How to make fried chicken tender and juicy?

Question: I prepare fried chicken (imitating broasted chicken) at home. Normally to make it tender and juicy I will add baking soda (gives unpleasant flavor) or glutamate, but it doesn't make it that tender. How do I make it as tender and juicy as broasted chicken in restaurants?
Comment: Brine the chicken. Use 4 parts salt, 2 parts sugar, and 94 parts cold water. Mix mixture well until salt and sugar has dissolved. Put chicken and refrigerate. You can brine wings for 1-2 hours, whole chicken up to 24 hours. Rinse well, then cook.
Answer: The correct answer to any question following the template of "how do I get (some meat) to come out tender when I (some cooking method) it?" is: don't overcook it.
It's seriously not rocket science. Cooking meat dries it out as moisture evaporates.
The second, and perhaps dominant factor is that in overcooked meat—anything above about 165 F / 74 C, all of the proteins in the meat are fully coagulated.  They have squeezed into tight little balls, squeezing out liquid, and taking on a rubbery texture.  This effect cannot be reversed.
Overcooked meat is too dry, which gives it a tough and sinewy texture.
For other tips on making fried chicken more like what you've had in restaurants (very few of which are "broasting" it), see:
How to imitate commercial fried chicken?
Comment: This answer misses some key points. If we were talking about pure muscle meat, like a boneless skinless chicken breast, then this would be perfectly correct. But that's not typically what is referred to as "fried chicken"--usually we mean whole pieces of meat with bones and sinew intact. The collagen from the connective tissue is key to understanding what makes meat--fried chicken in particular--"juicy". Also, final temperature is not the only factor in moisture loss. As others have mentioned, salt can be used to alter the structure of the meat itself to reduce moisture loss.
Answer: Marinading the chicken before battering and frying has worked well for me. Some oil, lemon juice and spices is usually sufficient, but you can definitely get fancier and this has the added bonus of imparting flavor to the meat itself.
Another option, which I got from a Nigella Lawson recipe (it used to be online at cookstr.com but I can't find it anymore), is to marinade in whole milk for several hours, then boil the chicken in that milk (with some water for volume) until cooked through, and only then batter and fry the chicken. This sounds like it would fall into the overcooking trap, but it actually comes out very juicy and tender.
Finally, make sure you use a lot of very hot oil. A deep fryer is the best option. It seems a bit counter-intuitive, but lots of hot oil will actually help keep the chicken from coming out oily. Too little, or too cool, and the chicken seems to absorb the oil and taste unpleasantly greasy.
Comment: nice answer! :)
Comment: i agree with azula.. marinating the meat in lemon juice, vinegar, or papaya extract(or juice), tenderizes it.. and the meat it soft to eat!! for example cooking chicken in north indian dishes like chicken tikka..:)
Answer: I have found that putting the chicken in a brine (essentially like marinating) for up to a day ahead of time will infuse it with a lot of additional moisture. But use a simple brine like iced tea with salt (salty like the sea) or water.  You can definitely use buttermilk or other liquids as well, but I've had the best luck with salty, watery brines.
Technically, Aaronut is correct on the overcooking.  But beyond that, this is a great technique for increasing the tenderness.
Answer: My grandma had a Cajun style restaurant in Lousiana.
Her fried chicken recipe entailed brining the chicken for one night, then marinating it in buttermilk the next night.
Then a 'double dredge' with seasoned flour alternating with mayonnaise & beaten egg and into the boiling pot of lard on her enormous Wolf range
.
Tender, moist, juicy & perfectly seasoned- every time.
I believe the more 'commercial' fried chicken restaurants inject brine, broth & msg into their birds.
Answer: I have an answer for this question which is a solution I have worked on for some time now.
Here are the steps:

Brine chicken for 4 hours. Brine is 8 cups water, 1 tablespoon msg/accent, 1/4 cup table salt and 1 teaspoon sugar. This is 4 5 fillets of chicken breast. Brining will make the fillets plump and protect your meat from the hot oil.
Mix spices for breading.

Spices:
1 teaspoon black pepper, 1 1/2 teaspoons white pepper, 1 teaspoon coriander ground, 1 teaspoon ginger, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika, 1/2 teaspoon cayene pepper/chilli flakes.
Herbs:
1 teaspoon oregano, 1 teaspoon thyme, 1 teaspoon of powdered sage
Additives/extras:
1 tablespoon salt,
1 teaspoon msg/accent.
Feel welcome to change up spice mix to suit preference. Extra chilli for a nice hot coating. Less or more salt to personal preference. Msg will enhance the taste of the spices. Hence my quantities are not tablespoons. You can drop the msg, but will not get the same aftertaste and intensity.
Add spices to 3 cups cake/low protein flour, 1 cup cornflour. Mix well. Let sit.
Take chicken from brine and wash excess salt off in water.
Let rest for 1/2 hour.
Add chicken to 3 cups milk and 1 pre beaten egg.
Let chicken soak it up for 15 mins or so.
Take out fillets, cut them in half and let drip. Then roll and press into flour/spice mixture.
Cooking method:
I use 6 quart pressure fryer. The brine allows the chicken to retain moisture.
Heat oil to 180c. Add pieces of chicken. Let brown with lid off for around a minute or inspect. You want a nice brown colour. Not burnt. Dont let the coating go dark.
Once you have browned chicken, slam the pressure cooker lid on and cook for 6 1/2 - 7 minutes. Once pressure cooker is whistling, lower heat to medium.
Vent excess steam from cooker take off heat and prop the safety valve to allow steam to escape. Once you get the lid off, remove chicken and let rest on a raised grid seated on an oven dish.
Put in oven at around 70 degrees to let drip. 20 mins later = fried goodness.
I must stress that you use an approved pressure fryer for this method. And make sure you keep the seals nice and plump and bendy. This can be dangerous if you are not very careful and do some research. I personally use a 6 quart chicken bucket everwear pressure fryer. Cost me $40 on ebay, never been used.
Do this right and you will get a tasty light brown skin and the juiciest chicken inside, steaming as you cut it open.
I like to add a garlic sauce made of yogurt, salt, diced cucumber and garlic. Cut up fillets and put inside a wrap with salad.
You won't get greasy chicken this way. It will be steaming fried goodness.
Options/tricks to enhance:
Make your spice mix the day before and let it blend well. A nice powder mixed will enhance the aroma and intensity.
Add sage to the brine. About a teaspoon or two.
Answer: This article changed my poultry game:
http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/11/the-food-lab-the-truth-about-brining-turkey-thanksgiving.html
TLDR: Dry brining leads to more flavorful chicken as wet brining will "flush" flavor from the meat as liquid enters then exits the meat.
Answer: Season and flash fry in butter or (olive) oil.
"Flash fry" means cook for a couple of minutes at med-high heat in a frying pan. This will "seal" the meat, which will help lock in the moisture during the cooking process. Do this before adding all your finger lickin' spices and batter.
"Sealing" applies to most meats, not just chicken. If you're going to roast beef / pork etc which have longer cooking times, wrap them in foil AFTER sealing them, but before you roast them.
Comment: Welcome to Seasoned advice! Unfortunately, the "sealing" of meat by heat and/or oil is a known urban legend. A high-heat sear may make sense aroma-wise, but it actually helps dry out the meat surface.
Comment: The concept of "sealing" may be inaccurate, but it is not "urban legend". It's simply not what the term means.


Does each writer have a unique writing style?

Question: I admire the writing style of many other writers and I try to emulate them, but most of the time it doesn't turn out how I want it to. Is this because it's not uniquely my own style, but rather forcing myself to write similar as authors that I admire?
Comment: Have you tried just letting the words flow naturally without trying to assume a certain writing style? If you did, then how did it go?
Comment: Yes, I have and it goes great! I just sometimes read the work of other writers and I fall in love with their style of writing and I try to emulate it, but it never works out. One of my beta readers even told me it reads awkwardly
Comment: Related: https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/5414/how-do-you-find-your-unique-style?rq=1  https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/46940/how-to-avoid-unconsciously-copying-the-style-of-my-favorite-writer?rq=1 https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/41571/what-are-the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-copying-writing-styles/47210#47210
Answer: Neil Gaiman writes:

Don't worry about trying to develop a style. Style is what you can't help doing. If you write enough, [...] you'll have a style, whether you want it or not. (Neil Gaiman, The View from the Cheap Seats, A Speech to Professionals Contemplating Alternative Employment, given at ProCon, April 1997)

He also writes:

We all swipe when we start. We trace, we copy, we emulate. But the most important thing is to get to the place where you're telling your own stories, painting your own pictures, doing the stuff that no one else could have done but you. (ibid)

Your style is whatever you do, the way that you do it. Don't worry about it. Emulating others is a normal learning process. Don't worry about that either, just don't get stuck there forever. Another quote from Neil Gaiman:

Dave McKean, when he was much younger, as a recent art school graduate, took his portfolio to New York, and showed it to the head of an advertising agency. The guy looked at one of Dave's paintings - 'That's a really good Bob Peak', he said. 'But why would I want to hire you? If I have something I want done like that, I phone Bob Peak.' (ibid)

