Who, exactly, were the "sans culottes"?

Question: My understanding was that this was a reference to "poor people," or at least people who lacked a certain type of "legging" called a culotte. Does this mean that they were "dirt poor," or only of "below average" wealth in French society? And when did they play a role in history?
Comment: With more context and color - would someone post the answer to Wikipedia and Wikipedia.fr as well?
Comment: Did you try https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/fr/wiki/Sans_culotte?
Comment: I did read this (or rather, the English version, which is shorer), and got something out of it, like the part of the legging, but wanted more context and color.
Answer: The bottom line, so to speak, is that the phrase sans-culottes was coined during the most radical period of the French Revolution to designate people of the lower classes
who did not wear the culotte.
The culotte was an elegant pair of knee-breeches typically worn by members of the gentry and the bourgeoisie alike.
For mere practical reasons the working class favoured the more robust long trousers called "pantalon" (named after a greedy, gullible and libidinous Venetian character of the Comedia dell'Arte).  Knee-breeches would not cover the lower leg which would thus be encased into silky stockings. No need to say that such delicate garment could not have sustained the daily activities of the "working class" for whom they were unaffordable anyway.
Although the expression sans-culotte is attested prior to the Revolution it really appears to have gained momentum in the early 1790s.
In early 1792, after a few months of existence, it became evident that the Revolution had been confiscated by an elite made of an alliance of progressive aristocrats, wealthy bourgeois and members of clergy.  This state of affairs was seen as an opportunity by the more radical elements who stirred up the turbulent parisian crowd to their advantage.  The sans-culottes was an iconic figure of this faction because their costume would stand in stark contrast with that of a bourgeoisie aping the aristocracy. Anyone wearing a culotte was a réactionnaire (a counter-revolutionary) and anyone who wasn't was instead a true revolutionary.
This is the official etymology.  The Littré however, reports an interesting anecdote possibly seizing the very instant when the phrase was coined. FWIW of course.
SANS-CULOTTE. ÉTYM. L'origine du nom de sans-culotte paraît être différente de celle qui est indiquée dans l'article. Un jour que les femmes qui occupaient les tribunes de la Constituante étaient encore plus bruyantes que de coutume, l'abbé Maury dit au président : Monsieur le président, faites taire ce tas de sans-culottes. De là le nom de sans-culotte adopté par les patriotes d'alors. BOURLOTON et ROBERT, la Commune, Paris, 1872, p. 169.
Translation for NNS:
The origin of the phrase sans-culotte appears to be different from what is indicated in the [main] article. One day, as the women occupying the higher stands of the Constituent [Assembly] were even more noisy as usual, Cardinal Maury addressed the Speaker: Mister Speaker, could you please silence this throng of "sans-culottes".  From thence the name of sans-culotte was adopted by the patriots.
Comment: The [TLFI](http://www.cnrtl.fr/etymologie/sans-culotte) has one more hypothesis for the etymology.
Comment: @Evpok, Thx. Interesting. This is probably more reliable than - albeit not incompatible with - what I came up with.
Comment: @Evpok. I've modified my post to take into account your remark.
Answer: According to Wikipédia:fr it did refer to manual workers, who first wore pantalons (trousers) instead of culottes (breeches). It had no direct links to wealth, since even some upper-class craftsmen wore pantalons.
Historically, the name sans-culotte refers to some zealots of the French first revolution, who were indeed manual workers.
Comment: Erm... it would still be a reference to wealth, however indirectly, the same way that "blue [resp. white] collar" indicates both the type of job and, through it, social class of the individuals concerned...
Comment: So it was a reference to dress, rather than wealth. That was the kind of answer I was looking for.
Comment: I think it is more a reference to the profession, rather than dress or wealth.

Who, exactly, were the “sans culottes”?


Final 200 feet under autoland

Question: How does Autoland work below decision height (200 ft)? Ie, what guides the plane until the radar altimeter notes the jet is at the right height to begin to flare? I've been searching the internet, and it looks like the plane simply holds its attitude for around 100 feet until the RA kicks in.
Answer: An autoland can be performed when a CAT II or III ILS (Instrument Landing System) approach is available (bad things can happen otherwise: Why don't pilots always use autoland?). The decision height for these approaches is lower than the usual 200 ft:

Cat I: DA 200 ft or higher
Cat II: DA 100-200 ft
Cat III A: DA < 100 ft
Cat III B: DA < 50 ft

The pilots must have the runway (or runway lighting) in sight when reaching the decision height. Otherwise, a go around must be executed. But this does not mean that the ILS signal is no longer available. The autoland system continues to use the ILS signal together with the RA (radio altimeter) to fly the aircraft. That means the autopilot uses the localizer deviation to control the aircraft laterally (during the approach, the flare and even after landing) and the glide slope deviation vertically until the RA indicates it is time to start the flare (at this time glide slope is ignored).
The exact details will of course depend on the aircraft model. Here is how the autoland works on a Boeing 737 NG (source: FCOM v2 4.20.19 Automatic Flight - System Description):

500 Feet Radio Altitude
The pilot is required to check for the presence of LAND 3 or LAND 2 in order to
  continue the autoland.
  If the second autopilot in CMD remains armed and does not engage, LAND 2 or
  LAND 3 does not annunciate. Instead, the amber NO AUTOLAND annunciation
  alerts the pilot that dual control has not been established and the autoland is to be
  discontinued.
450 Feet Radio Altitude
The alignment mode is enabled which provides rudder compensation for the
  purpose of decreasing large crab angles produced by crosswinds, and to control
  the adverse moments caused by an engine failure. The automatic correction for
  aircraft crab angle due to crosswinds and engine failure enhances flight crew
  runway perspective and provides optimal aircraft position for initiation of rollout
  control. In a strong crosswind, the airplane does not fully align with the runway
  but lands in a slight crab. Sideslip is limited to 5 degrees. This mode is not
  annunciated.
400 Feet Radio Altitude
The stabilizer is automatically trimmed an additional amount nose up. If the A/Ps
  subsequently disengage, forward control column force may be required to hold the
  desired pitch attitude.
If FLARE is not armed by approximately 350 feet RA, both A/Ps automatically
  disengage.
Flare
The A/P flare maneuver starts at approximately 50 feet RA and is completed at
  touchdown:

FLARE engaged is annunciated and F/D command bars retract.
FLARE engaged is annunciated and with LAND 3 annunciated, F/D
  command bars center.
the A/T begins retarding thrust at approximately 27 feet RA so as to reach
  idle at touchdown. A/T FMA annunciates RETARD.
the A/T automatically disengages approximately 2 seconds after
  touchdown.
the A/P must be manually disengaged after touchdown. Landing rollout is
  executed manually after disengaging the A/P.

Rollout
ROLLOUT arms when LAND 2 or LAND 3 annunciates.
  At approximately two feet radio altitude, rollout activates:

ROLLOUT replaces the VOR/LOC roll flight mode annunciation
the autopilot controls the rudder and nose wheel steering to keep the
  airplane on the localizer centerline.
rollout guidance continues until a full stop or until the autopilots are
  disengaged.
Comment: @CptReynolds I added some more details. Not sure if that answers all questions.
Comment: This is a good answer but does not address the particular guidance and control aspect of the question (yet?).
Answer: Autoland can only be performed with CAT II/III as far as I know. The minima of CAT II/III are usually quite a bit lower than 200ft AGL. Also, as the localizer is placed at the far end of the runway, the aircraft will not overfly it and therefore not lose it on landing. The aircraft will just follow the localizer and glideslope until the radar altimeter triggers the flare and leaves the glideslope.
To improve the reliability (or reduce risk of disturbance) there is also a second hold-short line a bit further away from the runway which is being used when CAT II/III is in progress. This assures no other aircraft reflects or blocks localizer or glideslope signals.
Comment: Autoland can be performed under any approach category, but only with Cat2/3 there is assured signal protection. A Cat 1 autoland can be performed, but crew will be very aware of the possibility of having to take over.
Comment: I'm not 100% sure bit I even think CAT IIIb is required for autoland which means decision height below 50ft.
Comment: And indeed there will be a lowest altitude after which glideslope signal will not be considered, depending on aircraft type even before the flare, because the "funnel" is too narrow for effective guidance. A sensible sub-mode for guidance e.g. between 80 ft and flare could be to hold vertical speed or fly nominal path angle or so. I can look it up in the next days if not answered before.
Comment: The last comment  is exactly where I was heading. From my research, when autoland was first invented the biggest problem was guiding the plane's downward trajectory under 200 feet because glideslope became unreliable at that point. My readings say the plane was allowed to fly "ballistically," ie, maintaining attitude so that the trajectory holds until the RA determined the flare should start. I am curious if in the past 50 years anything has improved, ie, is glideslope accuracy good now under 200 feet? Cpt Reynolds, are you saying glideslope is good to 80 feet? So 30 feet of "ballistic flight?

