US debit/ATM card with lowest fees for travel

Question: For a US citizen traveling worldwide, what is the best major debit/ATM card (on the Visa or MasterCard networks) to take in terms of lowest fees for withdrawing international currency from ATMs? Withdrawing from foreign ATMs often results in a series of bank fees, currency conversion fees, and ATM fees, and I'm looking for the card with the best policies on these fees to save money during international travel.
Comment: As a tip I have started using my credit card to buy stuff instead of cash from the ATM in some countries as much as possible and paying it off the same day via online banking. In countries where I feel safe I withdraw enough money for a couple of weeks at a time to minimize the (non percentage) fees. Pickpockets are thieves. Banks are thieves. The first group may not strike but the second will certainly strike!
Comment: I think this depends strongly on where you are traveling to. For example, I was able to use my (Canadian) debit card at an actual branch of my bank located in Turks and Caicos. No fees whatsoever, it was as though I was in my home town. That would not be the case in, say, France.
Comment: Some pairs of banks in two countries will have agreements between them to not charge extra fees for foreign travellers' transactions. Some multinational banks like HSBC or Citibank *might* not charge extra fees no matter where the card account is from.
Comment: Wouldn't any answer to this question go out of date really quickly? From my experience banks tweak their products, fee structures, etc fairly frequently.
Comment: I wonder if using a bitcoin exchange would be worth the hassle.
Answer: I've been living in Europe now for about 5 years but still make the bulk of my income from the US (where I'm from).  I have tried many US banks and all the debit cards you can imagine.  Most promises of low transaction fees and hassle-free transactions are lies.
Here's what I've learned.
Bank of America (BofA)
I used BofA for all my ATM transactions for 2 years.  They have an arrangement with the 8 biggest banks in the world (Global ATM Alliance) Barclays (UK), BNP (France), Deutsche Bank (Germany), etc.
If you use any one of their alliance ATMs they will in theory not charge an ATM fee.  However, this is not always true.  Some alliance members have ATMs in external zones, for example Deustche Bank has ATMs outside of Germany in both Poland and Czech Republic, etc.  They will not charge you in Germany but you may face charges at these external ATMs.  Loopholes not withstanding, finding these specific ATMs can be an adventure, one that more often than not ends in tears.  BofA also charges high exchange rate fees.
Capital One
They used to have free transaction fees for foreign purchases (one of the few) but no longer, they now charge 1% which is still low, I believe the average is 2-3%.  Never assume your card has low transactions or believe a word you read until you try it.
Citibank
Looked great on paper, but wasn't.  Do not use Citibank for travel outside the US.  I tried using them thinking that, because Citibank has branches all over europe, it would be a good way to transfer money and use ATMs locally but it was not.  It was worse then BofA, much much worse. AVOID.
Charles Schwab
This is the card I've been using for the last 3 years and it is awesome.  I've never thought it possible to like a bank, but this one has never misled me, yet.  Other cards may advertise ATM reimbursement, this one actually does it.  The others either have limits, say limit 2 per month, schemes requiring you to pull over a certain amount, have $25,000 at all times, or some other ridiculous crap hidden in fine print that the accountants at Arthur Anderson would have admired.
This card has no weird restrictions, you simply use it.  I didn't believe it when I signed up, but have had a perfect experience for 3 years.  On the off chance they miss an ATM fee (it happens 1% of the time), you send them an email, they remove it.
Too good to be true?  You would think so.  Too good to last?  Probably.
Comment: @dbkk When I signed up with Schwab they required signing up for their free brokerage account (took 10-15m online); but there was no requirement that I ever actually use it.  My theory is they're playing a long term game and assuming that eventually a non-trivial fraction of their banking customers will feel like buying stock/etc for the first time and decide to use the Schwab account they're already signed up for instead of shopping around and potentially opening a brokerage account elsewhere.
Comment: Schwab used to have a Credit Card that paid out 2%.  2% on every purchase, no rules, no scary point system.  It put 2% of your purchases in your account every month.  It was too good to last, unless you were grandfathered in. ;-)
Comment: Add Chase to the list of really poor choices. 3% exchange rate fee (5% for credit card purchases) + $5 international ATM withdrawal fee + 1% additional "just because we can" fee.
Comment: Are there requirements to have a brokerage account at Schwab with a certain amount of activity, or do they offer some variant of free checking? Btw, I'd put that one on top of the answer, for clarity.
Comment: Schwab may have some requirements to open an account, ie credit check, but once accepted I'm fairly certain there are no "activity" limits or similar goodies that other providers hide in their fine print.  Their High Yield Checking is Free, I'm not aware of any higher or lower accounts with fees.  Hope that helps.
Comment: Could you provide some details on how Citibank was worse than BofA? (More difficult to find ATMs? Larger fees? Card not working in some countries? Difficult to get correct information?)
Comment: Confirm that Schwab does exactly that for me.  Also, if you do the transaction in the local currency whenever possible, you get the official inter-bank exchange rate at the moment, usually (but not always) better than what you'd get from anyone else.
Comment: few years later - are you STILL happy with the Schwab card?
Answer: I currently use the Charles Schwab High Yield Checking card, which reimburses all ATM fees charged by other banks (even internationally). It's a little bit of a hassle to set up as it requires you to have a linked (but free) brokerage account with them as well. And it's just ATM fees, foreign transaction or currency conversion fees still apply, as far as I know.
Comment: It is a bit of a hassel to setup as sometimes you can't do it online, they required one form I had to mail.  But, if you plan to travel around for a few weeks or longer this card is a must.  At first, I was skeptical about the card, thinking it was too good to be true, but I've been using it for 3 years now and they reimburse the ATM charges about 95% of the time.  In the off chance they miss one, you can email them and they will remove it for you.  This card is awesome.  Don't mess around with BofA or Citibank, I used them for years and they screwed me around 50% of the time.
Comment: I set mine up by phone.  The only thing I had to mail was the initial deposit.  And there are no currency conversion fees with Schwab if you pay in the local currency.  Watch out for Walmart.  In Mexico, instead of asking me, they clicked the dollars button, which allowed them to charge me a conversion fee.
Comment: few years later - are you STILL happy with the Schwab card?
Answer: Consider a credit union.  My CU charged no fees and used a favorable exchange rate when I traveled to France last year.  Far better than the two banks my traveling companion wanted to use.
Comment: I love credit unions but using them outside the US has always been a disaster for me.  They are not big enough to make deals with international banks and even if they did refund your ATM fees abroad, it would probably be a the detriment of the other members having to pay higher fees for something else, so it wouldn't make sense.  Big banks might be evil, but by being big they have the "ability" to reduce foreign transactions in deal making with other big bad foreign banks. Not to say that they do this, in the case of Citibank & Chase, they charge even more.
Comment: Wow!  That's the exact opposite of my experience just last year.  Seriously, it worked exceedingly well when we traveled to France in September, 2010.  There were no problems getting cash from ATMs, which was the original poster's question.
Comment: I have debit and credit cards from UW Credit Union, both charge 1% on foreign currency transactions.

The debit card has no fee for using an ATM. Cash withdrawal from the debit card is usually charged the 1% fee, but sometimes there is no fee. Fees charged by the bank that owns the ATM still apply but I've successfully learned to shop around for ATMs that charge the lowest fees. In some countries, like Austria, there are no ATM provider fees so I can use any ATM and on get charged the 1% and no other fees.
Comment: Don't assume a credit union or any other type is better.  Read the fine print for yourself.  My credit union gives me one percent of the purchase amount for using my Visa in USA.  Outside of USA, they _charge_ me one percent "international service charge."  And they don't reimburse ATM fees.
Answer: The conditions for the Charles Schwab card remain almost as good as indicated in @holden's answer from 2011. There are still no fees, and still total reimbursement of ATM fees. However, the fine print says that the conversion rate will be between 0.10% and 1.0% in their favor relative to some benchmark, depending on amount and currency. This is my primary go-to card for outside the USA.
Also worth mentioning (and was not so in 2011): the Discover card is now accepted outside the USA anywhere Diner's Club is. Their website shows worldwide coverage; still absent in many places. There is a small DC logo on the back of the card; nevertheless I had it rejected at a restaurant in a hotel that takes DC, while the front desk of the same hotel had no problem. This card is terrible for ATM use as the withdrawal is treated as a cash advance, but I have had fairly good results with merchants because there is no conversion fee. And the purchases are eligible for whatever cash-back arrangement your card has generally. This card has no annual fee. Diner's Club does. Go figure.
Answer: Bank of Internet USA (not to be confused with Bank of America) offers a free checking account which comes with an ATM card with no withdrawal fees. They also refund other bank's fees up to some small amount. I used their card in several countries in East Asia and Europe with no major problems. The only downside is that they will start charging a 1% currency exchange fee starting September 2011 (currently this is zero as well).
Typically, major U.S. banks charge huge fees, some hidden (e.g. Chase ATMs charge $5 fixed + 1% fee + 3% hidden exchange fee, in addition to destination bank charges, of course).
Avoiding destination bank ATM fees (overt and hidden) is also significant. If you have a specific destination in mind, try researching specific ATMs with low or no fees for foreign transactions.
Comment: @holden Good warning -- I think most major US banks offer poor terms for international ATM withdrawals. Note that *Bank of Internet USA* is not related *Bank of America* (BofA), despite the name similarity.
Comment: I would discourage anyone from using BofA for their ATMs outside the US.  I did it for several years before discovering the Charles Schwab High Yield Checking listed below.  BofA is a member of the Global ATM Alliance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_ATM_Alliance which means you can use any of the partner ATMs without fee, but finding a particular ATM in a given country is a huge pain and sometimes they charge the fee anyway.
Comment: BTW, BofA charges $5 for their debit card and $10 for their credit card at ATMs outside the US that are not a member of their Alliance.  Plus they charge a relatively high exchange rate on top of the flat fee.
Answer: I do know that Capital One does not charge a foreign transaction fee on their credit cards.  I think they are the only major issuer that does not charge a foreign transaction fee.  An Etrade debit card charges 1%.  I have not found a debit card that does not charge a foreign transaction fee.
Minimizing ATM fees means carrying more cash around.  I tend to carry a lot of cash but some people might not feel comfortable doing this.


