edit mode
Type ":wq" then hit Enter to save and quit

The file looks something simply like this:
runtime
cache
attachments
assets

Comment: you can also use `svn propset svn:ignore -F .ignorethesefiles .`, which will use the contents of the file.  I like keeping it around so you know what is ignored.  Edits require followup propset.
Answer: Remove it first...
If your directory foo is already under version control, remove it first with:
svn rm --keep-local foo

...then ignore:
svn propset svn:ignore foo .

Answer: If you are using the particular SVN client TortoiseSVN, then on commit, you have the option of right clicking items and selecting "Add to ignore list".
Answer: ...and if you want to ignore more than one directory (say build/ temp/ and *.tmp files), you could either do it in two steps (ignoring the first and edit ignore properties (see other answers here) or one could write something like
svn propset svn:ignore "build
temp
*.tmp" .

on the command line.
Answer: The command to ignore multiple entries is a little tricky and requires backslashes.
svn propset svn:ignore "cache\
tmp\
null\
and_so_on" .

This command will ignore anything named cache, tmp, null, and and_so_on in the current directory.
Comment: And just to clarify: The backslash here is not a feature of svn; it's simply a way to enter a multi-line string on the shell. You can also use an editor and just write multiple lines.
Comment: `svn propset svn:ignore -F .ignorethesefiles .` will allow you to use a file.  And as mentioned, you always have propedit.
Comment: Backslash is not required for bash.  bash is smart enough to know that a " is open and not to process the line.  All you need to do is press enter after cache, tmp, and null.  You will see that bash changes the prompt to a > so that you know you are still entering the command.  An alternative is to start typing the command (svn), then press esc then v.  That will allow you to enter the command in the editor.  press ZZ when done to execute the command.  if you change your mind and do not want to execute, then :q!.
Answer: Bash oneliner for multiple ignores:
svn propset svn:ignore ".project"$'\n'".settings"$'\n'".buildpath" "yourpath"

Comment: Since `$'somestring'` indicates a string literal with escape sequences, you can just write this shorter and easier as `svn propset svn:ignore $'.project\n.settings\n.buildpath' "yourpath"`
Answer: I had problems getting nested directories to be ignored; the top directory I wanted to ignore wouldn't show with 'svn status' but all the subdirs did. This is probably self-evident to everyone else, but I thought I'd share it:
EXAMPLE:

/trunk
/trunk/cache
/trunk/cache/subdir1
/trunk/cache/subdir2

cd /trunk
svn ps svn:ignore . /cache
cd /trunk/cache
svn ps svn:ignore . *
svn ci

Answer: If your project directory is named /Project, and your cache directory is named /Project/Cache, then you need to set a subversion property on /Project. The property name should be "svn:ignore" and the property value should be "Cache".
Refer to this page in the Subversion manual for more on properties.
Answer: Jason's answer will do the trick.  However, instead of setting svn:ignore to "." on the cache directory, you may want to include "cache" in the parent directory's svn:ignore property, in case the cache directory is not always present.  I do this on a number of "throwaway" folders.
Answer: "Thank-you" svn for such a hideous, bogus and difficult way to ignore files.
So I wrote a script svn-ignore-all:
#!/bin/sh

# svn-ignore-all

# usage:
#   1. run svn status to see what is going on at each step
#   2. add or commit all files that you DO want to have in svn
#   3. remove any random files that you don't want to svn:ignore
#   4. run this script to svn:ignore everything marked '?' in output of `svn status`

svn status |
grep '^?' |
sed 's/^? *//' |
while read f; do
    d=`dirname "$f"`
    b=`basename "$f"`
    ignore=`svn propget svn:ignore "$d"`
    if [ -n "$ignore" ]; then
        ignore="$ignore
"
    fi
    ignore="$ignore$b"
    svn propset svn:ignore "$ignore" "$d"
done

Also, to ignore specific list of files / pathnames, we can use this variant svn-ignore.  I guess svn-ignore-all should really be like xargs svn-ignore.
#!/bin/sh

# svn-ignore

# usage:
#   svn-ignore file/to/ignore ...

for f; do
    d=`dirname "$f"`
    b=`basename "$f"`
    ignore=`svn propget svn:ignore "$d"`
    if [ -n "$ignore" ]; then
        ignore="$ignore
"
    fi
    ignore="$ignore$b"
    svn propset svn:ignore "$ignore" "$d"
done

One more thing: I tend to pollute my svn checkouts with many random files.  When it's time to commit, I move those files into an 'old' subdirectory, and tell svn to ignore 'old'.
Comment: Hey Sam, that's a nice script. Question popped up in my head: is it perhaps that the problem comes from the fact that ignoring an entire folder that is part of the repository doesn't work, so we end up with those '?' files which are basically modified files in folders we added to the ignore list? I just wonder if there's a way around your script, as it would be tedious to run it all the time. Do you?
Comment: no, I don't really use it!  just try to clean up my files
Answer: If you are using a frontend for SVN like TortoiseSVN, or some sort of IDE integration, there should also be an ignore option in the same menu are as the commit/add operation.
Answer: TO KEEP DIRECTORIES THAT SVN WILL IGNORE:

this will delete the files from the repository, but keep the directory under SVN control:

svn delete --keep-local path/directory_to_keep/*

then set to ignore the directory (and all content):

svn propset svn:ignore "*" path/directory_to_keep
Answer: Set the svn:ignore property.  Most UI svn tools have a way to do this as well as the command line discussion in the link.
Answer: Since you're using Versions it's actually really easy:

Browse your checked-out copy
Click the directory to ignore
In the "Ignore box on the right click Edit
Type *.* to ignore all files (or *.jpg for just jpg files, etc.)
Answer: Watch your trailing slashes too.  I found that including images/* in my ignore setting file did not ignore ./images/.  When I ran svn status -u it still showed ? images.  So, I just changed the ignore setting to just images, no slashes.  Ran a status check and that cleared it out.
Answer: After losing a lot of time looking for how to do this simple activity, I decided to post it was not hard to find a decent explanation.
First let the sample structure
$ svn st
? project/trunk/target
? project/trunk/myfile.x
1 – first configure the editor,in mycase vim
export SVN_EDITOR=vim
2 – "svn propedit svn:ignore project/trunk/" will open a new file and you can add your files and subdirectory in us case type "target" save and close file and works
$ svn st
? project/trunk/myfile.x
thanks.

How do I ignore a directory with SVN?


Views slideshow with multi value imagefield

Question: I have created a content type and added an image field with unlimited option. Now I want to setup a views slideshow. Some nodes have single whereas others have multiple images. So my slideshow should show single image as well as all the images if the node has multiple images grouped together.
Answer: Try field slideshow. It bypasses views entirely, which makes it easy when all your images are in one node.
I don't think it works with the media module, yet, and you have to set your field type has to be "image". You select the slideshow options in the display fields portion.
Answer: jags, if you are using the Media module, this might be what your looking for:
http://drupalmedia.freeworldmedia.nl/book/howtos-guides/how-use-views-slideshow-and-media-2x-module-create-slideshow
True, it's actually for the 2.x version that's still in development, but it offers a lot of information that's also still kinda valid for Media 1.x.
You can group images together in Views, edit the Image field in Views, you'll see an option for 'multiple values'. That's where you can define this.
Answer: In your view, navigate to the image field > Multiple field settings and check Display all values in the same row. Then for those nodes that has single image, it'll show one. For those nodes that have multiple images, it'll show all of them.