Now, you're trying to write like author X, but it doesn't come out like author X's work. Here's the question you should ask yourself: does it not come out like X's work because you don't know how to make it more like his work, or does it not come out like X's work because you want to take it somewhere else instead?
If your work doesn't come out like author X's work because you don't know how to make it more like X's work, that's not because "you're forcing yourself". That's because you don't know how to write in that style. You can learn if you choose to. You don't have to, but you can.
Similarly, a modern artist might not work in an Impressionist style, but he can learn it if he chooses to. He might not enjoy working in that style, the same way the Impressionists didn't enjoy the Neo-Classic school, but it's not that they couldn't do it. In fact, they could do it quite well.
If your work doesn't come out like X's work because, while knowing what X would do, you choose to take your work somewhere else, well - that's your prerogative. You can take the work wherever you like.
Answer: +1 Galastel, Your style is literally like your voice, instantly recognizable as "you" but nearly impossible to convey to somebody else in words. It is how you, with your thought processes and training and imagination, attack the problem of conveying a scene. So I'll try to come up with something different than her.
I approach(ed) writing like an engineer, not like a poet. I presumed there were techniques behind the good stories I read, ways to introduce a story, or a chapter, ways to describe a scene, or a character, ways to do plot, plot twists, everything, so the things I imagined could be realized on the page.
I was right about that. I recommend anybody that wants to write should do the same. You should try to copy what your favorite authors have done, but get deep into the weeds on what they've done. Count the words, count the adjectives. Pay attention to the tense. Pay attention to whether they use active or passive voice, and why. How many details did they mention about a new room? Why? Is it more or less for some purpose? Exactly how do they write a fight or battle?
I think of it as taking apart a machine, in a way that will let me put it back together, or build a similar machine. They constructed a scene. Presume there is order in the scene, in the way things are described and told, in the way the scene ends, in the way dialogue is used and when it is not used.
Many of these 'parts' you can find on sites like this one, there are many others giving writing advice. They can help you identify the types of things to look for, but what you really want is to see how the authors you love and aspire to emulate are using those parts, or not.
Eventually you will learn those patterns, and have your own favorite "parts" to build a machine with. Your style may be similar to theirs, but it will still be unique, just because you will find you like using the parts in slightly different ways. Some more frequently than others. And also because if you write original stories, the stories will just call for using the parts differently. The characters, settings, goals and descriptions will all be original.
Your first task, and it's a long one, is to start reading analytically, looking for the patterns and techniques that show you how a novel, a chapter, a scene, a conversation is crafted and made to work by someone you regard as a master. What did they do, to evoke from you whatever feeling they evoked?
What you write will be heavily influenced by your unique path through life, and ultimately that is what will determine your style.
Answer: Are There Enough Styles to Go Around?
It is impossible to know if each writer has a unique style.  To see if it is possible, I would try to estimate how many writing styles exist, so I need to understand what constitutes a style.
How many factors go into a style?  We can list some:

sentence length: short, medium, long, varied, sawtooth up, sawtooth
down
word preference: common, erudite, uneducated, short, long
adjective use:    many, few, never, sequences, interminable
adverb use: often, rarely, used in multiples, never, inverted order
passive voice: frequent, rare, never, constantly
sentence fragments: never, occasionally, in dialogue, as exclaimations
sentence run-on: never, when passionate, when bored, often, always
contractions: avoided, used whenever possible, varies with the speaker
Oxford comma: yes, no
scene linkage: focused on setting, focused on character, focused on action
and so on for a very long list.

Like any combinatorics problem, you multiple the number of choices in each attribute.  For this short list, we have 6*5*5*5*4*4*5*3*2*3 = 360,000 styles.  In short order, we can define more styles that there are people.  We have shown that it is possible for each person to have their own style.
But, you asked if each writer does have a unique style, not if it was possible.
We don't know, but I have full faith in the ability of literary critics to draw a line, however thin, between the product of any two writers.  A line drawn is a style defined.
Your style comes from you.
If when you read what you write, it doesn't sound like you want it to,  don't fret -- rewrite.  Write it again.  Feel the setting.  Listen to the sounds.  Share the characters feelings.  Write it again.  Repeat until it carries the full message you desire.
If may want to shape the writing.  Often when writing dialogue, each character has a unique style.  Those words should sound like the character speaking.  Even with those utterances as if from another mind, the overall piece will still sound like you.
That will be your voice and your style.  It will change constantly with changes in you, in your mastery of technique, and with what you are writing about.  You will know it is your voice because when you read it the words will fit in your mouth.
Answer: Imitating other people's styles is a great writing exercise. It can help you learn a lot (including things that may make their way into your own style).  But --as you've noted --it isn't suitable for writing your own work, unless you're writing a parody or a tribute. It's always better to be a real you than a fake someone else.
Answer: Yes and no.  All the good ones do.
All the exceptionally good artists have their own style.
If you don't have your own style it is ok...  you would just be among the 99.999% of the writers...
And it is also safe to say, until you have your own style, you are not great.
Comment: Your posts keep getting downvotes. I wonder if taking a look at our [tour] and [help] pages could help you?
Comment: Yeah, this is unkind.
Comment: @Neil Fein: unkind? :D  do you know how many artists have a unique and distinguishable style?  I know painters who sell paintings for over around a million dollars USD with a fairly generic style.  They are just really good at the standard generic style.  To be internationally know, to be remembered, one must not just own a style, one must invent a style that people recognize and admire.  And yes those guys are household names.


RestKit Managed Object Context goes nil

Question: Ok so I'm using RestKit and I have it working pretty well when it comes to the JSON + Rest part of things but implementing Core Data has been quite hair-raising.
In essence, I have a DaoManager singleton that holds an RKObjectManager. From within my Singleton:

I load some objects via RestKit into CoreData and getting back valid NSManaged Objects with a valid ManagedObjectContext (each one).
I save these objects into an instance array and then call an NSOperation on some non-managed objects.
The NSOperation calls a callback method on my Singleton on the main thread and I am able to see my NSManaged objects are still available but from within them, the ManagedObjectContext is now nil/null.

How this affects me is that the second I try to modify any of the properties on these objects, I get a CoreData Exception and I believe it's because the MOC is now nil.
Note: THe RKObjectManager and RKObjectstore are still valid throughout this whole process.
Has anyone else run into this? The thing about the MOC that RestKit sets up is that it's not really visible. It's supposed to handle everything itself in that way.
Any help appreciated. Thanks!
Answer: Well I ended up scrapping RestKit + CoreData since I couldn't get this to work.
Instead, I continued using Restkit to map objects from JSON but then I used my own Core Data objects to save a few important attributes to a local data store (i.e. images).

RestKit Managed Object Context goes nil


Is there a way to do a "factory rest" on RPi?

Question: I have recently installed Jessie on my HDMIPi, and the first thing I have tried to do is to install simplecv, but every attempt so far has failed. Now there is most likely a load of rubbish in there that it would be nice to get rid of. Is there a way to go back to the situation just as it was immediately installing Jessie, what I might call a "factory reset"? I can't simply re-install from scratch (can I?) because the Noobs SD card will have been overwritten. I have nothing I want to retain from what I have done so far, and I assume that trying to un-install will not succeed since nothing installed properly..
Answer: Raspbian is an image which can be downloaded as a file and written onto an SDCard of adequate size.
Essentially, disk images are files which contains everything that will exist on the new disk.  Including the formatting.  A disk image can be everything on a hard disk drive, a new CD ROM, a new DVD or even an SDCard.
Consequently, writing a disk image to media such as an SDCard will make anything formerly on that SDCard, at the very least, difficult to access or, at the very most, completely over-written.
So, when using a Raspberry Pi, to "start over" simply write the Raspbian disk image onto your SDCard.  You will need to use a special disk image writing application.  But disk image writing applications are easy to find.  Remember to copy anything you want to keep before doing so.
Alternatively...
Noobs is a set of files that are copied onto the 1st (usually) FAT formatted partition (perhaps the only portion) on an SDCard.  Guessing, if the Noobs files are the only files on the 1st partition which is (usually) formatted as a FAT partition, it will probably overwrite the entire SDCard with new data.
Comment: You write an image to a device. The only time *burned* would be considered normal is if it's to optical media.
Comment: Ok, I changed it.
Comment: Ops, missed that 2nd "burn" reference.  Removed that one as well.
Answer: You can download the image you want and overwrite the SD card with it following the normal procedure for you OS.
This will wipe your SD card and have a "Factory reset" or clean OS installed.
Answer: NOOBS contains a recovery menu. Press the shift key to enter rescue mode. You can now overwrite your existing install. This operation is destructive , all your settings and files will get lost.


Embedding a Views (VBO form) with Exposed Form Filter within a Node edit form

Question: Case:
 insert/embed a form within another form, while maintaining the original <form> markup in the embedded output. In this case, it's a Views Bulk Operations form with Exposed Form Filters embedded within a Node edit form.
Issue:
when embedded, everything looks good on the surface and the view display the form and all its elements. However, when examining the Views Exposed Form rendered output, the Exposed Filter is stripped of it's <form> markup. However, when I add the block to a region in the standard way on the same page as the Node edit form, the Views Exposed Form output contains the <form> markup and the Filter works fine.
Notes:
the Views Content of the VBO form is not affected and has its <form> markup intact within the Node edit form. Only the Exposed Form Filter within the same views display is stripped of it's <form>.
Also, using a pager in the views display and with Use Ajax set to Yes, if I click to the next page of the views results, the Ajax refreshed form contains the correct <form> markup for the Views Exposed Form and the filter works from then on.
Things I've tried:

setting the exposed form to appear in a block and then embedding the
exposed form block separately using module_invoke('views', 'block',
'view', '-exp-instructor_select-page_1').
embedding the view using views_embed_view('VIEW-NAME',
'VIEW-DISPLAY') - whether the VIEW-DISPLAY was 'default', 'page_1',
or 'block_1' - same issue.
embedding a Views block display using module_invoke('views', 'block',
'view', 'VIEWS-DISPLAY-block_1');
inserting the form directly using drupal_build_form($form_id,
&$form_state) (Views' replacement for drupal_get_form)

Tested with:

using hook_form_alter
the theme_preprocess_NODETYPE_node_form($vars)
hard-coding the  markup within a custom views exposed filter
template:
<form id="views-exposed-form-VIEWS-DISPLAY" method="get" accept-charset="UTF-8" action="/URL" class="views-processed"> VIEWS EXPOSED FORM TEMPLATE CODE <input type="hidden" value="instructor_select" name="view_name"><input type="hidden" value="block_1" name="view_display_id"><input type="hidden" value="" name="view_args"><input type="hidden" value="user/1/edit/studio" name="view_path"><input type="hidden" value="URL-PATH" name="view_base_path"><input type="hidden" value="VIEWS-DISPLAY" name="view_dom_id"><input type="hidden" value="0" name="pager_element"></form>

I'm sure I'm missing a few of the other ways I've tried to work this out, but this should be enough to serve as examples of things of tried.
No matter how the form is embedded in the Node edit form, the Views Exposed Filter doesn't work since the <form> element is missing, the AJAX however works with the rest of the VBO form and upon using the pager and AJAX refreshing the Views form display, the Exposed Form Filter  markup is rendered correctly and the filter works.
At this point I'm out of ideas. I would really appreciate some pointers or code samples on how to attempt this.
Thanks in advance.
Answer: I wanted to do the exact same thing and struggled like you. I finally found something that worked for me.
Context: Drupal 6, putting an ajax view with an exposed filter on a node edit form.
I created a display "block" on the view and simply inserted it via the block administration UI... and it turns out it works fine.


