How do I fix Exception Access Violation error on startup?

Question: I just installed Blender, but when I try to start it, the command prompt comes up with "Error: Exception_Access_Violation" and then closes (and Blender never starts of course). How do I fix this? I tried running as administrator and that doesn't help either.
Comment: Are you running windows vista?
Comment: No. I'm running on Windows 8.1
Comment: What is the directory where Blender installed into ? Also - if installed version by no means won't work, download and execute .zip version. It doesn't need to be installed.
Comment: Which version? 2.8? Because 2.8 is in Beta testing and isn't stable yet.
Comment: For example, there was a recent change that broke the build on the previous version's config file. So you might try deleting the configuration if that's the case. If you're looking for better guaranteed functionality, though, you'll want to stick with the release version.
Answer: I want to answer so that anyone with my particular situation might benefit ... I had this same frustrating problem with WIN 7, and  a Intel HD graphics  (which supports only OpenGL 2.1) ... I tried some suggestions which didn't work (though I needed the 2013 C++ library anyway, a link to this is given at the Blender site just below the Blender download links--I had only 2010) then I simply updated the graphics driver from a 2010 version to the 2012 version . and that did it. Actually I was surprised it did, but it did.
Read also that some other people had to go back to an older driver instead.
At any rate 2.77 can at least run with a Intel HD graphics, I am proof.
By the way I used an Intel utility called Intel driver update Utility to find the right driver. The screen went black after the driver was installed, and I feared the worst, but after restarting things seemed ok, the driver was installed and even Blender worked! Darkest before the dawn or something. Assuming all is well..
Oh last detail which probably doesn't matter) I didn't install Blender, I unzipped the zip file and ran it straight..
Comment: Sadly didn't work for me. Already using latest graphics drivers.
Answer: I googled this and found this bug report:
https://developer.blender.org/T44334
You need to delete ALL versions of blender (you will need admin privileges), then reinstall the latest version.
"I was also experiencing this bug on with version 2.76 windows 10 like Will Tice. Like Will I had followed all the instructions above to no avail. I decided to try the older 2.73 version of blender and was uninstalling 2.76 when I noticed there were left over files from version 2.69 from windows 8. After thoroughly cleaning out all blender files and reinstalling 2.76 I'm having no issues. Checking for and removing previous versions of blender may help with this issue."
"I had the same problem but noticed I had a 32bit 2.6x version around together with the 2.76 I had just installed. Getting rid of the two of them and reinstalling just the 64bit 2.76 got rid of the problem."
"I'm using Windows 10 and had this issue. Uninstalling both versions of blender and reinstalling blender-2.76b-windows64.msi fixed it."
Another potential problem could be your drivers/video card, although I highly doubt it:
https://stackoverflow.com/a/32552796/6655092
Comment: I've never had Blender on this computer before and it's brand new. There's no way there could possibly be a previous version of Blender on my computer. My graphics card is an AMD Radeon R9 M275X. Idk if that's not good enough to run Blender. I have had problems in the past with programs thinking I'm running intel graphics because my monitor is intel and my cpu is intel.
Answer: Had the same issue. Tried updating graphics driver, removing all of the old blender installs, as well as reinstalling newest blender version only. None of them worked for me.
Downgraded blender from 2.79 to 2.78, and it worked again!
Maybe this helps someone out there.
Answer: Downgrading from 2.79 to 2.78 worked for me aswell, until I activated cycles render, then it crashed.
I had to upgrade my intel graphics driver, too Intel Support. The thing was, that my intel graphics were disabled (It seems that many motherboards do this automatically, when a graphic card is plugged in). So I had to activate onboard graphics in the bios first, before I could update the intel graphic driver.
Now everything is fine again.
Answer: Nothing worked but deleting this C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.93\config
Answer: i just downloaded opengl32.dll from this web site ftp://ftp.blender.org/sergey/softwaregl
i hope that's well help some one because it worked for me.
Comment: Where did you put the file?
Answer: It turns out Windows Update doesn't do anything to update the graphics driver. Go to Intel's support site, look for your graphics card (in my case Intel HD Graphics 620), and manually install the graphics driver. This solved the problem for me.
Answer: Had the same error on Win7 laptop. All the drivers were up to date, but still wouldn't run - the only thing that helped was downloading a portable (.zip) 2.78 Blender.


Can a zero hour pilot actually launch a Bombardier Q400 with only simulator experience?

Question: The thief of the Bombardier Q400 at SEATAC stated that he had a lot of simulator flying (I'm guessing like Flight Simulator for the PC?) Some "experts" stated that he must have had more than that to get the Bombardier off of the ground and flying 'stunts' like loops and rolls. Can a zero hour pilot pull off what apparently did happen or did the thief have to have had much more knowledge? I assume that just starting up the plane to taxi would be a complex procedure, is this easily learned in a PC Game?
Comment: Related https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/54191
Comment: Also [Can Microsoft Flight Simulator help me learn to fly (or make me a better pilot)?](https://aviation.stackexchange.com/q/738/1696) and [How close is X-Plane experience to real flying?](https://aviation.stackexchange.com/q/12634/1696)
Comment: Edited the title to clarify how this is not a possible duplicate of how close X-Plane or Microsoft Flight simulator is to real flying or help me fly better.
Comment: There is a big difference between "Could someone safely do this" and "Could someone do it once if they got really lucky?"
Comment: The hardest thing about flying any airplane is figuring out how to start it. After that, it's pretty straight-forward.
Answer: You don't even need your own simulator. Here is a good video of how to start a Q400 (taken from a sim game) and here is one from a tech going through an actual cockpit. There is even a chance there were checklists in the aircraft when he arrived.
To get off the ground he really just needed to know how to gun the throttles and roughly when to pull back on the yoke to get airborne. These numbers can be found pretty readily around the web. Considering his fuel and cargo load and depending on the trim of the aircraft it may have even started flying with almost no control inputs.
Whats important to understand about some of the maneuvers he did was the fact that the aircraft was empty and flying on a partial fuel load which will make it easier to do some of those things. I will refrain from diving deep here until the NTSB report is out but at full throttle planes are capable of quite a bit. Rolling an airliner is not out of the question in the right scenario.
Comment: Is the NTSB *going* to do a report on this incident? There are no NTSB reports on the 9/11 attacks since those weren't accidents, and this wasn't an accident either.
Comment: @TannerSwett it looks like the [NTSB did publish 9/11 reports that were not released until later](https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu//NSAEBB/NSAEBB196/index.htm) I would imagine someone is going to take a look at the telemetry at some point. While the case is an open and shut case from a "why" standpoint there is often always something to be learned from data like this.
Answer: It is possible to learn and study everything in a (home) simulator except for hand-flying.
Operating an aircraft is (simplified) only about pressing the right switches at the right time and monitoring the aircraft data.
Richard Russel probably didn't do the latter, because the probability that something does not work is low firstly and secondly it wasn't his goal to take care of the plane.
So, it's indeed easily possible to learn how to make this aircraft ready for takeoff, especially if your goal is just to get the engines running. The hand-flying part is something else. But yeah, nobody says what he did was good flying. It sufficed for what he has done.
Also note: He has just done the very basics to get the plane up and fly it. In his conversation with ATC, he asks about how to pressurize the plane and how to operate the autopilot, so he lacks some "deeper" understanding and knowledge of the aircraft. In the background of his transmissions, there also is the master warning audible sometimes.
To summarize: Yes, a home simulator completely suffices for what Richard Russel wanted to accomplish.
Answer:
Can a zero hour pilot pull off what apparently did happen ... ?

Yes, absolutely.
The hard part about flying isn't the actual mid-flight control, so much as it's getting into the air, getting back on the ground, and dealing with emergencies.
You can learn the first part and the basic flight controls in a simulator. In Russel's case, the latter two parts were greatly simplified: he created an emergency, and he didn't need to get back in one piece.
It's actually possible to learn far more than he did in a sim. The complex part of modern aircraft is the systems, and MSFS X with custom planes is a powerful learning tool. If you haven't "played" it, it's not like a normal game at all. Most of MSFS is looking at the instruments and flipping switches that model the systems as closely as the creators could.
Air maneuvering requires flight time to perform safely, with minimum risk to the aircraft - one has to learn to trust their instruments, deal with their senses, and respect the envelope. Doing it with only sim training is simply dangerous, not impossible.


Mortage Insurance or higher life insurance

Question: Does it make sense to try and get mortage insurance (and potentially other long term debt insurances) or just increase life insurance to cover the mortage if you die? The goal being to not encumber inheritances with debt.
Answer: Higher life insurance.
Mortgage insurance is a very expensive decreasing term life insurance policy, that pays the Lender. You can likely increase your limits for less cost, AND, the payout doesn't depreciate every month, AND, your beneficiary can use the money any way they want - to buy food, or pay property taxes, or whatever.
Comment: Mortgage insurance is a very expensive decreasing-value term life insurance policy that pays off the mortgage (the Lender is the beneficiary) if you buy the policy from the Lender (or if the Lender insists on you paying the premium for such a policy because your down-payment was less than the standard down-payment required by the Lender: this insurance is usually referred to as PMI). It is possible for the home-owner to get the same coverage for a lot less from other insurance companies. (Same rule as for car loans; they are cheaper from your bank or credit-union than from the car dealer).
Answer: The issue is should you get one large policy or several smaller policies.
Multiple polices have flexibility becasue if the need goes away you can drop the policy.
The problem with multiple small policies is that there is overhead that you pay for multiple times. Assume that you want 100K coverage and are age x. That policy will cost you a certain amount based on a base amount plus a percentage of the coverage. The percentage is based on age, sex, smoking, health. If you double the coverage the price doesn't double becasue the base amount is constant. This base amount covers the cost of setting up your policy and maintaining the records and billing.
Keep in mind that the coverage you are asking about is not the mortgage insurance the lender makes you purchase when you have a small down payment. You are asking about a policy to cover your debts and still provide money for survivors.
Go with your current agent company and ask them to run the numbers: new additional policy, increasing amount of current policy. Go with what meets your needs. Buying a house is one of those life events where you should review your insurance and retirement needs, and adjust accordingly.
Answer: Most likely, if you qualify health wise, going with a traidional term life policy would be wise.  You can take out coverage, to meet the loan obligations.  Many companies allow you to reduce your life insurance benefit, over time, and thus your premium payment would decline as your mortgage balance declines.  Rarely will a mortage insurance policy be in your best intersest


tips and tricks film mixing

Question: Does anyone know where i can find tips and tricks about film mixing: track-layout, using compression or not on dialogue-mix, plugins etc.
Comment: as far as 'where' goes, I'd suspect most people learning to mix films do so by sitting in with experienced film mixers....
Comment: can you somehow specify your question, because film mixing is a complex process with lots of different aspects and demands. so any general answer will probably fail sooner or later.
Comment: I completely agree with the aforementioned comment. There is a wealth of information on here in previously asked questions. Sometimes in the comments. They are sometimes difficult to dig up, but they can be found. Good luck in your search.
Answer: Sitting with an experienced mixer, is the best way to learn.
I am a re-recording mixer, and had been mixing for a couple of years solo.
I was hired by another studio, and the first year I wasters, I was teamed up o mix SFx with a Diakog mixer. I leant that year how little I knew about mixing dialog properly. And it was an invaluable year. What I learnt by mixing with the experienced mixer, helped me enormously when I moved to LA.
Answer: This is super-old news, but there's a really superb book from Mix called "Sound for Picture" that's full of articles and interviews. It covers all elements of sound from a bunch of enormous films and the biggest names in the industry. A really inspiring read that has a bunch of tips and tricks as well. My copy is from 2000, so it still contains a lot of pre-ProTools stuff, but that sure doesn't make it useless.
Fantastic book.
Otherwise, I think @Tim Prebble is right... sit with a mixer! Combine that with a lot of listening to soundtracks and some good reading and, for me, that's the magic cocktail.

