How are the importance of sutras determined?

Question: I assume that there variations of sects within buddhism that deem certain sutras  as more "correct" or being closer to the buddha's teaching. I personally see the Lotus sutra as the "true teaching", but I know that some other sects often see the Flower-garland sutra as being closer to the "true teaching".  Is there a system for determining such assertations, or is it more based on text evidence? I have little knowledge with buddhism outside of the sect I'm apart of, so I'm interested in how other parts of Buddhism work.
Answer: In the Indo-Tibetan traditions, questions such as "what are the sutras of definite meaning? in what way are they different from sutras of interpretative, provisional meaning? what makes them sutras of definite meaning?" arise when we investigate the meaning of emptiness. This is because, since the wisdom realizing emptiness is the direct antidote to ignorance, it abandons the obstructions to liberation. Therefore, ascertaining the meaning of emptiness is of utmost importance, and it is why one has to rely on sutras 'of definite meaning' in order to do such ascertainment.
Roughly, a sutra of definite meaning is "more correct" when it comes to ascertaining the meaning of emptiness, but not necessarily with respect to other topics such as the method-side.
Thus, most texts and textual genres that mainly teach emptiness explain what sutras of definite meaning are and why they are taken to be so. They do that to show that they rely on reliable sutras, i.e. sutras of definite meaning, as opposed to sutras of interpretative meaning.
Examples of texts teachings emptiness are:

Candrakirti's Madhyamakavatara and commentaries to it,
Nagarjuna's Karika and commentaries to it,
Maitreya/Asanga's Abhisamayalankara and commentaries to it,
Texts on the Tathagata Essence such as Maitreya's mahayanottaratantra-ratnagotravibhanga,
Presentation of the Special Insight Lam Rim chapter such as Atisha's and so forth.

The introductions to the Kagyu & Nyingma commentaries of Maitreya's Ornament are worth studying in that respect. It explains the three turnings of the wheel and what is definite. (Blue-covered thick books titled Gone Beyond, and Groundless Paths)
Although the Tibetan traditions really are **Indo-**Tibetan, various Buddhist schools did not elaborate on and expanded much on Indian commentaries such as the ones I listed above. For instance, Chan (and later on Zen, Thyen, Seon) does not particularly rely on Indian sources. This means that you will hardly find what Chan masters answer to your question in commentaries to those texts. However, there are aspects of early Madhyamika (and thus Nagarjuna) even in Chan.
Nagarjuna and Maitreya/Asanga are Indian sources that have been elaborated on a great deal by Tibetan Scholars, but also by other traditions such as Tiantai, Pure Land, etc.

The Prasangika-Madyhamika school of Tenets say:

Sutras of the Pali canon are provisional and are the first turning
Perfection of Wisdom Sutras are of definite meaning and are the second turning
Sutras of the third turning are usually of provisional meaning, except those which meaning accord with the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras, such as the Tathagatagarbha Sutra.
Prasangika posit that a sutra which main subject-matter is emptiness is of definite meaning. Sutras of the Pali canon that speak of emptiness are not of definite meaning because they do not teach the final view on emptiness, the lack of inherent existence.

The condensed version of the Pefection of Wisdom sutras is the Heart Sutra.

Chan masters were initially called 'Lankavatara masters'. However, the Lankavatara Sutra was so difficult to understand that, later on, as Chan popularized and became less provincial, the Avatamasaka Sutra (Garland of Flowers Sutra) took over. Thomas Cleary made an amazing translation of this particular sutra, about than 1'600 pages. Furthermore, the introduction of the English translation of the Avatamsaka states that according to Chan:

The Avatamkasa was taught by Buddha in a pure Land, after he showed the aspect of achieving enlightenment and before he taught the sutras of the Pali canon. It is of definite meaning.
Sutras of the Pali canon & Perfection of Wisdom Sutras are the second turning of the wheel, and of interpretative, provisional meaning.
The Lankavatara Sutra, Tathagatagarbha sutra, etc. are the third turning and, like the first turning, of definite meaning.

The third turning of the wheel sutras explain the three natures. It is called 'the turning of correct differentiation (between what is and what is not truly existent)'. The condensed version of the Avatamsaka is the King of Prayers.
Pure Land Buddhism highly regards the following three sutras:

Infinite Life Sutra,
Amitabha Sutra,
Meditation Sutra.

However, I do not know whether they posit them as being 'of definite meaning', and which turning of the wheel they claim these sutras belong to.
My answer is all in all very incomplete.
Comment: Dear @MorellaAlmann I feel elaborating more on emptiness would not answer your initial question, and SE is not a forum but a question/answer platform. Feel free to create a new topic with a question on its own, or even a chat room to discuss more freely and I will gladly accept your invitation.
Comment: @MorellaAlmann The answer suggests that understanding emptiness is the whole endeavour, that trying to explain emptiness is the subject of many "suttas of definite meaning" and commentary which are listed in the answer. So "can you elaborate more" might be difficult, because where to begin? A specific question about it might be easier to answer . As you said there are also some other/existing topics on this site -- see for example [topics on this site tagged sunyata](http://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/sunyata?sort=votes&pageSize=50).
Comment: In the beinging of the answer when you wrote about emptiness, can you elaborate more on as to what exactly you mean? I have heard it refrenced quite often on this site, but I don't have a very clear understanding of the concept and its implications. My best as to what it means is that, once one realizes emptiness, then infinite meaning is found in everything and all of its phenomena.
Comment: Also you wrote, "My best as to what it means is that, once one realizes emptiness, then infinite meaning is found in everything and all of its phenomena". This answer did say something, a little, about it: what it said was, "we investigate the meaning of emptiness because, since the wisdom realizing emptiness is the direct antidote to ignorance, it abandons the obstructions to liberation".
Comment: @TenzinDorje Thanks for the offer, I created a public chat room for this. Here is the link: http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/43305/the-meaning-of-emptiness-in-buddhism
Answer: Every one of the 18,000 plus suttas are important in their own way as the Buddha taught the Noble Eightfold Path to his followers according to a "gradual" system of training. We are all at different levels and none are at the same level in this road less travelled.  The Paccattam veditabbo viññuhiti quality of Dhamma is to be realized by the wise, each for himself.  So one sutta will speak for one, but not the other.  But there are two Suttas in the Anguttara Nikaya that will apply to all. It is the Pathama Lokadhamma Sutta and the Dutiya Loka,dhamma Sutta.  They are about the Eight Worldly Conditions (Vicissitudes) Of Life. Everyone of us sorrow when we face of our everyday sufferings and troubles, and we joy when we face the moments of pleasure and happiness. There are eight such vicissitudes of life (ata lō dahama). We are slaves of the vicissitudes of life. These sermons help develop a better range of strengths to deal with these eight vicissitudes of life. So please read:
http://www.themindingcentre.org/dharmafarer/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/42.2-Lokadhamma-S-1-a8.5-piya.pdf
http://www.themindingcentre.org/dharmafarer/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/42.3-Lokadhamma-S-2-a8.6-piya.pdf
If you seek Advice on the Practice, suttas such as Bhaddaali Sutta MN 65, Bodhiraja Kumara Sutta MN 85, Chathuma Sutta MN, Chula Sakuludai Sutta MN, Dhamma Dayada Sutta MN 03, Ganaka moggallana Sutta MN 107, Giminananda Sutta AN 10.60, Hatthigamaka Ugga Sutta AN 08, Lomasangiya Bhaddekaraththa Sutta MN 131, Maha Rahulovada Sutta MN 62, Sakkara Garukara Sutta, Samadi Bhavana Sutta AN 4.41, Sambodhi Pakkhiya Sutta, Vasijatopama sutta would be helpful.
If you want to learn about Skillful & Unskillful Thoughts read Kalama Sutta AN 3.65, Kodhana Sutta AN 7.60, Kukkuravatiya Sutta MN 57, Maha Dhamma Samadana Sutta MN 46, Maha Vacchagotta Sutta SN 44.8, Malunkaya Putta Sutta SN 35.95, Sakka Panna sutta SN 35.118, Vassakara Sutta AN 4.35, Vitakka Santhana Sutta MN 20.
If you want to read on Skillful, Unskillful Actions the following suttas will do: Chakkavatthi Sihanada Sutta DN 26, Gopalaka sutta AN 11.18, Ina Sutta AN 6.45, Jivaka Sutta AN 8.26, Kandaraka Sutta MN 51, Lakkana Sutta AN 3.2, Subha Sutta MN 99.
Then there are Suttas aimed at Life of a Layman.  Chalabijathi Sutta, Devadaha Sutta MN 101, Gayha Sutta SN, Janussoni Sutta AN 10.177, Jara Sutta SN 48.41, Mahanama Sutta AN 11.13, Patama Nathakarana Sutta AN, Pattakamma Sutta AN 4.61, Sallekha Sutta MN 8, Sattabharya Sutta, Sigalovada sutta DN 31, Sihasenapati sutta AN 5, Vyaggapajja Sutta AN 8.54.
On Intentional action_Kamma you can check out the suttas: Cula Kamma Vibanga Sutta MN 135, Hemavatha Sutta KN, Lonaphala sutta AN 3.99, Maha KammaVibanga Sutta, Mallika Sutta SN 3.8, Purisa Indriya gnana Sutta.
Then on the seven_enlightenment_factors  - Kundaliya Sutta SN 46.6
And on the Noble Eight Fold Path (Arya Ashtangika Margaya) - Maha Chattarisaka Sutta, Sachcha Vibhanga Sutta MN 141, Samma Ditthi Sutta MN 9,
Answer: In Pali Buddhism, the original sole purpose of the teachings was to end suffering. However, overtime, certain suttas were introduced to promote morality in laypeople (which emphasise kamma & 'rebirth') & to create propaganda against & convert people from Brahmanism.
Therefore, in Pali Buddhism, the most important suttas are those connected with Emptiness (sunnata) & the ending of suffering, such as the First Three Sermons of the Buddha on the Four Noble Truths, the Three Characteristics & on the Fires of greed, hatred & delusion.
Ultimately, the only suttas that can be deemed to be fully authentic are those that accord with the principle of 'paccattam veditabbo viññuhiti', namely, to be realized by insight, each for himself.

