How did Newton come up with mass terms in his gravitation formula and then what led to a confusion between inertial and gravitational mass?

Question: Newton had realised that the acceleration due to gravitational force had to be inversely dependent on the square of the distance between two bodies. But how did he arrive at the conclusion that the force is also directly proportional to the product of the masses of the two bodies? And then how could have the terms "inertial" and "gravitational" mass and the confusion of them being equal started?
Comment: See *Principia*, **DEFINITION I** "The quantity of matter is the measure of the same, arising from its density and bul\ conjointly."
Comment: He simply assumed that there is an "intrinsec" property of every body : its *quantity of matter* that of course what the same in every "interactions" of the body with others (and the environment).
Answer: The terminology of inertial and gravitational masses does not appear until Einstein, and had to do with his  transitioning from classical mechanics to general relativity, see Development of gravitational theory. In classical mechanics it is more natural to think of the same $m$ entering both $F=ma$ and $F=G\frac{Mm}{r^2}$ than about two separate masses which are then made "equivalent". It was not really a "confusion". Here is how  Newton phrases it in Definition I of Principia he writes:

"The quantity of matter is the measure of the same, arising from its density and bulk conjunctly... It is this quantity that I mean hereafter everywhere under the name of body or mass. And the same is known by the weight of each body; for it is proportional to the weight, as I have found by experiments on pendulums, very accurately made, which shall be shewn hereafter."

As to the proportionality of the gravitational force to masses, it manifests (along with the "equivalence") in the acceleration of free fall being the same for all bodies of equal weight. To get a universal $a=G\frac{M}{r^2}$ from the second law the gravitational force has to be proportional to $m$. The universality itself was, of course, established already by Galileo, but Newton confirmed it with his own experiments described in Principia, Book III, Proposition VI, Theorem VI:

"It has been, now for a long time, observed by others, that all sorts of heavy bodies (allowance being made for the inequality of retardation which they suffer from a small power of resistance in the air) descend to earth from equal heights in equal times; and that equality of times we may distinguish to a great accuracy, by the help of pendulums. I tried the thing in gold, silver, lead, glass, sand, common salt, wood, water, and wheat... The boxes hanging by equal threads of 11 feet made a couple of pendulums perfectly equal in weight and figure, and equally receiving the resistance of the air. And, placing the one by the other, I observed them to play together forward and backward, for a long time, with equal vibrations."
Answer: I'd like to point out that the proportionality to $m_1m_2$ comes from the universality of Newton's proposed gravitational law. For, suppose two identical unit particles exert equal and opposite forces $f=G/r^2$, and let two masses $m_1$, $m_2$ consist of $N_1$, $N_2$ small particles. Then each small particle in $m_1$ will feel a total force of $N_2f$ by universality, and since there are $N_1$ of them, the total force is of $$F=N_1(N_2f)=\frac{GN_1N_2}{r^2}=\frac{Gm_1m_2}{r^2}$$ since $m=N$ units of mass.
Newton never writes $F=ma$ in Principia; instead he uses proportionalities (see https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/newton-principia/#NewLawMot). So the distinction between inertial and gravitational mass did not arise.
Answer: As for the mass terms in the gravitational formula, they manifest after the study of bodies in free fall as said by Conifold.
As for the confusion of the inertial and gravitational mass, there was no reason why they should be the same. The two masses appear in phenomena that seemingly had nothing to do with one another. I apply a force to an object, measure the acceleration, and divide. A principle of dynamics. Why should it have any relationship at all to the nature-provided force that holds the Moon to the Earth?
Comment: I do not see how this answers the two questions given by the OP.
Comment: Testing........


Can we add well-being into macro model as an endogenous variable?

Question: People talk a lot about well-being as an objective of macro policy (together with gdp growth). So if well-being is an objective, i'm wondering if we can add well-being into macro model as an endogenous variable? and we can see the response of this variable to a shock just as we did for other endogenous variables?
Thank you for all your help.
Comment: Consumption per capita/worker has been used as a measure of economic well-being in the literature.
Answer: One can model anything, that's why it is a model. The real question is what the value of such a model would be.
More to the point, I think this would be a very hard thing to do sensibly because how are we going to measure well-being? It encompasses way more factors than our economic models typically capture, such as social relations, health and mental state. Even if we include all of those, the relation between all those variables among each other and well-being is often unknown. We could theorize about it, but actually finding out what the relations are would be very hard to do.
For example suppose I model well-being as a combination of health, income and social relationships. That would mean that my macro-economic model would have to contain some kind of measure how social relationships evolve. Moreover, not only are increases in my income going to improve my well-being directly, but it is also going to affect my health (positively up to a point probably) and social relationships (those I guess could go both ways depending on income inequality or the possibility to be generous or visit friends and relatives).
If one really wants to capture well-being there are so many variables affecting that, that the model essentially becomes a black box. We don't know what's driving the results anymore.
What has been done, is trying to measure these things in retrospect. There are various macro-economic/social indicators and indices that try to capture how well-being has evolved over time. These retrospective studies are then used to judge what has gone well and what has not (the latter is also a hard thing to do because we typically have no good counterfactuals)
Comment: Thank you! so what if I used subjective well being as a measure of well being?
Comment: In my view that suffers from the same problems. How would we know what the relation is between subjective well-being and other variables? Again we can do statistics in retrospect (there is in fact a lot of research on correlates of life satisfaction) but causal relationships are hard to establish, let alone validated and used in further modeling exercises.
Comment: As an example it has been established that countries with larger income per capita are happier, but as income increases over time in a specific country that does not increase happiness. That can be explained with a.o. that people care about relative income but no doubt by many other theories as well
Comment: I got your point. Thank you very much! @Maarten


Jigsaw Blade for Hardibacker

Question: I am cutting some 1/2" Hardibacker into some 2" x 32" sections.  I tried using a 6 TPI wood jigsaw blade but the blades are not lasting very long.  Does anyone know if a diamond tipped or carbide tipped would last longer?
Comment: Yes score and break, if you need to cut a lot of angles like i had to, cheap blades is your best bet.  I was able to extend the life of the blades by putting a piece of 3/4 inch plywood on top of the hardier board first and then removing it for another cut.  The jigsaw blade then gets worn down in 2 places vs. one.
Answer: Score with a utility knife, clamp between scraps of wood, and snap.
If you don't have enough extra length to snap with, the best tool I've found is a grinder with a diamond blade. (Use outdoors with appropriate PPE.)
If you have to use a jigsaw blade, then yes, the grit ones will certainly outlast a wood blade, but not by much. (And maybe not enough to justify the added cost.)

Jigsaw Blade for Hardibacker


What should I do when my Nikon AF-S lens won't auto focus?

Question: I have a Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX I bought for my Nikon D5100, it's only a couple months old, never been dropped or anything, and it all of a sudden won't auto focus. Anyone know if this is a simple fix or if I should take it in to be repaired?
Comment: This may be a stupid question, but do you have the autofocus switch turned off on the lens?
Comment: LOL....No, It's turned on. I even tried turning off auto then turning it back on. Nothing:/
Answer: First, check the AF/M switch on the D5100 camera body.    This is at the left-hand side of the camera (from the photographer's point of view) near the bottom, below the lens release button.  Make sure it's set to "AF".   Similarly check the "M/A - M" focus mode switch on the lens.   Make sure it's set to set to "M/A".
Beyond that, see if you can narrow the problem down to just the lens, just the body, or just this particular combination, by trying a different AF lens with the same body, and a different AF body with the same lens.
If you've taken care of those checks and eliminated those problems, and you're sure the lens is correctly seated on the camera body, then the most frequent remaining cause is poor electrical connections between the camera body and the lens.
If you suspect this problem, you can try wiping those connections gently with a lens cloth or a tissue without any coatings.    But when doing this it's vitally important not to get foreign matter into the camera body.   So using an eraser or something like that to clean the connections is quite dangerous (if you have bits of rubber somewhere inside the mirror cavity, that's not going to be good for image quality).
This last bit won't apply to your D5100 camera, but if you were using a different body that will autofocus with AF and AF-D lenses also, you could do an additional diagnostic step: see if one of those lenses (i.e. autofocus, but not AF-S) will autofocus on your camera body.    When that happens it can be a hint that there is a problem with either the electrical connections in the lens mount.   Or, for those camera bodies that have them, a problem with the aperture coupling ring.
Comment: I have the D5100, not the D90:) All my other lenses work fine, it's just this lens. I went ahead and took it in to the store today and exchanged it for a new one. Hopefully It was just a defective lens and I won't have this problem again. Thanks!
Comment: Sorry I didn't read your question carefully enough.   I have updated the answer to be more consistent with the question in order to better help anybody coming across the question later.   Meanwhile, I'm glad that you have managed to resolve your problem.  Happy shooting!
Comment: That's ok. Thank you for the advice. I'll keep it in mind in case this happens again in the future!
Comment: I can't believe I didn't look at the switch... feel like an idiot, but a thankful one.
Answer: Try taking off the lens and cleaning the metal contacts. Take a piece of cloth dip it into rubbing alcohol and gently wipe the contacts.
Comment: Thank you! I went ahead and exchanged it for a new one today:) It will be in, in a week, hopefully I don't have this problem again!
Answer: I found out something by chance about AF issues I have been having with my Nikon:   When you put the lens cover on - if you push it on too hard and the lens turns in a little,  it will go into a lock position.
To fix: hold on to the very end of your lens and the camera base.  Give the lens a little twist - you will feel it unlock.  DO NOT twist it hard.  It will release.
After I release my lenses, auto focus seems to work as it should.
I hope this works for others.  It could be just an isolated incident with my own lenses, but that little twist has unlocked all my lenses.
Answer: Check your camera settings if autofocus is set for the AE-L/AF-L Button.
You can check this in the "Setup Menu" -> "Buttons" -> "Assign AE-l/AF-L button"
Set the settings back to AE/AF lock so that autofocus is set to the shutter button only.


How to use the word 'suitable' properly?