tips and tricks film mixing


JSLINK for multiple list views

Question: I have a list that i used for many view as a web parts in the home page, so all the view are from the same list. what i want is to customize my view in a specific design, so i have to apply a JSlink for every web part, the problem is that when i apply a js file for a view it's applied also for the other view.
I search a lot in the net and i find this tutorial http://www.myfatblog.co.uk/index.php/2013/09/listview-web-part-issues-with-jslink-and-display-templates-a-solution/ but i still don't understand how to build my own jsfile and apply it
thanks
Answer: The Answer of this question is that we can list by view ID;
every view has his own viewID.
there is the whole code of my script that I use to style 3 différents view coming from the same list
(function () {
/*
* Initialize the variable that store the overrides objects.
*/
var overrideCtx = {};
overrideCtx.Templates = {};

//  Assign functions or plain html strings to the templateset objects:
//  header, footer and item.
overrideCtx.Templates.Header = "
";
overrideCtx.Templates.Footer = "
";

//  This template is assigned to the CustomItem function.
overrideCtx.Templates.Item = CustomItem;

overrideCtx.BaseViewID = 1;
overrideCtx.ListTemplateType = 100;

// Register the template overrides.
SPClientTemplates.TemplateManager.RegisterTemplateOverrides(overrideCtx);

})();

/*
 * This function builds the output for the item template.
 * Uses the Context object to access announcement data.
 */
function CustomItem(ctx) {
    // Build a listitem entry for every announcement in the list.
      var view=ctx.view;
       var id=ctx.CurrentItem.ID;

    if (Head && (Head.length ) >= 25)
    {

        Head = Head.substring(0, 25) ;
    }

    // Return html element with appropriate color based on priority value
    switch (view) {
        case "MyfisrtviewID":
            return "" + ctx.CurrentItem.Title  + "";
            break;

    case "mysecondviewID":
         return  ""+ ctx.CurrentItem.Title +" - "+ Head +"
";
        break;

        case "mylastviewID":
            return "" + ctx.CurrentItem.Title  + "";
    }
}

Answer: There are couple of ways to handle your scenario (multiple views of the same list).
When you override the context, it provides properties such as view, BaseViewID, webPartID etc. Within your JSLink, you can check if the view matches the GUID of the view you intend to apply JSLink to.
Cimares from myfatblog shows an excellent example of overriding the BaseViewID. Source: http://www.myfatblog.co.uk/index.php/2013/09/listview-web-part-issues-with-jslink-and-display-templates-a-solution/
See the slightly modified code below:
overrideContext.BaseViewID = 99;
overrideContext.ListTemplateType = 10002;

// Now override the RenderListView once the ClientTemplates.JS has been called
ExecuteOrDelayUntilScriptLoaded(function(){

    //Take a copy of the existing Microsoft Definition of RenderListView
    var oldRenderListView = RenderListView;

    //Now redefine RenderListView with our override
    RenderListView = function (overrideContext, webPartID)
    {
        //Check the context of the currently rendering List view
        if (overrideContext.ListTitle == 'YOUR_LIST_TITLE')
        {
            //Change the GUID below from your View, you can also check the webpart ID but webpart ID changes if you add/modify webparts
            if (overrideContext.view === "{E9555BA9-944E-4BAD-9992-F8C92A143145}") {
                //Override the BaseViewID if it's the one we want.
                ctx.BaseViewID = 99;
            }
        }

    //now call the original RenderListView
        oldRenderListView(overrideContext, webPartID);
}

}, 'ClientTemplates.js');

SPClientTemplates.TemplateManager.RegisterTemplateOverrides(overrideContext);

Comment: hi Aveenav
i still don't understand u well,
so can you give me more explanation, for example where can i called this function ExecuteOrDelayUntilScriptLoaded ? can u give me the complete js file
Comment: how can I override  override the RenderListView once the ClientTemplates.JS has been called, it's done automatically or i have to put it in the same file with ClientTemplates.JS, if Yes, where ?
Comment: See Chris O'Brien 's example for JSLink. http://www.sharepointnutsandbolts.com/2013/01/using-jslink-to-change-ui-of-sharepoint_20.html
The above code, you'd put under the anonymous function.
Answer: This might work I suppose.
Add the list web part -> open the web part menu for the same -> In the menu, select the required view from the drop down.
This way if the JS is associated will be applied else not.
P.S. I have tried it by using a couple of views and associating a JS file with one of them.

JSLINK for multiple list views


Why Is Death Allowed In the Matrix?

Question: It seems as if war/death/etc is just as common in the Matrix as it is in real life outside of the movie. When someone dies in the Matrix, they die in their pod, do they not? = Loss of a battery. That is a whole lot of wasted batteries. Why do the machines allow a world with so much death?
Comment: There is no war inside the Matrix, as far as I'm aware. There are certainly a vanishingly small number of terrorists, but that's not the same thing
Comment: then why the military helicopter and military complex? this means there is war. the world in the matrix (1990's) looks just like the real 1990's. Guns and gangs and drugs to boot. Why would the machines allow this?
Comment: Death is "allowed" in the Matrix because, simply, the Matrix is meant to be like the real world.  It has gravity, sound, pain, heat, light, etc etc just like the real world. Obviously if there was a massive change ("all of a sudden, nobody's dying!") it would be obvious something weird is going on.
Comment: "It seems as if war/death/etc is just as common in the Matrix as it is in real life outside", what do you mean "outside"? When have you been outside?
Comment: user113769 Because active military defense is one of the ways you prevent wars.
Comment: Interestingly, the original concept was for humans to provide computing power, not energy. Not only does this have the benefit of not violating basic thermodynamics, but it also nicely explains why the humans are provided with an illusory reality rather then left brain dead, beyond just the generosity of the machines who didn't really want to *kill all humans*. Pain and suffering does permanent damage to our cognitive abilities, so unless you live in a perfect reality (which the machines claim to have tried), you'll lose your usefulness over time.
Comment: You have to remember that Zion is a gigantic honeypot for malcontents and that The Matrix is designed to provide them with a series of escalating challenges ranging from local security, the police, the military and then finally Agents. It's only when The One arises that military buildings become accessible to the Zionese rebels.
Comment: One would assume that as people age they become less effective batteries (that is, if we can apply any logic what so ever to the 'people are batteries' premise). They'd also want to let people reproduce, so they'd be constantly replacing people with other people.
Answer: People wear out
Bodies are bodies; they decline after a certain age and eventually fail for some reason or another.  The machines can't change that, and given humans' relatively fecund nature, they have no driving reason to.
Maybe being sealed into a support coffin slightly lowers life expectancy.  Maybe is increases it.  But the humans are going to die eventually no matter what.
To run with the battery analogy, batteries wear out.  After some number of recharges, their ability to hold a charge  gets less, and your four-year-old cell phone has half the battery life that it had when new.  Time to recycle!
People would notice, and be bothered by, the lack of death
The architect describes the Paradise Matrix:

[it] simulated a perfect world with no suffering to try to pacify
  their minds, but the human minds did not accept this version. Many of
  those connected died, and a Nightmare Matrix was designed in its place
  that tried to correct its flaws.

Accordingly, even if there was no need for War, the Nightmare Matrix that we see must have War, and Famine, and Conquest, and especially Death.  Humans would notice.  Humans would be uneasy.  Humans would fail.
Men... Men are weak.
Comment: @leftaroundabout well, it suggests more affinity of human==battery.  It extends the batteries life, just as good nutrition and avoiding smoking prolongs the average human's life.  But both of them degrade over time, despite self-repair, and so must be decommissioned and replaced.
Comment: @leftaroundabout true, but the machines have zero reason to correct that evolutionary advantage. But I like the fuel cell analogy... And I've seen estimates that fuel cells last 5k-10k hours before wearing out :)
Comment: @Luaan how would you lose an arm whilst strapped in a sheltering hive? Biological systems self-repair all the time _on the micro-level_ – yes, in part by simply killing off and replacing damaged cells, about which the human doesn't notice anything. As I said, whether or not a system actually does that depends on whether it's evolutionary advantageous. My point was that the wearing out of humans isn't at all analogous to the wearing out of batteries.
Comment: Actually the entire battery thing in the matrix is complete garbage.  We are as reliant on light as the machines would be--we don't create energy out of thin air, we consume energy placed into the food chain by plants.  Non-plants cannot produce energy any more than the machines can, eventually you have to bring new energy into the system and that, for the most part, only comes from photosynthesis.  Loved the movies but that's always bugged me, trying to analyze the battery thing much beyond the abstract levels in the movie is going to lead to disappointment.
Comment: The analogy to batteries doesn't fit that well, because **a)** the machines do feed the humans with nutritients (which of course [doesn't make sense](https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/a/26651/9852)), so they act more like a fuel cell than a battery **b)** biological systems are in principle able to self-repair almost indefinitely, only, most lifeforms don't do that because it's actually an evolutionary advantage if you die at some point.
Comment: @leftaroundabout Biological systems are awful at self-repair. We have no code for e.g. "growing a new arm", and even developing one artificially would be an incredible feat (which is why our current efforts try to grow ready limbs on other animals, rather than "fixing" our own code). Even for cell-level damage (which is *much* better handled, thanks to our evolutionary ancestry), any large damage simply means the cell dies. Biological systems lose function over time rather quickly. The exceptions are just that - exceptions. In some niches, self-repair is a huge advantage.
Comment: @leftaroundabout Of course the human does notice - it just takes a while, because the changes are usually gradual, especially if you avoid any serious trauma (it's hard to ignore scarring or a missing arm, for example). It's called aging, and it happens to rechargeable batteries as well. You claimed that wearing out of humans isn't analogous to wearing out of batteries, but you didn't actually point out any difference. Your only argument is that it's possible to have perfect self-repair *in principle*; but the same can be said of batteries.
Comment: @Luaan no, I was pointing out that humans _do in practice_ self-repair (albeit imperfectly, by evolutionary-design), whereas batteries can _in principle not_ self-repair (because of the lack of DNA-based "construction backups"). Unless you want to invoke self-replicating nanorobots.
Comment: @leftaroundabout apparently _in practice_ [batteries can self repair](https://baogroup.stanford.edu/index.php/research-highlights/383-stanford-and-slac-scientists-invent-self-healing-battery-electrode). "The resulting material breaks easily, but the broken ends are chemically drawn to each other and quickly link up again, mimicking the process that allows biological molecules such as DNA to assemble, rearrange and break down."
Comment: @gowenfawr that's really cool, but this isn't at all what you meant when making the analogy to batteries, is it?
Answer: The first matrix did not allow that.
First quote is from Smith, second from Architect.

