Jurassic Park - Classic Roar

Question: Curious. Do any of you know exactly what went into that sound? I've heard a variety of things, namely elephants, lions and washing machines; I imagine it might be a combination of all three.
~Cheers
Miles
Answer: Have you tried analysing it to find out for yourself?
Sample the roar/s off the DVD and pitch up half an octave or an octave
& see what it reminds you of.... try playing it backwards etc...
if someone tells you the answer you learn very little....
if you discover it for yourself you learn a LOT!
Answer: They went out and recorded a T-Rex.... duuuuuuuuhh..........
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But seriously,
Ryan is right.  Koala bear, alligator, a whale, lizards, etc...
Here's a great interview with Gary about it:
Gary Rydstrom on Jurassic Park
Answer: The rumor I heard is that it was a baby elephant that had been taken away from it's mother... Don't know how true that is...
Gary says one element is a Koala Bear. Other elements are lions, tigers, alligators, and yes a baby elephant from Marine World. He used a whale's blowhole for the breathing.
Then he loaded them all on a synclav and played them so they were in the same key. This made them mesh well together.
I also know that the Veloceraptor is a walrus and dolphin scream mixed together.
Answer: http://www.mpse.org/education/bigmovierydstrom.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwWvO4UgJiU
[youtube]qwWvO4UgJiU[/youtube]
Answer: I'm interested to know as well, but I have to say: Some secrets are better left unexplained. :)
Answer: Aside from what sounds went into creating the T-Rex roar (which is one of my favorite movie sounds ever - Gary Rydstrom FTW!) is how it was mixed. Whether intentional or not, and I'm guessing it was, the roaring is distorted, almost as though the dino would have overloaded the mic on the set or the mixer wouldn't have been able to adjust for it. The only thing I would have done differently to emphasize this overloading effect would be to side-chain the roar to a heavy compression on the other tracks. I've always wanted to try that on monsters, bullets, explosions, etc.
Answer: I believe sea birds were also used to create the raptor sounds
Jurassic Park has my favourite creature sound design, brilliant sounding film :)
Answer: I heard or read somewhere that one of the main elements was a recording of an aircraft simulator at NASA research facility. I've listened quite closely to these sounds and there is a machine-like tonality in there.
Answer: I thought that the on-set recordist just made wild tracks with the dinosaurs while they were shooting...
Comment: No. T-Rex wanted to get paid extra for ADR.
Comment: Pfff...not to mention the velociraptors. They are full of themselves.
Answer: Here's a recent article about Jurassic Park sound design:
http://www.vulture.com/2013/04/how-the-dino-sounds-in-jurassic-park-were-made.html

Jurassic Park - Classic Roar


Touchpad super slow on Acer E5-574G with Loki

Question: I have an Acer E5-574G laptop, which came with Windows 10. Recently I installed Elementary OS (Loki). Everything worked but my touchpad became super slow. When I rub my finger over touchpad, it moves the cursor very slow. I have also tried to increase the speed from settings but the issue remains. I have already contact with Acer—they said they don't provide any driver for Linux. What I can do now?
Answer: The elementary team issued a fix for trackpad issues recently.
Is your system up-to-date with the most recent version? You can check in AppCenter under the section Updates or alternatively upgrade your system by typing the following in terminal:
<code>sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
</code>
Answer: My problem is resolved, I posted this issue on several forums so, I got solution from one of them, I only edit touch pad setting in my bios, It was set to Advance I have set it to Basic and its working perfect for me.
Comment: Can you edit your answer to post more of the solution (and link to the forum) so that others can benefit from the knowledge?
Answer: The OP didn't post their solution, but I'd wager that the answer was to change the trackpad settings in the Acer BIOS, where "Touchpad" should be set to "Basic".
You can also follow this video.


Truth Question- What is truth?

Question: I am starting to understand that this site is more than what it appeared on first glance. The second I read "secular site," I about left for good. Anyway, I realize this site has specific guidelines here so as to prevent "flame wars" and needless opinionated rants that lead to the equivalent of the lowest-intellect-containing arguments on the internet: YouTube comments. I said all this to say that I want to understand what the term "truth" encompasses. So-called "truth questions" are not allowed because "truth" varies widely among Christians. I get that and that is why I would like any and all (Biblically based) denominational viewpoints to share on the definition of "truth." It is hard for me to define without using the word "true" in some way.
Comment: Related: [Are truth questions inherently off-topic, or just a bad question smell?](http://meta.christianity.stackexchange.com/q/1696/21576)
Comment: Closely related: http://meta.christianity.stackexchange.com/q/3527/20
Answer: One of the ways Christianity.SE avoids those flame wars is to insist that answers say what whole groups or denominations believe is the truth rather than saying what is the truth on a particular topic.
What is the truth is a matter of opinion, and there are almost as many opinions as there are people. allowing such "truth" questions and answers leads to discussion and debate, and usually flame wars, which isn't what StackExchange is about. SE is a Q&A site, not a discussion and debate site.
What particular groups or denominations believe is the truth is an objectively answerable question. What they believe may or may not actually be the truth, but it is what they believe is the truth. So that becomes a factual matter ("what a church believes") rather than a matter of opinion.
The problem with asking what all denominations believe is that there are far too many denominations to cover in a reasonable space. I happen to think that asking in an open-ended way for the views of various denominations can be useful. But the consensus here is that it's too broad, and leads to a "popularity contest" among denominations, which is seen as not useful. That's why the mods on Christianity.SE frown on such broad questions, even though theoretically they are objectively answerable.
Comment: "What is the truth is a matter of opinion" Most Christians would believe that there is such a thing as objective truth, but that little of it can be proven or even argued beyond much doubt.
Comment: @curiousdannii Yes. The issue is what Christians (and others) *believe* is the objective truth. There's a huge range of *opinion* on what is "objective truth."
Comment: Then 'truth' is unable to be found (in the context of a social web site) as it will always be a matter of opinion? For example: God has to reveal what we need to know about Him - truth or opinion? But a Q&S site offers 'answers'! Statistics would declare - some **have** to be truth. So it is up to the individual to discern the truth? Then I need the help of a superior - such as the Holy Spirit. Interesting......
Comment: Is this also interesting? We can get all the porn (or whatever) we want but we cannot get the truth? How do we get past opinion to the truth? How does a Q&A social site get past opinion to the truth? Who will stand up for the truth? Is that the question? Has our life been reduced to mere debate where all there is is debate and no truth? Faith.....is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Isn't that truth?
Comment: Sorry. I DO understand you points about what SE is about. My mind just got running with some thoughts. I mean no disrespect or put down to SE or any individual related with this question. It just seems there is a level of frustration automatically built in with the site. How do we go about building others up if it's all simply an opinion? Ok, I will be quiet now.....
Comment: There are so many good answers at SE that you cannot help but bump into the truth. But will you recognize it when you see it? Truth has been shared by individuals and on behalf of entire denominations.

Truth Question- What is truth?


Clock simul time control

Question: We would like to organise a simultaneous exhibiton at our chess club, but as we only have the room booked for 2.5hrs, we fear that it might not be over in the given time. I've heard about clock simuls, but I haven't found any "rules" on how to set the time control for each player. I'm assuming that the exhibitor should have a lot more time than the challengers (as he needs to spend time at different boards while all his clocks might be running simultaneously) but I don't know how much time would be fair to set (given that the simul should last for 2hrs, for example). Do you have any suggestions?
Comment: How many players do you expect to be there and what is the rating difference between the participants and the master player? In large simuls, use of clocks is not really practical I believe. Also you could think of introducing clocks only towards the end when few players are left.
Comment: @user1583209 that is a great idea, thank you! It's going to be a small simul, we expect around 20 people and the rating difference should be at least 400 rating points.
Answer:
A chess simultaneous display is where a strong player takes on more than one opponent simultaneously. Sometimes this is done with clocks but more usually without, when people must move when the simul giver arrives at their board.

Source: Chess Simul – Advice on giving and taking part, emphasis is mine
I would suggest using a single (normal) clock for all games. If a player (not the simul giver) has not ended their game after that time limit expires, then they lose on time. In this system, the simul giver cannot lose on time.
I would also advise that there is an arbiter present to prevent unreasonable delays when the simul giver comes to a player's board. In some simuls, a player is allowed three passes when the simul giver arrives at their board.
Comment: Thank you for your answer! Yes, we will have an arbiter at the event. I see what you're suggesting, but I think that might be a bit unfair for the challengers. For instance, some games may end up in closed positions - which might require a greater number of moves to finish, and while the challenger could make a move quickly, he would also have to wait for the exhibitor to go around all tables until they get to make a move in turn. That is why I was thinking of giving the exhibitor some time as well, so that he could manage the matches such that all of them can finish fairly in the given time.
Comment: @Abigail: Done!

