Is there a recommended or optimal length of profile on LinkedIn?

Question: 1-2 pages is generally recommended for a resume. What about for LinkedIn? If it should be longer, what parts of a profile should be covered in more detail?
Comment: Pages in a document and pages in a website aren't really equivalent things, so it's hard to compare the two
Comment: @aroth - The challenge is a lot of who finds you is based on connections, and that's hard to mimic with two accounts.
Comment: Why not experiment to find the answer?  Set up multiple linked in accounts declaring comparable backgrounds/skillsets using varying levels of verbosity, and see which one is most successful.  I think that's the only way to determine the "correct" answer to this question.
Answer: LinkedIn and resumes are very different things.
A resume is (or should be) a carefully targeted document customized to appeal to a specific job opening or organization. Of course it needs to get to the point and be concise. What you exclude in a resume is as important as what you include.
LinkedIn is far more fluid and versatile, people are surfing "you" based on connections or search terms. You have no idea who will look at it nor what they're looking for. The description you put for each past position should take that into account but that doesn't really imply anything about length. LinkedIn is mostly about your connections. As such, it is probably good to include all past positions on your profile.
Answer: First things first - when looking for recommendations, pick your authorities.
It makes little sense to ask LinkedIn advice from some stranger in the street: they may have an opinion but it's hardly a trustworthy source of information.
Look for the sources you can rely on. One that naturally comes to mind is, well, LinkedIn themselves. Note your interest here is to certain extent mutual: they generally want your profile to be successful since this leads to their service being more popular, more in demand.
LinkedIn recommendations on profiles are provided in their learning center:

Profiles - LinkedIn Learning Center

...
Summary
Summarizing your professional experience and goals allows other users to quickly learn about your background and interests. This is your chance to provide an engaging 30-second description that highlights who you are and what you do— think of it as your personal elevator pitch.
The specialties field allows you to list your areas of expertise that will help potential employers and partners find you when they are looking for a specific skill-set or knowledge-base. Click here to start writing your summary.
Experience
Sorted in chronological order, your professional experience is displayed along with any recommendations you have received. Your position descriptions should briefly explain what the company does, and what your main responsibilities and accomplishments were. Use clear, succinct phrases here—and break them into digestible chunks so even on a quick-scan your accomplishments shine through.
While typically similar to what's on your resume, you should be sensitive to financial numbers, launch plans, etc that your (previous) employer would consider confidential.
  ...

Another source of information they provide is in the blog posts tagged "profile":

LinkedIn Blog  » Profile
As of now, there are not much entries (12) there, so one interested can simply check them all.

Other blog tag worth looking at is LinkedIn Tips. There, look for so called Guest Authors - these will be your "secondary authorities" so to speak. Their presence in the blog indicates that LinkedIn considers them important and you can use them as another source of information.

An example of a "LinkedIn-powered" source is Guy Kawasaki, see this blog entry:
LinkedIn Blog  » Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn | Guy Kawasaki

...Improve your Google PageRank.
LinkedIn allows you to make your profile information available for search engines to index. Since LinkedIn profiles receive a fairly high PageRank in Google, this is a good way to influence what people see when they search for you.
To do this, create a public profile and select "Full View." Also, instead of using the default URL, customize your public profile's URL to be your actual name. To strengthen the visibility of this page in search engines, use this link in various places on the web
  For example, when you comment in a blog, include a link to your profile in your signature...

Some may say that Kawasaki has more authority than all the LinkedIn blog authors together (and I'd agree:) but for consistency, I lay it out from the perspective of someone who knows nothing about him.

Another "natural source" of authoritative information is Stack Exchange.
I write natural since you decided to post here - this assumes you put certain authority into what you find here. Thing worth taking into account is that Stack Overflow has Careers service, with user profiles having much in common with LinkedIn.
Primary source of information on Careers are Meta Stack Overflow questions tagged 'careers'.

An example question about profile: Careers2.0 hit rate

As of now, there are more than 1000 questions in this tag, including more than 300 related to profile (search results for 'profile' in the tag).
Those willing to apply information about Careers profiles at LinkedIn, need to account for certain differences in the structure and terminology. Probably the most straightforward way to "synchronize" your understanding is to import your LinkedIn profile into Careers to find which parts of profiles correspond.

Don't also forget remaining "natural" authority - doing your own research.
Simplest form of doing it is studying profiles of your connections. Learning how your colleagues write their profiles can be quite helpful. While studying profiles, try to find what reads good and what feels better to avoid.
The last but not the least, search the web. Top results for search phrases like LinkedIn profile howto, LinkedIn profile improvement etc often lead to bits of a good information.
Here are few examples to get you started:

I'm On LinkedIn – Now What???   » LinkedIn Profiles
Note imonlinkedinnowwhat.com consistently appears in top search results for several years now.
How to Use Your LinkedIn Profile as a Resume

Create a detailed profile on LinkedIn, including employment (current and past), education, and industry. Review your resume and copy/paste the relevant information into your profile...
The Professional Summary section of your profile is a good way to highlight your experience. Select an Industry, because recruiters often use that field to search. Don't forget the Headline, because that's right at the top of the page when someone views your profile...

LinkedIn Profiles: Avoid the Six Most Common Mistakes

...a Strong, SEO-Friendly Summary
The "summary" section of your LinkedIn profile could be the biggest missed opportunity for the majority of job seekers, Alba says. While this section has a 2,000 character limit, Alba suggests packing as much about you and your abilities into it as possible.
In reality, the ability for people to find you will depend on LinkedIn's search engine linking your name to certain search keywords. So (staying with our repeated example), a project manager might want the term "project management" to appear a few times throughout the summary...

Finally (the least authoritative part of my answer), here are some of my own findings based on studying sources like mentioned above.
"Summary" part of my profile is targeted at those making a quick decision whether to proceed with more detailed background check or not - recruiters, hiring managers, potential interviewers. I consider this purpose almost the same as the one of brief resume (except that my brief resume also includes short overview of my experience and my contacts).
In my experience LinkedIn character limit (2000) makes a good fit to 1-page of text. My initial version summary was about of that size (you may see above it's as recommended) but after investing some effort in making it read better I managed to condense it to about 1200 characters.
I found an interesting explanation for delicate differences that may be there between summary sections in LinkedIn profile and resume. I feel like in my case I better don't bother with that but it is worth taking into account anyway:

Don't neglect this components of your LinkedIn profile; the Summary

...Some jobseekers, against the advice of Professional Résumé Writer Tracy Parish, use their summary as a dumping ground for their résumé's summary. In other words, they copy and paste the summary from their résumé to their LinkedIn summary. Is this utter laziness or poor branding? Both...
One major difference between the two summaries is the number of characters allowed on LinkedIn and the number of characters your résumé's summary should contain. You are allowed 2,000 characters for your LinkedIn summary. So use them! On a résumé this number of characters would take up three-quarters of a page, much too long for a two-page document. A proper number of characters for a résumé should not exceed 1,000 if written well...

Guess above means the summary section in my LinkedIn profile is less prominent as it ideally should be: as I wrote above, I condensed it to the size and tone that fits my resume. If so, so be it.
As for "Experience" section, it is targeted at readers willing to thoroughly check my background to take a serious decision like whether to interview or hire me. I imagine a reader saying like

OK so far you seem to be more or less suitable, but we need more details. Tell us everything about your professional career, projects, roles, skills and technologies. Tell us everything that may help us decide.

If some... I don't know, obscure skill or, say low importance project can make a tie-breaking decision in this thorough check, I would not want to miss / forget it. That's why I try to accurately capture details of every position in every slot of "Experience" section, even explanations for the job changes. I try to make it easy to read, understand and verify.
That makes "Experience" part of my profile quite lengthy, but as far as I can tell it is rather expected. As I already mentioned, this section is targeted at those making thorough background check - while "quick readers" focus on another section (Summary).
A "side effect" is - as opposed to Summary, I can not simply copy Experience section from LinkedIn straight into resume, even into the long one. This is nicely covered in an article written by Gerrit Hall:

6 Things on Your LinkedIn Profile That Shouldn't Be on Your Resume

Many people think their LinkedIn profiles and their resumes are interchangeable, but you should not send your entire LinkedIn profile into a potential employer...
Sure, LinkedIn and your resume have a lot in common. They both include your professional summary, experience, skills, contact information, education and important links. But beyond that, there are plenty of things your LinkedIn profile has that need to stay clear of your resume...
...jobs you display on your resume should be relevant to the position you're applying for, so show potential employers your pertinent accomplishments and results at each position in the bullet points. A resume should be much more focused towards a particular role than your profile. Think of your LinkedIn profile as your "master resume," and then pull the most relevant information from it to build a resume for each position you apply for...
Comment: Excellent, well-researched and substantiated answer. Thank you. How to get it to the top?
Answer: The same way you can have a short and a long version of your resume, or a resume and a full CV, you can use different online profiles to give a short overview or a full-view window to your professional life.
I tend to think it's best to give a full-detailed version, and that if they're not interested in looking in there for what they need, then it's their issue. Plus it makes you more marketable as you register on more people's radars, by way of having more surface for matching keywords.
Unfortunately LinkedIn doesn't provide the option to have a short view and long view, so if you really need this, I'd say host a short version on your personal site or Google+ page, or on StackOverflow Careers, and the long version on LinkedIn. Or the other way around. If you have a personal page, it's actually probably best to have it become the "focus point", and to have all other online profiles be short versions pointing to it. Makes it easier to maintain and avoids too much duplication.
Comment: LinkedIn's surrogate for a short view option is "Summary" section in the profile: subsection "Professional Experience & Goals" allows up to 2K chars plus "Specialties" subsection allowing one to conveniently list core skills
Answer: There's one difference between resumes and LinkedIn profiles...  With LinkedIn, you are waiting to be found.  With resumes, you usually are the one sending it out.
What's this change?