Did you know that the first Matrix was designed to be a perfect human world where none suffered, where everyone would be happy? It was a disaster. No one would accept the program. Entire crops were lost. Some believed that we lacked the programming language to describe your "perfect world". But I believe that, as a species, human beings define their reality through misery and suffering. So the perfect world was a dream that your primitive cerebrum kept trying to wake up from.

The first Matrix I designed was quite naturally perfect; it was a work of art, flawless, sublime. A triumph equalled only by its monumental failure.

However, since large number of batteries rejected the program, it was redesigned not to be perfect.

The inevitability of its doom is apparent to me now as a consequence of the imperfection inherent in every human being. Thus I redesigned it, based on your history, to more accurately reflect the varying grotesqueries of your nature.

Human nature, according to the architect, has grotesqueries that includes war and loss. After his approach failed, the Oracle was created to better understand human nature. However, even the Oracle did not remove war and loss. While there is no direct quotation to support it, it is immediately deducible that Oracle find these aspects useful as well.
Long story short, Matrix was redesigned in a way that most of the batteries accepted the program. Loss of a few crops was acceptable as long as the majority did not revolt against it.
Comment: Plus, what's to stop there being a second layer to the Matrix:  If you die in the Matrix-proper (i.e. a Machine pod, not a Resistance jack-in chair), perhaps you are instead shunted to a "hellscape".  Everyone in the main Matrix thinks you're dead.  *You* think you're dead.  The machine still get their harvest.
Answer: While the other two answers correctly address the point about the need for an "imperfect" world stated in the movies, I think there might be a different approach related to your question: you say that dying in the Matrix means dying in the real world...
It's true the other way around, too
The machines need to consume humans to live; this means disconnecting them from the Matrix and swallowing them whole (as shown in one scene in the first movie I believe); this means killing them both in the real world AND inside the Matrix.
So, when the machines need energy, they need to disconnect as much humans as needed. They just "translate" it to the Matrix as those humans dying by whatever means necessary.
Having a perfect world where no one suffers doesn't necessarily means no one dies. It might just mean everybody gets whatever they want whenever they want it, or maybe when someone died they were just replaced by someone else. With an imperfect world, you have just more normal, natural ways of dying. Need a battery? Make someone sick or have an accident or just old. Need thousands of batteries? Cause a war or a terrorist attack here and there and cover your real worlds needs inside the simulation.
Comment: I think you've misunderstood. The machines don't "eat" the human dead, they liquify them to make food for other humans.
Comment: @marcellothearcane - It's still better than eating a burger you bought at a flea market.
Comment: @Valorum ewwww.
Answer: "The problem is choice..."
The occurrence of death, or even the choice of death gives the human batteries the impression that they do not have to live in the Matrix if they wish to leave. If they jumped off of skyscrapers and bounced back up from the ground, unable to pass, they would reject the program, knowing they are trapped in some immutable prison beyond their  control or will.
Answer: They do not die
This is a concept I've been thinking about regarding a sequel to the series.
In the Matrix, Neo learns how to manipulate the matrix around him because it is not actually real, now in one specific scene..
In one specific scene, Neo uses the power of the matrix while he is outside the matrix, He stops a robot from exploding and killing the 3 of them.
When he stops the Sentinels, he collapses to the ground and the scene ends. In the next scene he wakes up in a hospital type bed. However nothing is ever said about the fact that he can use the power outside the matrix.
This only has one conclusion in my opinion,
They never made it out of the matrix in the first place, They're still in the matrix, A matrix inside a matrix..
The fact that this is never addressed in the movie again, and he never uses the power outside the matrix ever again tells me that maybe the writer left an opening for a script that was never written.
This means, the battery's and pod's (people) are actually inside a matrix, The people and battery's are also in another matrix!
It is a quarantine for the matrix, therefore I don't believe they ever do die at all!
Comment: Even if we accept your hypothesis, I'm not sure how it answers the question, since it just changes it to why people are allowed to die in this second matrix instead.
Comment: -1 People do [get sick](https://scifi.stackexchange.com/a/96047/31936) and can die in the Matrix. Also, [your Matrix-within-a-Matrix hypothesis is wrong, and Neo's ability to destroy the Sentinels in the Real World actually *is* explained by the Oracle.](https://scifi.stackexchange.com/a/105138/31936) Even if your hypothesis was correct it wouldn't answer the question.
Comment: @GadgetGuru She says "The power of the One extends beyond this world".  Since Neo was *designed* by the Machines to be a candidate to become the One, it is entirely possible that his Jack has some form of Wireless functionality, so that they could monitor the 'freed' humans, and provide guidance and insight to help him set up the new Zion in the next cycle.
Comment: It is not a hypothesis, it happens in the second film.... The matrix that you are referring to is just a matrix inside the matrix, therefore you can not say that the machine actually consumes them, they're just a digital representation...
Comment: How is it explained by the Oracle ? ... What did she say ?
Comment: @GadgetGuru Keep it in mind that while Neo could see the sentinels, he couldn't see Trinity and the sky and the Sun. He was aware of everything connected to the source, but nothing else. If they were in a matrix within a matrix, he should be able to see the Sun and Trinity, right?

Why Is Death Allowed In the Matrix?


A partition of 80 into seven parts

Question: The sum of seven positive integers, not necessarily distinct, is 80. If placed appropriately on the vertices of this graph, two of them will be joined by an edge if and only if they have a common divisor greater than 1 (that is, they are not relatively prime). In non-decreasing order, what are those seven integers?
Comment: For those interested, this is were it all began:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Giujua_s80&t=18s
Comment: Is there any reason to the strange phrasing _non-decreasing order_? You can just say "increasing order".
Comment: @Hugh It's maths-y language... Strictly speaking, the number sequence does **not** always increase, since the second 14 isn't larger than the first. But it never decreases.
Comment: @Angkor ah, yes. I had not yet looked at the solution provided by Dr. Xorile and so I did not see that there is a duplicate number. The choice of words makes a lot more sense now.
Answer: I don't know if this answer is unique, but it seems to work

 1,5,7,9,14,14,30

Here it is in place:

There seems to be some confusion in the other answers, so let me spell it out my thinking a little. OP specified that the numbers would be "joined by an edge if and only if they have a common divisor greater than 1".
In other words, if they are joined, then they have a common divisor greater than 1. And not otherwise.
So:

7 and 14 are joined (gcd (greatest common divisor) is 7)
7 and 30 are not joined (gcd is 1)
7 and 9 are not joined (gcd is 1)
7 and 5 are not joined (gcd is 1)
14 and 14 are joined (gcd is 14)
30 and 14 are joined (gcd is 2)
30 and 9 are joined (gcd is 3)
14 and 9 are not joined (gcd is 1)
1 is not joined to anything (gcd is always 1)
etc.

In order to solve this, I realized that the number in the middle must have at least 3 distinct prime factors, so that it could share those factors with the different arms and have those arms not share a factor.
2 x 3 x 5 is the smallest way to do this. The challenge was going to be keeping it below 80. So I made the 2 go to the left where more factors would come into play and the 3 and 5 go right. That gets us to here:

Now $x$ needs to share a divisor with the leftmost position. It cannot be 2, 3, or 5, so 7 is a reasonable guess:

Now we add that up so far and it comes to 73. Mmm. That would make the final number 7, which would be sharing a factor with some of the numbers on the board already. In fact, any number less than 7 would share a factor with something... except 1. So I changed 3 to 9 ($3^2$). This doesn't change any of the divisor logic - numbers will still either be relatively prime or not. But it leaves the final number equal to 1. Hence the solution. Probably unique, looking through this logic.
Comment: Quick! I think it'd be nice to show how they fit on the graph. Could you also explain how you got to this answer?
Comment: The answer is unique.
Answer: Seems like there are a lot of possible solutions - but assuming the two connected numbers common divisor cannot be one of the two numbers, and that you cannot repeat a number, I got this:

<code>      6                 10

4            12         36

      8                 14
</code>

Every number shares a divisor of 2, which is more than 1.
So my final answer is:

 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 36.
Comment: 12 and 36 are not relatively prime, so should be connected. Also 4 and 12. 6 and 10. 6 and 10, etc etc

A partition of 80 into seven parts


Can a character be simplified or traditional depending on the context it is used in?