Clock simul time control


How to best determine if a bike will fit without riding it

Question: I would like to get a Surly Cross-Check but the local bike shop doesn't stock them. They have suggested a 56cm, but I am concerned about the top tube length (I am more legs than torso). Are there proven ways to figure out whether a bike fits other than riding it?
Answer: The best answer to your question is simply "no."  Unless you've ridden the exact geometry before, there's no great way to know if your body will enjoy the fit.  Sure, there are MANY adjustments you can do to any bike to get it close, but nothing replaces taking the bike out for 20 miles to find out how your body will respond.
Now, with that said, if you haven't been riding a bike on a regular basis and only plan on riding this a limited amount of time, a good fitter could make a reasonable judgment call without any serious problems occurring later.  The bike can be tuned to your needs, as long as the general size is correct.
Comment: Well, that's technically true. But there is exist a test you can take. There is actually Retul technology called 'pro bike fit', have a look into it. very interesting and worth to know ;)
Answer: An approach that can give you some confidence is to measure your existing bike(s) along the critical dimensions to see how they compare.
To my mind (and apparently also to the mind of the late, great Sheldon Brown) the most important dimension to consider is the top tube length. Basically, you can get a certain amount of adjustment in "reach", the distance between your saddle and the handlebars by adjusting the saddle on the rails, and the stem you've got, but the range of variability is quite small. Seat posts can be extended through quite a significant range, and you can generally play around with the rise on the stem, as well as the spacers on the steerer to get a lot of vertical adjustment.
So, download your specifications for the cross-check and we find that the top tube has an effective length of 570mm. Go out and measure the top tube of your current bike (or a bike you are comfortable riding) and if it is close to this, then you are good to go.
Answer: Many bike shops do a 'fit' session. Maybe more common for roadies but still useful for any rider. They'll measure you, watch you ride (video probably) and then come up with measurements that you'll be most comfortable on. Those measurements can be matched up against the bike.
My LBS charges $75 but I've seen places charge up to $300.
Comment: Fittings are usually included with the purchase of the bike, too.  My LBS includes their professional fitting with every bike sold over $1000.
Comment: Fittings should come before you purchase a bike really. Geometry on one bike may not be the same and thus mean way more work changing the fit. I'd always vote for a fit before purchase of a bike not after you've made it.
Answer: Two resources I know of that might help (or, possibly, cause more confusion):

WrenchScience fit system. You have to sign up for account to get access to it
Sizining & fitting spreadsheet on WW


Insure and Go vs. Virgin travel insurance

Question: I am looking for a travel insurance (I am resident of the UK). I looked at both Virgin Money travel insurance and InsureAndGo insurance - and it seems that the Virgin one is actually underwritten by InsureAndGo. Does anyone know if these two are exactly the same insurance, or are there any relevant differences?
Comment: Not sure about the UK.  The basic thing in the US is that the insurance companies will simply let the other companies resell their rebranded products.
Answer: That's correct, Insure & Go is the underwriter for both Insure & Go's products as well as Virgin Travel Insurance. Virgin Money does its own branding, pricing (similar products by the two companies have different prices - Virgin's seems higher), and customer support / claims (Virgin handles that for its own products). If you don't want to read a dense policy wording document, have a look at the 'keyfacts' document all insurance providers in the UK are supposed to publish to compare for Virgin Money and Insure & Go.


Can a solidity compiler be written in solidity?

Question: Can a solidity compiler be written in solidity? How much gas would it cost?
Comment: This is a brilliant question, so people don't forget to vote, vote, vote!
Answer: Since the EVM instruction set is Turing-complete, any conceivable program (computable function) can be implemented in the EVM instruction set itself and thus also in Solidity. Because of the current gas model, this might be really expensive, though. With progress in interpreters and a potential change in and of the EVM, the block gas limit (essential upper limit of how much can be done synchronously in a transaction) should increase in the future, but it might be still out of reach.
The question is: Why would someone write a Solidity compiler in Solidity?
Many compilers are self-hosted which means that they can compile themselves or a newer version of themselves. This is especially beneficial for general-purpose languages, because it removes an external dependency on another language and it also helps designing the language if you write a large project like a compiler in the language itself.
For special-purpose languages like Solidity, the above arguments are not too relevant, though. What is important for Solidity, is that the compilation can be either run on chain or at least verified on chain. This does not necessarily require the compiler to be written in Solidity. The advantage of verifying the compilation on the blockchain would be that source verification (checking that a given contract on the blockchain has a certain source code) does not have to be repeated by every user and you can just trust the blockchain to do it.
The latter is actually planned and can be done using interactive verification. The key idea there is that during the compilation, a transcript of the compilation run is generated and published (on e.g. swarm). Put simply, the transcript starts with the source code, has a lot of data in between and ends with the bytecode. If it is incorrect, you can point at a specific position inside the transcript and check that there was a mistake by just comparing some bytes. If nobody finds a mistake after some time, the system accepts the compilation as correct. The load (gas costs) of the blockchain is negligible in this mode of operation.
Answer: EVM is a practically infinite capacity universal computer model so I'm pretty sure it is possible. Btw an EVM interpreter and a Solidity compiler are two completely different questions but both should be possible. No idea about the gas cost though, probably a lot :) If you actually need this on the blockchain, you should make it possible to do the calculations in multiple transactions so that the block gas limit doesn't limit you.
Answer: So compilation is converting strings (the solidity code, that people can read) to bytecode (that computer can run). That is just a series of if statements. Which can be implemented in any Turing complete language. But in running this on the block chain would likely be prohibitively expensive.
If you look here you can see ChrisETH discuss a contract simulator written in solidity.
Comment: Please add the answer as a comment.
Comment: @Sebi commenting required 50 reputation. Why do you think this should be a comment?
Comment: It was a one liner when I flagged it; didn't know about the comment reputation threshold.
Comment: Yeah sorry made an edit after thinking some more. I should have included a edit reason. Yeah i could not because of the threshold until now.
Answer: Yes. Solidity is turing-complete, which means that, according to the Church-turing thesis, it is capable of computing every algorithm. Since a Solidity compiler is just an algorithm, Solidity is capable of compiling itself. In fact, it isn't even a hard problem - in order to write such a thing, you could just port the existing compilers to the Solidity syntax. The process of writing a compiler in the programming language that it compiles is a well known technique called bootstrapping.
Answer: In theory, yes, though it would need to run on a private chain with a huge gas-limit, and for any practical purpose, you wouldn't actually want to do it.
See Vitalik's On Abstraction, though.   With EVM 2.0 and WebAssembly we should be able to start moving some elements from the EVM up into smart contracts.
With suitable levels of sharding, the huge performance gap between local execution and blockchain execution of code should start to close.    But obviously you're always going to have overhead such that you are going to want a very good reason to run code on the blockchain rather than locally.
Another difference is that running on the blockchain means you don't have conventional input/output or filesystem, which makes things like compilers a bit awkward.
But overall ... Turing-complete (caveat gas-limits), so YES!
Answer: Everyone is gonna say "theoretically, yes" – but for practical purposes the answer is a solid "no".  It's a cool idea in theory, because (in theory) it would work, but it would be very expensive, and there's literally nothing to gain from doing it.
I think it sort of misunderstands what "programming on the blockchain" really is about.
Blockchain shines when it comes to transparency and keeping permanent records of things, there's no reason the entire blockchain (everyone mining ether) needs to compile your code, not to mention permanently save it. I don't need to trust anybody to do that!  I just download the source code and compile it myself. I can completely trust my computer to compile source code correctly.  Not to mention what if your source code doesn't compile correctly... oh man! Everyone has to run the whole thing again and store it all again.
What solidity is useful for is "contracts" – these might look more like an auction, gambling, voting, even something like a will.  These are usually relatively simple "calculations", so while you might not trust someone else's computer to tally up your votes in an election, but you can trust the blockchain to do it!


Can protein precipitate out in alcohol during DNA extraction?