Would carbon-based lifeforms be able to eat silicon-based lifeforms?

Question: In the South Galaxy, the overwhelming majority of life lives on planets, breathes air, and is carbon-based. All sentient life is carbon-based. However, in the vast reaches of space, there are some animals that float through the empty void, do not breathe (at least not air) and are silicon-based. These include Space Whales, huge whale-like (duh) creatures that inhabit nebulas. Would these Space Whales be edible to the carbon-based lifeforms or would it just be like eating sand?
Comment: By "eat" I assume you mean "consume for the purpose of absorbing nutrients or water to keep oneself alive" and not simply "can you eat styrofoam?" to which the answer is "yes, but it'll just constipate you before contiuing its eternal journey."
Comment: Since Si cannot replace C in toto or even at all for life you might consider to detail to which extent the alien life is silicon based. They might have carbon proteins for instance....
Comment: My guess (which is why I'm not putting this in an answer) is that you'd need an entire complex ecosystem of carbon based life forms to do this, in the same way we have simple ecosystems that turn forms of carbohydrates that are inedible to humans (grasses) into edible meat (deer, antelope, cattle, etc.). You'd probably need to begin at the microbial level, with bacterial analogs that specialize in one or two of the silanes bobtato mentions in his response below. Then these could be in the gut of a carbon-based ruminate analog that's edible to humans?
Comment: Plants & lichens can derive sustenance (minerals they need at least) from rock & they're carbon based, would a symbiotic relationship (some form of lichen like gut flora perhaps) or farming situation (where lichen is grown on your space whale then harvested) suit your requirements?
Comment: @JBH agree. Perhaps the OP could clarify whether it is about eating, or digesting.
Answer: We are not able to digest silicon based materials. See for example rice hulls:

Rice hulls are the coatings of seeds, or grains, of rice. The husk protects the seed during the growing season, since it is formed from hard materials, including opaline silica and lignin. The hull is mostly indigestible to humans.

Since your life forms are also silicon based, I doubt a human would able to metabolize any part of their bodies, we simply lack the chemicals to break down the molecules making up their bodies.
Comment: @Pelinore "… silicon doesn't easily form bonds with oxygen …" – Oxygen compounds (e.g. silicates, silicon dioxide) actually are the most abundant form of silicon.
Comment: If I understand the concept of silicon based lifeforms correctly (which I may not of course) the silicon (among other things) replaces the carbon we as carbon based lifeforms use for the forming of complex bonds in DNA, also silicon doesn't easily form bonds with oxygen so it's unlikely to be used for some form of respiration even if used elsewhere in the organism in places we use carbon : so  if the "silicon life" is just using the silicon for DNA there might not be any reason to suppose it's "cells" & proteins might not have some digestible components for carbon life forms?
Comment: @Pelinore, carbohydrates are also based on Carbon, like also proteins and lipids. A Silicon based life form would replace Carbon with Silicon everywhere
Comment: _"A Silicon based life form would replace Carbon with Silicon everywhere"_ I guess that does make sense, the primary assumption of silicon based life is that it evolves in a carbon poor silicon rich environment after all.
Comment: @Abigail, Carbon based organic chemistry has fundamental differences with Silicon based organic chemistry.  My safe assumption is that the digestive processes will be oriented toward the more abundant bonds.
Comment: We can't digest quartz or glass. Hydrogen fluoride will dissolve silicates nicely, but hydrogen chloride that is found in the stomach of the carbon based life forms we are familiar with will not.
Answer: The majority of the nutrients we need (proteins, carbohydrates, fats) are carbon-based, and silicon-based life is presumed to have incompatible analogs instead (with silanes replacing alkane groups).
Silicon-based organic analogs are often biologically inert (on Earth), which is why they're used for things like medical implants and cookware.  Eating space whale meat wouldn't nourish you, but it probably wouldn't harm you either, at least in moderate amounts.  Like clay eating (pica), it could become a problem just in mechanical terms if you eat too much of the stuff.
Space whale might contain one or two things you do need – most obviously water, but also salt and trace elements like iron and magnesium, which might be in forms that your digestive system could extract.
So, no, you couldn't live off it; but in starvation conditions it might be slightly better than sucking a button.
(Of course, if silicon is replacing carbon, the chemistry might be different in other ways.  If, by the same logic, oxygen were replaced by sulfur, then you would have hydrogen sulfide instead of water, and then the space whale meat would be highly toxic and bad-smelling)
Edited to add:
I suppose another reason to eat space whale would be if it tasted good.  But I suspect that silicon-based meat would not taste of much of anything.  Our sense of smell (and taste) is known to be largely based on the shape of molecules, and because silicon atoms are larger than carbon atoms, the silicon-based analogs of tasty molecules would not fit taste / smell receptors designed for the carbon-based versions.  Also, silicon-based "organic" molecules tend to be much more water-repellent.  I imagine it would be like eating flavorless, oily clay or rubber.
Answer: Maybe some part might be edible.

https://allaboutbison.com/bison-in-history/1800s/1861-1868/
During the mass slaughter of the western herds of buffalo (American bison), many thousands of animals were killed just for the tongue.  The rest of the animal was left where it fell to rot.
You could have something like this with your space whales.  It sounds like it would help your story if they could get eaten by carbon based creatures.  Maybe the vast bulk of the space whale is essentially silicious mineral matter but one tiny organ is carbon based - maybe the eye, or a gland in the brain.  That part is super tasty and a prestige food for jaded rich people who are tickled by the idea of an enormous ancient being dying so they could eat its eye.
Comment: I can't help myself and must point out that the very next item is "green paint," which might actually be more akin to space whales than buffalo toungues.  I'm just sayin'.
Comment: @Willk Now we just walk into a paint store or big box store and pick a color from *thousands* of choices and they mix it up on the spot. Not that long ago, each significant (not necessarily "primary") color came from a very different animal, vegetable or mineral source and it could easily be that some would be more or less rare/valuable than others.
Comment: @JBH - it is kind of weird that only green paint would be up for auction.
Comment: Note also the subsequent '[verdigris](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verdigris)' item.  This is the pigment that makes the paint green.
Answer: Humans eat for two different reasons:

Energy.  We need energy to survive.  To get it, we eat plants, or animals which ate plants, and then, through the Calvin and Krebs Cycles, convert Adenosine Diphosphate (ADP) to Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP).  The extra phosphate in ATP stores energy.  We then burn that ATP back into ADP to harness it.  The number of basic types of foods that can give us energy are very limited, and all of them are carbon based, as carbon is needed in the Calvin and Krebs Cycles.  Silicon-based lifeforms would most likely have no caloric value for human digestion.
Nutrition.  Humans need 20 different types of amino acids to survive.  We can make 12 of them, leaving 8 which we must "harvest" from other organisms.  These eight are called the "essential amino acids."  Many other animals are capable of making them, so by eating them, we satisfy our needs.  The only plant conclusively found to have all eight is quinoa, and flax seed is a maybe.  Silicon-based lifeforms would not have these amino acids, as all of them contain carbon.  This is what makes us carbon-based.

There is no reason, therefore, for humans to want to eat these.  It would likely give them indigestion.  However, there are other reasons people might be hunting space-whales.  In the 1800s, whales were killed for their oil, which was  used in lamps.  Perhaps these space-whales contain a critical energy source.  There are  plenty of reasons why they might be hunted, and I would consider using one  of those in your world.
Answer: On earth some bacteria living extreme environment are able to use non-organic material like rocks to live like pyrite (FeS2).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithoautotroph
As mentionned previously Sulfur would be replacing oxygen for silicium-based organism so why not a kind of complex organism based on extremophile example could use it in a non traditionnal way to extract energy.
As you'll see there is a lot of extremophile bacteria kind and we'll discover more and more. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extremophile
So if you can exhibit a way to extract energy from your silicium-based organism using organic chemistry you can imagine an organism able to support it.


Maintaining QTP object repository -best practice for a multideveloper environment

Question: In my new project, we have 4 automation testers working together on four different modules of an application .
Its a web application and we work on windows platform.
The automation tool being used is QTP and we are following a hybrid framework using Object repository and DP as required.
I would like to know the best approach here to take.
As all four of us are working on different modules and  finally we  have to integrate them together into the test machine, where all our scripts will run together.
We are not planning to remove OR as scripts with OR is running much faster than those with DP in our application.
The problem we are facing is that , as each of us  have our on local OR , each time we  add new  code to test machine, we also put our respective OR after making it .tsr into the shared  repository and  associate them to the script.
This creates a lot of object redundancy in the shared repository .
What we are planning to do is make those shared repo as local in the  test machine and delete all those duplicate objects each time and  update the repo  from application.
Please suggest me the best approach to this  problem , so that we can maintain a robust test frame work for our application , which will also be  easy to handle and  maintain.
Comment: You can use "Object Repository Merge Tool " available in "Object Repository Manager" in UFT.
Comment: This really isn't much use as an answer - you haven't added anything new to the answers already present.
Answer: I am not QTP expert but one QTP expert told me once that it is best to not use Object Repo as -

It makes project heavy when it begins to grow in size.
You can not version control object repo
You can easily port script from one machine to other if you use
Descriptive Programming than Object Repo
Comment: I found the scripts getting very slow when using DP for my application, that's why I am trying not to avoid Object Repo completely. However if there seems no other option then I would go for DP.
Comment: @RakeshPrabhakaran the only reason I know for DP to be slow is that in DP all values are regular expressions by default. You can create non-regular expression values if you use Description.Create and then turn off the regular expression flag for each property.
Comment: Will try that Motti
Comment: +1 for listing the problems I have with the OR and giving me another reason to search for another approach
Answer: Having a robust framework is always a challenge for an Automation Engineer. I had worked on a project in which, we added every single object into the repository and finally found the maintenance activity as a Herculean task. Also, maintaining a local OR for every script will add to more chaos. (I hope you agree to this)
With the help of an Automation Engineer we arrived at a reasonably good framework and I will share some of the features that we follow here. (Ours is a Desktop application and you may correlate it to a web application)

Adding only the parent dialog to the OR.
The controls that you want to access should be done through a function that identifies the child by its parent & classname/title etc
This will avert the cumbersome activity that might come up if you had added every single control to the OR. Since the parent is known, finding the appropriate child would be quick. Additionally, it won't eat up your time had you used DP.
Maintain an include file in which you will be writing functions to define your parent objects (that you added to the OR). Different parents of the same class could be written in a same function and selected using SELECT CASE based on the parameter that you pass through the function.
This will not only reduce the length of your code, but also help in the easy maintenance of OR.
We maintain our repository on network. So if one person is modifying a file, it will be opened as a Read-only file for others. Also, if you have followed the approach mentioned in (1) & (2), OR will be just a one-time investment !
Answer: After working on DP and OR I find that its always better to go forward with a hybrid approach where we use a combination of both, DP and OR based.