In LinkedIn, it's ok to list variations of the same technology multiple times.  For example, on a resume, you might say, "Expert in creating Oracle tables"  In Linked in, that might not turn up on a search for SQL.  So you might say, "Expert in using SQL to create relational databases (RDBMS) tables using Oracle.  Competent in Sybase too"  The former is more concise and precise and better for a resume.  The latter is better to catch LinkedIn searcheds.

What doesn't change?

Once a human reads it, you get 30 seconds or less to make an impression.  Keep it somewhat concise, despite the keyword advice above.  Eliminate everything unrelated to a job you might want.
Be professional.  It's a job site, not Facebook.
Emphasize what you want read.  If you're just out of school, emphasize that.  If you're gone for a while, emphasize the most recent work experience.
Answer: You want an the experience section of your profile long enough for former coworkers to find you. Just listing companies and no details can make it hard for them to know if they have the right Casebash.
A few sentences will help the recruiters to find you with the search tools. If they see that you might be a potential employee they will contact you for the resume. The request for your full resume doesn't take very much effort on their part.
They are looking for you to respond, in fact they need you to respond. So they ask for the resume. Their search tells them what specialties you have, what city you live in, and if your experience has possibilities. But until you respond they have no idea how actively you are searching.
I am not sure they they will follow links in your profile. They want the search engine to find you, and having some detail in your profile helps them find you.
I also agree there is no way to equate pages of resume to size of LinkedIn profile.


When praying alone, can one say Ma'ariv/Arvit before shkia (sunset)?

Question: I have heard in the past that one praying alone may not say Ma'ariv/Arvit until shkia/sunset but that one praying with a minyan can start Ma'ariv as early as Plag HaMincha. Could someone provide me a reference for this? If one's custom is to pray with a minyan before shkia (ie complete both Minchah and Ma'ariv), can he daven both services together when davening alone? I thought I had read something in Kitzur Shulchan Aruch about this, though I could be wrong.
Answer: There are a few permits for davening early.

You always use plag as your cut-off time. (S.A./Rema O.C. 233:1)
You are in a pressing situation (shaas hadechak- though that must be defined as well as whether you need to use plag). (S.A. ibid/ MB 11)
It is erev shabbos, because of the mitzva of Tosefes Shabbos you can go with plag ([Magen Avraham O.C. 267:1])2 or because your kabbala halachically establishes Shabbos and therefore you can daven Maariv (Pri Yitzchok 9 and Aruch haShulchan quoting Pnei Yehoshua 233:3) (he nafka mina is whether you must use plag.
And the Aruch haShulchan's idea (O.C. 235:3) that maariv is based on the burning of fats and limbs which were done immediately after the hakrava and did not wait until night.

I would assume that the permit being dependant on a minyan means that you are in a community where the only minyan uses plag.
Comment: Note that most of these are not universally accepted, and that they are referring to saying the Amida early but not necessarily Kriat Shema uVirchoteha.


Wheel bearing grease quantity

Question: I own a Ford Ranger and want to know whether to pack extra grease in the hub, especially in the space between the inside bearing and the seal and within the spindle cap outside the outer bearing. I have heard some of the same arguments on each side.
Answer: I would not recommend packing either the cap or the space between the bearings. The external cap is only a dust cap and is not meant to hold back grease, just keep the dust out. The story is very similar with the inside seal. The seal is just to keep the dust out. If too much grease is put in, it may get displaced and get past the seals making a mess all over the brakes. That being said a little extra grease should not hurt anything.
High quality grease should always be used and a bearing packing tool is recommended. Apply some grease to the races before installing the bearings. Also place just a little grease on the surface where the the seal will ride.
Answer: Packing the free space in the hub will do very little, if any good. In normal operation the grease doesn't flow, so the extra grease never gets anywhere near the bearings. The grease you need and want is the grease that "packs" the bearing – filling the spaces around the rollers. The easy way to get this in is with a packing tool, there are several varieties. Here are two from Lisle that are relatively inexpensive.

They both work by forcing grease through the bearing to surround the rollers, one uses a grease gun, the other uses a built in reservoir of grease.
This video shows how they work.

Wheel bearing grease quantity


In the title sequence, what is the strange futuristic noise/blinking effect?

Question: During the title sequence of Game of Thrones, just after the camera pans up the frozen wall, there is a 'blinking' effect and a strange futuristic sound. Is this supposed to represent something important?
Comment: On [scifi.se]: [What blinks in the "Game of Thrones" intro?](http://scifi.stackexchange.com/q/52957/10622)
Comment: Ooh that explains it the best
Comment: Really interesting. Never had such a close look at the effect and always thought it's somehow the camera looking through the rings surrounding/enclosing the sun.
Answer: Its the sound made by the viewing lens changing. If you watch the intro carefully, you'll see that the "zoom" changes in conjunction with the sound. Apart from being a cool effect, I doubt it has any deeper meaning.
Answer: After the Season 6 Finale we also see that the orbs and rings we see in the opening are most likely an astrolabe (aka armillary sphere, armilla, or armil).
We see the same object hanging in the Citadel at Oldtown. This can be determined by seeing the same markings on the rings.
The meaning of this is still not fully known, but there is an interesting fan theory...

"The overarching saga is called A Song Of Ice And Fire after all, and in the world of Game of Thrones songs are used to pass on heroic stories and legends. So does that mean somebody is telling this story of Dany, Jon, Arya, Cersei, and the rest to future generations?"
"If that's how it ends, some fans might be mad about the set up of the story. But if this theory is right, does it make sense for Sam to be the one that devotes his life to passing along the heroism and cruelty of everyone in Westeros? Or could it be Sam's son who was told the story by his father and then passes it on to his own children? If this theory is accurate, there are any number of options that would make sense. But for now it is just another theory."

As for the "blinking effect" the fan theory is that this is literally a person blinking because that person is using the optical device we see the Maester at Oldtown using.

Opening astrolabe

Citadel astroslabe
Answer: I think it goes with the mechanical theme for the intro - when they change zoom level they accompany it with a 'snick' sound and show the edge of the new lens crossing the screen. To zoom in more there are multiple lenses to slide in, so multiple 'snicks'.
This is similar to how you change magnification level with a microscope. It's very hard to smoothly change zoom at small scales, and I think they want to reinforce the effect of the intro being a mechanical map that's just about possible using the technology available in the series.
Answer: In fact, from what I have seen, that blinking effect comes from the globe that shows up between the map shots at the scene. It keeps spinning during the whole opening, and its rings move making that blinking sound. In the internet, they call it the Astrolabe (had to link because the image is too big):
Game of Thrones Astrolabe
It seems to not have importance at all, but if you look closely and pause at certain parts, its design shows the animals of the families they represent (such as the dragon of Targaryen, the lion of Lannister, the stag of Baratheon and the wolf of Stark).
The picture below is a close-up of the astrolabe and it seems to hint at Robert's Rebellion:

As of the dragon (Aerys Targaryen) is being attacked from both sides by the wolf (Eddard Stark) and the stag (Robert Baratheon), and surprisingly being also held up from behind by the lion (Jaime Lannister, who betrays and kills him).
If you look on the internet, more shots like this can be seen throughout the opening, with a few more hints of the show's backstory. Everything seems to have a meaning on this, it is pretty amazing.
Answer: I just got here, because I have to write an essay about this opening sequence. Here's what I wrote (hope it will be useful):
The opening sequence was designed by Santa Monica-based Elastic design studio director Angus Wall, working along with The Rock Paper Scissors group. Wall is an acclaimed film editor and title designer that rose to prominence during the 90's when he worked for David Fincher as his lead editorial consultant.
The main function of the title sequence was to help the audience orient themselves within complex plots that affect and intertwine each other in the giant fictional world of Westeros and Essos. Elastic team was to introduce the world's maps and geography to the viewer, but also to avoid standard tropes for fantasy maps - aged parchment with Medieval-like inscriptions presented in the candle light; and although Tolkien maps of Middle-Earth was their starting point inspiration, they had to move away from this kind of depiction.
The breakthrough happened when the design process moved from Middle Ages to more enlightened ones. Decorated initials and vignettes were exchanged for Da Vinci's sketches and models. The digitally created clockwork universe was born. To stay away from both – the archaic belief of flat earth  and the illuminated spherical earth models – Angus Wall and his team created an inverted world that surfaces on the inside of a sphere. To marry helio- and geocentric models of the universe, the sun is placed in the centre of the world, within a celestial armillary sphere.
What's surprising, the sun itself became a flat object – a disc constrained within the innermost ring of the astrolabe, rotating within the machine. Rings of the astrolabe are engraved with scenes from Westeros history that occurred prior to the action in the books and the TV series – three of those are shown – the Targaryen invasion of Westeros (burning city, dragon and an army), Robert's Rebellion (a wolf, a lion and a stag killing a three-headed dragon) and Robert's ride to power (a stag with a halo with other animals paying homage to it). "We cut to those three times in the title sequence, so you actually see a history of Westeros and Essos. The third time we see all the animals [representing] the different houses bowing down to the Baratheon stag, which brings us to the present, where there's a Baratheon king. We wanted to be very, very faithful to the book because we knew there would be a large fan base that will be looking at this very carefully," says Angus Wall.
In the digitally-created environment, the camera (or rather illusion of it) swoops down from the sun towards the surface of the map (speeded up with few lens snicks – another invention for the mechanism-themed opening). At the surface, a single cogwheel with a crest starts to turn and the whole clockwork model of a city emerges from the ground. The camera travels from place to place, showing more cities and castles, each being erected in the like manner. This part represents the ruling houses with their machinations being the propelling force of "Game of Thrones" world. Also, it informs the viewer where the action of the episode will take place. This creates an unprecedented result, as the opening scores animation evolves from episode to episode as multiple plots develop. In the first season alone there is four varying openings, or "map paths". The rest of the map is a topographic representation in 3D, having distinct angular shapes (contour intervals are presented literally) and small amount of features, generalised only to main roads (lines), forests (green spiked pyramids) and rocks (grey polygons). Names of notable places are integral part of the map, the style of the font resembles quill and ink writing, similar one to the one used in Tolkien maps for "Lord of the Rings".
Comment: I hope that, when you write your essay, you include some paragraph breaks `:-/`


Do any of the darshanas believe that Buddhi is the Self?

