Black and Decker drill just started to lose power in clockwise direction. What could be worn off?

Question: It is an 800w corded drill and was working just fine till recently. Counter clockwise mode works full power but the clockwise mode is completely useless, drill starts at some decent speed and power(about 80-90% that of counter clockwise) but stops on the slightest contact or sometimes even before contact with anything and won't start until i switch the direction back and forth.
Answer: Not a switch problem, as it energizes both forward and reverse.
Not a battery/power problem because you have full power in one of the directions.
I would suspect that you busted an internal gear.
Comment: Or burned/worn brushes, etc.
Comment: I would go with brushes before gears , check the brushes before using or you might destroy the commentator pads.
Answer: Add to the list of what's not broken: the clutch, because your drill doesn't have one. The gear is not likely to be broken either because transmission reversal is simply done on the commutator level on a drill like this, with a switch that swaps the brushes.

(Image from here).
The switch that does the reversal may have a damaged or loose contact for one direction but not the other. It's also possible you have a broken brush and the remaining bit is pushed away by the rotor in one direction but not the other. Less likely is a dislodged brush holder that does the same thing. If the drill is out of warranty, open it. (I don't know if the B&D warranty requires you not to open it.) If nothing looks wrong with brushes or their holders, I'd suspect the reversal switch. It may not be easiest thing to debug if it fails only under vibration; you could however temporarily bypass it with a direct connection and see if that fixes it.
Comment: Turns out you were on the right track. I opened it up and it seems like a poor design by black and decker, the trigger basically slips off the contact that it pushes against when in the clockwise direction, but has a better contact in the anticlockwise direction. Nothing seemed broken or worn or loose.
Answer: Common problem, here it is in this pic, on the right side of the UL label.
Comment: Com'on man, people are looking for real answers. . .
Comment: And I just gave one. It's not an opinion, it's fact.


How does one deal with too much light when taking a photo?

Question: How does one cancel out extra light while clicking a photo? Is decreasing the aperture a better option, or using a faster shutter speed? What are other options we could try?
Comment: PS: the links I gave are meant to be helpful, but not to imply in any way that this is a bad question. Can you give some examples of the situations where you're running into this, and what you've tried?
Answer: Exposure is essentially controlled by Aperture, Shutter speed and ISO. You need to balance these to get correct exposure. Assuming you are shooting manual (M on the left top dial).
The delicate balance between aperture, speed and iso depends on the image you are trying to capture. I usually ask myself questions before taking a picture.

Do i need to isolate subject from background?
Do i need to include background in the picture?
Do i care about about background?

If i can answer the above questions then it fixes aperture for me.

Do i need to capture motion?
Is subject moving and i want to freeze action?

This fixes speed for me.
Once one of speed and aperture is fixed then look at your light meter. Change the other till the meter indicates correct exposure. There are limitations to be considered. Like you don't want speed to be very low etc. And then ISO comes into picture. A stop change in one these cuts light by half or increases twice.
Answer: Usually you control your exposure using aperture, shutter speed, and ISO; too much light is not usually a problem, because you can find an acceptable combination of the above to give the proper exposure even in the most intense sunlight. Most people have the opposite problem, too little light.
Sometimes for artistic reasons you can't adjust one of those parameters into submission. One common example is using a very long shutter time to get a smooth water effect for a waterfall. In that case you can use a neutral density filter to cut the amount of light coming into the camera.
Answer: If I understand your question properly, there are a few ways to account for too much light when exposing a scene. First off, you can always try increasing shutter speed, or reducing aperture. Additionally, you should choose the lowest ISO setting (or film) that you can.
There may be occasions, however, when reducing shutter speed or tightening aperture will not serve your needs. Such cases may be when you need a very thin depth of field, or need a longer shutter speed to allow objects in motion to blur, etc. When you have limits on what settings you can use for aperture and/or shutter, you can always try some neutral density filtration. A neutral density filter is a semi-translucent filter that reduces the amount of light entering the lens. They usually come in various grades, anywhere from 1 stop to as much as 10 stops or so. This grading is how much light they reduce...so a 1-stop ND filter will allow you to expose one stop greater (wider aperture or longer shutter). With more expensive filtration systems,  you can often stack multiple ND filters to add a LOT of filtration...one could, say, stack a 1-, 2-, and 3-stop filter for a total of 6 stops of filtration total.
Better filtration systems also provide the ability to use graduated ND filters...or filters that are rectangular, fully translucent on one end, and partially opaque on the other end, with a gradient transition in the middle. Such filters also come in various stops like their solid ND cousins. They are often very helpful in re-balancing the amount of light in a divided scene, such as a landscape. When the sky is particularly bright and the landscape is shaded, the total dynamic range of a scene may be far greater than a camera is capable of capturing in a single shot. With graduated ND filtration, you can filter the sky, without affecting the landscape, thereby reducing the dynamic range of the scene such that a camera CAN capture it without overexposure.
I highly recommend looking into Lee and Cokin filtration systems. Both offer advanced filtration systems with an extensive variety of neutral and colored solid and graduated filters.
Answer: To reduce the amount of light, you can:

Decrease the ISO.
Increase the shutter speed.
Increase the aperture value (or close the aperture.. higher number = lesser light).
Use a neutral density filter to cut down the light entering the lens.

Try (1) first, then (2) or (3), and if that fails try (4).


Dialogue Editing for Movie of the Week

Question: The Technical Requirements call for the International M&E to contain all production Fx, added design, and ambiences as in the domestic mix minus dialogue.  What about Production FX that are married in the dialogue?  Do you have to ADR and then rebuild FX that are under dialogue just to fit this requirement?  Please advise.
Answer: Typically you would cover this in foley.  Even if you don't play that foley in the domestic mix, you would make sure it's mixed to match the production fx from the domestic when you do the M&E.
Comment: Simple enough.  THX.
Answer: Exactly what Gary said - you don't need to ADR, what international M&Es are looking for are the effects and music, which includes foley.  They do not need or use the dialogue track (someone please correct me if I'm mistaken).
So yes, you will have to record fand/orcut in foley effects for PFX that are embedded into the dialogue tracks. The international versions only dub in the dialogue.
I typically 'save' as much production sound as possible, and paste room tone where ever the dialogue was to smooth out the sound, then cut in new foley effects over the room tone.  So if your film is dialogue heavy, a significant amount of foley work will most likely need to be done.
Sometimes a 'fully filled' M&E is required, which means they're wanting all sounds including subtle foley sounds.  If it's not, you can often get away with just saving PFX and cutting in the most obvious fx. On micro budget projects, this is often what needs to be done (which is also why sometimes international versions sound empty - because they often are).
Answer: The minus dialogue track is a valuable commodity that can add a lot to the final M&E.  Try to preserve as many production effects as possible.  Sometimes the best effects in the movie are production, i.e. doors, props, movement, cars, skids, etc. all in the dialogue stem.  As Laura said above, reasonably fill for the mixer to get in and out of the minus D.  It's possible to fix the effects, extend some that have pieces under dialogue.  It's a judgment call if it's worth it. Some you can't save, there's too much dialogue to extract. Another element to preserve from the dialogue stem are crowds, cheers, efforts, screams, foreign language walla that lives in the domestic or any other vocals that could possibly be used in a foreign mix.  Put those on an alt dialogue track for helpers on the M&E. This will give the foreign mixers more options either to use their own talent or the original.   I've seen original vocals used in foreign mixes. Sometimes foreign dialogue is used in the domestic.  Be sure to preserve that. I once had to fix an M&E that failed to preserve a character who only spoke Portuguese (Love Actually).  I had to pull it out of the dialogue stem to mix with the other languages.  This was a story point and obviously couldn't be dubbed in any other language. I don't remember what the solution was for the Portuguese version.

Dialogue Editing for Movie of the Week


Can I disobey my parents when they don't allow me to work?

Question: I'm 15 years old, and I finally found a job, but my parents tell me that I shouldn't work and I should tend to my studies. See, I tend to my studies, and I just need some cash, and I give every single penny I earn to my parents for their use, taking only 20 to 30 dollars a week. Am I allowed to work, or do I have to listen to my parents? Because I heard that you are allowed to disobey your parent sin obeying Allah, but isn't working and earning money a way of obeying Allah?
Jazakum allahu khayran.
Comment: The given answers and discussion clearly show that this advice request is opinion-based.
Answer: I would say you should obey your parents until it goes against The Rules of Allaah Ta'ala.
And now, you decide whether you working while making your parents unhappy is obeying the rules of Allaah or not.
Besides, you may discuss about it with your parents and show them that extra-earning isn't affecting your study.
In that case, you parents might not mind over your part-time working.
Comment: I indeed approve your first answer as the right concise response of the inquiry as you remarked you should obey your parent unless their orders be against Allah. This presented Formula can indeed help us.
Answer: Your Question seems to me kind of opinion based, but i'll try to answer it to the best of my knowledge according to my interpretation of the relationship between parents and their children or offspring.
As you might know one should obey his parents unless they ask you to do something sinful (see for example Surat al-Isra' (17:23)  and Surat Luqman (31:15))! And in your case your parents don't ask you something in which you disobey Allah! But they might want your best by asking you to concentrate on your studies!
So only if you are sure that you would have spare time and the ability to work for a few hours you might consider working, but be aware if your parents then find out and disagreed it seems better to stop. As one is asked to follow the orders and respect the parents as long as they don't ask you something which is prohibited, but if you made them angry or sad that might create a gap between you and your parents which doesn't seem to go along with the view of Islam of the coherence in a family!
So i would tend to say that if you disobey them -especially after they have given you the order again- this could be regarded as a sinful act, even if your parents might need the financial help!
But to make things clear i would suggest you to clearly explain your point of view and listen to their point of view and maybe you could find a solution that fits!
See also
in al-Adab al mufrad a narration qualified as hassan (as a saying of sahabi () only)
And these two fatwas (in Arabic) 1 on the limits of obeying the parents and  2 on the rules of obeying parents!
And finally this article (Arabic) about obeying parents!
Be aware that most Arabic Fatwas and the narration i quoted tend to analyze and emphasize disobeying from عقوق point of view which may mean causing harm to the parents or not honoring them or humiliating them etc. And this isn't your case!
And Allah knows best!
Answer: You should obey your parents
And try to get the permission before doing anything,
you disobey god by disobey your parents in matter like that
Comment: `You should obey your parents` Any references from the Quran or Sunnah?
Comment: "Thy Lord hath decreed that ye worship none but Him, and that ye be kind to parents. Whether one or both of them attain old age in thy life, say not to them a word of contempt, nor repel them but address them, in terms of honor." (Qur'an 17:23)
Comment: On the authority of Al-Mughirah (R.A.), who said: The Prophet (S.A.W.) said: "God forbids all of you to disobey your mothers." -(Bukhari and Muslim)
Comment: Ayah clearly doesn't mention obey (being kind is not the same as obeying). The hadith is a lie, at least in its form, the hadith mentions to be dutiful (http://sunnah.com/bukhari/78/6), not obey. Obey ones parent was never in the Quran or Sunnah.