What does "to cause" mean?

Question: What does it mean, strictly, for one event to "cause" another?  If I throw a ball, does the movement of my arm cause the ball to move, or are they simply correlated events?  If you say the arm caused the ball to move, how can you be sure?
Answer: I would like to think about this from basic concepts, in slightly less formal and less "according to the great thinkers" terms...
It seems obvious to me that if a set of conditions (C) necessarily came about because of an action (A) then A caused C.
If an event (E) happens after an action (A) (or conditions (C) that it created, as above) then it may have been caused by A.  This is the interesting part...
If (E) must necessarily have happened if A (or C), is this sufficient to say A caused E?
Or should we add that E could not have happened without A (or C) as well?
What if E was only one of several possibilities, one (or many, but not all) of which must have happened once A had happened (or C had been created)?  A caused something to happen, but not necessarily E: E is just the event that (randomly or by some decision/further event) ended up happening.
These questions have application in law as well as philosophy.
Example: X steals $100 from Y (A).  Y can now not pay all their bills (C), fails to pay the rent, and gets evicted (E).  A caused C, there's little doubt about that.  However, Y chose not to pay the rent, rather than their credit card bill.  So did A cause E (the eviction) or was it the decision of what not to pay?  In a perfect world, where X gets caught and is forced to repair all damage to Y, should they re-house Y as well, or is the causal relationship broken because of another conscious action (the decision) in between?  If Y acted rationally, then we can assume that eviction was the least negative outcome of not paying a bill (maybe all his other services are supplied by the Mafia :P).  In this instance, can we say that A caused E? (or "at least" E - not a particularly logical term, but one that has meaning in the legal sense here).
This is a line of thought I often find myself pondering, and I'm interested in people's own inputs and lines of thought, rather than a link to established questions on the matter.  (BTW I'm not denying the usefulness of the previous response, just looking for more discourse on this.)
Comment: Great answer, but is there any chance I might be able to persuade you to maybe show some directions for further exploration -- maybe reference some introductory articles to learn more? I really liked Michael's suggested SEP's entry on causation in metaphysics -- at any rate, I thought it was at least worth bumping here again in a comment. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/causation-metaphysics/
Answer: Causation is a very thorny philosophical area, and the literature on it is immense.
Here is an introductory article (from the SEP) on the subject.
If you are beginning your research, I'd suggest you begin by looking at Hume, as he raised issues that everyone since has had to grapple with.
Answer: The meaning of "cause" is very vague, it is a human term, not a scientific term. It supposes you are talking about a collection of very many analogous events, with a map between them which tells you how they are analogous, and with different attributes. When you say "A causes B", you mean that in those analogous cases where you find the bits describing the initial situation to describe A, you will reliably find the bits in the later state to describe state B, regardless of the other bits in the description. Then we say "A causes B".
It is always an analogy, and it's always complicated. The fundamental description in terms of physics does not include this complex notion of "cause and effect" that we attribute to macroscopic phenomena. It includes other things that are different that are called "causality", and this leads people to think causality is tied into physics more than it is.
Comment: Is a scientific term a non-human term?
Comment: When you hit the "send" button to submit your answer here, were you merely a correlation and not a causative agent in the process?
Comment: @MarkJ: Honestly, I don't know. In the definition I gave, I am a causative agent, because the send-button pressing is A and the appearence of the message is B, and the definition works. But if I say "I know this guy, he's a bastard, he's going to walk out on the job half finished, so I'll hire someone else to do it." Is the cause of the hiring someone else the other person's walking-out-on-the job? Is it his "bastardness"? There are worse cases in the superrational examples, the cause-effect idea is hard to pin down, and it doesn't appear in physics, only in human world.
Comment: @iphigenie: A scientific term ideally is something you can program a computer to understand. A human term is like the ultimate capcha. Like the statement "Beckett is an important writer" is hard to explain to a computer how to verify.
Comment: @RonMaimon: Well, that's the thing, *agency* can really be only verified (and perhaps even understood) from the point of the agent him/herself, and never from a second-hand point-of-view.  To deny the agent, is to partially deny the whole enterprise of science, since it's the scientist who is making the models of the world in which s/he is verifying.
Comment: @MarkJ: Why can't I verify agency by talking to an agent and asking questions? Or using MRI? Or reading the person's mind using equipment? Is this "zombie" nonsense? Logical positivism does not accept the coherence of the zombie concept, and it's tragic that it floats around.
Answer: This depends on who you're reading and what sort of perspective you want to explore.  The four causes of Aristotle are not all the same.  What modern scientists do with causality differs.  From an empirical perspective, causes are not observable, and thus at best correlations or associations, at worst fictions.
Answer: "To cause" means that there is an unbroken chain, ordered in time, that links from cause to effect.  To negate this would be to break reality itself (or at least its relationship to human consciousness).
The item which has caused all the confusion, is whether the human mind can be its own agent; other than that, despite what everyone may say, there is no controversy.
Comment: Aristotle would take you to task for this.  There still do exist people who believe in "final causes".
Answer: A causes B if all of the following are true:

A exists when B exists.
A can exist without B.
B does not exist without A.

In reality though there is hardly ever just A and B. Normally there are also C, D, and so on which makes it impossible to determine the causes. For example:
Suppose

A, B and C exist,
C does not exist without A and B,
and C exists with either A or B.

Then we don't know if C is caused by both A and B or if C is caused by either A or B but not both.
That's why only when simulating the 3 variations described in the first example can the causal relationship be understood.
Comment: There's a literature of rival axiomatisations of the "is a cause of" relation.  Where does yours come from?

What does "to cause" mean?


How to make my toddler stop crying every night?

Question: I have a 15-month-old daughter. Since birth, she has been crying every night around the same time with her eyes closed. I haven't had a real good sleep at night since she's been here. I've had numerous doctors' appointments to check on things and everything comes back normal. She's lactose intolerant and has a diet with no dairy. I wonder whether it's from what she's eating. How to make her stop crying?
Comment: It may be that people would find it useful to have some more detail, for instance, how long does the crying last? How often does your daughter cry? etc.
Comment: shes whining with her eyes close, could it be discomfort then?
Comment: She has a diet with no dairy.\
Comment: Its every night around the same time.
Comment: Does she seem to be asleep while crying?  Does she seem scared, seem in pain, or just fussy/needs comfort?  Does a specific thing help her stop crying and go back to sleep (backrub, drink of milk or water, etc)?
Comment: Is there something that fairly consistently happens in her environment around the time she starts with crying?
Answer: Welcome to Parenting on SE!
I have a couple of ideas that may help with your current sleepless nights situation...

White noise: There are all sorts of types of white noise machines. We have one that does water, nature, ocean, rain, heartbeat, or plain ol' white noise. We also have a Munchkin that has white noise, music, a projector, night light, and more. These have been wonderful as to filter out any excess noise that may disrupt the child. Our child now sleeps beautifully with it, and as soon as we turn it off she wakes up.
Humidifier: Having a humidifier, especially in dryer climates, allows the child to breathe heavier and easier. Less coughing, congestion, or boogies helps for longer, deeper sleep.
Feed before bedtime: I have found that feeding before bedtime is a great way to get the child sleepy and also to sleep longer.
Routine: Create a bedtime routine. Do the same thing each night, keep bedtime the same time each night, and follow it every night. Kids crave structure and by allowing the child to know what to expect is a great way to ease anxiety and help the child feel more peaceful before bedtime.
No napping close to bedtime: You want your child to be tired and ready for bed when it's bedtime. Eliminate late naps, and follow the routine step above.

I hope this helps. I understand the struggle of no sleep and I wish you the best in finding a solid resolution!


Why do video game framerates need to be so much higher than TV and cinema framerates?

