Windows server last reboot time

Question: How can I find a Windows server's last reboot time, apart from 'net statistics server/workstation'?
Comment: In fact, net statistics does not seem to be showing the system boot time. http://www.windows-commandline.com/windows-last-boot-time/#comment-24721
Comment: see also http://superuser.com/a/909172/33303 if you are interested in other acpi states like hibernation and standby
Answer: Start → Run → cmd.exe:
systeminfo | find "System Boot Time"

Or for older OS versions (see comment):
systeminfo | find "System Up Time"

Comment: Works in Windows XP and I would assume Windows Server 2003, but doesn't work on Windows 2008 as it is now "System Boot Time".
Comment: And, this works remotely!

   systeminfo /s servername | ...
Comment: systeminfo | find /i "Boot Time"
Comment: This only works with English locale, see @user47994 for a language independent solution
Comment: "System Boot Time" works for Windows Server 2012 R2
Comment: Confirmed working on Windows Server 2016 (as of 2023)
Comment: `systeminfo | find "Systemstartzeit"` on a German Windows Server 2022.
Answer: Filter the System Event Log for Event ID 6009.
Comment: This is especially nice because if you keep a large enough event log, you will have a history of many previous reboots.
Answer: open up the powershell command and run this to see all your history ... and no UI necessary :-)
get-eventlog System | where-object {$_.EventID -eq "6005"} | sort -desc TimeGenerated

Answer: I use the PsInfo utility from Microsoft's Sysinternals package, which will give you output like this:
PsInfo v1.77 - Local and remote system information viewer
Copyright (C) 2001-2009 Mark Russinovich
Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com

System information for \\JEFF-DELL:
Uptime:                    0 days 0 hours 33 minutes 27 seconds
Kernel version:            Microsoft Windows XP, Multiprocessor Free
Product type:              Professional
Product version:           5.1
Service pack:              3
Kernel build number:       2600
Registered organization:
Registered owner:
IE version:                8.0000
System root:               C:\WINDOWS
Processors:                2
Processor speed:           2.3 GHz
Processor type:            Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU     E6550  @
Physical memory:           3316 MB
Video driver:              Live Mesh Remote Desktop Mirror Driver

Comment: `psinfo uptime` will display just the uptime.
Answer: If you are using Server 2008, you can see the system uptime in hours on the "Task Manager" - "Performance" tab.
As far as I know, the "net statistics ..." way is the only true way on Windows 2003.
Comment: nice never knew that was there
Answer: Using a wmi client.
C:\>wmic OS GET CSName,LastBootUpTime
CSName    LastBootUpTime
SERVER  20101124084714.500000-360

Note: -360 = GMT-6
Answer: Last Time the System Booted
My personal favorite is to use WMI and Win32_OperatingSystem properties/methods.  Here it is as an easy copy/paste one liner:
((Get-WmiObject Win32_OperatingSystem).ConvertToDateTime((Get-WmiObject Win32_OperatingSystem).LastBootUpTime))

Same thing, but easier for manual typing:
$obj = Get-WmiObject Win32_OperatingSystem
$obj.ConvertToDateTime($obj.LastBootUpTime)

Both options provide output like:
Monday, June 30, 2014 11:59:50 AM

Length of System Up Time
If you want to find out how long the system has been online you can do this (this is also an alternate code style):
$Obj = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_OperatingSystem
$Obj.ConvertToDateTime($Obj.LocalDateTime) - $Obj.ConvertToDateTime($Obj.LastBootUpTime)

Which gives output like:
Days              : 7
Hours             : 1
Minutes           : 59
Seconds           : 42
Milliseconds      : 745
Ticks             : 6119827457690
TotalDays         : 7.08313363158565
TotalHours        : 169.995207158056
TotalMinutes      : 10199.7124294833
TotalSeconds      : 611982.745769
TotalMilliseconds : 611982745.769

Answer: Using Powershell
Get-CimInstance -ClassName win32_operatingsystem | select csname, lastbootuptime

CSName LastBootUpTime
Server 7/5/2014 6:00:00 AM

Answer: You can easily open your task manager in performance tab under System find your "UpTime"!!!
Answer: Since the last boot time is for troubleshooting a useful information, we automaticalley display it on every server as background wallpaper

Howto

Using Bginfo (Microsoft / Sysinternals)
Configure the wanted information
Run as scheduled task:

command line: Bginfo64.exe /silent /nolicprompt /timer:0
trigger: on every user logon
Answer: Following gives history of shutdown dates.
Refer How to get the list of shutdown event with date?
Filtering the System events with the event id 1074 in  Eventvwr.exe helped me

Windows server last reboot time


2-Yr Colleges' Salary Data In College Score Card

Question: Using the College Score Card database, does the salary earnings for a 2-yr/community colleges' grad consist of only the students who graduate with a 2-yr degree or less; or does it also include salaries of students who get a 2-yr degree then transfer to a 4-yr university?
Comment: Could you provide a link to this dataset?
Answer: Earnings data are based on entry cohorts of students. All students in an entry cohort are included in the earnings calculation for each institution regardless of transfer, completion, and withdrawal events after initial entry at the institution. For more details on how entry cohorts are constructed, see page 30 of the technical paper here: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/assets/UsingFederalDataToMeasureAndImprovePerformance.pdf


Are there any tips to prevent or reduce dust when working with drywall?

Question: With regard to patching, sawing, or drilling into/through drywall that is already installed (adding some outlets and ceiling fans), where dust control is a priority (the owner is very tidy), can anyone offer some tips and/or advice for keeping the dust to a minimum?
Answer:
Here's one small tip: use a sticky note to catch dust from drilling- (courtesy of: http://rebrn.com/re/lpt-use-a-post-it-note-to-catch-dust-when-drilling-2615252/)

Another tip (for cutting into the ceiling) might be to use a piece of paper or a styrofoam cup to create a cone- taped around a drill or sawzall- (How to avoid dust when drilling in the ceiling)
Of course attaching a vacuum hose to the tool might work, or it might be so cumbersome that it's not really worth the struggle. Many sanders have a vacuum attachment built in.
It has been suggested in a few places that a bit of shaving cream or toothpaste can be applied at or near the area to collect dust.
Making cuts with a razor or box cutter is less dusty than a key-hole saw or a sawzall.
Obviously, a drop cloth will be necessary, especially for sanding.
Open two or more windows (so that air can flow through the house) and set a box fan in the window closest to the area where dust will be generated, blowing outward.
Many vacuums will not have fine enough filters to capture all of the dust. So a dust collector might be handy to use in conjunction with a vacuum.

Wetsanding is a technique where you use a damp sponge or damp towel to sand patches.
And there are low dust drywall compounds (muds).
Comment: The water method can rendered highly ineffective if the bubbles are not dispersed into small bubbles.  Essentially having one big tube in a bucket of water does not do much; the bulk of the dust just travel in the big volume of air in the big bubble.
Comment: @Damon indeed, it was a simple design. But since a diffuser would get clogged, the answer would need to be an impeller, stirring the water to break up the bubbles. Such a device would be nice, but not DIY friendly (I've actually tried this). Now, I would like to direct your attention to this [$350 device](https://www.grainger.com/product/19H372?gclid=CLW-7o7ImM0CFRY7gQodpccHvg&cm_mmc=PPC:GOOGLEPLAA-_-Power%20Tools-_-Drilling%20Accessories-_-19H372&AL!2966!3!50916697797!!!s!82166337837!&s_kwcid=AL!2966!3!50916697797!!!s!82166337837!&ef_id=VEpfvgAAAL32gi3d:20160608134440:s) which would work.
Answer: Use a vacuum to suck up the dust as you make it. This will likely require an additional set of hands depending on what you're doing.
As cumbersome as it may be, a vacuum will collect not only the large dust particles that fall down, but also the fine dust that's thrown into the air.
If you're using a hole saw to cut the ceiling, a dust bowl (or similar product) could be used.
Answer: You use masking tape to adhere some lightweight poly/plastic sheeting onto the wall directly below your work area, which will catch dust and/or channel it directly into a collector bin. This will reduce dust on the floor/carpet.
Some people like to use an oscillating cutting tool to cut holes in drywall for outlets rather than a traditional drywall saw. In combination with a shop-vac, it can make dust management easier.
If using a shopvac, be SURE you use a bag for fine particulate. The fine drywall dust will just exhaust out of the vacuum if you don't, creating an enormous mess.


Does meditation giving you 'joy' because there is lack of suffering, or does it give something positive?

Question: Let's say that the summon of meditation is enlightement or nirvana. It is supposed to be a good 'thing'. But is it good because there is no suffering any more, or did you get something instead of it that is good in itself?
Answer: Both. Meditation when done properly will allow one to abandon the Five Hindrances (greed, anger, sloth/torpor, restlessness, doubt); and give rise to the Five Jhana Factors where each factor counters a particular hindrance:

Applied Examination to counter sloth/torpor
Sustained Examination to counter doubt
Joy to counter anger
Happiness to counter restlessness
One-pointedness to counter greed.

