Uses for tzimbalo fruit of varying ripeness?

Question: First post! I like growing unusual fruit, but I'm a bit of a cooking novice, especially when it comes to fruit. We've just ripped out our tzimbalo (Solanum caripense) plants for the season, and now I have hundreds of these little fruit and no idea what to do with them.
Ripe tzimbalo are juicy, super sweet, and pretty tangy. I've heard some say that they have an aftertaste reminiscent of artificial sweetener, but I don't find that to be true -- then again, I can't remember the last time I knowingly ate artificial sweetener. I find the ripest ones make a nice snack on their own, but they pack so much punch I can only eat a few at a time.
Unripe tzimbalo don't have much sweetness and are so zingy they aren't really edible.

As you can see, there's a lot of green in my harvest, and I'm not sure these fruit will do much post-pick ripening. (Tzimbalo take a notoriously long time to ripen, and we're not exactly in their preferred South American climate...)
Ideas that have been suggested to me include making chutney or a jam. I've never done either and wonder if:

The varying ripeness (or general under-ripeness) will be a problem
There are any tricks for ripening these little guys up
There are ideas other than jam or chutney that I should consider

Administrative note: I know that recipe requests are discouraged, but I don't think this is exactly that, since:

there is a question about how the (varying) ripeness affects the culinary uses of the fruit and/or the ability to make jam at all;
there appears to be precedent for posting this type of question; and
the highest voted answer in the Culinary Uses Guidelines affirms its validity, as my Internet searches have turned up exactly zero recipes and to the best of my knowledge the fruit is not available in U.S. supermarkets.

Thanks in advance for your ideas!
Answer: When it comes to the part about underripe fruit: that's ok to use in chutney, pickles, and other preserved recipes. There are recipes which are made intentionally for underripe fruit, like mangoes. You may want to adjust the sugar to your taste.
As for other uses, while I've never had tzimbalis, there are several methods typically used for very tangy fruit. Pickled pieces of it (alone or as a mixed pickle) and liqueur come to mind. Aside of that, you could try pureeing it and see if it is a good substitute for tamarind paste. Or mix the puree with random creamy ingredients and see which combination strikes you as a good dip.
Also, these being a solanum, try them as a substitute in recipes for unripe tomatoes. Although these will have a high overlap with the pickle suggestion, you might find a salsa or two that work.


Nougat downloaded but now not in notifications

Question: I got an over the air nougat update on my Nexus 5x phone. I downloaded it but hadn't installed it yet. Now I don't see the notification on the phone. How can I get it back so I can click to install it?  Note I already tried check for updates but no luck there.
Answer: If you don't want to sideload it I believe you will get it with the next OTA wave. Also, I remember people were forcing OTA with Google Service Framework disabled back when 5.0 came out, but I havent tried it so I really don't know if that works or not. Here are the steps if you want to give it a try:

Find Google Service Framework in the Apps section of your Settings menu
Force stop it.
Try the System Update option now.
Comment: Thanks I'll wait for it. I am currently on marshmallow and Google service fwk is not an app I see in the app list.


Sequel Pro "SSH port forwarding failed"

Question: When I try to connect to MySQL via Sequel Pro SSH I get the following error:

Unable to connect to host a.fcknet.dk because the port connection via SSH was refused.
Please ensure that your MySQL host is set up to allow TCP/IP connections (no --skip-networking) and is configured to allow connections from the host you are tunnelling via.
You may also want to check the port is correct and that you have the necessary privileges.
Checking the error detail will show the SSH debug log which may provide more details.
MySQL said: Lost connection to MySQL server at 'reading initial communication packet', system error: 0

I checked my my.cnf, and the following section existed:
#
# Instead of skip-networking the default is now to listen only on
# localhost which is more compatible and is not less secure.
bind-address            = 127.0.0.1

I am able to successfully connect through SSH and then manually connecting to the MySQL server via the mysqlcommand. How do I make this work? :-)
Thanks in advance.
Answer: I may be mistaken here but I think that if MySQL binds to the localhost it only listens via a socket, so it will not be connectable via localhost:3306 (which is how the tunnelling will work).
Test this by trying to telnet to it: telnet 127.0.0.1 3306

Sequel Pro "SSH port forwarding failed"


How do multiple displays work on a AMD 785G / ATI HD 4200 motherboard?

Question: I just ordered a ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO which has the AMD 785G chipset and HD4200 integrated graphic. The board has VGA, DVI, and HDMI outputs. I'm wondering how many outputs I can run at once, and from what connectors? My guess is that I can only use the VGA, and either the DVI or the HDMI in a dual setup. But not the HDMI and the DVI at the same time. Is this correct?
If I have devices plugged into both the HDMI and the DVI ports is there a way to choose between which port I want to use? I have a dual 19" monitor setup, as well as a LCD TV. I'd like to run the VGA and the DVI into my two monitors, and then the HDMI to my TV. Then when I want to watch something on the TV I'd like to be able to switch over from the DVI to the HDMI. Is this possible with out crawling under my desk and unplugging/plugging things in?
Update
I found the following in the manual off ASUS's website, which confirms my original suspicion that HDMI and DVI can't be used at the same time. But I'd still like to know if it's possible through software to switch between using the HDMI and DVI.
Answer: You should be able to use all the connections on separated displays on most graphic cards


Where can I find biological time series data?

Question: I'm looking for datasets for biological systems that have been modelled by systems of ODEs (or more general biological time series data). I can't even find a simple predator-prey dataset (from a legit source). Where can I find biological data (ecological, protein concentrations, etc vs. time)?
Comment: Do you have enough answers to validate one of them?
Comment: I discussed it with my advisor and I ended up using your dataset Laurent Duval.
Comment: Very glad! Good luck with your research
Answer: You can find data related to the Canadian lynx and snowshoe hare pelt-trading records of the Hudson Bay Company, starting in 1845. It seems to be a standard dataset, described for instance in Predator-Prey Models.

