Changes in Halacha

Question: Is Halacha (specifically Halacha, not minhag) capable of changing, or is it an immutable constant? In other words, is Halacha an inflexible set of rules that never bend to societal needs, scientific findings, new readings/interpretations of written or oral law etc? Are there specific examples of Halacha directly changing?
Comment: Even if you define halakha, it is hard to imagine this question not being to broad.
Comment: You need to better define halakha for this question to be meaningful.
Comment: One area of change which my or may not be relevant is the ebb and flow of opinions. An opinion can move from being dominant to being relegated to obscurity, and vice versa. Following these trends, popular practices change.
Comment: For a sampling of shifts in popular halakha, you can simply follow a given topic in its presentation in three popular codes. Rambam's Mishneh Torah, R. Jacob ben Asher's, Arba'ah Turim, and R. Josef Karo's Shulhan Arukh. Oftentimes, for example the Tosafist revolution is evident in the rulings of the Tur, while absent in Rambam.
Comment: There is also the conscious or less than conscious attempt at keeping halakha operable in daily life. Circumstances that led halakha to become to prohibitive were often the impetus for original interpretations to lessen the burden. R. Dr. Haym Soloveitchik demonstrates this in the realms of usury and yeyn nesekh, for example, see his collected essays. See also Dr. Aaron Kirschenbaum's Aaron Kirschenbaum's "Subjectivity in Rabbinic Decisionmaking".
Comment: Regarding changes in scientific knowledge, note that Rambam omits (or quotes in a greatly altered form) basically all rulings of the Talmud that stem from superstitions such as astrology or demons. See the listing in M. Shapiro's Maimonides and His Interpreters.
Comment: Another notable area of revolution is kabbalah. Numerous practices and halakhic positions shifted with the advent of kabbalah.
Comment: are the prohibitions from takanot or accepted strong minhagim considered "halachot"?
Answer: Short answer: The Written Torah does not and has not changed. The Oral Torah only changes under very limited circumstances.
Background: According to all opinions, the Written Torah (i.e. the Sefer Torah on klaf, the Chumash, 5 Books of Moses) was received directly from Hashem, and is the same as the one we have today. All Sifrei Torah in existence from all parts of the Jewish people, including areas which were not in contact with each other for millenia, match with the exception of some questionable חסר\מלא readings (vowels) and one question of an א vs. a ה (the verse פצוע דקה\דקא). Both Maimonides in his 13 Principles and Rav Yosef Albo (who attacks Maimonides for having so many Principles) in Sefer HaIkkarim consider acceptance of the legitimacy/inerrancy of the Written Torah as a core tenet of Judaism.
The Written Torah empowers the Sages to decide questionable cases in halacha in Deuteronomy 17:8: "When a matter of judgement is too difficult for you, between blood and blood, between law and law, you shall stand up and go up to the place which Hashem your God has chosen." The Sanhedrin of 70 Sages was established by Moshe, and decides cases by majority rule (Exodus 23:2). A centralized Sanhedrin remained in operation through the end of the period of the Gemara, circa 500CE, and the decisions of that Sanhedrin are binding on all Jews (Maimonides, Preface to the Code). The Sanhedrin was also empowered to enact Rabbinical decisions to strengthen and protect the borders of Torah Law (Deuteronomy 17:1). During history, the Sanhedrin occasionally made new enactments (mentioned several places in the Gemara) and rarely even changed its mind, which it can only do if it is greater in wisdom and numbers than the prior court (Eduyot 1:5).
After the end of the period of the Gemara, due to political changes, for approximately 1000 years Jewish communities were largely out of touch with each other. Initially communities outside of Babylon remained in touch with the central yeshivot of the Geonim and received halachik instruction from them, but in the Middle Ages communication broke down further and individual Rabbonim in local communities decided questions and wrote works of commentary, novellae, and responsa. The Gemara itself does not always resolve questions conclusively, and many different halachik traditions developed - some of which may reflect differences between Babylonian and Israeli Jewry, or other differences which predate the sealing of the Gemara.
In the early 16th century, Rabbi Yosef Karo (in Turkey and then Tzfat) attempted to consolidate all opinions of major authorities (Rishonim, "the prior ones") in his monumental work Beit Yosef, then decide all questions by going after the majority. At the same time in Krakow, Rabbi Moshe Isserles ("the Rema") was writing a similar work which codified Ashkenazi opinion, but instead based on the opinion of the most recent authorities, on the grounds that they had seen and considered any prior opinions. Rabbi Karo ("The Mechaber"),  published his work first in concise form, the Shulchan Aruch ("set table"), and it was accepted as definitive by North African and Middle Eastern Jews. The Rema published his work as a commentary to the Shulchan Aruch, and it too was accepted by Ashkenazi Jews. As a result, both groups ended up studying the same unified work, which gained thereby universal standing (with some exceptions).
There are some exceptions to this: during the same period, another major Ashkenazi authority, Rabbi Shlomo Luria ("Maharshal") rejected both approaches in favor of deciding halacha based on pure logic. Many of the Maharshal's rulings (which seem to always be stringencies) were incorporated into later commentaries on the Shulchan Aruch, which proliferated, sometimes arguing with the Machaber and Rema, sometimes considering new cases. A large group of Yemenite Jews accepted Maimonides as their authority during his lifetime, and continue to act only in accordance with his rulings to this day. More recently, students of the Yeshivat Brisk reject the basis of the Mechaber and Rema's concept of deciding between Rishonim, and attempt to fulfill all opinions.
Broadly speaking, conducting oneself in accordance with a given opinion is a vow. An individual who accepts a stringency may be able to nullify that vow; a community cannot do so (see R'Moshe Feinstein, OC 2.21 & 4.34, YD 1.13 & 2.15). In addition, authorities will not argue on other authorities who predate their own period (i.e. authorities today can argue, but they do not argue with Rishonim). As a result, precedent in Halacha is largely binding, even if in theory there would be both reason and space to look at a given issue in a different light and reach different conclusions. Cases of mistake or mistaken acceptance of practice ("I thought everyone kept this stringency!") are more readily nullified.
Comment: You call ויהי vs ויהיו a malei chaser issue? That changes the pronunciation! This answer is pretty oversimplified (and many historical parts are totally irrelevant)
Comment: Start with http://judaism.stackexchange.com/a/37107/759 just last week in Tzav there's a machloket about a parsha break too. Of course this all pretends that the current situation is the worst it's ever gotten, which is of course false as evidenced by Ben Naftali, the [Talmud text](http://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/30704/why-does-the-mishna-misquote-the-tanakh#comment78313_30704), and the Ramah's intro. The only reason things are so uniform today is due to mass printing, not because they were always so perfect and a couple mistakes crept in.
Comment: @DoubleAA not familiar with that one, where is it? Would be happy to consider improvements based on specific criticisms. You might start with a) What am I leaving out? b) What is irrelevant?

Changes in Halacha


What are the differences between an "Hack & Slash" and a "Beat 'em up"?

Question: What are the differences between an "Hack & Slash" and a "Beat 'em up"? I would like to know what makes the difference between these two types of game because they look the same to me.
Answer: I don't have any sources for this other than years of playing, but, for me:

A beat-'em-up is like Streets of Rage or River City Rampage. There may be some items and character progression, but the majority of combat is determined by player reflexes and ability to read and react to the immediate combat environment. Player commands are "low level" - e.g. "swing weapon", "turn left" - and advanced play involves stringing these actions together fluidly to create combos appropriate for the situation. Time is often measure in frames.
A hack-and-slash is like Diablo or Ys. Combat is still real-time but a lot of strategic planning occurs before combat by preparing weapons and abilities and dexterity does not play as large a role. Player commands are "high level" - e.g. "attack this monster", "cast this spell" - and advanced play involves looking deeper for synergies during planning and managing resource pools (HP, mana). Time is often measured in seconds.
The distinction between the genres is fuzzy and often hard and pointless to determine. Dark Souls is usually called a hack-and-slash but its combat is slow and methodical, and so reading and positioning skills also come into play. Devil May Cry comes from a long line of beat-'em-up designs but still involves ahead-of-time planning in weapon and item choice. Something like God of War seems to sit right between the two terms, with a variety of weapons and long-duration attacks but little lockdown and plenty of cancelling opportunities.
Comment: Diablo was actually the series where I was introduced to micro-optimizations based on animation frames as the unit of timing.  I would argue that the pacing is pretty much the same in both (when played at a high skill level); it's the hack-and-slash additional strong focus on leveling and gearing that makes the distinction, if anything.
Comment: I also consider these 2 categories as very similar according to the way you are playing. Since you can play diablo with a gamepad (on Switch) and Bayoneta by clicking on your screen (Still on Switch) the difference between these gameplay is more and more difficult to define. Both are using unlockable skills, equipment and loot.
Answer: Wikipedia seems to think that hack and slash refers to hand to hand combat focused RPGS, whereas beat 'em ups are action oriented games focussing on hand to hand combat, so "Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning" is probably hack and slash whereas "Bayonetta" is probably a beat 'em up.  What they seem to have in common is progression through a large number of melee battles with multiple NPC enemies to achieve the goal of the game.
Wikipedia sadly fails to quote sources for this assertion.
Comment: Beat 'em ups have a more specific definition than what you say. In particular, "Street Fighter X Tekken" is a fighting game, not a beat 'em up.
Comment: Genres are kind of a fluid thing, but I have amended my answer to use what I hope is a better example (having not played it, I can't say for certain).
Answer: I have always thought a beat em up game is something like Street Fighter or Tekken. Games where the sole purpose is to fight and well beat em up.
Hack n Slash is more like Devil May Cry, God of War etc where the main character has a variety of weapons + fist combo's to hack n slash there way through levels.
Comment: _Street Fighter_ and _Tekken_ are fighting games, not beat-'em-ups. The genre line there is not very fuzzy - the only game I can think of that straddles it is SSBB's Subspace Emissary mode. (Or maybe _Draglade_ but I'm the only one that played that.)
Answer: Hack and slash games have hand-to-hand combat with melee weapons (usually swords). They have some sort of skill system and character progression although much simpler than those of real rpgs. They usually have some sort of exploration and puzzles.  Many of them focus on looking stylish and the very best do it with a difficulty as hard as it is fair. Great examples would be Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden and God of War series.
Beat em up is a genre of games where your sole purpose is to beat enemies up. This is done mostly by fist but often with improvised weaponry such as pipes, rocks, planks and the like. Beat em ups are extremely linear, pitting the player against incredibly numerous enemies. Great examples would be Streets of Rage, God Hand and Mad World.
There are many cases where these genre boundaries are broken. Many rpgs have hack n slash elements and vice versa, hack and slash share elements with beat em ups and so on. Dark Souls is a hack n slash/rpg, and so are darksiders, dragon's dogma and kingdoms of amalur. Batman Arkham games as well as condemned series and why not hotline miami, share a lot of mechanics woth beat em ups while remaining distinct from the genre.
Answer: The Wikipedia article for Hack and Slash says that it is a gameplay style that focuses on combat with hand-to-hand weapons. It says that this started as a play style of Dungeons & Dragons campaigns with no significant content besides such combat. In modern times it can refer to action RPGs and (as is probably the source of your confusion) beat 'em ups that mainly have close combat with hand-to-hand weapons.
Beat 'em ups are more a genre of game than a style of gameplay. Wikipedia defines "Beat 'em up" as

a video game genre featuring melee combat between the protagonist and an improbably large number of underpowered enemies.

