Is it necessary to have an Android device to learn programming for the Android?

Question: Is it compulsory to have an Android device to learn programming for Android ?
Currently, Java is my primary programming language.
Comment: See also http://programmers.stackexchange.com/q/19451/34069
Answer: Now Android Studio is the preferred IDE to create Android Apps. Also hardware-wise at least Intel Core i3 processor and 4GB RAM should be used for decent performance. Of course more the hardware, better it is.

We do a lot of Android development at our work.

>
  Is it necessary to have an Android device to learn & programming for the Android?
  <<

No, Android SDK and Eclipse ADT Plugin should be sufficient to get you started. As far as hardware is concerned any Core 2 Duo machine (or equivalent) with 2 GB of RAM should work fine. Emulators are slow to start but once started they work quite OK. The trick is not to close it once started ;-).
For advanced programming you will want a device, for example topics such as accelerometer and GPS. (Android emulator let's you emulate some basic GPS but for actual device is necessary to deal with real world scenarios.
Also if you are planning to do professional Android development be prepared to buy at least 3-4 models by different vendors running different versions of the Android OS as each have quirks of its own. Clients will often complain that the program doesn't work on X device with Y version of the OS.
Comment: I should make some emphasis in the **"slow to start"**
Comment: Nowadays instead of buying several devices for testing, one may prefer services like [Testdroid](http://testdroid.com/).  Also, Android VMs now support [hardware acceleration](http://developer.android.com/tools/devices/emulator.html#accel-vm) which mitigates the speed issue.
Answer: The Android SDK includes various emulators that you can run on your desktop system.  Be warned, some of the emulators are pretty resource-hungry; there are several I can't run because my hardware is simply not up to snuff.
It's not the same thing as running on an actual Android device, but it at least allows you to get your feet wet without having to spend money.
Answer: I would say no... if it's just for learning the framework, then I don't think you need one. I agree with Michael to the extent that if you're developing apps for users to actually use, then you want a real device so that you can get a real sense of whether your application is usable or not. But for the purposes of learning, the emulators will suit you just fine.
One caveat is that if you're trying to learn tablet programming for honeycomb, then you might need to invest in a device. I don't know if it's gotten better in the last month or so, but when I tried the Honeycomb emulator it was way too slow and completely unusable.
Answer: Not necessary, but...
The Android SDK provides you with virtual devices you can use on screen, but without responding to true touch events and seeing the scale of your application on a device in your hand I think it is a poor substitute to understanding how users will truly interact with your application.
Answer: It depends on what you are tying to learn.
If you're wanting to learn GPS stuff, location management, etc, then you do need an actual device.
If you want to check dynamic UI such as horizontal/vertical screen orientation, then again you need the device.
There may be more instances such as these. But for general basic examples, you do not need the device. The built-in emulator is more than enough.
Just figure out what you're trying to do and then decided whether or not you need a device.


Is there any good reason to buy Bitcoins?

Question: I've read the introduction to bitcoins. But the main question remains: what reasons could push me to buy bitcoins today?
Comment: Hmm, question might appear to be a bit localised, what do you all think? We probably can get some decent question out of it, but I can't really put my finger on what should be changed...
Answer: For speculation, you would buy when the price is low in anticipation that the price will rise in the future.
There are some signs that the currency is seeing wider use and has greater potential in the future.  For instance:
 - http://blockchain.info/charts/n-transactions
Concluding that that growth means that a bitcoin will be worth $4 or $2 or $32 by any certain date is more or less speculation though.
As far as why you might want to buy bitcoins today?
How about to participate in an online lottery where the jackpot payout return is 99% of the total wagers.  Beats the heck out of doing a scratch-off at the gas station.  Tickets are about $1 each.
 - http://www.bitlotto.com
How about for the novelty.  Have you ever bought a quart of pure maple syrup direct from the farm?
 - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=55594.0
or Alpaca socks?
 - http://www.grasshillalpacas.com/alpacaproductsforbitcoinoffer.html
or a Blue Canary Night Light:
 - http://bluecanarynightlight.com
How about to prove your brilliance?  Bets of Bitcoin is a predictions market.
 - http://betsofbitco.in
Maybe you want to purchase something and would rather that purchase not show on your credit card bill.  Or not.
Or maybe you want to make a purchase from someone on Craigslist and don't know if you can trust that they'll ship your order.  There are escrow services (with dispute resolution) available using bitcoins (compare BTCrow's 1% to escrow.com's $25 minimum fee):
 - http://www.btcrow.com
Maybe you want to send a few bucks to someone in another country as an expression of appreciation.  Bitcoin transfers are nearly instant and know no borders.
Comment: Bets of Bitcoin is not a prediction market.
Comment: Indeed - Bets of Bitcoin is not a prediction market, but predictious.com and fairlay.com are.
Answer: To participate in a disruptive technology
Many of the other answers are covering the investment angle, but also consider that Bitcoin is a disruptive technology. Bitcoin allows an individual the kind of control over their money which has never been available before in all of history.
This is a very big deal. It is now possible to send any amount of money, to anyone, anywhere in the world, anonymously (if you're very careful) in moments. This was not possible before now for a multitude of reasons:

governments restricting destinations / amounts
banks not having a presence in some regions
excessive fees (particularly for small amounts)
unreliability of some postal services

All of the above may or may not concern you, but they do affect the lives of many. By offering an alternative Bitcoin can potentially bring about a societal change in the same way that mobile phones and email have. Already the idea of sending someone some small change, in bitcoins, as a reward for their creative efforts has become commonplace to me.
The knock-on effect of this is to encourage that author or artist to produce more, and the world becomes enriched. In volume, those bitcoins can free them from a tedious day job and allow them to pursue their dream.
Surely, that's worth a bitcoin.
Answer: If you are a student from China, studying in the UK (say) - you can buy bitcoins on btcchina.com directly from your Chinese bank account, send them to Intersango.com and sell them for GBP, and transfer them to your UK bank account.
You can avoid having to send thousands of pounds to a British bank account to cover your expected expenses and instead just convert your money as and when you need it.
Answer:
Bitcoins are currently semi-low in value, if you think they will go up in value, they are a good investment.

One can expect their value to rise due to the bock reward being halved in about a year.

If you suspect your local currency or banks available to you to be unstable (say, you live in Greece and you want to stay away from the greek banks), Bitcoins might be a more preferable solution to standard banking. Nobody can steal your coins.
If you like new tech gadgets, getting to know Bitcoins as a possible new "thing" on the Internet might be up your alley.
If you are performing a lot of online money transfers, especially between countries, operating in Bitcoins can save you some money.
If you are dealing with people that already accept Bitcoins, it might be a necessity for you.

But in the end, there is no real reason to be "pushed" into using Bitcoins (at least currently). If you organically find Bitcoins to be a better solution for some problems you encounter, you can try them as an alternative. Other than that it's still a new technology for enthusiasts, computer-savvy people and speculators. If you don't find any reasons to buy them currently, chances are it might take some time before new reasons appear.
Comment: The kind of obvious reason is that you want to have some bitcoins for some reason, but don't want to run a mining rig. In that you need to exchange something else for bitcoin, that something else might as well be dollars or euros (or whatever your local money is)
Answer: While I like all the bullets in the other answers, for me they're currently more novelty than actual use.
IMHO, the major, number one reason to buy Bitcoin today is speculation. In some scenarios it could rise to $100, $1000, even $1,000,000 per BTC is not inconceivable. With this potential uptake, I think it's totally irrational not to invest some amount into BTC (it can be as little as 1 BTC if you're relatively bearish, but with today's prices, if you're bullish, you can still acquire a large chunk of BTC without tossing a fortune into it).
Comment: The crux of your argument is your estimate of the probability of reaching some value level.  That estimate is certainly debatable, making your claim about irrationality a bit of a red herring.  That is, your claim is that you believe with p% probability that the value will change by $X, so then you should invest $Y in BTC.  The rationality of that depends on your subjective estimates of p and X.  p could be < 50%, X could be negative.  The variance of these estimates could be large.  --- My point is that it takes a lot of work to convince oneself this is a good investment.
Comment: @cape1232 - I think it's a huge risk, but the probably of "winning" just can't be that minor. So, it's "easy to see" that the expected value from the investment is positive, even though the risk might be 99.99% - so it doesn't necessarily make sense to invest all your life savings in BTC, but it does make sense to buy just 1 BTC.


Can a foreigner setup an unstaffed company in United States?

Question: Let's say that a foreigner wants to sell products or services in US using a company there to save his/her clients of importing his products/services. Yet this hypothetical entrepreneur does not stay in US all the time, only when he goes to sell his products/services under a business visa. Which are the rules of such operation?
Comment: I've decided to ask a hopefully more clear subquestion of this: http://law.stackexchange.com/questions/622/should-a-foreigner-have-a-us-based-company-to-sell-through-amazon-cloud-based-wa?lq=1
Answer: You cannot work for a US Company on a B1 visa, that would require a work permit (H1B). Of course you can set up a US company, but I don't see the advantage in your scenario, it would only make sense if the company would have employees in the US. As a rule of thumb a B1 visa only allows you to do non-manual labor, like attending meetings, soliciting sales, negotiating contracts etc.
You cannot run a business or get paid by your US business.
What kind of products are you selling? It should be relatively easy to just ship them from overseas using a courier service.
Comment: Thanks for the answer. In the shown scenario the business person would not be doing manual labor, only sales and consulting about the products and services offered, and being paid by the company in the home country. Some american companies refrain from buying directly from abroad because they have to do all the paperwork of importation (at least is what they say). Thus this scenario seems to be totally legal. I just would want to know which are the regulations to follow.
Answer: Could you please clarify the way you want to use the US company? If the company has no employees, how is it supposed to do business? Somebody has to sign contracts on behalf of the US company or do the paperwork to import your products and you can't do either on a B1 visa.
Comment: Foreigners can set-up US companies with employees. The employees do all the work and the owner gets paid as a shareholder. Interviewing and hiring employees for your company is an activity allowed for holders of B1 visa.
Comment: Employees on B1 visas can consult on previously sold products (eg. software), but cannot get paid for the consulting. Only technical support covered under the original contract is allowed. Selling products on behalf of the US company or importing products for resale, on behalf of the US company, from the company in your country is illegal on a B1 visa.
Comment: I cannot state if this is a actual business that I am going to setup since it is against the site rules (no law counseling), but I can ask generically. I know that a company can have an attorney to sign contracts, thus the owners don't need to be present all the times. I also know that some business setup unstaffed offices in order to sell in american soil (I heard about IT companies doing that). And I also know that some companies send staff to the US constantly using the B-1 visa only when the need arises. I'm just curious about the legal details about such operation.
Comment: Thank you for your answer, it is very clarifying. I'm still curious about how can foreigners own companies in the US if they cannot do anything to manage them if they only have a B-1 visa.


