Best spices to use on minced quorn in spaghetti sauce and other recipes

Question: As a vegetarian, whenever I have to use minced meat I use minced quorn.
But quorn does not add any flavour to dishes, only texture. What are the best "base spices" to add to the quorn when using it in any dish, for example spaghetti sauce?
Comment: Are you trying to make your dishes taste like they have meat in them? If not, there's no harm in having ingredients for texture only.
Comment: Do you want to narrow down the question so that it is not so overly broad? Basically, the question can be answered with any number of spices or herbs and there's no particularly right, or wrong, answer. It appears you are concerned that, whereas meat adds its own flavor, quorn adds none and somehow displaces or dilutes existing flavors?
Comment: For tips on improving this question and getting it reopened, please refer to our ["What can I add to X" meta discussion](http://meta.cooking.stackexchange.com/q/1091/41) which explains the appropriate level of detail expected.
Answer: Simple answer:  I would recommend using whatever herbs or spices you would use if you made the same dish with meat.  So, for a Bolognese sauce, I would pick thyme and bay, for an "alla vodka" sauce, basil and garlic, and for Marinara, oregano and peppercorn.  Given that the underlying product (quorn) has virtually no flavor of its own -- or, to the extent it does, it is not a flavor I personally would seek to highlight -- I would not worry about which herb or spice best complements it.
Answer: To add depth of flavour to Quorn mince, I fry the Quorn mince for a few minutes or until browned, and then add small quantities of vegetable stock, allowing it the stock to be absorbed or boil off between each addition. This bulks up the mince somewhat and flavours the mince before continuing to add other ingredients as per whatever recipe you're attempting.
I do this for quorn mince when making spaghetti sauce and lasagne.
Answer: I have found liquid smoke great for enhancing the "meaty" flavors of various vegetarian dishes that would normally contain meat.   Perhaps add some shiitake mushrooms, as well, to provide more umami flavor.
Beyond that, I'd probably go for garlic and oregano in a spaghetti sauce.
In a more general sense, as Bruce said, try to use herbs or spices that would normally go into a traditional version of the particular thing that you're making.


Best way to make my ears pop?

Question: What is the best way to make my ears pop when landing on a plane? The hold-your-nose-and-pitch method is very painful; are there any other methods to pop ears?
Comment: reading about all this yawning made me yawn heartily.
Comment: I can pop my ear by just flexing some muscles near the back of my throat. I learned this after I got annoyed by the constant popping when I swallowed and I started eliminating which muscles triggered the popping. This also taught me how to pop my ears on command.
Comment: Swallowing works for me.
Comment: Related: [Why do I feel pressure in the ears in a plane?](http://travel.stackexchange.com/q/5414/108)
Comment: One way to *avoid* having to pop your ears is using a nasal spray.
Comment: @ratchetfreak I do the same, except I find it incredibly hard to prove to people, let alone teach them how.
Answer: While a full yawn is best, simulating the movement your jaw makes in a yawn is enough to pop your ears (and often simulating a yawn makes a real one happen anyway)
If you have a cold, or if you let the pressure build up a lot it can be difficult to get the eustachian tubes to open, so in those instances I hold my nose, close my mouth and gently try and blow.
This is one you want to try gently, as blowing too hard could actually damage your ear drums, so practice doing it with relaxed cheeks (almost as if you were playing a trumpet.) You can also just try one eardrum at a time, which can make this easier and safer.
Comment: this may sound silly, but how do you do that for "one eardrum at a time"?
Comment: @MarkMayo - keep one cheek taught while allowing the other to relax and loosen the opening to that eustachian tube only. It gets really easy with practice.
Comment: Once you can control the muscle voluntarily (without having to induce yawning), you can even open the eustachian tubes without moving the jaw, though opening the jaw allows for a more powerful contraction.
Comment: I caught a cold the day before a flight. I went on it anyway. Accending caused my ears to block and I could not unblock them. On the way down the pain was unbearable... trying as hard as I could to unblock, shut out the pain and hoping my ears would not burst... thankfully they didn't
Answer: For prevention, I suggest chewing imaginary gum. Just do exactly what you would do if you had remembered to put gum in your mouth as descent started.
Once I'm in pain (eg I wake up from it, which has happened), I do the Valsava - pinch your nose shut and do just what you'd do to blow your nose. It's up to you how hard you "blow" - start gentle and work up if it's not working. You can feel the pressure equalize and the pain stops.
If you'd rather yawn, it might help to know it's a very contagious word. Most people will scratch themselves if someone else does, or if someone says the word itchy, or just from reading the word itchy (my doctor told me they were actually trained how to ask someone "does it itch?" without scratching themselves.) Yawn is a little less contagious so just reading it might not do the trick, but saying it aloud should work. Failing that, fake a yawn to infect someone near you - their real yawn should trigger one for you.
Update: today I am flying with perhaps the worst cold I have ever had. It is certainly the worst I have flown with. I needed to break out the big guns when it came to clearing one of my ears. As a result I can add two more techniques to this answer. First, especially if you have a cold, full-on blow your nose. This helped a lot. Second, massage the area under your ear (the end of your jaw) with the opposite hand. Move your ear up and down on your head. Combine this with chewing that imaginary gum and swallowing (I had a bottle of water with me) and the ear will clear eventually. Don't give up, keep working at it.
Comment: Which is why I emphasize to start gently. You want to blow just enough to clear the pain, not start at full blast and possibly hurt yourself.
Answer: I have had ear difficulties since I was a baby, and was inflicted with many earaches as a youngster.
My ears feel pressure very easily.  If I do not aggressively pop my ears during a plane ride, I will have an earache by the second flight of the day.
Here my ear-popping mechanisms, with the easiest-to-do-without-practice listed first:

Yawning - as Kate noted, it's pretty easy to induce yawning.  Personally, I can usually start yawning after about 20 seconds of just thinking about yawns.  If I had a kid with ear pain on a flight, I would simply start talking to them about yawning, and then yawn in their faces - you get the fun of using social engineering to get somebody to yawn, and they get have their ears magically stop hurting!
Swallowing deliberately - while clenching the back of the throat a bit more than usual, I found this to be a pretty effective (and easily repeatable, once you've gotten a drink from the flight attendant) method for draining the fluid from my ear-pipes.
However, I rarely use these techniques any more after mastering the following:
The pinched-nose-blow - the Valsalva mentioned by Kate and others. Pinch the nose, close the mouth, breath out in a quick burst through the nose.  HOWEVER - to avoid increasing the pressure in your ears in a counterproductive manner:

Don't actually pinch your nose shut.  Pinch it mostly shut.  Air
should still be able to escape through both nostrils, just not nearly as easily as normal.
While I have the best luck with quick breaths out, it's important not
to breathe too hard.  A bit of practice can help you find the right
amount of pressure before you start to go to far.

I have found the above method to be highly effective without requiring much practice.  I've used it quite a bit.
The jaw-wiggle - after years of using the above tricks, I can relieve most pressure by simply flexing the muscles at the back of the jaw slightly while moving my jaw a bit to the right or left.
If you combine this with a quick practiced breath out through the nose (even without pinching), you can relieve pressure in your ears surprisingly effectively.
On a plane ride where I'm doing this for a good stretch of time, I will usually do about 5-6 of these, then stretch my jaw wide in a yawn-like motion, and then go back to the jaw-flexing.

Earaches are awful.  Some of the worst pain I've experienced in my life was caused by ear pressure.
Whatever you do, don't do nothing.  Don't wait until the pain wakes you up to start relieving the pressure.
Start using any of these techniques (they all do work) as soon as you feel any pressure in your ears, at any time during the flight.
It's a lot easier to keep your head (ears?) above water if you can stop the pressure from escalating.
Answer: Well personally, I find a yawn is by far the easiest and least painful way of inducing the so-called 'pop'.
From Wikipedia:

"Under normal circumstances, the human Eustachian tube is closed, but
  it can open to let a small amount of air through to prevent damage by
  equalizing pressure between the middle ear and the atmosphere.
  Pressure differences cause temporary conductive hearing loss by
  decreased motion of the tympanic membrane and ossicles of the ear. Various methods of
  ear clearing such as yawning, swallowing, or chewing gum, may be used
  intentionally to open the tube and equalize pressures. When this
  happens, humans hear a small popping sound, an event familiar to
  aircraft passengers, scuba divers, or drivers in mountainous regions.
Comment: try coughing by pinching your nose.
Comment: yeap... yawning absolutely works best. But, it's not easy to trigger it afaik. Or you have some secret techniques?
Answer: Cabin Pressurisation
This ear pain you experience when landing is usually related to the increase of cabin pressure as the altitude of the plane decreases. This inevitably causes an increase of the pressure of the air trapped inside the inner ear and sinuses, which cause the squeezing, pushing, piercing sensation we all know. Various techniques exist allowing you to equalise the pressure in the inner ear and sinuses.
As a general rule of thumb, you should begin equalising pressure as soon as the first signs of pressure-related discomfort in the inner ear and sinuses arise. Don't wait for the pain level to rise, as this corresponds to an increase in pressure which will need a harder push to equalise. Pushing too hard can cause a plethora of accidents which you most probably want to avoid.
Yawning or Swallowing
First thing you should try is yawning or swallowing. Both movements contribute to a slight opening of the Eustachian tube, which can help in releasing pressure in the inner-ear and sinuses.
Valsalva Manoeuvre
If the pressure build up is too high for yawning and swallowing to be ineffective, several other techniques have been proven to be effective. The most common manoeuvre to compensate and equalise pressure in the inner ear and sinuses is the Valsalva manoeuvre (pinch your nose, close your mouth and blow). Whilst very effective, if performed incorrectly this manoeuvre comes with a set of possible serious consequences, including the increase of intraocular pressure which can lead to retinal detachment, as well as damage in the inner ear due to over-pressurisation, and various other cardiac-related problems.
Marcante-Odaglia or Frenzel Manoeuvre
One valid, and safer, alternative to Valsalva is the Frenzel Manoeuvre. This is performed as follows:

Pinch your nose
Place your tongue on the roof of your mouth
Swallow

The Frenzel manoeuvre is safer than Valsalva because it does not cause the same large increase of intraocular pressure. Moreover, this manoeuvre does not inhibit the venous return to the heart, which is the main cause of the cardiac problems related to the Valsalva manoeuvre.
References
The content of this answer was largely borrowed from this other answer of mine.
Answer: Earplugs. There are many brands, they're cheap and after you've put them in you don't need to worry about doing any facial contortions since they help to automatically relieve pressure. Also obviously cuts back on aircraft engine noise and the sound of yet another excitable/crying child.
Comment: Shouldn't earplugs give you pain when pressure changes? Suppose you put in the earplugs when the plane is at a high altitude, then the air pressure between your ear drums and the plugs will be low compared to ground level air pressure. So when the airplane lands, then there will be a pressure difference compared to the air in the eustachian tube, causing the ear drums to bend, thus pain.
Answer: The Earpopper is prescription only in the USA but OTC in Canada... It has a 3.9 rating on Amazon. Fair warning: it's expensive and there are no refunds. I am much better at popping my ear with the jaw motion generated by gulping water so I don't need it that much now. Previously, it worked for me. I am a random stranger on the Internet who doesn't even play a doctor on TV.
Edit: no longer, you can now buy the Earpopper on amazon.com as well.
Answer: We always used to suck hard candy.
I mean, it's not the most dignified method, but especially when we were young, and traveling a lot, and it was hard for us to remember to equalize by other means (or it just hurt) - we would get a small hard candy, and suck on it through takeoff or landing.  Kind of a combination of swallowing, chewing imaginary gum, and working the jaw.  I've found, as an adult, that it's still a nice method - it takes little concentration, it tastes good, and it usually equalizes my ears before they get painful.  Especially if you're sick, tired, or just annoyed it's probably one of the pleasantest ways to get through the pressure.
Of course, you can mirror the imaginary gum-chewing method and suck on an imaginary hard candy, it still works - the way your jaw moves and swallows.  It does make me feel a bit sillier than just grabbing a candy or cough drop or whatever.
Another alternative, is to use your fingers to open or equalize the pressure.  You can insert a fingertip in your ear and twist, and the air pressure should equalize when you pull your finger out and air flows back in - or sort of flick your finger out to make the air equalize by force (this tends to hurt a bit, but it's fast), or else rub on the outside of your ear, and push hard enough on the front of your ear to partially flatten your ear closed, and let the pressure equalize as it reopens when you lift your finger.  Someone already mentioned earplugs, and the theory is the same, just with what you have on hand.
Of course, there are lots of other ways, as other answers have mentioned - deliberately yawning, or drinking, or chewing gum, or pretending to do any of the former, or else holding your nose and blowing till your ears pop.  I've tried them all (we traveled a lot), and I generally prefer using hard candy.
Comment: @pnuts - yeah, I remember that... just as good for cranky kidlings as for popping ears.

Best way to make my ears pop?


Can I use VST plug-ins in Logic?

Question: Logic only accepts Audio Unit plug-ins. Is there a way around this to use VST plug-ins too?
Answer:
FXpansion VST to AU Adapter is a commercial tool
JVSTwRapper is free

Both seem to work equally well
Answer: In general, the type of tool I'm looking for is called a "VST wrapper". When @Dr. Mayhem's answer goes out of date, you can search for VST wrappers and see what tools are available.

Can I use VST plug-ins in Logic?


Should my fore/aft range be so narrow?

Question: I started setting my fore/aft by using the "hands off" method (being able to balance leaning forward with no hands). This occurs with the tip of my seat 8.5 cm behind the BB.  But, at this point, when I get low, in the drops or aero bars, my speed & power drops like a rock.  Moving back to 9 cm, I can get very low, without power loss.  At 9.5 cm, my power drops significantly when I get into an upright position!  (At least I know at what setback I'm the fastest!)  But, does this sound right?  Is it normal to have such a small range -- or, nearly no range, in this case -- in which I can efficiently pedal?  Or, does this indicate a problem with my fit?   (If I raise or lower my seat just 5 mm I also experience a significant loss in speed/power.)  This also makes me wonder how time trialist get in to such a forward position.  If I did that, apparently I'd end up going backwards!  Any ideas?
Comment: Just wait until you get my age and the "range" is a negative number.
Comment: Possibly a better question would be how you can expand that range. I've used stretching and training in the past to extend mine.
Answer: It is not unusual to have a very small range of position which allows for your most efficient pedaling position.
It is a little unusual for it to be quite that drastic a change. Are you accounting for the change in saddle extension by adjusting your seat height as you move the saddle for and aft?
If not, I expect that it is more the extension length than your fore aft positioning which is affecting you.
By the way, 7-9cm behind the BB center is fairly far back when measuring from saddle tip. Most people are in a 2-5cm range, unless they are unusually tall or have unusually long femurs for their height. You may want a professional to take a look at your fit.
I hope that is helpful.

Should my fore/aft range be so narrow?


How to debug crashing Pi?

Question: Running newest firmware on a Piv2 with raspbian wheezy. rsyslogd is installed and running.
Looking for suggestions on other ways to debug. Either getting more logging, looking at different logs, installing another logging service, etc. Anything that will help me figure this out.
I have watchdog running. The Pi is running motion and some python code I wrote to take temperature, light level and humidity readings and write them to a google spreadsheet.  The motion video files are being written to the local filesystem and there is plenty of file space. Motion is using the Pi camera module.
System seems to crash every few hours. I have no idea why. Syslog has a bunch of non-printable characters where there should be info about the reboot. Might be a network issue causing the problem but I can't be sure because I don't see the watchdog error that caused the reboot in the logs. Any pointers on how to get more logging done so I can figure this out would be appreciated.
Motion is absolutely the instigator of the issue. I have another Pi running on the same wifi AP and it runs weeks with no issue. This Pi can also run weeks with no issue on Wifi. But as soon as I put motion into the picture it can't even make it a day. Motion runs fine if I'm using a wired connection. So the combination that causes the issue is motion + wifi.
I think it's a network issue because before I had problems the setup was hardwired to the network and ran for days/weeks with no issues. The only change was the location which now requires the use of wifi. So the change that seemed to trigger issues is the move from ethernet (eth0) to wifi (wlan0).
Logs I'm looking at:
/var/log/syslog (non-printable chars where error happened)
/var/log/dmesg (no relevant msgs that I can find)
/var/log/watchdog/repair-bin.stdout & repair-bin.stderr (non-printable chars where error happened)
I'm also looking at a log of the stderr and stdout from the python program I wrote.
Here's a section of the syslog in question:
Jun 24 07:05:38 weatherPi watchdog[2552]: got answer from target 192.168.0.1
Jun 24 07:05:43 weatherPi watchdog[2552]: still alive after 2000 interval(s)
Jun 24 07:09:01 weatherPi /USR/SBIN/CRON[2854]: (root) CMD (  [ -x /usr/lib/php5/maxlifetime ] && [ -x /usr/lib/php5/sessionclean ] && [ -d /var/lib/php5 ] && /usr/lib/php5/sessionclean /var/lib/php5 $(/usr/lib/php5/maxlifetime))
Jun 24 07:17:01 weatherPi /USR/SBIN/CRON[2912]: (root) CMD (   cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.hourly)
^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@Jun 24 07:17:10 weatherPi kernel: imklog 5.8.11, log source = /proc/kmsg started.
Jun 24 07:17:10 weatherPi rsyslogd: [origin software="rsyslogd" swVersion="5.8.11" x-pid="2049" x-info="http://www.rsyslog.com"] start
Jun 24 07:17:10 weatherPi kernel: [    0.000000] Booting Linux on physical CPU 0xf00
...snip...

Same thing is happening in the repair logs.
Here is the motion.conf (removed some comments to stay within char limit):
weather@weatherpi ~/weather/config $ more motion.conf
# Rename this distribution example file to motion.conf
#
# This config file was generated by motion 3.2.12

############################################################
# Daemon
############################################################

# Start in daemon (background) mode and release terminal (default: off)
daemon on

# File to store the process ID, also called pid file. (default: not defined)
process_id_file /var/run/motion/motion.pid

############################################################
# Basic Setup Mode
############################################################

# Start in Setup-Mode, daemon disabled. (default: off)
setup_mode off

###########################################################
# Capture device options
############################################################

# Videodevice to be used for capturing  (default /dev/video0)
# for FreeBSD default is /dev/bktr0
videodevice /dev/video0

v4l2_palette 8

# Tuner device to be used for capturing using tuner as source (default /dev/tune
r0)
# This is ONLY used for FreeBSD. Leave it commented out for Linux
; tunerdevice /dev/tuner0

# The video input to be used (default: 8)
# Should normally be set to 0 or 1 for video/TV cards, and 8 for USB cameras
input 8

# The video norm to use (only for video capture and TV tuner cards)
# Values: 0 (PAL), 1 (NTSC), 2 (SECAM), 3 (PAL NC no colour). Default: 0 (PAL)
norm 0

# The frequency to set the tuner to (kHz) (only for TV tuner cards) (default: 0)
frequency 0

# Rotate image this number of degrees. The rotation affects all saved images as
# well as mpeg movies. Valid values: 0 (default = no rotation), 90, 180 and 270.
rotate 0

# Image width (pixels). Valid range: Camera dependent, default: 352
#width 1280
width 2592
#width 640

# Image height (pixels). Valid range: Camera dependent, default: 288
#height 720
height 1936
#height 480

# Maximum number of frames to be captured per second.
# Valid range: 2-100. Default: 100 (almost no limit).
framerate 10

# Minimum time in seconds between capturing picture frames from the camera.
# Default: 0 = disabled - the capture rate is given by the camera framerate.
# This option is used when you want to capture images at a rate lower than 2 per
 second.
minimum_frame_time 0