Question: It seems that video games need to have something like 60 frames per second in order to be smooth and realistic. But TV and films only have about 24 or 25. Why the difference?
Comment: Going to strongly vote against migration to GameDev. This is not a question *of interest to* devs - it just happens to be one a dev is best suited to answer. That doesn't make it a better fit there, any more than [this question](http://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/448/are-there-cheap-gps-navigator-devices-with-downloadable-maps-for-the-whole-world) from Travel.SE would fit in at GIS.se. Vote to keep it open or closed on it's merits, but migration is, IMO, a non-starter. (For what it's worth, my vote is to keep it open. It's interesting, answerable, requires expertise, and on-topic.)
Comment: +1 because it turns out this is a really interesting topic. After looking into this for my answer I kept digging to see if HDTV had impacted this at all (I expected a higher frame rate because of higher quality), but it looks like 24/25/30 is the norm. However, 60fps is possible. Again, from Wikipedia on HDTV: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_television - 720p60 and 1080p-60fps (the latter seemingly not currently available).
Comment: Films have 24-25 because Hollywood has groomed us into thinking 24-25 FPS looks "right". I expect it was originally a cost-cutting measure (less frames, less expense) of some kind.
Comment: I agree with @LessPop_MoreFizz.  This is a question that is likely to be of interest to any gamer who cares about frame rates.
Comment: @Strix I thought it was clear in my answer, but the reason games use 60fps is because they were originally designed for TV (60fps refresh rate).
Comment: Meta topic: http://meta.gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/2466/is-this-question-about-the-history-of-cinema-and-game-console-design-decisions-on
Comment: Should the difference between LCD and CRT monitors be mentioned? i.e., CRTs as well as old TVs suffer from the fluorescence's afterlight effect (pardon if I mistranslated)
Answer: Two reasons:
1. Responsiveness of input
There is a big difference in feel of the gameplay when input & response happen only 24 times per second vs. 60 times per second, especially for fast-paced games such as first person shooters.
Network buffers and input buffers are filled on separate threads, which means new state from the game server, or button presses from your gamepad, must wait until the next iteration in the game engine's "update loop". This wait can be as long as 42 ms for 24 updates per second, while only 16 ms for 60 updates per second. That's a 26 ms difference or roughly 25% of the "lag" we experience on a 150 ms server connection vs. a 50 ms server connection.
2. Lack of physically accurate motion blur
Cameras in the real-world have what's called a shutter, which is open for a continuous range of time, determined by the "shutter angle" or "shutter speed". For instance a moving picture captured at 24 frames per second might have the shutter open for 0.02083 seconds per frame (1/48 of a second, or 180° shutter angle). This continuous interval of time captures and blends all motion happening therein, leading to what we see as motion blur.
Games on the other hand, render only an instantaneous moment of time. There is no equivalent interval where motion is recorded and blended, and instead you create what is essentially a crystal clear sample of the world at a particular instant -- something that is not possible in the real world. Because no motion is recorded in the rendered frame,  movement on-screen can look jerky unless the frame rate is increased to compensate (by capturing more inbetween motion). By increasing frame rate you essentially converge on real life "frame rates", leaving us with the biological motion blur we get from our eyes (which are like shutters that are always open).
Though modern games feature "motion blur" now, this only captures motion blur under certain assumptions, and does not (yet) fully recreate the motion blur we see in film or in high-quality CGI renderings.
Demos
For 15fps vs. 30fps vs. 60fps see this demo or this video.
See also

Latency in simulators and simulations
Motion Blur
Shutter speed
Comment: Auto-moved to chat. [continue this discussion in chat](http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/2135/discussion-between-duckmaestro-and-tzenes)
Answer: I think there is a piece of history you're missing here, so allow me to try and fill it in.
If you google 60fps vs 24fps you'll find endless threads of people asking what the difference is.  Most people will tell you that 24fps has been the standard since the 20s, but there is little explanation as to why.
If we actually look back to the creation of film will notice that 24fps has not always been the standard.  Edison himself originally recommended 48 fps stating "anything less will strain the eye."  Edison films, however, did not follow this standard, nor did they seem to be standardized at all (with single films having a variation of larger than 10fps over the course of the film). American Mutoscope, one of Edison's rivals, actually used 40fps, but the resulting camera weighed almost a ton.
However, these fast paced filmed used up too much film (a luxury at the time) and by Victor Milner's time the standard was 16 fps.  More than practical considerations, many film buffs actually critiqued films faster than 16fps as being "too fast."  The Birth of a Nation, for example, got as slow as 12fps in some sections.
The major problem with the period between 1910 and 1920, was that film speed varied so much.  Even for a single filmographer their frame rates tended to vary between films. By the mid 20s, camera men had started to pride themselves on their even speed and being able to approximate 16fps (which they more usually measured in feet of film).  Meanwhile, theaters had started demanding faster and faster speeds.  While 16 fps may have looked more professional, in a crowed theater (or a small one), the audience seemed more able to decern the film at 24 frames per second.
When Annapolis was shot in 1928, the studio was mandating 24 frames per second.  While many film crews did not appreciate the more frequent camera reloads (16 frames per second corresponds to about 1,000 ft in 16 minutes).  By the time motorized cameras became common, 24 frames had become a de facto standard.
Its important to note, this was not a technical limitation, nor was it (frequently) a financial one.  It was the end result of two opposing forces (camera crews and actors vs studios and theaters) desiring a different speed.
So Why not 60?
It's worth noting that many TVs (eg NTSC) use 59.94 frames per second (60 Hz/1.001) counting interlacing. If you discount interlacing it's 29.97 fps. This has to do with how the interlacing is actually implemented (specifically, to remove beating based on 60hz power sources found in the US). Originally they chose 60fps to match the power source, but this actually causes intermodulation (beating), which appears as flickering.
There is some evidence to suggest that human visual acuity drops off sharply after about 30 frames per second, though most human beings can still detect discontinuities in the motion illusion up to 60-75 frames per second.  What's more there is a large library of evidence that the human eye can detect jitter over 300 frames per second (Steinmetz 1996).  So it a decent question to ask, why not 60?  60fps itself is an artifact of different technology (Television using 30 Frames per second and interlacing frames).
Ok, so we were forced into 60fps, why keep our 24 fps standard?
When making home movies first became a possible consideration (read VCR camcorders, my father had one for years, the thing actually took a VCR tape and wrote to it), they were optimized for TV production (ie. 60fps).  As a result home movies had a vastly superior frame rate to standard film.  Unfortunately, this quickly became associated with amateur production (which most home movies were).  Consider movies which feature film shot on a hand held camera.  Most people can instantly discern the much faster rate, but more surprisingly is that most people will tell you it looks lower quality.
The truth is, we think of 24fps as looking better because we've been trained to.
A number of Directors have tried to break away from 24fps (Peter Jackson shooting at 48, James Cameron at 60), but almost always they are forced to show these movies at the old standard.  People just think it looks better.  Film speed (like many things) is a social phenomena.
Comment: I don't feel like this answers the question at all, frankly.
Comment: Not that I don't trust you, tzenes, but I think this answer needs more sources; that's an awful lot of claims.
Comment: I agree with all the criticisms of this answer; it's largely unsourced and mostly does not address the original question, which was about *games* and 60fps not the general topic of 60fps vs 24fps in movies.
Comment: @Billare, the original question is: "Why are Cinema and TV are different (from video games)?"  The reason I supply is that Cinema uses 24fps for historical reasons, and TV uses 60fps for interlacing reasons.  Video games were modeled on TV, and thus use 60fps (though not interlaced, they're unique frames).  The reason I wrote a long explanation of the history is because the differences are all historical.
Comment: the title of the question is "Why do video game framerates need to be so much higher than TV and cinema framerates?" and doesn't really care about 60fps. I think the answers below this one actually answer the question, whereas this one answers a question that wasn't asked -- about the historical changes in film and video (vcr, etc) frame rates. It is by no means a bad answer but it really doesn't answer the question as asked.
Comment: @Jeff I have little desire to be drawn back into this conversation.  I don't really think the original question was appropriate for this site.  I provided a number of sources for my assertions if you feel there is a place that needs additional citations, I could probably dig more up for you, but the reality is, there is nothing special about games that denotes 60fps (in fact, many games don't run at 60fps); it's a benchmark that is held over from a differing medium.  Common, but not standardized.
Comment: @tzenes it is relevant because 24fps is pretty much unplayable in any kind of game where you need rapid response (FPS, etc) and yet movies seem fine with that framerate. The whole FPS debate comes up a zillion times a year and there needs to be a canonical answer.
Comment: @haratio, it's 59.94 frames per second (60 Hz/1.001) counting interlacing.  If you discount interlacing it's 29.97 fps.  This has to do with how the interlacing is actually implemented (specifically, to remove beating based on 60hz power sources found in the US).  Originally they chose 60fps to match the power source, but this actually causes intermodulation (beating), which appears as flickering.
Comment: @Jeff, I think the answer I tried to give (and maybe I wasn't explicit enough) is that: a) they don't *need* to be and b) they are for historical reasons. However, let's take a step back here. What needs does this question address?  Will it help someone get past level 5-3 of Angry Birds if the reason for 60fps is X?  I think this question is largely one of curiosity: "I'm curious as to why..." rather one of necessity.  In that way it is very similar to *-rec. Perhaps I shouldn't have tried to answer it, and instead should have tried to close it.
Comment: @Jeff if 24fps is unplayable then why did the earliest FPS do well at 6fps?  In Claypool's paper (2006) he showed that the performance increase in the 30fps to 60fps range was largely minimal.  Even at 15fps test subjects were able to maintain 70% efficiency.  What's more the subject's perception of the impact at >15fps was tiny.  However, the subject of whether or not higher fps is beneficial is different than "Why 60fps over 24fps?"  One is a matter of research, the other historical fact.
Comment: @Blue, I can definitely add more sources where you want them.  Part of the problem I had with this question is there is a HUGE amount of information to answer the question of "Why Cinema and TV are different."  Perhaps if you highlighted where you want this info, I can supply it.
Comment: A minor additional point is resources- a higher framerate would require more space to store it in, and a faster processor to decode it.
Comment: I don't think the bit about VCRs (for instance) and 60 fps is accurate at all. NTSC is interlaced. There is an approximate 60hz refresh which is timed for North American wall power cycle @ 60hz, but NTSC video is ~29 fps
Answer: I hate to cite the Wikipedia entry for frame rate, but it makes sense:

In modern action-oriented games where players must visually track animated objects and react quickly, frame rates of between 30 to 60 FPS are considered acceptable by most, though this can vary significantly from game to game.

