Should load test validate functionality?

Question: I am developing a loadtest to a customer who is saying that if a certain response contains "bla:bla" I should execute a different path in load test. On client side it means that a certain button is disabled and user should not be able to push it. On the other hand, if I ignore the mark-up and send it anyway, the server is perfectly fine with it (means it returns HTTP.200).
So the customer is demanding that I check for this condition, for me I would mean that I had to parse all the responses of this type and decide which path to take, and this seems absurd. My reasoning is that the server should tell me to get lost.
So the point is that data is not being validated on server side (which is a noticable security issue), but I have been forced to write a 'hack' to deal with this.
I am not generally against parsing responses, ie, due to browser implementation, it might be totally ok to return unauthorized with HTTP.200, but the question is - to what extent should I tolerate parsing the responses?
Comment: This is not validating functionality, this is validating that your load test is testing the correct path(s), which should typically be done. However in load testing it is typically better to have a minimal amount of code. Is there any way to control which path you go down and set up different scripts for each path?
Answer: This is a very strong "yes". You might want to limit yourself a little in the overall validation, but checking response codes only is a strong fail in my opinion. Additionally just checking the result by checking  a single phrase or word is not enough.
Update: This response answers the topic question: "Should load test validate functionality?" and does not deal with the details of the post which slightly differ from the subject.
Reasons and Examples

Modern web implementations often incorrectly return application status pages with response code 200
How do you ensure that you got the entire page back and not just the first 75% only?
Imagine an ecommerce search that breaks under load and instead of saying I found 200 matches, it returns a page saying "no matches found, did you mean that...". The later is still a valid page but your load test will not discover the flaw.
If you implement real page flows aka you do not have hardcoded urls that you fire against the server, instead you take the data from the page and you apply randomness to get a good wide sampling, you might find pages that are incorrect or inconsistent, hidden outside normal functional testing click paths.
How can you tell apart a "login succeeded" from a "login failed" page? Both are valid scenarios and login failed might not return a code different from 200. When designed to return "get lost" aka 401, it might break under load and incorrectly return 200 for a page with "login failed".
Always assume the worst case, always assume that the application will behave differently under load. Not only timing-wise but also behavioral wise. This is one reason for running load and performance tests.

A Tale from my Past
In my previous company, a colleague was testing something for a new web component. He said, that the new implementation is better, because it got faster when he applied more load.
Ugh? Well, he did not check the content of the returned page. Under higher load, he got error pages back and incorrectly assumed great performance instead of a broken application.
How We Handle Validation
Because I am with a web testing company (Xceptance), specialized in load and performance testing, here is what we generally do for all our load and performance testing:

Validate the response code
Validate the basic structure of the page, check that the main components are there, such as header, footer, search box, mini cart, user link...
Validate the completeness of the page aka the closing html should be there or the JSON or XML should be complete (hopefully also valid)
Validate the most important points of the current activity, e.g:

you search for an existing product, you have to find it
you expect a non-result of a search, check that
you add something to the cart, validate the quantity change
you checkout, validate the order number format (under perfect conditions even the uniqueness or at least the change in between checkouts), validate that all price information is a valid format (not necessarily calculated correctly, that would be required under certain test conditions of course), check that the user name used (should be random for instance) is used during that visit aka you expect a name, so it should be that name (billing, shipping, order, account)
you log on, verify from now on, that you always see the name of the user on the page (the famous Welcome Mr. Foo or something like that)
verify that you do not see a Welcome Mr. Foo before login, that you do not have a cart when you arrive, and so on

