Why didn't "Europe" support the Byzantine Empire against the Turks?

Question: Why didn't Catholic Europe support the Byzantine empire against the Turks? Or did they? How? Yes, there were some differences between the Catholic and Orthodox interpretation of Christianity but the Turks were Muslims and should have been considered much worse (c.f. the "reconquista"), shouldn't they? They co-operated during the Crusades and the European empires (Franks, Habsburg) "Catholic Europe" should have appreciated Byzantium as a buffer towards the Muslim world?
Comment: You should probably mention that you mean Ottoman turks, since the crusades were initially started by "Europe" to help Byzantines against Seljuk turks.
Comment: @taninamdar - ...assuming he didn't actually mean just "Turks". The changeover from Seljuk leadership to Ottoman didn't really significantly change the nature of the threat Constantinople was facing.
Comment: This question has received multiple answers; if one of them answered your question, please consider [marking it accepted](http://meta.stackexchange.com/a/5235/261831). If not, it would be useful if you indicate what you find missing.
Answer: There was a certain amount of natural antagonism between the west and the Byzantines. Part of this was religious: They belonged to different sects of Christianity, and thus often viewed each other as little better than heretics or Muslims. Another part was commercial. What little commerce the west had was in direct competition with the Byzantines, whose geographic position forced Western merchants to pay whatever fees were demanded (or try to sneak through the Bosphorous).
Even so, in March of 1095 relations got warm enough and the Byzantines got desperate enough to ask the west for help. This was just a simple request for mercenaries to help against the Seljuks.
However, Pope Urban II had a more grandiose vision in mind. He convened The Council of Clermont, where he argued that it was a Christian moral duty to aid the Byzantines against the Muslims. He backed this up with a edict forbidding Christians waging war on Christians except on alternating weekdays(!), and with a rousing speech that was distributed and publicly read by the clergy throughout the Catholic area.
The result was the Crusades, which lasted for roughly 2 centuries, and one of which ironically ended up administering the coup-de-grace on the Byzantine empire.
Comment: It should be noted that the crusades (well, first one) indeed took some burden off the Byzantine Empire, and delayed the "inevitable" for the fate of the Byzantine Empire. If I had to speculate, if the Venetians didn't hijack the 4th Crusade, causing it to sack Constantinople, there's a possibility the Byzantine Empire could have withheld. However, if none of the Crusades occurred, I'm sure the Byzantine Empire would have eventually fell.
Comment: The Venetians didn't "hijack" the 4th Crusade. They simply hadn't been paid promised fees after building an enormous fleet to deliver (far fewer numbers of) troops, and sought recompense by sacking numerous ports along the way, as well as Constantinople. This on the heels of serious antagonism between the Pope and Venice. If the Pope(s) had paid for past Venetian help against the Turks, and forced Genoa to play nice, it might still be Christian today.
Answer: Please keep in mind that the IVth Crusade mentioned in the first answer has resulted in taking of Constantinople by mostly Venician troops in 1204.
This has resulted in a long-lasting civil war between the Latins and the Byzantines.
Finally Constantinople was taken back by the Byzantines in 1261, but the Empire did not regain all its territory and wealth.
Facing the Tukish menace, Byzance has tried to gain the help of Rome by uniting with the Latin Church.
But, though the Orthodox Churches have signed the "Laetentur coeli" union with the Latin during Ferrafa-Florence Council in 1439, this union was often rejected by the clergy and the population.
In fact, the Union weakened the Orthodox Church.
The Greek Church has repudiated its signature. In 1441, the Russian Church proclaimed its independence, imprisoning the Kiev Patriarch (who has after become a cardinal and later, the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople).
In 1451, even the unionist Bysantine Patriarch has to seek refuge in Rome.
The subsistence of the "byzantine schism" is the formal pretext for the Pope Nicolas V not to help Byzance.
After the Union was proclaimed in Constantinople in december 1452, the Pope has changed his mind, but his call for a new Crusade met no success.
The latin world was discouraged by the defeat in Varna in 1444.
By 1453, Hungary and Venise were bound by numerous treaties with Mehmed II the Conqueror.
The French and the English were in war agaist each other.
Finally, only Venice and Gene have sent some limited help.
Comment: Its actually debatable whether the reconstituted entity after 1261 should be considered "The Byzantine Empire" anymore. I'm of the opinion it should not, but I understand the argument from those who think it should.
Comment: (Oh... +1, but add some hyperlinks for stuff in here like Varna, the recapture, the FF Council, etc. and you'll vastly improve  this answer).
Comment: The [Hundred Years War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Years%27_War#End_of_the_war) was effectively over in October 1453 following thee French victory in the [Battle of Castillon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Castillon). Rather than being at war with the French, the declining mental capability of Henry VI meant the English were tied up by the start of the War of the Roses.
Answer: The question needs a time period, but assuming that you are asking about the period when Constantinople fell in 1453, the old map below shows the situation:

As you can see from the map, Constantinople was in a desparate situation, completely surrounded by Turkish territory for hundreds of miles. The only European power that could help them was the Republic of Venice, which still controlled the sea route to Constantinople, a slender thread of a lifeline. Venice controlled the legendary port of Negroponte, shown as a red dot on the map, and by this link connected to Constantinople and beyond to Trebizond in the Black Sea. This valuable commercial route was kept open despite being completely surrounded by Turkish power. Venice did what it could, but eventually the Turkish forces became overwhelming.
Comment: Venice was always against the Byzantines, It was them who lured the Crusaders to Constantinople. It seems you are confusing them with Genoa who indeed helped a bit.
Comment: @Anixx - Venice was in fact the main party I was thinking of when I mentioned economic rivalry in my answer. However, "always" is a bit extreme. Venice was the last portion of the west under Byzantine rule (to the early 9th Century), and as late as the 12th century had an exclusive trading concession with Constantinople (hence its wealth). There was a falling out after that, the concession was given to Genoa instead, and that's what set the stage for the gutting of the Byzantine Empire that was the 4th Crusade 20 years later.
Comment: Venice was loosely allied with Constantinople at the time period of which I am writing (1450-1453), and in fact, even sent a fleet to help defend Constantinople during the siege (although it arrived too late). Genoa had no significant contribution to the war. The Pope sent several ships to aid Constantinople though.
Comment: A key point was that the European Christian land forces had lost both the 1444 Battle of Varna and the 1448 Battle of Kosovo and so could not reach a Constantinople which had destroyed itself and its resources in four civil wars in the 14th century, even after the 1261 reconquest of the city from the Latins.
Answer: In 1054, The Great Schism occurred; this was an official "split" or in reality, a mutually agreed divorce between The Roman Catholic Pope-(i.e. "The Bishop of Rome") and the Greek Patriarch of Constantinople.  More specifically, The Great Schism was a split or divorce between The Western and Eastern rite Churches.
Although the Byzantine Empire was a mixed Roman and Greco-Roman Empire during the first 275 years of its imperial reign, it became an increasingly Greek Eastern Christian Empire beginning in the early 600's with the crowning of Emperor Heraclius. From 606, until 1206, the Greco-Byzantine Empire dominated the Eastern Christian world and grew in power and influence.  The city of Constantinople was one of the largest cities in the world and Constantinople was, by far, the largest and most sophisticated Christian city in the world at that time.  For the Pope, the Papal states, as well as the (fairly long) line of Holy Roman Emperors, Constantinople, was the prize package for an invasion.  The Byzantine citadel, would be an important preliminary conquest prior to reaching Muslim Palestine-(specifically, Jerusalem).  The Crusading Armies from the West-(with blessings from the Pope) conquered Constantinople in 1206 and occupied the Byzantine Citadel until 1256; this marked the historic turning point for Medieval Greek Christian Constantinople.
Beginning in 1256, the newly liberated city of Constantinople now had to face the Seljuk Turkish Muslim threat moving closer to the city, as well as towards Western Asia Minor.  Although Constantinople regained its independence from the Crusaders, it was unable to return to its preeminent status and in turn, the Power and Governance of the Byzantine Empire relocated southward to the Peloponnese, specifically to the interior town of Mystras-(near ancient Sparta). From 1256, until, May, 1453, Constantinople-(similar to Rome after the Pax Romana 1000 years earlier), became a figurehead city, as well as a militarized city on the constant defense from Seljuk Turkish Muslim encroachment and ensnarement.  Though Constantinople, despite its beleaguered status, continued to remain the Capital of Eastern rite Christianity.  However, by May, 1453, it was curtains for Constantinople and the city was overrun, conquered and occupied by the Seljuk Muslim Turks.
Although there appears to be a spirit of religious ecumenism and reconciliation between the Eastern and Western Churches since the historic 1965 Second Vatican Council, one must not forget the deeply rooted bitterness and enmity that existed between the 2 Churches since 1054 and especially since 1206. The Papacy hated Constantinople and the feelings of the Byzantine Leadership towards the Papacy in Rome were mutual-(This MAY have been the time where the word, "Byzantine" became a part of the Western Dictionary, though pejorative in meaning when read by Western eyes).
By the 1400's, Greek academic, financial and even a few religious elites escaped the Seljuk Muslim Turkish advancement towards Constantinople and relocated to the Veneto in Northeast Italy, specifically, Venice.  Conversely, the Venetians, had occupied a sizable portion of Greece's islands and the Peloponnese-(even during the early years of Ottoman occupied Greece). Although the Greek newcomers to the Veneto had several precious ancient manuscripts to offer the burgeoning Northern Italian Renaissance Scholars and Luminaries, living as a Greek Eastern Christian in an increasingly Western Roman Catholic world was overwhelming and obscuring.  In other words, Roman Catholicism, as a theology, a political presence, as well as a major cultural Mover, had triumphed over Byzantine Christianity with The Fall of Constantinople in May, 1453-(However, such a triumph for the Catholic Church proved to be somewhat ephemeral in the wake of a rising Russian Orthodox Christian global presence, as well as with the rise of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation).
The elimination of the Byzantine Patriarch's global power, as well as the elimination of the Byzantine Emperor's power, led to the Papacy's consolidation of theological and territorial power West of Constantinople......but NOT to the (immediate and semi-distant) NORTH of Constantinople.....these territories became part of the larger Ottoman Turkish Muslim Empire.
So there are many reasons as to why the European West remained distant from the Muslim-Christian struggle for power in Constantinople during the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern era. There is no singularly rooted answer to this question; it is complex in its explanation and continues to engender great debate to this day.
Comment: Seljuks? They were done by the 13th century. Don't you mean Ottoman?
Answer: Actually, "Europe", understood as a mix of nations that were Christian and occupied the european continent, did support the Byzantine Empire against its threats, especially Muslim, and especially Turkish threats.
Against Muslim forces from the differents califates, the Byzantine Empire beneficiated from time to time of the help of Italian republic forces.
When the Seldjukids Turks threatened the Byantine Empire, Bulgarian and Kievians forces helped the Byzantine Empire to ultimately repell them, before the Seldjukids were destroyed by colliding forces.
Against the Ottomans, Constantinople was helped by an European coalition, that fought and was destroyed in the battle of Nicopolis. THis was a huge effort: France lost so many knights during this battle that it was weakened and suffered from a reboost of the Hundred Years War.