Where to start with orchestration?

Question: I want to learn orchestration. How can I start? Are there any steps on how to start learning for a musician that has never tried it before?
What kind of level of music theory do I need before I embark onto orchestration?
Answer: Short of embarking on a formal taught course, surely reading some books is a good first step.
Rimsky-Korsakov's "Principles of Orchestration" is out of copyright, and you can find English translations for free if you Google for it. Browse Amazon for newer books on the subject.
If you know enough theory to write a piano piece with harmony, then you can start composing simple pieces for groups of instruments.
You would probably want to build up to full orchestral composition, in the same way as a painter would make sketches before attempting a gigantic canvas. So write for a brass ensemble or a string quartet first. It is somewhat easier to find a string quartet to try out your composition, than it is to persuade a full orchestra to play a piece.
You have an advantage Rimsky-Korsakov did not have. You can try out arrangements using a sequencer.
Comment: Can you also mention what kind of level I need on my music theory knowledge before I embark onto orchestration?
Answer: I have orchestrated several pieces for performances at a local college and I have no formal music education, other than some vocal lessons, and an introductory music theory class in college. I do however have lots of personal experience writing songs and independent study of general music theory. Chords and scales, etc.
If you have written songs before for multiple instruments, such as guitar, piano, vocals, and bass, this can be considered 'orchestration'. I treat the act of orchestration quite similarly.
When writing for an orchestra it's essential to break down instruments into their respective groups and with their tone in mind think about how you want them to behave. Not that I do the same for every piece I orchestrate, but typically I let low instruments, such as cello and tuba perform what I would normally write for a bass line and throw in embellishments, solos, or fills to keep it interesting. I usually utilize strings as chords, writing triads using violins and violas, with the cello acting like a bass but also usually hovering on or around the root of the chord. I also utilize strings melodically when the piece calls for it, and then get creative with letting woodwinds or brass instruments handle the harmonies.
I could go into great detail on how I usually approach other instrument sets, but I think the string example suffices.
You should start by taking a song that either you've written or a song that you like that is not written for orchestra and try orchestrating it. If you have access to recording equipment and a keyboard this would be especially helpful since you can record the parts with midi instruments and get a general idea of how it will sound.
Answer: To answer your 3rd question first. Grade 5 theory, ABRSM would be a good level to be at, by then you'll have covered different clefs, harmony, time signatures, writing in all keys and met transposing instruments.
First and second questions. Orchestration is not necessarily getting it all written down, at least not initially. Get a loop station and a keyboard. Maybe start with a melody line you have made up, then layer it with - bass, chords, counter melody, etc., until you are happy with the results. No writing of dots, but you will have a feel of what works immediately, just by playing back. Using a keyboard will give you many sounds/instruments to put into your piece.
Bear in mind other problems will appear in the writing, if you do it longhand. Lots of instruments transpose, so you have to compensate by writing a piece, say in C, with trumpets in D, alto sax in Eb, etc.Obviously there are loads of computer programs that will do all this stuff for you, but you'll never get the feeling of being another Mozart, Beethoven or Ravel with those !
Another option is to take a simple arrangement that has been written, listen carefully, and try to emulate it, both in writing, and in using that keyboard. See how close you get to the original, but also put your own spin on it, by changing parts, instruments, timing, etc. Good luck !
Comment: Would basic part writing be a pre-resiquite for basic orchestration? It would be useful to know how to invert chords, how melodic lines interact, and how to properly move between chords.
Comment: @ElyBeauEastman - yes, it would. Hence the last para. Moving 'properly' between chords, etc., will mean listening for consecutive fifths, etc.,and actually hearing them for what they are. The usual sounds wrong - probably is; sounds right - probably is.Mostly covered by grade 5.

Where to start with orchestration?


Designing for mobile site?

Question: I need to design a mobile site for phones and tablet, should I design for retina and scale down or the opposite? Or should I even design for retina?
Thanks
Answer: Apple was quite clever when they released the Retina display along with support at the OS level. They solved the problem of applications looking widely different on standard versus Retina displays.
This means that if you design the application without Retina awareness than you do not need to worry about it and it will simply work the same was as on a normal display.
If you do want media to take advantage of the Retina resolution, then you will need to use extensions to provide higher resolution media. Keep in mind that higher resolution also means higher bandwitdh which is often at a premium on mobile devices, so the extra resolution should only be used if it truly gives an advantage to your application. This may be the case for image application but for general websites, it is best left alone.

Designing for mobile site?


How would Kant defend the concept of the noumenon against Berkeley's charge?

Question: Berkeley asserts that it is meaningless to speak of things-in-themselves that are not subject to human evaluation. Given that, no ampliative judgements can be made by postulating a causal relation between the so-called noumenal and phenomenal realms. It seems that Kant would agree with Berkeley on the former point, but disagree on the latter. If Kant disagrees, then what are his reasons for doing so?
Comment: Just to clarify (it doesn't affect whether I will answer). Is this homework?
Comment: Hello. What is "human evaluation"? What are "ampliative judgments"?
Comment: Is this the same Berkeley that said it was meaningless to speak of infinitesimals which provoked the invention of analysis with their dance of epsilons and deltas?
Comment: Why would Kant agree with Berkeleys judgement that an essential part of his metaphysics is meaningless?
Comment: Hey, virmaior, nope, it's not homework. I'm just struggling with working out Kant's metaphysics.
Comment: Hey Mozibur. For Kant, 'noumenal world' is essential only insofar as he can illustrate the contradictions arising from our attempts to speak of it. Indeed, it can be argued that Kant's whole project is partly intended to defend some of Berkeley's criticisms of substance.
Comment: Also, it is hardly the case that it was Berkeley's criticism of infinitesimals that 'provoked the invention of analysis with their dance of epsilons and deltas'.
Comment: Hello, Ram. 'Human evaluation' simply implies our capacity for making ampliative judgements regarding anything. Ampliative judgements can be characterized as synthetic a posteriori, given that the predicate adds a new info to the subject. In other words, they are judgements potentially capable of yielding non-analytic justified true beliefs. Kant would hold some of our ampliative judgements to be synthetic a priori as well.
Answer: I am not much of a Berkeley scholar so my answer will primarily be an attempt to explain Kant with reference to the things you state in your question.
I think we need to be very careful about what exactly we mean by

it is meaningless to speak of things-in-themselves that are not subject to human evaluation.

This sentence can have several different meanings, which may be creating a false sense of agreement between the positions of Berkeley and Kant. For Kant, the sentence:

We do not know about things in themselves

would be true. But that's no identical to "it is meaningless to speak ..." To understand why, we need to attend to what Kant means by "know" and "understand." For Kant, understanding is something we bring to our interaction with things. Or to state it more clearly. He thinks there are:

Things
Sensibles
Objects

And that things when rendered under for the forms of sensibility (space and time) are sensibles for us. And then when subject to the apparatus of the understanding (which for him is 12 categories) become objects of our knowledge. In other words, Kant's claims about not being able to know things is an epistemic claim -- rather than a metaphysical one. In fact, it hinges on a metaphysics of understanding where such things do exist but are restricted from our knowledge precisely because the process of knowing makes them sensibles and then objects for us.
I take it that Berkeley's idealism is suggesting more of an Occam's razor regarding the metaphysical existence of things like things-in-themselves, i.e., if we cannot encounter them in our world of ideas, then we should not speak as if they exist.

A second potential point of confusion is that you're identifying things-in-themselves with noumenon. But this interpretation of Kant is problematic. phenomenon / noumenon is a pair of terms that refers to things-as-we-encounter-them and then on the side, certain types of things we cannot encounter, which seems to include the wills of other rational creatures, our own internal maxim, and other things that are not necessarily things-in-themselves.
Thus, we need to consider the second point where they disagree and how best to word that. Here, I want to focus on

by postulating a causal relation between the so-called noumenal and phenomenal realms.

There's (at least) two problems with this language for Kant and the Kantians. First, Kant does not think we postulate causal relationships; he thinks we impress these on sensibles as part of the act of understanding. Second, there is no causal relationship between noumenon and phenomenon in Kant's view, because causality is something we bring in understanding, and we don't understand noumenon.
In fact, this is part of the point. Morality lies outside of our understanding for Kant. We don't know how people behave morally since we do not have access to the rational will that can act outside causality -- either in ourselves or in others.

