Is it beneficial for a programmer to learn how to build a compiler?

Question: There is a lot of variety when it comes to the different types of programmers.  In general, is beneficial for a programmer to learn how to build a compiler?  In what cases would compiler programming be, or not be, needed?
Comment: "Knowledge can only add." You can't do wrong by learning it.
Answer: Compiler programming is an interesting topic and there is some great value to it.  At the college I went to it was an elective, Language Design and Implementation.  I'm personally grateful to have taken it.  We learned the various ways to implement lexers, parsers, and bytecode emitters.
The real value that I've seen is that it illuminated the black box that I depend on to get my program up and running.  It gave me a better insight into how the compiler works, and helped me better understand compiler errors.
The process of compiling source into code is actually in a general way what most programs do, take some input, perform some process, and output the result.  A compiler has some very well-defined ideas on how this should best be done.
I think in all it was beneficial to me, and currently I work on Java based web apps.
Comment: I agree and had the same experience.
Answer: I am in the process of reading through The Dragon Book (Compilers) and during the beginning of the book you are greeted with the following:

Although few people are likely to
  build or even maintain a compiler for
  a major programming language, the
  reader can profitably apply the ideas
  and techniques discussed in this book
  for general software design. For
  example, the string matching
  techniques for building lexical
  analysers have also been used in text
  editors, information retrieval
  systems, and pattern recognition
  programs. Context-free grammars and
  syntax-directed definitions have been
  used to build many little languages
  such as the typesetting and figure
  drawing systems that produced this
  book. The techniques of code
  optimisation have been used in program
  verifiers, and in programs that
  produce "structured" programs from
  unstructured code.

In short, you won't just be learning how to build a compiler. You'll be learning many different lower-level techniques along the way to assist you in everyday programming. Although some say it is a dated book I still enjoy it and I would recommend it, even though the reading can get a bit heavy. If you do get it leave a good amount of time to read it and understand it.
Comment: My copy of the "Dragon" book is one of my more prized possessions. My daughter, who is now finishing collage, chewed the corner off of it when she was a toddler.
Answer: I took two compilers courses in university and found them useful because:

Writing a compiler requires knowledge of a lot of areas of computer science - regular expressions, context-free grammars, syntax trees, graphs, etc. It can help you see how to apply the theory of computer science to real-world problems.
By understanding how a compiler generates and optimizes code, you will waste less time doing foolish "optimizations" yourself.
The process of scanning/lexing a file and building a syntax tree out of it is applicable to a much larger set of problems then just building a compiler.
Helps "generalize" programming languages - once you see that every programming language ends up as machine code in the end, it makes it easier to learn new languages because you see that every language is just a different way of expressing the same basic ideas.

Some people would counter that there are more useful things you could be doing with your time, like learning a popular programming language or library that could help get you a job (this argument is often used as a reason not to learn assembly language). However knowing how compilers work will probably make it easier to learn new programming languages (see point #4).
Answer: While few programmers will ever end up having to implement a compiler, the earlier stages of compiler building, namely lexing and parsing are something that can come up far more often: Who hasn't had to write a parser for some strange file format? Usually, those are simple enough to manage without experience in compiler building, but not always.
Answer: I learned a lot.
Audrey Tang, developer of PUGS, recommends Types and Programming Languages.
Personally, I loved From NAND to Tetris - probably the best course I've taken, and a shining example of what higher education should be.
Answer: Compiler programming is multi-faceted since it includes parsing of code into logical trees and then translating code into another form of code. And potentially analyzing the input once its in trees for optimizations.
So in a round about way it will help every programmer, because you know how statements can be interpreted faster, or how to write a precompiler to make macros for your language of choice. Or even just how to parse that flat file better than your colleague.
For most script based languages, which don't have a compiler, you won't be able to optimize your day to day work flow much with learning how to make a compiler. But you will still understand parsing.
Answer: I think, it is better to learn from knowledge point of view. At least you can look into existing compiler source code and understand the typical compilation steps and complexity involved in each phase of compilation.
Answer: I think my compiler & language theory course at University really had an enormous influence on my understanding of computer languages, even a decade afterwards. But I'm not really sure I'd need to implement a compiler for this.
Answer: I've up-voted most of these answers.
I think compiler work gives you important ways of thinking about programming in general.
Whenever you write any program you are, in a sense, defining a language, and every program is, at some level, a language processor.
It makes you think about the best way to represent information, and understand that information can be encoded many different ways, not just as data structure and lots of classes.
Once you know that every problem has multiple valid solutions, with pros and cons, you can usually choose a much better solution than with the old data-centered one-size-fits-all paradigm.
Answer: Understanding the process of compilation is a general approach to understanding how the computer works, and therefore provides a broad scope of understanding.  Many modern programmers work in complex environments that require little of this understanding, at least on basic levels.  An example is java, which hides the linking step of compilation from the developer.
Knowledge is knowledge, it is almost always useful.  In my case, I found understanding compilation process exceptionally usefull when doing performance enhancement, which is my job.  (I work in a super low latency environment)
If you do all your work in PHP mySql that is great.  Just remember that all technologies get outdated, and you will need to understand the next great thing.  Having "general knowledge" like understanding compilation provides a conceptional buffer between you and those shmucks who can't adapt.
Learn how to learn.
Answer: This is like asking "is it beneficial for a programmer to have more programming knowledge?". The simple is that yes, it is beneficial. How much will it benefit day to day non-compiler-building programing affairs is hard to guess. But it will definitely teach you about how the internals of what you are doing work, how to manipulate strings to dictate logic and possibly help you debug better regardless of what you use.
Answer: I'm building a compiler as part of one side project and I must say it's a very cool task were you'll learn lots about how programming languages work and how code can be optimized.
Answer: In some ways, this question is a lot like "Should I learn C?"
As others have pointed out, some elements of a compiler — lexical analysis, parsing — can be used in many other applications. You'll learn some useful techniques even if you never have to implement a compiler.
In addition, the code generation phase will give you a better understanding of how the computer works. You'll see how the algorithms and data structures from higher-level languages actually get processed when they get to the CPU (or to the VM, as the case may be). This should help you write better algorithms in your day to day programming.
If you're designing your own language too, then you'll learn a lot through the process of thinking through the details of how it should work, what control flow elements you need, how expressions should be parsed, which order function paramaters should be read, etc. This should give you a better understanding of languages in general, which ought to make you a better programmer in whichever language you use.
Finally, there's always a chance you'll find yourself stuck with a legacy application in an old language that is no longer supported, and the easiest way to add new features will be to build your own compiler to extend the language.
Answer: I recently did an independent study on what we called Language Processing (my final project was no so much a compiler as a c++ file parser/interpreter with compiler-like features).  I was required to use the "Dragon" book that was mentioned above.  I thought that as a software developer this was one of the more important things that I have done in my college career.  I found it not only interesting and rewarding for my own personal benefit but it also allowed me to see deeper into the language.  On top of the because the Dragon book is not language specific it helped me to understand the similarities and more importantly the reasons behind the differences in different languages.  I do however agree with the fact that not all programmers may find it necessary.  Yet in the field of software development I think that if you have an interest in expanding your understanding of language design it can be very helpful to look at compilers.
Answer: I'm a web developer; I spend most of my time in PHP and MySQL.  I don't think learning to build a compiler would benefit me much.
Different types of programmers will get differing amounts of benefit.
Bit of a non-answer, I know...
Answer: Yes, it is a good idea.  Learning how all this stuff works can only benefit the programmer.  I've wrote a BASIC compiler in SX ASM and learned a ton from it.
As someone else mentioned though, there's many degrees of programmers and knowledge.  A web dev who is mainly into markup & scripting languages probably wouldn't benefit as much from it as a hardcore C or ASM programmer who writes embeded systems software - that's not to say it wouldn't be useful knowledge though.
Re-inventing wheels is always useful for educational value.
Answer: In todays' industry, if you can do a compiler, then your like a 3 y/o kid thats' learning how to count (that being the upper limit of my intelligence gives me an IQ of about 18 as far as the field is concerned); and its just as essential too: as quoted in the dragon book, every application with a user interface defines a programming language.
Furthermore, new programming languages, such as zonnon and composita, use syntax directed protocols for communication between live objects. They define protocol types which specify the interface to a server thread as an EBNF grammar. That makes it impossible to code the message handlers if you havent' written a compiler!
Syntax directed protocols are the best way to deal with things like web servers that use text-based protocols; so its very possible that this will become the method of choice. However, both languages restrict the protocols to LL(1) grammars (for very obvious reason), and this may prove to be too restrictive.
While the current implementation of zonnon is still a bit on the glitchy side; and the language definition doesnt' seem to be complete yet either; i will nevertheless be so bold as to venture that zonnon (or something similar) will put C# in the garbage bin where it belongs, if they can get these issues ironed out.
Composita is an intriguing language; but in the real world, its prolly undesirable to require every object to tbe a live thread and every function call to be a message, since the designers of composita had to override the OS to make it run fast enough.
That having been said, ill close by repeating myself: if programming server applications does go the way of EBNF protocol types, then you had best learn how to write a compiler.


How can I boost morale on long backpacking trips?