# URL to use if you are using a network camera, size will be autodetected (incl
http:// ftp:// or file:///)
# Must be a URL that returns single jpeg pictures or a raw mjpeg stream. Default
: Not defined
; netcam_url value

# Username and password for network camera (only if required). Default: not defi
ned
# Syntax is user:password
; netcam_userpass value

# The setting for keep-alive of network socket, should improve performance on co
mpatible net cameras.
# 1.0:         The historical implementation using HTTP/1.0, closing the socket
after each http request.
# keep_alive:  Use HTTP/1.0 requests with keep alive header to reuse the same co
nnection.
# 1.1:         Use HTTP/1.1 requests that support keep alive as default.
# Default: 1.0
; netcam_http 1.0

# URL to use for a netcam proxy server, if required, e.g. "http://myproxy".
# If a port number other than 80 is needed, use "http://myproxy:1234".
# Default: not defined
; netcam_proxy value

# Set less strict jpeg checks for network cameras with a poor/buggy firmware.
# Default: off
netcam_tolerant_check off

# Let motion regulate the brightness of a video device (default: off).
# The auto_brightness feature uses the brightness option as its target value.
# If brightness is zero auto_brightness will adjust to average brightness value
128.
# Only recommended for cameras without auto brightness
auto_brightness off

# Set the initial brightness of a video device.
# If auto_brightness is enabled, this value defines the average brightness level
# which Motion will try and adjust to.
# Valid range 0-255, default 0 = disabled
brightness 0

# Set the contrast of a video device.
# Valid range 0-255, default 0 = disabled
contrast 0

# Set the saturation of a video device.
# Valid range 0-255, default 0 = disabled
saturation 0

# Set the hue of a video device (NTSC feature).
# Valid range 0-255, default 0 = disabled
hue 0

############################################################
# Round Robin (multiple inputs on same video device name)
############################################################

# Number of frames to capture in each roundrobin step (default: 1)
roundrobin_frames 1

# Number of frames to skip before each roundrobin step (default: 1)
roundrobin_skip 1

# Try to filter out noise generated by roundrobin (default: off)
switchfilter off

############################################################
# Motion Detection Settings:
############################################################

# Threshold for number of changed pixels in an image that
# triggers motion detection (default: 1500)
threshold 900

# Automatically tune the threshold down if possible (default: off)
threshold_tune off

# Noise threshold for the motion detection (default: 32)
noise_level 32

# Automatically tune the noise threshold (default: on)
noise_tune on

# Despeckle motion image using (e)rode or (d)ilate or (l)abel (Default: not defi
ned)
# Recommended value is EedDl. Any combination (and number of) of E, e, d, and D
is valid.
# (l)abeling must only be used once and the 'l' must be the last letter.
# Comment out to disable
despeckle EedDl

# Detect motion in predefined areas (1 - 9). Areas are numbered like that:  1 2
3
# A script (on_area_detected) is started immediately when motion is         4 5
6
# detected in one of the given areas, but only once during an event.        7 8
9
# One or more areas can be specified with this option. (Default: not defined)
; area_detect value

# PGM file to use as a sensitivity mask.
# Full path name to. (Default: not defined)
; mask_file value
;mask_file value /home/weather/weather/config/garden_filter.pgm

# Dynamically create a mask file during operation (default: 0)
# Adjust speed of mask changes from 0 (off) to 10 (fast)
smart_mask_speed 0

# Ignore sudden massive light intensity changes given as a percentage of the pic
ture
# area that changed intensity. Valid range: 0 - 100 , default: 0 = disabled
lightswitch 0

# Picture frames must contain motion at least the specified number of frames
# in a row before they are detected as true motion. At the default of 1, all
# motion is detected. Valid range: 1 to thousands, recommended 1-5
minimum_motion_frames 1

# Specifies the number of pre-captured (buffered) pictures from before motion
# was detected that will be output at motion detection.
# Recommended range: 0 to 5 (default: 0)
# Do not use large values! Large values will cause Motion to skip video frames a
nd
# cause unsmooth mpegs. To smooth mpegs use larger values of post_capture instea
d.
pre_capture 2

# Number of frames to capture after motion is no longer detected (default: 0)
post_capture 2

# Gap is the seconds of no motion detection that triggers the end of an event
# An event is defined as a series of motion images taken within a short timefram
e.
# Recommended value is 60 seconds (Default). The value 0 is allowed and disables
# events causing all Motion to be written to one single mpeg file and no pre_cap
ture.
gap 60

# Maximum length in seconds of an mpeg movie
# When value is exceeded a new mpeg file is created. (Default: 0 = infinite)
max_mpeg_time 300

# Always save images even if there was no motion (default: off)
output_all off

############################################################
# Image File Output
############################################################

output_motion off

# The quality (in percent) to be used by the jpeg compression (default: 75)
quality 100

# Output ppm images instead of jpeg (default: off)
ppm off

############################################################
# FFMPEG related options
# Film (mpeg) file output, and deinterlacing of the video input
# The options movie_filename and timelapse_filename are also used
# by the ffmpeg feature
############################################################

# Use ffmpeg to encode mpeg movies in realtime (default: off)
ffmpeg_cap_new on

# Use ffmpeg to make movies with only the pixels moving
# object (ghost images) (default: off)
ffmpeg_cap_motion off

# Use ffmpeg to encode a timelapse movie
# Default value 0 = off - else save frame every Nth second
ffmpeg_timelapse 0

# The file rollover mode of the timelapse video
# Valid values: hourly, daily (default), weekly-sunday, weekly-monday, monthly,
manual
ffmpeg_timelapse_mode daily

# Bitrate to be used by the ffmpeg encoder (default: 400000)
# This option is ignored if ffmpeg_variable_bitrate is not 0 (disabled)
ffmpeg_bps 500000

# Enables and defines variable bitrate for the ffmpeg encoder.
# ffmpeg_bps is ignored if variable bitrate is enabled.
# Valid values: 0 (default) = fixed bitrate defined by ffmpeg_bps,
# or the range 2 - 31 where 2 means best quality and 31 is worst.
ffmpeg_variable_bitrate 0

# Codec to used by ffmpeg for the video compression.
# Timelapse mpegs are always made in mpeg1 format independent from this option.
# Supported formats are: mpeg1 (ffmpeg-0.4.8 only), mpeg4 (default), and msmpeg4
.
# mpeg1 - gives you files with extension .mpg
# mpeg4 or msmpeg4 - gives you files with extension .avi
# msmpeg4 is recommended for use with Windows Media Player because
# it requires no installation of codec on the Windows client.
# swf - gives you a flash film with extension .swf
# flv - gives you a flash video with extension .flv
# ffv1 - FF video codec 1 for Lossless Encoding ( experimental )
# mov - QuickTime ( testing )
ffmpeg_video_codec msmpeg4

# Use ffmpeg to deinterlace video. Necessary if you use an analog camera
# and see horizontal combing on moving objects in video or pictures.
# (default: off)
ffmpeg_deinterlace off

############################################################
# Snapshots (Traditional Periodic Webcam File Output)
############################################################

# Make automated snapshot every N seconds (default: 0 = disabled)
snapshot_interval 3600

# Locate and draw a box around the moving object.
# Valid values: on, off and preview (default: off)
# Set to 'preview' will only draw a box in preview_shot pictures.
locate on

# Draws the timestamp using same options as C function strftime(3)
# Default: %Y-%m-%d\n%T = date in ISO format and time in 24 hour clock
# Text is placed in lower right corner
text_right %Y-%m-%d\n%T-%q

# Draw a user defined text on the images using same options as C function strfti
me(3)
# Default: Not defined = no text
# Text is placed in lower left corner
; text_left CAMERA %t

# Draw the number of changed pixed on the images (default: off)
# Will normally be set to off except when you setup and adjust the motion settin
gs
# Text is placed in upper right corner
text_changes off

# This option defines the value of the special event conversion specifier %C
# You can use any conversion specifier in this option except %C. Date and time
# values are from the timestamp of the first image in the current event.
# Default: %Y%m%d%H%M%S
# The idea is that %C can be used filenames and text_left/right for creating
# a unique identifier for each event.
text_event %Y%m%d%H%M%S

# Draw characters at twice normal size on images. (default: off)
text_double on

# Target base directory for pictures and films
# Recommended to use absolute path. (Default: current working directory)
#target_dir /tmp/motion
target_dir /home/weather/sec_video

# File path for snapshots (jpeg or ppm) relative to target_dir
# Default: %v-%Y%m%d%H%M%S-snapshot
# Default value is equivalent to legacy oldlayout option
# For Motion 3.0 compatible mode choose: %Y/%m/%d/%H/%M/%S-snapshot
# File extension .jpg or .ppm is automatically added so do not include this.
# Note: A symbolic link called lastsnap.jpg created in the target_dir will alway
s
# point to the latest snapshot, unless snapshot_filename is exactly 'lastsnap'
snapshot_filename %v-%Y%m%d%H%M%S-snapshot

# File path for motion triggered images (jpeg or ppm) relative to target_dir
# Default: %v-%Y%m%d%H%M%S-%q
# Default value is equivalent to legacy oldlayout option
# For Motion 3.0 compatible mode choose: %Y/%m/%d/%H/%M/%S-%q
# File extension .jpg or .ppm is automatically added so do not include this
# Set to 'preview' together with best-preview feature enables special naming
# convention for preview shots. See motion guide for details
jpeg_filename %v-%Y%m%d%H%M%S-%q

# File path for motion triggered ffmpeg films (mpeg) relative to target_dir
# Default: %v-%Y%m%d%H%M%S
# Default value is equivalent to legacy oldlayout option
# For Motion 3.0 compatible mode choose: %Y/%m/%d/%H%M%S
# File extension .mpg or .avi is automatically added so do not include this
# This option was previously called ffmpeg_filename
movie_filename %v-%Y%m%d%H%M%S