Question: In common lab sessions to extract DNA from strawberry or cheek cells, will there be protein contaminating the DNA extract in alcohol? If so, how can we prevent protein from precipitating out of the solution?
Answer: Yes, Ethanol can precipitate proteins during a DNA precipitation as well, although Acetone will be more efficient. Usually you do a proteinase K digest or a proteinase K digest followed by a Phenol/Chloroform extraction to avoid this problem. I was usually doing the later, I can post my protocol if you are interested.
Answer: A proteinase eg.proteinase K is usually added when extracting dna.


Squish on iOS vs Fonemonkey on iOS

Question: Hi
I have requested for a version of Squish to try it for iOS automation testing. I am curious to know if there is any one who has tried this earlier. I have been using FoneMonkey till now and I am wondering if the recording functionality of squish as being advertised is the case or if there if some one has done some research comparing Squish and FoneMonkey for iOS device automation testing.
Answer: Obviously I'm biased (from froglogic), but yes, Squish for iPhone/iOS offers recording and works in the Simulator and in the device(s)
Answer: I've used both Squish and FoneMonkey, and I personally recommend Squish for iOS testing as it provides a test script recording option which is much advanced than FoneMonkey. It provided option for both Object verification and Image verification. Also running on both Simulator and on device becomes simple with just few minor changes to the source of your test app.

Squish on iOS vs Fonemonkey on iOS


What other UX processes exist other than user centered design?

Question: What other well known processes or approaches for creating an user experience (such as an app or website) exist except the user centered design approach and what are their strengths and weaknesses?
Comment: All UX tends to be user-centered by definition.
Comment: UCD is about the overall *process*.  Methods are about *activities* you can perform during a process.  **[Usability engineering](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usability_engineering)** can be viewed as another process type that focus more on "achieving goals" than "involve end users"...  Usability testing, interviews, focus groups, surveys, persona, scenarios, wire-framing, heuristic evaluation, cognitive walk-trough, logging of support activity, A/B-testing, analysis of web metrics etc etc are methods you can carry out during the process.  Regardless of which approach you use.
Comment: is this for a school project or something?
Answer: If you looking for different processes rather than methods, there are

User Centered Design / Goal Directed Design
Usability Engineering
Design Thinking
LeanUX / LeanStartup
Data (or Metrics) Driven Design
Open Innovation / Participatory Design
Lead User Design / Design-driven Innovation

Four of them did I examine for innovation capabilites in a past thread (UCD and innovation):

So, one could say UCD is more an engineer attitude - problem found,
  problem solved. And in an engineers' attitude, all decision are
  traceable back to a requirement.
And Design Thinking is a designers' attitude - problem seen, play
  around, solution found. The ideation phase isn't really traceable, so
  the solution is a bit arbitrary.
LeanUx is out of a startup-mind - solution proposed, solution tested,
  solution refined. The emphasis lies on a fast product launch and
  gradual advancements.
Finally, Data Driven Design comes from a marketing perspective - set
  up business goal, test refinements, take best measured. It is not
  aiming for innovation, but optimization.
Comment: Yes, I'm thinking about processes rather than individual methods. I edited the question.
Comment: is User Centered Design the same as Goal Directed Design?
Comment: @K.. Haven't heard before, but yes, it seems like to have the same idea as UCD: building software around personas and there actual needs and goals. I will add it.
Answer: Though I'm not sure this question fits in the rules of the FAQ...
Dan Saffer's "Designing for Interaction" lists 4 techniques:

User-Centered design
Systems design
Activity-centered design
Genius design

Each technique has its pros and cons. A quick search should give you descriptions of each term.
Answer: I'e always liked this overview of design decision styles by Jared Spool:
http://www.uie.com/articles/five_design_decision_styles/
He lists:
 1. unintended design
 2. self design
 3. genius design
 4. activity-focussed design
 5. user-focussed design
The last one is described as "This design style is the high-end approach and is necessary if the team is looking to create an excellent experience overall. To do that, the team will use user-focused techniques, such as field research and robust persona creation, ensuring the team understands the contextual nature of the users' experience." That, to me, is user-centered design.
Answer: The following are the different design methods:

User Centered Design
Goal Directed Design
Usability Engineering
Design Thinking
LeanUX / LeanStartup
Data (or Metrics) Driven Design
Open Innovation / Participatory Design
Lead User Design / Design-driven Innovation

And yes! UCD and Goal directed design(UCD) are different. The reason for my deduction of considering the both designs as different is purely based on the fact the GDD is now evolving in a complete different direction. Also, There's no single opinion on this, as visible from the links. Please find the link here: http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1621997
http://jonkarpoff.com/gdd-goal-driven-design/
Comment: I browsed your links and first is guarded and second outdated. Anyway, some Google research showed me no clear method of GDD. Old descriptions sound like UCD, newer more like a mixture of UXstrategy and UCD (business and user objectives) and others like Value Proposition Design. Do you have a link which shows the evolving direction clearly?
Answer: There's also the Steve Jobs Approach:
Which is basically: If you want a big design breakthrough, don't ask people - just do it.
http://allaboutstevejobs.com/sayings/stevejobsinterviews/fortune08.php
We figure out what we want. And I think we're pretty good at having the right discipline to think through whether a lot of other people are going to want it, too. That's what we get paid to do. "So you can't go out and ask people, you know, what the next big [thing.] There's a great quote by Henry Ford, right? He said, 'If I'd have asked my customers what they wanted, they would have told me "A faster horse." '
Comment: Great quote. However, HCD isn't just about asking people what they want and building it for them, it's about uncovering user needs—both the ones they're aware of and the ones they're not aware of—and building new solutions around those needs. Clearly Henry Ford's user testing went well, even if it happened in the market, not the design process.
Comment: There isnt a Steve Jobs approach. They do user testing, they do ideation phases and they do design/ decide the composition. I guess it is a Design Thinking style, because Apple is known to have many Product Designers in house and is design driven. And Designers do Design Thinking by nature as the method-name shows. (Design Thinking isnt about asking people, it is about understanding people). Just do it .... and crash your company?


converting view-only wallet to spend wallet

Question: I created an offline paper wallet, then use the view key to create a view-only wallet with "monero-wallet-cli --generate-from-view-key" command.  My test send from an exchange to this wallet works, and show up the balance.  What do I need to do to be able to send from this wallet?
Comment: Probably just making a new wallet would work.
Answer: You do the same, except using monero-wallet-cli --generate-from-keys, which will use the spend key in addition to the view key.
You will be prompted for the information when you run this.
See a guide for using --generate-from-keys here: If I saved my view key and spend key can I recover my wallet if my mnemonic seed is lost?
Comment: ahhh... I was using `./monero-wallet-cli --restore-deterministic-wallet`.  Your suggestion makes sense.  I'll give it a go and report back.
Comment: It's not really converting, though, since we're making a new wallet. We don't have a function to convert, yet. For wishlist: it would be nice to have a command inside simplewallet which would let the user convert it by typing in the spend key (or the entire mnemonic). The wallet would then have to check all the outputs if they've been spent or not and you'd see the correct balance shortly after


When/why is it easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission?