How to embed or attach a list of contacts in an email?

Question: My users want to send an email from Civi that will have a particular group of contacts embedded in it or as an attachment. The group is featured in a report, so emailing the report seems like the solution, but they want to preface the report with some words.  How to embed or attach the contact list or report into an email sent from Civi?  This is using Drupal so perhaps Views is an option?
Answer: Sounds like you're looking for CiviCRM Views Token.
This is a Drupal module which allows you to place a token in your CiviMail that will be replaced with the output of a Drupal View.
To use it:

Install and enable CiviCRM Views Token
Build your view of contacts in Drupal - keep the output simple, eg a table or an unformatted list.
In your CiviMail edit screen, look for "Configured Drupal View" in the token selector.
Place the desired view in your email, eg <code>{civicrm_views_tokens.viewcontactlist}</code>
Comment: This link from the Fuzion website might be useful too - [Styling Mails & CiviMails in CiviCRM](https://fuzion.co.nz/blogs/styling-mails-civimails-civicrm)
Comment: Sounds great but can't get it to work yet.  My view is called 'ContactList' so the token in the email is {civicrm_views_tokens.ContactList} but all I get is a blank in the email. The view has paging turned off ('Display all items') and no contextual filters and is a table.  So not sure what to do next.  But I notice the module is 6 years old so wondering if there's been a change in Civi that is stopping it working.
Comment: I asked the author yesterday and she thought it was recently used by someone, but that's all I've got. May be worth noting that if anonymous user or perhaps the user receiving the email can't see that view, it might make sense it won't be displayed during email generation either. No idea how you're testing the email. You can join the community on [CiviCRM Chat](https://chat.civicrm.org) and see if someone can help?


Looking for a reference for identifing stream regimes(Intermittent, Perennial)

Question: I'm a hydrologist with a good background in GIS. I'm looking for a reference (Methodology, Technical guide) for identification of temporary, intermittent and perennial streams. I google and only found this reference for North Carolina.Is there any standard reference guide for such an identification?
Answer: I'm not sure if this is a standard per se, but I found it useful.  These definitions are from a 1923 publication of the United States Department of the Interior entitled Outline of Ground-Water Hydrology.  Here is the link to the PDF and the specific definitions below can be found on pages 57-58.  Hope this helps.
Perennial:

A perennial stream, or stretch of a stream, is one which flows
  continuously. Perennial streams are generally fed in part by springs,
  and their upper surfaces generally stand lower than the water table in
  the localities through which they flow.

Intermittent streams are divided into spring-fed intermittent streams and surface-fed intermittent streams.

A spring-fed intermittent stream, or stretch of a stream, is one that
  flows only at certain times when it receives water from springs. The
  intermittent character of streams of this type is generally due to
  fluctuations of the water table whereby the stream channels stand a
  part of the time below and a part of the time above the water table.
  This is the ordinary type of intermittent stream.

A surface-fed intermittent stream, or stretch of a stream, is one that
  flows during protracted periods when it receives water from some
  surface source, generally the gradual and long-continued melting of
  snow in a mountainous or other cold tributary area. The term may be
  arbitrarily restricted to streams or stretches of streams that flow
  continuously during periods of at least one month.

Ephemeral:

An ephemeral stream, or stretch of a stream, is one that flows only in
  direct response to precipitation. It receives no water from springs
  and no long-continued supply from melting snow or other surface
  source. Its stream channel is at all times above the water table. The
  term may be arbitrarily restricted to streams or stretches of streams
  that do not flow continuously during periods of as much as one month.
Comment: Thank you so much @Kurt. But my question is about identification methods of these and to their definitions.
Comment: @wetland I think Kurt's point is: Look for the water.  In any particular case, where the water comes from will give you your answer.
Comment: @Spencer I think so. I didn't read the USGS document that Kurt recommended me. It's great.


Are intercity trains in Sri Lanka generally on time?

Question: Trains could be late anywhere in the world, but some countries seem to be more punctual than others.
Are the intercity trains in Sri Lanka generally close to on time? Or habitually hours late?
Comment: if you have an android smartphone you can download [the Sri Lanka Train Schedule app](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=lk.icta.mobile.apps.railway) and see more information about prices and delays
Comment: How long a journey are you thinking of? Something like Colombo to Kandi? Or one end of the island to the other?
Comment: I'm attempting to figure out which parts to do by train/bus and which parts to get a driver.  Definitely train from Colombo to Kandy, but then also up towards Andaradupura, and maybe later from Galle to Colombo.
Comment: yeah, no worry about it cause' the trains in Sri Lanka are generally on time.
Comment: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=lk.icta.mobile.apps.railway&hl=en From this application you can get Train Schedule, Train Delays and Ticket Prices of Sri Lanka Railways
Answer: I am from Sri Lanka and a regular train traveler. To answer your question, I would say that at least 50% of trains in Sri Lanka get late on a regular basis. This is no exception for the namesake intercity trains, most of which are in fact regular express trains which have booking facilities. Long delays are very frequent in the more touristic upcountry line due to landslides, derailments, frequent repairs and many other practical reasons. Be prepared for the worst, 4-6 hour delays and entire cancellations happen and never expect refunds; you won't get any.
However, it's all worth the wait; the views are majestic!
If you're on a tight schedule and time is very important, please use the roads. Contrary  to what is mentioned in Paul Raftery's answer, I find the roads to be in very good condition and they are definitely the best you'll find anywhere in South Asia. For example, a road journey from Colombo-Badulla would take around 6 hours by car, while by train it would take around 14 hours without delays.
Traffic, is, of course a big issue in Colombo, but has very little relevance elsewhere, so trains are definitely the quickest mode of transport in central and suburban Colombo during rush hours.
Hope this gives you an idea.
Answer: I spent a month in Sri Lanka this year and took a few trains while there. All were on time arriving and departing. However, this is anecdotal evidence and not really much use to you. I would guess that I was just lucky based on statements such as this:
"Issues of travel time, reliability, and comfort caused it to lose much of its market share of passenger transport. By 2011, its share of the market was only seven percent.[4]" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka_Railways) and this: "The rail system in Sri Lanka is not punctual and also for some routes the train can be slower than travelling by road. Delays are common." (http://www.srilanka-express.com/srilanaka_Rail.html)
However, all that said I would still take the small risk of a delay and travel by train whenever possible in Sri Lanka. The roads are truly terrible and the traffic is some of the worst I've seen in any developing country in the world. In general the bus journeys that we took were uncomfortable, unpleasant, and seriously delayed (usually by traffic in and around Colombo), so really the train is your best option if there is one available.
Hope this helps.
Answer: Trains are the best if you have ample time. Trains tend to be running late and sometimes get stuck due to mechanical issues. I travelled Colombo-Jaffna, Jaffna-Anuradhapura, Ella-Colombo. The views are amazing especially throughout Hill Country. Book tickets in advance as much as possible.
If you are in a hurry, take the air-conditioned smaller buses (Toyota Coaster) everywhere. Roads are the best and except the cities, there is hardly any traffic. State run buses will be stopping frequently, so the journey time will be double compared to air-con buses.


Can I still eat this fish?

Question: I just found a couple of salmon fillets in my freezer that seem to have been there for about two years. Are they still edible, or should I bin them?
Comment: My personal approach is to bin anything that I'm really unsure about.
Comment: @yossarian: Well I usually use it if it smells and looks okay, but with frozen food you can't really tell. I figure it'll either be perfectly safe to eat or a complete no-go, but I've no idea which, hence why I'm asking!
Comment: How are they packaged?  (Vacuum-sealed, wrapped in paper, zipper bags?)
Answer: I agree with yossarian, if I question it, I chuck it.  Although in this case, the salmon probably will not harm you, it might just taste bad.  Loss of moisture (freezer burn), taking on of flavours, etc.  I wouldn't eat it because it wouldn't taste great.   My father-in-law would eat it, because you don't throw out food (his rule).  Bottom line, if it has been in the freezer for those two years straight, it won't give you food poisoning or harm you.  It's just a matter of palate.  But rest assured, it won't taste great.
Comment: The other reason to chuck if you're worried about it is that even if it's fine, you're going to be fretting about it the whole time and won't enjoy it.
Comment: Depends on freezer temp too. If your freezer is just barely freezing, there's a chance (albeit a small one) something could spoil in the freezer. If it's good and cold though, nothing will ever spoil in there, it'll just, like you said, taste bad.
Answer: My grandfather was a commercial fisherman on the NW Pacific coast. He used to salmon charter fish. When he had fish that was "aged" in the freezer he used to make sure he thawed it  COVERED in milk. If it was overly fishy, the milk caused the fish to sweeten. You can smell the fish when it is completely thawed and check it's consistency. If it smells fine, and has good consistency for salmon just prepare it with a nice lemon sauce. You can always cook it and then mash it as a pate with herbs and onion for wonderful cracker snacks.
Comment: And thank you for that tip!  I will definitely be using it in the future (if needed).
Answer: I guess I would take a different approach. I would first thaw the salmon and see if it looked and smelled OK, and if it did I would find a way to use it. True, it probably won't taste as good as it would have the day it went into the freezer, but would probably be palatable in some way. Maybe used in salmon cakes? or a salmon chowder.
I have found and used walleye fillets in my freezer that were several years old (I used to bad at labeling) that tasted just fine. I figure an animal died to provide me this meat, so I should do everything I can to make sure that it is used.
Comment: I take the same approach with frozen foods I find in the back of my freezer from back when I was terrible at labeling things.  I maintain my freezer below 0 and regularly check it, so I know it's "safe" in the "not going to kill me" sense, so I just turn it into something that can mask the freezer burn.  Soup/chowder sounds great to me.
Comment: @stephenmcdonald: you have your freezer below zero?  Isn't that what a *freezer* is meant to do?  Oh... I see, Fahrenheit.  ;-)
Answer: I fish in Alaska and have eaten 2 year frozen Salmon that was so freezer burned that I had to cut half of it away, but after 45 minutes on my Treager wood pellet grill it was delicious.
Answer: Frozen Fish Can Be Stored Indefinitely
According to the USDA, frozen foods will keep indefinitely if stored in an airtight package at a constant temperature at or below zero degrees Fahrenheit. Freezing fish does not decrease its nutritional value. Freezer burn may dry the fish out in spots, but it is still safe to eat.
Answer: I see no-one has bothered to listen to the posting guidelines in terms of answering the question.
No don't eat it. It is way past food safety recommendations. If you were a restaurant, cafe or any food outlet the maximum "use by" for all products that are frozen is 6 months. There are reasons for this, the cell walls get damaged and freezer burn sets in where a certain dryness affects the quality of the food so even though it may not kill you the quality would probably have deteriorated. Bacteria lays dormant in a freezer so they wouldn't spoil like in a fridge or at room temperature but still be active once defrosted.
I hope this helps people. You should really stick a label on your frozen things to help keep track of the date
Comment: There is a fundamental difference between *food safety* and *food quality*. Think of a undercooked chicken breast vs. a very cooked through one. As far as frozen food is concerned, we are dealing with *quality*, hence no one broke any guidelines.