The base repository is Lynx and Hare Data, and you can find for instance the csv file lynxhare.csv.
The Lotka-Volterra Models for predactor/prey pairs have apparently been used here and here, for instance. Run, hare, run.
Comment: Lol, that's not the problem. If you look at the other suggested website [LTER Network](https://portal.lternet.edu/nis/home.jsp). It is a well-managed data repo, associated with the NSF. So I could comfortable cite one of its datasets in a paper. I don't know where B. Blais got his hands on the dataset he is using (or if I could comfortable cite it in a paper).
Comment: Thanks, yeah, if you go up a few folders there are other datasets. My concern now is are this lynx-hare datasets usable in a paper (i.e. legit).
Comment: I pointed this one as an example, on purpose (took some time to find it). You can trace a lot of papers using this data. As long as you cite them, I can foresee a little chance that Hudson bay fur trader, hare or lynx descendants sue you.
Comment: Sure. I am not from the domain, just tried to help with an example  I though was "visible".
Answer: I didn't get it: are you looking for synthtic datasets only, or are you looking for real time series data for validating your own ODE models?
In any case, try  perhaps
The Long Term Ecological Research Repository

" The Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) program concentrates on studies of ecological processes that play out at time scales spanning decades to centuries. Long-term data sets from the LTER program provide a context to evaluate the nature and pace of ecological change, to interpret its effects, and to forecast the range of future biological responses to change."
Comment: Thanks. I'm looking to do parameter estimations, so real data that already has an ODE model associated with it.
Answer: I don't know what exactly you would qualify as 'biological' data, but I would classify predator/prey relationships as 'ecological' ... and therefore I'd look in one of two places:

DataONE (Data Observation Network for Earth).   Searches about 30 archives of environmental & ecological data.
Dryad, a repository for evolutionary & environmental data.  Some journals in the field require data be deposited here if you publish papers through them.

DataONE searches Dryad, but Dryad also allows browsing, or searching by the journal in which the data was used, which might help you to find data of interest.
I'm personally not aware of any search engines in the ecological & environmental sciences that allow for searching by the dimensionality of the data.  You tend to see that sort of restriction when there are many different types of instruments observing the same regions ... like in astronomy and solar physics.


A guide to moderating Computer Science Stack Exchange yourself — close voting

Question: We've had complaints in the past that too many questions were closed by moderators. And as the site grows, we have more questions in need of closing. We have a growing number of users who can cast close votes. So, shamelessly ripped off from Ninefingers's post on Cryptography Meta, I give you:
A guide to moderating Computer Science Stack Exchange yourself — close voting
Comment: I decided to feature this because I think more people need to engage in community moderation. Help us keep the site great!
Comment: "We've had complaints in the past that too many questions were closed by moderators. And as the site grows, we have more questions in need of closing." these two sentences do not go together. the 1st seems to refer to complaints by users that they dont want their questions closed. the 2nd refers to how to encourage the mass user base instead of mods to assist in closing questions. ie _non sequitur...._ would like to add answer on opposite side/balance of why to _avoid_ closing questions, but maybe would be _deleted_ so will refrain for now =( .. note se mgt has adjd this for improvements...
Comment: There is a third option, and this is the one advocated here: closing by community.
Answer: Rationale: why do we close questions?
There are really two ways to do moderation. If you've been on any of the <code>.moderated</code> newsgroups you'll be well aware that to get a post on there, it needs to undergo a review process first and be accepted. The aim is to keep problem discussions from arising.
SE is slightly different - it works the other  way. Anyone can ask a question on SE and closing a question is the equivalent of putting that question back into review/improve mode. It's a feedback mechanism designed to react to problem cases only, so the usual business of asking and answering good questions can just... happen.
Why do we close a question?
The philosophy of SE is that each site handles questions on problems you face or things you are trying to understand. The don't ask section of the help center gives you a good overview of things that don't work - to summarise:

Some questions invite arguments or extended debate that suck up time when members could be helping other people.
Some questions are too broad, too narrow or have other content problems.
Some questions belong elsewhere.

These have been worked out over time and with a lot of experience from Stack Overflow and are, broadly speaking true. Sometimes, exceptions are made - it is always a case-by-case thing.
Is closing like deletion?
No. Actually, deletion is a different concept on SE. Closed questions are put "into improve mode" if you like, and are still visible for anyone to improve. That's the idea. Deleted questions are different — they have a red background and are invisible to all but high reputation users. So deletion is different and solves a slightly different problem.
What are the requirements for closing a question?
If you have 500 reputation (3000 on a non-beta site), you can vote to close any question for the reasons above. More on that in a moment.
If you do not have this level of reputation, you will find that under the flag menu, you have an option "this question does not belong here". That will raise a flag for users who can vote to close.
Why can anyone vote to close/reopen?
Firstly, anyone with sufficient reputation can vote to close or reopen (or flag as such, with lower reputation) because it is your site. This is really important - it's about expressing what you feel works and doesn't.
Ok, so how does it work?

Ok, the important piece. Voting to close works like this:

Underneath the question, there will be a close link. When you click on this, you will be presented with a list of options from which you can pick a close reason most appropriate to the situation.

If other people have voted, you will see blue numbers against the reason they chose.

The exact duplicate page takes you to a page that allows you to specify a question to close as an exact duplicate against.
The "off topic" page will present you with two options - one to migrate here, to meta, and one just off topic. At the moment, only moderators can send questions elsewhere, so feel free to cast a vote here and flag if you have a target in mind - we are collecting statistics to build a "migrate to" list, but that is not implemented yet.
The other options are straight out closes.
Once you pick your option and click "close", your vote is registered. You cannot retract it at this stage, but nobody else, including moderators, will know it was you who voted.
If five people agree, the question will be closed. You've seen the effect of these before.
Your name, and the name of other closers, will appear on the bottom of the question.

How does vote to re-open work?
A closed question has a "reopen" link underneath it. If you click this, a dialog box will ask you if you are sure - click yes and your vote will be registered to re-open the question.
Below, you can see an example of the re-open link with two votes registered for re-opening (out of five).

What happens if I make a mistake?
Don't worry! You can retract your close vote by clicking the "close" button again. This is useful, for example, if the question has been edited since you voted to close. Note that you cannot use this to change the close reason (if you retract a close vote, you can't cast a new one).
Furthermore, unless five people agree, or a moderator agrees, the question won't be closed.
Why are some questions closed with fewer votes?
Moderator close votes complete the required vote count immediately, no matter how many people have voted. This applies for both close/reopen votes.
Furthermore, closure as duplicate can be faster for two reasons. If the asker agrees that their question is a duplicate, they can validate the closure immediately. This shows a final duplicate close vote from "Community". Also, if a user with a gold tag badge in one of the question's initial tags votes to close or reopen as a duplicate, this takes effect immediately; in this case a gold tag badge icon appears after the closer's name.
I've seen a closed question and I disagree. What can I do?
Well, one option is to use your re-open vote! You can also always raise a discussion here on meta to seek clarification on why a question is closed and hopefully either a resolution will be reached, or you will get an explanation for the closure.
My name appears on the bottom. Isn't this going to cause problems with other users?
Actually, surprisingly few closed questions generate any response at all.
However, if you experience difficulties as a result of closing a question, you can and should contact a moderator via the flag mechanism (which is anonymous). We can then take any necessary action.
How do I find questions I might need to close? What about re-opens?
In the review queues, specifically the close votes queue and the reopen votes queue. These queues are open to everyone who has the close vote privilege. For each question, you get to decide whether to close/reopen or not; enough "no" votes take the question out of the queue. An edit from the queue is a vote to not close or reopen.
Comment: "I've seen a closed question and I disagree. What can I do?" += Improve it so others can see it's value, too!
Comment: I take it you copied an updated post from another site? I had replaced some screenshots with newer ones (as seen *here*), which have been outdates since then, too. In any case, the pictures in the current version don't represent [cs.SE] well.
Comment: @Raphael Yes, sorry, I updated on [meta.security.se] (because someone there had been led astray by statements that were no longer true) and decided to copy the changes here but didn't pay attention to your screenshots or to the review queue links.
Answer: There are some useful guidelines that can help you decide whether a question should be closed.

