What's the purpose of Datasets?

Question: I want to understand the purpose of datasets when we can directly communicate with the database using simple SQL statements.
Also, which way is better? Updating the data in dataset and then transfering them to the database at once or updating the database directly?
Answer:
I want to understand the purpose of datasets when we can directly communicate with the database using simple SQL statements.

Why do you have food in your fridge, when you can just go directly to the grocery store every time you want to eat something? Because going to the grocery store every time you want a snack is extremely inconvenient.
The purpose of DataSets is to avoid directly communicating with the database using simple SQL statements. The purpose of a DataSet is to act as a cheap local copy of the data you care about so that you do not have to keep on making expensive high-latency calls to the database. They let you drive to the data store once, pick up everything you're going to need for the next week, and stuff it in the fridge in the kitchen so that its there when you need it.

Also, which way is better? Updating the data in dataset and then transfering them to the database at once or updating the database directly?

You order a dozen different products from a web site. Which way is better: delivering the items one at a time as soon as they become available from their manufacturers, or waiting until they are all available and shipping them all at once? The first way, you get each item as soon as possible; the second way has lower delivery costs. Which way is better?  How the heck should we know? That's up to you to decide!
The data update strategy that is better is the one that does the thing in a way that better meets your customer's wants and needs. You haven't told us what your customer's metric for "better" is, so the question cannot be answered. What does your customer want -- the latest stuff as soon as it is available, or a low delivery fee?
Comment: By the way, no customer. Just myself. It's just a stock management system I'm doing for practice. Since data is repeatedly used for viewing and updating, I guess datasets is the answer. But still, there's this problem that in case of a system failure, all the work done by the user will get lost unless the database is updated for each and every update done by the user. Is it possible to prevent this with datasets?
Comment: @Lizzie: That's a great candidate for a new question.
Answer: Datasets support disconnected architecture. You can add local data, delete from it and then using SqlAdapter you can commit everything to the database. You can even load xml file directly into dataset. It really depends upon what your requirements are. You can even set in memory relations between tables in DataSet.
And btw, using direct sql queries embedded in your application is a really really bad and poor way of designing application. Your application will be prone to "Sql Injection". Secondly if you write queries like that embedded in application, Sql Server has to do it's execution plan everytime whereas Stored Procedures are compiled and it's execution is already decided when it is compiled. Also Sql server can change it's plan as the data gets large. You will get performance improvement by this. Atleast use stored procedures and validate junk input in that. They are inherently resistant to Sql Injection.
Stored Procedures and Dataset are the way to go.
See this diagram:

Edit: If you are into .Net framework 3.5, 4.0 you can use number of ORMs like Entity Framework, NHibernate, Subsonic. ORMs represent your business model more realistically. You can always use stored procedures with ORMs if some of the features are not supported into ORMs.
For Eg: If you are writing a recursive CTE (Common Table Expression) Stored procedures are very helpful. You will run into too much problems if you use Entity Framework for that.
Comment: I would like to disagree - I would say using an object-relational mapper (like Entity Framework, which also nicely supports stored procedures) to turn your relational data into proper objects is the way to go .....
Comment: @marc_s: I would also agree. But this question is dealing with .Net framework 2.0 and I when I said "Stored Procedures and Dataset" I meant they are the way to go for Ado.Net along with good old SqlHelper class.
Answer: This page explains in detail in which cases you should use a Dataset and in which cases you use direct access to the databases
Answer: I usually like to practice that, if I need to perform a bunch of analytical proccesses on a large set of data I will fill a dataset (or a datatable depending on the structure). That way it is a disconnected model from the database.
But for DML queries I prefer the quick hits directly to the database (preferably through stored procs). I have found this is the most efficient, and with well tuned queries it is not bad at all on the db.

What's the purpose of Datasets?


Is wood a good alternative to charcoal for bbq fuel?

Question: Instead of buying lump or briquette charcoal every time, can I just burn some birch and use that as the heat for my charcoal bbq?
Comment: Birch is not one of your better fire woods. It burns down awful fast.
Answer: You can use any non-poisonous wood you like.
Every wood has a different heat and smoke profile. "Soft woods" like birch will generally burn very hot for a short time, so OK for sausages, small meat cuts, and small vegetables, but not so good for large meat cuts, roasts, or for BBQ'ing covered for the full smoke effect as you will most likely need to re-stock the fire every 20 or 30 minutes.
Most people let the wood burn off the main smoke (which usually doesn't taste too good), and BBQ on the red/white embers. The wood stage is now similar to charcoal, but a lot more smokey, which is great if you like smoke.
For sausages, small cuts and small vegetables, hardwood is basically wasted, as they will cook in ten minutes, and the hardwood has 20 to 30+ minutes of burn time in it.
You can BBQ small stuff using a few handfuls of dry twigs or even driftwood if you want too. Twigs from fruit trees or lavender bushes make great smoke!
We always travel with a small lidded BBQ (metal box 60x40x40 cm with vent holes on sides), we use a handful or two of driftwood, once the smoke dies down, add a few peppered steaks, pre-cooked potatoes, oiled asparagus, soaked corn on the cob. Put the lid on, and come back in 15 to 20 minutes, smokey slow cooked heaven.
Comment: That sounds very tasty. I'm going to have to try throwing some lavender on the coals next time! I'm not sure I'd call 15 minutes "slow cooked" though.
Comment: @Sobachatina relative to the average BBQ time. With pre-cooked stuff all your are doing is smoking. With items like soft fish, or thin red meat cuts, 15 minutes is plenty too
Answer: You should be able to cook on your grill using various types of wood such as hickory, mesquite, cherry, maple, apple, etc. Per  Recipetips.com , birch can be used also.

Birch - A softer wood, Birch is best used when grilling or smoking cuts of pork and poultry, providing a flavor similar to some varieties of maple.

Birch is a softer wood and can also be syrupy. Also hard woods cook longer than soft woods. Be sure to use large chunks rather than chips or small pieces. Just keep these things in mind when cooking with birch.
Comment: @TFD Larger chunks/pieces allow for a longer cooking time and less need for adding wood. As birch is a softer wood, it burns quicker than hard woods, so small pieces and chips would not be as desirable.
Comment: @TFD Smaller pieces of wood burn away more quickly, while big pieces leave behind coals more easily. All the fires I've cooked over, the twigs were ash well before the logs burned down.
Comment: What difference will chunks make?
Comment: But that all depends what you want. Sometime you want a short BBQ. So that advice is only good if you want a long BBQ. In which case birch is not a good candidate, since it burns too quickly, and is very smokey to re-stock
Answer: I use wood all the time (including birch). Size and type will depend on what I am trying to do. For a slow smoke I will use a slow burning hardwood for coals and add small pieces of fruitwood or Hickory on the coals for flavour. If I am needing a quick hot fire birch with no bark works good. The bark normally comes off easily after it's been seasoned in the wood pile. The bark creates all the dirt smoke and bitterness.
Answer: Birch is far too hot and quick-burning for a barbecue. Even hardwood (oak, maple, etc) will have too much flame and not enough heat for good grilling. You need a fuel that burns long and with a lot of radiated heat, which is why charcoal is the classic fuel.
Comment: Yeah, I don't get this - I've had an awful lot of barbecue cooked over mostly oak. Yes, you have to let it burn down until there's no flame, but then it stays hot plenty long to cook a meal, eat it, then come back for marshmallows. Charcoal is commonly used because it lets you skip ahead to the coals, not because you can't use wood.
Comment: If you're talking specifically birch, then it really does burn too fast. If you're talking a better grade of hardwood, then yes: you can burn it down into coals and use those coals, but not in a standard charcoal barbecue; the size of wood fire you could fit in a charcoal grill wouldn't generate enough coals to last you long.
Comment: @Kaushik I'm from central Texas, where live oak is one of the most common trees. The kind of stuff we burned was from trees that were starting to grow too far (over the house or the road) or starting to die, definitely not just cutting down trees for firewood. None of it was really big enough to use as lumber anyway. I don't think it's what people actually sell as firewood, but we weren't buying it.
Comment: Birch has flame initially, but after that, it will burn to white hot coals and then there will be no flame ,right?
Comment: Other answers and sources say birch does work, just only for faster cooking things. Even if they're wrong about that, you clearly agree that other kinds of wood work, so perhaps you might want to edit your answer to avoid the claim that no wood is a good fuel. (I'm also dubious about your claim that it won't fit in a grill, given my own experience, TFD's answer, and other sources.)
Comment: @Jefromi....where do you buy oak? In Toronto, Canada, they only sell birch in campgrounds,parks and stores. I think oak is too precious to be burned down. It is used in furniture.
Answer: Wood is fine it is just a lot less practical. Wood takes a fair while longer to make coals and is not entirely as hot as charcoal. That being said it does stay longer so if you want a more gentle longer lasting fire it may be better.
Charcoal is in essence just half burned compressed wood anyway so you are not loosing anything substantial by just using regular wood.
Comment: Real charcoal is not compressed. Briquettes are not real charcoal (most of them contain coal dust, which is quite a different animal, and various other ingredients.) Coals from burning wood **are** charcoal...


World of Warcraft: What's new for Casual Players in patches 3.2 and 3.3?