This can be any style of game, including hack and slash as previously mentioned.


What is the best way to insulate cold water copper pipes exposed on a flat roof in California

Question: We live in Los Angeles and have a flat roof that our hot and cold water copper pipes run across and are all exposed.  The cold tap water, in the spring, summer, and fall is so hot during the day.  Currently there is only black foam insulation on it.  I am thinking there has to be something that will reflect the heat off of the cold water copper pipes and insulate it too.
Comment: Picture would be good.
Comment: Where are the exterior water lines coming from?  You have solar water tanks on the roof?  Your city water supply is routed over the roof?  In my climate doing that would be crazy.  On the plus side I guess when the copper eventually fails the roof handles it like rain and doesn't hurt your structure.  I am still  more than a little surprised as a desert climate would cause temperature shift and the copper would be expanding and contracting - over time I can't image this is good for the solder joints.
Comment: As a cheap starter, just paint the existing insulation white.
Answer: I would try white, silver, or foil pipe tape. Even for high quality tape, it is cheap. You can simply wrap it over the existing black foam.
Answer: Caveats:  I live in a net heating climate, not a cooling one.  I have no experience with flat roofs, nor living in desert climates.
Out of curiosity, how much of the time does your air conditioner run.  If the pipes are getting that hot, you may not have much insulation in the roof.  Could be a big win for you to put down 2-4 inches of foam board insulation on the roof and reseal.
You want to do two things:  You want to cool off the roof, and you want to keep what heat that is there from heating the cold water line.
Try this as a thought experiment:  Buy some 2 foot wide foam panels. Ask for stuff used for insulating flat roofs. You don't want one that turns into goo when exposed to roofing tar.
One of the panels is 1" thick.  Rip in into 4" wide pieces.  Put a piece on either side of the pipe.  Cut another panel into 8" wide pieces.  Lay this on top of the pipe and the 4" pieces.  Put bricks, stones, or kids needing a time-out to hold the foam down.
Do this for most of the length of the exposed pipe.
See if this makes a signficiant difference.  Between the foam being light coloured (white, pink or blue) and it insulating the pipe from the roof temps in general, I suspect that it will go from being dangerously hot to just warm.
Ok.  If it works, you need to make this more permanent.

Take as strip of gravel off the roof so that the foam fits the roof better.  Doesn't need to be perfect. Don't cut through the roofing paper or membrane under the gravel.
Apply roofing tar to the strip, and lay it down.  Tar should be thick enough to make a reasonably tight seal to the gravel-less roof.
Weight down.
Repeat for the cover layer.
Get a paint compatible with the foam, and paint the foam white or a light colour. Put at least two coats on it.  With the second coat, you can sprinkle sand on it to help protect the paint.

You may find it worth while to paint the entire roof.  If it's a gravel coated roof, you may be able to get away with cheap white wash.  This won't last very long -- probably need to redo it every 2 years.  But whitewash is basically calcium carbonate and a binder, and is sold in dry form in 50 pound sacks.  Should be available at most farm supply stores. Anyway it would be an inexpensive experiment to see if it cools the house or allows your air condition to run less.
Answer: You can just go to your favorite home improvement store and ask to see exterior pipe insulation. it is a foam sleeve with a space inside the size of your pipe, split down the middle to it can go around pipes that are already installed, then you seal it over the split with a type of tape. The outdoor versions then have an extra external covering to protect it from UV damage.

If it were me, I would probably also construct a box or cover over it to protect it from damage and to keep the sun off of it, it will last even longer. UV breaks everything down, some things just slower than others.
Comment: I think OP said he already had this.
Comment: Oops, you are right. Missed it.
Answer: There are lots of different types of pipe insulation.
https://www.grainger.com/search/plumbing/insulation/pipe-insulation?sst=1&ts_optout=true&searchQuery=pipe+insulation.
You also can get something that industrial quality like 4 inch thick mineral wool pipe insulation and cover it with white mastic which would give you a R10 or better plus the white mastic would reflect heat and the mineral wool is fire resistant.


Why is Openoffice Calc automatically rounding the sum of two sums?

Question: I have two columns which have been summed. When I sum the two cells with those results, openoffice rounds the sum every time. If I only enter two numbers and then sum them, it operates normally. Anyone have this problem or any suggestions? Everything is formatted as number with two decimal places and I never extend the numbers longer than two decimal places.
Answer: The rounding is not happening in the arithmetic, it is happening in the presentation of the result.  Change the format of the cell having the formula to show more precision in the presented result.  It may be that the format of the cell where you made the sum did not get set to numeric with two decimal places.


How to clean dried wood stain from paint brush?

Question: I left my wood stain brush Uncleaned and now it is all dry. How do I clean that mess? Trying to paint for the first time, so any suggestions would be appreciated.
Comment: I would buy a new one. It is a lot easier to clean them immediately you finish painting. The wood stain container will have instructions for brush cleaning which will specify the type of solvents needed.
Answer: You don't.
Once paint dries on a brush, it is uncleanable. Into the trash it goes.
Even if you soaked it in paint stripper and spent hours working it through the brush, you'd never get the dried paint out of the heel of the brush, nor out of the fine areas on the end of the bristles.   It would never paint right again.
I don't consider that to be any big deal, since I paint a lot in epoxies and 2-part urethanes.  The brush is a total loss every time, because it would take $10 worth of the exotic solvent to rinse out a brush that is definitely not worth $10.
Comment: While not foolproof, simply putting your brush in a baggie that is wet will keep good for sometimes up to a few weeks... given you are doing like painting/staining.
Comment: @DMoore  LOL I forget about that, because so much of my painting is 2-part paints such as epoxies and LPUs, which will cure in the sealed wrapper.   Yes, that works all consumer paints, latex, oil, etc. which come in a single can.  I wrap first in plastic grocery bags, which seem impervious to everything including LPUs, then into a ziploc bag for sealing.  Squeeze the air out, that being especially important in 1-part paints, which cure when in contact with air.
Answer: Forget 'cleaning' stain off a brush.  Buying a new brush is less expensive (sometimes).  What I do is wrap my stain brush or paint brush in plastic wrap and put it into the freezer.  As long as you are using the same stain or paint, you've still got a brush to use.
Comment: That sounds like a pretty good idea....Ommina have to try that!
Comment: It really works well.  You'll love this...


Duplicate tags [european] [eu]

Question: "european" (currently 7 questions) and "eu" (currently 10 questions) are duplicate tags. "European" should be made a synonym of "eu".
Answer: Done.
I created a tag synonym, so anybody who files a question with eu will now automatically have it switched to european. This also applies retroactively to existing questions.
Thanks for your help identifying tags on the site--I know we've got a lot that are duplicates, or otherwise don't fit well within our guidelines, and getting those cleaned up is a great help to improving the quality and searchability of the site.

Duplicate tags [european] [eu]


How to get SharePoint List from SQL server

Question: My scenario is i have already created one webservices for my infopath form. I have published this form to the sharepoint library. When i insert data into browser enable form it will store in SQL server. Now i want to display this data into sharepoint list or library. please ny one can help me out. Thank you.
Comment: You might also want to ask/move this question to http://sharepoint.stackexchange.com/
Answer: You can use Data View Web Part to connect to an external source like SQL and display data with this web part. Simply create a web part page and user SharePoint designer to insert Data View web part. This article describes how to do it in more detail.
Answer: When it comes to real data integration (not just displaying) follow the steps given in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdNO5y14LSc
It shows, how connect a real WSS 3.0 SharePoint 2007 / 2010 list (no web part, e.g. contact or task list) to almost any external data source, codeless, bi-diectional and in just 5 minutes with all list features available. For example you can start workflows in SharePoint, if external data changes, or you have RSS/E-Mail change notifications, you can add attachments or any other additional web 2.0 information like tags, comments...


Chopsticks On Shabbos

Question: Are you permitted to Break apart the Chopsticks to use them On Shabbos?
Comment: What about to take the chop sticks and make them usable for those that normally can't use them (taking the paper the come in, folding it up and attaching it to the top with a rubber band. This is also mistama maka b'patish.
Answer: Wouldn't it be a clearcut case of "makeh b'patish" (putting the final touch on an object to make it usable)? The chopsticks clearly aren't usable for their intended purpose while they're attached together.
Answer: This is Uvda d'Chol, as defined by Mishna Berura 314:48. (his point there about this being Uvda D'Chol when one breaks wood into large pieces is only to avoid Tochein (grinding) and is not a 'shiur'that would absolve to complete chop-sticks)
Answer:
Remember to break your chopsticks and
  open the packaging before Shabbos.
  Thank you.

http://www.sushiagogo.com/perplexed.html
Comment: ST, is this an authoritative source? It may be cute, but for Halacha, how can you love such a "source"?
Comment: I love the source!!

Chopsticks On Shabbos


Are there any spelling differences between Canada's French and France's French?

Question: Are the same words spelt differently between Québécois French and Parisian French?
Comment: Ah, I followed the English usage since your sentence is in English. But yes in French adjectives are all lower-case, *parisien* as well.
Comment: @Stephane: I thought québécois should be in capital too but when I looked it up in my Larousse dictionary app it was in lower case!
Comment: Really?  I didn't know.
Answer: Words that are shared by the French used by Quebecois and Parisians are usually not spelled differently.
Having answered the question, I will provide some other details that you may find helpful.