Anything that is clearly offtopic or incomprehensible should be closed immediately.
Bad-subjective questions have no place on any SE site. Refer users to Chat for discussion.
Many (bad) basic questions can be closed as duplicate of one of our reference questions (or the whole list). These are good write-ups of general nature that should help the asking person to solve their problem and/or come back with a better question.
Reference answers to frequently asked questions
We don't disallow questions on homework or exercise problems, but we have two demands: display of own effort and a specific question.
Homework policy
The return of the homework question
What to do when the answer is already part of the question
Sometimes, questions are little more than a request to proofread a solution attempt. This is either out of our scope (original problems) and should be done by proper peer review, or the job of TAs (exercise problems).
What to do when the answer is already part of the question
Questions about correctness of a solution
How to deal with questions about crank-heavy topics?
Questions that ask for lists of things rather than single answers are generally disliked on the network. Never mind that you find some on any site; most were created in early days because they attract many readers, but we have learned to stay clear.
What about list questions?
Our first list question

If you close, please post a comment explaining why; only then can the user learn what to change. You don't have to do much typing in many cases: we have a repository of standard responses for common cases of close-worthy questions.


What are some alternatives to hops?

Question: I have a friend that is allergic to hops and can not drink our beer (or just about any others for that matter).  What alternatives do I have if I want to make a beer for him?  What could I substitute for bittering?  What would my options be for aroma and flavoring hop alternatives?  If I could even just get a bittering component into the beer, I would have
Comment: The white sage sounds really good. I have some juniper berries for some flavor, but when and how much?
Answer: I'd recommend the book Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers.  Don't let the name put you off,  it's packed with lots of useful historical information on brewing before the advent of hop usage.  The Homebrewer's Garden is also a good book on this subject, and a bit more succinct.
Yarrow is good for bittering, and grows wild throughout the US.  It can be more of an 'upper' compared to hops, which have a sedative effect.
Artemesia vulgaris, aka mugwort, is a good bittering option and was used extensively before hops gained prominence.
Artemesia absinthia, aka wormwood, the signature ingredient in absinthe, is powerfully bitter, and somewhat controversial as an ingredient.  I once made a tea out of it to test it's bitterness ,and... goddamn.  Bitter, bitter stuff.  Use caution with this one, since it contains a supposed neurotoxin, thujone, which is also cited for the magic 'green fairy' effect of absinthe.
For an aroma addition, there are lots of options.  Moonlight brewing makes an interesting spruce tip beer.  Juniper berries can also be used.  You could do a wit-like beer with coriander, orange peel and pinch of chamomile for aroma additions.  Maybe focus on yeast estery styles, such as saison, belgians, hefeweizen, etc. that don't call for a strong hop flavor and aroma addition.
Many of these brewing herbs can be bought from Seven Bridges online.   The Yelp listing says they have closed (assuming this was the brewing supply store in Santa Cruz, CA.)
Comment: I used dry heather to dry-hop my wee-heavy... It turned out to be pretty nice and well balanced.
Answer: You'll want to take a look at brewing Gruit, a style of beer brewed with herbs in place of hops.
Personally I haven't had any practical experience brewing a Gruit but this site has a few recipes you could use as a starting point, good luck!
Answer: I made a beer a while back in which I substituted tea for hops. Tea seems to have similar properties in that if you boil for a long time, you'll get bitterness, and less time will give you flavor and aroma.
The result was interesting (I used green tea and a bud light clone recipe because I wanted to make sure I tasted the tea). In hindsight, the tea flavor was fairly robust and could have stood up to a stronger beer.
Comment: I used perhaps 25 tea bags in a 5 gallon batch, and I think it was too much. A heavier beer or less tea would have produced a better result.
Comment: That sounds really interesting. Do you have any other tips? How much tea did you use for what size batch?
Answer: I've heard of heather being used, though never used it myself.
Answer: Heather has been used in a variety of beers; even one without any hops at all in the Iron Brewer contest in Toronto 2014. It really is interesting and the amount of heather needs to be tuned-in due to its intense taste. A combination of hops and heather tasted - as far as I could say - not as good, or let me say more unexpected.
Heather might serve as an alternative, I think.
Comment: It worked well with my malty wee-heavy. The final beer turned to bee sweet and bitter.
Answer: white sage to me is the best. Ihave used it as an addative about 50-50
Answer: Many years ago I read that hops and cannabis were related. In fact the suggestion was to graft hops onto cannabis roots in order to grow a plant that looked like hops but that contained THC. I never tried it; don't know if it would work or even if they are related in fact. But if so, perhaps cannabis could replace hops in brewing. Again, NO IDEA if this will work.
Use at Your Own Risk. Your mileage may vary. Batteries not included.

What are some alternatives to hops?


Which type of flour would be better to use in this case?

Question: I have 450g whole wheat white flour and I would like to bake a bread which needs 500g. I have also different types of flour, corn and barley flour, Which one to use for that 50g shortage of flour? Note that the shops are closed now, that's why I need to use one of flour types I have at home.
Comment: Can you give us some more detail about exactly what flours you have?
Comment: @ElendilTheTall: Sure. As I said, 450 g whole wheat flour, corn and barley flour (200 g of each).
Answer: As you will be using whole wheat flour as opposed to the flour called for in the recipe, you won't need to choose based on preserving the original texture. I would recommend the barley flour as being most compatible with wheat flour.
Answer: I second the barley flour since it has more protein content than the corn, and bread flours tend to favor higher protein flours.
Your WWW flour is going to be 90% of the flour content so the small 10% won't affect much overall.
Comment: Depending on the locale, the "corn flour" might not be flour at all. In the UK, that just refers to cornstarch, which is not an appropriate substitution at all. If it's actually cornmeal then it might be OK.


Do I need to watch all James Bond movies starring Daniel Craig before watching Skyfall to understand the plot and characters?