This, however, might not assuage your worries since we (or at least I) sure have been talking a great deal about things that I'm claiming Kant says we cannot know/understand. The trick is that Kant's philosophy is not about understanding alone -- but also about reason, which he takes to be our highest faculty. And we can through reason deal with things that we cannot understand, viz., noumenon and the structures that operate in metaphysics.
Will this convince the Berkeleyian or Humean? I doubt it. But for Kant, what we are doing when we talk about things-in-themselves is discussing something that reason proves is necessary to the process of understanding.
Comment: I am interested in Kant and I find your answer useful. Though, would you mind clarifying several points: 1. How reason operates? It seems that you are suggesting that in Kant's view, understanding and reason are of different level of epistemic function, while to me understanding is not a faculty but reason is, and if its so, what's the word suitable for the state of function of reason? 2. How can reason deal with noumenon? Is reason of noumenon too? I know it would be too demanding to explain here, so a few sources regarding my questions will already be largely appreciated. Thanks
Comment: Thanks for a great answer, virmaior! Could you clarify as to what you mean by saying that 'reason proves is necessary to the process of understanding'? Does it mean that Kant holds that the things-in-themselves a Pure Category of Understanding? At least to me it seemed that only Categories + Sensibilia are necessary and jointly sufficient conditions for understanding. If so, how do the things-in-themselves fit into either Categories or Sensibilia? Thanks for your time
Comment: Also, does the Reason actually prove anything in Kant? I thought it provides a heuristic for living a good life?
Comment: @FattoLee - 1. how reason operates is several hundred pages of the *Critique of Pure Reason* and not especially necessary to answer the question asked by the OP. If you want to know, ask a new question. 2. Reason is noumenal. For Kant, noumenon are excluded from knowledge but are part of how we think.
Comment: @duskn things-in-themselves are not categories of the understanding. For Kant, understanding requires that there is a thing (metaphysical claim) which we then place under the forms of sensibility and categories of understanding (epistemic activity). Things-in-themselves "fit into" the schema as the things that we apply space/time (forms of sensibility) and then the twelve categories to. As such, they are not identical to either categories (which are in our minds whose application makes objects) or sensibilia (which are things we have rendered under the forms).
Comment: @duskn - reason in its practical form does help us to know what is right to do. Reason in its theoretical form helps us to comprehend how understanding works and do some things we might otherwise call "thinking"
Comment: @virmaior Thanks a bunch for your answers, they were really helpful!


Percentage chance of flopping straight or flush draw for suited connectors

Question: Apparently the odds of flopping a flush draw are 10.94% for suited connectors and 10.45% for hitting an 8-out (open-ended, I don't know about double gut-shot) straight draw.
Could someone point to a resource or do it by themselves where they explain the odds of hitting either a flush draw or a straight draw or both. You can't simply add the two probabilities. There's some but not total overlap between them so it should be somewhere between 11% and 22%, but I can't find an answer.
Also what would happen if you include gut-shots.
You could think about how many different combinations you can flop a straight draw with at most one card of the three having a club if your suited connector hole cards are clubs for example. Then divide that number of combinations by the total number of flop combinations, which is 19,600. Add that to the flush draw percentage (now there would be no over-lap) of 10.94%.
If anyone is familiar with combinatorial mathematics they can check out my calculation of 8.54% for the probability of a non=flush straight draw. If any flaws can be pointed out with the calculation that would be helpful
A link to my own mathematical calculations (the word download link is on the right), The reason I'm asking this though is I'm not sure the number of combinations calculated has no repeated occurrences; in other words it might be bigger than the actual number of combinations. Someone linked to a post that had 7.6% so maybe there's something off in the math, or if someone else posts a mathematical answer that seems definitively correct, than I don't need these calculations anymore
Comment: [here's](http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/25/probability/odds-flopping-straight-flush-draws-holdem-479259/) a good resource
Comment: hmm, i calculated it myself and got 8.4% instead of 7.8%
Comment: are you referring to this formula `3*(4*4*34 – 1*1*7 -1*1*27 -2*7*3 +2*(4c2*4-3))/50c3 ~ 7.80% ` ? That's only for suited `0-gappers suited`, which is what you want as `0-gapper = suited connectors`. I have to say i'm not fond of these formulas to give an answer but i'm quite eager to run a simulation in my evaluator to find an answer, although that won't have any mathematical explanation
Comment: i'd be interested in the results of a simulation, and which percentage it lied closer to
Comment: http://www.pocketfives.com/f7/math-question-about-flopping-straight-draws-124516/  Someone has also run a large sample simulation here. It looks like there is only a 1.02% chance of flopping an 8 out straight draw with a flush draw with connectors. The odds of either a flush draw or a straight draw would then be: 10.94+10.42-1.02=20.34% or 22.48% with made flushes and straights included.
Would be interested to still see a mathematical answer -beyond my ability though
Comment: @Chris I posted an answer of how I calculated 8.54% mathematically.
Answer: Well you can add if the flush was excluded from the straight odds calculation.  Just as straight-flush should be removed from the straight calculation as it is s different hand.
This is a flush draw using combination
You have 50 cards left and from a set of 3 you want two that are the same suite
The suite you want has 11 cards
39 is the count of other cards = 50-11
(11/2) is not a fraction - it is binomial coefficient
4 flush (11/2)(39/1)/(50/3) = 0.1094 = 8.1 : 1
If you add in flopping the whole flush (11/3) then you get the 0.11765
 = 7.5 : 1 you are more used to seeing
4 or five flush ((11/2)(39/1) + (11/3) - 4) / (50/3)
the - 4 is straight flush
yyy xx
yy xx y
y xx yy
xx yyy
Calculating a straight draw is much more difficult
As for 4 draw you would just add them as a straight flush can still make a straight and not a flush and visa versa
Now as for a the 5 card hand you would need to discount out the straight-flush from either as it is a separate hand
straight or 8 outer straight draw
The straight answer is 0.1171 = 7.54 : 1
And you can just add as the straight calc above excludes flush
0.1171 + 0.11765 = 0.2344 = 3.27 : 1
Your odds of getting suited connector is 24.5 : 1
If you draw a suited connector and can get in for the right price then it is  worth seeing a flop
Answer: Another attempt at this.  I think I finally understand the question with a little help from comments from Chris :)
So you are looking for the odds in the situation where you have 2 suited hole cards pre-flop and the flop comes with two suited cards to match yours and one that does not, giving you 4 of the same suit and a flush draw.
Before the flop comes out there are 11 cards that can help your flush out of a total of 50 remaining cards, so the odds of the first card helping your flush are 11/50 or 22%.
On the second flopped card,  we will assume the first hit and this one will miss.  Reducing the remaining cards by 1.  Leaving 48 possible cards and 10 of those are going to help you.
So on the third card,  the odds of hitting are 10/48 or about 21%.
In order to calculate the odds of both of those hitting,  you would use
11/50 * 10/48 = 4.6%
I'll do the odds for the other possible combinations...
1st and 2nd hit = 11/50 * 10/49 = 4.5%
1st and 3rd hit = 11/50 * 10/48 = 4.6%
2nd and 3rd hit = 11/49 * 10/48 = 4.7%
As you can see,  as the pool of remaining cards gets smaller without hitting your card, the odds of hitting it go up on the next card.
Also, worthy of note I think,  I was playing on Carbon Poker the other day and they have a free odds calculator program for use on their site.   This shows you the odds of hitting different hands based on your hole cards.   Has cool little bar graphs and everything.   You might want to check that out (they have play money tables, but not sure if the odds calculator works on those or not.  I'm assuming it does).   Even if it doesn't show you the odds of getting a flush DRAW,  it may be a way to kind of get a feel for the different odds of hitting different hands pre-flop based on your hole cards.
Hope this helps.  (and is finally right)  :)
Comment: For your flush draw example there are three ways you can make your flush: hit the turn and river blank; turn blank and hit the river; or hit both the turn and the river. The other scenario is that you miss both. The odds of you hitting a non-flush making card are 38/47 on the turn and 37/46 on the river. The odds of you missing are then 38/47*37/46= 65%. The other 35% of the time you make a flush (16% you turn a flush, 16% you river a flush and 3% both turn and river). Same logic can be applied to straight draws.

This doesn't answer the original q of how draws are hit on the flop itself
Comment: You make many excellent point.  I have edited my answer, can you weigh in on this?   Am I doing that right? @Chris
Comment: It looks like you're trying to calculate the odds of flopping a flush, not a flush draw. In this case the odds of the events all happening is a multiplication of the odds of each individual event (11/50*10/49*9/48 so 0.84%) OP is asking the odds of flopping a flush draw, so 2 suited, one unsuited out of the three in all combinations. Have another go :)
Comment: @Chris Thanks for your input on this,  I have done another edit.  Can you let me know what you think.  :)  Maybe I finally got it this time.
Comment: actually, I'm interested in a straight draw with at most one card the same suit as your suited connectors, that way you can add whatever that probability is to 10.94 (the probability of flopping a flush draw) for the probability of flopping either.
Comment: @user3163829 you could do p(flop flush draw)+p(flop straight draw)-p(flop both flush and straight draw).
Comment: It is supposed to total 10.94%.   What does this total to?
Answer: The rule I always use and that is easy to understand is this :
Count your outs. To know your odds when you are on the flop and the turn is coming then multiply your outs by 2. If you have an open ended straight draw it's gonna be 8 outs * 2 = 16% to hit your out on the turn. If you want TURN+RIVER then it's times 4 (2 cards to come). so in this case if you both go all in on the flop and villain beats you then you have ~32% chance of hitting your outs.
Keep in mind that this is an approximation, however it's most of the time close from the real number.
Here on the flop you have 34% real value(which is close from 32). On the turn with 1 card to come you have 19.89% (which is relatively close from 16%).
Using that you can calculate your odds on the fly. Also don't forget to withdraw possible outs if they are against you.
ie: if you have 8d6h on 5s7sQh you have potentially 6 outs and not 8.
Answer: I believe this is not a simple calculating task. with regards to flopping a flush or a flush draw - you need 2 out of 11 of your suit cards and 1 non-suit card, thus the number of such flops would be C(11,2)*C(39,1) whereas the total no of flops would be C(52,3).
This method avoids overcounting when you need to calculate the no of 3-suited flops (ready flush), n=C(11,3).
The next step would be ready straights and the
open ended, double-belly and gut shot draws.
After calculating all these, you need to subtract the flush draws and flushes to avoid overcounting and sum all the numbers and divide by C(50,3). That would be the percentage of favourable flops for a suited connector without taking into account what you opponent might hold and particular attention needs to be paid straight flopability of a connectorc This would be different from 98s to a 86s or 43s.
I will work on the subject too and will post my results, as I meant to do this for long time now.
Answer: The probability of flopping either a straight draw or a flush draw is
1-(P(Not flopping either one))
1-(P(Not flopping either one)) = 1 - (1-0.109)*(1-0.104) =  1 - (0.891*0.896) = 1-0.798 = 0.202 = 20.2%.
So about 20%...