Question: Not just children can be whiny on long backpacking trips. I am interested in learning how to boost morale with both, adult groups, or when hiking with children.
Comment: Oh, also, singing on the trail. When I'm solo hiking I sing. It lifts morale and scares the bears and pigs. Actually, my singing scares most any living thing. :)
Comment: Geocaching or letterboxing often works wonders if there's some on your route (and there will be a lot of the time) - turns a (I quote!) "boring walk" into a "walk with a purpose" for many I know.
Comment: Nothing like having company. How about swapping stories before hitting the sack?
Comment: :)  I'd be interested in the answer too. Personally, I've just shifted away from long single trips to taking  long day hikes and staying in hostels.  At least in Colorado, at least on week long trips to Colorado.  It breaks things up a little bit, and makes it feel more like a vacation.
Answer: On canoeing trips, especially with a lot of people, I schedule at least one "stay put" day for every two or three moving days. This allows different people to do different things:

hike up to a hilltop, lookout, waterfall etc - the stop is strategically positioned to put this side trip in reach, and  the hikers will carry only a day pack rather than all the camping stuff, which is set up in camp for the day
swim and sunbathe
lie in the tent and read / listen to music
cook something that requires being in camp, such as hot soup for lunch instead of trail food all the time
fish

In a large group, this also lets people who've been rubbing each other the wrong way get some time apart. But in any size of group it lets you appreciate WHY you came on this trip - to spend some time in beautiful places doing pleasant things. It is also a good way to get blisters, sunburn, sore knees or other minor irritants a little bit healed, so someone isn't trudging along the trail in pain. And knowing that tomorrow is a rest day can help you get through today. Similarly, remembering yesterday's great views, or delicious lunch, or blissful peace, can give you a little more oomph today.
You can also take this approach in the small. Just stop - maybe don't even take off your pack - and look around you for a minute. Or call a rest break for everyone at a lake edge or a lookout or just a nice rock or log. Enjoy where you are, have a swig of water, maybe eat something, and then carry on.
Answer: Backpacking trips force people to live at a radically different pace than what most people are used to.  There's a lot less stimulus that we get in a city.  Most outdoorsy people find it wonderful, but there are people out there that just don't.  Some people are just wired to need more stimulus.  That's OK, not everybody is the same.
When I've gone on trips out West in recent years (to Colorado, or the Eastern Sierras), I'll treat the trips more as vacations than as pure backpacking trips.  My friends and I will go on day or overnight hikes, but also plan on spending some time in town (staying in hostels or hotels), and also doing general touristy activities (going to local restaurants, driving to touristy areas like the tourist loop in Yellowstone, or visiting breweries if I'm in Colorado).  I find that interacting with the locals is often the most fun part of travel.  And having a break for a day in the middle of a week long trip goes a long way towards keeping everyone's spirits up.
Answer: You could make some checklists of the local common flora & fauna and try to turn it into some kind of friendly competition to see as many as possible.
I know this is at least a great motivator for myself, to get up early in the mornings, to keep my disturbance to a minimum and to always have moments of excitement when you see a new species.
And, always a reason to return for the species you didn't get to see :-)
Answer: When on long backpacking trips, what I do is to take a day at a time. I have seen many lose morale when they start to think about the number of days left in front of them. For me, taking a day at a time keeps it simple and easy to manage.
Sometimes even a day gets pretty sapping(has happened to me a few times). And during those times, the one-step-at-a-time rule seems to work for me. Forget about where you need to get by the end of the day. Concentrate on the next step instead.
As Don mentioned, singing does help. But then, if you are in a group, not all might be comfortable with it. Hence sometimes I prefer to sit down and think about my friends who would be working their asses off in the sorry world which I would have left behind(call me a sadist :P). Also, thinking about what a cool story the backpacking would make can lift up your spirits up by a huge margin. (Imagine telling, "I almost gave up due the the rains and snow, but something made me to push forward" :P Sounds pretty cool. Doesn't it?)
Happy backpacking!
Comment: I've told people of my experience trudging thru the snow in street shoes uphill both ways, but they don't seem to believe me.
Answer: I've been going backpacking for several years. The things that always keep me positive are the views and appreciating the little things.
Additionally, a pack of cards to play games, sometimes I bring a little speaker to play music at night and bring a small piece of rope  to practice tying different knots. Most of all, campfires. I've never sat next to a campfire and not been happy. All of these are lightweight and easy to do.
Lastly, I always like to look at the map and see what I've accomplished. It gives meaning to what I'm doing and how far I've traveled.
Onward and Upward!
Answer: This goes for kids and adults:
Make sure they have enough food.  Have them eat trail mix and fruit before they get hungry (same with water and thirst).
Don't over-do it.  Take what you think a reasonable hike would be, then multiply it by the ratio of their height to your height (or, for adults, by the number of years they have been doing backcountry travel by your years).  Then multiply it again by 50%.  Now you have a reasonable goal...or, you get the idea.
EMPHASIZE THE JOURNEY NOT THE DESTINATION.  This goes for the parents and the kids.  Stop along the way to marvel at the things you see on the trail, big and small.  Encourage the uninitiated to lead the way and explore a bit.  If your hike ends up being 1 mile and you learn a lot about that strip of land it is better than going 4 miles and needing to crack the whip the whole way.
Answer: Food
When you're backpacking meals can be an important highlight of the day so if you find that morale is an issue it may be that having better food helps. This may involve carrying a bit of extra weight but even simple tings like sauces and spices can help a lot. It can also be that people aren't used to eating and drinking enough when they are walking and so get tired and hungry during the day. Here adding extra food meals to the day and packing easy to east snack can help.
Weight
It may be worth weighing packs and distributing the load according to ability, fitness and experience. Inexperienced hikers will tend to both pack more and be less used to carrying weight so sharing out individual pack weight may make everybody happier and help to even out pace.
Objectives
Try to get a sense of what individuals want to get out of a trip, some like walking for its own sake, some enjoy being in a natural environment and others want a physical challenge. If you have mixed motivation in your group try to reconcile the differences
Route planning
Severe up and down hill routes can be difficult even for reasonably fit people who are unused to walking
Involvement
Give people responsibilities to think about. Playing follow the leader is always less interesting than being an active part of an expedition. Eg if you are leading an inexperienced group let them take turns to navigate (even let them make small mistakes) and get the whole group involved in route planning and decision making.
Answer: A bit late to the party, but there are some basics that need emphasising. This is all common-sense, but it's surprising how often these points are neglected.
CHOOSE A SUITABLE ROUTE
Most importantly, ensure that your route is within your experience, technical ability and fitness-level. Being scared, exhausted, lost, over-heated or cold is deadly for morale.
MEET YOUR NEEDS FOR REST AND SUSTENANCE
For starters, make sure you have a warm and comfortable sleeping setup.
Second, take food that is tasty, filling and easy to prepare. Understand your calorie requirements and make sure you carry enough - this may be more than you expect if you are not experienced. Understand how to select foods with good calorie to weight properties to keep your pack-size reasonable, and be sure you'll have access to water.
Third, understand how to keep pack-weights as low as practical.
If you're unrested, underfed, thirsty and aching under a huge pack morale is going to slide whatever else you do!
MEET YOUR NEEDS FOR ENTERTAINMENT
Beyond that, understand how much entertainment you need to carry with you to keep you happy in camp. Some prefer to be at one with nature. Others might need a music player and/or a Kindle, especially on a long thru-hike.
As others have said, a fire is always comforting (though only where leave-no-trace rules aren't being violated!)
CHOOSE COMPANIONS WITH CARE!
As for company, that is a very personal matter. The right companion can make a trip, the wrong person can be a nightmare. If you do go with company, be very sure you have the same expectations of pace, distance, talking vs silence, rest days and the like. When you're tired and stressed, small differences can quickly build into burning resentments. If you're happy with your own company, life can be a lot simpler on the trail!
Answer: When hiking with small children, you can boost their morale by throwing candies in front of you and pretend to follow the trace of the easterbunny, or something like that. In my experience all of them have very happy memories of this experience. But i never tried that with adults :)
Answer: Things I use with our scouts:

Singing + a special game: because we already know each other, the children/youth are not having a problem singing in front of the others. I introduced a game called "Give me a word"; once you have the word, the group's task would be to collect 5 (or in "hardcore" version 10+) songs which contain the given word somewhere in their lyrics. Let's say the word is "water", then you can have: Bridge over troubled water, Come away to the water etc. The one who gives the 5th song can choose the next word. They may be narrowed to nature elements, or customized in any way.
Reminding them of harder things they "survived". This often brings up a whole load of stories and funny memories, so while remembering these (+ laughing a lot) they usually carry on without noticing how tired they are.

Things I use when I am alone:

Singing a tune in my head: I have a problem with uphill walking, unfortunately I walk/climb much slower, often at the far edge of the group, delayed with 15-20 minutes. In order to keep myself motivated to make the next step, I sing. Not aloud, as that makes me much more tired, but in my head: I choose a song with an easy text and I set the goal to walk as long as that song keeps "playing" in my head. This helps me stay motivated + helps me regulate my breath to my steps.
Setting myself a smaller goal: I would set a visible spot as the short-term goal, and when I get there I would choose a new one until I reach the final destination


How can i switch from BIP32 to BIP44 using bitcoinj

Question: i am working on a wallet that is using BIP32 for creating Accounts, addresses, xpub, public keys, transaction and etc. but now i want to switch from BIP32 to BIP 44. how can i do this using bitcoinj i also study this, but there is nothing related to implementation. All i need to know that how can i implement BIP44 using bitcoinj and what is specific changes i have to do.Do i have to change all the hierarchy, if yes, then how can do this
Answer: Checkout bitcoinj master branch
Discussion https://github.com/bitcoinj/bitcoinj/pull/1341
<code>    Wallet walletBip39 = Wallet.fromSeed(params, seed);
    System.out.println(walletBip39);

    Wallet walletBip44 = Wallet.fromSeed(params, seed, Script.ScriptType.P2PKH, ImmutableList.of(new ChildNumber(44, true), new ChildNumber(0, true), ChildNumber.ZERO_HARDENED, ChildNumber.ZERO));
    System.out.println(walletBip44);
</code>


If you're wielding a shield, can you use the same hand to hold another object?

Question: If you are wielding a shield, is that arm/hand available to be used to hold another item or object? Or is that arm/hand completely occupied by the shield?
Comment: Let's go with hold, since if you're wielding you're already holding. But you could be holding but not wielding.
Comment: Hold another item or wield it?
Answer: RAW, Your hand is occupied.
The description of a shield in the PHB states...