Watching film and television is an extremely passive activity.
Playing a video game, on the other hand, requires active participation.
However, then you have How Many Frames can the Humans See? which notes that the real issue is motion blur.

If you could see your moving hand very clear and crisp, then your eye needed to make more snapshots of it to make it look fluid. If you had a movie with 50 very sharp and crisp images per second, your eye would make out lots of details from time to time and you had the feeling, that the movie is stuttering.
Just think of modern games: Have you ever played Quake with 18fps? There is no motion blur in those games, thus you need a lot of frames per second more.
Comment: @Wikiwocket; Yes - Crysis had excellent screenspace motion blur, and it showed. Framerate fell significantly, but so long as you could maintain a high enough framerate for **input** to be smooth, the resulting image felt smoother.
Comment: A bit off-topic: I find the way Motion Blur is implemented in today's games totally useless and disturbing for the eye. We don't always turn our heads while keeping our eyes fixed: Most of the time, the eye chooses a point first, then the head follows to that point to relieve the neck muscle, in which case you don't see any blur at all. In games, it became a cheap tactic to save on GPU calculations.
Comment: Are you saying that a lower framerate will look better if motion blur is present? If so, I wonder if any game engines exploit this, applying motion blur to make the games feel more realistic (or at least more movie-like), and with what results!
Comment: Well, define better :) It sounds like it'll look more *fluid* to the human eye, but I'm not sure the quality would be. From the same Wikipedia entry above: "Without realistic motion blurring, video games and computer animations do not look as fluid as film, even with a higher frame rate. When a fast moving object is present on two consecutive frames, a gap between the images on the two frames contributes to a noticeable separation of the object and its afterimage in the eye. Motion blurring mitigates this effect, since it tends to reduce the image gap when the two frames are strung together."
Comment: @Wikiwocket Another game that implements motion blur is Resistance 3. It's been used in sprinting for several games. Just goes unnoticed
Comment: @Jeff, I would not trust that video. If you pause at :28 and look at the 30 FPS sample, that is not at all what natural motion blur looks like (notice it looks like 4 frames overlayed, rather than one continuous blur -- this means 4 different exposures with shutter open/close between each -- something screwy in the editing or post processing).
Comment: While I appreciate that Jeff Atwood added to my response, based on @DuckMaestro's response, I'm tempted to rollback the edit, especially since Duck's response now has a video.
Answer: I'm no expert on the subject, but here is why it makes sense to me that real-world recordings can run at fewer fps than animations can while still being higher quality: An animated frame shows a single instant in time while a recorded frame shows a small interval of time. This is not the same as just blurring parts of the picture with motion in it.
This is why: Suppose the interval of time that you get in a recorded frame is 1 millisecond and suppose the universe runs at, say, 1 billion fps (the actual number is the planck time, but let's not digress). Then the recorded frame is the average of 1 million points of time so that the 1 frame is actually based on a tremendous amount of information. In contrast the animated frame has just the information from a single instant in time. So don't think of the recorded frame as just 1 frame, think of it as a summary of a million frames.
From that perspective it makes a lot of sense that animation must run at a higher fps than recordings need to. You could simulate the effect by running the computer at 1 billion fps and average that down to just 24 fps. I'm sure 1 billion fps would be overkill for that purpose, and it would be interesting to know at what point diminishing returns kick in. That might be a very low number like 60 or 100.
So recorded frames are more blurred than animated ones. The blur in recorded frames carry a lot of extra information about what happens between frames, while just adding blur to an animated frame removes information. This is similar to the difference between blurring and anti-aliasing, except we are working with time instead of space.
Answer: You need the higher framerates because the resolution and clarity of monitors is much higher than TV and cinema, and you are trying to spot any tiny movement or detail as it may be critical in-game.
TV and cinema have tried to rely on blurring, and for slow pans or conversation it works just fine but a segment with dramatic action is already a nightmare. The judder/blurring ruined Avatar for me on the big screen.
You can't blur a game if you want to provide the clarity and detail people expect on a computer, so you have to provide more frames in order to keep the illusion of movement.
Comment: Resolution and clarity of a monitor are higher than the cinema? I think it's time to change your cinema!
Comment: Cinemas are always a problem - the refresh rate is hideous, so much so that although I take the kids to at least one blockbuster a year, at the most modern cinemas, I can't watch them.
Answer: Even more than the input process and responsiveness, and the resolution and ad-hoc standards, there are the framerate peaks.
I asked myself your question a long time ago, and, on the personal research, I found this reason one of the most reliable:
In games, sudden heavy-load for the processors may happen instantly and unpredictably. Imagine an ambush in a FPS: in one frame, suddenly, tens of NPC models and IAs may be computed, bullets, etcétera.
This causes one of the most annoying things you can encounter in game playing: that framerate falls almost making unplayable your game. Under peak framerates may ruin a whole team finalist in a professional tournament.
Those framerate peaks may not occur in television or films.
In short, my point is: it's not the standard mean framerate which is important in gameplay, nor the highest of the peaks, but the possible under-peaks that may ruin the experience.
Answer: First off, film went from 16 fps to 24 fps because of sound. Sound couldn't stay synced at 16 fps so they had to make 24 fps the standard. 24 fps has been the standard since then and hasn't changed due to costs. But now in the world of digital, it could change, but cinematographers believe 24 fps just has that "filmic look." Some movie makers are considering higher frame rates for films.Peter Jackson is filming The Hobbit in 48 fps, but since films are played back at 24 fps there will only be certain theaters that can play the movie back at 48 fps to capture that extra quality. All other theaters will play a converted film that wont be able to see the extra quality at 48 fps. If you play something shot at  48 fps back at 24 fps, it will play back twice as slow.
So, higher frame rates will give more quality, and in the case of computer gaming, there is no 24 fps standard to keep them from running at higher rates. If the film/TV industry wants to ascend to a new level of quality, everything has to conform to a new standard that is shot at a higher frame rate then played back at a higher frame rate.
Answer: There is a very good reason for this. You see, movies are videos, so they take up video space. Naturally, this means that longer movies take up more space. Now, the way movies work is that they are rendered as frames, then played at a certain framerate. As a result, a 30fps movie is larger than a comparable 20fps movie.
Because the human eye cannot really distinguish between framerates above 30fps, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to make a movie run at lower fps because its smaller, renders more quickly, and people have trouble telling the difference.
However, video games work differently. They are rendered in real time, so more fps does not mean more space. Therefore, it is okay to run a video game at higher fps. Gamers also like to boast that they have higher fps than others, even though it is hard for them to see the difference.
So, while movies need to have low fps, games tend to have comparatively high fps. After all, it doesn't really affect them, so they don't need to limit it.
Comment: You are right, but only in first-person games. You need to be controlling the character to realize it, and accustomed to the higher framerates. People who tend to get 20fps have trouble telling the difference (besides the sudden stutters).
Comment: Sorry, but this answer is simply wrong.
Comment: Mafu is correct - many games are unplayable at 30fps, but at 60fps they are wonderful. It's not "hard to see the difference" - it's the difference between enjoying a game and not being able to look at it.
Answer: To think much more simpler about this. When it comes around to film, most of the time it's frame-by-frame. Which is making or editing something in each and every frame put into a tv show, or a movie. So in saying this, in animation the animators must paint and detail each and every frame, however with framerates you might be able to say that with animation, they make it so that 24-25 frames are played per second. but since in animation things are made per frame, any mistake will show, so in those 25 frames of animation, somebody could just be painting the same thing all over again in each and every frame, and then change when it comes to the 25th frame.
As for games, things aren't made or built like film or cinema, so instead of frames in some cases, it's just one big play through of scene or gaming. And also since with games there's more software and code that has to go into it there has to be...certain steps to be taken in order for things to be more smooth. In this case, increasing the amount of FPS.
Comment: That makes no sense.
Comment: You don't really need to animate each and every frame if you're filming a movie.
Comment: "When it comes around to film, most of the time it's frame-by-frame". And by film I also mean animation...
Comment: (Because some things are just filmed through a camera, or you could copy and paste in an animation)


How can whole tone melodies sound more interesting?

Question: How can one make melodies made from whole tone scales sound more interesting & appealing? Unlike melodies based in a certain mode or a key, whole tone scales use only tones as the intervals. This is something which our ears are not normally attuned to. How do I write whole tone melodies more better?
Comment: They do sound interesting if done well but more intiguing and out of place usually. However, in place of a long melody, shorter riffs on electric guitars and bass, that are whole tone sound great especially in the right songs.
Answer: This is more of an extended comment as opposed to an answer.
Whole tone scales are difficult because they do seem to wear out their uniqueness quickly, for whatever reason (I'm not so sure why).
General tip for learning composition: find works that make use of the material you want to know better and internalize them, analyze them, and try to understand them from your own point of view. Take a look at these two pieces:

Both of these composers are, of course, absolute giants, but you'll notice that nobody really can just stay in a single whole-tone scale, and have to juxtapose it against other sounds or other whole tone scales. I'm not so sure why this is (perhaps it's too symmetrical to create sufficient variation?), so it is often juxtaposed against other scales or melodic/harmonic material. See the following for a very good example of this:

The A section of this tune is heavily whole-tone, juxtaposed against other harmonies in the B section for contrast (and release). All this being said, you might have to add contrast to make your whole tone melodies more salient and listenable.
Comment: As a slightly different example, Bartok's 10 Easy Piano Pieces, BB 51: IX.  It constantly shifts between the two different whole tone scales (i.e. ignoring any root note, one is a half-step offset from the other) rather than relying on as much juxtaposition.  However the whole tone scales are used more as a texture and the melody played over them is not always whole tone (for instance you can hear major sevenths at one point)
Answer: As the given examples show the whole tone scale can't be made much more interesting. The exciting  element is the rhythm!
I don't know why Bartok and Debussy are stuck  to the scale lines, could be in respect to the performers who maybe beginners). I also used whole tone lines in a V7b5 chord and  only once in a quartet as in parallels of thirds. If I knew  a better answer I wouldn't tell it as I would like to keep this secret like a cooking recept for myself.
Comment: Hahaha good one!