Question: Descartes supposed have said "I think therefore I am".  For him thinking entity is the Self. While Hindu sankhya-yoga system puts, both mind and intellect in products of prakriti/pradhana, separate from self that is purusha. Vedanta schools also seems to subscribe to samkhyan model of thinking entity not being self and self being only a witness/observer. Do any of the other darshanas consider thinking entity as Self or do any of the non darshana Hindu philosophical schools consider thinking entity as Self?
Comment: "The followers of Nyaya practically consider BUDDHI to
be the Self in the worldly condition. After liberation, they
consider Self as identical with the void. The Mimamsakas also practically consider Buddhi to be the Self in as much as they believe the I-CONSCIOUSNESS to be the Self The Buddhists also consider only the functions of BUDDHI as the Self."
Comment: @Tamas Though the Nyayikas consider Self or Atma as one of the real substances or Dravyas, what they say is that it is conscious only in bondage and becomes devoid of consciousness after liberation.
Comment: see my answer here - https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/questions/7055/where-does-the-four-states-of-consciousness-occurs-in-an-individual/7058#7058
Comment: @Tamas.If you can answer with quotes from mimsaka works which shows that they think of Self as "thinking entity" or something similar, I will accept it as answer.
Comment: @SwamiVishwananda Yes, as I said in my question, I know Vedanta schools consider Self to be different from Buddhi/vijnanamaya kosha. That is what your answer to linked question says right? Unless I misunderstood it. I am looking for Hindu philosophical system which considers Buddhi/thinking agency itself as Self, not as upadhi or 'mirror' in which true self is reflected or false self etc. Hindu philosophical system which considers thinking entity to be actual, ultimate, true Self.
Answer: Though I don't know of any specific sources which directly claim that Self is Intellect/Thought, ie Atma is Buddhi, but you can certainly find that such schools existed - one being the Buddhist - as their arguments have been mentioned and systematically rejected in the Dakshinamurthy Stotra here.
One needs to be careful when comparing with Descartes (or any Western philosopher) though, as he doesn't differentiate the Mind, ie mental substance, into Mana, Buddhi, Ahankara, etc as is typically done in Indian system.
So, the 'Mind' of Descrates could also mean Prana(Life-Breath) or Vijnana(Consciousness) or Buddhi(Intellect) or Ahankara(Ego), and even the Carvakas could be considered here.
Answer:
Desire, aversion, volition, pleasure, pain and intelligence are the marks of the soul. - Nyaya Sutra I.I.10

So, according to the Nyaya school, intelligence is the quality or the attribute of the soul.
Reference -

The Nyaya Sutras of Gotama translated by Mahamahopadhyay Satisa Chandra Vidyabhushana, Revised and Edited by Nandalal Sinha, 2nd Ed. (The Sacred Books of the Hindus, Volume VIII)
Comment: But it's like of the many attributes, not equivalence, I guess?!
Comment: @Vivikta, True.


Backup Internet Providers?

Question: One of my clients who has multiple sites has some reliablity issues with their AT&T T1s.  At one locations they're using Business Only Broadband, a backup microwave internet link.  However, it's not avaliable at their other site.  What are some other viable solutions?  Right now I've got them setup with a cradlepoint CBA250 with a verizon card that has a 5GB limit as a backup until I find a better solution...
Answer: It's rather hard to answer this question, with out knowing your price range, bandwidth/latency needs, and geographic location.
Somethings to research are,

Satellite back haul
3G/4G (Which it appears you already are)
WiMax (Clear etc)
Local Wireless ISPs (more uncommon by sometimes available)  (Clearwire is an example)
FiOS or other Fiber Provider
Cable Lines
DSL Line
Dialup

Some of the above offer very cheap rates for business users because they don't guarantee bandwidth.
Another consideration, if you have systems that need to stay connected, it may make sense to place these systems in co-location that is multi-honed etc.
Answer: Does it need to be wireless?  If not, get another T1, Cable, or DSL from a different ISP.
Answer: T1s are more expensive due to being 'dedicated' and most often advertised as more 'reliable' than DSL or Wireless.  I would suggest demanding AT&T to fix the 'unreliability issue' with the threat of moving your business somewhere else if they do not follow-up with your request.  I deal a lot with service companies, sometimes you have to be extra annoying to get things rolling... don't hesitate to ask for the manager, or the manager's boss.

Backup Internet Providers?


Chia seeds:can I plant food grade chia seeds?

Question: I am trying to grow indoor plants that my pet bird can eat. I have wheat grass (cat grass) that has done very well, and he loves it but I also read that birds can eat chia, the plant and the seeds. I can't seem to find chia seeds at any of my garden stores and do not want to buy a chia pet. I don't find them nearly as attractive as growing a plant in a regular pot. My holistic food store and one of our high end grocery stores sells chia seeds. Can I just plant those? If not, why not? Is there anything extra I'd need to do first before planting like soaking to germinate?
Comment: Yeah, so about 20-25% of the seeds sprouted, so I'd say that's not very successful... I'm thinking whatever treatment that's used to clean them or preserve them is behind my results. After giving my experiment time to grow, I finally found and ordered some online. Chia pet sells "replacement" or "refill" packs, so hopefully they'll turn out better since I'll be using them for their intended purpose
Comment: Thanks, at least we'll know if I get "plant/nursery" grade seeds, and THAT also doesn't go over well, then it's obviously my fault or conditions lol. I'll still update in a few weeks about these seeds :)
Answer: As you mentioned, just go to the health food stoor and plant the chia seeds you buy.  They are probably organic and fresher than the chia-pet seeds.  I buy chia seeds in the grocery store to sprout them and eat the sprouts.
Also, the cat-grass you buy and sprout is typically red wheat berries (red wheat) you can purchase that in the health food store too, and sprout those too.  That way you are reducing overall cost.  If you are trying to grow cat-grass to the point of harvesting wheat kernels that are going to take some outdoor space.
Your bird might benefit from eating sprouts, please check with a vet first, but I know that the wild birds that raid my garden in the spring love sprouts.
Answer: I used to buy Bob Evens produces. After buying a sack of chia seeds, I tried to sprout some for the added bennies. Chia in water should sprout in a day or so. No nada. Nothing even after several days. I tried again. Nothing. Calling the company was less than satisfactory. The personnel had no clue where their chia came from, or wouldn't say. Chia is a commercial crop in the US, and the USDA demands imported seeds be either from an approved site or irradiated/stelized to prevent diseases from crossing the border. I haven't bought from the company since and have no plan to do so in the future. As I live in an area where it will grow wild (sans ants, which will harvest ever seed they find) it's going to be a major part of the yardden (no lawn, but all 'ornamental' garden). Hispania grows tall and blooms continually. Neighbors were impressed by it, and surprised to find our 'flowers' were food plants--peanuts, amaranth, chia, thyme, rosemary, ground cherries (a lot of folks are going to raise thse for salsa), chilis, and even tomatoes and nopal cactus.


it's worth to make a line follower using a raspberry pi and a web cam?

Question: I wonder if this would be a competitive robot compared with one made with a traditional approach using a microcontroller and infrared sensors. I suppose that raspberry can perform an edge detection to tell the dynamic of the line far away, much more that the infrared sensor, but how fast can the raspberry do this process? should be a relative simple process in terms of computational requirements , an edge detection in a high contrast arena. Probably the bigger issue would be get the relative position of the robot respect to the line, may be a combination of the camera with some infrared sensors would work better, and what about the size? the robot will be significantly bigger when is used a camera and a raspberry for the control.
Comment: Define "competitive".  By what metric do you measure "competitiveness"?
Answer: This may be overkill, but some of the past work I was involved in was trying to detect a vertical line (a pipe) in the camera's field of vision, and navigate relative to it.

The process was as follows:

Pick a threshold value, and split the image into black and white
Perform Canny edge detection on the image
Use a Hough transform to find the strongest lines in the image, and consider those to be the boundaries of the vertical strip you're looking for
Adjust for the perceived width (indicating distance -- you won't need this) and angle of the vertial strip in the image

We used OpenCV to do this.
We didn't get very good results at full camera resolution; The very pixellated lines in the image above were from downsampling the source video frame (by a factor of 3 in both directions, I think... so 1/9 the number of pixels to worry about).  This allowed us to process frames fast enough for it to be useful.  Also, the point of the initial threshold step was to speed up the Canny process -- fewer lines to find.
Comment: We were using this board, which even though several years old is apparently still faster than the Rpi: http://adl-usa.com/products/detail/19/adls15pc
Comment: Unfortunately there isn't a good way to guess the performance without trying.  There are surprising differences in performance from subtle changes in the code, and what order various operations happen in.
Comment: Thanks, it looks pretty interesting, I like it, did you use a raspberry pi? I would like to get and idea of the distance, to speed up, or speed down when the robot is far or close to the hard points of the arena
Comment: I see, it really looks more powerful, I was thinking about make a edge detection and then a correlation of the image with some model curves like a really close curve or a straight segment of the track  to know how the arena is in the next point, It would be this a reasonable approach? How much time could take to the raspberry do such a thing? I mean the correlation of an 320×240 image, I read that the raspberry can make the edge detection in a speed of about 7.7 to 17.5 fps: http://ryanmessina.wordpress.com/2013/06/10/performance-of-raspberry-pi-with-opencv/
Comment: Ian is correct. You can't really tell if a RasPi will be good for the job until you do it yourself, or talk with someone who has tried it already. My gut instinct is that it won't be powerful enough. Are you trying to use a RasPi for a reason - already have one? Because there are embedded boards out there that are built for image processing.
Answer: I did a project based on RPi2 + Pi-Camera + ROS jade + OpenCV to make a line following rover. Two methods are used, one is to find contour of the track, the other is to use Hough-transform for edge detection. Under well-controlled environment (even light sources, less noises, etc.) the performance is good, and I use RANSAC to find preferred edges under noisy environment. Pi-Camera is set to capture 320x240 RGB in 30fps. I overclock my RPi2 to 1.0Ghz, finding contour can process frames in 18-23 fps, and hough-transform is about 17fps (in a bit noisy environment.) For these two methods, Canny filter and Hough transform is the major bottleneck. I built this as a test platform, a cheap rover chassis is used with 2 geared DC motors. My codes in github: https://github.com/alexhuang888/roscar


crontab -e fails to start

Question: whenever I try to run
crontab -e

I'm getting errors such as:
no crontab for banana - using an empty one
/tmp/crontab.oeFm1e: Invalid argument