String gauge switching without truss rod

Question: My acoustic guitar has no truss rod and all this time I've been using .12-.53 gauge strings, and until now it's still that gauge, I've bought a .10-.48 but i haven't switched out the strings yet, but i will do soon and i know you need a truss rod when switching out strings what should i do when my guitar doesn't have that?
Comment: What kind of guitar do you have that has steel strings and no truss rod?
Comment: Please share a photo of your guitar.  Are you sure it has no truss rod?  Some acoustic guitars access the truss rod adjustment screw through a plate in the headstock which is removed by unscrewing tiny screws while others access the adjustment screw through the soundhole.
Comment: nope not even behind the sound hole where most of the acoustic guitar trussrods are located
Answer: There is nothing you can do, assuming you stay with concert pitch tuning. Since the new strings will be 10-15% lighter, with less tension involved, there may be some relaxing in the neck.So, nothing will break, the bridge won't be torn off, but you may find that the bow in the neck is too small, and the strings will rattle against the fretwires. Or not. If that happens - and it may take several days to settle, raising of the saddles/bridge will be an option, on a lot of guitars.
Depending on how well the guitar is put together - often reflected in the price - it may cause no problems, except the need to re-intonate, which again, may or may not be an option with that guitar.
Put bluntly, change strings, adjust what you can, if it doesn't succeed, revert to original, put up with it, or put it up for sale, and find another with the crucial parts that will allow such a change.
Answer: Firstly, are you 100% sure you have a guitar with a set of 12s on it that has no truss rod?  If so either you have an ultra-modern guitar, or more likely a guitar that probably is unhappy with 12s on it in any case.
(Some ultra modern guitars have a high density carbon strip in place of a truss rod, and are designed to not warp at all under string tension.  I've heard they can take anything from 13s to 9s and not budge a mm. I don't know if I believe it, but either way this only applies to some pretty expensive new guitars as far as I know)
If it's a conventional wooden neck with no truss rod,  I imagine that with 12s the action is probably already quite high anyway, from having too much tension on the neck causing too much bow. I also would imagine if you're going from 12s to 10s then your goal is to make the guitar a lot easier to play: if that's indeed the case, you may find that a decreased neck bow and lower action from putting on 10s is exactly what you want.
In the case that going from 12s to 10s relieves too much tension, you have no set up adjustment options unfortunately. What you can of course do in that case is to simply to buy a set of 11s. With the added effect of reducing the action as well as having lighter strings, you'll probably find they feel "lighter" than you expect anyway.
Before making any final decisions, give the new strings a good few days to settle in, and if they cause an action that's far too low, buy some 11s
Comment: yes i am sure it was a fake "fender" string set that says light gauge in the front but upon discovering it says heavy gauge 12s on the back i haven't resorted to buying fake strings again, now because of my ignorance the bridge was raised up the bottom left was raised up too about a quarter of an inch causing the action to go higher and have a gaping hole in the bottom of it and made me put superglue in the nut of the neck in order to raise it,
Comment: i think i'll just leave the guitar with no strings for a week to resettle and superglue the hole caused by the heavy strings
Answer: I also have an old guitar with no truss rod.  My understanding is that the heavier gauge strings require less tension to reach pitch. To understand, and figure out what is best for you. D'Addario has a guitar tension guide for  different size scale lengths and different types of strings  Google it and you wont be disappointed.


Linux SNMP monitoring using Intermapper monitoring system

Question: I was wondering if anyone out there is using Intermapper SNMP Monitoring software?  I am able to monitor system resources in every Windows Servers by making sure that the SNMP Service is started, Service Agents are checked, Send authentication trap is checked, Community Names are defined and Accept SNMP packets from these hosts are defined as well in which its pointing to the ip address of the Intermapper SNMP Monitoring system.  My question is what would be the way/step by step procedure to configure this in Linux?  Aside from monitoring Windows Servers, I'd like to be able to monitor Linux Server as well.  Appreciate everyone's assistance.
Answer: There's not much special to SNMP configuration on linux. Net-SNMP is probably one of the more popular options. The process is basically the same on linux as windows. Just make sure SNMP is installed, configured, and allowed through the firewall. Check out
http://wiki.zenoss.org/Configure_SNMPv3
http://www.net-snmp.org/docs/man/snmpd.conf.html
As far as installing the Net-SNMP packages, it depends on your distribution, as does firewall config.


Adoption rate of Phone Verification in Sign Up form?

Question: Of late we could see Phone Verification method is used in account registration forms so as to prove one is not a robot (e.g., Google signup form). So how popular is it's adoption rate? And how much it has increased the user's confidence to submit their own number.
Answer: Phone verification should not be used to prove that you are not a robot, but to prove that you are you, and to ensure that would be hackers need more than just a user name / password to get in.
Phone verification just to prove that I am not a robot would be a huge deterrent for me to even register at a site. As it would for sites that hold information me that I do not consider "sensitive".
Also note that that the two-step verification process for Google accounts is an optional extra security measure.


Are you more likely to get a sunburn at the pole than the equator?

Question: After looking at this post I can see that a flat object is more exposed to the sun at the equator. Does this mean that a person walking around (standing up), is much more likely to burn at the poles than at the equator? Because their entire body is facing the sun, not just the top of their head?
Comment: Odds of having much exposed skin at the Poles: small! :-p
Comment: I started thinking about doing the math on this, and quickly found myself thinking of the physics stack-exchange.

"Assume a spherical human...."
Answer: Assuming that your skin is exposed, you are standing upright are out when the sun is out, yes.
You don't even need to be very polar.
I live near Edmonton Alberta -- latitude 54 degrees.
At the equinox, the sun is at 54 degrees from the zenith.  At winter solstice it is 54 + 23 = 77 degrees from the zenith, or 13 degrees off the horizon.
No joke:  We use our car's sun-visors driving south at noon.
So if I'm standing up outside, I'm getting roughly the kind of sun intensity you would get lying flat on the beach in more tropical climes.  Since you aren't really hot, you can get a burn without your usual warning signs.
Confounding factors:
The sunlight is traveling through more atmosphere which reduces intensity somewhat.  At 13 degrees, the light path has about 4 times as much air in the path.  Which increases the amount of sunlight that is absorbed -- but not by a factor of 4.  The difference between sunlight in space and sunlight at the surface is about 30% overall, but adding to the air column will only increase the absorption of frequencies that are partially absorbed by a more vertical column.
Polar latitudes, and less polar ones in winter when solar angles are low, will tend to have less dust, water and smoke in the air, increasing air's transparency.
You get reflection off the snow which can come close to doubling your exposure.  Some of the worst sunburn's I've gotten have been on winter days on my poor nose.  (Sticking out of my face it's getting direct sun, reflected off of snow, and reflected off of face.)
One useful measure of the relative intensity is to look at the exposure information for photographs.  (You have to know the film speed or digital ISO as well as shutter speed and f/stop) I find that exposures in sunlight at 'low noon' in winter are comparable to summer ones.
Day lengths are short.  At winter solstice we theoretically have about 9 hours of daylight.  When the sun peaks at 13 degrees however there are a lot of shadows.
The weather tends to discourage large displays of skin, although I've split wood without a shirt on a calm sunny day at -10 C.  In general when dressing for outdoors I figure that bright sun in winter is equivalent to 10-15C degrees warmer, since it's hitting more of me.
Comment: Another variable -- the thinned ozone layer at the poles means a higher proportion of UV light gets through.

Altitude makes a big difference -- easier to sunburn on high mountains than at sea level.
Comment: Re *So if I'm standing up outside, I'm getting the kind of sun intensity you would get lying flat on the beach in more tropical climes.* No, you're not. It's not anywhere close due to the first confounding factor, "*the sunlight is traveling through more atmosphere which reduces intensity somewhat*." Somewhat is an understatement. The [air mass](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_mass_(solar_energy)) when the sun is 13° above the horizon reduces solar intensity by more than a factor of 2.
Comment: While the air mass column is twice the mass, it also has much less water vapour and dust in it.  A vertical air column reduces insolation from about 1300 w/m2 at the top of the atmosphere to typically around 1000 w/m2.  Doubling the amount absorbed would bring it down to around 700.
Comment: I wouldn't call them confounding factors, I'd call them as vital to the question as the sun angle/resultant profile! :)
Comment: This answer explains that a greater area of a person is likely to receive direct sunlight at high latitudes, due to the low angle of the sun. It does not address whether a person is more likely to be sunburnt (which I would imagine depends more on the maximum intensity on the skin that is lit, rather than the area of skin involved)


