Why are some applications so hard to find in the Ubuntu Software Centre?

Question: Some applications don't pop up in the search even when you type in their name. Take for instance Sushi. When you type in "sushi" into the search box, it fails to throw up the application. Only when you type in "gnome-sushi" does it appear. This is despite the fact that the application has "sushi" by itself in the application description. There are other applications which don't spring to mind right now, but I've discovered before.
Answer: They are hidden because they are marked as technical packages - the ones with no .desktop file (see How does Software Center determine what is a "technical item" and what isn't? ). You can use Show # technical items link in the bottom left corner to see them.
Answer: Some packages are not the name of the application itself. Take the example of the "Sushi" application, it was meant for Gnome and thus the package itself is prefixed by "gnome-", furthermore, it is a technical package and in order to see them in  searches you must click the "Show X technical packages" button down in the bottom-left corner of the Ubuntu Software Center window.


How random connections are taken care of in Tor network?

Question: In Tor, I heard that traffic is passed through 3 servers in the network before it reaches the destination, and it's encrypted between those 3 servers, and that those 3 computers are chosen randomly. Considering the fact that true randomness is not possible in programming and computers, how does random picking work on the Tor network?
Answer: Originally, it used to be random. But as the popularity increased, it became necessary to attempt to balance Tor's traffic load over the available router bandwidth. These days it is not just random.
Now a days, Tor utilizes a set of trusted Bandwidth Authorities(bwauths) which actively probs the Tor routers and estimate each router's capacity. According to this Tor performs load balancing by weighting router selection in proportion to each router's perceived bandwidth capacity (This is a primary reason why, when you set up a non-exit Tor relay, there is really a 'no use'(the unmeasured phase) period for about 3 days).
There are additional checks as well, including the use of 'entry guards' for the first hop to defend against any attack and exit policies that specify the destination addresses and ports allowed by an exit router's  operator, etc.
Tor starts the circuit build by first selecting exit node. Through the configurations in the torrc file, users themselves have some control over which nodes (not) to choose. Next, Entry and middle relay is chosen. Here, in general, Tor tries not to choose relays which might belong to the same operator. In general, all paths generated by Tor obey the following constraints:

Tor do not choose the same router twice for the same path.
Tor do not choose any router in the same family as another in the same path. (Two routers are in the same family if each one lists the
  other in the "family" entries of its descriptor.)
Tor do not choose more than one router in a given /16 subnet.
Tor don't choose any non-running or non-valid router unless Tor has been configured to do so. By default, Tor is configured to allow
  non-valid routers in "middle" and "rendezvous" positions.
The first node must be a Guard node.

There is a lot more information in the Tor path specification document and How does a Tor client pick Tor nodes for circuit creation?
Comment: @torhub1 If this answer helped you, don't forget to click the grey ☑ at the left of this text, which means Yes, this answer is valid! ;-)


Is Sona a better champion as defensive support or an aggressive one?

Question: Is Sona a better defensive support champ or is it plausible to use her in a more aggressive role? I have built her up in bot games for her passive nuke but would that be plausible in pro play?
Answer: Sona is a super harasser. In the laning phase she should in the bushes constantly harassing the other support and AD carry and using power cords. While doing this Mana management and positioning are always key
Answer: She can fill both roles. Maxing W will help grant you great sustain. Maxing Q will increase your poke by a significant amount. With the recent nerfs to her Auras, Sona has lost of early game power, making her more defensive than agressive.
Answer: It depends on  how you play her, if you max q first then you will be a great aggressive support early on, if you want to go defensive go w and you will be able to heal a good amount at a steady pace.
The key is to determine when to go aggressive and when to go defensive. I base it on who I am laning with, if I have a low damage dealer who is going tanky, I tend to go more aggressive to make for the lack of damage, however if I say lane with vayne, she tends to have enough damage and the heals will allow her to poke and dominate the lane.
Sometimes I also go aggressive sided with another heavy damage dealer like kog to shut down the other team completely. If played correctly of course. Try out both ways and see what works best for you!
Answer: She's better as a offensive support at the start of games until level 4-5 because she can harass a lot in game. Late game she became more of defensively support but she can still engage a fight with her ult.
Answer: Sona is a great support champion when played as one. I personally would not play her for damage as she is too focused on keeping the damage output alive. At best, I would play her aggressively with her great harass but not much more than that. She seems to be a much stronger defensive champion than any other role.
Answer: I would say she is an offensive support because of her insane poke damage,heals,and buffs if you put her into a poke combo u can win the fights and your lane very much easy as she is a battle support...


Does IMAX have it's own type of 70mm film?

Question: I was told the IMAX 70mm 15perf film is simply a regular 70mm film turned sideways. Is this true? According to the following image, it does not make any sense as the frame is that much larger than that of a 8perf one.
Answer:
I was told the IMAX 70mm 15perf film is simply a regular 70mm film turned sideways. Is this true?

Yes, this is true. A film strip is just a ribbon of celluloid with light sensitive chemicals on it. Prior to exposure, the entire ribbon of film has no "frames" - it is just made with perforation holes so that the gears and pins can move it through the camera and hold it steady for each image exposure - 24 times a second.
The factor which determines the exposed area is the lens and the aperture. In an IMAX camera, the film is exposed horizontally and the left to right image area takes up 15-perfs. The camera then moves the entire film strip horizontally a length of 15-perfs, holds it in place, then exposes another "frame". In an 8-perf, or 5-perf camera, the film is exposed vertically and the top to bottom image area takes up 8- or 5-perfs. The camera then moves the entire film strip vertically (from the unexposed part of the film reel, through the gate and onto the exposed part of the take-up reel), folds the film in place, then exposes another "frame". Prior to this, there are no frames on the film. Just light sensitive chemicals on the emulsion side of the film ribbon.
Maybe it would help to look at a 15-perf and 8-perf side by side with the images rotated so they match visually?

Does IMAX have it's own type of 70mm film?

The film stock, emulsion and film base may be the very same. The difference is in the lensing and the transportation of the film through the camera and projector. 15-perforation 70MM film frames are transported horizontally, whereas 8- and 5-perforation film frames are transported vertically.
Roughly speaking from the image in your question, the 70mm film frame is ~12 perforations across the image. The frame size is the difference in total image area of (12 * 15) vs. (12 * 8), or 180 vs 96 - almost double.
Accommodating such a large image area is no small undertaking. At 24fps the film moves at 3.8 miles per hour and a platter is between 4 to 6 feet in diameter for a 2 hour movie. For more information, see the IMAX wiki article.

Also, note the differences in the images - the 5-perf shows significantly less image above the car. The 8-perf and the 15-perf are anamorphic, i.e. squeezed onto the frame when shot and stretched onto the movie screen when projected.

Per your comment, yes, with a fixed 70mm film strip's width, a 15-perf image has 3 times more image area than a 5-perf image (and this whether the image is looked at vertically or horizontally.)
Comment: NOW it makes sense.
Kudos to you my friend.
Comment: There still must be something I'm missing. I would have expected for a certain film format to be of 15x12 so that if you turn it sideways you get 12x15. The second frame from the left will never produce 2 times it's frame size does not matter how many time I flip it.
Comment: I'll just add that according to wiki the avg 70mm film is 5 perf tall. If you turn it sideways you will need 3 frames to fill a single IMAX frame.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/70_mm_film#Uses_of_70.C2.A0mm
Comment: @gilfalko see edits. Film stock is not like a digital container expecting a set amount of data per frame. Prior to exposure, the film reel has no frames, just perf holes that fit the gears and registration (holding) pins which move the film through the camera and hold it still while being exposed.


Does a pan used for cooking scrambled eggs multiple times a day need to be washed with soap every time?

Question: I have some very tight diet restrictions right now due to a medical issue.  As a result I need to eat scrambled eggs three times a day.  Here's my question:  if I rinse the pan thoroughly each time do I really need to wash it with soap and water after every meal?  Can I just wash it every night?  (The problem is this hurts my neck, which is another medical issue I have.)
Comment: I am aware of this answer:  https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/16665/is-it-really-necessary-to-wash-a-skillet-that-will-be-heated-up-again-soon, but it seems to imply the problem is that the danger grows with multiple unwashed uses and/or time passage, not so much that it need be done.
Comment: I'm assuming that places that cook a lot of eggs every day don't clean the skillet every time.  My time between meals is about 4 hours.
Comment: When you rinse is there still egg in the pan?
Comment: probably not, if you heat it properly when cooking the eggs, and clean/dry it after each use.
Comment: When cooking eggs at work my time between uses might be 10-15 minutes. I would NOT reuse a pan that sat for 4 hrs.
Answer: Bacteria have several requirements to grow — water, food/nutrients, oxygen/lack of oxygen (some bacteria), temperature, and pH. The acceptable range of conditions varies, but if you deprive them of one of their requirements, they don't grow. We use all of those in food — but for your question, three are involved:

Temperature. When the pan is hot, nothing can grow. Once it cools off below ≈130°F/55°C, that changes. Until you get down to 40°F/4°C, you're in the "danger zone" where bacterial growth is possible and relatively quick.
Food/nutrient availability. When you wash clean the pan, you're removing the nutrients, so the bacteria can't grow. You propose not to do this, so this control method isn't available.
Water. Without available water, nothing can grow. This is why you want your pans to dry out after washing (even things like aluminum or ceramic, which won't rust). If there are nutrients left (perfect washing is hard), without water, nothing can grow.