Is there any way to edit / install the file?
Answer: I'm curious as to what the error is about... I wonder what's being found invalid.
Anyways... You simply say "unix"... so I'm kinda guessing here.. but they're generally the same when it comes to crontab user files...
The user crontab file(s) are usually kept in /var/spool/cron/crontabs.
You'll need to be root to tamper with things in there though, and it's best not done by hand... Grues live there.
Check your log messages to see if anything more were logged concerning the "invalid argument" problem.
You might also try editing banana's crontab as root...
sudo crontab -u banana -e

You might have better luck.
(I love that word... Bananananananana (I never know when to stop!) )
Answer: It looks like you do not have an active cron file for that user.
To list a user crontab, if one exists:
crontab -l

Create a plain text file with the cron commands,
then install it using:
crontab file.txt

To find out if there is a root crontab this will list it:
sudo crontab -l

If the root crontab exits then to edit it:
sudo crontab -e

If it does not exist, then create a plain text file and install:
sudo crontab file.txt

crontab -e fails to start


Serological assays measuring antibody response

Question: Given that an appropriate immune response to a bacteria may be thwarted in an individual, including not producing all of the antibodies which are known to occur in people who have been infected, or producing insufficient amounts of antibodies specific to a bacteria --- Are all serological tests using antibodies as a basis for detection of a systemic infection inherently flawed? In this instance, I'm assuming appropriate application of a test and competent laboratory methodology. But, equally important, what criteria can routinely be used to consider the efficacy of a particular antibody test, across the board.
Comment: Can you give some example conditions under which the immune response may be "thwarted"? Are you talking about immunocompromised individuals, or something else?
Comment: Infections, such as flu, mono, and CMV can temporaCrily, suppress immune function so we don't produce antibodies to new antigens.  If these infections are known -- fine. Would be considered when evaluating results from subsequent antibody tests.  But, the primary infections I mentioned may be subclinical for symptoms and still effect overall immune function.  So, I'm wondering if or how results of antibody tests "adjust" for this factor.  Is it a consideration when evaluating antibody tests?  This is the flaw I wondered about and still may not be clear enough.
Answer: Antibodies used for serological tests are performed in vitro, and are not required to be effective for eliminating the pathogen. For an infected individual, antibodies may play a role in neutralization, opsonization, or activating the complement system (checkout Janeway's Immunobiology for more details). There are a number of reasons why antibodies may be present and not trigger an effective response down these pathways.
For example, E. Coli O157:H7 produces Shiga toxin and there are immunoassays to test for the presence of the toxin in feces (1). Only low amounts of the toxin is needed to cause disease. Antibodies against the toxin have been seen in individuals with the disease, suggesting the toxin is not a strong enough challenge for an immune response Discussion of (2).
You could go case-by-case for each of the immunoassays and see why their targets are difficult to turn into therapeutics.
Comment: Can you add sources to the first part of your answer?
Answer:
Are all serological tests using antibodies as a basis for detection of a systemic infection inherently flawed?

No
Every diagnostic test must be interpreted in the context of the clinical features of an individual and according to the data about that particular test. Tests of serum for antibodies are no different. See Cecil Medicine Chapters 8 and 9 for a discussion of this. A key passage:

Most tests do not provide a definitive answer about diagnosis or prognosis, but instead reduce uncertainty

Except in cases of passive immunization (e.g., transfused IVIG), the presence of a specific antibody in a serum sample indicates both exposure to an antigen and an immune response. What exactly this means depends on the individual and the test. Though not generally the test of choice for diagnosing active or chronic infection, some antibody tests are excellent indicators of infection in many individuals. A good example would be antibody to HIV.
As with any diagnostic test (again, see Cecil), antibody to HIV was evaluated relative to a standard, giving us a sensitivity (how good the test is at finding disease when it is present) and specificity (how good the test is at excluding disease when it is not present). It's not perfect (I've seen one false positive in my career), and it is not useful in the first few weeks after exposure, but, in general, it is an excellent diagnostic test.
Antibody tests are used for many other things, and again, as with any diagnostic test, they are evaluated for that purpose. Sticking with the use of these tests in infectious diseases, Hepatitis B antibody tests are an interesting example, since antibody to different antigens mean different things. Surface antibody, for example, indicates immunity either from exposure and clearance or from immunization. Core antibody indicates exposure to the virus itself, since core antigen is not present in the vaccine. As with most antibody tests, the antibody class can also give you useful information. IgM antibodies typically represent the initial immune response, where IgG antibodies represent a later response, and either clearance or chronic infection.
Answer:
Are all serological tests using antibodies as a basis for detection of a systemic infection inherently flawed?

You're thinking theoretically. Serological assays aren't theoretical, they're empirical.
When any assay is being characterized, it will be correlated with a particular outcome. Serological assays are no different. So long as there's a strong correlation with the targeted phenomenon, it doesn't matter if they're theoretically "flawed" (whatever that means); if they tell you what you need to know, then they're functional.
If every time a serological assay reads 40 or higher, an individual can be shown to be infected and every time it's less than 40 the individual isn't protected, then it doesn't matter what theoretical problems there might be with the assay, it can be used to predict infection. For that matter, if every time a ceramic saint wept salt tears it correlated with infection, then the saint test would be perfectly valid in the clinic, no matter how flawed the theory is.
How do you correlate your assay to the presence of infection, or whatever? Typically there are gold-standard tests that are perhaps too time-consuming, or difficult, or expensive to routinely run, and the serological assay will be cross-referenced to that for validation, and then hopefully approved by whatever regulatory body is in charge (in the US, often the FDA).
Don't confuse theoretical reasons with practical considerations.


Restore Default OSX Home Folder Icons

Question: I want to keep folders such as Pictures and Documents in my home folder in sync between computers; at the moment, I'm using Dropbox to do this. On Computer A I added a symlink to the folders in my home directory to the Dropbox folder. On Computer B I deleted the existing Pictures and Documents folders and replaced them with symlinks to the folders in the Dropbox folder. This works very well, except that in Finder I don't see the nice little icons that Lion has by default for folders of a particular kind. Is there any way to restore these?
Answer: If you have access to the icons, you can Get Info on a folder, and paste the icon over the current one.
I don't know if this will stick with Dropbox.

Restore Default OSX Home Folder Icons


Could I issue clearances at a private airstrip without being a controller?

Question: Hypothetically, if I owned a private airstrip on my property, with all the necessary permissions to do so, and I only want certain aircraft landing there, would I be allowed to issue takeoff and landing clearances even though I am not an air traffic controller?
Comment: Where in the world?
Comment: @Fattie there absolutely is a clear answer: No.
Comment: I second J Hougaard. The word "clearance" has a specific meaning with legal ramifications. A pilot could call you and ask *permission* to land on your strip, but beyond that you can't be giving vectors or clearances. You've got to be licensed and have proper equipment for that.
Comment: This is probably similar to what happens on the advisory frequency at untowered airports, you can issue "advisory" information but it is still up to the pilot to determine the traffic and best course of action to land.
Comment: [Related](https://aviation.stackexchange.com/q/26097/62): you can't give clearances, but you could provide a UNICOM-like service
Comment: This question and related answers may be of some help: https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/3292/can-an-airport-without-an-faa-controlled-tower-have-their-own-tower-and-controll?rq=1
Comment: There seems to be **many opinions and no clear answer** on this interesting question.
Comment: OP, would "permissions," "instructions," or "approvals" fit your use of "clearances"?
Comment: @Pondlife, clearances can be given if the private airstrip had a NFCT.  I can find no regulation preventing that.  Can you provide authoritative cites of regulations which would prevent that?
Comment: @mongo I have no idea, but I don't see why not. I've never heard of a private (civilian) field with it's own tower but maybe there's one out there. I understood the question as a more informal situation, e.g. a grass strip on a farm. But I could be wrong, the OP didn't give much detail.
Comment: Was the original intent of the question to ask "May I legally control the flow of traffic in and out of a private field"?  As far as I know there is no law against any toddler getting on the radio and issuing clearances to their heart's content.  At least in the case of a private field where there is no requirement for a clearance to be obtained.  I  may be mistaken there though.
Answer: NO!
An uncontrolled field is just that - uncontrolled. No pilot will accept a clearance in uncontrolled airspace in the first place. Consider the legal consequences if two aircraft were to collide as a result of a "clearance" issued by you. Since the aircraft are in uncontrolled airspace, it is the responsibility of the pilots to make sure they do not get too close. However,  if you got on the radio and started issuing "clearances", you might trick pilots into thinking that you are in control. If something bad happens, you should not expect to just walk away from it.
Besides, what makes you think you are qualified to provide air traffic control? Becoming an air traffic controller takes years of intense training, and only the top few percent of applicants are admitted to the education in the first place. Even the fact that you have to ask this question makes it seem like you have a very poor understanding of air traffic control.
The issue of not wanting people to land on a private airstrip has nothing to do with air traffic control. Air traffic controllers do not exist to tell pilots what they can and can't do - they are there to provide a service to the pilots! As others have pointed out, this would be a matter of trespassing. Pilots are very well aware that private airfields are just that - private. No one will just randomly spot a private airfield from the air and decide to land there without having first done some research - unless in emergency situations, of course.
Comment: +1 for "the fact you're asking this question at all means you should not even try it" regardless of whether you technically could. Which is not true anyway.
Comment: Have you checked your facts on the years of intense training, because as far as the FAA is concerned ANYONE can act as a controller at a NFCT.  Of course their AC on the topic suggests that the controller have a CTO certificate, and I think that is a good idea.  But the fact is that there are just very few regulations which impact the operation of a NFCT.  Perhaps you have a few authoritative cites which support your strong statements?
Comment: @mongo As a trainee air traffic controller in Europe, I have no idea what most of those acronyms mean. My answer covers a general point of view, not rules specific to individual countries, since there was no country specified in the original answer.
Comment: @J. Hougaard Congratulations on being an ATC trainee. From my perspective your answer sounds rather emphatic, while it is stated generally, clearly in the US and in Canada there are mechanisms for doing what the OP stated that they wanted to accomplish. There may indeed be similar ways in other countries. Apparently you have commented generally without a general check. If you read my answer NFCT is defined, and AC mentioned (Advisory Circular). That leaves CTO, which is someone who holds a Control Tower Operators' certificate. And just in case, FAA is in the US the Federal Aviation Admin...
Comment: "Pilots are very well aware that private airfields are just that - private. No one will just randomly spot a private airfield from the air and decide to land there without having first done some research" -- oopsie!
Answer: In the past when airport owners want to control traffic flow, they file a NOTAM that the airport is closed, and contact xxx at 123456789 for exceptions. Then for the takeoff, the airport manager would issue a verbal "the airport is open for N1234 to depart" and then close the airport.  This could be done on the unicom, in person, via telephone or however one wanted to.  This happens at some private and corporate strips.  It is actually more common in the northern parts of Canada, where there are fields operated by mining companies. In those cases, authorized aircraft come and go, and the field appears as a restricted use field. (Often they are not even charted, even though they may have VOR-DME on the field.)
So in summary, you have at least two paths to take: 1. NOTAM the field closed, or 2. Restrict the use