Can I still eat this fish?


Main male character description

Question: I've been asked to write a story as an assignment. It should have as the main male character an unusually smart, clever, insightful and thoughtful guy who is somewhat reserved and mysterious. The point is that I cannot figure out how to draw a good, lively and convincing description without being stereotypical or boring. I guess that this kind of character is quite common: can you suggest me some examples of good descriptions that can be found online so that I get an idea about how to proceed?
Thank you.
Comment: You don't need an example of the exact same character you are supposed to create on your own. That would be cheating (and we don't want to help you with that) and you would not learn anything (which we want to help you with). What you might want to do is pick up *any* book, read the character descriptions, define for yourself what kind of character that description makes him, and then observe how this was done. Then you try that with your character. Failing is part of the learning process, and if you are afraid to fail, you'll never learn anything of value.
Comment: Isn't this exactly the point of your assignment? To learn how to create such a character on your own, without copying someone else's work?
Comment: @LaurenIpsum you're right, but I don't want to copy "someone else's work": I just want to learn how to do my work more effectively by reading some examples that you professional writers find good enough to reccomend
Comment: You might also be interested in watching some of the older renditions of Sherlock (e.g. not Elementary or the movie with Robert Downey Jr.), or the more recent BBC adaptation.
Comment: Lauren, I agree, but this is a borderline situation. If people vote-to-close, it'll show the community agrees with you.
Comment: @what that comment is excellent. I think it should be an answer.
Comment: @drusepth Yep, BBC Sherlock was my exact thought...
Answer: Smart, clever, insightful, thoughtful, reserved, and mysterious are all abstract qualities. They are summaries. And the summaries lack all of the juicy details that lead people to attribute those qualities.
Instead of describing such abstract characteristics, demonstrate them. Show the character doing clever things, or mysterious things. Let the reader reach the conclusions.
Answer: You might benefit from some ideas:
<code>1. Avoid the info dump (a long description scene)
2. Add your description in showing/active sentences
3. Use character contrasting (contrast one character to another)
</code>
I explain more here: How to describe your point of view character in a first person novel?
If you want your character to be:

unusually smart clever, insightful and thoughtful guy who is somewhat reserved and mysterious

then Let your character develop as you write. You can do some pre-work. For each description in your list, ask this question
What is your character doing or going to do that is (smart)?
Keep these tag lines around and as you write, just make the character act these ways. I don't know what your character will do. So here is an example from my book:
My character is also smart. I don't actually ever say he is smart. I do say he is a Jeek, half jock half geek. He plays chess. He is watches the some college videos on chemistry just before his high school senior senior year to help prepare himself for AP chemistry. He talks about getting a scholarship either with sports or grades.
Answer: What I would focus on is the character's backstory. You're correct that the combination of traits that you describe could be pretty common, but what is unique is the why behind it. What happened in the character's past that has caused him to be so reserved? What sorts of influences did he have that nurtured his cleverness and insight? Different answers to those sorts of questions will yield vastly different characters, even though those core traits are still present.
Comment: The point is to demonstrate those traits to the reader rather than just say that he has them. It's sort of like how if you have to tell people that you're cool, you're not cool. :)
Comment: Hi @Roger. Thank you for your answer. I will surely focus on your suggestion. However, I still need to give a first "basic description" of the character, and I would like to offer something more elaborated that "he is an unusually smart, clever, insightful and thoughtful guy who also happens to be inscrutable". I just want to be somewhat more lively in this first stage of description. What can I do?
Comment: Also, I forgot to mention an important thing which is also causing trouble: the first part of the story *should* (according to the requirements I've received form my teacher) be presented from the perspective of two characters (our guy and another student) and each one should describe himself (not the other one or no-one!). Here comes the question: how do I make the guy describe himself in a lively way, but without sounding self-righteous or arrogant (which I think he should not be, according to his attributes)?
Comment: Why should he necessarily be lively when describing himself, if he's meant to be reserved? "So, ever since I scored 2250 on my SATs, everyone's going on about how smart I am. I don't know if that's true; I just see how things go together. Things that other people struggle with tend to seem, I don't know, obvious to me. If you want to call that smart, that's your thing." So, in a few sentences, we establish that he's intelligent and has a gift for insight, but is at the same time introspective about it and too reserved to be boastful.
Comment: Well. That is a good idea. Personally, I like that mixture of laziness and "devil-may-care attitude" in your example (maybe because I'm that way), although it could seem somewhat too blunt. Anyway, in general I like this way of presenting abstract qualities with facts to back them up. Thanks. :)
Answer: So you've got a few adjectives for the character, to start off with.
Some people are a fan of the figure-your-character-out-as-you-write approach, and some prefer outlining the character first. Since this is an assignment, and you don't want the character who spontaneously appeared as you wrote to differ from the one described in the assignment, I'd have to recommend the latter approach.
What makes a "good" or "lively" character:

Details!
What are his quirks? Does he wrinkle his nose when something disgusts him, or wipe his right hand on his pants?
What does the world look from his point of view? What's his job? Does he like it? Any best friends? How'd he grow up? Since he's smart, insightful, and thoughtful, how did this shape his philosophy? You need to know to write him well, and we as readers find difficulty relating to him unless we can get inside his head a little. This will also be crucial for your self-description.
Give him flaws. Up until now he seems a little Gary-Stu-ish. He's smart, thoughtful, insightful, clever--he's most likely gone far in whatever he's done. Reserved and mysterious? Even better, the girls are swarming and we're all jealous of him and wondering what he's up to. Now balance that out. Is he arrogant because of this? Or is he eager to make people like him and bends over backwards for them? Or does he not have this success at all and is angry at the world for not giving him what he thinks he ought to get? This and the point above will most likely determine how he reacts to others.
Last but not least: We don't see his biography, we see him in action. Specific to your situation it seems like you're forced to give a little biography, but my general advice would be not to make it too long, and intersperse the rest of your biography in with the action, if you need to add it at all.

You've got a character, you know how he thinks, now it's time to throw him in a situation. Roll dice if you have to: 1 for getting mugged, 2 for being fired, 3 for meeting with an ex, so forth and so on. And build the situation such so that you can show most of his character traits in the situation. Think about what he might do to show the qualities you want to highlight.
For instance getting mugged: Your main character stops/talks down the attacker, maybe makes some comment about the mugger's motivation that obviously hits the nail on the head (because he's smart and insightful) , and lets him get away with a "dummy wallet" with only a few dollars (clever, well-prepared) and continues on his way. This scene is observed by an acquaintance who is following the main character and wondering what he's doing in that part of town at night, without having told anyone (mysterious and reserved) .
Answer: To add to @roger's answer, another thing that can make a character unique is giving them an atypical profession or hobby. Since these things will influence what the character will do everyday they are a part of who he is. A good example is Walter Mitty, a typical shy guy but works in negative assents for Life magazine. Interesting enough his job also defines a fresh context for a story that has been told a thousand times.
Comment: Thank you @aperl. However, in the story I've in mind, the guy is a college student (the whole thing is set in college, actually) about 21-2 years old.
Comment: @user9933 In that case he could be part of a club or team. But if that doesn't fit with in the scope of the story I understand. Nevertheless thinking about such things might open up possibilities about why he might make certain decisions. We as people make decisions based on of our experience and our environment.
Answer: 1) unusually smart,
I presume by "smart" you are not saying the same thing as "clever", "insightful" or "thoughtful", which IMO leaves an academic understanding of how things work. You show this by finding an opportunity to have the character explain something others (including the reader) may not understand very well. Of course as an author you can "cheat" by doing an hour of research on some question relevant to the storyline, and learning something surprising that your smart character can toss out in a paragraph or so.
2) clever: You show this by the character being inventive on the spot, coming up with a solution to a problem that seems like a good idea. This can be a solution to somebody else's stated problem, or a problem of his own.
3) insightful: Being insightful is usually understanding a problem or situation in such detail that conclusions can be drawn that were not stated or obvious. This is particularly true in relationship issues; an insightful person not only understands another's situation as stated, but understands the person well enough to know what they are not saying, or how they feel about the situation, and uses that. In fiction, they might state that, and elicit agreement from the person they are talking about.
4) thoughtful: This is somebody that thinks ahead to what WILL be needed, or what others will appreciate or need when the time comes. It is related to memory, but also to caring for others. For example: Joan is coming tomorrow, I know Joan, so I will shop today for Darjeeling tea because that is what she will want. Thoughtful involves thinking about others, thinking about the near term future, and taking action in the present to make the near term future better in someway.
5) somewhat reserved: Many highly intelligent people are also insecure and feel a need to show off their intelligence and receive praise or accolades for it. But not all of them. Some highly intelligent people know they are intelligent, and know that braggadocio and constantly reminding others they are the smartest person in the room, alienates them. In a way, it is applying their intelligence to understanding the patterns of social interaction. So they ARE somewhat reserved, willing to help but not insisting they know best or should be in charge or that all the stupid people should listen to them.
In fact, some smart people, besides knowing they are smart, also know that being a "know it all" is a pejorative; it can be threatening or off-putting to the 99% of people that are not as smart as they are. And knowing that, and being insightful, they will only assert their intelligence when it is really going to matter, when they anticipate significant negative consequences of failing to speak up.
In this way, most exceedingly intelligent people portrayed in fiction as socially awkward or lonely are actually be portrayed as stupid or defective, for all their brains they cannot figure out how to make friends, woo a romantic partner, or learn to use humor to relieve tension. All of these are learnable skills.
6) mysterious. Highly intelligent people can take actions on opportunities or threats that others do not perceive. Intelligence is about being able to predict the probable future (or for detectives what most likely happened), and the highly intelligent do this better than others. Thus what they are doing can be mysterious; if they don't explain it, we can't figure it out. You show this just by having them do things that seem significant, but are not explained.
I know I am not giving you examples; I think the point of this StackExchange is to provide instruction on how to accomplish what you wish in writing.
Answer: There is a lot the supplied description does NOT tell us about this character.  It does not tell us how old he is.  It does not tell us his race.  It does say whether or not he has a handicap.  It doesn't tell us if he is living now, in the past, or in the future.  It doesn't say what kind of clothes he likes to wear.  It doesn't tell us if he is short or tall.  It doesn't say if he's ugly or handsome.  It doesn't tell us what his native language is.  It doesn't tell us if he's married or single.  It doesn't tell us whether he rejects gender norms or exemplifies them.  Figuring out those kinds of details will help give you a less generic character who can lend himself to a more interesting description --particularly if we see him in action, not in repose.