We have so often found problems load related or often also functionality related that every single validation step really pays off again and again.
Only when applications return bad stuff and the implementation crew does not want to change that and cannot be convinced or forced to clean up the mess, we apply exceptions and reduce the validation.
These are just examples of course.
Verdict
You should extensively validate during load and performance testing. Always assume that the application will break under load and that is mostly not reflected in a status code 500. 404 and 500 are for the beginner, the real professionals find problems beyond that.
We usually find functional problems during load and performance testing. Often not during the load execution itself, but during low load dry-runs. Not to forget the classic erroneous load behavior, such as inconsistent response times, spikes, and everything else imaginable.
Or in other words: You do load and performance testing to find the unusual and unexpected. This is often not reflected in increased response times and error codes.
Of course there are tests, when you really hunt for something special, that you can easily skip most of the validations, but never strip them completely.
Comment: There's an old joke about "The code doesn't work, nothing is getting executed .... but our performance tests look great!" I had a job testing a web browser's performance once, and amazing performance was often a clue that the rendering wasn't getting kicked off.
Answer: I think that the answer is "Yes", load test should have checks for response validity. I.e. if you send bad username/password pair it is expected to get 401 or 403 HTTP response and JMeter shouldn't consider it as sampler failure. If response code is 200 but the response body doesn't contain "bla-bla" although shouldn't it also should indicate test failure.
If basing on response test should go this or that scenario it also needs to be implemented as load test needs to be as much realistic as possible, it isn't just hammering single page, it is close simulation of real user's behavior.
So I encourage you to use IF Controller to implement conditional test flow and JMeter Assertions to define pass or fail criteria.
Answer: The simplest answer is if your customer is telling you to do this, you do it.
If you don't provide what your customer wants, you run the risk of them telling you after you've developed the test that the results aren't valid because you've ignored their instructions.
I've seen this happen: a very simple load test had to incorporate a lot of business logic before the company would accept that the results were valid, because they didn't consider a result that didn't accurately simulate customer experience a valid result and believed the results of the load test were corrupted by invalid data (in this case it was "they're not all going to buy the same product" and "some of them will log in, some won't", and "they'll be in different departments" and so forth).
Give your customers what they ask for. The person who's paying for the service is always "right" in that they get what they pay for. If you can't convince the customer of the merits of your preferred approach, you, as the contractor/employee/person being paid need to do what they ask whether you think it's valid or not (although if you think there's a security issue, you would do well to ask them if they've arranged for security testing and strongly recommend that they do so if they haven't. That's simply due diligence).
Answer: I would say that some validation is almost always needed. For example I have tested website where if the login failed then all subsequent requests get a 200-OK response, but every response body requests a username and password. Adding a simple verification that the response to the login contains "login successful" or something equivalent detects the login failure. Similarly, after sending a request corresponding to clicking a button it may be worth validating that the response contains text that shows the expected response page was shown.
So I recommend checking for basic functionality, namely that the correct page is shown or that the correct static text is shown. But I would not expect to check that the values shown on the pages are correct.
Answer: The load test should reflect the kind of traffic you expect to see in production.  If that means a lack of button presses when a page is in a certain state, that's what you should do.
The fact that the server allows workflows that the client prevents is good to know, but apparently your customer believes most traffic will come from users who use the client as intended.


Where is the option to add online accounts listed? It certainly isn't under settings in my system!

Question:
No option to add online accounts under system settings.
Answer: Online accounts hasn't been released into stable yet. You won't have it on a clean install. It's still in development.
Answer: It should be right there next to the Network icon:

First of all, verify that you have appropriate packages installed. You might have accidentally removed some of them. Here's the list of packages you need:

The most important one is the first one (libpantheon-online-accounts0) so you could try fixing this error by typing:
sudo apt-get install --reinstall libpantheon-online-accounts0

If that doesn't work, you should try running switchboard from the terminal and see if you'll get any errors when executing it. If so, please update your question and post the errors you're getting and I'll do my best to see what went wrong.


How much will 3 hard inquiries effect my credit score?

Question: I recently started to build credit, I applied for a CapitalOne card and got approved, about a month earlier I saw the option for Bill-me-Later on eBay, so I had checked if I was eligible, but I wasn't.  Besides that there was 1 other hard inquiry on my credit and I don't remember what it was for. As of now I don't have any credit since I just got my first card, but will those 3 inquiries drag it down much?
Comment: Before you go down this rabbit hole, ask yourself why you care about your credit score. It's just a number. It's helpful to have it be high to get additional loans, but if you're just starting out the number one thing that you need to be concerned with is making sure you pay your bills and don't let unpaid debt show up.
Answer: Inquiries for credit are a small factor in your credit score. They'll disappear from your credit report after two years, at which point they'll no longer have an impact.
Credit Karma has some tools that you can use to see how hard inquiries impact your score, but there's no one true answer as there are many different formulas for calculating a credit score.
If you're building credit, focus on keeping your first card's bills paid on time. That is of far greater importance.
Comment: They're on your report for 2 years but FICO score completely ignores them after 1 year.