Can I become a professional musician

Question: Hi I am wondering if it is a good idea for me to become a professional musician?
Currently I am 16 and learning piano Grade 10 (RCM) and preparing for the exam.
I want to finish it, but I don't think piano is where my passion lies.
When I was 12 I picked up the trombone and played it in the school band but I didn't take it too seriously.
This year, I decided to try another instrument. I tried Violin, which is fun and I play in the school orchestra. I also tried flute, saxophone and trumpet, but I did not enjoy it as much.
This term we are playing Jupiter (holst) and the band needed more French Horns. So I decided to take up the French Horn part.
After playing for a two months. I found that I really enjoyed playing the horn and I am considering taking private lessons and getting good.
I do feel that if I were to take French horn to a professional level, I would need to start pouring my life and soul into it as soon as possible, which I am willing to do. Could A horn player like me at this age hope to make a living off playing horn?
Comment: I'm not sure if we can answer this question or if it's on topic. That said, I think anyone can have a career in the arts if they are willing to work hard and are willing to do the jobs that need doing. If you can become a good french horn player and find the right market, you might have a good chance at finding work because french horn is a hard instrument. If you are willing and able to teach as well, that will only help. If you learn as much as you can about as much as you can, you'll have more options for ways to make money. Music happens in the evenings, so a day job is a good idea also.
Comment: Do the math. You seem to be focused on "classical" music. The total number of professional orchestras in Canada is about 45, looking at https://www.musicalchairs.info/canada/orchestras. Suppose they have an average of 6 horn players each - that's 270. If an individual player has a working career of say 30 years, that means there are just *nine* new jobs available per year in the whole country. Sure, you (and any anyone else) can *hope* to be a pro horn player, but whether you actually become one is a different matter.
Comment: Do your parents support it? That's a huge factor on funding. You can do it, just understand the hardships. It isn't going to be as easy as getting a desk job - that is for sure
Comment: @alephzero (and Anthony Dang), luckily horns are needed outside of classical music. In fact Canada has a thriving movie and TV production industry, and soundtracks for both have become more and more important. Plus rock and pop still bring in the "real" instruments from time to time. Learning a little self recording and audio production one can hang out a shingle on the internet to lay down horn tracks task rabbit style and make extra money that way.
Answer: It's a possibility. You sound very musical, turning your hand to many diverse instruments. And grade 10 pno is pretty good at 16 ( equivalent to above gradeVIII ABRSM).Although it's said that that level is only a starting point for becoming a pro.
However, being a professional musician is far more than just having a passion for and playing music. Lots of pros just about exist on their'day job' as a musician. Money may not seem too important to you at 16, but with a mortgage, family, etc, later, it'll become more so.
If you stick to just horn, you'll have to be not only a brilliant sight reader, play by ear, have a large repertoire, be a team member, be prepared to travel, be away from family, but turn up for rehearsals on time, prepared.
Sounds at the moment that the classical route beckons, but there are opportunities for all sorts of different music making that you'll need to explore to be professional and survive.
As said previously, a lot of pros eke out their existence by teaching - you may- or may not - find this successful.There may well be mileage in pursuing the playing of several instruments to a high level (you could say 'having more strings to your bow'...) - more chances of teaching, and if you get into recording studios, you get paid for each instrument you play. Some may well see advantage in having you play all/most of the tracks!
Answer: <code>"I'm wondering if it is a good idea to be a professional musician"
</code>
I'd say a majority of professional musicians had no clue they would be professional until it happened; it is perhaps wrong to think of music in terms of an end goal (like being professional).
Most people think that becoming a professional entails 8 hours of practice a day for a lifetime... becoming the next Buddy Rich on drums, Miles Davis on trumpet, etc.
The truth is, you need to be good at the business side, maybe even more so, than being good at your instrument. Most pop musicians made a living because they're creative with how they sell themselves. It is about how well you can network... how well you can sell an idea to people. Why should they choose you instead of someone else?
I've seen people completely ruin their passion for music in attempts to become a professional.
Many have had to moderate and stray away from performing to achieve a viable living... essentially turning music into a job.
Just remember always, the reason you started playing is because of passion and not recognition... and go for it.... you are young enough that you can make it happen if you apply yourself and have belief in yourself.
Answer: if you can reach conservatory level by age 21, then you go do it.
French Horn is one of the rarer instruments to compete for but also not a lot of openings (hence I wouldn't recommend it).
Else, you can just be a musician as band.
Otherwise, don't; you can still do it for as a hobby.

Can I become a professional musician


Is there a payment processor extension for Worldpay or do we need to create one?

Question: Do we have a extension already in the community which allows us to use Worldpay as a payment processor? I have not found one. Do we need to create new payment processor extension for Worldpay?
Answer: It looks like there is experimental code available on Github for a Worldpay processor, which might need further development.
You may also want to explore the Omnipay extension. It doesn't list Worldpay on the extension page yet, but there is a driver for Worldpay with Omnipay that may just need some testing and/or minor tweaks to get running with CiviCRM using the Omnipay extension.
Answer: This is in production use on several sites https://github.com/circleinteractive/uk.co.circleinteractive.payment.worldpay
Answer: New extension Created - Alpha version has been released
Worldpay has two Gateway one

secure.worldpay.com
online.worldpay.com

So I have created an extension for online.worldpay.com which can be accessed using API In this no more redirection to worldpay site - for more info
https://github.com/rameshrr99/uk.co.nfpservice.onlineworldpay


Is there any record of a visual method of prayer in the Bible?

Question: Some context: I am deaf, though I can hear because of cochlear implants. As I have been able to hear since I was about 6.5 years old, I have an internal voice like pretty much every single normally-hearing person. Hence, when I pray, I typically pray with words. However, recently, my former roommate came to Christ, and I found out that he communicates with God through images, because he doesn't have an internal voice. Rather, he thinks - and therefore prays - in a visual manner. Given that the books of the Bible were written entirely (presumably) by people who were hearing, I'm curious as to whether there is any record in the Bible of a person praying in a visual way.
Answer: Very interesting question! One thing you might want to think about specifically with regard to finding examples in the Bible is visions -- those are usually God communicating to us, but it's a similar type of thing -- what is often done with words is instead done with images. Ezekiel's vision of the valley of the dry bones, for example.
If you're comfortable going beyond "just in the Bible" I would suggest google searching "visio divina". It is based on lectio divina which is a very old technique of meditating on scripture verses, but it also incorporates visual prayer.
http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Praying-with-Art-Visio-Divina.html
http://www.seeingtheword.org
Comment: Welcome to the site. This is a great first answer. I like the point on visions being a visual means of communication (albeit two way in some cases, or at least the opposite direction mentioned in the question). But excellent ideas here.
Answer: I doubt that. I remember from many sermons (on Gospel records of Jesus curing some mute/deaf person, such as Mark 7:32-37) that mute and deaf were considered unable to pray and even unable to believe by Jews.
I found two verses supporting this theory:
Isaiah 29:18

In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll,
      and out of gloom and darkness
      the eyes of the blind will see.

Romans 10:17

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is
  heard through the word about Christ.

Both mean roughly the same: without hearing the Law or the Gospel, you can't believe. With ability to read, sign language and other ways to communicate this is not true, but these ways were hard to imagine for people of that times.
Comment: I am not deaf myself but I suspect that 'hear' and 'listen' do not necessarily mean with your ears to both the deaf and hearing. I would figure the same for ancient peoples. I think you are making a pretty big assumption (Jews believed the deaf unable to believe) with very little support that is shaky at best. If you can provide more, either from the bible or other texts, I would think this a better answer.


Is there any way by which we can see when was last time or which was the block that was created just before bitcoin adjusted its latest difficulty?

Question: I guess if we start doing mathematical calculation then we can easily find exjact block no which was formed just before difficulty was adjusted. But is there anyway around like by using RPC by which we can find it out?
Answer: I don't know a way to get this directly through the RPC without looking at multiple blocks and comparing them, but the math formula is easy:
floor(current_number_of_blocks / 2016) * 2016 - 1

The floor function rounds a number down to an integer value; it's available in most programming languages, although it's sometimes named something to do with integers (e.g. int()).  The number 2,016 is the number of blocks in a retarget period (the time between difficulty changes).
Here's an example command:
bitcoin-cli getblockchaininfo | jq '.blocks / 2016 | floor * 2016 - 1'
524159

As requested, as of this writing, block 524,159 is the last block before the difficulty change.  To get the first block with the new difficulty, remove the -1 (so block 524,160 in this example).
The command used in the above example is jq.
Comment: Alternatively, `blocks - (blocks % 2016) - 1`.


Order of second ionization energy for cations

Question: Why is the correct order of second ionisation potential of $\ce{Li , Be , B , C }$ such as: $\ce{Be} <\ce C <\ce B <\ce{Li} $?
I understand that $\ce{Li+}$ has a stable inert gas electronic configuration and $\ce{B+}$ has one fully filled s orbital. Hence these will have a high value of ionisation potential. But on what basis do we then arrange the ionisation potentials of carbon and beryllium? What is the general steps of rules to solve such kinds of questions?
Answer: You are correct about $\ce{Li^+}$: the second electron to be extracted would be one of the two extremely tightly bound $\text{1s}$ electrons, which explains the very high second ionisation energy of that ion.
As for the comparison $\ce{Be^+}$ to $\ce{C^+}$, the main effect here is effective nuclear charge, $Z+1$, which in the case of $\ce{Be^+}$ is $5$ and in the case of $\ce{C^+}$ is $7$.
Equivalent electrons (same or similar orbitals) are more tightly bound to the nucleus, hence harder to extract, for higher $Z+1$. This results in a trend of higher second ionisation energies for higher $Z$, across a period.
This is a general trend across each period.

What is the general steps of rules to solve such kinds of questions?

Chemguide is a good place to start.


How to increase performance of Acer Aspire One 751h netbook?

Question: I have bought my new netbook Acer Aspire One 751h some days ago and was very unpleased with it performance - videotalking in skype is almost unuseable, watching videos on YouTube(even in standart definition) is like watching slideshow and all netbook have increadible lags if I'm running more then 4-5 programms in one time. So, can somebody tell me how to impruve the performance of the netbook(OS - WinXP SP3)? And can you say me where to control power managment, please? Thank you!
Answer: As this has a slower processor and you are running multiple apps, it will likley perform poorly. Do you have 1 or 2 GB of RAM.  Try the Skype or Youtube with no other apps running.  Any better?  Do you have an AV scanner set do do agressive scans? Power management is usually in Control Panel under Power.
Answer: I own one of these myself.
I have upgraded to 2gb ram and added and SD card to use for ReadyBoost with Windows 7.
I upgraded to Windows 7 from the Windows XP.
Be sure to get the latest drivers - particularly the video driver - to ensure the best performance.
Power Management can be reached by right clicking the battery icon (Vista and Windows 7 - not sure about xp since it has been so long since I used it).
Comment: FYI Power Management is within Control Panel, and a right-click away on the battery/AC power icon in XP
Answer: Along with what the others said, check out Task Manager or that Performance Log thing built into Windows. Find out if you are CPU, RAM, or HDD-speed bound. From there hunt out the bad applications (hint: even netbooks get loads of bloatware installed on them from the manufacturer that are not needed)
Also, you were saying this about Skype and Youtube. Not be be obvious, but your internet is fast enough right?