Where does the Bible say along the lines of, "The weakest saint is stronger than the strongest demon?"

Question: This is definitely a biblical concept, and have heard similar to it I thought. But, when asked to find this by another, I am having little luck.
Comment: I'm voting to close this as off-topic because it is a verse search question.
Comment: @Matthew T. Scarbrough - Were you thinking of a hymn maybe?  William Cowper's hymn "What various hindrances we meet in coming to the mercy seat" contains the verse "Restraining prayer we cease to fight; Prayer makes the Christian's armour bright; And Satan trembles when he sees The weakest saint upon his knees".
Answer: This seems to be a chapter title from The Recognitions of Clement Book IV:

Chapter XXXIII.—The Weakest Christian More Powerful Than the Strongest Demon.
"Is it, then, that we are of another and a superior nature, and that therefore the demons are afraid of us? Nay, we are of one and the same nature with you, but we differ in religion. But if you will also be like us, we do not grudge it, but rather we exhort you, and wish you to be assured, that when the same faith and religion and innocence of life shall be in you that is in us, you will have equal and the same power and virtue against demons, through God rewarding your faith. For as he who has soldiers under him, although he may be inferior, and they superior to him in strength, yet 'says to this one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to another, Do this, and he doeth it;'[26] and this he is able to do, not by his own power, but by the fear of Cæsar; so every faithful one commands the demons, although they seem to be much stronger than men, and that not by means of his own power, but by means of the power of God, who has put them in subjection. For even that which we have just spoken of, that Cæsar is held in awe by all soldiers, and in every camp, and in his whole kingdom, though he is but one man, and perhaps feeble in respect of bodily strength, this is not effected but by the power of God, who inspires all with fear, that they may be subject to one.

1 Corinthians 10:13 gives a vague reference to this idea, but is not an exact match.

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
Answer: "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." -- James 4:7
Not close at all in the wording you're looking for, but the principle it conveys lines up.
Personally, I've always found this to be one of the most astonishing and wonderful statements in all of scripture.  You resist -- Satan flees.  Wow.
Answer: These signs shall follow them that believe: In my name they shall cast out devils. (Mark 16:17)
Comment: @curiousdannii In what way is this quotation not "along the lines of `the weakest saint is stronger than the strongest demon'"? The weakest saint is presumably a believer and is therefore capable of casting out devils. Wouldn't that make him/her stronger than the demons? And if it isn't saying exactly that, isn't it "along the lines of" that?
Comment: @curiousdannii I certainly agree that the strength involved is God's, not the individual believer's. But I'd also assume the same is intended in the question.
Comment: This doesn't say what the question asks for.
Comment: Nope, they're casting out in Jesus name, so it's Jesus who is stronger. Well that's how I'd interpret it. These questions are very opinion based, which is why we don't allow them.


How can I relocate a receptacle that cannot be removed from the junction box?

Question: We have an outlet recessed in a wood floor over a concrete subfloor. I want to build in a seating bench over that area, and extend the outlet to surface mount in the bench face.  However, the outlet screws are badly corroded and we can't remove the outlet from the junction box to wire in an extension. I would have to tear up the wood floor, and cut concrete to remove the receptacle.  Is there some option for leaving the existing outlet in place, and plugging an extension into it, then running to a new surface-mounted outlet?  Doesn't sound like something that would meet code, but I'm looking for any possible solution.
Comment: Are we talking about an outdoor outlet?  What worries me is that if is too badly corroded to move and facing up from the floor then perhaps water is getting to it and that is ... dangerous... to say the least.  Is there anyway you can provide pictures of your situation?
Comment: Depending on the design of the bench, you may not be able to splice the circuit in the junction box anyway. Doing so could lead to a hidden splice, which is a code no-no. [This question](http://diy.stackexchange.com/q/16263/33), or [this question](http://diy.stackexchange.com/q/10451/33) might help you remove the screws.
Answer: I would suggest trying harder to remove the screws before I started to rip up the floor; ripping up the floor to fix an electrical outlet/box just seems way to extreme.
If the screw head is stripped, use a specialty bit to remove stripped screws.  If it's rusted, try to use some penetrating oil (turn off the power first!).
As a last resort against the screws, you can drill out the screws and use a new tapping bit to create new larger threads for new screws.
If all that fails, just bust up the outlet (again, power off!) so that you can remove it or at least get access to other parts of the box so you can cut/grind whatever you need to remove it.
Answer: You can't be code compliant with an extension cord. Using a cutting wheel on a Dremel tool, cut the slots deeper into the mounting screws (power off). Squirt with rust penetrant and then remove the screws. Then remove the receptacle. You'll have to install a cover with a knockout or a box on top of the old box. Then run conduit and wire from the knockout or new box to the new location.


What are some of the task planning tools people use in academia?

Question: I have used simple excel-style Gantt Charts to create a high level plan of tasks for the academic semester, noted the end times depending on conference and grant deadlines, and then managed my time according to the deadline. I have also added details under each task as the semester proceeds. I am wondering if there are better task planning & management tools that people have used, especially when they are working on multiple projects with different deadlines?
Comment: A frivolous comment: although I certainly do recognize the issue, my own sincere answer would be "none"... although I do acknowledge that I may be one of the "grandfathered-in" "old people" who "are not compliant". In any case, I write paper notes to myself, and try to TeX them suitably (I'm a mathematician) and back them up suitably.
Comment: I am a bit old fashioned with this - I have pieces of paper in a very large physical Gantt chart on my wall.
Comment: @paulgarrett my system does not crash - unless the wall collapses
Comment: I find Mac OS X's Notes application does the job rather well :) For a long-term todo list, you just make a multi-level bullet point list under different headings, and cross things off when you're done. I sometimes cherry pick some of the tasks into a short-term todo list (e.g. for a weekend), and then update the long-term todo list again once I'm done.
Comment: The problem with a simple bullet list is that there is no time tracker. I cannot keep track of deadlines easily or even the amount of time I am investing on each item. But I do see the value in simplicity.
Answer: I have tried many kinds of the task planning apps/softwares for organizing reseach projects. At the end of my search, I interstingly find that ('old school') simple online spreadsheets (Google sheets or Microsoft excel etc.) are the best tools  by many standards as outlined below.

Simplicity: Just make a column for date/time and rest can be the variables such as name of the project, members of reaserch group etc. The  entries in each row can be task planned for each member.
Customizability: Every project is likely be different from each other. So rather than sticking to the pre-alloted platform, spreadsheets allow wide canvas to add all and any kinds of variables (eg. holidays etc.) into your plans.
Sharability: Applications such Google sheets and Microsoft Excel are well developed, cross-platform tools which allow user friendly sharability and simultaneous editing by multiple users.
Quick analyses: Since it's a spreadsheet afterall, one can easily plot numerical variables such as time wasted per day, number of pages written per day etc. This allows pretty good real time progress reports of the projects.

I would therefore recommend spreadsheets!
Answer: A different approach would be the Kanban board, which you can use using online resources (like Trello) or simply sticky notes or a whiteboard. The concept revolves around listing your pending tasks, the tasks you are actually performing, and the completed tasks. As you complete your different activities, you move the respective sticky note from the "In progress" group to the "Completed", hence you have more room to move a new activity from the "To do" group, to the "In progress" column.


Why doesn't Ubuntu Touch support multiple users?

Question: Why can't Ubuntu mobile os support multiple users just like the desktop edition, capability of creating multiple user accounts. What is it that Ubuntu desktop OS support multiple accounts and not in Ubuntu mobile OS? I know the one is meant for a mobile devices and the other desktop pc? So in general whats the difference between two? Thanks very much.
Answer: I'm pretty sure that the reason multiple users is not available in Ubuntu Touch is that it is an operating system mainly for phones and tablets and those are usually just used by one person.  Ubuntu Desktop does support multiple accounts because sometimes families just own computer and all the people in the family use just that one with separate accounts  But I see your point.  It would be good to have multiple users, especially on tablets.
Comment: Eh, I don't think that's a valid answer. Android and Windows both support multiple accounts on tablets.