I watched, fascinated as books seemed to appear and disappear all by themselves on the counter over by the scanner.  When I went around to the other side of the desk, I saw him, an African-American boy so short he had to reach up over his head to check out the books.  He was dressed all in black, with thick glasses, and just as he caught me looking at him, he disappeared into the stacks like a ninja, bearing several thick tomes under his arm.
Answer: As others here have mentioned, you want to show, not tell--have your smart, clever, insightful and thoughtful guy do smart, clever, insightful and thoughtful things, rather than just dictating a description.
That said, if you can't think of smart, clever, insightful and thoughtful things for your character to do, here's a way to cheat: think of some people you actually know who are smart, clever, insightful or thoughtful, and model your character after them.  This is an easy and effective way to add detail and realism to your characters.  The adage "good artists borrow, great artists steal" applies to real-life experiences as well as other artists!
Answer: As others have said, show, don't tell. Because that advice is rather vague, however, allow me to explain. The way I understand 'show, don't tell' is 'let the reader form his own conclusions. Just make sure they are the ones he is supposed to form.' For example, you don't need to say that someone rolled their eyes in exasperation. The fact that they rolled their eyes alone will usually make the reader deduce that they did it in exasperation. The same thing can go for characters. If they are smart, clever, insightful, and show it, you won't need to tell the reader that. He'll already know it.

Main male character description


What's the legal way to stream music online?

Question: It's really hard getting a definite answer on this so I'm going to ask it here. Is there a legal way to stream new music on a website without getting artist consent first. There seems to be a lot of popular sites like hotnewhiphop.com doing this that are hosting from both the US and Canada so I'm guessing there is a grey area that allows it. For the record I don't allow downloads of the music and simply stream each song in a player.
Answer: If the music is protected by copyright, then you first need to get permission from the owners to use it, whether you are streaming it or hosting it for download. If you don't, then you are violating someone's copyright.
(A lot of those sites are semi-legal).
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, but keep in mind that, with something like copyright, it is better to seek permission than ask forgiveness.
Comment: @PolluxKhafra, it is very important to note that any legal advice given on ProWebmasters is not given by legal professionals unless expressly written. Also, contacting the record companies for rights to stream their music shouldn't be too difficult, depending on the company.
Comment: Is it enough to provide a clear upfront form for people to make DMCA claims and then promptly take down anything that anyone makes claims against?
Comment: @PolluxKhafra no, the idea behind that part of the DMCA is that if a user on your site posts copyrighted material, then you aren't responsible. In your case, you (the owner of the website) will be posting the content, so you will be responsible for it.
Answer: In the US, there are statutory licenses that enable people who are doing broadcasting or streaming, to pay a flat fee for all the music they play. This is so they can avoid individual agreements with the thousands of musical artists they might want to air or stream. The Library of Congress set the minimum rate, under law, that you have to pay in the US for a webcasting statutory license, which you can find here: http://www.copyright.gov/carp/webcasting_rates_final.html . Again, this is if you choose to use a statutory license and don't otherwise negotiate a different agreement. If (just for example's sake) Island Records agrees to let you play all of their artists under a different license, for a different price, you could operate under that, instead.
Some people decide that they are going to work with a company like Live365 to both host and manage their streaming; someone I knew who used them, had to provide ASCAP/BMI reports to them on the incidental music they used. Others use a company like http://www.streamlicensing.com/ which ties in with SoundExchange, which manages most of the streaming stations' statutory music licenses.
Bear in mind that there is copyrighted music you can use freely, which is listed under the Creative Commons license scheme. It's still copyrighted, but the license may allow you to play material if you're non-commercial, or simply if you just provide attribution. There are many artists who have made Creative Commons-licensed music available on Soundcloud and on Jamendo.com.
And, if you're only negotiating with a few artists directly, you can make arrangements that don't require the statutory license.
I suspect that something like Stream Licensing would be a good bet for you, whereas I personally negotiate with individual artists and use Creative Commons-licensed work.
Answer: It somewhat depends on how "new" the music is we're talking about. You can legally license music through agencies such as BMI, ASCAP, and HFA.
That's one way to doing it without going directly to the artist. Another is working with the labels. Quite a few of the legit music streaming sites over the years have actually been created by the labels in order to promote their own music.
Answer: In many countries you usually have an organization which is dealing with this. E.g here in Switzerland it is SUISA. The website is very good and gives you a lot of information on what you have to think about. Maybe some of them are not relevant for you (yet). They have a page with partner organizations. Maybe you find the one from your country.


How should I go forward with my web service?

Question: I am creating a web service that allows people to log in and view some stats on social networks. My setup is as follows:

on my home PC I have a large code base of C# code that scans social networks, and analyzes them, as well as puts the info into databases. All the "meat" is here.
I have a web server that does not support C# / asp.net. Currently it is in PHP on Hostgator.

I need a way for the web service to work efficiently ie. allow people to log in and view stats. I can't use my home PC for this, so I wanted to know which is the easiest option:

port all code to PHP, and move all databases up to Hostgator to do a proper merge of the site
spend the time learning asp.net, rent a windows server and try my best to make everything work
any other options that the community can help me with

I am proficient at C# and PHP, but not asp.net. What is my best option, in terms of time and money, going forward with this service?
Answer: Have two apps that share a database.
The C# app does the work and writes up to the database hosted on Hostgator.
The PHP app provides clients the info from the db, also hosted on Hostgator.
Comment: +1 for a sound suggestion. Also as an addition, if proficiency in C# is a fact, aim to learn asp.net mvc instead of asp.net... it should be easier when not already infected with the webforms virus ^^


DisplayPort unable to display in 2560x1440

Question: I have a mid-2015 MBP running Mojave with 1 HDMI and 2 Thunderbolt 2 ports. I have two 32 inches Acer monitor - same model - EB321HQU with max resolution of 2560x1440. My monitors do not have DisplayPort. One monitor I have connected using HDMI and another using Thunderbolt to HDMI cable. The HDMI connected monitor is able to display at max resolution of 2560x1440 but the DisplayPort connected monitor is showing max resolution of 1600x900.
As per various articles I have read, the mid 2015 MBP should support two 4k monitors. Is there a way to get 2560x1440 on my DisplayPort based monitor? Do I need a DisplayPort 1.2 to HDMI 2 active adapter?
Answer: Used SwitchResX and the problem got fixed.


Who will inhabit the earth after judgement day?

Question: After judgement day the wrongdoers go to hell and the ones who pleased Allah go to heaven, but my question is that:
What will happen with the earth?
Answer: At the judgment day and before just after the Horn is blown everything in Earth will be destroyed and flushed, and there is plenty of Ayat talking about that.
Indeed The last part (Juzeh) all of it talks about that day.
Some of the states that ALLAH talk about:

And the mountains are removed and will be [but] a mirage.

Surat At-Takwīr (The Overthrowing) - سورة التكوير
Surat Al-'Infiţār (The Cleaving) - سورة الإنفطار
Surat Al-'Inshiqāq (The Sundering) - سورة الإنشقاق
And many other Surat and Ayat talks about that day.
But back to your question. You ask what happen after that day...
Will the Earth be part of the heaven or part of the hell!!! this is the point to talk about.
Some says that it will be a part of the Heaven and they prove with the Aya

سَابِقُوا إِلَىٰ مَغْفِرَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَجَنَّةٍ عَرْضُهَا
  كَعَرْضِ السَّمَاءِ وَالْأَرْضِ أُعِدَّتْ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِاللَّهِ
  وَرُسُلِهِ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ فَضْلُ اللَّهِ يُؤْتِيهِ مَن يَشَاءُ ۚ وَاللَّهُ
  ذُو الْفَضْلِ الْعَظِيمِ
Race toward forgiveness from your Lord and a Garden whose width is
  like the width of the heavens and earth, prepared for those who
  believed in Allah and His messengers. That is the bounty of Allah
  which He gives to whom He wills, and Allah is the possessor of great
  bounty.57/21

And they claim that the heaven is already founded but is unseen by us.
While others say this Aya is just an example to show how wide will be and it doesn't indicate the real state of Earth.
So this is just explanations and nobody really knows what it will be after the judgment day.
Answer: Everything will be destroyed at the judgement day, everyone is revived from the death.
As Allah says in surat Al Qariah:

And the mountains will be like wool, fluffed up.
  101:5

And in surah Al-takwir:

When the sun is wrapped up [in darkness]
   And when the stars fall, dispersing,
   And when the mountains are removed
   And when full-term she-camels are neglected
  [...]
   And when the sky is stripped away
  81
Answer: Muhammad Ibn Muslim narrated from Imam Baqir (a.s.):

From when Allah created earth, created seven world of humans that they
  were not children of Adam. He created them from earth and they settled
  in earth after each other and they extincted. then he created Adam the
  father of current peoples. by Allah paradise never has been empty from
  soul of believers and hell has been never empty from soul of Kafirs
  and evil people. Perhaps you think when Allah send people to paradise
  and hell then he will not be worshiped in cities?! And will not create
  the people who pray him? This is not true. By God he will have
  creation without male and female and they will worship him. He will
  create a new earth that carry them and will create a sky that people
  live under its shade. Do not you see Quran says: [It will be] on the
  Day the earth will be replaced by another earth, and the heavens [as
  well], and all creatures will come out before Allah, the One, the
  Prevailing (14:48). This verse means at that day earth will be
  changed to a new earth and skies will change to another skies. And he
  says: Did We fail in the first creation? But they are in confusion
  over a new creation (50:15).