Powershell script (remote) to copy List items from MOSS 2007 to SharePoint Server 2010

Question: Any one has any ideas if we can write PowerShell script from a server which does not have SharePoint installed to copy list items from a MOSS 2007 site (MOSS server) to SharePoint 2010 (SP2010 server)?
If no, does anyone know if we can run the PowerShell script from the SharePoint 2010 Server to copy list items from the remote MOSS 2010 server to SharePoint 2010?
Code samples would be appreciated.
Answer: You can do that by calling the Lists web service from System.Net.WebClient or otherwise from a server which does not have SharePoint installed, but the Object Model will not be available for full use.


Accelerating elevator?

Question: If your in an elevator accelerating downwards faster than gravity, would you be pushed up to the ceiling? Since gravity cannot match the acceleration of the elevator, you're wouldn't be able to move at a constant velocity relative to the elevator.
Answer: Yes. Although the elevator car wouldn't be able to fall faster than gravity - you would need to have a cable pulling it down.
One of the most important principles of physics is that you can't tell if you are in a gravity field or in an accelerating box.
Answer: yes you will be pushed up to the ceiling of elevator because you are accelerated inside the elevator due to gravity and the elevator itself is accelerated due to external faster acceleration, that makes you stuck on the elevator ceiling then they ceiling will push on you with normal force  making you move with the elevator downward

Accelerating elevator?


Summing states of two qubit registers

Question: I'm addressing the implementation with gates of an algorithm where there is the need of creating a qubit register $|\Psi\rangle$ starting from two input qubit registers $|a\rangle$ and $|b\rangle$, obtaining
$$|\Psi\rangle = \frac{1}{k}(|0\rangle|a\rangle + |1\rangle|b\rangle)$$
with $k$ being a normalisation factor $\sqrt 2$.
How that can be obtained using quantum gates starting from $|a\rangle$, $|b\rangle$ and ancilla qubits as needed?
Comment: Hi, Gianni. Welcome to Quantum Computing SE! It is preferable that you use [MathJax](https://quantumcomputing.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/49) to typeset your posts. Review [How to write a good question?](https://quantumcomputing.meta.stackexchange.com/q/370). I've [edit]ed the question on your behalf, this time.
Comment: Thanks again for the fix. I'm trying to get familiar to it but I'm not yet 100%.
Comment: You're welcome, and thanks for trying! I do realize that it can be a bit hard to grasp MathJax initially, but you'll hopefully get used to it over time. Some quick tips: to display $|x\rangle$ type `|x\rangle`, for fractions like $\frac{1}{k}$ use `\frac{1}{k}` and for square roots e.g. $\sqrt{2}$, use `\sqrt{2}`.
Comment: Are $\mid a \rangle$ and $\mid b \rangle$ arbitrary normalized states in $\mathbb{C}^2$ or are they computational basis states? I am concerned whether what you are asking for is not even linear if I'm interpreting the operation as I am currently thinking you are asking.
Comment: @AHusain: I am considering |a\rangle and |b\rangle as generic qubits or qubit registers, not necessarily computational basis.
Comment: @GianniCasonato You'll need to enclose MathJax commands within `$` symbols i.e. `$|a\rangle$` and `$|b\rangle$`.
Answer: If I understand your question correctly, you're asking if it's possible to be given two unknown states $|a\rangle$ and $|b\rangle$, which may not be orthogonal, and you want to know if there's a transformation
$$
|a\rangle|b\rangle\mapsto\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(|0a\rangle+|1b\rangle).
$$
In general, this is impossible to realise deterministically. Let me give a sketch of a proof (it's similar to a standard proof of no cloning).
If we want this to be a unitary evolution, then we need some ancilla states. Thus, we'd be after the transformation
$$
|a\rangle|b\rangle|s\rangle\mapsto\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(|0a\rangle+|1b\rangle)|t_{ab}\rangle.
$$
Now, let's consider two particular inputs, $a=0$ and $b=0$ or 1. We need
$$
|0\rangle|0\rangle|s\rangle\mapsto\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(|00\rangle+|10\rangle)|t_{0}\rangle \\
|0\rangle|1\rangle|s\rangle\mapsto\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(|00\rangle+|11\rangle)|t_{1}\rangle.
$$
Using linearity, we can therefore infer what the evolution has to be for any input $|b\rangle$ when $a=0$:
$$
|0\rangle(\alpha|0\rangle+\beta|1\rangle)|s\rangle\mapsto\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(\alpha|00\rangle|t_0\rangle+\alpha|10\rangle|t_0\rangle+\beta|00\rangle|t_1\rangle+\beta|11\rangle|t_1\rangle)
$$
but it should be
$$
\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(|00\rangle+\alpha|10\rangle+\beta|11\rangle)|\tilde t\rangle.
$$
To achieve equality, we'd need $|\tilde t\rangle=|t_1\rangle=|t_0\rangle$ and $(\alpha|t_0\rangle+\beta|t_1\rangle)=|\tilde t\rangle$. This can only happen if $\alpha\beta=0$, i.e. for the two cases we fixed initially; no other case works, making the transformation impossible.
I'm sure one could improve the structure of this proof so that you don't have to make as many assumptions about what's included in the possible set of states to do this with.
If the two states $|a\rangle$ and $|b\rangle$ are guaranteed to be orthogonal, in a known basis, I believe that the transformation is achievable.
Answer: It's impossible if $|a\rangle, |b\rangle$ are unknown, as DaftWullie proved in his answer.
Though, you can construct another operation, that might suit your needs
$$|0\rangle|a\rangle|b\rangle \mapsto \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(|0\rangle|a\rangle|b\rangle + |1\rangle |b\rangle|a\rangle)$$
Just use $H$ on the first qubit, and then controlled swap of the two last registers.
If $|a\rangle,|b\rangle$ are known in advance, then you can construct whatever you want.
Answer: I haven't seen a simple way for preparing this new state, however it does not mean it is not achieveable.
Assuming $a$ and $b$ are both states corresponding classical $n$-bit binary integers, the end states will be a entangled state corresponding to two $n+1$ bit integers.
You will need to have $n+1$ qubits all in $|+\rangle$ states, then  use Grover's algorithm to search for the two states that matches the $n+1$ bit binary integers. Of couse this will take $\sqrt{N}$ steps to achieve the target state with desired accuracy.

Summing states of two qubit registers


Unlink a PC from Skydrive?

Question: I have just lost a laptop running Windows 8 Consumer Preview with the Skydrive application installed.  I have changed my Windows Live password.
How do I remove the laptop from syncing to Skydrive.
Answer: Log in to SkyDrive, and from the sidebar on the left click "Computers" => the name of your laptop. The page that loads has a "disconnect computer from SkyDrive" link at the top.
In your shoes I would also change my SkyDrive password and any other passwords given to  applications on that laptop.
Comment: Thanks very much Jon.  I have changed the password already.
Answer: If you are using Microsoft Surface (tablet) running Windows 8 RT, open your Skydrive account, move your mouse pointer to the far right until you see the pop-out toolbar (this can be tricky to get this toolbar to open, so move your mouse pointer to the top or botton of screen on the right side until you see it kick out) then click on Settings. When that opens, click on Options and then sign out of the account you no longer want to be in. Now you can log back into Skydrive with a different account. Yeah, this almost made me go nuts too in trying to change account I was logged into.
P.S. I have a wireless mouse plugged into the only USB port on this tablet, works great.

Unlink a PC from Skydrive?


Is laundry punching bag the same as regular punching bag?

Question: I would like to know if training with a laundry punching bag such as this is equivalent to using a real punching bag?
Comment: i mean that depends what it's the bag...
Comment: I have the impresion they only wanted to re-create the look of a real punching bag, not the functionality.
Answer: It's hard to tell without examining or testing the actual item, but I'm skeptical that they would be the same.

It's marketed as a "novelty", which is often used as shorthand for "not intended for regular use", and which suggests that the straps and sides of the bag probably aren't engineered to actually hold the weight of a properly loaded bag and/or handle the forces of the punch.
The weight of dry laundry is likely not enough to create enough resistance for most training. And if the laundry is wet, it's going to create additional strain on the bag's straps.

Overall, I think this is meant to be a hanging laundry bag that resembles a punching bag, not something meant to be used as a punching bag, and it will likely break quickly if used as one.
Answer: I think it depends on what you expect to train.
If you want to train impact, you need something firm and heavy.
If you just need a surface with a little resistance and some heft to practice
learning what it feels like to make impact, it doesn't matter.
What matters about any tool, in any craft or discipline, is what results you expect it to produce.
Answer: It's definitely not the same.  But that doesn't mean it's bad.
Many punching bags are much too soft or hard for certain types of training.  Similarly, many are too light or heavy.
If you are training to box, you need to match your bag to the weight class of your opponents.  During training, you can use bags of different weights, densities, and styles to help develop different skills.  For example, uppercut training bags are very different from speed bags.
If you are just starting, the most important bag to have is one that you will actually use and one that won't cause injury.  Many years ago, I learned that lesson the hard way which resulted in me being in a cast with a bone fracture for weeks.
That said, if you are strong, or use it a lot, I doubt the particular bag you found will last very long as a punching bag.  The seams or material may likely tear very soon.
Whenever hitting any bag, make sure you properly protect your wrists, knuckles, and fingers.  Wraps are mandatory if you want to reduce the chance of broken bones.
Answer: When I was looking for bag options long ago, I found that they are easy to get, but a main limiting factor was finding somewhere to hang the bag where it won't cause damage in the long term.  Finding somewhere with enough clearance is a second factor.  Any ground-based hanging frame gets deformed, and the design of the base sometimes limits the amount of moving around you can do.  For that reason, I doubt that novelty laundry bag is meant for actual use.
The college I went to had buildings with cement posts.  I would use gi belts to wrap training mats around them.  If they weren't available, I'd just use a gloved hand.  You then have to make the punches light and snappy rather than following through.  The posts had a square cross section that was too big to do upper cuts or hooks, so those movements end up just scraping the surface.  And, of course, the cement posts were stationary, which means that you don't get any exercise in real time adaption.