Question: The saying "It's easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission" seems pretty popular among programmers and IIRC was attributed to Grace Hopper.  In what situations is this typically true, and why do you believe that such a counterintuitive proposition would hold?
Comment: @Thorbjorn: He'd better beg forgiveness about that.
Comment: I observed a similar phenomenon with a previous employer: if I said "I worked long hours last week, can I take a day off?" he'd say no, but if I said "Can I take a day off, I'll work long hours to compensate?", he'd say yes. Go figure :)
Comment: How I learned it, my boss told me to do this. He was referring to getting things done faster, we can always correct mistakes - "I trust your judgement" was his words :)
Comment: Grave Hopper quote source https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper
Answer: I think that one important reason is responsibility. By asking for permission, you are transfering the responsibility to the person you are asking, so that person might be inclined to deny just to avoid being held responsible for the result, in case of failure.
On the other hand, once it's done, that's no longer a problem. Even if the result was a failure, it's still your responsibility, no matter if you get forgiveness or not.
Comment: Someday, a coworker asked the boss: "Am I allowed to do that?". The wise boss, not wanting to say no to a nice guy but being a boss anyway, answered: "If I had to officially answer this question, I would say no."
Comment: Sometimes not asking, doing is the only way things get done in an office full of bureaucratic paper-pushers who are afraid of committing to a decision.  In essence, it's being the opposite of a manager.
Comment: Making decisions means accepting responsibility in that decision leads to failure. The managers I've encountered in the past aren't necessarily cut-out for management. They've gained their position by **not** making decisions that led to failure (unfortunately, if you're a contractor like I was, it is absolutely impossible to get a straight forward decision from them to move forward). If you make the decision to go forward anyway (without permission) and it leads to failure, then the manager doesn't have to take the responsibility of a poor decision.
Answer: Because once something is done, as long as it doesn't make things worse, it's often easier to leave it in than to take it out (i.e. "what's done is done.")
Answer: It's politics, all politics.
I've seen this become a reality on occasion, when the management or client put up too many barriers to simple changes (e.g. "quality" reviews by people who know nothing about the system, needing to get signoff from too many business areas) that it's sometimes quicker and easier to just "rip off the bandage": don't tell too many people, just make the change, and if it works, everyone's happy, you might get a slap on the wrist for "not following the process", etc.
Of course, if the change fails, you might find even more processes being layered on... but that's the risk you took.
(disclaimer: I have no problems with quality controls and checks and balances - as long as they're reasonable)
Answer: In a hierarchical organization the upper management typically has no clue about the subject matter you're working on; then their decisions are, inevitably, based on how you represent your suggestions to them. Representing technical ideas to non-technical people is notoriously hard: if you explain it as it is, they don't understand anything and might refuse just because of that. And if you explain it so that they understand, you're not stating the thing as it is. Is it ethical either, huh? Thus is it may be best to just do the right thing instead of trying to explain that in such a flowery  and falseful manner that the management agrees with it.
It's not irresponsible. Even if you asked for permission, the result would strongly depend on how you represented your issue. Since you're able to affect the decision this way, why bother? Just do it and screw bureaucracy. At least you're not lying then. The key point is that you know it's the right thing to do.
Of course, you have to be pretty damn sure you're right, since you're now the one taking the risk. What you're saving is your and management's time and effort; not a small feat.
Answer: I think it's much more complicated that you think. Here are my two views on the problem:

Asking cost nothing

I'm always amazing when I hear discussion about salary increase. People complaint they are not increased. But if they don't ask (unless they are in an administration automatic and predefined salary increase), they will get nothing by just waiting.
It's the same with the car of the neighbor you want to borrow... You may think "he will think I'm ....." or "She won't accept because ....." or "He will probably need it anyway ....".
The truth is that you don't know until you ask. However, the way our brain work will fill our mind with unhelpful thought that you created yourself. In most case, they are false.
So asking may be the first thing to try.

Do it instead of asking will prevent you from a refusal. If you fail, you can apologize

This statement is also true because in enterprise where responsabilities are clearly defined and where people are rated on their individual achievement.
If you ask the responsible of another department for something that may (thought he creates) affect him negatively, but the outcome (if positive), will not affect him, he will surely refuse, to be safe.
Two answers are very similar: fear. In the first answer it's YOUR fear, in the second is the fear of THEM.
To overcome fear of others, don't ask. In many many case, you will succeed, and in case of failure, then yes... apologize will be enought.
Not in most case unfortunaly, but that's a risk YOU MUST take in order to advance in both life and your career.
Comment: Did you ever read Oliver Twist? :-)
Answer: When you ask permission, the person you are asking must imagine the consequences that COULD happen if you are allowed to do it. This could include terrible things like the company going bankrupt. A risk averse person (or one with a lurid imagination) will tell you no. They may not be swayed by the possible benefit of your plan. When you just go on ahead and do it without asking, if you get the benefit then you are unlikely to be punished or reprimanded. If you get a small consequence, you will get a small punishment. Of course, if you bankrupt your employer, it's all over.
I can't employ someone who needs to check with me on every email, every line of code, constantly wanting permission to do their regular job. But someone who thought it was ok to risk the entire company on a ridiculous gamble (a company that isn't theirs to risk, since I own it not them) would not still work for me even if the gamble paid off. You need to be in a fairly big and deep pocketed organization (the US military for example) to take this attitude - and you need to understand the risks very well.
Answer: What I've experienced is sometimes it's hard to make an argument to make certain changes in your work process or tools. As long as the current process and tools work, there might not be a strong incentive for any manager (or co-workers) to go and run the risk of trying something new that a) might not actally be better or b) might fail.
There's time and resources going into it, people might have to adapt, etc. If you go upfront and ask to make a change, you might meet some reluctance and will have to make strong arguments. There can be a lot of reasons for a manager to not want to make a change and it's not necessarily because they are lazy or not up to change. But you're asking for a definitive decision or a "Go!" which actually puts the responsibility on your manager.
If you just make the change and sneak it into your workplace at the moment where the change becomes obvious to decision-makers you might already have proven that:
a) It can be done.
b) It works.
c) It improves your work.
d) It didn't really take up a lot of resources.
... and so on.
If it failed there might be some repercussions, but unless you're working with a crappy boss, these might not go behind some wrist-slapping and some humble excuse coming from you.
We did it once where we tried to sneak in a different bug tracking system behind the CTO's back. The one in place was hated with a passion by simply everyone on the dev team (but it had been evaluated - not by any devs - and paid for, so it was expected that we use it) and we had some licenses left for another one.
Sadly, this instance of asking for forgiveness rather than permission failed. We were asked to go back to the old system. I don't know if someone really had to answer to the CTO.
So basically, asking the CTO to change the bug tracking system and get permission: Zero chance.
On the other hand, starting to use it (with no expenses other than the time spent to set it up) and then seeing whether we could get some permission AFTER the fact: Not a fat chance, but considerably higher than zero.
Answer: It seems I've heard/read that the statement predates Admiral Hopper, but I don't remember details.  I suspect the original source is lost to time.
Anyway, the first I remember hearing "It is easier to apologize than ask permission" was at a talk the great lady gave when a nearby college was opening a new computer center back in 1985.  Her explanation was that the admirals to whom she reported didn't usually understand what she was trying to accomplish.  Their default answer to anything they didn't understand was "No".  However, they were almost always happy with the results if she ignored their answer.  Thus, she quickly figured out that it was easier to just proceed without asking for permission; if anyone was upset, she could just say she was sorry.
My nanosecond was a cherished souvenir until it got lost in a move a few years back.  :-(
Answer:
why do you believe that such a counterintuitive proposition would hold

It is a point of view that advocates taking risks.  By that point of view, if you don't take risks, you aren't testing the water, and you will not reach your maximum potential.
If you agree that you learn from your mistakes, then you may agree with this adage.  You may find that the bruises you take aren't nearly as bad as you imagined, and when you are successful, you find yourself rewarded in excess, because you "showed leadership".
This thought pattern makes the concept intuitive, if not the practice.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_aversion

In what situations is this typically true

This attitude is most valuable someone who is in a new job situation, but has an established track record (assuming competent management).  This is when mistakes will most often be forgiven (assuming good sense, intentions, and rationale), and progress will be most highly rewarded.
Comment: I'd consider this dangerous advice for a green programmer.  When using this adage, you really need to be right most of the time, and an inexperienced programmer won't be.  Moreover, it's useful to have established value to the company so you're more likely to get forgiveness.  If the green programmer tries something out of his or her authority, and it blows up, well, there's other green programmers in the job pool.
Comment: @David: I tried to edit it to better match the scenario.  I agree that *truly* green programmers are bound to shoot themselves in the foot if they go in too loud, too early.
Comment: @David: Good point.  I guess it's difficult to properly use this advice unless you're already a rock star.  I've run across at least a few people who gave the perception of being greenies (but in reality, weren't), specifically because they weren't heeding this advice.


Batch Cooking Meatballs

Question: I'm after batch cooking mini meatballs in sauce for my kids, so I'm wondering how best to prepare the meatballs so they can be frozen and reheated? I'm assuming it wouldn't be good to soak the breadcrumbs in milk? But I'm very much a beginner so not sure how best to go about it. Thanks :)
Comment: I usually partially cook my meatballs on a plate in microwave. That makes them tough enough to fly around in a pan without deforming. I've never frozen before the finishing conventional cook, but they certainly seem sturdy enough to freeze easily.
Comment: It's kind of a broad question. Is there any specific part about which you're curious? Since you didn't accept the given answer, I'm guessing that you're looking for different info. I cooked at a pretty upscale Italian restaurant where we used to batch-cook meatballs and freeze them, so if you had any more specific questions, I'm sure that I or someone else could answer them.
Answer: Meatballs can be pre-formed, frozen, then cooked....or cooked then frozen, then reheated with minimal if any loss of flavor.  Soaking breadcrumbs (or not) is irrelevant.  If it were me, I would form, cook in sauce, portion, freeze, reheat when ready.
Answer: to shape little meatballs, get a small scoop -- like an ice cream scoop only smaller.  much easier than shaping by hand.
I'd cook them first and then freeze them.  they'll stick together better and freeze in a single layer on a cookie sheet and then transfer to a plastic bag.  they you can take out as many as you need for dinner.