How do I deal with asian rice noodles?

Question: After boiling and draining the rice vermicelli or pho noodles they always stick to a big lump. How do I prevent this?
Comment: you can use small amount of Ghee(oil) or Butter while boiling rice vermicelli or pho noodles
Answer: You have bascially two options:

Bring water to a boil. Put noodles into the pot and wait until noodles are done. In my experience this methods is quite difficult to handle because you can't be really certain about the cooking time (except you have done this often enough) since overcooking leads pretty fast to mush. I have the impression that thick noodles also tend to be undercooked in the middle while the outside is already too soft.
Unlike italian pasta surface starch is not desired since it causes an unpleasant slimy mouthfeel especially on rice vermicelli. Rinse the noodles thoroughly to remove the starch. The easiest way remove the starch is to dump the noodles into a clean water bath and then agitate the whole batch until the water doesn't get more cloudy. Shake the noodles to remove excess water.
Soak the rice noodles in warm water until the noodles are soft (one hour as a guideline, YMMV). Cold water is okay, you will have to soak them for a longer time. The noodles will not be as soft / chewy as cooked but rather can be bent to a certain extent until they break. When soft, remove the noodles from the water. (Optional: You can store the hydrated noodles in a closed container in a cool place until you need them.)
If the noodles end up in a soup or in cold dishes: Cook them for about 15 seconds (just as a guideline; duration might differ) in boiling water (not broth!). The noodles are done if they don't break if bent (maybe leave the noodles in the water for a few more seconds according to your taste). Don't overcrowd the pot. If you have a small pot (~20cm diameter) cook only one portion per batch. I recommend you to use a blanching colander if you are going to make more than one batch of noodles. Otherwise you will have mushy bits of noodles floating in the water. If you don't use the noodles immediately (like in cold dishes), rinse the noodles thoroughly. Optionally, you can oil the noodles in addition.
If you are going to stir-fry the noodles: Just put the soaked noodles directly into the hot pan and stir. Don't add too less oil (or sauce) or you'll end with a ball of noodles (I least I do, my parents do better).
Comment: The first paragraph could be clearer. You mean that you bring the water to a boil, remove the pan from the heat, and then add the noodles to soak, right? Referring to that as "cooking" could easily confuse someone who might think that you mean continuing to heat the pot.

How do I deal with asian rice noodles?


Is it possible to pass TCP handshake with spoofed IP address?

Question: Little time ago, me and my friends argued if TCP handshake can be passed with a spoofed IP address.
Assume I have a web server that allows only certain IP addresses.
Can anyone connect that web server by IP spoof?
Answer: Short answer: no.
Longer answer: yes, if you control a router device close to the target device (it has to be on the path between the the real source IP address and the target, and on the path between the faked IP address and the target) or if the target network/host accepts source-routed packets.
Comment: You should also include historical attacks on deterministic TCP sequence numbers, which in the past have been used to great effect.
Comment: @symcbean, So in other words **yes if your internet service provider goes rogue and wants to hack you?**
Answer: Short answer: Yes, but not as possible as it used to be, and dependent upon how literally one takes your question.
Long answer:
I notice that you did not ask "Is it possible to carry on a TCP conversation with a spoofed IP address" - that question was ably answered by @symcbean.  You specifically asked "Is it possible to pass TCP handshake with spoofed IP address".  So there's a difference between the question you asked - "Can you spoof SYN->SYN/ACK->ACK in such a way that the server believes a connection has been successfully nailed up" - and the question you probably meant - "Can you carry on a TCP conversation with a spoofed client address".
So let's look at the literal question you asked.  In that case, the answer is "Yes, if the initial TCP sequence number included in the SYN/ACK by the server is predictable."  That's why ISN (Initial Sequence Number) predictability is something tested by vulnerability scanners, and something which is far more widely implemented correctly today than it was 10 or 15 years ago.  To quote a 2001 Cisco advisory relating to this vulnerability, "The general case of this vulnerability in TCP is well-known to the information system security community."  Most famously, Mitnick abused this feature in his attack upon Shimomura.
Unless source routing or access to a router in the network path is available, this is not a sustainable setup.  The client may be able to guess the ISN, but later sequence numbers are incremented by the size of the packets being sent, which the attacker won't see and can't reliably predict.  So they should be able to get at least one packet in after the three-way handshake, but not a conversation.  And sometimes one packet is enough.
ISN prediction is a specific subset of TCP sequence prediction attacks.  While I can't quote good numbers, my experience suggests that it's a vulnerability that lingered far longer than it should have; you still run across devices failing scans because of it.  It's hard to get everybody to just fix their TCP stacks, especially when the fix involves robust random number generation, which is somewhat hard on limited, cheap hardware (the kind that gets thrown into network devices all the time).
Answer: Without access to the network behind one of the allowed IP addresses or access to a machine behind one of the allowed IP addresses, you can not pass a TCP 3-way handshake with a spoofed IP address.
Answer: It is easy to send a TCP packet with any IP address. On Linux you can open a raw socket and send anything you want. The problem is receiving the SYN/ACK (or any other response), which will be routed to the original IP.
Routers between your client may have firewall rules to reject the request, but often they will assume that your client is just routing a packet from another host.


Expresso Store CP Menu

Question: The system does not appear to have created a CP menu option to get to the store.  Currently I am having to go through Developer, Add ons, Store to see the store dashboard.  Is there a way I can create this button manually?
Answer: You could create a button... In EE3 to EE5, Setting -> Menu manager -> Manage your menuset -> Add menu item -> Single Link to your addon-link (you have to copy - paste from the address bar).
Comment: Thank you for the suggestion. I have tried that option but it appears only to work during the logged in session. As soon as I log out or the other super admin trys to access we get a log on screen and then right back to the control panel.
Comment: @CecilBridgewater it's possible you're using session IDs in the control panel and copied the session ID when you copied the link. Consider moving the control panel to cookie auth and re-copying the link without the session ID.
Comment: Thank you. That was exactly what the issue was. Appreciate the help

Expresso Store CP Menu


Why doesn't Latin have words for "Yes" and "No"?

Question: I mean, it seems like pretty elementary words that can occur in different type of situations. Why wouldn't they exist ?
Comment: It doesn't? :) ...or do you mean "exact parallels of English 'yes' and 'no'"?
Comment: I don't know, I'm a learner. That's what I read so I'm in no position to judge.
Comment: I would like to know what you think about _sic_, _vero_, _ita vero_, _minime_, _ne_, and _haud_ then, if these words do not mean "yes" or "no" as I was taught. I mean, if you look at the definition, very few of them are specifically defined as "yes" or "no", but the definitions certainly indicate an affirmative or negative respectively.
Comment: Related thread: [How do you say "yes" and "no" in Classical Latin?](https://latin.stackexchange.com/questions/1592/how-do-you-say-yes-and-no-in-classical-latin)
Answer: English once did not have words for "yes" and "no" as they are precisely used today.
Yes, for example, comes from ge (whence "yea") +  sie, a subjunctive form of to be (beon). It literally meant "It is so."
No in fact meant "not ever". From Etymonline:

"negative reply," early 13c., from Old English na (adv.) "no, never, not at all," from ne "not, no" + a "ever." First element from Proto-Germanic *ne (source also of Old Norse, Old Frisian, Old High German ne, Gothic ni "not"), from PIE root *ne "no, not" (see un- (1)). Second element from PIE *aiw- "vital force, life, long life, eternity" (see aye (adv.)).

It was only over time that the two words became the simple answer words meaning "yes" and "no."
In that sense, Latin certainly does have words for "yes" and "no," they're just not so simple. In Late Latin, for example, two ways emerged in Gaul to mean yes: simple hoc and hoc ille. The former became oc in Occitan and the latter became oui in French, thus dividing Medieval French languages. (Obviously there were more and greater distinctions, but it's the one that the people picked up on, for some reason.)
In Classical Latin, we have a plethora of words that are used to affirm or negate questions depending on exact usage. Note though that the simplest way is by repeating the verb: "Amasne?" "Amo!" "Visne?" "Nolo." You could even elide the verb from a negative response, which leave only the non. I like Sebastian's example from Cicero:

Cicero, Pro Rosc. Am. 54: Exheredare filium voluit. Quam ob causam? 'Nescio.' Exheredavitne? 'Non.'

The non is short for non exheredavit, but it here already is functionally similar to the English "no." This dual meaning carries over into French, Spanish, and Italian, all of which use no/non to negate a verb and as a negative answer to a general question.
For affirmative words, you typically see ita, sic (whence Spanish sí), vero, or some combination. In more unusual cases, you'll also see immo.
Sic typically means "so" and wasn't the most common way, but because of its influence on the Romance languages, I see it very often online today. See the Lewis and Short entry:

In answers, yes = the French, Italian, and Spanish si (ante - class. and rare): Ph. Phaniam relictam ais? Ge. Sic, Ter. Phorm. 2, 2, 2: De. Illa maneat? Ch. Sic, id. ib. 5, 3, 30: Ch. Sicine est sententia? Me. Sic, id. Heaut. 1, 1, 114.