It's important to notice that meditation alone will not lead one to nibbana. It's only 1 out of 8 limbs of the Noble Eightfold Path, which a practioner will need to train to perfection.
Answer: Meditation involves mastery over the mind (concentration) and to know things as they are (wisdom).
When developing concentration the the Jhana Factors arise of which one is Joy. Also when wisdom increases the Enlightenment Factors develop out of which Joy is one. Meditation does induce Joy and in progress where one stage you encounter is Joy: Upanisa Sutta, (Ekā,dasaka) Cetanā'karaṇīya Sutta, (Dasaka) Cetanā'karaṇīya Sutta, etc.
Nirvana is the final goal. There is no Joy associated with it but is a good thing as there is no suffering but Joy is included in suffering as it is impermanent, can come to an end, pass away, fade away, cease, change as described in Raho,gata Sutta.
Comment: The feeling of Joy can come to and end hence the suffering of parting. Freedom from Samsara is Nirvana in which there is no feeling or perception. Hence the presence of feeling and / or perception is the opposite of freedom from Samsara.
Comment: In that sense, would you say that people should consider (as a goal) freedom from samsara an antonym of joy?
Answer: I feel like I'm on small dose of opiate.  My guess is that it increases dopamine release but not to the point that i dont have enough of it to function normally when not meditating (no crash landing or withdrawal)
Comment: This does not answer the question.


Help with ASP.Net on linux

Question: Can I install asp.net on ubuntu server 16.04 LTS? If so, how can i install on my server. I searched this problem but i can't find. I work on vps
Sorry for my english.
Answer: If you go with clean installation like I did then you need to install Mono. I went with Ubuntu server 14 image on Windows Azure. If you have clean machine then you can install Mono by compiling it from sources but you can also install Mono using package manager. It's important to have Mono 3.4.1 or later.

Accessing Ubuntu using Remote Desktop

As my Ubuntu runs on Windows Azure cloud and I will show this Linux also from my Surface RT I need some way to access Ubuntu using Remote Desktop. Here is the nice guide how to make Remote Desktop work with Ubuntu:
How to install xrdp in Ubuntu 14.04.(Griffon's IT Library)
NB! You don't need actually Remote Desktop if you don't want to run browser in you Linux machine and you have also no other reasons to use desktop. If you prefer to have only shell access then it's okay. To see web applications running on Linux you need later to open some ports maybe or use tunnel to Linux.

Install K Runtime

Run the following command in terminal:
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/aspnet/Home/master/kvminstall.sh | sh && source ~/.kre/kvm/kvm.sh
This will install K Version Manager (KVM), K Runtime (KRE) and K Package Manager (KPM) you need to run ASP.NET vNext applications on you machine.

Install latest KRE

Now let's install latest KRE. Run the following command in terminal:
kvm upgrade
This command calls KVM and asks it to download and install latest KRE.

Fix NuGet.config

It's possible that NuGet has no idea about ASP.NET vNext package source. You can find NuGet.config from:
/home//.config/NuGet
If it has only empty and closed configuration tag in it then modify contents to be like this:

    https://www.myget.org/F/aspnetmaster/ />

NB! We added ASP.NET vNext package source where published packages are held. If you want to play with raw stuff then use aspnetvnext instead of aspnetmaster.

Get your application from Git

Now you need to get source of some ASP.NET vNext application to your machine. Probably you are using Git. To download ASP.NET vNext sample applications you need to run the following command:
git clone https://github.com/aspnet/Home.git

Restore packages

In terminal move to root folder of your ASP.NET vNext application and restore packages it is using to run:
kpm restore
Now KPM restores all packages needed to run your application. This information is read from project.json files in your applications root folders.

Run your application

Now it's time to run your application and see if it works:
k kestrel
This command calls KRE and tells it to use Kestrel as web server. As far as I know it's currently the only server you can use on Linux out-of-box.

Fix Kestrel errors

If you get weird Kestrel errors then there is problem in Kestrel native assembly. To get rid of this problem read blog bost First Impression of .NET vNext by Carolyn Van Slyck. In the middle of page you can find section titled as Kestrel and there is also short guide how to replace the problematic file. To save you from building and fixing native lib Carolyn also provides compiled binary you can use.
After fixing run k kestrel again and now it should run without problems.
Answer: Thanks for help, but I have problem with install kvm.
When i write this command in terminal "curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/aspnet/Home/master/kvminstall.sh | sh && source ~/.kre/kvm/kvm.sh"

% Total    % Received % Xferd  Average Speed   Time    Time     Time
  Current
                                   Dload  Upload   Total   Spent    Left  Speed 100  2609  100  2609    0     0   9764      0 --:--:-- --:--:--
  --:--:--  9771 Downloading kvm as script to '/root/.k/kvm' Downloading kvm from 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/aspnet/Home/master/kvm.sh'

and write this command
chmod +x kvm.sh && ./kvm.sh
Shows me
./kvm.sh: 381: ./kvm.sh: Syntax error: "(" unexpected (expecting ";;")
I change ubuntu on 14.04

Help with ASP.Net on linux


How do you add color to objects that don't close on illustrator

Question: How do you add color to objects that don't close on illustrator. I'm trying to fill in the pathways with color in illustrator. I know that you can use the Live Paint to add color to objects that are closed.
Comment: Can you add more details? I don't know how you created these shapes
Comment: You can add a invisible box around your artwork
Answer: If those lines are vectors, you could join the open ends using the pen tool. Then just select a fill colour (and maybe remove the stroke so it's seamless at edges). Does that do what you mean?
Answer: What @Dub Scrib said but duplicate your art first:

Your top copy has the unclosed lines - add a stroke to those paths.
Your bottom copy - join and close the lines using the Join Tool, then
remove the stroke and add a fill color.
Answer: Select All
Grab the Live Paint Bucket Tool
Pick a Color
Start clicking.
(This will created closed object where necessary to apply color fills.)
Answer: Even open paths can be filled in Illustrator using the normal method. However, you may not like the result when Ai treats the path as if the endpoints are connected with a straight line.
The best way to correct this is draw a closed path of the whole region where your open paths should be filled (ie draw a rectangle of the whole artboard). Then move that path behind your open paths, select them all, and use the Divide Pathfinder tool. This will use the open lines to divide the larger path into closed shapes that can be color filled.
Note that this often creates additional unwanted shapes in the group that you'll want to delete. If you make the large path a unique color, you can use Select Same Fill Color to easily remove these items.


Can I get Microphone Input AND PC audio BOTH through Headphones without Delay?

Question: I am trying to get both my PC's audio and my microphone input to go into my headphones so I can hear them both; I have thus far managed to monitor the microphone with FL Studio, so I hear that in my headphones, but now my PC audio plays through my screen speakers and I can't find a way to get it to play through my headphones. Any solutions to this?
Comment: Are you using an audio interface? If so, what's the brand & model?
Answer: I managed to solve it! There seems to be very little information available online on how to do this, which is odd because I'd expect it's quite common amongst YouTubers. Here is exactly what I did.

Download and Install FL Studio, ensuring ASIO4ALL is installed as part of the installation as usual.
Download and install Voicemeeter Banana - http://vb-audio.pagesperso-orange.fr/Voicemeeter/banana.htm
Restart
Open Voicemeeter Banana
For Hardware Out, select ASIO4ALL v2
For Hardware Input 1 select your microphone
Click Menu -> System settings / Options
Where it says "Buffering ASIO:", change that to 128
Where it says "Engine Mode" change that to "Swift"
Close settings
On Hardware Input 1, adjust the two knobs until it sounds right to you
In Master Section, for the first thing, click EQ so it's blue, then right click EQ, then adjust it until it sounds good to you
Tada

From start to finish it took me like 2 days of research to get my mic and PC audio both going through my headphones with minimal delay. Hopefully you don't have to now :)
Answer: Your question seems to suggest this is purely for hearing purposes, not for any recording purposes. If that's the case, you just need to go to:-
Control Panel > Sound > Recording > Right-click on your Mic Input > Properties > Listen > Listen to this Device You can then select your Headphones / Default Output Device etc, and your Mic Input will play back through that along with your system audio.
Comment: @Warbinator Ah ok then, fair enough. In theory if you just capture your Default Output in your recording session with the above ticked then this would work too, but if you're experiencing a substantial amount of latency with your soundcard/mobo, then it'll definitely be too distracting making it nearly impossible to speak! I'm glad you've found a method that works for your setup though, and good job in persevering with it until you found it!
Answer: I found a solution that works. I would like to make this post for others who may still be digging in forums for a solution. I was able to find on Amazon an affordable USB audio interface that allowed me to monitor my voice with zero latency, adjust the volume, and even play around with EQ settings. It only costed about 60 USD. If you have a headset that has a separate mic and audio jack 3.5 mm, you can simply plug them in the dedicated port on the Audio Interface. If you have a headset that has only one jack 3.5 mm that combines both Mic and Audio, you will need a splitter cable  (You can find it as cheap as 5 USD on amazon). This set up can be cheaper than headsets that integrate mic monitoring.
Comment: Just to be sure, you can also listen to the PC output as well along with your own voice, right? I want to _add_ real time monitoring to voice calls. Thanks!
Answer: Firstly, try setting your mic built-in interface as a default playback device. Do the same with headphones (it depends what is showing up, there may be a mic's interface, a headphone, or both). If that didn't work, try disabling your PC speakers and rebooting programs which play audio (browser or media player, or whatever).
Try also reinstalling drivers (if your mic needs them)
Well, if this won't work, it's possible that your mic's built-in audio interface just can't work with two or more apps at the same time, which is a pretty common thing. You can't do anything about it without buying another gear
Answer: To mix your MIC and PC Sound (possibly for Skype), please follow Voicemeeter User Manual step by step until use case #1: http://vb-audio.pagesperso-orange.fr/Voicemeeter/Voicemeeter_UserManual.pdf
Comment: If the link to the user manual changes or the contents of the user manual change, this answer won't provide any information about solving the problem.  If you can include the key details in your answer, it would greatly improve the answer.


