If my Nikon DSLR camera came with a non-VR lens, do I need to buy a new camera to use VR lenses?

Question: I am very new to photography. I recently bought a Nikon D5200 NVR camera. Is it possible to replace its camera lens with a VR one or do I need to buy a new DSLR with VR lens on it?
Answer: Your camera is an interchangeable lens camera. You can buy other lenses with the Nikon mount and use any of them. That includes lenses with VR — vibration reduction — even if the lens which came with the camera does not have that feature.
Note that entry-level Nikon cameras like yours do not have focus motors built into the body, so assuming you want auto-focus to work, you do need to be aware of that. See What type of lens will auto-focus on Nikon bodies without a focus motor? for more. This does not affect VR, however. And, as far as I am aware, all lenses for Nikon which feature VR also have a focus motor — so while you should know this in general, it won't affect your current concern.
Also note that some companies — Pentax, Olympus, sometimes Sony — make interchangeable lens cameras where the image stabilization (another term for vibration reduction) is built into the camera body. Since you have a Nikon camera, this doesn't affect you, but it's worthwhile to be aware of this in general — if you bought a camera in one of those systems without VR, you would need a new camera. See What is the difference between in-lens image stabilizing and sensor-based image stabilizing? for more if you're interested.
Answer: The only things you really have to care about to buy lens for your camera are:

Obviously: Is it the right brand (Nikon, or another brand with a Nikon mount)?
Is it full-frame or APS-C? Your camera is an APS-C format, you can use full-frame lens on it, but they will essentially be more expensive for no benefit over APS-C lens.
Does it have built-in focus motor? Your camera does not have screw drive autofocus so you need built-in focus motor (AF-S in Nikon's jargon). Almost any recent lens has this.

As mattdm already said, VR does not come into the picture. It's internal to the lens and works with any camera.
Answer:
If my Nikon DSLR camera came with a non-VR lens, do I need to buy a new camera to use VR lenses?

No.

Is it possible to replace its camera lens with a VR one

Yes.

do I need to buy a new DSLR with VR lens on it?

No.


Flag questions with accepted answers for migration?

Question: Suppose a "Linux" question gets moved here from Stack Overflow. The question is simple, quickly answered, and accepted; but the question really doesn't fit ServerFault, it just doesn't fit Stack Overflow (it would be better on e.g. Unix & Linux). Should it still be flagged for migration, or just left alone?
Answer: If it's got an accepted answer against it, we prefer to leave it. Shuffling answered questions is kinda pointless.
However, there's no reason you can't answer it and migrate it...
Comment: +1 leave it unless it *really* doesn't belong on SF.
Comment: I completely agree with Mark and Chris. Also, if a question gets *no answers* (in a period of let's say > two weeks), I guess I would consider moving the question to a sister site.
Answer: I've always been a fan of having a kind of "professional courtesy" between the Stack Exchange sites. All of the stack exchange sites know which site a question should be migrated to (reasonably well, at least).
If Stack Exchange, Super User, or whichever migrates a question to us, I think we should do our best to answer the question or close it. It's at least a borderline decision if they sent it to us in the first place, and if we're considering sending it back, I'd say our responsibility to the person asking (and to the internet at large) is to do our best to answer it.
When in doubt, err on the side of punishing the innocent the least. In this case, that's the person who asked the question in the first place.
Comment: I have to disagree with  `All of the stack exchange sites know which site a question should be migrated to` SO are appallingly bad at migrations.
Comment: @Iain, indeed they are and more than once they've migrated pure programming questions to SF. I'd also add that a person asking a question on the wrong site should not be considered an innocent. In nearly all cases a read of the FAQ would have prevented it.


Did Cole complete his mission or not?

Question: In 12 Monkeys (1995), at the end of the movie, Cole is killed by a man in the airport. So did sending Cole into the past for a cure work or not?
Comment: Possible duplicate of [What was the story of 12 monkeys really about?](http://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/38773/what-was-the-story-of-12-monkeys-really-about)
Answer: The ending of 12 Monkeys implies heavily that they could not change time. By sending Cole back in time, they completed a circle. It's a predestination paradox.
Cole changed nothing. If anything, he allowed it to happen as history said it happened.
Cole did as best he could given the information and minimal help provided.
Comment: Yet, I don't think his mission ever was to actually *prevent* the virus, rather than gather enough information for it be cured *in the future*. And this mission he might very well have completed.
Comment: @Napoleon the only information he gave to the future about the virus was the phone call he makes. Which is what they already had, a half damaged voice mail recording. No new information is passed on.

Did Cole complete his mission or not?


how many different names of Karna are mentioned in Mahabharata?

Question: I listen total 10 or 13 names are there but not knowing the names. I listen one or two like Radheya,Vashusena. So I want to know how many different names of Karna are mentioned in Mahabharata? Is there any story for each of them?
Answer:
Vasusena: born with wealth. Because he was born with a natural armour and ear-rings. -The Mahabharata, Book 1: Adi Parva: Sambhava Parva: Section CXI The Mahabharata, Book 3: Vana Parva: Pativrata-mahatmya Parva: Section CCCVII
Vrisha: great splendour and immeasurable prowess. -The Mahabharata, Book 3: Vana Parva: Pativrata-mahatmya Parva: Section CCCVII
Karna:
the cutter or peeler of his own cover. Because he cut off his natural armour and gave it to Indra. -The Mahabharata, Book 1: Adi Parva: Sambhava Parva: Section CXI
Vaikartana: the son of Vikartana (Surya) - The Mahabharata, Book 1: Adi Parva: Swayamvara Parva: Section CLXLII
[because Karna, cutting off his (natural) armour and his brilliant car-rings, gave them unto Sakra (indra), it is for that he came to be called Vaikartana. -The Mahabharata, Book 7: Drona Parva: Ghatotkacha-badha Parva: Section CLXXX]
Radheya: Radha's son -The Mahabharata, Book 2: Sabha Parva: Sisupala-badha Parva: Section XLVII & The Mahabharata, Book 1: Adi Parva: Swayamvara Parva: Section CLXLII
Suta's son- The Mahabharata, Book 6: Bhishma Parva: Bhagavat-Gita Parva: Section XCVIII ==> Souta/Sutaputra
Adhiratha's son:The Mahabharata, Book 7: Drona Parva: Dronabhisheka Parva: Section XXX ==>Adhirathi
king of Anga: The Mahabharata, Book 1: Adi Parva: Sambhava Parva: Section CXXXVIII ==>Angaraja
Surya's son: The Mahabharata, Book 8: Karna Parva: Section 90 ==>Suryaputra

Karna had a bow named Vijaya (The Mahabharata, Book 8: Karna Parva: Section 31) ==> Vijayadhari.
Karna was son of Kunti ==> Kaunteya
Karna was disciple of Parashurama ==> Parashuramashishya
Karna was of charitable nature ==> Danavira/Danashura
Answer: 1. Vasusena :
This is Karna's original name given to him by his foster parents Adhiratha and his wife Radha.Vasusena means someone who is born with wealth i.e. natural armor (Kavach) and hear rings (Kundal).
2. Radheya:
The popular name of Karna (Son of Kunti). Karna was never aware of the fact that he is the biological son of Kunti. Until Lord Krishna revealed the truth of his identity before the Kurukshetra war.
It is said, on his deathbed, he refused to be called the son of Kunti and wished to be remembered as the son of Radha.
3.Vaikartana: He got this name, as he carved his own kavach from his chest along with his kundal to offer to Indra, Brahmin in disguise.Though Karna aware of the fact, he gave his Kavach and Kundal to Indra.
4.Angaraj:
Dronacharya arranged archery tournament in Hasthinapuram. Karna went to participate in that tournament against Arjuna. But he was not allowed into the tournament because the tournament is only for kings. Duryodhana wanting to see Arjuna's defeat. He gave the part of his kingdom, Anga to Karna and made him king for Anga. Since then Karna named as Angaraj.
This gesture of Duryodhana was never forgotten by Angaraj and he remained loyal to him until his death.
5.Sutaputra:
The name 'Sutaputra' simply means "son of a charioteer", as his foster father Adhiratha was a charioteer. Karna was frequently addressed as Sutaoutra to insult him


Safe to screw on a paper towel holder way above socket?