Question: Do I need to watch the James Bond movies starring Daniel Craig (Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace) before watching Skyfall to understand the plot and characters?
Comment: You might want to specify your question a little. Are you asking if you need to watch it to understand the plot and characters? This question surely can work, but it could use a little more substance, I think.
Comment: I'd argue the plot wasn't all that understandable in Skyfall period. Enjoy it for the chase scenes.
Answer: Yes... and no.
Contrary to popular belief, and to every other Bond movie ever produced, it is entirely necessary to possess foreknowledge of the previous Daniel Craig Bond movies to garner the appropriate amount of appreciation for what is occurring.
The Daniel Craig Bond movies represent a canonical reboot, in which during the first film Bond earns his 00 status - a part of his history every single other pre-Craig film has been chronologically set beyond.
The Craig films aren't a prequel, they are a total reboot. The first two films (Casino Royal and Quantum of Solace) make a bigger proposition of linking the narratives together, but Skyfall is a direct continuation from this film.
On the other hand...
The diegesis of Skyfall is relatively self contained, and isn't directly dependent on individual plot elements from the previous films. There are no recurring characters that add momentum to the plot, and (as with previous Bond installments) no need for direct knowledge. The experience gained from the first two films is hugely advantageous in understanding the character's development, motivation and of course...

 why he's over emotional about the death of his boss, who has been an advocate and mentor in the past two films

to put it on the Lucas scale: the modern James Bond films are closer to Indiana Jones than Star Wars... Indiana Jones is a character central franchise, in which each installment contributes to the overall construction and understanding of a specific individual, but each iteration is not totally dependent on foreknowledge of the last...
Comment: Thanks for this answer, perfectly to the point and covered all details. And I was already upset when an inferior answer was already accepted after 3 seconds, good that you didn't let yourself be mislead therefrom. (And let's just hope *Spectre* is *not* gonna be Bond's *Kingdom of the Crystal Skull*, or at least not Craig's, Brosnan already had his afterall.) ;-)
Comment: Thanks, I understand what you mean. I decided to watch the first two movies before Skyfall.
Comment: I'm glad you chose to, and hope you've appreciated the way the story 'plays out' in lieu.
Comment: @NapoleonWilson, I'm so Sad that Spectre *was* Bond's *...Crystal Skull*. What a shame!
Answer: No, it is not necessary to watch the modern bond movies in sequence, nor is it necessary to watch any of the James Bond films in any particular order. A previous bond film was only referenced by a later film once in the entire series, and each movie can essentially be considered isolated from the others.
Comment: Though, I'd definitely not sign that for *Casino Royale* and *Quantum of Solace*, they directly build upon each other. But in general, yeah, you're right, I guess.
Comment: Sorry but this is not true. 4 (>1) references come to mind: 'For Your Eyes Only' dossier, and mention of 007's 'licence to kill' each appear (I believe) in the film immediately prior to that of each of those titles. After Bond's wife Tracy dies in OHMSS, and of course revenge is sought in DAF. Finally, Bond lays flowers at her grave in FYEO. Those are just what come to mind -- I'm sure there are more wife-related references even aside from any others.
Comment: Actually IIRC  licence to kill has a reference to bond being married once, and being quite affected by it when someone mentioned it. I'd consider all the movies from OHMSS to dalton's movies to be part of the same continuity. Brosnan's movies were... strange (a pity). While M carries on to the Craig movies, its definitely a reboot
Comment: There were actually two Casino Royales...
Comment: @copper.hat But only one in the "official" Eon line of Bond movies.
Answer: No it is not necessary for any Bond film. Each can be enjoyed on its own.
There are some generic aspects ('Q', 'M', innuendo, etc.) that one becomes accustomed to, but prior knowledge is unnecessary.
While I enjoy the light hearted approach of the early films, the Craig generation are closer in spirit to the relative darkness of the Bond character in the Fleming series.
Comment: Did you read the accepted answer? If you're going to disagree with it, could you explain why? He makes a very strong argument for why it's important to watch the newer ones in sequence.
Comment: That's really a nice statement... you should consider adding it to your answer rather than leaving it as a comment. :)
Comment: @Catija: Well, I agree with all of the accepted answer except the necessary part. Seeing the others provides additional context which will add to the enjoyment, but I believe the movie is sufficiently self contained. Like le Carré, previous history is addiitional sauce, but each novel is a meal in itself. As an aside, at present I am watching the older Bonds with my 6th grade son & 8th grade daughter in what ever order takes our fancy. Each is delightful on many levels and stands alone. Craig marks a departure, but not in terms of stand alone quality. My opinion, of course :-).
Comment: @Catija: I think our comments are footnotes for the interested :-). I am an unmitigated Bond fan. My dad used to bring me when they were considered vaguely risqué (imagine Ireland in the '60s). Big step up from The Saint :-).
Comment: *"I think our comments are footnotes for the interested"* - No, they can vanish at any point. Anything that elaborates on the answer and actually gives it substance belongs *into* the answer.
Answer: I know I'm late but to set the record strait Daniel's bond is not stand alone. Notice how he is, when he first gets his 00 status he's wreckless and makes plenty mistakes he also learns his lessons that make him the man he is in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. And in Skyfall he has moved on and is a more experienced James Bond them he looses female M and meets Moneypenny and male M, therefore setting him up as the original James Bond we first saw with Connery. His Bond films are connected as you can see in Spectre also with the return of Mister White saying "I always knew death would wear a familiar face". This is referencing back to when Bond destroyed Quantum but White got away and now Bond will see the true cause of all his pain.


TX nLocktime and mempool

Question: Where is a broadcasted TX located at before it's nLocktime reached? in mempool or not? I have tried a lot can't figure out. Help please.
Answer: Such transactions are located only with the transaction creator. Nodes generally do not keep in their mempool transactions that cannot be immediately mined.
Answer: further to Achow's answer, here an extract from Andreas' bitcoin bible ("Mastering Bitcoin, 2nd edition"):

If nLocktime is nonzero and below 500 million, it is interpreted as a
  block height, meaning the transaction is not valid and is not relayed
  or included in the blockchain prior to the specified block height. If
  it is above 500 million, it is interpreted as a Unix Epoch timestamp
  (seconds since Jan-1-1970) and the transaction is not valid prior to
  the specified time. Transactions with nLocktime specifying a future
  block or time must be held by the originating system and transmitted
  to the bitcoin network only after they become valid. If a transaction
  is transmitted to the network before the specified nLocktime, the
  transaction will be rejected by the first node as invalid and will not
  be relayed to other nodes.

TX nLocktime and mempool


How to see download sync speed when syncing the Bitcoin 0.17.1 Blockchain on Ubuntu 18?

Question: I'm syncing the bitcoin 0.17.1 blockchain from the beginning on Ubuntu 18 using Bitcoin Core Qt gui client. Is there a way to see the download speed of the Bitcoin Blockchain and how much time I have left to get it fully synced?
Comment: Do you care about download speed (Mb/s) specifically? Or just 'time until it is synced'? With a fast internet connection, CPU is usually the bottleneck to getting synced.
Answer: If you care about overall sync performance, the download speed is usually not the bottleneck.
If you want to calculate your pure download speed, you can use getnettotals. There is a value totalbytesrecv (amount of bytes received since the Bitcoin Core instance has been started).
You can calculate the speed by reading the sync start time out of your debug.log (or you eventually wrote down the sync start time manually).
But be aware that the CPU intense validation of blocks may have (very likely) throttle your download.
Comment: @Patoshi You should also configure bitcoind to actually use that memory, with the `dbcache=` config file entry.
Comment: It currently in an ubuntu vm with 8 cpu core and 3gb rm allocated. Is that enough or should i allocate more?