Shields. A shield is made from wood or metal and is carried in one hand. Wielding a shield increases your Armor Class by 2. You can benefit from only one shield at a time.

Emphasis mine from PHB p144
Thus, the PHB seems to be referring to shields that are 'held' with the hand, not simply 'strapped' to the arm.
In the medieval era, this was the norm. You'd either have a handle you gripped, a handle + a strap, or two straps (but you'd hold one of them in your fist). If you just strap a shield to your arm and don't have it mechanically affixed to your armor or something...the first time something hits it, it's just going to spin, hit you in the face or legs, and then be useless...because there's nothing holding it in place.
So, the back of your shield probably looks like this

or like this
Comment: I'd propose that the hand is occupied only if _wielding_ the shield i.e., deriving its benefit, namely the +2 AC. If simply holding the shield (strapped on but useless), then one could also hold an item in that hand. Thus one could instantly drop the item and wield the shield at zero cost. Definitely not RAW, but reasonable for medium or large shields.
Comment: Considering that proper use of a shield requires carefully angling the shield to deflect blows, rather than accept the direct impact, holding something in your hand is what you absolutely do not want to do.
Comment: From personal experience, you can hold something in the gripping hand of the shield; you lose a little bit of stability, but it's not a huge deal.
Answer: Not by RAW.
PHB 144:

A shield is made from wood or metal and is carried in one hand.

Based on this wording, a shield is carried in your hand, which means that you cannot carry another object in your hand.
As a DM making a ruling, I would probably allow some leeway, but the wording is pretty clear.
Comment: Not official with mearls :) I'd be wary of leeway, too. Otherwise it's a workaround for not stowing a weapon(instead of the riskier drop if you are taking out another item) or even if the hand is free enough to hold something you can perform a somatic component.
Comment: Mike Mearls has said [here](https://twitter.com/mikemearls/status/640647134597902336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sageadvice.eu%2F2015%2F09%2F25%2Fcan-a-pc-with-one-hand-use-a-shield%2F) that you can maybe carry something, but not use it.
Comment: Allowing to carry but not use a small object would be reasonable.  Most shield grips would let you hold say a javelin, axe or other small-diameter item without much trouble and this is/was commonly done by fighters expecting to open combat by hurling a ranged weapon and then switch quickly.  It might grant an attacker advantage depending on how far the item sticks out from behind the shield though.
Answer: Yes, of course.
Clearly a character can't use both items at the same time, but holding a small object in the shield hand is easy. Just ask this authentic Viking...

I know the rules don't explicitly state you can, but I don't think that's how 5e was intended to be read or played.
But I'm likely wrong.
Comment: 5e is not a simulationist system so many things you could do in real life are impossible in 5e
Answer: Actually if you study combat by Scottish fighters, they held a dagger in the hand with the shield strap while using a basket-hilt sword in the other hand. They performed a 3 tier attack: hit one opponent with the shield and sliced across the opponent's throat/chest with the dagger, punched the next opponent with the basket hilt part of the sword, and then stabbed or sliced a third opponent with the sword blade.  So carrying or using a small rod of power in the hand securing the shield is definitely a possibility as shown by the Scots.
Comment: The D&D group tends to be strict. They often want official rulings from the game even if they don't tag it as RAW (rules-as-written). And then they like to know how a house-rule worked in your game -- did it make warriors too powerful? Is there a feat that does the same thing but better? There's a ton of stuff you can do for real that you can't do in D&D, and vice-versa.
Comment: More specifically, we expect answers to guide people through using the relevant TRPG. What some people have done in real life is only relevant to D&D 5e insofar as D&D 5e makes it relevant — at which point it's appropriate to talk about what is available in D&D 5e and what we should be doing to make this work, not to start and end at real life discussion. Random history isn't helpful for helping people use the system until the answer actually guides people on how to use the system.
Answer: Regarding RAW, D&D is a game for social enjoyment, not a set of laws for the purposes of oppression. For my group, if a player comes up with an innovative variation of the game rules that enhances game enjoyment while maintaining game balance, everyone wins.
An example of this is ruling an object can be held and even used by the shield hand but only if it somehow becomes part of the wielded shield (either permanently or temporarily) and the RAW definition of the item allows it to be used "passively". That is, not as a weapon or requiring targeting. For instance, a standard shield can be modified by an appropriate crafter to enhance the shield grip with attachments for a Rod of the Pact Keeper. This would allow the Rod's abilities to be used by a shield-wielding Hexblade warlock.
HOWEVER..
To provide game balance,

the attachments must be created and permanently incorporated into the shield by a professional crafter with time and cost required for the work,
attaching/detaching the Rod to and from the shield requires a full minute not under stress,
the hand holding the shield/Rod combo grip must not be covered in any way that would interfere with the use of the Rod (as defined by the RAW), and
dropping or otherwise losing possession of the shield also results in loss of the possession of the attached Rod.

Other requirements can be added, like requiring the shield material to be the same as the Rod, the shield becomes unusable without the Rod as part of the grip, or the shield cannot itself be magical. But my DM wasn't quite that stingy.
It turned out that the shield/Rod combo was useful to the character without throwing off game balance in any way yet it made a simple basic wooden shield that much more precious to the player while draining a bit of the player's funds and allowing the group to make friends with a wood-carving NPC. Everybody won something by way of a simple innovation.


What will happen to secular unafilliated Jews in the time of Mashiach?

Question: What will happen to Conservative, Reform and unaffiliated Jews in the Messianic era?
Comment: Welcome to Mi Yodeya. This is an interesting first question, for you. I don't like to give what seems to be a "curt" comment, but, I think the concept is that Mahiach will herald a sense of knowledge and understanding that G-d is the "only G-d" and that everyone will follow His desires. I.e., all non-Jews will follow the Noahide rules and all Jews will observe the mitzvot. I.e., it will be self- apparent and a self-desire to do them.
Comment: Perhaps you can [edit] the question to narrow the scope a bit? "What will happen" is somewhat open-ended.
Comment: Welcome to Mi Yodeya.  In your title you ask about secular and unaffiliated, and in your question you ask about religious (non-orthodox) Jews.  Could you [edit] to clarify?
Answer: According to Maimonides, who is the only major Halachic commentator to rule on these matters, the Moshiach (the Messiah) will teach all people and encourage them to serve G-d. They will be inspired by his wisdom and will all unite in the service of G-d in harmony. This includes religious Jews, non-religious Jews, and non-Jews.
Furthermore, the Zohar says that Moshiach will bring even righteous to do teshuvah (repent), because one of the primary qualities of Moshiach is humility and he will bring us all to realize that all of us are completely inadequate in our knowledge and service of G-d. (see Zohar III 153b)
Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Kings 12:4

וְאִם יַעֲמֹד מֶלֶךְ מִבֵּית דָּוִד הוֹגֶה בַּתּוֹרָה וְעוֹסֵק בְּמִצְוֹת כְּדָוִד אָבִיו. כְּפִי תּוֹרָה שֶׁבִּכְתָב וְשֶׁבְּעַל
  פֶּה. וְיָכֹף כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵילֵךְ בָּהּ וּלְחַזֵּק בִּדְקָהּ.
  וְיִלָּחֵם מִלְחֲמוֹת ה'. הֲרֵי זֶה בְּחֶזְקַת שֶׁהוּא מָשִׁיחַ. (אִם
  עָשָׂה וְהִצְלִיחַ וּבָנָה מִקְדָּשׁ בִּמְקוֹמוֹ וְקִבֵּץ נִדְחֵי
  יִשְׂרָאֵל הֲרֵי זֶה מָשִׁיחַ בְּוַדַּאי. וִיתַקֵּן אֶת הָעוֹלָם
  כֻּלּוֹ לַעֲבֹד אֶת ה' בְּיַחַד שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר כִּי אָז אֶהְפֹּךְ אֶל
  עַמִּים שָׂפָה בְרוּרָה לִקְרֹא כֻלָּם בְּשֵׁם ה' וּלְעָבְדוֹ שְׁכֶם
  אֶחָד):
Now, if a king should arise from the House of David who is versed in
  Torah and engages in Commandments, as did David his forefather, in
  accordance with both the Written and the Oral Torahs, and he enjoins
  all of Israel to follow in its ways and encourages them to repair its
  breaches, and he fights the Wars of G-d, then he may be presumed to
  be the Messiah. If he succeeds in his efforts and defeats the enemies
  around and builds the Sanctuary in its proper place and gathers the
  dispersed of Israel, he is definitely the Messiah.

Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Kings 12:9

וכשיעמוד המלך המשיח באמת, ויצליח וירום ויינשא--מיד הם כולן חוזרין
  ויודעים ששקר נחלו אבותיהם, ושנביאיהם ואבותיהם הטעום.
But when the true King Messiah will rise and succeed, and he will be
  lifted up and raised aloft, they [the nations of the world] all will immediately return > and will know that their fathers left them an erroneous legacy, and their
  fathers and prophets led them astray.

Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Kings 13:5

וּבְאוֹתוֹ הַזְּמַן לֹא יִהְיֶה שָׁם לֹא רָעָב וְלֹא מִלְחָמָה. וְלֹא
  קִנְאָה וְתַחֲרוּת. שֶׁהַטּוֹבָה תִּהְיֶה מֻשְׁפַּעַת הַרְבֵּה. וְכָל
  הַמַּעֲדַנִּים מְצוּיִין כֶּעָפָר. וְלֹא יִהְיֶה עֵסֶק כָּל הָעוֹלָם
  אֶלָּא לָדַעַת אֶת ה' בִּלְבַד. וּלְפִיכָךְ יִהְיוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל
  חֲכָמִים גְּדוֹלִים וְיוֹדְעִים דְּבָרִים הַסְּתוּמִים וְיַשִּׂיגוּ
  דַּעַת בּוֹרְאָם כְּפִי כֹּחַ הָאָדָם. שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ישעיה יא, ט) "כִּי
  מָלְאָה הָאָרֶץ דֵּעָה אֶת ה' כַּמַּיִם לַיָּם מְכַסִּים":
At that time there will be no famines and no wars, no envy and no
  competition. For the Good will be very pervasive148. All the
  delicacies will be as readily available as is dust. The world will
  only be engaged in knowing G-d. Then, there will be very wise
  people who will understand the deep, sealed matters. They will then
  achieve knowledge of the Creator to as high a degree as humanly
  possible, as it says, "For the Earth shall be filled of knowledge of
  the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:9). Blessed be
  Hashem who helped me.