Final 200 feet under autoland


Is there a function or extension that shows one view in a case containing the content of the Summary and Details fields of all activities

Question: We are seeking to show, preferably in the management of a case not as a separate report, a list of the Summary and Details fields of all activities in a case. The goal is to promote the use of cases. Currently, our user resistance focuses on the lack of a view where all of the text written by self or others on the case is tucked away inside each activity and not visible as one cohesive narrative. Ideally, the texts could be edited from this new view. The rows in the view would probably be in chronological order.
Answer: The print report link on manage case might satisfy the need to see a comprehensive list in a view. It's not editable though.
Comment: Hi Demerit, my users could use this but they come from an Excel background where they had rapid response and immediate visibility of "just what they needed" (albeit that it was only visible to them, was single user and didn't provide effective handover from one part time staff member to the next). They don't yet see that the use of CiviCase is beneficial because of its engagement with a corporate wide view. That is the hurdle that I am trying to overcome. I really appreciate your rapid reply. Thx, Rob


Not passing the clean URL test

Question: We've got a multi-site install on Amazon's AWS that used the Bitnami Drupal image (ami-3f21aa56 - 64bit, Unbuntu) as a base.  Per the documentation, each site has it's own subdirectory in the sites folder.  Each site has a corresponding DNS A record that is pointed at our server.  Drupal handles the traffic via the sites.php file and that's been working well so far.
Now I'm trying to implement Clean URLs and the test continues to fail.  I've played with the Rewrite settings in the .conf files per various recommendations around the web but nothing has worked so far.
mod_rewrite is enabled.
My current drupal.conf file is:
<code># App url moved to root
DocumentRoot "/home/bitnami/apps/drupal/htdocs"
#Alias /drupal/ "/opt/bitnami/apps/drupal/htdocs/"
#Alias /drupal "/opt/bitnami/apps/drupal/htdocs"

<Directory "/home/bitnami/apps/drupal/htdocs">
    Options +MultiViews
    AllowOverride All
    <IfVersion < 2.3 >
    Order allow,deny
    Allow from all
    </IfVersion>
    <IfVersion >= 2.3>
    Require all granted
    </IfVersion>
</Directory>

# Uncomment the following lines to see your application in the root
# of your URL. This is not compatible with more than one application.
# RewriteEngine On
# RewriteRule ^/$ /drupal/ [PT]
</code>
The htaccess.conf (I believe this is Bitnami's way to have a global .htaccess for drupal 7, including multisite config) is as follows (apologies for the length):
<code><Directory "/opt/bitnami/apps/drupal/htdocs/">
#
# Apache/PHP/Drupal settings:
#

# Protect files and directories from prying eyes.
<FilesMatch "\.(engine|inc|info|install|make|module|profile|test|po|sh|.*sql|theme|tpl(\.php)?|xtmpl)$|^(\..*|Entries.*|Repository|Root|Tag|Template)$">
  Order allow,deny
</FilesMatch>

# Don't show directory listings for URLs which map to a directory.
Options -Indexes

# Follow symbolic links in this directory.
# Options +FollowSymLinks

# Make Drupal handle any 404 errors.
ErrorDocument 404 /index.php

# Set the default handler.
DirectoryIndex index.php index.html index.htm

# Override PHP settings that cannot be changed at runtime. See
# sites/default/default.settings.php and drupal_environment_initialize() in
# includes/bootstrap.inc for settings that can be changed at runtime.

php_value memory_limit 64M

# PHP 5, Apache 1 and 2.
<IfModule mod_php5.c>
  php_flag magic_quotes_gpc                 off
  php_flag magic_quotes_sybase              off
  php_flag register_globals                 off
  php_flag session.auto_start               off
  php_value mbstring.http_input             pass
  php_value mbstring.http_output            pass
  php_flag mbstring.encoding_translation    off
</IfModule>

# Requires mod_expires to be enabled.
<IfModule mod_expires.c>
  # Enable expirations.
  ExpiresActive On

  # Cache all files for 2 weeks after access (A).
  ExpiresDefault A1209600

  <FilesMatch \.php$>
    # Do not allow PHP scripts to be cached unless they explicitly send cache
    # headers themselves. Otherwise all scripts would have to overwrite the
    # headers set by mod_expires if they want another caching behavior. This may
    # fail if an error occurs early in the bootstrap process, and it may cause
    # problems if a non-Drupal PHP file is installed in a subdirectory.
    ExpiresActive Off
  </FilesMatch>
</IfModule>

# Various rewrite rules.
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
  RewriteEngine on

  # Block access to "hidden" directories whose names begin with a period. This
  # includes directories used by version control systems such as Subversion or
  # Git to store control files. Files whose names begin with a period, as well
  # as the control files used by CVS, are protected by the FilesMatch directive
  # above.
  #
  # NOTE: This only works when mod_rewrite is loaded. Without mod_rewrite, it is
  # not possible to block access to entire directories from .htaccess, because
  # <DirectoryMatch> is not allowed here.
  #
  # If you do not have mod_rewrite installed, you should remove these
  # directories from your webroot or otherwise protect them from being
  # downloaded.
  RewriteRule "(^|/)\." - [F]

  # If your site can be accessed both with and without the 'www.' prefix, you
  # can use one of the following settings to redirect users to your preferred
  # URL, either WITH or WITHOUT the 'www.' prefix. Choose ONLY one option:
  #
  # To redirect all users to access the site WITH the 'www.' prefix,
  # (http://example.com/... will be redirected to http://www.example.com/...)
  # uncomment the following:
  # RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\. [NC]
  # RewriteRule ^ http://www.%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]
  #
  # To redirect all users to access the site WITHOUT the 'www.' prefix,
  # (http://www.example.com/... will be redirected to http://example.com/...)
  # uncomment the following:
  # RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www\.(.+)$ [NC]
  # RewriteRule ^ http://%1%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]

  # Modify the RewriteBase if you are using Drupal in a subdirectory or in a
  # VirtualDocumentRoot and the rewrite rules are not working properly.
  # For example if your site is at http://example.com/drupal uncomment and
  # modify the following line:
  RewriteBase /drupal
  #
  # If your site is running in a VirtualDocumentRoot at http://example.com/,
  # uncomment the following line:
  RewriteBase /

  # Pass all requests not referring directly to files in the filesystem to
  # index.php. Clean URLs are handled in drupal_environment_initialize().
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !=/favicon.ico
  RewriteRule ^ index.php [L]

  # Rules to correctly serve gzip compressed CSS and JS files.
  # Requires both mod_rewrite and mod_headers to be enabled.
  <IfModule mod_headers.c>
    # Serve gzip compressed CSS files if they exist and the client accepts gzip.
    RewriteCond %{HTTP:Accept-encoding} gzip
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}\.gz -s
    RewriteRule ^(.*)\.css $1\.css\.gz [QSA]

    # Serve gzip compressed JS files if they exist and the client accepts gzip.
    RewriteCond %{HTTP:Accept-encoding} gzip
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}\.gz -s
    RewriteRule ^(.*)\.js $1\.js\.gz [QSA]

    # Serve correct content types, and prevent mod_deflate double gzip.
    RewriteRule \.css\.gz$ - [T=text/css,E=no-gzip:1]
    RewriteRule \.js\.gz$ - [T=text/javascript,E=no-gzip:1]

    <FilesMatch "(\.js\.gz|\.css\.gz)$">
      # Serve correct encoding type.
      Header set Content-Encoding gzip
      # Force proxies to cache gzipped & non-gzipped css/js files separately.
      Header append Vary Accept-Encoding
    </FilesMatch>
  </IfModule>
</IfModule>

</Directory>
</code>
When it comes to server configuration, I am lucky to spell Apache.  I've played with a few settings but I am feeling quite out of my depth, especially with regard to Drupal Multisite.  If someone can point me in the right direction, it would be very much appreciated.
Thanks!
Scott.
Answer: Sounds like it might be a similar problem to http://drupal.org/node/488188

edit /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf
Under <Directory /var/www/html>
change AllowOverride None to AllowOverride All

Not passing the clean URL test


Accommodation in Tokyo for a party of four

Question: We are going to Japan in the beginning of April and we are looking for good accommodation in Tokyo and Kyoto for two adults and two teenagers. We would like interesting options that take us into the Japanese culture as far as possible. As hippietrail points out below we are not looking to get specific hotel recommendations but rather what kind of accommodations there is on the table. I saw - for example - somewhere that there are hot spring inns. That sounds really interesting. And if there are monasteries welcoming visitors would be really cool too.
Comment: We're not really allowed to recommend particular hotels on Stack Exchange. Rather we can handle questions which are objective and have "one right answer". So we can tell you what type of accommodation at what budget level in what areas of these cities. Are you on a tight budget or is it worth paying more for a cultural experience?
Comment: aha - makes sense I guess! We are not on a tight budget and are definitely looking for the cultural experience. We would like to see as many different sides of japan as possible!
Comment: If I had the money I would absolutely love to stay in a ryokan! But if you want to see all sides I recommend spending some time in a ryokan and some in a modern guesthouse since the former is more traditional and the latter is more friendly.
Answer: For the truly cultural Japanese accommodation experience you need to stay in a traditional Japanese inn, called a "ryokan", but they are not cheap.
I just found a website via Google to help you choose a ryokan that covers both Tokyo and Kyoto.
A cheaper option which won't be as traditional but will give you more cultural immersion than a hotel is to stay in a modern Japanese guesthouse. I stayed in a great one in Osaka a few months ago and most nights there would be Japanese visitors or the hosts would prepare us Japanese food. There are sure to be such places in Tokyo and Kyoto too.
Comment: For Osaka I can highly recommend [Bonsai Guesthouse](http://www.bonsaiguesthouse.com/index_en.html), it was partly like a guesthouse and partly like a hostel. One night there was a takoyaki party with many interesting Japanese guests to mingle with including families. But you might want to check what possibilities there are for family/private rooms since I stayed in a shared dormitory there.
Comment: We might actually stay in Osaka as well. I think kyoto is reachable as a day trip from osaka.
Comment: Yes especially if you use the very fast (very expensive) trains it's easy and quick to get between Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, etc.
Answer: In Tokyo I can recommend hotel new koyo. But this is my personal suggestion, so we could differ on taste. As an alternative you can try places.google.com. Or reading the suggestions given on booking.com
Answer: Your question is a little confusing.  You're asking about staying in Tokyo, but there are no hot spring inns ("ryokan," as others have already pointed out) that I know of in Tokyo.  In Tokyo, your best bet for an authentic Japanese experience would probably be one of the guesthouses.
You could, however, find ryokan in Kyoto, although that city is not particularly famous for its hot springs.
If you want good ryokan near Tokyo, I would recommend the resort town of Hakone near Mt. Fuji.  There are many ryokan of various price levels to be found there, many with their own private hot spring baths.  It's a little touristy, but targeted at the Japanese, not foreigners.
I also like Nikko, which is located in the mountains on the other side of Tokyo and features several famous temples.
And if you're the adventurous type, I would go so far as recommending Kusatsu (Gunma prefecture, NOT Shiga), a small resort town in the mountains. They have several "famous" public hot spring baths ("onsen") there, and it is one of the best memories I have of Japan after living there for a year.  It's not as easy to get to as the others tho. Some Japanese friends took us there; all I remember is we took a high-speed train from Tokyo's Ueno station, then a local bus for a few miles after that. But it is definitely worth the trouble if you have the time.
Finally, I would recommend using one of the many travel agencies located all over Tokyo.  I don't know if you know this, but tourism is a BIG business in Japan, and there are travel agencies all over the place, usually at the train stations. They offer discounted package deals for places all over Japan (and the world) with great service (service is also kind of a big deal in the Land of the Rising Sun).  I would imagine that the agencies at one of the major subway stations (like Shibuya, Shinjuku, or Tokyo station) would speak English, and they can make your reservations, and book your train tickets and everything else you need.
Hope that helps, sorry to be so long-winded, but Japan is one of my favorite places... :-)
Comment: I thought "ryokan" is the word for the traditional inns whether or not they are at hotsprings and that those at hotsprings were something extra special again. In fact I thought those were called onsen though I'm also aware not all onsen provide accommodation. Is this right or wrong?
Comment: @hippietrail - Onsen are just the baths; I believe ryokan almost always have private onsens for guests' use (I could be wrong too, tho). Either way, I associate ryokan with resort towns or rural places in the countryside.
Comment: This from Wikipedia: Ryokan are difficult to find in Tokyo and other large cities because many are expensive compared to hotels, and Japanese people increasingly use hotels for urban tourism. Nonetheless, some major cities do have reasonably priced ryokan, with some costing as little as $40 a night. However, ryokan are more typically located in scenic areas, such as in the mountains or by the sea, and tend to be more expensive.