Batch Cooking Meatballs


Throwing a weapon as an improvised weapon

Question: In Pathfinder, if a weapon is thrown by a character at a target, does it become an improvised thrown weapon?
For example purposes, the character in question is a Barbarian with the feat Throw Anything, trying to throw a great club at a target.
Answer: (Very) strict RAW: No.
Rules-Lawyering this is actually kind of weird. Throwing a melee weapon (with no range increment) is covered in the Weapons section of the rules.

Thrown Weapons: [...] It is possible to throw a weapon that isn't designed to be thrown ([...]), and a character who does so takes a –4 penalty on the attack roll. Throwing a light or one-handed weapon is a standard action, while throwing a two-handed weapon is a full-round action. Regardless of the type of weapon, such an attack scores a threat only on a natural 20 and deals double damage on a critical hit. Such a weapon has a range increment of 10 feet.

(emphasis mine). There is no mention of "improvised" anywhere in this text. And since an improvised (ranged) weapon is a defined game term, the common english definition "not designed for" = "improvised" does not apply either.
Improvised Weapons itself states:

Sometimes objects not crafted to be weapons nonetheless see use in combat. Because such objects are not designed for this use, any creature that uses an improvised weapon in combat is considered to be nonproficient with it and takes a –4 penalty on attack rolls made with that object. To determine the size category and appropriate damage for an improvised weapon, compare its relative size and damage potential to the weapon list to find a reasonable match. An improvised weapon scores a threat on a natural roll of 20 and deals double damage on a critical hit. An improvised thrown weapon has a range increment of 10 feet.

(emphasis mine) An astute observer notices that there is no difference between a thrown melee weapon and an improvised weapon when it comes to the mechanical aspects. Both take a -4 penalty on the attack roll, have range 10 and critical 20/×2, which indicates that throwing a melee weapon is probably intended to be an improvised weapon attack.
The most interesting part of this is the first line, however, which forbids you to use anything that was "crafted to be (a) weapon" as an Improvised Weapon. It does not say "melee" or "ranged" weapon or anything like that, just "weapon", which leads to the following RAW weirdness:

You can not throw that greatclub as an Improvised Weapon and benefit from Throw Anything.
You can throw that big tree branch you found (which is roughly the same size and form as a greatclub), as an improvised weapon (dealing damage like a greatclub) and benefit from Throw Anything.

This, of course, is silly, and I'll go out on a limb here and say:
RAI: Yes.
I don't have any developer quotes to back this up, but I can't imagine it to be any other way.
Comment: Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been [moved to chat](http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/71332/discussion-on-answer-by-mrlemon-throwing-a-weapon-as-an-improvised-weapon).
Answer: I found an official FAQ on the Paizo website where an individual asked if they could use their longspear as an improvised weapon to attack adjacent creatures. Below is their response:

You could choose to wield your longspear as an improvised blunt
  weapon. In this case, it threatens only your adjacent squares, and not
  the further squares. If you are wielding it as a longspear, though, to
  threaten the further squares, then your grip precludes the use as an
  improvised blunt weapon. The rules are silent on how long it would
  take to shift between the two, but switching between a one-handed and
  a two-handed grip with a one-handed weapon like a longsword is a free
  action (and can thus be only taken on your turn), so it should take at
  least as long as that, thus preventing you from simultaneously
  threatening all of the squares at once. Incidentally, using the
  longspear as an improvised weapon in this way would not allow you to
  benefit from any magical enhancements it may possess, nor would you
  add benefits that apply when attacking with a longspear (such as
  Weapon Focus (longspear), but you would apply any benefits from using
  an improvised weapon (such as Catch Off-Guard).

Note that not only is the individual allowed to use the longspear as an improvised weapon, but that they could also apply Catch Off-Guard (a feat that works with improvised weapons). I would then think it reasonable to consider the allowing of manufactured weapons (not meant to be thrown) to be thrown as improvised weapons and benefit from the Throw Anything feat.


Why don't Saiyans age?

Question: I have seen many Dragon Ball series like Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT. One thing remains same is that Saiyans never look aged.
The last episode of Dragon Ball GT shows Pan as a grandma, but Goku was looking as young as he was in Dragon Ball Z. Why don't Saiyans age?
Comment: What do you mean? They clearly do age. Goku being the best example of them all. Goku was a little squirt at the beginning of DB, then after his training at Kami's lookout he was a tall squirt and then at the start of DBZ he ages further looking like a real father-like figure.
Comment: About the last episode of Dragon Ball GT: http://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/19816/what-happened-to-goku-after-he-left-the-earth-at-the-end-of-dragon-ball-gt It seems that your assumption is flawed?
Answer: To my knowledge, they do age, just very slowly in adulthood. This is a genetic trait, I assume, to reach longer duration of physical demands. They are designed to be fighters, and longevity of a lifespan is only practical. Vegeta confirmed this towards the end of DBZ: "So they can fight longer".
From a quick Google search:

According to the Daizenshuu, Saiyan's lifespan is about the same as an average Human (70 to 90 years, with exceptions, of course), but keep in their peak longer. Unlike Humans, Saiyans remain in their youth and prime much longer. As explained by Vegeta near the end of Dragon Ball Z, they stay young longer because they live for and are built for battle

From Saiyan article on Dragon Ball wiki. (Visit the link for more examples, and a more definitive explanation).
Something else to consider: they stay in their prime longer because they are full Saiyans, whereas Pan is only quarter Saiyan.
Answer: I just have to add something else:
Goku shrunk back to being a little kid during DB GT, right? And if I remember right, he never got the chance to grow back right away but grew up naturally.
Might add as to why he looked the same as he was in DBZ when Pan found him.

Why don't Saiyans age?


How can I Adjust UTC/Local Time Zone

Question: Because Windows uses local time as their base, I need to set elementary OS to also run in local time or it screws up my Windows 10 time setting and updates. How can I get elementary OS to run on local time instead of UTC?
Answer: Make Linux use 'Local' time
To tell your System that the hardware clock is set to 'local' time:
<code>sudo nano /etc/default/rcS
# change the following section

# assume that the BIOS clock is set to UTC time (recommended)
UTC=no
</code>
elementary OS & Linux Mint are based on Ubuntu. So most commands from Ubuntu are also working on elementary OS & Mint.
Comment: Thank you pdunker, that is the command I was looking for.
Comment: @RockyBennett, if this answered solved your issue, be sure to mark it as accepted with the green check under the voting arrows
Answer: Open "System Settings" and select "Date & Time"
To use Network Time
Select your time zone by clicking in the map or by clicking the button next to "time zone:" and selecting your time zone from the popover.
To set the time manually
At the bottom of the window, click the switch next to "network time". Set the date and time using the now-enabled text entry boxes

