Are children punished for the sins of their parents? Or rewarded for their good deeds?

Question: Does Allah (swt) punish (in this life and in the Hereafter) the sons/daughters for misdeeds committed by the father/mother? Are sons/daughters rewarded (in this life and in the Hereafter) for the good deeds done by the parents?
Answer: Quran is very clear on this subject that good or bad deeds are not transferrable, as mentioned in
Surah 35:18

And no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another. And if a heavily laden soul calls [another] to [carry some of] its load, nothing of it will be carried, even if he should be a close relative....

Surah 6:164

... And every soul earns not [blame] except against itself, and no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another...

Surah 17:15

Whoever is guided is only guided for [the benefit of] his soul. And whoever errs only errs against it. And no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another...

Surah 39:7

If you disbelieve - indeed, Allah is Free from need of you. And He does not approve for His servants disbelief. And if you are grateful, He approves it for you; and no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another...
Answer: Although the answers by other brothers are actually correct, but let me complete them a bit:
Yes, Allah عز و جل punishes and rewards both in this life and in the Hereafter the children for deeds committed by their parents, and punishes and rewards the parents for the deeds done by their children, BUT only if those children or parents have any share, even if is slight and stealth to our eyes, in the good or bad deeds done by the parents or children, respectively.
Actually, this is a general rule, the deeds someone does have direct and indirect effects into his and others' lives: الأعمال ما تقدم and الأعمال ما تأخر are defined according to this obvious issue. Any one is responsible for every effect that his/her deeds might have, upon his own life or others' lives. This responsibility can grow grave when the persons tied together are parents and children, specifically when parents are highly responsible to treat their children and children CAN have great roles in the decisions their parents may make.
So we have many Islamic TRUE stories that a man was in torture in his grave but then relaxed soon after his son did a good job in his personal life, even without sending its rewards to his father, the reason for that is clear, the father had a share in that good job by treating his son correctly in that respect, now the son doing that is like the father in his own life is doing that. This should grab your attention to the important role a teacher or tutor can have, they will be responsible for many good or bad deeds of what their students do to the end of their lives, and even to the end of lives of all those who were affected by them in a sense or another:

أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ ضَرَ‌بَ اللَّـهُ مَثَلًا كَلِمَةً طَيِّبَةً
  كَشَجَرَ‌ةٍ طَيِّبَةٍ أَصْلُهَا ثَابِتٌ وَفَرْ‌عُهَا فِي السَّمَاءِ /
  تُؤْتِي أُكُلَهَا كُلَّ حِينٍ بِإِذْنِ رَ‌بِّهَا ۗ وَيَضْرِ‌بُ
  اللَّـهُ الْأَمْثَالَ لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَذَكَّرُ‌ونَ / وَمَثَلُ
  كَلِمَةٍ خَبِيثَةٍ كَشَجَرَ‌ةٍ خَبِيثَةٍ اجْتُثَّتْ مِن فَوْقِ
  الْأَرْ‌ضِ مَا لَهَا مِن قَرَ‌ارٍ / يُثَبِّتُ اللَّـهُ الَّذِينَ
  آمَنُوا بِالْقَوْلِ الثَّابِتِ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَفِي
  الْآخِرَ‌ةِ ۖ وَيُضِلُّ اللَّـهُ الظَّالِمِينَ ۚ وَيَفْعَلُ اللَّـهُ
  مَا يَشَاءُ
Seest thou not how Allah sets forth a parable? - A goodly word like a
  goodly tree, whose root is firmly fixed, and its branches (reach) to
  the heavens,- of its Lord. So Allah sets forth parables for men, in
  order that they may receive admonition. / It brings forth its fruit at
  all times, by the leave of its Lord. So Allah sets forth parables for
  men, in order that they may receive admonition. / And the parable of
  an evil Word is that of an evil tree: It is torn up by the root from
  the surface of the earth: it has no stability. / Allah will establish
  in strength those who believe, with the word that stands firm, in this
  world and in the Hereafter; but Allah will leave, to stray, those who
  do wrong: Allah doeth what He willeth. [Al-Ibrahim, 24-27]

ِYou see, a dumb who is busy with his own life will be placed far higher in the Judgment day than a genius scientists who think has proved God not to exist(!) and make a vast number of lives go astray through a number of centuries ... Perhaps if scientists like Darwin, Dawkins, Hawkins and Freud (not judging about them, Allah knows better how to treat them, only examples for having significant effect in making people go astray) knew how they might make people go astray never have talked a single word.
Answer: I believe that parents are responsible for there children deeds because if your parents act bad you will act bad just like them. If your parents act good you will act good. Everything that you learn is from your parents. It is your parents responsibility to teach you good, we came to this world to worship the one and only God,allah(swt)
Answer: I think it's unfair to say that the parents are responsible for the way their children live after their passing. Every soul will pay a price for their own bad deeds. No parent can be blamed unless, in life, they wanted destruction amongst their children. Saying "my parents are turning in their grave" for what the children do, is, to me, not true!
Comment: Welcome to Islam SE! Answers here should be elaborate and focused on addressing the question. Claims should be supported by evidence. Please visit our [tour](//islam.stackexchange.com/tour) in the [help center](//islam.stackexchange.com/help), and refer to [how to answer questions](//islam.stackexchange.com/help/how-to-answer).


Places worth visiting by train from Munich to Berlin

Question: My partner and I are planning to take a train from Munich to Berlin and stop over at a few cities on the way. As it will be our first time visiting Germany for 7 days, can you please advise which is the best route to take and which are the cities and places that should not be missed?
Comment: Is your total time in Germany 7 days, or do you have 7 days for the trip, i.e. excluding time spent in Munich and Berlin?
Comment: Hi and welcome to Travel SE. Your question is too broad, there are too many places that can be visited and which of the should not be missed is very subjective
Answer: You can visit Dresden, Leipzig, Bamberg and Nürnberg, in that order. In case this is too much, give priority to Dresden and Nürnberg.
The train ride from Dresden to Nürnberg via Zwickau is a scenic one. There are direct regional trains (Interregio-Express, IRE). The journey takes about 4 hours and 30 minutes. Worthwile stops along this route are Freiberg, Plauen and Zwickau.
If you are willing to temporarily leave Germany you can also travel via Dresden and Prague. The train ride from Dresden to Prague is also scenic.
Comment: +1 for suggesting Prague, it beats whatever else it's in the way from Munich to Berlin.
Answer: Assuming that you have only 7 days in Germany overall (which your wording suggests): Berlin and Munich definitely deserve 2 days each. For the remaining time, I agree with Marcel C. that Nuremberg (Nürnberg) and Dresden are the most interesting stops, and can easily take up 3 days between them. All of these cities are connected by high speed ICE lines, so the actual traveling will take only a few hours each time.
Some alternatives: If you are interested in the history of Protestantism, then you might want to see the Wartburg near Eisenach, and Wittenberg. If you're into classic German literature, Weimar would be a priority.
Answer: I know it is outside of Germany but if you haven't gone before, I would highly recommend Prague. My wife and I stayed there for a couple of days as we traveled from Munich to Berlin and it was on our way. We also stopped of in Dresden as we went from Prague to Berlin.
Prague was one of my favorite places due to its history, amazing architecture and culture. As a bonus you get the true feel of an eastern bloc country just to add variety to your trip.
Look up Old Town Prague, the Charles Bridge and Prague Castle to get an idea.
Comment: In Europe, if you want to get a feel of what a so-called eastern block country, go to Belarus.
Answer: While you're in Berlin, don't forget to visit Potsdam. It's quite nice. I'd say Hamburg is nice also, but it's one hour and 50 mins away from Berlin. If you're tired of Berlin then it's worth a visit as well, but I really doubt that.
Comment: Berlin to Hamburg in one hour? Only on the maglev train that was cancelled in 2000...
Comment: Sorry you were right, I just checked it's 1:50. :-(


Why is a major third considered more consonant than a perfect fourth?

Question: The "perfect" quality implies it should be as consonant as a perfect fifth, but that doesn't seem to be true. Moreover, a perfect fourth has the slightly nicer ratio of 4:3 compared to a major thirds 5:4. Is the naming just for historical reasons?
Comment: See this related video about perfect fourths sometimes being dissonant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhzrUCxJ1jM
Comment: "it should be [...] but that doesn't seem to be true" Is your question based on your own perception of consonance? Or are you repeating something elsewhere which stated "perfect fourth" is less consonant? ttw's answer addresses perception very well.
Answer: I have to disagree with Todd Wilcox on this. The fourth as an interval is present in the overtone series, lower than the major third. It is the interval that exists between the 3rd and 4th harmonics. We don't have a major 3rd in the harmonic series until we allow the 5th harmonic to be considered.
So, purely on the basis of the overtone series, the fourth is quite consonant. And in fact for centuries (when Pythagorean tuning ruled the day, and fifths and fourths were tuned to perfect ratios) the fourth was considered far more consonant than the major third. The third is actually quite removed (about 22 cents sharp) from being an integer ratio relationship with Pythagorean tuning, and thus is a sour interval in this tuning system.
The harmony books I have seen have given the fourth an ambivalent evaluation, as being either consonant or dissonant depending upon context. The fourth specifically is considered dissonant is if it appears as the lowest interval in a chord. The reason for this is due to the strength which the interval evokes the overtone system in which the lower note would be the fifth degree.
One tends to hear a chord progression that ends on the V as leaving us hanging, waiting for a resolution. The same pertains to the interval as it strongly suggests the lower note is a V that is mostly likely going to be "resolved".
As soon as you add a third or root below the perfect fourth, it becomes a more consonant structure. This also suggests the nature of the dissonance is not about the frequency ratio of the fourth itself (which of course doesn't change by adding a lower note to the mix). Rather, it is about the structure not having the same drive to resolve when the lowest notes are the root or third (1st inversion) as it does when the lowest note is the fifth of a chord.
Comment: A major 3rd is the interval between the 4th and 5th harmonics. A perfect 4th is the interval between the 3rd and 4th harmonics.  There is more alignment between overtones of a complex timbre with 3rd & 4th than with 4th and 5th. Maj 3rd is technically not a harmonic. The 5th harmonic is a major 17th, not 3rd--unless you transpose it two octaves. Maybe a quibble on my part. I like ttw's answer as it emphasizes the V function which is implicated in lower note. Function-based dissonance is different than overtone-clashing based dissonance.
Comment: I think it depends on the timbral complexity of the instrument, because one thing that is at stake is the interactions of all the overtones of each note. Normally we are not comparing the sounds of sine waves that are either a M3 or P4 apart. A P4 being **in** the harmonic series above a given note is not the same as a P4 being **a harmonic** of a given note. A major 3rd is **a harmonic** of a note, a perfect 4th is not.
Comment: It is true that the 3rd and 4th harmonics form a perfect fourth, but every harmonic of a pitch at the 5th harmonic is also a harmonic of the root.  It's possible that a 4/3 perfect fourth of pure sinusoidal tones could be considered to be more consonant than a 5/4 major third (and by my ear it is).
Comment: This phenomena also depends on the register, as pointed out in another answer.  The critical bands for pitch discrimination are frequency dependent.  So the 4th will sound more dissonant in lower registers due to harmonic interference, and more consonant in upper registers.
Comment: @PhilFreihofner Interesting.  I'd never heard anyone before now disambiguate two types of dissonance so concretely as you have here.  I always thought of what you call, I think, "function-based dissonance" to be "musical tension", and only recognized "overtone-clashing based dissonance" as what I call "dissonance".  Is there somewhere to get more information/context on the classifications you provided?  I've always wanted to understand more about how composers choose to work with these devices.
Comment: @DarrenRinger The terms used aren't direct references of a classification system. I've been interested in music perception all my life, including UCBerkeley as work-study Lab Asst at the Hearing Lab while pursuing Music degree (1980's). Over time have read, digested and forgotten many sources! I think if you keep the notion in mind that any sound that begs for resolution or relief can have multiple causes, some independent, you will be on the right track, and will be able to distinguish the particular type author is talking about. Fit together what the blind men are saying about the elephant.
Comment: There are false or confusing statements in this answer.
Answer: The octave, the fifth, and the major third are all low-order members of a harmonic series. We can generate a harmonic series by multiplying a frequency by successive positive integers (1, 2, 3, 4, 5...). After multiplying a frequency, we can divide by a power of two to lower the octave of the new frequency. All multipliers that are powers of two (2, 4, 8, etc.) are just octaves above the original frequency.
So let's build some intervals based on the harmonic series:

Unison
Perfect Octave
Divide by 2 for a ratio of 3/2 and we get a perfect fifth
Two octaves
Divide by 4 for a ratio of 5/4 and we get a major third

(omitted)

Divide by 16 for a ratio of 21/16 and we get close to a perfect fourth

So one answer is the major third is earlier in the harmonic series than the perfect fourth. And the "perfect fourth" generated above when inverted is about 30 cents wider than the perfect fifth generated by the harmonic series. So even if we go to the 21st member of the harmonic series, we don't really get a usable perfect fourth. The fourth we use is generated by inverting the fifth, so it's not really part of the harmonic series.
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonic_series_(music)
I'll put it another way. Let's coin the term harmonic ratio to mean a frequency ratio that is part of the harmonic series, but perhaps changed in octave. That means all harmonic ratios will have a whole number (a harmonic number) for the top number, and a power of two (octave shifting) for the bottom number. 4/3 is therefore not a harmonic ratio, since the bottom is not a power of two. Because of their relationship to the harmonic series, our ears perceive harmonic ratios to be more consonant than other ratios. And 5/4 is a harmonic ratio, because the bottom is a power of two.
Because the inversion of the fifth, which we call the fourth, has a ratio of 4/3, and because that's a 3 on the bottom, there is no harmonic ratio that is exactly a fourth, so the fourth will never be as consonant as major thirds or perfect fifths. We can get arbitrarily close to a 4/3 fourth by going up the harmonic series (21/16, 43/32, etc.), but as we go to higher harmonic numbers, the consonance declines because those higher numbers are less resonant with natural overtones in the lower note of the interval.
Comment: @gardenhead Yes, but when you're playing a perfect fourth interval, the higher note is not exactly a part of the harmonic series of the lower note. When you're playing a major third, the higher note is much closer to being part of the series of the lower note. That's why inversions matter: the harmonic series goes **up**, it doesn't work the same way backwards or downwards.
Comment: But the ratio between the fourth and third harmonics is 4:3, which is a perfect fourth. This occurs earlier than the 5:4 you mentioned
Comment: @ToddWilcox: What matters, at least to my ear, is whether the harmonic series of the "primary note"'s pitch class contains the secondary note.  If two notes are playing, the lower will *generally* be perceived as the primary note, but if something else establishes C as a primary note, then G will be perceived as consonant even if it is played below the lowest C.
Comment: One point for clarification, 9/8 is not the fourth of the original note.  It's not really a harmonic at all.  Or am I missing something.
Comment: @ggcg You're right - I misread a resource. It is harmonic, it's a major second. The fourth is way off the chart.
Comment: No prob.  But the 5th of the 4th will resonate with the 1 in the interval (1, 4).  While "supportive" the fourth itself will beat against the natural 5th in the lower note creating a major second, and the 3rd creating a minor second (truly dissonant).
Answer: In CPP harmony, the fourth is dissonant against a bass but not in upper voices. Supposedly it's because a fourth against a bass can be heard as a 6/4 chord  which is a unstable (if treated as a cadential 6/4 that is followed by a 5/3 on the same bass). In other cases, the fourth may not be so dissonant. Much of consonance vs dissonance (especially with the fourth) depends on context.
Comment: The I 6/4 chord is unstable because the bass note is apt to be perceived as the pitch class for the chord.  If one is in the key of C, a G in the bass would indicate a V chord, and so a G-C interval could be interpreted two ways: as a suspended V chord or as a I 6/4.  Note that some other inversions like the I6, V6, or V 6/4 chords, don't generally have such harmonic ambiguity; while one could play chords rooted at E, B, or D, those notes are more commonly associated with tonic and dominant than with their own chords.
Comment: But how can one explain that the 6/4 chord in unstable?  You bring up a good point about the voices being relevant.  Intervals that sound okay in high register are often muddy and dissonant in lower registers.
Answer: Both a 3:2 perfect fifth and a 5:4 major third appear in the harmonic series in a way that the lower note of the interval is in the same pitch class as the fundamental.  By contrast, in a 4:3 ratio perfect fourth, the upper note is in the same pitch class as the fundamental.  At least to my ear, if the pitch class of one note is recognized before the other, the latter note will sound consonant if it's in the harmonic series of the former note's pitch class and dissonant otherwise.  Thus, a descending perfect fourth is (at least to my ear) a consonant interval since the lower note is an the harmonic series of the upper note's pitch class, while an ascending or simultaneously-played 4:3 perfect fourth without anything else to guide the ear is more dissonant because the upper note is not in the harmonic series of the lower one's pitch class (and a 21:16 is further away from a proper perfect fourth than an equal-tempered major third is from a 5:4 one).
Answer: I don't much like Todd's explanation as it stands, however his point is indeed indirectly relevant.
My stance is: a perfect fourth is not a dissonant interval at all. However the perfect eleventh is, and in common practice it's usually allowed to stretch intervals by an octave. For fifths and major thirds, this only makes them more consonant, if anything:
P5: 3:2    P12: 3:1
M3: 5:4    M10: 5:2

But not so with the fourth, nor, incidentally, with the minor third:
P4: 4:3    P11: 8:3
m3: 6:5    m10: 12:5

(Tangent: it just occurs to me that this might be the real reason why minor keys tend to feel sadder! A major key is stable in an optimistic, wide voicing, whereas a minor key becomes painfully yearning when the voicing goes wide, and is most stable in a contemplative / introvert close voicing.)
So, while the fourth itself isn't dissonant, you can easily find fourth-like intervals that act dissonant. And thus the generalising rule that's often taught for common practice, to consider the fourth as a dissonant-ish interval.
Comment: This is very interesting, but is it true? Following this logic, a minor second would become more dissonant with space.
16:15 --> 32:15
On the contrary, flat nine chords are almost always voiced just as the name implies - further away from the root.
Any help with understanding this would be much appreciated!
Comment: @RoryDillon ah, but if we consequently follow the logic then a minor ninth – particularly in 12-edo – is heard as 17:8 (=♭9+5ct) rather than 32:15 (=♭9+12ct). —I don't know... I have yet to hear a use of a minor ninth chord that sounds anything but dissonant.
Comment: _Cents_, i.e. hundredths of a 12-edo semitone. And there are less cents deviation for 17:8 than for 32:15. To see it another way: ¹⁷⁄₈ = 2.125,  which is closer to 2¹³'¹² = 2.119... than ³²⁄₁₅ = 2.133... is. And the point is, this is consistent with your statement that a minor ninth is more consonant than a minor second, because 17:8 is a simpler ratio than 17:16 or 16:15.
Comment: Ah, now it is starting to come together! The brain tries to compare two pitches as a perfect ratio, whether possible or not, so 17:8 would definitely be better at approximating the true pitch than 32:15. At least, I believe that's the case. How did you come to realize this whole process? I want to be able to replicate your success with other intervals  to see how their octave equivalents compare in terms of consonance and dissonance.
Comment: I basically just type `logBase (2**(1/12)) (/)` in a calculator, to see what 12-edo interval approximates some ratio and how well.
Comment: Wow, that's a great formula. Nails it down to the individual cent. How did you get the ratio of 17:8? A more broad question would be, "How do you find ratios with smaller integers that more closely align with a given pitch?" I managed to plug in the 32:15 ratio of a minor ninth to the logarithm, and I can see from the result that there certainly is room for a ratio that more closely approximates the equal-tempered minor ninth. It's just a matter of figuring what that ratio (now known to be 17:8) is. Thanks again for the helpful responses.
Comment: While I'm not certain this answers the question, it's notable that your general point about P4 vs. P11 agrees with the ancient Pythagorean assessment.  A 4:3 ratio was consonant according to the rules of the ancient *tetractys* (the Pythagorean doctrine that admitted ratios with numbers up to 4), but the 8:3 P11 would not be allowed by the *tetractys* -- since it involved a number bigger than 4 -- and thus would be dissonant according to the Pythagoreans.  (There was a bit of debate in ancient Greek treatises about this interval, actually, because of this issue.)
Comment: Apologies for my ignorance - what are you abbreviating as "ct"?  And why would the brain interpret the ratio as 17:8? And fair enough, the b9 chord is always dissonant, but it is always LESS dissonant when the b9 is at least an octave apart from the root, and that just seems to go against what you've informed me of.
Answer: Looking backwards, one can justify the situation by arguments about the harmonic series, as in the other answers, but there are other considerations, for example:

In equal temperament, and most "unequal" temperaments where all 12 major and minor keys are useable, the tempered major third is a long way from the just-intonation 5:4 frequency ratio. In equal temperament, it is almost 1/6 of a semitone too wide. Asking why most listeners to western music accept this as "in tune" is a question about culture and learned musical experience, not about the harmonic series.
In the first well-defined temperament system that was used in music that was recognizably "western" (around 1000 AD), specified by the catholic church for all religious music, a major second was defined as a frequency ratio of 9:8 and a major third was defined as two major seconds, i.e. a ratio of 81:64 compared with 80:64 for a just intonation third. An 81:64 third sounds "out of tune" even to modern western ears that are accustomed to the "out-of-tune" thirds in equal temperament.