Thus you should train yourselves: 'We will listen when discourses that are words of the Tathagata — deep, deep in their meaning,
transcendent, connected with emptiness — are being recited. We will
lend ear, will set our hearts on knowing them, will regard these
teachings as worth grasping & mastering.' That's how you should train
yourselves.
Ani Sutta

~~

What I have revealed is: 'This is Suffering, this is the Arising of Suffering, this is the Cessation of Suffering, and this is the Path
that leads to the Cessation of Suffering.' And why, monks, have I
revealed it?
Because this is related to the goal, fundamental to the holy life, conduces to disenchantment, dispassion, cessation, tranquillity,
higher knowledge, enlightenment and Nibbaana, therefore I have
revealed it.
Simsapa Sutta: The Simsapa Leaves
Answer: There are accounts or records of Buddhist councils which were convened to determine (and record) what suttas were true/accurate/well remembered versions, of discourses which were spoken, heard and remembered during the Buddha's lifetime, and which were then passed on by word of mouth.
I think that the Theravada school maybe doesn't see the Lotus sutra (nor the Flower Garland nor any 'Mahayana' sutras) as "canonical" -- I don't know why that is: my uninformed guess is that it's because the authorship/provenance of those sutras is too late (and maybe too distant geographically), and the intent of the Theravada school is to preserve the 'original' teachings as far as possible; and maybe that there are 'enough' Pali suttas, and that the original teachings are seen as sufficient (because for example there's a record of teaching being effective during the Buddha's lifetime).
See also Pāli Canon and Āgama  and Sutta Pitaka.
Comment: In Theravada Buddhism, during which period of Shakyamuni Buddha's life did he expound what is, to Theravada Buddhism, cannonical?
Comment: I think the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta is seen as the first sutta: which he gave after he was enlightened. There are suttas which narrate the earlier period of his life (e.g. [MN 26](http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.026.than.html)), but maybe that story (of pre-enlightenment) was told after his enlightenment? There are Jataka tales (describing his miraculous birth and previous lives) but maybe these are [only semi-canonical](http://buddhism.stackexchange.com/a/2698/254). So I think that in Theravada Buddhism he expounded, from his "sermon at Benares" until his parinirvana.
Comment: See also [Chronological or other sequence for beginners](http://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/4112/254) -- whose answers contain some people's recommendations of which suttas to read first.
Answer: Think about martial arts. One'd be a lot more reserved before walking into any dojo and claim that his style is the one true style. Why? because he knows that his claim will sure be put to the test inside the ring. And until he walks out of that ring alive and on two feet then all his words don't mean a thing. Just like that, the Buddha Dhamma is there for a purpose, not for mere talk. He actually emphasized that when instructing Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī in AN 8.53. Anyway, as you mentioned you have little knowledge with Buddhism outside your own sect and you're interested in how other parts of the Teaching works, I'd strongly recommend you checking out accesstoinsight.org and suttacentral.net. The "Befriending the Suttas" link is particularly useful for the Buddha's original teaching is there and treasured by all schools (the Theravada's Nikayas and the Mahayana/Tibetan's Agamas):

"Gotami, the qualities of which you may know, 'These qualities lead to passion, not to dispassion; to being fettered, not to being unfettered; to accumulating, not to shedding; to self-aggrandizement, not to modesty; to discontent, not to contentment; to entanglement, not to seclusion; to laziness, not to aroused persistence; to being burdensome, not to being unburdensome': You may categorically hold, 'This is not the Dhamma, this is not the Vinaya, this is not the Teacher's instruction.'
"As for the qualities of which you may know, 'These qualities lead to dispassion, not to passion; to being unfettered, not to being fettered; to shedding, not to accumulating; to modesty, not to self-aggrandizement; to contentment, not to discontent; to seclusion, not to entanglement; to aroused persistence, not to laziness; to being unburdensome, not to being burdensome': You may categorically hold, 'This is the Dhamma, this is the Vinaya, this is the Teacher's instruction.'"


Does the notion of check word exist in English?

Question: It is interesting if in English there is the notion of the check word? In Russian if we don't know how to spell a certain unstressed vowel in some cases we can find the check word ( проверочное слово ) which prompts us how to spell the word. For example, в лесу (  in the forest ) , the check word is "лес".Sometimes it is impossible to find the check word, for example, the word воробей( sparrow), the first vowel cannot be checked.
Comment: Given that even after reading your and CopperKettle's attempts at describing what a "check word" is, I still haven't the faintest clue what this strange juxtaposition of words means, I think the answer to your title question is an emphatic, if puzzled, "no".
Comment: Do you mean a _root_ word, the small center of a bigger word on which prefixes, suffixes, inflections, sounds changes are made? e.g. in english, 'drink' is the root word of 'drunkenness'
Comment: As interesting as this is, this seems only marginally about English. It seems to be a very useful word in helping learners of Russian (native or foreign), and the English word for this concept only of interest to English speakers leaning how to spell in Russian. Much more useful for russian.SE
Comment: @Martha - I wrote a P.P.S. for you, hope it will make it a bit clearer.
Comment: @Mitch - it's often a root word, but not always. Sometimes even the most "bare" word has the stress falling not on the vowel you wanted to check: "probl*e*ma" should be written with "o" as its first vowel, but that vowel is pronounced as "a", and the stress never falls on it (in the basic form it falls on *e*), so you have to just memorize it. Such words are called "dictionary words": they have vowels that are impossible to check by putting them under stress. ('problema' means 'problem')
Answer: English is an "analytic" language: "a language that conveys grammatical relationships without using inflectional morphemes".
Hence, the morphological forms for "The forest was dark" and "She walked in the forest" are just "forest", and you would be hard put finding a check word with the same "forest" root if you wanted to ascertain what vowel letter should be used in writing.
Russian is a "fusional" language: one root can generate a multitude of words in many forms - nouns, adjectives, verbs. Hence, in Russian it is possible to fall back on finding a "check word" to ascertain what vowel letter should be written down. In a check word, the stress falls on the suspected vowel, and it becomes clear that it's e (in "лес"; "les") and hence it's not и in the instrumental case (in "в лесу"), despite the fact that we tend to pronounce it like и ("vlee-soo", "in the forest", with the stress on the final syllable).

On a second thought, there might be cases where we can check our use of a vowel letter logically in English:

Photograph (stress on the first "o")
Photographer (stress on the second "o")
Photographic (stress on the "a")

Here, we can check ourselves and be sure that the spelling is not "photogripher" or "photigraph" or "phitographic".
But English seems to provide much less opportunity for such checking.
One somewhat related example might be "nucleus" as a check word for "nuclear", which has been pronounced "nucular" by George W. Bush and some other persons. It's hard to pronounce it "nuculus". So you are free to pronounce "nuclear" as "nucular", but when writing you'll recall "nucleus" and write the word down as "nuclear".

You might google for "word stress in English", that might unearth some interesting info, since I've little free time right now.
After a hasty google session, this one Wiki article seems to be relevant:

Stress and vowel reduction in English

P.S. For those who are interested in Russian, the term for "check word" is "проверочное слово".

P.P.S.
To make it clearer for native English speakers: we pronounce "forest" as "les" in Russian, but "in the forest" as "vlee-soo" (stress on the second vowel). The root vowel, indicated by the letter e, gets "slurred over" from "je" to "ee" when it is not under stress. Hence, the sounds in the first syllable are different for "forest" and "in the forest", but we must spell the root of the word with e in writing: "лес", "в лесу". Hence, the nominative case form "forest" serves as a check word.
Young kids tend to make mistakes in writing, using the 'ee' letter for "in the forest": "в лису", because it sounds that way. But "лису" is not "forest" but the accusative form of "fox": I brought home a fox (лису; lee-soo).
Hence, "A bear is picking mushrooms в лecy" will mean he is picking them in the forest. "A bear is picking mushrooms в лису" will mean he is picking them and putting them inside a fox. There's a weird picture on the Russian web based on this misspelling.

Both "в лесу" and "в лису" sound almost the same, of course: vlee-soo.
The check word for "лису" would be лисий, "lee-siy" (the stress falls on the first syllable and it becomes clear that it's indeed 'ee', so you should write и, not е). "Лисий" is an adjective meaning "belonging to a fox".
Comment: I read your answer 3-4 times before I think I "get" check words. I was confused because I thought it was supposed to help someone hearing [another person say] "vlee-soo" figure out what was meant - but that doesn't seem to be the use-case. instead, it's for the person who already knows what is meant and how to pronounce it, but can't remember how to spell it; in which case they merely need to think of the nominative form. Do I understand correctly?
Comment: Cheers from Khabarovsk. I pressed the button because your answer corresponded to my thoughts. It was a question asked by one of my students today, it seemed interesting to me.
Comment: Am I right in saying the following? Another example of a related concept, in letting me check the spelling of "professor", is that the related word "confessor" would look absolutely absurd spelt with two "f"s, so "proffessor" simply can't be the correct spelling.
Comment: @PatrickStevens - I'm not sure, because "check words" in Russian are usually cognate words. But we can take "professor" and "confessor" to be cognate through their Latin roots, so it kind of that.
Comment: @CopperKettle Just to clarify a bit more, my misunderstanding wasn't about a speaker trying to pronounce - rather, I thought the purpose was for a hearer trying to understand the meaning (and then be able to write the word). The light came on when I realized that the sole purpose was: I know I want to express "in the forest" and I know how to say it, but I can't recall which vowel to use in the first syllable.
Comment: And what about different types of syllables in English?
Comment: @Fatimahon - don't be so quick in accepting an answer! Other answerers may have more interesting things to share. (0: I only vaguely recall some information about there being "open" and "closed" syllables in English. Feel free to uncheck the "accept" button. It's a good practice to wait a couple of days even if you like an answer. Cheers from Yekaterinburg, Russia. (0:
Comment: @Kelvin - yes, it's for spelling, not for pronouncing. Maybe I should improve the answer.
Answer: No, there aren't really too many check words in English because English is analytical and Russian is synthetic, which means that Russian fuses words together and creates cases much like Latin.  It's been a long time since I've taken a Latin class, so my names of certain cases may be off, but I presume the Russian word for "in the forest" would be in the locative case and I'm sure your check word "forest" is in the nominative case rather than the accusative case.