What's the difference between a service and a broadcast receiver?

Question: I keep hearing about services and broadcast receivers. What's the difference between them, and how do they affect the operation of my Android phone from my point of view?
Comment: You know instead of creating ports on TCP layer we always create broadcast-receivers to save the battery and lots of processing.. When some event happens in android.... the broadcast is sent within the phone to all apps..  And if you have broadcast receiver to that event written,,, it will be automatically called. Technically the event happened is called intent in terms of android
Answer: Android applications have three kinds of components. In general, users don't need to know about them: they're a way for app authors to program particular behaviours into their apps. But if you're watching your apps' behaviour closely such as with a task manager, or if you are automating things with an app like Tasker, it's helpful to understand how they fit together within the system.
An activity is the most familiar type of component: it's a window you can see: either full-screen or dialog-sized. An activity only runs while it's displayed on the screen. Once you leave the activity, Android will keep that app in memory ready to be started again, but the activity won't run, meaning it won't use battery or network. An app starts an activity using an intent. The intent can specify explicitly which activity to start, or it can specify an action to perform (such as opening a particular file). If more than one activity can "handle" the intent, you see the dialog asking you to choose one.
A service is another application component. Once another component (maybe an activity, or another service) has started a service, it runs in the background until it stops itself. This means that a service could be keeping your phone awake (using a wake lock), running down the battery, or using lots of network data, without anything showing on the screen.
Apps can use services to do long-running processes in the background, such as downloading files from a server, or checking for email, or checking your location. Although services don't show up or interact with you directly, they still show up in the "Running apps" list. From the Settings app, choose Apps or Applications manager, and then Running. You can stop a service that way, but it's not usually necessary. Because services aren't directly visible, Android considers them less important than activities, so they'll be the first to be killed when your phone needs more memory.
Broadcast receivers are the third kind of component. Like services, they only exist in the background and don't interact with you directly. But unlike services, they can't stay running or perform long tasks: they exist to respond to events. And unlike activities and services, more than one broadcast receiver can be started in one go.
A component broadcasts an intent, possibly to one app, but more often without specifying a particular app. In this case, the intent usually represents an event that's happened, such as the battery running low. The system finds all the broadcast receivers that have registered an interest (using an intent filter), and runs each in turn. Each broadcast receiver can react straight away, for example by creating a notification, or it can start a service or an activity to take further action. As soon as the broadcast receiver has handled the event, it is stopped and will not run again until another similar event is broadcast.
An example of all three components working together is when you download an app from Google Play. First, the Google Play activity provides the visual interface for you to choose the content to download. The list of apps might be one activity; clicking the "install" button starts another activity to show the confirmation or payment dialog. When you confirm, the dialog activity starts a service. The service will continue to download the content even when the activity has finished and is no longer running.
But perhaps the phone loses Internet connection while the new app is downloading. If this happens, Google Play's download service will register a broadcast receiver, with an intent filter to say that it's interested in network connectivity changes, and then the service will stop itself. When the phone connects to the Internet, the system broadcasts an event. Android will start the broadcast receiver the Google Play service registered, along with any other broadcast receiver waiting for that event. In this case, the broadcast receiver will start the download service again. The service will create notifications as the download proceeds, and when it finishes, it will send its own broadcast to inform other apps that the new package has been installed, and will then stop itself. In turn, this will start broadcast receivers from other apps, to update the list of apps in the launcher, etc.
In summary:-

An activity represents a window on the screen; a service performs a possibly long-running background task; a broadcast receiver runs for a short time, to handle an event.
All three are started using intents, but using a different mechanism. The launching app has to state explicitly which type of component to start (by calling a different method in each case).
When an app starts an activity using an intent, it only starts one activity (possibly showing the "Complete action using..." dialog to let you choose which), and the same goes for services, but broadcasting an intent may start several broadcast receivers, possibly from different apps.
As a user, you interact with activities directly; you don't interact with services, but they can slow down the phone and consume resources; you don't interact with broadcast receivers, and because they're short-lived you don't need to worry about managing them.
Comment: great post, but in fact, there are four components. Content Providers are missing.
Comment: A very useful answer. I just want to confirm something: what happen to apps that are disabled by users? Does Android ever start their broadcast receiver for the intents they are registered for? Or can those disabled apps run their service in the background? Why is Force-Stop button not greyed out for disabled apps even after a reboot?   It is clear to me that their activities cannot be launched.
Comment: @Firelord If you have a new question, you should post it as a new question. Comments don't allow in-depth answers and don't make your question findable for other visitors.


"How much it cost?" or "How much does it cost?"

Question: I want your help please.
I know that correct question is "How much does it cost?" but I saw many questions like this with different structure like this "How much it cost?"
So, which of these two is correct?
Thank you.
Answer: "How much does it cost?" is the correct one.
"How much it cost?" is understandable, but incorrect - a (very) beginner would be expected to use this.


Homemade powdered jello recipe

Question: I am allergic to the corn starch that is often found in the ready made brands. I would like to be able to make some powdered jello up for when I want to make a quick jello. With my illnesses, at times, I am unable to cook the jello in the recipes that I have found in my searches. Does anyone have a recipe for the amounts of dried fruit juice, unflavored gelatin, and a sweetener that can be made ahead of time and then mixed with boiling water as though it was a store bought brand? `
Comment: Does it really have to be a 100% powdered mix?  I'd think that a good blend of superfine sugar, unflavored gelatin, and citric acid could then be modified by whatever flavoring you wanted to add.
Comment: I wonder what you mean by "I am unable to cook the jello in the recipes that I have found in my searches". The basic form is to cook up fruit juice with unflavored gelatine, which is about the same effort as cooking up jello powder with water. Or do you mean that you found more complicated recipes, or are you trying to imitate some kind of instant-puddding product (no heating)? Could you please give examples for the recipes which are too complex, and say what preparation process is OK for you?
Comment: I am surprised about the corn starch thing, Jell O (the one I googled) does not list that in the ingredients lists ?
Comment: I should also mention -- I don't know if the powdered mixes do something to keep the gelatin from clumping when pouring in boiling water.  I'd probably add some of the water first to wet down the whole thing and let the gelatin hydrate (bloom), then add the rest as boiling water to melt it.  (or possibly part of the remaining as boiling, make sure it's all disolved, then the rest as cold water so it'll set faster)
Answer: Some quick digging brought up a recipe for gluten-free jello that used a ratio of :

1TB gelatin
3-5TB granulated sugar
2c. fruit juice

There are lots of similar ones out there ... some call for more gelatin if they're planning on putting it in a mold (1TB/cup) or making squares you can hold (1.5TB/cup), and some replace part of the juice with a fruit puree.
The exact amount of sugar is going to depend on how sweet the flavoring is, so you might need to play with this one a bit to experiment.  And you may need some citric acid (or a citrus fruit powder) to balance out overly sweet flavorings.
I would also be careful about both how I stored and hydrated the mixture.  Sugar will absorb moisture out of the air, which might result in the mix clumping together before you can use it.  I'd try to put it into pre-measured containers that have little headroom, or where the air can be removed (eg, zip-top bags).
For hydrating, you'd want to mix it into maybe 1/8 of the total liquid and let it sit to hydrate.  If you see any powdery lumps, break those up before you add any hot water.  You could then add 3/8 of the water as boiling and stir to dissolve it completely, then add the remaining 1/2 as cold water to cool it down.
I'm sorry I couldn't be more specific about this.  My attempts at making gelatin used liquid flavorings.

Homemade powdered jello recipe


Should pegboard be part of the workbench or attached to the wall behind the workbench?

Question: Is it better to buy a workbench with the pegboard back included or to buy an inexpensive workbench and install the pegboard back on the wall?
Answer: Pegboard attached to workbench will likely vibrate like crazy while you're trying to file, sand, saw, route, or hammer anything.
It's safer to just put the pegboard on the wall.
Comment: This is the biggest reason.
Answer: Personally, I like the idea of building your own bench, and making it free standing so you can walk around it. You would not regret that decision. I built my own, and it has served me quite well for many years now. The money spent for vise hardware and the hardwood top was far less than I would have spent on a new bench of similar quality. (Admittedly, I bought the thick maple top already made and finished, as the lumber there alone would have cost a bundle.)
As far as pegboard goes, hang it on the wall. In fact, cover the wall with it. You can never have enough storage, and blank wall is wasted space in a shop.
Why do you want to hang the pegboard on a wall, instead of attached to your bench? My bench is massive, but I sometimes find even it moves on me when I'm doing something. Do I really want it attached to pegboard with tools hanging from it? No. I have no desire to see a pair of pliers falling off their hook when I'm working.
Answer: I like installing it on the wall. Actually, one of the coolest workbenches I've seen recently had two layers of pegboard -- the outer layer swung open on hinges like a cabinet door to reveal the inner layer.
Answer: I suppose it depends on where and how you plan to use this workbench. If there's a wall available, and if you might use the bench for large projects, then attach the pegboard to the wall. Having the pegboard attached to the bench limits the size of projects that you can put on the bench and the directions from which you can approach the bench. On the other hand, if you'll be working on small projects and having tools close at hand is very important, mounting the pegboard to the bench might make sense. It really just comes down to what you prefer.
If you want a simple, strong, inexpensive work table that you can build in a few hours, take a look at some of the project suggestions for Simpson StrongTies. You won't get a classic woodworker's bench here, just a very solid bench/table that you can use for all manner of projects.