Question: Let's say, I'm exlaining a meaning of some words to someone giving specific situations as an example. And I want to say one of these sentences.
"This word is more suitable to this situation."
"This word is more suitable in this situation."
"This word is more suitable for this situation."
I'd like to know which one is correct.
And could you correct them if there is any mistakes I made in this thread? I'm not sure if I'm writing correctly.
Thank you in advance. :)
Answer: When in doubt - as to whether the usage of a particular preposition is correct or not - just google "define [word]". In your case, it yields:

suitable   /ˈsuːtəb(ə)l/ adjective
right or appropriate for a particular person, purpose, or situation.
  "these toys are not suitable for children under five"

Notice that your relevant part is highlighted in grey. It clearly indicates that "for" is the preposition you should be using here.
Hope it helps!
Comment: Additionally, if a word has more than one prepositional forms, they're all listed separately. Have a look [here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/EOGCG.png).


Why Maggie in True Detective is double-faced?

Question: In True Detective Season 1 Episode 6 Haunted Houses we see aged Maggie in the interrogation room with Papania and Gilbough. Her face is remarkably asymmetric: the left side is aged, wrinkled and gray while the right side is still young. Also, her hair on the left is dark and her hair on the right is light.
What kind of symbolism is that?
Comment: Is there a picture or a video that shows this more clearly? - because I don't really see it.  Yes her face is asymmetric, particularly the nose and mouth, but I don't see much in the way of differences in wrinkles or hair color that can't be explained by normal differences and shadow.
Comment: I personally don't see the detail either, but to the OP, I  think you've answered your own question, sort of. She's double-faced because she's two-faced. She's lying.
Answer: I think you are reading into this too much. There is nothing symbolic here. The actress Michelle Monaghan simply has a naturally asymmetric face. I picked three images that I think show this fairly well.
I think that her natural characteristics along with a combination of lighting and makeup make this stand out in the scene you are referring to.
Answer: I have been looking at pictures of myself and I found that the right side of my face looks much older than the left one. I do not have an explanation for this but now I know that some people just look this way. Sorry Michelle Monaghan)


When using the pen tool I can't draw a simple straight line - it doesn't let me just click two points

Question: When using the pen tool I can't draw a simple straight line - it doesn't let me just click two points.  Basically I click the first point, click a second point and that should be my line - however it doesn't let me end the line there - continues with another anchor point as if making a shape...do i need to uncheck some setting?  Can't figure it out!!
Comment: No if you truly wanted to do what you described youd use the line tool (btw line tool is under appreciated, but it really packs a punch one you discover alt numeric input). Or hit enter. You can also any point exit the pen tool by selecting a different one. Like hittiing a on keyboard
Answer: Two quick replies:
1) there is a Line Tool for simple straight lines to make that fast: see the selected tool below.
2) using the Pen Tool, once your second point is drawn, click Esc and your line is complete.
Comment: You may want to crop that image a bit ;)
Answer: Press Enter when you see that there's enough clicks done.
Answer: You can also simply press Esc to stop adding another point.


Where to archive code

Question: Say for example I have some unused code that I want to use in the future and does not work with the rest program,or say that I come across some interesting code online. Is there any good program that I can store different pieces of code in?
Comment: Emacs org-mode might be a interesting choice for taking notes and storing programs. It's powerful and especially suited to programmers.
Answer: If it's for a program which is already under source control, just keep these changes in a branch of that repo.
For odd bits of code, you could use almost anything, but some good options would be private GitHub or Bitbucket repo, a Gist, or some private source-control system you maintain on your own hardware. Non-source control options might include dumping things into an S3 bucket or similar cloud storage system, esp. with your usage likely to not exceed the free pricing tier.
Comment: And there is always [Stack Overflow](http://stackoverflow.com/a/26674200)
Answer: To my mind - these are 2 different questions:
Unused code that I want to use in the future and does not work with the rest of the program
If your VCS system supports it, I'd be inclined to put this in a shelveset since it isn't current development but you may want to pull the code and work on it later.
Some interesting code online
Rather than pollute the source code tree with this, either bookmark the page or stash the code somewhere else (print it off, put it on the LAN, store it on a USB stick etc).
You may also want to email it to colleagues or add it to a wiki to raise awareness.
Answer: I think a good way to park your code is git. For example if you have a github account just create a repository there and put all your samples there.
I have something similar in my account and I call it garbage
It might be better than S3 or gists as you can organize/version/search your parked code easier.
Comment: [Gists](https://help.github.com/articles/about-gists/) are versioned (they're git repositories). They're also searchable if public.
Answer: If it is part of your project, I would make a branch or a tag and then delete that code from your main repo.
I used to keep blocks of code in my main repo that served no other purpose other than that they might be needed later. Really what I was saying was that it might be useful later and I needed to find it. A tag might be even better as branches are supposed to be more ephemeral. Branch vs Tag
In any case unused code will just confuse you and other devs later.  So it's not a great practice to leave it in a project.

Where to archive code


Calculate vapor pressure from volume

Question: For a chemistry lab, I'm required to calculate the vapor pressure of some organic solvents... methanol, ethanol, and propanol, in addition to an "unknown" sample of some solvent. In the lab, we were instructed to heat these solvents in a sealed syringe along with 5 mL of air. While they were being heated, I recorded the volume and temperature of the air and solvent in the syringe. Now, from that data, I need to calculate the vapor pressure of these substances at the temperatures at which I recorded the data. How can I do this?
Comment: Hi Zane, didn't you first do a "dry run" with only air and no solvent in the syringe? ([here](http://www2.chem21labs.com/labfiles/UofC_GL14_Lab.pdf) is one possible experimental protocol for such measurement).
Comment: Nope. We weren't instructed to do so
Answer: You should treat everything as ideal gas. Then you calculate the volume change from the air itself, using ideal gas law and pressure being constant (atmospheric, maybe). Calculate also the number of moles of air in the syringe, it will come handy soon.
The remaining change in volume is then attributed to the solvent, again using ideal gas law, you put in the given volume, temperature, pressure and obtain number of moles, which turned into vapor.
Having this, you know number of moles of solvent and number of moles of air, so again assuming everything ideal (Raoult's law), you know the partial pressures (i.e. vapor pressure).
For added fancines, you can take the decrease of the liquid volume into account.
Side note: While using ideal gas and ideal mixture of ideal gases approximation, all quantities are nicely additive, so don't be afraid.

Calculate vapor pressure from volume


CiviMobile "unknown error" on Wordpress

Question: Does the CiviMobile Android app work with Wordpress based CiviCRM? When I enter my username and password and site URL into the login screen of CiviMobile, it just shows "Unknown error". But the demo account works fine.
Comment: Thanks for your question Jeremy! It will help peeps here to give you a helpful answer if you tell us what settings you have entered and what version of WP you are using. Also, do you have multi-language switched on in your CiviCRM?
Comment: It's version 4.9.8 and my settings in the mobile app are literally just the URL (base URL of my website), and an admin username and password. There are no settings required for the CiviCRM extension. I don't have multi-language switched on.
Comment: Same problem here on wordpress. Don't think it works for now...
Comment: Yeah I think they confirmed it's Drupal-only at the moment.
Comment: Make sure you are downloading the correct extension. The one in the Available extensions here (com.webaccessglobal.module.civimobile) is NOT the correct one.
Answer: There is the current situation with CiviMobile app and WordPress:

New CiviMobileAPI extension(https://civicrm.org/extensions/civimobileapi) is platform independent and works for all CMS Drupal/Joomla/WP.
But, there is an issue in standard CiviCRM API for WP. This issue prevents our extension to use API properly.
We proposed a quick fix for this problem. Our fix was rejected by the Core Team. And they started wider discussion in few threads. Please start reading here https://github.com/civicrm/civicrm-core/pull/12813#issuecomment-428152827

As now, we are still working on quick API patch for WP. I hope it will be available in the next few days. I will let you know as soon as it is ready.
As a long-term solution, we need a permanent fix which will be approved by the Core Team and included into standard CiviCRM code (see the issue above).
Thank you,
 Sergiy
Comment: I have this same issue, new CiviCRM user and your extension is a killer app for our organisation. Just wondering if there is a temporary fix you know of that I could deploy to get this working before you commit a permanent one? Thanks.
Answer: There is a quick patch for WordPress:
I. Overview:
In order to make the API working properly for WordPress you need to change only one file "wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/CRM/Utils/REST.php".
We prepared command line script to automate this change.
II. Patch:

Before the start, the script will make a backup of REST.php by creating file REST.php.bak. You still may make your own backup copy to be able to restore this file in case of something goes wrong.
Run patch:

If you use MacOS or Linux System, just run this command from the project root folder:
<code>cm_line='=================================';echo'';echo'';echo "$cm_line";cm_ext_path='wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/CRM/Utils/REST.php';start=$(echo $(grep -on 'buildParamList() {' "$cm_ext_path" | sed "s/:buildParamList() {//"););end=$(echo $(grep -on 'ajaxJson() {' "$cm_ext_path" | sed "s/:ajaxJson() {//"););sed -i.bak "$(echo $start),$(echo $end) s#json_decode(\$requestParams\['json'\]#json_decode(stripslashes(\$requestParams\[\'json\'\])#" "$cm_ext_path";if [[ $(grep -c json_decode\(stripslashes "$cm_ext_path") -eq 1 ]] ; then echo -e '\033[1mWordPress API has been patched successfully.\033[0m';echo -e 'Now you may start using \033[1mCiviMobile\033[0m!'; else echo -e '\033[1mSomething went wrong.\033[0m';echo -e 'Please copy the error message, if any, and contact us at \033[email@example.com\033[0m  so we can help you.';fi;echo "$cm_line";echo'';echo'';
</code>
If you use Windows system, you shall manually change a part of the text in wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/CRM/Utils/REST.php
Please find:
<code>*$params = json_decode($requestParams['json'], TRUE);*
</code>
And change it to:
<code>*$params = json_decode(stripslashes($requestParams['json']), TRUE);*
</code>
III. Rollback:
In case something went wrong, please restore file
wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/CRM/Utils/REST.php from
wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/CRM/Utils/REST.php.bak or from your own copy
This should work.
Please let me know if any question.
Answer: the patch worked to enable CiviMobile, however we've just discovered it created a problem for CiviMail when using Mosaico template builder extension.
See CiviMail error: "Sorry an error occurred and your information was not saved"
I resolved it simply by restoring REST.php.
I assume the problem is that Mosaico 'needs' the slashes that 'stripslashes' removes.  I wonder if there is some condition that could wrap around the statement to switch between the original and 'stripslashes' version of the statement e.g.

if CiviMobile is calling REST.api, use 'stripslashes' statement else use normal
if CiviMail is calling REST.api, use normal else use 'stripslashes' statement

Thanks for your help.
Comment: Hi @sergiy-korniyenko, unfortunately my issue persists as above - Mosaico templates will not save with that change to REST.php

Is there another way, e.g. wrap a condition around that clause as suggested above?