Many of the differences in the usage of French words in this context are found in speech and pronunciation.  There are however, other important differences.
Constructions of sentences can differ between the two and they also use slightly different lexicons.
Here is an example of a lexical difference:
In France, the word that is most used for 'email' is 'mail'.
Example sentence: "Je vais envoyer un mail"
A word for this arose from Quebec: 'courriel'.  This word is now considered an acceptable synonym in French, although depending on the location you will hear either.
Example sentence: "Je vais envoyer un courriel"
Here is a an example of difference in construction, lexicon, and pronunciation:
To express "I am here", there are different ways to do this and if you are in Paris, Quebec, and even in Acadian regions in New Brunswick.  Let me explain....
In Paris one would most likely say: "Je suis là" or "Je suis ici", the former being the preferred.
In Quebec one would most likely say: "Je suis ici" and less often: "Je suis là".
In New Brunswick you will almost always hear: "Je suis ici".  However!  It is important to note that in New Brunswick, the pronunciation of 'ici' is quite different!  'Ici' in the Acadian variety of French is pronounced with a 't' sound on the end (ih-SIT).
Comment: It's not completely uncommon to hear (ih-SIT) in Montréal, though probably not when speaking to a non-native. Also, some people emphasize the pronunciation in written language by spelling voluntarily "incorrectly" (though this applies to any accent or dialect of French).
Comment: You said that spelling is "usually" the same. Are there exceptions? If so, may we please have a list/examples?


Significance to the number of stripes on a tallis?

Question: For Orthodox Ashkenazim, the most prevalent custom is to wear a tallis gadol with black stripes. In my area, I've noticed that the vast majority (of non-Chabadniks) wear tallesim with five thick black stripes of even width (on each side), while a smaller number wear tallesim with three black stripes, with the middle stripe somewhat thicker than the other two. (In both cases, this doesn't count the stripe nearest to the edge, which is usually made up of a number of very small stripes). What is the significance of the number of stripes on a tallis? Is five stripes simply the customary number of stripes for Tashbetz tallesim?
Comment: Related: http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/4501 and http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/10594. Similar: http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/7550 (see the comments on that question).
Answer: Tashbetz is a very specific model. It's Mishkan Hatchelet's most slip-resistant design.
More broadly, the vast majority of traditional black-striped talleisim (Prima A.A., Chatanim, Hamefoar) do indeed have five stripes. Usually the three-striped variety is simply because it's a smaller size in the width, i.e. across the shoulders, from one fringed side to the other fringed size.
For example the Kalil lightweight tallt is narrower and the smaller sizes (50, 55, 60) don't have enough room for five stripes. But I heard they actually went back to five stripes, at least on the size 60, so you may start to see that less.
Comment: Does tashbetz have anything to do with Shu"t Tashbetz?


Fridge door left open

Question: I know its probably a silly question but i left the fridge door cracked slightly open last night for around 3 and a half to 4 hours and was wondering if the freezer would have been affected in anyway?. I worry needlessly about everything and overthink compulsively so cant let this go. I imagine all the fridge items would be ok also as i said it was only cracked about 1 inch open for just about less than 4 hours..
Comment: Fridge or freezer?
Comment: it was the fridge door that i left open.. but was just wondering if the then in turn would the freezer be affected in anyway.. i know it sounds silly but i overthink everything...
Comment: Please add additional information: was there excessive ice on the inside back, was there melt water?
Answer: If the door was only open a small amount, but the refrigerator was still running, it is likely things remained cold enough. However, there is no way for me to know for sure. Temperature is the key.  If the interior remained below 40 degrees F, your food is fine.  If it crept up into the danger zone for more than 2 hours, then you should be concerned.  In terms of the freezer, unless your food thawed, you are probably alright.

Fridge door left open


Can I attend 3 years interview with 2.7 years experience?

Question: Can I attend 3 years experience Java interview with 2.7 years experience? Will the companies strictly follow experience criteria?
Comment: Of course. Requirements in job posts are usually wishlists, not hard limits.
Comment: [This](http://workplace.stackexchange.com/q/1478/2322) is the same question.
Comment: Of couse not. Requirements in job posts are usually hard limits, not wishlists.
Comment: Hi user, welcome to [workplace.se]. Unfortunately we can't tell you whether you can attend said interview as it depends solely on what that company's policies are regarding these requirements. Answers to this question will thus be mainly opinion based and may well contradict each other. Compare my comment to Juha's for example. As it stands this question is a rather bad fit for this site. Maybe taking a look at [help/on-topic] will help you improve it.
Answer: of course. First of all, 0.3 years is not much difference. If it would be 2 years, I'd still recommend. Here's why:
<code>Often, it's not an exact match they're looking for-it's the right skill set
</code>
more on this:
http://lifehacker.com/5908557/why-you-should-still-apply-to-a-job-even-if-you-dont-meet-the-exact-job-requirements
Comment: +1 to this. I got a job that was looking for 3-5 years experience when I only had 2.5 at the time. If you can prove that you are sufficiently proficient with the skills the company wants for the job they are often willing to over look things like years of experience.
Comment: This is the best answer so far because it is more than just voicing an opinion.
Answer: Well you can clearly still apply for interview. Whether or not the company considers 3 years to be a strict limit or not depends on the company. I'd be very surprised if it was that strict. HR departments quickly learn that if they have hard and fast rules in place for this, they end up tossing potentially excellent candidates.
Answer: When applying for jobs, I tend to follow the "80% match" rule.  As in, I only apply if I meet at least 80% of the criteria listed in the job posting.  It can be hard to tell which of the long list of requirements (especially in tech) are "must-haves" vs. "nice-to-haves", and I almost never see a job listing for which I'm a 100% perfect match (unless it's one of those overly generic "developer, software (10 ea.)" job listings, which I wouldn't apply for anyway because they provide absolutely no information about the job itself).
Anyway, my point is, if being slightly under the experience requirement is the only requirement you don't exactly meet, I would definitely apply.
Answer: When a company offers to take the time to interview you, you can figure that they've already taken the time to compare your resume or job application to the requirements for the job.  That typically included required education and years of experience.  If they haven't, that's not your problem.
So if they don't have any concerns about your years of experience - why should you?
In all honesty, for this specific question 2.7 vs. 3 years just isn't that big a difference.  Mileage will always vary, but there really is no magical number that creates a level between "acceptable" and "unacceptable" - the difference is learning from experience and depth of understanding.


What is the word for someone who tries so hard to get to something but he can't and it's not his fault?

Question: What is the word for someone who tries so hard to get to something but he can't and it's not his fault?
For example a person wants to buy a car. He works hard and saves money but by the time he saved enough money the car he wanted gets more expensive because of inflation or something like that.
Comment: For me, the relevant *saying* is *"**I will work harder**"*. Stock response to setbacks from Boxer the shire horse in Orwell's *Animal Farm*, where [by the end of the novel, Boxer has worked so hard for the Rebellion that he's worked himself to death. He's so weak from starvation and trying to rebuild the windmill that he's useless. The pigs send him off to be slaughter, and he's too weak to fight back.](http://www.shmoop.com/animal-farm/boxer-horse.html)
Comment: You mean someone who fails at one task once, or who who fails the same task over and over despite hard work (Sisyphus), or who generally fails at everything by pure bad luck (schlimazel)?
Answer: Such a person is thwarted.
Meirriam Websters Collegiate
thwart: to defeat the hopes or aspirations
His desire for a new car was thwarted by market forces.
Answer: Such an unlucky individual is often referred to as a victim of circumstance. A victim of circumstance is a person who has suffered due to events over which they have little or no control.

victim noun: a person harmed, injured, or killed as a result of a crime, accident, or other event or action. synonyms: sufferer, injured party. (Google)
circumstance noun (formal) situations and events that affect and influence your life and that are not in your control. (Oxford Learners)
Answer: Such a guy is unfortunate.
Free Dictionary

A victim of bad luck
Answer: The person has a "sisyphean task" - doomed to work hard and fail
Comment: Welcome to ELU, Max. Someone might find *Sisyphean* on the edge of their search for the OP concept, but we are looking for substantial answers. Perhaps you could locate and cite some resources that define *Sisyphean*, and even offer an example of how it might or has been used that way in a real sentence.
Answer: Depending on what you are describing, you may also be referring to "structural inequality," "societal racism," or "institutional racism."
These occur when the circumstances you describe are not random, but rather the result of social or institutional policies or actions.
For example, "Joe is poor. He tries to get a better paying job, but it requires he have a reliable car. Joe loses the job after a few months because his car is not reliable. Joe's car is not reliable because he cannot afford to maintain it. He cannot afford to maintain it because he is poor."
This cycle is also an example of a "Catch 22".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structural_inequality
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch-22


How much Chinese dna will show up on my dna test

Question: I just got my results back from My Heritage.  I have a picture of my Great Great Grandfather he definitely looks Chinese, his father was 100 percent Chinese and he married a Native American they would be my Great Great Great Grandparents, why am I not showing any percentage of Asian or Native American on my results?  If my father were tested would it possibly show up on him since it would be his Great Great Grandfather?
Answer: If I read your question correctly, you are 1/32 Chinese and 1/32 Native American. It is not surprising that those ethnicities were not detected since you might not have any DNA from those ancestors in the regions used for determining ethnicity. See also How many generations back will specific ethnicity show up in DNA?.
Another factor is that the ethnicity results are not very accurate. You may get different numbers from different companies or even if MyHeritage changes its algorithms.
If the Chinese male ancestor is your father's father's ... father, you can have your father or your brother, if you have one, do a Y-DNA test. Similarly, if the Native American is your mother's mother's ... mother, you can do a mitochondrial DNA test.
Answer: My Heritage's ancestry calculators have issues.  I would not rely on them.  Download your raw data to your computer then upload it to Gedmatch.com.  Wait a few days for your kit to be fully loaded.  Then run their ancestry calculators and see what they say.
If the family stories are true, then it is still possible not to have ancestry markers from these 3rd great grandparents show up in your DNA.  It's also possible that the family stories are not true.  Checking with Gedmatch (try several of the calculators and be sure to do Oracle 4) will give you better data to work with.
Comment: Can you provide a source for your statement "My Heritage's ancestry calculators have issues", please?
Comment: Source: Multiple extensive discussions on International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG).  Also multiple blog posts by a variety of well-regarded authors in the field.  I can also cite personal experience where their assessment of my ancestry is different from all the other sites and services I've used, mostly on the exact same raw data file.  Even if MH was fantastic, I'd still recommend Gedmatch for a deeper ancestry look see.  Hope this is a sufficient answer.