According to this hadith a new earth with new kind of humans will be created and they will worship God.
Reference:
www.andisheqom.com
Answer: The Earth will be destroyed.
Everything that was built will be destroyed except Jannah (paradise) and Jahannam (hell).
Comment: Please consider given some references to your statement!


Why are suggested edits not allowed Meta Stack Overflow?

Question:

I really don't get the purpose of forbidding suggested edits on Meta. Why are they not allowed?
Comment: See [Why can't I suggest edits on SE meta sites?](http://meta.stackexchange.com/q/87890)
Comment: Can we get an updated answer to this question?
Answer: Too Much Work for Moderators (On Small Exchanges)
As pointed out in Why can't I suggest edits on SE meta sites? by someone who now works for The Enemy,

Mostly because the per-site metas are generally low traffic -- some of them count daily visits in the dozens.
That means the moderators will have to do the work...
We were uncomfortable adding Yet Another Queue for Moderators to Look At across every site in the network.

Jon Ericson Suggested a Change
Jon Ericson suggested that suggested Meta edits be made to go into the main site review queue, to increase participation in Meta,

Low meta participation is a problem. Since a policy is decided in meta, it can be discouraging to discover that people don't know about meta or simply ignore it...
At any rate, if the only reason for not doing suggested edits is the limited number of people who will be able to review them, why not implement the suggestion made by Paŭlo Ebermann and Kevin Vermeer?

However, as far as I know, this was never made into a formal feature request, so it hasn't really been discussed all that much.
Thanks to Martijn for pointing out the Meta Stack Exchange question.
Comment: Guys, my answer wasn't meant to be a feature request, I was merely pointing out the suggestion that Jon Ericson made.
Comment: @FrédéricHamidi this header "Jon Ericson Suggested a Change" originally said "Suggested Change" in my very first revision (you can't see it because it was in the edit grace period), which was not meant as a feature request, but I could see how it could easily be misinterpreted as one. Anyways, that's how I interpreted the downvotes. Tim [specifically says not to worry about cross-site duplication](http://meta.stackoverflow.com/a/251428/456814).
Comment: Indeed, only those who cast them know why. I was about to say leaving a comment would have helped but that dead horse has been beaten enough already.


How do you make your own LEGO instructions?

Question: As per the title, how can I make my own LEGO instructions?
Answer: Use LDD. LDD is a free program made by LEGO that enables you to build LEGO creations digitally, and it automatically can produce instructions for whatever you build. The main downsides are that it's very hard to use and the selection of pieces is not amazing, and that it is no longer being updated by LEGO. I use this program. Another option is to use stud.io. I don't know very much about it, but what I know is that it's a program made by BrickLink, and you can make your own designs for stuff and buy them off of bricklink.


Are angels Muslim? (Sunni View)

Question: I understand that angels are definitely believers in some sense. But is it right to say statements like "I'm in the same religion as the angels"? There are big differences between Muslim humans and angels, but are angels considered Muslims? This would help me understand what being a Muslim means in such a broad sense.
Answer: Broad sense or narrow sense, a Muslim is a Muslim whether one is Human, Jinn or Angel. There's only few requirements:

Worship and obey Allah
Not to associate anything with Allah
To believe and follow Muhammad (PBUH) as the Messenger of Allah.

The Angels do whatever Allah ask them and they know about what's being happened in between the heaven and the earth.
They believe in Allah, Believe in the last prophet Muhammad (PBUH). As there is no reason to disbelieve the prophet.
Therefore they fulfill the requirements of "Kalima" La-ilaha-iLLaLLah- Muhammadur-Rasulullah (لا اله الا الله محمد رسول الله).
Thus it can  be concluded that they're Muslims.

Allah says:

"The seven heavens and the earth and all that is therein, glorify Him and there is not a thing but glorifies His Praise. But you understand not their glorification. Truly, He is Ever Forbearing, Oft-Forgiving"
  [al-Isra' 17:44]

What this means is that every created being is in a state of submission to Allaah and worships Him in a manner appropriate to its situation.
He also said:

"Have they not considered what things Allah has created? Their shadows incline to the right and to the left, prostrating to Allah , while they are humble.
And to Allaah prostrate all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth, of the moving (living) creatures and the angels, and they are not proud [i.e. they worship their Lord (Allaah) with humility]"
  [al-Nahl 16:48-49]
Comment: A Muslim is someone who has submitted himself to Allah. Prior nations who submitted to Allah followed their Prophets. Hence your point #3 needs to expanded to include other Prophets as well. The true followers of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and others are all considered as believers (Mu'min) and had submitted to the Will of God (Muslim)

Are angels Muslim? (Sunni View)


frozen ground beef

Question: I thawed frozen ground beef in the refrigerator over night. I took it out the next afternoon and made spaghetti sauce with it. The ground beef had a frozen like flavor to it. No mold or discoloration appeared but just a weird frozen like flavor. What can I do the next time to take away that old frozen flavor?
Comment: How old was meat? Was it stored properly? etc. Not enough detail to answer
Answer: "Frozen-like flavor" makes me think it may not have been properly wrapped/sealed and collected stray flavors from the freezer, and/or managed to get freezer-burned.
I don't know of any way that will "fix" that if it's already happened - prevention is the key. You can try using it only in highly-spiced dishes, if you like highly spiced dishes at all, but it does not really fix it, it just masks it somewhat.
Answer: Thats the struggle...while fresh is always best for flavor, I totally understand the need to freeze meat...I know alot of people that use plastic wrap or aluminium foil to wrap burger by the pound amd run into the same issue. Personally I tend to always wrap mine in ziplock style bags...I go through more bags this way than normal, however it seems to work really well when I do have yo freeze meat
Answer: The only way meat will not have flavor after being frozen is if it didn't have flavor to begin with, or was freezer burnt/not sealed.
Answer: I understand you to be saying the freezing of already cooked beef resulted in a change in flavor once you tried to use it again.  I have a good amount of sliced roasted beef, left over from a wedding, that I froze (properly in freezer ziploc bags.)  My family doesn't enjoy the flavor that results either.  So far I'm fining only two ideas that might help:  (1) slow cook it in a crock pot, since that method infuses spice flavors into the meat, and (2) use it in a very spicy dish.  This might work,, and I do recall specifically using frozen ground beef in spicy Texas-style chili in the past, which was better, but still not quite like starting the dish with fresh beef.  Finding the solution will save me a lot of cash, so I'm going to keep looking...
Answer: The trick is not allowing the "frozen flavor" to get into the meat in the first place.
You should vacuum seal the meat and put it in the coldest place in the freezer so the freezing process happens as fast as possible, this will prevent that "frozen flavor".

frozen ground beef


Is it possible to use LightDM in 11.04?

Question: O we know 11.10 will use LightDM instead of GDM. My question is can I use it in 11.04 already or would that not be advisable?
Answer: There is a PPA for natty though this article warns that it's a development release, may cause problems, etc. so there is some risk at this point.  If you go for it I'd like to hear your results.
Answer: In my opinion its not advisable to try out LightDM. I have tried it and I have run into issues with my GUI. I had to go into recovery mode and uninstall it. If you want to try it out, use virtualbox .

Is it possible to use LightDM in 11.04?


How could I create a terminal at the bottom

Question: I could create a terminal with vim by running :term in the vim normal mode. However, this terminal is opened at the top of the window and I would like to open it in the bottom. How could I open it at the bottom?
 By the way, how could I change the height of this window?
Comment: Have a look at the great documentation: [`:help window-resize`](http://vimhelp.appspot.com/windows.txt.html#window-resize) and read up on the `comand modifiers`, start reading at [`:help :vertical`](http://vimhelp.appspot.com/windows.txt.html#%3Avertical)
Comment: In neovim `:term` doesn't open terminals in split buffer; I don't know about vim. And you could look at `splitbelow` option.
Answer: This question is a couple of years old now but I found it when I was looking for a way to open a terminal inside vim below a bunch of vertical splits. What I want looks something like this:
+----+----+----+
¦    ¦    ¦    ¦
¦ f1 ¦ f2 ¦ f3 ¦
+----+----+----+
¦   terminal   ¦
+--------------+

What you get with :below terminal or with :set splitbelow and then :terminal is:
+----+----+----+
¦ f1 ¦    ¦    ¦
¦    ¦    ¦    ¦
+----+ f2 ¦ f3 ¦
¦term¦    ¦    ¦
+----+----+----+

After a bunch of googling, I pieced this together. To get what I want above is actually pretty simple. Type :botright terminal or :bo term. (See :help :botright for more details.)
You can save a few keystrokes by putting this in your vimrc:
" open terminal below all splits
cabbrev bterm bo term

Then just type :bterm to open a terminal at the bottom.
I hope someone finds this useful.
Comment: Better might be `:command Bterm botright terminal`—the abbreviation also triggers when searching, where the command does not.
Comment: Welcome to [vi.se] and thanks for writing the answer! I did some small edits, please suggest a further edit if you disagree with any of the changes... Again, welcome!
Answer: In your ~/.vimrc add the line
set splitbelow