Question: Are there any good sets of new quests or 5-man instances or new content that we should try out in patches 3.2 and 3.3?
Thanks
Comment: This is largely time localized.  Maybe generalize to: What Options Exist for the Casual Player in WotLK? and then in the question drill down to: 5-man instances and finding Groups
Comment: @tzenes it can also be reframed as "What's new for Casual Players in patches 3.2 and 3.3," as those are the content introductions in the timeframe, and would allow the question to be easier to refer to going back.
Comment: @Less very much so.
Answer: There have been two major content pushes in roughly the past year, I'll cover them separately. I also won't bother going into the various mechanics changes or new raid content introduced, as you don't sound interested in those. I will note however that the quality of gear obtainable via badges has increased significantly with the introduction of new content.
Patch 3.2, Call of the Crusade
This patch added one new 5 man instance, the Trial of the Champion, with both normal and Heroic modes. Both modes drop epic items, with Normal mode dropping Epics on par with those found in Naxxramas-10 and other Heroic 5-mans (including some extremely desirable trinkets), and Heroic dropping gear on par with Ulduar-10.
In addition, 3.2 saw the expansion of the Argent Tournament, the daily-quest hub in northeastern Icecrown, with a new daily quests, new rewards, and a new quest chain.
Finally, 3.2 saw the introduction of a new Battleground in Isle of Conquest, which brings siege-engine and vehicle gameplay to a 40v40 map ala Alterac Valley.
Patch 3.3, Fall of the Lich King
The primary content introduction in patch 3.3 was the new 5 man instances at Icecrown Citadel, The Frozen Halls. There are three of them, which are designed to be completed roughly in order (in fact, the portal at the end of each leads into the next instance in the series, and to enter any but the first directly, you must be 'attuned' by completing all three. These instances drop Ulduar-10 quality gear on Normal mode, and on Heroic, drop gear on par with ToC-10 (A new raid released while you were away) -  the best items available in any 5 man, outside of gear bought with badges.
The other major change in 3.3 however, is the introduction of the Dungeon Finder. Replacing the old LFG tool, the Dungeon Finder allows you to select the instance you'd like to run (or you can select to run a random one for additional rewards!), and the roles you're able to fill (tank, healing, or DPS), and within minutes, will pair you off with like minded players for a quick run through any 5 man. You can queue as a partial group as well, so you and your wife can queue together, and the game will automatically find 3 other players to finish out your group for any dungeon you'd like to run. Especially if one of you is capable of tanking, you'll find the queues to be phenomenally fast and convenient - no more spamming trade trying to find one more to run an instance!
Comment: what is the difficulty of the heroic Frozen Halls compared to, say, the hardest 5-man heroics from 3.1? Thanks
Comment: Heroic Frozen Halls is quite tough. Start with Normal, and don't bother queueing for Heroic until you're confident you know the place well. The game won't let you queue if your gear isn't good enough to handle it.
Answer: Just my personal opinion, I wouldn't recommend going back to WoW at this exact moment in time. The new 5 mans may entertain you for a couple days, but it is just impossible to get around to the 5k gearscore area which is pretty much the minimum for doing the new raids like ICC unless you commit to joining a raiding guild and raiding on a regular schedule. Either that, or you run heroics over and over and over again until you get decent badge gear.
Taking heed to what's happened in the last two expansions, playing after the expansion is finished is not nearly as rewarding as playing when a new one is released. The gear gap from fresh level 80's to people who have actually been playing is just flat out massive. People tend to be impatient and elitist, expecting to down everything on the first try with no difficulty, as everyone is already burned out on the content.
As the other answers mentioned, the Dungeon Finder was a big addition. It's very convenient but in my opinion has taken away the social aspect from the game. You're playing with people not on your realm so most people don't bother to take accountability for their actions and their words. They also don't want to bother talking because there's no point developing an in-game friendship with someone from another realm who you will never play with again. Not to mention if you queue as a DPS the wait time can be up to 20-30 mins depending on which server/battlegroup you play on.
My advice is to wait until Cataclysm is out. Blizzard has made efforts to fix everything that was wrong with this expansion. Much of the playerbase is currently burned out and the social aspect that made the old WoW's fun has diminished.
Answer: 3 new five man instances at IceCrown Citadel (ICC):

FoS - Forge of Souls
PoS - Pit of Saron
HoR - Halls of Reflection

These are harder than normal instances.  That said, most people are geared to the point that instances take 10-20 mins on heroic difficulty (HC).
Other major change is the Looking for Group (LFG) interface.  Signup for a random or specific dungeon and you'll get matched with a group and teleported into the instance.  Can't guarantee group quality tho - most people want to get through as fast as possible.  Note you can form a group with the two of you and then queue in LFG to fill the remaining slots.


How much of classical Arabic maqam music is improvised?

Question: I am listening to a piece of music sung in maqam bayat (or bayati).  It's Psalm 126, which is 7 verses long, but the piece takes about 10 minutes and sounds very improvisatory.  This is similar to other examples of music in a maqam, so I'm wondering: is this type of music, where a soloist sings slowly, repeating words, without a repeated melody, mostly improvised, or is it mostly composed ahead of time and performed similarly at different performances, whether by the same singer or a different singer?  I unfortunately know very little about how Arabic classical music works.  It's possible that the example I'm citing, which is actually Jewish music from the Arabic world, is exceptional.  Can anyone tell me more about Arabic classical music and improvisation?
Answer: A great deal of it is improvised, much in the same sense that Indian Raga is improvised. That is to say, a lot of melodic framework and development is predetermined, but there is a lot of room to work around the predefined bits.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_maqam explains this well.
Answer: I don't know about that peice in particular, but yes, there is a type of music where, as you said: a soloist sings slowly without much of a repeated melody.
In Arabic, it's called a "mawwal" (Arabic: موال). I know in Turkish it's "uzun hava" (according to what a Turkish friend told me). I'm sure it has different names in Krudish and Persian as well.
It's not always improvised. Sometimes it is, sometimes the melody is pre-determined.
Here are some examples:
Arabic:

Turkish:

There's a similar type of slow melodic type of recitation which is used (as far as I know) only for the Quran. It's called "tajweed" (Arabic: تجويد). And it's usually always improvised.


Any advice on leg numbing during sitting?

Question: It happens at about 20 minutes every time lately... either in half lotus (a traditional position that I would like to honor), or with one leg laying in front of the other, or Indian style... doesn't matter, my left leg goes numb. Sitting up in a chair doesn't seem conducive to a meditative state, and laying down I just fall asleep. I'd really like to do some intensive and very long blocks of meditation (advice on this would be appreciated also) but I'm not sure how to approach this severe distraction and get past it.
Comment: didnt use to happen either, just kind of progressively became an everyday thing lately really.
Answer: I feel your pain!  That was a huge problem for me for years!  There is a cure, thankfully.  There is some trial and error involved, but if you persist, you'll figure it out.  First, some background.  What you are experiencing usually has to do with how your butt is making contact with the cushion.  There is a big nerve center in either of your two butt cheeks.  They are located just slightly below where the bone pokes out.  When you press on that place for long periods of time, it causes the "pins and needles" feeling.  In fact, your entire leg will usually go numb first - the tingly feeling is the nerve "waking" back up.
There are a couple of ways to overcome this problem.  The take away from any of these methods is that you want to take pressure off that area:

One way people do it is by using a higher cushion.  The idea here is that if you are off the ground a bit more, you are less likely to sink back and onto that nerve center.  You also create a natural incline with your legs.  Your thighs slope up to meet your hips.  Of course, while this will help relieve the nerve pressure in your butt, it will also eventually result in knee pain as your legs are taking more of your weight.  I tried this for a while by stacking two cushions sort of like this  ->  o\  (if that graphic makes any sense).
Another way is to lean back a bit.  Actually, you should be doing this anyway (it helps eliminate back pain as you are less likely to lean forward).  Leaning back helps shift the weight more onto your coccyx.  You are going to feel a little weird at first - almost like you are falling backwards.  I think this is because there is a tendency for your chin to raise.  Just make sure you are keeping your neck straight.
The method that worked for me had to do with how I was setting up on the cushion.  A lot of people plop down right in the middle of the zafu.  This is a bad idea.  You are throwing all of your weight down right on those nerves.  Personally, I set up right at the very edge of the zafu with just my coccyx coming down on the cushion.  Those bothersome nerve centers don't even make contact with the cushion at all.  I also incorporate points 1 & 2.  My cushion is a little higher (maybe about five inches) and I do lean back just a bit to keep my weight coming straight down into the cushion.

Hope this helps!  I know how annoying it can be!!!
Comment: thats it!... awesome thanks! (to everyone else as well)
Answer: Short answer: try a seiza bench.
Long answer: I have tried many approaches myself. I used to practice zazen long time ago, pushing my body to be able to sit properly -- lotus position was no less than a dream. It was very unpleasant, often painful (It is frustrating to realize that, in a way, I didn't actually do much zazen at all during these years, struggling as I was with my body).
Yeas later I started studying the suttas and it became much easier to learn how to evaluate approaches, build some sense of what was important to preserve and what was worth exploring. One "A-ha" moment was learning about hindrances and realizing it is asking too much to want to overcome them (or nurture concentration to investigate them) while at the same time practicing in a way that makes them deliberately stronger.
After that, I also became thirsty for long periods of meditation.  I kept trying using different supports to sit with legs crossed, but nothing helped: I faced numbness at 20min, too. I heard eating banana was suppose to help, but in any case, at 45-60 min, my back was in pain.
Then I tried a few times laying down -- not easy. At some point I meditated for a month in a chair. There was some effort in parts of my legs to keep my body stable, but these were very focused and not as intense as cross legged. I could sit for 1h before starting to feel tired. However, the experience was pleasant, and I wasn't exhausted as I used to be cross legged, which means I could do many 1h sessions in a single day, with small intervals. This is when I had major progress for the first time in years.
But still I wasn't satisfied: after a while, the small tensions in my leg became an impediment, and I wanted to be able to explore longer "blocks" of sessions. Then, I remembered the seiza benches in a sesshin I participated, got myself one, and became extremely grateful for the existence of such thing. No numbdness, no pain, no great discomfort. Just work to be done.
Comment: that is feasible and as a last resort i will try it, thanks. Honoring my lineage if possible seems more appropriate for now.
Answer:
Attached is a non-exhaustive chart of traditional sitting postures for meditation. (There are others.) In the early Buddhist text suttas, the Buddha recommended meditation while sitting, walking, or lying down.
While various teachers have emphasized or de emphasized the importance of posture (especially spine alignment, or comfortability to maintain for extended periods), the postures of meditation are merely trying to provide the body with what is needed and healthy for the actual work of meditation: concentration and insight.
As described in the early suttas, meditation practice follows (and then accompanies) development in practice in right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, and right mindfulness. It's a gradual path of training; for mind but also the body you use. May you act as a kind and patient teacher and friend rather than a bully or torturer for your body, mind, and life!
Answer: What I learned at a Vipassana meditation retreat: we were instructed to meditate for at least an hour without moving. The pain does get intense but you simply watch it happen. It ebbs and flows and insight can come from realizing that it is temporary. You can allow it to happen and be with it and it will go away. Seriously. What I was amazed to find out was how much the intensity of the pain was connected to what was bubbling up in my consciousness!
Answer: If the numbing becomes intense. Keep looking at the intense pain (dividing and dissecting) for a while also keeping you mind intensely on your breath and the sensations below your nose and above your upper lip (philtrum) or columella or subnasal or nasal base or nasal tip. Philtrum is the most recommended as per experience. (Also see Keep You Mind on the Spot by Webu Sayadaw) This stirs up energy which can help dissolve the pain faster.
Some traditions do not advice to stay in one place for long time but nevertheless if it is unbearable the best way for it to pass fast is to keep your attention at it for longer until the pain dissolves away. Keep in mind that trying to dissolve it away may make subtle attachment / aversion to the pain. Be mindful of this. Also you might create new conditioning / fabrication in the process which will delay your progress. In may be the reason why it is not advisable. You have to within the possibility of creating new conditioning with the set back due to having to move and loose concentration in this case. Since you cannot objectively measure either you should do it only for intense paints which you cannot beare. Also try to develop equanimity towards the pain in the process.
Some related answers:
https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/a/3328/295
Comment: yeah, i can sit through it for a while but it gets to a point where i absolutely have to move and that seems to completely disrupt my focus and i have to get refocused all over again... so ive been wanting to sit for a few hours and go through a super intensive but it seems like having to adjust every 20 minutes is going to prevent me from getting past a certain level of progress.  But, you are right, the super intensive sitting i would like to incorporate on occasion is a special practice... usually i would switch between walking and sitting and this would not be coming up at all.
Answer: You would be best answered by your own meditation teacher, with instructions from the style that you practice. Personally I practice Chan, and we are taught that:

Lotus is best, then half-lotus, then any posture
Lotus is best because it enables you to build concentration much faster
Do the best posture possible, and endure the pain. The more you endure, the more concentration you build
Personally I found that the numbness eventually goes away (starts happening later and later then goes away for good). The reason for pain/numbness is that the posture builds a lot of energy that will push your leg blockages, thus causing pain. When the blockage is cleared, no more pain.

It took me a year practicing half-lotus daily to do full-lotus, and another year to do full-lotus reasonably. It's totally worth it. With Chan, the more you endure, the more you understand.
Answer: I would suggest attending a 10 day Vipassana course run by SN Goenka.  You can find one in most countries around the world.  It will help you to understand the pain you are experiencing at a very deep level.  Before attending the course I had the same problem with leg numbness and back pain.  In fact I was frightened that I was doing damage to my body.  After the 10 days however, I can sit for periods of 1 hour with no problem.  Even if my legs go to sleep I can observe the sensations objectively rather than attaching to the unpleasantness.  If you have the time I would highly recommend doing it.  Otherwise, I agree with some of the other folks.. try and sit closer to the coccyx on a higher cushion.  Or perhaps try a kneeling aid.  May you be well and happy.
Answer: This is a major problem of most of the people practicing meditation.
There are many ways to avoid this problem.
1)using cushion.
2) adjust your sitting posture.
3) adjust your sitting height using additional cushion.
But this is what i feel as assisting yourself.
The solution to it is your mind`s concentration.
when your leg starts to feel numb, your leg sends a signal to your brain about the pain.
but if you increase your concentration, your brain will be busy and focused to feel the sensations of other part.it will not notice the numbness.
This i what i experienced on the last day of my 10 day course.
When i sat for meditating after 20 mins my legs started to become numb. but i concentrated my mind so hard on other part, i never realized and felt the pain.
i sat for 1 hr and after 1 hr i got up without any ticking sensation.
the solution lies in our mind. i mind is so powerful that if we concentrate very hard on one thing it will not notice other things.
This i again experienced during watching a short film at dhammagiri on the last day. i purposely focused my entire concentration on the film. even after 1 hr i didnt realised the numbness of my leg.
To conclude, if you increase your concentration you will overcome this problem.
and this is what we learn in meditation, focused, aware and equanimous mind.
Answer: The best advice I have ever read about this is in a book by Ngyakpa Chogam called Journey into Vastness. He advises that the sitting should be such that the knees fall below the level of the pelvis. I can sit in this way on a rock in perfect comfort for up to two hours, but one must find the exactly "sweet spot" where one is balanced on the coccyx in order to avoid any numbness in the legs.
Answer: There is an amazing stretch called the Lotus Lunge, sometimes called Pigeon, and it is probably the best stretch for getting deeper into your seated lotus.
http://images.agoramedia.com/everydayhealth/gcms/yoga-poses-for-beginners-07-pg-full.jpg
Kudos on wanting to honor the most excellent way to sit (imho)
Answer: Its important to keep your head neck and trunk in a straight line during meditation.The position of you upper extremities and lower extremities is not the Important thing.Once you truly get into meditative state you will not feel the pain and numbness in your body...over a long period of sustained practice, you will learn to be in meditative state for longer hours without knowing any pain....
Doing stretching exercises and other physical exercises will help you to get used to the postures with certain ease.
Lotus posture(Padmasana) and Adept posture(Siddhasana) are the postures used by great yogis, However, all the other postures are equally good as long as the head, neck, and trunk are held in a straight line and if you are doing the meditation right.
Answer: I've written a number of articles on the topic here:
http://lucid24.org/misc/qigor/eight-pieces/flt/index.html
includes videos of helpful stretches.
note that this resource helps all sitting postures, not just for full lotus.
Comment: This answer violates the site policy on own personal site promotion - please see [this Buddhism Meta SE question](https://buddhism.meta.stackexchange.com/q/1802/471) and its answers, as well as [this page](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/help/promotion) to understand the policy. 1) You need to paraphrase, summarize or partially quote the content of the link in the answer. 2) The user need not have to click into the link to benefit from the answer. 3) The link is only there to support the answer. 4) You must disclose yourself as the author of the linked site. **Please update this answer**.
Comment: and how am I going to quote or show part of a video i made of myself demonstrating the move?
Answer: Had exact same problem first 3 years of meditation, 20 minutes then leg going numb and it's painful/uncomfortable causing me to stop.
It seemed painful af.
Eventually i just decided to sit through it and see what happens because i figured it's probably not deadly or anything that is going to permanently ruin my leg.
I did satipatthana establishments and took note of my reactions, thoughts, feelings & perceptions as the numbing occurred. It was full panic for some 30 seconds but it subsided.
After that i was able to sit without moving for hours and the leg still always became numb, sometimes 2-3 times during a single sitting but it didn't bother me nearly as much. Id say it's the same sensation but i tolerate it easily and it was mostly mental aversion that was the issue.
Sometimes i barely notice it happening. Overcoming this was definitely a milestone and something that was very important.
Otherwise sitting on a soft cushion more or less solves this for me by prevention.
Answer: I'm just shaking my head. Tradition goes too far with this sitting cross legged thing.
Excruciating Sitting Zazen is for people that want to take the long way around to Zen.  Some people have circulatory problems and whine their leg falls asleep its a sign of trouble.  You should not IGNORE it in the sake of aesthetic values lol.
Alan Watts is considered a great man to teach Zen and he said there was no absolute need for sitting lotus. I think Lotus is great because its very easy to forget yourself in that balanced position, however, it isn't for everyone.  Asian people and healthy people take to it easier.
To act like some part of Zen is denied to you because you cant sit lotus or full lotus is stinking of religion.
If you want to meditate, meditate.  If your legs hurt too much, don't ignore them.
I challenge any man to tell me I am not a practitioner of zen because i dont sit for extended periods of time in a certain position.
Watts said when a cat is tired of sitting it gets up and walks away.  And so he did.  And the eastern teachers of Buddhism/Zen have never forgiven him for it.  Saying he failed a koan.
Even buddhism is stinking with pride apparently
Comment: Since your answer is largely opinion based the criticism comes off as condescending and hurtful of others. Please consider revising your answer with facts or explanations to make it more constructive. Thank you.
Comment: Very well said, JAT.  Lotus is the ideal.  Then there is the real - and for so many people, that's going to involve sitting a different way.  My teacher tells the story of someone who would sit full lotus at sesshin - tears streaming down his face from the agony.  That is not the way to wake up!  We have to do the best that we can.  But perfectionism?  Traditionalism?  Wanting to be the best sitter in the room?  None of that is Buddhism.


Why won't my circular saw blade tighten on the spindle?

Question: The blade on my Craftsman circular saw will not tighten down and consequently slips on the spindle.  I've tried packing the bolt with a washer and it didn't help.  Can't find anything online so this may not be a typical problem. Could it be as simple as replacing the spring washer?  Any feedback would be appreciated.
Comment: Here's an even more simplistic question: There should be some sort of blade stop on the saw that prevents it from turning when you tighten the bolt down.  Are you engaging that?
Comment: I am having the same problem. My Craftman saw is about 22 years old. Never had this problem before. I am wondering if the newer saw blades are thinner than they use to be.
Comment: I used such a saw for 20 years. I liked it because I could use a pencil to lock the blade guard open for making (dangerous but super handy) plunge cuts. _Could it be as simple as replacing the spring/lock washer?_ Yes, absolutely... I replaced mine a few times. But you might also be able to get a little more life out of the old lock washer by using a little sand paper to roughen it up and a couple pairs of pliers to pry it open slightly. The life expectancy of a "refurbished" lock washer isn't great, but it will get you though a project in a pinch.
Comment: Check if there is any debris such as wood chips in the whole where the bolt goes.
Answer: Make a shim out of thin cardboard and place it between the inner blade washer and the blade. The blades they're making these days are thinner than the older blades and some of the older saws have to be shimmed in order to prevent blade slippage.
Answer: A very thin kerf blade might spin, if the inner and outer nuts connect before clamping the blade.
Some (most 7 1/4 inch) blades have a diamond knockout that allows it to be used with a larger shaft.  If this were not in place, it would make it hard to align and tighten (would be dangerous).
Comment: I had exactly that problem with a thinner blade. It was in an older saw which obviously was not designed with that blade thickness in mind.
Answer: I just recently had the same issue. As simple as it sounds, try using a tap on the bolt/nut. I had the slightest bit of debris or thread preventing the bolt from making it tighten all the way, which caused resistance and caused the spindle to run while trying to tighten.
Based on your description,  I  guarantee this is your issue.
Comment: Please don't post in all-caps. It looks weird and reduces the readability of the post.
Answer: Sorry if this is too simplistic, are all the pieces there?