Do solar storms affect Earth's weather?

Question: Solar storms have a direct effect on Earth, creating charged particles.  What are the direct and indirect effects of large solar storms on Earth's atmosphere?  Do solar storms affect Earth's weather?
Answer: Those charged particles you mention are not created by any kind of interaction with the Earth, but rather the term solar storm is used to refer to the temporary disturbance of Earth's magnetic field caused by bombardment of the charged particles which originate from the Sun. The stream of particles flow outward from the sun through the solar system(The particles escape from the sun because its outer atmosphere is very hot, and the atoms there move too rapidly for the sun's gravity to hold onto them).
However, these charged particles are different to the usual  solar radiation (visible and ultraviolet light) that penetrates Earth's atmosphere and warms the surface. Most of the charged particles that are aimed at the Earth are deflected back into space by Earth's magnetic field, although a small amount may enter the thermosphere (upper atmosphere). This may cause some warming in the thermosphere, however, carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide, coolants in the thermosphere, absorb the energy and then re-radiate heat back into space.  A small fraction of the extra heat from the solar flare radiates to layers of the atmosphere below the thermosphere, but it is insignificant compared to the normal amount of heating the lower layers of the atmosphere already experience from normal solar radiation.
References:
Bates, D.R., 1969. PHYSICS OF THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE. QUEEN'S UNIV BELFAST (NORTHERN IRELAND) DEPT OF APPLIED MATHEMATICS AND THEORETICAL PHYSICS.
Mlynczak, M.G., Martin‐Torres, F.J., Crowley, G., Kratz, D.P., Funke, B., Lu, G., Lopez‐Puertas, M., Russell, J.M., Kozyra, J., Mertens, C. and Sharma, R., 2005. Energy transport in the thermosphere during the solar storms of April 2002. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 110(A12).

Do solar storms affect Earth's weather?


What's the best way to keep cover of a pan slightly opened?

Question: If you need to keep cover of pan or bowl slightly opened during cooking, what's the best way to do this. May be there is devices for that, if so preferably non-metal. Specifically glass bowl like Pyrex in a microwave.
Answer: Tilt the lid.
It will stay where you put it… approximately.
 See pan top left & pyrex bottom right; they will stay like that all day if needed
If it really refuses to stay, then wedge a spatula [or any other bit of wood or plastic (& of course, not metal if it's going in the microwave) of any appropriate size]* in it, either from the edge, down the handle, as at bottom left, or right the way across then balance the lid on top of that, as at top right. The latter will also go in a microwave.

*This is physics 101 - put something in that's big enough to hold the lid ajar, yet not big enough to get in the way of anything else & not small enough to fall in & get lost in whatever you're cooking…
Comment: The actual details of precisely what bit of wood or plastic to use are really *irrelevant*. Find something that is big enough to hold the lid open, not big enough to jam the microwave turning, yet not small enough it will get lost in the dinner. Answer edited in the hope the comments don't now need to suggest 20 other vaguely appropriate utensils.
Comment: Important note: since the O.P. specified that "Specifically glass bowl like Pyrex in a microwave." it is important to do NOT use metal stuff! If you're cooking on a stove, you probably want to avoid metal (because metal conducts heat pretty well).
Answer: Funny enough, I saw a little silicone gadget the other day when I was out shopping - those stick men called Lid Sid are designed to do exactly what you want. Granted, they are real unitaskers, but also kind of fun.

Other manufacturers make similar items in other shapes - I have seen sheep, witches and others.
Answer: A different option is to use a silicon lid. You don't have to leave it open, you just cover the pot fully and it bleeds off steam on its own just like a tilted solid lid.
Comment: @Rob you have some kind of advanced version then. I have one like these: https://www.amazon.de/Silikon-Deckel-Mikrowellen-Sch%C3%BCssel-Abdeckung-Kochtopf-Deckel-K%C3%BCchentopf-Deckel-Kochutensilien/dp/B078X9Z15G. When I use it on stovetop, the steam comes out between the cover and the pot rim, instead of making a mess. It also does the vacuum-stay-put thing well on cold pots and bowls.
Comment: I have one of these that has a "flappy bit" in the middle (proper technical term there!) that acts as a release valve, it was a gift but I believe it was marketed as being designed to stop things boiling over, which for me is the starchy foam on potatoes for mash that makes a horrendous mess on the hob. A similar product to the one I have is: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Saucepan-Universal-Designed-BPA-Free-Silicone/dp/B07PD2RH3M
Answer: I have a rice cooker where the lid's vent hole is slightly too small, so I've done this by propping the lid open with a chopstick on one end of the lid. If you want it to be evenly vented, you could put one chopstick on both sides of the lid.
Answer: If you were doing this a lot it might be worth making a little thing with an H shaped cross section (like a bit of a girder), one pair of legs straddle the rim of the pan and the lid rests on the others. You could make it asymmetric to get variable heights.  You'd have to consider the material carefully, i.e. no metal if it's to go in a microwave, some woods & plastics are more heat resistant than others.
Comment: More or less like two of the little red men shown above by Stephi, attached back to back.
Comment: Already commercially available in silicone (with cute/entertaining shapes).
Comment: @Bloke Down The Pub I'm pretty sure I got you idea, but not 100% sure. It's hard to understand without picture, so may be you could depict something.
Answer: Probably we could use plastic cloth clips clipping them on the walls of a bowl, cover would stay atop of them. Probably it's ok, though there's metal spring which can cause problems.


Mixture of materials problem: What is the right ratio?

Question: Consider three types of sugar priced at 10, 12 and 18 per kg be mixed to form a mixture of price 14 per kg.
Find the ratio in which three types of sugar were mixed.
The answer is 3:4:5
Comment: It seems to me the solution is not unique. But since 14 is midway between 10 and 18, isn't there an easy solution involving just those two, and none of the 12 sugar?
Comment: If the answer is as stated, then there *must* be another constraint (or two). For example, perhaps the three values must form a right triangle (probably it is not this!), and I am guessing from the elementary number theory tag the other missing constraint is that the amounts in kilograms must all be positive integers. Can you double check what other constraints exist for this problem?
Answer: You want to find $\alpha$ (amount of units of the 10/kg sugar), $\beta$ (amount of units of the units of the 12/kg sugar), and $\gamma$ (amount of units of 18.kg) such that
$$\begin{align*}
\alpha+\beta+\gamma&=1\\
\alpha&\geq 0\\
\beta&\geq 0\\
\gamma&\geq 0\\
10\alpha + 12\beta + 18\gamma &= 14
\end{align*}$$
The system with the two equations has parametric solutions
$$\begin{align*}
\alpha &= 3t - 1\\
\beta &= 2-4t\\
\gamma&= t.
\end{align*}$$
From $0\leq\alpha$ we obtain that $t\geq\frac{1}{3}$. From $\beta\geq 0$ we get $t\leq \frac{1}{2}$.
So in summary, each value of $t$ with $\frac{1}{3}\leq t\leq \frac{1}{2}$ will give you a possible solution. Even restricting yourself to rational values, any rational value of $t$ between $\frac{1}{3}$ and $\frac{1}{2}$ will give you a valid solution.
Added. The $3\colon 4\colon 5$ solution comes from setting $t=\frac{5}{12}$.
It's possible that for some (cultural?) reason, the proportions must be integral multiples of $12$ (e.g., if they come from measuring in an imperial system using some base 12 measure), and that all of them must be used (i.e., all quantities positive). If that is the case, it turns out that $t=\frac{5}{12}$ is the only possible solution: in order to have $t=\frac{a}{12}$, with $a$ positive, and $\frac{1}{3}\lt \frac{a}{12}\lt\frac{1}{2}$ (strict inequalities to ensure $\alpha\gt 0$ and $\beta\gt 0$), we must have $4\lt a\lt 6$, so that the only possible solution is $a=5$. But I'm reaching into unknown (or at least, unreported) territory.
Comment: And note that even with the restriction to rational values, you can always scale up to get whole-number ratios; for instance, with $t=2/5$, then $\alpha=1/5, \beta=2/5$, and $\gamma=2/5$, yielding a 1:2:2 ratio of ten-dollar, twelve-dollar, and eighteen-dollar sugar as another solution.
Answer: I would start by assuming $w_1 , w_2$ and  $w_3 $ to be the mass fractions of the 3 sugar types mixed. The total price is $$14=10w_1+12w_2+18w_3$$ Furthermore: $$w_1+w_2+w_3=1$$You have a system of 2 equations with 3 unknowns, therefore there's no unique solution to your problem.
Comment: @Gigili The second equation comes from the fact that the $w_i$ are the mass _fractions_; they're the proportions of the total mass made up of each type, so they have to add up to 1!
Comment: @jay If the book says there is a single solution, then there must be some condition in the problem that you forgot to mention.
Comment: I don't get how you got the second equation.
Comment: @chemeng answer is 3:4:5 though i dont know how
Comment: @StevenStadnicki: Ah yes, right. Thanks.
Answer: If one naively sets this up as a system of (just one)
equation in the amounts of each sugar in kilograms,
$$
10x+12y+18z=14(x+y+z),
$$
one arrives at the underdetermined system
$$
\left[\matrix{2&1&-2}\right]
\left[\matrix{x\\y\\z}\right]
=2x+y-2z=0
$$
for which we seek solutions with $x,y,z\ge0$.
This is of course equivalent chemeng's and Arturo's posts
with the observation that $x,y$ and $z$ represent the absolute weights of the respective component sugars, while chemeng's $w_i$ and Arturo's greek letters represent their proportions, (also called coefficients or weights). So if $s=x+y+z$ is the total amount of mixed sugar, we have the following relations:
$$
\eqalign{
x+y+z&=s\\\\
\frac{x+y+z}{s}&=1&=w_1+w_2+w_3&=\alpha+\beta+\gamma\\
\frac{x}s&&=w_1&=\alpha\\\\
\frac{y}s&&=w_2&=\beta\\\\
\frac{z}s&&=w_3&=\gamma=t
}
$$
The solution set so far consists of all vectors
in the first octant of $\mathbb{R}^3$,
including bounding coordinate planes/axes
(i.e. with nonnegative components),
which are perpendicular to the vector $\mathbf{v}=(2,1,-2)$.
These have two free variables, a length or scale parameter, and a direction along the circle perpendicular to $\mathbf{v}$. We could, for example, parametrize the solution space with $s$ and $t$ as
$$
\left.
\matrix{x&=&(3t-1)s\\y&=&(2-4t)s\\z&=&st}
\right\}
\qquad\text{for}\qquad
\left\{
\matrix{s&>&0\\t&\in&\left[\tfrac13,\tfrac12\right]}
\right.
$$
or, with $u=6t-2\in\left[0,1\right]$, as
$$
\left.
\matrix{x&=&\tfrac12su\\y&=&\tfrac23s(1-u)\\z&=&\tfrac16s(u+2)}
\right\}
\qquad\text{for}\qquad
\left\{
\matrix{s&>&0\\u&\in&\left[0,1\right]}
\right.
$$
If we wish to further restrict the solutions to integer values,
we still have infinitely many solutions,
but the smallest nonzero solutions will be
$$
\begin{array}{c}
(1,0,1)\\
(0,2,1)\\
\end{array}
$$
which form a basis for all solutions (over $\mathbb{R}$ or $\mathbb{Z}$).
We can thus also parametrize the solutions as
$$
\left[\matrix{x\\y\\z}\right]=
a\left[\matrix{1\\0\\1}\right]+
b\left[\matrix{0\\2\\1}\right]=
\left[\matrix{a\\2b\\a+b}\right],
$$
taking $a,b\ge0$ in $\mathbb{R}$ or $\mathbb{Z}$ as desired.
We therefore clearly need another constraint to arrive at the
$3:4:5$ ratio corresponding to $a=3,b=2$ solution, especially
since another, even smaller all-positive solution, would be
possible from our single constraint: $a=b=1$ with ratio $1:2:3$.
Answer: To complement chemeng's answer, the system of equations gives
$$w_1=3w_3-1\quad\mbox{ and }\quad w_2=2-4w_3.$$
Moreover, we also need $w_1,w_2,w_3\in[0,1]$, and so this translates into the restriction $w_3\in[1/4,1/2]\cap[1/3,2/3]=[1/3,1/2]$. Hence, you have infinitely many solutions.
Comment: Are you sure it's $\frac{1}{4}\leq w_3$? From $2-4w_3\geq 0$ I get $w_3\leq\frac{1}{2}$.
Comment: @ArturoMagidin Thank you