Can I use Representations (ArcGIS 10) to enclose a group of polygons with an outline without altering data?

Question:
ESRI describes representations as follows: A feature class representation is a property of a feature class that allows you to
  specify and store a series of rules that dictate the way the features
  in the feature class should be drawn.

I've used a few simple representations in the past to correct the appearance of some line features as well as complex outlines of polygons features with varying levels of success. I am still trying to fully understand the usefulness of representations. So far it seems like too much effort with little reward.
Right now I have a situation where I have a group of polygons around which i would like to show an outline. I know I can merge them but the group has several types and is always changing and I would like to make this outline dynamic; if a polygon is added or removed, the outline will change accordingly. I basically want to blow all the inner lines away without having to alter the data in any way.  In terms of symbology, it must remain a polygon outline with no fill.
Can this be done with representations? I was thinking of perhaps using the "Enclosing Polygon Effect" with "Close Path" method but that doesn't do anything. If I can't use representations is there another dynamic way of doing this without having to alter data or using masks or overlaying layer symbologies?
Below are images of what the layer looks like and what I want it look like.
Here is what the layer looks like (yellow outline):

Here is what I want it to look like:
Answer: Use free representation to display everything that rules can't cover.
I use ArcObjects to construct free representations for signs that I can't create using rules
Comment: Can you perhaps elaborate upon this Answer?  To me it is not certain that it answers the Question.


Connecting Biomes

Question: I'm in some urgent need of advice about linking together biomes in a realistic manner. Can a taiga connect to an alpine tundra to the north, and a steppe to the south? Then what would branch off of those? I'm sure there's complexity to it that I'm missing. I know the further from the equator generally means colder climates.
Comment: Your question seems very rudimentary and simplistic. This makes me think that you might want to do more research first, getting an understanding of the subject matter(?) E.g. have you had a look at Wikipedia? The article on Biomes has a nice map of our planet that seems to already answer your question: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biome
Comment: Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been [moved to chat](https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/96792/discussion-on-question-by-lordjacifer-connecting-biomes).
Comment: Take for example the Siberian taiga. What lies north of it? What lies south of it? Please note that (1) *alpine* tundra is, well, *alpine*, that is, a high altitude biome; (2) north of the taiga you usually find plain tundra, not the alpine variant; (3) Earth's biomes are not arranged in neat latitude strips extending all around the world -- things such as mountains, deserts, oceans, inland seas and so on make for a complicated arragement...
Comment: I wasn't familiar with the term "taiga" so I googled it.  The dictionary definition that popped up on top is: "the sometimes swampy coniferous forest of high northern latitudes, especially that between the tundra and steppes of Siberia and North America."  So that answers your specific question.  You might want to edit to discuss the basics and then ask the question you're still not sure of.
Answer: There are several ways to achieve this, but it depends on how large, what barriers you have between your biomes and what arrangement they are
If your Biomes are encapsulated environments (for instance, in domes):

Connect using an airlock is the most simplest way. It keeps the environments separate, allows minimal cross-contamination of species and seeds, and minimal energy loss between environments.
Connect using as little interaction as possible, a common wall perhaps with a small tunnel or opening. You would have some cross-contaminants and energy loss but hopefully this would be minimal.

If your Biomes are 'open' and not encapsulated:

You can place each one in a valley, or depression, separated by ridges or walls. Temperature differences can hopefully be contained within it, however keep in mind this is energy intensive but it depends on how advanced and large your biomes are.
You can separate your biomes by distance: this is the most rudimentary, but your biomes would need to be very large to make this worth the energy loss and contamination. In this instance you're looking at hundreds of kilometres for each biome. Cross contamination is a real possibility in this scenario, depending on your original environment.
Answer: Copy from the real world.

https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1768/pp1768.pdf

A new map of standardized, mesoscale (tens to thousands of hectares)
  terrestrial ecosystems for the conterminous United States was
  developed by using a biophysical stratification approach. The
  ecosystems delineated in this top-down, deduc- tive modeling effort
  are described in NatureServe's classifica- tion of terrestrial
  ecological systems of the United States. The ecosystems were mapped as
  physically distinct areas and were associated with known distributions
  of vegetation assemblages by using a standardized methodology first
  developed for South America.

Find a map that shows biomes.  Biomes might be called ecosystems as is the case in the linked paper.  Find on the map the biome you are interested in and see how it grades into its neighbors and why (latitude, altitude, moisture etc).  You can deduce your own rules if you want, or just copy from existing areas into your built world.  No-one will recognize the Ozarks turned at a right angle on your map.  Unless you name them the Zozarks in which case some folks might figure it out and smile at your joke.
Comment:  I laughed harder than I should have at this.
Answer: Taiga cannot border steppe (at least wide forest have to be in between, or, like in Siberia - some low forested mountain range), but tundra can (It is actualy a "cold steppe" - it would be smooth translation from cold steppe to temperate one).
Answer: Yes
Taiga can, and almost always do, border tundra. Between 60 and 75 degrees north/south, taiga gives way to tundra, especially if there's a cold surface current flowing by the coast.
Look at Canada, for example, where the turquoise subarctic continental climate, aka taiga, borders grey tundra.

Cold steppes bordering taiga is, as far as I know, without precedent - there is always at least a thin strip of humid continental climate in between the two. The closest you get is in the Western half of the US, but still the two biomes do not actually touch:

So, yes and no is the best answer I can give you.

Connecting Biomes


Texas holdem who wins

Question: So in Texas holdem if two players have a straight with the same card who wins, (one player has a pair of 6s and the other player has a king)??
Comment: Can you please list all of the cards each player has in addition to the ones they share?
Comment: Am I the only one who notices the Irony in the answers at this very moment? Assuming SE is a bit of a competition to have the best answer
Comment: possible duplicate of [Who has the winning hand in this Texas-holdem scenario?](http://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/12240/who-has-the-winning-hand-in-this-texas-holdem-scenario)
Answer: In Texas Hold'Em you use the strongest five-card hand that can be made using your two in-hand cards and the 5 board cards.  The two cards that you do not use are ignored completely and have no effect on the hand rankings.  (This is similar to 7-card stud and other 7-card variants)
In the example you present, it sounds like each player has an identically-ranked straight as their best five cards.  The pair of sixes would be ignored, as would the high-card king.  This would be a tie and the two players would split the pot.
Answer: In Texas Hold'em you construct the best 5 card hand you can out of the 7 cards available. The cards not included in the hand have no bearing on the winning or losing of any individual.
For the scenario you described, if both players have straights and that are made up of the same set of cards and neither has a straight flush, then it is a tie and the pot is split.