If you really want to play controller, you could install a private tower, or Non-Federal Contract Tower (NFCT), but then there are a bunch of rules to follow, and I believe your tower controllers would essentially have to be FAA trained. But I am not up on those regs, and they may have changed since I was more fresh on them. Here is a sample NFCT set up for an event.
Specifically, the FAA permits NFCTs, whereby an agency or entity that wishes a towered airport which does not meet federal criteria, or is otherwise unable to get an FAA Contract Tower (FCT), may operate a control tower.
Technically, this satisfies the OP criteria for issuing "clearances" but perhaps with a little more red tape than he might be interested in.
AC 90-93B states in part: "There are no comprehensive set of federal rules governing the operation of NFCTs." The Advisory Circular goes on to make recommendations for procedures, policy, training and equipment.
In summary, if you want to install a tower at your private field, you can do so.  Good luck getting insurance.  Make sure you follow FCC Part 87 for your radio licenses.  Spend some time working with your center, and regional approach facilities.
Comment: OP wanted to "issue takeoff and landing clearances" at private field. Examining the constructive meaning of that, it means that he wants to regulate flow into and out of his field. The three concepts presented here, NOTAM, Restricted Airport and NFCT, each allow the OP to effectively accomplish flow control to and from his field. All three methods are common practices, and recognized by the FAA. Since the OP appears to not be well versed in FAA terminology, the word "clearances" should be liberally construed to the meaning of controlling airport flow. He did not talk about routing, altitude et
Comment: Perhaps "instructions" or "approvals" might be more appropriate than "clearances."
Comment: you are correct in that I am not well versed in terminology, because I am attempting to learn still. I just thought of this situation and wondered how regulations address this (very) niche case. To answer your question, yes, instructions or approvals would be more appropriate.
Answer: Without a control tower, the field would be "uncontrolled" in the eyes of the FAA, so no, you couldn't issue clearances per se. The FAA would probably take a dim view of an untrained individual playing air traffic controller at his private field.
That said, the field would still be private property, and you'd be within your rights to bar anyone whom you didn't invite from landing there. "No tresspassing", etc.  I don't think very many pilots assume that they can just land at any private airstrip they see -- emergency situations notwithstanding.
As a practical matter, even if you built yourself a platform & got a radio, those whom you hadn't invited would probably have no way to know what frequency to select, in order to be told not to land there. I don't think private strips get UNICOM or CTAF frequencies published on the charts, mainly since the traffic at such fields is presumed to be very, very low.
Comment: Private strips in the US are most certainly eligible for CTAF and UNICOM use, as well as for licensing of the ground station. A default frequency that could be used is 122.9 MHz.
Comment: private strips do have a plate in the regional document which lists the ATM contact information. Part of the approval of the flight plan is contacting the destination airport to verify that the airport is accepting traffic. These are separate from the inflight clearances provided by regional control stations which the OP would not be able to issue. The airstrip operator would be able to control flight operations at their site when they are open. A lot of paperwork needs to be tracked to do so though. its not just plugging in a radio.
Comment: Private fields do have a CTAF frequency - MULTICOM on 122.9. Anytime a field doesn't have a tower, FSS, or UNICOM frequency then 122.9 is the default CTAF frequency. (See AIM 4-1-9(g).)
Answer: There is also AFIS (aerodrome flight information service, callsign Info) and Radio type stations. These are not control towers and operators are not air traffic controlers. They provide advisory services and information, they do not control air trafic.
It is much more easy to get one of these stations to a small airport and its ATZ - aerodrome traffic zone. The people providing this service are indeed often owners or members of the club owning the airport.
They can tell the pilots if the runway is free for takeoff or landing, but they do not issue clearances you for that. They tell the pilots about other traffic in the circuit, in the ATZ and its intentions.  To some extent you can this way get to similar activity as tower ATCOs, but your instructions are nor clearances, they are advisories.
AFIS is a little bit more involved.  For example in Czech Republic most small airports had AFIS but almost all of them were converted to Radio which has fewer requirements because the common European regulations for AFIS and AFISO (AFIS officers) became more strict.
An airport can be controled in certain hours and uncontroled with just an AFIS at other times (LKLK).
Comment: I'm sorry for voting to close this post as it is an interesting information.
Comment: I'm not an expert but the information seems relevant to me, as in offering a different solution.
Comment: This doesn't really answer the question
Comment: I agree with the above comments. The information is interesting, but it does not address the question of issuing *clearances*. An abbreviated version of could make a good comment.
Comment: @Vladimir F, AFIS sounds similar to CTAF in the US, which is a common traffic advisory frequency.  It may be the tower frequency, and continues to function as a CTAF when the tower is not operating. It can also be a UNICOM frequency at a non-towered airport.  (I believe that technically AFIS or FIS is the equivalent of UNICOM.)  BTW, at least in the US, more than one UNICOM can be licensed at one airport. A company I worked for had their own UNICOM, at a towered field, and the two FBOs used another UNICOM. The FBO UNICOM frequencies were the ones published, and the company UNICOM was unpub.
Answer: The FAA has thousands of locations listed that are uncontrolled private fields. Some offer services, some don't, and some don't even have safe landing strips any longer.
They all have an ATM, and probably at the time of the submission had everything required for being a non FAA controlled Airport. The requirements have likely increased over time. (I've contacted the FAA about strips where the ATM has died and was told they don't have the manpower to check the small airstrips.)
You would in conjunction with the local ATS be able to approve and issue landing clearances for your airstrip. That is why an airstrip plate has the Airport Manager and Phone number listed.


Is there evidence that listening to music can aid/hinder concentration or performance?

Question: I, like many computer programmers, love to listen to music while I work. I have always believed that music helps me stay focused and motivated, and improves my performance on many types of tasks, espescially "busywork". However my company's CEO disagrees with me, and believes that music is a distraction and leads to reduced productivity. Have any studies been done on whether listening to music while performing a task improves or hinders one's ability to perform that task? Is there a consensus in the cognitive science community regarding this?
Comment: I remember reading a study about this while browsing for information whether or not we should play background music at my internship. :) Don't have time now, but if this doesn't get any responses I'm doing some research! It would also be interesting to see whether different kinds of music can have different effects. I tend to believe house music (with a steady slow beat) allows me to focus more while programming.
Comment: *Exactly*, I agree, I find a steady beat keeps me on pace, similar to the drum beat on a viking ship :-)
Comment: From some off-and-on reading as well as self-experimentation, my answer is: "It depends."  I don't have any references so I'll post this as a comment.  Some people respond differently, but for most:

1) Vocal music tends to be distracting if you are doing any but routine work.

2) Instrumental music tends to be better than white noise to shut out distractions, because many people can "hear" things in white noise which is not a problem with the structured sounds of music.