Question: Are there any characters that are considered simplified in some contexts (where there would be a corresponding traditional character), and traditional in other contexts?
Answer: To answer your question, we need to clearly understand how Traditional Chinese characters got simplified, which I bet 99.999999% of the whole Chinese population don't even know about.
This is a very big topic that I am not able to discuss about it in detail. So I will give a much simplified explanation.
Consider these 2 sets: Traditional Characters vs Simplified Characters
Of cause there is a mapping between the 2 sets. Most of the mapping (78%) is for "non-simplification at all", like 人 口 手 大 小 天 地 etc. Those characters are NOT simplified.
While the rest of the mapping (22%) is the "real simplification".
In the set of Simplified Characters, there are only 2235 "real simplified characters" in total.
Among the most used 3500 Chinese characters, there are only 1116 "real simplified characters", so the percentage is 32%, less than 1/3.
A medium-sized Chinese dictionary roughly covers 10 thousand "head charcters", among which there are 2235 "real simplified characters", so the percentage is 22%, less than 1/4.
Now we can see the real simplified characters are only a small portion of the whole Chinese charaters.
All the following discussion is on the "real simplification" part of the mapping.

Most people believe the Simplification was done at the character level, meaning one traditional character will be replaced by its simplified counterpart in all circumstances, which of cause is wrong.
Actually the Simplification was done at the sense level, so it means a traditional character will be replaced by a simplified version only for a certain senses, but for other senses of the same traditional character, it is not simplified.

For example 乾 (gān, qián)
(gān) when meaning "dry" in 河乾了 or "finish" in 乾杯 (and a lot other meanings), it is simplified to 干, so they will become 河干了 or 干杯.
(qián) But when meaning "sky" or "related to man", then it is NOT simplified. So even in an article in Simplified Chinese, you may see this phrase 乾坤 (meaning the sky and the earth). Another example is 乾隆, which is a name of an emperor in Qin dynasty.
Another example 瞭 (liǎo, liào)
(liǎo) when in 瞭解 meaning "come to understand", it is simplified as 了, so it becomes 了解.
(liào) but when in 瞭望 meaning "watch from a height or a distance", it is NOT simplified.

However there are quite some characters appear in both sets of Simplified Characters and Traditional Characters.

For example: 丑 (chǒu)
In the set of Traditional Characters, 丑 is used as the second of the twelve "Terrestrial Branches", and also used as a surname. So its counterpart in the set of Simplified Characters is still 丑 (ie not simplified).
醜 (chǒu) is a Traditional Character, meaning "ugly, hateful, disgraceful, scandalous, bad, dirty" etc. It is simplified as 丑.

Simplification was done in the following 8 ways:

Get rid of the whole "picture" of the character, and "redraw" it with its "main frame", like 龜  -> 龟 (tortoise, turtle)

Regularify a character's the simple cursive style, like 為 -> 为.

Use only a part of the character, like 聲 -> 声.

Replace a part of a character by a lot less strokes, like 漢 -> 汉.

Adopt a simple form from very old scripts (eg. oracle 甲骨文), like 雲 -> 云.

Use a simple character in the same pronunciation family to replace a part of the character, like 燈 -> 灯 (replace 登 with 丁, as pronunciation of 丁 is very close to that of 燈).

Create new characters, like 響 -> 响, 滅 -> 灭 (响 and 灭 were created for the sake of simplification).

Use an existing simple character to replace a complicate character, like 幾 -> 几.

The "newly" created simple characters are less than 100.

Well, it is a separate topic regarding traditional characters used in proper names (or signs, symbols), or some careless writers mix-use simplified and traditional characters in their articles.
So back to your question, using of simplified/traditional characters is NOT based on the context. Ideally if an article is written in simplified Chinese, then it should only use simplified characters, vice versa, unless for some special purposes (like an article written in simplified Chinese talking about simplification of traditional characters).
Comment: As an engineer I have to point out that `99.999999%` of China's population (about 1.4E9) don't know it means there're only 15 Chinese people at most know it ... Such an exaggeration is obviously impossible :(
Comment: Great summary of simplification. I think the OP is not asking whether you use a simplified vs tradition based on context but whether a given character is called "traditional" or "simplified" based on context.
Comment: @Stan Yes, you got the point! EXAAAAAGERATION!
Comment: ...[hyperbole](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/hyperbole)
Answer: Consider traditional and simplified characters as two sets with a mapping between them. I'll refer to to simplified as S and traditional as T. Let's call the mapping M, and we'll say (s,t) ∈ M if there's a mapping from s ∈ S to t ∈ T. So, for example, we have

为 ∈ S
為 ∈ T
(为,為) ∈ M

One obvious question: Are S and T disjoint? No, they are not. For example, 了 is in both S and T (i.e., 了 ∈ S ∩ T. By convention I'll say (了,了) ∈ M). This bears on your question about context: When someone says a "traditional character" (I'll refer to the character in question as c), they may mean:

A character allowed in a text written in the traditional characters (i.e., c ∈ T).
A character for which there exists a distinct simplified form (i.e., (b,c) ∈ M : c ≠ b)
A character only allowed in traditional--but not in simplified (i.e., c ∈ T \ S)

Similarly for simplified. So, yes, it can depend on context what one means. That context is often the surrounding text or what is considered "normal" to the speaker (i.e., they preferentially read and write in one script).
One question the astute reader may have noticed is the distinction I made between 2. and 3.--shouldn't those be the same? Indeed that would be the case if the mapping were a bijection... but sadly it isn't. In fact, it it's neither one-to-one nor onto. Once upon a time when I was parsing the unihan files, I had a rather rude awakening. Turns out there are lots of weird cases:

1 simplified character mapping to 2, 3, 4, or even 5 traditional ones. (This collapsing of characters in simplification was something I expected.)
2 simplified characters mapping to 1 traditional. (Not really expected.)
This totally WTF case:

(苧,薴) ∈ M
(苎,苧) ∈ M

Edit: fixed union vs intersection
Edit: fixed the notation for the 薴->苧->苎 case.
Comment: @michau I fixed it. It's supposed to represent 薴->苧 and 苧->苎, but I was doing a crappy job with my own notation.
Comment: I guess you mean `了 ∈ S ∩ T`. BTW, I think you may misunderstand OP's question -- he won't expect such a math-fulfilled answer ...
Comment: @Stan That's what edits are for! I'll fix it.
Comment: Oh I see ... I'll try that function next time :)
Comment: I understand that `(薴,苧)` is 'limonene' (ning2), and `(苧,苎)` is 'Chinese grass, Boehmeria nivea' (ning2/zhu4). But what is `(苧,苧)`?
Answer: I can think of the following reasons why you might encounter them (in order of appropriateness):

Proper names, especially family names whose bearers want to maintain a tradition
Linguistic text about the other kind of character
Simplified handwriting in Taiwanese or Japanese
Careless copy-and-pasting from 2 sources

Do you have any specific case they could apply to?
Answer: One example is the character 么.
This is pronounced me in simplified Chinese (traditional: 麼), and pronounced yāo in traditional Chinese (simplified: 幺).
So for example:
「那是什么?」
would be a sentence in simplified Chinese (nà shì shénme? What is that?, traditional: 「那是什麼?」).
While: 「我的妹妹是老么」 would be a sentence in traditional Chinese (wǒde mèimei shì lǎoyāo My sister is the youngest in the family, simplified: 「我的妹妹是老幺」).
Answer: Yes. The decision whether a character is simplified depends on the sentence it appears in.
萬里 means ten thousand miles in traditional script.
哪裡/哪裏 means  where. In simplified form it would be written 哪里。But, evidently the replacing character is a valid traditional character in some meaning, namely mile!
白雲 means white cloud. The simplification (rather oldest form) is 白云。 But you can see the same character as a verb in traditional Chinese:
自云良家子 零落依草木
That was actually the reason for the creation of 雲 in  antiquity - clarity!
後 means behind. It was replaced with the traditional character for empress: 后 in the latter meaning 后 is both a simplified and a traditional character!
麵 means grain. It was replaced by 面, face。 The latter remains the character for face in both scripts!
Answer: Anyone an idea where to get the mapping from? I'm talking traditional -> simplified
I have found this utftable.txt from this page:
CodePlex
but it does not seem to be perfect and the author does not tell where the file is coming from.
also where do the numbers come from? e.g.: 2235 real simplified characters in total (quote from above)
Comment: This should be a new question.
Comment: [The Unihan character data from Unicode](http://www.unicode.org/Public/UNIDATA/Unihan.zip). Please keep in mind all of the gotchas I brought up in my answer--it's NOT 1-to-1!
Comment: This webpage [The Basics About Chinese Characters](http://chineseculture.about.com/library/symbol/blccbasics.htm) says: There are total 2,235 simplified characters contained in the 'Simplified Character Table' published in 1964 by the Chinese government.


User stories vs Functional specifications

Question: What is the main difference between user stories and functional specifications (other than the format they are in)? When should I use user stories and when specifications. Do they go hand in hand with agile and waterfall respectively?
Comment: Please add what kind of a project you are working on. Schedule, criticality, tech complexity, team size. The answer also depends on these factors. Otherwise the answers will be general comparison of two methods, which will be repetition of existing posts.
Answer: Functional specification is typically a quite detailed document which describes the system, it can take weeks and months to create it. Classically it is used in Waterfall, but in my practice I had clients who came to us with this 100-page doc and asked to develop using Agile. So the functional specification is broken down into small tasks and iterations are planned out of these tasks.
User stories and mainly used in Agile and give the possibility to start development very quickly. You don't have to know and describe all the future product functionality, only that for the first sprint.
Answer:
What is the main difference between user stories and functional specifications (other than the format they are in)?

A story is a promise to have a conversation about requirements. Specifications are the record of this conversation. (Based on JimStandley comment here.)


For Probability of Default in retail credit what is more popular logistic regression or GLM with Poisson distribution and why?