Isaiah 27:13

וְהָיָ֣ה ׀ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֗וּא יִתָּקַע֮ בְּשׁוֹפָ֣ר גָּדוֹל֒ וּבָ֗אוּ הָאֹֽבְדִים֙ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ אַשּׁ֔וּר וְהַנִּדָּחִ֖ים בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם וְהִשְׁתַּחֲו֧וּ לַיהוָ֛ה בְּהַ֥ר הַקֹּ֖דֶשׁ בִּירוּשָׁלִָֽם׃
And in that day, a great ram's horn shall be sounded; and the strayed
  who are in the land of Assyria and the expelled who are in the land of
  Egypt shall come and worship the LORD on the holy mount, in Jerusalem.

Zephania 3:9

כִּֽי־אָ֛ז אֶהְפֹּ֥ךְ אֶל־עַמִּ֖ים שָׂפָ֣ה בְרוּרָ֑ה לִקְרֹ֤א כֻלָּם֙
  בְּשֵׁ֣ם יְהוָ֔ה לְעָבְד֖וֹ שְׁכֶ֥ם אֶחָֽד׃
For then I will make the peoples pure of speech, So that they all
  invoke the LORD by name And serve Him with one accord.
Answer: Welcome to Mi Yodeya.
Your question is a good one and something that everyone, including every Jew should be thinking about. In fact, it is meritorious to have the subject of Moshiach and his imminent arrival in you thoughts each and every day like is said in regard to Moshiach, ״and, though he tarry, I watch for him all day that he will come...״.
This is not just in a general sense, but also in regard to the details.
We follow the teaching which we received from Yehoshuah ben Nun, the student and successor to Moshe Rabbeinu about this. This teaching is said by Jews at the close of each daily prayer service with the Aleinu prayer. It says:

that You will sweep idolatry away so that false gods will be utterly destroyed, and that You will perfect the world by Your sovereignty so that all humanity will invoke Your name, and all the earth's wicked will return to You, repentant. Then all who live will know that to You every knee must bend, every tongue pledge loyalty.

It does not say that destruction comes upon humanity, G-d forbid, but rather that everyone will be perfected through Moshiach's coming.
Comment: Actually old manuscripts of the prayer have "You will establish the world in the Kingdom of God" not "You will perfect the world by Your sovereignty" which doesn't really address the question. The relevant line for your purposes is להפנות אליך כל רשעי ארץ which is a fine answer to the question (controversial claims about the origin of this prayer and its locations in the liturgy notwithstanding)
Comment: Try trimming this down, as you say about your own style "In general I try to be brief, where appropriate." This answer could easily be a third as long without loss of important relevant content or context
Comment: Regarding the last paragraph, I'd have to disagree. There will be a destruction when the mysterious natun of 'Gog uMagog' will arrive. According to the mystic teachings, it will be the third and final world war. 1/3 of humanity will be swept away, 1/3 of humanity will be crippled and 1/3 of humanity will be unscathed. It will all happen in the course of 12 minutes.
Answer:
Nobody knows exactly until it happens, see Rambam end of Melachim (cited above). Don't believe anyone who says he knows, it is all just speculations.
Keep in mind that the "time of Moshiach" is a very long era spanning probably a hundred of years from his coming to the building of the Temple and slow transformation into the World to Come, which nullifies the free choice and everyone becomes a robot (sort of).
You probably expect the world to divide into righteous and wicked, and at "the end of the world" - the Messianic times the pious getting all the benefits and rewards and the wicked get punished. This idea has some roots in Judaism, but I would like to focus on the definition of the pious and the wicked.
We have two systems for measuring people's "religious" progress: an absolute and a relative:

The absolute system takes the contemporary Jewish Law (Shu"A and the latest Poskim) as the baseline and the person's behavior is assessed against it - the more he observes it the more reward he gets and the more he overrides it the more punishment he has.
The relative system assesses the person according to his personal destiny and the personal goal of his existence. It might be learning Torah and it might be one particular Mitzvah (such as honoring parents. See my other anser). According to this approach, a person might be a pious Jew observing the whole Shu"A but missing his goal and the opposite.

Therefore according to the second approach, we can't judge the people based on their appearance, they might be looking secular and be pious in G-d's eyes or the opposite.
All the previous answers focused on the first approach, while it seems that the Mashiach's mission (to bring the world to its completion) is to teach everyone his personal challenges and purposes resulting in what the Gemmorah allegorically hints (Yevomos 62a): "אין בן דוד בא עד שיכלו כל הנשמות שבגוף"


How to find the better games on Xbox Live Marketplace?

Question: With so many games on Xbox Live Marketplace (XBLM), how can I identify the better games or more popular games from the market?
Answer: There are two mechanisms the Xbox provides for you to do this.

It lists the most downloaded games
It lists the highest rated games

Now you have to take both of these metrics with a grain of salt.  People will rate games high they have only played once, or download games they hear about a lot.  So keep that in mind.
As for the actual steps to do this.

Open your 360 dashboard
Scroll up to game marketplace
Once inside scroll right to see highest rated and most downloaded

If you're looking for good games I might suggest:

Castle Crashers
Shadow Complex
Trials HD
Puzzle Quest 2
Comment: Trials HD is brilliant. Braid is unmissable too.
Comment: @christian - probably some place dark, triggering seizures on innocent people.
Comment: @Gnoupi - I can't quit you, Space Giraffe
Comment: Where is Space Giraffe?
Comment: _Marble Blast Ultra_, _Trials HD_, and _Geometry Wars_,  are all incredible skill/arcade games, if that genre is to your taste.
Answer: Every game on Xbox Live Arcade has a trial mode.  I suggest you take advantage of this excellent feature.
Don't bother looking through what games are most popular or most highly rated. The best possible advice I can give you is to download as many games as you can in the genres you're interested in, and play through their trials.
If you can't trust your own opinion of the game after having played the trial version, there is little help to be found elsewhere.
Answer: Metacritic tags Xbox Live Arcade games. Try this search. It's not perfect - it misses Braid! - but seems to cover most the good ones I know.
The dashboard also supports community-based star rating of games.
Answer: There is a new Destination Arcade coming soon. Looks interesting.
Comment: This seems like it might be more along the lines of what I am looking for... Hard to say it is the accepted answer because it isn't yet released...
Answer: Check out Major Nelson's blog, particularly the "LIVE Activity" reports that he publishes weekly to find out what XBL Arcade games people are actively playing.  It changes from week to week, but gems like Trials HD will hang around in the top ten for quite some time.
Answer: I've been looking through http://www.xblaratings.com lately. It has user submitted ratings and reviews for XBLA games. Granted since it requires and account there isn't MUCH info there sometimes, but it's one resource available.


Multiple instances of Files

Question: Is it possible to open more than one instance of Files (pantheon-files)? Right now, every time i open Files new tab is created instead of new window. I use Elemntary Loki, have installed Tweaks but didn't found any setting to change this behavior.
Answer: I am assuming it is the same for Loki (0.4)...I am running Freya (0.3.2)

open files ... it now exists on the dock
right click on files in the dock
select new window
you should now have a separate window for files
Comment: thanks for your response. Do you think there is a way do set this as default behavior? For example every time i hit shortcut for File new window pops up?
Answer: With Files running (and open and focussed) hitting Ctrl+N will open a Files new window.
Comment: Apologies, when using a custom shortcut, an explicit path must be given as a parameter in order for new window to open.  I am not sure why.
Comment: Yes, this of course works. But suppose I've Files opened in first workspace and currently am working in fifth workspace. So I need to find in wkich workspace Files are opened, focus the window and hit CTRL+N - lots of work :) It would be ideally if new window opens every time i press for example Super+F.
Comment: Another workround is to go to System Settings/Keyboard/Shortcuts and set up a custom short cut which launches pantheon-files (with or without a start directory).  If launched this way, a new Files window will open in the current workspace.
Comment: I did this and unfortunately new tab is opened instead.
Comment: Indeed, it solved my problem, i just set shortcut for `pantheon-files /home/myuser` and now new windows is opened each time, thx :)

Multiple instances of Files


Should I change my guitar strings?