How do you push a cable through a standard conduit inside the wall?

Question: I want to expand my network and transmit it wired through my home and office (in another floor). I know the IT part kind of well, but don't know how to push the network cable through a conduit (already know where's the entry and exit). Do you need a special tool for this?
Comment: Look up "fish tape". This is a tool used by electricians to find a path through a wall or confined space, not a product used for temporary repair of a broken fish.
Comment: How big is the conduit? Is there anything else in it? If so what?
Comment: Fish tape is the answer.  It is solid, so you push it through, then connect the wire and pull it back through.
Comment: @Tyson half an inch, nothing else inside.
Comment: As @Tyson described knowing what is in the conduit is a good idea.  You don't want to fill the conduit with too many cables.  Additionally, you might experience a lot noise that will decrease your throughput, if something like CAT5/6, and it runs parallel to electrical cable.
Comment: I was telling clients 'no new cables' fifteen years ago. Do it with wifi.
Comment: @AntonDylan Ethernet through a conduit. Is that conduit handling only Ethernet or is it a power line conduit i.e. 120VAC/240VAC . If it is an voltage AC conduit. Don't do this unless you want the AC line to spike your network. This setup will work like a transformer AC voltage induced into the Ethernet cable. Look up inductance. You will also have degraded Ethernet performance. As EJP said go wireless or run your wires another way.
Answer: You don't push, you pull. If you have an assistant, they can push while you pull.
Rather than waste money on a fish-tape for a job with conduit in place, just connect a vacuum cleaner to one end and feed string from the other end. You can tie a bit of plastic bag to the end of the string to make it vacuum in better, but a bare string will work for short runs.
Check at the vacuum cleaner end and stop when the string is there. If you need more of a pull, use the string to pull in a rope - either way, attach to the cable and pull it through. Braided hollow poly rope is good, but if the pull is not unreasonable a strong string will work. Tie in and tape on well, keeping it smooth.
I have done this rather a lot. The only place I want fish tapes is if I'm trying to hook two of them in a wall without conduit that I can't just rip open for access. Pulling tape is more useful, but likely overkill for a job in your house (it's a flat, flexible tape somewhere between string and rope, often marked so you can measure distance with it, too.)
In most cases if a conduit has other wires in it, you will be better off pulling those out (use them to pull in a rope) adding the new cable, and pulling all of them in at once - adding a cable is considerably more difficult with other cables in place.
Comment: I've used the vacuum method with great success pulling wires through buried conduit with nearly 360° worth of bends in it. Not even the fiberglass fish tape would make it through the bends.
Comment: Seen the vaccuuming on youtube. You can probably use any string but I went with the Klein pull line because it was easy to work with in the canister. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-500-ft-Pulling-Line-56108/100660158 This is a good video on tying the string to the cables.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kK4IugMIn0
Comment: This simple cheap solution seems great here.  According to OP he's lucky enough to have empty conduit, it's also small.  In this case it shouldn't require much equipment or effort.
Comment: If it's particularly difficult to vacuum the string, try partially filling the plastic bag with something light and malleable.  A bit of old insulation usually works pretty well.
Comment: Related: https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/100279/how-can-i-pull-a-wire-through-a-pipe-that-has-too-many-turns-for-fish-tape/100280#100280
Answer: Depends on how bendy the path is, what's in the conduit already, and where any intermediate access points may be.  In an empty conduit I can usually push wire around one 90.   More than that gets difficult.
I have been known to pull and push the existing wires a couple inches, using the "push" motion to drag the new wires through inch by inch.
The first and most obvious tool is a "fishing tape", a stiff spring-steel wire with a hook on it.  It's designed to be pushed through conduit containing existing wires.  Then you hook and tape your wires to it, wrap this splice with enough electrical tape that it won't snag on anything, and pull the wires through.  That's why they call this craft "pulling".
There is indeed a whole electrician's truck full of pulling tools - lube, "Chinese finger puzzle" wire grabbers, even power winches.  The biggest mistake we often see from DIYers is using the smallest (cheapest) conduit that is legal for his/her wires, and maximum allowed bends... And then needing to call that truck because they've made the pull so difficult.
Comment: and in reality Ethernet through a conduit in the wall makes me think he is trying to go through an Electrical Power AC conduit line. Which with Ethernet is a bad idea - AC induced in the Ethernet is not helpful for the Ethernet.
Answer: Purchase a fish tape.
You can find them at any building center. Ensure it is flexible. Push the fish till it comes out the required end, tape the cable on the end, and pull.
Answer: The vacuum cleaner trick is already mentioned, excellent!
But if you don't have the string, chances are you might have an old (audio) cassette lying
around instead. You can take it apart and use the tape. You know the rest!
Answer: If you do not have a fish tape and do not want to purchase one for a one time use start by tying a small piece of tissue to a string.
Place the tissue into one end of the conduit.
Use your vacuum to suck the string through the conduit from the other end.
Comment: Isn't that what Ecnerwal said?
Answer: If it's a VERY short distance between the entry and exit, try a straightened-out length of coat hanger, some duct tape, and the end of your cable.
Fish tape is useful, as the others have stated.  I wired a whole 3-bedroom apartment myself once, mostly from the attic.  For some of the locations, I was running more than one cable (sometimes up to three) through drilled holes.  Instead of using the fishtape multiple times (which becomes more difficult) through the same hole, I'd fish a length of nylon "parachute" cord through a hole, and then duct-tape my wires to the parachute cord at staggered interviews to keep the profile as flat as possible.  Then I'd go back to the hole and PULL the parachute cord through.


Invoking a web service API by using Text Message

Question: Now I am creating an iOS application. I also implemented some web services. My requirement is : "The user should be able to call a web service API by Sending a Text Message(SMS)". After a lot of research I found out that there a provider called Clickatell(http://www.clickatell.com/). But I don't know how can I configure it? Please help me in configuring this. Or Is there any other APIs or SMS gateways providing this service?
Answer: Disclaimer, I do developer evangelism part time at Nexmo.
Here are a few SMS APIs that I've used (I've not really used Clickatell, but I've gone through the signup process, and the following APIs seem a lot simpler to use):

Nexmo
Twilio
Tropo

All three APIs are straight forward REST/HTTP APIs.
You can call the API directly from your mobile application, however, you should consider if you really want to then compile your API credentials into your application. It may be better to host a kind pf proxy that your application uses - here's some example code used as a verification service, but it's essentially the same concept: https://github.com/Nexmo/Verify
Answer: I would suggest to take a look at Mogreet's new Developer Web Site
Very easy to use REST/HTTP APIs and very powerful. It supports sending SMS/MMS with awesome quality for all media types.


Are relationships/interference between two piece of hardware on topic?

Question: A colleague claims that leaving on cell phone on top of an external conventional platter hard drive could damage the drive.
I'm not so sure about that, so I am interested in posting a question on superuser.
Would this be on-topic or off-topic?
Comment: damage how?  And over what sort of time frame?
Comment: @JourneymanGeek Good questions.  Thanks!  I'm composing the question offline and will be sure to include those issues before I post it.
Answer: I think this would be on topic - it is a question regarding computer hardware, and is within the scope. It has a canonical answer as well - yes it will cause damage, or no it will not cause damage.
To quote our help section on what is on topic:

Super User is for computer enthusiasts and power users. If you have a
  question about:

computer hardware,
computer software, or
personal and home computer networking
Answer: The main issue is that there needs to be a question before choosing the forum, and not the other way around.  There are likely more than one forum that would be appropriate depending on what the actual question is.
I agree in principle with the previous answer (Sheehan), but I disagree in the sense that there is no question to post yet.
This statement is hearsay without any reference to symptoms or a cause or severity. As there is no question to answer, no forum to post in.
Try to put the question in your own words and perhaps narrow it down to a field of study or industry.
If you put a magnet (speaker) near a magnetic medium (tape, cyl. hard drive), you could change the positioning of the magnetized particles. That is how data is written/erased.
With that info, even without a reference yet, you can formulate a question.  After that, picking a forum should be easy.