number of infinite sets with different cardinalities

Question: I would like to know whether the number of infinity sets of different cardinalities is uncountable or countable. Is the proof simple?
Thanks.
Comment: The argument in http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/3061/large-sets-set-theory shows that the collection of cardinalities cannot form a set.  If it did, you could take the powerset of their union.
Answer: Technically, neither one is true: the class of cardinalities is too large to form a set.  (However, having to choose between "countable" and "uncountable", certainly "uncountable" seems better: there is at least an uncountable set of cardinalities of sets.)
I think this is equivalent to a previous question on this site, but anyway: please see Fact 20 of
http://alpha.math.uga.edu/~pete/settheorypart1.pdf
and let me know if you have any further questions.
Answer: Contrary to the responses thus far (and with no disrespect intended to their authors), I think we can say quite unequivocally that there are strictly more than countably-many sets with distinct infinite cardinalities, and that (ipso facto) there are uncountably many such sets.
The answers before mine fixate on the idea of cardinality itself as the concept of quantity, and correctly point out that that there isn't a "set of infinite cardinalities". (There is a class of infinite cardinalities, if you like that sort of thing, but perhaps not everyone likes talking about proper classes.) Because there cannot be a set of infinite cardinalities, the reasoning goes, there cannot be a cardinality (a well-defined sense of "the number of") of infinite cardinalities. However, the original question isn't about "cardinality" per se: it's about a less formal notion of "the number of something", which we conventionally define by cardinality in the case of sets. As we are not talking about "the set of X", however, perhaps we shouldn't be using this definition of number. What then?
Well, the original question isn't asking us precisely how many infinite cardinalities there are: just whether this number is countable or uncountable --- a dichotomy of ordering; whether it is less-than-or-equal-to the "number" of natural numbers (i.e. whether it can be placed in bijective correspondance with a subset of the natural numbers), or not. This is, as far as I'm aware, the definition of the terms "countable" and "uncountable".
As the number of infinite cardinalities cannot be put into one-to-one correspondence with any subset of the natural numbers, it follows that the number of infinities is uncountable. The fact that they cannot be put into a set is irrelevant, in my opinion: at worst, one only needs to identify a single uncountable set U of infinities, note that there is no surjection onto it from the natural numbers, and note incidentally that there are more infinities outside of the set U anyway. Any cardinal ℵC (identified in the usual way with an ordinal), for C itself an uncountable ordinal, will suffice for U.
Thus, there are uncountably many different infinities, QED.
Comment: I honestly don't see anything in this answer that was not already addressed in mine.  In particular, if you follow the link, you'll find that the word "cardinality" is not used at all.
Comment: Also, in all the many treatments I have seen, the terms "countable", "uncountable" and "bijective correspondence" inherently apply to sets.  Do you have a reference for your alternative definition?
Comment: @Pete: you did indicate that "uncountable" would be the better term to apply, but I feel that you put too much emphasis on it being somehow not technically correct. --- The reference to a particular uncountable cardinal in my last paragraph was in anticipation of the complaint about "bijective correspondance" being between sets (because the bijection itself is usually taken to be a set as well); this basically recapitulates your answer, but without the hedging. And "countability" necessarily applies to sets. But for uncountability, I don't see why we should refrain from the obvious extension.
Answer: If by the number of cardinalities you mean the set of all cardinalities - then there is none.
The class of all cardinal numbers is a proper class, as it contains a copy of the class of ordinal numbers - which is not a set.
So to answer you question, it's not countable. It's so big it's not even a set.
Answer: For any set $X,$ the set $P(X)$ of all subsets of $X$ has a bigger cardinality than $X$ itself (for $X$ is finite this is easy, for $X$ infinite you need a clever argument from Cantor, obtaineble in any set theory text). You can do this again, obtaining:
card(X) < card(P(X)) < card(P(P(X))) < ...
Comment: This, however, doesn't answer the question - what happens after $\aleph_0$ steps.


Can you continue to do 'Quartermastery' and 'Cleansing the Commonwealth' missions after finishing 'Reunions'?

Question: Those two types of missions seem like decent ways of obtaining experience, even for a Survival character. I'm looking forward to being able to use a Vertibird around the Commonwealth for faster travel, but after the mission 'Reunions' the Prydwen arrives in the Commonwealth and I am taken to it. I fear when I progress far enough into the game to obtain access to a Vertibird, I will end the two aforementioned radiant quests.
Answer: The only thing that will screw that up is if you make enemies with the Brotherhood by allying too tightly with the other factions. Specifically, if you keep doing the main quest lines for the other factions, you will eventually get a message before accepting a quest, something along the lines of: "warning: this will make you a permanent enemy of the Brotherhood".
On the other hand, all the other factions have similar repetitive, semi-random quests too.
Answer: As long as Haylen and Rhys are alive, they will continuously give you this quest, as Preston would with his settlement quest. So go on, take that Vertibird and have fun messing around
Source :
Personal experience and  https://www.reddit.com/r/Fallout/comments/3siy1r/is_there_an_end_to_cleansing_the_commonwealth_in/


Are the rules for comma placements universal?

Question: When i write, i put a comma according to my gut feeling. therefore i left a lot of marks on my way to the end of the sentence that sum up to a bubble of insecurity. Anyway, i am not even sure it comma placement is a serious phenomenon in linguistics, could you provide further enlightment as for languages in general?
Comment: Comma placement has nothing to do with linguistics. It is a matter of convention in writing, and there are few 'absolute rules' in English.
Comment: there might be no comma placement in sign language or other universal systems of language, but nethertheless is this convention connected to the written language. i do not think the convention is t,o,tal,ly ar,bit,rar,y ?,
Comment: @Anixx - If punctuation is part od linguistics, , it must be on the fringe. It receives no mention in Lyons (1981), *Language and Linguistics*, Malmhjær (ed)(2004), *The Linguistics Encyclopedia*, or Aarts & McMahon (eds)  (2006), *The Handbook of English Linguistics*, It is not mentioned in Shheffied Univerity's *Branches of Linguistic*s webpage (https://sites.google.com/a/sheffield.ac.uk/all-about-linguistics/branches),nor in Prasad & Verna (20120 *Branches of Linguistics* http://es.slideshare.net/dapurv5/branches-of-linguistics-11652624()
Comment: I did not say the comma conventions were arbitrary. I merely said that there were few 'absolute rules' The use of commas is clearly a feature of the written language, though commas in English usually indicate some degree of pause in the spoken language.
Comment: @tunny writing conventions are part of linguistics
Comment: Funny writing convenions are a small and largely unimportant part of linguistics. Most linguistics deals with real language, not technology related to language; especially not incompetent technology.
Comment: Despite considerable similarity between the two languages, comma placement is quite different in English and French. Then, I personally use commas when I feel like it ... so much for the rules. Well, it seems to me to be a bit more constrained in English.
Answer: No, they are not, every language has its own rules for comma placement.
For example, in Russian a comma is needed before 'что' (that) introducing subordinate clauses, but in English no comma is used there:

Я знаю, что он придёт.
I know that he'll come.

In Chinese, there are two different commas, the regular comma , (逗号) which is used o join together clauses, and, unlike English, it is allowed between a subject and its predicate, and the enumeration comma 、 (顿号) which is used instead of the regular comma when separating words constituting a list, e.g. 'A、B、C'.
Answer: English has much less cases when comma is needed compared to Russian because Russian has free word order. In English the same information is conveyed with the order of the words. For instance, comma may totally change the meaning of a Russian sentence:

Казнить, нельзя помиловать = Execute, cannot pardon.
Казнить нельзя, помиловать = Cannot execute, pardon.
Нельзя казнить - помиловать = If it is impossible to execute, then pardon.

Rules for placing commas is a very difficult part of Russian grammar and even not all native always put commas the correct way.
Comment: @Anixx. I do not think you are in a position to judge whether an English sentence is grammatical or not. By the way: English speakers would say "English has many fewer cases where a comma is needed ...."
Comment: I don't read Russian, but I think your Russian examples are reproducible in English: "Execute not, pardon" vs. "Execute, not pardon".
Comment: @prash I think your examples are ungrammatical.
Comment: They are grammatical. Haven't you seen constructs like "ask not what your country can do for you...", or "waste not, want not", or "seek not the things of this world..."? Such constructs are considered somewhat archaic, but people still say such things when they want to sound poetic.
Comment: @prash I am the first time encountering such constructions.
Answer: Commas in English are used to represent a particular intonation profile; they go by "gut feeling" if one's gut feels the intonation of a sentence.
Likewise, they have nothing more to do with grammar than intonation does -- i.e, plenty, but not anything one can define easily.