There is an inner drive washer with flats to engage the shaft and usually has a serrate waved surface.
Next comes the blade.
Then an outer drive washer
And a bolt with a spring-plate permanently attached lock washer.
There is a spindle lock button you use to hold the shaft when you tighten the bolt.

Under normal operation, the blade should be gripped with enough force to drive it except when you dog the blade down hard into material and jam it from turning. Works kind of like the shearable key on a lawnmower, give to prevent sudden stoppage.
Comment: @RobertJolly - I would wonder if the spring washer has become damaged, and is no longer providing any help. This might have happened if it was overheated, perhaps by the blade slipping overly much.
Comment: I appreciate your response. As a matter of fact, I do have the exploded view in the manual for removing and reattaching the blade and all of the component parts are there.  The inner flanged bushing or washer is shown as being removeable but the bushing on my saw appears to be locked in for some reason despite my efforts to remove it.
Answer: Something I did not see here:  My SKIL 7-1/4" circular saw from about 1978 (still working) came with instructions to NOT overtighten the blade.  Rather, brace the blade from turning; hand-tighten the bolt and washer; then wrench-tighten the bolt ONLY 1/8 turn further.  This allows the blade to slip, deliberately, if it binds in the material.  It's a safety feature.  (Oddly, the Craftsman saw I bought this year only says to OIL the washers where they grip the blade, but does not explain about binding and allowance for blade slippage.)
Comment: Hello, and welcome to Stack Exchange. Thanks for the info; please keep contributing!
Answer: Easy fix for your slipping blade make sure saw is unpluged take the bolt and tension washer off and leave blade and top washer on .I used my cutoff tool to remove the proud part of the shaft . The amount I removed might have been 1/64 to 1/32 . Saw works great now. The saw is old so I didn't mind experimenting on it .
Answer: Why again do you want to tighten down a circular saw blade??
Perhaps I am missing this as I only skimmed across the question, stealing time at work to research power tools.
One thing I learned when training to become a journeyman carpenter was that you do not want to tighten more than 1/4 turn as this is the safety.
Better to have the blade spin to a stop than to tighten hard a blade and hit a knot and have the blade kick back off your work and hit yourself in the thigh.
Answer: maybe way to old but inner washer might be upside down


Eating 7-8 meals for build muscle but loose fat. How?

Question: I am trying to loose my belly fat, around my waist and i came across Kris's 12 week program, I eat like 5-6 meals a day. But i don't get the science of eating so much, when eating so much is the reason you get fat. Its been 2 weeks and i have seen my weight got down 4.5 kg but my waist is 35. I am 5.8 and age 29. I guess in BMI i am under overweight.
So my question is, how should i know, i should eat this much. Like i make 0.5kg of chicken breasts but how do i know how much to eat in each meal? And what if someone who can't make steaks, find broccoli or sweet potato. What else should i eat as i am eating whole lots of chicken every meal.
Comment: The two things I didn't like in Kris's 12 week program is that there wasn't any discussion on portion sizes (that I could see), and the reliance on supplements.  He does have a product to sell of course.  LarrisaGodzilla's answer is very good about explaining that it's the same amount of food, just distributed throughout the day in a way that works for you.  You'll be surprised how much you can eat to loose weight if you stay away from burgers, fries, and other classically unhealthy foods.
Answer: The question you should ask yourself is not 'how?' but 'why?'
The 'science of eating so much', as you put it, is non-existing. Whatever you put into your body will be digested and used as your body sees fit. Everything your body can't use right away, will be 'queued' and used later on. So it doesn't matter if you eat 8 fistfuls of food each day or if you have on huge meal every evening.
This is supported by many people losing weight (or building muscle) using an intermitten fasting (IF) diet. During an IF-diet you're basically fasting 16 hours and only eat during an 8-hour window. So ask yourself, if your body could only use up so much during 8 hours, how do these people reach their goals? They do, because meal timing doesn't matter.
So back to the question you should ask yourself: Why would I want to eat 6-8 meals a day?
Well, it depends mostly on lifestyle. If you like eating 6-8 meals a day, by all means, go ahead. If you want to eat 3, 4 or 5 meals a day, that's also cool. The takeaway point here is to make it work for you. While 6-8 meals the size of a fist might work for Kris Gethin, it might not work for you. So find what works and stick to it, because the only diet that works is the on that you can pull through.
On to meal preparation: The portion size should be more obvious to you once you adjust the meal frequency to what you're used to, so I'll not go into that as much. Considering you're eating 'whole lots' of chicken meat every meal, there are some alternatives you could use. Some foods I wouldn't want to miss on a diet:

High protein: Chicken, poultry, fish
Complex carbs: Brown rice, whole-grain pasta, sweet potatoes
Healthy fats: Almonds, nuts, vegetable oils, fish (again)

Of course you can always add vegetables like carrots, broccoli, tomatoes, cucumbers and also fruit in reasonable amounts.
Some last words on the workout. A 5-day-split is suboptimal for most people, as you're training each muscle group only once per week. For that to be effective, you'd have to have a very high-intensity only a few people can keep up. I'd rather to 2-3 full body workouts per week and add in some cardio, but that's just me. In the end it has to (again) work for you. Just wanted to mention it.
Comment: The only part where I cringed was when I saw, *'or if you have one huge meal every evening.'*
Comment: I think this is an excellent answer and I couldn't agree more.   I think the results are pretty much in on nutrient timing.  I suppose one caveat would be people like Michael Phelps, Jay Cutler, or Rich Froning who eat 10k+ calories a day and physically can't fit that quantity of food into their body unless they spread it out throughout the day.  But those people are freaks. :)
Comment: @jp2code: It does sound like binge-eating, doesn't it? But I've heard of people doing just that. Granted, for _losing_ weight it might be a very bad strategy and a slightly exaggerated example.
Comment: @LarissaGodzilla Thanks for detailed answer. I noticed my weight back to as it was before joining the gym. 79 kg, i went to 74.5 kg. Although i see my arms getting bigger and shoulders getting broad, but no effect i see on belly. Its almost a month, should i be worried?
Comment: @Nofel: The mirror (or photos) isn't very realiable when it comes to seeing the small changes. If you haven't taken measurements (arms, shoulder, waist etc.) yet, I would recommend that. It's much more reliable for tracking progress than 'guessing' in the mirror. Maybe you will find that you are losing belly fat this way.


Can you objectively determine if a given system has free will (according to compatibilism)?

Question: Given some system, can you objectively determine if it has free will? In particular, you can examine the system to any extent that you want, but you are told nothing about its purpose.
If so, what is the objective free will test?
Comment: There is no free will in Compatibilism.
Comment: Related: https://philosophy.stackexchange.com/questions/3550/does-compatibilism-imply-that-a-chess-program-has-free-will?rq=1
Comment: Possible duplicate of [Does compatibilism imply that a chess program has free will?](https://philosophy.stackexchange.com/questions/3550/does-compatibilism-imply-that-a-chess-program-has-free-will)
Comment: Write down all the rules of physics and metaphyics of the system and if I understand the rules I can give an answer.
Answer: The answer to this depends on your definition of "free will."  Compatabalism does not define this, other than to state that it can indeed be compatible with the results of a purely physical world.  It is up to the compatabalist to dig further.
One up-and-coming definition comes from the Integrated Information Theory of Consciousness (IIT).  It defines consciousness in terms of information processing capability which is present in the overall structure but which cannot be explained by analyzing the individual parts (gestalt theory).  It does so in a mathematical way which permits a great deal of analysis.
The result of IIT is that consciousness is not a simple binary flag.  It's a spectrum, on which nothing ever receives a "0" rating.  Even a rock exhibits some consciousness in this system, though it is so slight that it is worth ignoring in everything except the most pedantic arguments.
Since free-will and consciousness are heavily tied together, it would be reasonable for someone who argues for IIT to argue that the answer to your question is "yes, you can objectively test it, because everything is conscious to some degree."  Although it does fail your definition slightly, because IIT assumes that information processing is a fundamental aspect of every system, so you might argue that tells the tester something about the purpose of the system.
Of course, the IIT community cannot speak for all compatabalists, but it provides one example of an answer to your question.
Answer: One way to test if a being has free-will is to see if it is a rational being, if it can govern others by "counsels, exhortations, commands, prohibitions, rewards, and punishments," and if it "acts from free judgment and retains the power of being inclined to various things," "For reason in contingent matters may follow opposite courses" {Summa Theologica I q. 3 a. 1 ("Whether man has free-will?") co.}.
Answer: I have to begin by saying, if there unambiguously were free will would not be such an area of consternation and debate.
There is a Zen story:

Nansen saw the monks of the eastern and western halls fighting over a cat. He seized the cat and told the monks: "If any of you say a good word, you can save the cat."
  No one answered. So Nansen boldly cut the cat in two pieces.
  That evening Joshu returned and Nansen told him about this. Joshu removed his sandals and, placing them on his head, walked out.
  Nansen said: "If you had been there, you could have saved the cat."

In this Zen perspective, truly 'free' unconditioned action, can be recognised by others who have it. Buddha developed the reordering of mind, and then in the Zen phrase there has been a 'direct transmission from mind to mind'.
That is not the whole of the Zen perspective. In the Zen view, we all have Buddha nature, the capacity for freedom and to act in an unconditioned way, in any given moment. So, also surely to recognise and transmit such, in principle. But the elusiveness, the apparent subjectiveness of this, makes it unclear whether it fulfils the questions criterion. It has been characterised as intersubjective transubstantiation [can track reference down], a depersonalisation with absolute empathy that enables a direct insight into another's mind.
It is interesting to compare this to the Turing Test and it's limitations. Natural language processing has developed hugely in recent times, and this has been considered to have allowed the passing of narrow versions of the test. It is made more difficult though when we have to consider the implications of humans failing such narrow versions of the test.
It seems our minds are capable of generating tangled hierarchies, reinterpreting statements and ideas by stepping outside of dialogues and their assumptions, that is we are Strange Loops. Can we evaluate when one occurs? Only with the next challenge, some question and answer which has no precedent. Like the Zen master and student, saying redefine yourself, in this moment. Can we establish an objective measure of passing this? I would say no. But it can be falsified. Freedom cannot be unambiguously demonstrated, but unfreedom can. When a statement or an act fails to manifest a redefinition of yourself towards freedom.
Comment: I struggled to find your actual answer. When I did, it turned out to be pure conjecture. Your Zen monologue is unrelated to the question.
Answer: There is no objective test for consciousness so there is no such test for freewill.
For the Zen view action that is uncondtioned would be an expression of Truth - (a theist would say of 'God's Will'). On this basis Zen denies the true existence of actors and actions, free or otherwise. Theistically-speaking the idea would be that when we act from the ego our actions are conditioned and when we surrender our will to God or Truth we cease to act. (More profoundly, there is no 'we'). God cannot have freewill since He must act according to His nature. The whole idea of freewill has to be questionned for this view or made uncommonly subtle.