So... I think as long as you make sure the pan is dry then you're fine. Wipe it out with a paper towel, you don't want any egg-gunk left (that'd be hard to get all the water out of). If there is any doubt, turn back on the burner after wiping it — heat will drive off any moisture. Just make sure not to let it get hot enough to damage the pan. (Be especially careful if its Teflon or similar).
If paranoid (which, depending on your health condition, may be justified), once the pan cools to near room temperature, put it in the fridge. You'll then have two factors redundantly protecting you from bacterial growth.
Answer: You should wash your pan between each use
The USDA recommends that every food product, cooked or not, should not exceed 2 hours at room temperature, as bacteria can be re-introduced to the cooked food and make it dangerous once more.
According to the USDA

The "Danger Zone" (40 °F-140 °F)
Bacteria grow most rapidly in the range of temperatures between 40 ° and 140 °F, doubling in number in as little as 20 minutes. This range of temperatures is often called the "Danger Zone." That's why the Meat and Poultry Hotline advises consumers to never leave food out of refrigeration over 2 hours. If the temperature is above 90 °F, food should not be left out more than 1 hour.

By cooked food I include any residual food left in the pot or pan, visible or not.
As mentioned by paparazzo in the comments, cooking with a rinsed pan is not a good practice as the rinsing will not guarantee cleansing of residual food. The residual food can produce bacteria and these can produce toxins, which will not necessarily be eliminated with the next use of that pan.
This being said, the best and safe practice is to wash your pan thouroughly with soap after each use.
Comment: Kill the bacteria and kill toxins the bacteria may have created are different.
Comment: Re-cook does not make the food safe.
Comment: Recooking will kill the bacteria, no question about it, there is a difference between good and safe.
Comment: But you are right, that paragraph has no right to be as it is bad practice anyway. Thanks for pointing it out!
Comment: That is also true, let me edit my answer to add this bit of information, thank you.
Answer: It is desirable every time after cooking to thoroughly rinse the pan with a special fat-relieving preparation.when the fat temperature reaches 100 degrees It begins to oxidize strongly and should not be used a second time.in this case fat is converted into protoplasmic poison.never cook for the second time in the same fat.about the pains in your back I would advise you the following:the container in which it is cooked is still warm - put a fat remover.when fat is hot or hot dissolves much easier and thus removing it is easy. this will greatly ease your movements and therefore the pain in the neck


collisions on hash functions

Question: Why do we say that collision-resistance is a "harder" property than second pre-image for hash functions whereas if you have an attack on the second pre-image then you find a collision ?
Moreover, a collision has a good probability to be found in $O(\sqrt{N})$ where $N$ is the size of the hash function outputs, whereas second pre-image needs $O(N)$ ...
Answer: It's harder for the designer to make a hash function collision-resistant than second-preimage-resistant, because it's harder for the adversary to find a second preimage than to find a collision.
Answer: Collision-resistance is a stronger requirement because it directly implies second-preimage resistance. This is because a second-preimage attack is essentially a collision attack in which one of the collision pair's hash values is fixed and a corresponding input is known, and could have well been chosen by the attacker itself.
The more intuitive explanation is collision-resistance refers to the general case, whereas second-preimage resistance considers specific input values. It could be, for instance, that the hash values of a particular subset of inputs are easier to invert than others; with collision-resistance, they are hard to invert in general.

collisions on hash functions


About the quantum spectrum of a certain potential.

Question:
Intuitively one understands that if one is solving the Schroedinger's equation for energies $E$ such that $\{ x \vert  U(x)\leq E \}$ is compact (..is there a weaker criteria?..) then the spectrum will turn out to be discrete and the wave-functions will decay exponentially for large values of $x$. What is the most rigorous statement and proof of this?

I want to focus on one potential,
$U = \vert G(s_i)\vert ^2 + \vert p \vert ^2 \sum _ {i} \vert \frac{\partial G}{\partial s_i} \vert ^2 + \frac{e^2}{2}(\sum _i \vert s_i \vert ^2 - n^2 \vert p \vert^2 - r  )  + 2\vert \sigma \vert ^2 (\sum _i \vert s_i \vert ^2 + n^2 \vert p \vert^2) $
where $e$ is a real constant, $s_i$, $p$ and $\sigma$ are complex and $r$ is a real field and $G$ is a degree $n$ transverse homogeneous function in $s_i$.
Now apparently the following claims are true,

If $r = 0$ then for any value of $\sigma$, the range of $s_i$, $p$ where $U(s_i,p) \leq E$ is true is compact and hence the spectrum is discrete.
If $\sigma \neq 0$ then for any fixed non-zero value of $r$, the region of $s_i$ and p where $U(s_i,p;r) \leq E$ is true is compact for small enough values of $E$ and hence the spectrum is discrete for low-lying values of $E$ below some $E_{critical}$.

(..the above is apparently motivated by the fact that at $s_i=p=0$, $U$ becomes constant and equal to $\frac{e^2 r^2}{2}$ and hence independent of $\sigma$..so apparently if one goes above some critical value of $E$ the spectrum is continuous thanks to field configurations with large $\vert \sigma \vert$ but at $s_i = p =0$... )

My reading of the literature is that the above two claims are true independent of the topology of the space on which the fields are valued though in a case of interest one wants the theory to be on a circle and hence I guess one wants to think of $s_i$, $p$, $\sigma$ to be maps from $S^1$ to $\mathbb{C}$ or $\mathbb{R}$. If the theory is on a circle then semiclassically apparently the estimate for $E_{critical}$ is $\frac{e^2 r^2}{2} 2\pi R$ where $R$ is the radius of the circle.

I would be glad if someone can help justify the above three claims.
This paper is the reference for this question
Answer: This question (and a partial converse with counterexamples) is answered in
B. Simon, Some quantum operators with discrete spectrum but classically continuous spectrum, Annals of physics 46 (1983), 209-220. http://www.math.caltech.edu/SimonPapers/158.pdf


Decentralized Exchange on Ethereum?

Question: Is a decentralized exchange basically a smart contract that includes all the exchange functionality? Where is the engine?
Answer: There are a few layers to a dececentralized exchange (DEX) to be aware of.
The application layer is the front end interface that most users interact with. Examples of this include the Forkdelta front end and Paradex. On this layer, users can visually see orders in an orderbook and inspect the state of the exchange via graphs and other tools. Users can use this layer to trade and place orders. The actions and data on this page are (usually) all performed and read from the smart contract layer.
The smart contract layer refers to the smart contracts that run the exchanges. Examples of these contracts are the Forkdelta smart contract, or a Uniswap exchange contract. These smart contracts hold all of the state of the exchange (current and past orders and trades) and process all of the logic passed to it from the front end. When a user makes a trade on the front end, it will trigger this smart contract, that proceeds to perform calculations and checks required to execute the trade. When all of the processing is complete, the trade will have executed and the smart contract will upgrade, which will subsequently upgrade the front end.
The EVM is the underlaying layer that runs all smart contracts on Ethereum. All smart contracts are simply a wrapper over EVM executions. This layer is the most fundamental layer on Ethereum.
Comment: So there's no engine? this is all done by smart contracts.
Comment: Correct. All of the logic and trades are done on the smart contracts.
Answer: Yes, a decentralized Exchange performs all the functionality of a centralized exchange, using smart contracts. the smart contracts handle all the functionalities. these type of exchanges as more reliable as they follow the code and there is no human error (except if someone writes a contract with an error).
Comment: The last part is *not* true. There can always be human errors, even when writing smart contracts.
Answer: Technically, all transactions facilitated on DEXs are executed using Smart Contracts. A DEX could facilitate faster and cheaper transactions than a centralized exchange since there is no additional fee fixed by the third party. The only fee users have to pay is Gas Fee — the cost of sending transactions over the Ethereum blockchain. DEXs are more secure than centralized models since all interactions are peer-to-peer and permissionless. You can go over a comparison between DEXs and centralized exchanges in my blog.
Comment: That's not an entirely accurate. There is an additional fee that needs to be paid and that goes to the liquidity provider.

Decentralized Exchange on Ethereum?


How to make webform forget a selected event?