Thanks
Answer: We've updated our extension to work with https://github.com/mecachisenros/civicrm-wp-rest WP plugin. So, now if you are using WP you have to install this plugin and everything should work correctly for you. And don't forget to update our CiviMobileAPI extension to the last version.
Please feel free to write me firstname.lastname@example.com if you still have any questions.

CiviMobile "unknown error" on Wordpress


keep a count of each file served

Question: I've inherited a php project from an offshore firm and I'm pretty sure that ~50% of the files are no longer used.  I want to weed out the unused files so I was thinking of just tracking the number of times each file is requested or included while I do the next round of dev work, then trimming the fat.  Is there an easy way to track this?  It's running on a pretty vanilla LAMP stack.
Answer: You could use a web stats solution to track hits across your entire site. However, this won't help with included PHP files
Another option would be to create a small script to include in every file that would write the filename to a log every time is was parsed.
Answer: Hmmm....if your backup solution preserves the last access times of files, then the solution is simple.....just do find at the top of the directory structure(s) and check for unaccessed files.  For example:
<code> find [dir1][dir2]...[dirn] -type f -atime +180 -print
</code>
would find files in the named directories that have not been accessed in 180 days.
Answer: I think inotify is the best solution, try use inotifywatch for monitor ACCESS/OPEN operations in specified directory:
# inotifywait -e access -e open -m -r /home/jamzed/
Now all 'access' & 'open' operations in /home/jamzed/* will be monitored.
example: if I do '$ cat examples.desktop', then inotifywatch write on STDOUT:
/home/jamzed/ OPEN examples.desktop
/home/jamzed/ ACCESS examples.desktop
You can redirect STDOUT to file ( >> file_to_analyze ), for better analyze which files wasn't used.
Answer: You can use auditd to monitor file access at the kernel level, then use ausearch to search/grep the audit logs.  This should catch everything no matter what process/user/subshell is touching the files.  If this is a busy server obviously do some sanity checks before setting up a large number of watches.

keep a count of each file served


Melachah on Shabbath - after Shabbath

Question: If Melachah was done on Shabbath, can the product of that Melachah be enjoyed after Shabbath, and if so, under what criteria (does it depend on how long after Shabbath, or on the need, or something else)?
Comment: http://judaism.stackexchange.com/a/14770/759
Answer: If it was done by a non jew then it may be used after shabbat after you wait "Bi'Kdei Sh'Yaasu" the amount of time it took him to do the melakha.
If it was done by a jew it can be used immediately after shabbat.  Orakh Haim 318.
A quick addition.  If a person did it on purpose then he may not benefit from it even after shabbat.
Comment: Only Reuven may not benefit.  The other may.  In other cases in halakha (ein mevatlin issur lekhathila) the item would be prohibited for Reuven and Shimon but in the this case it is only forbiden to reuven
Comment: Eytan, in the third case, who may not benefit, the person who did it, or others? What if Reuven did it because he thought Shim'on, among others, would appreciate it?
Comment: @Eytan the first case depends on what kind of benefit it is, as well as whether the non jew did it for jews or nonjews/himself.
Answer: Based on Mishna Berura and Biur Halacha 318:
There are 3 variables which affect your answer:

Did the transgressor know he was violating shabbos,
Who wants to benefit, the transgressor or others,
Was the act Bibically or rabbinically prohibited.

There are two opinions about benefiting from a shabbos transgression-
Rabbi Meir:  If the transgression was done knowingly (meizid), all may benefit from the act only after shabbos.  If the transgression was done unknowingly (shogeg), all may benefit immediately
Rabbi Yehuda:  We are stricter with the transgressor- If he did it knowingly, he may never benefit.  If he did it unknowingly, he must wait until after shabbos.  (All others are the same as R' Meir.)
There is a difference of opinion as to who we pasken like.  The Shulchan Aruch by cooking (318:1) sides with Rabbi Yehuda.  The Gra maintains that he only paskened so for Biblical prohibitions, but by rabbinic prohibitions, there is no penalty for an unknowing violation.  Th Gra himself paskens like R' Meir.
If you are a Mishna Berura man:
All knowing violations, whether Biblical or rabbinic, are prohibited to the violator always and for everyone else until after shabbos- like R' Yehuda
Rabbinic, unknowing violations are permitted immediately to all.  Biblical unknowing violations are still forbidden to the transgressor himself until after shabbos- like the Gra's version of the Shulcha Aruch
All unknowing violation, Biblical or rabbinic, in cases of necessity, are permitted immediately to all- like the Gra who paskens like R' Meir
Additionally:
In a case knowing case where a non-Jew was employed to violate the melacha, there may be an additional penalty after shabbos- the amount of time it took to perform the melacha- so that there is no nominal benefit.
In a case where there is an argument whether there is a violation, there is no penalty and all are permitted to benefit immediately.
Answer: The first seif from Orach Chayim siman 318 describes the situation in this case regarding food cooked on shabbat (mevashel).  Ostensibly, it should apply to other cases as well - I suggest that you study the commentaries to this.
Comment: In order to make your answer more useful, please consider quoting and/or summarizing the relevant parts here.

Melachah on Shabbath - after Shabbath


What are the advantages of angling your saddle down?

Question: I have seen a few people do this where their saddle was angled down a bit. Why would someone do that?
Comment: In what circumstance? Are these few people commuters or racers?
Comment: 1) Because they like it that way.  2) Because the clamp bolt is loose and the seat keeps tilting forward.  3) Because the clamp will only adjust in 15-degree increments.
Comment: I was recently told it was a roadie thing, that angling the nose down was for sprinting/speed while angling the nose up was for better hill climbing.
Comment: I only really have numbness on sustained climbs. I suspect that a slight further forward tilt of the saddle might solve that there but not so much on the flats. If so it would be great if there was a mechanism that would allow one to make that small adjustment "on the fly" while riding.
Answer: In general, I don't know why one would do this. Especially men.
Here's what Sheldon Brown has to say, and I tend to agree:
"If the saddle is tilted down in front, the rider will tend to slide forward onto the narrower part of the saddle. Women who are riding on saddles that were designed for men frequently tilt their saddles down. This will relieve some of the discomfort from the saddle itself, but creates new problems: The downward slope of the saddle causes the rider to tend to slide forward, and this can only be counteracted by pressure on the hands. Thus, poorly-angled saddles often are the cause of wrist, shoulder and neck problems, due to carrying too much of the rider's weight on the hands."
Lennard Zinn mentions that a "very slight" tilt in either direction may be optimal for some riders; but no more than ~2 degrees. Basically the same reasons that Sheldon Brown mentions. The downward forward tilt adds pressure on the arms, back, and shoulders due to sliding forward.
You want your "sit bones" to be on the widest part of the saddle. If you slide forward, the pressure will shift from the sit bones to the perineum; and that's probably a bad thing. There are special cases for tilting the saddle nose downward; but for the general rider it's not necessary.
Comment: @heltonbiker - As mentioned: "...special cases for tilting the saddle nose downward, or upward for that matter" and "In general..." Saddle tilt is probably one of the very last items for achieving a good bike fit.
Comment: Sometimes, specially if the saddle is very "aft" in the fore-aft position, you can counteract sliding forward with action on the legs, specially if the bike is meant to ride fast and pedal hard. Sometimes yet, if the handlebar is very low, the very flexion on the torso already relieves some weight from the hands (It's counter-intuitive, but I have the impression I already felt this way on a bike).
Comment: Now measure a two degree tilt on something that is curved, LOL!
Answer: I had some saddles that in some bikes were best with a slight tilt down, otherwise they would crush my perineum.
One of my current saddles (Brooks) is tilted nose-up, otherwise it is very uncomfortable because I feel thrown forward.
In the end, I think it depends on:

Rider's anatomical shape;
Saddle shape (in case of a leather saddle, might change over time);
Overall position of the bike (if you put the saddle on different bikes, optimal tilt might vary;
Cruise speed of the bike. If you pedal hard, tilt down might be fine. If you pedal slowly and upright, most probably tilt down would be very uncomfortable.
Answer: Tilting the saddle forward relieves lower back pain.
Don't take my word for it; here is a clinical trial in the British Journal of Sports Medicine:
http://m.bjsm.bmj.com/content/33/6/398.short
They tilt the saddle forward a lot (10-15 degrees), and show big improvements in back pain. I had this problem and it worked for me. If you look at the spine position drawings it's pretty obvious why: tilting forward means your back doesn't have to round so much. Though 10-15 degrees is a bit extreme I think. 5-7 degrees was enough for me.
Comment: "Effect of changing the saddle angle on the incidence of low back pain in recreational bicyclists."
M Salai, T Brosh, A Blankstein, A Oran, A Chechik.
Br J Sports Med, published online August 30, 2012
Comment: Can you give the full reference to the paper in the British Journal of Sports Medicine so I can look it up? The link isn't working for me.
Answer: I tilt the seat down slightly to make it much more comfortable for me to ride, When the seat is horizontal, I find I end up with pain from that narrow part of the seat pressing where it shouldn't. Tilting the seat down means that I am only in contact with the slightly wider part of the seat.
The way I have my bars set up means there is no possibility of sliding forwards on the seat.
While my bike is a road racer, with bars and seat set up accordingly, I use it for commuting - about 35 miles a day.
Comment: I do this as well, tilting the saddle forward a hair so that I have to push up with my legs just a little tiny bit to stay on the saddle. I find this to be a good balance between comfort and discomfort on the delicate areas.
Answer: Quite a few bike messengers tilt their saddle forward a little bit. Personally, I do it because if you're riding a long distance, it will put more weight on your arms, tilt you forward, make you more aerodynamic, it's better for speed, and it takes the weight off of your "sensitive areas". There are some pretty interesting studies about riders with perineum numbness. Tilting the saddle forward will help relieve the stress on the mentioned area, and put more of it on the sitting area. BE CAUTIOUS: this will put considerably more stress on the arms and shoulders. Be prepared. As with anything else, your body will adapt naturally after a while.
Answer: For time trialing, or other riding where the rider will be in a very aggressive position for extended periods of time, a slight tilt forward can relieve unnecessary pressure on the perineum.
Answer: I have what most people would call an extreme forward tilt on my saddle. I use a  racing saddle with a large cut out. The reason I use this angle is to stop me getting pressure on the perenium. I have been riding like this for around twenty years to the derision of "experts" wherever I go.
I recently rode the new forest epic. My first sportive with no training in 6.01 with no ill effects and no nasty numb areas. I sit on the top wide edge of the seat and the nose drops away at that point and makes no contact with sensitive areas. My riding position is aggressive but feels comfortable with my body almost acting like a stressed member with weight spread between between balls of feet on pedals, hands on hoods and bum on top edge of saddle.
I understand there may well be loads of studies done on bike fit and there may well be a bible on the ultimate riding position, but maybe more time should be spent looking at "people"in relation to bike fit.
I love riding my bike. I have a reasonably decent boardman roadbike. I do not own a car so I use my bike to commute, for recreation and fitness. I love my wacky but effective riding position!!!?
Enjoy your riding everyone:-)
Answer: Because I like it that way. Tried the tilted down position many years ago and have never had any reason to change it.