How do you you encourage siblings to share their toys?

Question: I have 1yo and 4yo boys and it's very usual that the elder child takes away toys or doesn't allow the youngest to play with the toys, arguing that all the toys belong to him. We tried to explain to him that he should share his toys, it doesn't work. Another time we tried to give the youngest his own toys and told the elder child that he shouldn't take away the younger child's toys. This approach didn't work with the youngest, because he wanted to grab the elder child's toys. So should we teach them to share toys or to have their own toys?
Answer: I have three kids.  The way we handle this is that if it is in your room, it's off limits and the others have to ask before they can come in your room and play with it.  If it is in a common area, then it is fair game and it's strictly first come first server.  We also have a "new toy" rule.  The first two days you have a toy, you get first priority of playing with it, regardless of where it is or who was playing with it first.  If not everyone has their own room, you could have some other sort of "safety-zone" like a shelf or closet where they can store particularly prized toys.
Also, if it is commmunity property then it's first come, first server and if more than one wants to play with it, we set a five minute timer and keep swapping back and forth until one or both get tired of playing with it.
Comment: As a former child, I can confirm that this is the correct answer. Compulsory sharing of personal items is one of the most terrible ideas I've ever heard or experienced; having toys in a common area be fair game for everyone is a reasonable compromise that most children will be happy to accept, so long as they get to keep a "safety-zone" for the things they don't want anybody else to touch.
Answer: This is a good question. We have a 5yo, 3yo, and 20 month old twins who often have toy ownership confrontations. Dealing with ownership issues is a constant task for us. Generally, in our house it is a free-for-all, meaning that anybody can play with any toy, even if it was a gift given to one child specifically. Our reason for this choice is that with four little kids, we honestly can't keep up with which toys belong to which kid, and we have no desire to try to do so.
When there is a conflict, we don't "share", we "take turns". let's say my 5yo just got a new space shuttle toy last week and when he wakes up he sees that my 3yo is playing with it. Inevitably he will throw a fit. We handle the situation like this:

Parent [to 5yo]: "He is playing with the toy right now, but I see you're upset about that."
5yo: "That's my space shuttle, I want to play with it, I don't want him to play with it. I don't want to share."
Parent [to 5yo]: "I understand that you want to play with it. He started playing with it first, so you'll have to wait 10 minutes and you can have your turn."
Parent [to 3yo]: "Your brother wants to play with the space shuttle too, so you'll have to give it to him in 10 minutes. I'll set the timer."

Then set a timer and make sure the hand-off happens.
My kids have gotten so used to this, that now they say this to each other, "That's my toy, I want it back in 10 minutes".
This isn't without issue of course. Sometimes waiting 10 minutes isn't good enough and they throw a fit. We stand by the tradeoff policy and separate the kids so there is no fighting or retaliation.
This works well for us, and our kids are generally able to share and take turns very well when playing with each other and with other children.
Comment: +1 for the use of a very evident tool, the timer -- and for "not sharing, but taking turns".
Comment: +1 for the timer and turn-taking. We also add the step where the child asks to play with the toy: "When you are done, may I please have a turn?" If the answer is no, the timer gets set. Usually there is no need for a timer. Child #1 will take a few more minutes as a show of power over the toy and then give it up willingly, thereby eliciting praise from us.
Comment: I grew up with 4 younger siblings and similar "toys are common property" rules.  It didn't really matter who a toy was purchased for or given to, if someone else was playing with it we had to share or wait our turn.  Honestly, I don't remember having many fights over toys growing up.  I plan to use similar rules with my kiddos.
Answer: I think you will always have this, younger kids want to grab anything they can, often older kids will see any toy as interesting, especially something they have never seen before and may not be for them.  My boys have the same thing, I have to continually tell my 5 yr old not to take toys from his 1 year old brother.  My simple rule, if its in the hand its not yours.  You want it then wait until its not being used, and you can share it later.  It's a continual message and you'll have to repeat it over and over until the message sinks in, but its gotten better for us though I still need to do it.
Sometimes I see the action as a way of attention, especially around the times I have spent some more time with the younger boy than the older, so I just gently change attention while repeating the message.  Is the cause the same for you?
Answer: I have this same issue with my daughter and son. My son is the younger of the two, and they both want what each other has to play with.
What I do is this. I let them have their own room for their special toys they dont want to share, and I have the shared all the time toys in my living room. That way if they want to play with their own toys they can go in to their room and play in there alone. It's been working somewhat well for me.


How data data.gov tend to perform?

Question: I am currently deciding whether to use the USDA's Nutritional Database as the backend provider of nutritional information for my app. The other option I am considering is the FatSecret platform. My concern about the USDA API is there are no guarantees as it's not a business. Has anyone built real-time analytics/apps with the USDA API and can you tell me whether you've had good performance? Have there ever been gaps in service/etc?
Comment: For cases like this, you can dump the data, then put it into something that you can scale up if needed.  If you're beating on someone's API every time someone uses your app, they're very likely to cut you off.
Answer: In general, government APIs and databases have no SLAs (Service Level Agreements) associated with them.  If performance is an issue, you may need to consider an alternate provider.
For cases where the data is freely available as dumps (and not just limited to queries), it's often straight forward to ingest the data into your system as is.  If there's enough demand for the service with an SLA, it's possible that some commercial company might provide this (at some cost).
As for gaps in service ... against, without an SLA, it's difficult to say what qualifies as a 'gap'.  I'm going to say that they're all going to be unreliable if we run into another government shutdown ... as for the last one, we were required to take all websites offline without being granted an exemption (such as them being required to protect property or human life).

How data data.gov tend to perform?


Legalities of client making modifications to source code under a non-exclusive license

Question: If I make a website for a client and all the coding is original work and I sell them a non-exclusive license to use the material in their business, would they be allowed to modify the source code in the future, or even have another developer come in and modify it for them, or is this only something they can do if they pay extra for the exclusive license?
Answer: Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer or a legal professional, and this not meant as professional legal advice.
From the Digital Media Law Project:

"A license is a grant of permission to exercise your rights under copyright...

When you give someone a non-exclusive license, you give the licensee permission to exercise the right in question, but you also reserve the right to continue exercising it yourself and to authorize others to do so.
When you give someone an exclusive license, you promise that the licensee and only the licensee may exercise the right. This means that when you grant an exclusive license, even you may not exercise the granted right, nor may you authorize anyone else to do so.