Question: I'm using Views to display some events, the user clicks on one and that fires up a webform where they can sign up for the chosen event (so passing the event id in the url).  All working well but...if the user then selects a different event in the webform (not unreasonable) then that event becomes the default event - and won't go away.  Even when the user later selects a different event in Views, when they come to the webform the previously chosen event will be selected - not the one they selected and was passed in the url.  This feels like a bug, and should be easy to reproduce, but maybe there's an explanation or way of stopping this? (Upgraded to latest 5.3.1 still same problem). First screenshot is Views & you can see the url correctly generated for event id 19.  Second screen shows event on Aug 4 incorrectly selected which is event id 18 (I selected this at a previous time)
Answer: Be very careful when sending people to a webform that has multiple events on them. If they return to that webform (or another webform that pulls in the same Events) at a later time and select another event -> what they are technically doing is canceling their participant registration for the event they un-select and registering themselves for the newly select event.
The setting to not unregister participants from Events will just affect the processing of the form; On load of the webform it does makes sense to me that it shows the Event one is current registered for.
Comment: True, and I fixed that by checking 'Disable unregistering participants from unselected events'.  I unchecked that, but still the problem persists.
Comment: Can you get us some screenshots? Then I'll try and reproduce this behaviour.
Comment: We had this issue once but turning off the setting of "unregistered participants from unselected events" resolved it for us


Is evolution a predictive theory?

Question: My feeling is that almost any observation can be explained by current evolutionary theory. Is there any example of someone developing a rigorous framework or mathematical model of how evolution works?
Comment: While I agree the OP might be opinion-based (see its activity on the site so far), with the edit the question is not anymore. I agree it is impossible to draw a full picture of mathematical models used in evolutionary biology (would be too broad), it is still possible to answer to the question whether or not such mathematical modelling exist in biology. I think this question should remain open especially that it may help future users.
Comment: I edited your question to remove the "primarily opinion based" part. Feel free to roll back if you don't like the edit.
Comment: I have removed "useless as" from the title. If you want to know whether the theory of evolution has or does not have predictive power, the shortened title does this perfectly well. Including "useless as" is an unsubtle and unscientific way of indicating that you are expressing an opinion rather than asking a question.
Comment: It's still useless
Answer: Evolutionary biology is a highly quantitative science and offers a fair amount of predictive power. However, at the same time, there are plenty of things that we are completely unable to predict.
What are we good at predicting?
There are plenty of things and it is impossible to list them all. Here are a few examples of things we can predict.

Number of pairwise differences (or other measures of molecular differentiation) do we expect between two lineages that recently split in a given number of years.
Number of pairwise differences between individuals coming from the same population.
Number of mutations of given fitness effects (whether beneficial or deleterious) do we expect to accumulate over a given period of time in a population. We can predict the age of a lineage.
Predictions about the evolution of multicellularity, sociality, etc. in lineages that are limit-cases (relating again to our ability at a short time only).
Speed of evolutionary change as measured in Haldanes or in Darwins (these are units) (from knowledge about the genetic variance).
Predictions about the heterozygosity of a population and the loss of heterozygosity through time.
predictions about the gene flow, migration rate or strength of selection.
Predictions of the consequences on fitness that a change in population size may cause.

Generally speaking, we have good predictive abilities at short time scale OR for neutral sequences OR for conserved sequences (strong purifying selection).
In short, we can predict a lot of things but by far not everything yet.
Main complications in doing predictions in evolutionary biology
I would suggest decomposing the reasons why predictions can be hard into the following categories. However, I might well forget something and one could argue that my semantic is less helpful some other semantic.

Environment

One issue related to making predictions at long time scale is that the environment changes through time in a way that we are not able to predict accurately enough yet.

Noise (incl. genetic drift)

I am not here talking about measurement error or sampling error (these are statistical concepts you may want to check if you don't know them), I am talking about the stochastic process that is inherent to biological systems such as the randomness of mutation processes and genetic drift.

Genotype-phenotype map

We have too little understanding of molecular genetics in order to be able to predict how different specific mutations would affect the phenotype. As a consequence, today we still have very little predictive power about the evolution of a phenotypic trait that is currently totally inexistent.

Complex systems

For example: demography affects evolution which affects the social environments, which affects demography which affects the pattern of species competitions which affects the evolution of another species which affects its demography which affects the evolution of a third species which affects the demography of our first species, etc... These kind of complex systems are often mathematically not tractable.

Parameters

We often don't know the exact parameters of the lineage we are interested in. There is a lot of measures to take to be able to make predictions and we often don't have the money (or the time) to make all these measurements (assuming we are able to accurately measure them). For this reason, we are often relatively good to make predictions for a few model organisms but pretty bad for the vast majority of species.

Applications of evolutionary biology
There are not a lot of applications of evolutionary biology for the moment but still, there are some proving its predictive power. These applications include

medicine and epidemiology (incl. evolution of resistance)
artificial selection and other techniques mainly to improve crops (e.g. nuts)
Various search algorithms such as the genetic algorithm

Note, my answer was partially recycled from this other answer of mine
Answering directly in your text

It seems like almost any observation can be explained by current evolutionary theory

This is wrong. You should learn more about evolutionary biology (starting with Understanding Evolution by UC Berkeley for example) and you will understand why it is wrong. I can't make a whole introduction to evolutionary biology in a single post.

Is there any example of someone developing a rigorous framework or model of how evolution works?

Yes, there are thousands of such models depending on the exact evolutionary process of interest. Just to give you a feeling of it, you could have a look at any book recommended on the post Book recommendation on population/evolutionary genetics?. If your knowledge in math is a little weak, then you might want to have a look at the introductory book A Biologist's guide to mathematical modelling in evolution and ecology (Otto and Day). While this book is quite introductory, I would still recommend starting with an even more introductory course as suggested above.
Standard mathematics methods used in evolutionary biology include branching processes, birth-death processes and other Markov Models, mathematical statistics and probability theory, diffusion equations, approximation theory, ...
On a side note, you would note that the development of statistics is very much related to evolutionary biology. This is true historically but is still true for the development of modern statistics. Just to cite one person, Ronald Fisher was an evolutionary geneticist (one of the fathers of the modern evolutionary synthesis) and he invented some of the most used statistical tests (t-test, anova-F-test, Fisher's tests).
Comment: You know nothing about this field you are describing (as it is made obvious from your other activity on this site). You are opinion based without having ever opened a book of evolutionary biology (as it is made obvious from your other activity on this site). I will stop answering to your comments from now on as I have better to do with my time. If you are genuinely trying to understand evolutionary processes on a successive post, I'll be happy to help you with that.
Comment: Can you reformulate your question in the comment, I don't understand it. What do you call "the useful evolutionary biology"?
Comment: You seem to be primarily opinion based. Predicting change in a quantitative trait of interest to agronomist definitely has to do with evolutionary biology. The food industry is an important private sector that hire plenty of evolutionary biologists.
Comment: Reading your question again, I realize that I mainly answered to the question is the title but I haven't been very specific to the content of the post. I therefore added a section in my answer hoping that will help you. Good luck!
Comment: If your comment asked "is there any usefulness to evolutionary biology", I redirect you to the application section in my answer. Yes, to medicine, to designing better crops (resistant to drought or to the warming climate), to predict the yield that can be achieve by fly farming and to know what population size should be used for fly farming, etc...
Comment: So in other words the useful evolutionary biology ("complex systems") doesn't exist
Comment: That's agronomy and really has nothing to do with this
Comment: No they dont. It's an almost entirely ivory tower field
Comment: If you say so..

Is evolution a predictive theory?


Who killed the assassins after the failed hit on Michael Corleone?

Question: Michael survives an attempt on his life at the beginning of The Godfather Part II. The gunmen miss him and attempt to flee. We then see that they have been killed.
Who killed the bodyguards?
Answer: The first question that needs to be answered is who tried to kill Michael. Then, some theories as to who killed the would-be assassinations can be drawn.
As we know by the end of the film, Hyman Roth is behind the hit on Michael. There are a few reasons for this, the largest of which is resentment at Michael having killed Moe Greene in Godfather I.
To do this, he uses Johnny Ola, his right hand man. He sends Johnny to talk to Fredo, Michael's brother, and has him manipulate him into giving information that can be used to attempt an assassination. We never find out what this information is. Whether Fredo was callous enough to give direct information that could be used, or simply angry and careless enough to let slip something innocuous, we don't know.
This exchange is all we have on it. You can decide for yourself how "in the know" Fredo really was:

Fredo Corleone: I haven't got a lot to say, Mike.
Michael Corleone: We
  have time.
Fredo Corleone: I was kept pretty much in the dark. I
  didn't know all that much.
Michael Corleone: What about now? Is there
  anything you can help me out with? Anything you can tell me now?
Fredo
  Corleone: They've got Pentangeli. That's all I can tell you. I didn't know it was gonna be a hit, Mike. I swear to God,
  I didn't know it was gonna be a hit. Johnny Ola bumped into me at
  Beverly Hills, and he said that he wanted to talk. He said that you
  and - and Roth were in on a - a big deal together and that there was
  something in it for me if I could help 'em out. He said that - He said
  that you were bein' tough on the negotiations, but if they could get a
  little help and close the deal fast, it'd be good for the family.
Michael Corleone: You believed that story? You believed that?
Fredo
  Corleone: He said there was somethin' in it for me. On my own...