Question: I'm probably overthinking it, but I'm trying to mount the SimpleHuman horizontal paper towel holder. It turns out that the best place for it is in the middle of the inner wall (5.1 inch wide) but above a socket which is located on the bottom of the wall. The three screws are about 1.1 inch each. I'm not drilling a hole, just using a normal mechanical screwdriver. Is this a concern at all?
Comment: if it can carry two people ...
Comment: *Is it safe to screw [into a wall]...* - I thought this was going to be about the concerns of a paper towel holder simply existing above an outlet.
Comment: @HagenvonEitzen "how many people does it take to screw on a paper towel holder?" "Just two, if it'll hold the weight"
Answer: If you are concerned about the presence of wiring near where you are installing this, grab yourself a stud finder with "live wire" detection from your local hardware store. Entry level models are inexpensive. This way, you can find the studs and the wires. More expensive models may also detect other services (e.g. metal plumbing or gas pipes).
If you are just going to attach the holder with screws, or with the skinny little excuse for anchors usually included with these sort of things, you run the risk of the holder coming out of the wall over time, because at least one of those two mounting holes probably won't line up with a stud (unless you've got some super wide studs).
Grab yourself some drywall (plasterboard) anchors or spring toggle devices to get a better hold on the wall. The former looks like a big plastic screw, with room for another screw in the middle, and a flat tip. This is is shown in the first picture below. These bite in to the drywall (plasterboard) and get a firm grip, providing you with a rigid hole to screw in to.
The latter (spring toggle, second picture) consists of a screw with spring loaded wings that spring apart after you push them through a wall. Naming may be different in the US, but I would expect they would still be readily available. The objective here is to distribute the load of the holder (and anybody pulling on it) over a greater area to avoid ruining your wall.
Be somewhat wary of the drywall (plasterboard) anchors though if you ever want to remove the holder, as they do tend to make a mess when they come out.
Comment: For the holder, I normally screw it a little further in and apply a layer of plaster over the indentation. I don't see the point of making a hole where the stud used to be.
Comment: @T.J.L. - Those are my preferred type unless it needs a toggle bolt.  *Anchor Size #6 to #10 x 1-5/8"* Self-Drilling Drywall Anchor, Plastic – [grainger.com](https://www.grainger.com/product/11K352?gclid=EAIaIQobChMItbyH5du25wIVj4bACh39WQlLEAQYASABEgKr_PD_BwE&cm_mmc=PPC:+Google+PLA&ef_id=EAIaIQobChMItbyH5du25wIVj4bACh39WQlLEAQYASABEgKr_PD_BwE:G:s&s_kwcid=AL!2966!3!281698275321!!!g!525240842327!) - IDK remember what the question is, but if it goes into drywall, it's either of those, +1
Comment: The spring toggles don't leave a mess if you later remove them. Just the neat hole that you drilled, which you  can easily fill and paint over. But they are single use. Unscrew the screw and the toggle drops down inside the wall.
Comment: @T.J.L. I'm not sure what you mean.  That's definitely a drywall anchor.  The 'flat tip' is the pointy end (flat like a knife) is meant to cut a hole to start it but I find drilling to be more reliable.  The screw goes in the center of the cross-shaped driver socket.
Comment: If you're planning on using the screw in anchor like the one on the left they also make them out of metal. I would highly recommend grabbing the metal kind as they are tougher and hold better. Just make sure you don't screw it into wire itself. :D
Answer: I wouldn't worry too much. Modern electrical standards have wire stapled an inch and a bit back from the interior of the drywall. If your screws are less than 1.5" long, you shouldn't hit anything. If you are pre-drilling for drywall plugs, only go 5/8" in.
It's ideal (and still safe) if you get one screw into a stud. There should be one either on the left or the right side of that outlet.
Comment: If you remove the cover from the outlet, you can probably see which side of it the stud is on, which should tell you exactly where the wire is fastened.
Comment: I'm not sure that "you shouldn't hit anything" is quite as positive as it needs to be when dealing with potentially fatal voltages.
Comment: "If you really want to find out, it involves tearing down the whole wall" - not really - as noted in the other answer, a decent stud finder will trace where the wire is going, particularly which side of a stud it has been nailed, if at all - in the UK it seems quite common for the wire to be loose between two studs. Opening the socket itself will also help, but the whole point of (that part of) the regulations is that the area immediately above a socket is a specific danger zone.
Comment: @MikeBrockington If you really want to find out, it involves tearing down the whole wall. Generally, electricians follow code and generally people do not do stupid things, but we can't possibly offer a guarantee. Under **normal** circumstances, you're not suppose to be hitting a wire (normal for a towel rack, normal length studs
 and screws, properly installed wires). Even if the wire happens to be right behind where you drill (low chance, but not impossible), there is normally enough space to successfully install a stud and screw before puncturing wire).
Answer: Good question!  Your primary goal is to assure that you do not have a screw it a wire, and become "hot" possibly electrocuting someone at an inopportune time!  The secondary goal is to get a sound mechanical connection for your holder.
As pointed out by another poster, generally, but not all the time, there is a stud on the right or left of an outlet.  Usually studs are on 16" centers, but in smaller rooms like bathrooms they may not be.  A hot wire detector is a good tool to identify where wires may be, but a stud finder is a good way of detecting where the studs are.  So using a stuf finder (or your knuckles rapping on the wall, and detecting sound changes), I would identify where the stud is.  Then I would try to get one of your mounting screws into a stud.
For the other screw, I would consider a plastic insert that goes into the drywall, and using a screw that only protrudes 1/2 to 5/8" past your holder into the wall.  That will reduce the possibility of hitting a wire.
The paranoid, who own a voltmeter, will check for any voltage on the screws relative to ground, when the job is complete.  It only takes seconds, and gives confidence that someone with wet hands, and another part of their body grounded, will not get the shock of their life at some inopportune moment.
Comment: I, of course, am careful to only electrocute people at opportune moments.
Answer: Another perspective is to think if there would ever be a risk of dropping a metal object onto a plug which is in the outlet.
If the plug isn't quite in all the way then the electrified prongs could be exposed. A metal object making contact could in the worst case lead to injury or fire. Or at least a blown breaker.
(This is one argument for why some people prefer that US-style outlets should be installed the other way around - with the ground pin at the top).
A related risk could be handling a plug with wet hands, more likely to occur near the source of paper towels. There could even be a nonzero risk from dripping water, perhaps.
In this particular situation the risk of this seems quite small at any time other than when you are installing the holder. You might drop a metal part, tool, screw, etc. So the simple precaution it to not use that outlet while you're working above it -- or at least make sure whatever's plugged in is fully inserted.
Answer: I would also be concerned about reaching for a paper towel with wet hands and dropping some water down at the plug/socket interface.
The risk must at least be higher near where you are likely to have wet hands, or  to be holding something wet.
(TBC to add - photo of towel dispenser at work)


Are there any features like Winamp's auto tag exist for iTunes?

Question: It took me 3 months to ID3 Tag all of the MP3s (artist, album, released year, etc) in my iTunes library.  It was annoying.  I saw that Winamp solves this problem with an "Auto Tag" feature.  Is there a plugin for iTunes on OS X to do the same? Or does iTunes itself support this?
P.S: I would like the program or plugin or whatever else to be compatible with iTunes.
Comment: Apple makes stuff that works with Windows, you know. Some stuff also works under Linux. Still apple, just no OS X.
Answer: MusicBrainz Picard works quite well, it uses the same database as iEatBrainz but is still actively developed.  It's free, and I've had great luck with it fixing tags on some 40GB of music I had laying around from my Windows days.
The interface is somewhat arcane unfortunately.  Check out this link that will give you some other alternative ideas.
on edit:
I went back to check out the newer version of Picard (0.12 vs 0.11), and the workflow is much improved.  A lot of the annoying things from before have been automated.  If you take a few minutes to set all the preferences to your tastes using the online help as reference, this really is a great automated tagging app.
Answer: iTunes does have a "Get Track Names" option under the "Advanced" menu. That should be what you're looking for. Granted it might not find everything, but it finds most of them.

If you aren't ripping from a CD, then I suggest iEatBrainz, though you will have to scrum up a UB for it.
Other software:

Jaikoz (Java)
MusicBrainz Picard (Python)
iEatBrainZ UB
Comment: this option just work when you RIP the CD but when you download MP3 this option doesn't work. then it's not a proper answer for me:(
Comment: @Am1rr: Ah, I thought these were from CD. Second option: [iEatBrainz](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEatBrainz), though that comes with issues like not having an "official" UB.
Comment: +1 for your answer and if can't find better one I accept this in future.
Comment: I must add some note about your answer:
1-iEastBraind was not supprted in futur and developer leave the project but maybe in future they put the source of code in sourceforge.
2-Jaikoz was not free :(
3- except iEatBrainz other application you suggest was not compatible and work with iTunes :(
Answer: There's also an application called SongGenie. It looks very good, too.
Answer: You could try TidySongs. From their website :
TidySongs is an easy and powerful program that will fix any missing or misspelled song details, add album artwork, remove duplicate songs and organize your music.
Answer: After many search I find TuneUp it's done what I want.
TuneUp is an easy-to-use and powerful plug-in for iTunes & Windows Media Player, and also available for both Mac and windows.
Answer: MetaBliss is good, but costs $20
You are limited to working with batches of 5000 at a time, but the bulk update feature is great


How to calculate distance of an object from camera or size of an object in an image? Have to utilise already generated camera parameters to find these

Question: How to calculate distance of an object from camera or calculate the size of a object in an image? Given that, I have already generated the camera parameters (intrinsic and extrinsic). I have to utilise these parameters to calculate any of the above values.
Comment: Can you clarify what you meant by the recently edited title of this question? It doesn't make the question any clearer, or help to separate it from the linked duplicates.
Comment: I have generated camera internal and external parameters using a swarm algorithm. I have to use those parameters i.e, Focal length, Rotation Matrix, Translation matrix, etc. in finding any of the assets like distance from the camera or size of object. As, I have read till now, camera parameters are very much useful in finding these values. So, I'm trying this approach.
Answer: Once you focus on the subject, it should show the distance on the markings on the outside of the lens.  For an ex, see
http://www.kenrockwell.com/leica/images/40mm-f2/D3S_6584-1200.jpg
Sorry, but can't help with the calculating the size of object on the image. I do know that macros are rated at the ratio of object on sensor/film. E.g., 1 to 1 is actual size.
Answer: The camera lens projects an image of the outside world onto the surface of film or digital imaging chip. The relationship between the actual size and the image size is a ratio. Also, the relationship between object distance and the focal length is a ratio.
We can draw imaginary lines from the boundaries of the object to center of the lens. These lines trace a triangle. Correspondingly, we can trace out a triangle from the boundaries of the image of the image object back to the center of the lens. Again a triangle shape is traced. The two triangles are "similar", they have the same shape. All the corresponding angles are "congruent" and all the corresponding sides are "proportional". Thus we can use a simple proportion to solve for image size and/or object distance.
As an example: An object 10 feet long is placed 50 feet from the camera. A 100mm focal length was used to take the picture of this object. How long is the image of this object? The ratio of the object's length to the camera to subject distance is 10 ÷ 50 = 0.20. This object's image length will be 100mm X 0.20 = 20 mm long.
Using the same ration idea: A 100mm lens is used to image an object 10 feet long. The image of this object at the focal plane is 20mm long. The ratio of focal length to image length is 100 ÷ 20 = 5. How far away was the object? Answer 10 feet X 5 = 50 feet.
Answer: You can't. You can calculate one from the other (the ratio of image size on sensor to lens focal length is the same as actual subject size to distance), but if both distance and actual size are unknown you are stuck.
That is why scale models work in the special effects industry.


can girls study in co-education systems?