Ledger Blue and Ledger Live

Question: I bought XLM and wanted to store it on my Ledger Blue. I read another post that this supposed to be possible and yet is seems impossible. Is Ledger Blue actively supported? Ledger Live is now available, will wallet become available on Ledger Live?
Answer: Yes, Ledger Blue is supported. You need to install the Stellar app from the Ledger Manager. Ledger Live itself does not support Stellar at this time, but you can use the Ledger with several online wallets and DEX applications such as the Stellar account viewer, Stellarterm, Stellarport, and Stellar Laboratory among other tools.
Answer: I've used a Ledger Nano in the past and it worked great. I had to do two things first though (ymmv):

Update to the Ledgers firmware to the latest version.
Install the Stellar 'app' onto the Ledger using the desktop client.

Once you've completed those steps, you can sign transactions, etc., using the laboratory and the account viewer.
Stellar Term also accepts Ledger Wallets.

Ledger Blue and Ledger Live


What causes virtual particle pair production to not occur in the space occupied by matter?

Question: Are virtual particles only popping in and out of existence  where the local energy density is below a certain point? What I wonder is,  does any kind of matter prevent the pairs from appearing? Is there a shell surrounding an atom or maybe I should call it a boundary beyond which particle pair production occurs, and within the boundary it does not, I have wondered if the different orbitals around an atom are affected (set)by the influence of the virtual particles.
Answer: Virtual particles are mostly the name given to a category of mathematical expressions (contained in Feynman diagrams): while virtual particles are mathematically associated to real, physical particles (virtual electron, etc.), they have no reason to exist physically.  Essentially, the name is somewhat of a misnomer.
Now, there is a point of view in which virtual particles do have an influence.  Your example of an atom is one such case: if you first model the atom as being a set of electrons that only interact with  the nucleus via the (relativistic) equation of Dirac, you can refine this theory by adding the possibility for energy to create particles (that's basically Quantum Electrodynamics [QED], a Quantum Field Theory).  When you correct the energies of your simple atomic model with QED, electrons can interact with each other, and the energy levels of your atom coincide with experiment (up to this day…).  Now, within this theory (QED), the interaction between electrons (and between the nucleus and electrons) can be approximated with more and more precision through Feynman Diagrams; these diagrams contain mathematical quantities (propagators) that describe the propagation of a "virtual particle" from one point to another (in space-time).  Such treatments correctly predicts the "Lamb shift" of atomic levels, for instance.
However, I don't see any reason to believe that such virtual particles (mathematical expressions) have a physical counterpart.  In fact, as far as I know, they only come up through approximations (expansions in a small parameter) of the theory.  You can also do QED without these approximations; in this case, I don't think that virtual particles are a concept that plays a role.  So, to summarize, virtual particles are mostly a mathematical device that comes from approximations, and they have no reason to be particles.
That said, one can find many descriptions of vacuum as being full of "vacuum bubbles" and "particle pairs" that are produced from energy (via $E=mc^2$) and annihilate each other (matter goes back to energy).  My position on this is that this image has nothing to do with the physical reality, but has everything to do with the mathematical treatment by approximations that physicists often rely on.
Answer: Virtual particles influence physics at every point of space, whether or not there is a nearby atomic nucleus or orbital. All electrons in an atom receive energy shifts analogous to the Lamb shift (from virtual photons), aside from other quantum corrections. In fact, the influence of the virtual particles only becomes truly measurable if there are some nearby particles that feel the effect.
There is a counterpart of the Pauli principle for virtual fermions: one may get some cancellation between Feynman diagrams for various special quantities. However, one shouldn't interpret the Pauli exclusion principle for virtual particles in the same way as for real particles because virtual particles are not real particles.
Answer: Virtual particles are properties of real particles, it is indication on the real particles being compound systems with many internal degrees of freedom. As a model, let us consider a charge coupled to the electromagnetic field, the latter is described as a set of oscillators. Let us simplify our system to one oscillator. You may imagine it as two balls on a spring, one of them is charged, the other neutral, and the whole system has the global variables and internal motion variables. The global variables are the center of mass (CM) position and velocity, and the internal variables are the relative distance and velocity of the two balls. When we push the charge (one ball of the two), we transmit the energy to the whole system which is split between the CM and internal energy. This is how we produce photons which are excitations of the oscillator. Now, in the ground state in QM there is always non trivial motion leading to smearing positions of the balls in the oscillator, like clouds of electrons in atoms. This makes the system fluctuate and these fluctuations affect the charge interaction with other charges.
If our charge is strongly bound in atom, the leading force acting on the charge is the atomic one. For the oscillator it means a driving force that imposes its own frequency and the resulting effect is determined with the interplay between the two couplings acting on the charge. If our oscillator frequency is very low, it is completely driven by the motion of the charge in the atom. If the oscillator frequency is much higher than the atomic one, the oscillator is strongly attached to the charge and causes only small "jitter" of its motion in orbit.
In reality there are many oscillators with different frequencies so their total effect is producing many photons when the electron gets acceleration and the Lamb shift when the electron is bound in atoms. The latter case was described by T. Welton in 1948.


How are minerals classified?

Question: What exactly is done to classify minerals in Earth Sciences such as Geology? How can it be known if one mineral is the same as another if they should be visually different?
Answer: Minerals are defined by chemical composition and crystallography. Dana classification scheme or new Dana classification scheme divides known mineral species in eight broad groups based on primary chemical properties and crystal form.
Organic vs inorganic
Silicates vs non-silicates
<code>  Subdivided silicates into smaller groups by crystalline structures
</code>
Metals vs non-metals
<code>  Subdivide non-metals into smaller groups
      metal oxides
      metal sulfides
      metal and non-metal acid salts organized by dominant anion (1)(2)
</code>
(1) In chemistry, a salt is an ionic compound that can be formed by the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base.1 Salts are composed of related numbers of cations (positively charged ions) and anions (negative ions) so that the product is electrically neutral (without a net charge). These component ions can be inorganic, such as chloride (Cl−), or organic, such as acetate (CH3CO−2); and can be monatomic, such as fluoride (F−), or polyatomic, such as sulfate (SO2−4).  (from wikipedia)
(2) Some these subgroups represent hypothetical acid-base reactions not actualy seen in nature but modeled after known acid-base reactions. My opinion here is that this approach was used because it was popular theory in chemistry at the time when James Dwight Dana published his work in 1837.
There are other minerals classfication systems
1) By crystal system -triclinic, monoclinic, orthorhombic, tetragonal, hexagonal, and cubic.
2) By Cleavage, parting, fracture, and tenacity
3) By mineral hardness
4) By specific gravity or density
5) By mineral association (my favorite and often the best way of identifying and unknown mineral especially when the location is known.
Answer: Minerals are classified as follows:
Native elements, Sulphides, Sulphosalts, Oxides, Halides, Carbonates, Nitrates, Borates, Phosphates, Sulphates, Tungstates, Silicates I have listed some of the things I know for more details on the classification of minerals follow this [link].1
Comment: There is Dana classification http://www.webmineral.com/danaclass.shtml#.XGqcH2N7lnI and Strunz classification http://www.webmineral.com/strunz.shtml#.XGqcVmN7lnI, but mainly allbody accepts with little differences the british encyclopedia list linked by Arsath

How are minerals classified?


Why Sitecore does not allow to use special characters in Name Value List field as a key?

Question: I would like to use special characters as a key in a Name Value List field. Any idea why Sitecore doesn't allow this? Is there any nice way to disallow this validation?
Answer: The Name Value List (and Name Value Lookup List which also inherits from it) only allows keys containing letters and numbers due to the Validate() method in Sitecore.Shell.Applications.ContentEditor.NameValue:
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(input) && !Regex.IsMatch(input, "^\\w*$"))
{
  SheerResponse.Alert(string.Format("The key \"{0}\" is invalid.\n\nA key may only contain letters and numbers.", (object) input));
  SheerResponse.SetReturnValue(false);
  return false;
}

Whilst the answer from @alan is correct that the raw data is stored in parameters, the field is able to handle special characters and I have created fields that use a guid as the key (which includes dashes and curly braces). You may want to ensure that values are URL encoded just in case though.
In any case, there are no settings available to change this behvaiour, you have to create a custom field. Unfortunately the Validate() method is private so it's not just a simple case of overriding, but you could provide a new implementation of ParameterChange() method which is where Validate is called from.
protected new void ParameterChange()
{
    ClientPage clientPage = Sitecore.Context.ClientPage;
    if (clientPage.ClientRequest.Source == StringUtil.GetString(clientPage.ServerProperties[this.ID + "_LastParameterID"]) && !string.IsNullOrEmpty(clientPage.ClientRequest.Form[clientPage.ClientRequest.Source]))
    {
        string str = this.BuildParameterKeyValue(string.Empty, string.Empty);
        clientPage.ClientResponse.Insert(this.ID, "beforeEnd", str);
    }
    NameValueCollection form = (NameValueCollection)null;
    System.Web.UI.Page page = HttpContext.Current.Handler as System.Web.UI.Page;
    if (page != null)
        form = page.Request.Form;
    if (form == null) /* || !this.Validate(form)) -- removed validation of Key field */
        return;
    clientPage.ClientResponse.SetReturnValue(true);
}

Comment: Hey @TRNKTMS, I suggest linking back to this page on your blog post and also giving credit to Kamruz. The blog post as it stands makes it appear you solved this on your own which is not the case.
Comment: I wrote a blogpost about the exact solution. You can check it here - https://trnktms.wordpress.com/2016/10/15/sitecore-name-value-list-field-with-special-characters/
Comment: Thanks @jammykam. I would like to publish the exact solution when I am done. I will put it here.
Answer: I think it might be forbidden as raw value of the field is 'url like' format thus some special characters are forbidden.
Normally you resolve field value in code like this:
Sitecore.Web.WebUtil.ParseUrlParameters(item.Fields['NameValueListField']?.Value);


Failed to start greeter

Question: After some pretty advanced configuration and kernel compilation, I've got EFI booting and Intel Graphics enabled on my MacBook Pro 8,3 and the ATI proprietary driver disabled in order to be able to save a lot of power and to keep the laptop a lot cooler in the process.
However, I can't seem to get lightdm to start. My /etc/X11/xorg.conf looks like this:
Section "Device"
    Identifier "Device0"
    Driver "intel"
    BusID "0:2:0"
EndSection