Electromagnetism + distance ( + time) + hard drive + cell phone = Physics / hardware/ personal and home computing question. This meets point 1 and 3 in Simon Sheehan's answer which I essentially agree with. As Sheenan quoted from the help section of SuperUser:

Super User is for computer enthusiasts and power users. If you have a question about:

    computer hardware,
    computer software, or
    personal and home computer networking

Right now I think the way you would phrase the question could be susceptible to be labelled "subjective" (quote from "Asking" section):

What types of questions should I avoid asking?
First, make sure that your question is on-topic for this site.
You should only ask practical, answerable questions based on actual
  problems that you face. Chatty, open-ended questions diminish the
  usefulness of our site and push other questions off the front page.
Your questions should be reasonably scoped. If you can imagine an
  entire book that answers your question, you're asking too much.
If your motivation for asking the question is "I would like to
  participate in a discussion about ______", then you should not be
  asking here. However, if your motivation is "I would like others to
  explain ______ to me", then you are probably OK. (Discussions are of
  course welcome in our real time web chat.)
To prevent your question from being flagged and possibly removed,
  avoid asking subjective questions where …
every answer is equally valid: "What's your favorite ______?"
there is no actual problem to be solved: "I'm curious if other people feel like I do."
you are asking an open-ended, hypothetical question: "What if ______ happened?"


Is software still free if it uses nonfree APIs?

Question: I am making a piece of software and I plan to have it interact with the Discord API, which I know is nonfree because it expressly prohibits freedom 1 (the freedom to look at and modify the source  code). If I release my software as free and open source under the GNU GPL v 3.0, is it still free? Or can I just not use the API?
Answer: Discord claims rights over two things here, the SDK (copying and use thereof) and their API (use and implementation thereof).  The question of the SDK is pretty simple: it's a piece of software, and it's well-established that you can require end-users to agree to arbitrary terms when they take copies of your software, and expect them to be honoured.
The question of the API is much more interesting.  Historically, ideas could not be copyrighted, only the expression of those ideas.  So if Discord publishes the API, then although you can't make copies of the published API without permission, you can read and implement it de novo in your own code, and you haven't done anything that requires permission.  This in turn means that Discord can't make you agree to their terms in order to implement it.  Since their terms require you to restrict users of your code from certain kinds of use, and modification thereof, your software would be non-free.  If you were to publish it under, say, GPLv3, you would be purporting to give your users rights that aren't yours to give, just as if you made unlawful copies of MS Office and resold them to end-users.
The idea that APIs couldn't be copyrighted was upended in the US by Google v. Oracle America, where two lower US courts found that they couldn't be, and the US Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit twice reversed the decision.  The cases were appealed to the US Supreme Court, who agreed to hear the matter following the second reversal.  This they were scheduled to do on 2020 03 24, but the COVID crisis intervened, and the hearing has been rescheduled for the court's 2020-2021 term, when the Supreme Court is expected to rule on the specific question of the copyrightability of APIs.
There is, naturally, great interest in the outcome; many tech companies have filed
amicus briefs, the great majority arguing against such copyrightability.  The judgement will not, of course, have authority outside the US, but judges tend to keep an eye on what their colleagues are doing around the world, and the case cannot fail to have a global impact.  The Supreme Court is, in turn, likely to have half an eye pointing towards the EU, where the Computer Programs Directive states in s11 of the preamble that

ideas and principles which underlie any element
  of a program, including those which underlie its
  interfaces, are not protected by copyright under this
  Directive

As I see it, if you're in a jurisdiction that holds that APIs aren't copyrightable, then because Discord have chosen to publish their API on github, you would be free to implement it without having to agree to their terms, and thus could do so in free software.  If you're in a jurisdiction that holds that they are, then because of the terms on which the API is made available, it would be impossible for free software to implement the API.
Answer: As you can check the discord API on https://github.com/discord/discord-api-docs
It is an open API and you will be able to use this API in your application, but each API that is provided by a developer is bound by the legal terms set by the developer themselves, and for discord you can find them here https://discord.com/developers/docs/legal
From the same page this is what you should be concerned with:

LICENSE, ACCOUNTS AND RESTRICTIONS
  2.1 API or SDK License.
  Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, Discord grants you a limited, non-exclusive, revocable, non-transferable license to access and use the API or SDK solely to as necessary to (i) develop, test, display and execute your Applications with the API or SDK functionality included; and (ii) distribute to third parties, or permit third parties to access, the API or SDK as integrated into your Applications.
  2.2 Restrictions.
  You shall not, and shall not permit any person, directly or indirectly, to (i) reverse engineer, disassemble, reconstruct, decompile, translate, modify or copy the API or SDK, other than as explicitly permitted hereunder (except to the extent the foregoing restriction is expressly prohibited by applicable law notwithstanding this limitation), (ii) create derivative works of the API or SDK or any aspect or portion thereof, including without limitation, source code and algorithms, (iii) distribute or otherwise disseminate the API or SDK by any means or in any form, except as an integral part of your Applications; (iv) use the API or SDK in connection with any Applications that include any malware or other harmful code or that facilitate spamming in any way; (v) circumvent any limits or any privacy or access controls (or attempt to do so); or (vi) include any advertisements or other promotions within the functionality enabled by the API or SDK. Except as expressly set forth in this Agreement, Discord reserves all rights in or the API and SDK.

As long as you are doing any of that, you will be able to use the API in an open source application.
API is just that, an API, its not source code. It is a way that your application is able to communicate with another so its not covered by source code license but has its own license terms.
P.S. I am in not a lawyer but I recommend that you read through those license terms.

Hope this helps.
Comment: I did read through the license terms, and the part that worries me is
> You shall not, and shall not permit any person, directly or indirectly, to (i) reverse engineer, disassemble, reconstruct, decompile, translate, modify or copy the API or SDK
What I am wondering is if my application is still *free software* if I use this API, not if it can be open sourced.
Comment: Yes you can definitely use the API in a free application as long as in your own license terms for the application, you must prohibit the modification/copy of the original discord API.
Comment: @Arshdeep that would then be a non-free licence.
Comment: Sorry, you are right.


Why did Voldemort never seek the Hallows?