Ita was a more common way. Like sic, it also means "thus" or "so." It quite often is strengthened by additional adverbs, like vero "truly" (which could be "yes" on its own), profecto "indeed", prorsus "straightaway, truly", or plane "plainly."
For negations, while I noted the most common way above, the verb doesn't always have to appear. You can have a simple non, cf. Cicero's Pro Roscio:

"exhereditavitne (pater filium)? Non." Cic. Rosc. Am. 19.54

Lewis and Short list further examples:

Cic. Verr. 1, 7, 20; id. Ac. 2, 30, 97; id. N. D. 1, 25, 70.—(τ) In questions, non expresses surprise, and doubt of the possibility of denial (v. Madv. Gram. § "451): non sum ego servus Amphitruonis Sosia?" Plaut. Am. 1, 1, 247: "non tu scis, etc.?" id. ib. 2, 2, 71: "haec non turpe est dubitare philosophos, quae ne rustici quidem dubitant," Cic. Off. 3, 19, 77; id. Leg. 3, 20, 47: "Quid? aviam tuam pater tuus non manifesto necavit," id. Clu. 14, 40.

Interestingly, you can also combine it with ita: ita non est: "It is not so."
For a very strong negation, you could use minime! "the least!" or "not at all," or numquam "never." However, that's not so different from English:
"Do you want to be with me?" "Ha! Never!"
Comment: I have seen _etiam_ in Post Classical to mean "(of course) yes!," too
Comment: Fascinating from beginning to end! +1
Comment: @Rafael Post-classical Latin isn't my strong suit, but I can think of a couple others that can be included. For anyone, feel free to continue suggesting and I can add them into the answer in a bit.
Comment: Not forgetting σὺ λέγεις (tu dicis) in Mt 27:11.
Comment: @fdb I was tempted to include Greek ones, but I figured I'd save that for its own question, as the ones we get from Plato alone would have doubled this post in size!
Comment: Etiam is in Plliny the Younger (he asks the kid if he goes to school; "Etiam!").
Comment: @fdb Interesting: I never viewed that as just a simple affirmation, though it's probably not on-topic to debate the point here.
Comment: "si" is not "yes" in modern French, but a "not no", to negate a negative sentence = make it positive.
Answer: In mea sententia, this sounds like a case where a speaker of one language cannot comprehend the thought process behind the speaker of another language. Everyone has experienced it if they have come across an idiom that, when translated literally, simply doesn't make sense. However, to the people that used that idiom, it made perfect sense, as it was accompanied by the cultural context needed to understand it. As C. M. Weimer points out, every language has its own version of the affirmative and negative. In English, we use "yes" and "no" and take them to mean the same thing respectively. In Latin, however, the Romans would have used sic, minime, et cetera as "yes" and "no". But when we, English speakers, translate these words, we get definitions such as "thus" or "in the least." It's at this point where idioms become important. Although the word itself doesn't literally mean "yes" or "no," it was used in the same context as those words and are thus synonyms.
Context has always been incredibly important to our understanding of language. It is, in fact, the reason we can translate anything. Words of one language used in similar situations as words of another language can yield a translation between the two, even if the words don't mean exactly the same thing. Babies also learn language through context, by associating objects and ideas with the words used to describe them. And this, in turn, is why it is often difficult to understand foreign idioms and new languages, because our more developed brains must learn to associate new words to a new context. This becomes more difficult as we get older and the neurons associated with language become less malleable.
So I apologize for going on a psychological tangent there, but this idea has always been quite interesting to me. Although I do not reach a different conclusion to C. M. Weimer, I do provide some science background to this topic which may be useful to know. To summarize both of our answers: There are words that, in context, meant "yes" and "no" in Latin, even if they don't translate literally to those definitions.
Comment: All the Celtic languages (except Breton) lack a specific word for 'yes' and 'no', so in Welsh if asked "is he here?" (ydy e yma?) you would answer "is" or "is not" (ydy/nac ydy), if asked "was he here?" (oedd e yma?) you would answer "was" or "was not" (oedd/nac oedd).  So not having one word for 'yes' and 'no' is not uncommon.  I assume that the latin spoken by Celtic peoples may well have used the verb to answer in the Celtic manner, as some English speakers still do today.
Comment: Imho this is not a matter of context. A language lacking a straightforward word for general negation or confirmation *is* something strange.
Comment: @Helen: "A language lacking a straightforward word for general negation or confirmation": interesting. Are there languages like this?
Comment: @DaG What about [Chinese](http://shawnpowrie.com/chinese/yes-no/)? (Caveat: I don't actually know Chinese.)
Comment: @DaG I understand that this is what Sam K and the OP says about Latin.
Comment: @C.M.Weimer Afaik *shi* and *bushi*, mentioned in the link, do correspond to *yes* and *no*. *Shi* might literally mean *to be* and *bushi* literally mean *not yes*, but this doesn't change the fact. At least it doesn't change it totally :))
Comment: @Helen I guess I don't understand the complaint, then, since *ita* and *non [est]* are straightforward and fine for "yes" and "no" in Latin.
Comment: @C.M.Weimer Sam K's point was that some languages might lack a straightforward word etc, but this is not something to surprise us, it's only a matter of context. To which I replied that something so weird is not simply a matter of context. (Actually I'm little surprised right now, because from the OP and your answer I inferred that Latin falls in that weird case.)
Comment: "Translate literally to those definitions" strikes me as a problematic view in understanding of languages.
Answer: Some people think that Romanian "da" (yes) could come from Latin "ita", even though the majority believe it is a loanword from Slavic.  Here is an interesting paper on the etymology of Romanian "da" http://www.diacronia.ro/ro/indexing/details/A5256/pdf.
Late Latin words for 'yes'
Northern France: Hoc ille
Southern France: Hoc
Spain, Portugal, Italy: Sic
In Spanish, eso is sometimes used to mean 'yes', 'that's right' etc. so maybe "ipsum" was used in Latin like that too? (in the Iberian peninsula anyway)
Answer: I like the answer that was already selected, but wanted to add a different perspective.
Although we think of "yes" and "no" as simple basic words, this distribution of words to respond to yes-or-no questions is not at all universal among languages.  I know a lot that don't use the same set of words to respond to questions.
In French (Si) and German (doch) (and I think in Swedish), there are three words you have to choose from.  In these systems, there is a separate word to answer a negatively phrased question in the positive.  In French, if someone says: "Aren't you going?" ("Tu ne viens pas?")  You would answer with "Si, je viens," rather than with "oui," if you are indeed going.  I'm less sure about the parameters around the German words "ja," "doch," and "jawohl"; however, I think there are similar issues as in French.
Irish, like Latin has no words for "yes" and "no." Instead, you simply use a short form of the verb in the positive or negative to respond.  In Brazilian Portuguese, there are words for "yes" and "no," but preferably you just respond with the appropriate form of the verb and maybe add an extra "no/not" at the end of a negative expression.
Outside of European languages, it is quite common for languages to use expressions that actually mean "correct" or "incorrect."  In other words, you would answer the question "Aren't you going" with what seems like the word for "no," if you actually are going, in order to show that the form of the question is incorrect.  Japanese works this way, and at least two west African languages I know about.  Chinese has this tendency, but tends to use a wider array of responses depending on the form of the question and your intention/mood (shi 是, shi de 是的, bu shi 不是, bu 不,dui 对, bu dui 不对, duile 对了).  Chinese also frequently uses a form of yes-or-no question that is phrased as an alternative of positive and negative, in that case you just respond with the appropriate form of the verb, rather than using any of the expressions above.
All this is to say that the English words "yes" or "no" actually have a lot of semantics and syntax hidden in them that does not actually translate to many languages.  Indo-European seems to have been one of those languages that lacked such a word and such a system, and so Latin had nothing to inherit.  Most of the daughter languages developed some sort of words and some sort of system, with differing details, but at least one, Irish, still hasn't and may never.


Basic question about bonds pricing

Question: I decided to recap my knowledge in interest rates, and decided to start with Chapter 4 on interest rates (in 8th edition) of the Hull's book "Options, Futures and Other derivatives". In 4.3 the concept of a zero-coupon rate is briefly introduced, and is further used to price a coupon-bearing bond in 4.4. Procedure is natural, logical and relies on clear arbitrage-avoiding arguments. However, in 4.5 zero-coupon rates are themselves computed via the coupon-bearing bond prices. This line feels cyclic to me. I can understand that one can use this to check the consistency of bond prices over several maturities, but does it mean that one can actually price bonds using such arguments?
Answer: Generally, there are few or no zero-coupon instruments traded in the market, especially for longer maturities.  However, pricing of many derivatives relies on having a zero curve, so it becomes necessary to construct one using available instruments.
Aside from derivatives, one can use a zero curve fitted to liquid bonds to price new or less liquid issues.
Comment: Thanks Brian, just want to be sure I got you correctly. The price of more liquid bonds is mostly determined by supply/demand arguments, whereas for less liquid bonds one can do pricing based on more liquid issues: the latter can allow for the arbitrage in case the price of the former is inconsistent?
Comment: Exactly.  (Sometimes corporate zero curves get "copied" over to new issues from related companies also, but this has mostly been done with CDS spreads as CDS have risen in prominence)
Comment: Very nice, I think that's the answer I was looking for.
Answer: Yea, I just started work at a fixed income shop. We accrete the value of zero coupon bonds based on the coupon rate the bond would have paid if it were an interest/bullet bond. The value of the coupon/accreted rate in the Official statement/indenture of the bond is obviously not the rate the market is pricing the bonds at but it fluctuates around it, assuming the obligor's credit worthiness is not impaired and there is liquidty in the market, otherwise you would have large credit, liquidity premiums. Just think of the accretated rate as a glide path that gets you from the value of the bond now to the par amount at maturity and that the market price/yield, which is different, will fluctuate around this accreted rate all the way up to par.
Comment: I see your point: I just wondered what was the chicken and what was the egg in Hull's case.

Basic question about bonds pricing


Why does my car pull to one side after putting on new used tires?