Low water pressure

Question: Our house was built in 1986.  The water pressure has decreased gradually.  About 4 years ago we replaced the submerged pump (we have a well and septic).  It didn't help the water pressure.  I adjusted the pressure from the default 40 - 60 to 60 - 80.  It helped but still seems too low.  I'm afraid to raise it any higher.  I don't believe the problem is the pump because three years ago we installed a sprinkling system that works great.  When the sprinklers are on the inside water pressure does not seem to change.  On the other hand if the first floor laundry washer is filling the upstairs shower is just a trickle.  How high can I safely set the water pressure?  Could the problem be the copper pipes are clogged? If so, is there a way to clean them?
Comment: It's very unlikely that your pipes are clogged. That really only happens in the movies. Have you checked the screens on your faucets and shower heads? Well work tends to churn up a lot of iron grit, and calcium builds up over time.
Comment: Assuming you have a pressure gauge near the pressure tank (you should), open a tap, and let it run - what does the pressure go down to before the pump starts, and what does it stop at? Also try turning off all taps while the pump is running, and what does the pressure stop at? Do you have adequate pressure on outside taps? If you have a softener/iron/carbon filter, does putting it in bypass help? If you have sediment filters, have you tried replacing them? And like isherwood says, also try removing/cleaning the aerators from faucets.
Comment: Is there a line filter on your supply, and if so have you checked that out?
Comment: It's also possible for valves to build up sediment on a pump system.  Open a faucet so water will be flowing then close and open the valve several times.  Don't tighten it down too much you don't want to tear up a rubber seal, just knock the sediment loose, if the valve has sediment back and forth motion on the valve is good with water flowing thru it. (Applies to stem type valves, not 1/4 turn ball valves)
Comment: why do so many people expect that showers should work at the same time as other water use?  That has never been the case at any time in history.  Are people being spoiled with new construction and blending shower valves?   The rule was, if someone is in the shower, you don't open a faucet, or you will boil or freeze them.
Comment: It is also up stairs more pressure drop.
Comment: @Harper you need to buy better gear.  I've got a house w/ a well and a pressure tank, and we can run the dishwasher, take a shower, and flush the john without any significant problem.
Answer: I would guess that your sprinkler system has filters and/or a pressure reducing valve feeding it, which offers a substantial restriction so it affects things in the house less than a wide-open washer valve.
A 4 year gradual reduction in performance on a well system speaks to me of a failing, undersized or malajusted pressure tank far more than "clogged pipes." If you did not adjust the pressure tank pre-charge when you changed the system pressure, you would have aggravated that problem, and indeed, raising the system pressure without increasing pressure tank capacity (even if you did adjust the pre-charge) negatively impacts system performance, as the same tank has less tidal volume operating 60-80 rather than 40-60.
If you want to run the clogged pipe theory down, remove the aerators from all faucets that have them, remove the shower head, and (one at a time) blast as much water out each faucet or device as possible, perhaps collecting it in a bucket to see if there's any sediment to speak of. Generally if there is you'll see it before you get started, as there will be crud on the aerators, and cleaning those and the shower-head may help substantially. If you have hard water an acid soak may also help to remove calcium build-up/restrictions, which will be at those end points where water evaporates, not in the middle of the pipes.
A well with significant iron problems is one of the few cases where I've seen much of anything in the pipes, and a flush as described (and chlorine shock treatment, and more flushing) would remove that; even with such a build up it did not really affect flow significantly.
Now if your well is pumping sand or grit and you are not filtering it out, that could also build up to some extent, but again, you'd expect to see that at your aerators and to have a lot of valve problems from it, too.
Comment: Hot water tanks also often have backflow preventer valves at the outlet, which can clog up, especially with rural water supplies. Some plumbers simply remove them. If your problem is with both the hot and cold though, this is probably not the problem.
Answer: If you don't have a problem with your sprinkler system and its performance, then I'd guess your well and pressure switch are ok.

Do you have a whole-house water filter on your incoming line from the well (likely after your pressure tank and after your sprinkler system feed)?  If so, make sure that has a clean filter in it.  Our house is on a well and the whole-house filter starts reducing flow within a couple weeks of changing the filter.
Does all your inside water get fed through a water softener?  If so, it may have an internal obstruction that's limiting inside water flow.  If all your inside water goes through the softener, there probably should be a bypass valve you can turn to see if that bypasses your problem.

Scott

Low water pressure


Flex Map component, update extent on resize

Question: I have application with Flex Map component. Application has several states, and map component's size is changed depending on states. When state is changed, I need to change extent. But for some reasons, map component is not recalculated by that time. I tried to change extent on resize event. I see in debug mode, that map width is changed, but when I try to set new extent, it "thinks" that map width is not changed yet. So, every time I set new Extent, it's set for the previous map state width. I tried callLater, but all the same, map component has not calculated something inside itself and sets extent for the previous map width. Thanks in advice
Answer: Using a modified example of the EventBasics API sample, I get the following event order after a state changes the size of the Map component:

resize
updateComplete
extentChange
updateComplete

Try waiting for the extentChange that happen after the resize.


How to draw a curve line on Pixelmator

Question: This is probably one of the most important / useful feature in any image editing software - any knows how to draw curved line in Pixelmator?
Answer: The best you can do in Pixelmator 1 is arcs using the oval selection tool. Select an area with the selection tool set to the circle/oval setting and then trace the selection (Edit -> Stroke) on a new layer. Once traced, erase the part of the trace you don't need. Reposition, stretch and mangle with the layer tools.
Pixelmator 2 adds vector drawing capabilities. It'll be available this summer and it will be a free upgrade for anyone who purchased Pixelmator 1 via the App Store.
Update: Pixelmator 2 was released via the App Store today and the pen tool lets you draw and manipulate curves now. Works great.
Answer: Pixelmator (1.x) is a raster-based image processing software and doesn't support curved line and other vector functions.
Edit: It seems that the next version will have some vector tools: http://www.pixelmator.com/sneak-preview/

How to draw a curve line on Pixelmator


What is the best way to pop popcorn on the stove?

Question: I have a kettle-corn popcorn recipe that I have to pop on the stove as I don't have a popcorn maker and I wouldn't want to add the sugar to the popcorn maker. This makes me wonder what the best way to pop popcorn, in a pot with a lid, over the stove is?
Comment: Just want to add a suggestion that will work with almost any stove-top method. If you preheat the kernels in the microwave, they will tend to pop a LOT better.
This works really well for me with my Whirley Pop popper, which usually does a good job, but can sometimes turn out bad batches if the kernels are old.
Note you want to pre-heat them just short of any of them actually popping -- 2/3 cup kernels for 35 seconds works in my 1100 w microwave. Experiment.
Answer: Use a large heavy-bottomed pot (idealy 3-4 quart size) and place it over medium to medium-high heat until you can hold your hand about 6 inches above the bottom surface and feel the heat radiating off it.  At that point add about 1-2 tablespoons of vegetable oil to the pan, tilting to coat the bottom evenly.  Drop in a kernel or two and cover.  When the kernels pop, quickly add in the remaining, cover and shake the pan on the heat to keep the unpopped kernels on the bottom where they'll heat the best.  Cook and shake until the popping stops.
In order to have enough volume for the popped corn, you'll need to do it in batches of about 1/2 cup of popcorn kernels at a time if you're doing a large amount.
Comment: Should you have a lid on during the popping process?
Comment: @Justrightmenus:  Yes, I said "cover" in my post but didn't specifically say "cover with a lid".  You'll want to keep it covered.
Comment: Oops... missed that entirely; I read it a couple times and didn't see "cover" - sorry!
Comment: No problem....at first I thought maybe I had neglected to say cover but then realized it was kind of buried in there.
Answer: Use a carbon-steel wok! The shape works very well to keep the unpopped kernels in the hot oil, while the popped kernels end up on the cooler sides. I usually use about 2 T of oil and 1/3 c of popcorn to make enough for two people.
If you want to keep with the Chinese theme, Szechuan peppercorn-salt goes extremely well on popcorn! To make it, grind Szechuan peppercorns and kosher salt in a spice grinder.
Comment: I've had success with canola oil.
Comment: Do you use a high temp oil (corn and safflower) like jwleblan said or can you use another oil? I already have canola and extra virgin olive oil.
Comment: I second the use of a wok, for the reasons laid out. I always end up with no scorched popcorn and fewer than 10 unpopped kernels. Regular vegetable oil will suffice, and heat it before adding your popcorn.
Answer: All these answers are basically correct.  Something to add.  I have found that covering the bottom of whatever pan you are using (except the wok or other round bottoms) with kernels (so that the kernels are evenly distributed and there are no kernels on top of one another) just so it is covered, but no more, the volume of corn, once popped, is close to the top.
Also, a neat change of pace for a topping:  nutritional yeast ;--)
Comment: That is a very good suggestion...to just cover the bottom of the pan with kernels.  I haven't popped popcorn in a pan in ages but now that you mention it that's what I think I did.
Answer: Put the oil and one or two kernels over medium heat and wait for them to pop. Then add the rest of the kernels and shake the pot back and forth until the popcorn popping slows or stops. You can use a wide range of oils to have different tastes.
Answer: Soak the popcorn in water for about 10 minutes, drain, pop - this will help to pop all of the kernels and should make them more fluffy...
Comment: Wouldn't all the moisture just boil off right away?
Answer: 1.) I would also suggest using a Whirley Pop Popper on the stove over a standard pot always. The concept of if is exactly the same as what you'd find in a Movie theater. The Whirley Popper gives you the advantage of keeping the kernels moving around so that they can all cook evenly and eliminating the chance of burning them. It takes about 2 minutes from start to finish. Close to the same amount of time for microwave popcorn but better for you and much, much better flavor.
2.) The right kind of kernels are very important. I have found that white popcorn kernels tend to have the most flavor once it has been popped. And the one's I've purchased tend to be larger kernels than most of the yellow kernel corn. Keep in mind, that cheaper is never better when it comes to corn kernels.
3.) The most flavorful and best kind of oil to use is coconut oil, hands down. Why waste your time on vegetable or canola oil when the flavorful essence of the coconut oil truly enhances the flavor of your popped corn? The flavor that it creates even eliminates the need for butter! It actually tastes so good without it.
4.) Last thing is the salt. The right type of salt is paramount to taking your popcorn flavor to the next level. I highly suggest FINE grain popcorn salt, specifically. It will spread more evenly, giving you a higher rate of coverage on your pieces.
Answer: I use a very large stainless steel bowl, with a flat bottom placed directly on the burner.  Add a tablespoon or so (I don't measure) of your favorite high temp oil (corn and safflower come to mind) along with your popping corn (I think I use between 75 and 100 grams).
Cover the lid with a piece of aluminum foil, poke a bunch of vents in it with a knife, and place over medium high heat.  You will need to shake it as it pops so make sure you have some high temp gloves or the like.
Warning:  My bowl has been difficult to get totally clean after this...  treat those burnt looking scuffs as a badge of honor!
Answer: I am making popcorn that is better than popcorn at the movie theater.
Buy a Whirly-pop popcorn popper.  It cost me about $15 at Bed Bath and beyond with a coupon.  It has an arm that you crank to move the kernels around.  It also has vent holes in the lid to let the steam out.  Steam will cause the popcorn to get tough and chewy.
My oil is from Sam's Club.  It is a butter flavored popcorn oil.  About $9 for a gallon.
The salt also comes from Sam's Club.  You'll get two containers... enough to last a couple of years for $4.
Use regular old yellow popcorn from the grocery.
Need to butter your popcorn?  You'll get some butter flavor from the butter flavored oil?  Want more?  Put in more oil.
Want real butter on your popcorn without it getting soggy?  Then you need to clarify your butter before adding it to your popcorn.
To clarify your butter:
1. Melt it.
2. Put it in the fridge.  It will solify again, but separated from whatever water was in there.
3. Drain off the water.
4. You now have clarified butter.
Melt the clarified butter and drizzle on your popcorn.  Drizzle, mix, drizzle, mix, drizzle, mix.
Comment: This question is asking about making popcorn *on the stove*. Suggesting a popcorn popper is not helpful, and discussion of flavoring is beside the point.
Comment: The Whirly-pop popcorn popper is intended to be used on the stove. I found this to be a useful answer and intend to buy one, after reading the glowing reviews. So I up-voted this answer.