So now we know the three people implicitly involved in the assassination attempt. As to who killed the failed-assassins, there are a few possibilities:

Fredo - He could have killed the assassins out of panic whenever he realised the hit had failed. This could have happened two ways - he might have given Roth information allowing him to access the compound, or allowed a mole in, and once he realised what transpired, murdered the assassins inside the compound out of fear. Or, of course, he could have been well aware all along a hit was going to take place and killed the assassins out of self preservation. However, if Fredo had killed them, it raises questions as to how he knew exactly where they would be (and how he could kill them with no other guard on the compound knowing). If Fredo did kill the assassins, it's difficult to imagine he wasn't well aware there was an assassination plot.
Fredo's Men - Fredo is a caporegime, so he has a lot of men under him. He could have had one of those men kill the assassins (then either hushed his man with money or killed him to silence him). However, the biggest issue with this idea is the notion that Fredo could offer someone more than Michael could (or could intimidate someone more than Michael could).
Michael's Guards - It is of course possible that Michael's guards killed the assassins. These guys are mafia men - they're not trained soldiers. If they cornered an assassin and the assassin raised his gun, it's unlikely they would be aiming for the shoulder or foot. It's perfectly plausible that a scenario like this occurred and Michael's men killed everyone.

The movie (or books) don't ever actually say exactly who killed the assassins, but this conversation occurs after the hit:

TOM
If we catch these guys do you think we'll be able to find out who's
  backing them?
MICHAEL
That's not the catch -- unless I'm very wrong, they're dead already.
  They're killed by somebody close to us -- inside. Very, very scared
  they botched it.
TOM
What about your people ROCCO and NERI? You don't think that they had
  something to do with this.
MICHAEL
You see -- all our people are business men, their loyalty is based on
  that. Now, one thing that I learned from Pop was to try to think as
  people around you think. Now on that basis, anything's possible.

So Michael certainly suspects an inside man. Given that we later find out Fredo betrayed Michael, that most likely scenario does seem to be that Fredo himself killed the assassins.
To reiterate however, all of this is just speculation, as it is never confirmed in either the films or books.
Comment: Great answer, but I fell it's very unlikely that Fredo killed the assassins. Just doesn't seem to fit his character.
Comment: Thanks for the dialogue, helps me flesh out another answer. ;-)
Comment: Agreed. I can't see Fredo pulling the trigger on anybody, let alone hitmen/assassins.
Comment: I do struggle a bit with the idea that the hapless Fredo would have the capability to take out professional hitmen.  So maybe Fredo *having* them killed vs killing them, himself.
Comment: You're very welcome!
Comment: Johnny Ona calls Fredo trying to get info on whether Pentangello will be alone for his meet with the Rosatto bros, and Fredo says: "I don't know.  You've got me in deep enough already...You guys lied to me, I don't want you to call me anymore."  It seems clear that Fredo was manipulated into saying or doing something that he now knows was disloyal to the family.   I doubt he thought he was going to be a party to an assassination on his brother, but he knows be betrayed Michael in some way - the exact way is unknown, that I can see, though his motivation was resentment, as he later explains.
Answer: First let's rule out who didn't organize and execute the hit attempt and then kill the assassins.

Fredo. Fredo is too stupid, inept, weak and cowardly to pull something like this off. Additionally, Fredo actually loved Micheal, though he was filled with resentment towards him over his being passed over as the family boss. It is unlikely that any men whom Fredo commanded would have participated in such an scheme. More than anyone else, they knew what a putz Fredo was and such a scheme would never work, would blow up in their faces and they would face Michael's terrifying wrath.
Frank Pentangeli. Pentangeli was a simple man, loyal to Michael and he hated Hyman Roth and Johnny Ola. Why would he help out Roth and Ola. Furthermore, Pentangeli is a family member of long standing. He understands how capable and ruthless Michael can be. He is simple, but not stupid. He knows that he would lose everything in a showdown with Michael.
Al Neri. Too loyal. Michael's underboss and "Luca Brasi". A man of limited means and intelligence, but with great respect from Michael. Ruthlessly efficient and happy with his role as the Corleone family ultimate enforcer.
Tom Hagen. No way. Loyal unto death. His highest complement is to be  recognized as a true brother to Michael and Santino. Too smart, loyal and affectionate towards Michael to pull something like this. Furthermore, Hagen abjures violence. His policy is to avoid violence as much as possible. He would make every effort under the sun to resolve differences through negotiation.

This leaves us with the one man who is both ruthless, close, but somewhat obscure: Rocco Lampone. Michael confesses to Tom that Tom is the only many whom he truly trusts. He understands that Rocco's and even Neri's loyalty extends only as far as their "business" interests coincide. We are not privy to any tension between Rocco and Michael but we have to infer that their might be some. Rocco is a street dude. Corporate business is not his ken. He probably itched to be a street boss back in New York again. Rocco was in charge of security in the compound. He could easily have let the assasins in, positioned them so they could get a clear shot at Michael and then in the post assasination rendezvous killed them both. Didn't Rocco, or his men, find the dead assasins? Furthermore, a smart conspirator like Hyman Roth would never rely upon just one operative. He would be working at least 2, maybe more towards the same goal, all the while keeping the co-conspirators in the dark about each other. Fredo had no idea that Rocco was involved the the hit.
In the final scenes Michael sends Rocco on a suicide mission to kill Hyman Roth. It was evident that there was little chance that Rocco would get out of this deed alive. Tom Hagen mentions this fact that Roth is surrounded by police, body guards and tons of media. So why did Rocco undertake the assignment. Most likely Michael confronted him and told him that he knew that Rocco orchestrated the hit, but he offered him a deal that Rocco couldn't refuse. Undertake this suicide mission to kill Roth and if he was successful, in both the assassination and escape, he, Rocco, would get a pass for his betrayal and a little financial settlement, he would be out of the family and the business even forever. If Michael got wind of him in the business again he would have him killed. Rocco would essentially be put in retirement. If he was killed during the attempt, his family would be taken care of. If Rocco refused the assignment Michael would have him killed the minute he left the room. This was an offer Rocco couldn't refuse. Rocco undertook the suicidal assignment and was killed in the execution of it, but he achieved the goal of assassinating Hyman Roth.
So, Rocco Lampone organized and executed the hit on Michael and killed the assassins afterward.
Comment: I like this theory, but do you have any credible sources?
Answer: The bodies are seen by Fredo's wife, who screams hysterically that they were right outside her window, suggesting in turn close proximity between Fredo and the bodies.
Comment: ooh - good point! Nice detail.
Answer: It's 100% Rocco.  He asks where Michael is after Michael leaves the compound and Tom has to shout him down to make him re-focus. Rocco is guilty. And faking concern for the now safe Michael.
Here's the brilliant part.  Those 2 dead shlubs in the sewer?  Rocco had them killed BEFORE the assassination on Michael.  Perfect forever silent patsies.  Probably two transients whose throats he had slashed.
Comment: They show the culvert earlier and the bodies aren't there, though.
Answer: This question has always bothered me.
It is correct that Fredo doesn't have the stones to kill, maybe, anybody. A killer, and a successful Mafia soldier, has to have a cold-bloodedness that Fredo simply doesn't possess. That has been seen many times. Fredo could have opened the drapes, though. Pentangeli leaving men behind (even one) -- that's a pretty good theory. It would explain why Pentangeli is defensive later when Michael comes to see him at what was Don Vito's house. "Let's hit 'em now, while we got the muscle" - that line is a little desperate on Frankie's part.
Answer: A couple comments are clues to me.
"A couple guys out of NY"
"We won't get anything out of them now"
The NY comment sounds like disinformation, so I'm guessing the guys are from Los Angeles and are Johnny Ola's guys, thus Hyman Roth. That's how Michael figured out it was Roth.
Whoever said that had knowledge. It could have been Rocco, and Roth might not have known Rocco so he wasn't recognized by Roth at the airport.
I don't think I'll ever understand the suicied hit at the airport. The above explanation of an ultimatum given to Rocco is as good an explanation as any, Rocco must have had family or other interests that would be preserved if he did the suicide hit.
Answer: Come on, there's no way Fredo had the stones to kill anybody: remember the way he fumbled his pistol when Sollozzo's men tried to kill don Vito? Also, as mentioned above, there's the sheer physical impossibility of Fredo being able to find them, much less kill them, without being noticed -- they guy's no James Bond or Ethan Hunt, he can't even control his wife. Also, Fredo didn't live at the Tahoe compound, so why would he have brought his own muscle to his brother's house, and why would Michael allow them to mingle with the regular security detail even if Fredo had brought them? Either it's a plot hole, or the simplest explanation is that they killed themselves in order to avoid capture; in fact this sort of self-sacrifice is shown later when Rocco kills Roth, knowing the police will probably kill him.
Answer: In the scene with the bodies in the stream I believe you can see a slit throat because there were no other gun shots. I also don't think Michaels Rocco and Neri did it , they seem very loyal. So maybe Johnny Ola (from Sopranos fame) some how wormed a couple boys in there but the powers that be didn't go into it.
Answer: I thought the would be assassins were killed by other people in their crew who were supposed to aid their escape.  Like a typical conspiracy, the killers are eliminated by a third party so they can't be questioned if caught.  Jack Ruby kills the patsy theory.  Just my thoughts.
Comment: Provide some citation or source why you think so.
Answer: IMO, the most plausible answer would be that Michael's men hunted for, then discovered the shooters, and killed them. However, we don't hear any more gunshots after the bedroom scene, and Michael specifically ordered they be kept alive, so the next most plausible scenario is that pentangeli left one or more men hidden inside the compound (after he left for New York) in order to silence the shooters. It's also possible the shooters killed themselves, especially if they realised they hadn't been successful. I don't see Fredo killing anyone, considering how he handled the attack on his father (Godfather I).
Answer: You forgot that Johnny Ola gives Michael and orange when they first meet.
He said it was "from Miami".
Oranges are the symbol of death in the Godfather universe.
So it is implied that Hyman Roth will try a hit on Michael.
Answer: Jonny Ola was there at the estate, who is to say he and a couple of his boys didnt shoot up michaels room, and jonny killed the two guys shortly after.
Answer: It would have been Fredo's men. Fredo would have told his men to let them in and kill them after the hit. Micheal even says that he doesn't trust the men, and they are just trying to make money.
Answer: From Fredos answer to Michaels question about what he could tell him, we learned that Fredo knew they had Pentengeli. Based on that alone it indicates Fredo was in on the whole plan from the start, including opening the drapes in Michael's bedroom, the hit and getting rid of the would be assassins.
Comment: Please edit your answer.
Comment: @Ray Instead of (or at least in addition to) insulting other users you could of course also have *corrected the answer*.