Patenting/protecting the design of a mechanism within an assembly

Question: Let's say I designed a machine that can fold any type of clothing and hypothetically, this mechanical solution does not exist anywhere else. If that same mechanism was also applicable in say the pastry machine market,
would I still be able to protect the design of that mechanism even though its kind of serving a different function?
Comment: by "would I still" do you mean that the mechanical solution has now published? in any case, see this question as well:  https://patents.stackexchange.com/q/20064/21534
Answer: Let me preface this by saying I am not a patent attorney. I do however have a fair number of patents. Assuming the mechanism is truly novel, at the very least, you should be able to obtain two different patents, one for clothes and another for pastry. Whether you could get a patent on a generic "folding mechanism" is more of a question. If you could get such a claim then it is the best of all worlds since you keep someone from using your mechanism on applications outside the fields of clothes and foods.
However patent strategy is complex and really needs the consultation of a qualified patent attorney or agent. I think that trying to do it yourself based only on information coming from the internet is more than likely to result in either a rejected application or weak patent(s). Remember, even if one of the patent attorneys here can't answer authoritatively on your actual invention because you can't disclose that publicly.


Why does a futures price converge to a spot price?

Question: I've sort of get the arbitrage logic of it, i.e if the futures price is more expensive than spot price, then investors would short the contract and buy the asset for delivery.
Correct me if i'm wrong.
The investor enters into a short position on the contract and buys the asset for delivery.
So does this mean it works only in the case of physical delivery of asset and not cash settlements?
Comment: This question was also asked here not long ago.  https://quant.stackexchange.com/questions/33831/convergence-of-spot-and-futures-prices
Comment: Futures could be higher or lower than the spot.  You must factor in the carrying cost to determine if an arb exists though.  If you are only looking at Future and spot and nothing more you will the world is full of Arb's! :)  This post may shed some light too: https://quant.stackexchange.com/questions/33493/why-is-stock-futures-price-much-lower-than-spot/33659#33659
Answer: on edit: oops - didn't read this question carefully!  Futures price can be above or below spot price.  In equities, for example, if dividends are more than the risk free rate, then the futures will be below the spot if the risk free rate is greater than the dividends, then the futures will be above the spot.  Assuming continuous rates and div yields, $F=Se^{(r-q)T}$ where we can assume that $q$ can absorb all funding costs and borrow costs for the stock for borrowing/lending the stock for short selling. If the equation above is an inequality, buy the cheaper one and sell the more expensive one to capture the convergence.  Follow the usual replication argument.
end of edit.
It works for cash deliveries too.  For SPX futures, you have to buy the basket of stocks and sell the futures or vice versa.  Cash delivery happens in the end, but that cash - assuming no transaction costs - can be retrieved by selling the basket.
The cases where the arbitrage fails is when you can't actually buy the spot item today and deliver it at expiration.
Probably the most liquid version of this is VIX - you cannot buy VIX spot and hold it to delivery for a VIX futures contract.
Agricultural commodities sometimes have a convergence problem:
http://farmdocdaily.illinois.edu/2013/08/solving-markets-non-convergence-puzzle.html
If there were 6M futures on fresh eggs, you couldn't buy physical eggs today for delivery in 6M and call them fresh!
Comment: +1 for the link to the paper showing there has been some non-convergence in agricultural futures. Interesting. Life is more complicated than the textbook says.


Are shares Halal?