How to document user interviews

Question: What are the best practices to document interviews with users - do you just document the conclusions and take aways or do you do a full transcript or both?
Answer: I would guess that anyone actually working in UX would not have the time to do a full transcript for each interview.
I typically get permission to record the interview with my phone and make a few short notes from time to time as i go. I will listen to the full recording later in case I missed something important. I find a simple spreadsheet document with a sheet for each interviewee each containing a column for the questions, another for the corresponding responses works well.
In the rare event that I can't get them to let me record, then I simply need to work harder on live note-taking and lose a lot of the 'conversation' element of the interview.
When presenting findings to others, I naturally I summarize the important points with some visual data like pie charts etc. alongside some key quotes from the interviews - I sometimes tie them to personas.
Hope this helps.
Comment: A recording is useful if you need to double check stuff.  If you've got a budget for it, getting someone else to transcribe it makes it quicker to find key content than having to wade through hours of recordings.  Taking notes is essential to capture points that you need to clarify in the course of the interview.
Answer: There is no best practice :-)
You're doing a user interview for a purpose. The output from that interview needs to be something that's fit for that purpose.
For example, currently we're doing some user interviews to validate some assumptions we've made about how a particular product idea will be used. All we're doing there is taking some notes during the interview on post-it notes, heaving them up on the wall back at the office, and affinity diagraming the heck out of 'em. Because doing any more than that would be a pointless waste for our context.
Always approach deliverables like any other UX problem. What's your working context? What does the end-user of the output from your user interviews need? That'll give you the clues you need to figure out the best deliverable (if any - a conversation might be best - depends on your context).
Comment: +1 for "approach deliverables like any other UX problem"
Answer: Typical user interviews have two aspects:

Documentation for conducting the research :
This includes, at minimum the Interview Discussion Guide, Consent form, Screener questionnaire and Compensation form.
Documenting the actual user interviews: The fastest method for us has been to convert the entire Google sheet to a Google form (for Quantitative insights) and leaving 'short answer' format for qualitative insights. This method leads to automated time stamping, compiling and data viz.

Another way is to utilise two colour post it (for user testing) where Colour 1 captures observational with timestamp insights and colour 2 signifies direct insight (a comment/clause) from the user's end.
Answer: A full transcript isn't necessary if the session is recorded - instead, I've always delivered user testing results in the following broad format:

The essential takeaways; identifiable actions and conclusions
Answers to the key questions set out in the test plan; augmented with direct quotes and cases only if they elucidate the argument
Table of tasks, detailing how successful users were in completing each action
Elements that still require clarification or further testing

If you feel that isn't quite enough for your stakeholders, something else you can do is invite them to observe a session remotely with the observer. This is a good opportunity for them to converse with the observer and for the observer to hopefully make the case for UX's claims.
Comment: Oh, thanks for your answer. My question was more about user interviews in order to understand for examples the scenarios behind using a website than regular usability tests.
Comment: @TonyBolero - in that case, most of the same remains valid - present people with conclusions and answers to the questions you identified as necessary to answer, and quote users only when it elucidates your argument. You'll usually have a recording anyway, so a transcript is still unnecessary.

How to document user interviews


How do I start a chat room?

Question: How do I open a chat room in chat? Do I need more reputation or something? Is opening a room possible?I couldn't find any mention of it in the chat faqs, or anywhere, and I tried asking this question in the sandbox, but no one answered.This should really be explained in the faqs.
Answer: It's a privilege you gain with 100 reputation: https://gamedev.stackexchange.com/privileges/chat-rooms, but there is no mention of this in the chat faq: http://chat.stackexchange.com/faq. Maybe a note should be added.
It should also be noted that all chat rooms are public and indexed by google. The only reason to make chat rooms is to not disturb those in other channels.
Answer: When you open the chat window (chat links in on upper right) you get a message box

Welcome to The Stack Exchange Network chat! You'll need 20 reputation
  to talk here. This site is moderated by the community, so please be
  respectful of your fellow The Stack Exchange Network users. And while
  you're at it, check out the FAQ!

I don't know about opening new rooms though.

How do I start a chat room?


Can I cancel auto insurance for the car at home while travelling abroad?

Question: I am a resident of North Carolina and will be travelling outside US for a few months. Thus I will not be driving my car while gone. I'll either leave the car in a garage for storage or leave it for my cousin to drive. In either case, can I stop my car insurance and resume it after I come back to US?
Comment: DId you try calling your insurance agent?
Comment: If you have a lien on the car, you probably can't cancel the insurance.
Answer: Yes
I have done this frequently (with AAA), however it's not quite a full cancel, as you would probably want to leave insurance against theft/flood/etc. (will be required if you don't own your car outright) but it will drastically reduce the rate.
There are also two "flavors" of doing it, you can tell them until when, or you can leave it at "until you inform them otherwise", which will typically end up with you paying less right now but an equivalent amount as the other option by the end of the year/term.
Also plan on the insurance only being able to be changed on a work day, i.e. if you return Saturday, and plan to drive Sunday, have it with driving insurance on Friday (or see if you can schedule it for Sunday).
Comment: Having some coverage even when the car is in the possession of your relative would be a good idea, especially if their coverage isn't a good as yours. You also might have to provide proof of insurance to the lender if you have a loan.
Comment: Thanks for the reply, it is helpful. Paying insurance against theft/flood if my car is stored in a garage make sense. Though I am still slightly confused about the other option. If I leave my car with my cousin, he'll have to include the car under his insurance plan. In such a scenario I believe I should be able to cancel my insurance completely since having two insurance by two different people on the same car doesn't make sense, right?
Comment: @AbbyJ I would check with the insurance company, but I don't think that they will be able to insure it without you giving the car (title transfer) to them, AND had them store it (i.e. not at your address)  - and even if you did, then their insurance would increase a proportional amount, similar to how much you would be saving.
Comment: @user2813274: I don't think you would necessarily need to transfer title.  In the past, I've taken out an insurance policy in my name on a car I didn't own.  The insurance company didn't mind at all.


Is it possible for a Demon to use a breathing style technique?

Question: I am just wondering since it doesn't have any requirements pertaining on using breathing style techniques you just only need to learn how to use it with proper training, Does it mean it is possible for a demon to use it?
Answer: Yes but I might be wrong in some details;

 Kokushibo is a member of the Twelve Demon Moons, holding the position of Upper Moon One. In his Human life, he was a demon slayer who trained him by a Breath of Wind user. And now as a Demon with an adept Demon Slayer Breath style(Breath of the Moon).
Comment: Your answer is right but You should put a label of SPOILER ALERT. :)
Comment: I don't think he used the Breath of Wind.
Answer: Another demon who uses a breath style is,

 Kaigaku "Kaigaku (獪かい岳がく Kaigaku?) was a Demon Slayer in the Demon Slaying Corps, and Zenitsu Agatsuma's senior disciple under Jigoro Kuwajima. However, he became a demon to save his own life and became Upper Moon Six of the Twelve Demon Moons, replacing Daki and Gyutaro. " Kaigaku .

He uses thunder breath style.


Invalid IPA when building through command line

Question: I am currently having issues creating an IPA file through the xcode command line tool (xcodebuild and xcrun). I first run the following:
xcodebuild -scheme scheme -sdk iphoneOS6.0 -arch armv7 -configuration config clean build#
where scheme and config is the relevant scheme and configuration
I then run
xcrun -sdk iphoneos PackageApplication -v appPath -o ipaPath -sign codesignature
where appPath and ipaPath are paths to the app and ipa and the codesignature what I am signing the ipa with. I have also tried embedding the provisioning profile
The process produces an ipa file however when I try to drag it into itunes it tells me that it is not a valid IPA. I have also tried this process through ad hoc distribution process via Archive in xcode and managed to create a valid IPA, however as I am trying to automate the process this isn't really what I want.
Any thoughts why the IPA would be invalid?
Thanks
Answer: You've forgotten to --embed your provisioning profile.
I do something like this
xcrun -sdk iphoneos PackageApplication -v -o `pwd`/out.ipa --sign "iPhone Distribution: Company Name (ID)" --embed /path/to/mobileprovision


How can I paint a wooden desk with a rubberised feel?

Question: I've acquired an old wooden desk that is just varnished wood. I would like to paint it but with the rubberised feel I have seen applied to some metals. I'm not sure if this paint exists for wood, but maybe it's possible to mix it manually? I've seen rubberised paint advertised for industrial uses like railings etc
Comment: Like a bed liner for a truck?
Comment: @james i suppose so?
Comment: If that is what you are going for you would be better suited using a metal desk...I have no idea how well that would adhere to wood.  That is a pretty specialized coating...do you have any more detail on what you are trying to do, or an example picture?
Comment: A picture of the desk you have wouldn't hurt either.
Answer: I would prime the desk and then coat it with Redgard.   Sand after your prime.  Put the Redgard down in thin coats with a foam roller and it will turn out very smooth.  After 2 days it stiffens and will become very durable (and waterproof).
Comment: I concur with @DMoore, or you could use any elastomeric deck coating. Check your local paint shop or home center, and prepare the wood as directed. Note: some elastomeric deck coatings have an anti-slip (rough) texture additive.
Answer: You can use truck bed liner, have it applied by a shop that can adjust the texture for you.  There are two kinds of applications, hot and cold.  From what I understand, cold can allow for smoother coats, as it takes longer to set.
I'm sure you could do it yourself, but I've seen so many botched jobs.  If you do pursue that route, take a look at Raptor liner.
You could also try Plasti-Dip!
Answer: They sell spray-on-rubber-in-a-can now:

Check that it adheres to wood first, but if it's primed properly, it should.


Would Mud Prevent Sunburn?

Question: If you had no sunburn cream, would it work to cover your exposed skin in mud and gunk as a crude way to prevent sunburn? I have never tried it. I have tried using paper tissues on my face as a sun blocker; that didn't work well.
Answer: Yes, mud would work to give some protection from the sun, this is in fact exactly what rhinos and hippos do to protect their sensitive skin in the African safari. If I recall correctly mud protects from the sun best while it is still wet, once it has dried it loses much of its protective quality
Comment: I wonder if that's because once it dries it will tend to flake off leaving areas uncovered. [Water itself has very low absorbance in the UV](http://www1.lsbu.ac.uk/water/water_vibrational_spectrum.html)
Comment: @ChrisH would make perfect sense to me, even if it didn't flake off entirely dried mud cracks which would leave gaps, evaporation of the water may help as well to keep the skin cool
Comment: These sorts of animals also wallow in mud to keep cool and protect from biting insects, so it's not just about sun protection.
Answer: This could be effective. Anything opaque that blocks the sun's rays from reaching your skin will be effective at preventing sunburn, whether that's a hat, the shade of a tree, or a layer of mud smeared on your skin. Some animals, like pigs or elephants, will cover themselves in dirt or mud as a means of protecting themselves from the sun. I can't say how effective it is compared to proper sunscreen, but it's certainly better than nothing.