Question: Trying to understand which regression model is more popular in retail credit card industry Logistic regression or GLM with Poisson distribution and why?
Answer: From http://rmi.nus.edu.sg/gcr/files/04%20GCR%20vol%201.pdf

"One of the attractive features of the logistic
function is the fact that it is bounded between 0 and
1, making it suitable to represent probabilities. "

"The Poisson intensity model introduced in this
article still has serious shortcomings despite the major
advancement offered by its dynamic features. First, it
is known to be unable to properly capture the clustered
default phenomenon such as is documented in Das et al.
(2007). Another limitation is that the time aggregation
to different horizons is easy in principle but difficult
in reality. The Poisson intensity is a known function
of common risk factors and individual firm attributes.
For time aggregation to get to a longer horizon of
interest, one must prescribe the dynamic processes for
all these variables whose future values are unknown.
The dimension of the dyna"

etc
Answer: http://jgscott.github.io/SDS325H_Spring2015/files/logit_poisson_cox.pdf
Based on my understanding from reading the above document, I think it could be because Poisson is used for count data and Logistic is used for categorical data and we have a categorical data while doing Probability of Default (PD) modelling.
Answer: In the credit modelling industry is more popular the use of the logistic regression with respect to the Poisson one.
This is for several reasons. Here I listed the main ones:
1) The Logistic regression is empirically shown to be better in describing that kind of phaenomenona in terms of forecasting performances and predictive capacity (try to compare the performance ratio for both of them: Accuracy ratio, ROC,...).
2) The Logistic regression suffers less the overdispersion problem that is a features of the Poisson regression models and only sometimes can be solved by using a Bivariate regression model, as, for instance, in the health care industry analysis case.
3) The Logistic regression is simpler to be implemented with respect to both the programming point of view and a theoretical point of view.
This is as regards the estimation of the probability of default. In other cases, this could be not completely true.
I suggest you to read Categorical Data Analysis by Agresti, to have a more deepen knowledge of this topic (from an econometric point of view) and, moreover, to try to test which model is better; generally, it is as above, but it depends on the economic cycle, data sample,... etc.


Getting the formula of a line when given $2$ points

Question: How can one get the formula of a line going through the points $(0,0)$ and $(1,7)$
Also, how to get it in the form $ax+by=c$, I am really used to $y=ax+b$
Answer: First we need to find the slope; we get that by using the formula:
$$\displaystyle\large m = \frac{y_2-y_1}{x_2-x_1}$$
Where $m$ is the slope, and $y_n$ and $x_n$ are the corresponding coordinates to $(x_1, y_1), (x_2, y_2)$.
$$\begin{align*}m = \frac{7 - 0}{1-0}\end{align*}=\frac{7}{1}=7$$
Now we input $m$ input the formula $y-y_1=m(x-x_1)$ in order to get the equation of the line [Note: $(x_1, y_1)$ is $(0, 0)]$:
$$y - 0 = 7(x - 0)$$
Which simplifies to:
$$y = 7x$$
We turn into $ax+by=c$ like this:
$$y - 7x = 0$$ or $$-7x + y = 0$$
Answer: Here is an answer which can be generalised to polynomials through a number of points. Suppose we want a curve (line) which passes through $(x_1, y_1)$ and $(x_2, y_2)$ and we have two functions $f_1$ and $f_2$ with $f_1(x_1)=1$, $f_1(x_2)=0$, $f_2(x_1)=0 $, $f_2(x_2)=1$ and we set $$y=y_1f_1(x) + y_2f_2(x)$$ then we have an equation for a curve which passes through both points. Now we set $$f_1(x) = \frac {x-x_2}{x_1-x_2}, \text { and }f_2(x)= \frac {x-x_1}{x_2-x_1}$$
It is then clear that the equation for $y$ is linear in $x$. A similar idea can be used for three points to give a quadratic (etc). You need functions which vanish at all but one of the points, and add linear combinations of these to get a funtion which passes through each one.
Answer: Def: The Slope of a line is defined as follows: If $(x_1,y_1)$ and $(x_2,y_2)$ are two points then, SLOPE = $m = \frac{y_2 - y_1}{x_2 -x_1}$.
Now, the equation of a line through points $(x_1,y_1)$ and $(x_2,y_2)$ is given by:
$y_2 - y_1 = m(x_2 - x_1)$
Answer: As all points $(x,y)$ in your line $l$ have to fullfil $ax+by=c$, from $(0,0) \in l$ we can conclude $c = 0$. Now insert $(x=1,y=2)$ in your equation and you get $x+7y = 0$ or otherwise $y = -\frac 1 7 x$.
Getting from form 1 to 2, or the other way around is just subtracting/adding ax, and dividing by b.
Comment: The correct equation should be $y = 7x$ (note that the point $(1, 7)$ doesn't lie on the line $y = -\frac{1}{7}x$).


Transfer to Bank of America from Australia

Question: I made an online transfer to Bank of America from Australia. The SWIFT code, routing number, name and address of the receiver are correct. However, I made a mistake in one digit of the account number. Will the receiver get the money?
Comment: Why not ask your bank?
Comment: @PeterK. Fees for international wires easily run $15 for the receiver and $30 for the sender. So you got yourself a $45 test. Plus, there's no guarantee a teller won't type in the wrong number or misspell a name the second time.
Comment: The reason I always transfer a very small amount first, to make sure everything gets there. $1.23 is my  usual number. :-)
Comment: @user71659 : OK. My experiments were with zero-fee providers, so YMMV.
Answer: Will the receiver receive the account - yes - the receiver with the account number you've entered (if that account number actually exists) will receive it. Before you make any wire transfer, the bank (your bank in this case) asks you to confirm the details before hitting "submit" - which by hitting submit, you did.
If the receiving bank account does not exist due to an error in your typing, the money won't be deposited anywhere and the transaction will become void.
However, I would recommend (if you haven't already) that you call up your bank and put a stop on the transaction at the earliest (once you've realized the mistake).
Given the post is a week old, I'm sensing you've been able to resolve it. Nonetheless, my 2 cents on this.
Comment: The post is one year old.
Comment: Ha ! Thanks for pointing out Dheer. I didn't see 2017
Answer:
Australia the swift code routing number name and address of the receiver it's correct I made a mistake in one digit of the account number... Will the receiver get it?

This would depending on Bank in Australia; this would fall into repair. The Operations in Bank would determine if this are close enough and they make a credit, else they would raise a query with Bank in America or return the payment.


Difference between bond fund and bond index fund

Question: What is the difference between a bond fund and a bond index fund? For example, FIJEX is labeled as a normal bond fund with a gross expense ratio of 0.51% and SWSBX is a bond index fund with a much lower gross expense ratio of 0.06%. Both funds have similar top 10 holdings: a variety of US treasury notes. I'm wondering if there's anything special about the bond fund over the bond index fund that would justify the higher expenses. I couldn't do a comparison of the two funds' "growth of $10,000" graphs because SWSBX has only been around for a year. If you just look at 2017 and 2018, you'll notice that SWSBX didn't have much net growth, while FIJEX did have net growth. Why is there a discrepancy if they hold a similar mixture of US treasuries?
Answer: An index fund buys all bonds in some index based on their relative weights (how much the bond appears in the index or what percentage of the market the bond is).
A managed fund does research and buys bonds that it expects to do better than other bonds.  Doing the research costs money, so they charge higher fees.  In theory the research is supposed to make the bonds they choose do better than the index as a whole.  In practice, indexes often perform at least as well as managed funds after the fees are deducted.  Some managed funds outperform their indexes for some period of time.  It's unclear if they are superior investors or just lucky.
Even if the index fund is new, you should be able to estimate its performance by looking at the reference index.  In your images, the reference index for both funds is BBgBarc US govt 1-3 Yr Tr USD.  As you might guess, the index fund's performance is very similar to that of the index.  The managed fund's performance is showing higher.  You should expect the index fund to continue to track the index closely.  The past good performance of the managed fund is not evidence that it will outperform in the future, but it might.
As a caveat, note that the managed fund has sometimes underperformed the index for some time periods.  I can see that just looking at the ten-year performance in your image.  This is normal and expected.  Be careful about leaving the fund based on short term performance.  You might be leaving just as the fund is about to pick up.
For example, the index fund might (or might not) outperform the managed fund in the coming year.  That could indicate that the managed fund knows something that the index fund does not and is due for a period of strong growth.  Or it could indicate that their luck has run out.
As they say, past performance does not guarantee future results.
Answer: A bond fund is actively managed according to some mandate that usually involves trying to achieve superior investment results relative to a stated benchmark or index.
A bond index fund will passively invest, usually in a representative sample, in the component securities of an index in order to track the investment performance of that index before-fees.
A total return mandate usually involves trying to exceed the returns of a bond market aggregate index, not just the short-term segment.
Answer: it seems all the rage these days to leave off words, like built-ins, mini-splits and The Henry Ford  (huh?)...
Bond mutual fund. Bond index mutual fund.
They are both mutual funds. And "index" means the usual thing it means for mutual funds.
The regular fund employs a "pinball wizard" genius savant stock picker with a huge research staff, who for some bizarre reason works for the fund instead of just working for herself. The picker, her yacht and the NYC apartments of all the research staff are paid by the expense ratio of the fund.
In an index fund, the fund simply follows the index, and a part time clerk running a robotic script occasionally rebalances the portfolio to match the index. This has an expense ratio of almost nil.
The idea is the stock picker can pick stocks, er, bonds better than the robot.  But can she do so by more than her higher expense ratio?  Usually not, says John Bogle's seminal book "Common Sense on Mutual Funds".
Comment: Just like with stock mutual funds, bond index funds have to pay fees to subscribe to the index -- they need to add and remove assets from the fund on the same day the index does, in order to track its performance.  Being 2-6 weeks behind (waiting for SEC filings concerning the changes) is just not acceptable.  So depending on the indexing method, there may still be intelligence picking the basket of equities, but the costs are spread over all funds following the same index.
Comment: I agree with you that most active funds are operating out of magic and luck, but what explains FIJEX's huge advantage over index (see the graph)? I've looked at other active funds and they're not as wildly off from the index as FIJEX is. SWSBX is the passive index with a similar portfolio of short term US Treasuries, but it doesn't have the same returns.
Comment: It must be operating off a different index than you think, then.  An index fund that beats the index widely is doing something strange.  Active funds also invlude a great deal of skill and research, and that can give them advantage, just not enough to beat the index by more than their fees.


Why is it unrealistic to expect all browsers to support the same standards?

Question: Ideally, we would have different browsers supporting the same standards and same code producing the same result on all browsers.
That hasn't happened yet. What are the reasons why?
Comment: "Same code produces the same result on all browsers." - that's not what the standards are for. "Same code works predictably on all browsers" is closer.
Comment: I've been asking this question for years
Comment: Unfortunately, no... I've been hoping for this for a long time though.
Comment: Only once the web as we know it is as dead as `gopher`.
Comment: Because the W3C is an awfully-run organization that can't keep up with the pace of technology. That's pretty much it.
Comment: @Jordan - more like the W3C has no enforcement power, and browser vendors are free to implement their solutions anyway they like - conformance is voluntary, after all
Comment: Speculative questions about what might happen in the future are bad fits for Q&A. Even with an edit to the question, the answers here are contributing to a discussion of the future of browsers rather than providing concrete answers. Discussions are [off-topic](http://programmers.stackexchange.com/faq#dontask) since they do not fit into the Q&A format of Stack Exchange.
Answer: No, it's not realistic, because the specs are confusing at times and everyone understands something differently than others. We're just humans after all. There can only be the one true standard when there's only one vendor with one version of a product.
Joel has written an excellent article on this subject, called Martian Headsets.
I think I'll quote him here, as this is the best explanation on why we won't ever see this as long as different vendors are involved:

Those documents are super confusing. The specs are full of statements
  like "If a sibling block box (that does not float and is not
  absolutely positioned) follows the run-in box, the run-in box becomes
  the first inline box of the block box. A run-in cannot run in to a
  block that already starts with a run-in or that itself is a run-in."
  Whenever I read things like that, I wonder how anyone correctly
  conforms to the spec.