I stripped everything out to allow things to more or less autoconfigure, but I want to be sure that X tries loading the Intel driver and not anything else.
In my /var/log/lightdm/lightdm.log, I see the following:
[+0.00s] DEBUG: Logging to /var/log/lightdm/lightdm.log
[+0.00s] DEBUG: Starting Light Display Manager 1.2.3, UID=0 PID=14647
[+0.00s] DEBUG: Loaded configuration from /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf
[+0.00s] DEBUG: Using D-Bus name org.freedesktop.DisplayManager
[+0.00s] DEBUG: Registered seat module xlocal
[+0.00s] DEBUG: Registered seat module xremote
[+0.00s] DEBUG: Adding default seat
[+0.00s] DEBUG: Starting seat
[+0.00s] DEBUG: Starting new display for greeter
[+0.00s] DEBUG: Starting local X display
[+0.00s] DEBUG: Using VT 7
[+0.00s] DEBUG: Activating VT 7
[+0.00s] DEBUG: Logging to /var/log/lightdm/x-0.log
[+0.01s] DEBUG: Writing X server authority to /var/run/lightdm/root/:0
[+0.01s] DEBUG: Launching X Server
[+0.01s] DEBUG: Launching process 14651: /usr/bin/X :0 -auth /var/run/lightdm/root/:0 -nolisten tcp vt7 -novtswitch
[+0.01s] DEBUG: Waiting for ready signal from X server :0
[+0.01s] DEBUG: Acquired bus name org.freedesktop.DisplayManager
[+0.01s] DEBUG: Registering seat with bus path /org/freedesktop/DisplayManager/Seat0
[+0.30s] DEBUG: Got signal 10 from process 14651
[+0.30s] DEBUG: Got signal from X server :0
[+0.30s] DEBUG: Connecting to XServer :0
[+0.31s] DEBUG: Starting greeter
[+0.31s] DEBUG: Started session 14656 with service 'lightdm', username 'lightdm'
[+0.35s] DEBUG: Session 14656 authentication complete with return value 0: Success
[+0.35s] DEBUG: Greeter authorized
[+0.35s] DEBUG: Logging to /var/log/lightdm/x-0-greeter.log
[+0.35s] DEBUG: Session 14656 running command /usr/lib/lightdm/lightdm-greeter-session /usr/share/xgreeters/pantheon-greeter
[+0.60s] DEBUG: Greeter closed communication channel
[+0.60s] DEBUG: Session 14656 exited with return value 0
[+0.60s] DEBUG: Greeter quit
[+0.60s] DEBUG: Failed to start greeter
[+0.60s] DEBUG: Stopping display
[+0.60s] DEBUG: Sending signal 15 to process 14651
[+0.97s] DEBUG: Process 14651 exited with return value 0
[+0.97s] DEBUG: X server stopped
[+0.97s] DEBUG: Removing X server authority /var/run/lightdm/root/:0
[+0.97s] DEBUG: Releasing VT 7
[+0.97s] DEBUG: Display server stopped
[+0.97s] DEBUG: Display stopped
[+0.97s] DEBUG: Stopping X local seat, failed to start a display
[+0.97s] DEBUG: Stopping seat
[+0.97s] DEBUG: Seat stopped
[+0.97s] DEBUG: Required seat has stopped
[+0.97s] DEBUG: Stopping display manager
[+0.97s] DEBUG: Display manager stopped
[+0.97s] DEBUG: Stopping daemon
[+0.98s] DEBUG: Exiting with return value 1

It seems to fail to start the greeter, but it doesn't get any more descriptive than this. I can't seem to find any other related logs. In the Xorg.0.log, I see this error:
[   477.378] (EE) GLX error: Can not get required symbols.

I don't know if this has anything to do with this issue, but yeah. Any ideas on why lightdm won't start? I was able to get X itself to start with sudo startx, but the greeter just won't launch :(
Answer: fglrx still being installed was to blame here. Better nuke it from orbit:
sudo apt-get remove fglrx*

Failed to start greeter


Sun is not casting shadows

Question: I am at the very beginning of my blender journey, so dont judge me xD
i have tried this very basic model of a apartment like room.
I am using eevee and i have 2 questions.
First im wondering why my sun is not casting any shadows. It had before but now it doesn't anymore. Shadows are on.
Second how do i change my glass material so the sun can shine through it.
but even if i delete the window the shadows are not coming back :/.
Thank you for your help already <3
Comment: [](https://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/b/6427/)
Comment: This is due to two aspects: your scene elements are large and the sun is far: change the shadow 'clip end' value of the sun to 300m. Secondly, the glasses are opaque: change their shadow mode to 'None' (don't think other shadow mode can work here)
Comment: First tank you for your quick response. changing the clip end does not work for me but downscaling the whole scene did. but now i cant zoom in far enough to work with how do you manage this problem? Also you cant see my glasses from outside anymore
Comment: Have not reopened the file, but if I remember well you'll need to set the glass material to alpha blend (it was opaque).
Comment: Hm i did that. It doesnt solve the problem unfortunatly. Also you can see through the windows from outside but youre not able to see the outside from inside. My camera will be placed inside so i need to fix that xD Any ideas? 'This is the updated file [](https://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/b/6444/)
Comment: Have added the blend file in the answer below. Don't know why yet yours does not work.
Answer:
Obtained with:

For the sun:

Shadow clip end set to 300m.

For the glass:

Blend mode to alpha blend.
Shadow mode to none (or alpha clip, but with a threshold of 1... so).

Sun is not casting shadows


What's the most efficient way to transfer data from desktop to laptop?

Question: I've bought a desktop-replacement laptop and I still have some 20-30 GB of data to transfer to it from my current computer. What's the most efficient way to do it?
Note the desktop is a 2001 computer with USB 1.0, so USB is out of the question.
Answer: Quickest way/way it should be done! - If Windows(Vista+) to Windows(Vista+), Bung in a cross over cable and enable file sharing. Set the location to home and. On your old machine, set the files you want to shared and on the new one, go to the network map and click on the old machine and you should see all the files.
If older, simply set up networking and sharing following any guide / wizard and copy the files that way.
Sometimes though, if having a hard time with network permission, I find the easiest thing to do is install Filezilla Server on the old machine and client on the new one. On the old one, set the root hard drive to share and just navigate to it from the client via the IP in the ftp address. This is messy compared to Windows folder sharing, but it usually just works when permissions or settings are getting in the way.
Lastly, if Desktop to Desktop, I would (and have in other posts) recommended that you just rip out the hard drive and put it in the new machine to do the transfer. You can always buy an Enclosure off of eBay and have it for future use. That aside, the fastest way would be - If your laptop is SATA, take out the hard drive, put it in your OLD machine as laptop SATA works with desktop SATA, and simply copy the files across then put it back in.
Answer: The fastest option I could think of (when I had this problem last week) was a direct Gigabit Ethernet connection between the desktop and laptop. Once set up, and with jumbo frames enabled, it should be faster than copying to an external (USB) hard drive, and then copying again on to the laptop.
But in reality, it can be a pain to set up and slightly temperamental; if it sounds complicated then using an external hard-drive probably will be faster for you.
Answer: Do you have an external hard drive? If not, get one. After you use it for this little job you'll be able to use it in the future for backups, etc. Now, as backwards as this may seem, I would just go with copying your data on the desktop onto the hard drive, and then copying this data onto the laptop.
It's certainly the quickest way to do it. It requires the least involvement and human time investment ;).
Comment: Sounds good to me!
Answer: that depends entirely on the means and connectivity at your disposal, but 20-30 GB ain't that much.
the fastest way would be using an eSata HDD, USB 2 is slower, but still, 20-30 GB shouldn't take too long.
as far as network connectivity is concerned, wired gigabit newtwork is fastest, wireless n is faster than b/g.
you can also burn to 5-7 DVDs, depending on the speed of your drive, this shouldn't take more than an hour.


Delayed startup of network (Wi-Fi) icon

Question: When my Windows 7 Starter netbook boots up and after everything is loaded, it takes about 5 minutes before the network icon near the clock becomes functional. When there's an available Wi-Fi signal – which automatically connects to my netbook as preconfigured – after the boot, my netbook seamlessly connects to it even if the network icon cannot be clicked or accessed; the icon is shown to be loading for about 5 minutes.
During this time, when I go to Network and Sharing Center, it takes the same time to load. So even while the icon and the Center cannot be accessed, I can surf the Internet. When my netbook was still new, it didn't have this issue. How do I fix this?
Comment: I disabled FreemakeUtilsService in services.msc and it's fixed now.
Answer: Check is the services configuration.
You can launch services.msc from the run windows in start menu or create console of this .msc to keep the display setup you prefer by launching mmc.exe, including services.msc in it and save the setup. Or use a third party software such as Nirsoft's ServiWin
The following services must be started in automatic mode (not delayed or manual):

Netman
Netprofm
Eaphost
WlanSvc
DHCP (if needed)

If you have some useless services started or started in automatic instead of delayed or manual this may also slow down the services loading. This must be checked. To find some hints about services check (with caution) Black Viper for services configurations…
Please take note that other conditions may slow down the startup in general and the WiFi stuff in particular such as too many programs, drivers, etc at startup OR bad maintenance: fragmented HD, drivers with errors, etc…
Check this (with caution) with MS TechNet Sysinternal's Autoruns
Answer: In my case it was the "ESET SHA Service". I've noticed that its status was "Starting" about for two minutes while blue circle hangs over network icon in notification area. After I've changed "Startup type" from "Automatic" to "Automatic (Delayed start)" the problem was solved.
Looks like sometimes some services or apps in startup tries to use same resources as Windows network connections services and hangs the normal process. In this case you should change startup type from "Automatic" to "Automatic (Delayed start)", "Manual" or even "Disabled" if you know you don't need it.
If you cannot open Services window through Control Panel, try WinKey + R » services.msc »  Enter.
If you cannot do that, try clean boot.
More, you can try some software like CCleaner to check Startup programs and disable them.
Remember, that the list of Startup programs can be completely empty.