(emphasis mine)

So a license means you retain ownership of copyright even though another party is now authorized to act as the owner of the copyright.
An exclusive licensing agreement differs from a non-exclusive one in that it limits you -- the orginal copyright owner of the work -- from licensing the work to anyone else. Presumably you would charge a hefty premium for this legal guarantee to the client that they are the only party with the legal right to use the work -- even you have given up the right to use the work for the duration of the agreement, though you do retain ownership of the copyright throughout.
Whether exclusive or non-exclusive, licensing your work to the client without restriction means they have permission to use it as they see fit, including modifying it, bringing in another developer to build on it, etc.
You may however limit rights licensed in an agreement. As an example, when I deliver a web site design to a client do so under a limited license. The client is granted the right to use the design work for only one business -- the one I was contracted to design for. They are not permitted to copy/paste the design with altered content to market another business.
Conversely, the client may negotiate a limited exclusive license with my firm -- for instance that I will not sell the same or similar design to a competitor within their market and region. Again, this is something for which I would charge a premium. The client is paying for a competitive advantage.
Regarding the specifics of your question, as stated in Section 106 of the Copyright Act you can limit

"The right to make derivative works based upon the copyrighted work (this basically means the right to make adaptations of the work)"

in your copyright agreement. However you should be up front and make sure the client knows and understands this before signing documents.
Also ask yourself why you feel this is necessary for you, and how this serves the best interests of your clients. There are other avenues you can pursue that will lead to repeat business for yourself and a better end result for your clients.
Comment: What are these other avenues you mention of?
Comment: Being unfamiliar with your skill-set, I can only speculate. But the general idea is that having delivered genuine business value to the client with your first project, you position yourself to be their first choice for additional projects in your area of expertise (web coding). For instance, having delivered a web site, you could now propose a series of html email templates designed to match their new site branding. Or you could offer a retainer contract / subscription plan to do cross-browser testing and optimization of any new content they add to their site.
Answer: It all depends on your contractor. You should never rely on things that are "generally known" or you may be negatively surprised.
So if the contract is still active, I suggest you clear this explicitly in the contract.
If you however want to know how some of us deal with this, I personally hand over all the sources and do not care if anyone else will modify the code or not. If someone modified the code, screwed things up and the client comes back to me asking to fix this, I will rarely fix messed code but I will continue from my own code and charge him accordingly.
Comment: Could I, legally, alter the source code of a clients website if they only have a non-exclusive license for it?
Comment: Good question. Since you are an employee, ask them to check the contract with the original coder and then they should give you the green light. This way they are liable for possible legal consequences. Did you raise this question or them?
Comment: I raise these questions. It sounds like I should always ask them to review their previous contract, huh? Have you ever heard of a developer getting in legal trouble for modifying a clients website?
Comment: To be frank, I have worked on dozens of other people's code and I never asked such question :). I guess I was relying on client's liability to check that since I was only a contractor. I would like to hear what others have to say on this topic.
Answer: If you make a website for the client, the CLIENT owns the work product (it is a work-for-hire).  You can't license something to the client that the client already owns!!!!  If your contract doesn't specify that you retain ownership of work product, then YOU DON'T OWN IT.
Accordingly, the client can put another developer in the mix for modifications at the client's discretion.  Once you hand it off, you are not responsible for it -- not EVER.  You might have a client who badgers you to do minor fixes, or even repairs after someone else screws things up -- don't do it for free!


Why was the public not upset in The Martian?

Question: It would've cost over $1 billion of taxpayer money to realistically get Watney home. Probably more with all the mistakes they made in the process. Yet the public is not upset by this one bit. Instead the filmmakers chose to depict people celebrating around the world. In reality, there would be large protests outside NASA everyday. Why did they choose to ignore that fact?
Comment: How is that a "fact"? Based on what?
Comment: Over-complication of the plot. They choose to show the nation coming together to bring Watney home... It's a story of hope. Adding political crap like that takes away from the story. Also, in the grand scheme of things it seems like they were using stuff they already had.
Comment: America has spent an [unusually large sum](https://www.buzzfeed.com/davidmack/saving-matt-damon?utm_term=.lfZQpVoqo#.csm8Nwlxl) rescuing Matt Damon.
Comment: Maybe they only show the celebrations whereas the protests are going on in the background :) You can always use your imagination :)
Comment: We don't question spending huge amounts of money to dig a little girl out of an abandoned well, heck, we even do that for dogs.  We don't question sending a team of firefighters into a burning building for even one victim.  As a society, we're extremely reluctant to ever assign a dollar amount of life which is both good and bad.
Answer: Does anyone question how much a Seal Team 6 rescue mission actually costs when they go and rescue a captive from terrorist hostage-takers, let alone protest it? I've never seen it. Perhaps you could link some examples, specific to my scenario, of a backlash that amounts to more than a handful of fringe nut-jobs to back up your assertions.
If NASA was able to do it without specifically asking Congress for more money (Teddy's "I'll find the funds" quote), it would never come up.  If they did, and no one in Congress opposed it, then the matter would be pretty much settled.
Do you really think people would be out there with signs "Let Whatney Starve!!  Don't spend my $3 taxpayer share on him!"
Answer: Think of this the other way, sure individuals who would have had momentary thoughts and not considered the situation well enough would voice their opinions as they do on every subject every day now, but which person in authority or the public-eye would publicly announce or request that Watney's life was beyond economic recovery? Their political or public life would end immediately, America loves its 'heroes' at all costs today and I can't see that changing any time soon.
Answer: Your suggestion that people would be upset about Watney's rescue is contradicted by both how NASA operates (budget wise), human morality, and the general perception of NASA by the population.

Anyone who argues to not save a human being because of the financial cost, inherently puts a price on a human life. That is what you are literally doing when you get upset at the money that is being spent; you are arguing that the cost (a lot of money) is not worth the benefit (one more living human being). Therefore, that human life must be worth less than the money you are spending.
Your questions assumes that the population has an idea of the cost of the rescue. Even if it is mentioned in the media, not everyone is listening, not everyone cares, and not everyone who cares will actually try to do anything about it.
This unforeseen cost to save Watney would, logically speaking, come out of NASA's budget. No extra money will be spent, but NASA's current budget will be smaller as the costs of Watney's rescue are paid by their budget which was actually intended for other programs.
The only complaint that people then could make, is not that they are paying more, but that they are getting less bang for their buck (since NASA will presumably have to cancel one or more programs to fund Watney's rescue). It is a recurring conversational topic that the population cares much too little for space exploration. There simply isn't a high expectation by the general populace for what NASA delivers, and therefore also no one to complain that they are not getting what they wanted to get out of it.
It is possible for NASA's budget to be increased specifically to pay for Watney's rescue. However, the budget is decided by the US government, which operates on behalf of the people. Therefore, the government would only be able to increase NASA's budget because the people want the government to do that.
If the government, for some unexplained reason, goes behind the people's backs and gives money to NASA that they should not have; then the people will be upset with the government, not NASA.
You are also ignoring the impact Watney's rescue has on the population. Seeing humanity unite and work together to save a (near-unsaveable) human not only showcases the best of humanity, but it makes everyone feel safer in knowing that their fellow humans will always endeavour to save each other in times of need. Leaving Watney behind may be a PR nightmare, but rescuing him against all odds will usually mean NASA comes out on top and be perceived as doing the right thing for the right reasons.


How Oracle is doing high availability?

Question: We are searching for some replacement of our mysql cluster - Oracle or pgsql. I read the whole document about HA in Oracle 11 database system, but I really was not able to understand it quite enough. What I did understand is that it is RAC which is doing HA. Is there any proxy behind like mysql-proxy ? Or the cluster is changing the IP address with some heart-beat like software? or applications must have in the connection string another destination in case of failure of the primary one? I need this so I would assess how much effort is needed for recoding core applications.
Comment: Please hire a professional that really understands infrastructural requirements and implications of a RAC setup. RAC consists of many components and isn't as simple as IP address changing over or anything of that sort.
Answer: How the Oracle RAC works is a bit complicated, but dumbed down it is the following:
The Oracle RAC consists of Oracle database nodes. Each node has a local listener, and the whole cluster has one or more SCAN (Single Client Access Name) listeners. Each listener has its own virtual IP address. If a host dies, the listener address of the dead host is taken by an other host. The hosts should have a dedicated interconnect interface on which the heartbeat flows and the synchronization between the servers is done.
A client needs to connect to a SCAN listener only, and the IP address of that is constant (if the cluster has more SCANs, then the DNS should resolve a name to these addresses, making the clients connect to the SCANs using round-robin). When a client connects, the cluster redirects the client to the best local listener, but for this, the client does not need any further setup.
Oracle has fairly good documentation about RACs, but implementing and administering one is not straightforward (to say the least). You should heed pfo's advice and hire a professional if you want to use RAC.
Answer: RAC is RAC / it isa black box prettz much. All HA stuff is handled on the RAC and driver levels. Application Recoding is only necessary as Oracle is not MySql.

How Oracle is doing high availability?


How can I draw attention to a text field which needs to be filled out first?

Question: I want my textfield to stand out, because users can work with the rest of the page only after they filled it in. The interface is clean and strict, so I can probably add some color to grab attention. Do you have any suggestions?
Answer: I would suggest fading out the rest of the form partially until the user has filled out the required field. This makes it clear that there's more for the user to do on that page, but that the first field (the only one that's shown at full opacity) is the only thing they can interact with yet.

This also allows you to avoid cluttering up the form with extra colors or highlights that may distract the user from the form content itself.
Answer: Though highlighting as this example below will draw attention to your text field,it is not a very good way since it would just stand out and would disturb the overall flow.

Since you want to allow other users to enter data only after that text field has been filled, you could enable your form validation logic to be such that the other fields are disabled until that field is filled correctly.
Another alternative approach is to hide the other fields until this field is entered correctly.
Another alternative option is to just get your page to focus on the required text field on page load and highlight it.
Answer: Any UI control can have the input focus. You can give the input focus to your textbox explicitly when your page is loaded. This way, the user will already see the blinking caret there. You can see this behavior on google.com
Also, most UI controls have a disabled state. When disabled, they are usually grayed out and cannot receive the input focus even if the user clicks on them. If you disable all controls except the first when your page loads, this will also be quite clear. This is very similar to a previous answer (fading out the form), but I think it's a bit better to use the existing disabled state instead of implementing your own using the fade..