At the beginning of the era of common practice harmony (about 1700-1750 AD) the perfect fourth was considered a consonant interval except when the lowest note was in the bass part. The reason may have been because of the "difference tones" that are heard (because of nonlinear effects in human hearing) between the two notes.
For a fifth, the difference tone between frequencies of 1 and 3/2 is 1/2, which is an octave below the bottom note and therefore reinforces the bass of the harmony. But for a fourth, the difference tone between 1 and 4/3 is 1/3, which is two octaves below the top note and therefore de-stabilises the bass.
Answer: Having read the answers and thought about it, it seems to me that the solution to this is complex and to some extent cultural.  I agree with leftroundabout that the fourth is not dissonant, at least in a mathematical sense.  4/3 is a very simple ratio.  It's of course the fourth interval between two consecutive steps of the harmonic series, after the unison, octave, and fifth.  The difference between the fourth and the octave, fifth, and major third, is that the fourth in the harmonic series has the fundamental tone above and not below.
This does not affect the sound of the interval per se, but it does affect its perceived tonality: it's hard not to place the interval as 3 to 4 in an harmonic series, and to hear 4, the upper tone, as the tonic.  And we expect to hear 4, or 2, or 1, the basis of the harmonic series, as the bottom note in an interval or chord that represents the tonality, and is thus stable.
Thus, I would argue that the perfect fourth, 4/3, is more consonant than a major third 5/4, in a purely physical way, but is less stable, because its bass note is not the perceived tonic.
Comment: @ggcg: If one judges the upper note of a perfect fourth as the "primary" note, and it's a C3 or higher, all of the harmonics of the other note will be harmonics of a note C1 or higher of the same pitch class.  [e.g. if the notes were A2 and D3, all harmonics of either will be harmonics of D1].  There will be a minor second between the 3nd harmonic of the lower note [harmonic of A2 is E4] and the 2rd harmonic of the lower [harmonic of D3 is D4] but D4 and E4 are the eighth and ninth harmonics of D1.  At least to my ear, the determining factor is which note is the "primary" note.
Comment: @ggcg: I don't think the mathematical usage that is applied to *fractions* would make any sense when applied to *ratios*, since 3/4 and 6/8 are different fractions, but 3:4: 6:8, and 0.75:1 all represent the same ratio.  I don't see any way the mathematical notion of simple vs. compound fractions would be applicable to ratios, since every non-degenerate ratio can be described as x:1 or 1:(1/x) for some non-zero real number x.
Comment: Simple ratio does not lead to consonance.  The harmonics of each not in the interval do not line up.  There is some support between harmonics but there is also a minor second among them which is about the most dissonant interval there is.  Also, the perception of dissonance depends on the overall pitch because the critical bands change with pitch.  It likely is cultural (an hence not a fair question) but here it is framed w/r to "western music theory".  Herman Helmholtz offered a physics based reason for the distinction which, in theory should be independent of culture.
Comment: @supercat, I follow you but the comment seems incongruent with my previous comment.  I allude to what you said in my answer.  I am mostly intrigued by use of "simple ratio" since mathematically all the just scale ratios ate simple, e.g. 9/8 is simple (no common factor in numerator and denominator) yet dissonant.  So that makes the answer somewhat confusing.
Comment: @ggcg: The term "simple" here refers to exact ratios where the numerator and denominator are both fairly small, or inexact ratios that are close to such ratios.
Comment: @supercat, Fine, but it seems like we're inventing terms.  In mathematics 99/71 is a simple fraction.  It just is.
Comment: @ggcg: Music theorists have coined the term "simple" ratio for such purposes aeons before you and I were born.
Comment: @supercat, so did mathematicians.
Comment: Despite this the 4th of a note is not in the harmonic sequence, and the minor second actually is.  The argument has been made by more than on individual that its presence leads to consonance and this alone is not true.
Answer: The key to understanding consonance and dissonance lies in understanding the natural harmonics of most vibrating systems (including the ear and its components), and the relationship between these harmonics of different notes in an interval.
Many instruments have a natural harmonic sequence related to the fundamental pitch that you are playing.  If f0 is the frequency of the fundamental then the sequence is n*f0.  When you play or sing a note a combination of these harmonics are created.
Consonant intervals will have more harmonics lining up (matching).  Dissonant intervals will have harmonics that don't line up.
As has been pointed out the third and the fifth are natural harmonics of any note.  So in a sense when you play one note you are generating the major triad!  You can't stop it from happening.  Typically the higher harmonics are low amplitude and we don't perceive them as distinct pitches, they contribute to the tone of the note.  But when superimposed onto another note the harmonics of each will interfere with each other.  This was studied in great detail in the late 1800's by Herman Helmholtz, and published in the text "On the Sensations of Tone".  It's a heavy read.
When the harmonics of each note line up or are distinguishable to produces a "pleasant" sound.  When the harmonics don't line up and begin to clash the overall sound gets muddied be the interference.  This is perceived as dissonance.
A good book for musicians on this is Rigden's "Physics and the Sound of Music".
Comment: It might help to add in that while the third and the fifth are natural harmonics, the fourth is not, or is at best a remote harmonic.
Comment: @ToddWilcox True.
Comment: But it's really the interference of harmonics as well.
Comment: @ToddWilcox - actually, the fourth is not a natural harmonic, no matter how high up the series you go.  That's because no power of 3 is also a power of 2.
Comment: @ScottWallace Yeah, that's what I said.
Comment: Right, that's what I said too.


Mrs. Malaprop = Malapropism - any other examples

Question: Are there other literary examples where-in a character or subject eventually morphed into descriptive verb/genre?
Comment: Also see http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/100242/words-based-on-the-names-of-gods
Answer: We seem to be talking about eponymous terms derived from fictional characters?  Four of the most famous of those would have to be quixotic, faustian, gargantuan, and holmesian.  Another may be chauvinism, but it's unclear whether Nicolas Chauvin was a real person.
Evidently pecksniffian had some currency at some point, but seems to have declined in popularity.  Lamentably similar is panglossian.
Comment: John Curtis Holmes?  How did he die - he overcame himself?
Comment: @ArthurRex: Sherlock Holmes.
Answer: You're looking for cases in which "a character or subject eventually morphed into descriptive verb/genre". Other answerers have assumed you mean just a fictional character (and not a subject, by which, to be honest, I don't know what you mean), and I'll do the same. They've also not restricted to descriptive verbs and genres, suggesting milquetoast and quixotic, so I, too, won't so restrict.
Some they haven't mentioned are Achillean, aphrodisiac, argonaut, bacchanalia, Mickey Mouse, Falstaffian, Ichabod, Moses basket, Oedipus complex, oedipal, Electra complex, Timonism, and sword of Damocles.
Answer: "Spoonerism" - after the Rev. Spooner, who reputedly continually interchanged the first letters/sounds of words. "Today we'll learn how to build a turdy stable" - (a Sturdy Table).
Well, if we're limiting ourselves to fictitious persons (not that I see that in the question), I suppose "Bushism" is out. Too bad.
Comment: Rev. Spooner was a real person.
Answer: One of my favorites is milquetoast, describing a timid, submissive person. It comes from the name of a cartoon character, Caspar Milquetoast, created by H. T. Webster in 1924.
There's also Faustian, to describe a bargain in which one trades their moral integrity for material gains.
Pandemonium came from Paradise Lost. We now associate it with mayhem and discord. Milton conceived of it as the name of the place where demons live.
Answer: I believe mondegreen may be another example of a term derived from a fictional character. The caveat is that it's not derived from an actual fictional character, but instead from a character by the name of Lady Mondegreen that Sylvia Wright thought was in a poem due to the mishearing of the line "laid him on the green".
Answer: "Sati" was the name of a Hindu goddess, which turned into a term for a widow killing herself at her husband's funeral pyre.
If you have time to waste, TV Tropes' neologism page would have an example of works of literature creating new terms. It'd list not just neologisms based on character names, but other neologisms such as "thought police", however.
Edit: Not a single example - people haven't spent enough time on the web site!
Answer: I think the American version of 'malapropisms' is 'Archie Bunkerisms'.
Answer: When referring to any imagery that is absurd, bizarre, impossible to construct, or self-referential, I like the home-grown term Escheresque (after M. C. Escher).
Answer: Don't forget Jeremiad or picaresque (from Picarillo de Tormes).