How can I change the scrollbar's background color for theme?

Question: I scanned the /home/ry/.themes/elementary-borderless/metacity-1/metacity-theme-1.xml file and didn't spot anything. Where else can I look?
Answer: Try in "/usr/share/themes//gtk-2.0/". The general file is gtkrc. Depending on how the theme is structured, it could include several other files. The naming convention appears to end in .rc, i.e. nautilus.rc or gedit.rc.
Read these:
http://live.gnome.org/GnomeArt/Tutorials/GtkThemes/GtkScrollbar
http://developer.gnome.org/gtk/stable/GtkScrollbar.html
You might find something from there.
Answer: If you still wanna know, look in /usr/share/themes/Ambiance/gtk-2.0/gtkrc – for example, for Ambiance theme. Search for style "scrollbar". Under the line engine "murrine", you can find such syntax:

trough_shades = {1.3, 1.2}

It seems to use default background color (defined as bg_color at the beginning of the file) and you just use a shade. These values for shades result in a color close to white – I've changed the shades to change gtk-2 scrollbar to something like overlay one.
Remember, if you change the bg_color, all windows of all gtk-2 applications will be affected; so you may have better to try different values of shade. If you don't know, the values greater than 1 make the color lighter, and the smaller ones make darker.


Water filter usage in homebrewing

Question: I'm considering using a water filter just prior to bottling in order to filter very small particles. But would that also filter the yeast and prevent fermentation in the bottle? What micra in what stage is better for filtering? Is using filters good practice at all?
Answer: There are several different homebrewing filters out there. 1 micron and 3 micron filters are most typical. It will dramatically reduce the quantity of yeast getting passed to the bottle so you may want to pitch some krausen with your priming sugar if you are going to ferment in the bottle.  Not too sure if it really makes sense to filter if you are going to do bottle fermentation.
Answer: Depending on filter size, it could filter out yeast.  Also, unless you have a closed filter system pushed by CO2 you will oxidize your beer.  I used a filter for a little while but stopped.  I found it to be a PITA for not much benefit and also found that it seemed to strip body and flavor from the beer.

Water filter usage in homebrewing


How do I update an Intel motherboard BIOS using Ubuntu without a keyboard?

Question: I'm using ubuntu 12.10 on intel nuc, and have no keyboard only a mouse attached.
Comment: This actually depends on the motherboard. Please add the motherboard (which nuc) you are talking about to see which options it offers to do an update.
Answer: Well, I took my time just for the fun of it to check all NUC Bios and Driver updates. It just so happen they use the same motherboard and offer the same BIOS Updates.
You can see the webpage where they all send me HERE
Since you do not have a keyboard, the option to press F7 when the system boots to read a pen drive and the Bios file in it is out of the question. This way only works when you boot the computer, after pressing the corresponding key it will read any pen drive you have inserted and look in the root folder of the pen drive for a BIOS file format for Intel.
Your only way is to Burn a CD with the BIOS update and boot from it. I will be assuming the computer tries to boot from a CD/DVD or a Flash Drive before going for the Hard drive. If this is not the case and it boots directly to your hard drive then you really need to get a keyboard since you are out of options.
You will need to get the GKPPT10H.86A.0036.BI.ZIP but for future reference, try to get either the file that ends in .ISO, .BIO or the one that ends in .ZIP. If you had the ISO file you just burn it to a CD/DVD and boot from it. In this particular case there is no ISO option.
The ZIP one, you decompress but here is the problem, the files need to be stored in a bootable CD/DVD or USB Flash drive in order to run (Again, assuming the BIOS reads this devices before the HDD). So you would need Windows to make it bootable as stated by the Intel Bios Update Instructions for this motherboard. After making it bootable you can proceed to copy the files to it and then later boot from it. The whole update process will be automatic.
Now that we have seen 2 options which depend slightly on having a keyboard or having the system boot into other devices before going to the HDD, we can now fall into the Bios Recovery option.
The Bios Recovery option found in the Bios Updates is just in case your BIOS fails to update but it is also used to update your Bios to that specific version, in this case, it will be updated to the latest. More information HERE
The part that you need to know is:

Download the file that ends with .BIO. In this case it is the GK0036.BIO
Copy the BIO file to a CD/DVD (Either External or Internal CD/DVD unit).
While leaving the CD/DVD connected to the PC, boot the computer. If the computer goes to the CD/DVD first, before the HDD, the Intel motherboard will see the BIO file and update the BIOS.
If you happen to have a system that boots directly to the HDD then follow the instructions here to remove the jumper and make it boot first from other devices.

By default, this motherboard will first read any other device before going for the HDD. So if you have not yet changed anything in the boot process in the BIOS, you don't need to worry.
Comment: Thank you for such a comprehensive answer. It's a shame that even now Intel still assume you are going to infect your NUC with Windows.
Answer: The BIOS-Update-Tools doesen't run under a OS like Ubuntu, it runs in a console bevor the OS is started. In the console you have no support for a mouse.
I would say it is impossible.


What opera does Bruce Wayne attend with his parents at the beginning of Batman Begins?

Question: There's a devil like person, and a lot of flying creatures sort of like bats, which is why they had to leave the theatre, but what Opera were they watching?
Answer: The opera is called Mefistofele, which is a Faustian opera (i.e. dude makes a deal with the Devil).  Wikipedia states:

Batman Begins depicts the opera being performed onstage, using an excerpt of Rampiamo, rampiamo, che il tempo ci gabba (Chorus of Warlocks and Witches from Act 2, scene 2) from the 1973 EMI (see "Recordings" above). During the scene, performers dressed as bat-like monsters frighten young Bruce Wayne, who asks to leave.

In the opera, the title character is the Devil.  Mefistofele makes a bargain with the Forces of Good that he can corrupt Faust, and spends the opera trying to do so.  He does this by making deals with Faust, to fulfill Faust's wishes.  Faust pines for a woman, Mefistofele enables him to seduce the woman, but then the woman realizes Faust's relationship with Mefistofele and she seeks God's forgiveness.  This sort of thing happens a few times.  Eventually Faust realizes that neither the real nor the illusionary pleasures that Mefistofele offered were the perfect bliss Faust sought.  He grabs his Bible, seeks God's forgiveness, and receives it.  Mefistovele is then sent back to Hell, having failed to turn Faust.
Essentially this mirrors Batman's arc in the film.  Faust is Bruce, and Mefistofele is Ra's.  Batman is then God, I think?
Answer: You can more easily find this specific excerpt under the name of "Riddiamo, riddiamo" (correct act 2 scene 2).
It begins approximately at 1:25:00 and last approximately 3:30 (in the recording "Mefisofele, de Boito" 1989)
Answer: Yes, it's Faust but the demon's name is Mephistopheles, shortened to Mephisto.   Faust is based on Goethe's Faust which has two parts.  The second part eventually ends with Faust's soul saved by learning to care about others and finding that is the ultimate experience he was seeking and he ascends to Heaven despite his deal with Mephisto.


Can an airplane flying above 35,000 feet be heard on the ground?

Question: Can the sound produced by a commercial aircraft flying at 35000 feet be heard on the ground when the surroundings are quiet?
Comment: At what ground elevation? I think the answer is "yes" regardless, but ground elevation might make a difference. I often hear B747 and A380 aircraft flying over at those high flight levels, but an elevation of 3000 or 5000 ft is different than at sea level.
Answer: Yes
It doesn't even has to be very silent around you.
But because of the speed of sound, you will hear the aircraft later. Here is the approximate time, the sound needs to reach you:

Speed of sound at MSL: ~340m/s
35.000 ft in m: ~10660m
10660 / 340 =
~ 31s

That means you will maybe hear the aircraft but you are not going to spot it where the sound comes from.
Note that this is not an exact value, as speed of sound varies with air density and temperature, which both change the higher you are.
Comment: This appears to only address the delay in hearing the sound. Could you add something about attenuation?


Is Civilization 5 Brave New World compatible with a 64 bit OS?

Question: Earlier, I used to run Windows 7 ultimate 32 bit on my pc. I purchased the Vanilla version of Civ 5 at that time (Expansion was not out yet). Later I had to upgrade to 64 bit Win 7. Civ 5 stopped working and a message was displayed that it is not compatible with a 64 bit OS. Is the same true for its expansion pack. Can I run Civ 5 Brave New World on Win 7 64 bit?
Answer: Civilization 5 is a 32 bit game that runs on 32 bit and 64 bit systems.
I have installed and run Civ 5 on 64 bit Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10 with no problems - there were no separate installers required for 64 bit system.
I strongly suggest to back up your saved games, uninstall the game and reinstall.
If that fails please can you post the exact wording or preferably a link to a screenshot of the error message?
Answer: I've run Civilization V - Brave New World on a 64 bit Windows 7 machine without any issues, so yes, it is 64 bit compatible.


How did Muhammad (PBUH) try to convince people that he is a prophet of God?