What security is gained by separating the database from the web server (2 tier web architecture)?

Question: I have confidential data stored in a mysql database that is served by a web server running on the same physical box. If I separate the two servers (and even put a firewall in between) how exactly have I made accessing the mysql database any harder if the web server is compromised? The web application stores the connection strings in a plain text config file. All the hacker has to do is connect to the database server using these credentials and there is no way for the DB server to know this is not the authorized client.
Comment: if it goes for a private network server where that given webserver has access to you also avoid DDOS on that end.
Answer: There is another attack method that separation defends against. If the attacker is lucky enough to get shell access to the web-server, they can then grab the database files themselves for offline analysis, or any number of other methods of grabbing data. By having the database on a separate server they're restricted to whatever they can query by way of whatever authentication tokens they can find, which may not be enough to get at the good stuff.
Answer: Their are a number of aspects to security, an important concept is prevention and detection.
The firewall is obviously preventative, however you should also have detection systems in place. With detection in place then any system that slows your hacker down becomes a time pressure on him/her. Imagine two sets of locked doors in a house and how that might put off a burglar who would simply think "I'll go somewhere easier"
Practically you could also ensure that your connection files can only be read by a relevant account, which the attacker wouldn't necessarily have if he got some sort of access on the box.
Also bear in mind that it might be your perimeter firewall that is compromised at which point with only one tier the attacker would be be able to directly query your db. With 2 tiers they have to beat another firewall.
Answer: There's a bit more to it than just separating the tiers onto different machines. You also need to limit what the web app can do with your database by connecting to it with least privilege. If you connect, say, as the database owner, then an attacker who finds a way to run arbitrary code in your web server process will be able to do anything you can do with that database.
So it's important to connect with least privilege to that remote database. If you do that, then you're getting some benefit. Of course, if you don't follow Mark's advice and implement some form of detection, you won't derive nearly as much benefit. If an attacker gains a foothold on your web server, he'll start attacking your database server from there, and if you're not aware this is happening, he may eventually find a way in. Separation slows down the attack so you have time to notice and react (e.g., patch the problem in the web server/app that allowed the exploit in the first place).


What's a good fuzzing framework for fuzzing a local standalone application?

Question: I have been looking for guides and tutorials about how to fuzz and so far everything I have seen has been for web servers. If I wanted to fuzz something along the lines of calc.exe or a program that echoed back arguments passed to it. What framework should I use and how should I go about it. I am looking for help fuzzing an application which receives 0 network traffic and receives input via dialog boxes or command line arguments.
Answer: Updated answer: If you are using Windows, try the CERT Failure Observation Engine (FOE).  It is a fuzzing framework for Windows.  It has the ability to do file-based fuzzing, to click on dialog boxes, and other stuff.

Previous answer:
I suggest you start with zzuf.  It is the simplest, easiest to use command-line fuzzer for fuzzing standalone programs that read their input from files, stdin, or the command line.  It is extremely easy to use, and a good starting point.
You could also look at the CERT Basic Fuzzing Framework.
Then if you want to get more sophisticated you can look at other fuzzers (Spike, etc.), but that'll get you started.
If you want to fuzz programs that receive input via dialog boxes, sorry, I don't know what to recommend.
Answer: You should definitely try american fuzzy lop. It's a fuzzer that operates on standard input of the application (or a file passed via the command line arguments) and feeds the program with random data. Then it watches for code paths that were triggered by it and intelligently chooses new test cases to maximize test coverage. It already found hundreds of open source bugs.
Comment: +1, AFL is one of the best fuzzers out there.
Comment: Why the downvote?
Answer: You can fuzz GUI using Peach Fuzzing Framework (http://peachfuzzer.com)
Here is an article about it: http://phed.org/2008/01/13/peach-21-fuzzing-gui-applications/
Answer: if you want to Fuzz Web Applications there is powerful and easy-to-us fuzzing in acunetix web application security scanner and OWASP Fuzzing projects like JBroFuzz , etc.  Also your welcome to use fuzzer frameworks such as and not limited to Peach ( you must have a skills for peach pit XML building, plus there is not enough document for it,  of curse). SPIKE and other utility are available in Kali Linux or Backtrack and  penetration testing Linux distribution, Finally if you have a skills in programming ( C, Python, ...) you can build your own special Fuuzer, too
Good luck


Baking time and temperature difference

Question: I am baking a canned sweet potato casserole for Thanksgiving. The recipe calls for the dish to be baked at 400 degrees for 25 minutes. Problem is my other sides call for an oven temperature to be 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Is it possible to put the sweet potatoes in at 350 degrees and just bake a little longer?
Answer: You sure can. Bake the casserole for a while longer at 350, just crank up the heat (to 500 even) at the end to get the browning on the top after you remove the other stuff. Casseroles are very forgiving by nature.

Baking time and temperature difference


How to re-visit a topic that has been addressed years ago?

Question: Forgive me if this has been addressed before, but my search of Meta didn't turn up anything. I am wondering what mechanism (if any) exists for re-visiting a question that has been clearly addressed before, but relatively long ago. For example, the accepted answer to this question has 599 upvotes, but it is 5 years old. The answer itself has a note regarding its age, but I'm unsure of the best way to ask this question again for an updated discussion of the issue.
Comment: For a non-subjective question, if it really becomes dated, re-asking it becomes easy.  The solution will fail to solve the problem, in a very objectively demonstrable way.  In such a case, you merely need to describe the problem, explain what happened when you used the solution presented, and why it didn't work.  An updated solution (accounting for whatever differences there are between your situation and the original question, whether it be based on time or other factors) that now works can then be provided.
Comment: The question is both extremely opinion based, and extremely broad.  It's not an appropriate question for the site.
Comment: I agree that the phrasing of the original question is opinion-based, but that was just an example of the more general phenomenon I'm asking about, which is revisiting an old topic. However, when I read the highly-voted answer, it doesn't strike me as very opinion-based at all.
Comment: The very fact that the answer is extremely opinion based, extremely broad, and also very time sensitive (yet another quality that makes it not an appropriate question for the site) are all reasons why these answers are no longer useful, and the fact that those qualities have made the answers not useful *is a big reason why these types of questions aren't appropriate here*.  You'll find that questions that follow the rules and don't merit closure are *much* more likely to stand the test of time.
Comment: https://stackoverflow.blog/2011/08/16/gorilla-vs-shark/
Answer: For users that have earned more than 75 reputation points, the best option to revisit an old outdated question is to add a bounty. This costs at least 50 points.
You can chose among several reasons for the bounty, and you can also add a message to explain exactly which direction the new answers should take.

The bounty helps attract new answers in two ways:

users that are interested in points, try to earn the bounty
the question appears in the "featured" list (both globally, and also in all the relevant tags).

For the people with less reputation, the options are more limited, as they can't add bounties, or even add comments or edit the question directly. For them the only option is to ask a new question and reference the old one, explaining what is missing from there.
Comment: I don't want to introduce Meta effect, but I could link to 5 questions (~20%) on the "Featured" tab of a tag I look at which I would like to close vote but can't.
Comment: Please, please recommend this is not the process for off-topic questions. Currently, community can't close-vote off-topic questions with bounties. This adds more burden on mods if we take the (only possible) action of flagging.
Comment: @jpp A bounty cannot be added if the question has been deemed off topic, and there's a 2-day limit which should be sufficient for the worst questions to get closed.


Can bacteria be patented?

Question: In reference to the patent: WO2013050792A1
How can bacteria be patented? It is not an "invention" whatsoever.
Comment: That is only a Patent Application, and it seems to be claiming invention of the "use" of the bacterium specifically, not the the bacterium itself.
Answer: No, bacteria as such can't be patented.
It is true that this application (you mention the appl. no.) is now patented e. g. in Europe and the patent specification will be published there under the publication no.: EP2763685 B1
The last action was:20.01.2016 ANNOUNCEMENT OF INTENTION TO GRANT
You find the text proposed for grant here:
https://register.epo.org/application?number=EP12775538&lng=en&tab=doclist
The patent will however cover only products with the bacteria and methods using it or for producing the products. The bacteria as such are not claimed.
Pure discoveries are not seen as inventions and are therefore not patentable subject-matter, bacteria will be seen as a discovery. E. g. in Europe regulated by Article 52 (2)(a):

"(2) The following in particular shall not be regarded as inventions within the meaning of paragraph 1:
(a) discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods"

http://www.epo.org/law-practice/legal-texts/html/epc/2013/e/ar52.html
However this is valid only for the mentioned things, like discoveries, as such. See therefore Article 52 (3):

"(3) Paragraph 2 shall exclude the patentability of the subject-matter or activities referred to therein only to the extent to which a European patent application or European patent relates to such subject-matter or activities as such"

For more details for other countries or regions and their patent law see here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patentable_subject_matter
Another related question can be found here:
Can you patent an existing bacteria without any modifications?
Answer: Yes, at least in the U.S., a bacterium can be, and has been, patented. In 1980 the SCOTUS, in Diamond v. Chakrabarty, famously ruled that the fact that it was a living thing did not make it unpatentable. It was an oil eating organism not found in nature.