Question: I received my guitar a few years ago and haven't changed the strings. I don't know when the previous owner had last changed the strings, but it seemed as though it had just been sitting around for a while. I don't think I need new strings, but some people are appalled that I'm not changing them every few months. Should I change them or not? And if so, what is the best way to do that?
Comment: We need to know what guitar and strings to be of help to you.
Comment: If it is a standard electric guitar with steel strings, then it is extremely cheap (one time cost of diagonal cutters + 3-12$ for strings), quick (10-15 minutes), and easy (1-2 page tutorial) to do, and find out for yourself. If this is the case, I recommend you do it once, even if you don't think you need to. Make sure to play it before hand and play it after and listen carefully to the difference in sound and feel, or have a friend who knows how to play do the playing while you listen.
Answer: How often you should change guitar strings depends on how often you play, the chemistry of the oils in your fingers, and your personal preferences for budget, comfort, and tone.
I like to put new strings on a guitar after about a month of play, assuming about two hours of playing time a day. I have a personal preference for newer strings that sound new and feel new, and I'm willing to pay for strings more frequently than some other people. I also like to put on a new set before a gig and before recording, no matter how old the old set is.
You should be able to find plenty of guides on changing strings online. It is something that takes some learning and practice, like tuning a guitar. I find it to be a labor of love and I like to clean my guitar and check and adjust lots of little things on it.
It sounds like in your situation you should definitely get new strings, and to make the first string change easy and also make sure the guitar is as playable as possible, I suggest you take your guitar to a store and ask for a setup. They will need to keep it for a few days, most likely, but they will put new strings on it and adjust several things to make it as comfortable to play as possible.
Comment: @Shevliaskovic I'd like to disagree - if you stretch new strings properly after you've put them on your guitar, they should hold their tuning much more than old strings
Comment: Great answer, but I'd like to add that new strings get out of tune easier, so changing *right* before a show/recording has its downsides. I usually change them a couple of days before
Comment: Right. Once a month is absolutely reasonable for steelstring guitar. _A few years old_? That can't be much fun to play. And really, these strings don't cost as much... not like with cello, where you can easily find yourself spending 200€ for a set. (Mine is rather overdue again...)
Comment: Stretching a string is important when installing it, whether it's good quality or not. Take the time up front to make sure it's stretched and holding pitch, and it'll be nicer when you start playing. Spending the money for good strings is also a good idea, because they tend to last longer, but that has to be balanced by budget and need.
Comment: @Shevliaskovic My experience is that this depends on the quality of the new strings. The less expensive strings show more plasticity at the beginning and they take their time. With more expensive strings, usually it's enough to overstretch them a bit or to apply tension during the whole tuning up (I use to put my knee between the string and the guitar body during the winding, and when the string gets tight, my second hand). It's not difficult to get your new strings in tune, it just takes some 10 minutes longer to put them on.
Comment: "How often you should change guitar strings depends on ..." I'd also add "type of string" to that list.  I've found that flatwounds feel new much longer than roundwounds, possibly because they don't accumulate as much "stuff", and because they don't "dull" in the same way (some people would say that they're duller to begin with).  The same is true, to a lesser extent, with some of the coated roundwound strings.
Answer: I too haven't changed the strings on any of my guitars for years. They may not sound as good as newer strings would, but they're still perfectly playable - I'm not doing any paid-for recording or gigging work so I don't see a problem. On bass, many people even prefer the sounds of older, deader strings - some bassists simply never change them, and it wouldn't be wrong if you wanted to take that approach on guitar!
On the other hand, if you're wondering, why not do it once - you'll then be able to tell if it yields benefits.
How to do it depends very much on the type of guitar - try to find a youtube tutorial for one that is like yours.
Comment: If you're talking about not changing steel guitar strings for years, are they not totally black? I suspect if you did change them, you'd notice intonation and tone improve right away.
Comment: @ToddWilcox  Not really... I guess after a point the gunk falls off just as fast as it builds up! I'm not a 4 hours a day player either (unless I'm treating myself). On my strat I suspect you are right that I'd get better tone with a string change, but it's good enough now and I've learned over the years that 'good enough' is what makes me happy. On bass, I'm one of the players that prefers deader, older strings - don't like it when I'm forced to play new ones.
Comment: I only change my strings when one of them breaks, or they are so old that they go slack and I start getting fret buzz. I don't have problems with intonation or tone either. I guess some people have oilier fingers? I only play electric though. I suppose the tone difference would be more of a thing for an acoustic.
Answer: Generally speaking, yes, you should change those strings.  One of the big reasons to change your strings somewhat frequently is tone.  The tone, or sonic quality, of your instrument depends on several factors, including your strings.
Newer strings have a brighter tone and tend to have more clarity.  Part of the change in tone as strings age has to do with their design and tendency to wear out.  As you play your guitar, the strings are being pressed against the frets and getting worn on that side but not the top side (where your fingers touch), which creates an inconsistency in the string, which will be uneven across the string, as some frets tend to be played more than others and parts of the string will never touch a fret.  You will also have wear from picking the strings, which will also be inconsistent since you never really pick the underside of the string and don't pick on the whole length of the string.
Wrapped strings (the lower pitch strings) have grooves in them because of the wrap.  As you play, the dead skin on your fingers will come off and get stuck in the grooves of the string, along with any other sort of dust in the air.  This can eventually fill in the grooves of the commonly played parts of the strings and affect the tone.  This is kind of disgusting to really think about, so that in itself (as well as my next point) may be reason to change the strings for some people, though you can also clean your strings with some retail products.
The oils naturally produced by your skin will also build up on the strings and this oil is known to break down the material the strings are made of, affecting tonal quality.
Aside from impacting the tone the strings will generate, this will also weaken the strings, making them more prone to breaking.  From the wording of your question, I assume you are more of a casual player, likely in the beginner stages of learning.  Lots of people play less aggressively earlier in their learning and when playing by themselves (as opposed to with a band), so if my assumption is correct, this likely isn't a major concern for you currently.
Part of how this all works has to do with the construction of the strings.  All strings will have a structure about them that is designed to be consistent across the string, which allows for consistency of vibration.  This will impact how well the strings produce and maintain a pitch and its tone.  As strings age, they lose this consistency and will affect the tone, as well as the sustain of the string (how long the string will continue to vibrate and produce an audible sound).
The only real reason to keep an old set of strings is because you like the tone of those strings worn in that way.  I've heard of a lot of bass players that do this, including a friend of mine that let me play his but casually threatened me if they were broken (I play kind of aggressively).  I've even heard of bass players boiling their strings to remove all the built up skin/dust/oil so that they can continue to use the strings longer.  While this can apply to guitar, I've never heard of anyone doing it.  The change as the strings wear out makes the tone warmer/less bright and reduces the sustain.  Since guitars are often used to sustain chords, the lack of sustain is usually not desired, and the reduction in brightness will give less presence, ie, the sound of the guitar wouldn't be as clear and wouldn't be as audible/present when mixed with other instruments.
Standard practice for guitar players is to change their strings several times a year and for those that play more, it could be as frequent as weekly (or more for touring musicians in particular).  I think the average casual player would be well served to change strings a few times a year or as you get used to the differences in tone/sustain as it wears, you could change them as frequently as the change in tone/sustain is bothersome.  I think it is very likely that once you change to the new strings, you will like the sound much better and probably want to change them at least a couple times a year.
Answer: Whilst endorsing what Todd says, if yours is a nylon strung guitar, then it's not so important. At least for the top 3, which should be a simple nylon filament, that a good rub over (and under!) with a lint free cloth will keep clean. The wound ones could do with a change, though, as dirt, grease and acid from your sweat will have infiltrated, dulling the sound. If it IS nylon strung, then simply study how each string has been attached at the bridge end, and replicate. At the other end, make sure you wind new strings on, so that each three are wound the same way. Without seeing the guitar, this can't be much advised on.
If they're steel, there may well be rust underneath - run a finger up and down the strings. If so, DEFINITELY change them. AND - clean them after each time you play!!
Comment: The one thing I would add here is that there can be issues with changing only some strings, where the newer strings will have a different tonal quality.  Since you're referring to wrapped vs unwrapped, I wouldn't see this necessarily causing major problems but you may end up having the wrapped strings sounding much brighter than the higher pitched strings, which is typically the opposite of what one is looking for.
Comment: @Basstickler While you are correct in general, there is an exception in the specific case of nylon strings where the unwound strings can maintain their brightness for much longer periods of time than the wound strings. You are still correct even in this case because the brightness of the nylon strings will not last indefinitely, but Tim is also correct that the unwound strings can be kept for longer periods of time then the wound strings.
Comment: @amalgamate Interesting, I was unaware that nylon had this extended life about it.  I've definitely seen guitarists that will replace single strings and some that will only put on a whole new set.  I like the consistency of a whole new set but I for people that break strings frequently and change the whole set fairly frequently, it makes a little more sense to replace just one since most of the strings are fairly new anyway.
Answer: You don't mention whether you have a steel string acoustic, a nylon string acoustic or an electric guitar.
I'm a semi-pro playing several times a month.  I have high acidity in my skin oil so guitar strings corrode quickly under use.  I change my entire set of strings on a steel string acoustic or on an electric when I either break a string or when the string will no longer stay in tune.  Some folks like the brighter sound of new strings.  I don't mind the sound of older strings.
When I was younger I strummed the guitar hard and so I would change strings before every gig so I wouldn't break a string during a performance.  I have a lighter touch now and let the sound system do the work.
I don't play a nylon string guitar.
Answer: Wow. Answers all over the map. I would say "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"
FWIW, I have a modest Fender Strat that I hack around on maybe 30 minutes a day four days a week and I have had the same strings for at least a couple of years and they are fine for me.
I did notice in years past that strings degraded and when I was first learning to play for some reason I went through a lot of strings because they would break.
I don't know if it is peculiar to this guitar or not, but the Fender practically never needs tuning beyond the occasional tiny nudge on the B or E string.
When I have changed the strings, I change the whole set and I use decent ones. It has been a while, but if I recall correctly, the last set was actually put on by the luthier I had set up the guitar for me. The difference in sound and play of the guitar was pretty dramatic before/after professional setup.
You should go with your own instinct. If you can't tell there is a problem and your ear is OK for pitch, I would say stick with what you have until there is a noticeable issue or you want to see if new strings improve it.
Comment: RE:  "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"; you have a point there. But people don't just change strings because they are broken, like you don't just go to the doctor when you are on your deathbed
Comment: Good one @Shevliaskovic! There seems little doubt that more accomplished musicians are in the 'change them' camp. But, by the nature of the question, I am assuming the person is a non-professional like me. For people with a very sensitive ear, it makes sense to change things when they get annoying -- or to change them prophylactically when you have to ensure they won't fail. Oddly enough, as I noticed this comment, my strings finally need changing!  :)

Should I change my guitar strings?


How to activate WordPress widgets but not display?