Question: I just bought new used tires and got them mounted and balanced on rims.  But now the car pulls to one side very noticeably.  Can this be because of the tires?  Do I have a bad tire?
Comment: Are all tyres the same make/model?
Answer: When I drove with the passenger side two wheels on gravel and the driver side two wheels on pavement, the car seemed to drive straight.  And when I did it the other way, it pulled a lot to one side.  So I concluded that the front passenger side tire was bad (When it had traction, it was pulling, and when it didn't it didn't).  I took it off and couldn't find anything wrong with it.  Then I swapped it for the one right behind it.  Now the car doesn't pull.  So that one tire was bad some how, but it's OK on the back.
Answer: If the tire thrust centerline is towards one edge of the tire, caster causes it to pull towards one side because both tires aren't putting equal pressure on the tie rods. This can happen from wear or manufacture defects like broken cords.


Why are clocks used in computers?

Question: As I know, a clock controls all of the logic operations, but it also limits the speed of a computer because the gates have to wait for the clock to change from low to high or high to low depending on the component. If no clock was incorporated, the gates would change as fast as they could whenever given the command to, so why wouldn't that increase the computers speed  and why are clocks used?
Comment: So they know what time it is! (sorry, couldn't resist)
Comment: Don't have time for a proper answer, but at the most basic level, so all the digital things are marching to the beat of the same drummer. Look up synchronous vs. asynchronous.
Comment: possible duplicate of [clock signals in computers and machines](http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/33945/clock-signals-in-computers-and-machines), (and that question was closed as not a real question...)
Comment: For a narrow range of tasks, [analog computers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_computer) can be faster than digital computers.
Comment: Relevant: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/530180/what-happened-to-clockless-computer-chips
Answer: Clocks are used in computers for the simple reason that most if not all of the circuity is synchronous sequential logic.

In a synchronous circuit, an electronic oscillator called a clock
  generates a sequence of repetitive pulses called the clock signal
  which is distributed to all the memory elements in the circuit.

Now, that may not seem satisfying and granted, you would reasonably ask "why are synchronous circuits used in computers?" but that's an easy question to answer too:

The main advantage of synchronous logic is its simplicity. The logic
  gates which perform the operations on the data require a finite amount
  of time to respond to changes to their inputs. This is called
  propagation delay. The interval between clock pulses must be long
  enough so that all the logic gates have time to respond to the changes
  and their outputs "settle" to stable logic values, before the next
  clock pulse occurs. As long as this condition is met (ignoring certain
  other details) the circuit is guaranteed to be stable and reliable.
  This determines the maximum operating speed of a synchronous circuit.

An active area of research is asynchronous computing where most if not all of the circuitry is asynchronous sequential logic.
Comment: I think it is worth to note that there was a fully asynchronous computer built by [Jacek Karpiński](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacek_Karpi%C5%84ski) which was named KAR-65. Unfortunately I can't find anything about it in English.
Comment: The Wikipedia piece on asynchronous sequential logic is rather brief; it might have been helpful to distinguish between logic which has no single clock but can guarantee either that circuits' inputs won't cause race conditions or, at worst, that the outputs of any circuit whose input may have had a race condition will not be used.
Answer: A circuit like an arithmetic logic unit will take a couple of numbers as inputs and produce a number as ouptut.  It can guarantee that within some period of time, all bits of the output will have reached their correct final states, but the actual amount of time for the output bits to become valid could vary considerably based upon a variety of factors.
It would be possible to construct an ALU with a "valid" input and a "valid" output, and specify that provided the "valid" input is low for a sufficient amount of time before a computation is performed, and the data inputs contain the desired values before the "valid" input goes high, the "valid" output won't go high until the output bits are in fact correct.  Such a design would probably require about twice as much circuitry as a conventional ALU [basically it would have to keep track of whether each bit was "known" to be zero or "known" to be one; its "valid" output would become true once the state of every output bit was known].
To make things worse, allowing those parts of a CPU which would be capable of running faster to do so will only be helpful if they aren't waiting all the time for slower parts to play catch-up.  To make that happen, there must be logic to decide which part of the machine is "ahead" at a given moment in time, and select a course of action based upon that.  Unfortunately, that kind of decision is one of the hardest ones for electronics to make reliably.  Reliably deciding which of two events happened first is generally only easy if one can guarantee that there will never be any "close calls".  Suppose a memory sequencer is handling a request from processing unit #1 and unit #1 has another request pending after that.  If unit #2 submits a request before the first request from #1 is complete, the memory unit should handle that; otherwise it should handle the next request from unit #1.  That would seem like a reasonable design, but it ends up being surprisingly problematic.  The problem is that if there's some moment in time such that a request received before that moment that will be processed immediately, and a request received after that will have to wait, the amount of time required to determine whether a request beat the deadline will be roughly inversely proportional to the difference between the time the request was received and the deadline.  The time required for the memory unit to determine that a request from #2 beat the deadline by one femptosecond might substantially exceed the amount of time that would have been required to service a second request from unit #1, but the unit can't service either request until it decides which one to service first.
Having everything run off a common clock not only eliminates need for the circuitry to determine when the output of a computation is valid, it also allows timing "close calls" to be eliminated.  If everything in the system runs off a 100Mhz clock, no signal changes in response to a clock until 1ns after the clock edge, and everything that's going to happen in response to a clock edge happens within 7ns, then everything that's going to happen before a particular clock edge will "win" by at least 3ns, and everything that's not going to happen until after a clock edge will "lose" by at least 1ns.  Determining whether a signal chances before or after the clock, when it's guaranteed not to be "close", is much easier than determining which of two arbitrarily-timed signals happens first.
Answer: Imagine you have an 8 bit integer being sent from memory to an ALU for a calculation and (at least for this example) that the memory circuit provides the signals on the 8 data lines before the ALU requires them and at slightly different times.
The use of a clock here would ensure that the 8 data lines held the correct value for the integer being represented for one clock cycle and that the ALU will "collect" that data within the same clock cycle.
I realise that that was probably not the best description, essentially without a clock ensuring data consistency would be much more difficult than any possible increase in speed would make it worth, you would run into a lot of race condition issues.
Answer: Digital systems can be either synchronous or asynchronous. On asynchronous systems, the output can change at any given moment, different from the synchronous systems, which depend on the clock to change its outputs.
Most digital systems are synchronous (even though they can have some asynchronous parts) because the project and the defect analysis can be done with more ease, since the outputs can only change with the clock.
I've pretty much copied this from Digital Systems: Principles and Applications, 10th edition by R. J. Tocci et al.
Answer: Well, if you're designing a synchronous system, you have a target clock rate, and you design the logic to complete all calculations during a cycle within one clock period. This also means that you need to incorporate a safety margin to allow for various conditions, such as low power supply voltage, high temperature, and a "slow" chip. Synchronous chips are designed so that the longest logic path (slowest calculation) will finish in time under all these adverse conditions. As a result, when conditions aren't terrible, you will have a lot more time/margin between when the logic completes its operation and the next clock latches the result. Because you (usually) can't change your clock frequency, you lose this speed.
There are completely asynchronous logic paradigms that exist, for example one that I'm familiar with is NULL convention logic. Using broad strokes to describe what is happening, the  logic circuit is able to identify when a calculation has completed, and is able to effectively create its own "clock" signals. This lets the circuit run as fast as it can, and has some modest power and EMI benefits. Unfortunately, you pay a penalty for the asynchronous nature in terms of design density as well as top performance. Also, while the software tools for synchronous design and validation are mature, a lot of the design and validation for asynchronous designs is still manual, resulting in a greater effort required for designing and building an asynchronous design.
This also completely neglects the case that sometimes you need a clock for a specific application to be a time reference. For example, your sound card can't operate asynchronously because it needs to update the ADC or DAC at a specific, precise sample rate or the audio will be distorted.
Answer:

If no clock was incorporated, the gates would change as fast as they could whenever given the command to, so why wouldn't that increase the computers speed and why are clocks used?

To put it simply: because humans aren't super-intelligent beings, and have to take shortcuts to make designing billion-element circuits possible.
When our machine overlords ascend, they may very well get rid of the clock, overcome niggling minutae like making a clock-less circuit manufacturable despite process variation, and take advantage of some speed gains.
To expand a bit: discrete, predictable things are easier to rationally analyze and design. As  a huge added benefit, they self-correct (in this case, the timing self-corrects). This is the reason we use digital logic in the first place. (Similarly, in programming, we often use integers instead of floating-point, familiar control structures instead of goto-spaghetti, and languages with a few, clear rules instead of very "flexible" languages where you're never quite sure what will happen until the code runs.)
Comment: Even beyond the fact that synchronous logic is easier to design, a computer which is runs off a 10MHz clock will generally be designed so that anyplace where it has to determine whether event X happens before Y, one or both of the events will be delayed as necessary to have a particular relationship to the master clock so the events will never happen simultaneously.  Further, in the few cases where the possibility of simultaneous action would be possible, it will be acceptable to add a two- or three cycle fixed delay to coerce one or both of the signals to a fixed clock relationship.
Comment: If the design were asynchronous, one might find that a random 99% of instructions take 5ns, 0.9% randomly take 10ns, 0.09% take 30ns, 0.009% 100ns, 0.0009% 300ns, 0.00009% 1us, 0.000009% 3us, etc.  with no firm guarantee as to how long the system might take to resolve a timing ambiguity.  In most cases, having performance which is sub-optimal but predictable is better than performance which is on average faster but has unpredictable variations that are sometimes severe.
Comment: @supercat 1) Can't a circuit be designed where simultaneous events never occur? (at least if the inputs are sufficiently regular) 2) Can't a circuit be designed where it doesn't matter if simultaneous events occur?
Comment: If the relative timing of two events is known, one may prevent them from happening simultaneously by delaying one or the other.  The more accurately their relative timing is known, the less delay will be required.  If the relative timing is not known, it's possible to resolve two events that could happen simultaneously into an indication of which happened first, but to minimize the worst-case behavior, one must accept some pretty severe compromises in the best-case behavior.  The compromises that would be necessary for a clock-less computer to work would be worse than using a clock.

Why are clocks used in computers?