What are good web sites to learn No Limit Texas Hold'em?

Question: There are many sites about No Limit Texas Hold'em. What are the best for learning No Limit Texas Hold'em? Please separate your recomended sites for newbie, medium and advanced level players (or write which sites are good for every level). Please suggest both free and pay sites.
Comment: This question was formed by dividing the original http://poker.stackexchange.com/questions/1582/what-are-best-books-programes-and-sites-to-improve-texas-holdem-limit-and-no
Answer: Before I start, let me say that if you are from outside the US I would definitely take advantage of sites that offer rake-based-membership. In the US, we have DragTheBar, which offers free membership based on the rake taken from your hands at Carbon Poker.
I would even go a step further and say try every single site that offers a free trial. Stagger them (start a new trial as the other ends) and you'll be set for months. Just make sure to cancel before the trial expires.
Note: Because I'm a beginner, I will only offer recommendations for the beginner levels. My current game is Cash, 4-tabling 6Max 5NL. If you play Tournaments (MTT, SnG) then you'll want sites geared for those as well.

Beginners
Generally, you should be playing the micros (2NL-50NL). Because of this, you'll want to focus on sites who also focus on the micros. And while there are plenty of sites that focus on beginners, you really want to focus on micros.
Training Site - Drag the Bar
If for any other reason, check Drag the Bar because BlackRain79 is a coach there. He was (is?) the #1 micro stakes player in the world in terms of ridiculous volume and profit. The coaches there are great and in my narrow experience, seem to be far more prepared than on other sites.
Community - CardsChat
As a beginner you'll be slammed with too much information anyways, so it's important that the information is as easily accessible as possible (and easy to ask). TwoPlusTwo is in the top 3 thousand sites visited in the US. That's huge, but in my opinion it's too huge. Unless I land on 2p2 through Google, it's just too intimidating for the beginner [me].
CardsChat is simple - all the top level forums can almost fit on a single screen! I'm only just now breaking out of my social-shell, but once I get a certain number of posts I'll also be eligible for their Freeroll tournaments...and you can too.
Their strategy articles are also well organized and will get you competently playing in an afternoon.
Runner Ups
Training Sites

BlueFirePoker - I used to use this way back in the day. Leatherass coaches there, and that guy literally changed his brains physiology from playing so much...so yea.
Deuces Cracked - Really fun videos, but the quality can be hit/miss (imo)

This doesn't answer your question (beginner to advance), but it was too long to leave as a comment so there you go :)
Answer: TwoPlusTwo poker forums. Nothing else.
I highly recommend the following collection of forum posts / articles. These are the finest writings about the basics and more advanced concepts of the game, these will put you lightyears ahead of micro / small stakes competition. I remember when i first came by this around 2008, I got so hooked :) Have fun!
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/69/micro-stakes-pl-nl/unl-archives-memorable-strategy-threads-430489/
Answer: I am actually a long time coach at the first site linked above, DragTheBar. While I have been on a hiatus (not making videos) for awhile I would definitely recommend it as it has one of the deepest libraries of any training site online and is also now mostly or all free, I believe. Hard to beat that.
There are many good forums out there, some of which were also listed above such as TwoPlusTwo and CardsChat. However, since anybody on earth can say anything in these places, and most people lose at poker in the long run, often the advice that you are receiving is not so great (it is from a losing poker player).
Lastly, I like to think that my own website is one of the best resources for a beginner level poker player in the world. I have some of the highest winnings of all time in lower stakes cash games online, so you can be assured that the information you are getting is on point. And yes, it is totally free. www.blackrain79.com
Answer: Alec Torelli has a great insight into the game. He has a great YouTube channel that does a lot of strategy analysis. The way he breaks down tricky hands explaining what has/should have happened is outstanding. The channel leans toward medium/advanced players. Here is the link:
Answer: I strongly recommend reading all the Doyle Brunson articles from his website . In this wonderful collection of articles, Brunson talks about limit & no-limit hold 'em, when to call, raise and fold.
"How To Play" section of WSOP is another great resource worth spending time on.
Answer: pokerstrategy.com is GOLD. They have many articles covering different topics and parts of online poker. Also they do classes, so they stream screen of lecturer and you can directly ask the lecturer about his play. It is really best way to jump into poker right from the start.
forumserver.twoplustwo.com is another great server with long history and a lot of content. It is little bit less newbie friendly. As newbie, you can not easily realize, which topics and posts relate to you and who speaks great thoughts and who speaks nonsense. As you get better at fundamentals, you can find some gems, that can push your edge. A lot of the topics here discuss really advanced concepts and so even pro players have sometimes different answers.
Answer: If you want to try a tool where you can actually practice poker and get immediate feedback on your results, you should try: http://www.poker-fighter.com .
Other websites only offer you theoretical reading, or video tutorials, but no actual practicing.
Answer: I think Dragthebar is a pretty solid website for poker instructional videos, but my favorite blog is www.thepokercapitalist.com which contains a wealth of good low and mid-stakes instructional content.
Answer: There are plenty of sites to learn from, and some of them have paid options for poker training courses, but if talking strictly about free content in the form of articles and communities here are my list:

Advanced - Upswing
Intermediate - MyPokerCoaching
Beginners - Thepokerbank

For communities, these who are worth to mention:

2+2
Cardschat

As for paid options, you can check my suggestions by clicking here since I already made a list for all different poker formats.


What are the differences in a knockout from the liver versus the head?

Question: What is the difference in the physiological mechanics for a knockout caused by an impact to the head and a knockout caused by an impact to the liver?
Comment: Do you have any examples of a liver KO? I've never seen anyone actually lose consciousness, just collapse from pain.
Comment: In wikipedia here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liver_punch the is two reference of what they call liver knockout " Bernard Hopkins' knockout of Oscar de la Hoya in 2004, or the 2007 knockout of José Luis Castillo by Ricky Hatton."
Answer: Head shots - knock out
Impact to the head can cause actual loss of consciousness, by brain trauma.
Liver shots - knock down
Hitting the liver can be devastating, but does not cause loss of consciousness. As shown here in the Hatton/Castillo fight, or here, with de la Hoya getting hit by Bernard Hopkins, liver strikes can be so incredibly painful that even hardened fighters will give up--turning away, taking a knee, writhing in pain--but nobody passes out from them.
Even when Bas Rutten hit Jason Delucia in the liver five times, rupturing the organ, nobody passed out. Jason is just stunned and collapses from the enormous amount of pain.
My understanding is that it is somewhat easier to hit the liver with smaller gloves or no gloves. For this reason it is a popular target in Kyokushin karate, as seen here:

For further information, I recommend this overview by two doctors, in the context of muay Thai, self-defense, boxing, and mixed martial arts. They contend that strikes to the liver are the most debilitating out of any target on the body (excluding the head).


Is horizontal scroll usable in mobile view?