Would Mud Prevent Sunburn?


What plants can grow in bathroom humidity with no direct sunlight?

Question: I would like to have a plant in my bathroom, that can absorb the humidity when I shower, so that no attention to irrigation would be required. The bathroom however doesn't have direct sunlight.
Comment: Bromeliads come to mind, although no plant will do *all* the dehumidifying for you. You should have a vent for most of the humidity.
Comment: No direct sunlight is a good thing for many plants, but I just want to check that you don't mean there's no daylight, in other words, no window at all.
Comment: No daylight - there are no windows at all. and i don't need it to dehumidify all, I meant the plant would have all it needs from the humidity.
Answer: The only plants that can live and grow without being directly watered are called epiphytes. Some common ones grown as houseplants include:

Ferns, especially Staghorn ferns
Bromeliads, especially Spanish moss,
Jungle cacti, like Rhipsalis
Orchids, (Cattleya and Cymbidium come to mind)

All of these plants, however, require light, preferably right filtered light out of direct sun. This means that they will suffer and decline in even a normally bright bathroom, when all the other conditions are met. You need supplemental lighting, especially as you don't have windows. A 150-300 watt led grow light at a 3-4' range should work. These plants are all equatorial, so daylength (how long you need to leave the light on) will be about 12 hours per day.
Watering shouldn't be necessary, but they require high humidity at all times, and a daily/twice daily misting of the stems, root area, and leaves is beneficial. The temperature should stay over 65 degrees F. at all times, but if it goes over 80, the high humidity is even more important.
About pothos. It is a very resilient plant, and can take a lot, but it needs to be watered regularly, as it grows in soil as other plants do. Unfortunately, there is no plant that will be entirely independent with watering, so if you really can't pay attention to your plant, then do as Bamboo suggests, and get a fake plant.
Comment: spanish moss is very interesting, especially as a shower curtain, but it would be difficult to supply lighting in an efficient way for it.
Answer: If there is no natural light of any description in your bathroom, I'm afraid that means a plastic plant - all living plants need light, even shade loving plants, so unless you substitute a growlight in your bathroom and leave it on for the required number of hours, fake plant it is. Which also, of course, won't need watering...
Answer: (merging @Bamboo's, @J-Musser's and @treeNinja's answers to a community wiki)
With growlight
Plants suitable for high humidity:

Pothos
Orchids
Bromeliads

Lighting:

UV light source should be timed.
Water-proof LED

Placing suggestions:
The plants should be placed within close proximity to the UV source, to avoid using high power lighting.

On top of a cupboard.
A small shelf hanging from the ceiling.
Between the sink and the mirror.
On the edge of the bath next to the wall are interesting locations.

Without growlight

Plastic plant
Wallpaper
Answer: Would there be indirect light from a window or would the only light be from a bathroom light fixture?  Some light is important.
Pothos come to mind because they can handle higher humidity and do not require a lot of light.  The an survive in a small pot with some dirt but grow quite long and large.  Look for dark rich green leaves.
Orchids also love humidity and warmer temperatures.


Wanting to breed my rabbit once and then get them fixed, but is it possibly to then later slowly intergrate them all back together?

Question: I have 2 female and 2 male rabbits and I want to breed them. The thing is, I only want to breed them one time and then get them all fixed, but I'm scared that if I wait and breed them afterwards, I won't be able to slowly and eventually put them all in the same cage. Is it possible to slowly bond the rabbits, or is it impossible due to hormone changes and stuff that have already developed? I read that after hitting puberty, rabbits become more aggressive. Will this change if I get them fixed later on?
Comment: @lila :) Thank you :) My learning curve was abrupt ;)
Comment: @Allerleirauh it means "neutered".
Answer: Your question is fairly complex.  We have several existing posts that talk about some of the specific issues you will face. For the most part I will include links to our existing posts for more detail.
The question does not indicate the current age or living arrangements of the 4 bunnies.
Even if you want to have baby bunnies it is important that you keep the girls and boys separate. Read more at Pet Rabbits, Double Pregnacies, and Keeping the Buck in with the Doe.
If your rabbits are 6 months old or less, it is really hard to tell the girls from the boys, so hard that some people suggest that they can change gender.  Read more at What causes rabbits to spontaneously change gender? &  How to tell sex and spay/neutered of rabbit?.
Assuming you have 4 young rabbits living together now, you need to separate them, but at the same time that can be hazardous to them as well.  Read more at Can bonded rabbits die of loneliness?.
On the other hand if you don't separate them, putting aside all the health issues for the mother bunny mentioned above, they are still likely to hurt each other. Read more at Do rabbits fight each other to the death?.
Best case, Currently, you have all 4 bunnies living separately.
You will bring a male and female together for a couple of minutes when ready to breed, then keep them separated. Read more at Unsuccessful rabbit mating. Additionally you are not going to want the two girl bunnies living together when they have babies, or they are likely to harm each other's kits.  Which is further reason you need to keep the girls separate from the beginning.
After everyone is spayed/neutered/fixed You need to wait at least 30 days before attempting to bond them.  All of my bunnies have been rescue bunnies and most were fixed at around 2 years old.  With one exception they have all formed bonds with other rabbits.  So it is very possible you can have them living together in at least 2 groups of 2.  Getting all 4 to live happily together is possible, but would likely take months of work, to be successful.  Read more at Aggression between desexed male rabbits & Rabbit integration tips & tricks?.
Summary Yes it is possible

"to breed my rabbit once and then get them fixed, but is it possibly to then later slowly intergrate them all back together?"

But the path is very difficult.  Read more at rabbit bonding posts.


How can I cut up large videos into clips, then reorder these into a new video?

Question: All I want to do is take large videos, cut them up into small clips, and then reorder those clips into a new video. Yet this seems completely impossible to do with Final Cut Pro X… it can't be impossible because this must be a common need but it won't let me copy the cut clips into the media library and if I can't do that how can I do this? Why is this so hard to do?
Comment: FCPX is nondestructive to the source video.  It does let you select portions of source video, put them on a timeline, and trim them as necessary, but it will not reduce your original media in any way, even if that's what you're trying to do.  All other NLE's support media management to reduce file footprint..  So, if you want to permanently delete the unused portions, you'll have to manually export the used portions, and then delete the originals.  See my question here: https://video.stackexchange.com/questions/7455/is-is-possible-to-trim-portions-of-clips-in-fcpx-to-save-disk-space
Answer: The clips you cut in your timeline can't be copied into the media pool because technically these aren't individual clips yet. Just references to the original media. You can rearrange these easily in your timeline. Just drag and drop clips in your timeline. Everything will move around the clip you change position.
Comment: When you cut a clip in two parts you can add a different clip "into" this cut and the second half of your initial clip will move out of the way. There is no need to delete the second half and then later add it again.
Comment: Thanks Hugh, these are good solutions. It probably depends on the workflow and how long this "rest" would remain in the timeline. If it is just a short time, I would insert a larger Gap to move the "rest" out of my view and do the changes in front of the Gab. When I'm done, I delete the Gab, and the "rest" is back. For lengthier or more complicated work, your methods are admittedly better.
Comment: Sure. But let's say I have a clip, and I've used the first half of that, edited it, etc. And now I want to put a different clip after this first half. So, I delete the second half. And add the second clip in instead. Now of course I can retrieve the video from that second half again, but 1. it will take me a minute or two to find the right place. 2. There are two clips stuck together, and I don't want to have to realign them again. I mean, for the second issue I can create a compound clip. But it'd be nice to be able to somehow 'store' a reference to the the second half of each of these clips.
Comment: Sure, one *could* do that. But I don't really want it cluttering my timeline. You can say that's because I have a tiny brain, and I'll agree. I actually came up with some ways to handle this issue. But I've put them in a new question https://video.stackexchange.com/questions/35494/ive-got-half-way-through-editing-a-clip-on-the-timeline-now-i-want-to-delete-t I also describe them in a youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8vvWpBSTy4
Answer: Calm down. Final Cut Pro X is a software for professionals and as such requires a certain investment of time until you can work with it. If you are not willing to do this you should look for a simpler tool.
Yes, of course it's possible to do what you want, but to me it sounds like you don't know the basics of how to operate the software. To get you started, these videos might help you:
Introduction
Blade Tool
Answer: When you import clips into Final Cut Pro and make a project, they should all show up in that project. If you want to put specific clips in the timeline, then you need to select the specific part in the window that includes all your imported media. None of the imported media will go away if you do this. Once you import the media, it doesn't matter how much you cut it up when editing, the media will still be there.
Comment: Just for clarification, when you cut out a specific piece from one long clip to use in your timeline, the original clip remains intact. Don't think of it as cutting out that specific bit, think of more as copying it into the timeline. It doesn't disappear, you are just making a replica.
Answer: It's certainly possible to drag all of your clips to the timeline, then chop out the parts you don't want, and then drag-and-drop the remaining pieces into the order you want. I used to do that with the old-school version of FCP (prior to FCPX), and it still works. (In fact, as you do this, it closes gaps where you delete parts of clips, which is very convenient.)
Or, you can play the clips in the bin using J/K/L to control playback, I/O to mark in and out points, and E to take that part of the clip and throw it into the timeline at the end. So you could hop around in the clips in the bin, throwing pieces you want into a rough cut in the timeline without ever touching the timeline.
Or, you can play through the clips in the bin and use markers to remind you where you're hearing/seeing things you really want to use, then go back and do the I/O/E thing to throw them the timeline. (You can be a little loose and fast with your I/O since you can always expand your clips in the timeline to reveal parts you missed with your I or O.
And you have options other than E to put pieces of clips in the timeline at places other than the end. (And you can drag-n-drop highlighted pieces of clips into the timeline.) For example W will insert the currently selected piece of a clip into the timeline at the current playhead or if you move your cursor down into the timeline it creates a red line where the insertion will occur. You could literally jump to 5 places in your timeline and insert your clip 5 times in about a second if you wanted to.
If you're envisioning cutting clips up and arranging them in the bin, FCPX doesn't work that way as far as I can tell. If you're troubled by the pieces of clips sliding around in the timeline to close gaps, that's the storyline concept of FCPX: you have a main storyline that closes gaps and to which you link supporting elements, above, that move with the part of the storyline they're attached to but that do not close gaps when edited/deleted.
FCPX is different from most editors and from prior versions of FCP. It's relatively affordable, but it's very much for professionals who expect to use keyboard shortcuts, want to work super-efficiently, and don't mind learning the foundational concepts that FCPX is designed around.