Which AD carry does Taric go best with?

Question: I've noticed recently that Taric isn't used as much in competitive play. I was wondering which AD carry works "best" with Taric? Also, what kind of runes/masteries should I be running on him?
Answer: Taric works well with Caitlyn, since if you have proper communication between the two players, the enemy can step on a trap, Taric stuns, then Caitlyn drops another trap, which gives Caitlyn about 4 seconds of attacking an enemy without retribution due to her superior range. Vayne can also do well with him, if you manage to condemn an enemy into a wall, and Taric follows up with his own stun. Also, Taric/Graves can practically 100-0 an enemy at level 6 due to their strong burst.
For runes, armour marks, gold per 10 seals/quints, and either mana regen or MR glyphs work well on him. Movement speed quints are also an option, since you can get in range to land more stuns.
Answer: Taric works well with AD carries that can follow up on his stun with either a huge amount of damage or another form of CC.  However, there are several lanes that are seen much more frequently than others:
Urgot (Flash Swap -> Taric Stun -> Jungle gank is almost a guaranteed kill at level 6)
Caitlyn (Taric Stun -> predicted Caitlyn Trap -> Shatter + Piltover is a huge amount of harass)
Taric, like all supports, benefit from GP/5 and defensive stats.  Support runes are a lot more flexible than others in terms of preference.  Taric does not scale well with AP or AD as a support, so defensive runes are the best option.  Mana-regeneration is also an option, but this is lane dependent and playstyle dependent.  GP/5 is essential for Quintessences in my opinion.
Taric is a well-rounded support in that he has damage (Shatter and Radiance), hard CC (Dazzle), and sustain (Imbue).  Caitlyn and Urgot take great advantage of the CC and damage through Trap/Piltover and Noxian Corrosive Charge/Hyper-Kinetic Position Reverser.  If you want a sustained farm lane (see: Kog'Maw, Ashe), don't pick Taric.
Answer: My vote is very split between Vayne and Graves. At least, they are the most over powered in my personal opinion, but I guess Graves will have to get it. Even if Vayne scales so much harder.
His hit is just... wrong.
Comment: I don't think there are any over powered champions, Riot made the game very balanced. But anyways, could you please explain why Graves and/or Vayne work well with Taric, so we can understand your answer better?

Which AD carry does Taric go best with?


How accurate are fingerprints at identifying somebody?

Question: In the movies, fingerprints identification always works, with no mistakes. How close is this to reality?
Answer: Properly done, the false positive rate is negligible (estimated under 1:60 billion) assuming that the axiom "fingerprints are individual" is correct in the first place.
Using automated matching, the error rates are MUCH higher, especially on partial prints, which the police uses too. Because the false positive rate on those are known to be horrendous, all automated matches are verified manually (though that does not really make it any better). All in all, false positive rates of between 1% and 4% are not uncommon, depending on the investigator's diligence.
You should note that identifying a person without doubt is not the intent of matching a fingerprint in the first place, nor is ruling out a possible suspect.A fingerprint match gives the police a "leverage" which may a) be used to justify breaking your civil rights (e.g. arrest, sequestration, body search) and b) gives their case a better "weight" when presented to the district attorney and later to an uncanny judge or jury, and c) press a culprit into confession as he realizes that there is doubtless evidence.
Like most forensic "evidence" (such as a DNA sample), fingerprints don't really mean an awful lot, though they are often seen as "unquestionable".
For example, your fingerprint on the knife that sticks out of a dead body can equally well mean that you've killed that person or that you've had that knife in your hands in the shop two days ago (you thought about buying one). Your DNA on a cigarette that was found at a crime scene can equally well mean you're the culprit and stupid enough to smoke mid-crime, but it could equally well mean you threw the cigarette on the street the day before, or someone took it out of the ash-tray in your favourite cafe, just to lay a false track against a random person.
While it is true that often things indeed are what they look like, they need not be, and sometimes they aren't. However, it is usually assumed that the "evidence" is infalliable, which is an increasing problem in a society where the classic presumption of innocence has turned into "you must prove your innocence".
EDIT (some sources were asked for):
One source which is freely available online is Galton's somewhat dated book. Don't be put off by the fact that the book is 130 years old. Galton gives somewhat divergent numbers for different numbers of matches in particulars, they're somewhere in between 2^29 and 2^41, but all of them are in the same "close to zero" range. That's for a careful examination, assuming the examiner is not "faulty" in himself (which certainly does not apply to automated systems).
I cannot find a reference for the 4% now... you'll have to take my word for that it was in some paper a couple of years ago... :(
The Marion Russ murder is a famous example of how wrong things can go with unfalliable evidence. The arrest of Brandon Mayfield in 2004 for the Madrid bombings is another.
False rejection and false acceptance rates on automatic matching can be somewhat estimated from data sheets available at biometric lock manufacturers' websites. It has to be said that a forensic computer is somewhat (2-3 orders of magnitude) more accurate under optimal conditions, since it does not have the same time and computational power constraints, but the world is rarely ideal, either. If the input quality varies by 3-4 orders of magnitude, then the output quality obviously does, too. So... again, numbers must be taken with a grain of doubt. But anyway, rough figures.
(As far as I'm concerned personally, I would multiply any claimed numbers by a factor of at least 100. Most manufacturers claim FRRs and FARs of <0.1% and <0.001%, respectively, some claim 1/10 of that. I'm seeing a false rejection about twice per day, at <0.1%, that would be 2000 attempts. Not only would that mean that I'd spend a full hour every day with it, but also my finger would be bleeding... this just isn't realistic.)
Comment: While that's a great answer, who would mind citing your sources so we can verify the information? Annoying, I know. It comes from being skeptics. We like to verify information. :P
Comment: The big question for me is whether anyone has ever done a properly controlled trial of fingerprint matching *using current techniques* on a large enough sample to tell the true reliability of actual practice. Theory just doesn't satisfy here.
Comment: The problem with current techniques is that there are collisions, due to the limited number of points used, so although it is still reliable, it should not be relied on!
Comment: This is definitely wrong.
Comment: Paragraphs 3-6 need some citations to back them up. You seem to be letting your personal prejudices influence your answer.
Comment: @DJClayworth Paragraph 5 seems fine. Unless you mean specifically in terms of how long fingerprints/identifiable DNA are expected to last on various objects?
Answer: In Germany the Chaos Computer Club developed a cheap technique to copy fingerprint based on a photograph of the correct fingerprint from a glass bottle.
Some people also don't have clear fingerprints and the commenly used technqiues don't work with them with the same certainty that the work with people who have clear fingerprints.
Answer: Not very since on most crime scenes you will only find partial or bad prints. The number of mistakes is pretty high. Especially when you are on the wrong side.
As with all things forensic it is the interpretation that is all important, these day more and more forensic experts use a Bayesian approach to interpreting the data. Meaning that they do a pre-evaluation before starting the analysis and then at the end seeing which one of the hypotheses corresponds with the pre-evaluation the most.
I'm pretty sure that this is not done with fingerprints because of the common use of this techniques. This because it is cheap and can be automated.
It is also a question of how strict they can be. For example a partial print will be put throught the computer and it might find another fingerprint in tha database that has 5 common points. This would be low for a complete print where they would speak of a match after 12 common points.
So in the forensic world (I work in a forensic textile lab) everything should be about interpretation, interpretation, interpretation. The same results might lead to another conclusion based on the context and the context might change in the course of an investigation because of additional evidence, added witnesses or changing declarations.
But never forget prisons are full of innocent people.
Answer: Fingerprint matching is of two types: matching a perfect print to a known person and matching a "latent" print (lifted from a crime scene) to a database.
You may want to read this document: "Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS)"
National Criminal Justice Reference Service by KR Moses. This describes the FBI system in detail.
Note that there is usually a human component involved. Often the database will return a list of multiple hits, then an expert human goes through the list and decides if there is a match. This is a subjective process and can result in a wrong identification. Also, in the case of latent print, you may get no hit at all, even if the subject who made the print is in the database.
If the subject is in the datase, there is a 75% chance of identification of a latent print, according to the manual I cited above. Note that often latent prints have to be pre-processed by expert humans to even start a search.
In a courtroom the situation is completely different. In that case, you have a known suspect and a latent print. In this case, you do not need to search a database of 100s of millions of prints, you just need to compare the latent print to the suspects prints. A human expert is required to do this because usually latent prints are fragmentary, distorted or have other problems. Once again, it is a subjective process. However, in the case of a suspect, the chance that the accused would coincidentally have prints similar enough to the latent print to confuse a human is low, so usually a human expert's confidence they match is consider strong evidence. There is no firm statistic on the accuracy of the such matches because it is completely dependent on the skill of the human.
Because of the birthday paradox the chance of any one person having prints that are more or less statistically indistiguishable from someone else's is significant across the 7 billion people on the earth.
Also, note that there is a bias factor. In a courtroom a human expert, paid by the prosecution, will often be willing to make a match on a print fragment that would be completely unmatchable by an semi-automated system such as FBI's AFIS. Also, you can PROVE such bias by get lists of potential matches out of AFIS and then forcing the examiner to choose among them, which in the case of a fragmentary latent print may often be impossible to do successfully. Unfortunately, most defense attorneys are not aware of how to do this.
One general test of a range of examiners to determine proficiency on high-quality latent prints resulted in a false positive rate of 0.8%. Another NIST study in 2011 using expert, experienced examiners resulted in a false positive rate of 0.2% and a false negative rate of 10.9%. For more info see the report by NIST "Latent Print Examination and Human Factors: Improving the Practice through a Systems Approach." (February 2012)
Comment: It's helpful to include a hyperlink to the document, if the document is available online. More importantly it's better to include (in your answer) some direct quotes from the reference (formatted as direct quotes using the `>` markdown). A good format for an answer is: a) references b) quotes from the references, which answer the question c) in your own words, introduce the references and/or summarize the answer.
Comment: In this answer, for example, there's a 'wall of text' ... and if I want to fact-check any given sentence in the answer (e.g. "In a courtroom the situation is completely different") I don't know where what reference (if any) that sentence came from, and so it's very difficult for me to assess its reliability.
Comment: @ChrisW I have added hyperlinks.
Answer: No body knows how unique a fingerprint actually is. This is an exceedingly hard question to answer. However you can measure the ability of "expert" examiners to identify a particular fingerprint from a "lineup" of fingerprints. This has only recently been studied:
"The examiners made only six false positives, or an error rate of about 0.1%. Most of the examiners, however, incorrectly determined at least once that a matched latent-exemplar pair did not come from the same individual, for an overall false negative rate of about 7.5%."
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2011-04-false-positives-rare-fingerprint.html#jCp
also on
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3093498/
For a well considered article concerning the use and reliability of fingerprints as evidence read:
http://issues.org/20-1/mnookin/
For a more "talky" article from "The New York Times"
http://truthinjustice.org/fingerprints.htm