3) For really intense concentration, even instrumental music is distracting.
Comment: Recent related article on Science Alert: [Listening to music at work could be messing with your brain function](http://www.sciencealert.com/listening-to-music-at-work-could-be-messing-with-your-brain-function)
Comment: And another Science Alert article: [The best music to listen to for optimal productivity, according to science](http://www.sciencealert.com/the-best-music-to-listen-to-for-optimal-productivity-according-to-science).
Answer: It basically depends on how the particular musical performance is perceived by the listener. Cognitive process of listening seems to be comprise several layers, which follows a bottom-up direction.
First step is to decode relevant signal(s), among a complex package of sound. This is where the irrelevant noise is eliminated. Can music be eliminated in this level? Highly unlikely, but still possible. I do not know of a particular experiment but when the music is being played in a far destination, or with a low volume, or if the participant is highly concentrated to the task; then it may be eliminated in this step. But the key point in this step is that the term "noise" refers to aperiodic background sounds. Therefore, my first impression is that music, being periodical, must decrease the task performance. Cutler and Clifton (1999)
gives an overview on the entire listening process. Second step is the grouping of different sound sources. There is also modelling studies that aims to explain this phenomenon (Bregman, 1990). Steps in listening continues further, but those steps are beyond the scope of this question.
But there are other studies also. Ylias and Heaven (2003) showed that the background noise negatively effects reading comprehension. So far so good. Cassidy and MacDonald (2007) showed that task performance on silence is greater than in low arousal music, and that is greater than noise, and that is even greater than high arousal music conditions. This is interesting, because it now introduces the affective state of the listener into the equation, which makes it a lot more difficult to handle. Another result is that the effect of the noise here is comparable to the effect of background music. But we have to note that the details of the noise in this experiment is not given in detail, only commented as "the everyday noise". It would be more conclusive if we just know whether it is the background sound of a television (periodic) or a traffic noise (aperiodic).
Combining these references, I cannot easily conclude that music is taken as a "noise". It seems that music reduces the task performance, by negatively affecting a later step in the listening process.
Ending note: There are several semiformal-informal studies on the web also. They study directly the "work/office performance", therefore I must say that they lack a little bit of a controlled environment. In such environments we can even confidently say that music improves our performance in particular situations. But what we miss is that office environments comprise several unhandled parameters that makes it hard for scientific experimental setup (i.e. listening music may improve the performance if your office mates chit chat next to you).
Ending note 2: I was interested in this topic a time ago. So I welcome more recent references or comments.

Cutler, A., & Clifton, C. (1999). Comprehending spoken language: A blueprint of the listener. The neurocognition of language, 123-166.
Bregman, A. S. (1984, July). Auditory scene analysis. In Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Pattern Recognition (pp. 168-175).
Ylias, G., & Heaven, P. C. (2003). The influence of distraction on reading comprehension: a Big Five analysis. Personality and individual differences, 34(6), 1069-1079.
Cassidy, G., & MacDonald, R. A. (2007). The effect of background music and background noise on the task performance of introverts and extraverts. Psychology of Music, 35(3), 517-537.
Comment: It is not clear how the paper by Ylias and Heaven (2003) addresses background noise. They do refer to and discuss another study as part of their introduction, but their study focuses on television distraction effects, not music. It seems more appropriate to reference the old original study in your answer, and also highlight the differences in personality types.
Answer: As mentioned in a recent study by Thompson et al. (2012), there are two perspectives which account for the effects of background music on reading comprehension specifically (but as I argue later, these seem generalizable): the Cognitive-Capacity hypothesis and the Arousal-Mood hypothesis.

In short, the potential cost of background music listening for
  reading comprehension is that it places demands on attention. The
  potential benefit of background music listening is that it can
  enhance arousal levels and mood. The overall effect of background music on task performance may be a balance between these costs and benefits.

Drawing from multitasking literature, one would expect that depending on the cognitive requirements of the task you are performing, it might be possible that certain music is either appropriate or not. The ACT-R architecture (Anderson. J. R., 2007) assumes "the human cognitive architecture consists of a set of largely independent modules associated with different brain regions". E.g. vision, audition, manual control and speech. Although all modules can operate in parallel, each module can only serve one task at a time. Some music (e.g. vocal) may cause more capacity interference when tasks compete for limited resources.
Thompson et al. (2012) investigate specifically the effect of tempo and intensity of background music on a reading comprehension task, but provide a nice review of earlier studies. Check out the full paper (PDF). Their findings indicate ...

[...] that listening to background instrumental music is most likely
  to disrupt  reading comprehension when the music is fast and loud.
  Music listening may consume more of  listeners' finite attentional
  resources when it comprises a greater number of auditory events per
  unit time that are difficult to ignore because of greater intensity. [...]
  Music that was slow and/or soft had no significant detrimental effects on reading comprehension, [...]

Although reporting on an overall null effect, an older meta-analysis by Kämpfe et al. (2010) had a conflicting conclusion:

[...] a comparison of studies that examined background music compared to no
  music indicates that background music disturbs the reading process,
  has some small detrimental effects on memory, but has a positive
  impact on emotional reactions and improves achievements in sports. A
  comparison of different types of background music reveals that the
  tempo of the music influences the tempo of activities that are
  performed while being exposed to background music.

As proposed by Kämpfe et al. (2010), and indicated by the results of Thompson et al., such interference effects are dependent on the structural characteristics of the music.
Overall it seems not all music has been shown to be detrimental as background music, but fast and loud music is more likely to disrupt ongoing tasks. To my knowledge no more detailed studies have been done which incorporate both type of tasks and different types of music. The question also arises to which degree these studies capture longitudinal effects in a real world environment with more complex tasks.

Thompson, W. F., Schellenberg, E. G., & Letnic, A. K. (2012). Fast and loud background music disrupts reading comprehension. Psychology of Music, 40(6), 700-708.
Anderson, J. R. (2007). How can the human mind occur in the physical universe?. Oxford University Press.
Kämpfe, J., Sedlmeier, P., & Renkewitz, F. (2010). The impact of background music on adult listeners: A meta-analysis. Psychology of Music, 0305735610376261.
Answer: I realise this is anecdotal, but the answer to this does vary between people. My wife likes to have nothing to listen to while studying or concentrating. I like to have the TV on normally, or Chill Radio, whereas by youngest son has metal music on - not what most people would consider conducive the thought of any sort.
I understand that my wife finds that music or sounds are distracting - she needs to put effort into focussing. I, OTOH, find that the sounds help my focus, but eliminating other distractions - becasue I am in control of the sounds, they are not distracting. Youngest son enjoys the music, so for him it is just pleasant background to studying. Incidentally, my wife and I differ on having a tickign clock in the bedrooom too - she cannot stand it, whereas I fid it soothing and calming, and helps me get to sleep.
I am sure that I have seem studies that back up these sorts of differences, and that they are about differences in the way we think and process information. Cannot find anythig ATM though.
Comment: It would be great if you could find those studies and link to them! Unfortunately without those this answer is completely subjective...


Allow 720p videos on YouTube app

Question: My device is Atrix 2 with resolution of 960x540, but YouTube app only gives me options for 144p, 240p and 360p, which are not really "quality". How can I watch 720p videos on YouTube on my device?
Comment: Do the videos you're watching come in 720p?
Comment: Yes, sure. It's every video that I try to watch that can be viewed in only 144p, 240p or 360p. So I gave up on off. app and installed "Viral" but it's not working good right now, so I wan't to try and fix off. app for good.
Comment: Probably related (although outdated): [How to watch videos in 144p, 240p, 360p, 480p, 720p on YouTube app?](https://android.stackexchange.com/q/56128/44325)
Comment: @AndrewT. For the accepted answer I'd say that it's outdated, but about modded YouTube - maybe I should try that while I search for the fix.
Answer: Your screen resolution being 960*540 is not meant to play 720p videos  because the resolution is lower. That's why the Youtube app detects the device resolution and does not show higher video qualities. The maximum video quality that the Youtube app will show for your device is 480p.
<code>720p = 1280*720
</code>
However, you could use YouTube Vanced. It is a modded version that offers more features than the official Youtube app such as:

Override Maximal Resolution

Preferred Speed and Resolution

For rooted phones, L Tweaks, an Xposed module, allows to set video qualities up to 4320p.

Allow 720p videos on YouTube app


Kaspersky 10 blocking my exchange server emails

Question: i'm a system administrator for about 400 client machines and i need help please. I have recently installed Kaspersky 10 on my domain and now the individual users can't access their exchange emails. if i disable the the antivirus the email flow through without any problems but as soon as i activate it the emails are blocked again. Has someone else ever encountered this problem??? i'm trying to figure out what's causing the anomaly in the behaviour of the endpoint solution since it was performing reasonably well previously. Kindly assist me please
Answer:
Kaspersky

Found your problem.
Remove this utter piece of crap and everything will work flawlessly.
Edit: Just for clarification. This is not a trollpost. Kaspersky is probably the worst software I've ever seen. It blocks everything, slows down your machine and regularly complete kills the computer it's running on.
Uninstall it (or better: reinstall all machines you've installed it on) and get some other antivirus-software.
And another edit: If you insist on using Kaspersky: Do you have the mail gateway feature?


If set of TM's is not countable?

Question: I was reading about counting principle related to TOC. I understand that the set of TMs are countable infinity. I couldn't understand the significance of it. What is its not countable?
Comment: This question is incomprehensible. What is TOC? Presumably theory of computation. The title is not a real question.
Comment: I agree, it is hard to understand what the actual question is. Please edit your language.
Answer: To expand a bit Luke's answer -
the main question is what problems (=languages) can be solved by a computer (=TM).
One might think that any problem can be solved by a computer. But this is not true. The reason is that there are such and such different Turing Machines, and way more different languages. Therefore, there must be a language that no TM can recognize. This language is undecidable, and the "problem" this language represents cannot be solved by any computer. In fact, the vast part of languages are undecidable.
The number of different Turing machines is infinite, but countable ($\aleph_0$), while the number of different languages is infinite of a larger magnitude ($\aleph$, and not countable).
See more details on the wiki page for Cantor's diagonal argument, or search this site for related questions.
Answer: The set of all languages is uncountable, hence there can't be a TM for every language, and there must be languages that aren't recursively enumerable.
Answer: Each TM can be described by a finite string of symbols (the examples of TMs described in textbooks or elsewhere should give a good idea of how to do it with a limited supply of symbols). Any set of finite-length strings made of a finite set of symbols is countable. To get some non-countable set of machines would require that their description isn't finite, and that defeats the whole purpose.

If set of TM's is not countable?


Why does Buddhism seem to have more than one goal?