Question: Can girls study with boys in co-education systems?  as now every school or college is co-education and it is a necessity to have proper education so does it make us a bad Muslim?
Answer: If it's a Muslim country, then they have to create a separate school/college for girls, if not then YES we can go to any school/college because education is more important in Islam.
After Jung-e-Badar Prophet S.A.W. announced who ever will teach to 10 children he will freed out.
Quran revealed starting with "READ" (IQRA)

Bukhari: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "He who has a slave-girl and educates and
  treats her nicely and then manumits and marries her, will get a double
  reward.
Comment: Here, "Education" refers to Islamic teachings. But, modern education (in schools and colleges) is not (or atleast not limited to) that.
Comment: @Ali Even in a muslim country, you can have separate classrooms but a co-ed school for the two genders. My school  had co-ed classes in primary and then separate rooms from middle school given that majority of the kids hit puberty around that time.
Comment: @Ahmed 5, you are lucky but the people are living in India/Pakistan/Bangladhes/China are not as lucky as you are.
Comment: The used evidence hardly applies for the topic of the question. Educates here is more about manners than about whatever one may learn in a school.


Evolution - how (epistemologically) an instinctive moral is possible?

Question: I've asked a question about how evolution would explain morality, which lead me to a more basic question - if an instinct would tell the group members to act altruistically, where would that instinct come from? Why would that instinct exist? The randomness answer doesn't seem fit here in my opinion, unless it says that the consciousness itself evolves randomly and creates random instinct..
Comment: Survival of the species. Animals that are 'social' species, i.e., that live within a group environment, act in a way to ensure the survival of the group- not of their own individual. Animals that are not in social constructs, usually still act in a way to insure the survival of their bloodline - their offspring. In both cases it is the survival of the species that is the spur. Even ants take care of their wounded and sick. Crows have 'funerals'.
Comment: @Swami Vishwananda (I'm tagging you but replying to all others) my question isn't why would such instinct exist - of course, in order to survive, sociality is needed. The question is HOW would such instinct exist.
Comment: Altruistic behavior is common in animals, so presumably it has little to do with consciousness. I am not sure what "where it comes from" means, presumably from the same place as all other instincts, genetically transmitted predispositions of the nervous system. On the evolutionary  mechanisms of altruism see [SEP's Biological Altruism](https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/altruism-biological).
Comment: I don't have references, but isn't empathy a direct consequence of a more developed ability to think abstractly? The ability to imagine yourself into someone else's shoes? That's the way I've always explained it: empathy + self interest =  the "golden rule", which is the basis for most of the world's religions.
Comment: @BradC If it has anything to do with abstract thinking it must be of the kind that we share with most mammals and probably birds, they also display empathy. And empathetic reactions are too immediate to believe that they are mediated by abstract thinking even in humans. It is more likely that these are rationalizations after the fact invented to "justify" unconscious emotional reactions.
Comment: No, randomness doesn't fit, as you pointed out, but evolution has nothing else to base itself on. One thing that you might keep in mind is that the naturalistic fallacy can be shown to apply to all value judgments (such as emotional dispositions) not just moral ones. This is the case because all values presuppose information content to serve as a criteria for evaluation, and there doesn't exist any theory how such content could arise from nothing. In fact, Kant argued that knowledge can only proceed from the abstract to the specific and not vice versa.
Comment: 'how' is not a question for this forum. 'how' is a question for biology, not philosophy.
Comment: Schopenhauer answers your question. He explains altruism as the 'breakthrough of a metaphysical truth'. That is to say, he explains it by reference to ontology and not merely epistemology. This would also be my view. .
Answer: Altruism is not a natural instinct, it is learned. The idea and implementation of altruism is predominately based off of guilt in the individual.
It is not natural in any animal's instinct to feel guilt. It is wholly a learned behavior. New words and definitions, plus combinations of these, can be created to create new ideas, emotions, sensations; not understood or developed previously within the human psyche. The term Altruism is a great example of this. Auguste Comte first coined the term in the early 1800's (not that long ago). It's the selfless idea to suffer yourself for the benefit of the greater man. Think, that if one person could take on all of the world's diseases, suffer, and die from them instantly, only so that the world would be cured of disease. Think the idea of Jesus expanded.
This is not a natural idea or concept formed in instinct. Instinct is to protect the lineage of the being, not set it up for destruction. Sharing, seen amongst other animals is shared for the benefit, not consequence. Most religious practices teach the idea of guilt. Guilt is the single easiest practice of controlling a learned population. Altruism would be this idea at its climax. There is nothing natural or instinctual about this false loop.
So in summary, altruistic tendencies would only come from an idea, they would not exist in instinct. Consciousness does contain instinct, but this is an idea beyond that.
Answer: There is another possibility: The instinct being substituted by social constructs as (biologically) successful strategy.
This is a possibility proposed by Jay M. Bernstein (referring to Brandom):

[...] I adopt a theory of Robert Brandom's that elaborates the structure of human self-consciousness as a social reworking of the governing structures of animal desire and consciousness. Humans are animals who satisfy the entirety of their animal life through social means such that it comes to make sense to consider the desire for recognition as the replacement form of the drive for self-preservation. Torture and Dignity: An Essay on Moral Injury (2014), p. 17

Recognition (more specifically: of bodily integrity), in turn, is what socially construes moral normativity for Bernstein (see Ch.5,6).
Therefore, one could say, e.g. with Habermas, that the reciprocal trust and recognition (fulfilling the same biological role as self-preservation) that proved socially successful in families is, extended (and adjusted) to society, exactly what constitutes morals.
Answer: Biased randomness leads to evolution, which can produce moral instincts
Yes, evolutionary theory would hold that, as you say, consciousness evolves randomly and creates random instinct. Or, more precisely, it would hold that consciousness and non-conscious instincts are two things that can evolve randomly.
The basic idea behind evolutionary theory is straightforward: initially, complex systems emerge through random fluctuations. Whether these fluctuations are ultimately truly random (e.g. deriving ultimately from completely unknowable quantum mechanical effects) or subtly deterministic (through a non-casual universal state function, say) is a complicated ontological issue, but at least they appear so. Once sufficiently complex systems emerge (and "sufficiently" can here mean "a few molecules in size") some of those systems are more likely to survive in their local environment than others. At the level of very simple systems, this might mean something as boring as having a slightly higher stiffness.
Evolutionary theory holds (based on some rather convincing evidence) that complexity itself increased the likelihood of systems surviving in Earth's distance past. It does not necessarily assert that this would hold in any environment.  Further, a system that propagates itself to some degree might, over time, become enriched relative to a system that doesn't propagate itself. Thus given sufficient time, systems with information transfer and reproduction emerge. Once systems with information content that governs their behavior emerge (say, something about as complex as a protein or RNA), evolutionary theory suggests that certain behaviors will increase the chances that the system can propagate itself. What those behaviors are will depend on the system and its environment.
In very complicated systems (e.g. organisms), seemingly "moral" behavior may increase the chances of survival or propagation. For example, giving one's food to others may encourage them to be nearby, and thus provide safety in numbers when attacked, thus leading to organisms with that gene propagating disproportionately. The mechanism through which such behavior can evolve can be highly complex and mathematical, too, and not immediately apparent simply by considering the obvious consequences of an action. The accumulation of small changes can lead to highly complex behavior arising—up to and including moral (or immoral) behavior.
In essence: Why do "moral" instincts exist? Because they keep people (and their genes) alive.
There are several key points here.