Tax rebate for home loan of under construction property

Question: I am living in a rented house. This year (F.Y. 2016-17) I have booked an apartment in the same city for which I will get the possession after 3.5 years. I have opted for CLP and I am paying the EMI since June 2016.
Now for my case there are 3 components which can be claimed under various scenarios.

HRA.
Principle repayment done during the year.
Interest repayment done during the year.

Could you please help me in understanding on what I can claim out of 3 mentioned above and under what section (I am not in possession of my apartment as it is still under construction)
Also, If possible, what all documents I need to claim the tax exceptions under the 3 categories mentioned.
Answer: As you don't have the possession of the house, you can only claim rent for this year.
Depending on city, there are rules as to how much rent can be claimed.


Pending tasks in puppet dashboard?

Question: My puppet master dashboard console shows x PENDING TASKS and it keeps on increasing.
How do I rectify it? Whenever I change any conf file, it does not get reflected in the dashboard. even if the node gets deleted also it is not reflected in the console?
how to delete the puppet cache? Any suggestions?
Answer: Check the status of the worker threads and maybe restart them:
/etc/init.d/puppet-dashboard-workers status

Check the logfile for errors:
tail -f /usr/share/puppet-dashboard/log/delayed_job.log

You might be able to get the file name with this:
grep "Importing report" /usr/share/puppet-dashboard/log/delayed_job.log

If you have found that one report is responsible for the errors, check the report files here:
/usr/share/puppet-dashboard/spool

Answer: From the 'Dashboard Manual: Installing' at http://docs.puppetlabs.com/dashboard/manual/1.2/bootstrapping.html#starting-and-managing-delayed-job-workers:

Dashboard uses a delayed_job queue to asynchronously process resource-intensive tasks. Although Dashboard won't lose any data sent by puppet masters if these jobs don't run, you'll need to be running at least one delayed job worker (and preferably one per CPU core) to get the full benefit of Dashboard's UI.

For testing the dashboard I had success using the jobs:work Rake Task:
$ sudo -u puppet-dashboard rake RAILS_ENV=production jobs:work

When going to production the recommended road is to use a production-quality web server, for example Apache with the Passenger module.
Dario

Pending tasks in puppet dashboard?


How do I solve the top yellow layer of the Rubik's cube?

Question: I used to solve the Rubik's cube using the standard algorithm. Recently, after a long time I tried doing it again. I did revisit the algorithm to solve the Rubik's cube, but I'm stuck in the top yellow layer. There is one mis-positioned yellow piece in the corner. How do I arrive at a top yellow state? Is this a possible configuration or my cube is malformatted ? I'm clueless. I have followed all possible steps that I know.
Comment: It's such a relief to finally see a post that is not a riddle and is actually about puzzles!
Comment: I assume the unpictured parts of the cube are solved.
Comment: It is not hard to prove (mathematically) that the corner twists always sum to zero modulo 3, where the corner twist of a corner is the number of clockwise 120 degree rotations needed to get that corner orientation from the base orientation, where the base state of a corner is the one where the yellow or white face is either facing up or facing down. Your cube has corner twist 2, so it is unsolvable.
Comment: Yellow **side** or yellow **layer**?
Answer: I'm afraid this is not possible to solve using normal moves.
Two things could have happened:
1. The cube was taken apart or some pieces popped out, and then it was reassembled incorrectly.
2. The cube is loose enough that during scrambling or solving a corner got caught on another piece and twisted in the middle of a move.
In the latter case you can probably just twist the corner back without taking the cube apart. Otherwise you will have to pop out an edge piece next to the corner (turn the U face by 45 degrees first), twist the corner, and reinsert the edge piece. This method of disassembly does not work on modern speed cubes, only on older cubes. To disassemble modern speed cubes you usually need to pop off the cap of a face centre and unscrew the screw on the axle.
Answer: If a corner piece is misaligned and you are confused as to how to fix it, just take the cube apart and assemble it back in the solved state. It hardly takes 5 minutes and you can then scramble the cube and practice your solves.
Answer: That state is not possible/solvable.
The 2 most likely explanations are:

You took apart the puzzle and assembled it incorrectly.
You twisted a corner. Many speedcubes (Including mine) have a problem in that you can twist corners into a new position, putting it into an unsolvable state. This probably happened while you were scrambling the cube. If you think this is the reason this has happened a to fix it, simply twist the piece into place with your hand.
Answer: Clearly , this is an unsolvable state.
Refer to the page , Laws of the cube , to get the idea of what I mean.
The edges and the corners are somewhat entangled with each other, if one corner is twisted clockwise, the other has to be in counter-clockwise , and so on.


Would saying "if" in place of "whether" be a big mistake?

Question: For example, in the expression "I don't know whether I'm coming or going", would saying if in place of whether be a big mistake? Would doing it in written English be an error too?
Answer: In general, if and whether can be substituted for each other. In certain situations, they have different meanings. For example:

I don't know whether I should arrive on Friday or Saturday
I don't know if I should arrive on Friday or Saturday

The first sentence implies that the person will arrive, but they are not sure when. The second sentence could be read that the person might not arrive at all.
Comment: The example is a common expression meaning basically "I'm confused." More explanation [here](http://www.jetenglish.com/359).
Answer: Formally, if should be used when you have a conditional sentence and where whether should be used when you are showing that two alternatives are possible.
In the sentence asked, both are correct.
Answer: In the questioned sentence, "if" can be used to imply that the person saying it may not be either coming or going, but could be standing still, or even running around in circles.
"Whether" implies that "coming" and "going" are the only possibilities.
Answer: If could be used in place of whether.
They would have the same effect, and the same meaning.
So no, it wouldn't be a big mistake.
Answer: I find that if is commonly substituted for whether in informal English (the reverse does not happen). This is one of my personal bugbears: I try to get it "right", but in practise most people are happy to let it slide.


In episode 3, why did Lelouch kill him but not her?

Question: In episode 3 of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, Lelouch killed

 Clovis as he was leading operations against the resistance, and Cornelia did the same thing.

However, Lelouch did not try to kill her despite this. Why? It was even made clear that he had nothing to do with death of Lelouch's mother.
Answer: Clovis was killing innocent Elevens, not just the resistance/terrorists.

…just as former Viceroy Clovis was punished for ordering the slaughter of countless unarmed Elevens. We cannot stand by and allow such cruelty to be carried out, and so we made him pay for his actions. I will not repudiate battle on a fair and level field, but neither will I tolerate a one-sided massacre of the weak by the strong. The only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed! Wherever oppressors abuse their power by attacking those who are powerless, we shall appear again, no matter how mighty or formidable our foe may be!

Source: Wikiquote - Code Geass - The Black Knights (Second Section)
While yes, Cornelia can be brutal like using a Knightmare to gun down the JLF who really stood no chance against one, she didn't order innocent people to be killed. Both she and Lelouch believe in the principle that "the only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed" and fight on the front lines with her soldiers, even telling Guilford off when he tells her to keep back.

During the Battle of Narita, Cornelia leads the attack on the Black Knights along with Dalton and Guilford. Guilford warns her to stay away and she responds by destroying several Burais.

Source: Cornelia li Britannia - Character History - First Season (5th Paragraph)
Clovis, on the other hand, ordered innocent people to be slaughtered all the while he hid in his G-1, and even started to beg Lelouch to spare him. Cornelia would more than likely not beg for her life to be spared, if she was to beg I would dare say it would be to spare her soldiers in exchange for her life
Also, Cornelia was originally assigned to Marianne's Guard before being ordered by Marianne herself to dismiss the guard and the palace's defenses on the day of her death. Under Lelouch's Geass, Cornelia revealed she was investigating Marianne's death herself.
Finally, Lelouch didn't have the time to finish her off anyway. Remember that while he was interrogating Cornelia, C.C tells Lelouch that Nunnally is in danger (due to V.V having kidnapped her). Lelouch's first priority is always Nunnally as, during the first attack on the Tokyo Settlement, he had the Black Knights protect the school because she was there. During the second attack, he had Rolo and Sayoko get Nunnally out of Tokyo and broke down when Nunnally was thought to be killed. With Nunnally in danger, he abandons the attack on Tokyo and his own vendetta against Britannia so V.V could very have well saved Cornelia inadvertently.
Answer: Lelouch needed her alive because she had info on the death of his mother which could help him unravel the truth.
By the time he finally gets to her and geasses her to ask the questions, the Black Rebellion is in full swing, so killing her after the questions would be a bad idea because holding the viceroy captive is an excellent way to force a victory. Of course Jeremiah then enters the scene and everything goes haywire.
After that, Cornelia disappears until the second half of season 2.


Remove or unset super attribute from cart in magento

Question: I have been trying to remove or unset  super attribute (configurable product) on cart page which have null value.
I have attached screen shot.