How can I Adjust UTC/Local Time Zone


Explain the Fletcher-Munson Curve To An Idiot

Question: I just know that it's has something to do with the loudness levels being equal across the frequency spectrum, care to explain it further?
Answer: The X-axis is obviously frequency, and the Y-axis is power. Each curve on the graph is a "perceived loudness" level. The curves dip lower towards the middle-high end of the spectrum, because we hear those frequencies more easily. Each curve is labelled with a number equivalent to its perceived loudness level. If you look at each of those curves on the 1,000 Hz line (X-axis), you'll notice that they cross the power level that matches their perceived rating. For example, the 60 curve meets the intersection of 60 on the Y-axis (power), and the 100 curve meets the intersection of 100 on the Y-axis.
Things get compacted on either end of the spectrum, because more energy is required for us to perceive those frequencies as the same loudness level. Let's use that 60 curve as an example. We've already established that it crosses the power scale at 60 for 1,000 Hz. For us to perceive 30 Hz as the same volume as 1,000 Hz, it will need approximately 19dB more power (the 60 curve meets 30 Hz at approximately 79 on the Y-axis). 16 kHz needs about the same increase in power above 1,000 Hz to match in percevied volume (the 60 curve meets 16 kHz at approximately 80dB).
While there have been some flaws identified in the Fletcher-Munson curves (don't ask me what, because I don't know for certain), the principle applies to sound propagation/reproduction in any medium. Amplifiers and playback systems are designed using information similar to these (that's why we have the ".1" in 5.1, and things like "bass management" to make up for crappy mains in home theatre systems), and you could easily see similar results to the curve walking around outside with an SPL meter. Without that power increase, whether it come from electrical amplification or natural acoustic phenomenon, we won't hear things as being the same level.
Make sense?
Answer: Loudness levels NOT being equal across the frequency spectrum. The Fletcher-Munson curve demonstrates that our perception of frequencies is altered depending on the sound's loudness.
Comment: not quite. our perception of LOUDNESS is altered by the ENERGY (or power) within that frequency band. it seems like a minor difference, i know. but loudness is a subjective idea, whereas energy/power can actually be defined within a given sample.
Answer: Regarding flaws in the Fletcher-Munson curves: the original work establishing the curves was done in the 1920's and early 1930's under the supervision of Harvey Fletcher of Bell Laboratories.  He was assisted by Fred Munson.  At that time, making accurate measurements of the properties of sound was more difficult than it became later, the sources and instruments available were simply not as good as what we have now.  Therefore, later researchers (Robinson and Dadson, for example)  revised the curves, based on the improved measurements that they made.
Answer: The measurements are hard, not because of instruments (FM had sufficiently good instruments) but because the listeners have to tell you when two sounds at very different frequencies sound as loud as each other. And in the FM case, at sound levels up to 120dB (painful). If you try playing two sounds of very different frequencies figuring out when one is as loud as the other is tough. Fold in different people and their differing frequency responses. The scatter in the numbers is huge, and then you have to average them. Do you average the energies or the dB? etc. The three curves, the FM, the Robinson Dadson, and the ISO 2003 differ pretty significantly from each other. Which are "better"? Why do they differ so much from each other?(over 10dB in some places)? I do not think anyone knows, but it does indicate that one should take them with a certain grain of salt.
Comment: it says "to an idiot". one curve is more than enough. for a reference of how curves+standards+decibel talk sounds like to an idiot, may i suggest http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KaOrSuWZeM


What's the difference between "obedecer" and "atenerse"?

Question: The words obedecer and atenerse seem to have very similar meanings, both meaning obey or go by. What's the main difference between them? Are they interchangeable or are they used in certain phrases?
Comment: There are some clear differences, but could you give us some examples? Are there particular sentences where you don't know which of the two verbs to use?
Answer: I can say that they might have similar or totally different meanings.
When we talk about "Obedecer" we talk about strictly DO whatever something or someone says
IE

"obey the rules"

"obedecer las reglas'

"obey your mother"

"obedece a tu madre"

but when we talk about "atenerse" its about "stick" , is rather the idea of being forced into something than having you obeying. "atenerse" is also more inclined towards something that you have to be prepared for, it also has a negative connotation.
So when we use "atente" we are trying refer to the negative impacts of not following, obeying or not being prepared for something.
For this I will provide some translations about the whole idea of "atente" and not just the translation of the word

"atente a las consecuencias"

"prepare for the consequences/face the consequences/be ready for the consequences"

"atente al cambio"

"Prepare for the change/Be ready for the change/Beware the change"

"atente a las reglas"

follow the rules and be aware of the consequences of not following them

------------------------ edit, another example --------------------------
another example that i think is helpful to understand this is using it on the past tense

"El se atuvo a las consecuencias"
that meas something like

he withstood/faced the consequences
Answer: Please keep in mind for next time, it's best practice to include definitions of the two words you're comparing, with links to the dictionaries you used.  Also, it's good to expand your question, to show us where you're getting hung up, using some standard resource.
My instinct about this was that "obedecer" would be more for children and soldiers, and "atenerse" would be more for people who can be trusted to think and use their best judgment.  The examples provided under "obedecer" in spanishdict.com support this guess:

Es un niño bien educado; siempre obedece a su madre. | He's a
  well-behaved child; he always obeys his mother.
El viento obedece a una tormenta que se acerca. | The wind is due to a
  storm that is approaching.
Tienes que aprender a obedecer sin replicar. | You have to learn to
  obey without talking back.

Note that the wind definitely doesn't think or use its best judgment!


NVIDIA CUDA on Windows Compact Embedded 7

Question: Is there a way to use NVIDIA CUDA in Windows Embedded Compact 7? I'm currently working on a system that processes video and would like to change from Windows 7 to Windows CE 7. However, I'm not sure about using CUDA. Windows Embedded Standard 7 works, but I was hoping to go lighter.
Answer: Support for cuda is determined by the GPU used in the system and the driver.
If a newer Nvidia driver is working on Windows Compact Embedded 7 then yes, you will be able to use CUDA.
Though it looks like Nvidia is not supporting it anymore going by the supported driver list on microsoft.com
The only drivers are for a Nvidia Graphics Card from 2007 that doesn't support CUDA.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsembedded/en-us/drivercatalog.aspx
Answer: Windows Embedded Compact 7 is not a lighter version of Windows Embedded 7 Standard. It is a different operating system in the Windows CE line while standard is from the Windows NT line.
So the answer is no.


What is a good strategy to deal with lots of engineers turtling on the other team?