Professor reaction to sci-hub articles

Question: Suppose hypothetically I download certain new research articles from sci-hub which I read and eventually liked. Now if I contact the authors for follow up question/discussion, then is it a good idea to tell them that I read their papers through scihub (if they ask me how did I get I came across his paper).
Comment: Even if the chance of them caring is small, why do you need to mention where you got those papers in the first place?
Comment: Related, if not duplicate: [Is it illegal to cite books that were illegally downloaded or accessed from a library?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/13117/7734)
Answer: I cannot tell you what authors would care in general, but I can tell you that most authors I know would not care at all. No one gets a dime from a paper anyway.
I advise you however to not mention such a detail: it's actually irrelevant in that context, because you would be writing to discuss the content of the paper, not the ways to get access. When you write to someone, especially someone you don't know, avoid irrelevant details: people are busy.
Comment: Also admitting that you got the paper off Scihub can get you into legal trouble (since the main difficulty with prosecution is identifying the people who're pirating the papers).
Answer: If an author were actually curious about how you accessed their article, they would probably ask. I would suggest simply not mentioning it (since they probably don't care).
As an aside, one way to access articles behind a paywall is to contact the author directly. Many journals provide authors with links which give free access to the article.
Comment: Publishers' practices do sometimes seem designed to drive researchers to sci-hub.
Comment: Jup, that worked very well not only during the Elsevier blackout in a few European countries a while ago. Publishers basically love to get their articles stolen given away for free if the alternative is that they are not read (and later cited) at all.
Comment: Ignoring legality, Sci-hub has the best interface ever to get a paper. Via the publishers' sites, it's usually (1) search for title on Google (2) browse through results because it's not always the first one (3) land on a paper page with a different layout for each publisher (4) hunt for a tiny "pdf" button (5) the "pdf" button sends you to a "smart version" of the paper, ugly, slow to load and with 100% more tracking (6) hunt for another tiny "no, I really want the pdf" button (7) finally download it.
Comment: In my field, nearly every paper (or at least a preliminary version) is posted to arXiv. Publishers participate in this system since they have no option otherwise. Of course, this is preferable to sci-hub since authors themselves control whats accessible. I feel arXiv has the UX you desire (nice interface, easy pdf access), but without the issues of legality (and watermarks). I wish more disciplines systematically participated in such a preprint system.

Professor reaction to sci-hub articles


What is the sequence of events during the denouement?

Question: In The Best Offer's denouement, as Oldman (Rush) begins to understand exactly what has happened, there is a series of events involving him going to a restaurant in Prague, moving into a new room furnished to his specifications, finding a tracker in the boot of his car, and eventually him in an asylum. What is the exact sequence of these events? What is their significance?
Comment: @colopterist: Do any of these answers satisfy you? If not, what sort of information would you like to see?
Answer: This is my interpretation:
Remember this quotation:

Claire: In an old article of yours I found on the internet, you said:
  There's something authentic in every forgery. What did you mean?
  Virgil Oldman: When simulating another's work the forger can't resist
  the temptation to put in something of himself. Often it's just a
  trifle, a detail of no interest. One unsuspected stroke, by which the
  forger inevitably ends up betraying himself, and revealing his own
  utterly authentic sensibilities.

In other words, in everything fake there is something real.
Now, remember Claire's words that Rush replayed in his mind during the ending scenes:

If anything should ever happen to us, I want you to know that I do
  love you.

At the end of the film, Rush moves into the room furnished to his specifications, overlooking the square. This was the only place Claire mentioned as ever feeling safe and comfortable.
By taking the apartment and going to the restaurant, he is showing hope that she will one day return - which is why he tells the waiter he is waiting for someone.
He is hoping she is the glimmer of truth in the massive forgery. He has lost everything and is a broken man - but he is clinging to hope that that one part of his life could be real.
However, there is another interesting issue to be discussed. Do the asylum scenes take place before or after the restaurant scene?
There is no correct answer to this. Perhaps he was in the asylum and reflected on the events, as the movie showed, during his time there and found some glimmer of hope and waited in the restaurant. Or perhaps he waited in the restaurant, became more and more broken and ended up in the asylum.
All in all, it's up to the viewer.
Answer: I think VO(Rush) was in the Asylum shortly after the heist took place and this is where he looks back on the events that took place,this is when we see all he did prior to the asylum. The end is after leaving the asylum, believing he's figured out Claire's one true detail that "the forger" always leaves and moves to Prague with the belief that he'll one day find Claire at Nigh & Day.
Comment: I agree with CNoel. It makes more sense that he was distraught first, then looked for 1 last hope in Prague. He could then accept the fraud when she did not show up at the pub.
Comment: I agree with Cnoel. Prague was last event.  But is there any possibility that virgil was right and could see her again and the love was true?
Answer: I loved this movie! I have to admit the ending was a bit baffling. In retrospect; I believe the ending was actually the ending. I think he ran to the villa, talked with the real Claire and figured out the truth. I think then he had the breakdown and eventually clung to hope which led him to wait for her to come back. Well anyway. Love is fleeting at best. Remember he also lost his first loves: his paintings of all the women he loved.
Answer: I think that Virgil spent time at the asylum immediately after losing all his paintings, and Claire.  While there, he realized everyone's role in the heist, and also reflected on his relationship with Claire.  He was heartbroken and lost.  It seems that he became healthier, and finally came to grips with it all.  Later, going back out into the world, without gloves, and ready to face reality. Probably for the first time in his life.
Virgil went to Day and Night, a place full of gears and clocks, which somehow ties Robert into the scene where Virgil waits for Claire.  Since Claire had mentioned the square as her favorite place, Virgil expected that he might find her there.  Probably thinking that she might go into Day and Night.(Would she have shown up with Robert?)
I think that the love scene between Claire and Virgil was very special and believable, contrary to what I read in some professional reviews. He had never been with a woman before, except for his paintings. I found the scene very touching.
Also, there was no reason why Virgil would doubt Claire's love for him, as she convinced him that she was suffering from a serious nuerotic disorder, and came across as lonely and isolated.  Claire convinced Virgil that he was the one man she could trust.
I saw this movie on demand only last night, and I really loved it.  It was unpredicatable, and interesting.
Answer: I just don't understand why the main character, Oldman, would be betrayed by his long time friend....unless I look at it...not as a betrayal..but as an elaborate plan to change his friends life before they both retire.
I say this because as far as I can tell the only things stolen were these portraits of women. Nothing else in his home is missing.
in the end, you can say that Oldman is heartbroken, destroyed, but is he? After the assylum, he is moving on with life. Yes, still holding out hope that "claire" loved him.
Yet, oldman is no longer a man wearing gloves, hiding in an enclosed room, afraid of contact with the outside world.
Was his friend, himself deciding it was time, for both to retire,  trying to do one last thing for his friend Oldman? Using the ultimate "forgery" to intrigue and get Oldman involved, with life? Was this his way to lure Oldman out of his limited life with portraits of women and into the world?
Consider the conversation where Oldman says that Billy is slipping, and perhaps time to retire. Consider the ONLY things which are stolen from Oldman are the portraits of women. He isnt ruined with regard to wealth. Nothing in his home was stolen except the portraits of women.
Billy says at one point they will meet again. So, I think Billy will come walking into the "Night and Day". I think Billy loved his friend enough to want him to change his life before it was too late.
Answer: I believe Virgil ended up in the asylum a broken man and was reflecting on what happened. to him leading up to his hospitalization!
Comment: My boyfriend and I really enjoyed this movie. He figured it out sooner than I did when Billy told him all things can be forged, even love. My boyfriend starting suspecting something might be up.
Answer: I think that the only reason for Virgil to end up in an asylum would be because he was really suffering advancing dementia or Alzheimer's. But I believe he actually ends up living with the outside world for the first time, gloveless and breaking out of his routine. True it's sad he got taken, but in the end he was the one who was given the gift to break out of his shell, leaving behind in exchange all his fantasies or "forgeries" that were holding him back from truly living in reality. I think that this movie services as a bigger metaphor for how we often become stuck in the safety of our illusions rather than taking risks and getting hurt. The only difference was that Virgil was being taken for profit of money while he began to take profit for his heart and soul. This story to me can also be seen as redemption, whereby Virgil begins to slowly forfeit his materialistic desires and deceit of self and others for something more enduring and authentic. In a sense, Virgil becomes the authentic, living work of art rather than the forger hoarding authentic works of art. The ending idea where he's in an asylum only makes sense to me if he began losing his grasp of reality.- which is possible I suppose because if it happened that way, once he began living in reality, he could have snapped and it became too much for him to accept and handle. Still, if you're an optimist you would believe he began to flourish after being awakened, hence him beginning a new life in Prague, gloveless waiting with hope that his affair with fake Claire was more than just a scam. The movie is deliberately ambiguous at the end so that the viewer could decide based on their own views.
Answer: Though I am not a fan of this specific  genre of film, I do enjoy stories that have a simplistic line of explanation yet hold a fine degree of emotional depth with a "down to Earth" tone. It didn't take me long to see the con transpiring against Virgil, it was all really in the language and certain parts that subtly gave it away.
As far as the ending goes, I think the true take-home for this was that anything can be forged, even the spectrum of human emotion. Virgil was an intelligent man but socially inept, never really acquiring the tools to properly connect with other people. He was a "forgery" of a human being in his everyday life, showing little to no emotion. The closest thing to emotion he felt were his love for the paintings he collected. His associate, Billy, understood this and used it to concoct the scheme to acquire his multi-million dollar art collection that Virgil himself had gained through illicit practice with Billy's help.
The scam was indeed elaborate, but Billy knew that women were Virgil's weakness, which was not hard to discern through the paintings he collected. To present something "real" to him like love would take his guard down and give Claire the ability to get close enough to see the code for the vault.
Once Virgil realized he had been conned, the hard irony of being a master at identifying forgeries yet not being able to identify true human emotion completely shattered him into a catatonic blank slate. After a time analyzing the situation in the asylum, he went to Prague to begin his search for Claire, believing that bits of what she had told him were genuine in nature.
Answer: I could tell from various subtle clues given birth by the screenwriter, but brought to full fruition by the director, that everything that took place after the first auction was a dream in the sleeping mind of one Virgil Oldman. In fact, he was waking up right about now, thinking what a long, strange trip that was.
But seriously, I had to believe that the writer would tell us that Virgil had become a broken man and that is how he lived the last years of his life. How did I miss that was an asylum? I thought it was a nursing home.  I'll have to revisit that.
I'd prefer to think he got better and thus the sequences was simply out of order, but look at the structure. First he's in the nursing asylum, then he's not, but wait, he's back in the home, except no, he's out and about again.
That sure seems like he's thinking about what came before... But there was a reference (in a previous answer above) to him not wearing gloves after the swindle. If that's the case, then perhaps he did get significantly better.
Answer: Is it possible that he is still in the asylum, processing all that happened to him and living out in his mind, the possibility of starting anew and waiting for her?
Comment: Is this intended to be a comment on the question (e.g. as opposed to an answer in its own right)?
Answer: Billy was always hurt by Oldman's rejection of his art. I don't think he had Oldman's best interest in mind at all. He masterminded the the thing. It's a bit hard for me to think Oldman would not have learned the truth of the villa until the end.
Comment: Welcome on movies SE. Is this answer to the question? Please read our tour: https://movies.stackexchange.com/tour.