Question: Three years after Muhammad (PBUH) was visited by Gabriel and received his first revelation from God, he started preaching revelations publicly, proclaiming that he is the last messenger of God, inviting people to Islam. My question is, how did he try to convince people that he is a prophet of God and people should believe in him? What reasons did he give for his claim?
Comment: @infatuated I didn't say how "forcefully" he convinced people. I said "what reasons did he give to convince people"
Comment: Most of it was done through actions and manifest virtues; and definitely not 'forcefully'! ;) And [this Q&A](http://islam.stackexchange.com/questions/13324/why-take-mohammads-word) may give you some idea.
Answer: Muhammad (SAW) was known by the community as a very kind and honest person who has never wronged anyone. This was even before the visit of Angel Gabriel.
People followed Islam and started to believe that Muhammad (SAW) because the Prophet treated everyone equally and fairly which meant better and happier life (especially for the slaves). He never showed anger and was always patient even when his enemies attacked him. He always offered peace.
He told the people about the message of Allah. The words of the Qur'an touch the hearts of many. Which lead to more and more people accepting Islam.
Answer: Just like any rassul, Muhammad (PBUH) too was gifted with miracles to convince people. However, the most important miracle is the Qur'an. At his time, there poetry competitions were very common, and when Muhammad (PBUH) brought some verses of the Qur'an, it leaved people speechless. You can read more about it in this article by Hamza Tzortzis.
Comment: Please consider and take into account these two points: 1- Quran was not wholly available at the time Muhammad (PBUH) started his public preaching. 2- One has to be fully aware of Arabic literature to understand that Quran is different from other Arabic poems. An Arab poet might become speechless in front of Quran, but what about an ordinary man, who does not know much about Arabic literature? My question: Suppose that you are an ordinary Arab man, in the exact time when Muhammad started his public preaching. What reason convinces you that he is the last prophet of God?
Comment: 1- Does not make sense 2- How is it possible?
Comment: @Meysam 1. It wasn't completely available but he did knew many ayat that leaved many poets of the time speechless. 2. No, even if you don't know the Arabic literature you can see that the nature of the Qu'ran is special.
Answer: The Quran he brought was simply a miracle for most of the people living at that time,  no one could come up with the words prophet Mohammed came up with. He also made prophesies and miracles


Statistics in physics

Question: What are the uses of statistics in physics? I am about to embark upon a study of statistics and I would like to know what the particular benefits I gain in physics.
Answer: Statistics are used in physics to provide a conceptual link between the 'macroscopic view' and the 'microscopic view'. For example, when studying gases, we can examine the statistical distribution of particle velocities and energies to gain an understanding of the relationship between the macroscopically observable quantities (pressure, volume & temperature) and the 'unobserved' or 'internal' (molecular-level) energies and velocity of individual particles which make up the gas. Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics are used to describe the distribution of particles at different energy levels as a function of temperature. This has can be used to gain insight into a wide range of processes such as diffusion.
Applying a statistical approach to thermodynamics can lead to a deeper understanding concepts such as temperature and entropy. For example, temperature can be understood statistically, as the average kinetic energy of atoms in a bulk material.
The statistical approach to thermodynamics produces some useful insights and applications in apparently unrelated fields such as encryption, communications and information theory through the development of an 'abstract' concept of entropy as a measure of uncertainty in a random variable.
The application of statistics to describe random (stochastic) processes such as Brownian motion has also proven useful in the derivation of the 'path integral' formulation of quantum physics.
Also in quantum physics, the application of statistics yields some fascinating results. Specifically, the statistical analysis of bosons (subatomic particles with integer spin) is can be described using Bose-Einstein statistics which has applications in a wide range of fields from superconductors, lasers and very low helium (condensed matter physics).
Applying statistics to fermions (subatomic particles such as electrons, which obey the Pauli Exclusion Principle) yields the Fermi-Dirac statistics which are used in the description of conductivity of metals and semiconductors and has application in the development of solid-state electronics devices such as transistors and integrated circuits.
On a broader level, the study of statistics provides a practical set of tools for testing hypotheses and estimating confidence intervals on aggregate data, not only in physics, but in all the scientific disciplines. In this sense, it forms the basis for the proper design of experiments, interpretation (significance) of data and correlation of information which ultimately underpins the development of modern scientific knowledge.
Comment: Another interesting use for statistical physics is to describe actual phase _transitions_. Thought I'd add that one to the list.
Answer: Regression is used everywhere where numerical data must be analyzed.
Statistical mechanics is applied large deviation theory.
Quantum physics is noncommutative probability theory and statistics.
Turbulence is stochastic PDE in space-time.
Quantum field theory is analytically continued stochastic processes in infinite-dimesnional spaces.
Comment: Very intresting answer. That clarifies alot to me. Although it might be because im on math.stackexchange :)
Answer: I can't vouch for your school, but I would imagine that the kind of statistics you do in a Statistics Major is different from the statistics used in thermodynamics. Thermodynamics is basically ensemble theory, permutations and expectation values.
I imagine that in a pure Statistics course, you will daily hear words like "Set theory, Bayesian, correlation, confidence level, Monte Carlo, Maximum Likelihood, Probability Networks. This is more the stuff that is needed for Data evaluation. You might find yourself among the physicists at CERN one day.
Answer: Landau in his famous letter explaining what mathematics is necessary for physicists have definitely expressed that all physicists need from statistics they get during the lectures on statistical mechanics. Form my experience I confirm that that is 100% true.

Statistics in physics


出生 vs. 出世 differences?

Question: I was watching a Chinese movie about the Monkey King (孙悟空), and after he sprung out of the rock, he said "我出世了". I looked it up and understood it to mean "I was born". Are the two terms interchangeable or is one more formal than the other?
Answer: 出世 has more use scenarios than 出生. When used for people, it's same as 出生 (出生 is used more commonly for this case); but it could be also used for things which come into being.

(1) [vouchsafe;come into being;be born]∶人的出生
(2) [come out;be published]∶问世;产生
(3) [be above worldly considerations;be not involved in the material
  world]∶超脱超脱人世束缚。佛教用语,佛教徒以人世为俗世,故称脱离人世束缚为出世
(4) [rise above this world]∶高出人世
Answer: 出生 is used for humans and animals mostly. 出世 is used in ancient novels for heroes and great persons, also used for lifeless things like treasures and rarities.
Answer: The quick answer is that 出生 means "to be born," that is to emerge from a womb and live on. 出世 means "to be reborn," in the Hindu/Buddhist sense.

出生 vs. 出世 differences?


Gas Furnace blowing hot air into room, flue is cold

Question: We have a 2-year old gas furnace connected to water pipes and radiators throughout the house. It just turned on for the first time this year and is blowing a large amount of very hot air directly into our basement from the front of the furnace. When and after it is lit the flue on top remains cold to the touch. It has not gotten too cold here yet and has only run a few times, but I noticed this when I was doing laundry and it was unusually hot in the room. I don't remember it ever putting out so much hot air in the past. We have a CO detector somewhat nearby and it has not been set off, but it seems like the exhaust is being released directly into the room and not exiting through the flue. We had a yearly checkup on the equipment only a few weeks ago and the tech said everything was OK, but it was still warm outside and he only ran it for a few minutes. I'm thinking this is cause for concern especially because in the next few weeks it will be getting quite cold and we'll be running it continuously. Has anyone seen a similar issue?
Comment: I'm confused that you describe this as a furnace and say it's blowing hot air, but also indicate that it heats your house via pipes/radiators. Most likely it's a hot water or steam boiler, and only heats water (and should not blow air). If it's a boiler and really blowing air, then the exhaust must be compromised. If it's not actually *blowing* the air mechanically, just emitting a lot of heat into your basement, that's actually normal for a boiler but you can minimize it by wrapping the pipes in your basement with insulation.
Comment: The flue may well be a double flue - in which case the outer metal may stay quite cool even if the furnace is running.  In addition, it is quite likely that your furnace is a condensing furnace (guaranteed if it is in Europe - don't know about US), in which case the flue gasses will be less than 100 C anyway.
Comment: Check the chimney/flue, to make sure it's unobstructed.  What is the make and model of the unit?  Usually furnaces have sensors to detect if exhaust is not going out properly.
Comment: Sharing a picture and make/model of the equipment would help clarify.
Answer: First:  The situation you describe I would consider borderline hazardous if not clearly dangerous. (CO poisoning hazard) Please do not continue to run this appliance under these conditions.
Now to my practical input;  I worked on boiler (we call this type of appliance a boiler) once that displayed this type of problem. The firebox in these things is lined with a fireproof insulation.  One of these blocks of insulation fell from the 'ceiling' of he firebox and dropped onto the top of the heat exchanger.  This blocked the normal flow path of the products of combultion up the vent and they were generously spilling into the room/house.  Once I reattached that block of insualtion back in its rightful place, everything was fine.  However, the boiler required a couple of hours of my time with a long handled wire brush and a shop vac to rid the exchanger of the resulting abundant soot buildup.
When natural gas does not burn properly, efficiently and completely the result can be and often is the generation of CO gas. This is a dangerous substance when inhaled especially for children and little ones; in can be fatal.  Please, when making decisions regarding the operation of these appliances, always put the health of your family first.


Restting password for primary Hotmail account on windows phone

Question: I do not want to do a hard reset as I am using phone, but I do not know the password. Can I reset the password somehow?
Answer: You cannot change the password from your phone, other than by logging on in Internet Explorer and doing it from there. If you do change your password via the Microsoft website (and to be honest, that's a lot easier to do on a normal PC), your phone will then prompt you to enter the new password without requiring a hard reset or losing any data.


Powering multiple external 12v devices (HDDs and Media player)

Question: I have two x 2TB external HDD drives with their individual 12 external power adapters and their usb outputs connected to a media player, which also has a 12 v external power adapter. What I'd like to know is - Can I purchase a single 12v power supply with three plugs for the 2 drives and the media player. I currently use up loads of wall power sockets - ie one for the media player, two for the drives. I'd like to reduce it to one ! Thanks.
Answer: Only if you can find it. Make sure that it provides enough current to power all three devices, and prefer ones with isolated outputs if you can find them so that power noise from one doesn't affect the others.
Answer: You can replace your 2 12V adapters by one, but you need to know how many Amperes you will need. If one adapter delivers 1 A and the other 2 A you will need to purchase a 12V 3A adapter. then you can cut the cable and make a PARALELL connection (not a serial one, that will reduce the voltage and may damage your devices or make them unable to work!)
Here is a little schematical construction of such connection:

also remember that you connect the wires (+/-) correctly, in most adapters you only have a BLACK wire and a BLACK with WHITE STRIPES on them. It's important to to connect the correct ones together, if not sure which is which, the adapter label should show which side of the pin is + and which side is -. then use a multimeter to ensure the configuration of the cables is correct.