# File path for timelapse mpegs relative to target_dir
# Default: %Y%m%d-timelapse
# Default value is near equivalent to legacy oldlayout option
# For Motion 3.0 compatible mode choose: %Y/%m/%d-timelapse
# File extension .mpg is automatically added so do not include this
timelapse_filename %Y%m%d-timelapse

############################################################
# Live Webcam Server
############################################################

# The mini-http server listens to this port for requests (default: 0 = disabled)
webcam_port 8081

# Quality of the jpeg (in percent) images produced (default: 50)
webcam_quality 40

# Output frames at 1 fps when no motion is detected and increase to the
# rate given by webcam_maxrate when motion is detected (default: off)
webcam_motion off

# Maximum framerate for webcam streams (default: 1)
webcam_maxrate 1

# Restrict webcam connections to localhost only (default: on)
webcam_localhost off

# Limits the number of images per connection (default: 0 = unlimited)
# Number can be defined by multiplying actual webcam rate by desired number of s
econds
# Actual webcam rate is the smallest of the numbers framerate and webcam_maxrate
webcam_limit 0

############################################################
# HTTP Based Control
############################################################

# TCP/IP port for the http server to listen on (default: 0 = disabled)
control_port 8080

# Restrict control connections to localhost only (default: on)
control_localhost off

# Output for http server, select off to choose raw text plain (default: on)
control_html_output on

# Authentication for the http based control. Syntax username:password
# Default: not defined (Disabled)
control_authentication ifermon:8hemlock

############################################################
# Tracking (Pan/Tilt)
############################################################

# Type of tracker (0=none (default), 1=stepper, 2=iomojo, 3=pwc, 4=generic, 5=uv
cvideo)
# The generic type enables the definition of motion center and motion size to
# be used with the conversion specifiers for options like on_motion_detected
track_type 0

# Enable auto tracking (default: off)
track_auto off

# Serial port of motor (default: none)
; track_port value

# Motor number for x-axis (default: 0)
track_motorx 0

# Motor number for y-axis (default: 0)
track_motory 0

# Maximum value on x-axis (default: 0)
track_maxx 0

# Maximum value on y-axis (default: 0)
track_maxy 0

# ID of an iomojo camera if used (default: 0)
track_iomojo_id 0

# Angle in degrees the camera moves per step on the X-axis
# with auto-track (default: 10)
# Currently only used with pwc type cameras
track_step_angle_x 10

# Angle in degrees the camera moves per step on the Y-axis
# with auto-track (default: 10)
# Currently only used with pwc type cameras
track_step_angle_y 10

# Delay to wait for after tracking movement as number
# of picture frames (default: 10)
track_move_wait 10

# Speed to set the motor to (stepper motor option) (default: 255)
track_speed 255

# Number of steps to make (stepper motor option) (default: 40)
track_stepsize 40

# Do not sound beeps when detecting motion (default: on)
# Note: Motion never beeps when running in daemon mode.
quiet on

# Command to be executed when an event starts. (default: none)
# An event starts at first motion detected after a period of no motion defined b
y gap
; on_event_start value

# Command to be executed when an event ends after a period of no motion
# (default: none). The period of no motion is defined by option gap.
; on_event_end value

# Command to be executed when a picture (.ppm|.jpg) is saved (default: none)
# To give the filename as an argument to a command append it with %f
; on_picture_save value

# Command to be executed when a motion frame is detected (default: none)
; on_motion_detected value

# Command to be executed when motion in a predefined area is detected
# Check option 'area_detect'.   (default: none)
; on_area_detected value

# Command to be executed when a movie file (.mpg|.avi) is created. (default: non
e)
# To give the filename as an argument to a command append it with %f
; on_movie_start value

# Command to be executed when a movie file (.mpg|.avi) is closed. (default: none
)
# To give the filename as an argument to a command append it with %f
; on_movie_end value

# Command to be executed when a camera can't be opened or if it is lost
# NOTE: There is situations when motion doesn't detect a lost camera!
# It depends on the driver, some drivers don't detect a lost camera at all
# Some hang the motion thread. Some even hang the PC! (default: none)
; on_camera_lost value

############################################################
# Common Options For MySQL and PostgreSQL database features.
# Options require the MySQL/PostgreSQL options to be active also.
############################################################

# Log to the database when creating motion triggered image file  (default: on)
sql_log_image off

# Log to the database when creating a snapshot image file (default: on)
sql_log_snapshot off

# Log to the database when creating motion triggered mpeg file (default: off)
sql_log_mpeg off

# Log to the database when creating timelapse mpeg file (default: off)
sql_log_timelapse off

# SQL query string that is sent to the database
# Use same conversion specifiers has for text features
# Additional special conversion specifiers are
# %n = the number representing the file_type
# %f = filename with full path
# Default value:
# insert into security(camera, filename, frame, file_type, time_stamp, text_even
t) values('%t', '%f', '%q', '%n', '%Y-%m-%d %T', '%C')
sql_query insert into security(camera, filename, frame, file_type, time_stamp, e
vent_time_stamp) values('%t', '%f', '%q', '%n', '%Y-%m-%d %T', '%C')

############################################################
# Database Options For MySQL
############################################################

# Mysql database to log to (default: not defined)
; mysql_db value

# The host on which the database is located (default: localhost)
; mysql_host value

# User account name for MySQL database (default: not defined)
; mysql_user value

# User password for MySQL database (default: not defined)
; mysql_password value

############################################################
# Database Options For PostgreSQL
############################################################

# PostgreSQL database to log to (default: not defined)
; pgsql_db value

# The host on which the database is located (default: localhost)
; pgsql_host value

# User account name for PostgreSQL database (default: not defined)
; pgsql_user value

# User password for PostgreSQL database (default: not defined)
; pgsql_password value

# Port on which the PostgreSQL database is located (default: 5432)
; pgsql_port 5432

############################################################
# Video Loopback Device (vloopback project)
############################################################

# Output images to a video4linux loopback device
# The value '-' means next available (default: not defined)
; video_pipe value

# Output motion images to a video4linux loopback device
# The value '-' means next available (default: not defined)
; motion_video_pipe value

# Remember: If you have more than one camera you must have one
# thread file for each camera. E.g. 2 cameras requires 3 files:
# This motion.conf file AND thread1.conf and thread2.conf.
# Only put the options that are unique to each camera in the
# thread config files.
; thread /usr/local/etc/thread1.conf
; thread /usr/local/etc/thread2.conf
; thread /usr/local/etc/thread3.conf
; thread /usr/local/etc/thread4.conf

# Set the authentication method (default: 0)
# # 0 = disabled
# # 1 = Basic authentication
# # 2 = MD5 digest (the safer authentication)
;stream_auth_method 1

#
# # Authentication for the http based control. Syntax username:password
# # Default: not defined (Disabled)
;stream_authentication username:password
weather@weatherpi ~/weather/config $

Comment: It's a utility used by cron to run all the scripts in a directory. In this case it runs all the scripts in /etc/cron.hourly. That runs every hour, so I don't think it's an issue. The only script there is fake-hwclock which updates the clock value.
Comment: I would suspect a kernel panic as it is rebooting automatically and there is not trace of what has happen. I would try to install and configure kdump (if it works on ARM/Raspberry Pi) which is the kernel core dump facility (equivalent of a blue screen of death dumping its memory on Windows). Then it is possible to analyse the core dumped by kdump. Most likely the culprit is the wifi module (driver) you are using if that's the only change you did.
Comment: So what's `run-parts`?
Comment: Can you provide me with the output of `ls /etc | grep weatherPi` and `locate weatherPi.conf`?
Comment: There are no files with weatherPi in their names in /etc. There is also no file named weatherPi.conf on the system. Not sure what you mean by "locate" - I can't find a command by that name. I did run "find / -name weatherPi.conf 2>/dev/null" and it returned no results.
Comment: makedumpfile, required by kdump, doesn't seem to be available (sudo apt-get install kdump-tools, or sudo apt-get install makedumpfile)
Comment: use `dtrace` ...
Comment: Do you have any 'hourly crons'?
Comment: I do have con jobs, but not hourly.
Comment: The ^@ are nulls, your syslog is probably open the time of the crash. See /var/log/dmesg after the reboot for lines like:
EXT4-fs (mmcblk0p6): orphan cleanup on readonly fs  ; EXT4-fs (mmcblk0p6): 6 orphan inodes deleted  ; EXT4-fs (mmcblk0p6): recovery complete  ; EXT4-fs (mmcblk0p6): mounted filesystem with ordered data mode. Opts: (null);
Answer: I have had crash trouble with motion on my Rpi2. I couldn't work out exactly what this was, but it did write rubbish into logs too. I am sure it was that, when switched off, the rest of the system ran [and runs] until shutdown. My setup uses the Rpi camera module rather than a webcam.
So I'd suggest, as a systematic debug process, switch off motion and [if you can] switch off the other bits one by one, to try and isolate the component that causes the crash.
Comment: Apologies if I wasn't clear. Motion is absolutely the component that brings out the issue. My question is what is it about motion that causes the network issue, and why only with wifi?
Comment: No problem. Useful for both of us to somewhat replicate it. I can't do something right away, but I can try and replicate the `eth0 -> wlan0` switch in a while.
Answer: I have come across a very similar problem in my testing and would suggest running your code with strace option to log it to a file. strace shows you all of the system calls your code is making, which is really useful for debugging.
For example, if your entry point is 'main.py' then you would run
strace -o logfile python main.py

which would log it to a local file 'logfile'. You can also run it without the '-o' switch if you would like to see the output on stderr.
Sadly, I have not solved my own issues. Have either you or the other gentleman figured out what was causing the issue?
Comment: Hello and welcome. Could you please separate your answer from that follow-up question and if possible elabarote a little more on how strace helps to solve the issue posted in the question? Thanks.
Comment: Hello and thanks for the tip! I did update my answer, but I'm not sure where I can post my question here since new people are barred from commenting on answers that are not their own.
Comment: I suggest `strace -fvo ...` for further information (-v for unabbreviated output of certain functions, -f for any child processes).
Answer: I know this is old, but for anyone looking at this in the future, I have a feeling that this is a bug caused by rsyslog itself.
it sounds similar to this:
https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=91&t=122601
do you see any lines like this:?
syslogd-2007 action 17 suspended
basically, by default rsyslogd posts to a Xterminal, that is probably not being listened to, so the messages just pile up and up until it fills up and seems to cause crashes.
that it happens now, is probably because you're just producing more logs.
to stop, go to    /etc and edit rsyslog.conf to comment out the last few lines with a #, (requires sudo/root)
Answer: Much time has passed, but this is due to the motion log reaching a critical size. Delete it and restart motion.
Lowering the log-level in /etc/motion/motion.conf will reduce accumulation.