Tricky Chinese Poetry Verse About Hotels And Celebrations

Question: In a Chinese poem I'm working on, there's a tricky pair of lines I'm having trouble wrapping my head around:
"在走之前迎春日为由的索菲亚酒店
在伟大的欢歌晚宴上,各自献出绝技
拿出月入十分之一的盈余营造一个盛况"
My translation:
"Before going to welcome the spring day at the Sophia Hotel
The guests at the merry banquet all showed off their talents.
offering a tenth of their monthly earnings to fund this spectacular event."
Is my interpretation (a group of people at a hotel banquet fundraising with a talent show) correct?
Answer: The part "在走之前迎春日为由的索菲亚酒店" has some grammar mistakes. What is the title of this poem and where was it published?


Can my 4 year old guitar still be tuned?

Question: 4 years ago I wanted to play the guitar, so I tried to learn it. I gave up pretty soon and the guitar has been pretty much untouched ever since. Now I want to try again! So my question is: Can i still tune it the right way or does it need special treatment? It's like super out of tune and i don't know if i can save it. Do you guys have any advice on how to handle this?
Comment: Have you actually tried tuning it? Are you saying you have tried tuning it and it won't go in tune at all, or is it just really out of tune? Or does it go out of tune soon after being tuned?
Answer: Your guitar may be just fine.  But if you stored it four years with full string tension, it is quite possible that the neck has bowed (at least a little) under the string tension.  Hopefully a simple truss rod adjustment can take care of that.  So if you are lucky a new set of strings and a truss rod adjustment will put your instrument back in playing condition.
For a better understanding of the action of a truss and a link to a tutorial on how to do it yourself click here:  Guitar Set Up and Truss Rod Adjustment
I recommend changing the strings.  Even without being played, steel strings will oxidize over time and become weaker and sound dull.  You mentioned that you gave up on playing the first time.  You did not mention whether your guitar was acoustic or electric but one of the many reasons folks give up on guitar is that steel strings on tender fingers can be very painful in the beginning.  Since you are going to want to change the strings anyway and since you have probably not yet developed callouses, you might consider the trick mentioned here which describes a Custom Finger Friendly String Set for Beginning Guitarist.
While you have the strings removed, you should clean and possibly oil the fret board with a light alcohol free lemon oil formulated for guitar fret boards.  For some great tips for cleaning your frets and fret board click here: How to clean your guitar's frets and fret board without damaging your instrument
If your guitar was stored in an environment that was less than optimal (too much or too little humidity or extreme temperatures) there might be some damage that would require a protracted rejuvenation process.
Acoustic guitars are very susceptible to damage due to less than optimal atmospheric conditions.  Here is a link Humidity and Guitars that tells you more about how humidity can affect an acoustic guitar and the optimal humidity range.
Within this answer to another question on Stack Exchange is some content about proper storage of guitars to minimize any potential damage caused by longer term storage Guitar Storage Options to prevent damage
Hopefully your guitar will play just fine with a new set of strings and some tweaking of the set up (including a possible truss rod adjustment and/or adjustment to the saddle). If not then by all means buy yourself a new guitar and have fun learning to play.  It's worth the effort.
Comment: To Explain why so many links - The question is about potential consequences of long term storage of a guitar -  so I provided links to cover multiple aspects such as how to store a guitar, cleaning the frets & fretboard & truss rod adjustment, which will likely be needed, I also provided a link to address the secondary problem alluded to -  which was  giving up too soon.  Every link contains information that will likely be useful to the OP as well as others who have similar concerns about the consequences of long term storage of a guitar and how to undo some of the effects thereof.
Comment: Very thorough answer :)
Answer: You should be able to still tune it. However, After 4 years of not being played or set up, the neck may be warped and the strings might be brittle depending on the environment it was left in (i.e. hot / cold / humid).
You can use a free mobile app like Guitartuna if you don't already have a tuner laying around. Also, you may or may not break a string in the process of tuning (since the strings are quite old). Take your time tuning the guitar. You can start tuning up to the appropriate note and then wrap a couple of fingers under the string and pull out gently to "stretch" the string.
Doing this repeatedly until you've reached the appropriate notes should do the trick.
Additionally, you could tune a half or full step down if you're worried about breaking the strings, or just buy new strings if you do ;).
Answer: Carefully pull all the strings off. 4 year old strings may break by themselves.
If the bridge is easy to remove (i.e., Tune-O-Matic styled bridges are held on by string tension), take it off, inspect the neck - if it is straight, don't touch it, if it isn't, straighten it out a little - not all the way. If it is an acoustic, don't touch the bridge, and I'm not overly familiar with their necks, but I believe they are still adjustable.
Clean EVERYTHING.
Get some new strings, put them on, tension them up to your desired tuning, then inspect the neck. If it is still straight, then great, if not, straighten a little more. Then you need to set up the height of the bridge, this is easy, just go on Youtube and there are heaps of videos about it. Basically you want to remove all fowling and buzzing.
Finally, stretch the strings (grab and pull on each one) a bit, and then retune and repeat a few times. And you should be good to go!
Answer: Before answering this question it's good to have some insight to some things that can happen to a guitar if left untouched.

Rust
A common problem that can occur with untouched guitars is the guitar strings will begin to rust over time and so the guitar will most likely need new strings :).
If the strings are rusted then there is also a chance that the saddle/bridge and tuning knobs of the guitar could be rusted too. If the saddle/bridge and tuning knobs are already rusted then you should look into purchasing new ones.
I have a vintage Fender Acoustic that was untouched for many years and it had a rusted saddle and tuning knobs, after a while the tuning knobs would begin to break off one by one so it is wise to replace anything rusted on a guitar if you still want to keep it in one piece.

Intonation problems
Another common problem that can happen to a guitar if unattended to for a long duration is intonation problems. If the guitar has been left in the sun (or even in a hot room) or has been laying in an awkward position, then the guitar neck will begin to bend or twist over time. A bent guitar neck will cause you intonation problems (problems that will make the guitar sound off-pitch as you play higher up the neck). As I have explained in another answer here: weird intonation problem on the highest string

"Can I still tune it the right away or does it need special treatment?"
If the strings aren't so rusted that they will break when tuning then the guitar should tune fine! However, if any of the previously mentioned situations have occurred to your guitar than keeping the guitar intune may be an issue for you.
If your tuning knobs and saddle are rusted then tuning the guitar may not be your best option as your tuning knobs can just snap off if they are heavily rusted (Like what happened to my Fender).
BUT GOOD KNEWS!!!!! My Fender was sitting around untouched for 30 years!!! If your guitar has just been sitting around for only 4 years it should be fine!
Hope this helps :)


Wouldn't an AI that specializes in making other AI be an AGI if they can cooperate?

Question: If said AI can assess scenarios and decide what AI is best suited and construct new AI for new tasks. In sufficient time would the AI not have developed a suite of AIs powerful/specialized for their tasks, but versatile as a whole, much like our own brain's architecture? What's the constraint ?
Comment: You should send this question to Hollywood producers or news outlets. They will give you back many different highly unlikely scenarios. It is hard to make predictions, especially about the future.
Answer: If the AI can indeed assess arbitrary scenarios and come up with solutions to handle them, then it would indeed be an AGI.

What's the constraint ?

It doesn't exist.  Current programmers are very good at developing AI that can handle specific tasks ("narrow AIs"), but it is currently impossible to build an AI that can assess and handle "general" situations (unlike your proposed algorithm, which possess that capacity).
Theoretically, we can have a program that can build other programs (genetic algorithms are arguably one such example), but handling arbitrary scenarios and problems requires a form of "general intelligence", which we don't know how to program. Therefore, we can't build this machine.
It's possible that we can built this machine, but we must first figure out  the hard problem of "general intelligence". We're nowhere near reaching that level.
If we figure out how to program "general intelligence", then it should be fairly simple to use your approach (building an AGI to assess scenarios and then build "narrow AIs" that can handle Those scenarios). Only then we can understand the AGI's limitations and weaknesses, and be able to identify probable constraints to its power. For example, it's possible that such an AGI may be slow in handling arbitrary scenarios and developing the "narrow AIs"...in which case, it may take an absurdly long period of time to develop "a suite of AIs powerful/specialized for their tasks".
But until we build the AGI itself, we won't be able to identify its faults or weaknesses. Going beyond that would be science-fiction speculation.
Answer: To build on Tariq Ali's answer...
There's no such thing as an AGI. The No Free Lunch (NFL) theorem states essentially that: any two optimization algorithms are equivalent when their performance is averaged across all possible problems. Specialization implies a loss of generality, not a gain.
With this AI generating AI, you're describing what I call an 'arbitrary machine generator' (AMG).
There are two types of AMGs: a species level and an individual level.
All species that evolve on earth are AMG - they can evolve to accommodate arbitrary niches, if the correct environmental constraints are present. This is proven by the fact that the species AMG processes on earth have produce humans, which are individual level AMGs. Individual level AMGs can produce arbitrary machines for arbitrary purposes on human time-scales.
The problem is that the simplest possible (and most general) AMG is a purely random machine generator. Any more specificity (and therefore complexity) to the AMG would constrain the domains it closes over. Which is fine, but optimizing a machine for a particular set of tasks means that you are unoptimizing the machine for some other particular set of tasks. Again, there's no free context.
Humans are AMGs, but we are only efficient at creating certain kinds of machines, using our imagination. Our imagination is built on a number of cognitive tools that, on the one hand, constrain what machines we can efficiently imagine, while, on the other hand, avail us to the open-ended set of all possible machines, via prior knowledge or brute force, random lookup.
In summary, when people say "general intelligence", they really mean "human-like intelligence". And, again, while human intelligence is an AMG, any given AMG that is optimized for generating machines of a particular type will be less optimized for generating machines of some other type(s). There's no free context. The most general search algorithm is a random walk - there is no way to improve the generality of the random walk, other than just speeding it up. And that's actually what humans do for many problems anyway - brute force, random searching, as fast as possible.


Bad Raspberry boards?