What's the difference between "default gateway" and "preferred DNS server"?

Question: TCP/IP Properties of a network connection in Windows Server 2003 has two different options, "Default gateway" and "Preferred DNS server".
Answer: A default gateway is the host that your server will use when trying to connect to anything that's not on the same network as it is.  You can manually set up routes that it will use to get to specific networks, but in the absence of those it'll use the default gateway, hence the name.
A preferred DNS server (or servers) are what your server will use to translate domain names (like serverfault.com) into IP addresses (like 22.214.171.124).  You'll want to have at least two of these configured, so that you can still resolve DNS if one of them goes down.  If your server is in an Active Directory domain, you'll want the first DNS server to be the Domain Controller.
Answer: The default gateway is where all traffic destined for non-local networks goes to be routed to it's destination.
The preferred DNS server is the DNS server that will be used first for DNS name resolution.
Answer: What is Default Gateway?
A default gateway is the interface address of a router and a router's job is to intercommunicate different IP networks. The default gateway works as a gateway for IP address of a network to communicate with the IP address of another IP network.
What is DNS?
DNS resolves domain name such as Google.com into IP address such as 126.96.36.199. Normally there are two types of DNS resolution, Internal DNS and External DNS. Internal DNS works for internal Domain name resolution such as if we have multiple domain entries using windows Server, windows server will resolve those entries locally as those servers are present on same network.
However when we browse the Internet, we need external DNS resolution, for which we must know that how can we reach or communicate to external DNS which is actually IP address of a different network. Now we need router to route our packet from internal network to external network for domain name resolution. Now we type IP address of DNS server so that our computer can resolve DNS requests using external IP address but as that IP address is out of our network scope, now we send our packet to router interface which is our gateway address, router routes our packet to the DNS server IP address where our DNS request gets resolved and comes back same route of default gateway.
Therefore a DNS cannot work without a Gateway address as the packet has to be routed outside our networks scope.
Without a default gateway a computer cannot reach to DNS server as DNS is an address of different network.
Answer: Don't confuse a 'gateway' with being a DNS server (at times it can be) but most times it will not be, your gateway may provide you with DHCP (home router) while at the same time forward your DNS requests to your ISPs DNS server (making it seem @ home like your gw + dns are one in the same).
For the office / work env it usually shows up broken up, a gw, and a dns server (or more).
Answer: A very nice little tool to help you choose your preferred DNS server is namebench - http://code.google.com/p/namebench/ - Although your ISP will have provide you with the address of its DNS server, you don't have to use it - you can also have multiple DNS server addresses.  Namebench runs a series of tests and then gives you a very nice plot of the available DNS servers with the fastest response and a set of recommendations for Primary, Secondary and Tertiary DNS servers.


Why is a "fountain pen" so called?

Question: I was accused of using a fountain pen the other day (guilty as charged). Does anyone know why it is called so? The mess of ink I get on the page, the table, my person, etc when refilling it is certainly voluminous but can scarcely be described as a fountain.
Comment: @Third Idiot, yes, but I'd suggest the mess is more properly called a _waterfall_, or, when it settles down, a _boating lake_.
Comment: Can't you seem to draw a connection between the mess and a fountain of ink?
Answer: The earliest meaning for fountain shown by the OED is:

A spring or source of water issuing from the earth and collecting in a basin, natural or artificial; also, the head-spring or source of a stream or river. Now arch. or poet.

and a later meaning is "reservoir". When fountain pens began to be used, most pens were a quill only and had to be dipped into an inkwell every few words in order to replenish the ink.  Hence, the new style of pen was called a fountain pen since it included a reservoir.
Answer: Last time, the pens were what is called, a "dip pen". You had to dip in the ink periodically (messier than your fountain pen) in order to write. With the invention of a nib pen, people called it a fountain pen because you no longer had to dip, it just came out as if had a fountain of ink as its source within the pen, hence the expression, "fountain pen".
Comment: Dip pens (with swappable nibs) are still widely used in art and for fancy calligraphy (I guess because the lack of reservoir provides for nice effects as the ink runs out).
Answer: Whether it is a ball point pen or fountain pen, both have a reservoir. The ball pen works only when the point is at bottom and the reservoir is on top while writing. Ink keeps getting supplied to the ball point depending on the quality of the ink and it will not work when the ball point is on top and the reservoir is at the bottom. Whereas the fountain pen should work even when the nib is on top and the reservoir is at bottom, because the tongue under the nib suck the ink by siphon method from the reservoir. That is why it is called "fountain".
Comment: This is incorrect in almost all ways. Many ball-point pens do work upside-down, most notably the Fisher Space Pen, used by NASA. Fountain pens surely do not, however: the liquid ink would run to the bottom end of the reservoir and no amount of capillary action can bridge an air gap. Finally, the use of the phrase "fountain pen" predates the invention of the ball-point pen by over 200 years so the etymology of the phrase can have nothing to do with ball-points.

Why is a "fountain pen" so called?


What would've been the outcome of the Yom Kippur War had the UN not intervened?

Question: As a kid growing up in Egypt, we obviously had things in our official history textbooks that said that we "totally won that war", and I'm very sure that it's the exact opposite in Israel. So please, I want the answer to be completely objective. I want to know what would have been the logical outcome based on the forces at hand for both armies at the time. Would the destruction of the trapped Third Army by the Israelis prove to be the winning move? Would the Soviets have gotten aid to Egypt in time?
Comment: H:SE questions should not speculate on alternate universes where the UN didn't intervene.
Comment: Well, actually it's far from being the *exact* opposite in Israel.
Comment: What the Egyptian military won was *the respect of the Israeli military and population*. While less significant than a military victory, this was not insignificant either.
Comment: FYI to the OP: although I answered your question, technically, hypothetical, alternative futures are not considered to be on topic. The site is for ACTUAL history, not speculations about alternative ways history could have gone.
Comment: I understand, thank you either way guys :)
Answer: In Military terms, the surrounded Third Army would have had to surrender soon.  Egypt had no reserves on that side of the Canal, so a drive north to the coast would have cut off the other Armies as well.  This would leave the major cities along the Nile open to attack and occupation.
Adding a little political insight, aside from major power intervention, Israel has such a small army that even this kind of victory would be too great of a strain.  They would have to guard these prisoners and feed them, and any advance would require them to do the same to a hostile populace.  They really didn't have the ability to do this for long, if at all. It would be like having a tiny snake swallow a watermelon.
So the quick armistice was a relief to both sides.  Egypt did not have to see their army taken apart as in the Six Day War, and could console themselves with a very well run set of battles in the Canal Crossing and initial engagements that hurt Israel badly. Israel got the quick peace it needed and regained some confidence lost by that first engagement. Both sides learned that war can be a chancy thing, which eventually got them to the peace table at the end of the decade.
As for major power intervention, aside from the absurd idea of using strategic nukes on cities, the Soviets in particular had no way to change the force balance on the ground in time to do the military situation any good.  Remember, it took 5 months for the US, a nation far more equipped to ship troops worldwide to gear up for Desert Storm.  Where the Soviets could and did put forth pressure is to get an armistice quickly, which as I said was really in the best interest of all the players, even Israel.
Answer: It's hard to say what would have happened had the UN cease fire not happened, but the military situation on October 22nd greatly favored the Israelis on all fronts.
On the Syrian front, things were not looking good for Syria.  Israeli troops were 40km from Damascus.  The Israeli air force had superiority and had knocked out the Syrian air defense system.  Israel was focused on stabilizing the front to concentrate on Egypt.  Syria had been resupplied by the Soviets and was preparing a counter-attack and were bolstered by an Iraqi expeditionary force, however their track record against the Israelis did not bode well.
In the Sinai, both sides had crossed the Suez Canal, but the Israelis posed the much greater threat. The Egyptians would have to fight across 100 miles of the poor terrain of the Sinai to threaten Israel. With few roads, little cover, and outside their umbrella of SAM protection, the Israeli air force would have a field day.
On the other hand, Israeli forces were just 40 miles from Cairo and able to threaten Egyptian cities. Egypt had lost large numbers of armor and aircraft, and their vital SAM umbrella was being cut to pieces by the Israeli cross-canal counter attack. Their units in the Sinai were in danger of being cut off and the Israelis were preparing to reduce these pockets. The Israelis were about to take Ismailia, a major road and supply hub for the Egyptian units fighting at the canal.
At sea, the Mediterranean navies of both Egypt and Syria were defeated.  The small Israeli navy had the run of the coastline, bombarding installations and landing commandos at will.  The Gulf of Suez was blockaded damaging the Egyptian economy.  On the other hand, the Egyptians had blockaded Israel at Bab-el-Mandeb beyond their reach.
In short, Israel was no longer surprised and had the upper hand on all fronts and directly threatened the heartland of both Egypt and Syria.  While they were fighting a two front war, they had the option of switching to a defensive stance.  Militarily, the UN cease fire saved Syria, and particularly Egypt, from more defeats.  What Israel would have done had they actually conquered significant amounts of Syrian and Egyptian territories... well, they don't manage what they have very well as it is.
The wild cards included whether Jordan would intervene on behalf of Syria (post war documents suggest nothing more than a token), whether Israel would be able to keep up the pace in a two front offensive battle, and whether both sides would continue to be heavily supplied by their superpower sponsors.
Answer: It is difficult to say "won or lost" in a war like this. Egypt and Syria can be said to lose the war because they failed in their objectives in starting it.
What the ultimate outcome might be is incalcuable because both the US and USSR were threatening to intervene. At that point it is not Israel vs Egypt anymore, it is World War III, a war which the USSR could not possibly win and could have ended with the annihilation of their culture.
As far as the Mediterranean situation was concerned the Soviet block was at a huge disadvantage. The US and Britain have multiple bases in Italy, Turkey and in Gibraltar, compared to a single, small base for the Soviets in Syria. Strategically it was a losing war for the Soviets.
The Israelis demonstrated their superiority over the Egyptian and Syrian armies repeatedly, so as long as they continued to receive fuel and spare parts from the United States, there was no way they could lose.
In the end the United States forced Israel to accept a settlement (in their favor) rather than fight a larger war in the Middle East, which would have involved Saudi Arabia. However, there is no doubt that the US would have been prepared to go to any length to protect Israel, even if that meant going to war with the rest of the Middle East.
Comment: @CGCampbell During the Yom Kippur war Kissinger, the American Secretary of State held secret meetings with his Soviet Counterpart, Anatoly Dobrynin. Although the details of those discussions are private, there is no doubt that Kissinger made clear that if the Soviet Union attacked Israel, the United States would intervene in its behalf and the US made changes in its physical force deployments and defense conditions to make sure this was absolutely clear to the Soviets.