Delayed startup of network (Wi-Fi) icon


gray photos differ between pc and offset printing

Question: i wanted to ask why gray photos differ between pc and offset printing. 86% gray seem whitish gray on pc but became black on offset printing , is there any solution to see how appear grayscale images on printing ?
Comment: The calibration thing is a good call, but in photography, "X% grey" refers to reflectivity, not to black percentage. "86% grey" would fall at the top of Zone VIII (white with substantial detail). The difference in terminology between the photography and press environments may have *a lot* to do with it, especially if a photographer is speccing 86% to a printer.
Comment: Can you add a screenshot of the artwork and a picture of the result?
Comment: Is your monitor calibrated? What resolution and line screen where used for printing? In *almost all* cases 86% black is always much closer to black than it is white.
Comment: what is 'whitish gray'?
Comment: Printing graphics is more problematic than photos. Normal computer household printers are made to accommodate photographs over any other kind of printing.
Answer: In order to appreciate how a printed job will compare to your production ink jet print, laser print, dye sub print, etc., you will have to ask your printer for a "contract proof." It will be an additional cost that should be included in the job quotation. It is false economy to cut this to save production expenses.
A contract proof is a legal document, a guarantee that a printed job will look as shown by the proof print or better. They are usually produced by an inkjet printer that has been calibrated to match the work of the printing press.
If a better, higher quality, higher fidelity proof of expected quality is needed, then a "Press" proof made from the actual printing plates on the press that will be used for the job is required.
Answer: It's probably because of the gamma correction of your PC and the dot gain on offset printing.
PC show images darker in general and have a gamma of 2.2 while Mac has a gamma of 1.8. So that's one reason why it may look darker on your display. Your printer probably uses Mac so everything is calibrated with a 2.2 gamma and their own machines, and they also use their own profile for the dot gain.
Then there is the dot gain. This is a way for printers to lighten up a bit the ink according to the way the paper will react to it. For example, when they print a black that is at 100%, they don't apply the ink at 100% because it would be too much ink for the paper and it would create a black spot and make the images look more blurry. The way they fix this is by transforming all the 100% ink value to something like 85% instead (for example.) It's the same for all the CMYK inks.
That may be why you see your grayscale much paler. Your display shows you a black that is probably not a real 100% black but a 90% one, and the printer's dot gain adjustment lowers this value again by 5-10-15%! So your blacks could be in fact printed at 70-80% of their density.
The best way to verify this is by looking at the darkest part of what you think is pure 100% black on your grayscale image and see if it's truly at 100%. If you see your display has mislead you and it's not really 100%, you should calibrate it.
If your ink percentage value is alright, then it's probably only the dot gain of your printer. This varies from printer to printer, so you would need to ask him what he's using as value. You can help yourself by setting these in your color profile and it should help you to see what to expect once the images will be printed.
One thing to be careful: In general, printing on an uncoated paper will look a bit darker because the paper is more porous and the ink will expand more. Preparing images for coated or uncoated paper requires a different approach for this reason.


grammar sentences

Question: I have been learning Mandarin since beginning of this year. I also learn from song. Then today I read some lyrics from song. I read some sentences : "我看不清楚", then I just think why it should be like that, not like this : "我不看得清楚", and then from this context ("我看不清楚"), can I make sentences like this : "我睡觉不太好" ?
Comment: the V得/不X format is the Potential Complement (可能补语) and you can have a read about it here: http://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Potential_complement and the most common example of this I believe is: 我听不懂。
Comment: One small suggestion: When you learn enough how's, why's would either be solved or become non-issues :)
Comment: the other is V得+怎么样, and let's just do this in English: would you say "I can't see clearly" or would you say "I don't see clearly"? That is the difference in your two phrases. You should know why you should use the first and not the second phrase now :) Lastly, I would use 我睡得不太好。**EDIT** oh this can't vs don't difference is covered by @songyuanyao's answer :)
Answer: 我看不清楚 means I can't see clearly, and 我不看得清楚 means I don't see clearly, which is a little weird, seems like someone doesn't see something clearly deliberately.
我睡觉不太好 is okay, means My sleep quality is not good.
Answer: 我看不清楚 is literally "I see (not clearly)." = "I see blurrily."
我不看得清楚 is literally "I don't (see clearly)" = "I can(have the ability to) see clearly but I don't(decided not to)."
The 不 modifies whatever word is after it. In the former, correct example, it modifies 清楚, so that means that the person sees in a way that is opposite to 清楚. In the latter example which might as well be true though with a different meaning, 看 is modified, so that means that the person did not see. The 看 was also modified by 清楚, indicating that the person did not see clearly.
In Chinese, ability and action are most often expressed clearly: when you can't do something you normally say that you can't, unless answering to a specific question such as "Did you do it?"; you normally only say that you don't when you can do it but do not actually happen to do it, probably because you decided not to do it, or perhaps it is a command asking you not to do it, though such a command should more adequately use 别 in place of 不.
As implied by the paragraph right above this, 我不看得清楚 would most likely mean that the person, though having the ability to see clearly, doesn't want to or decided not to do so(if you need contexts, perhaps a horror movie may serve well). Also, contracting the 得 may sound more natural: 我不看清楚.

Notes: I know when to contract the 得 but I currently cannot describe how. Maybe it is just based on experience, but I am encountering a similar situation in Korean, so this might have some linguistic mechanisms behind it -- so spoken to suggest to you that you will be able to pick this 得 up over time and that it won't be too hard.

我睡觉不太好 is correct(I guess), and almost perfect: 我睡得不太好. Here, I removed the 觉 because most often 睡 alone is sufficient to correctly express "to sleep". It sounds more natural to contract the redundant part of the word if the first character in the word already bears a same and unambiguous meaning (some characters have more than one commonly used meanings making the characters alone seem ambiguous so they need extra characters to specify which meaning the speaker is referring to). Besides removing the 觉 I also added the 得. Again in this aspect, I can only help you with the notes above.
Answer: As something complementary to songyuanyao's answer, 我睡觉不太好 seems a little strange. If you use 睡觉 as a verb like what you do in 我看得不清楚, where 看 is a verb too, it's more reasonable to say 我睡不好觉 or simply 我睡得不好 with 得. Intuitively, I think that you say 我睡觉不太好 is most likely at the time when you report something to a doctor, where 睡觉 is a noun.

grammar sentences


migrate from Lightroom 3 to Lightroom 5: publish services

Question: I've been using LR3 for a few years now, and had to split my collection into multiple catalogs (I found that over 10k photos, LR would slow down so much as to be unusable). This is supposed to have improved with LR5, and indeed with the trial version I was able to merge all my catalogs into one (50k photos), and it's not too slow. Unfortunately, the Publish Services were not imported in the merge. I have close to a hundred Flickr sets linked to my collections, and I cannot find any workaround.
Is there any unofficial documentation on peeking at the Lightroom database to copy those Publish Service settings? I don't mind if it involves a little coding/hacking, but have no clue as to where that info might be stored in the first place.
Answer: I've poked into this a bit in the past, and you won't like the answer much.
Publish services, because they interact with so many parts of Lightroom and with code blocks installed as plug-ins, are complicated beasts. Adobe's chosen to store their configuration information in the preferences file, not in a preset file.
The preferences file for Lightroom 5 (on a Mac) is in ~user/Preferences/com.adobe.Lightroom5.plist
Taking a look at the configuration block for my Flickr publish module (using Jeffrey Friedl's plug-in) it's about 2,000 lines of data out of almost 30,000 lines of preference material.
So if you're going to do this, it's going to be complicated and fussy. there are a lot of opaque content pieces that are likely specific to that copy of Lightroom and won't work if you simply copy/past them.
What I would do if I was going to go down this path: install the plug-in, configure it, and then try copy/pasting the folder structures from one preference to the other and hope it works. It might (it might not). Do this ON A COPY in case things break badly.
if you're trying to pull in presets from three different lightroom catalogs into one and make it all work by hacking presets, I expect you'll spend a lot of time trying and be unhappy on the other end.
At some point, it's faster and less risky to simply do it by hand and reinitialize things. That is honestly what I'd do. I've got a fair amount of experience geeking low level things like this and I wouldn't do it. I don't think this is a problem by Adobe, this is a big hairy beast.
One thing that can save you some (possibly a lot of) time: if you use a plug-in like Jeffrey Friedl's, it can look at your new Lightroom collection and compare it to what is published on Flickr and reconnect the two, so you don't have to republish everything.
http://regex.info/blog/lightroom-goodies/flickr/publish
Look in the "Syncing Flickr Data" portion of the plug-in's preference section in the Plug-in Manger (right-click the plug-in name in the left sidebar to bring up "edit preferences"). It'll solve some of the problems. Assuming that works properly (I've had problems with it, problems on the Flickr side -- it's API has been intermittently flakey for a while) that'll get you all of the images tied together and then it's a matter of recreating the collections and etc. Perhaps you might be able to do some of that by copying from one preferences file to another, but honestly, I wouldn't. Too many places for it to go wrong and no real way to debug or fix except blind luck.
good luck.
Comment: Thanks for the info. I'm looking at my preference file in `/Users/baptiste/Library/Preferences/com.adobe.Lightroom5.plist`, but I don't think that's where the official flickr plugin stores the info for published collections. I don't have Jeffrey's plugin, which does seem much better (but I'm tired of paying for Adobe's shortcomings). All I see with a search for "flickr" in Xcode is the general info about my flickr account, nothing about the specific collections I have set up.
Comment: poking around with SQLite Manager, it appears some info about published collections is stored in the .lrcat database, though I could not find the unique ID of flickr sets which is key to restoring the link between LR and Flickr. I'll give a try of Jeffrey's plugin if there's a trial version.
Comment: It looks like Jeffrey's plugin is a decent workaround, and it's a donationware which is nice. Now I see some rumours about LR6 being released soon, so I might wait for that.
Comment: reliable rumors put LR6 showing up (maybe in Beta) in March. I would say moving forward with LR5 isn't a bad idea because all of the architectural stuff was done in LR5 and LR6 internals won't change much where you'll notice it. but I wouldn't expect major improvements in publish modules in LR6, either. Jeffrey's stuff will still be worth having.
Comment: True, but since upgrading isn't free (and in fact, is pretty much the full academic price), I'll wait for LR6. Jeffrey's plugin, though not solving my problem, does seem much more reliable and well worth investing into (after the upgrade). Thanks for sharing your insights.
Answer: This is probably a good place to start: Preference and other file locations | Lightroom 3.x.
I would have thought that publish services have their own folder and associated files similar to export presets that I am familiar with(\Adobe\Lightroom\Export Actions), but it appears as though at least some of the Publish Services data is actually located within the Preferences file. Take a look at this Adobe help file.
The above information might help you a bit, but I don't have first hand experience trying this out. What you may want to do is take a look at your preferences files and compare for differences, and possibly copy over records that appear to be similar to the Publish Services examples given on the page above. That might be a start to your solution.