Evolution does not distinguish between conscious moral reasoning and unconscious instincts.
As long as an impulse is sufficiently advantageous for the propagation of a system, it is likely to become more common over time. Unconscious instincts (e.g. bacterial instinct to transfer genes) and conscious moral reasoning derive from the same process.
Moral behavior is not determined by biology, only influenced by it.
Evolutionary theory doesn't, generally speaking, hold that people have a biological disposition to, say, believe in deontological ethics, or that genes obligate honesty, any more than it argues that humans are biologically predisposed to like Star Wars and not John Carter of Mars. Not everyone will have the same instincts, or to the same degree, and what morality these instincts ultimately lead to will depend heavily on society.
Rather, morality comes from the interactions of biologically-influenced values with upbringing and other social experiences. A single instinct (not wanting to see people injured, say) could lead one person to try to preserve human life, whereas it could lead another person to try to kill people who are suffering, depending on how that instinct interacts with the moral philosophies they've been exposed to.
Or people might be biologically disposed to protect their "family," say. But those instincts might be hugely generalized depending on societal context, so that mechanisms that evolved because they ensured the survival of genetically similar individuals are extended through moral reasoning to an entire country, or species.
Moral reasoning may itself be advantageous.
Ultimately, evolutionary theory holds that reasoning and other conscious processes exist because they are beneficial to propagation. That is, an organism that can develop new rules for new situations may be much more likely to survive, or to propagate its genes, than an organism that doggedly applies the same rules to different situations.
But evolution is no guarantee, and moral reasoning may cause individuals to take actions that are not evolutionarily beneficial. For example, biological immortality apparently was not adaptive for humans, but survival instincts and moral reasoning abilities acquired through evolution may motivate humans to eventually arrest aging, possibly at the expense of actual evolution. Or protective instincts meant to prevent being killed by competitors may lead an unstable dictator to declare nuclear war and annihilate themselves and their relatives.
Evolution is not a moral justification in itself.
Evolution cannot say what is right, only why it originated. Human moral behavior may have originated for evolutionary reasons, but ultimately individual moral behavior is not tied to a specific goal. There are people who believe every different moral philosophy imaginable, and they're all still human beings. While there are genetic differences that contribute to this, the likelihood is that people's specific experiences contribute at least as much to their moral philosophies.
Comment: People often fail to distinguish between the *representation* of information content and the content itself. Just about anything can qualify as representation as Sherlock Holmes demonstrates, but content, on the other hand, is especially problematic. Wilfrid Sellars said, "The idea that epistemic facts can be analyzed without remainder—even 'in principle'—into non-epistemic facts,... is, I believe, a radical mistake." Your claim that content can simply emerge by random processes neglects to take this into consideration and thus doesn't address one of the key difficulties of the question.
Comment: @PédeLeão - I'm sorry, perhaps I misunderstand what you're saying. Perhaps there exist some "ideals" out there that are the true form of any information, and not its representation in our reality. But what's the relevance of that to the question or answer?
Comment: The relevance is that the question concerns the evolution of moral instincts, so the content of those instincts can't be "some ideal out there"; rather, we have to have some on-board access to it. Otherwise there's no way that it could govern our behavior. DNA might be thought to *represent* information, but it's hard to fathom how it could *contain* it, especially since molecules are non-epistemic entities.
Comment: @PédeLeão - Assuming you don't believe that evolution led to morality indirectly, perhaps you're a little confused by quoting Sellars? His arguments were a little more subtle than that, I believe,
Comment: But fortunately, I have no obligation either to Sellars or Kant. I believe information to be a real physical entity, which is limited in propagation speed, conserved, etc. And yes, which is carried by (among many other things) DNA. I don't view a distinction between "epistemic" and "non-epistemic" entities, at least in the sense you mean, as meaningful. And I don't particularly care about the Wittgensteinian problem of determining the precise relationship of the construct of thought to the molecular processes that even Sellars believed underlay it in some sense....
Comment: And quoting Sellars on this subject while you [apparently agree with sense-data theories](https://philosophy.stackexchange.com/questions/33319/how-does-physiology-support-the-claims-of-transparent-consciousness-or-direct-re), to which Sellars was quite opposed, seems a little odd.
Comment: I agree to some extent about Sellars; he wasn't consistent in that respect. Even so, he was making an excellent point that is evidenced in many other ways such as the paradox of inference. But if you want to believe that information is nothing more that a physical entity, I have no illusions of convincing you otherwise. I just wanted to point out that your answer doesn't really address the question.
Answer: E.O.Wilson used his lifetimes study of social insects, towards understanding the parallels to human behaviour. He popularised and extended the definition of https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eusociality
Quite compelling if you read up, how bees and ants give up individual reproductio interests for those of close relatives, at great benefit. This plays out in our preference to help family and those we know well, rather than rational Singer-style altruism eg. http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/charity/duty_1.shtml
Answer: (I am new to StackExchange so I'm probably placing this in the wrong area. It's more of a counter addition to the E.O. Wilson reference. I believe though, it can aid and contribute to answering the question at hand. I am very excited about this thread and hope we can come to some sort of truth for this question.)
Bees, ants, termites, are all of the same family; wasps. None of which "give up individual reproductive interests". They are not born with them. In a bee colony, if pheromones given off from the queen are missing, or she is aging, dead, or the population is over crowded, they will produce queens. Queens have been fed royal jelly, which is a nutrient rich food source which allows the larvae to produce ovaries capable of being fertilized. The majority of the rest of the hive is made up of infertile worker bees; females. If a colony is queen-less past the stage in which a larvae could be fed to produce these ovaries capable of fertilization then a worker, or a few workers, will produce over sized ovaries and begin laying eggs. It's a strange phenomena. But because these eggs have not been or capable of being fertilized by a drone, which a queen would do on her maiden flight, all of the eggs produced by the worker will only hatch as drones; males. Drones are without stingers, fat and incapable of work and feeding themselves. Their only true purpose is reproduction. With only these drones taking over the majority, eventually the colony will die unless a queen is placed by a beekeeper within the hive while the worker/female population is still high. Initially bees also produce multiple queens, the queens fight and kill each other off until only the strongest survives. Nature at its finest. As for altruism, it is completely absent within a hive. But in human error we look for connections to validate our ideas of it. It's a false presumption to believe, that since wasps and bees have realized through evolution that their best way of survival (for multiple reasons) is to work in a community, it is not altruistic. Living this way is for the survival of the individual bee, of its self. And to carry on its self the only way bees know how. The colony works as a whole, just as each individual cell in our bodies work together to produce one output; reproduction. Each bee carries out it's objective to survive for its self and as a member of the whole. Without attaining to the whole, the bee would bee thrown from the hive to survive on its own, which it can not for very long; nor aid in carrying on its genes. There are so many fascinating things we can learn about ourselves and our relation to the natural world and our existence and meaning through bees. And so many mysteries still yet to be uncovered. Which is why I became a beekeeper many years ago.


What is diffuse plate rifting?

Question: For example in the Philippine Sea Plate the West Marianas Ridge has formed due to diffuse rifting in the south of the Marianas trough.  What does it mean?
Comment: (If any users reading this likewise weren't familiar with the term, looks like one spot the term comes up in regards to the Mariana region is https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/2017JB014684).  Diffuse means spread out/not a sharply defined boundary... but having faults not being fairly focused is something I at least was not familiar with either, so should be interesting to hear more about it!
Answer: If memory serves rifting is defined as either discrete or diffuse. Discrete rifting means that the crust is coming apart in one narrow area, usually in the form of a single defined split in the crust such as at divergent plate boundaries. Diffuse rifting is often seen in backarc spreading and involves many small localised extensional breaks in the crust, each break is small but with multiple breaks spread over a large area the total extension can be quite large. For example discrete rifting can be looked at as a 2 metre break along a single axis while a zone of diffuse rifting would involve several 1 metre breaks each with its own axis, all of which are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the direction of rifting.

What is diffuse plate rifting?


What is technical specs for iOS platform for a game?

Question: I would like to know when a contractor ask you for a technical specs for iOS platform of a game, what's the description that you should give back to him?
Answer: Usually technical specs for an iOS game should be something related to hardware generations. For eg:- game should support all devices from iPhone 3GS and above , should support iPad 2 and above etc , iPod touch 4th generation and above etc.
Answer: Set concrete and measurable specs for as much as possible.
- List of supported device types and generations

iPhone
iPod touch
iPad

For the iPod touch specifically ask for guarantees regarding memory requirements. Even some high profile games can run out of memory on the iPod Touch. The developers usually use iPhones for development and don't bother with thorough testing, assuming the hardware is the same. But it has half the memory! Same for 1st gen iPad.
- List of device versions
iPod touch 2nd generation and iPhone 3G are quite old and slow, so I'd suggest setting iPhone 3GS as minimum. List all devices that you want to be supported.
- iOS versions
Example: it might be extra work to support iOS 4 and Game Center support will be disabled.
- Language support
If you plan on ever adding more languages, the game should be setup to support it from the start - localization strings, support loading different artwork and audio for each language etc.
- Game Center integration
- Retina-grade artwork
(As opposed to blurry/jagged upscaled versions of low resolution artwork.)
- Support for iPhone 5's screen resolution
It is taller, so artwork must be redone, game must be adjusted.
- Performance
As with the memory requirements, get specific guarantees. For example: startup time is x seconds from tapping icon to main menu on iPhone 4, framerate never falls below 30fps on iPhone 4 or averages to at least 40fps during a typical gameplay session. IPA package size below 50MB. And of course: no crashing. You might ask them to integrate a crash reporter such as this one or this one.
- App store validation
The deal is not done until it passes Apple's validation process.
- Special requests
Support for iCade and other 3rd party controllers, TV output, Airplay support etc.
Answer: IMPORTANT technical specifications for iOS platform games
OS Specification

Minimum iOS (5.1 or 4.3 etc)

Hardware Specifications

iPhone & iPod Touch (Retina, 3.5 inch, 4 inch)
iPad (1, 2, New)

App/Game device Family

iPhone
iPad
Universal

GPU Specification

OpenGL ES (v1.1 or v2.0)

Others

iPod touch 2nd generation and iPhone 3G are quite old and slow, and
OpenGL ES v1.1 does not support those versions. So would you add / remove those as technical spec.
Memory requirements
IPA size issue
Answer: just specify the target device and OS e.g
iPad1/iPad2/iPad3(Retina)/iPhone Retina including iPhone 5, iOS 6+


Has gun violence decreased in states with open carry laws?