Texas holdem who wins


Can't access other drives

Question: My 500 gb hard drive with windows 7 has recently crashed with all my personal files on it.  I have called HP and have a new hdd in the mail but I am unable to remove old files from the old hdd.  I am a pretty good with computers and have put ubuntu on a flash drive in the hopes of accessing my files and moving them to an external hdd.  But I have run into an error "adding read ACL for uid 1000 to' /media/USERNAME' failed: Operation not supported."  I have read several pages on the same problem but I am new to ubuntu and can not figure out what to do. Please Help.
Answer: Your question is unclear but I am assuming that  this happens either when you plug in the external drive, or possibly when trying to mount the 500Gb internal drive.
It should still be possible to mount these drives from the command line.
If you open up a terminal you can use the following command to identify the disks:
sudo fdisk -l

this will list the hard drives installed.
The internal hard drive should be /dev/sda. Divided into partitions such as /dev/sda1 etc. The external disk will probably show up as /dev/sdb1. You can often confirm which is which by the disk size given.
Next you will need to create mount points for them.
 sudo mkdir /media/disk1
 sudo mkdir /media/disk2

now you can mount them manually
sudo mount -t ntfs /dev/sda1 /mnt/disk1
sudo mount -t ntfs /dev/sdb1 /mnt/disk2

-t refers to the file system type. I am assuming these are ntfs if you have come from Windows. You will need to make sure you have the right partitions.
Once this is done you can copy files through the GUI assuming there are no other issues with the disk(s).

Can't access other drives


Blunder checklist for strong playrs

Question: I find myself having to use checklists of really simple stuff (like going over all captures, checks, threats, tactical themes, changes after a move) quickly in order to avoid very basic oversights from happening. Having to resort to this is of course quite discouraging, and I'm asking myself if the necessity to do so disappears as one grows stronger. So, do strong players (let's say rated 2200 and above) use such checklists?
Comment: My rating is about 2150 Elo at the moment, and I've never been able to use such checklists while playing. I suspect other players might have different experiences with using checklists though. But what I can say is that as your playing strength increases, the things you describe as "really simple stuff" have a tendency to become part of what you notice without having to consciously remind yourself to look for them.
Comment: Usually not explicitly, due to the pattern recognition strong players have built up.
Answer: Disclaimer: Every person has their own way of approaching these situations, but I think my experience is similar to the experience of most other (stronger) players.
In an implicit way everyone uses a checklist as you do. Weaker (or more unexperienced) players, maybe need to mentally go through all the points in order, whereas stronger (or more experienced) players are able to do so automatically at every move. When my opponent moves a piece, I automatically check which of my squares and pieces are now attacked and create a threat to me. Similarly I also check which squares are now less defended and if that opens an opportunity for me. Similarly I check for king's safety, tactical motives and other opportunities. This is however not explicitly checking if there is, for example, a fork attack pending, but more the realization that two pieces are in a position where a fork attack might happen (regardless if it is currently possible or not).
Nevertheless I sometimes take some time to evaluate the whole situation on the board. This includes tactical motives but rather focuses on strengths and weaknesses of my position and my opponent position, ideally leading to a plan that can later be executed. Here I often fall back to a checklist, looking for common features such as weak pawns, inactive pieces or open lines and diagonals.
As advice for you, there is no shame in trying to avoid blunders. If you have to look explicitly for tactical motives, then do it. With time you will get used to the most common patterns and find them more easily and quickly. Maybe you will also be able to find these patterns "by heart" (that is without having to look for them).  But even if not, your opponent will never know and your strength doesn't come from the way that you look for blunders, but how effectively you can identify them.
Answer: 1) Material presence
2) Direct threats. This includes any and all captures, even if they do not lead to anything conclusive - some could be used as in-between moves.
3) King Safety
That alone is enough to avoid blunders.
These are the first three steps of the Karpov Method.
Comment: Reading through this quickly, at first I didn't see how this answered the question. So to clarify, is this method something that Karpov states that he himself uses or is this a method that Karpov recommends that players use to avoid blunders?
Comment: @Scounged Both.

Blunder checklist for strong playrs


What is sandboxing?