Adding lemon to cookie recipe

Question: What is the best way to add lemon flavor to a cookie recipe? I know lemon juice is highly acidic, I don't want to throw off the PH of the dough. Is lemon extract the same way? Lemon zest? Is there a way to compensate for that?
Comment: Is there milk in your cookies?
Comment: @Mein I'm looking for general tips, but the most likely recipe I'll modify does include a tablespoon of milk. Other recipes for the same type of cookie do not, however, so if that turns out badly I might try a different base recipe. I know what I want my end result to be: the same as the box mix I tried last night, except actually tasting good instead of crappy ;)
Comment: I tried adding lemon zest and lemon juice to a rolled sugar cookie recipe earlier this month, and while the unbaked dough was heavenly, the baked cookies were... eh. I think this might have been because I used brown sugar (an option provided by the recipe to end up with chewier cookies) instead of granulated.
Answer: The easiest way is just use a recipe for lemon cookies. I'm sure you can find lots of them online. If you really want to use a recipe for normal cookies (because you really like it), you could certainly add lemon extract to a regular batch. Don't add too much, the flavour is really concentrated. Since you won't use a lot of it (a teaspoon will do), the liquid:dry proportion practically won't change, but to be sure, you can cut back the milk by the amount (e.g. a teaspoon). You can also add a bit of zest without a problem.
I wouldn't add lemon juice because you're adding milk in your cookies. The milk would curdle (in some cookies that is exactly what you would want to achieve). However, you can try to add lemon juice instead of milk.
Comment: @Mein Everything. It was a mix I bought online and I was downright offended at how bland the cookie was and how overly-sweet and not-at-all raspberry-tasting the raspberry icing was. It was like a blue-raspberry sour straw but twice as sweet instead of sour, slathered over a bland cookie that had maybe once, long ago, had a dream about a lemon.
Comment: I said here 'a teaspoon of lemon extract', but this amount depends of course on how much cookie dough you have.
Comment: Thanks! I'm trying to make a better version of the exact cookie that went disastrous over the weekend, which claimed to be a sugar cookie with lemon rather than a lemon cookie. I've got half a dozen sugar cookie recipes from Christmas Cookieganza this year, so I planned to use one of those.
Comment: What was wrong with the cookies? And what did you try for lemon taste?
Answer: Try using lemon zest (lemon peel shavings) and lemon or lime juice.  You might try sprinkling the zest over the top of the cookies right before you put them in if you don't get enough flavor from adding it to the batter
Comment: Just make sure the lemon is unwaxed and used a microplane grater for best results
Answer: Since lemon is acidic, you would want to reduce the quantity of baking powder and add some or more baking soda to neutralize the acidity.

What if you add an acidic ingredient to a recipe with baking powder? You will need to add a little soda. Let's say you are making cookies and substituting 1/2 cup lemon juice for the water in order to make lemon cookies. The recipe calls for 2 teaspoons of baking powder, but you will need to neutralize the acid in the lemon juice. Substitute baking soda for one teaspoon of the baking powder. Corriher says that baking soda is 4 times as powerful as baking powder, so use only 1/4 teaspoon baking soda for each teaspoon of baking powder in the original recipe. -- from http://www.thekitchn.com/pantry-basics-whats-the-differ-40514
Answer: What I ended up doing was taking my base sugar cookie recipe and substituting soymilk for milk to prevent the curdling issue. I then divided it into four portions, putting one straight into the fridge unmodified. One portion received zest, one received juice, and one received zest plus juice. The juice cookies may have been softer than the zest cookies (but there were some issues with baking that could have caused that), but all cookies rose the same amount (not much at all, by design). Sure enough, the ones with more lemon tasted more lemony :) Thanks for the help, everyone!

Adding lemon to cookie recipe


When is sync appropriate while reading a book in ebook reader?

Question: We have ebook readers in mac, window, iOS, Android, etc. Recently, I'm working for the ebook reader for mac, window. Now, when user goes to a bookshelf, or goes into pages of a book, synchronizing starts. But it's difficult to know for user. I'm gonna think of a sync button(so, user can push this button when they want to synchronize the pages, annotation, bookmarks, etc between devices), but it can give an kind of damage for a server. Because user can push the sync button automatically. So I have to fix the exact condition. For example, when user switches to another application, synchronizing starts like that. Gives me suggestions! Anything is ok. Thank you for reading. :)
Comment: I'd just like to throw in that your UX should not suffer at the expense of minor server costs. In theory this should actually be a pretty lightweight operation, so it may be worth inspecting how your backend can be improved.
Answer: With Kindle, synchronisation just happens, and it is very useful. Occasionally, my Kindle asks me if I want to sync to furthest page read, and my immediate thought is always "of course I do, why are you asking me?"
I cannot think of a use case for not synchronising across devices, except perhaps when the user is connected via 3G instead of wifi or 4G.
If you have a use case for not synchronising, then I would suggest doing it by default, but allow the user to change it in user preferences, as follows:

(the bullet points in the image represent checkboxes - I haven't got my usual wireframing app available)
Answer: Always push the state to your service when it changes. Your service should simply not accept state changes that transition from an older then stored state to their current state. In this situation a status response should indicate that a newer state is available and the application should sync. Make opening a book a state change and everything should just work seamlessly for your users.
Answer: Even though this is a very rough design and I have no idea what you're designing particularly, why not have something that indicates when it was last synced?
It could happen automatically, just have a message that says it:

download bmml source – Wireframes created with Balsamiq Mockups
Google Docs, Evernote, and many other applications incorporate the "Last synced" byline or sometimes "last saved."


Is it possible to trade in UK's investment ISA after moving abroad?

Question: I am EU citizen and the resident in UK holding an investment ISA. I will be moving back to my home country this year and I was trying to find out whether I would still be able to trade in my ISA after the move. The Government website only says that adding new funds to the account is not be possible after moving abroad, but does not specify whether or not using the existing funds to make new investments is allowed (https://www.gov.uk/individual-savings-accounts/if-you-move-abroad-or-die). My current ISA provider told me they would let me keep my ISA with the funds and investments already made, but after I move abroad they would not let me buy new stocks, only sell what I have owned. I've asked several ISA providers and some even said that they would close my ISA after I become a non-resident, but a few of them assured that they would let me trade from abroad, so I am guessing it is up to financial institutions to make the rules for their clients. I am posting here to find out if someone has done such thing: lived in UK and held an investment ISA, then moved abroad and kept legally using it to trade stocks and funds.
Comment: Yes, countries outside the UK won't respect the tax-free status of the ISA, and you'll have to pay tax on it in your new home, just like any other foreign investment income and capital gains.
Comment: But investment income is generally taxable in the country where you live, not the country where it was generated. Or maybe both, but there are double-taxation treaties that will generally prevent that.
Comment: OK, I see your point. But what if I move abroad, keep investing in my ISA and make profits, then come back to UK and cash out?
Comment: Why do you want to keep the ISA? If you're not paying UK tax any more, the ISA wrapper gives you no advantages.
Comment: Do you mean I will have to tax the profits made in my ISA after the move? And if so - pay the tax in UK or my home country?
Comment: Do you mean come back to the UK to live for a year or more, or just visit in order to cash out the ISA? If it's the latter, then that makes no difference. If the former, then it gets more complicated, and you might need professional advice.
Comment: But on the other hand if the profit is taxable in the country it was generated in, then the profit from UK ISA should be tax free.
Answer: After doing some more digging I figured there are two parts of this problem:

Being able to use the UK investment ISA after moving abroad.
Taxing the profits from investments.