I want to lower the pH of my soil around my blueberries without changing the pH of the entire bed

Question: I've got 3 Jersey blueberry shrubs planted in my greenhouse, in the ground.  They are 3' wide and 2' tall, producing berries nicely.  They'll be bigger in the years to come but this year I planted squash in the soil between them that are very healthy. The blueberries are showing signs of nutrient deficiency (rosy colored leaves) I'd like to lower the pH (it is 7 in this bed, the rest of my beds are 6.5) just around the blueberries themselves.  What would be some ways of doing this?  Can I use a very diluted amount of vinegar.  If I lower the pH to 6.5 just for this year will that be O.K.? What is a good compromise that satisfies both plants? What other vegetables enjoy acidic soil?
Comment: Out of curiosity, why do you want the amendment so localised if you're expecting further growth around the blueberries in coming years? Also, I think squash usually do well down to about 6.0 pH, so if you're just going for a short term/quick amendment that shouldn't be a concern.
Comment: Localized just for this season. If squash do well down to 6.0 then I think this answers most of my question.  What can I use to lower the pH temporarily that is simple, I've got around the house. Living on a tight budget...how about vinegar? Thanks, Jack!
Comment: My blueberries love a mulch of pine needles and used coffee grounds. Peat moss works well too.
Comment: I've got plenty of pine needles.  How long does it take to compost pine needles, I'd rather not use non-decomposed organic matter.  But I could get started decomposing them? Thanks, I'll let you know what I find out!
Comment: Guess that depends on your climate, watering, local bacteria and fungi, etc. I noticed mine where showing signs of pH induced nutrient deficiency last year, so I gave them elemental sulfur for a quick fix then threw down few handfuls of dry needles left over from our christmas tree. That was over a year ago and the top layer still hasnt decomposed but some of the underlayer has, hard to tell exactly how much. But I haven't had to do much since but water and the occasional liqiud fish fertilizer. The thick layer of whole needles does a decent job of weed supression too.
Answer: The best way to decrease the pH of your soil is to add organic matter that the acid producing microbes like, though that also takes time. To increase the acidity in soil more quickly than that it's usually recommended that you add sulfur (elemental sulfur or a sulfate) or ammonium phosphate. Vinegar will change the pH, but it is a very short-lived benefit and you have to be careful that you don't overdo it. In particular, if you have water-starved plants and you add a lot of vinegar the plants will tend to suck up more vinegar than you want.
You might try to incorporate a combination of things so that your short-term problems are addressed while still adding the sulfur that would feed for medium term and organics for the longer term. Exactly what you do would be determined by the type of sulfur you have available and also what organics you can use. Consult the fertilisers to see how long their uptake is to determine when to stop using vinegar. For organics, I usually just plan on 1 year before they start affecting my soil.
The concentration that I've seen around for vinegar is about 2 Tbsp per gallon of water when you water the plants, though you might want to go with a slightly weaker concentration initially. If you have a home tester for pH, even one that doesn't normally give you 'correct' results, it would be beneficial to test the soil just after watering with just water, then just after watering with the vinegar added the next time. You'll be looking for the change here in pH, not the absolute number, so most any tester that measures it at all would be helpful.
Comment: This is great Jack!  I've got pumice/sand for soil. This is my first year and have added quite a bit of compost to the soil, microbes and mycorrhizae. The soil will be better/different next year. I keep compost on top of the soil and it amazing how the microbes are going through it!  My plants are never starved for water.  I have to water almost every day! I have a great tester...cost over $300 bucks years ago.  I want to try the vinegar, perhaps half of what you recommend to start.  Your answer is great, thanks!


How to use EDM in MVC?

Question: How can we use an EDM in the MVC 3 ?
LINQ to Entity is a great ORM for querying and managing database. It offers a lot of things, so it is mandatory to know about performance of it. These are right up to a certain point as LINQ comes with its own penalties.
Are there any tips that we should keep in mind while desiging and query database using entity framework ORM ?
Answer: You Can Refer this to Create and Know more about EDM ,  Creating Model first EDM .
Following way you can improve EDM performance...
Following are some tips.
1. Avoid to put all the DB Objects into One Single Entity Model
Entity Model specifies a single unit of work, not all our database. If we have many database objects that are not connected to one another or these(log tables, objects used by batch processes,etc.) are not used at all. Hence these objects are consuming space in the memory and cause performance degrades. So try to make separate entity models of related database objects.
2. Disable change tracking for entity if not needed
Whenever you retrieve the data only for reading purpose, not for modification then there is no need of object tracking. So disable object tracking by using MergeOption as below:
<code>    NorthwindDataContext context = new NorthwindDataContext();
    context.tblCities.MergeOption = MergeOption.NoTracking;
</code>
This option allow us to turn off the object cache and unnecessary identity management of the objects.
3. Use Pre-Generating Views to reduce response time for first request
When the object of ObjectContext is created first time in the application, the entity framework creates a set of classes that is required to access the database. This set of classes is called view and if your data model is large then creating the view may delay the web application response to the first request for a page. We can reduce this response time by creating view at compile time by using T4 template or EdmGen.exe command-line tool.
4. Avoid fetching all the fields if not required
Avoid fetching not required fields from the database. Suppose I have table of Customer with 20 fields and I am interested only in three fields - CustomerID, Name, Address then fetch only these three fields instead of fetching all the fields of the Customer table.
<code>    //Bad Practice
    var customer =
    (from cust in dataContext.Customers
    select cust).ToList();
    //Good Practice
    var customer =
    (from cust in dataContext.Customers
    select new {
    customer. CustomerID,
    customer.Name,
    customer.Address
    }). ToList ();
</code>
5. Choose appropriate Collection for data manipulation
In linq we have Var, IEnumerable, IQueryable, IList type collection for data manipulation. Each collection has its importance and performance impact on the query, so beware of using all these collection for data manipulation. For learning difference among all these collection refer  articles IEnumerable VS IQueryable, IEnumerable VS IList and Var VS IEnumerable.
6. Use Compiled Query wherever needed
Make a query to compiled query if it is frequently used to fetch records from the database. This query is slow in first time but after that it boost the performance significantly. We use Compile method of CompiledQuery class for making compiled query.
Suppose you required to retrieve customers details again and again based on city then make this query to compiled query like as
<code>    // create the entity object
    NorthwindEntities mobjentity = new NorthwindEntities();
    //Simple Query
    IQueryable lstCus = from customer in mobjentity.tblCustomers
    where customer.City == "Delhi"
    select customer;
    //Compiled Query
    Func> compiledQuery
    = CompiledQuery.Compile>(
    (ctx, city) =>from customer in ctx.Customers
    where customer.City == city
    select customer);
</code>
In above query we are passing the string parameter city for filtering the records. For more about anonymous method.
7. Retrieve only required number of records
When we are binding data to grid or doing paging, retrieve only required no of records to improve performance. This can achieved by using Take,While and Skip methods.
<code>    // create the entity object
    NorthwindEntities mobjentity = new NorthwindEntities();
    int pageSize=10,startingPageIndex=2;
    List lstCus = mobjentity.tblCustomers.Take(pageSize)
    .Skip(startingPageIndex * pageSize)
    .ToList();
</code>
8. Avoid using Contains
In LINQ, we use contains method for checking existence. It is converted to "WHERE IN" in SQL which cause performance degrades.
9. Avoid using Views
Views degrade the LINQ query performance costly. These are slow in performance and impact the performance greatly. So avoid using views in LINQ to Entities.
10. Debug and Optimize LINQ Query
If you want to debug and optimize your query then LINQ Pad is a great tool for this purpose. I am a big fan of LINQ Pad. It is very useful for query construction, debugging and optimization.
<code>    IQueryable lstCus = from customer in mobjentity.tblCustomers
    where customer.City == "Delhi"
    select customer;
    lstCus.Dump();
</code>
Dump method of LINQ Pad give the result of above query in the result window.
reference

How to use EDM in MVC?


Photoshop copy/paste make layers change

Question: I have a transparent layer with a ball for example, no effects, filters or anything like that. When I duplicate the layer with alt+click, it looks like it is applying a sharpen filter and that effect multiplies with every duplicate layer I create. So after 150 copies of the same layer the last one is completely pixelated. Any idea why this is happening and how i fix it?
Comment: Hi Aggy, welcome to GDSE and thanks for your question! Could you please add an example image to your post? With an image, the chances for a good answer are way better. Just link to it in the question, and someone with sufficient reputation will add it to the post. Thanks!
Answer: Raster images use anti-aliasing along the edges. Transparent pixels basically around the entire edge.
The more you copy and paste the layer, the more you mess up the built-in anti-aliasing.
Left side is a single layer, right side has been duplicated:
Answer: Instead of using alt+click, or alt+control+arrow, try using Duplicate Layer.
It will duplicate it exactly, layer styles and all.
Answer: Why this happens:
Opacity builds up as you place layers one on top of the next, because each semi-transparent pixel is added to the one below. Sometimes that's exactly what you want, but in this case it creates an undesirable effect.
One thing that can minimize the effect is to use Cmd/Ctl-click on the layer thumbnail to turn it into a select, add a blank layer and paste. This reduces the effect because the selection of the partially-transparent pixels is itself partial, in proportion to how opaque each pixel is. A 50% opaque pixel will be copied at 50% or 50% -- 25%.
Opacity is not increased if you change the blend mode of your first copy to "Lighten" and copy that with Crl/Cmd-J. You can do this endlessly without increasing the opacity of the anti-aliasing pixels (although, having said that, I don't know why you would want to).

Photoshop copy/paste make layers change


Simchas Yom Tov for one's wife: what if she otherwise gets clothes etc.?