When was extra time introduced in European football competitions?

Question: All I know is that until 1965, a decider was required if 2 teams remained draw after the home and away matches.
Answer: Edit:
As by Fillet's comment:
There were 2 matches in the 67-68 Cup winners cup quarter finals that went first to Extra Time, then to replay according to Wikipedia.
The first occurrence I came across was a second round Europa Cup I game in 73-74 between CSKA Sofia and Ajax, that was decided in ET. Going to check other cups too
Some background
Extra Time after a tie did co-exist with a replay.
It seems, for UEFA competitions, that it first occurred in the 1957/58 Europacup I final between Real Madrid and AC Milan. But that was a one-legged match.
It only applied to the final. In previous rounds (double-legged) a third game was played.
In 1969/70 the third game was abandoned and replaced by away goals and a toss if still tied. But away goals only applied for first two rounds (which was already in place for the third game).
In 1970/71 the penalty shoot out was introduced in favor of the unfair coin toss. Away goals applied in all rounds.
Answer: I believe the extra time was introduced in European football by fifa in 2004. Re-introduced by fifa in 2004

LAW 7 - The Duration of the Match
Extra Time  Competition rules may provide for two further equal
  periods to be played.  The conditions of Law 8 will apply.

The above is according to the FiFa history official website section
interresting things you might want to know here too.
Even though I think this was a rule that got change with the implementation of sudden death and the golden goal around 1999. Which People complained about because of the amount of pressure on the length of the match that suddenly ended if a goal was scored. Hence in 2004 the extra time was restored.(well I think)
Comment: 2004 is not when it was introduced. You say it yourself: restored.


Can I shut off my laptop's keyboard without turning off my computer?

Question: My feral kitty (isn't feral anymore), Shorty, loves to sit in front of my gigantic old beast of a laptop for the heat and to keep an eye on my cursor.  But when I'm not looking or want to hear music he'll stealthily cross my keyboard to slap down that little arrow or cursor. A decoy keyboard doesn't work even with a heating pad on low under the decoy. Is there a way to just turn off my keyboard without shutting down my computer? If not, why? It seems like it would be such a asset to all laptop users.
Comment: Welcome on this site! Regarding this question, I think you'd get better answers on [SuperUser SE](https://superuser.com/), since your question is essentially how to disable the keyboard, which is more an OS-related problem. For Linux, there's even such a question on the Unix&Linux SE: [Keyboard set to "cat mode"](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/382535/keyboard-set-to-cat-mode). Regarding the actual problem I see here (cat on keyboard), check this question: [How can I keep my cat off my keyboard?](https://lifehacks.stackexchange.com/questions/9531/how-can-i-keep-my-cat-off-my-keyboard)
Comment: Possible duplicate of [How can I keep my cat off my keyboard?](https://lifehacks.stackexchange.com/questions/9531/how-can-i-keep-my-cat-off-my-keyboard)
Comment: Also, if your mouse cursor is a rat, you might try to change it to a dog.
Comment: Here's a SuperUser.SE guide for [disabling your laptop's built-in keyboard on Windows 7](https://superuser.com/questions/346570/how-can-i-disable-my-laptops-built-in-keyboard-in-windows-7)
Comment: @Sean You are right… But it depends. For example, my Mac Mini setup I am typing on now makes it inconvenient to disconnect from the main USB connections. That short Apple USB cable makes all the difference.
Comment: Just created an account here in order to give this advice: If you are using Microsoft Windows, you just have to press Win+L to lock the screen. If you have a password for your account (which I really hope you have), you cannot do anything with the computer until you unlock it with your password. If you have a decent password, your cat isn't going to type it.
Comment: For a Mac, you can use "KeyboardClean Tool" which is free.  https://folivora.ai/downloads
Comment: @JakeGould: Why bother with an extensioncord?  Just unplug the keyboard from the computer's USB jack.
Answer: Most operating systems (Windows, Mac, Linux) have some means of manually locking the screen.  This will engage the screen saver (if you have one set) and require password entry before the system will respond to other inputs.
I don't know a way to make the screen saver ignore keyboard input, but I can't swear there isn't a setting for that -- try looking in the screen saver settings.
An alternative for laptops is that you could set your power management to "do nothing" when the lid is closed, and just close the lid when you walk away.  Shorty will still have his warm spot, but the keyboard will be protected.
Comment: This might be problematic if the OS locks the account after 3 failed logins, and your cat hits enter/return often enough.
Comment: I've never seen this for the console keyboard in 30+ years running DOS, Windows, and Linux.  It's common for remote access, but this question isn't about remote access.
Comment: Closing lid without sleeping is generally bad from a heat dissipation standpoint.
Comment: @R.. but what about putting cat on keyboard without sleeping, isn't that also bad for heat dissipation.
Comment: There's probably not a software method of getting it to ignore *all* keyboard input, simply because that would mean there would be no way of getting out of that mode with keyboard inputs.
Comment: @SampoSarrala: Absolutely, but at least it's not dumping heat into the display, which might not be prepared to handle it. I'm not sure if this is relevant to modern displays, but old LCDs I had seemed to develop problems after being exposed to extreme heat.
Answer: BabySmash was created to allow a baby to smash away at a keyboard without doing any harm to the computer.  It also draws nice patterns to keep baby amused.
It may not amuse your cat but it should protect your computer.   Have a look at
BabySmash.com. Note: this is a Windows solution.
Comment: You might want to edit your answer to say that this is a Windows solution.
Comment: @Ben The FAQ even says "It's a copy/homage of the very fine and free [AlphaBaby](http://alphababy.sourceforge.net/) for the Macintosh", so I'd say we got two out of 3 covered here. And Linux obviously has the always popular text console that has confounded more than one person who unintentionally ended up there ;)
Comment: An alternative is also https://www.bitboost.com/pawsense/ (for pets). I don't know how well this works and the only feline I have doesn't get into the bedroom. And no children to try this with too. (And a mac alternative method: http://www.mackungfu.org/cat-proofing-a-macbook-keyboard)
Answer: On Linux, Ctrl+Alt+F2 to switch to a text console is pretty bulletproof. Only way back to the VC where you're logged in is Ctrl+Alt+F1 or F7, or alt+←/→.
Or if your cat knows your password and can log in and run sudo chvt :P
But beware that Ctrl+Alt+Del will trigger a (safe) reboot with no prompt for confirmation, like shutdown -r now. Alt+SysRQ+B will hard-reboot instantly, but this still works when X is running.  You can disable the magic sysrq key with /proc settings. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_SysRq_key.  (Many distros configure things so only S, U, and B work (for rebooting when the kernel locks up), disabling the info-dump or kill-all-processes keys.)

You might want to retitle the question to be specific to laptops, because the keyboard I'm currently using is a logitech wireless which has an on/off slider switch.  (Like most wireless mice).
Comment: @WayneWerner I guess if alt+left/right get pressed by your cat, then yeah [`vlock -a`](http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/vlock.1.html) could help by locking out VC-switching until your password is typed.  Otherwise simply don't log in on that VC in the first place.
Comment: But you can disable the routers etc. for the inbuilt keyboard so it doesn't matter what the cat presses on that one, which was the problem being discussed. Fwiw, a decent laptop shouldn't really get hot enough to attract cats anyway. Clean the fans or stop buying Dell...
Comment: vlock would be another good approach from the command line
Comment: Fwiw, you can use wireless keyboards with laptops.
Comment: @lly: yes, but they aren't warm so won't attract cats.  Unless you tape the wireless kbd over the internal kbd, but nobody does that.
Comment: @lly Is there an easy way to do that with most laptops?  BIOS option, or while booted?  Sounds like that would make a viable answer.  (Laptops can get warm if you leave some number-crunching running, e.g. video encoding.  Otherwise maybe depends on the cat and how cold the room is / other surface temperature.  10 watts or so system power will build up some heat if the fans stay passive until like 50C.
Answer: Simple workaround:

Open up a program like MS Paint.
Maximize that window to take up the whole screen.