Question: Has gun violence decreased in states with open carry laws?  I know the laws have not been in effect for long, but I am hoping for some evidence either way. I'm looking for legitimate and unbiased sources.
Comment: This is nigh impossible to harvest statistics for; as gun politics is an active area of adjusting laws and regulations. Removing confounding factors would be difficult. Longitudinal studies aren't much better to reduce statistical noise as many other factors also have long lead times. Consider that we _still_ don't know why precisely urban crime dropped in 90s.
Comment: This is a very difficult answer to resolve empirically, because it's hard to say that any changes in violence aren't caused by factors outside of the change in open carry status. For example if Maine has no open carry laws and Texas has them and crime increased in Maine relative to Texas, in order to say that the open carry law changed crime, you would have to claim that your statistical model could account for all the differences between Maine and Texas. To really answer this question with statistics there would need to be some sort of random assignment of gun laws among various places.
Comment: The best I could find (in terms of 'reputable' sources) is this article from the Washington Times that pretty much says "statistics don't show much linkage between crime rates and gun laws" http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jan/24/states-crime-rates-show-scant-linkage-to-gun-laws/?page=all
Comment: Let us [continue this discussion in chat](http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/18065/discussion-between-da-and-user1873).
Answer: Gun violence has been declining for the past 30 years. See the Department of Justices Bureau of Statistics for exact statistics. That decline has continued as the number of CCW granting states increased (now 100% of U.S. states). Additionally, violent crime has also been declining over that same time frame.
In answer to the implied question of whether or not CCW laws have decreased crime or gun violence, this is unlikely to be satisfactorily resolved. There are too many confounding variables to ever be able to tease out changes in the gun violence crime rate. A confounding variable is an alternate explanation, that may equally describe the phenomenon, but which precedes or occurs independently of the causal relationship you wish to describe. In other words, there are too many alternate explanations that cannot be controlled for, such as lead in our gasoline made people more violent, and now that there is less lead there is less violence, or more access to abortion decreased the crime rate, or changes in policing towards a "broken windows" approach decreased crime. The list goes on and on. Since all of these things happened at the same time as increased CCW licensing, it is possible that the decrease is due to these things and not CCW licensing.
None of this is to say that CCWs are not decreasing gun violence rates, either, but that it is difficult to prove. I can go into greater depth of the statistical problems, but that would require a longer and more technical answer than I believe you desire.
Answer: The answer to your question YES, such crime has decreased.
http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/should-people-be-allowed-to-carry-guns-openly/open-carry-deters-crime
A general problem in political debate is the use of regression analysis to reduce complex systems down to single variables.
Your question is different from does open carry reduce violent crime?
Here is a study that is on the anti-concealed carry side:
http://people.uwplatt.edu/~wiegmake/Intro_Files/CJ%20-%20paper%20example.pdf
I supply that link as an illustration, not to make a policy point. Both gun rights supporters and gun control advocates sometimes use misleading statistics to make their points.
The reality is that the factors giving rise to violent crime are highly complex.
Comment: @Sparta270 - That is a subtly twisted response itself. Note that "crimes" does not equal "deaths", Being shot or stabbed is not the same as being shot or stabbed to death. And it should come as no surprise that the mortality rate for being shot is much greater than for being stabbed (which is why any sane person would prefer to use a gun for self-defense rather than a knife - the success rate is greater). So, death by stabbing may (or may not) be worse than death by gunshot, but you are much more likely to survive being stabbed than being shot.
Comment: Actually he twisted it and asked about gun crime. While gun crimes may be higher, overall crimes decrease, the opposite can be seen in countries like Australia after the gun ban. I would rather be shot than shanked or beat to death. It would seem quicker and less nasty.
Answer: stats vary in different states and the types of study that is being held. many of the studies have some bias that helps the researcher push towards the side the support which would pull bias data. Theres no way of knowing, but open carry laws aren't brand new, many states have had them. The reduce to gun crime can be due to many factors. I believe the biggest factors of gun related crime decrease are decrease in drug and alcohol use. Also a good percentage of these violent gun related crimes are committed by vets and other people suffering from intellectual disabilities. 25 years ago the Disability Act went into place which helps more people suffering from intellectual disabilities as well as the help for veterans have increased.
Answer: Yes, according to research done by Florida legislator Matt Gattez. He said that states with open carry laws have an average of 23% less crime.
Comment: linking to the study that shows this or a news article that cites the same source as this legislator would help.
Comment: While on the surface, the math checks out, the actual research is hardly rock-solid and fails in a lot of ways: http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2015/oct/09/matt-gaetz/violent-crime-lower-states-open-carry/
Comment: I wouldn't consider research done by a state legislator to be authoritative in a meaningful way, unless he was moonlighting as a University professor, or a staffer at RAND. The bar to entry at the state legislature level does not include research methods, and frequently they will slap-dash something together for political points rather than conclusive evidence.
Comment: Matt Gaetz is not a reliable source of information.


Are there any methods to identify intervals in Solfege?

Question: I have a test in Solfege and I have trouble identifying intervals.
I don't have musical hearing and I have never studied piano professionally. Therefore I struggle with identifying intervals through sound and also writing notes correctly in the staff.
I know that there are systems that can help to identify intervals using popular songs. I want to know if there are any other methods that can help identify intervals?
Answer: Apart from the well-used 'parts of songs' idea, the other simple way is to be able to sing a simple major scale, using 'do, re, mi, etc.
Sing up and down - unless it's fixed do, it doesn't matter what the actual start note is, and when you've done that many, many times, try do - mi, do - mi - so, re - fa, and so on, just in one key, until you associate each name with a particular sound in that key Go backwards as well - do - ti - la, etc. With only seven names and sounds, it doesn't take too long. If needed, play on an instrument too. piano is best.
Answer: If you're able to sing the intervals and a repertoire of some popular songs, folksongs or children songs (baby songs) you will recognize these intervals in other tunes and you will also be able to adapt and transfer them to other melodies.
I always taught this methode that you mentioned together with the one that Tim has shown.
But the best is when you find out yourself which starting intervals of which songs you want to use as "key-model" like the coucou third or the sirene of the fire guides.
some exampels:
12345-54321
1231,1231,345-,345-
3212333-222-333-
5566 5-3-
more difficult will be a minor second or the tritonus and a minor seventh:
I always used "für Elise" (mirimiri) and from Weststide Story:"Maria" (dofeso, and "There's a place for us" dotalafare)
very helpful was to me - I remember my first lessons in solfege - was to invent my own songs and tunes for each interval. But this was only one per week.
Furthe it is very helpful to train the chords like triades, tetrades diminished and augmented chords and the sixth chords applying the solfege sillables.


How do I repair damage to the plaster on my bedroom ceiling?

Question: I have noticed that the ceiling plaster in my front bedroom seems to be crumbling off and the ceiling around where it is coming off feels spongy.  My house is a mid terrace over 100 years old I guess.  What could be causing this and is it something to worry about?  I hope it isn't too expensive to fix. It seems to be the ceiling towards the front of the bedroom towards the window.  Certain parts along that side feel spongy and the plaster is falling off.
Comment: Certainly has the general sound of water damage.
Comment: What is above the ceiling? Attic? Roof? A bathroom?
Comment: Does it feel wet?
Answer: If the ceiling feels spongy anywhere at all, some sort of deterioration has occurred.  The most common cause is moisture seepage—whether from leaky plumbing, roofing, or pets—but plaster deterioration can also occur from sustained high temperature (120 °F/49 °C) as is common above an enclosed light fixture or electrical junction box carrying a heavy electrical load.
Decay could also be caused by certain pests like cockroaches, fleas, or larger critter's waste.
The first step to fixing it is to stop whatever is causing the problem.  Then assess what needs to be done.
Wall and ceiling work is somewhat expensive if you hire someone to do it, but it is quite inexpensive if you do it yourself.  Even if you don't know what you are doing and have to (re)do it four times, that will still be less expensive than hiring a pro.  For a head start, visit your local Home Depot the next time they have a sheetrock demo.  Or search for "sheetrock repair" on Youtube.
If investigation or repair require tearing down the ceiling, the price can escalate if you see something else you want to do:   rewire, insulate, reroute plumbing, redo siding, etc.  Frankly, the add-ons are the most difficult (financially and emotionally) aspects of such projects.


Can exist bitcoin network with all nodes behind NAT?

Question: If I run bitcoin client for the first time its try to make TCP connection with saved list of IPs and port 8333 -other nodes. If this nodes are behind NAT with IP 192.168.0.XX and public IP from the NAT router with changed from NAT unknown port its appears that bitcoin network is down? Or bitcoin client will try to make UDP/TCP hole punching connection? If its mandatory for some miner to have public IP address?
Answer:
Can exist bitcoin network with all nodes behind NAT?

Sure. Both the Bitcoin client and many SOHO routers support UPnP. Failing that, Bitcoin users could set up port forwarding.

Or bitcoin client will try to make UDP/TCP hole punching connection?

No, it won't do that.

If its mandatory for some miner to have public IP address?