Was Sheldon Cooper ever proven wrong?

Question: Was there any time in The Big Bang Theory - whether literal or referenced, that Dr. Sheldon Cooper was proven wrong by someone?
Comment: Can't remember the exact episode,. but didn't he make a mistake in a paper he gave to Steven Hawking?
Comment: The most obvious examples of course were every time he said anything about Babylon-5.
Comment: *only when it is funny.*
Comment: I want to say there is also an episode where Barry checks his proofing in goes to his office to gloat about him being wrong.
Answer: Apparently, there were a couple of episodes where he was wrong. I am adding what I remember, but will add more if I come across them later.

In the episode, The Hamburger Postulate, Dr. Leslie Winkles corrects his wrong equation.

Sheldon: My equations, someone's tampered with my equations.
Leonard: Are you sure?
Sheldon: Of course I'm sure. Look at the beta-function of quantum chrono-dynamics, the sign's been changed.
Leonard: Oh yeah. But doesn't that fix the problem you've been having?
Sheldon: Are you insane? Are you out of your mind? Are you…. hey look, that fixes the problem I've been having.
Lesley: (entering) You're welcome.
Sheldon: You did this?
Lesley: Yeah, I noticed it when I got up to get a glass of water, so I fixed it, now you can show that quarks are asymptotically free at high energies. Pretty cool, huh?

In the episode, The Bat Jar Conjecture, when Sheldon is participating the Physics Bowl against Leonard and his team, both parties are stuck on the last question. The janitor on Sheldon's team answers it right, but Sheldon refuses to make it the team's answer due to his ego.

Sheldon: Hang on, hang on a second, that's not our answer. What are you doing?
Third Floor Janitor: Answering question. Winning physics bowl.
Sheldon: How do you know anything about physics?
Third Floor Janitor: Here I am janitor, in former Soviet Union I am physicist. Leningrad Politechnica. Go Polar Bears.
Sheldon: Well that's a delightful little story, but our arrangement was that you sit here and not say anything, I answer the questions.
Third Floor Janitor: You didn't answer question.

And later,

Gablehouser: Denied. I need your official answer.
Sheldon: No. I decline to provide one.
Gablehouser: Well, that's too bad, because the answer your teammate gave was correct.

In the episode The Hawking Excitation, when Hawking calls him to discuss about his paper, Hawking tells him that he made a arithmetical error on page 2. After that, he faints.

Hawking: That's nice. Too bad it's wrong.
Sheldon: What do you mean wrong?
Hawking: You made an arithmetic mistake on page two. It was quite the boner.
Sheldon: No, no, th-th-th-that can't be right. I-I don't make arithmetic mistakes.
Hawking: Are you saying I do?
Sheldon: Oh, no, no, no, of course not. It's just, I was thinking… Oh, gosh, golly, I made a boo-boo, and I gave it to Stephen Hawking.
Hawking: Great, another fainter.

In the episode, The Jiminy Conjecture, Howard and Sheldon bet whether the cricket is ordinary field one or snowy tree one. Apparently, Sheldon was proven wrong about the cricket being snowy tree one.

Prof Crawley: It's a field cricket.
Howard: Yes!
Sheldon: No, no, wait. Dr. Crawley, are you sure?
Prof Crawley: Young man, I've been studying insects since I was eight years old. You know what they used to call me in school? Creepy Crawley.

Script Source
Comment: Not sure the 2nd example counts as being wrong. It's a sin of omission, but he declines to provide an answer. Thus he isn't right or wrong, just a loser. :p (Call it a schroedinger answer).
Comment: @sgf - if the improvement hadn't been made, the equation would have been unsolveable/wrong.
Comment: 1 seems to be an improvement  to his equations, not proving him wrong.
Answer: In The Romance Resonance he read a data table in a text book wrong

Sheldon: This is the very copy of The Handbook of Chemistry and Physics in which I looked up the reaction rates of mendelevium and…
Amy: And what?
Sheldon: No. No, no, no, no.
Amy: What's wrong?
Sheldon: I've made a horrible mistake.
Amy: What are you talking about?
Sheldon: This table, it's in square centimetres. I read it as square metres. You know what that means?
Amy: That Americans can't handle the metric system?
Sheldon: Amy, I was off by a factor of 10,000.

script source
Comment: If you really want to get that technical about it, he was proven wrong by someone... it just happens such that "someone" is himself. Quite valid in the context of the original question. :)
Comment: I guess, he won't get to [mine the huge coal deposits beneath the north pole](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Purchase_of_the_North_Pole).
Answer: 1:
Sheldon has to draw "polish" in a game of Pictionary.  He draws several pictures that make reference to Polish things and has to explain them all when no-one correctly guesses.

Penny then points out:  Excuse me, the word is "polish." See? Small "P."
Sheldon:  Ah! So it is. I guess we both share blame on this one.

2:
Sheldon has committed the team to completing the prototype of Howard's guidance system in a unrealistic timeframe of 2 months.  Once they start work on the project, Sheldon realises he's made a mistake and starts to get nervous and distracting to Howard and Leonard who both want to knuckle down:

Sheldon:  You know, the interesting fact about the rectum...
Leonard:  Sheldon!
Leonard:  We are dealing with an impossible deadline  from the Air Force because of you.  So have an energy drink, don't have an energy drink.  Order suppositories and shove 'em  wherever you want, I don't care!
Sheldon:  You don't shove them.  They come with an easy-glide applicator.
Leonard:  Right. Listen to me.  We can't do anything until you do your part.  So get up in front of this whiteboard and do it!
Sheldon:  I can't.
Leonard: Yes, you can.
Sheldon:  No  I can't figure out the math.  I've been racking my brain for days,  and I've got nothing.
Howard:  Seriously?
Sheldon:  I can't do it.  I'm not as smart as I think I am.  I'm so sorry. This is all my fault.
Answer: In "The Hofstadter Isotope," S2E20, Sheldon is ironically schooled by comic book store entrepreneur Stuart on a key point related to the philosophy of science:

Stuart: Oh, Sheldon, I'm afraid you couldn't be more wrong.
Sheldon: More wrong? Wrong is an absolute state and not subject to gradation.
Stuart: Of course it is. It's a little wrong to say a tomato is a vegetable; it's very wrong to say it's a suspension bridge.

Sheldon has no response, as he realizes he's now wrong a second time - this time about the very nature of being wrong. As a theoretical physicist, Sheldon knows for example that Newtonian physics and general relativity are both extremely accurate models of gravity in their respective domains, but they're not perfect and thus in some sense both "wrong." But GR makes more accurate predictions in extreme conditions, and so is "less wrong." And both theories are less wrong than Aristotle's notions that heavier bodies fall faster than lighter ones, and that falling is a "natural motion" returning objects to their proper positions. Science is never 100% right; that's not a failing of science, it's the lifeblood.
Comment: You haven't been reading Karl Popers Objective Knowledge by any chance? ;) He has some great ideas about the intuition of how something can be more or less wrong. So depending on interpretation Sheldon is right that wrong is an absolute state not subject to gradation :)
Comment: This is likely a nod to Isaac Asimov, who, in The Relativity of Wrong states "When people thought the Earth was flat, they were wrong. When people thought the Earth was spherical, they were wrong. But if you think that thinking the Earth is spherical is just as wrong as thinking the Earth is flat, then your view is wronger than both of them put together."
Comment: @Martijn - Thanks! I was not familiar with that quote; I would have used it if I had been, as it gets the point across very succinctly.
Answer: There is a scene, taken from Season 3, Episode 4, "The Pirate Solution", where Sheldon was "wrong" twice (thanks @Fabio Turati).
First was an equation when working with Raj, who was hired to work "for" Sheldon in the University. They have an argument about the correctness of a formula that Sheldon created, and Raj proves him wrong, while correcting the equation.
Shortly after the argument, Raj exclaims "Can you do this?", and does a magic finger trick, which Sheldon cannot replicate.
The scene is shown below:
Comment: Ok, thank you. Now I'd say that https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2u0AHhZjIIQ is a better video (it shows Sheldon admitting that Raj was right), and that your second point about the finger trick isn't really what the question asks (not being able to do something doesn't mean being wrong). But the part about the equation is definitely spot on, you have my upvote!
Answer: In The Cooper/Kripke Inversion (S06E14), the university forces Sheldon and Barry Kripke to work together.  Sheldon is none too pleased with having to work with Kripke as a team of equals, Kripke being someone that Sheldon not only sees as far more inferior in intellect and ability than himself (just as he does with most other people) but someone he also despises as a person.
Sheldon looks forward to reviewing (and presumably mocking) Kripke's research, expecting it to be unimaginative and of poor quality, so is quite upset when he finally gets a copy.