Also, there's competition and evolution on the market. Take autocomplete-boxes for example. Every major browser has them already, but there's no standard defined. The W3C is just too slow and by the time the standard arrives, there're already 5 different implementations with different behaviours out there in the wild, that you need to support, too, if you want to be competitive. Another prime example for this problem is the embedding of videos.
That said: As long as you need to support various different browsers and environments, be prepared to make adjustments.
Answer: No, because W3C in many specifications give the responsibility of the implementation of somewhere to the UA implementers (browser implementers). Why I say that, because I usually write my articles directly from W3C specifications and see these cases. For example, W3C says that browsers should take user's consent about sharing their position (via Geolocation API), but it doesn't say how they should ask for it. This could result in different types of messages shown differently (popup, slide-down, etc.) in different browsers.
In general, we can say that:
As long as there are some pluralistic requirement implementation, consistency between browsers are hard to achieve.
We only can see consistent browsers when W3C imperatively tell browser implementers what to do.
Comment: Good one, Saeed =) +1
Comment: Thanks @Falcon. This was kind'of my question two. However, that one got many down-votes, and deleted :D. I think we all know that in the regards, IE is the most non-standard browser.
Answer: Not going to happen in the form you describe.
However; if you code conservatively, it doesn't take much to write code that works reliably and predictably on all new browsers. We've already come a long way over the past decade - even IE currently implements a large subset of the W3C recommendations correctly, enough to actually make browser-agnostic websites.
Of course, if you want to do things that are not in the recommendations, or use features that are specced vaguely, or still implemented incorrectly (or not at all), then you're on your own.
Answer: It's extremely unlikely to happen soon -- in fact, I'd go so far as to say that when/if it does happen, it's strong sign that the world has moved on, and simply doesn't care much about web browsers any more.
The problem is fairly simple: most of the limit on writing new standards for even cooler things that browsers could do, is lack of (even reasonable) conformance with existing standards. Looking at that from a slightly different direction, the minute browsers conform with existing standards (or even come reasonably close to conforming), it's nearly certain that at least a few people are going to start thinking "But wouldn't it be cool if we could...", and they'll then do one of two things: they'll either implement their idea in one browser, and then work on standardizing their idea (almost inevitably before any other browser implements it), or they'll work at writing a standard for that behavior, even though no browser implements it yet.
The bottom line is that implementation of standards across browsers almost inevitably lags behind invention of new standards with which to conform. The only way the browsers can all catch up is if people quit writing/designing new things for browsers to do.
At the same time, I feel obliged to point out that more or less the reverse is also true: this is a constantly growing set of standards with which browsers conform ever more closely. It wasn't very long ago, that the best score any browser got on the Acid3 test was 93/100. As it happens, that's exactly the same score that IE currently gets...
Answer:
Ideally, we would have different browsers supporting the same
  standards and same code producing the same result on all browsers.

That raises the question why we need different browsers. If all do basically the same thing then one browser will be enough for all. That would indeed be ideal. No more useless duplication of effort and no more browser-specific code. People finally could start building on a solid foundation.


Does it take longer to cook more pork ribs?

Question: I have to cook 6 racks (about 16lbs) of baby back ribs (packs of 3 from Costco). I can't find anything on the internet about how to adjust for time when cooking. I plan on a cooking temperature of 225f in the oven and finishing on the grill.
Comment: Please don't post answers in the comments section, thanks.
Answer: It's not entirely clear what you mean, but if you mean the difference between cooking 1 rack or 6, the answer is that there isn't one. The oven will heat up six racks just as quickly as one, unless you stack all of them directly on top of each other or something like that. The only thing you have to adjust is the seasoning. Otherwise, just make sure they have space and cook like it was one rack.


How to thicken a sour cream-based pastry cream?

Question: I did some research, but can't find the answer to my problem: I need to thicken the cream that I am making for my layered cake. The cream is made of sour cream and sweetened condensed milk. The cream, the way it is - is runny. It is good (and also preferable) for getting the layers of my cake moist. But then, I need to keep a layer of the same in between the layers of the cake and that's where I face the problem: it all runs off. I would like to thicken it. What I had in mind is consistency of a vanilla pudding or, maybe, even a bit thinner. I tried xanthan gum, but I don't like the texture: it is too slimy. I tried tapioca flour, but nothing happens (maybe I did something wrong). Anyone has the experience? Until now, I kept thinking that heating was not an option and that I had to keep the sour cream cold, but now I thought that maybe it is what I will have to do. I am just not sure if heating it will degrade its quality as the end product will be the type of cake that needs to be refrigerated.
Comment: I'd not heat up anything that contains sour cream, as it tends to curdle and get grainy when heated! About tapioca: like any other starch, it needs to be heated to get the thickening effect.
Answer: I'm wondering if mixing in some cream cheese in addition to, or in place of a portion of the sour cream, might help thicken things without altering the taste profile too much.
Sour cream is roughly 73% water, while cream cheese is only around 53% water. That may be a way to reduce some of the water content without having to resort to heat.
Comment: Depending on where you live you could get other dairy products that behave similarly to cream cheese int his case, but with different flavor profiles. In Germany, we have something called "quark" for example, which is frequently used in pastry creams. It is more tart than cream cheese. So, what you are looking for, if you're up to experimenting: any dairy product that has a higher fat and protein and lower water content. :)
Answer: I think I would go with double cream. It's really thick once whipped (careful not to split it by overwhipping it). Then fold gently your sour cream and condensed milk mixed together into it, preferably with a maryse.
You could also add some gelatine if that's not an issue for you.
Comment: +1 on the gelatin! Or agar agar as a vegan alternative to gelatin.
also: don't let the whipped heavy cream get warm, it will melt! :)
Comment: Yes agar would work but it would need to be cooked in a liquid. I've only used it for jellies with fruits but i guess you could cook it with some cream and cool it down, then blitz it with the condensed milk? Not sure how that would go though...
Comment: well, i used it similarly to gelatin, but I admit, it's a bit more difficult to handle, as it sets faster than gelatin. However, I still managed it most times.
Comment: It helps to not dump the hot agar liquid straight into the cold cream (which will make it cool to fast resulting in clumps), but to add a portion of the cream to the agar mixture first, mix, and then swiftly incorporate it into the rest of the cold cream. Might also be a good idea to not have a super cold cream, to begin with. But it requires a bit of practice, i admit.


Does H2CO3 exist in solution?

Question: When $\ce{CO2}$ reacts with water, it supposedly forms $\ce{H2CO3}$, which is the aqueous form of $\ce{CO2}$. But it is hard to isolate, but its $K_\mathrm{a}$ value is pretty low (on the order of $10^{-7}$) indicating it should be found in a non dissociated form? So does $\ce{H2CO3}$ exist in solution?
Comment: The given low $K_\mathrm a$ value applies to $\ce{[CO2(aq)] + [H2CO3]}$. True $\ce{H2CO3}$ is a much stronger acid with $\mathrm pK_{\mathrm a}\approx3.5$, which is stronger than acetic acid and formic acid.
Comment: The equilibrium of $\ce{CO2(aq) + H2O(l) <=> H2CO3 (aq)}$ lies extremely far to the left (you might find data on the Internet... I remember reading it in Skoog et al) so if you were to have $\ce{H2CO3}$ in solution, it won't dissociate to $\ce{H+ + HCO3-}$ but instead to $\ce{CO2 + H2O}$ *(I believe, not entirely sure)*.
Comment: @orthocresol so how does CO2 exist in solution?
Answer: Aqueous carbonate solutions contain four different solute species:

$\ce{CO2(aq)}$
$\ce{H2CO3}$
$\ce{HCO3-}$
$\ce{CO3^2-}$

The equilibrium for the hydration reaction
$$\ce{H2O + CO2(aq) <=> H2CO3}\tag1$$
lies to the left. The corresponding equilibrium constant $K$ at $25\ \mathrm{^\circ C}$ is about
$$K=\frac{\left[\ce{CO2(aq)}\right]}{\left[\ce{H2CO3}\right]}\approx650$$
(literature values of $K$ range from $350$ to $990$.)
The commonly used first acid dissociation constant of carbonic acid $\mathrm pK_{\mathrm a1}=6.35$ (at $25\ \mathrm{^\circ C}$) actually is a composite constant that includes both the hydration reaction $\text{(1)}$ and the protolysis of true $\ce{H2CO3}$ $\text{(2)}$.
$$\ce{H2CO3 <=> H+ + HCO3-}\tag2$$
The constants $K$, $K_{\mathrm a1}$, and the actual acid dissociation constant $K_{\ce{H2CO3}}$ of true $\ce{H2CO3}$ are interrelated according to
$$K_{\mathrm a1}=\frac{K_{\ce{H2CO3}}}{1+K}\approx\frac{K_{\ce{H2CO3}}}{K}$$
Calculated values for $\mathrm pK_{\ce{H2CO3}}$ range from $3.8$ to $3.4$. Thus, true $\ce{H2CO3}$ is stronger than acetic acid and formic acid.
The second acid dissociation constant of carbonic acid is $\mathrm pK_{\mathrm a2}=10.33$ (at $25\ \mathrm{^\circ C}$).
Therefore, the predominant species in aqueous carbonate solutions (at $25\ \mathrm{^\circ C}$) are

$\ce{CO3^2-}$ at $10.33\lt\mathrm{pH}$
$\ce{HCO3-}$ at $6.35\lt\mathrm{pH}\lt10.33$
$\ce{CO2(aq)}$ and $\ce{H2CO3}$ at $\mathrm{pH}\lt6.35$

Thus, true $\ce{H2CO3}$ primarily exists in acidic solutions. However, because of the hydration equilibrium $\text{(1)}$ and the corresponding equilibrium constant $K\approx650$, most of the true $\ce{H2CO3}$ is converted to $\ce{CO2(aq)}$.
(All values taken from: Stumm, W.; Morgan, J. J. Aquatic Chemistry, Third Edition; John Wiley & Sons: New York, NY, 1996; pp 150–152.)
Comment: No doubt that you've written the "traditional" model correctly in equations 1 and 2. The math and chemical equations work. The real question is how long does a particular molecule of H2CO2 on average last? What is the mean time between collisions for molecules in water? So if a molecule on average lasts for trillions of collisions then it is stable. Certainly if the "molecule" last for only a trillionth of the average time between collisions then it is unstable. But where is the absolute cutoff between stable and unstable? // In other words the kinetics of your equation 1 are very very fast.
Answer: I think that the answer is rather orthogonal to your question. If you think of any sort of acid $\ce{H+}\ce{A-}$ then the "molecule" of HA exists so that a Ka can be tabulated. But let's tag the particular ions $\ce{H+}$ and $\ce{A-}$) of one molecule and drop it into the mixture. It won't stay as as one molecule but rather due to the transfer of protons (hydronium ions really) the two ions will become separated. Due to mathematical combinatorial  possibilities it is unlikely that our two tagged ions would get together again.
From wikipedia

"The long-held belief that carbonic acid could not exist as a pure compound has reportedly been recently disproved by the preparation of the pure substance in both solid and gas form by University of Innsbruck researchers."