Animating a path between two objects on HTML5 canvas

Question: We're developing a game with impactjs that allows 'chaining' of entities as they are clicked.  Basically this just draws a line between the two points, with a neon glow effect.  So far, so good.  Now, we have a request to make the 'chain' connections animated - fire, sparkles, etc.  Essentially things that seem like they'd need actual graphic animations to look right.  As the entities can be any distance/angle from each other, we're stuck at how to best implement a solution for this - that is, how to draw a diagonal image, for example, between two random points that we can animate.  Any thoughts our suggestions on how to pull this off would be much appreciated.
Answer: Maybe create a particle entity with an Animation Sheet containing the necessary animations/particle effects. And then draw these particles along the line that from point A to point B.
When you want to animate it to fire/sparkles etc. run the animation for all those entities. in that line.
Answer: I'd be inclined to agree with Prat. Particle effects would most likely be what you need.
Here is a tutorial on generating particle effects in impact.js that might help you out.
http://www.pointofimpactjs.com/snippets/view/24/particle-effects-generation


Installing a Pilot Light Electrical Switch

Question: I want to replace a single pole wall switch that contols a closet light with a single pole pilot light switch. The pilot light is supposed to light when the closet light is on. The current wall switch is outside the closet. I looked in the switch box and there are two wires (ablack and a white) and a bare copper ground that are connected to the existing switch. The black and white wires are connected to two screws on the right side of the single pole switch. The new Leviton pilot light switch has a brass screw (top right), a black screw (bottom right), a silver screw (top left), and a green ground screw (bottom left). I know where the ground wire is connected. Question: How do I connect the black and white romex wires to the new pilot light switch so that the pilot is 'ON" when the switch is "ON"? There must be something simple that I am overlooking, but I can't figure this out. Help!
Comment: Does the light turn on at all on the switch?  I have some installed, but the pilot light is only on when the light is off - that's just how they were made.  Does the package say it should be lit when on or off?
Comment: Wait, do you have the type where the switch and the light are separate and it uses an "outlet" type wall plate, or is it the type where the actual switch lights up?  Link, model number or picture?
Answer: It appears the switch you've purchased requires a neutral and you do not have a neutral wire available at your switch (only the hot and the switched hot). You'll need to either run a line to the switch that includes a neutral, which is now a standard practice, or you need to find a switch that will work without a dedicated neutral. Finding the latter may be difficult as the versions with a dedicated neutral are fairly standard.
Comment: I thought it was possible they might have a lighted switch that could act as a 3-way (hence the extra screw), but in that case I don't think the screw would be silver.
Answer: Switches that feature a light which illuminates when the switch is "on" require a neutral conductor. There are switches which illuminate when the switch is "off" that do not require a neutral, this is because they trickle a small amount of current through the lighted switch component, through the actual switched load to the load's neutral conductor; the amount of current is so small that the load is not sufficiently energized as to cause it to operate (note: if the load were very small, such as a light bulb the size of the illuminated switch component, the load would operate, i.e. light up, while the switch was "off").
Answer: To wire this switch you will need a third wire (a return leg) from the light fixture. If you can run the third wire than the switch can be wired thusly: Black (hot) wire from the box attaches to the brass screw of the switch, White (neutral) wire from the box attaches to the silver colored screw on the switch, the third wire (which you will need to install) is the return leg and it attaches to the dark screw on the switch. This will have it so the pilot light is only lit when the other light is on.
Comment: Hmm... a hot, a neutral, and a "return leg". Where is the switched hot that actually controls the light? I think the OP wants to use a switch with a light that indicates when switched power is directed to the load (when the switch contacts are closed), not use a "return" hot wire from the load. If you think about it, neither option *actually* tells you the light is on, what if the bulb is bad?


Cannot use second display with 12.04 and Intel 2000/3000

Question: I am unable to get anything to display on my second monitor, or even get the system to recognize that there is a second screen.
I am running 12.04 on a Gigabyte GA-H61M-S2PV, revision 2.0 box.  The integrated chipset is an Intel 2000/3000, and there are both a D-Dub and a DVI-D display ports on the MB.  This is the first operating system I have installed on this system.  I have a second monitor plugged into the DVI-D port via a DVI-D to D-Sub adapter.  I cannot verify that the motherboard or adapter were/are working, short of installing windows to test the theory.
When I go into the "System Settings -> Displays" control window, it shows one display.
I have rebooted with the second monitor attached, and I have perused the BIOS settings in case it might have been disabled.  So far, I have had no indication that the second monitor is recognized, not even a flicker at power on.  If I swap monitors and cables between the DVI-D and D-Dub ports, the other monitor lights up, so I know the monitor and video cable are not the issue.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Answer: If you try to use the vga to dvi converter it won't work. This motherboard dvi output port is not supporterd by the converter. You can check the technical spec here.


What types of errors arise when converting consistency parse trees to dependency parse trees?

Question: I wonder what types of errors arise when automatically converting consistency parse trees to dependency parse trees, and how frequent they are.
Answer: In Hungarian:
Simkó, Katalin Ilona, et al. "An Empirical Evaluation of Automatic Conversion from Constituency to Dependency in Hungarian." Proceedings of COLING. 2014.

The errors made during [the automatic] conversion were categorized manually in 200 sentences
  selected randomly from the short business news subcorpus of the Szeged Dependency Treebank, and the
  most typical ones are listed in Table 1, Column convError.


Were there any instances of aerial combat between helicopters?

Question: Were there any cases in history where two attack-helicopters like AH-64 and MI-24(for example) were involved in an air fight between each other?
Comment: @USER_8675309 Yeah, you're right, I forgot that [Nicolas Cage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Cage) used to be an Apache pilot and that [Fire Birds](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099575/?ref_=nv_sr_1) is a war documentary.
Comment: @USER_8675309 That is not a "recording", it is a scene from a movie, 100% dramatization and not a representation of real combat.
Comment: Here's a recording of helicopters "dogfighting":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyuULnLsc4w
Comment: @RonBeyer it is most certainly a recording
Comment: @RonBeyer Glad we can agree
Comment: @RonBeyer: How do you think movie producers get the scene onto the cinema screen? Magic?
Answer: Yes, there has:
In the Iran-Iraq War, Wikipedia:

The war also saw the only confirmed air-to-air helicopter battles in the history of warfare, with Iraqi Mi-25s flying against Iranian AH-1J SeaCobras on numerous occasions. The first instance of these helicopter "dogfights" occurred on the first day of the war (22 September 1980): two Iranian SeaCobras crept up on two Mi-25s and hit them with TOW wire-guided anti-tank missiles. One Mi-25 went down immediately, the other was badly damaged and crashed before reaching base. The Iranians won a similar air battle on 24 April 1981, destroying two Mi-25s without incurring losses themselves. According to unclassified documents, Iranian pilots achieved a 10-to-1 kill ratio over the Iraqi helicopter pilots during these engagements and even engaged Iraqi fixed-wing aircraft.

These would be pretty loosely classified as a "dogfight" since the Iranian AH-1J's "crept up" on the Mi-25's. It is doubtful that the Mi's did any kind of evasive maneuvering or that the AH's did any kind of aggressive pursuits, but it is air-to-air combat between helicopters.
The page from the Mi-24 page gives a little more detailed report:

This war also saw the only confirmed air-to-air helicopter battles in history with the Iraqi Mi-25s flying against Iranian AH-1J SeaCobras (supplied by the United States before the Iranian Revolution) on several separate occasions. In November 1980, not long after Iraq's initial invasion of Iran, two Iranian SeaCobras engaged two Mi-25s with TOW wire-guided antitank missiles. One Mi-25 went down immediately, the other was badly damaged and crashed before reaching base. The Iranians repeated this accomplishment on 24 April 1981, destroying two Mi-25s without incurring losses to themselves. One Mi-25 was also downed by an IRIAF F-14A.
The Iraqis hit back, claiming the destruction of a SeaCobra on 14 September 1983 (with YaKB machine gun), then three SeaCobras on 5 February 1984 and three more on 25 February 1984 (two with Falanga missiles, one with S-5 rockets). After a lull in helicopter losses, each side lost a gunship on 13 February 1986. Later, a Mi-25 claimed a SeaCobra shot down with YaKB gun on 16 February, and a SeaCobra claimed a Mi-25 shot down with rockets on 18 February. The last engagement between the two types was on 22 May 1986, when Mi-25s shot down a SeaCobra. The final claim tally was 10 SeaCobras and 6 Mi-25s destroyed. The relatively small numbers and the inevitable disputes over actual kill numbers makes it unclear if one gunship had a real technical superiority over the other. Iraqi Mi-25s also claimed 43 kills against other Iranian helicopters, such as Agusta-Bell UH-1 Hueys.

I don't believe there has been any recorded instance since the Iran-Iraq war, but during that conflict there were multiple instances of helicopter-vs-helicopter battles.
Comment: @Omegacron Actually according to the [J-CATCH](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J-CATCH) study the US Army conducted, Helicopters are extremely effective at aerial dogfighting especially against fixed-wing targets. So much so that fixed wing pilots are told not to engage helicopters unless from a distance or high altitude.
Comment: @RonBeyer -- I wonder what tactics made helicopters so effective against fixed-wing targets?
Comment: Was going to add my own answer, but since you've covered the one major instance of a helicopter dogfight, I won't. You may want to add, however, the scarcity of such fights is mostly because attack helicopters are designed for attacking ground-based targets. Essentially, they're not designed for aerial dogfighting.
Comment: Interesting, didn't know that. That might explain some of the drastic design changes we saw in models like the Apache and Comanche, which were built after that.
Comment: I don't know a whole lot about these things, but from what i know, taking out a helicopter with a TOW rocket launched from another helicopter sounds like a laudable achievement.
Comment: *These would be pretty loosely classified as a "dogfight"*  Von Richtoffen would have recognized it as such, given that he taught how important it was to see the other guy first, to shoot first, and to shoot straight.
Answer: Wasn't aware of that battle during the Iran-Iraq war but gunships can and do carry air-to-air weapons.  The Apache can carry an air-to-air version of the FIM-92 stinger missile and the USMC's new AH-1Z Viper can carry the same as well as the AIM-9 Sidewinder series of missiles.