Question: A husband is supposed to ensure his wife's Simchas Yom Tov by buying her something (new jewelry, clothes, etc.) for the holiday. If she has already received such an item from a different source, and will thus already have this kind of simcha, does the husband still have an obligation to buy her something?
Comment: Correct, that is my impression. Although Rashi in Kiddushin 34b holds women are patur and it is the husbands' chiyuv.  There is a machlokes how to learn the gemara there, so I'll reserve final comment until I take a good look.
Comment: I don't have a proof, but it sounds like the  obligation is due to the recipients dependency on him.  Despite the language of the tanaim that a person is chayav to be mesameach his family, most of the sifrei halacha say something like 'everyone needs to have simcha on yom tov, therefore you need to buy them stuff'.
Comment: So you're saying that the answer to my question is "no"?
Answer: Continuing from my comment above referring to kidushin 34b, it seems:
Rashi holds there is no obligation for a woman to have simcha, the husband is required to buy her stuff (nowadays, bring her to Yerushalayim bizman hamikdash) because her happiness enhances his happiness.
Others (Tos., Ritva, et al.) reject Rashi and hold that women have an obligation, but only through their husbands as per the pasuk.  A widow then has no obligation and is only mentioned in the pasuk as an aniya who the man must support as tzedaka when going up to Yerushalayim.
According to the above opinions, the answer to your question would be "yes".
Our sifrei halacha seem to go with the Rambam who,at the beginning of hilchos chagiga states categorically, that women are obligated in the simcha.  The Lechem Mishna's approach is that Abaye, who stated in the gemara that women do not have an obligation, is later rejected for R' Zeira.  Accordingly, a widow must find a way to have simcha.
Although one can find room in the Rambam to say that a husband is merely charged with making sure his wife has simcha (and the answer to your question would be "no", I still have no conclusive proof.
Comment: You do not have to dig deep in to chazal to know that your happiness will not be complete without your wifes happiness , and if it costs afew extra gifts then so be it.
Comment: That's a nice point, Koachyah, but it doesn't address the question which is about the husband's obligation, not best practices.
Answer: We poskin it is husbands chiyuv hence women forgets yaleh vyovo does not need to repeat since she has no chiyuv seudah its her husbands job to make her happy not the food
Comment: Women do not have a mitzva of "oneg", but they may of "simcha".  This is similar to a man who does not repeat yaale veyavo during chol hamoed because there is no chiyuv seudah.  Nevertheless, he has a chiyuv simcha even during chol hamoed.
Comment: Do you have a source or sevara as to why women are not included in Oneg?
Answer: A husband is always obligated to bring simcha towards his wife especially on holidays and shabbat, if she has whatever she want you can just stick with basic flowers and chocolate.
Comment: My question is whether the mitzvah refers to a special simcha that comes as a result of a gift from a husband, or perhaps as long as the wife will have simcha from any source it is sufficient. I guess I could phrase it as follows: Is there an absolute obligation for the husband to provide an item that will bring simcha, or is it just the husband's responsibility to ensure that she will have such an item during Yom
Comment: in my opinion i think it will definetly bring the the bond between  husband, wife the yom tov to a higher level of simcha either way it would definitely be a mitsva, mitsva to bring simcha to the wife and making  simcha in the merit of the yom tov.
Comment: I wonder if chocolate or flowers would suffice.  It would seem that it would need to be clothing or Jewelry for example.  (See Rambam Hilchot Yom Tov)


SSL Proxy as a man in the middle

Question: Does man in the middle realy work using proxy? i guess this works in an enterprise network where an administrator has access to the internet access, yet in a real network, if one tries to set on a mobile network on the PGW or GGSN, can a proxy fool the other side to trust the CA?
Answer: A SSL intercepting proxy by itself cannot fool anybody. The CA used by the proxy to generate the new certificates must be trusted by the client or otherwise the validation of the certificate will fail. This is true inside and outside of enterprise networks. The main difference is that in enterprise networks there is usually an administrator who has control of the client systems and install the necessary certificates there without help from the user and so the user might not notice.
But, even outside enterprise networks silent SSL interception might be possible if the attacker can use a CA certificate which is trusted on the client system and where the attacker has the private key. Such situation could for example be created using malware. But such certificates might already reside on the users system. For example there is the infamous Superfish adware which was shipped with Lenovo systems and which has installed a trusted CA certificate on the clients system to inject ads into HTTPS traffic. Even worse this certificate was the same in all installation and the private key could easily be extracted. Thus if one user still has this certificate as trusted on the system an attacker might use it inside a man in the middle attack and the user will not notice.
There are also other cases where such attacks are possible. For example several Antivirus products do SSL interception and some fail to properly validate certificates. Since in such cases the browser is no longer responsible for the certificate check but some software with a broken validation, a stealth man in the middle attack can be mounted. See The Security Impact of HTTPS Interception for details.

SSL Proxy as a man in the middle


Antifreeze Boiling/Bubbles

Question: Ok so the problem I'm having that started a few days ago is after driving for about 10 minutes or so my 2010 Dodge Avenger starts to smoke and the temperature needle raises to overheat. BUT when I turn on the heat it cools down. When I check under the hood the reservoir is boiling. I've had the problem for over a year off and on but the reservoir has NEVER boiled nor have the car actually smoked. I took it to Landers in December and the said they could not replicate the problem but replaced the water pump, thermostat and thermostat housing. However the problem persisted. A few days ago coming from work after I got home I noticed the engine cap had been BLOWN OFF and what I believe to be oil was everywhere. I've replaced the oil and the coolant but I still am having my initial problem. Any ideas? Google is pointing towards a blown gasket.
Comment: Welcome to Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair!
Answer:
Check radiator cap, too. Defective one on the right is missing the black seal in the center. This caused overheating and a buildup of pressure.
Comment: Welcome to Motor Vehicles Maintenance & Repair!  Could you [edit your question](https://mechanics.stackexchange.com/posts/55395/edit) to expound on why a bad radiator cap would cause pressure buildup and overheating?  Otherwise good answer!  I like the pictures.
Answer: Well, first I think your coolant boiling issue could be due to not having any pressure in the system - either the cap was not sealing or it was broken or, possibly there was a small leak - did it require topping up at all...
For the second issue of you cap, you say it had "blown off" but is it possible that someone had topped up the oil and not replaced the cap? This could lead to oil getting everywhere...
Comment: I did flush it and top it off but that didn't help. And the cap had actually blown off, I'm sure of it.
Answer: could be a blown head gasket..have or do a compression test to see if there is a low cylinder or 2 also can be a bad radiator ie: clogged veins...could also be a clogged converter causing back pressure to over heat the head and cause a blown gasket....have the radiator removed and flo checked at any radiator shop to verify it's ability to do its job...the converter have checked at a muffler shop

Antifreeze Boiling/Bubbles


Is an answer which doesn't compile inherently very low quality?

Question: I found an answer which doesn't compile. It's Java fundamentals and in my opinion it's very low quality, but if it gets reviewed by someone who doesn't know Java it could be declined. Should such an answer be flagged or not?
Comment: Flagged as What? If it's wrong or just poor Downvote it and move on.
Comment: So it's just wrong...
Comment: related (possibly a duplicate): [You're doing it wrong: A plea for sanity in the Low Quality Posts queue](http://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/287563/youre-doing-it-wrong-a-plea-for-sanity-in-the-low-quality-posts-queue)
Comment: Flagged as very low quality as the answer is against language grammar.
Comment: OK, Understood. Thanks for your explanation.
Comment: @gnat thanks for the link. Does each review queue has it's own topic like that?
Comment: you mean, some kind of [meta-tag:canonical] guidance? I'd say yes. [This one](http://meta.stackoverflow.com/q/295650/839601) is for triage, and some other guides are linked to [this post](http://meta.stackoverflow.com/q/332656/839601)
Answer: Answers that are wrong should be down voted, not flagged.
If you can understand that the answer is wrong it isn't very low quality. When a post needs more context / knowledge than just the post to act on a flag, then flagging is probably not the right thing to do.
Answer: No, there is no requirement for code in answer to compile. There is nothing wrong with answering question with half line of code and explanation.
Note that possibility of such answer may mean the question is just typo and should instead be closed as such.
To particular question and answer: Question is clearly not a typo so while very basic it is ok to be on SO (especially since it has reasonable MCVE), probably duplicate of existing one. For an answer - I'm not Java expert, but it feels like question was

why toString function did not override toString

and answer

override must be declared as @Override public String toString(){... (missing @Override).

Adding extra details to answer is nice, but optional. To make it into complete function does not add much value for anyone who is able to write any function in that language. Making it complete into complete copy-paste-ready answer for OP  (like upvoted answer) actually makes it harder to spot what exactly needed to be done from my point of view.
Note that original version of the answer had @Override private String toString() which indeed was wrong answer potentially deserving downvote (but not because it did not compile, which was just symptom of problem). Flagging that version would be wrong (definitely an answer, reasonable quality, not spam) - downvote and/or comment would be appropriate (i.e. fabian provided nice and actionable comment that was edited by OP into the post - "You cannot use any visibility but public with a overridden toString() method.")
Comment: You missed the access modifier which cannot change from public to private in java. Anyway, got your point
Comment: @xenteros indeed, as I said Java is not my thing. I see that original version of the answer did have `private` - and author applied nice comment from fabian to fix it. Original version indeed was wrong answer *potentially* deserving downvote (but not because it did not compile, which was just symptom of problem).


How to build one-way door for dwarfs in Dwarf Fortress

Question: How to build doors, where dwarfs can enter ant can not out through?
I want to use it for 'siege time entrance' - put in end of long one-cell-width corridor with a lot of traps.
Comment: You want multiple dwarves to be able to enter but not leave?
Answer: Assign a room to be a burrow. In the military screen (m), hit 'a' for alerts. Create an alert -- call it "Red Alert" or something. Build a retracting drawbridge outside the safe room's only entrance/exit. Build the lever for the bridge inside the room. May as well put some food and drink in the room and maybe a table, chair and even a bed or two as they may spend some time in there. I like to build a statue in my panic room and designate it as a statue garden. That way, idle dwarfs are already in there in case of a siege. When it's time to panic, go to the Red Alert alert (make sure you assign your safe room burrow to Red Alert). Wait for dwarves to all get in the panic room. Have one of them pull the lever. Now sit and watch as that one straggler who didn't make it into the room in time gets devoured by a giant hairy toad with an elephant's trunk!
Answer: If you are using a current version of DF, you may just want to use the burrows mechanic, other wise this is really the only way to do it.
Comment: Does that bug even exist in 31.12?
Comment: C.Ross is correct, that bug no longer works.
Answer: I just stumbled on this ingenious trap on the wiki.  I haven't done it myself, but it looks like exactly what you need.  As long as you set the pressure plates to not trigger on citizens, your dwarves and friendlies can stroll through this hallway at their convenience, admiring the art and so on, while any (non-TRAPAVOID, that's an important caveat) enemies will be stuck lurching back and forth over the weapon traps and not being able to leave.  Can you tell I'm excited about this?  Thanks to Fenwah for this trap, which is James-Bond-level epic as far as I can tell.