Connect C with MongoDB

Question: I need to connect MongoDB(database) with C language. I searched for it but I could not understand them. I am using c in netbeans. Is there any driver to connect or header files to be included. If it is then how can we do this.
Answer: Here is an open source libary for MongoDB in C language, you can check it on GitHub

Connect C with MongoDB


Mobile phone connectivity in Leh (Kashmir)

Question: I'll be travelling to Leh, Ladakh, India this August. Concerned about the mobile connectivity there. Is there mobile networks coverage in Leh and Pangong Lake area? If yes, is it good enough to use mobile internet?
Answer: Prepaid connections that are bought from outside the J&K state do not work in J&K (Leh is in J&K).
If you want your connection from else where in India to work in Leh you would need a post paid connection. Mobile phone connections from abroad which are post paid will work as well. I have tried a UK EE mobile sim and it works for both data and calls but it costs a leg and an arm.
Mobile networks that work in and around Leh:
BSNL : BSNL has the best network coverage and is some times the only network available in less populated or remote areas. Being a government run company they do not have much to do with profitability hence the availability is not restricted to only profitable areas.
Airtel : Availability is limited to dense to moderately populated areas only. You wont find Airtel where you need it the most.
Data connectivity : Both Airtel and Bsnl only have 2G connectivity with speed of 32kbps which is only good for messenger apps like whatsapp but uploading a picture will take very long time.
Mobile connectivity at Pangong Tso Lake : There is no mobile network at the Pangong Tso lake. The nearest mobile tower from Pangong Tso lake is at Durbuk (bsnl tower) which is a long way from the lake, that would be the last point of any connectivity both mobile and data. There is a Sattelite pay phone booth on the way to Phobran where calls are charged at Rs2 per min to call within India. Please do not use it if you do not really need it, it is subsidised by the government and uses tax payers money.
I have been to Ladakh many times and I have found BSNL to be the best option. If you come from Delhi or Mumbai your MTNL mobile (if it is post paid) will work fine on BSNL network and there is no data roaming charge. (This info was good until 10th of July 2016 when I was there).
Your options if you do not have a post paid connection :
You can request the hotel to help you buy a prepaid local sim card when you get to Leh.
Answer: Yes, you will have mobile connectivity. I used Airtel several years ago, worked pretty well.
You will need to buy the sim in Ladakh.
Naturally, you will have proper coverage in the Leh, but in the way or in the villages around much less change.
This website (Hebrew) have several useful tips (summary):

Sim card that bought in India won't work in Leh, Ladakh & Kashmir
Same for international plans
You need photocopy of your passport, tourist visa and passport photos.
Answer: The sim which you brought from outside the state do not work in Leh..you need to buy a new one..Airtel and BSNl works good in Leh..their network works properly than other network connection..
Answer: In 2015

BSNL Post paid - Calls and SMSes worked quite well. Internet worked mostly in popular places, otherwise GPRS.
Airtel post paid - You would get connection in popular places


Why weren't the Titans more powerful?

Question: In Immortals, the Titans battle the gods (i.e. Zeus and buddies).  In the film it's shown that the gods have extreme physical capabilities: mainly speed and strength.  When they battle the Titans though, it seems like the Titans are faster than humans, but nowhere near as fast as the gods.  As a result, the battle between them is practically a slaughter.  It seems to me that the Titans should have been at least equal to the gods, if not stronger.  Why were they so weak?
Comment: It's because humans pray gods, not titans. This makes gods more powerful.
Comment: That exactly stands the fact why they are called Gods.
Comment: You try standing in a cage with a bit in your mouth, unable to move, for a couple of thousand years and then we'll see how handy you are in a fight...
Comment: @user931 - Not in this film.
Answer: It boils down to poetic license (why don't they adhere to Grecian battle tactics and ancient Greek architecture?), but I am not sure I agree with your analysis. The way it looks, at least to me, is that the difference between the two sides is that the gods seem to be better warriors. In comparing them, I am reminded of Bruce Lee vs. your ordinary warrior (I once saw a film of Bruce Lee knocking a man halfway across the room without moving more than half a foot...). Imagine what a battalion of Bruce Lee's might do to a legion of regular warriors, even if the warriors were more well-trained than most.

As a side note, there are a number of different stories of the overthrow of an older generation of gods by a a younger, and in the case of the Greeks, that tale is largely lost.
My general experience with Grecian myth, however, is that the younger generation is considered less barbaric and more civilized (Titans largely being portrayed as cruel simpletons), which may be one of those cross-cultural undertones of generation warfare combined with the "natural man vs. civilized man" (cf. Epic of Gilgamesh). This would be similar to the Norse pantheon and their war with the giants. We, as a culture, have a tendency to have the view of "smarter = stronger = better" and give all of the good attributes to the heroes. This is a bi-product of our Greco-Roman heritage.

As another side note: Bruce Lee is the only one to ever beat Chuck Norris.
Answer: This is addressed in the back-story provided in the opening voiceover. In Immortals, the 'Titans' aren't the progenitors of the Gods, they're simply another faction of immortal beings who originally dwelled in the 'Heavens' alongside each other.
These two sets of immortal beings fell out (for reasons not given, but clearly fashion-related), and a vast war ensued. One side was evidently more numerous while the other side seems to have been more powerful individually. On top of that, one side was evidently more skilled in forging magical weapons which one assumes would add a +10d20 to every attack.

VO: There was a war in the Heavens. Immortals, once thought incapable
of death, discovered they had the power to kill one another.
Lost in
this war, was a weapon of unimaginable power: The Epirus Bow.
The victors declared themselves Gods. While the vanquished were
renamed Titans
Immortals: Transcript

After the battle, the remaining 'Titans' (those that surrendered or were captured) were imprisoned, while the Gods continued to dwell in Heaven and wear ever more silly hats and outfits.
Once released, much the same occurs as before. The more numerous titans attack the more powerful gods and while they may face individual defeat their sheer numbers wear down the god's defences.
Answer: Deities and Worship
The simplest answer is though the Titans, who were descended from the primordial beings of Uranus and Gaia may have given birth to the later generation of gods, the ascendancy of Zeus and his brothers/court, as well as their offspring directed the energy of worship from the earlier Titans toward themselves. During a great war between the Titans and the Olympian deities called the Titanomachy Zeus imprisons the Titans in Tartarus after the battle. This battle may have reduced the efficiency of some of the Titans since after their loss and replacement, they would no longer be gaining fresh spiritual energy in the form of worship from humanity.
There was a common theme of father against son among the Greek deities where Chronos rebelled against Uranus, and later Zeus against Chronos. Zeus would later fear the same from his own offspring, so he first imprisoned the Titans so they would no longer be a threat. Then for a time, he would even attempt to prevent a later generation of Gods from usurping his power by consuming any potential offspring. This did not stop Athena from eventually bursting free from his head, fully dressed for War. However, his libidinous nature ensured there were plenty of demigods out there, performing heroic deeds on a regular basis.
Comment: This answer presumes http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GodsNeedPrayerBadly , which I'm not sure is true of Greek deities.
Comment: @Thaddeus There is nothing in the source material to suggest that the Greek deities gain power from worship. The wars between different generations of gods happened when no humans existed, so even if your premise was true, they could have had no effect. The most important factors were all political - the victor in each generation won by gaining the help of older deities or the losers of the previous battle.
Comment: @Thaddeus Howze you also have not defended this statement: "The basic premise of all deities is that they need worship otherwise they would not exist". Nearly every belief system contains deities that existed prior to humanity - clearly they did not need belief to exist.
Comment: Nice reference from TVtropes. So you make a statement refuting the concept but don't explain why you think that the Greek deities would be exempt from the idea of needing worship. I don't see why they would not. The basic premise of all deities is that they need worship otherwise they would not exist. If we presume the existence of anthropomorphized  deities, the extension would be they would benefit from being recognized and worshiped. I am hard pressed to think of a deity that has ever been listed as NOT desiring worship except for the Cthulu Mythos deities.
Comment: @ThaddeusHowze this is a view which is in complete contradiction with some very widely held beliefs on the nature of deity - in particular the Christian Trinity.
Comment: Also - the Titanomachy occurred long before the creation of the human race.
Comment: And you only go on to prove my point. The Olympians, channeling the belief of Humanity would prove to be stronger than the Titans who likely did not gather as much worship from humans. This was likely one of the reasons Zeus was so focused on making sure he and his court were the most worshiped deities of their time, to ensure they remained powerful and were not supplanted by younger gods.
Comment: @ThaddeusHowze - The voiceover at the start implies that the Gods existed (and defeated the Titans) long before the humans were even around: ***"When this world was still young long before man or beast roamed these lands, Immortals: The War gods. There was a war in the Heavens."*** So prayer isn't why they won.
Answer: the gods beat the titans for several reasons they got the support of the cyclops( which built them super powerful weapons ) they also got the support of the one hundred handed ones, not only that but they persuaded some of the titans not to fight, and they also had their mother who helped a little bit to. But on top of that kronos was cursed by his dad his dad saying "If you do this to me then one day your own children shall do the same to you". So the titans may be more powerful but they were cursed so they couldn't win anyway.
Comment: I think you're referring to the original source myth, not the film that OP is asking about. There's zero evidence of any of those things ***in the film***.
Comment: whoops sorry your right about that lol I'll try not to do that again.
Answer: The reason they lost in the movie is because Immortals is based upon the Greek myths. In the Greek myths, the Gods beat the Titans.
Now why did the Gods beat the Titans in Greek mythology? The most straight forward is that the Titans were never worshiped. When man invented the myths, they would want their Gods to be the winners. It makes no sense to worship the losers of a great battle.
Answer: First of all I watched the movie the Immortals and failed to live up to the mythology. The truth is that the Titans are more powerful then the gods. The only reason the Titans lost to the gods was because Zeus promised many of the exiled and imprisoned giants freedom if they would fight on the side of the gods. You see Krunos the Titan would exile many of there offspring because they were born ugly or dis-formed. Before the battle of the Titans began the offspring of the Titan were promised freedom by Zeus if they would fight for him. There were the One hundred handers, the cyclopes and, other giants. So when the battle began between the Titans and the gods, the Titans found themselves out numbered. Plus there were Titans who switched alliance and fought on the side of the gods. The gods with all this extra help eventually triumphed over the Titans (the old gods) .