The 20mm rotary cannon comes in pretty handy for close in bandits as well.
Hollywood fantasies like Airwolf, Blue Thunder, and Firebirds aside, helos really aren't that great at ACM.  Airframe and rotor load limits usually restrict operation to around +2/-1Gs and the ship's are limited in the kind of maneuvers possible.  A2A weapons on helos are at best a last ditch defensive weapon and the helo - even gunships - were never intended to seek and destroy other aircraft.
Comment: [J-CATCH](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J-CATCH#cite_ref-v26_3-0) Phase III: "... the outcome was a 5-to-1 ratio in favour of the helicopters."
Comment: As Judge Dredd would say "......interesting."
Comment: You can't tell me Airwolf is fantasy :-(


Powering Raspberry Pi and Arduino

Question: I'm curious about powering Arduino Uno, Raspberry pi 3 b+ and motor driver L298n. I've got 11.1V / 2200 maH li-po battery. Firstly connected battery to motor driver, then feeded arduino from 5V out pin of motor driver. I want to use  adjustable regulator to power my rasp from gpio 5v pin. I'm afraid the board will burn. If I feed 5 volts, what is the probability of burning? Are there extra measures to take? Should I give directly 5 volts or by dimming it?
Answer: Arduino Uno has a voltage regulator direct attached to the power jack. It can receive voltages from 5v to 12v volts, recommended more than 6v and less than 13v. So, you can attach the Arduino Uno direct to the LiPo battery.
The Raspiberry Pi 3 b+ has a urge for corrent, it needs at least 1.8A to work, but could easily drag 2.5A depending on what you are doing. As sugested by @joan a UBEC is a good alternative.
Or you can use a Step Down voltage regulator. Something like this: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9370
But before buy it make some calculations of how much power you need.
Motor Driver you didn't specify the type of L298n that you have. There is a bunch of them with different layouts. You need to specify your model and what kind of motor you will drive. Depending on your use it can be connected direct to the battery, to the arduino Uno or even connected to the Raspiberry Pi. It really depends of the motor power consumption and the destination given to the project. It's not a good idea using the 5v pins, from the Arduino or the Raspberry, to power the motor driver. The reason of existence of the Motor Driver is to receive power supply from a battery and receive only signaling from the micro-controller boards. Don't use the Motor Driver as a Step Down ( using the motor driver to power arduino or raspberry).
Answer: I do not think a typical L298N based motor driver module can supply enough power for the Raspberry Pi.
Its 5V output (derived from its input power) is only designed to provide logic power for the L298N motor driver module itself.
I suggest you buy a UBEC (Ultimate Battery Eliminator Circuit) which will efficiently convert your LIPO 11V to 5V.  You could use that to power the Pi and the Arduino. UBECs are not that expensive.  For instance look on eBay.
I use a similar set-up with a LIPO connected to a UBEC connected to the Pi's 5V and ground pins.
Comment: For example I choose 5v/3A UBEC. Is the output ampere of UBEC constant 3A or max 3A (0 to 3A)?
Comment: It will supply up to 3 amps.  If the connected devices only need half an amp it will only supply half an amp.

Powering Raspberry Pi and Arduino


How do I find a set number without box or instructions?

Question: So my brother found a open bag of a LEGO Chima kit. It had some of the pieces in it. I want to replace the missing pieces but I don't have the box. I tried looking for unique pieces but it didn't seem to have any. I also don't have the instructions.
Answer: Choose a brick, the most distinctive the better.
Look for the part number. These are on the underside of plates, or inside bricks. They can be microscopic but every piece had one.
Go to peeron.com. Enter the part number into the search box. A list of all the sets containing that part number should, with luck, come up.
If you need to, repeat with another brick. Because you know it's a Chima set you should be able to deduce the set, set number and parts list fairly quickly. I've done this many times.
Answer: Do you have any of the minifigures from the set? That would be the easiest way to identify the set. Other than that, your only option is to look for the most unique looking part and see which sets it appeared in. I know you mentioned none of the parts appear to be unique, but sometimes just a color variation can narrow it down. Anything like wheels, slopes, larger plates can help, as they appear in less sets. Also, you may want to post a picture here of the parts assortment you have, and see if someone can identify the set for you.


What is the difference between ice wine, iced wine and late harvest wines?

Question: What is the difference, if any, between ice wine, iced wine(sometimes called frostbitten ice wine) and late harvest wines?
Answer: Late Harvest these are grapes that are left on the vine until they reach a certain brix (sugar %) level outside the normal range for regular table wine. There are several sub categories of Late Harvest, which include Ice Wine, Botrytized, sun dried (raisined) and regular late harvest.
One of the better known of the late harvest wines is Sauternes. These are wines picked after the grapes have gotten moldy. (AKA Noble Rot) The mold acts to dry out the grapes making them like raisins. These wines are from white grapes mainly. In Hungary they are from Tokay. In the Alsace they are called Sélection de Grains Nobles (selection of the noble berries). The mold concentrates the sugars and adds it's own special flavor.
Ice Wine In certain places in the world, like Canada, USA and Germany the grapes need to be naturally frozen on the vine to be called Ice Wine this is the law. The temperature varies but somewhere around -7f to -10f before they are allowed to be picked. It's a crap shoot since you are not assured you will get that cold in the winter following harvest. So it is rare. They need to use special hydraulic presses since you are pressing the sugar out of little round ice balls. Sugar levels are so high that the yeast cannot complete fermentation leaving residual sweetness after fermentation.
Iced Wine In many parts of the world there is no regulation around the word "ice wine" and many wine makers just take grapes and throw them in a huge freezer and mechanically freeze them called cryoextraction. Since they can't legally use the term "Ice Wine" without freezing them on the vine, they had to come up with a made up name. Iced Wine is one of those names. Frostbitten Ice Wine is a proprietary name from winemaker here in Washington State
Comment: In Alsace late harvest is called vandage tardive with SGN being a separate/different category of the same grape variety, etc.
Comment: And across the Rhine river in Germany we have four(!) levels of Late Harvest wines, well five if you add in Eiswein. Spätlese (late harvest), Auslese, Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese. BA and TBA are botrytised wines, the TBA wines being the highest qualtiy.
Comment: Quire so. After making friends with the wines of France in the last half-century, I must redouble my efforts to know more intimately the wonderful 'noble rot' grapes and wine styles from Germany.


Can a Rinnegan user use Mangekyou abilities?

Question: Since Rinnegan is an "upgrade" of Sharingan, then it should be possible that all the techniques of Sharingan will be carried away to Rinnegan like the Mangekyou.
If not, then why?
Comment: i think it's a no. Nagato can't use mangekyo Sharingan even though his eye came from Madara.
Answer: To put it bluntly, no, the rinnegan cannot use mangekyou abilities. As you can watch in the anime, Madara can switch between Rinnegan and Sharingan because he awakened both.
Nagato only had the Rinnegan.
Basically, the Rinnegan isn't an upgraded Sharingan, it's what comes next, but it's a completely different eye.
Answer: It is, since during Madara and 5 kages fight, Madara is able to cast genjutsu to raikage after looking into his eyes, though his eyes is seen as a sharinggan.
And he can still use Susanoo which is a Mangekyo ability.
Comment: Vond Ritz is right. The question refers to Rinnegan users in general, not to particular users. Nagato was unable to use the Mangekyo, or maybe was unaware of it. Either way, he was a Rinnegan user who was unable to use the Mangekyo.
Answer: A Rinnegan user can use the Mangekyō Sharingan abilities, if the user

Has one eye with a Mangekyō Sharingan and one with a Rinnegan (as seen with Tobi).
Naturally awakened the Rinnegan after awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan. (as seen with Madara).

If you look at the wiki page of Rinnegan(emphasis mine, not originally there in the wiki).

When Madara was reincarnated by Kabuto Yakushi to fight the Allied
  Shinobi Forces, Madara once again gained access to the dōjutsu (Rinnegan); his
  Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan was able to transform into the Rinnegan at
  will (Madara awakened Rinnegan during the last days of his life). Based on data collected over the years, Kabuto Yakushi and
  Orochimaru theorised that because the Sharingan originated from the
  Rinnegan, it was possible for the dōjutsu to change into the Rinnegan
  as part of a "natural evolution". This is supported by the fact he
  maintains his Susanoo while having his Rinnegan activated. Upon
  reincarnation, Nagato also retained the Rinnegan.

Since Madara had awakened both the Mangekyō and Rinnegan in his life, he could switch between the two and use the abilities of both the dōjutsu's. But in the case of Nagato, as he was implanted with the Rinnegan itself, he could not switch between them and hence, was never able to use those abilities. This wiki excerpt should confirm it.

While the powers of the Rinnegan remain intact upon implanting them in a new person, like Nagato and Obito Uchiha, only one who "naturally" manifests the Rinnegan, as in Madara Uchiha's case, is able to switch between the Rinnegan and Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan; otherwise, the Rinnegan is always activated.