How to debug crashing Pi?


How long does it take Google, Yahoo or Bing to reindex my website?

Question: I made some changes recently to my website that were substantial.
My page rank for my business's name is now #1.
However, Google shows wrong information in the search results, as do Bing and Yahoo.
So how long?
Answer: It varies. Sites like Stackoverflow will see changes reflected seemingly immediately while smaller sites may wait days or even weeks for the changes to be represented in the search results. See this answer for why.
Answer: I know it's anywhere between a day and 6 weeks usually.
The exact time depends on your history with google (i'm not all that familiar with bing (with also gives yahoo results)). If your site changed often in the past google will reindex relatively quickly, if google didn't see any changes in the past 76 years it won't reindex very fast.
my own site was reindexed by google after about a week after submitting the sitemap to google.


What does Masjävlar mean?

Question: I have watched the movie Masjävlar and I wonder what this title means. I have checked Google Translate but to no result. What does it and the movie refer to, and what is the essence of the word?
Answer:
The word "masjävlar" is a derogatory term for Dalecarlians, who are usually known as masar.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalecarlians_(film)
Comment: I saw that but I am not able to make connection of with the movie. It says it is derogatory but why? Is it bad to be from Dalarna? I guess there must be a reason to choose this name for the movie.
Comment: @coner I believe there is a derogatory term for everything, every race, nation, city-population, and so on. It is bad to be from China? Then why are they called Chinks? Why are Jews called Kikes? Why Yankees? etc. etc.
Comment: @TK-421 irrelevant. Some actors/actresses and director is from Dalarna. I believe Maria Blom has a reason to name the film as such.
Answer: I think this may be the answer:

DIRECTORS STATEMENT
... That they'll be a little nicer to each other, especially in
  family settings, since there's a lot of pressure in those
  relationships. But to begin with, I guess I wanted to tell the natives
  of the province of Dalecarlia a thing or two as well. Half of my
  family comes from Dalecarlia, from the region around Lake Siljan, and
  in my opinion, they're real characters up there. It's been fun raking
  them over the coals. At times I've been so sick of their behaviour,
  they're so incredibly full of themselves. I mean, they'll buy a summer
  cottage a half-hour drive from where they live just so they don't have
  to leave the province. Dalecarlia is Sweden's heartland, and
  everything about it is fantastic. When one of my relatives came to
  Stockholm, we went out for pizza – the delicious gourmet stone baked
  kind – and when we had finished our meal, this person looked at me and
  said: "Well, our pizza place back home in Rättvik certainly knows how
  to make a darn good pizza!" My intention was also to capture the
  special brand of humour they have in Dalecarlia, it's simultaneously
  warm-hearted and slightly brutal. If it isn't served up with a whole
  lot of love, it just sounds unkind. It's like irony – when someone
  would say "nice sweater" to you in school without really meaning it.
  That kind of humour wears you down, it's corrosive. At the same time,
  the film is a declaration of love to the people of Dalecarlia. You
  know, I picked up stakes and moved from Stockholm to Dalecarlia
  myself. These days I live in Falun and dream of being called a "kulla"
  (the Swedish word for a female native of Dalecarlia).

Source: https://www.europeanfilmawards.eu/en_EN/film/dalecarlians.5978
Comment: How is any of that related to why the movie is titled "Masjävlar"? There's not even a single mention of the word in your answer.
Comment: @M.A.R. okay, we know that she is from Dalarna and Masjävlar is a derogatory term for people from Dalarna. In her statement, she mentions "they" are both warm hearted and brutal at the same time. And she resembles them to irony. At that point she also wants to make fun of the people in their style by using derogatory Masjävlar. It is Dalarnian since it is bitter and makes fun of them but also she shows her love to the people. We know this from her statement by: "These days I live in Falun and dream of being called 'kulla'.

These show us Blom gives the Dalarna people their own medicine.

What does Masjävlar mean?


Triangle whose height and sides are consecutive integers

Question: This is probably a old puzzle,and maybe you have seen it somewhere else before.Imagine a special triangle. The height and the three sides of this triangle are 4 consecutive integers.Can you figure out what are the lengths of the sides and of the height?
Comment: See [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integer_triangle#Miscellaneous_facts_about_integer_triangles).
Comment: @J.M., that gives the answer, but no information on how to do it.
Comment: Exactly why I left it as a comment, @Gerry. ;)
Answer: We answer the following seemingly more general question.  Find all triangles such that the sides of  the triangle and one of the altitudes are four integers which are,  in some order, consecutive terms of an arithmetic progression.  We can assume that these four terms are $q+d$, $q$, $q-d$, and $q-2d$, where $d$ is positive  and $q$ and $d$ are relatively prime.
We will use Heron's Formula for the area of a triangle in terms of its sides.  If a triangle has sides $a$, $b$, and $c$, then the area of the triangle is
$$\sqrt{s(s-a)(s-b)(s-c)},\quad \text{where} \quad s=\frac{a+b+c}{2}.$$
At least two of the sides of the triangle are greater than the altitude.  There are two sorts of cases to consider: (1) The altitude is the second smallest of the numbers $q+d$, $q$, $q-d$, and $q-2d$ and (2) The altitude is the smallest of these four numbers.
Case 1:  We have $s=(3q-d)/2$.  Thus by Heron's Formula the area of the triangle is $\sqrt{(3q-d))(q-3d)(q-d)(q+3d)/16}$.  But this area is also $(1/2)(q-2d)(q-d)$.  Squaring, we obtain
$$\frac{(3q-d)(q-3d)(q-d)(q+3d)}{16}=\frac{(q-2d)^2(q-d)^2}{4}.$$
Cancel a $q-d$ from both sides, multiply through by $16$, and simplify.  After a while we arrive at
$$q^3-19q^2d+59qd^2-25d^3=0.$$
We look for solutions of this equation in relatively prime positive integers. Since $q$ divides the first three terms of the equation, it must divide $25d^3$.  Since $q$ is relatively prime to $d$, $q$ must divide $25$, which leaves the possibilities $q=1$, $q=5$, and $q=25$. None of these works.
Case 2: Heron's Formula shows that the triangle has area $\sqrt{(3q)(q-2d)(q)(q+2d)/16}$.  There are unfortunately three possibilities: (i) The altitude is to the side $q$; (ii) The altitude is to the side $q+d$; (iii) The altitude is to the side $q-d$.
In each case, by Herons's Formula, the area of the triangle is $\sqrt{(3q)(q-2d)(q)(q+2d)/16}$.
(i): The area is then $(q)(q-2d)/2$.  We obtain the equation
$$\frac{(3q)(q-2d)(q)(q+2d)}{16}=\frac{(q)^2(q-2d)^2}{4}.$$
Divide through by $q^2(q-2d)$, multiply by $16$, and simplify.  We obtain $q=14d$, so since $q$ and $d$ are relatively prime we have $q=14$ and $d=1$.  That gives us the triangle with sides $15$, $14$, $13$, and height $12$ (together with all integers scalings of this triangle).
(ii): The area is $(q+d)(q-2d)/2$.  We obtain the equation
$$\frac{(3q)(q-2d)(q)(q+2d)}{16}=\frac{(q+d)^2(q-2d)^2}{4}.$$
This simplifies to $q^3-6q^2d -12qd^2-8d^3=0$.  We look for relatively prime positive integer solutions.  Since $q$ divides the first three terms, it must divide $8$, and it is easy to check that none of $1$, $2$, $4$, or $8$ work. (Of course $1$ and $2$ are irrelevant, since they would not give a triangle).
(iii): The area is $(q-d)(q-2d)/2$.  We obtain the equation
$\frac{(3q)(q-2d)(q)(q+2d)}{16}=\frac{(q-d)^2(q-2d)^2}{4}.$  This simplifies to $q^3-22q^2d +20qd^2-8d^3=0$, which again has no solutions in relatively prime integers.
Comments:  In Case 1, there are up to similarity two solutions in which our four numbers form an arithmetic progression, and in each of Cases 2(ii) and 2(iii) there  is one, but for all of these $q$ and $d$ are incommensurable.
The original problem in principle does not require much machinery.  If $q$ is not small, then the numbers from $q-2$ to $q+1$ are (relatively) close to each other, so the triangle looks more or less equilateral.  But an altitude of an equilateral triangle is not close to a side in length.  So we can see that large $q$ are not possible, and it comes down to checking a smallish number of cases.
However, the algebra is more efficient.
Comment: ,man you made real science of this recreational question :)
Comment: @pedja: The tag doesn't matter. Anyway, all of mathematics is recreational.
Answer: J. M. gives a reference to the answer in a comment on the question. I think a proof that that's the answer can be dug out of a paper by J A MacDougall, Heron triangles with sides in arithmetic progression. That paper may be overkill for this problem, that is, MacDougall is trying to do a lot more, so there may be an easier way if all you want to do is settle the current question.
Answer: It is most convenient to calculate the area using Heron's formula:
A=$\sqrt{s(s-a)(s-b)(s-c)}$ , where  s=$\frac{a+b+c}{2}$
Let the sides of the triangle be b - 1, b and b + 1 .Then s=$\frac{3b}{2}$,and substitution of these into the formula gives:
A=$\dfrac{b*\sqrt{3(b^2-4)}}{4}$
Since A=$\frac{bh_b}{2}$ it is true that:$\frac{bh_b}{2}$ =$\dfrac{b*\sqrt{3(b^2-4)}}{4}$ or $h_b$=$\dfrac{\sqrt{3(b^2-4)}}{2}$
This means that $3(b^2-4)$ must be even square number.If b were odd, then $3(b^2-4)$ would be odd and would not be even square number so b must be of the form b=2k,where k is positive integer.
If we replace 2k instead b we get that $12(k^2-1)$ must be square number or we can say that $3(k^2-1)$ must be square number.
All we have to do is try for each consecutive integer starting with $1$ whether formula $3(k^2-1)$ gives square number.The first k wich satisfy such condition is  k=$7$ ,
Since b=2k we have that b=$14$; a=b-$1$=$13$; c=b+$1$=$15$ and according to formula $h_b$=$\dfrac{\sqrt{3(b^2-4)}}{2}$ $h_b$=$12$ so requested numbers are $12$,$13$,$14$,$15$
Comment: I thought about this method too. However you made some "shortcuts". (1) You assume that the height is cast on the edge *b*, i.e. the "middle" edge. It's not obvious that there are other variants. (2) The last part of your solution, it's surprising that you don't use the fact that *h* should be equal to *b*-2, you just verify this at the end. OTOH if you substitute *b*-2 instead of *h* you'll get *k*=7 directly, it'll also prove that there are no other solutions.