Can bacteria be patented?


Does simple syrup require refrigeration?

Question: I'm curious about plain simple syrup and simple syrup with other ingredients. For instance, cardamon simply syrup. Do other ingredients make a difference?
Comment: I'll point out that the solubility of sugar depends on the temperature of the solution. So sugar could be more concentrated at room temperature than in fridge.
Answer: The key factor in syrup's shelf life is the water activity in the syrup, rather than the ingredients used to make it. Generally, the water is all 'bound up' with dissolved sugar so microorganisms can't use it to grow, but the lighter the syrup, the more available water it will have.
In my experience, simple syrup is usually kept refrigerated except for small portions that will be used within a day or two.
For a chart of water activity (aW) of related foods, check here: Water Activity Table
Comment: Sorry, Sour, your outcome is correct but the reason is not.  Sugar is dissolved in water, but it doesn't bind up the water in any way.  The preservative quality of high concentration syrups is due to the desiccation of pathogens via osmosis.
Comment: @SAJ14SAJ I didn't figure an in depth discussion of water activity was warranted in this answer, so I added quotes to clearly indicate my use of metaphor. The water is still unavailable to microorganisms, whether by osmotic pressure or whatever other function.
Comment: FWIW, I've had a simple syrup that got moldy after a few weeks in fridge; I guess it may have been on the lighter side of syrups.  In regards to original question, do other ingredients make difference?
Comment: @dolan The other ingredients shouldn't make much of a difference, unless one of them has a really strong antimicrobial effect, but I can't think of anything you'd put in a syrup that would be strong enough to do that.
Comment: I have to admit that the Water Activity Table link was completely useless to me, I'm not up to speed on my Osmophilic yeasts.  But now I am curious.  + 1
Comment: It seems the chart link is gone.  Check [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_activity) instead.
Answer: I've done a lot of reading on this subject - as well as quite a bit of my own experimenting - and this is what I've concluded:
A highly concentrated simple syrup produced in a sterile environment and stored in sterile containers (with sterile caps) has a shelf life of at least a month as long as the containers remain unopened. I recommend glass bottles with phenolic or otherwise lined caps.
I use a 2 to 1 ratio (2 sugar, 1 water) and simmer my solution for at least 15 mins to reduce it and to allow my other ingredients to absorb. I primarily use whole vanilla beans and various spices.
I do recommend refrigeration after the bottles have been opened to prevent any microbes from sneaking in.
Use best kitchen practices and keep everything clean and your syrups will likely be fine.
Answer: Adding a tablespoon of vodka/cup will extend the life of the syrup significantly.
Comment: I will give you the benefit of doubt and not downvote, but the answer does not pass my gut test. There is too few alcohol in this case to preserve anything, all microorganisms will continue to multiply merrily. You usually have to reach about 5% alcohol to start seriously killing bugs (that's why most fermented alcohols including beer are at this concentration, it happens when the alcohol in the drink kills the organisms which have been fermenting it).
Answer: There's a few things to consider, but let's start with a general term to encapsulate the safety issue, call it "bacterial potential". That is, how numerous would bacteria be in the solution before it's stored, and how much sugar is available to fuel whatever bacteria are present.
I start off a basic simple syrups with a rolling boil to kill the bacteria and make the sugar dissolve quicker. This method generally results in a syrup that's shelf stable for at least a month, so long as the bottle in which it's stored is sanitized ahead of time. Very low "bacterial potential".
I haven't experimented much with ingredients beyond sugar & water, but depending on the additional ingredients, I would strongly consider forgoing the boil. You can create a simple syrup at room temperature. Here's a good article from SeriousDrinks that outlines the process. The "bacterial potential" when you haven't boiled the solution is going to be higher, and unless you had a very good reason not to, I would refrigerate the syrup and discard it after no more than a month.
It's called 'simple' for a reason - there's not much stopping you from whipping some up on-demand.
Comment: I'm am sorry to say that I don't think you are aware of what you are criticizing when you say "pseudoscience". This person exhibits an engineering approach to the issue. Engineers start off by measuring/estimating a potential and then mitigating that potential. 30 years ago, when engineering and analytical methods took a foothold at economics, we were accused of "pseudoscience". Today you probably can't get an economics nobel without engaging is such analytical attitudes.
Comment: Similarly, when engineering methodologies and design-of-experiments began creeping into pharmaceutical research. We were accused of "pseudoscience". Today, you will never get your drug approved without what you purport as "pseudoscience".
Comment: While your answer generally isn't wrong, in this case it isn't right either. The main thing preserving Syrup is the high sugar and low water content. For that very reason honey for instance has a long shelf life despite never getting sanitized (if it's good honey) in any way. I believe the threshold is somewhere around 18% water content. The same applies to most syrups with a water content in that area. Any bacteria will simply die because the water gets "sucked out of them" by the sugar.
Comment: The reason why this isn't good science is that basing it solely on "bacterial potential" and available sugar is highly inaccurate. If I dumped sugar on the floor and then measured the bacteria on it over time, it would most likely go down over time as bacteria requires both nutrients and water to thrive. I actually have to do shelf life studies on products, and I can tell you that bacterial counts on products with low water availability will usually drop over time.
Comment: Bacterial potential sounds like made up pseudo-science.
Comment: I suppose if your syrup is that thick, then sure. I'm operating on the assumption that that the syrups used in cooking would be roughly as thin as those used in mixology. Sounds like that's not the case, which explains a lot!
Answer: Wow! A simple question about simple syrup and the nerds go nuts. Put it in the fridge and throw it away when it looks funny or smells funny. Simple.
Answer: Simple syrup should be used immediately. That which is left over should be poured down the drain. Storing it, even by refrigeration, is asking for trouble. If you don't use that much of it, or don't use it very often; may I suggest that you purchase a bottle of agave syrup and use it instead, storing it in accordance with the instructions on the bottle?
Comment: If agave nectar is of similar concentration to your syrup, why would it be any less hazardous than the simple syrup?


Document Set sharing columns from a different content type?

Question: I am seeing some strange behavior with Document Sets when I have more than one custom Document Set content type in the same document library.  Basically what is happening is that when I go to view (or edit) properties for a document contained in a Document Set of Type A, I see the shared fields from Document Set Type A and Document Set Type B.  Now, only the values of the actual containing Document Set are pushed down, but the fields from the other type are there (and are empty).
This presents a problem because:
a) it's confusing to see.
b) there are also document specific fields (not shared from the Doc Set, but on the document itself) which may need to be edited.  However, it's receiving empty shared fields from the other Doc Set content type, some of which are required fields, which then prevents successful editing and saving of the document properties.
Has anyone else run into this problem?  Could it have to do with the way the content types were created and deployed? Or does it just have to do with how shared fields are treated at the list level?
The custom doc set content types were defined in VS and deployed through a feature to a content type hub.  They were then published to propagate them out to the sites that are actually using them.  Then, after they exist on the sites through syndication, a feature is activated on the consuming sites that has list instance definitions that explicitly include the content types that are supposed to be in those specific document libraries.  Does this method of getting the custom content types in to the document libraries where they are supposed to be bypass some code or settings that would prevent this sharing of fields between content types?
Any insight or speculation would be appreciated...
Answer: There is a known SharePoint bug using shared Content Type columns within a Document Set on MS Office documents.
This issue was outlined in the YouTube video: SharePoint 2010 Document Set Bug with Office Documents.
This issue can be resolved by patching to the latest CU.
May or may not solve your problem, but I'd start out there.


Is it possible to improve one's taste palette through practice or other methods?

Question: Good day, this seems more of a biology question rather than a cooking question, however, I don't know where else to ask. My question is simple? Is it possible to train someones tongue to be more sensitive to flavours with practice? I've noticed that my palette isn't that sensitive to flavours at times and I was wondering if there's a way to improve it. It really would help in cooking since I can fine tune my flavours more.
Comment: see also: http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/7346/how-can-i-train-myself-to-identify-flavors-better
Answer: Sure...well, almost.  I don't believe you will be training your actual taste sensors to become more sensitive (biologists or flavor chemists can correct me), but you can learn to improve your recognition and understanding of flavor. So, it is a matter of training your brain, not your tongue.  It's how chef's, sommeiliers, food/taste chemists, and even home cooks get better and become experts.  Taste a lot...observe...take notes...practice.  I would start with one food, one cuisine, or one beverage (like wine), and learn as much as possible about it, by which I mainly mean lots of tasting. You will find that you begin to recognize aroma and flavor profiles, variation and even imperfections.  Of course, this takes time, but the journey can be very rewarding.
Comment: Agreed, especially useful when you need to substitute. It helps you know what you can get away with or improve a recipe without a negative impact, for instance Gruyere and Swiss, depending on what you want to happen, you may be able to get away with using Swiss which is half the price. It will taste mostly the same but has a different texture. Or knowing which kinds of blue cheeses are better for this or that recipe, some blues are really mild and some are so funky they start to taste like apricot.