Integrable function

Question: Please help me prove this.
Suppose $f$ is defined in$\left [ a,b \right ]$ ,$f\geq 0$, $f$ is integrable in$ [a,b]$ and $\displaystyle\int_{a}^{b}fdx=0$
prove:
$\displaystyle\int_{a}^{b}f(x)^2dx=0$
Thanks a lot!
Comment: To accept an answer, you can click your name at the top of the page. Then you can find all the questions you have asked. For each answer to the question you have asked, there is a tick. By clicking the tick, you can accept the answer. Note that you can only accept one answer to each of your question. So choose the best answer which is the most helpful to you. Also look at here: http://math.stackexchange.com/faq#howtoask
Comment: @Paul Thank you very much!
Answer: Let's assume we're working with the Lebesgue integral.
Define
$$
f_k(x)=\left\{\begin{array}{}f(x)&\text{if }k\le f(x)<k+1\\0&\text{otherwise}\end{array}\right.
$$
Since $f$ is measurable, so is each $f_k$.
Then since $f=\sum\limits_{k=0}^\infty f_k$ and each $f_k\ge0$, we have by dominated convergence
$$
\begin{align}
\sum_{k=0}^\infty\int_a^bf_k(x)\;\mathrm{d}x
&=\int_a^bf(x)\;\mathrm{d}x\\
&=0\tag{1}
\end{align}
$$
Since $f_k(x)\ge0$, we have $\int_a^bf_k(x)\;\mathrm{d}x\ge0$. $(1)$ says that the sum of non-negative terms is $0$; therefore, each $\int_a^bf_k(x)\;\mathrm{d}x=0$. Furthermore, by dominated convergence,
$$
\begin{align}
\int_a^bf^2(x)\;\mathrm{d}x
&=\sum_{k=0}^\infty\int_a^bf_k^2(x)\;\mathrm{d}x\\
&\le\sum_{k=0}^\infty(k+1)\int_a^bf_k(x)\;\mathrm{d}x\\
&\le\sum_{k=0}^\infty(k+1)\cdot0\\
&=0\tag{2}
\end{align}
$$

Let's assume we're working with the Riemann integral.
To be integrable, $f$ must be bounded (otherwise, for the partition interval on which $f$ is unbounded, the upper sum is infinite). Let $M=\sup\limits_{[a,b]}f$. Since $f\ge0$,
$$
\begin{align}
\int_a^bf^2(x)\;\mathrm{d}x
&\le M\int_a^bf(x)\;\mathrm{d}x\\
&=M\cdot0\\
&=0\tag{3}
\end{align}
$$
Answer: My first inclination would be to say that since $f\geq0$ and $\int_a^bfdx=0$, $f(x)=0$ for $x$ such that $a\leq x\leq b$.  Because of this, $\int_b^af(x)^2dx=0$.  You will probably need to fill in a fair amount of reasoning to make this hold up, though.
Also, suggestion - accept some answers to your questions.  It makes people more likely to answer in the future.
Answer: Intuitively $f$ must be zero almost everywhere (term from Lebesgue theory). Now, if $f$ is zero almost everywhere then so is $f^2$, and then $\int f^2=0$ too.
That this is really the case is in fact trivial because $$0=\int_a^b f(x) dx =\int_a^b |f(x)|dx=\|f\|_{L^1(a,b)}$$
in other words the $L^1$-norm of $f$ is zero and then (because it is a norm) $f$ must be the $L^1$-zero function, that is $f$ must be zero almost everywhere.
If we did not know that $f\mapsto\|f\|_{L^1(a,b)}$ is a norm, it is sufficient to prove that the set $A=\{x: \, f(x)>0\}$ has measure zero $\mu(A)=0$ (where $\mu$ is the Lebesgue measure). In order to do that we need some argument where we use $\int f = 0$ in simpler terms, one such method is to split the set into a countable number of disjoint sets that  we can control (similar to robjohn's argument). Having said that, let us consider
$$A= \bigcup_{n=1}^\infty A_n$$
where $A_n=\{x: 1/n\le f(x) < 1/(n-1)\}$ (where in the exceptional case $n=1$ we mean $A_1=\{x : \,f(x)\ge1\}$ ).
Then since the sets are disjoint we have
$$\mu(A)=\sum_{n=1}^\infty\mu(A_n)=\sum_{n=1}^\infty\int_{A_n}1dx$$
and since $f(x)\ge 1/n$ on $A_n$ we have
$$\int_{A_n}1dx\le n\int_{A_n}f(x)dx\le n\int_a^bf(x)dx=n\cdot0=0$$
That is each $A_n$ has measure 0, and hence so has $A$.

Integrable function


What are the possible magnetic quantum numbers of silver?

Question: What are all the possible quantum numbers ml and ms of the electrons in the outermost s orbital of silver? I'm new to this concept. Can anyone walk me through this?
Answer: Silver has electronic configuration as [Kr] 4d10 5s1 .
The s orbital ( 5s ) has only one electron. And the s orbital here has n = 5 (as it is in the fifth period) and l = 0 .
The s orbital is symmetric in space (sphere) which has only one orientation and hence has no "different" orientations  each of which is represented by a particular value of ml. So ml can take only one value and that is 0.( If this was a p orbital which could take 3 different orientations, ml would take 3 values -> -1,0,1. In general an orbital with azimuthal quantum number l, ml would take 2l+1 values of ml  ranging from -l to +l )
The quantum number ms represents the spin. It can either be +1/2 or -1/2.
Hence ,  ml =  0 amd ms = +1/2 or -1/2.
Hope this helps!
Answer: There are 4 quantum numbers.
n - Principal quantum number with values 1,2,3,4... - in simple words look at the row in periodic table and this is the max value of n for a particular atom.
l - Azimuthal quantum number, has always values from 0 to (n-1). In simple words it representsthe type of orbital (s, p, d, f). Look at the following table.

ml - magnetic quantum number distinguishes the orbitals available within a subshell and has values from -l to +l. In simple words, each orbital wavefunction has a specific shape (photo above). There is 1 s orbital, 5 p orbitals, 10 d orbitals and so on. This numbers points to one of the orbitals.
ms - spin quantum number, represents the spin of an electron. Values +1/2 and -1/2.

Back to your question - quantum number of outermost s orbital of silver. Silver has an electron configuration [Kr] 4d10 5s1.
n = 5 as silver is in the 5th row (row is called period).
l = 0 for s orbital
ms = 0 as there is only 1 s orbital
ml = +1/2 or -1/2
I hope this explains your problem.
Answer: You have four quantum numbers: n, l, ml and ms.
The relationship between them is
n = 1, 2, 3... (theoretically speaking, up to infinite)
l = 0, 1, 2... n-1
-l <= ml <= l (that means, ml can assume all integer values between -l and l, including 0).
ms can be either 1/2 or -1/2.
l gives the "shape" of the orbital, and chemists give nicknames to the orbitals:
l = 0 is called s, l = 1 is called p, l = 2 is called d, l = 3 is called f, and so on (l = 4 is g, l = 5 is h, you got the idea)
Now, Silver is in the fifth period, therefore your n = 5.
Since we are only interested in the s orbitals, we have n = 5, l = 0 (for the reason given above). Since l = 0, then also ml is 0.
You have two electrons in the s orbital, therefore you have both 1/2 and  -1/2 for ms.
Therefore, your quantum numbers are n = 5, l = 0, ml = 0, ms = +1/2 and - 1/2.
I hope this helps!


Criteria for translation

Question: I know there are a TON of translations out there and that some people prefer things like King James Only. But I was wondering: What are some good criteria for choosing a translation and why?
Answer: I would propose the following criteria for selecting an English Bible translation:

faithfulness to the original languages
translation philosophy (thought-for-thought, word-for-word, or paraphrase)
usage of the best texts/manuscripts available
readability

These criteria are purely subjective, therefore some theological traditions will prefer various manuscripts or translation philosophies over others.
Faithfulness to the original languages
Is the translation based on the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek manuscripts? Or is it based on an existing translation? Is the translation consistent? Does it take recent scholarly linguistic and philological data into account? Does it allow the New Testament to inform how the Old Testament is translated? Are masculine pronouns translated as gender-neutral where grammar allows? Is there a clear theological bias (translations produced by sectarian groups or individuals often have a determined bias).
Translation philosophy
A thought-for-thought translation is known as dynamic equivalent, while a word-for-word translation is called formal equivalent. A paraphrase involves restating the meaning of a given passage in other words. Essentially this is a metric of how literal a translation is (does it follow form or meaning?). Remember that both form and meaning can be important; this is a subjective decision (just like all of the other criteria).
Usage of the best texts/manuscripts available
Some theological traditions have defined manuscripts/texts that are to be considered authoritative. Others tend to trust certain "families" of manuscripts more than others (Byzantine/Majority vs. Alexandrian, etc.). Others would prefer critical texts produced with the best quality scholarship that take early translations and manuscript variants into account.
Readability
This criteria is often overlooked. There is some truth to the old saying that "the best Bible translation is the one you read." Who cares how well it meets the other criteria if you can't comprehend what you're reading? Some translations are harder to read than others.
The best translation is a purely subjective choice that factors in these criteria. Some may consider certain criteria to be more important than others, while others may wish to balance all of them equally.
Comment: A much better answer than the current "correct" answer.
Comment: I would to add that the theology of the KJV (and DR) is quite different from that of the modern translations, since these Bibles are descended from different theological centers.  The catholic theology of the KJV (and DR) is quite different from that of the modern Protestant translations, (most of which have been abandoned in the  USA ASV RV,RSV etc.)
Answer: There are numerous things that go into finding a translation that works for you. Let's start with the different translation styles:

Literal word for word translations. These translations go back to the original translations and try to capture the exact words of the original language in the translation language (in this case, typically English). These tend to be fairly accurate but are often unreadable.
Thought for thought translations. These translations, rather than try to determine the exact words of the original translation in the new language, try to capture the meaning in a readable and interpretable way. These tend to be slightly less accurate and more open to the interpretation of the translator, but are often very readable.
Paraphrase. Taking a step farther from thought for thought you get paraphrase, which turns the original language texts into a very readable, almost story-like version. You lose a significant amount of connection to the original language text here, but you trade it for a far more accessible text.