So the question is really about how long does a particular "molecule" of HA last in solution? For $\ce{H2}\ce{C}\ce{O2}$ the answer would be "not long." So in solution I think you really have to define "exists" in terms of the average time (T) between molecular collisions. So how many multiples of T are necessary for the molecule to "exist" in solution?
Comment: It hasn't been isolated *in an aqueous solution*, and that's why they say it doesn't "exist" in there. Wikipedia tries to be skeptical of the widely held belief by linking to a news article that doesn't link to the journal article? I'm a bit skeptical of Wikipedia's skeptical skeptic skepticism.
Comment: Wikipedia links to this article http://phys.org/news/2011-01-international-gas-phase-carbonic-acid-isolated.html which has journal information.  // I'm certainly not an expert on this particular controversy, but I think my explanation is reasonable. The "stability" of a molecule which is in equilibrium is fuzzy since the "equilibrium" doesn't  account for the kinetics.

Does H2CO3 exist in solution?


How are Latin botanical names handled in Chinese?

Question: How are Latin botanical names (e.g. Rattus rattus or Eucalyptus marginata) handled in Chinese? Does a Chinese botanist simply use Latin? Are there specific characters allocated for these words?
Comment: perhaps a native speaker can shed more light on this: http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AD%A6%E5%90%8D
Answer: It seems they use both. On this site, alternativehealing.com, there is a long list of botanical names, the characters and the pinyin as well. For completeness, I must say that in the Chinese wikipedia for "botanical names", 學名 (植物), it's stated that Latin must be used for classes, see the part titled "學名來源".
On the same site, in this page, there is even a dictionary; you can look up by the Latin name, the pinyin or the number of strokes of the characters (if you don't know the pinyin but you know the character).
Comment: The site you give is a dictionary for Chinese herbs. In traditional Chinese medicine, we use a lot of herbs. In this dictionary one can check the binomial name for the these herbs. These traditional names are used in traditional Chinese medicine, and only some of them would used in botany. They are not official Chinese names for species in botany.
Comment: @fefe The site mentioned Botanical names. The first link I provided brings to "Latin Botanical names to Chinese", so it still gives botanical names and the corresponding expressions. Unless it's a case of improper terminology, I think it's a valid link.
Comment: I'm just saying that the Chinese names may not be the one used by botanists, but only used in Chinese medicine. Sometimes the names do not refer to a specie, but only a part of a plant. However, as I'm not very familiar with either subject, I cannot be quite sure.
Answer: I'm native, but not a botanist.
For official binomial names, they are always Latin. We do have Chinese translation for every genus and species (well, at least most of the species), but not used in binomial names. These kind of translation don't use special characters, and usually not translated by sound, but by meaning.
Answer: all sciences done in chinese speaking country/regions basically all use english when it comes to technical lingoes. For chinese medicine/herb communities, if they are scientific (e.g. research, done university work) it's just english. Those traditional chinese herb community use the traditional names, but they are basically ignorant of modern botanical science. (e.g. it's this group that believes in rhino horns or tiger penis as aphrodisiacs etc.)


Affine geometry about parallelogram

Question: If ABCD is a parallelogram and M,N,P,Q are points on it sides then MNPQ is a paralellogram iff the diagonals intersect at a common point (i.e the diagonals of MNPQ and ABCD intersect at the same point). I want to prove this using affine geoometry. Please help
Answer: At this moment I'm only able to answer one half of your question, but I think it is worth it to post it yet. Things depend a bit on what you understand to be affine geometry, though. I for now assume that you're working with some kind of axiomatic system, including the statement by Desargues. If this is not the case, please say what axioms you're working with, so I can retry.
First of all, in order for $MNPQ$ to be a quadrilateral, each of $M$, $N$, $P$ and $Q$ has to be on a different side of $ABCD$. I'll say that $M$ is on $AB$, $N$ on $BC$, $P$ on $CD$ and $Q$ on $DA$. The statement by Desargues says that if we have seven points such that $AA'$, $BB'$ and $CC'$ intersect in $O$, $AB\parallel A'B'$, $BC\parallel B'C'$, then $AC\parallel A'C'$. We can apply this to $A=M$, $B=B$, $C=N$, $A'=P$, $B'=D$, $C'=Q$ and $O$ the intersection of all diagonals to obtain that $MN\parallel QP$. The same can be done for the other two sides of $MNPQ$ to obtain that it's a parallellogram.
For the converse direction, I think you need to assume that the diagonal $NQ$ does not contain the intersection point $O$ of the diagonals of $ABCD$ and arrive at some contradiction of the sort that there are two distinct lines through one point, parallel to the same line - which is impossible. I'm not yet entirely sure how to arrive here, though.
Comment: How about using the fact that the diagonals bisect each other?
Answer: You may assume
$$A=(0,0),\quad B=(1,0),\quad C=(1,1),\quad D=(0,1),$$
and
$$M=(\mu,0),\quad N=(1,\nu),\quad P=(1-\rho,1),\quad Q=(0,1-\sigma)\ .$$
The quadrangle $MNPQ$ is a parallelogram iff $\vec{MN}=\vec{QP}$, i.e., iff $N-M=P-Q$. This is equivalent with
$$\mu=\rho\quad\wedge\quad \nu=\sigma\ .$$
If these conditions are fulfilled then the diagonals of $MNPQ$ intersect at $\bigl({1\over2},{1\over2}\bigr)$, and conversely.

Affine geometry about parallelogram


Can an astronomical telescope view objects on Earth?

Question: I am new to telescopes and I'm planning to buy an astronomical telescope like the "Celestron AstroMaster 114 EQ Reflector". Just curious to know whether it can be used to view objects on Earth (e.g. traffic and people miles away from tall buildings). Telescopes are used to observe stars; they must have higher power than binoculars. Right?
Comment: @user3633267 - no, it simply means an average person at 2 miles away is about 1/16 the size of the Moon - which is a very small size. Sure, a telescope would magnify it and would let you see more details, but see my observations below about astro scopes in general not being easy to use for terrestrial observations. Emphasis on "in general" - I had pretty good results with a small home-built dobsonian when I pointed it at the horizon, but YMMV.
Comment: The power of a telescope lie not really in its ability to magnify, but rather in its ability to collect much light, enabling you to view very dim objects. Many nebulae and galaxies are actually not very small, they're just very dim. So be prepared that you may be disappointed when trying to view people from miles away. For instance, a person at the distance of two miles spans an angle of 1.8m / (2x1609m) = 2 arcmin = 1/16 the diameter of the full Moon.
Comment: Do you mean that if a telescope that has a power to view the diameter of moon from its straw is turned towards a person on the Earth (2 miles away), the result view will be so much magnified that i will be able to see only 1/16 of that person?
Answer: Yes, but many (not all) telescopes made for astronomy will invert the image. Presenting the image upright is important for terrestrial instruments, but it doesn't matter for astronomy. Also, it usually requires fewer optical components to make an instrument that inverts the image.
Also, terrestrial instruments are made to operate in an environment where there's plenty of ambient light (daylight), whereas many telescope designs (such as truss dobsonians) are built to operate in a dark environment and are usually hampered by excess ambient light.
So, in a nutshell, yes, you could turn a telescope towards objects here on Earth, and it would work, but for best results and easiest operation just get some good binoculars.
Finally, "power" is a much misunderstood characteristic of optical instruments. It is technically true that a large dobsonian could in theory outperform any pair of binoculars you could care to try, but in practice a large optical stack is difficult to swing around and is fickle with regard to collimation, thermal equilibrium, etc. If you're willing and able to put up with the operating difficulties, with the necessity to flip the image around, etc, then I guess that indeed a large dobsonian could surpass anyone's little binoculars in a terrestrial context.
But very large magnification always reduces the field of view. Go ahead and crank magnification all the way up, and it's like looking through a straw. It's hard to locate anything. Astronomers have specific methods to deal with this difficulty, but for a terrestrial observation the narrow field of view is a liability, not an advantage.
There's a reason why various optical instruments have evolved into different shapes and designs to operate in different environments. "Horses for courses", as they say.
Answer: Yes.
Most consumer telescopes can be used for terrestrial viewing (or at least the ones I have used) and are often utilized for wildlife viewing or other uses for extreme telephoto requirements.
The manual doesn't list the minimum focus distance (usually the information provided for photographic lens to describe how near they can focus), but the manual does include a short passage (pg 25) on terrestrial viewing.