Question: I have activate the widget in my WordPress site in admin panel, but on the front page I don't want to display it. Is this possible?
Comment: My widget n mega menu yea edit on customised theme can't enable, please guide how to solved issue, My website
dasdeals.in
Answer: It sounds like you have a widget that you want to display on every page but the front page? If so, the Widget Logic plugin will do what you're after. You should be able to use the logic <code>!is_home()</code>.
Comment: second that!... Widget Logic multiplies your design possibilities by the hundreds.
Answer: Yes, you can enable or disable widgets from the Appearance menu of the Wordpress admin panel. Goto Appearance->Widgets then you can drag the widget from the "Sidebar Widgets" area to either the "Available Widgets" or "Inactive Widgets" boxes. If you use the "Inactive Widgets" option, Wordpress will save your widgets settings for later use.


How can i grab text from a web browser?

Question: I need to go into my implemented web browser and take text from lets say a label on the page. For example on this page it says "Related Questions" I need to copy that text and paste it into my from. Thanks in advance :)
Answer: Apparently you're using a WebBrowser element to show a homepage on your form. Use the following short code snippet to get the source code of the website you're viewing (the source code will be written into the TextBox1 in that example). Now you'll just have to filter out whatever you need (in your case it's a certain text which is hopefully between two HTML elements for ease). You might need RegEx for that (in case you're looking for an easy solution).
TextBox1.Text = WebBrowser1.DocumentText

How can i grab text from a web browser?


CRC done by ICMP?

Question: Is cyclic redundancy check (CRC) done by Internet Control Message Protocol(ICMP)?
How can Time to live (TTL) help for this?
Answer: No.
ICMP is used to send IP layer notifications between hosts. The IPv4 header has got a header checksum, as do many transport layer protocol headers.
TTL is a method to keep packets from circulating endlessly in case of a routing loop. Each hop decrements the TTL value until the destination is reached or the TTL expires. In the latter case, the last hop drops the packet and is supposed to return an ICMP "time exceeded" message to the source (but not nearly all do) except for ICMP messages themselves.
Comment: Nothing generates ICMP messages for ICMP packets. (that would create a packet spewing hole)
Comment: What is use for cyclic redundancy check?
Comment: @RickyBeam Thx - I got the question differently.
Answer: In addition to Zac67's good clarification about ICMP and TTL, cyclic redundancy check (CRC) is an error-detection technique typically used in the link layer in an adapter.
Before talking about CRC, you should know the checksum method which is used in the transport layer protocol (header and date) and network layer protocol IPv4 (header only) to detect errors in packets. In this method, bytes of data treated as 16-bit integers are summed. The 1s complement of this sum then forms the checksum.
Now, for CRC, it is implemented in dedicated hardware in adapters for the link layer protocol, which can rapidly perform the more complex CRC operations. It can detect "burst" errors (bit errors clustered together). The basic idea is to use a generator, denoted as G. Consider a d-bit piece of sending data, D. The sender will choose r additional bits, R, and append them the D such that the resulting d+r bit pattern is exactly divisible by G using modulo-2 arithmetic. The receiver will divide received d+r bit pattern by G. If the remainder is nonzero, the receiver knows that an error has occurred.

CRC done by ICMP?


Preferred Method of Giving Tzedakah

Question: If one has $100 to give to charity, is it better to give it all to one person, or distribute $1 to 100 people (so that if one isn't legit, the others will cover)?
Answer: From here  (based on Maimonides Commentary on the Mishnah, Avot 3:15) :

The Chofetz Chaim, Rabbi Yisrael Meyer HaCohen Kagan, says that this explains how we should give Tzedakah, charity. He says it is better for an individual if he or she gives 100 individual dollars to 100 poor people, than all to one person. This way, one becomes accustomed to fight against his miserly inclinations 100 times, and it becomes easier to win in the future. Furthermore, giving Tzedakah becomes a completely natural act, given that one has become accustomed to giving by doing so such a large number of times.

Aish says the same.
I just found this story about a Chassid who, when asked for charity, would always give it in two parts, so that he could fight his inclination twice for every time he gave charity.
Comment: This idea is based on the Ramba"m also quoted on that page, which happens to be an almost direct quotation from Aristotle in his description of virtue and habituation being one and the same. I will link the source if I can find it.
Comment: @WAF:  Thanks, I'm not sure how I missed that. I added that information.
Answer: I'm less concerned about "if one isn't legit"; a better argument is that you've done the mitzva of tzedaka one-hundred times, which may have more of a positive effect on you than one large donation.
Usually the overhead is such that recipients do far better with a few larger donations; on the other hand, there may be numerous causes, and the argument above.  So I think it all depends on the situation and the person.
The story is told of a fellow going off to WWII; he asked Rabbi Naftali Riff of Camden, NJ for a bracha.  Rabbi Riff asked him for a $100 donation.  What Rabbi Riff then did was send a $10 donation to a different organization every six weeks or so, so the soldier got a thank-you letter every so often from different Jewish organizations!  That helped keep his spirits up.
Answer: I understand that you're coming from the standpoint of meshullachim in shul who come asking for whatever you can give, or also someone begging on the street for whatever he can get.
When you have your option of charity organizations (local or far away) to give to, then legitimacy usually isn't a concern.
When someone comes up to you with a specific request, then you can usually find a particular dollar amount that will fill that person's need. You should try to fulfill as many people's needs as possible. If someone comes to you asking for $100, and you have $100 to give, then you shouldn't decide instead to give $1 to each of 100 people. The person who asked for $100 may not find someone else to give him the remaining $99.

Preferred Method of Giving Tzedakah


Examples of early Buddhist art

Question: I was reading that early Buddhist art doesn't actually depict the Buddha. Instead it shows an empty space, a dharma wheel or a footprint where you would expect the Buddha to be shown. It was only later (maybe 1st century CE?) that the Buddha was represented in art. I would be really interested to see any examples of this kind of art. Could anyone post some links or the images themselves of this kind of early Buddhist art.
Comment: This one is useful, The Beginnings of Buddhist Art
by A. Foucher
http://www.ancient-buddhist-texts.net/Reference/Beginnings-of-Buddhist-Art/The-Beginnings-of-Buddhist-Art.pdf
Answer: One of the oldest Buddhist stone structures in India is the Great Stupa at Sanchi, and it has a lot of stone reliefs that have this kind of thing. Here's one example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanchi#mediaviewer/File:Sanchi_Carving.jpg
Answer: Here are pictures of Buddha's footprints: https://www.google.com/search?q=Buddhapada&tbm=isch
The footprints are a.k.a. Buddhapada.

This is off-topic because it is later than "early" buddhism, but your question reminded me of the "10 bulls" illustrations (which are, if not early, at least famous, and use an emptiness to represent enlightenment).

Here it's the 8th of the 10:

Or in the second of these two series it's the last of the ten.

See also this (alternatively often shown as an open, unclosed circle):

Examples of early Buddhist art


how to migrate a old website to Xhtml 5 or Css 3.0

Question: i want to migrate our website to Xhtml 5 or css 3.0 how to  i migrate our site
Answer: Using HTML5 is one thing (most browsers won't support much of HTML5's APIs) get a book or find a site that outlines HTML5 and what it has to offer.
But if you want your site to validate as HTML5/CSS3, run your pages through W3C's HTML validator
use validate by URL > more options and choose your document type, in your case HTML 5.
Fix errors, repeat.
Keep in mind that there is no XHTML 5, only HTML 5. That's probably what you want.
While there are 3 different doctypes in HTML 4.01, there is only one in HTML 5:
<code><!DOCTYPE HTML>
</code>
Use that as your doctype when you migrate.
For CSS use W3C's CSS validator. Be sure to choose CSS3 in the options
Fix errors, repeat
Answer: do you really need to do that right now? keep in mind that broswers like Internet expplorer 6, 7 and Opera don't support CSS3 at the moment and even moere, if you care about valid CSS code, the current validator will not approve your code.
However, if you still want to do that, be aware to keep the most important parts of your code still compatible with mentioned broswers, and user CSS3 features (they are just awesome!) wisely. You could start learning here:
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/06/15/take-your-design-to-the-next-level-with-css3/
There is also a good tutorial on nettuts, be sure to check it out (sorry, I cannot post more than one link here)
Once you have done, you could use CSS3, or CSS2.1 style sheets for different browser using conditional statements. Do some google research on it.
Hope this helps
Answer:
i want to migrate our website to Xhtml 5 or css 3.0

For what reason?
HTML 5 has not yet reached Recommendation status and is still subject to change. Most of the significant changes in the spec aren't widely supported yet by browsers, either.
Same thing for CSS 3 - it has not been finalized, nor are many of its new attributes supported by all major browsers. You can start using CSS 3 stuff in your existing stylesheets, but be prepared for them to not work for many users yet.


Pantone Color Bridge - EURO or SWOP

Question: I am going to buy Pantone Color Bridge guide, but I know that it has SWOP and EURO version. I am working for clients around the world. Should I buy two versions? Is SWOP version different than EURO version?
Answer: Most of the difference between those books are based on usability and availability, meaning european paper has a different composition than american (true story) so inks react and settle differently. Printers are also configured different because of this and as you can imagine now, thats why there are also different inks for both "systems". Even software (Photoshop and such) can pre-configure its original settings based on your location to adapt of what is available around "there".
You can always find either one ore two crazy providers with both configs, but in my experience... it is mostly by luck. So yeah, if you do have international clients, you gotta get both books. Colours do change, some by micro details, some by a hughhhe gap, so it would be a gamble.
Comment: So all values (RGB and CMYK) for pantone colors from EURO version will be different in SWOP version, right?
Comment: I was informed that are no longer available different versions (SWOP, EURO, JAPAN) of Pantone Color Bridge guide - exists only one version around the world.
Comment: Be careful, I've heard that many times and found out it wasn't :/ , I bought my both sets last year from an official reseller, meaning there are still out there. And yes, values do change from one book to another!
Answer: Please note Pantone Color Bridge is no longer produced in different versions such as SWOP and EURO version. There is only one edition of Pantone Color bridge which has most of the solid colors of Pantone Formula Guide in RGB format.
The Pantone Color Bridge is however sold in 3 formats.
Pantone Color Bridge Coated and Uncoated
Pantone Color Bridge Coated
Pantone Color Bridge Uncoated

Pantone Color Bridge - EURO or SWOP


London Heathrow: What are the options while waiting for hotel check-in?