Other things to consider are the scholarly rigor that goes into the translation (the NIV famously had a huge number of scholars and translators that worked on it). The number and quality of source texts used and the group of people doing the translating (did they all of one denominational or doctrinal bent?).
That said, each kind of translation is good for specific things. If you don't read the original languages of scripture (Ancient Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic) then your best option is to read several different translations when you are interpreting a passage. If the translations agree you have a good idea of the meaning, if they disagree than you can often get a sense of the lingual nuance of the original language by reading several different scholar's translations.
No one translation or type of translation is superior to others, although several are very common for usage. The main ones I see used are the KJV, NIV and ESV, though there are several other translations that are commonly used for answers on this site. Most translations have strengths and weaknesses and I would not recommend relying on a single translation for your interpretation of scripture.
As far as choosing a translation for your daily reading (or a specific purpose), evaluate your needs. Do you need readability? Do you need a solid understanding of what the scripture is trying to communicate? Do you want to know exactly what was said as close to word for word as possible?
Developing your requirements for a translation will inform which translation you use. Everyone has different needs and thus there are dozens of different translations into English. This is a supreme luxury (many langauges, even common ones like Spanish, only have a few translations) and one that allows a great deal of options. Choose a reputable translation that suits your requirements.
Answer: If you accept what the Bible says about itself, specifically that it is "God-breathed" (2 Timothy 3:16) and that its authors were "carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21) as they wrote, then it follows that we would want as accurate a translation as possible.
Now, it is true that there are minor copyist errors in the original manuscripts from which translations are made.  However, I have personally cataloged every variant in the first eight chapters of John and looked into this issue a fair amount, and I can confidently assert that the variances do not have any significant impact on the meaning of the text.
Still, we want to have an accurate translation.  The Greek language of the New Testament is a very precise language--well-suited, coincidentally, for recording doctrinal issues.  Hebrew, I am told, is great for storytelling, which is almost quite coincidental.
A good translation will attempt to capture the meaning put forth in the original language and represent that as closely as possible in the other language.
Manuscript Variances
Many in the KJV-Only movement have made much of the differences between the Greek manuscript families of the Textus Receptus (TR) and the critical text.  Most modern translations are based on the critical texts while the KJV and a few others are based on the Textus Receptus.  I have personally investigated the variances between these two manuscript families quite a bit.  Some claim that the the critical text is based on corrupted manuscripts.  My personal conclusion is that the critical text is, indeed, older.  What is "missing" from them that appears in the TR is essentially explanatory notes that were likely included in margins of manuscripts originally and over time found their way into the manuscripts themselves.  Other variants seemed to arise from the inclusion of wording from one gospel into the account of the same event in another gospel.  List of major textual variants in the New Testament
Translation Approaches
There are basically two approaches to translation--1) word for word, and 2) thought for thought.
In reality, though, an exact word for word translation does not really work.  Oftentimes, a Greek proper name will have the definite article preceding it, and we don't typically do that in English.  For instance, Greek has, literally, "the God".  In English, however, this is just not the way we speak.  So, even the most literal word-for-word translation will not say "the God" or "the Jesus" or "the Capernaum".
Of particular importance in translation is the faithfulness to render verbs in the correct tenses.  An old adage for New Testament Greek is, "the theology is in the verbs".
Caution should be taken regarding translation that attempt to bend the Scriptures to modern philosophies.  For instance, it would be inappropriate to render pronouns referring to God or Jesus as gender-neutral, because they are not so in the original language.  It is not ours to redefine what the Holy Spirit intended.
Recommendations
So, those are some general principles.  I would personally recommend the following translations:
<code> LITV  word-for-word, very precise, but difficult to read, more for study.

 KJV   word-for-word, but with verb tenses and pronouns that have fallen out of use.

 NASB  Word-for-word, but a little verbose at times.

 ESV   Word-for-word, and perhaps a little smoother than the NASB

 NIV   Thought-for-thought, but pretty faithful to the original text.
       One thing it does is replace pronouns with their antecedents in many places.
       This is most common with pronouns for Jesus.  This does help with readability
       at times, especially in a world where individual verses are quoted out of
       context.
</code>
There are many other good translations, of course, but these are pretty reputable.
Comment: +1 particularly for different translations for different uses.
Answer: I have 28 bible translations in my bible study program. When I teach I use the Bible that is authorized by the Church I am in. You should use the Bible that your Pastor or Priest uses, otherwise you will be in conflict with the doctrine of your Church.
Each Bible translation has been commissioned by a particular religious entity in such a way as to support the doctrine of that entity. No two Bible translations use exactly the same words. Some Bibles disagree on sentences and even entire verses are missing in some Bibles. There are 80 books in the Anglican Bible but only 67 in Protestant Bibles. It would be confusing to use a catholic bible for protestant study. If you are Anglican you would read the English King James version and not the Baptist version of the KJV, which excludes 13 books of the OT.
Greek Orthodox use a different OT to Roman Catholics. And  so on.
So, stick with the Bible your Pastor or priest uses. If you want to branch out and find out what the Catholics or Anglicans teach, then select their Bibles - be warned, the theology is quite different, and their Bibles support their theology.
Comment: This answer is not correct as far as the [Anglican] Church of England is concerned. See http://www.churchofengland.org/about-us/structure/churchlawlegis/canons/supplementary-material.aspx#Head1-129
Comment: Yes, the CofE has allowed alternative Bibles to be used for study, and for readings from the BCP revised several times to encourage attendance by the less well educated congregation. Being an Anglican is not the same as being CofE. The Anglican Communion worldwide has chosen to restrict their Liturgy and readings to the KJV 1769, as have the Anglican-Catholic Church worldwide. The only Bible approved by Parliament in the UK has been the KJV 1611 - 1769. The decline of the C of E has much to do with the changes to the Liturgy, as it has in the USA.
Comment: I suggest you read Canon II.2 of the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church (ECUSA) as well. That branch of Anglicanism seems not to be *very* restrictive, either.

Criteria for translation


What is a demonstrated crosswind component?

Question: What is a demonstrated crosswind component? Is it possible to land in a crosswind greater than the demonstrated crosswind component? Is it safe to?
Comment: I have landed in crosswinds greater than those demonstrated.  The key is to remember to keep the nose straight with rudder and to track the centerline with aileron.  If the wind is strong enough to where have full rudder deflection in and it still isn't enough, it is time to find a different runway.
Answer: A demonstrated crosswind component is highest crosswind (corrected to make it 90°) which has been shown to be possible to safely land by a test pilot. It shall not require exceptional skill by an ordinary pilot, however it does not mean every pilot will be able to do so. It is also NOT a limit (contrary to what some say) - if the pilot does decide to land higher crosswinds, they can do so (but please take caution).
This number may not necessarily be the highest crosswind component that it's possible to land in -- it just has to be above the minimum capabilities required in the regulations. For example, say an aircraft, flown perfectly (yes, we're dreaming), was capable of handling a 30 knot crosswind component (no gust, ISA conditions), the manufacturer only needs to demonstrate safe landing with a crosswind component of one-fifth of the reference stall speed in the landing configuration. This would be:

10 knots @ 50KIAS VS0
12 knots @ 60KIAS VS0
14 knots @ 70KIAS VS0
15 knots @ 75KIAS VS0

Reference:

(a) A 90 degree cross-component of wind velocity, demonstrated to be safe for taxiing, takeoff, and landing must be established and must be not less than 0.2 VS0.
Answer: I teach a way simpler definition:
The maximum crrosswind component that a plane can hold the fuselage aligned to the centerline up until full deflection of the controls.
Any additional wind requires adding in crab and would result in a side-loaded touchdown which is therefore out if control.
Comment: Simpler, but not necessarily more accurate. Max ***demonstrated*** is exactly that: demonstrated. Not max possible, but what they had when they demonstrated it. Also, "landing in crab" = "out of control" is utterly wrong. For some aircraft, landing with some crab is both necessary + routine above a certain crosswind component, and not ***at all*** "out of control".


Social data about people in the US

Question: I am not from the USA, but I see a lot of discussions about race and racism in  the USA and whether skin color is an indicator for crime, education, divorce and that sort of thing. I do not have political agenda (though I am sure that color in itself can hardly be a causality for anything), but I would like to make the multivariate analysis myself to get a better understanding about the topic. I do not trust the statistics (either way) from those guys in the talk-shows. Are there detailed datasets that I could analyses? I would prefer more fine-grained data, since I fear that aggregated data already is influenced by political agenda (either way). I am happy about data from any country, but I guess the USA is one of the more diverse countries on earth.
Comment: fbi.gov for crime statistics and census.gov for general statistics should be the first place you look.
Answer: I've done some work in this area. The US FBI's data is aggregated from state reporting, and there are only certain types of crime they are required to report to the FBI (more info in this document https://ucr.fbi.gov/additional-ucr-publications/ucr_handbook.pdf/view).
Many US cities provide crime data via a public API. Here are some I've come across. Each city captures different information about the crime and the offender so try some out and see if it fits your needs.

Philly: https://www.opendataphilly.org/dataset/crime-incidents
Chicago: https://data.cityofchicago.org/Public-Safety/Crimes-2001-to-present/ijzp-q8t2
SF: https://data.sfgov.org/Public-Safety/SFPD-Incidents-from-1-January-2003/tmnf-yvry
Baton Rouge: https://data.brla.gov/Public-Safety/Baton-Rouge-Crime-Incidents/fabb-cnnu
Providence: https://data.providenceri.gov/Public-Safety/Providence-Police-Department-Arrest-Log-Past-30-Da/vank-fyx9
Atlanta: http://opendata.atlantapd.org/Crimedata/Default.aspx

Social data about people in the US


What drove humans to their first sin?