Re. 1: It was very confusing to get the straight answers to this question, because I contacted several UK financial institutions who provide investment ISAs by phone and email. In most of the cases I got a negative answer when I called the helpline and a positive one via email. In other words I spoke to agents on the phone and they said that it is not possible to add funds to or buy new stocks in ISA after moving abroad, but when I got replies to the emails (after long 48 hours - because they 'aim to respond within 2 working days', so they can take their time to do so), they said that it is possible to buy and sell stocks in ISA after moving abroad. Each time I asked for the confirmation and I got one. Still there were some providers who said they would not allow new buy transactions or close the account altogether, so it is up to the providing institution whether to allow non-resident clients or not.
Re. 2: The tax-free status of the profits made in ISA is only guaranteed in UK, but the profits may be the subject to Capital Gains Tax in the new country of residence (as it was pointed out in the comments by @Mike Scott). I said 'may be', because there is a lot of factors to consider which depend on the tax laws and the particular situation of the individual. In my case it seems like I will not have to tax my ISA profits in the country I'm moving to in the current financial year if I spend most of the time abroad (that is more than 183 days of the financial year) which means that if I move in the second half of the financial year I should be able to make tax free investments in my UK ISA until the end of this financial year.
Comment: Barclays, Lloyds, HL, IG.
Comment: Do you remember which providers indicated you could continue to trade existing funds in your stocks and shares ISA after you became a non-resident?
Comment: Re. different answers by phone/email: I don't know if its how you reported things in your answer, or whether your questions (or what they thought you asked) varied by medium, but while "_on the phone and they said that it is not possible to add funds to or buy new stocks in ISA_" seems to imply you cannot **add** money and use it to by shares, it _potentially_ doesn't contradict the by-email response "_it is possible to buy and sell stocks in ISA_" if that means you can "rebalance" your existing holding from abroad. Although, as you say, this is likely to be institution-dependent.
Answer: Re. 2: The tax-free status of the profits made in ISA is only guaranteed in UK, but the profits may be the subject to Capital Gains Tax in the new country of residence
on this point if the profits from the Isa investments are only reinvested will they not be realised as any gains and therefore not qualify for tax in the new country as no new gain has been recieved only in the fund which I pressume is reinvested?
Comment: This does not provide an answer to the question. Once you have sufficient [reputation](https://money.stackexchange.com/help/whats-reputation) you will be able to [comment on any post](https://money.stackexchange.com/help/privileges/comment); instead, [provide answers that don't require clarification from the asker](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/214173/why-do-i-need-50-reputation-to-comment-what-can-i-do-instead). - [From Review](/review/late-answers/85019)


What devices can receive an iOS AirPlay audio stream?

Question: In addition to printing, the other feature in iOS 4.2 that I'd been looking forward to was AirPlay. My understanding from the keynote when it was introduced was that it allowed iOS to stream audio to existing AirTunes equipment (as well as provide video to the new Apple TV), but I can't get my iPhone 4 running iOS 4.2 to stream audio to my old Apple TV like iTunes can. Is this a known problem? Are there any workarounds, besides buying one of the new Apple TVs (which I can't because my TV is component, not HDMI)?
Answer: Yes, this would be known.
First, the old Apple TV won't be getting the update (since its now iOS based), and therefore wont support airplay.
Not sure of any workarounds for an old Apple TV that use the actual AirPlay standard. A hack may exist after 4.2 has been out for a while, but I think most people decided to just move to the new Apple TV instead.
Comment: This is disappointing. I can understand not adding new features, but audio streaming to the old Apple TV *works with iTunes* so I don't know why it shouldn't with iOS. But thanks for confirming that it's a known issue.


questions about residue

Question: Let $f(z)$ be a rational function on $\mathbb{C}$. If the residues of $f$ at $z=0$ and $z=\infty$ are both $0$, is it true that $\oint_{\gamma} f(z)\mathrm dz=0$ ($\gamma$ is a closed curve in $\mathbb{C}$)? Thanks.
Answer: Unless I'm misunderstanding your question, $f(z) = \frac{1}{z-1}-\frac{1}{z+1}$ is a counterexample.
Answer: In fact, to have $\oint_\gamma f(z)\ dz =0$ for all closed contours $\gamma$ that don't pass through a pole of $f$, what you need is that the residues at all the poles of $f$ are 0.  Since the sum of the residues at all the poles (including $\infty$) is always 0, it's necessary and sufficient that the residues at all the finite poles are 0.

questions about residue


Should the "savings" and "saving" tags be merged?

Question: I don't have enough reputation in either tag to suggest one as a synonym of the other, but I don't think it's necessary to have both. The savings tag is used on 145 questions, while the saving tag is only used on 33 questions. Would it make sense to merge the latter into the former, perhaps?
Comment: Thanks for the suggestion -- I've performed the merge.  In the future, please don't edit questions to change a tag when there are many to edit, because that bumps them all to the home page.  If there are just a few it's OK, but say, greater than ~10, please let us perform the merge so we can avoid the home page bump on all the affected questions.
Comment: Also worth noting: Editing the old tag away to replace with the new doesn't set up the tag synonym, which prevents the old tag from being used again.
Comment: I guess yes, there are other suggested synonyms that are pending approval. Maybe the moderators can approver these as well http://money.stackexchange.com/tags/synonyms?filter=suggested&tab=newest
Comment: I was about to ask whether users actually paid enough attention to differentiate between the two, i.e. for "saving" to mean the ongoing process of putting money aside, and "savings" to discuss the actual pot of gold accumulated. But as the merge is now complete, uh, never mind.
Comment: @ChrisW.Rea Thank you. Apologies on the edits; I'll keep that in mind the next time. I didn't have the reputation to suggest a synonym, so in the future I'll stick to posting on meta (without all the edits).
Answer: I concur: merge them.  I only see upsides.
At best, the difference in meaning is trivial and using one over the other would not cause confusion for searches and classification.
At worst, the question author deliberates over savings and saving wondering if there really is a difference.
Comment: @JohnBensin Those tags aren't exactly synonymous.  *Retirement planning* is practiced by the non-retired; i.e. it is forward-looking.  Whereas, different financial issues can arise when already in retirement.  Merging tags is appropriate when the tags mean *exactly* the same thing.
Comment: @MrChrister I second the motion to merge these tags.
Comment: I'm not sure how to merge tags, but I notice other tags that are somewhat redundant, like [tag:retirement] and [tag:retirement-plan].
Comment: @ChrisW.Rea Thanks for letting me know; I wasn't sure, since they only seemed partially redundant. Is merging tags something only higher-reputation users can do, or is there a menu somewhere that I missed?
Comment: @JohnBensin I'm under the impression the actual merging of tags is a moderator-only activity.


Is there a way to make liquid fueled rockets not lose efficiency with decreasing throttle?

Question: As far as I know liquid fueled rockets suffer from lowered efficiency when using less than full throttle since the pressure of combustion is lowered and so thermodynamic efficiency. Could a variable throat diameter nozzle fix this by restricting the outflow of the gas and so raising back up pressure in the combustion chamber? Or would the divergent part of the nozzle also have to vary in shape? Are there any succesfull designs that maintain engine efficiency at lower throttle settings?
Comment: Not much efficiency is lost in reasonably high pressure engines with moderate throttle-down; I suspect the additional weight and complexity of a variable throat would not pay for itself in most cases. How deep throttle and how high efficiency are you looking for?
Comment: A variable throat diameter nozzle would be very difficult to combine with the necessary cooling. It should be gastight for very hot and high pressure gases.
Comment: Im looking for a very wide range of throttle: 100% - 5%. I doubt this was ever attempted. As for efficiency, I'd want to stay within few percent of peak efficiency across all throttle settings
Comment: If you want to combine a very wide range of throttle with nearly the same efficiency across all throttle settings you need a very low temperature of combustion.
Comment: According to Sutton the Lance missile achieved a 357:1 throttle range (i.e. down to 0.3%) with 15% efficiency loss at the low end, but I have no idea how. That's a short range surface-to-surface missile, so I'm guessing specific impulse was pretty poor across the board. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MGM-52_Lance
Comment: The simple answer is to go the SpaceX route: Lots of weakly throttlable engines. If one out of fifteen engines runs at 75% power, there you have your 5% thrust.
Comment: But whith one of fifteen engines running thrust may be varied only from 5 to 6.67 % (of full thrust from all 15 engines). If you need suddenly more thrust, you have to ignite a second engine to get 10 to 13.3 %. If you need something between 6.67 and 10 % you got a problem.
Comment: @Uwe: There's always the option of going the 'cash system' way: engines of varying thrust. Say, a couple verniers that allow to cover the difference.
Comment: Have two engines. Use only 1. 50% throttle, full efficiency.
Answer: According to Sutton's History of Liquid Propellant Rocket Engines and Rocket Propulsion Elements, the sustainer engine in the Lance missile could throttle from 22 kN down to 62 N, a better than 350:1 ratio (i.e. a minimum throttle of about 0.3%) using a moving pintle injector with a 15% efficiency loss at the low end. The pintle injector is used in two other notable throttleable engines: the Apollo LM descent engine and the SpaceX Merlin.
Normally, extremely low throttle settings lead to flow separation in the nozzle: the exhaust separates from one side of the nozzle wall and adheres to the other, unbalancing the thrust (an ordinary kitchen faucet displays similar behavior when opened very slightly). The Lance engine has an extremely short nozzle with only a 4:1 expansion ratio in order to avoid this, with consequently poor specific impulse of 227 seconds at full thrust; normally you expect sea level Isp in the 270s from the IRFNA/UDMH propellant combination.
I'm skeptical that dynamic control of the throat diameter could be practical. Without it, to do very deep throttling in-atmosphere, you need either a stubby nozzle like the Lance's, or one of the other standard altitude compensation techniques to control exhaust flow separation: aerospikes, expansion-deflection, stepped nozzles, etc. Not a lot of research has been done here because there's not much demand for deep throttling on first stage engines.
For vacuum engines, things are easier. The LM descent engine was designed to throttle down to 10%; in practice the minimum used was around 30%. At 30% thrust, specific impulse dropped from ~305 to ~298, less than 3% reduction. There was a throttle range from 65%-92% that was avoided because it would cause excessive erosion of the nozzle, but no significant problems at the low end that I know of. There was no need to go as low as 5% on the LM's flight plan—high-thrust suicide burns are more fuel-efficient than long gradual descent—but if it had been necessary, it was probably doable.