Question: Why did Voldemort never seek the Hallows before the events of the second wizard war?  It seems it would have been much easier for him to retrieve them.  James had the cloak, Regulus had the resurrection stone(not sure if I remember that correctly, I could be wrong), and Dumbledore had the elder wand.  It seems that it would have been much easier for Voldemort to get to the three seeing as the cloak was with Harry who's location was unknown and the stone was within the snitch Harry caught, which only he could open.  So, why did Voldemort wait to seek the Hallows?
Comment: A little feed back as to why this is getting down votes would be nice.
Comment: My guess is the downvotes are because the answer is found *in* the book.
Answer: He'd never heard of them, very few wizards ever had, and fewer still would have believed they could exist.
Before the events of The Deathly Hallows, there were only 3 people we know in-canon who had heard of and believed in the existence of the Hallows: Gellert Grindelwald, Albus Dumbledore and Xenophilius Lovegood. The only text we're ever presented as evidence for their existence is a children's book; The Tales of Beedle the Bard, which Voldemort would never have read as he grew up in a Muggle orphanage.
Ollivander knew of the Elder Wand, and it's likely that Voldemort found out about it through him after Harry defeated Voldemort while he was using Lucius Malfoy's wand, but Ollivander has never heard of The Deathly Hallows (as he tells Harry in Shell Cottage), and so couldn't have told Voldemort about the existence of the other two. And even if somehow, some strange Death Eater who believed in children's stories told Voldemort about the Hallows, it wouldn't have mattered, as Dumbledore says:

But even if he had known about them, Harry. I doubt that he would have been interested in any except the first. He would not think that he needed the Cloak, and as for the stone, whom would he want to bring back from the dead? He fears the dead. He does not love."
Comment: great answer however i would say instead of very few wizards had heard of them, that most wizards knew of them from the tales of beedle the bard, however, believe them to be purely allegorical fantasy.
Comment: Great answer! Additionally, Voldemort did also not like being dependent on something. His aim was to become truly immortal / conquer death. I don't have the book with me right now to quote, but, Dumbledore at some point explains to harry that, while the philosophers stone would have kept voldemort alive for longer, it was not his final goal and he wouldn't have liked to depend on it forever. I think this applies to some extent for the deathly hallows as well, if the dark lord even heard of it.
Answer: As Xenophilius Lovegood said in Chapter Twenty Two of The Deathly Hallows:

The bloody trail of the Elder Wand is splattered across the pages of wizarding history.

The Elder Wand wasn't known by Voldemort as one of the Three Hallows, as he wasn't aware of the fact that there were three. The Elder Wand gained notoriety on its own apart from the other Hallows which Voldemort would undoubtedly know from his dabbing in dark magic.
Answer: He did.
From the Timeline in the updated edition of Cursed Child:

"Voldemort murders Snape to obtain the Elder Wand in his quest to unite the Deathly Hallows."

.
Comment: Yet another reason to consider Cursed Child less canon than some fanfics.
Comment: +1 I don't much like this answer, but it looks like it's true to the 'official' canon!


Account login while retaining my anomymity?

Question: So, I have searched the Stack Exchange and I found what I CANT do but sadly not what I CAN.
What's the safest way to login in your accounts (Gmail, Google or even your eBay account) without breaking down your anonymity?
Many said that some sites have their ways into tracking you down, thats true, btu does this mean I can't never login somewhere without betraying my location?
Answer: Logging into accounts associated with your identity is inherently not anonymous, but Tor will still hide your physical location (i.e. what internet provider / Wifi hotspot you are using at the time) from the sites.
However, you should not mix logins into sites associated with your identity with anonymous browsing in the same Tor Browser session.
Answer: This may not be exactly what you are looking for, but hope that it can help you to get some basic ideas.
An attack called Correlation Attack can be employed to trace where you are if the Autonomous Systems between you and the Guard node, and the Autonomous Systems between the Exit node and the final destination are controlled under one person (lets assume: maybe only Government Agency like NSA, CIA or FBI has that kind of power)
However, if you are using gmail, facebook, hotmail, I do recommend that you should create those accounts in Tor environment without providing any real information about yourself, and only log into those accounts within the Tor environment.
For this task, you may need a temporary and unregistered phone number to verify the account. Since most of those services like Gmail and FB will ask your phone number while registering via Tor to send a code for verification purpose. After creating the accounts, you should destroy the SIM card of that phone number and never use or register the phone number if you want to stay anonymous.
P/S: if you log into your account from a non-Tor IP, then the next time you log into the account via Tor, your account may get blocked. So do remember that if you create the account from Tor-IP, then next time you log in, your account will not be blocked. For your ready reference, here it Onion site of Facebook, you should create an account from this site so that your account will not be blocked or ask for some secret question or verifying some friends' photos. https://facebookcorewwwi.onion/


Recommendations for tasty decaf coffee?

Question: I am currently attempting to decrease my caffeine consumption and was therefore wondering whether anybody has experience with decaf coffee? Although I want to reduce the caffeine, I don't want to compromise on the taste. The decaf options that I have tried so far were disappointing, such that I was hoping somebody else had any specific brand recommendations?
Comment: Can you expand: disappointing how? What have you tried? You didn't like off-tastes, roast level, quality...? Too little caffeine? ;-)
Comment: @hoc_age almost every coffee drinker I know feels that decaf coffees generally taste pretty bad. Various off-tastes is the big complaint, which is common problem with mass produced coffee brands.
Comment: As you're asking for brand recommendations, you should say where you are.  Especially as you're not in the US.
Answer: When we werekeeping our caffeine consumption low, we used to brew a 50:50 mix of normal and decaf.  Both were at the good end of what the supermarket sells ground, and were a nominally similar roast.  The overall efect was like slightly less good normal.
You could probably progress to something like 25% normal in decaf, especially if the normal was a slightly richer flavour than the decaf.
You could of course step all of this up a level by buying beans to grind yourself or buying small quantities of freshly-ground.
We used Cafe Direct decaf for this.  I've since given up on that idea and have my last coffee of the day just after lunch, so this was a few years ago.
Answer: I roast my own, but my green bean supplier also supplies decaffeinated unroasted beans.  I always have a pound on hand, but have never had occasion to roast and use them.
Answer: One of my favorites is Mystic Monk Coffee.  I personally order their regular caffeinated coffee, but I have tried their decaf and they are just as good.
They also make some flavor coffee that is decaf as well as regular, and they release some seasonal flavors every 3 months.
There is also a half-decaf they offer of their regular roast, which you might be interested in as well.
One other thought that I just had, is to possibly go with a flavored coffee.  Something that might be similar to a coffee flavor, and look for that in Decaf.  I have a local place near me that has about 200 different flavors and they can make it in regular or decaf.  Unfortunately, they are local only and don't have a website or do any shipping of orders at all.  OrangeCat is the name of the place, if you want to keep an eye out for them.
Some "flavors" that might be close to what you are looking for (thinking of what I have had that may be similar to a coffee flavor, but everyone has a different taste and palette)....

mocha
toffee
toffeenut
caramel
creme brulee
toasted graham crackers & choclate
dark chocolate

some other flavors that might taste similar...

french valilla
rum
almond / amaretto
hazelnut

Fresh Roasted Coffees (Mystic Monk Coffee)
Little Monk Blend (Mystic Monk Coffee)
Answer: I find that Kenco Freeze Dried Decaf is very tasty - much better than Nestcafe. However I will say I have not yet found a good decaf filter/espresso coffee.
Answer: Years ago, the best decaf coffee I had was from a home roaster. If you are lucky, you can find one near you!
I do NOT drink coffee after 4:00 PM because the caffeine keeps me awake. But sometimes I crave a cup of coffee after dinner. Decaf coffee roasts differently than non-decaf, and most decafs just taste "off".
A friend of mine starting drinking decaf a few years ago. I started buying high quality decaffeinated green coffee from Sweet Maria's to roast some for him (and myself).
It took a few tries for me to learn how to roast it properly - slower is better (easy to over-roast decafs). Now I always have my own roasted decaf coffee available when the rare urge for late night coffee hits me.
Answer: The Whole Foods (Allegro) decaf blends are not bad. If I had to drink decaf I would still want some fresh beans and my own grind. However, the best quick and easy instant I have found (decaf or regular) is Mount Hagen.
Answer: I'm based in Portland, so luckily there's no shortage of options in the coffee arena. Heart has an amazing decaf that I've had the pleasure of cupping with 9 other coffees (non-decaf) and I rated it in my top 3 for overall taste, and other folks there did as well.
It uses a natural decaffeination process involving little more than sugar cane, allowing much more of the flavor to remain. Here's an article explaining this process a bit - it's likely the only type of decaf I'll have from now on (EA process decafs):