ProRes444 Codec download process to Adobe Media Encoder

Question: I am using MacOS Sierra and am trying to download the ProRes444 Codec in order to export my Adobe After Effects 4k RED footage in this format (probably using Adobe Media Encoder based on what I have seen others do). I found a download of 'pro video formats' that supposedly includes this codec, and downloaded a trial of final cut pro so that it could run ProRes444 on my computer, but am not sure how to find it in Media Encoder now. Are there other steps I'm missing? Thanks!
Comment: This question is confusing.  Media Encoder and After Effects are part of the Adobe world.  FCPX is part of Apple world.  Media Encoder doesn't really talk to FCPX at all.
Comment: @MichaelTiemann I only downloaded FCPX because ProRes4444 (as Bobby Circle pointed out it is actually called) wouldn't download onto my computer unless I had FCPX already installed (or a few other programs, none of them Adobe) . I asked my acquaintance who recommended ProRes4444 and they confirmed that I would need FCPX order to download the codec. Does this seem wrong to you? It does seem strange that I couldn't download it with Adobe but could use it with Adobe afterwards...
Comment: A workaround is to render to a lossless format, and then transcode to prores with something like ffmpeg. It works for windows users when clients demand prores encoded files.
Comment: To clarify: you do not download the codec. Installing FCP installs the codecs. The standalone codec download is for people who only wish to **play** ProRes files. You want the ability to **encode** ProRes files as well. Once you install FCP you should see the ProRes codec(s) in all apps, including Adobe apps. If you are not seeing them, something else is wrong.
Comment: Try Cineform or DNxHR. ProRes is so 2007.
Answer: In Media Encoder you first need to select your destination format as Quicktime. From there you should be able to find ProRes 4444.
Answer: I believe you mean ProRes4444.
As I understand the general situation, and as you also imply in your question, one needs to install FCP in order to encode with the indispensible ProRes codecs in other apps (such as Adobe ones.) That's certainly what I've gotten used to doing on brand new machines. I'm not sure if the trial version of FCP would do the trick, but I don't see why not. I don't think there's a stand-alone installer of the ProRes codecs, at least not for encoding. It's probably just for decoding (i.e., playback of a pre-existing ProRes video.) Someone correct me if I'm wrong here.
Okay, so let's assume the ProRes codecs are successfully installed (for encoding, not merely decoding) on your machine. In Media Encoder, you can export using Presets, or you can export using custom settings. You want the latter. Check out this link to see the various ways to access the custom Export Settings. (I usually just click on the pre-assigned preset name to open the custom Export Settings dialog window.)
Once you get the custom Export Settings window open, you'll need to change the Format option to ProRes4444. If you don't see any ProRes formats in that dropdown list, they may not be installed properly yet. You can also check to see if the codecs are currently installed for encoding from AE without firing up Media Encoder. Just add an item to the render queue and try to customize the output format. If you don't see any ProRes codecs available in AE, you probably won't see any in Media Encoder.


Is there a Jounin Exams for ninjas?

Question: In Naruto series, there are what we called ninja ranks: genin, chuunin, and jounin. To be promoted to a higher ninja rank, you need to passed at least an exam, like in the academy, if you were able to graduate from the academy, you'll be promoted to genin, to be a chuunin ninja, you need to pass the chuunin exam. How about being promoted to Jounin, is there a Jounin exam too? :)
Comment: You don't _have to_ pass an exam to be Chunnin, there are other ways of doing it. Kishimoto once said in a interview that Naruto can become a Chunnin anytime he wants to, but he just wants to do it through the exam. For that matter, Naruto became a genin despite failing the test, because Iruka pretty much appointed him. :)
Answer: I think this link might help
naruto wiki.
Here it is said that it is yet unclear if there is an exam.
There is a mention of a Jounin Exam in Kurama Clan Arc (episodes 203 to 207),
and that they are apointed.
This info only counts for Naruto anime btw.
Answer: It's not clear yet. Maybe there are exams or maybe they are promoted because of their abilities. Sometimes, there are "special-Jounins", which have some special abilities like Anko, Ibiki or Ebisu.

Is there a Jounin Exams for ninjas?


sending a wave file to a web service in objective C

Question: I would like to capture a voice file in .wav format with iphone and send this .wav file to a web service. As i searched through the internet I saw that this must be done in objective C language. Since I am an absolute beginner with objective C i would appreciate if you could suggest me any ideas, approaches about how this could be performed. Thanks in advance.
Answer: There is a question  on Stack Overflow regarding the recording part. For creating a WAV file from your recorded audio, you could use libsndfile if you are comfortable releasing your app as LGPL, although you could probably handle writing the conversion from a raw byte stream to a WAV file yourself. It's not a complicated format if you skip the compression. You basically need to prepend a header that wouldn't change much from file to file.


CDX index versions after series maturity

Question: Can someone explain the situation when the next version of some CDX index is created after index maturity, so the version is created, but that version is not being traded as series already matured? Why it is happening?
Answer: SE!
There might be a misunderstanding on your side I think. If I misunderstood you, you might want to rephrase your question.
There might be a misconception between on/off the run contract and matured contract.
The old version still exists until its respective maturity, it is just less and less liquid as it is "off the run".
For Europe, if we look at the itraxx Europe Series 34 5y, started the 21st of September 2020 and matures 20th of December 2025. It will exist until then.
For the itraxx europe series 33 5y, started the 20th of March 2020 and matures the 20th of June 20205.
Today, both series 34 and series 33 exist and can be traded. However, series 34 is the on the run issue. Many market participants will have "rolled" the series 33 by closing their positions and re-opening analogue positons in the series 34 contract.
Answer: A new series is created now every 6 months. It becomes the "on the run series". The previous series are "off the run". They can still trade until their maturity, but they have less liquidity (less volume, wider bid-ask). In a new series, names are sometimes deleted, new names are added to replace old ones; for indices that are not equal-weighted, the weights are sometimes changed.
We sometimes refer to the series maturity, meaning 5Y. This is a little sloppy, because indices like CDX IG and HY have 5Y, 7Y, and 10Y teors. The 5Y is by far the most liquid, but after it matures, the 7Y continues to trade (very thinly) for 2 years, and 10Y continues to trade (very thinly) for 5 years.
When a single name experiences a credit event, or has to be removed for some other reason, then a new verison is created for all the indices (on the run and off the run but not yet matured) that contained this name. The previous versions cannot be traded. The only change to the index is that the notional factor is reduced by the weight of the deleted name.
The previous version cannot be traded because that's how indices are designed. While you can trade a single-name CDS after a credit event and until the auction to take a view on recovery, it is a very different trade from an index that expresses the view on credit spreads, not on recovery.
Let us look at mark-it.com/NewsInformation/ViewArchive/CDX for an example. June 30, 2020: "Following the confirmation of a Bankruptcy Credit Event on Chesapeake Energy Corporation, new versions of all affected Markit CDX indices have been issued with an annex date of 30th June 2020." The earlist afftected series I see is CDX.NA.HY series 15, which got a new version 21. Although the 5Y and 7Y S15 matured years ago, but the 10Y S15 matures December 20, 2020 and still can be traded, at least in theory. Therefore it needs a new series.
I have not seen a situation where a new version would be created for an off the run series that has already matured (including 10Y). Maybe some automated process does it, but I don't see it happening.
Comment: Perhaps you mean that although CDX.NA.HY 5Y (whatever series it was.. 21, I think) matured June 2020, but 7y and 10y still trade (although are not very liquid) and need new versions after credit events?
Comment: Let's look on http://www.mark-it.com/NewsInformation/ViewArchive/CDX for an example. June 30, 2020: "Following the confirmation of a Bankruptcy Credit Event on Chesapeake Energy Corporation, new versions of all affected Markit CDX indices have been issued with an annex date of 30th June 2020." The earlist afftected series I see is CDX.NA.HY series 15, which got a new version 21. Although the 5Y S15 matured long ago, but the 10Y S15 stil can be traded, at least in theory.
Comment: (10Y S15 matures December 20, 2020) If you mean something else, can you show a concrete example please?
Comment: thanks, but actually I am talking about the situation with the new version, not the series. And we have a situation when the index matures, for example, June 2020, but in Sept 20 new version is being created and it doesnt have pricing information. And the question is what can be the logic to create a new version for some series if this series already matured
Comment: no, I mean the situation when the series maturity date is Sept 20 and on that day only one version exists, but later(for example, in November the same year) new version was created (version 2) when the series was already matured, which looks strange for me


How to rotate multiple videos on YouTube?

Question: I know how to rotate a YouTube video (enhancement, rotate, save) but is there a way to rotate multiple videos? I have hundreds of videos and I don't want to rotate them one by one. And I don't want to download them, rotate by myself and then re-upload. Any smart ways?
Comment: Possible duplicate of [Can I rotate already uploaded video's on YouTube?](https://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/11457/can-i-rotate-already-uploaded-videos-on-youtube)
Comment: I think the duplicate is more geared toward doing them one by one, which is not what the OP is after.
Comment: **Unfortunately, YouTube doesn't support multi-edit, so your only option is to do it 1-by-1.**
Answer: Unfortunately, YouTube doesn't support multi-edit, so your only option is to do it 1-by-1.
_____________________________________________________________
Alternatives:
you can use an extension for that:

install https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/
see demo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj4aFy3YVhU

or you can use brute js force (works for any site):

press CTRL + SHIFT + C
paste the following code, depending on your browser, into the javascript console
Chrome:
javascript: document.body.setAttribute( "style", "-webkit-transform: rotate(-90deg);");
Firefox:
javascript: document.body.setAttribute( "style", "-moz-transform: rotate(-90deg);");
Opera:
javascript: document.body.setAttribute( "style", "-o-transform: rotate(-90deg);");
press ENTER

_____________________________________________________________

add this extension: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/
set the angles of rotation
Answer: There is no way to rotate multiple videos in-place on YouTube.
In fact, it is no longer even possible to rotate individual videos in-place on YouTube, as they removed most of the editing capabilities on 22 August, 2018.
Alternative
If you want to rotate all of your currently uploaded videos, you will have to download, edit, and re-upload them. (Unless you still have your originals, then you only have to edit and re-upload.)
Fortunately, with Google Takeout you can download all of your YouTube videos at once, in their original quality. Once the videos are downloaded, the most efficient way to edit them would likely be to use a tool that supports batch editing or that can be called from a scripting language. I'm not well versed in video editing tools, but this question on Superuser or this one on Video Production SE could be a good starting point.
Answer: Seeing how rotation has been stripped from Creator Classic, I thought this would be helpful here. I found a way by modifying the element in Creator Classic.
See my quick tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDFNQiGZTKY.
I would have answered here (Can I rotate already uploaded videos on YouTube?), but it required much more rep than I have in order to comment.
Comment: Hi Drivium, I have removed the protection from that question for the time being.  It would be great if you could add the answer there, but please include a brief summary of what is going on in the video in the answer, otherwise if the video disappears the answer will not be able to stand on its own.  Please try to cater your answer to the individual questions rather than just copy/pasting what you have here, if you would, though.
Comment: Can you do it in a fast way without having to rotate one by one?
Comment: @jonsca - added detailed info at the link!  Thanks!  :)


Is it possible to implement Steamworks functionality in a Java game? How?