Question: The company that employs me are offering me shares in the company. I pay in on a regular basis. I don't see anywhere about interest, but they will be subject to the market price of the company.
Are these shares halal?
Comment: Do you own the shares outright or are they "options" to buy them at a future date at a specific price?
Comment: I'm not certain, I've only just heard about this.
Answer: Most Islamic companies do deal with shares, so it's halal. It is haraam if the company is selling haraam products, which I doubt is your concern if you're working for the company. So, I assume you're worried if it's Riba.
Riba is basically what happens when you lend someone a product at a fixed value and then request higher than the perceived value for it.
Trading is not Riba... for example, if you bought a sick cow, nursed it to health, sold it back at a higher price, that is halal.
But if you lent someone a sick cow and asked a healthy cow from him in return, it becomes Riba.
If you lent someone 10g of gold at $100, and got 10g of gold back at $300 later, it is not riba, because the value is different, just that the value of money (which is unrelated) has dropped. If you lent someone 10g of gold at $100 and got back 11g of gold worth $100, then that is Riba, because you are getting back more than the value.
In this case, if you're not lending or borrowed money, you shouldn't be worried about it. Even if the value was different, if you are not bound to return it, it should be considered trading.
Some scholars also consider dishonest trading as riba, like price fixing or hoarding goods.
Stocks are directly related to the value of your company and how many other people are owning those stocks. If you work hard for your company and the value goes up, it is a result of your work.
But if you are deceptively raising the prices through financial engineering, price fixing, or some insider information, like selling all your stocks when you know the CEO is going to step down, then the halalness of the money is questionable.
Another good reference on Riba.
Comment: +1 Good concise answer. Since you went into the gold example, I'd suggest adding a little to say that gold is one of those special quantities that must be traded hand-to-hand (10g for 10g). Also I'd recommend adding links to either primary texts or citations from fatawa or books for some of the conclusions you make here.
Answer: In general, shares or stock in a company that deals in permissible business or trading is permissible. Buy acquiring these shares you are investing your money in that company and acquiring part ownership. If the company does well, you profit. If it does badly, you sustain a loss. This is perfectly fine, and it's not riba since there is no guaranteed increase.
The two things to keep in mind however are that the business the company engages is must primarily be permissible according to shari'ah, i.e. among other things not engaged in trading unlawful things in Islam. The second thing is that most companies today invest their money in interest-bearing accounts in banks (or other interest-bearing vehicles). Since that also forms part of the profits of the company, it will affect your dividend. It is then upon you estimate how much of that income came from unlawful means and to proportionally remove it from your profit.
However bear in mind that more conservative scholars (not based in North America) opine that it is not permissible to own shares or stock in companies that deal with riba in their finances. http://www.islamqa.com/en/ref/45929/
I assume part of the discrepancy is due to the fact that in Islamic lands a company that deals with riba in their finances is (or should be) relatively rare whereas in the West it is extremely difficult to escape.
Reference: http://amjaonline.com/00en_f1_details.php?fid=79979
AMJA is a body of top North American scholars.
Answer: Muz has ignored the fact that the company should not be a in in dealing with haram transaction and also should not have at all (according to some scholars) or very little ( according to some scholars including Taki Usmani) interest paying debts.

Are shares Halal?


How do I change the email address that iCal alerts are sent to?

Question: When I set up email alerts in iCal, a popup list allows me to choose one of my email addresses, but there is no way to enter a custom email address. How do I change the email address that iCal sends notifications to?
Answer: The simplest solution would be to add the address to which you want alarms sent to your Address Book entry. Beyond that, I don't have an elegant workaround, but you could, for example, run a script that could contain a variable to send alerts to multiple recipients.
I sympathize in that it's annoying that your Address Book entry is forced to contain a mix of public and private information used for various, and differing, purposes. This is one of Apple's many decisions that (I assume) works for the majority of the user population, but bites the outliers in various ways.
Answer: Check your address book. Find your name and see you have two or more email addresses listed in your name. Remove the address you do not want.
iCal should use the email address you have listed as "work" email address.


Is there a way to number uploaded files (specifically photos) in Cognito Forms?