Question: Now that the Engineer update has come, there will be lots of Engineers building up everywhere.  How should this best be handled?
Comment: Kind of fun for Question #1 on the site.
Comment: What's "turtling"?
Comment: @ChrisF like a turtle hinding behind a carapace. Each and every engineer in a TF2 game can build a defensive turret and thus turtle a point
Comment: Yep - since this game is driven by physical points (capture points, intelligence points, cart checkpoints) in most of the gamemodes, "turtling" is often effective.  It can make for quite the stale-mate if done to an extreme.
Answer: Lots of medics with lots of ubers on high-damage-dealing classes.  Demomen, if they are any good, usually work best against a sentry farm — stickies are perfect for this job, the usual problem is living long enough to deploy and detonate enough of them.
Heavies or pyros can also be effective, if they can get close enough (short range for a heavy, point-blank for a pyro) without being overwhelmed by the knockback before they can do damage. The medic should lead the uber combo in (particularly if the partner is a heavy) — he's faster, so he can absorb the knockback better.
If at all possible, back the uber team(s) up with as much raw firepower as you can muster — the aim is to either overwhelm the engies' ability to repair stuff, take out the engies directly, or take out dispensers.  Soldiers are good for this support role, as they can place well-aimed damage from behind the uber.  Demos can support well, too — their indirect fire can damage engies and dispensers without having to kill the sentry first.
Sending a spy in to sap just before or during the uber(s) can be a good idea, too.
Comment: Don't forget that crits don't do extra damage to buildings. That kritzkrieg might be more useful on a heavy standing behind the uber.
Comment: Uber pyro using the Homewrecker. +100% Damage against buildings.
Comment: @Oak: http://tf2wiki.net/wiki/Critical#Notes
Comment: remember: while critz dont do extra damage against buildings they can be devastating to the engineer behind them.
Comment: @Whatsit: interesting, I didn't know that, can you provide a source?
Comment: @Whatsit If you uber the heavy and kritz him the engie is gone in about 1 second, leaving no one to repair the sentry.
Comment: @Corv1nus: Any half-decent engineer will be crouched behind his sentry. Bullets don't penetrate the sentry so the engineer shouldn't be hit.
Comment: @Whatsit - Crouching doesn't make them 100% hidden.  A heavy's bullet spray will wipe them out.  I've done it at least 100 times. Also, crockets and crit stickies will wipe him out.  I've done that 100s of times too.
Comment: An uber pyro can also be very effective at taking out a nest.
Answer: Unfortunately, twiddling your thumbs behind your own base isn't going to win your team the round. If there are that many Engies, Spies will probably be ineffective.
Grab yourself some medics and frontline (or take 'em from behind) forces like Heavies, Soldiers, or Demomen, uber, and advance. Side tip : as you advance, have your progress reinforced by your own engineers setting up on newly-won terrain behind you. This will help your new ground to hold out longer.
Class updates will always create all-of-a-sudden influlxes of the respective classes, but just remember their strengths and weaknesses, and don't feel too overwhelmed.
Comment: I've always felt that Soldiers are a bad choice for ubered structure destruction. Pyros and Heavies have continuous damage output, while Soldiers can only fire a few shots before reloading. Thus, Soldiers should hit the Engie hardpoint at range, while the Pyros and Heavies get up close and personal with an uber.
Answer: A lot of engineers usually involves a lot of teleports.
As a spy, alert your team about your intentions and go to sap the teleports entrances. These will cause the engineers move the focus out of the sentries and your team should be able to put them down. 1 uber or 2 could help. ;)
Answer: As a long-time engineer player, I'd say my sentry has been killed by a soldier or demo more than anything else.
Spies are useful in hectic situations but not when there are multiple alert engineers, and ubers are useful but require careful coordination and are very limited.
I say, go with corner-edging soldiers and sneaky demos. A big enough concentration of them can just cause so much damage the engineers can't keep up.
Also, any source of crits (buff banner, krit medic) can be a great help. It doesn't do extra damage to the sentry but it can definitely do some serious damage to the engineer healing it.
Comment: I cannot say how many times a crit rocket has killed me while repairing my sentry.
Answer: For pre-update senties, they will always shoot at the closest enemy. Run an uber up front to take all the sentry fire, and let the rest of your team stand behind and focus fire on the sentries without getting shot (By the sentries at least). Soldiers work well for this, as they can straight-shoot the sentries from a distance. Direct-hit especially so. Just remember you need at least two soldiers per sentry or the engineer can out-repair the damage.
Watch out for pyros air-blasting you with this method. Kill them first if you can.
Whenever ubers attack sentries, the medic should run ahead of their buddy. This allows the medic to take the brunt of the knockback and allows both players to get closer. This is especially important when there are multiple sentries, because the accumulated knockback can push a demo or heavy back beyond their effective range.
Answer: It's not just the job of spies, medics, and heavy-hitting classes, everyone can pitch in to help take down a sentry!
Scout
As a scout, you can Bonk! in and draw the fire of the Sentry.  As long as you're the first thing it sees, un-Wrangled sentries will target you and not the rest of your team.  Even if they DO wrangle, you can still act as a distraction to the rest of the team (Spies especially love a wrangled sentry nest).  Might even get in the Engine's face and force him to accidentally shoot himself.
Sniper
Yes, you too can help take out a Sentry nest!  In fact you have the most important job of all - Taking out the Engineer!  Assuming you can get a good line of sight, one shot to his head is all it takes.  And when he's dead, there's nothing to stop you from charging a shot and picking off his unguarded sentry either.  The Machina can help damage Engies that hide behind their sentry, but for unattended sentries, the Sydney Sleeper charges up VERY fast.  For a full breakdown, go here. If all else fails, you can always throw a Jarate grenade to soften the Engie & his pals.
Engineer
You have the pistol, which like a Scout's pistol can take down minis and level 1s at a distance.  But you've also got a Wrangler, which if you can get your sentry into position can tear through another Engie's sentry, assuming he doesn't catch on.  The best way you can help your team though is by building up a teleporter, so that they can get to and take down the other team's Sentry.
Of coures, this is only if you insist on playing these classes...otherwise switching to a higher damage-output class, a medic, or even a spy might be more useful.
Answer: As a soldier, a Direct Hit is great vs any Engineers nest, particularly in large open areas where you can outrange them. The low splash damage of the Direct Hit is negated by the fact that sentries don't move, but most importantly firing 4 Direct Hit rockets without delay will destroy a sentry even if 1 engineer is repairing it (though 2 will likely repair through the damage). The only trick is making sure no one kills you while you are firing.
Comment: Sniping a sentry with 4 normal rockets just outside the range of the sentry usually works just as well. Obvious counter is the wrangler in both cases, as it allows the engy to shoot back and gives the sentry a shield.
Comment: @Sumurai8 Yes, but a direct hit is faster and more reliable. Also, a direct hit can kill in just 2 shots (I believe) if the sentry is not being repaired.


How to share a document with everyone and have them immediately follow it?

Question: we're very new to SP 2013 hence the basic question.
We uploaded a small user guide for SP2013 and shared it with everyone. This means that anyone can download it, or the permissions are even greater and they can edit it ? Can we have certain uploaded document read-only and when shared with everyone to have them following it by default ?
Or is there any other method to achieve similar thing?
Answer: There are two main concepts in how you can make this work, following the article of Olivier Carpentier "How to add programmatically users as followers with new SPSecurityEventReceiver in SharePoint 2013" we learn that:

One of the behavior of this feature is that if you're adding someone as a user in this web site (for example, you're adding a user as a site member), this user is not automatically a follower, because out-of-the-box following a content is a self user action.

However, this can be solved by using SPSocialFollowingManager:

The first one is the extended Social API. There are a lot of new classes that you can use get or set data about social activities. For example, the new SPSocialFollowingManager provides methods to programmatically manage followers.

Adding the user profile to the SPSocialFollowingManager, followed by a new instance of an SPSocialActorInfo (containing all the properties as ContentUri, AccountName and ActorType) and finally update the manager.Follow with the updated actorInfo instance, like the following:
<code>    SPSecurity.RunWithElevatedPrivileges(delegate()
    {
        //Get the UserProfil for target user
        SPServiceContext serverContext = SPServiceContext.GetContext(properties.Web.Site);
        UserProfileManager profileManager = new UserProfileManager(serverContext);
        UserProfile profile = profileManager.GetUserProfile(targetUser.LoginName);
        if (profile != null)
        {
            //Inits the social following manager for the profile
            SPSocialFollowingManager manager = new SPSocialFollowingManager(profile);

            //Init the social actor with current web
            SPSocialActorInfo actorInfo = new SPSocialActorInfo();
            actorInfo.ContentUri = new Uri(properties.WebFullUrl); // change to Document URI
            actorInfo.AccountName = targetUser.LoginName;
            actorInfo.ActorType = SPSocialActorType.Site; // Change to SPSocialActorType.Document;

            //Follow on this actor
            manager.Follow(actorInfo);
        }

    });
</code>
Beware though that this code regards a site, but if you change the ContentUri to point to a document instead as well as changing the ActorType property to Document instead of Site, you should be able to force users to follow a document.
Answer: If you are a contributor and share the document with others you cannot choose the level of the privileges (read, contribute, full control, etC). The owner is the one who chooses the permission level in Access Request page Only. But, if you are the owner, a dropdown list is enabled with several options.
Without code there is no OOTB functionality that covers what you are asking for.
You could createa custom context menu for the document that Share and follow the document.
Check this page to see how to create a context menu. http://sanjivblog.wordpress.com/2011/08/17/create-custom-context-menu-in-sharepoint-document-library/
Answer: If you only want certain people editing the document you need to specify the permission.
To understand user permission, you can read the following:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc721640.aspx
I am not sure if you can make all users follow a document by default without any code, but what you can do is setup Alerts for users on that document.

http://www.fpweb.net/support/microsoft-sharepoint/tutorials/sharepoint-2013/alerts/create-new-alert/#
Regards,
JP


Is there a reason to change a server's hard drive before it faults?

Question: Just a quick question: is there a reason to change a server's hard drive after x years before it faults (it eventually will at some point) or should I just leave it until it faults? I have little experience with actual server administration so I wonder...
Comment: I did not expect to get so many answers, wow :)
After reviewing all of them, and taking into consideration that
a) The server's harddrives are adequate for it purposes
b) Backup is absolutely guaranteed (Using RAID + Replication Slave + daily backup to an external source)
I find no reason to suggest a drive change.