Question: In security discussions, the topic of sandboxing often comes up. What is application sandboxing? How does it work, and what security vulnerabilities does it prevent?
Comment: Did you try a simple web search (aka googling) before asking here? Wikipedia has a nice, very simple explanation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandbox_(computer_security)
Answer: A "sandbox" is a play area for young children: it is supposed to be safe for them (they cannot hurt themselves) and safe from them (it is sand, they cannot break it). In the context of IT security, "sandboxing" means isolating some piece of software in such a way that whatever it does, it will not spread havoc elsewhere.
A common Unix way of sandboxing is the chroot command (which uses the chroot() system call). A process launched with this command sees only a subdirectory (what it sees as the root of the filesystem, the '/', is that subdirectory). The FreeBSD system has an enhanced version. More modern and thorough solutions use virtual machines (as in VMWare). This kind of sandboxing is meant for damage containment: you put a given process in a jail because in case it gets hacked through, say, a buffer overflow, the attacker is still in the jail and will not be able to impact other applications running on the same system.
Another kind of sandboxing is the one which lies at the core of programming languages like Java or C# (confusingly also called a "virtual machine"): the application code runs on a virtual CPU in which every single opcode is checked for violations (buffer overflows and underflows, type mismatches...). The structure of the languages and VM have been designed so that these checks are not too expensive. There again, this is damage containment, but with a finer granularity.
Sandboxing does not remove vulnerabilities; it just reduces the consequences of those vulnerabilities (e.g transforming a remote shell into a remote crash). A buffer overflow is a bug, regardless of whether a VM traps it or not.
Comment: When mentioning chroot for isolation it is well worth pointing out that chroot was intended for debugging. It is insecure when protecting a process that has or gained root rights. For secure versions of chroot, one might want to look at the grsec or vserver patches.
Comment: +1, even though the googlebait. Also, C# (actually .NET) doesnt really run in a VM, not the same way that Java applets do. Though it is managed memory, the CLR isnt really a VM in the full way that Java provides. But that's nitpicking.
Comment: I've never heard of that derivation of the term "sandbox". I thought it comes from the military and refers to the place where unexploded bombs are defused, for if it goes wrong, the detonation will just shuffle the sand around and no other harm is done.
Answer: Ok, so firstly, how do applications run?
On a standard operating system of the kind you're likely to be using right now, applications are launched by users. When an application is launched it is loaded into memory and given time to run on the cpu.
In order to get things done, rather than controlling the computer hardware directly, the application makes requests of the operating system. Developers call these system calls, or API calls. Essentially, everything a program does is either an operation on its own memory, or a system call to do something else.
Now, obviously, we can't just load applications and let them do anything, because otherwise users could do anything. So, the OS you're using right now has a concept of permissions. When a system call is made, the OS looks at the application context - who is running it? - and the permissions on the resource in question. I say resource rather than file because regedt32 will let you set permissions on registry keys and only root can open sockets below port 1024 on Linux.
So what can an application do? Anything you can do. Clearly, this is okay for say Windows explorer, but let's say you download another program, such as a pdf to sound converter (just a random suggestion). You're not sure if you trust "Ninefingerz-so-l33t-man", the developer who implemented it, but if you run it, it has access to everything you do.
Application sandboxing is about preventing that on some level. Tools like sandboxie or the SELinux sandbox hook those operating system calls and control at a more fine grained level what that program can do. For example, you might allow the program to edit anything under C:\Users\Ninefingers\temporaryisolateddata but everywhere else is read only. You might prevent it from making outbound connections on sockets, or reading the registry at all.
Of course, that is not the only way (hooking the kernel) to implement a sandbox. Google Chrome's sandbox on windows is implemented entirely by the program - the master google chrome process controls what the child processes can access, in a nutshell. This sandbox works by exploiting existing security controls in Windows, only allowing the child process to communicate back to the target process when it wants to take an action it would normally achieve via a system call. This way, the target process does the filtering of requests.
At its core, application sandboxing is about additional restrictions to prevent potentially malicious processes from hurting your system. It is an extension to the existing permissions model.
Note that Mandatory Access Control, a feature available in some operating systems, should, if implemented properly, sandbox everything according to who the user is and what the process is.
Answer: Sandboxing is a mechanism for information flow control. By running some code in a sandbox, you gain additional control about the inputs and outputs of the program. That means you can deny/mediate access to external data or other ressources in case the sandboxed program is compromised or itself malicious.
Often, a complex execution environment is included in the sandbox, for example Java and Java libraries in case of JVM-based sandboxes. Or you could run an application inside a dedicated VM, making that a sandbox for you with a complete legacy OS as execution environment.
To my knowledge, the state-of-the-art sandbox technology for x86 execution is described in Google's Java Native Client: http://research.google.com/pubs/pub34913.html
The concept of information flow control is essential to security design. The whole thing about privileges and MAC in linux is all about information flow control. Consequently, DJB notes in his paper "Some thoughts on security after ten years of qmail 1.0" that information flow and interfaces are substantial and "least privilege" is nothing but a distraction. However, he did not use explicit sandboxes such as a complete JVM, he used standard OS functionality to split qmail into several small programs with explicit, well-defined interfaces. And in fact, sandboxes are by design not much more than a replication/fine-tuning/improvement of what the OS (should) give you.
Comment: Information flow control is something different.
Comment: Care to elaborate? Fundamentally, this is all about restricting the access to (limiting the flow of) information. Look at Android, where a fundamental part of the App sandbox is that each App is started with a different UID.

What is sandboxing?


Finding range of $f(g(h(x)))$

Question:
$$\begin{align*}
f(x) &= \frac{2}{x+1}, \\
g(x) &= \cos x, \\
h(x) &= \sqrt{x+3}
\end{align*}
$$
  Find the range of $f(g(h(x)))$.

Please explain the problem.
Comment: Just to make sure.. You should review the concepts of [domain](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_of_a_function) and [range](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_(mathematics)) of a function.
Answer: You want to all the possible "outputs" of the composition of the three functions. First note that the range of the inner most function $h$ is all non-negative numbers. Hence the "input" for the function $g$ is all non-negative real numbers. But for those you in $g(x) = \cos(x)$ get all real numbers between $-1$ and $1$ (both included). Note now that the domain of $f$ is all the real numbers that are not equal to $-1$, hence the possible "inputs" of $f$ is the interval $(-1, 1]$.
So now you just need to determine the possible values of $f$ when $x$ is in $(-1, 1]$. Hint: For this note that $f$ is a decreasing function.

Finding range of $f(g(h(x)))$


Need advice on flavoring/sweetening my homebrew cider

Question: I've just finished my primary fermentation and have produced a cider that is coming in at 5.2%. I am about to bottle my cider and add some priming sugar to give it a bit of a fizz. I would like to try and flavor some of the ciders with a fruit coulis. am I correct in thinking that the natural sugar in the fruit should give the cider a natural fizz and I don't need to add any sugar? Also, I am a fan of a sweeter cider, I have been advise not to add more than a teaspoon of priming sugar, and to use a sugar substitute at the same stage if i wish to sweeten it. I have purchased Xylitol, I plan on trying a few combinations with the priming sugar/Xylitol & no additive fruit coulis. Does this all sound like it makes sense or am I just going to ruin my cider.
Answer: The safest thing, though it's a bit of additional work, is to sweeten the cider in the glass. Put an ounce or two of concentrated apple juice in the bottom of your glass before pouring a bottle of cider. This technique adds a fresh apple taste, doesn't introduce any artificial sweetener off flavours, doesn't involve chemical stabilizers, and has no risk re-fermentation.
Answer: Any fermentable sugar you add will convert to alcohol and in turn create CO2.  Any non-fermentable sweetner is a gamble on off flavors.  A suggestion would be to allow it to finish dry, add a dose of potassium sorbate to prevent refermentation, add a tested amount of apple juice concentrate to your liking for sweetness, keg and force carbonate the batch.  However, if you must  prime the batch,  artificial sweetners are your easiest choice.
Answer: In order to sweeten your cider you will have to add some type of non-fermenting sugar, such as a sweetener.
I have tried this in the past although I'm not too keen on the flavor of sweeteners.
You could look at disgorgement. This is a process used in sparkling wine and champagne making whereby during secondary fermentation within the bottle and bottle is placed upside down so that the yeast falls at the lid/cap. The neck of the bottle is then frozen opened added a small amount of sugar water and water to top up and then re-capped. This should give you the sweater taste.
Failing that you would have to brew it and stop it sweet or back sweeten it and then add CO2 in order to carbonate the drink, normally using a keg. (this can get expensive though)
Adding flavor you could experiment with fruit teabags and put that in during fermentation, I do this to make a fruit tea wine (fruit tea bags, grape juice from a carton) works very well and some great flavors.
Hope this helps
Answer: A different method is to bottle with additional sugar then pasteurize the bottles after they have carbonated but before too much sugar is consumed and the pressure gets too high inside the bottles.


Should a woman wear a gartel?