This will cause all splits to happen below (including terminal).
To change the height of the terminal (row x col)
set termwinsize=10x0 " 'termsize' didn't work - this did for me (GVIM 8.2)

Comment: See also the `:below` command, e.g. `:below terminal`
Comment: Thanks a lot, how could I change the height of the terminal, and I seem to observe that I could not copy contents in the vim-terminal as I did in pure terminal ?
Comment: Read `:help termwinsize` to answer the first question. It will tell you how to modify that. You can always look up things by `:help command` in this case `term` and scroll. For the second I don't actually know the answer but the help page would likely help.
Comment: I tried but failed before I asked. I simply add the following lines in my vimrc: ```set termwinsize = "10*0"``` and when I open vim and run command ```:ter```, the terminal still occupies half the screen. What mistake did I made then?
Comment: @coincheung `10*0` means *at least* ten rows high. If you want 10 rows exactly, try `:set termwinsize=10x0`.
Answer: I wanted a way to easily toggle a single terminal that would keep the same size and content.
My solution lies in two functions: the main one controls whether a terminal should be opened, the second opens a terminal split where we want on the screen.
If one or more terminal splits exist, they are hidden. Else, a terminal split is opened, either a new one or the first hidden terminal.
function! PutTermPanel(buf, side, size) abort
  " new term if no buffer
  if a:buf == 0
    term
  else
    execute "sp" bufname(a:buf)
  endif
  " default side if wrong argument
  if stridx("hjklHJKL", a:side) == -1
    execute "wincmd" "J"
  else
    execute "wincmd" a:side
  endif
  " horizontal split resize
  if stridx("jkJK", a:side) >= 0
    if ! a:size > 0
      resize 6
    else
      execute "resize" a:size
    endif
    return
  endif
  " vertical split resize
  if stridx("hlHL", a:side) >= 0
    if ! a:size > 0
      vertical resize 6
    else
      execute "vertical resize" a:size
    endif
  endif
endfunction

function! s:ToggleTerminal(side, size) abort
  let tpbl=[]
  let closed = 0
  let tpbl = tabpagebuflist()
  " hide visible terminals
  for buf in filter(range(1, bufnr('$')), 'bufexists(bufname(v:val)) && index(tpbl, v:val)>=0')
    if getbufvar(buf, '&buftype') ==? 'terminal'
      silent execute bufwinnr(buf) . "hide"
      let closed += 1
    endif
  endfor
  if closed > 0
    return
  endif
  " open first hidden terminal
  for buf in filter(range(1, bufnr('$')), 'bufexists(v:val) && index(tpbl, v:val)<0')
    if getbufvar(buf, '&buftype') ==? 'terminal'
      call PutTermPanel(buf, a:side, a:size)
      return
    endif
  endfor
  " open new terminal
  call PutTermPanel(0, a:side, a:size)
endfunction

" Toggle terminal - bottom
nnoremap <silent> yot :call <SID>ToggleTerminal('J', 6)<CR>

" Toggle terminal - right
nnoremap <silent> yo<c-t> :call <SID>ToggleTerminal('L', 60)<CR>


Is the V chord still dominant if it is a major 7 chord?

Question: I just read another question about dominant chords and in reading the answers this question came to mind for me. Can a V chord still be considered dominant if the seventh in that chord is not flatted?
Answer: The V alone is a considered a dominant chord.  The reason for this even without the extra tension of the major 3rd/minor 7th interval is the 3rd of the chord is the leading tone. The leading tone is the bread and butter of tonal harmony so much so that minor harmony makes use of it even not being in the scale "naturally".
If you were to use the major 7th instead the tension from the leading tone would still be there, but the resolution definitely wouldn't be as strong. The major 7th of that chord would be the tritone in relation to the root of I. Going down to the 3rd of I is the typical desire of the 7th in a dominant chord, but would be awkward jumping from the tritone by more than 1 semiton. Going up to the 5th might be more desired, but 7ths in general like to resolve downward so the resolution may not sound as expected.
Comment: There's also the "problem" of the 7th of a chord resolving downward but note 7 of a major scale tends to resolve upward.
Answer: Although the Ⅴmaj7 can't be as forcing a dominant as Ⅴ7, it can still be used as dominant-ish. Crucial is that the maj7 wants to resolve upwards, not downwards (which brings us to the Ⅴ of Ⅰ).
Now, the other notes in the chord (save for the fundamental) also want to resolve upwards, so you end up with a very parallel voice-leading situation. Common-practice generally frowns upon this, but it's always the question what effect you aim for. And it so happens that this kind of dull, hard-synchronised movement works excellent as a ticking-clock effect. As such it was used by Gustav Holst in the Planets. The upper voices are mostly just moving around block chords in this parallel motion, but (unlike in the Mars movement) Holst keeps them in the tonality – the signature of the movement is am, but the passage is clearly in cm:
<code>X:1
T:Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age
L:1/4
M:C
K:Am
%%score T B
V:T           clef=treble
V:B           clef=bass
% 1
[V:T] [_EGc]2 [D^FB]2 | [_EGc]2 [^FAd]2 | [G_B_e][G_Bd] [F_Ac]2 | [^FAd]2 [D^FB]2  | [_EGc]2
[V:B] z    C,  z   G,, | z   C,  z   _B,, | z       _E,     z   F,   | z   D,   z  G,    | C,2
</code>
Notice in particular the cadence Ⅱ - Ⅴmaj7 - Ⅰ at the end.
Answer: The chances are that if you're looking at a piece of music where Vmaj7 pops up, it's actually not functioning as dominant harmony. It could be modal, or it could be that there's been a modulation, or it could be that the chord is just being used for color and is not functioning as a dominant.
Answer: The dominant chord, diatonically, is based on the 5th note. So for its triad, it will include the 5,7 and 9. In C, those notes would be G,B and D. The B is the leading note of C, which gives its dominant feel, trying to return to root C.
Going to the next note in the chord series, F, produces a tritone (B>F) which unstabilises the sound. It's dissonant. It also has that same one semitone move to get back to the maj3 of C, which is F>E.
By making the V into a maj7 chord, a non diatonic note (F#) would need to replace the F. F is diatonic in the present key (C), but F# would be the leading note in key G, which is not the present key. Without the tritone, which begs for resolution, Vmaj7 is weak, so weak it doesn't push. Therefore it's not dominant.
Answer: Also keep in mind that the interval between the 3 and 7 in the dominant 7 chord is a tritone, and it's the instability and tension of this interval that makes it wish to resolve itself by a semitone in each direction.


How can I convert a NTFS drive to HFS+ without having to move the data?

Question: How can I convert a NTFS drive to HFS+ without having to move the data?
It is an external drive of 2TB and I don't want to spend too much time moving the data.
This is required in order to be able to share the drive on Lion (smbx)
Comment: You want to reformat a drive without erasing the content?
Answer: Sorry but there is no way to reformat a Hard Drive while keeping the current data intact. You can either move the data off, reformat to HFS+ then move the data back on or add a second partition that is HFS+, move the data to that partition then remove the old NTFS partition and expand the HFS+ one.
Comment: Your answer is at least partially incorrect, there are tools for converting partitions from one FAT32 to NTFS. As for HFS+, you are probably right.
Comment: have anybody tried this? - https://www.paragon-software.com/technologies/components/ntfs-hfs-converter/
Answer:
Always backup first.
Use a filesystem conversion tool like Paragon NTFS-HFS Converter (commercial product)

There are open source projects such as FSTransform and ConvertFS (abandoned), but unfortunately, they don't support HFS.
Note that converting a filesystem is always slower than copying the contents to another disk, reformatting, and copying back.
Comment: This is currently the best answer to this question.
Answer: The OP has probably already solved this problem since posting 2 weeks ago, but for the record, smith is right, you will have to move the data one way or another to reformat to HFS+. And it must be journaled if you want a bootable partition. Lion doesn't support FAT32 or NTFS.
If you don't have room to make a second partition on the current drive to hold all the data, you will have to borrow, rent or buy another HD, and then set it to copy everything overnight or while you're at work.
If you're in a position to buy, look for a great deal, or a nice upgrade to what you have (nothing in between). Costco was recently selling a 3 TB MyBook (USB2) for $100, though USB2 will be much slower and have less longevity, especially given Apple's new Thunderbolt standard. Or, a high capacity can be had for about 7-10c per GB (~$150-200 for a 2TB) with FW800/USB3. Personally, I'd go for the upgrade, unless I were broke.
Once you transfer, you can sell the new drive (or if you have wiggly ethics, return it), or keep the upgraded drive and sell your old one after wiping it clean (triple pass erase and reformat).
You might also look at what you REALLY need out of all those backups. How important are those files, and how often do you use them? Unless you're doing DV / animation work, photography or you have huge media libraries (that you actually use!) you probably have a lot of wasted space.
It's easy to keep buying hard drives and filling them up. It's harder to sift through them for the real jewels ... or bite the bullet and dump all your old ideas to make room for the new.
Now there's an idea for a great backup solution: Only back up stuff that matters!
Answer: Paragon NTFS-HFS Converter easily convert NTFS volumes to HFS+ volumes and vice versa.

Paragon NTFS-HFS Converter is a specially designed utility, that converts NTFS volumes to HFS+ volumes, or HFS+ volumes to NTFS. This utility consists of a wizard that helps you select the desired volume for conversion, gives you the option to back it up, then quickly performs the conversion.


iPad 3 not connecting to a cellular network at all

Question: My iPad 3 doesn't want to connect to my cellular network. When i want to go onto the appstore or internet it says I'm not connected. We have taken it to our local iStore and to the network providers but it hasn't done anything, probably made it worse. We have turned it off and on, reset network settings and even changed networks. its second hand and we haven't used wifi on it yet. What could it be and what should we do?
Comment: Are you talking about WiFi or Cellular/3G here? If cellular/3G, does the SIM card work in another phone/iPad? What did the support staff in the Apple Store and the Network Provider shop try to do to fix the problem?
Answer: Which iOS version is installed? Did it ever work since you bought it? Have you updated the iOS since you own the iPad?
Your description reminds me of my fahter's 2nd hand iPhone 3GS. He bought it and updated to the latest iOS 6.0.1 without knowing that the iPhone he bought was jailbroken. The update made the iPhone totally worthless because it could not connect to mobile network nor WLAN any more.