Question: When building a responsive view of a page with a grid of content boxes, is it a good solution to use a horizontal scroll?
Imagine page layout with a header, main column of content (680px) and a sidebar (300px), in the sidebar are widgets of members, about, tag cloud, related topics, etc.
In mobile view, the idea is to place those widgets at the top (below header and above content) and use the horizontal scroll of the widgets.
Comment: Did you know you can use balsamiq directly in UX stackexchange to draw what you mean? It will be easier for us to understand a visual
Answer: Why not? With so little context, it is hard to know.
Don't use horizontal scroll for the main way to navigate in a page, because it is more effort-intensive than vertical scroll.
But for a side navigation, or a part of the page, why not use this to gain space on smallest viewports?
Really, you should rework your question if you want to get more insights.
Answer: If designed nicely users wont have problems using it I think.
However more natural would be;
1) place content box width to 100% of mobile screen
2) implement swipe left and right, and on swipe move to next or previous box
3) indicate that swipe left and right is available somewhere on top
4) place some nice animation for swiping
Answer:
There shouldn't be any problem with using horizontal scroll for a menu. That being said I have noticed that some mobile apps run into problems when the ability to scroll an element isn't apparent. Horizontal scrolling is not something users assume to do on mobile so you will need to be aware of how the menu informs the user of their ability to scroll.
Some tricks you could use to help the user discover the horizontal scroll:

Offset some of the widgets, making them extend past the edge, so it is apparent there is more elements hidden to the right.
Display a scroll bar either briefly as an on-boarding animation when they first load the app or at all times.
Use another on-boarding animation that scrolls the menu slightly and returns it to its original position when they load the page for the first time.
Comment: An approach that the [ReactJS](https://reactjs.org) and [PokéAPI](https://pokeapi.co) websites use is to place a gradient mask at each end of the nav bar to indicate that the content continues. Ideally, it would only show the gradient if it's not already scrolled to the end, but I haven't yet found a way to do that in CSS (I made the PokéAPI website).


Woman attending shul after childbirth

Question: There is a common custom that a woman who has given birth does not travel anywhere until she has gone to shul. What is the source of this custom, and what are its details? (I.e., it is necessary to hear Kaddish, or Krias HaTorah etc.)
Comment: I would imagine it comes from the widespread minhag for women (or their husbands) to recite birchas hagomel after childbirth. The way you're describing it, though, it may be something else.
Answer: Orach Chaim 282 - see Magen Avraham towards end, also Pishchei Olam and Matamei HaShulchan in Orach Chaim 282 - it is in place of the Korban a lady used to bring after giving birth.
http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=9007&st=&pgnum=563
http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=40431&st=&pgnum=394
See Sefer Panim Meiros Volume 2 Question 124 (published appx 300 years ago in Amsterdam) that when a woman finally has enough strength to leave her house after giving birth, she first visits a Shul.
Shaalos U'Tshuvos Bzail HaChocmo Chelek 6 Siman 78 "It is a Minhag from the Kadmonim that a lady does not go anywhere after giving birth, prior to going to the Shul as a Zecher for the Korban that was brought after a lady gave birth".
Comment: That's talking about the husband getting an aliyah the first time she goes to shul on Shabbos. I was asking about the minhag to go to shul even during the week before travelling elsewhere.
Comment: In what part of the universe was there ever a time in history when use of an 'Eruv was more widespread than it is today - or when it was easier/more common for women to go to Shul on Shabbos than today?

I'm sorry if my tone is a bit harsh, but those assertions are pretty ludicrous.

In previous generations, perhaps, it was easier if you lived in a tiny shtetl. But in a town or in farm country, ie, most Jewish communities throughout history, it was nearly impossible to build communal 'Eruvin. Why do you think they are so controversial? The very idea goes against long established norms.

Woman attending shul after childbirth


In-App Billing in android

Question: I am implementing In-App Billing in my app since 3 days. The sample code provided is working fine but when i am merging that code with my original app with the modifications like:
<code>1.Changing Public Key in Security.java
2.changed the package names in all classes.
3.Changed product name in code and product list in Android market.
4.Signed ,Uploaded and Activated the .apk in Android market.
</code>
is there any more modifications i should do in code. But i am not getting the response from the android or google play as JSON for purchase state for the particular item which i have purchased.
And it is also asking for "Accept and Buy " using Credit or Debit Card.
But not getting any response please help me to get rid of this .
Every time when i make transaction for the purchasing of a product it is responding in LOG as DEVELOPER ERROR and RESULT ERROR.
Answer: I found this plugin (I claim no credit for developing it!) and got it to work in 15 minutes.

In-App Billing in android


Why are "loanwords" written in katakana?

Question: I am interested in learning why katakana was chosen to represent foreign words.
Comment: Because it's a trade mark.
Comment: What do you mean by "many are also written in romaji"?
Comment: @brokenheadphones, iPhone is a good example.
Comment: @brokenheadphones, I will revise my question.
Answer: Because that's the original purpose of katakana. Katakana was invented to denote the readings of unfamiliar foreign words (although, in those days, "foreign words" mainly referred to words in Asian languages such as Sanskrit, Pali, Chinese). On the other hand, hiragana developed as the shorthand for native Japanese sentences written in Manyo-gana. For details, please read the following questions:

Why was both katakana and hiragana created?
Why are there 3 ways of writing in Japanese?

The Japanese writing system underwent multiple major overhauls in the last 1500 years, but one main role of katakana basically remained the same: to serve as the phonetic alphabet to purely represent the sounds of non-ordinary words.
Answer: The Japanese writing system consists of three scripts, hiragana, katakana and kanji.
To make a foreign word a loanword, the first step is to choose a transliteration which is given in kana (either hiragana or katakana).
The second step of also assigning it a kanji is not necessary. (And usually not done anymore; ateji such as 天ぷら, 煙草【たばこ】, etc. are still used, but there are few newly coined ateji).
Choosing katakana over hiragana for loanwords (of foreign origin) fits well with the origin of katakana of being a shorthand for Sanskrit (or Pali) sounds written with Chinese characters.
One major difference between katakana and hiragana is that there was only a fairly minimal set of katakana. However, there was a large set of cursive characters with many different forms for the same sound. Of these, a minimal set was selected and called hiragana. Those forms that didn't make it were called hentaigana.
In any case, katakana is now the default script for loanwords (by the regulatory body 文部科学省 Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) and has been probably since the post-WWII writing reform (1946).
However, before said writing reform, there are also publications with the roles of katakana and hiragana interchanged:

Newton's interpolation formula
Source: 藤原松三朗 「和算史ノ研究」 (東北数学雑誌 Vol. 46, 1940)
Answer: It is said that it was originally meant for foreign words, but some guys tend to oversimplify the matter for pedagogical purposes. It's not that easy a question, because the roles of katakana have changed over time. Until some decades, you would still find katakana instead of hiragana for the transcription of particles. Even today, it can be used to emphasize native Japanese words, much like we would use Italics in some Western languages. Also, for words, whether native or foreign in origin, that bear a scientific meaning where they could be mistaken for their cultural connotations, such as names of animal or plant species. Also, for onomatopoeic expressions, especially if they depict actual sounds instead of emotions.


Rabbana lakal hamd in women's prayer

Question: I'm a woman, I want to know that it is compulsory to say rabbana lakal hamd after ruku in women's' namaz, somebody said to me it is important when you perform prayer with ja'mat, if you are praying alone, it is not important. and one more thing if you do not say 'rabbana lakal hamd' in prayer, will namaz valid?
Comment: Salam and welcome to IslamSE the Q&A site about Islam. Consider taking the [tour] and checking the [help] for further information about our site and  model.
Answer: A prayer is valid as long as you didn't miss fard or rukn act. These may differ from madhhab to madhhab to some extent. Ruku' itself is fard or rukn (depending on the standard technical term used by a madhhab) while standing afterwards is discussed the Malikis consider it fard. But what exactly you may say is to some extent open as it is sunnah.
But if you want to follow the sunnah of the prophet () you should recite one of the formulation he has thought us and among them is:

رَبَّنَا وَلَكَ الْحَمْد Rabbana wa laka l-Hamd. (with and without "wa")

As you may find, but other wordings are also mentioned:

When the Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Sami`a l-lahu liman hamidah," (Allah heard those who sent praises to Him), he would say, "Rabbana wa laka l-hamd." On bowing and raising his head from it the Prophet (ﷺ) used to say Takbir. He also used to say Takbir on rising after the two prostrations. (See Hadith No. 656). ( Sahih al-Bukhari)

When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) raised his back from the rukd' he pronounced: (سَمِعَ اللَّهُ لِمَنْ حَمِدَهُ اللَّهُمَّ رَبَّنَا لَكَ الْحَمْدُ مِلْءَ السَّمَوَاتِ وَمِلْءَ الأَرْضِ وَمِلْءَ مَا شِئْتَ مِنْ شَىْءٍ بَعْدُ
  'Sami' Allahu liman hamidah, Allahumma, Rabbana laka-l-hamd, mil' as-samawati wa mil' al- ard wa mil' ma shi'ta min shay'in ba'd )
  Allah listened to him who praised Him. O Allah! our Lord! unto Thee be praise that would fill the heavens and the earth and fill that which will please Thee besides them. (Sahih Muslim)