Generally, mining pools will have a public IP address. There's no reason why you couldn't set up a mining pool server behind NAT and use port forwarding to make it public, but it would be a very strange way to set things up.
Comment: If I disable UPnP on my NAT router and start bitcoint client what happened?
Comment: Outbound connection to nodes with public IP is possible but inbound connections with router UPnP disabled?
Comment: This means that I will not receive money notification if I have disabled UPnP in my router and bitcoint client not know other nodes with public IP


Why Tor node maintains TLS keys with every other Tor node?

Question: I read that Tor proxy maintains key with each Tor node for encryption. Then, why does a Tor node maintains TLS keys with other Tor nodes?
Answer: If I understand your question right, you're wondering about the link protocol that relays use to talk to each other. This protocol ensures that relays establish exactly one connection to each other, not a new connection per circuit they carry. Doing it that way has two advantages. One is anonymity: Multiple circuits are multiplexed over such a connection between relays, meaning the attacker cannot easily learn which data belongs to which circuit. The other is just plain necessity: Making a new connection for each circuit would mean relays need to open way too many connections than the TCP protocol can handle, making it impossible to support a Tor network of current size.
Answer: An onion is meant to be peeled off layer-by-layer by the intended node. This is only possible if the data is encrypted in multiple layers using keys of the Onion Routers in sequence. This is the reason TOR client needs to store the public keys of the Onion Routers.
Comment: But my doubt is why onion routers maintains key with each other(onion routers)??I know that they maintain key with TOR client for encryption and decryption purpose.
Comment: Once data is sent from Alice Bob, the response of Bob is also needed to be sent back to Alice. In this case knowing the public keys of other routers is needed, i.e. to create Reply Onions.


Restoring valuable minifigures

Question: I recently purchased a lot of LEGO minifigures. Included in the lot was a first issue green goblin. The figure is in great condition aside from having a permanent marker line on the torso. Is there a way that I can remove the marker without damaging the print on the figure? My son and I collect together and have been looking for the green goblin fig to go with our collection.
Answer: First off be very careful of the printing on the minifigure, the plastic is quite durable but the printing can wipe off rather easily. I list a few different methods to remove permanent marker all have their varying degrees of risk. They are listed in the order I'd try them in.

Dry erase marker?! Just cover over the permanent marker with a dry erase marker then wipe it off. yes it works.
Aerosol hairspray, body spray, Rubbing alcohol (Isopropyl alcohol), etc. Like JohnnyB suggested alcohol is a good cleaner for permanent marker, especially on plastic. Just be careful of the printing any alcohol biased cleaner can and will remove the printing.
Nail polish remover. Be very careful with this one, nail polish remover's active ingredient is acetone. Acetone with enough time will dissolve ABS (and rubber tires very quickly) but long before that happens it will remove the printing :( I'd only try acetone as a last resort.
Toothpaste I'd recommend skipping this social media craze, it may work (on lego) but there are better ways. On the plus side I doubt the toothpaste it will hurt the minifig, however all the scrubbing necessary to remove the marker that is another story...
Answer: I have had pretty good luck in the past using isopropyl alcohol and a q-tip.
Answer: Try using window cleaner spray, like this:
Such products are designed to remove nasty stains and their alcohol content should be able to loosen the permanent marker ink, since it is alcohol-based as well. To protect the underlaying print, do not use the spray head, but apply the fluid to the affected area(s) with a precision tool, like a toothpick or the corner of a sponge or tissue.
Other apolar solvents, like oils could be tried too.
Another option would be the use of a so-called "magic eraser sponge":
These work by being abrasive, so effectively scrubbing away the top layer of anything, so be careful to only touch the parts covered by the permanent marker. Optionally combine this with alcohol-based cleaning agents.
On the same page, a pencil eraser might work, especially if the surface has a sheen which the ink could not penetrate.
The gentlest possible method I have found an endorsement for is the use of water and soap, but there are others who haven't had problems using nail polish remover either. I'm a bit sceptical here, as acetone is known to solve ABS, but if used with precision, care and moderation, the collateral damage could be contained.

Restoring valuable minifigures


Are fires in natural caves/overhangs safe?

Question: I have heard that a fire in a cave or under an overhang can cause a rock collapse, potentially injuring the occupant.  Is this a real risk?
Answer:
Is this a real risk?

Yes.
However, I would have thought it's a much higher risk with soft rock, such as sandstone, which could easily crack and break apart due to heat. I'd imagine the risk would be lower with something like granite, but I'm still not sure I'd risk it unless the cave was very large and well ventilated.
Comment: It is also a high risk in low temperatures where thawing due to the heat can let water get deeper into rocks where it may freeze again, emerging cracks. Still not a huge risk but I wouldn't do it myself- fire just at the entrance works best.
Answer: There is another problem with making a fire in a natural cave: the smoke propagating through the cave can severely affect various cave-dwelling species, particularly bats.  That is especially bad during winter, when smoke and warm air from the fire can wake up the bats and drive them out of the cave, causing them to freeze or starve to death.
Comment: Thank you for sharing this.  It is an excellent point, often overlooked.
Answer: The general rule is that the rock can't get hot. When you heat the rock, the water inside evaporates and can crack the rock. If you're just making fire to warm yourself or cook something (a steak, not the whole beef) it will be OK. When the fire is moderate, the rock shouldn't even get warm.
You shouldn't also throw bigger stones into fire. They can explode.
The example cited by berry120 was something like the-biggest-fire-in-the-world-challenge... When you want to fire something big in the cave, I would be afraid of CO intoxication in the first line, however.
Answer: The only time I lit a fire in a cave we had to evacuate due to smoke and a billion spiders dropping from the ceiling.
This isn't a 'danger' for me in the UK - we do not have deadly spiders. Elsewhere this might be a significant danger.
Much better to light it just outside :-)
Use a reflector fire to bounce the heat inside the cave and funnel the smoke across the cave mouth - much the same as you would setting up a lean-to type shelter.
Comment: Fair point @DudeOnRock, however I'm in the UK with no dangerous spiders. Elsewhere this is a real danger and not immediately apparent one from lighting fires in caves. (updated my answer to reflect this)
Comment: This an anecdotal comment and not an answer to the question.
Answer: At first, I was going to down-vote the question, because "I have heard..." struck me as relying on urban myth.  But I realized I didn't have the Rep yet on this site to do so...
Then coincidentally, I came across this sad story from 2009:

A 16-year-old boy was crushed to death by falling stones in a cave
  which had probably been unsettled by the heat from his camp fire, an
  inquest heard.
...
Geology expert Andrew Bowden told the inquest that a pre-exisiting
  weakness in part of the 1,000-year-old cave would have combined with
  the heat of the fire to cause about 200kg of rock to fall away from an
  overhang.

[Edit: This refers to the same story linked by Berry above]
But under normal circumstances, I suspect Carbon Monoxide poisoning and/or smoke inhalation is the bigger risk...
Comment: Nope, it is not. I did not mean to imply anything about your answer in particular, just giving some general thoughts. (I did not down-vote your answer.)
Comment: *ASKING* a question about urban myth, rumor, or pure speculation is perfectly legit, and should not earn a down-vote. *ANSWERING* a question based on urban myth, rumor, or pure speculation is bad, and should be down-voted into oblivion.
Comment: Fair point... but is providing a link to a prominent news site (the BBC) "answering based on urban myth"?


What is the best time of day/Band to make a contact with Hawaii from the East Coast?

Question: I need to get Hawaii for Worked All States, and live on the East Coast (Virginia). Furthermore, I have a poor antenna, and thus only the prime times of the day seem to really be opened for me. What time of day/band is the best to make the QSO?
Answer: In general, my experience is that band conditions are best for long-distance communication at sunrise and sunset. You generally want the sunset to be somewhere in between you and the person you are talking to, so probably something like 9 PM EST.
Beyond that, things like solar weather can make a big difference. I tend to use VOAProp for predicting when and on what band I can best make a contact. The ARRL also publishes propagation charts that show the best time of day. Their November 2013 chart shows that the best time is between 1600 and 0000 UTC, which is noon to 8 PM. Finally, voacap.com has an interactive web tool that can give you propagation predictions.
Finally, remember that power and spectral power density make a big difference as well. 1500W on CW will propagate much farther than 10W on SSB. During good propagation conditions, however, 10W may be all that you need.
Comment: +1 for linking to specific resources that could be reused by people who have similar questions in the future, rather than just providing an answer for current conditions.
Comment: It's worth noting that time of year will affect things as well.
Comment: Sunrise/Sunset pushes you into the realm of ionization changes due to the sun angle as well as the entire "greyline" propagation phenom.  You can see more here: http://www.ng3k.com/Misc/n4kgprop.html
Answer: Here's a propagation prediction made using PropView with the VOACAP engine; the thicker the line the higher the probability of an opening:

As you can see, your best bet on the higher bands is 10m between 18Z and 23Z, followed by 12m around 18Z, and from 22-24Z.
On 40m and below, both ends of the path between you and HI must be in twilight or darkness, which as the screenshot shows means 4Z to 12Z.
Signal paths that parallel the solar terminator can be enhanced by "greyline propagation", but your QTH is too close to Hawaii for that.
Answer: By my read of http://spacew.com/www/realtime.php it seems as if 10m could be open right now from Virginia.  (Virginia, which is a big state, as compared to Rhode Island or Washington DC (not technically a state, but a tiny pin-point on the map))
Your great circle distance from Washington National Airport to Honolulu International Airport is almost 7800km.  (calculated here: http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=DCA-HNL) As the Space Weather page explains, the MUF prediction is for a 3000km path (multiply MUF by 1.1 for a 4000km path), which means you'll have to look for the midway points and hope that your signal bounces an extra time.  Looking at the two midway points, I see that the MUF is just about 33MHz.
More information here, too: http://dx.qsl.net/propagation/propagation.html  Also, here: http://www.hamqsl.com/solar.html
For a quick peek at what may very well be possible, you could look at the propagation predictor on the home page of http://qrz.com
Do remember that this is all "prediction" - this is an experimental service so you must experiment!  In ham radio, there are no substitutes for listening or transmitting (on an open frequency!).    Often, you may find that you think a given band is dead, but once you call CQ a few times, someone else you haven't heard yet will pop on and tell you that he's in the middle of a conversation with someone else you can't hear.  If you're lucky, the station within earshot will have a conversation or at least a contact with you once he's done with the other fellow.
Many other factors affect your ability to make that contact: Are your antennas radiating in the correct direction? Is anyone listening? Are you scanning the bands to see which stations you can hear and where they're from? Are you calling CQ? If no-one is listening, you won't make a contact. If your antennas aren't right, you won't make a contact. If the conditions aren't right, you won't make a contact. If you don't call any stations, you won't make a contact.
Comment: +1 for linking the useful MUF Map, handy link to keep around.
Answer: Start with the ARRL propagation forecasts. These are updated every month and there is a specific forecast for the path from the East coast to Hawaii.
http://www.arrl.org/propagation
For a customized prediction, use the online VOACAP propagation predictor here:
http://www.voacap.com/
Finally, you may want to check in with the 3905 Century Club nets. Those are on several bands at several times per day, and are dedicated to WAS and similar awards.
http://www.3905ccn.com/newsite/index.htm
Answer: I can only add the perspective as to when I had a phone contact with KH6LC on 11/17/12 @ 22:24.  I made the contact with 12W on 10m, I believe it was during ARRL November Sweepstakes contest.  That's likely a really good bet, a lot of stations get on the air around that time.  I'm hoping to snag AK as it's one of the remaining few that I need for my WAS.
Answer: Besides monitoring spotting sites for KH stations, you might try contacting when you know there are a lot of Hawaiian stations working the band and where they are working it.  Two sources to consider.  One is the Ohana Net which is on the air regularly on the 20 meter band and I hear them all the time (but, I am in Washington state).  They have a web site where you should be able to find the times of their net schedule.  I think they are Saturday mornings: http://www.ohananetradio.com
Another source is the Hawaii QSO Party which does not occur in 2015 until August (at least it is in the future for 2015).  I think it is August 22nd but check their web site which is at: http://www.hawaiiqsoparty.org.
You might e-mail some of the KH stations you can find on these web sites to set up a schedule.  I remember in my days to fulfill my WAS I was lacking Rhode Island.  After several years of missing it, I finally arranged a schedule with a guy in Rhode Island and then added my 50th state.  So, schedules work even though they might be the last resort.
Comment: In addition, Sweepstakes and other contests are quite helpful.
Answer: Depends on the band. You will have better success on 80m or top-band after dark. 20 will get you good DX all through the day, and 40, depending on conditions is good to ~1000km
You don't mention where in the US you are.
The current solar conditions indicate that 10m should get good results right now too.
Comment: Consider expanding your answer to provide the method you used to determine your recommendations - that way others who have similar (but not identical) questions can benefit.
Comment: Added where I am more specifically (Previously said East Coast, added in state)
Answer: Over the last 24 hours, 5 Hawaiian stations were spotted by stations on the US East Coast:
KH6OO on 30m at 0515Z
NH6I on 10m from 2135Z to 2142Z
KH6QR on 10m from 2134 to 2250 Z
KH6L on 10m at 2225Z
KH6SAT on 12m at 2309Z
Comment: This would be a much better answer if it also described how to get this information, as by now (a mere two weeks later) the information provided is totally out of date.


Import from CSV and dedupe using Email (match to contact) with PRIMARY email?

Question: Is there a way to use "Email (match to contact)" field mapping against the Primary email address? Or are we forced to use a location type?
Answer: In my testing, for the deduping, it actual matches against any email address no matter what the location type is.  The location type you select for email is for new contacts and what location type their email address will be imported into.


"Collège" vs "Collégien": why is the accent different?

Question: I recently found out that collège and collégien have different accents (accent grave and accent aigu respectively). But since collégien is from collège, I feel like they should have the same accent. Is there any reason for those words to have different accents? Or is it just because of phonetics?
Comment: The switch from "*è*" to "*é*" when a word gets a suffix is very common. It's most likely because it's easier to pronounce.
Comment: The pronunciation is different (in these words there are no pronunciation tricks: `è` is pronounced as usual, like in `père` or `mère` or approximatively in English like in `head` or `fetch`, and `é` is pronounced as usual, like in `café` or approximatively in English like in `sit` or `fish`). I'm not sure why the pronunciation diverged in those words though, good question!
Comment: 'é' is more pronounced like the 'ey' in 'grey' or 'stanley' though
Comment: "é" could not be pronounced as the "ey" in "grey" but as the first component vowel of the diphthong "ei" , which one is the pronunciation of "ey" in "grey"; moreover, the French "é" is higher than this component vowel ; see the [diagram](https://french.stackexchange.com/a/33797/17649). You could say that the French "é" is between /i:/, as in "weed" (but short) and /e/, as in "head",  and somewhat closer to /e/.
Answer: French's orthography is based on a dialect that only distinguishes /e/ and /ɛ/ in word-final position and otherwise uses [e] in open syllables (that don't end in a consonant) and [ɛ] in closed syllables (that do end in a consonant) and that always drops /ə/ (the mute e) between two consonants or at the end of a word.
This means that the same root will appear with both <é> and <è> depending on the suffixes that follow:
Collège /kɔ.lɛʒ/ - Collégien /kɔ.le.ʒjɛ̃/ (The orthography changes to reflect the change in syllabification between /lɛʒ/ and /le/)
Répète /re.pɛt/ - répéter /re.pe.te/ - répètera /re.pɛt.ra/ - répétition /re.pe.ti.sjõ/. (Again, the orthography is adapted depending on whether the syllable is pé or pèt.
This is somewhat muddled by an older orthographic principle that kept <é> throughout a word's inflexional and derivational paradigm, hence why orthographic reforms often involve changing <é>s to <è>. For example:

"Collége" and "siége" were reformed to "collège" and "siège" in 1878.
"Céleri" and "événement" were reformed to "cèleri" and "évènement" in 1990.

Despite those reforms, some words remain of the ancient paradigm. In particular the prefixes dé- and pré- are never written dè- or prè-: hence the spellings prévenu and détenu, instead of the expected prèvenu and dètenu.
Note that this is only a question of spelling, not of pronunciation. There is a tendency in most dialects toward having /ɛ/ in closed syllables and /e/ in open ones, but it isn't absolute for most of them. Any French speaker may depart from the above rules when speaking by pronouncing the /ə/ in the middle of a word and keeping the previous /E/ as a closed [e], by keeping the same vowel in a root whatever its syllabic structure may be, or by letting the height of the vowel in the final syllable influence that of the previous ones (so that "vous cèderez" might be pronounced vous [vu.se:d̪.ʀ̥̝e] and "il cèderait" [i.sɛːd̪.ʀ̥̝ɛ], which is what I do).

As an aside, I'm a speaker of dialect that distinguishes /ɛ/ and /e/ in all syllables, whatever their position in a word or their structure and this orthographic convention caused me no end of trouble as a schoolkid until I understood -in college- the rules applied by the spelling authorities and how their phonological system differed from mine.
Comment: @Mat That's a common misconception, but the pronunciation with /e/ is in fact closer to the classical standard. There seems to have been a lot of variation in the pronunciation of the old  diphthong in the 16th Century, but they eventually settled on /ɛ/ usually, except in verbs where  or  (as they mostly spelled it) was /e/ in j'ay, je sçay (=le je sais moderne), and the 1st person singular suffixes of the simple past and the future. That's still more or less the standard applied in Belgium and Canada, the ai=always /ɛ/ stuff is spelling pronunciation
Comment: I second that and would like to add that our famous "J'ai" (I have) used to be pronounced /ɛ/ but is pronounced /e/ by most native French speakers nowadays. Evolution of pronunciation... ;)
Comment: Of course, that doesn't mean some dialects didn't go from /e/ to /ɛ/ then back to /e/ for j'ai.
Comment: Oh, and  at the end of words could be either /ɛ:/ or /ɛj/, which we can still see in the double pronunciation (and spelling) of words like essaie/essaye or paie/paye.
Comment: True for Belgium and Canada. Apart from northern France (for Chtis...^^), I don't know any native French speaker (from France) who uses it with an /ɛ/ sound. However, if some do, I'd deduce that they have a northern accent. So, as far as I'm concerned, Je sais ="Ché" or "Je s/e/" . "Je s/ɛ/ " (forgive me for not writing all the phonetics properly...) goes as well but in south of France I hardly ever hear it. About the words you mentioned, I'd pronounce them like that: essai (for the noun): /e/s/e/, essaye : /e/s/ɛj/, and paye :p/ɛj/ (never p/e/ for that one or it'd sound like pet)
Answer: When forming a derivative word in which the è is no longer followed by a mute e, the letter è is changed to é".