A Hat or a Cap?

Question: Considering a scenario that one is hiking a lot in the indian sub-continent, what is better in order to mitigate the issues one may face due to bright sunny day?
A hat or a simple cap?
Comment: @Liam Cant see why you want to close this. It's not an opinion based question. There are obvious advantages of a hat over a simple cap and anyone venturing into trekking might find this useful. I'm voting to keep this open. If the question was whether to wear a red hat or a blue hat, then yes, I would have agreed.
Answer: A hat. Or a cap with a sun shield.
It covers the back part of your neck and ears from harmful sun rays. Also, make sure that the cap is UV protective. A simple hat might not do the trick of blocking out the UV (It might protect you from direct sun though).
One disadvantage of a hat is that it blocks your peripheral view (i.e if the hat droops on the sides). But for me, the advantage of protecting your neck and ears from severe sun burns outweighs the vision aspect.
Answer: I assume by hat you mean mean a full-brim hat, while by cap you are referring to a baseball cap (brim in front only)?
Regardeless, in all instances of hiking anywhere with intense sun, your best bet will be: a hat
The wider the brim the better, to keep the sun off your neck, ears, nose and shoulders.
For sunny, arid regions: consider a thin airy straw-type hat that allows good circulation around your head while providing sun protection.
The straw will often hold water fairly well, and that along with a sweat band tied around it is great for evaporative cooling: Soak and repeat for a personal air conditioner.
Tighter weave, treated, or gore-tex full brim hats are great for rainy regions, keeping the water out of your eyes and off your neck.
Answer: Another issue to think about is whether you will have a backpack or not (and how high it rides up).  Anyone who's tried backpacking with a sombrero knows what I mean - the hat is constantly whacking the pack and it drives you nuts.
Also consider (as mentioned above) the wind - a string through the hat that can be tightened around the chin works, as does a "leash" tied from the hat and clipped to your collar.  A lost hat means sunburn even more than the wrong hat...
Happy hiking!
Answer: Another option is a cap/visor with a bandanna. I like doing this when I expect windy conditions. Wide brimmed hats (superior in most other circumstances) will have more wind resistance and can become quite the nuisance. When you can wear neither a hat nor a cap (because you are wearing a helmet, for example,) the bandanna alone is quite effective!

A Hat or a Cap?


Why do you put celery in a bloody mary?

Question: Why do you put celery in a bloody mary? Is there a chemical reason for this or is it done just for garnish?
Comment: You know I always wondered why it was used. Always just figured it was something to chew on so you dont' get drunk as fast.
Comment: Because tomato sauce and vodka together does not taste terrible enough.
Answer: There is no chemical reaction that happens. It is mainly a garnish. You might get a tiny bit of celery flavor in the drink from the celery, but I think this is negligible given the other strong flavors in a bloody mary. If you want a celery flavor, add celery salt.
Answer: It's meant to be munched on between sips, and permits a "reset" - the cocktail will be fresh upon the tongue the sip after the bite, permitting you to enjoy its flavor and consistency without being oppressed by the cumulative effect of unctuous, spice and salt that is the hallmark of the beverage.
Celery is an astringent and an aromatic - it will cut through the palate-coating tomato juice can leave behind, cool the intensity of the salt and heat, and will interrupt the soup-like consistency with a firm crunch. It's often included in tuna and chicken salad and served with hot wings for the same reason. Other vegetables that tickle our sense of "bitter" in a pleasing way may be similarly substituted - but celery also acts as a handy swizzle stick.
Answer: the celery help cleans the taste in your mouth ..helping every sip of your ceaser taste delicious
Answer: I've always seen it done as a garnish, and only a few places anymore will keep fresh celery around just for one drink, so it's becoming that much rarer.
To be fair, there are a lot of ways to make a Bloody Mary. A good barman will ask their patron how they like theirs. The two requisites that make it a Bloody Mary are the vodka and the tomato juice, and then a source of salt and sour are typically also considered must-haves, but exactly how you get those in the drink are up to you. Beyond that, any and all of the following are commonly added or omitted based on drinker's preference:

Clam juice (traditionally a must-have, and a good source of salt, but the name is off-putting in many regions, especially outside New England)
Pickle juice (for those further inland, this is typically a little more palatable than clam juice to add salt, and also a sour note)
Olive juice (same idea as pickle juice)
Jalapeno brine (same but adds a spicier kick)
Lemon juice
Lime juice
Sweet & Sour mix
Worstershire sauce (yes please; most don't consider it a BM without this)
Tabasco/hot sauce (ditto)
Balsamic vinegar
Kosher salt (some will put it in the drink, others will salt the rim)
Cracked pepper
Chili powder (same idea as Tabasco; works best when mixed with the tomato juice ahead of time)
Sriracha, wasabi, etc (exotic forms of spicy)
Beer (traditionally a chaser, now it's just as often added directly to the drink)
Ginger (Heard of it, never tried it; the theory is that since a BM is supposed to settle the stomach after a wild night, the ginger furthers that goal. Also a spicy note)

That's just what goes in the drink. I have seen or heard of all of the following being used as garnish, most of them skewered:

Celery (traditional)
Olives (modern cop-out)
Dill spear or whole dill pickle (common in the Midwest)
Gherkins/sweet pickles
Asparagus
Cocktail onions
Cherry tomatoes
Lemon wedge/slice
Jalapenos (fresh or pickled, whole or slices; obviously common in the Southwest)
Pepperoncini peppers
Artichoke hearts
Pepperoni
Salami
Bacon
Ham (we making a drink or a sandwich here?)
Slim Jim/beef jerky
Cheese (various varieties from cubes of pepperjack to string cheese)
Shrimp
Tater Tots
Onion Ring
Hard boiled egg (say what?)
Spare rib
Brisket slice (ok, now it's a combo meal)
Buffalo wing
Bacon cheeseburger (yes, an entire bacon cheeseburger on a skewer)

... and of course, someone just had to put them all in one drink:
Comment: There are a lot of non-celery options here, but I am not sure I saw a reason *why* celery?
Answer: The celery stick garnish became a staple of the Bloody Mary only after an impatient patron at Chicago's Pump Room couldn't wait for his server to bring him a swizzle stick. He took matters into his own hands and snatched a celery stalk from a nearby relish tray.

Why do you put celery in a bloody mary?


Presentation - citations on the title?

Question: How uncommon or weird is it to put my citations in a powerpoint slide at the title ? I really want to put the citations in the slide and not only at the very end.
Comment: At the very least, don't underline the citation, since it's not part of the actual slide title.
Answer: Slides are different beasts from papers and the style should match the medium. For example, we usually enumerate equations in papers, but shall we do it on slides? Clearly, readers can not go back until the presenter himself does it, so why wasting space on numbers in the first place?
Applying it to your example: why would you need [1]? Simply put reference if you feel it's needed. Or symbolise, [Kingma et al 2015].
Answer: For a presentation, such citations are entirely useless. The very structure of presentation means that the audience cannot move around in a presentation and scroll into the future to look up what something refers to. As Dmitry Savostyanov
points out, references on the slide like (A.N. Person 2016) gives some partial information that might be of use to informed audiences or introduce other characters of the story of research. They do have the advantage that they can be viewed at the appropriate time in the presentation.
Now I was discussing presentations, not slides. Some people distribute slides as handouts and handouts can be read in a nonlinear way at the time and convenience of the reader. Putting such citations in the title might well make the slide into a better handout- but certainly into worse presentation slides. Slides are generally suboptimal as handouts. Since you are using LaTex, it should be easy for you to make proper handouts out of your slides if you want handouts, and if you are willing to put in the effort, you can use the advantages of ordinary written communication there. If someone is stuck in using something like PowerPoint and wants handouts, but is too lazy to produce handouts, one should at least have two sets of slides, with the one for presentations not containing useless references the audience cannot access at the time of occurence.
Answer: I would prefer if the reference is in the first line of the slide (perhaps after a definition) instead.
Putting the reference in the title does not seem very aesthetic.
Also, it seems that this page of the slide does not contain a definition, which is definitely needed.
Comment: thanks ! You are right it does not look good. I'll do as you have suggested.
Answer: It would be better to introduce that reference giving to it some seconds of your talk. If it is in title, that should be the frame or the motivation of the work.  Nothing wrong but I find it bit weird. However it will surely attract the attention. But nowadays everyone will start searching it instead of listening to you.

Presentation - citations on the title?


IEditSketch and IEditSketch2

Question: What is the difference between IEditSketch and IEditSketch2? Also why there are same interfaces with the same name only with a difference "2" at the end of the interface's name ?
Answer: I think the doc for IEditsketch2 is wrong - it should say supreseded by IEditSketch3.

Provides access to members that access
  and manipulate the edit sketch. Note:
  the IEditSketch2 interface has been
  superseded by IEditSketch2 (sic). Please
  consider using the more recent
  version.