Thanks all!
Answer: A great reason to change it is if you want to add another task to your list of things to do while increasing the chances of something going wrong.
All joking aside, there really isn't any reason I've heard of to change the drive ahead of time. If you have RAID in place, you already have protection in place (assuming you have decent backups), and you're not generating waste material in the form of a dead drive to dispose of and you don't have to needlessly work on eliminating sensitive data from the drive. You won't be spending extra money on new drives and you still won't be proactively protecting against things that could still go wrong anyway, like a faulty drive controller, which isn't common as a drive fault source but can happen.
On the other hand this might help you discover unrecoverable drive errors that aren't triggering alarms on the RAID unit, as we had happen with RAID 5. We were bitten by this and ended up needing to rebuild from bare metal from backup (so even in that case, a proper backup will help you recover.) A RAID level that takes into consideration today's larger drive capacities and unrecoverable error tolerances would have helped us, if not, backups save the day.
Most administrators have a decent RAID and backup plan so there's no real need to generate extra waste by replacing the drives needlessly.
Answer: The only time I might consider this is if I had a bunch of disks from the same batch, and others in the batch had started failing, then I might consider it.
If I was tight on space, then sure, I'd do it -- but for no other reason than just because it's getting old?  No, because on average the failure rate in the first year is similar to the failure rate any other years.  (note that the graph breaks out the first year over 3 month, 6 month, 1 year, but you'd have to add them all together to get the chance of failure at 1 year). And when looking at high disk utilization, it's more likely to fail in the first year than in the next three years combined.
The only correlation to late drive failure was in hotter rooms, and we keep our server rooms cool.
Answer: I'm all for being proactive, but I've never done it and have never heard of anyone doing it. Presumably you have some type of RAID setup and have regularly occurring, valid backups for the system(s) in question.
Comment: +1, Never considered it.  Replacing a disk, just-in-case, and intentionally triggering an array rebuild doesn't seem like the best way to "exercise" the remaining production disks. Be harder to explain to the boss why the system is down if the rebuild failed.
Comment: I replace disks that have SMART errors, but I would consider them failed, even if they to still technically work.
Answer: Yes, performance and capacity. If the old hard drive does 70MB/sec sustained reads and 100 IOPS and the potential replacement does 200MB/sec sustained reads and 175 IOPS and also has 3 times the capacity you might be justified to buy new drives and swap out old for new simply for performance/capacity reasons. (and those numbers are totally made up, the point is newer can be significantly faster).
Now what do you do with the old drives. You might use them in a test server, or add them to a backup to disk array, or hold on to them as emergency spares. Or you might just wipe them and send them away for disposal.
Your average server now days is IO bound more than it is processor bound (or at least all of mine are). So if you have a really old server that has no issues with CPU time or Memory shortages you likely have room to significantly improve performance by replacing hard drives that are several generations behind what you can easily purchase to replace them with.
Answer: It depends of the impact if the hard drive fault.
If you don't have a RAID
If you don't care about the server availability because the service can be stoped or because it's in high availability and if you have a working backup of data. I would say Ok, let the drive die and change it and restore data when it will fail.
If you care about availability, I will say use RAID ;)
If you have a RAID (1, 5, 6, ...)
I would say, why changing the hard drive before fault ? RAID (and backup) is here for that. Changing a hard drive just in case it could fail is a risk to broke something (raid reconstruction is always risky)
But it's only my point of view ! If you think your drive may be too old, you may want to change your server too.
Answer: Some disks die in 1 hour, others last 2 decades.
If it's not failed or failing (something you can usually establish via S.M.A.R.T. monitoring or performance problems) then the only other reason to throw it out is if it's not large enough or fast enough for your purposes.
Comment: Just monitor the drive with S.M.A.R.T. and it will usually show the signs of failure before it is too late.
Comment: @Prof Google's mass disk study showed SMART was "usually" reliable 44%-72% of the time.  http://static.googleusercontent.com/external_content/untrusted_dlcp/labs.google.com/en/us/papers/disk_failures.pdf
Answer: With disks, the question is not if they will fail, but when. They're mechanical devices (unless using SSDs, but they have their own caveats), so they will fail, sooner or later.
Disk vendors tend to tailor their manufacturing processes to be as cheap as possible, because even a single cent saved per disk can be quite important when you're producing and selling thousands of them; but they of course don't want their disks to fail before the warranty period ends, or they'd be replacing them for free all the time; so, they'll happily spend as much as needed to have them last as long as the warranty covers them... but not a single cent more.
The end result is: most disks tend to fail soon after the warranty period ends. This is of course not a general rule, it's only statistics, and your disk could fail now or last until you won't need it anymore... but, statistically, there are lots of disks that fail a few days or months after their warranty expired.
Of course, buying new ones when you still don't need them can be costly... but replacing them after the warranty expires and they've failed will be costly anyway.
Now, if you could find a way to make them fail while still warranted (and not losing data in the process, i.e. having good RAID AND backups), well, that would be optimal ;-)
Answer: I wouldn't replace a working drive any more than I'd replace a working power supply. Both will eventually fail but it makes no sense, either technically or financially, to replace them without good cause. Replace them when they start to show signs of trouble.
In the case of hard drives the trend is that if a drive is going to fail early it will more than likely do so in the first year. Drives that have run trouble free for 6 years can normally be relied on to continue to work for at least a few more years yet. Obviously there are plenty of exceptions to that but it is the general trend.
Comment: You (usually) don't lose data when a power supply fails...
Comment: @Massimo - True, but on a server you also don't usually lose data when one drive fails. In my opinion, if there's no redundancy it's just a glorified workstation, not a real server.
Answer: Also, keep in mind that most server class drives have more stringent manufactoring requirements and are typically more reliable than low cost/budget desktop drives.  So, aside of the dangers of replacing a 'good' drive in the event of it possibly failing, doing this for a large array can add up to a large sum of money.
Also, when using a RAID, that is why it is a good idea having at least one hot spare in the server, so it can quickly begin to rebuild and remain healthy till you purchase replacements on a as-needed basis.
Answer: I've done it on "zero-downtime" systems. Really though, you're just as likely to lose a different drive when the RAID rebuilds...I swapped one out once, then ended up swapping it back in when another drive started throwing errors during the rebuild.
It's a philosophy question really: if you believe in pro-active stress testing (both of the array and of your cardiovascular system) then you should swap your drives. But really, you're never going to know which drive is going to go bad next. It's not at all unlikely that you could lose the newly replaced drive before you lose any of the older, proven drives.
That being said, I'd waste my time on stress-testing my backup solution, and leave the drives in peace until they start actually throwing errors.


Why does halite have a cubic crystal

Question: Why does mineral halite has a cubic crystal ? Is this a result of the way by which sodium ions and chloride ions are held together ?  And what is the relation between the cubic crystal of halite and its cleavage ?
Comment: I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because this really sounds like a homework question. With a rep of 318 you should know a question like this should have more to it, such as the research you've done.
Comment: Doesn't sound like a straight homework question to me so much, but agree further indication of your thinking and the details you've looked into would be best.
Answer: Halite has a cubic structure as a result of its ionic bonds and ion sizes. This means that the positively charged sodium tends to be surrounded by as many negatively charged chlorine ions as possible (and vice versa) but that attraction is working against the repulsion of positive charges from each other and negative charges from each other. It balances nicely with cubic packing of the atoms.

This does control the cleavage direction but there are other cubic minerals where the ion sizes and charge mean the cleavage is stronger in different directions. A good example is fluorite, calcium fluoride, which often forms cubic-shaped crystals but has octahedral cleavage.
Comment: Ok, then why does halite has a cubic cleavage ?

Why does halite have a cubic crystal


Structure theorem for foliations on $\mathbb R$

Question: In my research, it so happens that it might be useful to look at foliations on a surface. I am however having a hard time absorbing a new subject. So, could somebody point me to some suitable references for the simpler situation of foliations on the real line $\mathbb R$, and their structural properties, classification etc?
Answer: I am not sure that your question makes sense.
A foliation on a surface decomposes the surface continuously into one-dimensional "leaves". (Think of taking a vector field on your surface; the corresponding flow will give you a foliation.) The simplest example of a foliation is probably to form a torus by identifying opposite sides of a unit square. Take an angle $\alpha$ and look at all the lines that have angle $\alpha$ with the real axis; these will project down to a foliation. If the slope of the lines is rational, then the corresponding foliation will consist of closed curves; otherwise, however, each leaf keeps winding around the torus.
More generally, you will want to allow some isolated singularities in your foliations, but essentially the picture is as described above.
If you were going to consider foliations of the real line, then the leaves would be zero-dimensional, i.e. they would just be points - so there is just one "foliation", namely the decomposition of the real line into singletons!
So I'm afraid you'll have to stick with foliations on surfaces, but that's not so bad; after all, in two dimensions you can easily draw pictures to get some idea of what is going on.
Answer: Instead of looking at foliations of 1-dimensional spaces, look at foliations of 2-dimensional spaces with 1-dimensional leaves. That is, look at foliations of the plane by curves. A simple family of examples is given by the level curves of a function $f:\mathbb R^2 \to \mathbb R$. Not all foliations are like that but it helps to start getting some intuition. More generally, look at the solutions of 2-dimensional autonomous ordinary differential equations. The level curve example comes from Hamiltonians equations.
For a book, try Geometric Theory of Foliations by Camacho and Lins Neto.
Answer: I agree with mathstribble that a foliation of $\mathbb R$ are just the set of points of $\mathbb R$ (which of course is $\mathbb R$ itself) and not of interest. However, since what you really wish to understand is foliations of surfaces, I'll point you to a paper that may help: H. B. Lawson. Foliations. Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 80:3 (1974), 369–418. MR 0343289 (49 #8031).