Now those randomly pressed keys will just be ignored.  If Shorty uses the track pad to move the cursor-pointer, there is VERY VERY VERY little chance of anything damaging getting clicked (though some abstract art might get drawn).
Comment: The disadvantage of this method is that the cat could trigger keyboard shortcuts and escape Paint.  It's way more likely than it sounds; if the cat happens to sit on any modifier keys, then any additional keypress can trigger a keyboard shortcut.  I've had this happen before: my cat closed most of my open programs simply by sitting on a large portion of the left side of the keyboard.
Comment: Similarly, the cat could open a large number of programs and hang the computer, with Win+E, or Win+1, 2, 3, etc.
Comment: @NobodyNada That's amazing! You've got a talented cat. Good points from you too, mbomb007.)
Comment: Certain keyboard commands do things at an OS-level and won't be captured by paint. For example Win+D minimises to desktop and of course there's Ctrl+Alt+Del. Once my cat found a keyboard combination that changed my monitor's resolution and to this day I still haven't figured out what that combination was/is.
Answer: This answer may be specific to Windows, but the keyboard will have a driver in the Device Manager, probably listed under 'Keyboards', if the device driver registered itself properly. Find the driver and disable it, and the keyboard will no longer work. Of course, the fun part is reenabling it--especially if your screen locks and you have to sign in again (the built-in Windows keyboard can help, unless you have to press CTRL-ALT-Delete to unlock your computer).
Answer: There are some programs that ignore keyboard input for people who have cats sleeping on laptops.
Not sure what kind of computer you have, but there is Catslook (Mac or Windows), or the rather old PawSense (looks like it was designed for Win95/98 back in the day; not sure if it still works).
Comment: Evidently the author never has to write `inline code` on a stackexchange site or they wouldn't have picked the grave key.
Comment: With Windows 10 it wouldn't unless you have a MS-Dos emulator like DosBox. DosBox will pretty much run all the old programs from the '80-'90's no problem.
Answer: Use an external keyboard and disable the one on your laptop.
I haven't tried this solution myself but users on this tomsguide forum post their steps.
Answer: Option 1, shoot the cat. Then it won't mess with your keyboard anymore.
A slightly less violent option 2, shoot the keyboard. Then it won't matter as much if the cat plays with it.
A "fine I won't shoot anything" solution, using linux disable the device using xinput Something like xinput float 10 should do the trick. Of course you need to get the id number of your keyboard, which you can do with xinput list. And you will want a way to re-enable the keyboard.
See this question for better instructions. https://askubuntu.com/questions/160945/is-there-a-way-to-disable-a-laptops-internal-keyboard
Also, this is why Linux people like Linux. A little tinkering and anything is possible. (and there is less shooting of cats or keyboards)
p.s. Rather you choose to shoot the keyboard or the cat, when using the first two options, make sure to separate them first.
Comment: I had a similar issue, but with multiple keyboards, I decided to go for a different route: create a fullscreen/always on top program that completely catches user input.
If you want to have a look: https://github.com/ha11owed/babyqtfun
Answer: Use an external keyboard.  It won't be warm, so the cat isn't as likely to sit on it.  If you leave for a longer time, you can simply unplug it.  Then cover laptop keyboard with something, as in @Alexandre Aubrey's answer.
An additional benefit - indeed, the reason I do it even though I don't currently have a cat - is that it's a lot easier to work with a full-sized keyboard than a laptop one.  And then you can plug a 21" or so display into the laptop's external video port....
Answer: Cover your keyboard with a thin cutting board, like the one below (sold here among other places).

or use some other form of thin, rigid sheet to cover the keys. Heat will still go through, keys will be protected from being pressed and from fur getting stuck in them.
Comment: A slightly better variation may be to build a small shelf which sits a few inches over the keyboard.  That would not only guard the keyboard when it isn't being used, but allow use of the keyboard even in the presence of a cat.
Comment: @supercat  A shelf elevated over the keyboard won't be as warm for the cat, especially if it's high enough for hands to type underneath. This defeats the purpose. Additionally, if your goal is to be able to type while the cat is there, a shelf a couple inches high with a cat on it would block your screen and make it useless. Also, not everyone is very comfortable at touch typing...
Comment: The shelf could still be attractive to a cat if one periodically uses a hand to stroke the feline.  As for being able to see the screen, that's a fair point; my screen is a bit higher than typical, so the cat doesn't block too much of it.
Comment: If it's stroking that the cat is after, it could very well just lay near the user on the desk; the very reason that the cat lays on the keyboard is because of the warm computer underneath it (remember this is a laptop). The cat is looking for a warm surface. If you raise your hand even just an inch above a warm computer you will notice that the warmth is much lesser than if you rest your hand on it. The shelf defeats the purpose.
Comment: Ah, the shelf was my solution for a desktop machine but I can see laptops could be more of a problem.  Closing the screen of my laptop works pretty well to guard the keyboard when I'm not wanting to use it, and is probably the best I can manage when I am using it but the cat demands attention.  I hadn't thought of the cat wanting the heat from the keyboard so much as the attention.
Comment: @supercat In my experience this doesn't work. It does stop the cat standing on the keys, but then the cat starts trying to grab and/or bite your arm until you stop typing and start stroking it.
Comment: @Pharap: Yes, it is necessary to rather frequently interrupt what one is doing to give the cat a few strokes, but that's less disruptive than having the cat pressing random keys.
Answer: You can create an AutoHotKey script to ignore keypresses until you toggle Scroll Lock off for example, or turn on all 3 (Num Lock, Caps Lock, Scroll
Lock) if you need extra procattion.
Or just run this script:
up::
down::
left::
right::

You can toggle it off and back on by clicking the H icon in tray, but if you want more convenience, you'll have to look up how to incorporate a check like #If GetKeyState("ScrollLock", "T") into that.
Answer: With windows you have the ability to temporarily disable the keyboard using device manager. There is the option for a on screen keyboard using the accessibility settings that are used for people with disabilities. You type using the mouse. The cat can do back flips on the regular keyboard without messing anything up. When the cat is sleeping elsewhere you can reactivate the keyboard and continue as usual.


Warning message at tails shutdown, is this normal?

Question: When I shutdown Tails it says everything is completed except there's a big warning next to "tails using make-file like concurrent boot at level 0" this has got me sort of worried that I may have downloaded a modified version or something.
I verified the iso using kleopatra but I never went through the any more advanced steps (like web of trust), is this message something normal and not worth worrying about? Or is this a minor safety issue? Have downloaded a forged version of tails? Is this potentially dangerous?
Answer: It is likely a normal message and not worth worrying about. Tails aim to shutdown fast, and takes a few shortcuts. Although without the exact message, it's hard to give a definite answer.


How do I disable the drum beat sound on the login screen?

Question: I would have expected System ▸ Administration ▸ Login Screen ▸ Play login sound to control this, but unchecking it does not prevent the drum beat sound from playing.
Comment: [Sound Effects: Windows versus Ubuntu](http://neartalk.com/ss/2015-06-08_004_1294x554.png) - Ubuntu needs work in this area (even today).
Comment: It's simpler to just remove the ogg file: https://opensourceinside.blogspot.com/2017/02/disablingchanging-drum-beat-sound-on.html
Answer: For Ubuntu 12.04+
LightDM Way (works in Ubuntu Unity 22.10)
Also known as the FluteFlute Slap, the LightDM Way involves having to logout and on the LightDM Login Screen you can change the volume or even mute the sound.
In the Login Greeter you can see the Volume on the top right. Adjusting the volume there does not affect the volume when the session starts, so you can MUTE the sound in the Greeter without muting the sound when your session starts:

Ubuntu Tweak Way (not available in Ubuntu Unity 22.10)
The Ubuntu Tweak way involves having to download the Ubuntu Tweak app and then disabling the sound from there. Do the following steps and you can do it this way:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tualatrix/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-tweak

Open Ubuntu Tweak and on the Tweak Tab select "Login Settings" option, you should see the Play Login Sound option. Yo need to click on the Lock button above to be able to change this.

For Ubuntu 11.10 and Below
Go to System -> Preferences -> Startup Applications

Disable the one called GNOME Login Sound
(uncheck the box and click close)

you can also go to System -> Preferences -> Sound and disable the whole sound system (Like windows sounds, alerts, etc..)
In older version you could go to the Sound Preference part and select each sound and what you wanted to do. It was removed around 9.04 or 9.10. It would be good if it came back.
Comment: @AliNa - Then you have found a bug my friend. Kill it with a launchpad bug spray. You will have saved many lives in the process.
Comment: The "LightDM Way" muted all sound in my (i3) session. The setting was not visible in `pavucontrol` and had to be reverted in the greeter.  Changing [the corresponding setting of LightDM](https://askubuntu.com/a/186108/69674) was effective.
Comment: You cannot use the MUTE button to mute the sound  (it is not remembered) But you can set the volume to 0 which is remembered fine and which doesn't affect the volume after login.
Answer: The start-up sound can be disabled editing the Unity Greeter configuration. Running the following from a terminal will do this:
echo -e '[com.canonical.unity-greeter]\nplay-ready-sound = false' \
    | sudo tee -a /usr/share/glib-2.0/schemas/50_unity-greeter.gschema.override
sudo glib-compile-schemas /usr/share/glib-2.0/schemas/

If you are running Ubuntu 12.04 LTS make sure you have updates installed as this feature was added in an update.
Comment: There is an option in gsettings for this, `com.canonical.unity-greeter play-ready-sound`but currently isn't working. One simple thing that does work is when on  the greeter screen just turn the volume off in the sound indicator. The setting is persistent
Comment: @e.m.fields There's no need to resort to such a destructive hack when we have a [built-in setting](https://launchpadlibrarian.net/97740962/unity-greeter-system-ready-sound.patch) in support of this. [Changing that setting](https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/unity-greeter/+bug/949782/comments/6) is the cleanest solution.
Comment: I think the answer for changing the sound permanently is currently in moving or removing this file: /usr/share/sounds/ubuntu/stereo/system-ready.ogg.
See from this thread --> http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1955266&page=4&p=11876130
Comment: aendruk, I'm in favor of nondestructive solutions when they're available, but up to this point seems to have been none. What is this file? Is this a patch to an existing system application?
Comment: @doug, thanks. The second and third sentence of your comment don't pertain this answer. I think they should go as separate answer to my question to be more visible.
Comment: @doug, `com.canonical.unity-greeter play-ready-sound false` is working, __but you have to set it as user *ligthdm*.__ See answer from @izx
Answer: 12.04 - 16.10 (LightDM)
Here is what worked for me after I installed 12.04 last week.
The steps are these, adapted from http://www.liberiangeek.net/2012/05/disable-the-ready-drum-sound-in-ubuntu-12-04-precise-pangolin/:
sudo nano /usr/share/glib-2.0/schemas/50_unity-greeter.gschema.override