Can you daven with minyan when you have the flu?

Question: Are you allowed to go daven with a minyan when you have the flu or other highly contagious illness? Is it considered potentially damaging someone else's health, or are the chances of someone else getting it from you small enough that that shouldn't be a factor? In addition, can you trust the others members of the minyan falling under "Shluchei Mitzvah Einan Nizokim"?
Comment: Somewhat related post [here](http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/23551/1442), and slightly relevant questions from The Workplace SE [here](http://workplace.stackexchange.com/q/5574) and [here](http://workplace.stackexchange.com/q/6264).
Comment: Please please please don't rely on that.
Comment: @ Double AA, I agree that that wouldn't be enough. See my last edit.
Comment: This may sound strange, but usually the minyan gets the same group of people attending daily (more or less from a pool.) Why not arrange a "clinic" in the shul where at least these miyannaires get flu shots in advance?
Comment: IIRC I once read somewhere (maybe in the Mishnah Berurah?) that a choleh is exempt from praying with a minyan. Also, if you have the flu, I theorize that it may in fact even be a sin for you to pray with a minyan. Please phone your rabbi and ask, then post his answer below.
Answer: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA advises:

Preventing the Flu: Good Health Habits Can Help Stop Germs

Avoid close contact. Avoid close contact with people who are sick. When you are sick, keep your distance from others to protect them from
  getting sick too.

2. Stay home when you are sick. If possible, stay home from work, school, and errands when you are sick. You will help prevent others
  from catching your illness.

I have not seen any specific halachic references to this point.
I think Hillel's maxim  דעלך סני לחברך לא תעביד (Shabbos 31) is applicable.
Would you like to daven in a minyan with someone who had the flu?
Comment: @Shraga From a 2010 survey cited [here](http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/news/20110125/most-people-with-flu-dont-stay-home): "Most (68%) didn't know that a flu virus from a sneeze or cough can travel 5 or 6 feet. 44% thought they would be more likely to catch flu from touching something with the virus, such as a doorknob, although catching it is more likely by being around someone with it when they cough or sneeze." So, yes it does appear that there is a high liklihood of making someone sick.
Comment: The question is: is it just overall better, or is there actually a high likelihood you'll actually make someone sick? I note that they say "if possible" you should stay home from work. If the chances were really high of making someone sick, I think they wold have worded it stronger, no? So should praying with a minyan be any less than work or errands?
Answer: R. Akiva Eiger (Igrot Sofrim 29) was asked whether minyanim should be held during a cholera outbreak or whether public gatherings should be avoided altogether.  His response was that they should continue holding minyanim but in an open area, in groups no larger than 15, where the same 15 people always daven together.  This is a compromise where one limits the spread of the disease without giving up tefillah b'tzibbur.
Of course, cholera is more severe than flu for most people, but in R' Eiger's case, no one yet had cholera in the group.  My answer would be different if the minyan one goes to is populated by college students than if it were populated by octogenarians.
Comment: This is talking about asymptomatic people who most likely did not have cholera and were therefore most likely not contagious, unlike people with the flu who are certainly contagious.
Comment: It should be noted, however, that germ theory was not yet accepted (nor, I think, even postulated) by his time.


Adding directory to python PATH

Question: I'm trying to achieve this https://github.com/strycore/fakegir
As this page says:

After inserting this package in your editor's python path, you will
  get autocompletion for every PyGObject module! By default the package
  is saved in ~/.cache/fakegir/.   This is the directory you want to add
  to your Python PATH. Of course, you shouldn't put this package in your
  global PYTHONPATH or your PyGObject applications will stop working
  immediatly ;)

How do I achieve this with Sublime Text?
Answer: Try this in your python program/script:
<code>import sys
sys.path.append("/var/mydirectory")
</code>

Adding directory to python PATH


Multiple monitors with virtual machine

Question: Is it possible to use multiple monitors with Windows Virtual PC 2007?
If not, are there any other virtual machines that do support multiple monitors?
Comment: Not sure about Virtual PC, but you can in VMWare: http://superuser.com/questions/15156/dual-monitor-vpc-vmware
Answer: WMware workstation does allow you to setup multiple monitors.
If you RDP into a windows guest OS running in any virtualization, I think you can use multiple monitors if you're using the Windows 7 RDP client, there is a checkbox that lets you select (use all my monitors for the remote session)
Answer: With the release of VirtualBox 3.2, multi-monitor support for guests is now as easy as dragging a slider in the Settings page :) No need for headless/RDP stuff now. You can have 8 virtual monitors across 2 physical screens, if you really want to confuse yourself...
Answer: VMware Fusion for the Mac supports dual monitors seamlessly between host and and guest operating systems.  I would presume that VMware Workstation on the PC has similar features, but of course it is not free.
In the free-for-personal-use realm, VirtualBox supports up to 64 virtual monitors, but only with XP (and probably Server 2003) guests at the moment:
http://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch09.html#advanced-multimonitor
Basically, what you do with VirtualBox is set the VM up to run headless and then connect via VirtualBox's built-in RDP server to each of the virtual displays (even if the VM is running on localhost).  Of course, if you wanted to connect to several monitors all at once, you could create an .rdp file for each display and launch them all at once with a batch file or script.

Multiple monitors with virtual machine


In layman's terms how much pressure is 4000 psi?

Question: 4000 psi sounds like a lot. That's what some pressure washers can go up to. Just how much pressure is that? What are some real world examples that would help explain that kind of pressure?
Comment: 4000 psi is enough to cut your arm off with _water_. That's pretty much it.
Comment: Standard Scuba-Tank cylinders are around 3,000 PSI... It takes about 1/4 solid aluminum to hold back that much pressure, and they compress about 90 minutes of life-giving air into a small tank on your back.
Comment: Paint stripping comes to mind... and it does it pretty effectively. Use it on your car with the right nozzle held too close and you'll abrade the paint.
Comment: A very practical consideration is hydraulic injection injury. A 100 bar / 1500 PSI injury from a 0.3mm nozzle has comparable damage to being shot by a gun https://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr976.pdf obviously this needs some translation to figure out in practical terms was 4000 PSI means in terms of flow and accidents, but use what you need! Dmoore's answer is good.
Answer: 4000 PSI is too much or a shitload of pressure.  I would never use it on high on anything that I was cleaning at a home.  Even brick work could get damaged of up close 4000 PSI.  Probably the only thing I would use it for is cleaning my driveway but even then I would probably use a fan nozzle.  4000 PSI would just rip the paint off a home - one with a really good paint job.
If you want to really clean instead of blasting the crap out of something the key isn't just PSI, it is also a factor of the waterflow rate.  This is measured on most powerwashers as GPM or gallons per minute.  You multiply GPM and the PSI to get the cleaning units (CUs) of your powerwasher.  This is the most important factor for cleaning, not PSI.  A lot of the big box stores sell their cheaper powerwashers with high PSI because that is what the consumer is used to looking for.  These high PSI, low GPM units will not clean as well and are more likely to damage the surface you're cleaning.
Note: The chart below references usage based on staying an appropriate distance for the material and PSI.   Obviously if you just look at the first column and you spray your car with a 2500 PSI powerwasher from point blank, get ready for a new pain job.