Question: I'm the owner of 5 Raspberry boards. Four of them work flawless. The fifth board regularly refuses to respond to pings or SSH. Sometimes it comes up after a few minutes waiting. It has no firewall active. Regularly the board goes into a state of the 'blinking green LED' and responds never again without restarting. The blinking green LED problem appears to be related to power issues but the power supply I use does not cause any trouble on any of the other boards. This troublesome board and two of the others, all of them type 2 boards come from Element14 and all of them run Raspbian installed on identical SD cards. I wonder if there are any bad boards or a batch of bad boards around. Any other suggestions about this issue are welcome too.
Comment: Have you tried the board with different SD cards?
Comment: Ditto -- you should swap cards/roles with one of the other boards and see if it does the same thing, or indicate in the question if you have already tried this.
Comment: Note that "installed on identical SD cards" does not cover what I meant.  I meant, literally take the SD card out of the misbehaving pi and exchange it with one of the others and see which one now does what.  You may *think* you've done nothing wrong, but counting on it is foolish.  I'm sure the retailer will replace the pi to save themselves further hassle, but I think you own them the courtesy - and yourself the favour - of at least making some attempt to verify it is not just a difference in configuration etc. And please don't say, "Oh I set them up the same way, no mistakes made by me..."
Comment: Thanks, since my Pi's have different roles I've switched out the boards. Formerly the fileserver (with powered hub and attached hard drive) failed and a mailserver (with no peripherals) was working. After the switch the fileserver keeps currently working and the mailserver fails. So it's still the same board that is failing.
Answer: You've already indicated that you've tried different power supplies, to no avail, but have you attempted running the board with a different (known working) SD card? If you've ruled that out, I would also look at power load. Are you running any USB devices on this board that aren't on the other boards? If not, it's most likely your board, which does happen, although rarely. I would contact Element14 for a replacement.
Answer: I would agree with the others on the SD card.  Sometimes the cheapo SD cards will give you issues - I'd suggest formatting the card before flashing the image, try this:  https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4/
Answer: The problem turned out to be an apparently troublesome SD card slot. Every time the slot gets too warm the card apparently looses contact and the system stalls. A few months after asking the question I've moved the OS to a hard disk and left only the boot partition on the card. I didn't do this to solve the problem but only to figure out if it was possible to move the OS at all. Since then I've never experienced a problem with this particular board again.

Bad Raspberry boards?


Online repositories of scanning electron microscope photographs?

Question: I have looked at every single Wikimedia commons photo in the category 'scanning electron microscope'. Unfortunately, I could not find any other repositories of such photos, but I would readily look at every single photograph there as well. It strikes me that such repositories are also bound to be useful to biologists and biology students. A simple Google search did not yield much. Can anyone help out?
Comment: Are you looking for images for your personal use, CC or similar licensed images or commercial photos? =)
Comment: @Rory i'm looking for anything and everything. what people have posted so far is great.
Comment: micrographs, not photographs. Photons are not involved in the generation of SEM micrographs (well, they CAN be for some techniques, but those are afaik mostly used to study certain mineral deposits etc.).
Answer: First off I'd like to reccomend the University of Dartmouth's publicly available collection located here.  They have both SEM and TEM images of a wide range of organisms and cells from algae to see urchins through everything from cholera to mammalian cells.  Images are high quality, fully captioned and properly attributed.
I'm a little confused as to the problem you're having with google - see my original comment on your question.  However I have looked at the photos of Wikimedia Commons in the SEM category and see that they are either images taken with, images of SEM Microscopes or technical drawings regarding their function.  I assume that you're looking for the images taken with SEM.
I was able to find a great number of similar images to those in the commons with a Google Image search - I read above that you were having problems with this approach so perhaps try the search term "SEM images" in image search (or this search to avoid duplications from images you have already seen on Wiki Commons)?
Examples found on just the first page:
Comment: thanks for those recommendations. the trouble with google image search is that it doesn't search everything, doesn't know about everything -- and how can it? not everything has top-down categorically descriptive text attached. there's just no way to find out about repositories of images like the ones linked to here without asking people.
Comment: I know exactly where you're coming from, hope Dartmouth helped though =)
Answer: David Orloff's The Cell – an Image Library has thousands of SEM images.
Comment: very nice. i have a hard time deciding whether or not i like the dartmouth images better or i like the cell images better, and that's an excellent predicament to be in.
Answer: Have a look at:

XTALENT Image Gallery, more than 600 images, last updated in 2006, though.
Dennis Kunkel Microscopy, Inc., "scientific stock photography library of light microscope pictures and electron microscopy images featuring science and biomedical microscopy photos".
Iowa State University SEM library, includes pictures submitted by students from around the state of Iowa.
Answer: Take a look at my website which has a section called Images.  http://www.hssemgroup.com/
There are more than 13 sites listed which have hundreds of SEM images posted
Comment: Specifically http://www.hssemgroup.com/students-enjoying-their-sems/resource-urls - looks like a very helpful resource.


How to remove Title column in SharePoint 2013 List?

Question: I want to remove "Title" column created by default in SharePoint 2013 List.
I googled many times.But I got only solutions for SharePoint 2010 version only.Those Solution is not working for this latest version. Anybody please help.
Thanks in advance.
Answer: Well you can hide it to appear on forms, go to List Settings -> Advanced Settings -> Allow management of content types -> check the box
Now come back to List Settings -> Under Content Types -> Click Item content type -> Under columns -> click Title -> Hidden (check the box)
Now it won't appear on the forms, you can similarly remove it from Views.
Comment: Arsalan Is there any other option available instead of you suggested answer.
because when column is hidden it does not crawled.
Comment: WONDERFUL- it worked!! this solution really helped and I can see the status reflecting in the SP 2013.
Comment: There are no drawbacks of it as far as I know, have been using this approach for quite some time and never faced any issue.
Comment: other option will be to use InfoPath forms or custom forms instead of OOB list forms.
Comment: If there are any detrimental effects caused by implementing this solution, can someone add them to the answer?  It's great to be able to hide the `Title` field from the form (whilst still displaying it in a View because it is the only column that can link to an item), but I vaguely remember reading a blog post about this approach that said there were some drawbacks (i've looked for it but can't find it).  Thanks.
Answer: As much as I know in SharePoint 2010 you cannot delete "Title" column. You can only rename it and hide it from views and forms
Comment: Yeah, you can hide it but then you won't have an active field in the all items view to choose the record for edition....
Answer: Old post I know, but new approach to an old problem.
Don't delete it!
Let me explain... Simply change its contents and name to something you want to keep.
This mass updates existing values (for example where you have imported using Excel), but can also be used for changing the content in a Title column, so you can rename it, then delete the column where the content originally came from.
This worked a treat for me.
I had a single line of text

Create a new blank Access database

Click on the "External Data" tab

Click on "New Data Source"
Choose "From Online Services -> SharePoint list"
Select your SharePoint site
Select your SharePoint list

The list, and lookup tables if you use them will get added
Now select "Create" tab and "Query Wizard -> Simple Query"
For your Query add just the column you want to be updated "TitleColumnName" above
Click "Update!" button in query designer then in the "Update To" row that appears in your "TitleColumnName" column you added type [ColumnNameForValueYouWantToKeep], now switch to "View -> SQL View" to check, you should have:
UPDATE YourListName SET YourListName.[TitleColumnName] = [ColumnNameForValueYouWantToKeep];
Run the query, it might take a while...
Now you can check your changes, when you are happy your "Title" column now contains the values from a column you want to keep, you can delete the column which had the values you wanted and use the title column, which now contains those values instead.
Finish off by renaming the title column to the now deleted column name. It will always be "Title" when you check its properties, or access it using scripts, but it will display with the name you give it.
No hiding, no redundant columns, fully usable in SharePoint, CSOM, JS or InfoPath. And bonus is now you get an edit item option from your replaced content title column!
Answer: I solved this problem by making sure that the title is not a mandatory field.optional and trying to hide them will not work..you really need to go the site settings and change it to optional.
Answer: Simple solution for me was to change the way it was being presented...
<code>List > Modify view > Style > Default.
</code>


How does a colossal titan come down once he is done shifting?

Question: I was thinking that Bertholdt must have trained with his Colossal Titan so I was wondering how he would get down, considering Marley did not have 3d maneuver gear.
Comment: Perhaps under normal circumstances, he would just lie down before coming out?
Answer: SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Humans with titan abilities have some control over what parts of the body is turned into a titan and to what degree. This is shown in The first season when Eren only builds a single arm, some torso and a head to stop the cannon from hitting himself, Mikasa and Armin.
To some extent this ability can be extended to deconstruction of the parts at different rates. This can mean the colossal titan may only deconstruct the torso and then the legs to get back down on his feet. This will require practice but is certainly plausible.


Why is a reference computer used in Microsoft Deployment Toolkit?

Question: I'm having trouble getting my head around using MDT. All guides say that I should first deploy windows to a reference computer, then capture that image and deploy it to the target computers. Why can't I just cut out the middle man and deploy windows to straight to the target computers without capturing an image from the reference machine?
Answer: You can just use the install.wim from the DVD if you want a basic, non-updated, non-customized image to deploy. If you create your reference machine as a virtual machine, you can completely update the system, create a snapshot/checkpoint, then sysprep and capture the updated machine and then restore the snapshot for future image updating. This allows for faster deployment of the image with updates, as opposed to having MDT run Windows Update during the deployment. Additionally, it is possible to customize the start screen to your company preferences, or add software that everyone uses into the image. For example, if everyone gets Office, you may want to have that installed in your reference image (again, to save time during deployment).
The TechNet Magazine article 'Desktop Image Management: Build a Better Desktop Image' discusses the trade-offs of thin images vs. thick images and may help you in this situation.
Finally, there is a (free) Microsoft Virtual Academy class called 'Windows 8.1 Deployment Jumpstart' to help you learn how to deploy Windows 8 that even has labs available.
Hope this helps,
Answer: The reason for that is that you can automate the creation of the reference image using MDT, which installs software, patches and stuff automatically, instead of building the reference computer on your own from scratch (which is not very "repeatable" as well)
There's nothing stopping you from doing it manually though if you prefer to...