Question: Why do some Buddhists regard nirvana as an important goal while other want better rebirth?
Do all Buddhists have the same goal and if not why?
Answer: Traditional Mahayana answer is: because of different "capacities". People of "lower capacity" only care about fulfilling basic desires, perhaps just the animal instincts, - then going up the ladder we get those that want material happiness in this world (e.g. comfortable family life), then those who aspire to greater immaterial (but still this-worldly) achievements and realizations, and then those who aspire to rebirth in a better world.
Then we get to the next level, that of spiritual practitioners, who aspire to find the truth, become saints, attain supernatural abilities etc. like e.g. immortality, then those who strive for Enlightenment/Nirvana (this is considered the middling capacity) - and then, according to Mahayana, the higher capacity, which entails desire to attain Enlightenment in order to help all the rest of sentient beings. Finally, in Vajrayana, we get to people of "highest capacity" who directly see Great Perfection of Everything As Is and do not have any goals or desires.
This is the traditional answer (retold in casual simplification). Now if you ask my personal opinion, I would beg you to notice that all these goals are not really in logical opposition with each other. If you think about it, all goals represent various visions of Happiness, or "The Way Things Should Be" - as it appears to each respective type of person. It's not that the lower levels are wrong about their idea of happiness, it's just that they don't quite realize how much hidden suffering is inherent to success on each of the levels.
So really what Buddhism is after, is realization of one's highest aspirations. And on every level of this pyramid Buddha-Dharma provides very rational, methodical, consistent framework for achieving success. What makes Buddhism cool though, is that the practices for achieving success on every level are not just in no conflict with other levels but actually help the levels above and below it.
For example, if one practices emotional intelligence, one will not only have greater control over events of one's life, but also become able to help others still overwhelmed by stress, and also get a step closer to Enlightenment through understanding the nature of mind-made phenomena.
So, to summarize, it seems like Buddhism has multiple goals - but that's just the way it looks from the perspective of different individuals. In reality there is One Goal ("peace"/"happiness"), and Buddhism is the rational method for achieving it.
Comment: This is a good answer.
Comment: For example, in satisfying animal instincts there is conflict & violence, in family happiness there is quarrels & loss of loved ones, in professional pursuit there is conflict of interests with big money, in personal Nirvana there is suffering of others, in Bodhisattva's way there is frustration. You'd think there has to be some idealized versions of these that can be achieved in isolation from the negative entourage but that's abstractions we create in our head, in reality things are never as ... ummm how to say this... geometrically pure?
Comment: "this dhamma is good in the beginning, good in the middle and good in the end." -- Buddha
Comment: `they don't quite realize how much hidden suffering is inherent to success on each of the levels` It isn't clear to me, would you identify, *what* hidden suffering is inherent to success at each level? (Perhaps I assumed instead that any suffering should be attributed to a lack of success, incomplete, imperfect).
Comment: We all fall victims to this reificationist thinking, then get attached to an abstraction we have adopted, then suffer when reality shows its true nature.
Answer: I think there are traditionally two. In one of the suttas (MN 117), the Buddha said,

"And what is right view? Right view, I tell you, is of two sorts: There is right view with effluents, siding with merit, resulting in acquisitions [of becoming]; there is right view that is noble, without effluents, transcendent, a factor of the path.
"And what is the right view with effluents, siding with merit, resulting in acquisitions? 'There is what is given, what is offered, what is sacrificed. There are fruits & results of good & bad actions. There is this world & the next world. There is mother & father. There are spontaneously reborn beings; there are contemplatives & brahmans who, faring rightly & practicing rightly, proclaim this world & the next after having directly known & realized it for themselves.' This is the right view with effluents, siding with merit, resulting in acquisitions.
"And what is the right view that is noble, without effluents, transcendent, a factor of the path? The discernment, the faculty of discernment, the strength of discernment, analysis of qualities as a factor for awakening, the path factor of right view[1] in one developing the noble path whose mind is noble, whose mind is without effluents, who is fully possessed of the noble path. This is the right view that is noble, without effluents, transcendent, a factor of the path.

If I can summarise I think that the first type of right view is that there are good and bad actions which result in further becoming and acquisitions; contrasted with the second type of right view.
Each of these words (effluent, merit, and so on) can be (has been) a topic of its own.
The simplest (shortest) summary of what the Buddha taught is maybe "Both formerly & now, it is only stress that I describe, and the cessation of stress." The next step up from that in complexity (or rather, the same doctrine but in more detail -- also the first sutta that he spoke) is the doctrine[s] of the Middle Way and Four Noble Truths.

However various schools may have different views: about what nirvana is, about continuing existence in samsara, about the role of the Buddha (as saviour) versus one's own responsibility.
Incidentally I think that another Buddhist doctrine is that people are confused about what they want, what they ought to want, whether what they want is satisfying and/or right, and so on. I think this (confusion) is part of what's meant by "ignorance" as one of the fundamental drivers of the wheel of life. I mention that because your question ("What do Buddhists want?") might include an assumption ("Buddhists are wise and want the right thing. I too should want what Buddhists want.").
Answer: Nirvana is the ending of rebirth therefore the two goals are completely antagonist. Rebirth is for what Buddhism calls 'ordinary people' ('puthujjana'). All beings are born into the world with reproductive instincts & only a few freaks are able to attain Nirvana. Nirvana is for people who are genuinely disenchanted with the world & sex. For the puthajjana, Buddhism teaches kamma & rebirth so the puthajjana don't engage in self-harm due to their ignorance.

Only a few, like birds escaping from the net, go to realms of bliss. Dhp 174
Answer: Buddhism wouldn't ascribe such categorical meanings to things. With anatta you can't rationally split 'life' and 'non-life' in some completely defined way. The meaning of the universe is to not contradict, dependent origination and emptiness do not contradict.
Answer: This answer base on the most ancient theravāda view from the most ancient tipitaka-pāli, that nibbāna is only the best goal, and every rebirth is bad, also every teaching for rebirth is not the best, too.
According to ChrisW answer in this topic:
Life is  clinging-aggregates' rebirth. Aggregates' rebirth are paṭiccasamuppāda.

"Now what is the noble truth of stress? Birth is stressful, aging is stressful, death is stressful; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair are stressful; association with the unbeloved is stressful; separation from the loved is stressful; not getting what one wants is stressful. In short, the five clinging-aggregates are stressful.
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.22.0.than.html
"And what is dependent co-arising? From ignorance as a requisite
  condition come fabrications. From fabrications as a requisite
  condition comes consciousness. From consciousness as a requisite
  condition comes name-&-form. From name-&-form as a requisite condition
  come the six sense media. From the six sense media as a requisite
  condition comes contact. From contact as a requisite condition comes
  feeling. From feeling as a requisite condition comes craving. From
  craving as a requisite condition comes clinging/sustenance. From
  clinging/sustenance as a requisite condition comes becoming. From
  becoming as a requisite condition comes birth. From birth as a
  requisite condition, then aging & death, sorrow, lamentation, pain,
  distress, & despair come into play. Such is the origination of this
  entire mass of stress & suffering.
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn12/sn12.002.than.html
sāsavā puññabhāgiyā upadhivepakkā
effluents, be merit, giving resultant.

[saṅkhāra, kamma-bhava] right view that
  kilesa-vaṭṭa-paṭiccasamuppāda depending on [kāma-āsava
  (kāma-upādāna), diṭṭhi-āsava (diṭṭhi-upādāna, sīlabata-upādāna),
  bhava-āsava (attavāda-upādāna), avijjā-āsava],
right view that is kammavaṭṭa-paṭiccasamuppāda,
right view that give vipākavaṭṭa-paṭiccasamuppāda.

https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/a/23970/10100

So, clinging-aggregates' rebirth are paṭiccasamuppāda. And paṭiccasamuppāda are effluents, be merit, giving resultant.
Why better clinging-life is a bad goal?
The reasons is answered in S.N. Nidānavagga, which teaching just paṭiccasamuppāda-sutta in various ways. For the example:

Staying at Savatthi. Then the Blessed One, picking up a little bit of
  dust with the tip of his fingernail, said to the monks, "What do you
  think, monks? Which is greater: the little bit of dust I have picked
  up with the tip of my fingernail, or the great earth?"
"The great earth is far greater, lord. The little bit of dust the
  Blessed One has picked up with the tip of his fingernail is next to
  nothing. It doesn't even count. It's no comparison. It's not even a
  fraction, this little bit of dust the Blessed One has picked up with
  the tip of his fingernail, when compared with the great earth.
"In the same way, monks, few are the beings reborn among human beings. Far more are those reborn elsewhere. Thus you should train
  yourselves: 'We will live heedfully.' That's how you should train
  yourselves."
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/ati/tipitaka/sn/sn20/sn20.002.than.html
Answer: The Buddha's teachings, when properly practiced, all take the practitioner in the direction of Nirvana. The Buddha gave each person the best possible  teaching to aim them towards Nirvana based on their previous karma so it wasn't always possible for every individual to make it to total liberation without going through further rebirths.
I don't know if the Buddha ever taught a bodhisattva  but that wouldn't make the bodhisattva goal invalid because obviously that was the Buddha's goal.


Dell PowerEdge 750 (Wake-On-Lan)

Question: How do I make (WOL) Wake-On-Lan work ? I've tried everything now, all I see is green blinking power light when server is off. There is no additional options for "Wake On Lan" or power state. Any ideas ? Does this Dell PowerEdge 750 support WOL at all ?
Answer: WOL is based on motherboard and NIC compatibility.  Both the motherboard and NIC have to support WOL capabilities.  You'll also need an application or utility that has the capability of sending a WOL signal/packet.
Without knowing the BIOS version, I can't say for sure, but Dell's support website indicates it does (http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/servers/f/1466/t/7612115.aspx).  You'll need to reboot your system and boot into your BIOS to confirm.
After that, you'll need to boot the system into the OS and confirm the NIC's WOL capabilities are enabled.  In Windows, it's an option under the device configuration; generally under Device Properties > Power Management > Wake On Lan.
Lastly, the application or utility you'll need to take advantage of WOL needs to capability to send a "magic packet".  Some routers have this capability built in to a management page; you just need to configure the device as a WOL device.  After it's configured, it's as simple as logging into the management interface and pushing a button.
There are also WOL apps available in all flavors online that you can run on your desktop or on your mobile device.
Answer: Check in the network card driver page (device management), often there is a flag there which enables WOL, and it's not the same as setting it in the BIOS.