Things I have used a powerwasher for:

decks (be careful with composite)
sidewalks
driveways
non-painted fences
gutters
garage floors
houses wood (it isn't my first choice or even second.  Also if I am painting I need 4-5 days of summer after powerwashing)
brick (but very risky and must take your time and stand back and properly presoap.  You can cut mortar loose)
my trailers
greasy tools (non-electric all metal)

Things I try not to powerwash:

houses (vinyl no way, brick is a risk, even wood I will stand back a bit)
cars
windows (you will destroy the caulking)
roofs
painted fences
anything inside
Comment: @Ecnerwal - I said up close.  Have you used a 4000 PSI power washer up close or within 3-4 feet on anything?  I have one and I have to warn my guys every time.   This chart is assuming that you will stand the appropriate distance for the PSI and materials being washed.  I could wash a car at 4000 PSI if I stood 25 feet away.  How productive this is compared to a regular hose/sprayer is debatable.
Comment: This is a great answer -- it answers the *real* question that seems was asked -- what 4000psi means in the context of a pressure washer. Knowing how 4000 psi compares to a scuba tank or the bottom of the ocean doesn't really help determine whether or not that pressure is suitable for pressure washing a deck.
Comment: "*Even brick work could get damaged of up close 4000 PSI.*" Followed by a chart showing 4000PSI as entirely suitable for brickwork, twice. Decks too. The only thing said chart says 4000 PSI is not suitable for is automobile and trailer/boat washing...a chart you actually agree with might be more persuasive here.
Comment: I just use the hose and a sponge on the car, so I'm not debating that and don't really think it's debatable. I've seen folks waste hours with a PW doing things that a stiff brush and a bucket of bleachwater would have done a much faster job on - but they had the pressure washer and they were bound and determined that it was easier...;^)
Comment: It's gonna need a paint job and [*a lot*](https://www.flickr.com/photos/24478676@N06/2349464496/) of screen doors...
Comment: @Mazura - Dammit you made me look.
Comment: Great chart, do you have the source?
Comment: This answer would have worked with just the first sentence.
Comment: Since you're worried about damaging brickwork but not your driveway, I assume your driveway is concrete, rather than asphalt?
Comment: @DavidRicherby - that is a good point... not sure what I would do with asphalt.  If it were new, without cracks or seams I would pressure wash from 5-7 feet.  If it were older, no I wouldn't touch it or would be pretty far away.  Concrete generally cleans easiest with about 2000 PSI and from about 1-2 feet away.
Answer: 224 x 10^6 Hundredweight per acre.
Comment: What the heck - I asked the internet to confirm the figure for a standard elephant in the Elephant•Furlong•Fortnight system for a jocular reply in this vein, and all it will give me is some upstart Firkin•Furlong•Fortnight system - history has been rewritten, our standard Elephant is not merely out-moded, it has become an un-unit, erased from the pages of history as though it never was. Notably the Electronic Frontier Foundation was prominent in results when searching for the EFF unit system. Are THEY behind this dastardly un-deed?
Comment: made me chuckle
Comment: US or international acre?
Answer: Take a moderately average car, such as a Honda Civic - roughly 3000 lbs (depending on options, year, etc)
Balance it on a US Quarter (0.955 inch diameter, 0.716 square inches)
Or:
Stick to quarters. Per US Mint specs, a quarter (at least a new, unworn one) has a mass of 5.67 grams, and so long as we are on Earth that's equivalent to 0.01250021026674 lbs. So a stack of 299,213 quarters (or $57,303.25 in quarters) would exert 4000 PSI.
Or:
Wikipedia claims that steel ranges in density from 485-503 lbs/cubic foot. Let's call it 495.
there are 12x12x12 cubic inches in a cubic foot, so a cubic inch of steel weighs 0.286458333 lbs.
So a 1 inch square solid bar of steel would be 13,963.64 inches tall to exert 4000 PSI (if you could get it to stand on end) - that's a bit more than 0.22 mile tall.
Or:
A 97.6 lb lady wearing high heels that are 5/32" square, balancing on one heel.
Comment: I've had to repair floors after your 97.6 lb lady did that.
Comment: Of course *any* 0.22 miles tall bar of steel would exert 4000 PSI, no matter what its cross section is
Comment: Pascals are **so** not intuitive units, though. And it's just as easy to be off by a factor of 10 or 100 by fudging mm and cm (squared, for the factor of 100) as it is to screw up inches and feet. BT, DT. (responding to a deleted comment that it would have been easier in metric/SI)
Comment: Having 1 atmosphere ~= 100 kPa makes Pa rather useful for back of a brain figurings
Answer: As mentioned above, if you could fit two tons on a 1" square, that's what it would be.
Since you mentioned pressure washers, I'll throw in a few other observations. Many electric models will do no more than 2000 PSI. Some gas-engine models can exceed 4,000 PSI. Pressures as low as 1000 PSI can still cause damage or personal injury, so be careful. If you're going to use one for cleaning a deck, siding, or something else around your home, make sure your water system can supply the washer. (And be careful with water if you use an electric pressure washer.)
Answer: 4000 PSI is exactly how much pressure it is. PSI = Pounds per Square Inch. I'm not really sure what kind of example you are looking for. PSI is a general unit that depends on context to determine if a given value is too much or not enough.
Since you ask for examples though:

A typical air compressor for powering air tools runs up to 140 PSI.
Water pressure in your house is about 40-70 PSI.
Hydraulic cylinders in machinery can operate up to 30,000 PSI or more.

Those are examples of fluids exerting pressure on their container.
But PSI is also used to measure compressive strength. For example:

"5000 PSI" concrete attains a compressive strength of 1500 PSI after 1 day of curing, 2500 PSI after 3 days of curing, 3500 PSI after 1 week of curing, and 5000 PSI after 28 days of curing.
Dry maple wood can attain up to 56,000 kPa (8122 PSI) of compressive strength parallel to the grain.
Comment: about 60000-100000 psi in a waterjet cutter to cut through steel. a direct injection engine squirts fuel at about 2000psi into the cylinder to atomise the fuel.  I do know at that pressure (with the size of aperture) the jet will blow through your hand.
Comment: "up to 30,000 PSI or more"
Answer: Additional examples that might make it more intuitive to understand from a scuba diving perspective.
Air pressure is commonly measured in bar.  Air pressure (at sea level) is about 14.7 PSI or 1 bar.  So the pressure exerted by all the air around you is 14.7 pounds per square inch.
As a general rule of thumb the pressure in bars increases by 1 for every 10m that you go under water.   So at 10m the pressure is 2 bar, 20 is 3 bar etc.
So to illustrate your question on 4000psi.   That would be equivalent to the pressure 2,700m deep in the ocean!   So yes that is quite a lot of pressure
Another practical example a typical high pressure home water heater is rated at 6 bar or 88psi or 50 meters of ocean depth.   your example of 4000 is 45x greater than water pressure from your high pressure water heater.
Answer: Wolfram Alpha says 4000 psi is:

~~ 0.33 × pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench (~~ 8338 dbar
)
~~ 0.5 × pressure at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean (depth 5.5 km)
(~~ 6×10^7 Pa )
~~ pressure of a typical aluminum scuba tank (~~ 20
MPa )
Comment: Nope. Unless you are overfilling them, typical aluminum tanks are 3000 PSI, 3300 for a few, and much above that is HP steel tank territory. Above water firefighter SCBA may go as high as 4500 with fiber-wrapped tanks, and all sorts of people who ought to know better exceed the rated pressures...but I've never seen  4000 PSI-rated Aluminum tank (I also don't think "laymen", or likely half of scuba divers actually grasp what scuba tank pressures are...)
Comment: http://www.huronscuba.com/equipment/scubaCylinderSpecification.html
Answer: I know the question was in regards to pressure washers, but to help visualize the amount of force involved from a human perspective, let's just model the human body roughly as a 2 foot by 6 foot rectangle laying on the ground.  That puts your surface area at 24in x 72in = 1728 square inches.  If the atmosphere were pushing down on you with 4000 pounds on every one of those 1728 square inches, it would be like a 6,912,000 pound elephant sitting on top of you...
But really, you don't have a feel for the situation until you account for the surface to which the pressure is being applied.  For instance, the components of the pressure washer which are exposed to the 4000 psi have a much smaller surface area and thus do not experience near the kind of force in my example above.
Comment: "6,912,000 pound elephant"...? [African elephants...can...weigh 7,000 kg (15,000 lb)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant)


Why does God have Moshe use a name the Israelites won't know?

Question: When God sends Moshe back to Egypt from Midyan, he instructs Moshe to refer to God as "Hashem." (Shemot 3:15) When Moshe returns from the task, God reveals that the Israelites (or at least their forefathers) never knew God as "Hashem," but rather by a different name, "Kel Sha-dai." (Shemot 6:3)  Why did God not instruct Moshe to use both so that the Israelites would better recognize God's name?
Comment: Josh, first of all, welcome to Mi Yodeya! I hope you find an answer that satisfies your question, and that you find the site interesting and useful, and that you stick around.
Comment: Second, it might help to clarify that, if I understand your question correctly, you're not interested in what the names *mean*, but why an unfamiliar name was chosen for Moshe's mission; that is, unless something in the meaning explains why these names were (not/)employed in this way.
Answer: Ibn Ezra on the second verse you refer to (Exodus 6:3), citing Rav Saadya Gaon, explains that the meaning of this verse is not that the Jews had never heard this name before (in fact, the name had been used with Abraham and Jacob), but rather that the name was not used exclusively.

כאילו אמר ובשמי ה' לבדו לא נודעתי להם רק פעם באל שדי ופעם בשם
  ה'...והנה מצאנו כתוב באברהם אני ה' אשר הוצאתיך מאור כשדים. וביעקב אני
  ה' אלהי אברהם אביך. ורבי ישועה אמר כי אברהם ויעקב לא ידעו זה השם רק
  משה כתב ככה. ולא דבר ר' ישועה נכונה. כי איך יכתוב משה שם לא הזכירו
  השם. ואין ספק כי האבות ידעו זה השם...
The explanation of this verse is that God did not make himself known
  with the name Hashem exclusively, sometimes using the name שדי and
  other times using Hashem. ...[Examples of God using the name Hashem
  with Abraham and Jacob] Rabbi Yeshuah said that Abraham and Jacob did
  not know the name Hashem, but Moshe wrote that name anyway. This is
  not correct -- how could Moshe write a name that wasn't used? There is
  no doubt that the Forefathers knew this name...