When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) raised his head after bowing, he said:
  (اللَّهُمَّ رَبَّنَا لَكَ الْحَمْدُ مِلْءَ السَّمَوَاتِ وَمِلْءَ الأَرْضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا وَمِلْءَ مَا شِئْتَ مِنْ شَىْءٍ بَعْدُ أَهْلَ الثَّنَاءِ وَالْمَجْدِ لاَ مَانِعَ لِمَا أَعْطَيْتَ وَلاَ مُعْطِيَ لِمَا مَنَعْتَ وَلاَ يَنْفَعُ ذَا الْجَدِّ مِنْكَ الْجَدُّ
  Allahumma Rabbana laka-l-hamd, mil'a as-samawati wa mil'a al- ard wa ma baynahuma wa mil'a ma shi'ta min shay'in ba'du, ahlu at-thnaa'i wal majdi la mani'a li ma a'atyta wa la mu'atiya li mamana'ata wa la yanfa'u dhal jaddi minka-l-Jaddu.)
  Allah! our Lord, to Thee be the praise that would fill the heavens and the earth and that which is between them, and that which will please Thee besides (them). Worthy art Thou of all praise and glory. No one can withhold what Thou givest, or give what Thou withholdest. And the greatness O! the great availeth not against Thee. (Sahih Muslim)

When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: " Allah listens to him who praises Him," he also said: O Allah, our Lord, to thee be the praise in all heavens. Mu'ammil said( in his version); "  مِلْءَ السَّمَوَاتِ وَمِلْءَ الأَرْضِ وَمِلْءَ مَا شِئْتَ مِنْ شَىْءٍ بَعْدُ أَهْلَ الثَّنَاءِ وَالْمَجْدِ أَحَقُّ مَا قَالَ الْعَبْدُ وَكُلُّنَا لَكَ عَبْدٌ لاَ مَانِعَ لِمَا أَعْطَيْتَ
  (mil' as-samawati wa mil' al- ard wa mil' ma shi'ta min shay'in ba'd, ahlu at-thana'i wal majdi ahhaqu ma qala al-'Abdu wa kulluna lak 'abdun, laa maani'a lima a'atayta. wa laa mu'tiya lima man'ata)
  In all the heavens, and in all the earth, and in all that it pleases Thee to create afterwards. O thou Who art worthy of praise and glory, most worthy of what a servant says, and we are all thy servants, no one can withhold what thou givest or give what Thou withholdest. "The narrators then were agreed on the words: "And riches cannot avail a wealthy person with Thee." (Sunan abi Dawod -the translation here is incomplete, as it mixes statements of other narrators in the chain)

Note that what your friend said is wrong whatever you may say alone or in jama'at is the same the difference is in:

سَمِعَ اللَّهُ لِمَنْ حَمِدَه
  Sami'a Allahu liman hamidah.

As in a congregation the imam would say (recite) it so you shouldn't do so and just answer:

The people behind the imam should not say: "Allah listens to him who praises Him." But they should say: " Our Lord, to Thee be the praise." (Sunan abi Daowd)

Rabbana lakal hamd in women's prayer


Are mouldy kitchen scraps okay to compost?

Question: I was reading about the dangers of introducing pathogens in a compost pile. As you know, some moulds can be toxic. So I am curious if the normal household mould that appears in the kitchen or the refridgerator is something I should be concerned about.
Answer: Moulds help break down organic matter. They are part of a good compost heap and there is no reason why food with moulds cannot be placed on your heap. However, your heap can become too mouldy but that is usually the result of the heap being too wet and/or containing to much nitrogen. It is true that moulds can be toxic, so you should not let your pets eat any compost heap material.
Once the decomposition process is done, the moulds will be gone and the risk of pathogens is very small. This is due to a number of things:

during the composting process the temperature in the heap rises, killing most of the pathogens
other micro-organisms will kill and eat pathogens
in time the pathogens will die by natural causes

To reduce the risk of pathogens even further you can:

make sure you have the correct C:N balance, the correct moisture balance and enough air in your heap. This is all to ensure the heap reaches a good temperature.
turn and mix your heap regularly so stuff on the edges of the heap (where it is less warm) are also heated.
don't throw cat and dog feces on the heap (see also this answer)
Comment: @THelper: The problem are not only pathogens (as infectious living microorganisms) but also toxins - particularly mycotoxins. It seems that some mycotoxins can be difficult to decompose. By quick itnernet search I have found this abstract of an article [Stability of mycotoxins during food processing](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17804104).
Comment: Extremes of temperature (especially by pasteurization), availability of water, untenable environmental PH, and just plain waiting to long for a new host to sustain the reproductive cycle.
Comment: @THelper: The article is relevant to the problem I am referring to: **stability of mycotoxins**. Since I have found only texts related to food I linked at least the abstract above which reminds us that because not all mycotoxins are destroyed during food processing **it is also highly probable that not all mycotoxins are destroyed in compost**.
Comment: What are the "natural causes" of which pathogens die? It is sort of ambiguous, because one can consider "other micro-organisms" as a natural cause.
Comment: @pabouk Mycotoxins are toxins produced by fungi and [fungi are also pathogens](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pathogen#Fungal). I'm not sure how the article you are referring to is relevant here. The mycotoxins in processed food most likely come from fungi on the ingredients and the article describes that not all mycotoxins are destroyed during food processing. This doesn't seem to have any direct link to fungi in compost.
Answer: The concern about adding pathogens to a compost pile mostly overstated.  The normal biological action of composting reduces but does not eliminate pathogens in the compost, and the fact is that a lot of things which we compost are potentially hazardous foods.  I suppose if you want to be particularly paranoid you could avoid throwing things like cooked veggies into the compost heap.  Aside from very high pathogen sources (like manure), composting is believed to cause great reduction in pathogen concentration, to safe levels.
See Pathogens and Public Health Concerns with Composting by Chris Cronin (PDF, via Vermont Waste Management Division).
Comment: Not all manure is high is pathogens


Is it possible to cook a whole fish in a dishwasher?

Question: I heard that there is a way to cook a whole fish in a dishwasher - any techniques, tips??
Comment: When you are done, you can clean the dishes in the oven by baking them at 500 degrees for two hours :)
Comment: do we need the `dishwasher-cooking` tag?
Comment: there are 284 THOUSAND results for googling 'dishwasher salmon.'
Comment: Beware of Jet Dry with this. You might not put soap in, but if you've got a reservoir of shine agent it'll definitely get in the food if it's not in a sealed bag.
Comment: I would try to fry it with an iron, though
Comment: This one must be right up there with Kramer's Shower-washed Salad.
Comment: @Att - I have to ask, what would be the benefit of cooking in your dish washer?
Comment: Please do not edit previous questions in a way that they no longer make sense. I have rolled back your changes.
Comment: I would guess you have to actually buy a nice piece of fish for this. The reason is that non top quality fishes have tendencies to not stick together as well, wich means that if you put it in a dishwaser it will most probably break into several different pieces. Interesting question btw, but who the hell wish to do this:P
Comment: Thank you, hobodave and roux - and sarge, thanks for the first answer!!
Comment: @ceejayoz Better foil.  Heating plastic that contains [BPA's](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol_A) can be toxic.
Comment: Seven upvotes for a LMGTFY?
Comment: @yossarian isn't JustnBeaver just a robot?
Comment: That is easy. The really difficult thing is to CATCH a salmon in a dishwsher
Answer: Surely the authors of the previous (sublime!) answers will throw the "Sure it works in practice, but does it work in theory!?" at me, but this great SE question and its answers still lured me into creating an answer backed up by empirical evidence.
The Answer
YES! It's certainly possible. At least one successful attempt has been logged (see below).

The Experiment
The following equipment and ingredients were used in this experiment:

Two whole trouts (each 230 grams, 28 cm long, thickness 3 cm).
One salmon steak, cut in two equal pieces (90 grams each, thickest point 3 cm).
Herbs: rosemary and parsley.
Lemon slices (only on the trout, not on the salmon).
Sea salt.
Zip-lock bags.
Microwave foil (only on the salmon).
Dishwasher type: Bosch SGS55 (only sold in EU, it seems)

STEP 1 - Preparation
Salmon

Wrap tightly in microwave foil with salt, rosemary, parsley.
Put in zip-lock bag.
Push air out of bag, close it.

Trout

Salt, rosemary, parsley and lemon slices inside the fish.
Alas: the zip-lock bags were too small, I had to cut off the head and tail.
Put in zip-lock bag.
Push air out of bag, close it.

STEP 2 - Enter the Dishwasher

Rolled up the zip-lock bags a bit.
Put one salmon and one trout bag in the top rack, the other two in the bottom rack (to test the difference).