Question: I have a basic game that I want to eventually turn into something better. The game is all Java as of right now, but I want to implement the Steamworks SDK into my game (so it can have achievements, and the Workshop, and so on). But Steamworks requires C++. Is it possible to have my full Java game implement the Steamworks SDK without rewriting it in C++? I am currently using the jMonkey Engine 3 for my game.
Answer: It's definitely possible, you would just need to create a thin layer wrapping the Steam SDK (or part of it) to java via the Java Native Interface
I'm not aware of any efforts to have an opensource library for this.
Comment: There's [steamworks4j](https://github.com/code-disaster/steamworks4j), a Java wrapper around _some_ of C++ steamworks API using JNI.
Comment: This appears to be a very viable solution. My only snag with this now is that I do not know how to implement this into my code or where. I would assume it would be somewhere in the main file, right?
Comment: I took a deeper look at it and I am sure I will be able to figure it out. This answer was really helpful in setting me on the right path.
Answer: JNI is a way to go if you want full access, but the Steamworks Web API might be an easier way to go. It's basically an HTTP/HTTPS-based channel to the Steamworks functions, designed to be instantly compatible with access from Java, Python, Ruby, and really anything that isn't intrinsically C/C++.
Of course you know that the issue with JNI is that you would need to compile it seperately for each available OS, which kind of defeats the purpose of any of those languages. Getter methods can be run with basic HTTP; setters (like setting an achievement), as I understand it, require HTTPS, and a unique developer identifier; but the interface is still relatively simple.
Answer: Today there exists a ready-to-use wrapper on github:
https://github.com/code-disaster/steamworks4j
This could be what you are looking for!
Answer: Use Steam SDK and U can use Jar if they provide.
check them issue and API.
and after think about implementation.
http://steamcommunity.com/dev/


Why Krishna is called Ranchhod?

Question: Why Krishna is called Ranchhod or Ranchhod ray. In Gujarat we also sing Jay Ranchhod Makhanchor.
Comment: There is also a related question here: http://hinduism.stackexchange.com/questions/9262/krishna-running-away-from-jarashanda/9320#9320 but the answers have different story
Comment: No, This name was given by Krishna's enemy with whom Krishna refused to fight. :)
Comment: This was given as he left war field while fighting with Kalyavan as he had boon not to be killed by solar and lunar races and weapons... he was killed by eyesight of Muchukunda...
Comment: I have heard a story of Kalyavan who wants to fight with krishna but he ran away in a cave in which Muchkund was sleeping. Muchkund ended Kalyavan's life.
Comment: Here is the story with the reason: http://samharshbangalore.blogspot.in/2013/01/when-krishna-was-called-ranchod.html
Answer: "Rann" means "battlefield" & "chhod" means "abandon". The one who abandons a battlefield usually out of fear or other concerns can be termed as "Rannchhod".
Krishna lived his majority of life as Leela, where he showed various colors (Rasa-s). "Fear" was one of them. Krishna was Not a freak (ghora/extreme) of any particular good/bad virtue; he had it all balanced.
This derogatory name might have been coined because of Krishna along with other Yadu-s running away [from a possible battle] against JarAsandha (father in law of Kansa). There can be other stories too, but not find-able in current version of MahAbhArata.
In Krishna's words from Sabha Parva:

Then the widow of Kansa and the daughter of Jarasandha, that handsome woman with eyes like lotus-petals, grieved at the death of her lord, went unto her father, and repeatedly urged, O Monarch, the king of Magadha, saying,--O slayer of all foes, kill thou the slayer of my husband.--Then, O great king, remembering the conclusion to which we had come of old we became exceedingly cheerless and fled from Mathura. Dividing our large wealth into small portions so as to make each portion easily portable, we fled from fear of Jarasandha, with our cousins and relatives. Reflecting upon everything, we fled towards the west.

Later they all landed & settled in Dwaraka, Gujarat. This "insulting" name is also celebrated as part of his colourful life! Other such names, which were derogatory but now celebrated are:

Makhhan-chor ("butter stealer")
Gau-pal ("cowherd")
Even Krishna ("dark") itself may be considered racist in today's
time

Note: Now I recall that, I had observed this passage in this answer a long time back. Not sure if these 2 Qn-s can be duplicates or independent.
Comment: @Rickross, thx. Actually "*Rann*" means "Desert" (e.g. the *Rann* of Kutchh). In earlier times the battle used to take place in deserted places to avoid involuntary killing of citizens and crops/trees. In the context of *Rannchhod*, *Rann* can be expanded as "Rannbhumi" or "RannmaidAn". Moreover this term of "Rannchhod" is more popular in Gujarat & Rajasthan areas. Though this term is historical, but IMK not from Mahabharata times.
Comment: Nice to see u active here again..BTW, Ran simply means battle, whereas Ranabhumi or Ranakshetra will mean battlefield.. Right?
Comment: I too strongly believe that this whole episodes of leaving the battlefield are Shree-Krishnas devine leelas.And he does this acts with deep intention ,of protecting his people and animals.

Why Krishna is called Ranchhod?


Are there serious business benefits to going to Mars?

Question: Elon Musk has many times announced plans to go (manned) to Mars and it seems strange that investors and stakeholders would be interested in spending money on this just because Elon is interested. There is a possibility of charging scientific institutions to perform research or even take people but this still does not seem viable as a business. Is research the only potential source of income for a commercial manned mission to Mars or are there other business benefits that I've missed?
Comment: As phrased this question could be seen as opinion-based. You could ask "are there any detailed studies of the economics of such a mission?" or some similar question.
Answer: It probably isn't good business along the lines of conventional return on investment.
However necessity is the mother of invention, building colonies on Mars will inevitably accelerate technological development, not only generally in terms of spaceflight and life support, but also in areas of automation, replication, biosphere management - perhaps in the longer run terraforming.
This kind of technological advance will unquestionably be profitable for humankind, it is difficult to say how much of such advances will become profit for the company responsible for putting humans on Mars, but one might expect that since they are the ones developing most of the technology, they will also have the patents and such and be in the best position to develop and market the technology to an Earth market.
Now it is true that in principle any technological advance which could be made by putting humans on Mars, could be made without putting humans on Mars. But humans are lazy and usually need a spur or a goal for development to happen.
We can at least imagine a scenario where some new technology gets developed like self-replicating machinery which makes the owner of said technology fabulously wealthy. Would it happen? Impossible to say. Technological advance is like that, it can't be predicted. But I certainly think it is possible.
Comment: Agreed. NASA publishes an annual "Spin-Off" document (you can get for free) that lists all the technologies and business support each year that are (almost) direct spin-offs from them alone, not to mention something as dramatic as going to Mars.  https://spinoff.nasa.gov/
Comment: Always beware of someone using the term "unquestionably" -- especially if they are planning on using other people's money.
Comment: "Why are we going to Mars?" "Essentially because humans are lazy", I love this answer haha +1.
Comment: As long as *getting to* Mars is expensive and difficult, nobody will invest in the kind of technology necessary to live there for extended periods.  By presenting what appears to be an affordable architecture for sending large numbers of people to Mars, Elon is likely to spur research and development in a number of areas that are currently career backwaters.  Some of that research will have beneficial effects here (such as better/more efficient means of recycling and reclaiming water, waste products, etc.).
Answer: There are a few very interesting benefits, although most of them won't take place for some time. I'll break down benefits into short and long term.
Short

Better understanding Earth, sometimes it helps to understand things from a different perspective
Inspiration- Many people are inspired by such advances in technology. The Apollo project produced similar benefits, inspiring many people to become Engineers, Scientists, and other technical professions.
Setting up a foundation for things to come.

Long term

Mars is the best place to farm and get food to outer space. Mars likely will be a major re-supply base for Asteroid mining missions
Humanity needs to escape it's cradle (Earth) if it is going to continue to grow.
Backup for humanity in case of a global disaster (Asteroid impact, nuclear war, etc)
Engineering advances brought by low gravity
Engineering advantages by having fewer humans (United States had many advances because there wasn't enough people to do things, for instance)
Comment: Do you have a citation for "United States had many advances because there wasn't enough people to do things, for instance"? I'd be interested in seeing how people came up with that.
Comment: Assembly lines, interchangable parts, the cotton gin, all are examples of things created in the United States, which allowed for increased efficiency, due in part to not having sufficient people. English naval transportation considerably improved after North America was colonized.
Answer: Well, I'm not sure that I can answer the question of research benefits, although there are major scientific and manufacturing possibilities in low or so-called zero gravity environments. Probably the simplest example for free-fall production is a shot tower for making musket balls. Anyway, there are three very general space ideals (and of course, don't limit yourself by these). You might consider them reasons or rationale for pursuing one type of spaceflight.
The first being human spaceflight, with its Utopian thought. Human activities in space, from a public perspective, are inseparable from spaceflight. Going back into the past many popular authors suggested that spaceflight needed to be human oriented. They believe/d that it was destiny. Mankind would first send out simple robots, then launch themselves into the universe and colonize. This would allow mankind to find peace and create many Utopian societies. Some call this the Von Braun Paradigm, but that's another topic. Many groups still ultimately believe that space exploration should ultimately lead to human migration.
The second would be that of purely scientific and robot exploration. Those who support space exploration from this perspective tend to point out how expensive and draining a human oriented spaceflight program can be on society. There is some mixing of a pure robotic program and a human program. Those who don't choose one or the other will tend to use one to support the other. For example, some might believe it is too early for human spaceflight, but acknowledge that robotic exploration can help to eventually put humanity in a better position (for migration that is). Neil deGrasse Tyson is a perfect example of the split between human and robotic spaceflight:

In your autobiography, The Sky Is Not the Limit, you noted the success of robotic space exploration and wrote that "We should not measure our spacefaring era by where footprints have been laid." Given the high cost and risks, why do you support a manned mission to Mars?
When I wear my scientist's hat, I do not support a manned mission to Mars. The cost versus the return on such a mission is embarrassingly low. But when I wear my public educator hat, I see and experience the public's vicarious thrills of watching their own species go into orbit and beyond. Astronauts are the only kind of celebrity I know who can have a line of people waiting for their autograph, even if the line of people does not know in advance the astronaut's name.
This level of interest runs deep and filters through Congress and on to funding streams. That's why the science programs of NASA have never been more than one-third of the agency's budget. So the social and political reality differs from how the scientific community would rather see it.
And since I spend large parts of my time at that intersection, I fully understand that urge to explore with humans and will not try to fight this basic human urge.