Tobi had 2 different eyes, one with the Mangekyō (his own eye) and the other with the Rinnegan (which he took it from Nagato's body after his death), and that's the reason why he could use the abilities of both but only with one eye for each of it.
Answer: While the powers of the Rinnegan remain intact upon implanting them in a new person, like Nagato and Obito Uchiha, only one who "naturally" manifests the Rinnegan, as in Madara Uchiha's case, is able to switch between the Rinnegan and Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan; otherwise, the Rinnegan is always activated.
Comment: if this is from the wiki, then please quote it and remove the number marks. :)
Answer: The Rinnegan and Mangekyo Sharingan are two different eyes. Completely different. The Sage of Six Paths had the Rinnegan and divided his power to create the Senju and the Uchiha. The Uchiha got the Sharingan and the Senju got really strong chakra and life force (chakra basically). The only reason why Madara got the Rinnegan was because he put some of Hashirama Senju's cells in himself. Thus bringing together the power that the sage had divided. He then would attain the sage's eyes (Rinnegan). He is able to switch between them. The Rinnegan cannot use Mangekyo techniques and vice versa.
The reason why Nagato cannot switch between the different eyes is that they were transplanted into him in the Rinnegan form, and since they aren't his natural eyes, his control over them is limited. A good example of this is Kakashi: he cannot change the Sharingan Obito gave him into a normal eye. That is why he covers it up when he isn't using it. The one absolute thing I can tell you is that the Rinnegan and the Mangekyo Sharingan are two different eyes.
Answer: Given that the Rinnengan is the pen-ultimate version of the Sharigan, they can use its power without the need for the eye form itself.
Comment: Please could you add some details to ascertain your point. A link to an wiki page or some other reliable source would be good
Answer: Yes, it is possible however only if the rinnegan is with the original person for whom it is awakened. But for him  too he has to revert back to Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan to use its abilities, and if he wants to use abilities of sharingan then he has to revert back to sharingan.
An uchiha who has awakened his rinnegan has 5 types of eyes..

normal Black pupils
sharingan
Mangekyou Sharingan
Eternal mangekyo Sharingan
Rinnegan
Comment: you left out the whole part about they half to have Hagaromo's chakra/be a direct ancestor of his. Also, the person doesn't actually "have" to be an Uchiha but would have to be directly related to that clan which doesn't necessarily mean he's actually an Uchiha (his grandma/grandpa could have married one of the most pureblood Uchiha's or something)
Answer: The Rinnengan User Can Use The Mangekyo Techniques.. But Only If its the user who has awakened the Rinnengan .. As You see in Madara's And Sasuke's Case.. As Sasuke Awakened his Rinnengan (In Left Eye) By taking chakra from Hogoromo he could use his Amateratsu from his left eye ..
Comment: Can you refer to a source who prove it?


Kunen's result and $L(\mathbb{R})$

Question: Recall Kunen's result: If $j:V \to M$ is a nontrivial elementary embedding then $V \ne M$.
Assume $AD$ is true in $L(\mathbb{R})$. Let $j : L(\mathbb{R}) \to M$ be a nontrivial elementary embedding. Must we have $L(\mathbb{R}) \ne M$? Thanks.
Comment: I think it is still open whether or not the theorem holds without choice. In particular in AD models.
Comment: I also think you mean $L(\mathbb R)$, which is a choiceless (possibly) model. Whereas in modern notation the $[]$ brackets always produce a model of ZFC.
Comment: Let me edit that.
Answer: The existence of a nontrivial elementary
embedding $j: L(\mathbb{R}) \to L(\mathbb{R})$, or equivalently, the existence of $\mathbb{R}^\sharp$, is consistent with the statement that AD holds in $L(\mathbb{R})$.  Both are consequences of the existence of large cardinals, such as $\omega$ many Woodin cardinals with a measurable cardinal above them.  Also, both are conseqences of stronger determinacy axioms, for example AD$_\mathbb{R}$, the axiom of determinacy for games where the moves are reals rather than integers.
Answer: Kunen result was that if $V$ is a model of ZFC then there is no surjective elementary embedding which is not the identity.
Your question asks about AD, but even if we just require the axiom of choice to fail -- it is unknown whether or not this can be done. There are some very good reasons to believe that this should hold, because the proof of Kunen's theorem uses choice quite extensively, however things are unclear so far.
But... your question is slightly vague in the sense that it is unclear whether or not you want this embedding to be definable internally or externally (with parameters, naturally). For example if $0^\#$ exists then there is a nontrivial elementary embedding from $L$ to itself, but of course this embedding is definable in $V$ but not in $L$ (of course $V\neq L$ follows from the existence of a sharp).
Whether or not this would remain true in $L(\mathbb R)$ I cannot say, it is possible that if we assume AD there are enough large cardinals to define in $V$ an elementary embedding, but that would be external to $L(\mathbb R)$, which is an important point unclear in your question.

Kunen's result and $L(\mathbb{R})$


What is a good modification of rules to make a game of Dominion slower?

Question: In Dominion my family sometimes complains, that the game is over to fast because they couldn't build up their deck. While Dominion is designed to work that way, it might be useful to try some rule modification to slow it down somewhat while people still can buy the different action-cards. Have you a way to this that you recommend? How for instance would making money and point-cards more expensive would work out?
Comment: I think you should specify you want it *longer*, not *slower*
Comment: Shouldn't they learn that they're not building the most powerful decks?
Answer: Things that require no actual house rules:
1. Get and use the Prosperity expansion (or the Dominion Base Cards set), and play more games with Colonies/Platinum.
Games with Colonies usually last longer, because it is not often worth buying Provinces. Instead of trying to get to $8 for Provinces, you are trying to get to $11 for Colonies.
2. Use setups that create longer games.
Some setups make the game go longer than others. Games with attacks will last longer on average than games without attacks. Games with more powerful cards like Wharf or cards that gain more cards like Workshop will be shorter on average.
Cards like Philosopher's Stone (from Alchemy), and Counting House (from Prosperity) become better in longer games. Any cards that give out Curses usually make the game go longer, because people's decks will be clogged. Strong trashing cards like Chapel will usually make the game go much faster.
Finally, alternate VP cards like Vineyards (from Alchemy), Duke (from Intrigue), Gardens (from Dominion), and Silk Road (from Hinterlands) can make the game go much longer, because one player can ignore Provinces completely and go for points with those cards instead (if the rest of the setup makes that a viable strategy). It takes 1 person a very long time to drain the entire Province pile, so if (in a 2 player game) 1 player is avoiding Provinces completely, he can make the game go long enough that his Vineyards and Dukes will be worth more than the Provinces that the other play managed to get.

I have not personally tried either of the following (as I prefer to play multiple faster games than fewer slower games), but a couple ideas that come to mind:
3. Increase the number of Provinces available.
If playing 2 player, you can use all 12 instead of 8. For 3 or 4 player, you could use 15 or 16. Either take the extra cards from the Intrigue set if you have it; or just use blanks or unused cards as proxies. The biggest issue here is that players will need to learn to not start buying Provinces as early as normal. If they start buying Provinces as soon as they hit $8, then the first 8 Provinces may be bought up, but then it may become unlikely to ever be able to buy the last few because your decks are clogged. This will also not make any difference for some setups.
4. Increase the cost of Provinces, like you suggested.
You do have to be careful with this, because in certain setups it can be literally impossible to ever reach certain amounts on a given turn; like if there's no way to increase your handsize. This will also not make any difference for some setups.
Comment: Colonies and Platinums are also available in the [Dominion Base Cards](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameaccessory/137963/dominion-base-cards) set.  Do **not** confuse this with the Dominion Base set.  It replaces all the "basic" cards... including Alchemy's Potions... with updated artwork.
Comment: @powerlord Good point, added.
Comment: +1  Increasing the number of Provinces available is in my opinion the simplest way to make sure most games last longer  ("most", because some combinations stop after emptying x number of supply piles)
Answer: Remove Gold from the game. If you want to go further, remove Silver from the game too. This will limit which Action cards can be used, as some of them specifically work with the money cards.
When I first started to play, I didn't buy much Silver or Gold. Then I played a friend who basically only bought Silver and Gold, and not many action cards. He demolished me by being able to afford Provinces a lot sooner than me.
Comment: Interesting idea and would definitely slow down the game, but at the same time break many things. A lot of actions directly interact with different money-cards and the genereal assumption that they exist is often also implied.
Comment: Good point, answer updated
Answer: 4 Ideas we Use:

Make 2 or 3 Stack of Pointcards and Mix the Pointcards, so every Stack. is random. So you are forced to wait or buy bad cards And more buying Options can be very valuable. Play it until one (or two) Stacks are empty. Use the Normal Number of Pointcards.
Use more Cards :D
Use Aggressive Cards which make people throw cards away or polute there decks with useless cards
A rule until you are not allowed to buy provinces. (One Stack of the Actioncards has to be empty, the Provinces are under some Mansion Cards(don't know the English Word), or a random Pointcard Staple (like in Suggest 1) has to be Empty) to buy Provinces. Be creative ;-).


Color Shading with Google Spreadsheets

Question: It was easy to do in Excel, but I am having trouble following some of the scripts written on here.  Basically we have 3 colors we use, Green, Yellow and Red.  1 = Green, 2 = Yellow and 3 = Red. What I would like to happen is the shading change depending on the number. So if the field has a value of 1, it will be green, if it has 1.5 it will be a greenish, yellow tint.  Is there a way for me to do this, or can anyone pass over some simple custom expressions that I could tweak for this?
Answer: The Conditional Formatting rules can accomplish that.
Result:

Rules:

Color Shading with Google Spreadsheets


One eevee from 255 cp to 700 cp and one eevee from 200 cp to 400 cp . How?

Question: So i was about to evolve my two highest cp eevee hoping for some good cp. My 255 cp eevee evolved into a vaporeon with 700 cp . And my 205 cp eevee evolved into a 400 cp jolteon. Can someone explain how this works so i know for future evolutions?
Comment: did you evolve them being you in the same trainer level?
Comment: Basic Pokemon knowledge... all Pokemon have different attack power, strengths and weaknesses.
Answer: Each Pokemon including the three Eeveelutions have a different min and max CP. You will notice an arc behind the Pokemon when you select it. This arc represents the percentage of the Pokemon's max CP. So if the arc is half way and the Pokemon is 500 CP if you power it up to max, it will get to 1000 CP. The max CP also increases with your trainer level pushing the filled portion of the arc back a little with each level up.
When you evolve a Pokemon the percentage of the arc will remain the same, but due to the max of the Pokemon increasing, the CP will increase when you evolve.
The reason your Vaporeon gained so much more than your Jolteon is because Vaporeon has a higher max CP than Jolteon.
However note that Jolteon has a really fast attack speed, which it seems isn't accounted for in the CP calculation which is why it is so much lower than the other two eeveelutions. But from my experience the fast attack speed makes it far stronger than slightly higher CP Vaporeons and Flareons.
Comment: Ok now i understand thanks for explaining , didnt know that the eeveeloutions had different max cp. I got a 333 cp eevee now that i will evolve into jolteon through the name technique. Ty