Question: I am traveling with my wife and son (infant) to London from Dubai. The flight lands early morning (6 am) and hotel check-in time starts at 3 pm. I contacted the hotel and they refused to accept an early check-in. What are my options to spend 5 - 6 hours after a tiring journey? I am looking for a place where we can relax a bit.
Comment: Either paying for the previous night, or asking them to keep your bags, and heading to the nearest MacDonalds. Some run down hostels might charge per hour, personally I would not want to be there alone, much less with an infant.
Comment: Plaza Premium have arrivals lounges in T2, T3 and T4. You'll have to pay, but it'll let you shower, eat breakfast, maybe even have a nap in a chair in the corner
Comment: Otherwise, book another hotel for "day use" for the day. Bunch of hotels around Heathrow do fairly reasonable day use rates, Hilton and Accor websites will let you check, or see a broker like between9and5
Comment: @Gagravarr The problem is that by the time you add taxis and the daily use of the hotel, it may make more sense paying another night and not moving hotels...
Comment: @RuiFRibeiro No need for taxis - almost all the heathrow hotels are in the "Heathrow Free Travel Area" so you can take a local bus for free to get to them
Comment: @Gagravarr Travelling with a woman and their tendencies to carry multiple luggages and an infant, it might not be pleasant to take buses...I wouldnt.
Comment: @RuiFRibeiro I probably end up on the local buses round Heathrow with 2 suitcases and a few bags several times a year, mostly when plans go wrong... I'm never the only one doing it!
Comment: If you go to the hotel, you will probably be able to check in. They are bound to have a few empty rooms by 8 am or so from people departing on early flights. In my experience most large chain hotels will find you a room even if you arrive early in the morning.
Answer: Your options might be either paying for the previous night, or asking them to keep your bags, taking care of the room registration, and heading to the nearest MacDonalds.
Some run down hostels might charge per hour, personally I would not want to be there alone, much less with an infant. You might consider paying the full previous night in a cheap B&B just to try to rest a bit.
The problems I see is that by the time you add taxis and the daily use of another hotel, it may make more sense paying another night and not moving hotels. Furthermore, you also have the added annoyance of dealing with luggage twice.
However, usually in the mornings people will be running all over the place for breakfast and with heavy luggage for leaving, also cleaning crews, and then the preparations for lunch time, so I doubt pretty much you will be able to sleep before 0300PM.
Considering you will be checking out of a big airport, get transportation to the center of London, and then go through the bureaucratic motions at the hotel, or even wait for a room, I would say that you wont get a room much before 0930-1000AM. You also will need to wind down from the trip and from jet lag, so again you wont be able to sleep/rest much.
At the end of the day, if it might mean only spending a couple of hours at a MacDonald´s, and winding down over a cup of coffee in a relatively family friendly environment, I would probably do it ( I did it last time I was in Manila with my wife ). If in a big chain, you may also linger for a while in their premises/lobby/coffee shop while making time.
Nevertheless, as a first approach, I would still try to secure a room at a discounted rate for the previous night. They will probably say they have the same expenses with you sleeping on it the full time or only part of the allocated time, which is mostly BS as for instance, often corporate rates are half of the full price - make it clear that if they do not offer a good discount, you are not getting a room at full rate. It might work if they are not fully booked; you might have more changes of getting that if asking to talk with the manager on duty.
Comment: @AbdulHannan When do you expect guests to check out? There has to be a gap between check-in and check-out time in order for the rooms to be serviced.
Comment: @AbdulHannan Not only in London, I would say it is much pretty standard in Europe...one of the last times I was in a hotel here, check-in was only after 0400PM, which clearly is borderline abusive.
Comment: @Calchas I know, I've checked in at 8am before, but I've not found it very commonly available and extremly rare to be offered it in advance. I've had to wait until 16:00 or 17:00 to check in and I stay at the same chain of hotels 200 nights a year
Comment: its sad that check-in time of London hotels starts from 14:00 until 23:00, nothing mentioned about guests arriving after midnight and early morning
Comment: @Berwyn Guests do not all check in and out at the same synchronized time. For an airport or business hotel, a significant fraction of guests will leave before 7 am. If you turn up at 8 am, the odds are in your favour that a room will be found (even if it's not the best one).
Answer: In my experience, if you are staying at a large chain hotel, particularly an airport or business hotel, it is quite possible to be checked in very early in the morning. There are very few guests checking in at this time, but lots of guests checking out, and the hotel only needs to find you one room.
At worse, the hotel will take your luggage from you and put it in the luggage store.
I am struggling to remember any time I was refused an early check in---a few years ago in Dubai I arrived at the hotel at 7 am or so---I remember was on the first train of the day from the airport---and the hotel asked me to use the pool for an hour while they found me a room. I was in Buenos Aires a couple of years back and similar story, but that time hotel found me a small room for a few hours until a suite was ready. 95% of the time though it's not been a problem for me.
If you're staying at a small, non-chain property or a family B&B, these places tend to be much more strict with check in times.
Comment: I was also offered waiting by the pool once (or twice) too.In our last stay at a big-chain Chinese 4-star hotel,while my wife was clearly feeling unwell (we were both recovering from food poisoning),they demanded we checked-out at noon;I negotiated a half-rate for them to allow us to keep the room for the rest of the day, but my wife did not want it. They kept our luggage for we to enjoy the rest of the day,and allowed us to linger in the lobby for the end of the afternoon until we left for the airport Being allowed to check in earlier or later is also pretty culturally dependent too.
Comment: This! Hotels will USUALLY (not always) let you check in as soon as they have a room ready. I've been told in the past that they don't have a room, only to spend 15 minutes messing about getting my luggage put away and getting ready to find a café, when suddenly a room becomes available! So it's worth hanging around at least for a short while even if they tell you they don't have a room; perhaps even grab a soft drink in the hotel bar if there is one.
Answer: There are numerous hotels near the Heathrow airport. Before booking you must check out for check-in and check-out times. You can also store luggage at the hotel and again come back at the check-in time. In the meantime, you can pay a visit to the nearest malls for a refreshing time.


How did the Mughals view homosexuality?

Question: What was the attitude toward homosexuality of the Mughals? Was it different between the ruling class and the common people? Was homosexuality, officially or unofficially, permissible during the reign of any Mughal ruler, or was it illegal throughout the period?
Comment: @Semaphore your answer was very illuminating, indeed. I've accepted it. But I thought you would also discuss if there were some more well-known figures of the Mughal era who indulged in or favored homosexuality. Any religious scholras of Islam of that era to have allowed homosexuality as acceptable?
Comment: *Many* sultans and other aristocrats engaged in homosexuality in the Mughal period; I'll add some. But I don't believe any Islamic authority ever ruled it was theocratically acceptable.
Comment: Also worth noting, Mahmud Ghaznavi and his slave Ayaz. Also note, the heinous practice of Bacha-Bazi (The act of using underage boys for sex) which is still rampant in tribal/rural areas of Afghanistan, Central Asia and Northern Pakistan.
Answer: Homosexuality or at least homoeroticism was actually quite common in Mughal court life.
None other than Barbur, the first Mughal Emperor himself, was known to have had a crush on a boy he saw in Kabul. He even recorded it in his own memoirs, the Barburnama. By all appearances, homosexuality was not particularly frowned upon among the Muslim ruling elite. For homosexual men, at least.

In Islamic sufi literature homosexual eroticism was used as a metaoporical expression of the sppiritual relationship between god and man, and much Persian poetry and fiction used omosexual relationships as examples of moral love. Although the Qur'an and early religious writings display mildly negative attitudes towards homosexuality, Muslim cultures seem to treat homosexuality with indifference, if not admiration.
De Sondy, Amanullah. The Crisis of Islamic Masculinities. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015.

Other examples of prominent Mughal man engaging in homosexuality includes Ali Quli Khan, a Mughal commander of the Second Battle of Panipat. The poet Sharmad Kashani had such a crush on a Hindu boy, Abhai Chand, that he went to his home naked. Jean-Baptiste Tavernier reports that a governor of Surat once provoked an uprising of dervishes and fakirs, by attempting to force himself onto a beautiful son of a fakir.
Which is not to say homosxuality was legal per se. Islamic law generally forbade sodomy, with various punishments proscribed by different jurists. On the harshest end of the spectrum execution was prescribed, including by stoning, burning, or being thrown from a minaret. The dominant school of thought in the Mughal Empire, Hanafi, was much more lenient and did not demand a death penalty. Punishments could be a fine or left up to the judge's discretion.
In practice, however, even this milder stipulation was largely ignored.

[T]hese legal provisions were rarely implemented since guilty was very difficult to establish. The Shariah demands incontrovertible evidence, such as confessions or four faithful eyewitnesses confirming that they saw penetration occur . . . The difficulty of finding eyewitnesses to confirm instances of penetration in effect removes private acts between consenting individuals from the realm of punishment.
Kidwai, Saleem. "Introduction: Medieval materials in the Perso-Urdu tradition." Vanita, Ruth, and Saleem Kidwai, eds. Same-Sex Love in India: Readings in Indian Literature. Springer, 2000.

In general, among the elites at least, as long as men fulfilled their other duties at home, they were free to engage in whatever other dalliances they may desire.
Curiously, in contrast, homosexuality was reportedly regarded as a major taboo among the common, mostly native Indian, people of the Mughal Empire.

Homosexuality, though prevalent among the Mughal amirs, seems to have been rare among the common people in India. Hindus  . . . according to Albiruni, considered [homosexuality] as revolting as eating beef.
Eraly, Abraham. Last Spring: The Lives and Times of Great Mughals. Penguin UK, 2000.