Should I call for an INT check for clever ideas?

Question: Let's say someone is playing a character that has really low intelligence, but then the player comes up with a clever idea for a way for his dumb character to overcome some obstacle. Should I make him roll an INT check to determine if his character could really come up with such a clever idea given his low intelligence?
Comment: Do you have a particular game system in mind, or are you deliberately leaving that out to get "systemless" answers?
Comment: @TimLymington We get a lot of questions from people who don't realise that they need to mention the game they're playing. *Universally* these have turned out to be about D&D 3e, 4e, or Pathfinder. The phrase "Int check" is typical of those games/cultures too. Take those together, and I'm 99% sure this is about a D&D variety (if I include D&Ds named "Pathfinder"). I think the D&D tag is a very safe bet as an interim / if the OP never returns, but I'd definitely prefer them to clarify.
Comment: @Flamma Other games might have int checks, but the philosophy of how one should use them could be completely different between systems. It's that philosophy difference which makes this something that must be kept system specific.
Comment: @Flamma Answers to system-specific questions can often quite well apply to other systems. That does not, however, mean this should be asked in terms that cover the entire RPG landscape.
Comment: @SevenSidedDie IMHO this question is not system specific, as you could have the same situation in the great majority of games. The terminology INT check or Intelligence roll seems irrelevant, as I think it is the actual game he is playing. So, a system agnostic tag and system agnostic answers should be more useful. But that's my opinion.
Comment: This is about int checks and is inherently not system-agnostic. I'm adding a D&D tag.
Comment: I never knew that no other system uses intelligence checks.
Comment: @JonathanHobbs Only if systems that specifically addresses this very problem. When I read SevenSidedDie's answer it sounds to me as good for D&D game, for a MERP game, Call of Cthulhu or Vampire, and, in general, for all RPG I have ever played.
Comment: related, from the player's point of view, http://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/11856/how-can-i-play-dumb
Answer: Could you? Yes. Should you?
That really, really depends. There is no "should", only things you want this houserule to encourage and discourage.
Do you want to discourage players investing in thinking about the challenges in your game? Do you want to encourage players to not use Intelligence as a "dump stat"? Do you want to encourage character-based skill and discourage player-based skill?
All of those are possible side effects of implementing a roll to see if low-Int character can implement clever player ideas. If you like those side-effects, go for it. If you don't, don't.
Then there are the social-level effects. Will your players find this annoying, or pleasing? Will this slow the game down, or speed it up? These are questions only you can answer, based on your knowledge of your own group, but they're no less important to consider.
Answer: I would actually say "no," not to punish the player for having a good idea. There are many story ideas to justify such a thing. A flash of insight for a non-intelligent character is a staple of most fictions, so that's one method. Maybe another character could give him the idea, if any are available to serve as a mouthpiece. It's rarely a good idea to discourage players from innovations.
I'll allow players to roll their Intelligence (or whatever score fits the game) if they need to come up with something, but preventing a player idea from entering the game just seems a bit wrong.
Comment: +1, saying "no" to player ideas tends discourage them. Try not to use mechanics to tell players that they cannot do something fun.
Comment: Also, I'm sure I've heard `That's so stupid it just might work!` in tv/movies before.
Comment: +1 for having another character come up with the good idea, Parties often contain both characters dumber and Varstly smarter than your average player and the smarter one's need all the help they can get.
Answer: No. Instead, assume the daft character had an uncharacteristic "moment of clarity" or better yet, teach him/her to drop hints so the "intelligent" character(s) can figure it out. In the end, FUN matters. And it is fun to solve puzzles or come up with clever ways to overcome obstacles.
Answer: The danger in doing this is that unless you also give out a lot of hints (which a lot of players don't like), you run the risk of reducing clever play or, what may actually be worse, pigeonholing your cleverer players into having to play high-INT characters.
Think about it via this grid:

If an unclever player plays an unclever character, no harm, no foul.
If a clever player plays a clever character, also no harm, no foul.
If an unclever player plays a clever character, his stat sheet
doesn't make him suddenly able to make those quick connections that
separate the clever from the unclever.
If a clever player plays an unclever character, they will come up
with things that the character might not have.

Do you see what I'm getting at? At the very least, you should probably try and find an outlet for the clever guy in your group to be able to play a dumb fighter or whatever and still have a way to disseminate his cool ideas to the group. Perhaps (depending on how you run your game) the player could suggest these ideas to the guys playing the smarter characters. This isn't without its consequences either - a lot of players don't like other people telling them how to play their characters, even if the ideas behind them are good ones - but it's a start, at least.
Perhaps the larger issue is getting guys to play "in character"? In that case, I think that you as the GM have to be mindful of what the stats actually mean as well as what the player's actual concept for his character is. Unless he's actually playing someone who is developmentally disabled or the player himself is some kind of Stephen Hawking level genius, the fact is that the difference in "intelligence" between most of us has more to do with what we've decided to spend our time doing rather than any actual innate ability. A guy like Michael Jordan, for instance, is undoubtedly very smart, but instead of spending thousands of hours reading RPG books or going to physics class, he spend thousands of hours on the basketball court perfecting his jump shot, getting a deep, muscle-level understanding of what his body is and is not capable of, understanding how to read the body language of defenders, and so on. That doesn't make him "stupid", although in an RPG system where INT means "book-smart", he might well have a low score.
Similarly, a pure fighter who does little else but hang out at the barracks/arena/battlefield might be a genius when it comes to combat. To require that character to make an INT roll to "get" a combat related flash of inspiration that the player thought up is not just harmful on that gestalt economics-of-the-gaming-table level that I opened with, it's harmful on the the-GM-isn't-letting-the-players-play level, which in my opinion is the level that breaks games.
So to make a long story short this is how I'd handle it:

If it's a one-off kind of thing, just let it ride. People come up with occasional flashes of inspiration.
If one guy's doing it enough to be annoying, consider whether or not it's in character for him to do so. Talk with the player about this. Maybe figure out ways to be able to include these bits of cleverness in the game.
If it's a real issue, for instance if the player is an engineer, his player is a combat-heavy fighter, and he's constantly coming up with ideas regarding intricate trap designs to foil the enemy, either suggest another character to him or find a willing partner at the table to co-opt this guy's ideas into his PC. Note that the key words here are "suggest" and "willing".
If you're playing an old school "PCs vs GM" type game where you're actively trying to kill them all the time and the players have an "anything goes" style to combat this... well, I would submit that that's a larger issue than allowing or disallowing a clever play or two.
Answer: Lot's of good answers here. (Oh, and to avoid confusion, I'm going to assume D&D-esque stats in my answer. The extrapolation to other systems is left as an exercise for the reader.)
One possible way to approach this that I didn't see above is to use an INT check, but don't use it to determine whether the character can actually have the idea or not. Rather, use it to mitigate the success in the same way you might with a failed DEX or STR roll when a character tries something difficult. In these cases, I borrow a little from more story-based system mechanics, and do a "Yes, but...". If it's a really clever idea, and clearly a good solution, then let it work. But have them make the roll and if they fail, tack on something to represent the fact that, while their basic idea was inspired, their general lack of cognitive talents caused them to miss some relevant detail that got them into some follow-on trouble, or stuck them with a temporary disadvantage, or set them up for a future situation that might actually be even worse. (And once in a while, when they fail the roll say, "Oh, that's too bad.", then never do anything about it. They'll be looking over their shoulders for the rest of the session waiting for the hammer to drop...)
In this way, you don't stifle player creativity, and you also don't ignore the character's attributes. Remember, as a GM you control the world, not the players. You have more than enough tools at your disposal to manipulate them without pulling any "hand of god" moves on them. It'll require some clever thinking on your part, or a nice stable of cool ideas to pull from, the kinds of ideas you get from experience (and of course from reading blogs and question/answer sites). It puts a bit more stress on you, but IMHO it's one of the skills that makes a great GM.
Answer: First consideration: do they have a decent or good Wisdom?  Wisdom covers common sense things, and a lot of "clever" ideas are really just a lot of common sense things put together well.
Second: is it ridiculously low?  Like, 5 or lower?  Does the edition of D&D you're playing start putting them at the level of animal intelligence? (that said, some animals, like crows, or octopi, are pretty damn clever...)
Finally: is it just a rare thing, or is the player always playing the character as really smart?  If this is always happening, you should start talking to the player about their character and what they want - maybe they want someone smarter- swap two of their stats or something to better reflect it.
Comment: Who says the system has Wisdom as an attribute? The question don't specify if they are or not playing D&D, so I think we can assume we are talking about the appropriate attribute, be it Intelligence, Wisdom, Logic, Intuition, Wits, Brains or whatever.
Comment: @Flamma I am 99% sure they're talking about D&D 3e, 4e, or Pathfinder, since "an Int check" is a phrase common to those games and less common to others with "Int" stats, and because we very often see 3/4e/PF questions from people who don't really realise there are any other games and they need to actually say what game they're talking about.
Answer: An additional consideration - to be equitable, if you require an Int roll for your players, you will need an analogous roll for NPCs you create.
Fairly and consistently applied, it could be an interesting check / balance system.
It provides a sense of realism to the player to know that the skeletons they are fighting are simply incapable of moving the battle into a poison cloud which would hurt the players but not the skeletons - thanks to the enemies' low / non-existent intelligence.
It could also be used as a tool to help the players overcome tough puzzles.  (Often the answer is obvious to the game master, but the players have no idea what to do next).  They may ask to roll Int checks to see if one of their characters is spontaneously brilliant.
If, after realizing that such a check would apply equally to NPCs and might break certain puzzles, you still feel this would be fun, propose the idea to your players and see what they think.  They may love the idea that INT has a larger affect on the game world.
In short though - be VERY careful about making rules which would affect only the players, but not the rest of the world.  Such rules unbalance the game, and are often seen as "unfair" by your players; sometimes even when the players are the beneficiaries of such an imbalance!
Answer: There are many factors involved.  Even genre can be an issue (In "Call of Cthulhu" or "Paranoia", for instance, increasing the players' chance of failing and forcing them to play their impediments enhances the sardonic nature of the game).  In games where stats are assigned from a point pool, some players purposely spend very little on int because they figure they can exploit this very situation.  So it depends on the game, and on the gameworld.
But here's the most important point: When you do decide on the answer for this gameworld (which may be different than your answer for another gameworld), you should stick to it.  The same rule should be applied in all instances, throughout that gameworld.  Otherwise it may appear that you are ruling inconsistently or favoring one player over another.
Answer: It depends.I know that it's a bit of a cop out but I think there are times when a check should be done and times when it shouldn't.I am currently playing a 3.E character myself with an Int of 5 (and Wis 7) and it can get very frustrating to sit at a table when you are certain you have a solution to the circumstances and everyone else is scratching their head. But I also make it clear to the other players (both pre-game and through roleplaying) that my character is an idiot so I will only have a 'flash of inspiration' when things are dire (everyone is bored). Firstly as a DM I would sit down with the player and discuss with them the limits (as you see them) of playing with such a low Intelligence, what assistance should they need to do things? Can they make tactical decisions in combat? Once you have established these things both of you will have a better idea of what sort of clever ideas are possible. You can also come up with ways to justify ideas, a book of solved puzzles, deific intervention, a blow to the head. Then you can either accept their rare clever ideas without a roll or modify it appropriately. There is one circumstance where I would be inclined to disregard the int check entirely, if you have a heap of roll players and the only player actively engaging in the storyline has the low int character then in the interests of getting as many players doing something aside from dice stacking then skip the check for the clever idea and move forward. But remember, the low int character is probably going to shine elsewhere that night/game too so be thinking of how the other characters can meaningfully contribute later on.
Answer: First, find out if the player would enjoy it. It can be fun playing with restrictions and artificial hurdles. I've definitely had players who had PCs with low INT and voluntarily rolled INT checks before doing the "smart thing". The rest of the party might get sick of this quick.
Alternatively remind the player that their character probably wouldn't have come up with that brilliant idea, but work with them to re-frame the idea so that the PC actually had a dumb idea which accidentally aligns with circumstances to work out the desired way. Then it's just luck!
RPing should be fun, and there are plenty of instances of characters in movies and books not being so bright but succeeding by trying the right bad idea at the right time.


Panasonic Lumix GX80 one point colour

Question: I am just learning how to use my GX80. I've selected the one point colour setting and tried to select a colour with the touch screen but the photo comes out normal. What setting do I need to change for it to work?thanks
Answer: I had this issue with star effect with my GX80! Are you taking pictures in RAW only? if so the RAW version will not have this effect. However, if you are combining RAW and jpg then the jpg version should have this. RAW does not capture this detail as this is an in-camera effect.
From the GX80 manual
<code>To Set the colour to leave in (one Point Color)

1. Press Fn1 to display the setting screen.
2. Select the colour you want to by moving the frame with the arrow keys
    (You can also select the colour you want to leave by touching
      the screen )
3. pressing [DISP] will return the screen to the centre
4. press [MENU/SET] to set.

   **Depending on the subject, the set colour may not be left in.**
</code>
Comment: I'm in jpeg as far as I know. Haven't changed the settings since buying it. The star effect works on mine. I'm just not sure how to select the specific colour I want for the one point colour. Nothing pops up,  it just takes normal photos..
Comment: @Cambot. I've amended my answer with a extract from the manual. There are two things here that have tripped me up before. 1. Not pressing MENU/SET once the colour has been selected 2. Having too many similar colours in the frame and/or poor light. Otherwise it works fine for me!

Panasonic Lumix GX80 one point colour


Strength of WEP, WPA and WPA 2 PSK

Question: I know there are three method for wifi security. What are the relative strengths of the password encryption in WEP, WPA and WPA2 PSK?
Answer: The schemes you mention are protocols for securing 802.11x traffic over wireless networks. They don't mandate how the AP password is encrypted or hashed during storage. However, the security of the protocol does rely on making the key secure.

WEP relies on a broken RC4 implementation and has severe flaws in various aspects of its protocol which make breaking WEP near-trivial. Anyone with a laptop and a $20 wifi antenna can send special de-auth packets, which cause legitimate clients to re-authenticate to the AP. The attacker can then capture the initialization vectors from these re-authentication packets and use them to crack the WEP key in minutes. Due to the severity of the break, WEP is now considered deprecated. See this question for more details on WEP security.
WPA improves upon this, by combining RC4 with TKIP, which helps defend against the IV-based attacks found in WEP. It also improves upon the old handshake mechanism, to make it more resistant to de-auth attacks. Whilst this makes a large improvement, vulnerabilities were found in the way that the protocol worked, allowing an attacker to break TKIP keys in about 15-20 minutes. You can read more about the attack at this other question.
WPA2 closes holes in WPA, and introduces an enhanced version of TKIP, as well as CCMP. The standard also bring support for AES, which provides even further security benefits. At current there are no known generic attacks against WPA2.
Comment: WEP is better than *no security at all* in cases where you don't want your neighbours using it, assuming said neighbours aren't the types to know the difference between WEP and WPA.
Comment: Let me add a bit of an intensifier regarding WEP. If you've been thinking about going with WEP, you should probably just go with an unencrypted wireless network instead. That way at least you're not fooling yourself into thinking you're secure.
Comment: Note that TKIP is nowhere near that insecure even now.
Comment: Does this paper mean WPA2 is now broken? https://lirias.kuleuven.be/bitstream/123456789/547640/1/usenix2016-wifi.pdf
Comment: @CAD97, one of the two attacks described is against an implementation error (an access point using a random-number generator that isn't very random).  The other is against WPA-TKIP.
Comment: @Polynomial Perhaps you should update your answer to mention KRACK as well as WPA3.
Answer: Updated answer: Now even WPA2 is broken
The KRACK Attack can breaks WPA2 WiFi protocol.
Router, access point, WiFi client need to be patched.
More info here:
https://www.krackattacks.com/
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/new-krack-attack-breaks-wpa2-wifi-protocol/

Old answer here:
The short answer is that WPA2 is the only secure protocol.
But it's secure only if WPS (WiFi Protected Setup) on the access point is disabled.
WPS is broken, an access point with WPS enabled is crackable, no matter what kind of WiFi protocol it uses.
For more info: How to crack a WPS enabled WiFi network
Sadly, WPS is enabled by default on the majority of WiFi Router and Access Point...
The first thing I do on any router I put my hand on, is disabling WPS.
Comment: @Mr.E Actually, it is a flaw in the protocol. Any _perfectly compliant_ WPA2 implementation will be vulnerable to KRACK. Luckily however, it is possible to mitigate it with a small change to the protocol that does not break backwards compatibility. This means that patched systems are no longer perfectly compliant, but they are still compatible with truly compliant implementations.
Comment: This is misleading. KRACK Attacks are not a flaw in the protocol but a vulnerability in the implementation of the hostap daemon. Even more, not all devices are affected and it has been patched AFAIK
Comment: @Mr.E to my knowledge "both the client and AP must be patched to defend against all attacks" [link](https://security.stackexchange.com/a/171358/7272) so the 'it has been patched' only apply to the very few people that know how to, and care about, keeping Firewall/router/AP + smartphone/computer/client updated. Sorry if my wording is not correct, do you think it's better if I say "The KRACK Attack can breaks your WiFi WPA2 security on many devices."?

Strength of WEP, WPA and WPA 2 PSK