I have two option color and premium colors if i get color option value null than it will remove from cart programatically and also remove from sales order.
Can anyone please help me.
Answer: Try this method:
$_customOptions = $item->getProduct()->getTypeInstance(true)->getOrderOptions($item->getProduct());

var dump the result and check $_customOptions or $_customOptions['info_buyRequest']. You will find useful information.


$L^p$ bounds for linear operators

Question: A typical way to show $L^{p}$ boundedness of a linear or sub-linear operator is to show a weak type $(1,1)$ bound and an $L^{p}$ bound for some $p$, and then combine these two using interpolation to prove $L^{p}$ bounds for all $p$ between $1$ and $\infty$. A typical example is that of the Hardy-Littlewood maximal Operator. Are there any examples\techniques where $L^{p}$ boundedness is proved without establishing some type of weak type bounds?
Answer: One can work directly with $L^p$ (not using interpolation), and there is a good reason to do so when a sharp bound for the operator norm is desired. See, for example, The Hunt for a Bellman function by Nazarov and Treil.

$L^p$ bounds for linear operators


Does overcharging a MacBook degrade its life?

Question: I have an early 2011 13" MacBook Pro and I use it almost like a desktop. I leave the power cord connected all the time. Is this OK? Am I ruining the computer or diminishing its lifespan?
Answer: All Macs cease charging and let you know this by changing the "orange" LED in the charging cable to "green" when the battery is topped off and you are merely running the Mac - not charging it.
The question you ask would be more precisely worded - what harm is it in keeping the battery constantly and always topped off to full?

Your early 2011 13" MacBook Pro has a lithium ion battery. Luckily, lithium ion batteries have an internal circuit to prevent the battery from being charged over 100%. There is a very slight chance that something can go wrong with the charging mechanism in the laptop, which would cause the battery to overcharge, but I wouldn't be concerned with that.
Years back, laptop batteries were made from nickel-cadmium or nickel metal hydride. It was recommended that these batteries were regularly fully discharged then fully charged so they'd continue to hold a full charge, though even following these practices they would eventually lose capacity.
Apple still recommends that you fully discharge your battery monthly, and never store your laptop with a charge below 50% for an extended period of time. In short, it's perfectly acceptable to leave your laptop plugged in while it's in use but let it fully discharge once a month for optimal battery health.
Answer: There are mixed opinions about this.  Some say it'll shorten the battery's lifespan, others say the intelligent charging circuitry will prevent that from happening.  I've always discharged the battery totally at least once a month as per Apple's guidelines.  You can also see they do not recommend leaving it charged in all the time.  Even their own guidelines aren't clear.
Comment: This advice is spot on for the overcharging issue - the design of the charge circuitry only engages when the battery needs a charge. The implications of never draining a battery and keeping it "stored" at 100% charge does take some life off the battery. Whether it's better to use it too much or not enough - the guidelines are clear - discharge it normally to "0%" in the menu bar monthly to improve the length in months the battery remains vital.
Answer: Here's my insights from eight years of laptop using experience.
The laptops that I've mainly used as a desktop (and left plugged in for the majority of the time) have all had their batteries lose a considerable amount of charge capacity within one year.  A couple of batteries lost 80% of their charge just past a year of use.
When I've used them more on-the-go, I saw no giant reductions in charge capacity over a two year span.
I now try to fully discharge the battery at least once per month.  Six months with a late 2011 MBP 15", and I see no difference in capacity.
So, my history indicates two points:

fully discharging the battery will help to some degree
batteries and charge controllers are better now than 5 years ago
Comment: I would echo everything said here with one caveat that the new unibody macs have much smarter charging and longevity designed into them. Whereas pre-unibody batteries would always show signs of reduced full charge capacity between 300 and 400 charge cycles, now it's a rare circumstance when a battery doesn't achieve the same degradation until 4 years of being always topped off. The days of needing a new battery after a year of hard use or two sitting full seem unlikely to return to Macs with batteries.
Answer: As an AAST for close to 20 years, I recommend to my clients to leave the computer connected to the power adapter and only use on the battery when necessary but being sure to cycle the battery once every 2-3 weeks (for Lithium Ion batteries. I also recommend using the Reminders app or the Calendar app to setup a recurring reminder to cycle the battery.
The life of the battery is determined by the combination of charge cycles and full charge capacity (FCC) against specification. You will not find the FCC specification publicly. You can take your computer into an Apple Retail store (be sure to make an appointment) to have a diagnostic run that will provide you the results. This information is important as it relates to the warranty you have remaining on the entire computer. If your battery falls below 80% FCC but is under the break point for cycles, (device specific) the battery will be covered under your warranty as a bad battery. If the battery exceeds the cycle count by even one, the battery will be considered consumed and you will have to pay for a new one regardless of warranty status and the FCC.
The current generation of Apple portables have cycle counts that exceed 700, so the chances of your battery becoming consumed before your warranty (either limited or extended) expires will be very low using the aforementioned approach.
Answer: i always try to fully discharge my MacBook air battery so i can keep it healthy, apple support says that cycles can keep health your MB even if you complete one cycle in a period of 4 days.
this link may help you :) Apple's battery support


Is the weather radar on and active during the whole flight?

Question: The title says it all: Do airline pilots leave the aircraft's weather radar on at all times during the flight and display the data on one or both of the Navigation Displays, or only if clouds/ weather are visible / expected?
I know it should not be active on the ground due to possible radiation harm, so my question relates to the airborne phases climb, cruise, descent.
Comment: @JScarry I regularly fly at 43,000' - 45,000' and see thunderstorms which exceed our cruising level almost every other flight and have to deviate for them, all over the world.....
Comment: Agree.  The US Great Plains tend to generate some epic storms as well.
Comment: Airliners typically fly around 36,000' or so. Except in the tropics, thunderstorms don't get that high. There wouldn't be much point in having it on all the time. There is a Part 91 pilot on YouTube, stevo1kinevo, who flies a TBM in Florida where there is lots of thunderstorm activity. If you watch his videos, he keeps the Nexrad display on all the time and only turns the radar on when he is close to thunderstorms.
Comment: I thought I remembered that number from the FAA knowledge tests, but I guess I mis-remembered.
Answer: Not necessarily; it is the pilot's prerogative to use the weather radar as required. If the weather is clear and the pilot decides that the weather radar display is going to take up valuable space in display, he/she can fly without the weather radar on. Of course, in cases like night flying, it is better to have it on during the entire flight, but it is the pilot's decision.

The regulatory requirements are for the weather radar to be operational only if potentially dangerous conditions are expected en route or for night flying. From CFR §135.175   Airborne weather radar equipment requirements:

(b) No person may begin a flight under IFR or night VFR conditions when current weather reports indicate that thunderstorms, or other potentially hazardous weather conditions that can be detected with airborne weather radar equipment, may reasonably be expected along the route to be flown, unless the airborne weather radar equipment required by paragraph (a) of this section is in satisfactory operating condition.

European regulations are also similar. From JAR-OPS 1.670 Airborne weather radar equipment:

(a) An operator shall not operate:
(i) (1) A pressurised aeroplane; ...
...
unless it is equipped with airborne weather radar equipment whenever  such an aeroplane is being operated at night or in instrument meteorological  conditions in areas where thunderstorms or other potentially hazardous  weather conditions, regarded as detectable with airborne weather radar,  may be expected to exist along the route.
Answer: Consider things from a risk perspective.  If the equipment is there, and it provides useful information for safety of flight, I leave it on.  Setting the tilt down can provide orographic information, map water bodies, etc.
Also, I tend to run the electronics in the plane if there is no adverse consequence to doing so.  Electronics tend to be adversely impacted by water, and heat dissipation tends to keep the electronics dryer.
Of course it is not operated on the ground, mostly because the radiation from the unit is harmful in a couple of ways to life, because it may interfere with electronics on the ground or nearby planes, and because it can cause problems with devices like a heart pacemaker.


What was Plato's argument that the good is not pleasure?

Question: I need to make a flash card of this but my notes aren't sufficient for information and I can't find anything online. From what I have in my notes he believes the Good is not pleasure and the Bad is not pain, but what else is there?
Comment: See his arguments in *The Republic*, especially 583b-588a. For instance: "[W]hen it is next to the painful repose looks pleasant and next to the pleasant, painful; and in these appearances there is nothing sound, so far as truth of pleasure goes, only a certain wizardry." (584a)
Comment: "[B]etween bodily health and sickness there is an admitted difference or dissimilarity, and what is dissimilar craves and loves dissimilar things. Hence the desire felt by a sound body is quite other than that of a sickly one." (*The Symposium* 186b)
Comment: That sounded to me like the *Philebus* -- might be worth a look too
Answer: The short version is that good is virtue, not pleasure, and bad is the loss of virtue. If someone does something immoral for pleasure or to avoid pain then they are not taking good actions. For instance in the Apology Socrates states that it would not have been good of a soldier to abandon his post, though it may help him avoid death, because it would be a breach of his duty.
However I suggest you share notes with one of your class mates so that you can get the most accurate sense of what your professor intends for you to learn.


Render media entity image

Question: I have a media entity target id and I want to render the image contained in it. I've loaded the media entity using Media::load, I was hoping to use something like render() on some rendererable array that I can extract/generate from that media entity object.
I found a somehow related question here: How to get Media entity image (Entity Reference Field) URL in TWIG theme, using ImageStyle::load, but I want to render the whole image with its defined attributes (alt, title or fields). Any suggestions please?
Comment: Why not just render the media object itself and let the field formatter on the image field do that work?
Comment: Well because it is an object and I need the renderable array of the media. `\Drupal::service('renderer')->render($media)`  render function only accepts an array, I think.
Answer: You need to build a render array
$build = \Drupal::entityTypeManager()->getViewBuilder('media')->view($media, $view_mode);

and then place it unrendered in a template, Twig renders this automatically.
Comment: Thank you, just what I was looking for!  In fact, I wanted it rendered to get the whole html code from js. I could have passed only the media URI, but I needed the defined media attributes as alt for eg.
Answer: Using the twig_tweak module, I found I could use:

{{ drupal_field('field_image', 'node') }}

Render media entity image