Question: My understanding of the halachic need for a gartel is very limited; is there any reason a woman should or should not wear one during prayer?
Comment: @ba So wear a pink gartel. I know of no men who wear those.
Comment: That a woman should not wear a man's garment may, indeed, be involved (or not), but that would still have to account for there being a difference between men and women that would over-ride the reason why men wear a gartel in the first place. I thought wearing a gartel had something to do with making a seperation between one's heart, which should be turned towards the sacred, and one's base instincts, as represented by male organs of reproduction. Why would a woman be different, if that is, in fact, the reason for wearing a gartel? (Big 'if' there.)
Comment: לא תלבש may be involved
Answer: Assuming the reason for wearing a gartel is to prevent even accidentally one's heart from seeing one's private parts (which anyway must be covered to pray) as outlined in Alex's answer to the linked question, then it would seem there is no need for a woman to wear a gartel, as the Shulchan Aruch rules in OC 74:4 that due to their anatomical layout, women can never have the issue of her heart seeing her private parts. This ruling actually has a very practical outcome for many Ashkenazi women who recite a bracha on the mikva when standing naked in the water (cf. Shulchan Aruch YD 200 with Shach and Taz).
Comment: i'm not sure i understand how wearing a belt prevents your heart from seeing your ervah. furthermore it would seem that the halacha is based on amos 4:12 which is pretty generic, so it would seem to me that your answer is they have no obligation to wear one; however i would assume that the mishnah berura's dictate of a measure of piousness would apply to a woman who wore one for prayer.
Comment: @vram As mentioned in Alex's answer, the advantage of a belt is it helps keep your pants up, hence my language of "even accidental". I think the point of Hikon is to do things as prep that are relevant to davening not just random. As little a purpose as it serves for men, at least a belt serves _a_ purpose. If all you care about is Hikon, then a women should do something at least partly relevant, such as wash her face, brush her teeth, fix her makeup or whatever.
Comment: Many of those wearing a gartel also wear suspenders , but no belt. Maybe the clothes could "take off" from the skin revealing the privates to the heart, though the whole body remains covered as seen from the outside. A gartel on top of the clothes would prevent that. As Double AA says, this issue does not exist for women; they only need to be covered outwards.
Comment: +1 The shulchan aruch you bring says that this is true when they are sitting, but are not the woman in the mikva standing?
Answer: there is no need for women to wear a gartel. the reason for wearing a gartel has to do with the heart no seeing ones ervah but this is not an issue for women as they may say a brechah when in the not clothed in the mikvah. in addition there could be issues of beged isha if using what is commonly refereed to as a gartel
Comment: What does this answer add?
Comment: +1 why can the woman say the brocho naked?

Should a woman wear a gartel?


What does the community think about a Facebook page?

Question: I have (finally) gotten on Facebook, and have a thought. I wouldn't mind hosting a 'Gardening & Landscaping Stack Exchange' Facebook page, to feature highlight questions and answers from the site. Now I don't really know anyone else on Facebook, but this seems like it could be a low effort/time investment that would possibly boost site traffic. (Here is a good featuring style from pinterest) Thoughts?
Comment: Hi J.!  I'm wondering why you haven't previously had a Facebook account. Obviously it's you own business, I'm just curious! :)
Comment: @Sue I'd never really thought about it! I don't really have any friends on it either haha
Comment: Ooops, I meant to get both my comments in place, should've known you'd be quick on the draw :). Didn't want you to think there's anything personal, I just wanted to go on record as saying I hope we don't do this. I have a number of reasons, but haven't formed them into a cohesive answer, so I'm leaving it as a quick comment which I'll delete later once I have an answer in place! Thanks!
Comment: Ok @Sue! Ha in no way would I take things personally... Thank you for the feedback, lookin forward to the answer!
Answer: I think the idea of a Facebook page is excellent.  It's irrelevant that it's based upon likes or oil or a Presidential Primary.
From my perspective a Facebook page helps to gain attention for the site.  It allows for interesting gardening questions and answers to be posted on the page and highlighted in order to gain attention and get more views.
I large part of SEO (search engine optimization) for Google is social media.  Right or wrong that's how their weighting works.  If we can get more traffic here because of Facebook AND there are members who would be willing to post a couple of times per day.  It can be an excellent source of more questions as well as more users answering questions.  If a few people find this site and become regulars, that's fantastic too.
Before anyone knocks this idea they should consider that only 14 users have voted this month!
That's terrible but it's more than before.
In order to retain users they must be rewarded for asking questions and answering them.
Facebook  +1
More Voting  +10,000
Comment: I agree about more voting... Anyone wanna beat me to 10k?
Answer: FB is based on Friends & Likes. While it may be possible to generate some traffic, I don't think a FB page would get much notice unless you want to pay for it.
FB is about sharing cute animal/baby pictures, funny/strange videos and funny/political memes. I don't think a Gardening & Landscaping page would be a good fit.
(if you decide to, let me know, I have a few friends I could point to the page)
Comment: It has taken them 7 years to get to that number, and you don't know how much (if any) they paid to promote their page. They also have a website that directs to FB.  I'm not saying it can't be done, just don't expect too much.
Comment: Thank you for the feedback. Hmm... I wonder why almost 800k folks would be following the [**Vegetable Gardening**](https://www.facebook.com/gardeningchannel/?ref=br_rs) facebook page then.


Age of the universe

Question: We know that the universe is approximately 13.7 billion years old. What methods did we use to discover this? How sure are we about its accuracy?
Comment: *We* don't *know*. *Some* certainly *think* so. Very different things.
Comment: The age of this universe is about 13.7 billions years old.  There are of course many theories and models that suggest multiple or an infinite number of universes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiverse
Answer: The correct version of your first sentence would be something like:

Given our knowledge and the standard cosmological model, we estimate that the age of the universe is about 13.7 billion years old.

Every work quotes slightly different values for the age, depending on methods, observations used, assumptions, etc. As example, the first results from the satellite Planck report an age of 13.813, with an uncertainty of 58 million years (0.5%, to my knowledge one of the best).
So, first question is answered.

What methods did we use to discover this?

About 100 years ago a number of people realized that our Galaxy is not the only one in the Universe and that the all1 other galaxies are receding from us with a speed increasing with distance (credit for this work is generally given to Edwin Hubble for his Redshift-Distance relation for galaxies formulated in 1929). This together with the theoretical results from general relativity, brought scientists to believe that our Universe is expanding. Which means that in the universe's past it was smaller, much smaller than it is now 2.
The age of the Universe depends on the rate of expansion at each time. To have this, you must estimate the mean composition of the universe (in various components like radiation, matter, dark energy, and curvature) and the present day expansion rate (also known as the Hubble Constant). Once you have this, it's easy3 to compute the age of the Universe.
footnotes

except the ones in the local group that are gravitationally bound to us
side note: the cosmic microwave background (a radiation emitted about 13 and a half billions of years ago) provided in the 1964 a striking confirmation that the universe once was indeed much hotter and smaller
knowing what an integral is and with some basic of programming shouldn't be to difficult to solve equation 1 here

Age of the universe