GDB via JTAG on ARM Hardware target without source code

Question: Does anyone have other solutions for connecting to a remote ARM target without IDA? This is the question and below I give examples of setup's i have tried, should anyone be interested.
Update: updated Codeworks test for remote gdb
Update: GDB setup fixed
I have been looking at a ARM hardware target and have a stable JTAG connection using J-Link. Attempts to get IDA working nicely with the target fail via the JLinkGDBServer. JLinkExe works just fine. As a baseline with JlinkExe I can halt, go and single step. In IDA on connect it attempts to halt and does not notice that the PC (Program Counter) is NOT at 0x0. At this point it gets out of sync and causes the device to halt or jump to a error loop of the device, and IDA does not get the PC to follow it properly.
So I've been looking at other solutions: GDB directly, Eclipse, Codeblocks.
GDB->JlinkGDBServer - stable: works pretty well thus far
Eclipse->JlinkGDBServer - issue with init: after adding the Hardware GDB Debugger from http://download.eclipse.org/tools/cdt/releases/helios I can set the debugger for an empty project to point to the GDBServer but any time I attempt to attach or debug it complains that it cannot start target. I'm not sure how to get it working without source code of target.
Codeblocks->GDB->JlinkGDBServer - works: codeworks Does support remote GDB when you setup an empty project. The Remote settings are in the Project settings. (remote gdb is not started for global debugging settings). Stability similar to GDB though the disassembly window in codeblocks is not working. Could just be me.
At the moment I'm back to IDA and likely writing my own JLink Debugger plugin for it based on http://idaproarmdebug.sourceforge.net
Answer: binnavi from google works well remotely with gdb, it does require a bit of setup though and also needs IDA to create the IDB which is then converted to navi database format.
https://github.com/google/binnavi/tree/master/debug/client/gdb


insert the same image on every other page

Question: I am creating a booklet and want to include a small image on every odd page. To do that, use master pages, right? But here's the catch - I want to rotate and move the image just a little as the pages progress to make the image look like it's jumping.  The image is a little man.)  I could just copy the same image on every page and guess at it's location, but I'm wondering if there is a feature that let's you place it in the exact same spot on each page.  Master pages won't work because I want to move each one. Any suggestions? I am using Indesign CS5. thanks.
Answer: Copy, move to the page you want the image on, and then Edit > Paste in Place
This positions the (pasted) image in the exact location it was copied from using to the page margins for positioning. This means if an image is sitting on a right facing page, it will paste in the same location (right page). Paste positioning is absolute not relative. So you would need to copy an image from the left page to left pages and then copy an image from the right page to other right pages.
For a non-facing page document, each paste will be in the same location for all pages.
Answer: Counterintuitive as it may seem, the master page is your best bet. I'll assume you're working on a book and have facing pages. If not, I really recommend doing so—this will make your master page a spread as well.
Paste a version of your object on your master page spread, in the location you want it on the first relevant page. It might be advisable to create a separate master for the pages on which you want this image to appear. Otherwise you'll have to remove it from a lot of pages.
This takes care of the first image. For each subsequent one, go to the specific page and Shift+Ctrl+click / Shift+Option+click it. This 'jumps' the master page item and makes it editable. The rest of the page will still follow the master. Transform and move the item as you wish.
Rinse and repeat with the other images.


What Brand of Bicycle do I have?

Question: I was thinking about restoring an old bike I bought years ago, but I don't know what kind it is, to the best I could see, here are the numbers that was on the bottom: MOTSX (the 0 is a maybe) then 45 402 these were slanted beside the MOSTX, then these below were under them.
Mod 702 (almost sure it was a 7) then the numbers under Mod 12  12      86 (and spaced like that).
I know it's a 26" boys, but I have never seem 2 small bars for top on a boys bike, plus they are not welded on frame under seat, but sit in special cups like a U that are welded on. I just wanted to make sure it was worth restoring. It looks to me like it's from the 50s or 60s. It has Schwinn on hand grips, but anyone could have switched those. Its in great shape, and won't take a lot to fix. Here a picture Thanks Tom Barnes
Comment: Is there anything on the headtube? Many companies put their logo there, and even a silhouette may be helpful.
Comment: No Markings at all, if it had a Name Plate it has been removed, but there wasn't one riveted, there are no holes, one may have been glued? Someone had did a very bad paint job, I removed some of that paint, red is the original color.
Comment: @TomBarnes If you've identified it, please add that as an answer and then accept the answer, so other users can see your problem is solved.
Comment: Is teh black plasticky thing on the back original ?
Answer: I was searching for bikes and I found one identical to this one: it was a VINTAGE 1959 MURRAY SEARS FLIGHTLINER, all it was missing is the little silver bar that goes above the front fender that clips into that little silver clip on the bottom of the headtube. Some may have had headlight tanks, the one I found  didn't. So it could be a 59-60?

What Brand of Bicycle do I have?


Monitor websites being visited on network

Question: I need to monitor the websites being visited on my wifi network by the different IPs connected to the network. What is the best way to do this? I spent some time with Wireshark but I feel it is a bit overkill for doing this. Is there a cleaner/more efficient way to do this?
Comment: Hmm... Can you install OpenWRT or Untangle Linux on your wifi router? That way you'd be able to simply run `tcpdump` on all your interfaces and get the information right at the source. Or limit logging to all Ethernet traffic from / to the upstream port's NIC.
Answer: The exact answer to this depends on the level of control you have over the wifi network.
Assuming that you can dictate things like proxy servers, then the best option might be to install a forward proxy (something like squid) and then have that do the logging for you.
If you need to know actual URLs rather than just sites, you'll need to set-up SSL interception which involves things like deploying SSL root certs to your clients and also places a large responsibility on you to secure the proxy and certificate infrastructure (failing to do so could impact the security of everyone on your network), so I'd avoid that unless you really need to.
Answer: Log dns queries and match them to client ip. Doesn't work if client changes dns server though.
If one has a wifi network, they have a router as well. Router usually provides dhcp and dns services.  Any decent wifi box has logging features that can be enabled to log traffic to some extent. Another way is to modify dhcp to provide another dns box which logs queries.
Comment: How do you log DNS queries in this scenario?
Comment: you need to include these details in your answer
Answer: It depends on what hardware you have available.
For example, if you have the possibility of plugging in the network e.g. a Linux server, you could set it up as a gateway. It's more complicated, but way more efficient and a whole lot cleaner:
<code>-- router ------ network server -- WiFi AP -- ( NETWORK: 192.168.3(*).2...254 )
   192.168.1.1   1.1        2.1    2.2  3.1(*)

(*) or 192.168.1.1 *again*, if you *really* want to be sneaky
</code>
Then you could also set up Squid as a transparent proxy. At that point you can, in increasing order of difficulty:

log all sites visited transparently (privacy issues may apply) - bundled
employ caching: with suitable rules, I get top-notch performances out of my oh-not-so-great home DSL - almost bundled, need to setup rules
prevent some sites or file types from being visited at all (see ACL in the Squid manual), which in turn has great applications for anti-ad, malware blocking and so on - almost bundled, again you need to setup rules (but there are public lists for those)
add antivirus and antispam support (you need extra packages such as Amavis and SquidGuard)
all the above for SSL sites too (this requires setting up what amounts to a man-in-the-middle attack; doable, but leave it for last and be sure to read the documentation and tutorials).
Answer: My router can do this (verizon). Just go to the default gateway and look for tools. In my case it is disabled by default.
Answer: I once wrote a script in Python to sniff DNS requests off the wifi network and log website names (host+domain names) users are visiting/resolving. Using the Python scapy library, its quite simple. The data was logged into mysql in order to be able to get various statistic afterwards.
I dont't have the script available at the moment, but if you dont't find another solution, I could send you the script on monday.
Comment: i would love to see that script, being working on a solution like this for 2 weeks, and didn't manage to get any clean solution


What is the method to seal a concrete roof?

Question: We are staying in a home which has a concrete roof. Now we are facing leakage in the roof during rainy seasons. What do we have to do? How do we protect the roof from leaks?
Answer: Concrete itself is not waterproof, in fact, it's more like a sponge, so concrete alone is never used to create an impermeable surface. You haven't provided much info - is the roof flat, sloped? What is already up there?  There are tons of different waterproofing methods available.
Going under the assumption that it was properly waterproofed at some point, you need to figure out why it's leaking.   Maybe there is damage to the roof, or maybe there is a drainage problem and water is just building up and finding its way in. Also possible is that the flashing around a vent or access hole has been bent away and water is getting behind it. Either way, you will first need to investigate and resolve the root problem and then fix it in-line with how it was already constructed.  If the roof is tarred, you are not going to put down some other barrier.
You will without a doubt have to go on the roof to check it out. If you're not comfortable with this, its best to call a roofing expert.
Comment: My roof is flat. I have an idea of roof weathering with tiles. Thus this will help?
Comment: If your roof is flat, you cannot waterproof it with tiles.  You will need to go with one of the many options for flat roofing.  There are many single-ply options, which are the best, there is modified bitumen (torch-down), and there is a typical tar and gravel type system that would suit your needs.  Is there an existing roof system or is it just bare concrete?  If it is bare, how old is this building?
Answer: Concrete cannot be the top layer of any roof. Most likely you have just a concrete slab and not roof system (with layers of insulation).What you should do is to cover concrete with metal sheet for example. What is extremely important is that this metal sheet isn't horizontal; it must be under slope. Now if you want to get it done properly you should put some hydro insulation on top of concrete; then thermal insulation and then cover it with metal sheet. Also you should put the gutters, to prevent water damage on other parts of your house. I know that this sounds expensive and complex, but everything else is even more expensive because it will not get the job done.
Answer: we usually in pakistan mix mud and wheat straw , fodder the remainings of wheat after crushing. after mixing this in mud clay we put a layer of 3 to 5inches on concrete roof. it is also insulator keeping the roof cool from sun and control room temperature and dont allow water seeping or leakage  but every 10 to 15 year you have to change it. some time it works for 30 years if you make the layer in slop and rain water never dump on it and it flows out from roof.
Comment: Mud and wheat straw...wow, I love this website. I learn something everyday.
Answer: Try Blue Bond with tile adhesive. Make it runny and apply it with a roller.
Comment: This seems to be a product specific to India. To make this answer more appropriate for the general audience, can you perhaps generalize the product type?  Is there something unique about this product?
Answer: Apply a bitumen primer using a brush and then after drying gas blow an A.P.P Flex material 2 coats
Comment: Hello, and welcome to Stack Exchange. It's hard to understand what you're talking about; a few more sentences of elaboration would really help.