Definition: Eigenspace of a matrix

Question: If I am given a matrix and told to find a basis for its eigenspace, does that just mean find the eigenvectors of the matrix? In my understanding, an eigenspace of an eigenvalue $\lambda$ is the set of degenerate eigenvectors associated with it, but what about the eigenspace of a matrix? Thanks.
Comment: Does this answer your question: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eigenvalues_and_eigenvectors#Eigenspace.
Answer: I wonder if you were told to find a basis of each of the eigenspaces?  Or a basis of the eigenspace associated with one of its eigenvalues?  The question must have been mangled somehow between when you read it and when you put it here.
If you have one 2-dimensional eigenspace and one 3-dimensional eigenspace, then finding a basis would mean finding two particular linearly independent vectors in the former, and three in the latter.
I don't know why you use the word "degenerate"; it doesn't belong there.
Answer: Assume everything is over the complex numbers.
Given a transformation $A:\ V\to V$, where $V$ is a finite-dimensional vector space over ${\mathbb C}$, and an arbitrary complex number $\lambda$,  the set
$$E(\lambda):=\{x\in V\ |\ Ax=\lambda x\}$$
is a subspace of $V$, which for most $\lambda\in{\mathbb C}$ is zero-dimensional, i.e., consists only of the vector $0$. If $\dim\bigl(E(\lambda)\bigr)>0$ (and this happens for only finitely many $\lambda$'s) then the particular $\lambda$ is called an ${\it eigenvalue}$ of $A$, and $E(\lambda)$ is called the corresponding ${\it eigenspace}$. The vectors $x\in E(\lambda)$ different from $0$ are ${\it eigenvectors}$ of $A$ belonging to the eigenvalue $\lambda$.
These definitions apply in particular if $V={\mathbb C}^n$ and $A$ is given by a matrix with respect to the standard basis in the usual way.

Definition: Eigenspace of a matrix


Installing Oracle 11g on Ubuntu 11.10

Question: Does anyone know to how to install Oracle 11g on Ubuntu 11.10?
Comment: Oracle XE or some other edition?
Answer: AskUbuntu.com has this question: How to install Oracle 11g?.
Oracle Database 11g and Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot has some good information.
Here are some obligatory links to the relevant 11g pdf documentation.

Database Installation Guide for Linux
Database Quick Installation Guide for Linux x86
Database Quick Installation Guide for Linux x86-64
Release Notes for Linux
Answer: Oracle tends to be finicky about requiring specific versions of system libraries.  Linux is generally fairly amenable to installing these without breaking the existing libraries, so this is normally fairly straightforward to overcome.  Many of the HOWTO documents explain how to obtain and install these libraries.
I've certainly had Oracle running on unsupported platforms (Fedora, Debian for example), and once the correct libraries are present you can just use the standard installer.
This link is to an OTN article that describes the libraries required to install Oracle 11gR2 on Ubuntu.

Installing Oracle 11g on Ubuntu 11.10


Which would be more beneficial when applying to theoretical physics PhD programs, Math M.S or experimental physics M.S.?

Question: I am graduating this semester with a bachelors in physics. My goal is to do theory in my graduate level course work. The problem I am in now is that I missed the deadline to take the physics GRE (I'm taking it in April) so I also missed the deadline to apply to most graduate schools. Fortunately, I was accepted to pursue masters degrees by both the math and physics departments of my current school. My plan is to do one or the other and apply to other schools next semester. My question is which one will be more beneficial to me? Our math department is all around phenomenal... but it won't say "physics" on my applications. Our physics department is good, but it is completely geared towards experimental nuclear physics, which is not my interest (and there is no non-thesis option). Every day now I have been swinging back and forth; math... physics...etc. So, which one would be more beneficial when applying to schools with top theory programs, Math M.S or physics M.S.?
Comment: @sluddani "I just want to explore our universe to the deepest depths possible." is not an answer. I'd suggest having greater clarity to what you want to do. I could use those same words to describe wanting a PhD in chemistry, biology, or oceanography. Getting a doctorate degree is inherently a deep dive into some aspect of the universe.
Comment: Theoretical fundamental physics topics (as I can see you are interested in from your questions elsewhere) such as quantum gravity are of highly mathematical nature, and indeed there are both physicists and mathematicians by education working in such fields. So I would go for the degree in mathematics, and if you are very curious to already learn about some cool physics too,  you can still do so on your own whenever you have time for it. Best wishes!
Comment: Related: http://academia.stackexchange.com/q/32981/19607
Comment: What country?  If USA, then I advise neither.
Comment: You did not specify what discipline the PhD would be in.  It implies physics, but does not say that.
Comment: yes physics was my thought
Comment: but I may be just as happy with a math PhD. I just want to explore our universe to the deepest depths possible.
Comment: Yes, I understand this. I Don't think it is relevant to my question.
Answer: If your MS in physics will be experimental and you want to do theoretical physics, the math route could work. But we are basically guessing at how an admissions committee will see your application;  so I encourage you to keep asking. Hopefully other answers here will help.
Comment: Thanks. I wish I could guarantee all committees were proponents of the mathematical universe hypothesis: http://arxiv.org/pdf/0704.0646.pdf
Answer: I'm not a physicist (I'm a philosopher of science who loves mathematical perspectives), so my opinion doesn't count, but here are things to consider.
You may want to think beyond the immediate challenge of getting into a good graduate program.
What possible drawback could there be to a masters in math in your situation?  It's not physics, but deeper knowledge and improved ability with math can only help you as a physicist.  Surely physics admissions committees will see that.  @MartinArgrrami's answer is a good reply to this argument, though.  Perhaps certain kinds of experimental physicists will be more impressed by a physics degree with experimental emphasis.  On the other hand, deeper experience with math may facilitate additional insights and theoretical opportunities even in experimental research.
The fact that you're even considering a math MS, and the paper you linked, suggest that your orientation to physics will be such that math is not merely one among many tools.  If it's the more mathematically inspired corners of physics that you love, then why not work toward that orientation (even if you think you'll exercise your mathematical interests in experimental contexts)?


understanding evaluation function

Question: I am developing a chess program. And have made use of an alpha beta algorithm and a static evaluation function. I have successfully implemented both but I want to improve the evaluation function by automatically tuning the weights assigned to its features. At this point am totally confused about the policy suitable for updating the weights of the function. One policy I have in mind is to check whether a move is good or bad before updating weights but I don't really know how to implement it. Thus I need ideas and pseudo code please.
Comment: You might want to look at [chess programming wiki](https://chessprogramming.wikispaces.com/Engines).
Comment: This question is probably more suitable for the [Programmers SE](http://programmers.stackexchange.com/).
Comment: This is a really hard problem, I don't think any strong chess engines update the weights automatically.
Comment: Deep Blue self trained its evaluation function based on how well it could match the moves of GMs... so this is a common strategy.
Comment: This question is more suitable for [Stack Overflow SE](http://stackoverflow.com/).
Comment: This is more of a AI question (2-player adverserial) than a chess one
Answer: In Chess, you use SPSA and CLOP. Those are the algorithms used by Stockfish in Fishtest to tune its parameter. The algorithm worked so well that it made Stockfish be the strongest engine in the world.
Please note that the algorithms are very complicated mathematically. One could write a PHD thesis on this topic. In SPSA, you start from a best guess from the value. Then play games, use those games to derive a better gradient for the next series of parameters.
The maths is very hard, but it all boils down to some statistics - you play games, and use those games to derive a distribution to update the parameters you want to tune.
Please read:
http://talkchess.com/forum/viewtopic.php?start=0&t=50823&topic_view=flat
and
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/fishcooking/SPSA/fishcooking/WNrxeXAJ6VI/ZkCnRv4I_qEJ
Answer: I might approach this via genetic algorithm.

Each param in the gene represents one weight you use for tuning.
Have a fairly large test suite of positions + moves made by grandmasters (randomly over many middle game positions).
Create a random initial population of genes to be used in competition.  You can include any feature weights you already believe to be good as well.
For each gene, for each position, do a shallow search based on how much training time you want to take.
For every position where your program produces the same move as a grandmaster, add one to a total associated with a gene.  This total is what the GA should try to maximize.
Random pairing for mating rights competition based on above score, and breed the results using standard GA techniques.
Run until convergence.

Whatever final weight you get becomes your feature weight.
Comment: +1, and I hope someone will perform the following offshoot of this idea: for a handful of top players, craft an evaluation function via the described method *using only the moves of a single player* in order to test gene fitness. Then, build engines that are identical except for the individually-tuned evaluation functions, and have them duke it out. It may be the closest we could ever come to, say, answering the age-old question of who would have won the Fischer-Karpov match that never happened :-)  ... (cont'd)
Comment: what are you talking about?  I explicitly laid out how to apply it to chess.  I suspect you didn't read the steps.

There are many papers in scholastic literature that follow a similar approach btw.  Just because Stockfish has chosen a different approach to numerical optimization of heuristic coefficients doesn't mean this answer should be down voted.
Comment: @StudentT, tbischel's entire answer is precisely a detailed recipe for applying the idea in question to chess. Given that fact, and that you say yourself this answer is in no way wrong, your downvote is rather puzzling.
Comment: (cont'd) ... I don't seriously think we could draw historical conclusions, of course, but it would be somewhat interesting in and of itself if one player's engine version tended to outperform another's empirically.
Comment: -1 While it's not wrong, it makes no attempt to how the algorithm can be applied in chess. Stockfish has ALREADY APPLIED a SPSA algorithm. Read my answer.
Comment: I can help explain: @StudentT's answer was more direct. It gives the exact algorithms and mathematics to use. tbischel's answer here is more indirectly. It gives the idea of what to do, but not how to do it. Both are valuable answers to me.

understanding evaluation function