Colombia is well known for growing coffee, but also sugar cane. The grow lots and lots of it. So they use Ethyl Acetate (EA) from the sugar cane, and dissolve it into water for the caffeine extraction. Another claim they make is that EA decaffeination removes irritant substances that benefits people with sensitive stomachs.
Answer: I have two brand recommendations for you. If you want a great decaf coffee, look no further than Mayorga. Beyond being organic, they use the water based method of caffeine extraction to avoid the use of nasty chemicals.
Another decaf coffee option that is very unique is Javazen Relax(Javazen is my company).  It is organic coffee blended with herbal teas, this case rooibos. Beyond the decaf blend, Javazen has other coffee+tea blends which may be helpful for your transition away from caffeine.
Comment: Hi Aaron, welcome to Coffee! While it's acceptable to post your own products as solutions when they are relevant, acceptable answers, it is frowned upon to not add a disclaimer to state that you are affiliated with the company you link to. Please see this [Meta Post](http://meta.stackexchange.com/a/59302/271875) for a general community consensus.
Comment: Hi Nick, Thanks for letting me know about the community rules. I will now always type in a disclaimer before posting my own products. I look forward to participating in this community.
Answer: I would always stick with a CO2 extracted coffee. Swiss water method will dilute the flavor and chemical decaffeinating is well....chemical-ish.  I asked for you as I was reading this at a coffee shop. I don't normally drink decaf but as I get older the need to slow my caffeine down is real (and sucks)

Recommendations for tasty decaf coffee?


Holt-Winters and importance of R-square

Question: Is R-square an important measure in Holt-Winters method?
Comment: Measure of what?
Answer: From my experience in forecasting: no.
The problem is that (as with any data analysis method) by increasing the complexity of the model, one can reduce R squared, even if the more complex model does not improve the predictive power of the model. In Exponential Smoothing, this would involve going from Single Exponential Smoothing to smoothing with a trend (Holt's method) to smoothing with trend and seasonality (Holt-Winters). In-sample fit and thus R squared will improve with each step in complexity - but forecasts may very easily get worse.
Conversely, it is hard to get a decent concept of "degrees of freedom" in smoothing, so calculating an "adjusted R squared" to account for this spurious improvement in in-sample fit is hard.
Bottom line: I have been forecasting for years now, but R squared is not something I see applied to smoothing often. Better to keep a holdout sample and compare forecasts for that holdout sample for different models.
Answer: Not usually.  The main concern in forecasting is likely to be a measure of likely forecast error such as root mean squared error (or MAPE, MPE, or others).
Of course, with the original variance and the mean squared error of the forecast model it is easy to compute R squared, but that's usually not the emphasis.

Holt-Winters and importance of R-square


Are there any guides to the timeline of Donnie Darko?

Question: I have the basic understanding that the entire plot to Donnie Darko revolves around time traveling. As far as the ending is conceded, you may have various interpretations of what actually happened. The Director's Cut does dive into the book on time travel a bit but leaves me wanting a better explanation for what we see on screen. So what are the common theories to Donnie being dead or alive in both prior to the first plane engine crash and the second one seen in the final scene? Is that enough to understand the overall timeline (which is very complex and super confusing).
Comment: The timeline is a bit confusing, but if you watch the standard cut first, then the directors cut, you get a lot of info to fill in the blanks and the entire story line makes much more sense and it explains why the people at the end of the movie (back in the "primary" timeline are awake and sad). There is a great explanation of the "tangent" universe here: http://www.donniedarko.org.uk/explanation/
Answer: There is a total of 2 timelines that we observe in Donnie Darko.

Primary Timeline (Primary Universe)
Secondary Timeline (Tangent Universe)

The primary timeline, is the one we see at the beginning of the film, starting from Donnie waking up in a random location, biking his way back home.  We continue seeing this timeline until the night he first sees Frank.
It is in the next few hours after this encounter, that the Tangent Universe is created.  This is due to Donnie not being in his bed when the jet engine hits his room.  He is meant to die in this encounter due to some unknown rules of the Universe, better explained in the book.    (I think even the book mentions that this can occur for unknown reasons).
During the rest of the film, we are presented the Tangent Universe until the end of the film, when the World is about to end.  Donnie summons a portal to lead both himself, and the jet engine back into the Primary Universe, the same night that he left his bed to see Frank for the first time.
It is when we see him start crawling into his bed that we are back in the Primary Universe until the end of the film.
Comment: Does Donnie summon the portal? I thought it was the preset time given by the rabbit when the portal would open. Also why would Donny like to go to the past and end being dead?
Answer: I think it is a mistake to take the events of Donnie Darko literally, or to look for a logically consistent timeline or timelines.
There is a key extra scene on the DVD, in which Donnie is having a conversation with his father and says, "Dad, I'm crazy." Not sure why this was omitted, but it strongly supports the interpretation that the film shows Donnie losing his mind -- as do all the included scenes involving Donnie's psychiatrist, who recognizes what is happening to Donnie.
Indeed, Donnie's experiences in the movie are textbook symptoms of schizophrenia:
-he feels increasingly separated from family, friends, and peers
-he thinks he can see into the future
-his fantasies -- like outing Patrick Swayze's criminal character, or (ahem) saving the universe -- put him in white-knight, savior-type roles
-to him, the logic of the whole thing makes perfect sense, but to anyone else, it is beyond comprehension
Personally, I think part of the genius of Donnie Darko is that -- just like many real-life schizophrenics' hallucinations -- Donnie's fantasy almost starts to make sense if you strain to understand. But ultimately it only really makes sense to Donnie.
Comment: +1 just for the sheer fact of bringing another perspective to this that is largely unappreciated.  And another +2 because Its a great answer.  I can't give 3 votes, but just pretend :)
Comment: I like the idea of interpreting the movie as Donnie going crazy, and there's certainly room for that interpretation, artistically speaking.  However, the movie CAN also be interpreted literally.  There's an extra feature on the DVD which is a copy of Roberta Sparrow's book (the book Donnie got from her in the movie.)  Taking the time to read through the pages in the extra feature explains A LOT about what was happening in the movie, using the "Donnie's not crazy" literal interpretation.
Comment: I don't believe it is a film about `schizophrenics' hallucinations`. The quotes you mentioned or the diagnosis by the psychriatist was a normal real-life-people like reaction.If strange things happen to a normal person, after a certain limit, he would surely doubt himself (`I'm crazy`).The doctor's diagnosis is also the same reaction!
Answer: Not sure if this is going to help:
ref: Donnie Darko Explained

In the Tangent Universe (green) - Donnie is alive and Gretchen and Frank die.
In the Primary Universe (blue) - Donnie dies and Gretchen and Frank don't die.