Add these lines:
[com.canonical.unity-greeter]
play-ready-sound = false

Save, then run:
sudo glib-compile-schemas /usr/share/glib-2.0/schemas/

Reboot and enjoy.
Edit: gksu and gksudo were removed in 18.04 but the linked article describes how to edit system files without them. I have updated the first terminal command to demonstrate how one might edit the file from the command line. Replace nano with the editor of your choice.
Comment: Works on 16.10 as well.
Comment: Works on 17.04 too
Comment: Just confirm this works on 18.04 running Unity (for those who are odd, like me :) ).   Quick notice though for those who aren't too familiar - you're creating a new file when you open "50_unity-greeter.gschema.override".  I was confused when I couldn't find that file until I realised the instruction was to create a new file. (might be worth mentioning that in the original post?)
Answer: 11.10 (LightDM and GDM)
Quick solution:
Open a terminal and run the command
sudo mv /usr/share/sounds/ubuntu/stereo/desktop-login{,-disabled}.ogg

The lightdm drum sound for system ready can be disabled in a similar fashion
sudo mv /usr/share/sounds/ubuntu/stereo/system-ready{,-disabled}.ogg

Answer: For 12.04
By default, it is turned off.  To enable it, open a terminal and run
gksudo gedit /usr/share/gnome/autostart/libcanberra-login-sound.desktop

Then change the value for X-GNOME-Autostart-enabled to "true", i.e.
X-GNOME-Autostart-enabled=true
For 11.10
Type on a terminal gksudo gedit /usr/share/gnome/autostart/libcanberra-login-sound.desktop and change the value NoDisplay from true to false:

Now go to your startup applications and you should see and be able to disable the necessary option:
Answer: 10.10 (GDM)
There appears to be a bug in the Login Screen about this.  I can't find an official report, however, this forum post confirms a fix.
Go to System/Administration/Login Screen.  Unlock it, then tick "Play login sound".
Close the window, then, go back into the app again, unlock it, then untick the same option.
Answer: If you are using GDM with 12.04
To disable the login sounds, the event-sounds key under org.gnome.desktop.sound for the gdm user must be set to false.
For this, we must first give GDM ownership of its own home directory. Open a terminal, and type: sudo chown -R gdm:gdm /var/lib/gdm
Then run:
sudo xhost +SI:localuser:gdm
sudo -u gdm gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.sound event-sounds false

and logout (or reboot).
If you are using LightDM with 12.04
Open a terminal with Ctrl+Alt+T, and type/paste the following, one line at a time:

sudo xhost +SI:localuser:lightdm
sudo su lightdm -s /bin/bash
gsettings set com.canonical.unity-greeter play-ready-sound false
exit

What this does is disable the play-ready-sound setting for the login screen/desktop manager user (lightdm).
Comment: Did not work for me on 12.04 with gdm. gdm settings shows 2 warnings. After reboot the sound is still being played.
Comment: Care to pastebin the warnings?
Comment: Warnings: http://pastebin.com/KTifY1Qi
Comment: The line `gsettings set com.canonical.unity-greeter play-ready-sound false` raised an error on 15.04, the error is `(process:2257): dconf-WARNING **: failed to commit changes to dconf: Error spawning command line 'dbus-launch --autolaunch=4cc96c42d68a423d93de2cbdd23b5a89 --binary-syntax --close-stderr': Child process exited with code 1`
Comment: `dconf-editor` can be used to set `com.canonical.unity-greeter.play-ready-sound`.
Answer: 11.10 (LightDM and GDM)
For removing the startup sound :
mv /usr/share/sounds/ubuntu/stereo/system-ready.ogg /usr/share/sounds/ubuntu/stereo/system-ready.ogg.old

For enabling the startup sound
mv /usr/share/sounds/ubuntu/stereo/system-ready.ogg.old /usr/share/sounds/ubuntu/stereo/system-ready.ogg

For removing the Login Sound (After you login) :
mv /usr/share/sounds/ubuntu/stereo/desktop-login.ogg /usr/share/sounds/ubuntu/stereo/desktop-login.ogg.old

For enabling it again :
mv /usr/share/sounds/ubuntu/stereo/desktop-login.ogg.old /usr/share/sounds/ubuntu/stereo/desktop-login.ogg

Comment: Note: on 12.04 with GDM moving the system-ready.ogg just **changes** the startup sound from original to a short beat.
Answer: 11.10 (GDM)
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.sound event-sounds false

Answer: 11.10 (LightDM and GDM)
This should work for you.
gksudo gedit /usr/share/gnome/autostart/libcanberra-login-sound.desktop

Then change the NoDisplay= to false, ect.
or to remove it:
sudo rm /usr/share/sounds/ubuntu/stereo/system-ready.ogg

Answer: 11.04 and earlier (GDM)
Run this command in a terminal?
sudo -u gdm gconftool-2 --set /desktop/gnome/sound/event_sounds --type bool false
Answer: 12.10 (LightDM)
Run the same command Jorge Castro gave, only with gdm replaced for lightdm:
sudo -u lightdm gconftool-2 --set /desktop/gnome/sound/event_sounds --type bool false

Answer: 12.10 (GDM)
None of the above works for me with gdm. If I disable the system-ready sound (the bongos), it still makes a short drum sound (one beat).
The way to disable it is:

Boot up, get into gdm.

Switch to the console (Ctrl + Alt + F1)

Login

Enter:
  export DISPLAY=:0
  sudo -H -u gdm pavucontrol

Switch back to gdm (Ctrl + Alt + F8)

Disable sound in the mixer. I muted it in "Playback" and "Output Devices".

Close the mixer, you might get an error about writing the config file, this is harmless.

Switch back to the console and enter
  sudo service gdm restart

to test, and exit to logout.
Answer: The easiest way is just to mute sound in the greeting. Just click volume and click "mute".
This will mute sound only in the greeter.
Answer: 12.04 (LightDM)
The LightDM bongo sound cannot be disabled via any GUI option in 12.04 and there is a bug report here:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/unity-greeter/+bug/949782

The command line methods above can disable it.
The sound after login can easily be disabled with the answers above.


Does using a pdf for sale for free violate the 2nd precept?

Question: So I enjoy Dungeons and Dragons a bunch, and have recently begun trying to follow the first 5 precepts of Buddhism. I'm not a practicing Buddhist, but I think they are a good way to live my life. So I have lots of PDF's that I didn't pay for bookmarked so I can use them, but since I didn't buy them would that count as breaking the do not steal precept? Thank you!
Comment: You might be interested in this [thread](http://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/2847/does-illegal-downloading-or-viewing-of-copyright-material-violate-the-second-pre) which is probably asking the same question.
Comment: By downloading the PDF you are not depriving the original owner of its use.

Buddhist rules don't consider this stealing.

See Ven. Yuttadhammo's excellent answer on this topic: http://buddhism.stackexchange.com/a/2869
Comment: Welcome to Buddhism SE. We've put together [some tips](http://meta.buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/1502/i-am-a-new-user-here-at-buddhism-se-what-should-i-know-before-i-post) for new users on asking questions on the site. Also we have a page of [useful resources](http://buddhism.stackexchange.com/help) that you may also find useful. Best wishes and I hope you have a positive experience on the site.
Answer: The 2nd precept states:

"2.
Adinnadana veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami
I undertake the precept to refrain from taking that which is not given."

In order to break the precept 5 factors must be fulfilled.

Conditions that Break the Precept
The five factors of the second precept are:

para-parigga-hitam -- article(s) with a concerned owner.

para-parigga-hita-sannita -- one knows there is a concerned owner.

theyya-cittam -- the intention to steal.

upakkamo -- the effort to steal.

tena haranam -- the article(s) is (are) stolen through that effort.

All of the above factors must be fulfilled in order to break the precept. So if you can answer no to one or more of them you didn't break the precept.
Answer: Consider the intent of the originator. We live in a world that has Copyright, which didn't exist at the time of the Buddha. If I walk into your house and remove your favourite object - how do you feel? If I make use of something that you have been led by the law of your land to believe that I am not allowed to use, how do you feel? The second precept is all about respecting others - we must not look at it in a legalistic way, as if it is a set of rules to be understood and then actioned rigidly. The intent is simply that we act in accordance with the first precept - with kindness, consideration, and respect. That, alone, would cause me to think very hard before copying something to which I do not have the rights.
Answer: Yes. And Sadhu for the answer by Upayavira.
The word "steal" should be always replaced with "taking/using what is not given". If using "stealing" it leaves many doors for justification to ones normal social usuals in tolerating unskillfulness for common or individual gain.
Althought there are many unvirtuouse "Buddhist" even scholars and monks around, using even Abhidhamma and wording of higher virtue to justify their ways, still with honest and reflective answers of your own conscious or people displaying such. The "smart" are of no worth and impure lineage.
It might be good to know what to do if having falken into a transgression.

Confess it in a group or to an individual who have not fallen into same transgression.
If possible pay compensation and/or accepted pardon if possible. Otherwise, if no further damage can be expected, forfeit the unrightous gained.
Resolve to abstain from it in future (good if making it in formal way by taking, asking the precepts anew).
Try to find assossiation with people where taking what is given is taken serious to possible grow and not to tend upwards naturally.

Further and related explaing can be found here.
[Note: This is a gift of Dhamma and not meant for commercial purpose or other low wordily gains by means of trade and exchange.]


Green lettuce water?

Question: Typically I chop up a head of romaine, swish it around in some cool water, then spin it dry.  The swishing water ends up very green, however.  I'm wondering if it's getting doused in some dye prior to purchase, or if I'm preparing it wrong and leeching out the nutrients?
Comment: It doesn't turn very green when I do that. Just slightly, which is to be expected, from chlorophyll leaching out of the cut cells.
Comment: When you say chop, what size do you chop? If it's caused by the number of cut cells, the smaller you chop, the greener the water...
Comment: @Juilio that would explain why it varies so much from head to head (since I chop larger for salads, smaller for tacos).  Thanks guys!
Answer: I never heard of lettuce dye, I wouldn't panic with that. You are not loosing nutriments either, like Michael said it might be chlorophyll, wich would explain the green color, but you are not losing nutriments for sure. I often have green water too, it's really not a big deal, don't worry!
Comment: My homegrown lettuce does the same thing, and it's definitely not dyed. And yes, the lettuce water is excellent for plants. I keep a dish pan in the sink all summer to catch gray water to put on the garden, since we never get enough rain. N.B. I do not water plants I intend to eat with this gray water, just to be safe. But I have lots of flowers & ornamentals.
Comment: So maybe that lettuce water will be good for the plants.  ;)

Green lettuce water?