STEP 3 - Program
Here's the tricky bit. I read up on sous-vide before trying, noting fish (particularly salmon) would need around 50° Celsius at a constant temperature. However, my main concern was that the temperature would not be constant enough to cook the fish: I was more afraid of under cooking than of overcooking. So I decided to run my experiment at this program:

The highest program marked 70° Celsius
Run for the full 137 minutes
No detergent
No other equipment (plates, cutlery, etc)

THE WAIT
With the dishwasher empty, the first bit of the program made an awful lot of noise, with cold water hitting the inside of the empty dishwasher. After that it kind-of returned to normal.
STEP 4 - Results
After 136 minutes I was standing in front of the dishwasher eager like a little kid waiting to open his Christmas presents. The dishwasher felt really warm, even on the outside. When I opened the dishwasher I saw one of the bottom salmon bags had fallen to the bottom. This is what the bags looked like when I got 'em out:

Then, with hands shaking, I opened the bags. This is the result:

Victory! upon closer inspection it turned out the fish were all perfectly cooked! We put some extra salt on and enjoyed them very much.
Conclusion
The answer is then a wholehearted "Yes: this is possible!". Try this at home!
Comment: You are a perfect example of why I love the internet.
Comment: I'd be worried about the trout tasting plasticky / being cancerous, lol.
Comment: Kudos for doing the experiment and documenting it vigorously. Go science!
Comment: Is there such a thing as "best of Stack Exchange" and if so, has this answer already been honored? Because, wow.
Comment: @MatthewRead That shouldn't be a concern if they're the food-safe vacuum bags used for sous vide.
Comment: I like to think that at some point those two trout were swimming together and one said to the other, "I can't shake this feeling that, some day, you and I are going to end up in a dishwasher."
Comment: @Jeroen this is so cool and crazy man! Youre awesome!
Comment: Nice.  Never even figured on the fish being sealed in any way, when I read the question.  LOL.
Comment: I wonder what other things could be cooked this way?
Answer: Cooking in a dishwasher is related to some other non-orthodox places to cook, like on the manifold of a car on a road trip.
Basically, you're aiming to put food in an environment that's somewhere between 160F (71C) and 300F (150C) already, for non-cooking reasons. That's strange, but not entirely nuts.
The dishwasher is going to stay south of 212F (100C), but, a decent dishwasher doesn't stay very far below that threshold.
It's going to go through several variations of how that heat's applied, from the actual washing cycle to the drying cycle.
And, if you run a regular cycle of dishes, there's going to be a bunch of foreign substances (soap, food bits from the dishes (and in the car manifold situation, things like oil)) all around it.
So, your goal is to wrap the food in something that can both handle the heat and seal out the foreign stuff. To me, the most obvious solution to this is the vacuum sealed pouches used for sous vide.
You're not going to get anything remotely close to the consistent temps for sous vide, but for the dishwasher, you're still talking about mostly cooking in "hot water" and hot, moist air, so that's close enough to give a shot.
So, I'd fill the pouch with seasonings/marinades and let it ride and see what comes out.
I wouldn't expect it to be great, but it might be worth a shot for the shock value alone.
Comment: I have actually done this, and we did it exactly because we wanted to emulate sous vide on the cheap. Was it sous vide? no, but was worth it? definitively! Vacuum seal the salmon with spices and run a regular wash (no airdrying will be needed) with no soap.
Comment: Is this even safe for things like poultry, pork, etc? My dishwasher has one program that does 35C and another that goes to 55C or something....nowhere near 100C and not even sure for how long the temp stays above food safety regulations..
Answer: I would wrap it up in tinfoil with some herbs and spices and maybe some lemon and set it to the pots and pan setting and let it run.  I would make sure to temp it before you eat it and make sure that it is fully cooked.  Also, you might want to lay it on the top so the steam and water cook it rather than the heating element at the bottom.  I would also suggest that you leave the soap out. Let us know how it worked out.
P.S. This seems like a very inefficient way to accomplish the goal of cooking a fish.
Comment: @hobodave who doesn't want their fish to be sparkling clean?
Comment: It's only inefficient if cooking the fish is your *sole* purpose (haha, I made a fish joke).  But seriously, if you're washing a load of dishes and have enough space to put your fish in there, surely it's more efficient to cook the fish in the dishwasher (that you're using anyway) than firing up the oven.
Comment: Also probably good to have a backup plan in case it doesn't go well...
Comment: There's actually a Google hit that says it's ok to use it with soap on a regular load with dishes as long as it's tightly sealed. (lol)
Comment: If you did use tinfoil you might find and residual dishwasher chemicals would react with it. I think the zip lock bag suggestion or tinfoil then a zip lock sounds a lot safer.
Comment: @doc That would be true except the enviroment inside the dishwasher is full of stuff you don't want to eat, and there is a much higher risk of some of that stuff geting into your food if there are dishes in there as well. If you pack it in some impervious container that is both air and water tight then yes, otherwise, not so much. That is, of course, before you factor in that you will have to ruin some fish to figure out exactly when in the cycle to add the fish to get it done without over-cooking it, which is very easy to do with fish.
Comment: That's how I've read the discussion thread, especially with the talk about using ziplock bags to keep the soap and other debris away from the fish.  It seemed to me that the guy wanted to take advantage of the dishwasher cycle by using it to cook a fish and therefore save some energy.
Comment: It's energy inefficent, but if you want to steam a large fish in one piece and don't have a 2ft long fish steaming pan lying around it's worth trying
Comment: Depending on the size of your dishwasher, it could be an efficient way to cook a *lot* of fish.  Say, if you're preparing for a party or something.
Answer: This is essentially a Sous Vide hack (like the beer cooler, which is only slightly less weird). This would probably work best with a newer dish washer that can use cooler wash cycles. A quick google shows some wash cycles down in the 125F to 135F range, which is a common temperature to sous vide salmon. I personally don't like salmon at this temperature and prefer it cooked at either a much higher temperature with conventional methods or sous vide at 113F. If you try this, I would recommend using a dish washer that runs at a cooler temperature. It's also a good idea when cooking fish at low temperatures to buy sushi grade fish and avoid serving to anyone who is immune compromised (kids, elderly, pregnant, etc.). As chris has tested, some dishwashers apparently will hit 45c / 113f.
And for everyone that thinks fish in a dishwasher is weird, Heston Blumenthal cooks whole pigs in the hot tub. Now that's weird. In fact, for Salmon, a hot tub may be closer to the ideal temperature for sous vide. However, I do not suggest it (even google doesn't find anyone trying it, and I'd hate to be the one responsible for starting it). I don't think a hot tub would meet cleanliness standards for cooking.
I strongly recommend Douglas Baldwin's excellent Sous Vide primer if you want to try this method. He talks in detail about cooking times, effect the size of the fish has on cooking, pasteurization tables, and safety concerns. For this "dish" you want the Salmon Mi-Cuit recipe.
Comment: FYI, your link to Douglas Baldwin's Souse Vide primer has gone 404. Maybe this is its new location: http://www.douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html ?
Answer: In Heston Blumenthal's "Family Food" he says that they cook fish in a 45C stirred water bath at his restaurant. There is another recipe of his where he poaches pears in a dishwasher using sealed and vacuumed "Food Saver" bags.
If you have a dishwasher with a 45C setting you could combine the two ideas. He says that the cooking time for a 250g skinless salmon fillet using the water bath method is half an hour. When the fish has been cooked correctly it will "still look undercooked but will flake beautifully".
If you are going to try this I would recommend waiting until the dishwasher is well into its cycle before chucking the fish in so that the temperature is up to 45C.
Comment: I think it's very unlikely that a washing machine will hit 45C (113F), which is only slightly warmer than a hot tub. Also, you need at least 40 minutes at that temperature to properly cook a 1 inch piece of salmon. This type of cooking is highly dependant on the size of the shortest side of the fish. The amount of time needed to cook your fish goes up by a factor of 4 when you double the size.
Comment: My machine has a 45C setting. I checked the reading on a digital probe while I ran a cycle. The cycle lasted 30 mins taking five minutes to get up to 45C. For cooking times over 25 mins I would have to run cycles in succession. Under the cycle the temperature went as low as 35C on two short occasions and went up to 55C at the end of the cycle. If I had seen a constant temperature of 45C I might have tried with some vacuum packed fish. As it is, I don't think I'll risk it.
Comment: cool! I don't think the temp variations would be a huge problem if the 55 was short. You could always pull the fish out / cancel the wash when it got to that temp. Salmon at 45f is awesome. It might be worth a try. Completely different texture from normal cooking and a delightfully subtle flavor. It's one of my favorite sous vide dishes.
Answer: At a restaurant I used to work at we used a dishwasher for our whole steamed Red Snapper that was on the catering menu.
For catering it's great because you can fit 2 rows of 4 on a rack and do them all at one time.
The wash cycle was completely skipped and the fish was steamed using the heated dry cycle.
The Red Snapper was first scaled.  Tail and head left for presentation and we would stand them up in the swimming position by putting a ball of foil under the belly.
Season well with kosher salt and fresh herbs then use a traditional court bouillon and pour fill the bottom of the dishwasher up by about 2 inches.  The water input hose was removed and the dishwasher was manually drained with a drain plug after use.  They came out perfect every time and could even hold for a few hours before service if we left the door closed after the cycle finished.
Answer: This is the recipe some friends of mine used. It worked out wonderfully and was certainly the topic of the party. They found the recipe here:
http://www.thesalmons.org/lynn/dishwasher.html
Needs:
salmon fillets
aluminum foil
a lemon
a few butter pats
electric dishwasher
Place the fish on two large sheets of aluminum foil. Squeeze on some lemon juice and place the pats of butter on the salmon fillets. Seal the fillets well in the foil, and place the foil packet in the top wire basket of your electric dishwasher. DO NOT ADD SOAP OR DETERGENT and NO RINSE AID. Close the dishwasher door, set the dishwasher on the hottest wash cycle, complete with drying cycle, and let it run through a full cycle. When the cycle is complete the fish will be cooked just right.