The third is that of transhumanism. This one focuses on human modification and adaptation to overcome the rigors of spaceflight. You can stretch the idea of transhumanism by going back to the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey by Kubrick and Clarke. Transhumanism can include the idea of evolution over millions, or billions, of years. In other words, if we are going to eventually evolve, why not do it now?
Space exploration isn't always about the money. I imagine this is a small reason why people will invest in what might be called outlandish schemes. There is something romantic about being a pioneer and being on the frontier. People see space as salvation. It is the only way to save the human race. So, why do people want to go to Mars? For me, I'd go to Mars because I've always been taught to idolize astronauts. Who doesn't want to be a hero? It's a dream. Now imagine having heroes working for your business.
A good resource on this topic would be Launius and McCurdy's Robots in Space: Technology, Evolution, and Interplanetary Travel. It's not the best resource, but it might give some deeper insight into the motivations. If I remember correctly, its been years, the book is split into sections similar to what I've mentioned.
Another interesting video, from Werner Von Braun, is the Disney movie Man in Space. There is a series of videos promoting his early vision.
Comment: Really appreciate this well thought out answer to why human flight is good even with no business benefits and why investors might have invested despite there being real prospects for money! It was an interesting read! (especially love the Neil Quote!). I'll wait and see if any other answers come about possible income from space travel to Mars but your answer seems very good!
Answer: Business is what humans want to do. If they want to go to Mars, then it is good business to do so. Why? I don't know, it is a great philosophical mystery why humans want to do anything. Ask people to find out. They do what they want with the profits from what they have created. I don't recommend it, but you might want to search for sexually related stuff online to find out about stranger stuff humans want to do. Going to Mars might become big business just like getting a piercing or baking a cake did. What do you mean "benefits"?
Answer: This question is still both up to date and unanswered. The plans for sending humans to Mars are still pursued without any obvious business plan behind it.
As of today, Elon Musk keeps reiterating that SpaceX's commercial activities (atm rocket launching, resupply missions to the space station, and in the future also satellite business) will help funding go to Mars. I have not heard anyone say anything about how that should turn into a good deal in the long run. Yet Musk is convinced that without economic perspectives, projects will never be self-sustaining and will not receive enough attention. People need an economic drive, or else they won't follow.
Undoubtedly, there might be huge implicit benefits in the form of spin-off technologies, but that's a very high-risk investment case.
Space tourism sounds more viable, but that would not turn into a huge market because it will probably not be affordable to the majority of the population.
Keep in mind that without any breakthrough innovation in spacecraft propulsion, we will never find any planet as suitable and comfortable for humans than Earth, no matter what we do to it. (That is except for nuclear disaster, but abstract fear of this will probably not drive additional billions of dollars into colonizing Mars.) This increases the inhibition to invest in Mars.
A business plan would have to include an idea on how to return billions of dollars initial investment.
The only remotely realistic answer I can think of, is to create a new economy on Mars and for Mars only. This would be built and sustained by Martian humans (at first settlers, then the Mars-born) and will only benefit people on Mars. There's no obvious way how you could return wealth from there to Earth, even if costs of space travel drop by orders of magnitude. In this case, the business case for Musk would be to buy articles in future history books by spending all of SpaceX's revenue within the next decades on Mars travel.


Question on Tokenization and the need to maintain a value to token lookup

Question: I'm a newbie and an idiot to boot. I've a question in relation to tokenizing: is there a methodology out there that would allow you reidentify without using a token to value lookup?  I'd have thought no but have a developer claiming something different.  I contend that what he's talking about is an encryption process.
Answer: You could use for example an asymmetric keys pair, where the private key is stored on the user's device, and where the public key is saved in the server side.
At sign-in, the server send a challenge request (random bytes + current timestamp), the client need to sign the challenge and the server can verify the signature.


What documents are required when travelling to the US under a B1/B2 visa?

Question: I received a B1/B2 visa to US (in a country different from my nationality)
Is the visa all I need, or do I need to show any other documents at the departing airport and/or the entry airport at the US?
Answer: Airlines / immigration will check a few things:

your passport should have several spare pages, and at least 6 months' validity into the future (although that probably got checked when you got your visa, make sure it's still accurate)
you should have a return ticket, or evidence of a planned departure from the US (eg bus ticket out, or onward flight)
evidence of where you'll be staying (itinerary, accommodation bookings, if any)
funds for travel - not always asked for, but sometimes they'll want to know how you'll support yourself, especially if you're there for more than a few days.

Given you received it from a country other than your nationality(?), it's best to bring any visas for that other country you hold, if they're in a previous passport or similar (it happens sometimes).
Pretty much any question you had to answer as evidence to get the visa may come up again, so be prepared to provide evidence for those once more, as well as the above-mentioned items.
Comment: @skv it was an over-simplification, basically many countries including the US require more pages than you'd expect.  [We have a question on this topic](http://travel.stackexchange.com/q/37127/101) ... oh and [this one too](http://travel.stackexchange.com/q/27225/101)
Comment: @user13267 Mainly you'll want proof of funds (e.g. credit card or bank statements) and an onward/return ticket. You also need the street address of where you will stay the first night; this goes on the form you fill out while on the plane to the US. After you clear immigration, the passport is all you will really need to hold on to.
Comment: Is there a reasoning for "several pages?" I am not questioning the fact, just trying to figure out the reason, all they need is a place for one stamp or at best one blank page isnt it, or should I post that as a separate question :)
Comment: at what point can I expect these questions? At the airport of departure, or on arrival at the US immigration? Do I need to keep my documents such as police record, employment contract (which I had shown during visa interview), invitation from the US, etc, on me at all times?


Best runes for Zed: Attack damage or Armor penetration?

Question: The last few months I main Zed. I believe that I'm good with him when it comes to mechanics but when it comes to the build I use, I just a find one on solomid, or mobafire and run this.
So I would like to take understand a bit more the runes and masteries I'm using for him. For now I'm wondering which runes are better to run on Zed? Armor penetration or Attack damage?
Comment: Related http://gaming.stackexchange.com/q/61129/18146
Comment: @Brian I wouldn't consider that related.  That one is talking about items.  His question is about masteries.
Comment: This is a tricky comparison.  Flat AD is normally to do more damage early game, and to help last hit when you need to.  Armor Pen is more useful for getting kills mid to late game when you have already built items for damage.
Comment: Another related: http://gaming.stackexchange.com/q/58476/18146 and also http://gaming.stackexchange.com/q/59513/18146 @dphil you can think of runes in terms of gold value :)
Comment: I would consider the one that asks specifically about them, but not the other 2.  I have a hard time thinking about them with gold value because you can't just go and buy flat armor pen, but you can just go buy AD.
Answer: For Zed, you can last hit VERY easily with your passive. You don't need a full AD rune set. You get maximum killing potential at level 6 which is when you start building items, and this is also the time when armor pen runes start becoming effective. Therefore you should use some armor pen runes. Example setups:
9 Armor pen marks,
3 AD quints
9 AD marks,
3 Armor pen quints
I would not recommend running a FULL armor pen setup because you don't want to be too weak in the early game.
Answer: Usually your choice is Attack damage since it makes lasthitting a lot easier and you also get some other benefits from it because your abilities scale off AD.
Armor penetration can of course also be used but it's not as good as flat AD in most situations. It's a good thing though to always have 2 runepages. Armor pen is better in general when you're playing top vs bruiser like champions but most of the time you're mid you won't be facing off tanky guy.
Personally I run:

Reds - Flat AD
Yellows - Flat Armor
Blues - Flat MR
Quints - 1 Flat AD 2 Lifestal

This makes Lasthitting easy while giving you a lot of sustain in lane. You can of course also replace the LS Quints with flat AD. This is just a personal preference.
Comment: The reason I'm asking this question because I saw a build of Bjergsen on solomid that is running Armor penetration so I'm just thinking, why he would do that?
Answer: I would refer you to this answer as to why you should prefer Armor penetration in runes and masteries.
Attack damage is easier to get with items and usually, items you are going to run in most Zed's build will have attack damage and few or no armor penetration. Unless you run more than 1 or 2 items with armor penetration in your build, favor armor penetration in your runes and masteries.
Related links :
Armor penetration returns, what it does explained
Armor/Magic Penetration to get an enemy into the negative explained
Example of Armor penetration runes vs AD runes
Wish those links help you better understand the difference.
Comment: The answer you refer me is similar but sadly it's not what I'm looking for since it compares Armor penetration and Attack speed. The interesting thing that I saw is that the dude says "Armor Penetration gives you a constant %damage bonus, regardless of how much armor the enemy has". Does this mean that my damage is increased from the armor penetration I have even thought my enemy might have not taken any item that provides him armor?
Comment: Yes, you can actually reduce your opponent armor [below zero](http://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/29415/how-does-negative-armour-magic-resistance-work). the reference was more about armor penetration being harder to get on items vs attack damage. There's other links in the answer that provide informations as why you should prefer armor penetration.
Comment: Since I'm new to this site I would appreciate if you could show me those links. But since my question is not duplicated I don't believe that I will find the answer I seek on another post. Even though I think that Jutschge covered me enough.
Comment: @zETO added some links for you.
Answer: Attack Damage is better in the current meta. Attack Speed Quints are really popular right now among the high level players. Lifesteal quints got nerfed and aren't as useful. So definitely AD out of the two.
Answer: I personally like to run: Armor pen quints, Flat AD Marks, Armor and/or Health seals and mr blues :) been working for me
Comment: Why do you run these?  Adding that information would turn this into a good answer.