Different iPhone screen resolutions and game graphics

Question: We are developing a 2D game for iPhone using cocos2d-x. The artists are drawing the raster graphic for a resoluion of 640x960. For older iPhone devices, those that have a resolution of 320x480, should we provide a completely new set of graphics, to be adapted to the smaller resolution?
I was thinking of simply scaling the whole scene of a factor of 2. That would save us the time to write a specific set of graphic elements for the smaller resolution.
What is the best practices? How do you guys handle the different screen resolution w.r.t. the graphic part of the game?
Answer: It really depends on your art style.  Does the game look fine scaled down halfway?  Would making new, lower-res artwork push you over the current OTA download size?  If so, then keep the larger graphics.
There are not a lot of people with 3GSs and 3rd gen iPod touches out there (the only currently supported non-retina small devices), and with iOS 6 the 3rd gen touch isn't going to be supported any more either.
Comment: Also watch out for fonts, they might be impossible to read on the lower res.
Answer: you should use two sets of graphics, this might help you reduce memory usage too as its already built into the framework of cocos2d.
You need to add a suffix on your images, apple uses the "@2x" suffix, but cocos2d doesn't use that extension because of some incompatibilities. Instead, cocos2d has its own suffix: "-hd".
You'll need to enable retina mode though:
<code>    // Director Initialization
[director setOpenGLView:glView];

// Enables High Res mode (Retina Display) on iPhone 4 and maintains low res on all other devices
if( ! [director enableRetinaDisplay:YES] )
    CCLOG(@"Retina Display Not supported");
</code>
You'll also need to create hd fonts.
More info can be found here:
http://www.cocos2d-iphone.org/wiki/doku.php/prog_guide:how_to_develop_retinadisplay_games_in_cocos2d
Answer: Well, it depends on your artists and how they are designing, if you use Adobe Illustrator, which is vector based, that means you can scale to whatever size you need.
My process is to draw the image I want out on paper, scan it in, make a version in of the drawing in Adobe Illustrator (using the drawing as a template), then rasterize in Adobe Photoshop and add any final touches.
If there are any designers, who think they can add or help me improve my process, I would really appreciate a comment or a message.
Answer: I handle the resolution of images like this
<code>float spriteheight = ((size.height/10)/(spritename->getContentSize().height));
float spritewidth = ((size.width/7)/(spritename->getContentSize().width));
spritename->setScaleY(spriteheight);
spritename->setScaleX(spritewidth);
</code>
the 10 and 7 depends on how big or small your image is, the higher the number makes your image smaller and the lowest makes them bigger.
hope this helps your problem


finding area of the fourth circle

Question: Three circles of the same radius are arranged in such way that one circle is tangent to the other two. A fourth circle is drawn so that it will contain three circles and be tangent to the  other three.If the smaller circles have a radius of 3cm. What is the area of the fourth circle?
Answer: Given that you have three circles of the same radius, the tangency points form an equilateral triangle.  For a more general case where the radii are not equal, you might find Descartes' theorem useful.
Comment: @RodCarvalho:  typo fixed.  Thanks
Answer: The line extended through PO is the perpendicular bisector of the triangle.  If we were to draw perpendicular bisectors through the other three vertices, we'd see that the perpendicular bisectors intersect at the origin.  The origin is thus the centroid of the triangle, which means that it is 1/3 of the height of the triangle. Because the triangle is equilateral, we can see that its height is $3 \sqrt{3}$, so the centroid is $2\sqrt{3}$ cm away from the vertex B. B, in turn, is one radius, 3cm, away from the outer circle.  Thus, the bigger circle has a radius of $3+2\sqrt{3}$.
It's area is simply $\pi r^2 = \pi(21+12\sqrt{3})$

finding area of the fourth circle


AmpScript Block with Content Builder

Question: I just started using content builder and noticed it isn't clear how to define an AmpScript block as part of a template. I tried using  but that seems to break the template formatting. Are ampscript blocks supported?
Answer: AMPScript is definitely supported in Content Builder.  AMPScript typically does jack up the code in the editor.
Here's a little trick I use to "pretty up" the AMPScript:
%%[/* Modify to view AMPScript
 */

/* your big blob of AMPScript goes here */

/*
 */
]%%

Update: Placeholders vs Content Areas
Content area placeholders for Paste HTML templates <custom type="content" name="test"> are different than AMPScript blocks.  When you define a template, you can add as many placeholders as you want.  You can then edit the content of those placeholder content areas when you create a new templated email.
AMPScript blocks begin and end with %%[ and ]%%.  You can add AMPScript blocks directly in the template HTML or you can add them to the placeholder content area once you create the email based on the template.
Comment: I also have found using the full script tag:  script runat=server language=ampscript **your ampscript here**  /script works too to hide it from displaying - but recently there have been a few times that this now  displays when put inside the body tag and I am not sure what has changed in their UI that makes this happen.
Comment: So in the email studio, you would create a template and then add  just below the  section to define the AmpScript block. I tried the same thing in Content Builder but it doesn't create a content block for editing in the template? Is there a new way to do this?
Comment: I updated my answer above to make a distinction between placeholders and AMPScript blocks.
Comment: Hi Adam...I just tried this and found that when I put the div container within the block, it hid everything in the block and left the %% []%%. To get it to work I had to put the div container outside the bracket
Answer: Breakdown of each element in the Content Area definition:

data-type: must always be "slot"
data-key: unique identifier for the content area. Must be unique within each template.
data-max-blocks: the maximum number of blocks allowed in that content area. If not defined, it's unlimited.
data-allowed-blocks: the types of blocks that can be dragged to that content area. If not defined, all types are allowed in that content area.
data-label: the message that appears inside the content area if it's empty. Default is "Drop blocks or content here" if not defined.
Answer: The placeholder for Content Builder is different than for Classic Content, it's basically div element with custom attributes. Looks like this:

I can't find reference in documentation what each attribute is for.

AmpScript Block with Content Builder


Start Macbook with lid closed

Question: I want to use my Macbook (early 2010) lid-closed with external monitor, keyboard and mouse.
Is it possible to start it lid closed? For example to use it in a Henge Docks station?
Answer: If your Mac has been shut down:
You will need to use the power button to start it if it's been shut down completely. Only older Macs like the G3s had a power button on their keyboards, but this was removed – possibly because such a thing was never intended use for USB.
If your Mac was put to sleep:
To wake up a MacBook from sleep and run it in closed clamshell mode, all you need is to press a button on a connected keyboard or mouse to wake it up again.* Obviously, this works immediately (and without setup) for wired devices. For wireless keyboards and mice, you will need to pair them before you put the MacBook to sleep.
Given that you somehow need to control the machine, it's very likely that this will suffice in your case. Additionally, simply connecting a USB device will also do the same – at least in most cases.
* In OS X Lion, even closing the lid is enough, but in your case – with a docking station – you can't attach the external display before you close the lid, so this is not possible here.
Comment: TIL Macs don't have any way to power them on without opening the lid, ouch.  That's one point in favor of a traditional docking station (they usually have a power button).
Answer: If your MB is plugged into a wired network, you can use 'wake on lan' functionality, and I believe there are iPhone apps for this as well.
Comment: Start != wake..

Start Macbook with lid closed


How does attacking/defending direction affect the way players play in Fifa 11?

Question: When creating/editing a formation in Fifa 11 you are able to select the direction a player attacks and defends. Why kind of effects does this have on a players runs? I find it a little confusing because in general I find my players all over the pitch. How does this setting's effects change between organized and freeform buildup/chance creation?
Answer: Actually, it works this way:
Depending on your formation tactics, that's what the players will do while you are not in control of them and you are either attacking or defending.
suppose you set a midfielder to run to the sides when you are attacking, if you are not controlling him and you are not on that one side, he will run ahead and position himself just so he can be open for a pass.
All this tactics are really useful, but the thing is, you have to actually know your team, and the way you play so it can adapt to your way of running and passing.
also some of the settings only work during counter attacks or defending from one, so set up as best you think you should react.
Answer: Positioning in football is a bit too dynamic for this sort of customization to be of much use, especially if you have your tactics set to free-form on build up play.
My recommendation: don't change work rate or player positioning. Work rate is usually at conflict with a player's natural tendency (player's now have individual work rates) and player positioning only slightly changes the tendency of a player to tweak their position, and these small tweaks are so situationally useful that setting them as static doesn't really make a whole lot of sense.
This is a good question and I have wasted many hours trying to figure this out myself, but then I learned to let go, and just '... love the bomb'. I even find tweaking tactics to be of little use: I just use the default and switch to possession or counter-attack depending on the situation.


Delete downloaded files in Firefox and Safari

Question: I have a Mac Pro with Firefox and Safari as browsers.
I have tried several methods to delete individual downloaded files while in both browsers. How can I delete downloaded files?
Answer: It depends where you are saving the downloaded files. By default, they are saved in ~/Downloads (the Downloads folder in your home folder). This folder is a stack on your Dock (unless you've removed it) and files can be deleted from there.