It's a violation of COM best practice to change an interface once it has been published.  Instead, a new interface is published that inherits all the methods from the existing interface. When Esri does this, they add (or increment) a suffix number on the interface's name.
Comment: +1 While it is generally good practice, from COM viewpoint it's not strictly necessary for a new version of the interface to inherit from the existing one. Actually in ArcObjects, sometimes new versions do not inherit from the older one - this is especially true for many outbound event interfaces, e.g. IEditEvents, IEditEvents2, IEditEvents3, IEditEvents4 etc. do not maintain any static inheritance relationship.
Answer: This seems to be a pretty common thing for ESRI to do. I counted a dozen or so interfaces with numbers at the end just looking through the ArcObjects SDK (ITopologyGraph4, IEditSketch2, etc.).
One thing to be aware of with the different version of the interfaces is that they're not always implemented by the same classes. I ran into this when working with the IPointCollection5 interface. The documentation states that the previous version of the IPointCollection interface have been superseded by IPointCollection5. However, IPointCollection5 is only implemented by Multipoint, which was the reason I was getting an error with the statement
Dim pOutCollection As ESRI.ArcGIS.Geometry.IPointCollection5 = New ESRI.ArcGIS.Geometry.Polygon
Instead, I had to use the IPointCollection4 interface for the Point and Polygon classes. When using the new versions of the interfaces, always look at the list of classes that implement the interface.
Comment: +1 Good catch, although this is very, very rare in ArcObjects.
Answer: Looks like they added more members (CurrentZ, EditSketchExtension, etc.) to the IEditSketch interface.
As for why, it's likely that they realized that new functionality was necessary for that interface. Since changing the original interface breaks the "contract" for all applications that use that interface, they had to rename it. To ensure that programmers understand that the new interface is related to the old one in some way, i.e. that more functionality has been added but that the fundamental idea of the interface is unchanged, they merely tacked a "2" onto the end of the original name.
This seems to be a pretty common thing for ESRI to do. I counted a dozen or so interfaces with numbers at the end just looking through the ArcObjects SDK (ITopologyGraph4, IEditSketch2, etc.).
Answer: You can read the descriptions of all the EditSketch interfaces below.  It seems that both versions are being superseded by IEditSketch3.  You may also want to read up on "Working with the edit sketch" link below.
IEditSketch
IEditSketch2
IEditSketch3
Working with the edit sketch

IEditSketch and IEditSketch2


Degenerate Alignment Analysis

Question: Can someone please tell me what is Degenerate alignment analysis? Could not find a good article on the internet that could help me understand what it means?
(I have not studied biology since last 8 years and now I am going through it because I need it for my research. So if someone can describe it in simple language it would be very helpful)
Comment: This would be much easier to answer if you gave us some more context. Presumably you are referring to sequence alignments but where did you read the term? What was it referring to?
Answer: First, degeneracy in a basic sense refers to redundancy of the codons in the genetic code.  For example, the amino acid proline is coded for by one of four codons: CCA, CCC, CCG and CCU. The third codon position (the third letter in each group of three) is called four-fold degenerate because it can change without affecting the coding for proline. Phenylalanine is two-fold degenerate because it is coded for by UUC and UUU.
However, this does not account for the alignment part of your question. Without more specific information (such as a reference you saw), I can't be certain of your intent but this paper by Morin et al. (2008) may be helpful. They had a series of small RNA sequences (each about 24 nucleotides long). They wanted to identify DNA sequences in the genome of Lodgepole pine  (Pinus contorta) and rice (Oryiza sativa). To accomplish this goal, they used degeneracy alignment. Here's the relevant section from their methods:

altered to allow searches against genomic sequence. Alignments were kept if they were no shorter than L − 3, where L is the query sequence length. No more than a total of three mismatches or insertions/deletions were allowed within the aligned region.

Their approach was to find genomic sequences that correspond to the small RNAs. They allowed for some degeneracy, either in the genome or the RNA. The sequences could differ in length by no than three nucleotides or mismatches (an A in the query sequence but a C in the target sequence instead of a T; I'm assuming the query is RNA and the target is the genomic DNA). Their degeneracy alignment allowed for a small amount of freedom in identifying potential matches of conserved RNA clusters (high similarity) in the genomes of distantly related plant species.

Morin, R.D. et al. 2008. Comparative analysis of the small RNA transcriptomes of Pinus contorta and Oryza sativa. Genome Research 18: 571-584.
Comment: so basically its like finding common sub sequences even with a few alterations , right??
Comment: @user3237995 Yes, basically that is it. Alignments can be found even though some mutations have occurred between the two different species.
Comment: Ok Ok, clearly understood!!

Degenerate Alignment Analysis


How to get ellipticities of galaxies from SDSS using casjobs?

Question: How to get ellipticities of a list of random galaxies. I saw few programs written in SQL and they were only giving stokes parameters and isophotes values for ONE galaxy(for which we input the ObjID). I am not familiar with syntax of SQL. Is there any method to put the objid in a loop so that the program generates stoke parameters values for a list of galaxies?
Comment: This question is technically about SQL usage, but given the number of major astronomical databases with public SQL interfaces these days, I think it's on topic.
Answer: Just found out this method in casjobs.Previously I came across one SQL code in Stackexchange in which you have to input one ObjID to get its stokes parameters and isoA and isoB values.In sample codes in DR7, you can edit the line which gives Feild values and coordinates to get Stokes parameters(type q_r,u_r in their place).
From stokes parametres you get the ellipiticity of the galaxy from this equation (which can be done in python.)
$e  = 1 - \frac{b}{a} = 1 - \frac{1 - \sqrt{Q^2 + U^2}}{1 + \sqrt{Q^2 + U^2}}.
$
Note that if you are downloading the Casjobs query data in CSV or excel format,You need to write python code to read the file and apply the formula
(to learn how to read csv files in python click here)


Batch-download from iTunes Match to Mac in iTunes 11

Question: I used to be able to batch-download songs from iTunes Match on my Mac by selecting a group of tracks and choosing Download from the contextual menu, but that option seems to be missing in iTunes 11 (11.1.3 to be precise). Don't want to have to click several thousand songs individually — is there still a way to batch-download in iTunes 11?
Answer: Try this as a work around to an actual download all menu item.  Create a new playlist...add your entire library to the playlist.  Next to the playlist click the 'Download from iCloud' icon.


Are biological macromolecules organic or inorganic compounds?

Question: We know that organic compounds are compounds which contain carbon atoms. I want to know whether all biological macromolecules (such as proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and nucleic acids) are organic compounds, or are only a subset of them considered organic?
Comment: The definitions of the "biological macromolecule" and of the "organic molecule" are vague, but, I would say, yes, all biological macromolecules are organic. But what the point of such statement? What do you think you achieve with that information?
Comment: Based on your definition, what do you think?
Answer: The definition of "organic" is somewhat vague: it can mean containing carbon, or it can mean coming from living things, particularly as defined by the United States Department of Agriculture.
To further confuse the issue, some carbon compounds, such as sodium carbonate or tungsten carbide, are sometimes defined as inorganic.
So state a particular definition, and examine those compounds according to that definition.
Answer: There is a field of chemistry referred to as bioinorganic chemistry.
While all the biological macromolecules are organic, if a metal-ion-containing protein (metalloprotein) is being studied, especially if the focus is upon the metal ion, such as oxidation or reduction of the metal ion, the term "bioinorganic" is often used.
Answer: There are a number of different definitions of organic compounds existing, from the oldest (anything that comes from living beings (and is assumed to have been created by a vis vitalis)) to a few contemporary ones. So the definition of organic compound is rather fuzzy, with edge cases such as trifluoroacetic acid sometimes belonging to the organic realm and sometimes not.
However, I am not aware of any definition of organic compound that would exclude the biomacromolecules and deem them 'inorganic'. So unless your definition of organic is extremely exotic, they are included. (And I cannot imagine an exotic definition of organic compound that would not include lipids, anyway.)


Who, or what, is the Authority?

Question: I completed Rage, and the ending is .. meh (just my opinion). The game talked about the Authority, but I never felt like they really explained who or what they are when finishing the story up. Is there some background story on them that I missed in the game or elsewhere that gives some further explanation and story about the Authority?
Answer: The story is pretty simple so the game didn't had much to explain to begin with,wiki could have something more than you figured out but it is still very shallow.
(check the wiki link to see more links :p)
"Led by an individual known only as The Visionary, the Authority's main purpose is to restore order to the world by any means necessary, including killing unmutated humans. The Authority seems to have an agenda against Ark survivors, ruthlessly seeking them out wherever they are found and taking them back to Capital Prime for unknown reasons. However, it is speculated (through the novel and a trailer) that the reason for this is the fact that all Ark survivors have had Nanotrites implanted inside them before going into deep cryo hibernation.
It is discovered that they have their origins within the United States military. On the night that Apophis hit, the last of the Arks, a "Super Ark" capable of holding hundreds of people, was taken over by a select team of soldiers led by General Martin Cross and Colonel James Casey. With its original residents left for dead, Cross altered its programming so that it would emerge in 2105, and so be the first of the Arks to emerge in the wasteland by many years. This set up Cross and his men so that they might shape the new world in his vision."
Answer: Simply, the Authority in RAGE is a faction of Ark survivors that are seeking power. The sabotaged the timers so that they would emerge before the other cryo sleepers so they could establish themselves and then co-opt or kill anyone emerging from cold sleep.

Who, or what, is the Authority?


explicit isometry between metric spaces

Question: Let $X=\mathbb{H}^2\times\left[0,1\right]$ (just $\left\{ (x,y,z)\big\vert y>0\right\}$ as a set)  and consider the following two metrics: $$ds_1=\frac{dx+dy}{y}+dz$$ and $$ds_2=\frac{dx+dy+dz}{z}$$ which are (or should be, I hope!) the product metric and the metric induced from $\mathbb{H}^3\cong_{Top}\mathbb{H}^2\times\mathbb{R}\supseteq\mathbb{H}^2\times\left[0,1\right]$, respectively. I would like to find a map $f\colon (X,ds_1)\to (\mathbb{H}^3,ds_2)$ such that its restriction to $\mathbb{H}^2\times(0,1)$ is an isometry onto the image $\mathbb{H}^2\times (n,n+1)$. The problem is to find a map which balances somehow the fact that the 'length' with respect to the third coordinate is 'homogeneous' in only one of the two metrics, namely in $ds_1$. I thought that, since $(\mathbb{H}^3,ds_1)$ and $(\mathbb{H}^3, ds_2)$ are not isometric spaces (only the latter being hyperbolic) I should exploit some property given by the boundedness of the interval $[0,1]$, like multiplying for a factor $(1-z)$ or something similar, and 'moving' the stretching problem on the boundary, where the restriction is not defined; anyway, I wasn't able to write down a map explicitly, or at least to prove theoretically that such a map exists. Could you help me? Thank you.
Comment: I think you mean $ds_1^2$, $dx^2$ etc.
Answer: There is no isometric embedding of $\mathbb H^2\times (0,1)$ into $\mathbb H^3$. Indeed, $\mathbb H^2$ contains geodesic lines (isometric images of $\mathbb R$), and the product of such a line $L$ with $(0,1)$ is a flat infinite strip. Which is a non-hyperbolic space: it contains triangles with angle sum 180 degrees (imagine that!) and a pair of geodesic lines $L\times \{1/3\}$, $L\times \{2/3\}$ which do not diverge exponentially in either direction, but  stay at constant distance from each other (the horror!). No such ugly things can ever happen in the nice hyperbolic space $\mathbb H^3$.

explicit isometry between metric spaces