Terrestrial Photography
Your telescope makes an excellent telephoto lens for terrestrial
  (land) photography. You can take images of various scenic views,
  wildlife, nature, and just about anything. You will have to experiment
  with focusing, speeds, etc. to get the best image desired. You can
  adapt your camera per the instructions at the top of this page.
Comment: You can always make a scope focus on an object situated closer than usual by using drawtube extenders for the focuser - or, sometimes, by simply pulling the eyepiece 1 or 2cm out from its normal position in the focuser. Also, each eyepiece is different in terms of the position of its field stop. So the "minimum focus distance" is not really a characteristic of the telescope.
Comment: What kind of telescope do you have?
Answer: An astronomical telescope can view objects on Earth if they're far enough away to be focused, and if the telescope can be aimed at them. Most often, the targets will appear to be inverted, but you can get prisms to correct that.
Space satellites cannot place on Earth they are around the Earth but they can see things on the ground less than a foot across.
Answer: Yes, there is no hard distinction between a telescope and a camera with a long focal-length lens.
When it's stuck directly to a camera body, it's often referred to as a "mirror lens" because they still want to call it a "camera lens" but it's made from a mirror:
But when it's stuck directly to a tripod and the camera body is stuck to it, we call it a telescope. You can point it at terrestrial or extraterrestrial things, it doesn't make a difference.
Something to remember, no matter what you are looking at, extended objects like wildlife, barns, the Moon, resolved nebula, etc. get dimmer the more you magnify them or spread them out, whereas stars remain at roughly the same brightness, independent of magnification, until you go too high and they go out of focus. So While a large aperture telescope can show you stars that a thousand times dimmer or even ten thousand times dimmer than what you can see with your eye, if you try to use a telescope at high magnification to look at terrestrial objects at night, they can become really dim. This is why for a good line of binoculars, the higher the magnification, the larger the lenses become.
From What's the largest aperture telescope sent beyond the Earth-Moon system?:
"Mirror Lens"

Sources: top, bottom
"Telescope"

Source
"Telescope? Camera?"

above x2: image of a Dragonfly refractive array telescope [from dunlap.utoronto.ca][http://www.dunlap.utoronto.ca/instrumentation/dragonfly/]. Image: P. Van Dokkum; R. Abraham; J. Brodie Images borrowed from What (actually) is the " deprojected half-light radius" of this almost-all-dark-matter Galaxy?
Answer: For terrestrial use, avoid Newtonian reflectors. The eyepiece goes directly into the focuser, and you'll get an inverted (upside down) image.  Fine for astronomy, a pain for terrestrial use.
Other scope types - like refractors, Schmidt cassegrain telescopes (SCTs), and Maksutov cassegrain telescopes, use a diagonal mirror or prism between the focuser and the eyepiece.  This flips the image vertically, so you end up with an image that's the right way up, but left/right reversed. This can often be OK for wildlife, but if you want correct reading text (with no reversal) you can get specialised alternative diagonals ("Amici prisms") for terrestrial use. They're not quite as good for astronomical use, but do give you a correct image for terrestrial use.


Rationale for OIS discounting for collateralized derivatives?

Question: Can someone explain to me the rationale for why the market may be moving towards OIS discounting for fully collateralized derivatives?
Answer: Most counterparty agreements specify some sort of ois rate for the interest paid/received on posted collateral. So the OIS rate is the appropriate one to use for discounting future cash flows.
Prior to 2008 the OIS/Libor spread was small and stable, so you didn't really need to worry about this, but now it's much larger, so people are taking it into account. The reason it's "big news" now is that properly switching pricing systems over to use OIS discounting is a large change, so most places are only now getting this online.
Answer: If you assume that you do not have any market risk (a strange assumption, but it would hold for example if you are fully hedged), then a (correctly) collaterlized derivative does not have any net future cash flow. Clearly: if the derivative contract has a cash flow of -X, its value will go down by X and the collateral account will have a cash flow of +X (the corresponding collateral will be returned).
If there is no future cash flow, there is no discounting (in the sense of funding costs). However there is a new question now: what is the correct amount of collateral C we should post in t=0 to collaterlize the cash flow in t=T?
Since collateral is accrued according to the collateral contract by the OIS rate we would like to have that the accrued collateral account matches the cash-flow, that is
C * (1 + r * T) = X
where r is the OIS rate. That is we determine the collateral by OIS discounting
C = X / (1 + r * T).
OIS discounting is the way to determine the amount of collateral we have to post.
(You can make this argument mathematically correct (under some general assumptions) and show that collateralization is like having a different currency which has its own interest rate, I have some stuff on this (paper, spreadsheet for OIS bootstrapping, source code) here: http://www.finmath.net/spreadsheets/curvecalibration/ )
Comment: Could you please give an example of a "derivative contract with a cash flow of -X"? I am not sure I understand that part, my understanding is that the value moves in- or out-of-the-money. How is there a cash flow?
Comment: It appears you are thinking of a (call) option only. In that case: being that option short would be an example. A more natural example is that of a swap exchanging fixed rate C versus floating rate L, i.e. X = C-L (negative for high L). The swap could be a structured one with a complex coupon C, but the above applies for plain products as well.
Answer: The OIS rate is more stable than Libor, right? And according to this article from Risk Magazine:

The party that is owed money at the end of the swap will have been paying an OIS rate on the collateral it has been holding, and so the ultimate value of the cash it will receive will be the sum it is owed minus the overnight interest rate it has had to pay on this collateral.
Answer: There are three interest rates in play here:

Discounting market valuation
Discounting for collateral call valuation
Interest paid upon collateral (determined by the CSA terms)

In order for the collateralisation process not to generate surplus value to either participant, considering a single cashflow received today and then repaid a day later will give the answer that we need 1 = 2 = 3. Otherwise there will be a net flow of cash on today or tomorrow (or both).
First, consider net flows today. The person paying for the cash flow is paying out market value & receiving the collateral call value. We need 1 = 2 for the two to balance.
Second, take net flows tomorrow. That same person will be receiving the cash flow and repaying collateral with interest. For the values of these to balance then we need 2 = 3.
So then 1 = 2 = 3 in our example. Discounting for market value must follow discounting at the rate determined in the collateral agreement.
And since you can essentially synethesize any derivative by pasting together 1-day cashflows of this nature then this also estabishes that 1 = 2 = 3 for all derivatives.


Is it possible to rebuild the batteries of the Nissan Leaf?

Question: I've seen many used Nissan Leafs being offered for a very low cost (as little as $6000 as of 2016), but I'm concerned about the lifetime left in the batteries of those cars. Nissan says that they will replace the whole set for $5499, but I don't trust that they will always do that, so I would rather be able to do this by myself using commodity parts, just in case Nissan change their mind. I know that this is possible on the Toyota Prius. Is there any resource on how to replace/rebuild the batteries in the Nissan Leaf?
Comment: There is also a market for used batteries, specifically ones salvaged from wrecked late model cars.  Often they will be "certifed" with respect to capacity, and a 96% capacity one was about 50% of the dealer cost.  That may or may not be a good deal, but there is a limited market.
Answer: Yes, they can be. You'll probably need to find a company that refurbishes batteries, there's one that I know of in Australia so I'd say (i.e. assume) that there would be services in your area.
If you're a bit handy with electrical work, I've seen some people set up arrays of smaller lithiums to achieve the desired outputs for EV applications.
It's not going to be "cheap cheap" regardless of what you do, but it can save you some money to fix up an older EV as opposed to buy new.
Comment: While it's perfectly possible to set up an array of smaller lithiums, a key question here is whether they would physically fit into the space available in the Leaf? Are suitably shaped batteries available?
Comment: Do you know any website or forum where hobbyists are describing these mods? I know I will probably always find a dealer or other companies that will keep servicing them albeit at increasing prices. My goal is to be able to do it myself, just in case, to avoid having a lemon.
Comment: I don't actually know any off the top of my head sorry - I have a friend who builds his own packs out of AA size lithium batteries in series. I know an anecdote doesn't help you much, but you can build large scale batteries like this (In fact, a lot of commercial batteries are stuffed full of those size individual batteries)
Comment: Did anyone attempted it please?
Comment: I think that you can find resources about that on Google, but so far usually the rebuilds are done using used batteries.
Answer: Unless you are an electrical expert with a shop and heavy equipment, it is difficult. The battery pack weights 600 lbs once removed from the vehicle. Then, you must have test equipment to check out the bad cells. Then you must have the parts to replace the bad ones. The good thing as to replacing with a new battery pack is that these will be the current production series, much better as to chemistry and physics of the battery. It brings the car to "new" specs and good for 8 eight years as these have a longer life than the 2011/12/13 series. I am replacing, at my own cost, the battery on my 2011 Leaf. Cheeers and good luck.


Do I need to bleed all 4 brakes if I only opened one line?

Question: I just replaced the rear rotors, calipers and pads on my '05 Honda Odyssey and did a full brake flush on all 4 wheels' bleed ports when I was done.  After driving around for a day, I realized that the left side was leaking slightly.  Got the leak fixed, but it took changing out the crush washers around the banjo bolt at the caliper.  This means that the brake system was opened again, so I re-bled that line.  Do I need to re-bleed the whole system again, or will just that one opened line be sufficient?
Comment: @rana It was the left rear side that leaked.  I added this to the question.  Left rear was the last one to be bled in the flushing I did, per recommendations I found online.  I'm guessing that means it was farthest from the cylinder?
Comment: Good question. I'm curios to know the answer as well. You probably have to re bleed the whole system to be safe.
Comment: Also, please specify which side was leaking. Front/rear, passenger side or driver side. This helps to determine if it was the side furthest away from master cylinder or not.
Answer: Where was the opened line in relation to the bleeding sequence?
The Honda Odyssey sequence is

Front Left
Front Right
Rear Right
Rear Left

So if it was the rear left you opened, just bleed that corner and you're good. If you opened the rear right, bleed that one and the rear left. etc.
If the brakes still feel at all spongy after bleeding only one or two lines, bite the bullet and bleed them all.
Comment: "bite the bullet and bleed them all" Yes.
Answer: When was the last time the brake fluid was changed? If it's been over two year, just do the work and bleed the system. Brake fluid absorbs water over time, which makes it boil at a lesser temperature. The longer it's in your braking system, the more it absorbs. If it is anything other than clear, such as a dark amber or even a dark green, just do the work and flush the system. The more water which gets into the brake fluid, the more deterioration will occur in the brake system. Most brake lines are made of steel, which will oxidize and deteriorate due to the water in the brake fluid. Save yourself a lot of money down the road by performing this needed preventive maintenance.
Comment: I'm surprised you'd have to remove the tires to do this ... most vehicles are made so you just have to reach around to it. I mean, do what you're going to do, but it has always been my approach if you crack one, you bleed them all.
Comment: I did a full flush and replace of all the fluid at the time I did the other repairs.  It was after having done this that I discovered the leaky bolt so I was hoping not to have to jack the whole car up and remove all 4 tires again.