Lors de la formation d'un dérivé dans lequel l'e accent grave n'est
  plus suivi d'un e caduc, la lettre e reçoit un accent aigu :
thème → thématique
arène → arénicole
collège → collégien

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accent_grave_en_fran%C3%A7ais (French)
Comment: Another way of looking at it: it's an underyling é /e/, but because this can't occur in a closed syllable (I believe), it manifests as è /ɛ/ instead in "collège".
Comment: @LukeSawczakThe "é" in "blé" is not the the "e" in "bed" (/e/); vowel diagrams dont show that. "To manifest" in the context you use it, is a pronominal verb (or is that Canadian English?).
Comment: @LPH The "e" in "bed" is not /e/ but /ɛ/, but I'm not sure how that's relevant. (Eau qui dort's note on the conflation of /e/ and /ɛ/ in French may be relevant if you mean I shouldn't differentiate the sounds in *collège ~ collégien*.) As for an intransitive "manifest", it is a little odd but I find it dated to the 19th century in the OED, which identifies it as originating in spiritual language. Googling "it manifests as" or "they manifest as" I find to my surprise that most uses are indeed spiritual. Maybe the broader domain is an innovation, though I don't think it's specifically Canadian.
Comment: @LukeSawczak Do you mean that according to your sources the e in "bed" is the same as the vowel sound of  in "where" which I find noted  /ɛ/ sometimes? But the vowel for this sound is traditionally a diphthong. Is that rather some kind of international English with a pronunciation departing from British English, the vowel of "where" being now a plain phonetic vowel? Are you using  "to manifest" according to the definition "to appear, to become noticeable"?
Comment: @LPH The audio samples and transcription [here](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bed#Pronunciation) capture my "bed" vowel. "Where" is indeed a diphthong, [not the same vowel](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/where#Pronunciation) as "bed" on either side of the pond. And your gloss of "manifest" is pretty good, but I wouldn't separate the phrasal element: "manifest as" meaning "take the form of, be realized as".
Comment: @LukeSawczak Thanks for the details and the useful comparisons; surprisingly, they reveal that a strong h is pronounced in US "where", as in "who". They show also distinctly that US /e/ in bed tends towards French "è" whereas English /e/ is higher on the chart and should, I think, rightly, be represented by another symbol, such a symbol as in the Longman Pronunciation dictionary.
Answer: Complément de réponse ; comparaison de la prononciation des voyelles en français et en anglais  selon la prononciation « RP » du Longman Pronunciation dictionary


Different sized icons on desktop?

Question: Windows (7 is what I'm running, but whatever):
Is it possible to have different sized icons?  For instance, have all but 1 be the standard size but then have 1 be extra large?
I'd like to enlarge commonly used icons on my desktop but not all icons.
Answer: Maybe there is a gadget that can act as an application launcher for 1 application using a custom icon. You'd have 1 gadget for each application for which you'd want to have a bigger icon.
If such a gadget does not exist, you could create it yourself, for your preferred applications. See this tutorial where they explain how to launch My Computer from a gadget. It could be adapted for any application by changing some lines.
Edit: I tried the instructions in the tutorial and came up with this "Google Earth" gadget. It is bigger than the regular desktop icons and it works fine, launching Google Earth when clicking on it. I found the icon on the Net (thanks Google Image).

Here is what the Add Gadget window looks like with the new Google Earth gadget (see author and website ;-) ).
Comment: Good idea. Perhaps even better would be a gadget that has a built in configuration option, so that you wouldn't need to create a new gadget for each icon.
Comment: I agree, but I could not find one yet that fits the bill.
Answer: I'd say without using 3rd party software, this cannot be done
And even then, I'd think you'd be hard pressed to find anything that can, since Aero (the UI-theme) also effects icons. That means they would have to tweak Aero to tweak your icons and from what I've read so far, that's not easy...
Comment: I hope for your sake, someone proves me wrong
Answer: I suspect the answer is no unless there is a Windows 7 theme that uses SVG.  I know the KDE4 plasma desktop can do this, but that's the only one I know about.
Answer: you can have diferent size icons with the help of rainmeter, custom size and all the settings are there also app linking and sorts.

Different sized icons on desktop?


Is it ok to answer a question that has already been correctly answered?

Question: What if I see a question that I know the answer to, but it has already been correctly answered? Should I give my own answer if I feel that my answer is better than the one that has already been provided?
Answer: We have a policy of deleting duplicate answers. That only applies to answers that don't add anything on the existing answers, though. If you believe you can provide a better answer, feel free! If you can provide a better answer, you have nothing to worry about.
Comment: @Aequitas A better answer doesn't automatically have to add something new; we'd prefer it, yes, but if its a better quality answer, we'd be doing ourselves a disservice by deleting it. That's meant more for those one liners we often get, where new users think we're a forum and chime in with their two cents. Editing shouldn't be the default action; people can, and should, provide their own answers, if its higher quality. They're putting in the effort; its only fair they get the reward.
Comment: The way I see it, "better quality" has value in and of itself and a high quality answer added to lower-quality answers therefore *does* add something, namely quality.
Comment: A better answer doesn't necessarily add anything, and if you're not adding anything you can probably just edit the existing one
Comment: What is the approved method of dealing with such answers? Flagging? If so, what flag? I get so many of these declined
Comment: @Kalina Duplicate answers? Downvote. At 20k, vote to delete the answer. The Low Quality queue takes care of the rest.
Comment: so no flags? *sadface*
Answer: If you can improve the existing answer by editing, without changing their intent, then do so. So, you could improve formatting, spelling, grammar, phrasing, add a screenshot, that sort of thing.
Here's an example of a question that already had an upvoted accepted answer that I thought had a problem. I started to edit it, then realized I would be changing the actual content, and instead posted a new answer.
Kalina has since edited the answer to account for the problem I noticed, but you can see the previous version in the edit history.
Answer: If you think you have a better answer than the best answered answer, you could try I believe. Even if you do not have a better answer, you may still help them out with your answer! Everyone likes to help others.
Comment: No. Posting duplicate answers doesn't help anyone and adds more work to the review queue.


Are there any tools to help with monitoring TFS status?

Question: I would like a tool to help with ensuring our TFS (Microsoft Team Foundation Server) instance is running and accessible and monitor the appropriate parties if something goes wrong. Does something like this exist? If not it shouldn't be too hard to write since the TFS object model is pretty well exposed in .Net. Is this a task that is better handled by generic server monitoring software? Do people normally worry about monitoring specific apps within a server?
Answer: There are a couple of ways you could do this.
Monitor the web UI You could install the web access power tool and test to ensure that the web site is up and available with an existing website monitoring product.
Write a utility as you suggest The TFS API is very simple,  easy to use and is well documented. It would be an afternoons work to write something that can check if a user can log into a server you can find some examples here http://www.tfsexamples.com
Rely on users to tell you Developers using TFS rely on it heavily and if the server is unavailable you will know very quickly.
Answer: Grant Holliday's reporting services pack is quite useful for eyeballing server health.  To get the most out of it you'll need to have upgraded your TFS database to SQL Server 2008, but the 2005 reports can give a general idea of use.
Answer: Sure MS Systems Center Operations Manager has a Management Pack for TFS Server.  You can download the Management Pack here.
Your question about do people normally worry about monitoring specific applications within a server?  It depends, your better shops will have monitoring in place for most applications.  They will also have SLA (Service Level Agreement) and OLA (Operational Level Agreement) for applications and the components that makeup the application.
Comment: Have you (or anyone else) used the TFS Management Pack? Would love some more info on that.


How many states when converting CFG to PDA

Question: When converting a CFG to a PDA I know that you get three main states, Qstart, Qloop and Qaccept. But Qloops will need a various amount of states, and my question is how many? Is there a way to find out the "worst case scenario" of how many states there can potentially be? I don't mean for one particular CFG, but in general. I'm having difficulties trying to figure out how I can calculate this...
Comment: I guess you mean to say : "how many states can potentially be necessary?", as you can always add more. You should correct your question. By the way, the answer was already available, though with a more direct title.
Comment: [Possible duplicate](http://cs.stackexchange.com/questions/19946/) (thanks, @babou)
Answer: When converting CFG to NPDA ,then to simplify the process, first convert the CFG to Greibach Normal Form(GNF). Now using three states: Qstart, Qloop and Qaccept, you can generate all transition rules for the NPDA.
To start the process add the transition: $ δ(Qstart,λ,z)=\{(Qloop,Sz)\}$ where S start variable and z is stack start symbol.
And add the following transition to get the NPDA into a final state:$ δ(Qloop,λ,z)=\{(Qaccept,z)\}$.
Now using the production rules of the CFG you can easily generate all the other transitions which includes only $Qloop$. And here the number of transitions depend on the number of production rules.
Answer: I do not know about Qstart, Qloop and Qaccept ... there are many ways
to organize the construction of PDAs.
the minimal number of states required depends a bit on the formal model you use for defining PDAs. But
essentially you need only one state (which means no finite control) if
you allow pushing and popping several symbols in one transition.
Instead of having several states, you push a on the stack a symbol
representing the state, and you pop it for the next transition. The
top of the stack is as good a place as any to keep the state information.
If having to pop several symbols makes you unhappy, you can always use a
pairs of symbols as a unique symbol. Cross-products are handy.
This of course implies that acceptance is by empty stack rather than
final state, which can cause some problems
related to the prefix property of some languages. If that becomes a
problem, use a PDA with two states, one being used as accepting state.
PS This question is already answered in How to get 2-state PDA for CFG?