His being alive would not cause any of the events from the Tangent
  Universe to happen again. Yet he doesn't leave his bed. He makes peace
  with himself and chooses death. Perhaps he feels his purpose was to
  restore the balance to the universe and that he has served his purpose
  and is ready to die. He also knows what Roberta Sparrow has become
  because of being the Living Receiver, a paranoid old lady. Maybe that
  would be the fate of Donnie as well. Perhaps he feels dying is better
  and so he does.
Answer: It appears that the film tells the following story:
Originally there was only one Universe - the Primary Universe, where all mankind was living.
At some point in time an "Incident" had happened "when the fabric of the fourth dimension became corrupted and a Tangent Universe was created. There is no indication in the film when this Incident had happened. It may have happened early in the beginning of the film, or at some point prior the events that the film starts with.
As the Book reads, the Tangent Universe is highly unstable and it can sustain life for no longer than several weeks. Apparently, all mankind from the Primary Universe unbeknownst got trapped in the Tangent Universe. After the Tangent Universe expires, it will collapse upon itself, forming a black hole withing the Primary Universe, thus destroying all the mankind.
According to the Book, after a Tangent Universe has occurred, an Artifact may appear. In the film the Artifact was a jet engine that came from the Primary Universe into the Tangent Universe through a portal (gateway) at the Tangent Vortex.
Donnie Darko, now in the Tangent Universe, is chosen to be the Living Receiver with a task "to guide the Artifact into position for its journey back to the Primary Universe". Donnie must accomplish this task before the Tangent Universe expires. If he does not, then all mankind will be destroyed when the Tangent Universe collapses. As the Living Receiver, Donnie is blessed with Fourth Dimensional Powers, most important of which is the ability to create Time Portals (wormholes) - gateways between Universes, that work as a time machine.
Donnie is not aware of his task and his abilities and he discovers them as the film progresses.
People who live around Donnie work as the Manipulated Living, unconsciously assisting Donnie in different ways in his task of returning the Artifact to the Primary Universe.
In addition, Donnie is having visions of Frank that also provide some guidance. In the film Frank is a boyfriend of Donnie's sister Elizabeth, who made himself a rabbit costume for Halloween. What Donnie sees in his visions is not actions of the actual Frank who came back through some sort of time travel, but rather hallucinations that occur because of Donnie's ability of foresight as the Living Receiver. As the Book reads, the Living Receiver is often tormented by terrifying dreams, visions and auditory hallucinations during his time withing the Tangent Universe.
Donnie's girlfriend Gretchen and the actual Frank unconsciously work as the Manipulated Dead. Their task is to create an Ensurance Trap that will leave Donnie no choice but to return the artifact and thus to save all mankind.
After Gretchen is killed in the Tangent Universe, Donnie realizes that there is only one way to save her. By this time he has realized his task and his abilities. Donnie creates a Time Portal (wormhole) between the Universes through which the jet engine returns into the Primary Universe and all mankind is transferred back from the Tangent Universe into the Primary Universe, just before the Tangent Universe has collapsed.
Just before Donnie travels from the Tangent Universe he says: "Going home", and laughs. Then, in his letter to Roberta Sparrow he says: "I hope that when the world comes to an end, I can breathe a sigh of relief, because there will be so much to look forward to". Then we see Donnie laughing in his bed in his home. So, he was glad that he had accomplished his task and saved the mankind. Then he peacefully turns on his side smiling. This suggests that Donnie did not expect the jet engine to crash on him in the Primary Universe, he expected to live on, and thus his act was not a self-sacrifice.
As to all other people, as the Book reads: "when the Manipulated awaken from their Journey into the Tangent Universe, they are often haunted by the experience in their dreams. Most of them will not remember. Those who do remember the Journey are often overcome with profound remorse for the regretful actions ..."
There are a lot of logical problems with this story. Gretchen and Frank are killed in the Tangent Universe, then they are transferred back in time into the Primary Universe along with all other people. How do they become live again in the Primary Universe? Technically Donnie did not return the Artifact into the Primary Universe but instead has sent there a jet engine from another plane. There was no apparent need to kill Frank. Does the Primary Universe become empty when the Tangent Universe is created, is everything transferred from one Universe into another, or only people are transferred and why? Et cetera ...
In my view - a very illogical story and an overrated film.
Answer: Donnie Lives At The End
There is still some confusion despite decades: Donnie Darko is an Ouroborous plot. The tangent universe explains how to untangle most of it.
However the Director plays 2 sleight of hand tricks. You have to keep your eye on the missing ball.
What get transferred between universes: (1) the Deloroean. The jet engine. Tangent Donnie Darko, Gretchen corpse.
The two sleights of hand are Donnie Prime dying (physically shown in the director's cut) and time rewind scene implying Donnie didn't physically travel with the jet engine.
Why did Donnie Prime have to die?
Because he is now a time travel duplicate. His continued existence could cause another tangent, or worse: destroy the entire universe if the two Donnies meet?
How do we know this?
Because the director explicitly showed this scenario in his next movie (spoilers) Southland Tales.
[in order to explain DD you must see or ruin the mystery in ST]
So Donnie Tangent lives and we are never shown him again
Yes, this is the other sleight of hand, creating the mystery of an Ourobourous.
What about the 'Time Unwinding scene'
Good Question. Ironically when understood properly its proof Donnie travels to the other universe.
Donnie Darko uses the same basic temporal mechanics as the book "time Bridge" (minus time duplicates destroying the world) .
No one from the tangent universe transfers to Prime. Time unwinds outside the wormhole to the point of its destination. Everything unzips. What is inside the wormholes is duplicated at entrance while spacetime unzips around it. This is why there are two jet engines. 2 Deloreans. 2 Donnie Darkos.
Further Proof: the final piece of the puzzle was the "Future Timeline" on the movie website. Someone ( Donnie) is acting with knowledge of the tangent universe. Donnie wrote the letter to Roberta Sparrow he is narrating at the end. We were shown him writing part of it. He knows she is dead. ...but the letter still gets delivered to Roberta Sparrow by Christmas in prime universe. She is waiting for this letter from Donnie so she knows she succeeded and can die in peace.
In the meantime the child molester, Jim Cunningham house is set on fire, exposing him, just like Donnie did in the tangent universe. He confesses and is arrested.
Why is Donnie Laughing?
At the end Donnie Prime is dreaming of the tangent universe, and escaping and his letter to Roberta Sparrow. He like the rest of Prime has a psychic connection to the tangent universe, in dreams. They BOTH share consciousness briefly of Donnie surviving the destruction of the universe.
The actual hidden mystery is where the Delorean ended up.


Back Pain after workout and Remedies

Question: Why does back pain hurt after doing exercises that has nothing to do with back , line bicep curl etc.? Can I strengthen my lower back to avoid this pain ?
Comment: I'd recommend you get a real strength training program to strengthen your body and ditch the curls. Starting Strength and Strong Lifts 5x5 are worth looking into. You will be strong and ultimately have larger biceps in the process.
Answer: Back pain whether it's upper back pain or low back pain frequently is caused by weak abdominal muscles. Since your abs are the front anchor of your spine, if they are weak, then the other structures supporting your spine (your back muscles, for example) will have to work harder. By developing stronger core muscles, you'll be less likely to injure or strain your back muscles.
Core strengthening is more than just achieving six-pack abs. Developing strong abdominal muscles may actually help prevent back pain by making you less prone to back injuries and teaching you proper spinal alignment.