How did the Mughals view homosexuality?


How can I block all of a page's content on Facebook?

Question: A number of my friends, who I otherwise enjoy seeing content from often share content from a particular page that I don't care to see ever again.  Is there a way to block content from a page?
Comment: And if you hover over their status and click on the arrow that appears in the upper-right corner of that status, you don't have the option to hide the updates from that page?
Comment: @Alex I didn't see it.  Because it's a share I seem to be able to hide my friend's content or just this one post.
Answer: There is absolutely no straight-forward or proper way of doing this.
You Can block People, Games and Apps but not Pages.
All you can do is unsubscribe the friend who posts such contents, or subscribe to only "Important Updates" from the particular friend:

You can try clicking on either "Hide Story" or "Report Story or Spam" to give hints to Facebook that you do not like the content of a particular page.
All these would reduce the probability of such posts appearing in your "News Feed".
Answer: Some posts from friends have the option of hiding posts from the source.
On your Newsfeed, below the "(friend) liked this" line, hover over the page area's dropdown box and click "Hide all from (source)":
Answer: If its not a direct status update or share from a friend, but the result of a friend posting a comment directly to the page itself, then you can block it from your news feed.  Hover over the name of the Page when it appears in your Newsfeed (it will be in bold type).  A down arrow will appear.  Click on it and select "Hide".  You will then be given the option to hide all comments made on that Page.
If it is a direct status or share posted on your friend's page, then you cannot hide it without hiding all updates from your friend.
Answer: An easy way to hide page updates, where your friend has commented on a page, or liked a post on a page, that you dont want to see, is to use a newsfeed filtering browser extension, such as FB Purity. It lets you type in keywords or phrases, that you dont want to see in your newsfeed and then it filters them out. In this case, you would just need to put the name of the Page whose posts you dont want to see into the extension's Custom Text Filter. You can get FB Purity here: http://www.fbpurity.com
Answer: Trying clicking on "Pages feed" from your news feed page. (It's part of the list of things on the left hand side)
It will bring up the pages you've got auto-posting, if you got to the down arrow at the top right corner of the first post, click on it and choose "Remove this post" (or whatever it says), it then gives you the option of removing the entire feed.
I clicked on "like" for one of these things and got swamped!
Answer: Use the drop down option to Report the Story as spam, then an option should appear saying hide all posts from (instert page name)
Comment: Can you add a screenshot, to clarity the situation for future visitors?


Upgrade iPad 2 from 4.3.5 to 5.1.1

Question: I want to install iOS 5.1.1 on my iPad 2. Currently it's running on 4.3.5. iTunes just shows me a popup with the option to install iOS 6.0. How can I install 5.1.1?
Answer: There is no way to do that. Unless you already have a copy of the iOS 5.1.1 package for your iPad downloaded, you can only upgrade to the latest supported version for your device.
Answer: This is sometimes possible. The catch is that iTunes needs to do some sort of authentication with Apple's servers, and historically they only authorize the most recent version for a given device. However I believe there is some overlap after the release of a new version, when the previous version is still valid. Since iOS 6 is relatively new, it's worth a shot at least.
To get the actual file, check this page, which lists downloads from Apple.com of previous versions. Note that you need to download the specific file for your device.
Then you can go into iTunes, and option-click (shift-click in Windows) the Update button for your device. You should get a file dialog, from which you can select the <code>.ipsw</code> file you just downloaded. You should then be able to go through the usual updating process, assuming Apple authorizes it.
Answer: It seems there is no way to do that, i've download a legit ipsw file for ios 5.1.1 (ipad 2 gsm) then i tried:
1) Upgrade + Shift, select the ipsw, itunes unpacks the file, and it fails when validating the signature with apple error 3194.
2) DFU Mode, Restore + Shift, select the ipsw, same error (different number) when validating the signature.
I'm really disappointed, i always like to stay behind in upgrades due to bugs and problems. Installing iOS 6 and losing the maps + youtube and more problems with battery and other stuff is not an option, on the other side the current version 4.3.5 does not support the AV Adapter, it seems i'm stuck and i'm not doing nothing wrong.
I've raised a question if it's possible under the apple ios development to upgrade and downgrade ios versions, if it is i'll go with that option, but i'm not sure.
Good Luck
PS: If no solution i'll return my AV Adapter, and definitive i'll look different to apple products, no more iPads, this is not away to treat customers.
Answer: Jailbreaking is the way to access and fool with different .ipsws. An iOS device is not a little Mac. Confusing the two leads to misunderstandings, frustration, even heartbreak.
Answer: Yes! You can if you're willing to jailbreak!
Upgrade to iOS 6, then downgrade to 5.1.1.
Instructions can be found here: Downgrade From iOS 6.0 to 5.1.1 without SHSH Blobs

Upgrade iPad 2 from 4.3.5 to 5.1.1


What does "prune back to new wood" mean?

Question: Re blueberries, this URL says "prune back to new wood".  The meaning is not obvious to me.  They don't say to remove all old wood, from the base.  In fact, from the context, the rule seems meant to apply to tips/ends.  But, wouldn't any such necessarily be 'newer' than what they're growing out from?
Answer: If you have some old wood that needs pruning, you prune it back to where new wood is arising off that old wood.  On roses this might be a few inches above from where the stem originates.
This is another example of the term found on a home orchard forum about pruning blueberries from Gifts of the Planet Farm in Washington:

First get your pruning done me March 15th if at all possible.
Start at the bottom and prune any low spreading branches that will droop to the ground with berries. Next, thin the center of the plant if it is too crowded. Next, remove twiggy old growth that will produce few berries. One rule is to prune back to new wood (easier to ID on some varieties). Finally remove the laterals that will produce berries to far inside the plant ( hard to pick) or that are too far out (on a limb) from the center, that will droop toward the ground when loaded with fruit. Remember most berries are formed on 2 and 3 year old wood.
Fertilize twice (I like Fish Emulsion) in the spring after flowering and before harvest.
Answer: New wood is usually 1 yearish old growth.  I.E. stuff that isn't green stems, that just turned woody.  Probably still flexible.  Old wood is of course the older, thicker stuff.
Answer: My guess is that the word 'make' is missing. That is, I believe it should say

Remove the brushy, twiggy or diseased wood; a good rule to follow is to "prune back to make new wood"


Why doesn't Kabuto Yakushi have the curse mark?

Question: I have not seen the curse mark on Kabuto. (I have watched till episode 120). Why didn't Orochimaru give the curse mark to Kabuto? Is it because Kabuto is already powerful?
Answer: Let's begin by analysing people who Orochimaru marked with Cursed Mark and what they have in common.
Jiroubo, Ukon, Sakon, Tayuya, and Kidoumaru
They are granted the Cursed Mark not because Orochimaru wanted to use them as their vessel, but rather as an experiment on how far the cursed mark can improve someone's fighting capability and what are the side effects. They are also granted the Cursed Mark as a mean of improving their fighting capability so that they can serve Orochimaru better.
Kimimaro
He was supposed to be the container for Orochimaru. He was chosen for he has the Shikotsumyaku Kekkei Genkai which enables him to use his bone as weapon. He was the last one of his clan, which makes his Kekkei Genkai unique. However, since he was sickly, he lost his position as the next container for Orochimaru to Uchiha Sasuke who possessed the Kekkei Genkai Sharingan. While Sharingan was not as rare as Kimimaro's Kekkei Genkai, Uchiha Sasuke was in good health. Kimimaro was barely hanging alive, having to rely on machineries to keep himself alive as long as possible. The thing is, the dojutsu that Orochimaru used to transfer his soul to another body (Furou Fushi no Jutsu or Living Corpse Reincarnation in English) has a limitation of 3 years cooldown before it can be used again. If during those 3 years the vessel dies out, he won't be able to escape death. Thus, Kimimaro lost his position as the next vessel to Sasuke.
Uchiha Sasuke
Originally, it was not Sasuke that Orochimaru wanted. It was Uchiha Itachi, Sasuke's elder brother. However, since Itachi is far too strong for Orochimaru to handle (Orochimaru did tried to attack Itachi, only to fall to the latter's genjutsu and was unable to break free at all), Sasuke was chosen.
Now, why is it that Yakushi Kabuto didn't get any Cursed Mark?
First, at that time, Kabuto was Orochimaru's assistant. He is necessary for Orochimaru to help with his research, and to help him prepare the next vessel for his Incarnation jutsu. Orochimaru needed his brain more than his body. Of course if Orochimaru was in a dire need of a new vessel right away and no one else was around for him to transfer to, undoubtedly, he would have consumed Kabuto for the sake of his own survival and Kabuto would definitely give his body gladly, seeing how devoted he is to Orochimaru. However, such a condition was never the case for Orochimaru, and thus there is no need for him to give Kabuto a Cursed Mark since Cursed Mark only increase fighting ability and not intelligence.
Second, while Kabuto were said to be around Kakashi's level (Kakashi is in Special Jounin level and the fact that he was nominated to be a Hokage means that he was one of the strongest in Konoha), Kabuto possessed no Kekkei Genkai. In other words, he was not a potential vessel as far as Orochimaru is concerned.
Third, based on the trivia, the seal that was given to the Sound Four was based on cardinal direction. Since all 4 of the basic cardinal directions was filled, and that Heaven and Earth seal was used on Sasuke and Kimimaro, there is no other seal for Orochimaru to use on Kabuto.
Answer: Because Kabuto was not his experiment but a partner. It can be clearly seen that he showed affection to none of his experiments and even Sasuke was suppose to be his next body. But on the other hand Kabuto was his partner, friend or companion. Even it can be argue that Orochimaru revival to the good side was due to the action of Kabuto. So he didn't give him the cursed mark because he never wanted to use him as a pawn as much as he done with others. He might even sympathies with Kabuto for his past from childhood shown in Anime.