Data sets from motion capture?

Question: Wondering if there are any datasets of motion capture data from people or animals running, walking, manipulating objects etc. Could be quite useful for robotic training, etc!
Answer: Here is a source of many varied subjects, motions, and motion categories: CMU Graphics Lab Motion Capture Database
Answer: If someone is looking for data on motion capture in order to test parsing algorithms, the C3D Standard has many examples of mocap data available here: https://www.c3d.org/sampledata.html
Answer: The UCI Human Activity Recognition Using Smartphones Data Set is available here:
https://archive.ics.uci.edu/ml/datasets/Human+Activity+Recognition+Using+Smartphones
This is motion data assoiciated with humans performing specific activities captured via the sensors on smartphones.
Might be what you're looking for.

Data sets from motion capture?


Difference between Turkish and Greek coffee?

Question: Is there a difference between Turkish and Greek coffee? Or is it the same thing with different names at different places?
Comment: I have only anecdotic evidence for this so I won't make it an answer, but Turks traditionally boil the coffee three times, while I've always seen Greek people boiling it only once. I've also found that ordering a γλυκό coffee in Greece will get you something sweeter than ordering a çok şekerli coffee in Turkey.
Answer: ...also called Arabic, Cypriot, Bosnian, and what not -- it is the same method.
In Greece, it's become Greek coffee (along with the former "Turkish" Greek delight) after conflicting with Turkey and the 1974 invasion of Cyprus.
The method itself (boiling finely ground coffee in copper cezve, typically sweetened, and served in a demitasse) is said to stem from 15th century Yemen, reaching Constantinople in 17th century and consequently spreading across Ottoman Empire.
Apparently, there are interesting variations to it. For instance, Syrian coffee (and probably some others) is flavoured by cardamom.
Comment: Thinking of _hot dogs_ and _freedom fries_, I wonder which of the many such was the earliest one.
Comment: -1 Arabic coffee is not the same thing as Turkish coffee.
Answer: Please do not confuse Arabic coffee with Turkish coffee.
Arabic coffee, called gahwah is something completely different than Turkish coffee ... which is called Turkish coffee in the Middle East.
It has completely different coloration and is also served differently. It is also not sweet.
Wikipedia explains it thus:

Arabic coffee, or ''Al-Qahwa'' (Arabic: قهوة, qahwah, locally gahwah
  or g'hawah), is made from coffee beans roasted very lightly or heavily
  from 165 °C (329 °F) to 210 °C (410 °F) and cardamom, and is a
  traditional beverage in Arabian culture. Traditionally, it is roasted
  on the premises (at home or for special occasions), ground, brewed and
  served in front of guests. It is often served with dates, dried fruit,
  candied fruit or nuts. This brewing method is common in Najd and
  Hijaz, and sometimes other spices like saffron (to give it a golden
  color), cloves, and cinnamon. Some people add a little evaporated milk
  to slightly alter its color; however, this is rare. It is served from
  a special coffee pot called dallah (Arabic: دلة) and the coffee cups
  are small with no handle called fenjan. The portions are small,
  covering just the bottom of the cup.

It looks like this:

Turkish coffee, on the other hand:
Comment: Dear Burhan, the arabic coffee in syria and lebanon and jordan is called kahwa mura , and it is darker than the gulf one and even stronger.
Comment: this is already mentioned by hoc_age in a duplicate question @ http://coffee.stackexchange.com/questions/2545/coffee-in-jordan-vs-turkish-coffee
Comment: and the Turkish coffee also called just kahwa
Answer: It has always been Arabic. However, the World met the coffee you mentioned through Ottoman Empire, a Turkish country. It became Turkish Coffee. Some Turkish stuff is known as Greek too. Let me say, Turkish/Greek delight, Turkish/Greek yoghurt and Turkish/Greek coffee.
Answer: To me they are identical except for the variations inherent to the coffee used to brew it. Here is an example of Greek coffee, note the coffee looks almost like chocolate:


How do you organize sessions after importing the OMF?

Question: I was just wondering this because I got an OMF that is 18 tracks long and am organizing it.
DX
PFX
Foley
ADR
SFX?
Answer: Is this an OMF from Avid/other film editing program or from Pro Tools? Basically, I'm wondering if stuff like Foley and other proper FX editing has been done already, or if you just have temp SFX put in by the film editor.
Normally I'll create a max of 8 DX tracks to start (DIALA-DIALH), a PFX track (multiple if there's a lot of them), ADR tracks (depends how much ADR there is), and an XDIAL track (for lines that are going to be ADR'd but need to stay in the session for reference).
If it's not done already, make sure you split up your dialogue by angle (unless the mixer specifically requests otherwise) and try to stagger by scene. Scene 1 might use DIALA-D. Start scene 2 on DIALE. This also makes it easier in the mix. Something similar should be done with FX if you've received those. I normally keep my BGs and hard FX separate in differently color coded sections. BGs will frequently have both stereo and mono tracks, generally hard FX should only be mono.
I'll always try to group in 4, 8 or 16. This is mostly because I and many others I work with, only have a limited number of faders available to us. We generally have to bank around while mixing. Grouping in these numbers can make things faster.
Answer: Ciao
I usually create a new session, import the omf, lock the regions (to prevent any unwanted edits) and deactivate those tracks.
Than import from my template for dialogue editing the tracks I need.
I have 4 work tracks on top (to open regions, copy and pasting, etc.; nothing in his tracks is going to the mix, only temporary works).
Then, 1 or 2 tracks with elastic audio switched on ( where I can stretch and try things; again, these are only work tracks, when I'm ok with the time stretch/edits I consolidate to an edit track)
12 to 16 edit tracks for production dialogue, where I do all the editing. I usually grab a scene from the inactive tracks with the omf and then start to work on it. Other times I transfer all the OMF to these tracks, it really depends on the project and on the time I have.
The last few tracks are usually reserved for processing (radio fx, tv fx, special)
Then 4 PFX track for Fx coming from the Production sound that I usually share and export, after the first editing pass, to the sfx team. (so they can work on the same fx and know what I'm doing before going to the mixing stage)
4 (or more) trash tracks (inactive), where I can store things that I don't want in the timeline but I still want to have at hand when mixing.
In the end, tracks for ADR (8 or more) reserved for, evidently, ADR: usually one for character.
All the tracks are color coded. All the tracks have the trim plugin active and usually I have a send to a denoise chain, for complex denoises. That bus is recorded on a new track. I usually have other plugins deactivated but ready to use. I try things in realtime and than print with the audiosuite.
I drop all the sfx and music that I found in the OMF (or split to separate hidden inactive tracks).
I start with this setup; if I need to have sfx or foley in the same session (like in a small budget doc), I import other tracks, for sound fx editing (mono and stereo), grouped in stems.
Look at this book Dialogue Editing for Motion Pictures: A Guide to the Invisible Art: I took most of my workflow from there and it's a great and informative reading.
Best
Davide
Comment: I like the idea of a couple elastic audio tracks, I'm going to have to poach that.
Comment: I really love hearing about different people's workflows! Very interesting reading. I think John Purcell's book had some good stuff about working with OMF's too and should be a must read for anyone interested in post :)
Comment: Doh. Just noticed it mentioned in the last line. Worth pointing out twice though I'd say!
Answer: Interesting to compare workflows on this.
I typically open the omf directly (not into a template) and retaining volume rides as well as converting clip based gain to automation.  I then do a session save as "project-version-sorted-date". This preserves my original omf in an easily accessible session in someone needs to get back to it later.
From within the "sorted" session I break into
Vo 1
Dx1-8
Pfx1-4
Ref mono fx 1-4
Ref st fx 1-4
Music 1-4
I also import the QuickTime of the film into the session, set it at the appropriate spot, and then make sure the framerate and session start time are set appropriately.
Sometimes I'll route the vo, dx and pfx tracks down to a print track through a compressor and print a sync ref track right away as well (project dependent).
Sometimes I'll go through and with region groups I'll mark the scene boundaries in a track. This makes bgfx editing go much faster later on, and is useful in dx editing as well.
From the sorted session I can then import the sync ref and ref sfx tracks into my sound design template and get to work.
Whoever is editing bgfx will import what he needs into a bgfx track and work that separately.
Our dialog editor improrts the vo, dx, and Pfx tracks into his dialogue template and works on that separately.
Whoever is spotting ADR (often that's me) will also import just the sync ref track into an ADR spotting session and work that separately as well.
Comment: Yeah, I do the same thing with opening the OMF directly. I do this because I once saw someone import an OMF, and all the regions were shifted out of time. Probably was just some weird problem with the way it was exported, but opening directly always works for me.
Answer: In short, no.  Because I request in writing that picture department properly prepares the OMF to my specifications (which are also provided in writing).  The way I look at it is that I don't have time to waste re-preparing a show on my own dime.  Anything not prepared as such when I open it gets bounced and is re-requested.  Interestingly enough, it works out great for everyone I've worked with so far in my experience and OMFs are a pleasure to work with nowadays.  It's all about attitude and being nice with the picture department through the process.
A picture editor can sort and organize a show they've lived with for many weeks/months far quicker than I can with fresh eyes, not knowing my way around.  It also teaches picture department to be mindful in the future of their editing organization and to treat the audio timeline with the same respect that the picture timeline probably receives.
I request 8-12 tracks MAX (if more are needed, we discuss on a per-situation basis), and I want the top 2-4 tracks to be DX, 1-2 tracks for ADR/Temp ADR, followed by Temp FX, and Temp MX/Score at the bottom.  If it can't be fit in 8-12 tracks, then the picture editor did more sound editing than they were supposed to and it more junk usually that I don't need wasting hard drive space.
I'm sure these thoughts are slightly tainted by receiving 32+ track OMFs that look like a bomb went off in the timeline in the past, and I've finally set my foot down on the nonsense.


What are examples of Esperanto-given names?