Dell PowerEdge 750 (Wake-On-Lan)


Does an airfoil drag coefficient takes parasite drag into account?

Question: Im trying to understand why does L/D MAX, (the top of the polar curve that computes CL & CD ratio for any airfoil) is also the lowest point of the total drag curve.
Im guessing the reason is that CD curve is not just about induced drag as I thought.
Answer: Airfoil drag is "parasitic" (or better: everything but induced) drag.
It consists of shear drag and pressure drag, the latter mostly from local flow separation. Both are only present when viscous flow is assumed. Airfoil drag is for the wing section without taking tip effects into account, presuming an infinitely wide wing. This kind of theoretical wing has no induced drag (d'Alembert's paradox).
L/D max is the point on the polar curve where the angle to the origin of the coordinate system is steepest. This is not the point of the lowest drag coefficient! Maybe you mean the point of lowest drag for a full airplane – but that is another story, with more than just the airfoil polar. Now induced drag is part of overall drag and due to its inverse relationship with speed, a distinct minimum can be found when lift is held constant.

Drag polar of the NACA 23012 airfoil (picture source, colored comments own work)
Comment: @Cristóbal: When in edit mode, there should be a symbol of a landscape in the toolbar. This lets you add either a link to a picture or upload a picture to add to your text. Did you try the help center yet (symbol with question mark in the top right)?
Comment: I don´t know how to add the graph´s picture I was making reference to (RAF 32 airfoil), sorry about that... but in that one there are two Y axis, (one for CL,the other one for CD and the X axis is for AOA (I thought Cd was all about induced drag because of that). And L/D max is the AOA which correspond to the top of the polar curve (Cl/Cd). What Im trying to understand is how can that airfoil´s L/D max can also be found at the "point of lowest drag for a full airplane" where total drag is at its minimum?
Comment: @ Peter Kampf: I don´t see any landscape symbol when in edit mode. I also cheked help center and I found same instructions about the symbol or link. Unfortunately there is no link to directly see the picture, so Im gonna paste the link of the site where the graph is ,even though I think the graph is not really important to answer my question. Thanks for your help. https://rcplanes.online/design.htm    (Characteristic curves of RAF 32)
Answer:
I'm trying to understand why does L/D MAX, (the top of the polar curve
that computes CL & CD ratio for any airfoil) is also the lowest point
of the total drag curve.

The graph in another answer shows how to find the max ratio of Cl / Cd, which is arithmetically equal to the max ratio of L/D.
The concept of minimum Drag (as opposed to minimum Drag coefficient) can be confusing.  If we are talking about a Cl vs Cd graph obtained in a wind tunnel with constant airspeed, whether for an airfoil or for a whole airplane, we could say that Drag is minimized when Cd is minimized.  This is obviously not the point where the Cl / Cd ratio is maximized.
But the situation is completely different in actual flight, where Lift is constrained to be equal to Weight (or in the case of a steady-state glide, constrained to be equal to Weight * cos ((arctan (D/L))), which is nearly equal to Weight), and the airspeed varies accordingly. In this case, we can show that Drag is minimized when the L/D (and Cl / Cd ) ratio is maximized, even though this is not the point where the Drag coefficient is smallest.
In the context of actual flight, we need to talk about the L/D or Cl / Cd ratio of the whole aircraft.  Therefore there's really no context in which it makes sense to say that Drag is minimized when the Cl / Cd ratio of the airfoil is maximized.
Related ASE links--
Can we show through simple geometry rather than formulae or graphs that the best glide ratio occurs at the maximum ratio of Lift to Drag?
Comment: Airfol´s graph LDmax shows an AOA, and total drag curve´s LDmax shows a TAS. And I was thinking that flying leveled at that shown TAS would adjust that AOA for LDmax. But ...isn´t there a relationship between these two? Is L/D max just a concept that can be used for describing the best Lift-drag ratio of different things without any relationship?


Azure Mobile Services or ASP.NET MVC 4 Web API

Question: I've built an ASP.NET MVC 4 app with standard database query tasks and user authentication. Now I want to upload it to Windows Azure and build Windows 8 and Windows Phone client applications. Is it better to use Azure Mobile Services or ASP.NET MVC Web API for these tasks? I have used the Simple Membership Provider for user security, so I'm not sure how can I use it with Mobile Services. Any advices?
Answer: I don't think you can use anything aside from Live Connect/FB/Google/etc when dealing with ZUMO directly.
I suppose you could create your own web api or other web-based login that uses simple membership to validate user credentials.  The server would subsequently make a login request to the live connect service (for any validated user) and return the authenticationToken along with the user object back to your app.


Are blog reviews or articles about the projects I've done useful to link to in a resume?

Question: Over the course of past several years I've released multiple applications (for Ubuntu Linux) written in Python, and some of them got very positive response and reviews on blogs related to user experience on Ubuntu and Linux in general.  Since I'm currently applying for positions related to either Python or Linux, is it worthwhile to link to those articles in my resume? Would that work as public recommendation of sorts? If yes, how best to approach listing some of them?
Comment: They would probably look better on Linkedin than on a resume
Comment: @solarflare I do have a couple links on my Linkedin profile already. At least it seems to me that leaving them on Linkedin isn't effective. Nowadays everyone has a LinkedIn profile.
Comment: I deleted my answer as I had mistaken a part of the question. In general I agree with what others are saying.
Answer: As others pointed out - your links may go unnoticed or can add too much to your resume.This does not mean you should not include them. The real question here is not "if" but "how".
Let's try to break the people that will read your resume into "personas" or something similar and try to imagine what will they be looking for in your resume.

Human Resources - in most companies their job is to find matches that are likely to succeed and are in a rush as they have a lot of CVs to filter. They are pre-scanning and will most likely not look into too much technical details. The message for them should probably be that you worked with Python, under Linux and you had the other (soft) skills that it took to create, release, maybe support a product. Be creative here - to release an application it takes a lot of soft skills - determination, passion, courage, etc.
Technical people - In most companies - those people have to assure that you have the technical skills to get the actual job done without too much supervision, you won't break something and your code won't be bloated. However, they will also most likely like you more if they know that you had the skills that it took to create, release, maybe support a product (looks same as HR). And at this point they may be ready to dig a bit into what you did. So a link could help them get started. They won't spend too much time if they have too many CVs to scan, so be brief and to the point.

Both personas above will most likely skip a large list of links (especially in larger companies with more candidates). And the large list of links may "hide" something important, so you have to keep it as short and simple as possible.

Extract the skills it took you to create those applications (really, any skill you can think of - hard and soft).
Add them in the appropriate sections in the resume.
Come up with a single link in your resume where the above personas can find all the applications, explanations and references to the positive reviews that they generated and
Add that link to your resume.
Answer: I would not put the direct links in your resume. Perhaps have them compiled on a personal or project homepage which you then link from your resume. I would not spend a large amount of resume space on it but I would include it. Customer focused companies value such feedback because it shows your level of commitment to your work and that you are not simply there to check off some boxes and collect a paycheck.
It's also not a bad idea to have a small write up prepared for your applications as sometimes during the interview someone will be quickly going over your resume with you and it's a great way to concisely show off your work. (this would also be a good place to mention the feedback you have gotten)
Comment: "Perhaps have them compiled on a personal or project homepage which you then link from your resume." OK, reasonable suggestion. I do have github account which sort of counts as *portfolio* (though there's a lot of argument from people that it doesn't).  But in order to both portfolio and links compiled into one place, I need such place first. As for the write up, can you elaborate on that part ? Maybe there's an example ?   Overall seems like a reasonable answer and suggestions, hence +1 for that.
Answer: Well, the best answer is both "yes" and "no".
I think I will explain this best by telling you how I designed my own "presentation" papers.

The CV
My CV has two parts in one document.
CV - Part 1
This part of the CV contains the basic mandatory information: name and personal details, education, previous / current jobs and activities, overview of knowledge and technologies, hobbies... There are plentiful resources on the web on how you can / should create a CV.
Even though it becomes more and more difficult, I try to keep it a one-pager, without tricks (smaller font, smaller space between lines...). It must be nice and easy to read and understand.
This part will be read by everybody!!
CV - Part 2
In the second part of the CV (several pages, as needed), I provide all the details about past and current education and job experience which did not fit in the first page and are still relevant. I do not have any links to provide, as you do, but I am  not afraid to present everything which is relevant.
Since it is still a part of the CV, I present the information as structured and as organized as possible. My target is to keep it as short as possible, but I do not decide on an arbitrary "size".
This part will be read by whoever wants / needs to read it.

The cover letter
Usually I did not need to present this document to companies (maybe one exception). I have it just in case it is needed. It is designed just like any letter, using full sentences and beautiful words.
I chose to not repeat the details from the CV, but to provide some gluing-information to go along the CV. Some special words and nice bla-bla thrown in as "spices". In my case it fits on one page, but it can be as long as needed.
This part will be read by whoever wants / needs to read it.

Bottom line: yes, you should sell yourself as good as possible. Present all the information which can help you, and be careful how you present it. Think about your audience while writing.
Answer: I'd think it'd all rather depend on who gave the review and how easy it is to encapsulate that into a one liner.
If some notable blogger gave you an Editor's Choice award, for instance, it'd seem a clear yes. On the other hand, if it's someone relatively obscure whose name wouldn't be familiar to those outside the community, or there's no suitably glowing headline you can pull out, there's a much tougher case to make. It's all valuable space you could be using to talk about your skills, after all.
Hyperlinks to full reviews would be right out. Someone with fifty resumes to review is just going to skim over them.