(my own translation)
Comment: We still never find that they knew the name of אהי-ה אשר אהי-ה. I don't see how this answers the question. Why not use a name they knew?
Comment: @DonielF, I don't see that the name אהי-ה אשר אהי-ה was mentioned in the question. Perhaps I'm missing something? It's been a while since I answered this question, and I don't have the time right now to take a really close look at it and the verses it cites.
Comment: You are correct, the passuk quoted by the OP has HaShem tell Moshe to use the Shem HaMeforash. However, the previous Pesukim have HaShem telling Moshe to use the name אהי-ה אשר אהי-ה and then shorten it to just אהי-ה.
Comment: @DonielF That might be, but I don't see how that's relevant to the question of "Why does God [...] use a name the Israelites won't know?," which specifically mentions ושמי השם לא נודעתי להם.
Comment: I don't have a Chumash with me ATM but I'm pretty sure Hashem only ever used אהי-ה with Moshe.


Why is the Current to Motor less than Motor Rated Current?

Question:
I have a motor for a submersible pump with a Rated Current of 8.4A as given in the motor's electrical data. However, when it is running, I record a current of 3.4-3.9A. Is there a fault I am supposed to look into, or is this normal?
Why is the rated current so much more than the measured current.
Answer: The "rated" value is the maximum safe value for each parameter, not necessarily the actual value for any particular working condition.
The current when the motor is running will depend on the load. If you were testing it with no load, the current will be lower.
Presumably the pump specification (not the motor spec) will tell you the conditions (flow rate, pressure head, etc) that make the motor work hardest. You could try simulating those conditions and measure the current again.
FWIW the numbers from the data sheet are consistent with each other. For the minimum voltage (200V), 8.4A current, and a power factor of 1.0, the calculated power input is 1.68 kW compared with the data sheet value of 1.65kW.
Answer: This can be due to the rated current is showing the initial start current which can be greater than the running current.
The supply needs to be fused to cope with the start current as, if you put a fuse matched to the running current, it would blow on start-up.
You probably won't be able to measure the start ( or in-rush) current with that meter, you would need something more accurate.
Did an experiment about the current through an incandescent bulb, measuring the current v time - the in-rush current is much higher for initially and reduces rapidly as the bulb heats up - talking 20 to 30ms here iirc.


Will a hole cut into a metal disk expand or shrink when the disc is heated?

Question: Take a metal disc and cut a small, circular hole in the center.
When you heat the whole thing, will the hole's diameter increase or decrease? and why?
What will happen to the  diameter of disc?
Comment: Here is a way to think about it that makes the answer obvious. Replace 'cut a hole into  with 'draw a circle on' and consider what happens to the drawn circle when the disc is heated.
Comment: i have a doubt.Consider the particles on the outer circumference of the disc expand outwards..and the inner circumference expand inwards....so the volume is increasing with the mass remaining constant...so with the explanation in one of the above answers it is possible that the hole's diameter decreases as the density is decreasing(in one of the answers it was mentioned that as density increases it is not possible)..but it does not happen.why?
Comment: @BenjaminFranz That does not make the answer obvious (at least to me).  It presumes that the "cut a hole into" and "draw a circle on" scenarios are equivalent, but that's begging the question. *Why* are they equivalent?
Comment: The first comment gives a really cool way of thinking about it. It is a great argument. I'm stealing it. My thought process was a tad less convincing.
Answer: Instead of a circular hole, let's think of a square hole. You can get a square hole two ways, you can cut it out of a complete sheet, or you can get one by cutting a sheet into 9 little squares and throwing away the center one. Since the 8 outer squares all get bigger when heat it, the inner square (the hole) also has to get bigger:

Same thing happens with a round hole.

This is confusing to people because the primary experience they have with stuff getting larger when heated is by cooking. If you leave a hole in the middle of a cookie and cook it, yes, the cookie gets bigger and the hole gets smaller. But the reason for this is that the cookie isn't so solid. It's more like a liquid, it's deforming. And as Ilmari Karonen points out, the cookie sheet isn't expanding much so there are frictional forces at work.
Comment: The reason why cookies don't expand uniformly when baked has probably more to do with the fact that they're in semi-adhesive contact with the baking tray, which is both much stiffer than cookie dough and expands much less during the process, and which thus provides an external force counteracting the dough's expansion and deforming it. I suspect that, if you were to bake a cookie with a hole in free-fall, suspended in air without a tray, the hole would expand.
Comment: Nice comment, however, I've seen doughnuts where the hole closes up due to frying.
Comment: Awesome way to explain it!
Comment: (In fact, it occurs to me that, in the absence of a convenient free-fall cookie oven, one might be able to conduct an equivalent experiment by (slowly) deep-frying the annular cookie instead. Hmm... it might be time for some science, here.)
Comment: Same explanation that my teacher used! :D
Answer: David Zaslavski's answer is correct and complete. But I want to propose a different way to look at the problem.
Think of the disc that was cut out, and imagine that you heat it too, exactly as you heat the plate. After heating, the disc will fit in exactly to  the hole, just as if it was first heated and then cut out. Therefore, the hole will expand.
Comment: I feel like this answer is begging the question. *Why* must the whole disc expand in the same way whether or not a smaller disc was cut out of its center?  How do you know that the cut-out disc will fit exactly into the hole?  For example, I could argue that without the expanding center piece, there is nothing providing an outward force to make the hole bigger.
Comment: @jamesdlin I agree that it's heuristic and as such one could argue differently. The real solution is sketched by David Z.

If you want more justification, you can say that the thermo-elastic equations with $T=const$ and stress-free BC will result in a stress free configuration (easily verified). Therefore, having the disc in place or cut out has no effect on the surrounding - the "interaction" is the stress, and therefore stress free boundary conditions are equivalent to not having a disc at all.

Again, I stress that this can be solved analytically and then there's no ambiguity.
Answer: Good question! Assuming the disc is uniform and isotropic (the same in different directions), the hole will expand in the same ratio as the metal. You can see this because the thermal expansion equation
$$\mathrm{d} L = L\alpha\mathrm{d}T$$
applies to all lengths associated with the metal, including the circumference of the hole, since the edge of the hole is made out of metal. And if the circumference of the hole expands, so does the diameter.
If you have a disc with different regions that are made of different types of metal, or if the metal that makes up your disc has an anisotropic crystal structure (so that it expands by different factors in different directions), then the analysis is more complicated. But in both cases, I think the hole would still get larger since the overall change in size is still an expansion.
In order to get the hole to shrink, you would need to use a material with a negative thermal expansion coefficient $\alpha < 0$, which means it gets smaller as the temperature gets higher. In that case the entire disc would shrink as it heats up. Wikipedia has an entry on these kinds of materials (h/t Kevin Reid).
Comment: [Wikipedia on materials with negative thermal expansion](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_thermal_expansion#Materials).
Comment: Consider the disc made of isotropic material is heated uniformly across its area... the metal near the outer circumference, tries to expand outward because of resistance from its disk-side neighboring molecules. Similarly, the part that is near the inner circumference of the hole (cut-out part) tend to expand to its free side, and thereby covering up the hole
Comment: @Mallik: But it would also try to expand *along the ring*, and if it moves inward, it has even *less* space. Therefore it *has* to move outwards in order to expand (with the outer parts moving outwards *more*).
Comment: So lets make it shor and sweet...all of the molecules in a heated disc must now be vibrating more and therefore they occupy more space. That is true for all the molecules and even for ones that are on the edge of the hole in the middle. So if hole gets smaller molecules get closer...and this is not possible...SO the hole has to get bigger.
Answer: If you worked in an auto shop, you'd know the answer already.
When an axle gets stuck in a ball bearing, one way to pull it out is to heat up the bearing with a welding torch. The whole bearing, including the hole in the middle, expands and allows you to pull the axle free.
Comment: ... and you have to be careful to heat the bearing more than you heat the axle.
Comment: Or even if you were a medieval blacksmith fitting a metal rim  on a wheel.
Answer: Im a machinist.  We commonly heat holes to expand them in various applications.  For example, to install bearings that demand a press fit.  We use liquid nitrogen to also freeze the bearings.  When both objects return to ambient temps the results are that the hole shrinks.  We can even control within some tolerance how much.  Consider on an atomic level what is taking place. At the end of day?  Heat a hole, and it expands.  When it cools it will shrink.
Answer: I think that there is an important assumption at work here. The hole will expand as long as the material is sufficiently rigid; since most things that we want to expand are rigid (jar lids and axle bearings, for example), and since a disk is likely to be made from a comparatively rigid alloy such as steel, it is generally fair to say that the hole would expand. But I think that you could also create a disk in which the hole would shrink; I would expect a hole in a disk made from a malleable material with a high thermal expansion coefficient (such as gold or lead) to shrink.
Comment: This is analogous to the reason that the holes in cookies get smaller, not larger, when baked.
Answer: I know it has been answered already. Just a different perspective.
When a solid body is heated, it expands as if we look though a magnifying glass - everything looks bigger, including the hole in the disc.
Hence the hole in the expands when it is heated up.
Comment: This is just an assertion and it's basically begging the question. Your claiming, with no justification, that the system is identical to some other system, and then claiming that they have the same behaviour. Why should anybody believe your answer, rather than the following (incorrect) claim? When a solid body is heated, it expands as if it's a cake baking and, when donuts cook, the hole in the middle gets smaller. Hence, the hole contracts when it is heated up. Both claims are just "heating metal is like this other thing, so the hole behaves the same way as that."
Comment: @DavidRicherby The current top answer by Carl Brannen uses the same logic of expansion with no deformation without even mentioning that it does that. Here we have a useful analogy for the way such expansion behaves.
Answer: I would like to add a microscopic perspective to this question that were mentioned in comments but which I think deserves more attention. A macroscopic body expands when heated because the average separation between molecules increases.
The picture below shows a disc with a hole. The external and internal radius are showed by solid lines. The red dots along the internal circle represent the molecules in that circle. When we heat the disc the average separation between molecules must increase and of course this happens to molecules in the internal circle as well.  Since the numbers of molecules in the internal circle cannot change for a solid, the internal circumference becomes bigger after thermal expansion (dotted lines).