The Significance of Core Strength

If you think about it, your core is in the center of your body. It needs to be strong to support the weight of your entire body, including your back and neck. Adding core strengthening to your exercise routine can help protect your back and neck. By boosting your core strength, you'll also be less likely to rely on other back pain treatments, such as medications.
It's important to incorporate exercises that work all of your abdominal muscles equally. Core exercises should involve the major muscles in your abdomen, including your internal and external obliques and the transverse abdominals.

Core Strengthening Exercises for Back Pain: Prehab

Below are some exercises that can help you develop strong abs and prevent back pain.

Front Pillar Bridge
Lateral Pillar Bridge
Glute Bridge
Hand Walking
Half-Kneeling Chop
Half-Kneeling Lift

Movement Prep

Incorporate these movement prep exercises into your warm-up routine:

Quadruped Posterior Rocking
Foam Roll (but not directly on the area of a strained muscle)
Quadruped Opposites

You should consult your physician or other health care professional before starting this or any other fitness program.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20581648

Response:
Valsalva maneuver was not mentioned in my post.
First important concepts to understand.

Global muscles produce movement.
Local muscles prevent movement.

Failure to stabilize the spine isn't ONLY due to weakness. Altered neuromuscular firing patterns produce the same result.
If you're more powerful global muscles are firing before your deep stabilizers this results in large force being applied to an unstablized spinal column.
This is why the trA is so important. It is activated first before movement in any direction.  Unlike your quadratus lumborum which is only active during sagittal plane movements.
Directly from a Systematic Review:
When rehabilitating a patient with low back dysfunction, low-load isometric motor control exercises for the TA and multifidi should be emphasized. The drawing-in maneuver should be performed with each exercise to elicit TA and multifidi contraction without activating global muscles. Rehabilitation of the local muscles with specific motor control exercises is necessary to enhance stability while protecting the spine from excessive loads during the rehabilitation program.

The local muscles promote segmental stabilization. Inclusion of global
  muscles too early may be deleterious during the rehabilitation
  program.  Local muscles are superior to global muscles in controlling
  shear loads; unnecessary activation of global muscles may impose
  excessive compressive loads to the spine. Activation of global muscles
  in the presence of dysfunction may actually increase the challenge on
  the local muscles to provide segmental stability.

Sources:
Richardson C. Therapeutic Exercise for Spinal Segmental Stabilization in Low Back Pain: Scientific Basis and Clinical Approach. New York, NY: Churchill Livingstone
Please read these studies (download the PDF free).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3806181/#bibr2-1941738113502451
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/10617782_Core_stability_exercise_in_chronic_low_back_pain
Comment: I assume that you are not advocating use of the Valsalva maneuver, without which it's unclear how stronger spinal _flexors_ (the anterior abdominal muscles) can compensate for relatively-weak spinal _extensors_.  Please explain.
Comment: Valsalva is normal. If you were to help push a car, you'd hold your breath on the first push.
Comment: @EricKaufman, I agree that the Valsalva maneuver is normal.  It helps keep the spine same and transmit force more efficiently.  Without the large held breath in the Valsalva, contracting abdominal muscles will tend to flex the spine, but this answer seems to be recommending doing so to support the spine... the mechanism of which is unclear to me.
Comment: I do have week abs, actually i dont do any abs excercise
Comment: @CCCV A stiffer thoracic cavity and tighten diaphragm provides anterior rigidity (across a frontal/coronal plane) when the thoracic and to some extent cervical spine tries to roll forward/anterior/down/inferior. More plainly, for the same reason a tightened erector spinae provides bracing of the spine so does tighten anatomy in the front.
Comment: @EricKaufman - Exactly!
Comment: @EricKaufman: I think all of what you said is true _only if_ combined with a held breath. Otherwise, contracting anterior musculature will tend to flex the spine, possibly exacerbating OP's LBP.  Regardless, I maintain that appropriate barbell strength training, including deadlifts, would strengthen OP's back more than this answer's suggestions, and probably relieve the pain.
Comment: The valsalva implies a held breath; you're exhaling against a closed glottis.
Comment: @EricKaufman, right.  I just didn't see anything about Valsalva in this answer, which seems to just advocate "stronger core".  Regardless, I think I was wrong earlier: Stronger anterior abdominal muscles _do_ seem to help stabilize the torso to some extent, even without Valsalva.
Answer: Can you be specific, like which part does it hurt. If its the back muscle after a bicep curl it might be because of bad posture during exercise or might be cause you are moving your body during the point of fatigue of the bicep curl.
if it lasts more than two days, you better take a day or two off , or avoid working that muscle group.
some useful tips Here and Here
Comment: I am sure it is due to bad posture during training, point is how to avoid that pain without changing posture
Answer: If your back hurts after performing movements (such as a standing bicep curl) in which your spine is (or should be) vertical and rigid, then you probably are not actually keeping your spine vertical and rigid.
Consider doing the following:

Having someone watch your exercises, especially for any spinal flexion.
Strengthening your back with properly-programmed and meticulously-executed low-bar back squats and deadlifts.
Comment: #1 I agree with.  #2 is literally dangerous. It essentially the same as if someone posted regarding shoulder pain and recommending shoulder presses (contraction of the painful muscle).  In addition low back injuries are frequently caused due to an improper hip-hinge during deadlifts.
Comment: @Mike-DHSc, _incorrectly-performed_ and/or _incorrectly-programmed_ (e.g., too many) deadlifts can be detrimental, but I *did* say "properly-programmed and meticulously-executed ... deadlifts", which are *not* dangerous, but -- on the contrary -- help strengthen the spine and reduce pain.  The same is often true of _correct_ barbell overhead presses.
Comment: @Mike-DHSc, how do you recommend that someone strengthen their back (posterior chain)?
Comment: In a pain-free patient, your recommendations would be fine.  Since he is experiencing constant back pain and the cause is unknown - you're looking at a ton of spinal pathology to rule out.  Chronic LBP is the literally the last injury you want (see Steve Kerr).
Comment: @Mike-DHSc, thanks for your thoughts.  FWIW, it sounds as though OP's LBP is not chronic, but acute, and closely follows certain exercises.

Back Pain after workout and Remedies


What is a good mining pool/payout model for infrequent mining?

Question: I usually mine only, when I do stuff using my PC so it is on anyway. So far I used Slushs Pool but they have a score based reward system, which seem to punish casual mining. If a long round ends >15 minutes after leaving the pool (due to shutdown the system) you'll probably get nothing at all. What are better payout models for the casual miner and what pools can be used?
Answer: There are multiple approaches to pooled mining, each with its own benefits and detriments. Assuming you are a dedicated miner who does not pool hop then the scenario you describe should be an "edge case" that should rarely if ever occur. That said, common payout schemes include:

PPS - Pay Per Share. Each submitted share is worth certain amount of BTC. Since finding a block requires  shares on average, a PPS method with 0% fee would be 50 BTC divided by . It is risky for pool operators, hence the fee is highest.
SMPPS - Shared Maximum Pay Per Share. Like Pay Per Share, but never pays more than the pool earns.
ESMPPS - Equalized Shared Maximum Pay Per Share. Like SMPPS, but equalizes payments fairly among all those who are owed.
CPPSRB - Capped Pay Per Share with Recent Backpay.
Prop. - Proportional. When block is found, the reward is distributed among all workers proportionally to how much shares each of them has found.
PPLNS - Pay Per Last N Shares. Similar to proportional, but instead of looking at the number of shares in the round, instead looks at the last N shares, regardless of round boundaries.
Score - Score based system: a proportional reward, but weighed by time submitted. Each submitted share is worth more in the function of time t since start of current round. For each share score is updated by: score += exp(t/C). This makes later shares worth much more than earlier shares, thus the miner's score quickly diminishes when they stop mining on the pool. Rewards are calculated proportionally to scores (and not to shares). (at slush's pool C=300 seconds, and every hour scores are normalized)