Later in the day, sitting at home with Amy:
Amy:  Is everything okay?
Sheldon:  I'm fine.
Amy:  All right, well, how was work today? Did you exchange your
  research with Kripke?
Sheldon:  Yes.
Amy:  Sheldon, what's going on?
Sheldon:  I read his research, and it's leaps and bounds ahead of
  mine. Which means the mommy of the smartest physicist at the
  university is not my mommy as I had thought. It's his mommy.
Answer: Running theme in the series has been Sheldon's disrespect towards engineers (he's referred to them as the Oompa loompas of science) and towards Howard in particular, whose occupation and intellect he has repeatedly mocked.
Sheldon is promoted to Professor at the university, a role which means he has to teach classes.  However, he is a little put out when he finds out that no one wants to take his class because of his reputation for being obnoxious.
Howard offers to sign up:

Howard:  Hey, what if I took your class?
Leonard:  Why would you do that?
Raj:  Yeah, why would you do that? What's wrong with you?
Howard:  I'm thinking about getting my doctorate, and he wants to teach-- why not?
Sheldon:  Oh, Howard. I appreciate the gesture, but this is a graduate-level physics class. I don't think you'd understand a single thing I was talking about.
Leonard:  Ask why not again; I've got an answer.
Howard:  Sheldon, I'm more than smart enough to take your class.
Sheldon:  (pauses then chuckles, mockingly): No.
Howard:  Yes.
Sheldon:  How would you determine the ground state of a quantum system with no exact solution?
Howard:  I would guess a wave-function and then vary its parameters until I found the lowest energy solution.
Sheldon (impressed):  Hmm.
Sheldon:  Do you know how to integrate X squared times E to the minus X, without looking it up?
Howard:  I'd use Feynman's trick-- differentiate under the integral sign.
Sheldon (more impressed):  Okay.
Sheldon:  Um What is the correct interpretation of quantum mechanics?
Howard:  Since every interpretation gives exactly the same answer to every measurement, they are all equally correct. However, I know you believe in the Many Worlds Interpretation, so I'll say that. Now do you think I'm smart enough?
Sheldon:  (pauses then chuckles, mockingly): No.

Although Sheldon is not definitively proven wrong in his belief that Howard is not "smart", he clearly expected that Howard would not be smart enough to answer the questions posed and did not want to concede that, by getting the questions right, Howard is actually much smarter then he had been giving him credit for.
Answer:
Sheldon: Penny. I am a physicist. I have a working knowledge of the universe and everything that's in it.
Penny: Who's Radiohead?
Sheldon: (dumbfounded look for a few seconds) I have a working knowledge of the important things in the universe.

Now, this isn't an admission of being wrong but it disproved his remark about knowing everything in the universe. Only after Penny's snarky question did Sheldon move the goalposts.
Answer: Does this one count?  He's clearly wrong, but not actually proven wrong.

Penny (to Leonard and Sheldon): Complete this quote:  "I tawt I taw a..."
Sheldon:  Cardissian

Was Sheldon Cooper ever proven wrong?


How can somebody suggest a new tag?

Question: What's the best way for a person without tag privileges to suggest a new tag? In this particular case it's about tag "Bulgaria", which I believe doesn't need further explanations. I couldn't find any way to do that in FAQ or tag guidelines.
Comment: Added the tag for you on Sophia question.
Comment: Great, thanks. :)
Answer: I don't think there's an "official" way. You can add a comment under the question (I frequently see those) requesting a tag; or flag your question for moderators, or as you did ask on Meta. All valid approaches, though the first one us likely to be most streamlined as more people will see the request faster.
Meta is preferable if you aren't sure if the tag should be created.
Comment: Thanks, I'll follow your suggestions.
Answer: They typical way is to just type the new tag name into the "tags" field of the question. However, you have to have enough reputation on the site to do that. I'd have to go look up the amount required here on a beta site, but I'm pretty sure its more than your current 65. :-)
As DVK says, asking on Meta is generally a good idea too. Often times there is a similar or even synonamous tag already. Probably not in this case though.
Since we've created the tag, care to propose an initial wiki summary for it? (Feel free to answer as a comment to this answer).
Comment: I did it, thanks for suggestion.
Comment: @DarekWędrychowski - Wow, great start! I've approved both.
Comment: Thanks, now I'm finally able to add tags by myself. :)

How can somebody suggest a new tag?


In what order should I describe a setting?

Question: For instance I'm describing the park of an art museum in a foggy day. I'm not sure if I should start with the fog, wind, grass, threes, walking paths, buildings, stairs or something else. Is there a good order rule to describe a setting (so that the reader get a clear picture of the where the story is located)?
Comment: I always try to root the environment building descriptions into the perspective of the character at hand. This is an example from a short story I wrote: *`Rays of golden sunlight filtered through the translucent, dry surface of a leaf, held aloft by the hand of a small girl. With eyes focused on the veins of the leaf, she spun it in her fingers as she lay on the soft, green grass under the oak tree in the backyard.`*
Answer: You almost certainly want to avoid a shopping list of details about the park. You're not describing the wind and the trees and the building and... You're describing one unified moment in space and time.
You want to focus on what the reader needs to know for the story to make sense (he needs to know the scene is in a park, and not in out of space; if there's going to be anything happening in or around the park's pond, you want the reader to be aware that the pond exists), and on what you can use to create atmosphere (this scene is going to be calm and serene, like the park; or: the park is wilting and poorly-kept, emphasizing the story's squalor and disorder).
There must be millions of ways to describe setting, but a simple one is this: start with an establishing shot; one or two clear sentences that tell the reader where the scene takes place, and maybe touches upon the mood. Then pick two or three details that are easiest for you to use for both of the goals I mentioned (e.g. you choose the pond because it's important to the location, and you describe it as being peaceful and smooth because that's the atmosphere you want to convey). Since the establishing shot has conveyed the most immediate and crucial information, these details won't be confusing, and can be mentioned in any order - unless one of those details is unusual ("the pond was smooth, the trees swayed in the wind, and the hieroglyphic-covered merry-go-round tinkled a jolly tune" - you want unusual details first, just as a person's attention would be drawn to them) or particularly important to the plot (in which case you want to prevent the reader from skimming over it).
Another way is to go the opposite route - focus on one small detail, and ripple outwards from there, explaining how that one detail ties in with important elements of the larger setting.
The important thing here is to understand there's no "right order," because you're not filling out a list. You're conveying an experience; the correct order is whatever conveys the experience best. That might be "the experience of entering the park and looking around," or it might be "the experience of looking for a restful spot away from that hideous museum," or "the experience of being chased through a museum by radioactive zombies". Each of these will describe the setting differently, focusing on different details, and in a different order. If you don't know what experience your description is trying to convey, then stop and figure it out - if you don't know why the reader should be interested in your description, then he probably won't be.
Edited to add: A helpful and easy exercise: choose a few setting descriptions in books you've enjoyed. See if you can list the "order" the author describes different details in, within each description. See if you understand the structure the author's chosen for that description - and why it's a good fit for that scene. I suspect you'll find some very interesting techniques.
Comment: This is an excellent answer. Setting description is great for creating atmosphere. For example, say your character is happy. That description of setting might be vastly different than if your character was suicidal. (This also depends on the point of view of your narrator to some degree.) Your happy character might notice unseen birds chirping, but depressed guy might not notice anything but the fog.
Comment: @LynnBeighley I agree, these descriptions are highly subjective since it is told by the point of view of the narrator. You don't want it to seem like it is being told by "the voice of god" instead of the character that it is supposedly coming from.
Answer: Describe first whatever will pull the reader into the scene. Period. There is no canonical order you should follow. If there were such a thing, it would make for a lot of dull repetition, and even fewer books would get read than they do now.
Instead, try to find the detail that will pull the reader in: the telling detail that makes an emotional connection with what is about to be described. Who cares what the sky looks like if it has no bearing on what the scene is about?
For example, consider this paragraph about an escape:

A beam of light lanced through the darkness, immediately followed by the sound of dogs baying and snarling on a leash. Pain shot through his damaged ankle as he rose to his feet, and he squelched the scream of anguish that pushed into his throat. He peered through the murk, trying to judge how much free ground still lay between him and his pursuers. Stay or run? It was still an uphill mile, a treacherous scrabble over rocks like the one that had twisted his foot, till he could reach the border and safety. And they might even pursue him beyond, maybe for miles. How long could he keep going if they did?