Question: What caused Adam and Chava to sin; to do the wrong thing; to make the wrong choice: What was it in their human being, thats being called Tov me'od (Bereshit 1:31), that drove them into eating from the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil while it was forbidden them to do so?
Answer: I heard an explanation, which was attributed to R' Moshe Shapiro, that basically said the following (sorry I don't have his sources, I heard it second-hand):
Adam was given a supremely spiritual and holy state of being, to the point that the angels wanted to praise him.  Yet G-d told him to do a very small task - don't eat from this tree, for a few hours.  He was given incredible spiritual potential, and instructed not to do anything with it except to not mess things up!
The challenge for Adam was to forgo participating in perfecting the world, to submit his own desire to activate his spiritual potential for the sake of doing what Hashem said.  It was a case of doing what G-d said despite what you think would be best, with the added element of the humility required to not do what he knew he could do.
To put it differently, Adam wanted to "mess the world up" in order to use his great potential to fix it - to show that he could bring the world to its fulfillment through his own spiritual accomplishments.  The problem was that G-d said not to.
So the challenge was having the humility to not exert his own abilities, and not to follow his own idea of what was right.
Comment: Great thinking here; So Adam needed to look beyond his own perspective of what was Tov (good) and accept the fact that HaShem told him that eating of the tree was rah (wrong)? But based on his own intellectual mind and heart chose wrong where he thought doing right?... Did I understand it right. P.s. What changed within the being of Adam after receiving the knowledge of Tov and Rah in opposite to his state before that knowledge?
Comment: @user4762 You got it mostly, with the added point that the reason he chose wrong was due to the difficulty of negating himself.  The answer to your p.s. is discussed [here](http://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/41106/moral-culpability-in-the-garden/41108#41108) (along with another answer to this question) and [here](http://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/47545/did-cain-and-hevel-have-%D7%93%D7%A2%D7%AA/47671#47671)
Comment: I once read a commentary that told that the part with the snake represented an internal dialogue inside the head of Chava. Could the the knowledge of truth and false be influenced some way that they chose wrong? That although they had the command not to eat from it, they thought rationally that they could eat from it (as if it was a truth)?
Answer: The way the Yaavetz explains the Avos Drav Nosson, Adam made a safeguard for God's commandment. God said don't eat from the tree of knowledge, and Adam made a safeguard and told Chava not to touch the tree as well. However, he never told her that this was his addition so the plan backfired. The snake pushed Chava onto the tree and said you didn't die from touching it, you won't die from eating it. And so she ate from it.
It's interesting to note that the Avos Drav Nosson puts this on a list of safeguard enactments which were instituted over time as a way to bring the message of the mishna in Avos home: asei syag laTorah, make a safeguard for the Torah. What's interesting is this seemingly ignores the fact that this safeguard backfired! It might be though that this is the very lesson being taught. Some safeguards will backfire. But they are still necessary, and better than the alternative of trying to keep the commandments without them.
Comment: But Chava gave from the fruit to Adam and he also ate from it... besides this fact the question relais what it is that caused them to chose wrong. What was it in their human being that caused them to sin (besides any possible destractions and deceive from the outside)
Comment: @user4762 he may not have known. The moral failing here was probably what you and I would call Gaava, being haughty. He should have told her that this extra safeguard was his own invention. At least that's how i look at it. But I'm sure this Avos Drav Nosson could be taken differently so that's why i didn't spell it out like that.

What drove humans to their first sin?


Does being granted a Schengen visa and not going have any consequences?

Question: I'm granted a one-entry Schengen visa and now I can't go. Will having an unused visa in my travel passport have any consequences like future visas refusal? Do I need to do anything special?
Answer: I've never heard anyone ever being refused a visa because another stamp in the same passport is unused.  I can't prove a negative, of course, but if it were me, I wouldn't worry about it at all.
Comment: An unused visa could be a problem with *immigrant* visa types (like K-4 in the US), but probably not with most other categories.
Answer: Not using it should not make much difference either way but using it and respecting its conditions (i.e. not overstaying/immigrating illegally) should weight positively in any subsequent application and help getting a multiple-entry visa. So if getting a visa was difficult for you, it could be a lost opportunity to establish yourself as a reliable visitor.
Answer: Actually, I was be granted a Schengen visa and ended up not going for a personal reason. And the next time I asked for another visa I didn't get any question or rejection. Yeah don't worry about that at all.
Answer: Only if you were planning to get married in that country. Getting a visa for purpose of marriage is a serious offense. Even in America some states make it a penalty to request marriage license then visa for your partner then not finish the task. I got hauled up once because i forgot to tell them I'm not using your document. Happy married now with visa. LOL


Adaboost/Boosting, why the base classifier must be weak classifier?

Question: In Boosting/Adaboost, why the base classifier must be weak classifier?
Answer: It is not required to have a "weak classifier" for base classifier, in theory you can even choose neural network as base classifier. However, weak classifier is recommended to avoid overfitting and better control of the model complexity.
The reason is that boosting will increase the model "variance" step by step over iterations. If the base classifier has high variance (say neural network), we may jump to far from one step to another step over iterations. The result would be it is very hard to control the model complexity. In the end, we may have a overfitting problem.
On the other hand, if we chose a simple / trivial base, such as decision stump, we can use number of iterations to control the model complexity easily, and if we increase number of iterations, we still will have a sufficient complex model.
I Would suggest you to read my other question and answers, there are many visualizations in there.
Is a decision stump a linear model?
How does linear base leaner works in boosting? And how it works in xgboost library?
Boosting: why is the learning rate called a regularization parameter?
Comment: In addition to avoiding overly complex (high-variance / overfit) models, others also suggest that weak learns in boosting help reduce computation / training time: https://stats.stackexchange.com/a/23390/145508


International connection procedure at Montreal airport

Question: I am flying from USA to China via Montreal Trudeau airport on Air Canada. In Toronto, there is a special corridor to bypass customs and security (CATSA), with only a cursory immigration check. Does Montreal have the same? My connection time is only 75 minutes so I am worried about the feasibility of making the connection.
Comment: Do you have a Canadian visa?
Answer: I am assuming that it's a single booking all the way to China and Air Canada will automatically transfer your luggage. In that case, you will go through a border control primary inspection and directed to the international departures area. This is the standard procedure for a USA - International Connection at Montreal Airport.
The good thing about Montreal airport is that they provide an 'almost' real-time estimate of the duration it might take through checkpoints. Here, have a look.
I would recommend that you get the app YULi on your phone. It's a very useful app and will give you a personalized map and the estimated time it will take to complete your connection on your day of travel.
In short, 75 minutes would be enough for a connection and you may also have time to browse some duty-free too.
On the other hand, if the airline does not automatically transfer your luggage then you will need to follow the standard international arrivals and international departures procedure which would take more time.
Comment: As both a Montrealer frequent flier and a software developer (as are you), I'll add that I'm very wary of the YULi app and never installed it. It seems unnecessarily invasive (permissions) and has horrible ratings. The suggestion of admtl time estimated wait time board is great though.


Are gold per 10 yellows worth it on an aggressive support?

Question: I know that on a more passive support like Soraka they work because you aren't making too much of a trade off for stats that may help her, however when you're playing more aggressive supports like Leona is it better to have something like armor yellows rather than the gold per 10s?
Answer: In most cases, they are not. If you play Leona or Blitzcrank, you basicly WANT to get early kills, cause else the enemy support will outscale you anyways. So if you take gp10 seals, it throws you behind in laning phase, while laning phase is your only strenth and you should try to get an advantage.
On Leona and Blitzcrank, I wouldn't ever take gp10 seals (Armor instead), cause you only win if you are able to play aggressive. On Taric, Alistar and Sona, GP10 seals are okey if you plan on playing deffensive (maxing heals, allowin the AD to farm). If you want to play aggressive on these 3 too (which I, personally, would recommend) you should get Armor seals isntead.
Some "pro" supports even tend to switch their GP10 Quints for Armor/MS/HP quints.
Basicly, not taking gp10 runes is a high risk high reward action on every aggressive support.
This might help you: https://docs.google.com/presentation/pub?id=1kWovClhppZJ7VWr3OSYIF671MhShKY6wRJZoLOH3-OE&start=false&loop=false#slide=id.p14
Its a guide for supporting from spellsy, a 2k elo guy. It has a own rune seciton.
Answer: I run gold per 10 yellows/quints on ranged supports and I know the lane will be a farm lane.
Leona has to be quite beefy for the first minutes of the game so I recommend armor yellow, armor red, magic resist blue and hp quints.
But gold per 10 quints / yellows are definitely worth it if you assume the lane will play out passive.
Answer: Runes
Against a heavy poke lane or another aggreissive lane, maybe armor better. My hint is armor red and blues and gold seals and quints
Items:
Probably are due if you leave them out, you notice at 10 minute or 20minute mark that even you went 0/0/10 in lane, enemy support has still way more money. If you have at tactic that relies on 20minute game with hyper aggression, then i think its different. Mostly everything depends from situation. If you see good stall champions like shaco, singed, anivia etc etc then yes take them.
Comment: your english is kinda weird. I cant understand most of the things you are saying
Answer: Generally speaking, I'm going to say it's not worth it. As an aggressive support, you're going to be in your enemy's face a lot more often and putting yourself in a position to be taking more damage - as AD carries do mostly physical damage, I'd recommend running armour over the GP10 because that bit of mitigation might be the difference between getting a kill or getting killed.
On the other hand, if your enemy is running an AD carry that does mostly magic damage early game (Tristana, for example), it might be worth running the GP10 yellows.
Personally, I use both on aggressive supports depending on my laning partner and the lane combination we are against but more often than not, the armour is going to be stronger and more useful.
Answer: Personally, I think that gp/10 quintessences are more than enough. For yellows there are some better options. I personally run mana regen seals but armor is viable as well especially for leona and maybe taric. For other supports I suggest the mana regen or mana regen/lvl
Answer: No For an aggressive support like lulu, leona, alistar, nautilus, etc, etc. You want to run armor yellows, armor reds, gp10 quints and MR per level or flat MR blues. The reason behind this is you are going to be taking a lot of direct fire from the enemy ad carry and their support by being right up in their face.


ADO.NET Data Services Sample -> Exposing CLR Objects -> Code in Separate Assembly

Question: I am trying to create a simple ADO.NET Data Service sample using CTP2. If I create a web site and add a ADO.NET Data Service Template and put all the code there everything works fine. However I would like to put all there code in a separate project and add it as a reference in my web project. And in my web project I would like to add the ADO.NET Data Service Template and just provide the class reference from the referenced assembly. I will just put the security related code in InitializeService method.
Has anyone tried doing this? When I am trying to do this the project gets compiled without any problem, however I am getting the error "The server encountered an error processing the request. See server logs for more details.".
Answer: This should absolutely work.
The most likely reason for failure is that you are exposing an Entity Framework ObjectContext from another assembly, and you haven't copied the EF connection string from the other app.config into the web.config (this is required).
Hope this helps
Alex