The important factor is that you avoid Proportional payout systems as they are vulnerable to pool-hopping so you will probably lose some portion of your revenues to hoppers on those pools. For your concerns, SMPPS, ESMPPS or PPLNS would be good choices, but there are other factors to consider and it is ultimately up to you to choose a payout scheme and pool that best fits your needs.
Comment: True, I hadn't considered miners so slow (or rounds so fast) that they may not submit any shares in a given round. Mr. Schwartz may be correct in choosing PPS for such a scenario. I suppose as someone pushing 3 GH/s I need to revisit my definition of "casual miner" before making a judgement call. Still, for anyone with even a single 5830 or higher my advice still holds.
Comment: Having only an 5670, I received 0.0+0.0+0.0004 btc for mining 2.5, 3 and 4.5 hours. With increased difficulty this can be even worse. So much for the "edge case".
Comment: See answer below--size of miner doesn't actually impact the fairness of score-based mining, only the variance.
Comment: It does if the size is *extremely* small. While CPU miners are almost nonexistent these days, mining at 1-10 MH/s only submits a share every several minutes. If a user has only a few shares per round their placement can make or break profits in any scoring method that involves time in its calculations. With a 5670 the OP should be pulling ~70 MH/s which is obviously above this threshold, but the lower your hashrate the more noticeable the effect can become. Better for low-hashrate miners to move to something like PPS and take luck out of the equation entirely.
Comment: Wow, I never imagined the models to be this complicated. I thought you're just ... getting paid your fair share of hashing power per X blocks.
Comment: @ripper234 Unfortunately the simpler models were also vulnerable to various forms of abuse, so they've evolved into more complex models to prevent such abuse.
Comment: @David - interesting. could you elaborate? Or should I open a new question?
Comment: @ripper234 It's more complicated than should be explained in a comment but if you'd like to open a new question I'll be glad to answer it.
Comment: I got ~80Mhash/s with XP, now it's ~75Mhash/s.
Comment: @David - here you go: http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/461/what-are-the-problems-with-naive-pool-sharing-mechanisms
Comment: I mine very slowly, faster than a GPU, but only about 26Mhash/s so I very much prefer the PPS method, however even that is luck based as all mining is.. as some times i might go 20 minutes without finding a share, while other times i get one every 5 seconds.
Answer: Flat pay-per-share may be best. These tend to have the highest percentage fees, but the payout is 100% predictable. There are a few PPS pools, such as abcpool.co and btcserv.net with no fee. The only thing they keep are the transaction fees, so your payout per submitted share is 50 divided by the current difficulty.
Answer: It's a common misunderstanding that score based reward systems like Slush's underpay infrequent miners.  While it's true that shares in a given round devalue if you mine towards the beginning of a round and then leave long before it finishes, you have to also take into account the fact that the length of a round is random.  So you have equal chances of arriving late in a round and having your shares worth more than they would have been by straight proportion, or starting out a round and having it find a block right at the beginning (making each share worth a lot more because there were fewer of them).  In the long run, these all average out perfectly.
The only circumstance in which you will be receiving less from a score based pool is if you consistently start out rounds but then switch to other pools when the rounds "take too long" for your liking.  You can't do this by accident.  It's a specific attack that we identified and analysed back in January, and unless you specifically program a miner that does this it's not going to happen consistently by random chance.
That said, there is a slight difference with the score based system for very low-capacity, infrequent miners:  increased variance in your payouts.  Sometimes they will be bigger than normal, and sometimes smaller.  Mathematically, it all ends up coming down to the fee you pay, but psychologically this might be hard to take as sometimes you will feel ripped off, while you might not notice that you also get lucky just as much.  So it might be easier on your brain to go with a pay-per-share system or similar, it just won't be easier on your pocketbook.
The biggest underlying problem with this is that you probably shouldn't be mining at all.  Even if you only use it when your computer is on anyways, a 5670 almost certainly draws more power when mining than you earn back in bitcoins, unless you're paying very low electricity prices (5 cents or less per kilowatt-hour) or using someone else's electricity (in which case all you're doing is taking money from them, not earning it).  Probably it's time to leave the mining to high-efficiency rigs located in very low-cost electricity zones.
For a complete analysis of different mining pool schemes, Meni Rosenfeld has written an excellent paper.


Is there a common list of steps to analyse/annotate one's game?

Question: What is the best way to annotate one's game to derive the most instructive value out of it? In the search for critical positions - do you start from the beginning, or from the end (last move)? When do you consult a computer engine or computer database? Has any coach ever come up with a comprehensive guideline describing how to do this?
Comment: See also this question: http://chess.stackexchange.com/q/188/12
Answer: As Andrew points out in a comment, the subject of your post overlaps substantially with an earlier one, whose answers address the general mechanics of analyzing one's own games, and would probably be of use to you. I'd like to address just one small part of your question that doesn't overlap:

In the search for critical positions - do you start from the beginning, or from the end (last move)?

Now whether a position in a game is "critical" or not isn't some objective feature of the position itself, but is rather a function of the position and the player who faces it. What I mean is: many a position in which you or I would say that we have a critical decision to make, Capablanca or Fischer might recognize it as trivial, and in other positions where we might blindly think there's nothing important to consider, players like them might say instead that there are deep considerations to be made.
So I don't think you need to be going through your game after the fact (forward, backward or any other way) trying to identify what the critical junctures were. You know what positions you considered critical when you were playing the game (when you agonized over choosing between two moves, when you spent a looooong time thinking, etc.), and those are critical points where self-analysis can be especially beneficial.
One habit you could get into is making a note of such moments on your scoresheet while you're playing (circle the move, make an X, whatever). Then not too long after the game, try to record as much of what your thought process was at those points. Later on you can look at what you were thinking during the game in a fresh light, and try to find improvements to your in-game mental analysis. Speaking to another part of your question: checking yourself with an engine is a good idea, but you should try to catch your own mistakes first, and only then let Stockfish or whatever show you all kinds of things you never considered or noticed.
Comment: @User, I answered the way that I did in part because a point where the engine evaluation changes drastically is easy to find, so I feel like there's not much to say about how to find those. More importantly, though, many such points will be due to simple blunders on a player's part, and don't necessarily reflect the relative difficulty of the position in which the blunder was made. In terms of analyzing one's own games for the sake of improvement, I still feel that the sort of junctures that I described as "critical" (where you found a decision tough to make) are quite important.
Comment: I prefer to go backwards, most of the time I go from losing to totally equal mirrored material (and this makes me feel happy)
Comment: By critical positions I meant a couple of things:
a) turning points (e.g. objective computer evaluation of position changes from -2.00 to +2.00)

b) the game reaches a tactical resolution, where in the next 2-3 moves it will be decided who will play for a win for the next 30 moves.

Whether or not those were noticed by the player during the game - I still think the goal of analysis remains to find such moments (how you find those is another matter).