Why weren't the Titans more powerful?


VPN LAN-to-LAN via software?

Question: First of all, sorry my lousy english.
How can one setup a VPN LAN-to-LAN using only software?

On one side I have a Server 2003 R2, on the other ends, simple XP and W7 machines.
I have my software and SQL DB on the 1st server, and clients connect to it via Remote Desktop (fixed ip).  So far, so good...
However, clients now have a new device (access control terminal) and the software is installed on the server. The device itself can't be set up via it's own means.
The application sends a broadcast, detects the device and registers that device as a new access control point.
Also, the software must read the fingerprints from those terminals, so, a temporary connection is enough (no need to have routers with VPN capabilities).
From this point, all the comunications are done via FTP (using one machine at the client site), so, it's not a requirement to the VPN to be always online.
That's why my first question was about using only software.
I could use some laptop, with the same software and DB, go to all client sites, register the terminal and export the data to the main server, however, this leaves me again without communication when in need to register new people.

Will something like this be the best choice?
http://www.hoagieshouse.com/apps/IP_Tunnel.html
Thanks.
Answer: OpenVPN in bridging-Mode (aka tap) can accomplish that quite easily.
Comment: I'm trying that, I can't figure it out why is not working. Connection is made, but I can't ping from each side.
Comment: @FilipeYaBaPolido: We are running Windows-to-Linux-VLAN-Bridges successfully. What is wireshark saying? Did you bridge the tap-devices with the Ethernet nics?
Answer: Solved!
OpenVPN was working, problem was with the test pc (client side), ICS and IPForwarding weren't working like they should.

VPN LAN-to-LAN via software?


Upgrading SQL Server 6.5

Question: Yes, I know.  The existence of a running copy of SQL Server 6.5 in 2008 is absurd.
That stipulated, what is the best way to migrate from 6.5 to 2005?  Is there any direct path?  Most of the documentation I've found deals with upgrading 6.5 to 7.
Should I forget about the native SQL Server upgrade utilities, script out all of the objects and data, and try to recreate from scratch?
I was going to attempt the upgrade this weekend, but server issues pushed it back till next.  So, any ideas would be welcomed during the course of the week.
Update.  This is how I ended up doing it:

Back up the database in question and Master on 6.5.
Execute SQL Server 2000's instcat.sql against 6.5's Master.  This allows SQL Server 2000's OLEDB provider to connect to 6.5.
Use SQL Server 2000's standalone "Import and Export Data" to create a DTS package, using OLEDB to connect to 6.5.  This successfully copied all 6.5's tables to a new 2005 database (also using OLEDB).
Use 6.5's Enterprise Manager to script out all of the database's indexes and triggers to a .sql file.
Execute that .sql file against the new copy of the database, in 2005's Management Studio.
Use 6.5's Enterprise Manager to script out all of the stored procedures.
Execute that .sql file against the 2005 database.  Several dozen sprocs had issues making them incompatible with 2005.  Mainly non-ANSI joins and quoted identifier issues.
Corrected all of those issues and re-executed the .sql file.
Recreated the 6.5's logins in 2005 and gave them appropriate permissions.

There was a bit of rinse/repeat when correcting the stored procedures (there were hundreds of them to correct), but the upgrade went great otherwise.
Being able to use Management Studio instead of Query Analyzer and Enterprise Manager 6.5 is such an amazing difference.  A few report queries that took 20-30 seconds on the 6.5 database are now running in 1-2 seconds, without any modification, new indexes, or anything.  I didn't expect that kind of immediate improvement.
Answer: Hey, I'm still stuck in that camp too. The third party application we have to support is FINALLY going to 2K5, so we're almost out of the wood. But I feel your pain 8^D
That said, from everything I heard from our DBA, the key is to convert the database to 8.0 format first, and then go to 2005. I believe they used the built in migration/upgrade tools for this. There are some big steps between 6.5 and 8.0 that are better solved there than going from 6.5 to 2005 directly.
Your BIGGEST pain, if you didn't know already, is that DTS is gone in favor of SSIS. There is a shell type module that will run your existing DTS packages, but you're going to want to manually recreate them all in SSIS. Ease of this will depend on the complexity of the packages themselves, but I've done a few at work so far and they've been pretty smooth.
Answer: You can upgrade 6.5 to SQL Server 2000.  You may have an easier time getting a hold of SQL Server or the 2000 version of the MSDE.  Microsoft has a page on going from 6.5 to 2000.  Once you have the database in 2000 format, SQL Server 2005 will have no trouble upgrading it to the 2005 format.
If you don't have SQL Server 2000, you can download the MSDE 2000 version directly from Microsoft.
Answer: I am by no means authoritative, but I believe the only supported path is from 6.5 to 7. Certainly that would be the most sane route, then I believe you can migrate from 7 directly to 2005 pretty painlessly.
As for scripting out all the objects - I would advise against it as you will inevitably miss something (unless your database is truly trivial).
Answer: If you can find a professional or some other super-enterprise version of Visual Studio 6.0 - it came with a copy of MSDE (Basically the predecessor to SQL Express). I believe MSDE 2000 is still available as a free download from Microsoft, but I don't know if you can migrate directly from 6.5 to 2000.
I think in concept, you won't likely face any danger. Years of practice however tell me that you will always miss some object, permission, or other database item that won't manifest itself immediately. If you can script out the entire dump, the better. As you will be less likely to miss something - and if you do miss something, it can be easily added to the script and fixed. I would avoid any manual steps (other than hitting the enter key once) like the plague.

Upgrading SQL Server 6.5


Installation using Wubi froze after a network router reboot

Question: I have used Wubi installer to install Ubuntu in Windows. Its download progress stopped in middle due to a network router reboot. My Internet connection is fine now  but the download progress stopped.
Answer: You shouldn't have to reboot your router during Installation process. You have to uninstall wubi and reinstall again.


Are Japanese counters an adoption from the Chinese language?

Question: The Japanese language uses counters to count different kinds of items, animals as well as people such as 一本 to count a long cylindric object or 二枚 two count flat objects (in thi case two flat objects). However, I have been wondering if this system is original to the Japanese language or if it was imported and adopted from Chinese.
Comment: No, I'm asking if counters is a system the Japanese adopted from Chinese. I am asking if, for example, prior to having contact with the Chinese did the Japanese simply use their native numbers to count things (hitotsu, futatsu, mittsu, etc.) or counters (specific words/suffixes to count specific items) were always there in the Japanese language from the very beginning.
Comment: Are you aware of the relationship of kanji to Chinese? The whole kanji system was borrowed. Or are you asking if there are counters that predate kanji? The native numbers can also be written with kanji, presumably you know some of them, like ひとり and ひとつ.
Comment: Okay, I still consider the native numbers to have functionality that would be called "counters" so that was confusing to me, but you want to know if there were native words that were completely replaced and fell out of usage entirely after kanji was imported.
Comment: @Leebo there are lots of native words (ひと ふた 。。。 included) to which kanji were attributed afterwards, there could thus very well be counters that are purely native to Japanese even though they might be written with kanji nowadays. Also there are counters without kanji, such as つ.
Comment: @bjorn, yeah I mentioned those above, so it's definitely possible for the system to exist without kanji. I'm having a hard time imagining what counters other than the native numbers would look like, because even something like 匹 or 羽, which are counter words that use kunyomi readings, are paired with the onyomi numbers, not the native ones. But I guess you could have paired them with the native ones first.
Answer: Japanese already had counters before Chinese contact, but only a few.  After Chinese they increased a lot.
Old Japanese (Nara period, before the Sinification of the language) had a handful of true counters:

-pasira (modern hashira), used to count Deities and Emperors.

pîmê kamï yö-pasira [四柱] nö sumê kamï…
  the Princess Deities, the Four Imperial Deities… (2)

-tari/-ri, for counting people (still seen in 一人 hitori, 二人 futari, and in Old Japanese also mitari etc.)
The generic -tu (modern -tsu), used with most numerals (including 10000, yörö-du, but not all numerals; e.g. 100 momo, 10 töwö (> tō) or 500 ipo (>io) were used directly).  Maybe this began as a number suffix; but the contrast between e.g. ya-tu, never used for people, and ya-tari, only for people, means that by Old Japanese time it was starting to work as a very general classifier for anything non-human (animals included).
-ka for days, still visible in fossils like 二十日 hatsuka.

It had also had counter-style usage of words like:

-tuka 束 (modern tsuka), for a handful of grain (used in religious liturgies only).
-pê (modern -e), for layers, comparable to English -fold.

ama nö yapê-kumô [八重雲] wo…
  the eightfold heavenly clouds…

-maki 巻, for volumes;
etc.

This system seems somewhat incipient and limited; yet it provided a syntax for true counters, of the same type seen in other counter-based languages (that is, for expressions of the form "three X of Ys", where X and Y are not the same word, and X is not a quantity measurement, as in 三人の人/三つのりんご).  It's true that the system expanded explosively after Chinese contact: both the number and the usage of counters increased dramatically.  But Chinese-style counters probably only took so well to Japanese because Japanese already had the infrastructure in place.
Sources:

Downing, Numeral classifier systems: The case of Japanese.
Bentley, A Descriptive Grammar of Early Old Japanese Prose.