Only the details essential to story are revealed, and the focus is on the details that are important to the character and, hence, the reader. It is that kind of detail that you must find and reveal.
Answer: I don't know if there's a rule, but I have a meta-rule: the description has to follow an eye-line.  That is, everything is described in the order that a person might see it.  So I might start with the sky, then the trees then the dirt; or the outside of the building, then the doorway, the foyer, the corridor, and then the room.  Something to give the user a sense of movement.
I'm basically aping the camera motion from a movie, which may or may not be a good thing in itself, but at least it give me -- and maybe the reader -- some structure.
Answer: Obviously you cannot give the whole impression of the object you want to describe all at once, but have to start somewhere.
Where you start and how you proceed from there will depend on what you want to convey to your reader and might be influenced by the following aspects, among others:

the character of the narrator
the atmosphere of the place
the events that take place there

For example, if your narrator is a confused person, his perception of the park will be confused, while a clear minded person will have a clear and simple perception of the park.
Or if the park is very orderly and structured, you will want to describe it in an orderly and structured manner, while an overgrown chaos of plants, playground, people, and trash might be decribed in a chaotic manner.
Or if your protagonist approaches the park and moves through it, he will first see it from afar and have a more general impression and see more and more details as he approaches and finally enters and moves through it. If, on the other hand, he is sitting on a bench daydreaming, his first perception, when he returns to reality, might be a bird picking at some crumbs or the light filtering down through the leaves and turn outward and to a more holistic image from these details. Or, if he is walking the park with his loved one, talking to her, his perception will be a sequence of highlights unrelated to each other.
So, first of all, think about the place in your narrative that the decription has and try to
deduce the order of the description from its narrative function.
Answer: The way you choose to describe the setting depends entirely on what's at stake for the narrator. You are writing the story; the narrator is telling the story. It's important to understand the distinction.

Is your narrator a godlike character who sees all and knows all, including the private thoughts of all the characters, and details known only to narrator and reader but not the characters?
Is it someone more objective, who reports only on things that are directly observable, without access to anyone else's thoughts?
Is it an active participant in the story, who can observe and describe, but also articulates his own thoughts?
Do various characters take on the narrative role at different points in the story?
Does your story step into the land of metafiction and postmodermism, where the narrator expounds on the nature of fiction itself?

The narrator's role will help you choose which details to reveal when you describe the setting. With that, there are ways you, as the author, can have fun with your characters. For example, what your narrator fails to notice can be as interesting to your readers as what he does describe. A seemingly objective narrator can turn out to be unreliable, inducing the reader to reflect on the story so far, and work to uncover the actual truth.
So, there's no specific order, or list of items to include. Do what you need to do to build the necessary tension to advance the story, and reward the reader for sticking through to the end.
Answer: I largely agree with this answer, to which I add:

Order of perception by your POV character fits nicely into all the other stuff that you're telling through that POV, so it's a good place to start.

On rare, special occasions, you can get extra impact by violating that:

The cool breeze through the lush trees lining his path carried the scent of lilac from bushes he could not see.  He watched one gray squirrel chase another alongside the path -- wow, he thought, these critters are used to humans; I could have reached out and touched them.  Birdsong blended with the rustling of leaves.
It would have been a perfect place to pause and lose himself in his thoughts, if not for the...thing climbing out of the fiery pit before him.
Answer: Why should your description of a scene occur at an instant in time, like a photo? I had written so much here yet felt this first paragraph from Rothschild's Fiddle by Anton Chekhov captures it best:

The town was a little one, worse than
  a village, and it was inhabited by
  scarcely any but old people who died
  with an infrequency that was really
  annoying. In the hospital and in the
  prison fortress very few coffins were
  needed. In fact business was bad. If
  Yakov Ivanov had been an undertaker in
  the chief town of the province he
  would certainly have had a house of
  his own, and people would have
  addressed him as Yakov Matveyitch;
  here in this wretched little town
  people called him simply Yakov; his
  nickname in the street was for some
  reason Bronze, and he lived in a poor
  way like a humble peasant, in a little
  old hut in which there was only one
  room, and in this room he and Marfa,
  the stove, a double bed, the coffins,
  his bench, and all their belongings
  were crowded together.

Chekhov's description ignores time and space, yet we get a clear sense of the town - it's wretched and in the shadow of a fortress like prison. There's nothing else we need to know about the town's physical appearance to understand the scene. The same is true of Yakov's home, a hut with just one room crowded with his and his wife's belongings.
It's tough to write like this, yet descriptions like this bring you and your readers much closer to the scene as you experience it.


Supersaturation vs Undersaturation of the Urine | Kidney Stones

Question: A significant factor that determines if a crystal will develop into a kidney stone is the saturation of the urine with stone-forming salts. From my understanding, supersaturation leads to precipitates which result in stones. Undersaturation does not lead to stones. So my question is what determines super/undersaturation from a dietary perspective? Does increased water intake help dilute the concentration of the crystals (eg. calcium oxalate, calcium phosphate), thus preventing the formation of stones?
Comment: Welcome to MedicalSciences.SE! Please take the [tour] and read the [help]. For [reasons mentioned in this post](https://medicalsciences.meta.stackexchange.com/q/411) and in [ask], we require prior research information when asking questions. Please help us to help you and [edit] your question to provide more information on what you have read on this subject, particularly when you say you read that *supersaturation leads to precipitates which result in stones*.
Comment: I am voting to close this question as there has been no indication of prior research despite the fact that there are requests for it
Comment: Obviously, the OP has done some research, but in the case of kidney stones, translating the dietary changes into urine concentration changes and stone formation risk is more tricky than it seems.
Answer: If you have kidney stones or you are at increased risk of developing them, ask a doctor if your urine is super- or under-saturated with any substance, such as calcium, oxalate, uric acid, cystine or citrate; this is a crucial info that can tell if any diet can help. Explanation at-a-glance: Eating, Diet, & Nutrition for Kidney Stones by NIDDK.
Evidence about dietary measures that may help prevent CALCIUM OXALATE stones:
1. High water intake
According to several studies, drinking  3-4 liters of water per day (to produce at least 2 liters of urine/day) can decrease the risk of stones (PubMed, 1999, 2016).
Other fluids, such as tea, coffee, wine and beer might also help, but milk, soda and fruit juices might not, according to one 2015 systematic review of studies.
It is not clear if hard water (high in Ca and/or Mg) is a risk factor for kidney stones (PubMed, 2018, 2002).
2. High citrus/citrates intake
Potassium citrate supplements and possibly (?) citrus juices (PubMed 2017, 2016), which alkalize the urine, can decrease the risk of stones, but this 2015 Cochrane review does not strongly support this evidence. Additionally, potassium citrate supplements may have a lot of side effects.
3. High dietary calcium intake
Surprisingly, high intake of calcium from foods was associated with lower risk of kidney stones in several big observational studies. On the other hand, calcium supplements may increase the risk. According to Linus Pauling Institute, calcium may inhibit the absorption of oxalate in the intestine and thus its accumulation in the urine.
4. Low sodium (salt) intake
Low sodium intake (< 3.8 g salt/day) decreases calcium excretion in the kidneys and thus the risk of stones (Linus Pauling Institute).
5. Low oxalate intake
Diet low in oxalates can reduce the risk of stones if your urine has too much oxalate (PubMed, 2016).
For URATE stones, apart from above measures, diet low in animal proteins can help (PubMed, 2004).
Comment: @RingØ, the safe [minimum sodium intake](https://medicalsciences.stackexchange.com/questions/9167/minimum-salt-intake/9168#9168) is 200 mg/day (500 mg salt/day). For everyone sweating a lot (athletes, physical workers), the requirements may be much higher. When your sodium intake is low, kidneys have a great capability to prevent its excretion into urine. And, yes, there are some stores in the body, that could last for about a month, I guess.
Comment: Regarding "4. Low sodium": sodium (salt) is actually vital to a human body, what would be the minimum to have daily? (does the body store it somewhere in case it lacks sodium?)
Comment: Thanks. Meaning, one can almost suppress salt from their diet until a kidney stone is gone, since the body will dip into its own sodium reserves.
Comment: @RingØ, from what I have researched, you can't do much, regarding diet, to prevent _calcium_ kidney stones. Low sodium and high potassium intake + sufficient (not large) amount of water per day may help a bit. It's easier to prevent _urate_ kidney stones, though.


Exclude hours from Calendar?

Question: Is it possible to lock the position, or delete the options for earlier or later, of the Calendar app on OS X?  I don't want anything before 8am or after 10pm, but the calendar moves too easily, so I may not always be aware of some entries.
Answer: Note: This answer assumes you're using either the day- or the week-display.
On OS X 10.7 and up, the calendar indicates that there are events that aren't displayed on the screen with a tiny "flob" better explained by this screenshot:

You can see that on both the 18th and the 19th there are some events not being shown. These will stay on the screen until you scroll far enough up (or down) to see them.
That said, you can't really "disable" the time interval of 10pm->8am, but you can make space for more events on one screen. To do this, open the Settings (Cmd+,), and select the desired amount of hours to fit into one calendar window. 8am to 10pm is 14 hours, so pick 14.
Comment: This actually does not exclude/hide any hours from the calendar.
Answer: Have you tried on the preferences panel setting when day starts and ends. This should help.

Exclude hours from Calendar?


Are cell biology and cytology the same science?

Question: According to Wikipedia, the terms can be used interchangeably, but according to my college professors, cytology is exclusively the study of chromosomes and identification of their abnormalities.
Answer: Your professors are probably using cytology to refer to cytopathology which isn't strictly incorrect, but is a bit confusing since cytology also has a broader meaning.
Overall, the distinction isn't scientifically that important. Biology is so interconnected that you can't really stick strictly within any one "type" of science, they are only soft distinctions. If you need to learn a term for a course, there isn't much point to argue with your professors. Literally, the word "cytology" should refer to the study of cells, so in my opinion the narrow definition doesn't make sense, but like other words it is important to interpret it in context.
In my personal experience, I have usually heard "cell biology" used rather than "cytology" to broadly mean study of cells. If you are at an institution that calls their cytopathology labs "cytology" it doesn't much matter if there are other meanings for the word.
Comment: Another reason why the Wikipedia definition, along with other sources, confused me is the fact that I heard "cell biology" everywhere, but people rarely said "cytology". Perhaps that's why I thought that cytology was a specialized science.
Comment: Study of chromosomes is called cytogenetics.