Question: I am looking for Esperanto given names, e.g., used in Esperanto literature or as esperantisations of real names. What are examples besides Ludoviko?
Answer: Here are all the given names that appear in the Fundamento de Esperanto. I list them in the form in which they appear there, i.e. sometimes with contracted ending (e.g. Henriet' instead of Henrieto), if that is how they appear in the Fundamento.
Male given names:

Aleksandro
Antono
Aŭgusto
Ernesto
Georgo
Izraelo
Johano
Jozefo
Ludoviko
Nikodemo
Nikolao
Paŭlo
Petro
Stefano
Teodoro
Vilhelmo

Female given names:

Anno
Berto
Elizabeto
Emili'
Henriet'
Klaro
Mario
Paŭlino
Sofio

Additionally, the Fundamento lists multiple nicknames formed with "-ĉjo" of "-njo", e.g. "Joĉjo" and "Manjo".
I used a blog post by Bernardo as a reference for the above lists. (The blog by Bernardo provides a lot of useful esperantological information, especially about the Fundamento de Esperanto, but unfortunately Bernardo is often (though not in the blog post I just linked) quite aggressive in his remarks about esperantologists that he disagrees with, especially about members of the Akademio de Esperanto.)
Answer: Any name can be 'esperantised', usually by adding an -o, and transliterating the sounds with the respective Eo approximations. Double letters seem to be dropped.
I'm just looking at Chris Gledhill's translation of The Hobbit (La Hobito), and some of the names there are Bilbo Baginzo (Bilbo Baggins), Golumo (Gollum), Smauxgo (Smaug), Gandalfo, Dvalino (Dwalin), Torino Kverkasxildo (Thorin Oakenshield). In the latter example, the translator has also translated the name itself.
A female name (the only I could find...) is that of Shelob the spider (in the appendix of the book): Sxeloba. So it seems that in some cases the gender of a name is indicated by adding -a, perhaps in analogy to Latin? As shown by the other answers, this is not generally the case, though.
Comment: "-o" is not just for male names. It is the Esperanto noun ending, and as such does not contain any information about gender. Zamenhof himself used "Mario", "Elizabeto", "Klaro", "Sofio" and other names ending in "-o" as female names. Considering modern usage, there is a female native speaker of Esperanto who calls herself "Heleno" in Esperanto.
Comment: Also to add that as an alternative to *"-o"* and *"-a"*, nicknames can be created by adding *"-ĉjo"* or *"-njo"*.
Comment: @OliverMason: see http://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/propraj_nomoj/esperantigitaj.html#i-6ie for more on that topic (in short: it's fine to use names ending with A if they end in A in their native language; in that case we should consider them as un-Esperantized or incompletely Esperantized)
Comment: An interesting side-aspect is whether the Eo names have different connotations to the original ones. For example, _Dvalino_ might sound more feminine, as it is homographic to the feminine _-in_ affix. Or is that just me?
Comment: @MarcosCramer Ah, thanks! I had come across female names ending in _-a_ which is why I drew this (incorrect) conclusion.


BIg Bang Happened everywhere

Question: According to the  Friedmann equations big bang happened everywhere, but if we account for inflation theory, big bang did not happened everywhere. How ? Anyone please explain. Please see the video for reference.
Comment: Could you explain what you mean by "_ if we account for inflation theory, big bang did not happened everywhere_", so that we don't have to watch a video? In the standard paradigm, inflation happened everywhere.
Comment: No, one of the main assumptions of the Friedmann equations is that the universe is homogeneous and isotropic. Thus is becomes one of the assumptions that if the BB happened anywhere, it happened anywhere. It is NOT a consequence of the FEQ.
Comment: The Big Bang did happen everywhere, and inflation then spread everything by exponentially expanding the space between things. No contradiction there.
Comment: @pela I am unable to grasp the logic given by Dr. Max tegmark so wouldn't be able to help on this. You can watch that video, it is of 2 minutes only.
Comment: The Big Bang happened everywhere in the inflation theory.
Comment: You think that there is/was something outside of the universe. There isn't.
Comment: @JanDoggen well, I'm not sure this is exactly knowable, but that's a different discussion :-)
Answer: Okay, I think I know what Max Tegmark is talking about in the video. He is referring to the fact that, when you observe the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) — i.e. the radiation that was "released" when the Universe had expanded and cooled sufficiently to allow protons and electron to combine into neutral hydrogen without immediately being ionized again — you find that it has almost (to within $1$ in $\sim10^5$) the same wavelength everywhere, no matter in which direction you look, meaning that the temperature of the Universe was almost the same when it was emitted.
In a universe like ours, but without inflation, this is puzzling. The reason is that, using the observed expansion rate and densities of the universe, you can calculate that at early times such a universe would simply expand so quickly that it would be impossible to reach thermodynamical equilibrium on such large scales as the Universe we observe today. In fact, when we look at the sky, any two points separated by more than roughly 1 degree would never have been in causal contact, i.e. been able to exchange information. Thus, there would be no way for one of these points to know e.g. what is the temperature of the other points, not to mention the rest of the universe.
This puzzle is called the horizon problem.

Map of the CMB sky. The color coding shows the temperature of the radiation, and red is roughly $18\,\mu\mathrm{K}$ hotter than blue.
Credit: ESA/Planck Collaboration (plus my own annotations).
What Tegmark points at is that although we're told that "Big Bang happened everywhere", this doesn't make sense, because how can one part of this "everywhere" know about the other parts of "everywhere"?
One solution, obviously, is pure luck. After all, the regions on the sky are a little bit different. But this is a very unsatisfying solution, known as fine-tuning, which we loathe.
Enter inflation.
If you assume the our Universe was much, much denser in the beginning, but then went through a period of extreme (!) expansion, then in the very first tiny fraction of a fraction of a second, before this epoch which started when the Universe was $\sim10^{-36}$ seconds old, everything was so close to each other that a region much, much larger than the part of the Universe that we can see (the "observable Universe") could exchange information and reach thermodynamical equilibrium.
The reason that many people believe in this scenario, I think, is that it simultaneously solved two other puzzles, known as the flatness problem and the magnetic monopole problem (and that, so far, no better scenario has been proposed).
So, to recap, Tegmark is not saying that Big Bang didn't happen everywhere, but rather that, before Alan Guth proposed the inflation scenario in 1979, but after we first observed the CMB, this didn't make sense.
Comment: Great explanation!
Answer: You seem to be misunderstanding what inflation does.   Lets say the entire universe is two stars and those two stars are gravitationally attracted to each other, but space is also expanding between them so the stars move apart from each other.   Both stars happened inside the big bang, and as they move apart, the space between them that inflation creates happened inside the big bang as well.
Inflation doesn't happen beyond the big bang, it happens inside where the big bang happened.   It could also be said that the big bang is inflation, at least, that's what it is as far back as we can tell what it is.
(I hope my layman's explanation isn't too far off).   The Minute Physics Everywhere Stretch video explains it pretty well.
Comment: Your intention was to simplify things, but I think it confuses things. "Both stars happened inside the big bang" - but stars didn't form until at least 380 million years later; maybe "particles" would be better than "stars". And "the space between them that inflation creates happened inside the big bang" conflates two different processes: the metric expansion of space starting the instant after t=0 and continuing ever since, and a hypothesised inflationary epoch lasting for the briefest flash (t=10^-36 to t=10^-32 seconds). But well done on link to a good video :-)

BIg Bang Happened everywhere


Removable glue for LEGO models

Question: I want to glue my 4-year-old's LEGO bricks, but I want to be able to remove the glue when he is older. What is the best glue to use that is removable and okay to use on LEGO bricks?
Comment: Standard LEGO brick are probably *not* the right toy if you need to glue them.  I would look at LEGO Duplo bricks, which are specifically designed for younger kids.  Then you wouldn't have to glue them.
Comment: People, people, people. Respect the lady's question and try to answer it. It's not a question about the morality of gluing bricks together, nor the wisdom of a 4-year old having LEGO bricks (which, by the way, I personally am a huge proponent of, as long as we're going there). Let's assume she's a competent adult first, and go forward from there.
Answer: Officially, LEGO Group doesn't recommend any adhesive on the toys. It can lead to corrosion or warping chemically, warping physically (the glue puts pressure on the pieces), and the removal of the adhesive also carries these risks. Plus, you'd be killing not only the the monetary value of the set, but the ability of those pieces to be active stimuli for creativity and motor skills.
The LEGO Movie clearly shows that using glue on the toys is what the villain does.
Answer: I would say low temp hot glue. I have done this for several my son really wanted to "keep". I figure one day he will be able to take it apart but it saves it from dropping and such!
Comment: I'm voting this up because it is one of only two answers so far that actually answers the question.
Answer: Your question doesn't explain why you want to glue the models for a 4 year old, so I'm going to go ahead and advocate that you don't glue and instead let your 4 year old build. 4 years old is a great time to be learning the fine motor skills, geometry, physics, colour and esthetics, not to mention creativity and storytelling. Gluing the models takes away their potential and makes Lego a blocky imitation of other toys.
Lego sells kits to 4 year olds (the Juniors line) that uses the exact same parts as the more complicated models in the other product lines. The main difference is build complexity; Lego Juniors use simple builds with few parts. With a bit of practice, your child should be able to handle the more complex construction of the other lines, which are typically set for ages 5 and up. That's only next year anyway.
Answer: There are three factors you have to consider here:  the possible chocking hazard for your child, the possible toxicity of the glue to your child, and the degree of removability of the glue.
I don't think there exist a glue that is (1) completely secure (i.e. won't allow small parts to become chocking hazards), (2) safe to be handled and possibly ingested, and (3) completely removable for future play.
If I have to recommend a glue with the safety of your child in mind, I would recommend Super-glue.  Once dry, it is non-toxic and it won't melt the plastic in the bricks.  However, it is more-or-less permanent, which is important for safe playing time (and obviously doesn't meet condition 3 above).
I strongly recommend that you consider age-appropriate building toys, such as LEGO Duplo bricks.  If you visit the LEGO Store, you can shop sets by age range to get an idea of what is available for your child.
Comment: Duplo is suitable for 3-4 years old, but they also have the Juniors line which is for 4-7 years old. And it isn't a question of product safety; most 4 year olds are not putting the lego in their mouths. It's a question of age-appropriate themes and build complexity.
Comment: Why in the name of Sam Hill has this question become some kind of platform for child safety and anti-glueness?
Comment: Lego isn't exactly age-inappropriate for 4 year olds.
Comment: According to the LEGO group store, Duplo is the preferred toy for 3-4 year olds.
Answer: As Nick says, LEGO System is probably not quite the right toy for a 4 year old. LEGO Duplo or possibly the new LEGO Juniors range would be better. LEGO obviously caution about the small parts on almost all System sets.
However, if you're looking for a temporary glue for now, then I'd probably go with a water based glue such as PVA that you'll eventually be able to soak off.
Be aware though, that this will not create as secure a bond as a permanent glue, so I would certainly advise supervising the play in case smaller elements come off.
Comment: Actually, Elmer's *is* in fact a PVA-based glue.
Comment: Yes, I believe Glue-All is a PVA glue, but a number of their other products aren't (for example ProBond or Kragle I mean Krazy Glue)
Comment: I'm fairly sure that the difference between Lego Juniors is build complexity, and not such much difference in choking hazards.
Comment: @Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 True, but they are [aimed at 4 year olds](http://www.lego.com/en-gb/juniors/about): "LEGO® Juniors is designed to give children **age 4-7** a great first experience with the LEGO® brick through iconic, fun and Easy to Build models."
Answer: You could perhaps try hot glue in some old test parts and after a few days, use rubbing alcohol to remove the joining power of the glue.
I use this method in foam planes and it separates the glue just fine.
Answer: www.le-glue.com is perfect for what you need.
Comment: Hi lee and welcome to Bricks! You're the second person to recommend Le-Glue, however as you may have seen on the first one, we're looking for longer answers than you have provided - can you expand a little on your recommendation - have you used it yourself for example? Did it do as advertised? Also, if you're affiliated with the product in any way, please let us know.
Comment: Yes, please expand a bit. I'm not a LEGO gluer, but if people want to do it, and there is a purpose-made product for this and it works well, frankly this should be the accepted answer, and the highest-voted one.
Answer: If the goal is just to make the LEGO builds sturdier, and not straight unbreakable, I'd give a thought to the various food-based "glues", like sugar syrup (will probably become sticky to the touch as well) or flour paste. Both have the benefits of being 100% food-safe and water-soluble, while still providing a bit of adhesive force.

Removable glue for LEGO models


Yiddish Woman name - Malya

Question: In my grandmother's family history in Galicia, I have seen a Yiddish name being used by quite a few women - Malya. My question is what is the Jewish origin of the use of this name and what does it mean? This is related to Judaism as my grandmothers Shem Kodesh was Malya as well and I want to know the origin of such a use of the name.
Comment: `This is related to Judaism as my grandmothers Shem Kodesh was Malya` What is a _shem kodesh_? Other than names of God, I am not sure exactly how names can be holy, and am also unsure why this is on topic.
Comment: Maybe provide a spelling? Sometimes Yiddish name origins are only identifiable by their spelling as the pronunciation usually differs from Hebrew. For example, Tevye is spelled טביה, which we know to be pronounced as Tuvia in Hebrew, meaning Tevye is the Yiddish pronunciation of Tuvia.
Comment: See http://www.babynamespedia.com/meaning/Malaya
Comment: @DanF - if that link speaks truth, i wouldn't want to name my child mayla
Comment: @EzraHoerster Agreed. That's why I left it as a comment. I am skeptical that it's the correct interpretation. I have not heard of the word "Mal" as a synonym for "mar" which means "bitter". And "Yah" is one of G0-d's names. So the name means "bitter G-d"? I don't think so! Considering that one of Obama's kids is named "Malya", it could be an African name, possibly?
Answer: Alexander Harkavy writes in his Yiddish-English-Hebrew Dictionary (1928 edition) that מאַלע /male/ (which with a "weak lamed" is /malye/) is a backformation from מלכּה /malke/ (which means queen), since מלכּה sounds like a diminutive (the suffix /-ke/ often denotes diminutives).
However, Max Weinreich cites Dov Sadan as suggesting that מאַליע /malye/ = מאַכליע /makhlye/, which both come from the Biblical מחלה /makhla/, and that the derivation from מלכּה is a drash (see here, note 10).
The context of Sadan's suggestion is Weinreich's article on the dialectical pronunciation in some Hebrew/Yiddish speaking communities in Europe, whereby the letter ח /kh/ gets pronounced like a ה /h/ (when starting a syllable) or not at all (when syllable-final) -- see the article for more details.  Sadan suggests that the name pronounced Malye comes from Ma(kh)lye, where the /kh/ sound got dropped.  In a similar vein, he suggests that the second component in the name אָשר־לעמל /osher-leml/ (which ostensibly means Asher Little-Lamb) comes from לחמו /lakhmo/, from Jacob's blessing to Asher.

Yiddish Woman name - Malya


Are old Magic: the Gathering boosters worth more sealed, or should I open them?

Question: I won some magic the gathering 10th edition core set booster packs, are they worth anything?
Or should I open to get rare cards? Also have 2 core sets — Molimo's might and Exincar's tyranny — and a 2 player starter game that includes 2 booster packs from 10th edition.
Comment: I've removed those questions you added. We don't do on-the-spot price evaluations, I don't think - and if you have a separate question, please ask it separately unless you're doing something like clarifying what you were originally trying to ask here anyway. (Since you already have a pretty solid question, I suggest just asking the new stuff separately if at all.) You can get to the bits I removed in your [revision history](http://boardgames.stackexchange.com/posts/22823/revisions), which you can visit at any time via the 'edited X time ago' link at the bottom center of your post.
Comment: Related: [Which MTG booster packs have the highest rate of return on investment?](http://boardgames.stackexchange.com/q/7949/5573)
Answer: Logically speaking, it would never make sense for the expected value of an opened pack to be higher than the value of an unopened pack.  If that was ever the case, people would just buy unopened packs, open them, and sell them for a net profit.  Unopened packs have the potential to have a high value, and that potential reward comes with an associated increase in cost.
Comment: Actually the comparison of value and expected value of booster pack depends on the affinity for risk of buyers among others. For example if you were buying a car, but the dealer offered you a deal where you have 5% chance you won't get a car, but pay 95% of a price, most people wouldn't accept that kind of a deal. But if you could pay 1% for a 1 in 100 chance to win a car, that's more likely.
Comment: Basically people are not really spending and obtaining money, they are comparing their quality of life in three scenarios: losing, winning and not playing, account for perceived chance to win and arrive at decision. People who buy one booster or two are going to write it off as hazard and accept low EV. People who buy many are actually paying premium for the experience of randomness, which is part of the collecting thing for them. Otherwise they would just not buy boosters worth below EV.
Comment: So if only pragmatic people, not caring for the fun of boosters and trading, buying large quantities of cards remained, boosters packs price would have to be below EV in long term, because they would actually need to be compensated for having to get rid of the cards they don't need. Boosters would perhaps be worth more than EV only in the beginning, when people would be paying premium for early access to cards. Somebody has to buy those boosters after all, or no card would be available in after market.
Answer: You can find the higher value 10th edition cards here: http://shop.tcgplayer.com/magic/10th-edition
Packs of 10th edition have recently sold on ebay for around $8.50, if that option interests you.
The expected value of an opened pack of 10th edition, accounting only for rares values from mtgstocks.com, is about $2.38 — according to their page on the M10 set.
Your best bet is to sell the pack.
Comment: @GendoIkari In theory that could be a reason to open the pack, but 10th looks like it doesn't really have much of value. There are only about 5 cards that are worth more than $8.50, and at most you are getting about $20 over the value of the pack (and that is 1/121 packs) the rest of the time is you manage to make money on the pack it is only going to be around $1-3.
Comment: @doppelgreener The link you added is for M10 not 10th Ed., for some reason the 10th Ed. page doesn't have the EV of a pack.
Comment: I've added what I _think_ is the source for that $2.38 figure. Is it, or did you derive that figure some other way? It would be worth noting how, so that others can check your work or determine the same in the future when prices change.
Comment: I disagree with your conclusion... just because your expected value from an opened pack is less than the value from an unopened pack doesn't automatically mean that you should sell the unopened pack. You also have to consider potential value. The person may be in a situation where receiving $8.50 is just meaningless to him, so he'd rather take a shot at making a lot more, even if it means he likely gets less. Or he may be in a place where that $8.50 could mean a lot to him.
Comment: @Gendolkari I gave a brief analysis of his options, and links to the more notable cards from Tenth Edition.  My opinion is merely aligned with EV of pack open/closed.  If he wanted to gamble it up or hope for specific cards the resources are there.


Who has an advantage in studying Esperanto?

Question: I'm Italian and I've been studying Esperanto for four days. I think Esperanto has a mix of words from a lot of languages. Anyway, what is the language that is most similar to Esperanto and who is most advantaged when learning Esperanto?
Answer: Definitively people speaking Romance languages like Italian, Spanish and French. Esperanto shares a lot of vocabulary with them, and in a language where grammar is so easy, vocabulary matter a lot.
I would also say any Western has an advantage: Esperanto is written with the Latin alphabet, shared by many of the western languages, and doesn't make use of concepts like tonality, which many Asian languages use.
Comment: So, I am Italian and I'll learn Esperanto without many difficulties?
Comment: You wouldn't have many difficulties compared to any other language no matter where you are from. But being Italian would certainly make it even easier.
Comment: That Esperanto doesn't have tones is hardly a point that makes it less easy to learn for people speaking tonal languages.
Answer: For the vocabulary it definitely helps to know a Romance or Germanic language, as that is the source of most of them.
Anyone that knows a little of a lot of languages (from Greek "kaj" to Russian "krom", Swedish "ju... desto") has an advantage.
The correlatives come from Slavic languages, while the accusative is present in a number of Indo-European languages.
Here a little more on language similarity from the inimitable Claude Piron.
As for my personal experience, my German, French and English knowledge have all given me a leg up in learning la lingvo internacia. After learning Esperanto, I have a hard time getting back to Spanish, so that might be the language it is the most similar to in my head.