Question: Is there any way that uploaded files (specifically photos) have an uploaded number?
1 being the oldest, 2 being the newest.
Answer: I'm a developer with Cognito Forms.
This is something that can be done with a series of calculations. You would also have to know how many files your end user is looking to upload, or to put a limit on how many so they don't go over the number that you set up.
We have built out a demo for the first two files that can be uploaded to your form. You can use them as an example to built up to the number that you would like to allow for your user to upload.
The way that we have set up the calculations the extra numbers will not display unless they have a file for that number. You will also want to make all the extra calculation fields 'hidden' or 'internal' so that your end users do not see them on the form, as this could confuse them.
You will want to start off with a Calculation field that I labeled 'List of files without numbers' this will be a simple calculation that will target the File Upload field and list out the file names as a comma separated list. The calculation that I used targets a File Upload field labeled 'File Upload field' just to be simple.
=FileUploadField

The next field that I added is another Calculation field, this will be where we start to number each of the uploaded files starting with the first uploaded or the 'oldest'. I labeled this Calculation field '1' so that I know this will be the calculation for the first uploaded file. You will want to note that we are not starting the count with '1' but rather starting it with '0'.
=if(string.IsNullOrEmpty(FileUploadField)) then "" else "1." + ListOfFilesWithoutNumbers.Split(',')[0]

The next field will also be a Calculation field and will be using the same calculation for the most part except that we will be looking for the second uploaded file, and labeling it as '2' even though at the end we are searching for '1'.
=if(ListOfFilesWithoutNumbers.Split(',').Count() <= 1) then "" else "2." + ListOfFilesWithoutNumbers.Split(',')[1]

The last Calculation field that you will want to set up is a calculation that will string together all the numbered file names that have been uploaded. This will be targeting the previous calculations by using their label that will start with an underscore (_) because they start with a number.
=_1+" " + _2

I have also included a link to a demo form that shows all the calculations in action and working together. You can test it and see what the build page looks like with all the elements working.
https://www.cognitoforms.com/templates/shared/DemoAccountForCognitoForms/FileUploadFieldWithNumbers
Comment: Hi @Nicholas Gasque that's an excellent solution, however, I've tried the demo and something happens: when you upload two items, only one image is added to the list, and after that, it doesn't add anymore, can you check it?


How do i clean my pictures after a house fire

Question: I need help trying to remove the smoke odor from my picture albums after we had a house fire one day ago.
Comment: Is there any soot/smoke damage to the pics? Your title mentions "clean the pictures" while the text only mentions smoke odor. They would likely be different solutions.
Answer: Try using Activated Charcoal or Baking Soda. Activated Charcoal works because of 'Physisorption' and Baking Soda absorbs moisture.
Comment: Phone your local museum and ask them to recommend a conservator and then pump them for free advice.  There are companies that specialise in water, mud and fire damage and they may have guidelines on web pages or offer some free advice over the phone. Ozone helps with smells but will also add some age to the photos.
Answer: A simple trick is using odor-absorbing materials like charcoal, baking soda, or coffee grounds and a paper bag in conjunction to dispell smoke smells. Place the albums in a paper bag and then use an odor absorber of your choice. Leave the album in the bag with the absorber and wit overnight before checking on the results.


Explaining Closure to "Basic" Algebra 2 Students

Question: I am currently introducing function operations to my basic level Algebra students and it has been semi-disastrous.  The biggest problem I have with them is the notation that
$$(f+g)(x)=f(x)+g(x)$$
I  have been trying to explain that the reason for the notation on the left is the fact that when you add two (polynomial) functions, you get a polynomial function in return.  Hence the $(x)$ on the right is indicative of this idea of function closure under the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and composition.  The district I teach at wants kids to understand the notation.  If I just make them do $f(x)+g(x)$ they understand, but, with products for example, if I do $(fg)(x)$ they are lost.  Any ideas how to appoach the subject with the basic learners?
Comment: I used to do this by "$f$ is a machine and $g$ is a machine, and we can put these two machines together in several ways $\ldots$" Then discuss adding the machines, multiplying the machines, applying one machine to another machine's result, etc. My memory of textbooks at the U.S. college algebra level is that this abstract stuff came at the beginning of working with functions, and I often found it easier to do this *after* students had plenty of concrete practice with functions and function notation, so I often waited until the logarithms and inverse functions sections to talk about it.
Comment: I find it in very bad taste to go down to this level of elementary-hood and use the same symbol, $+$, with two different meanings. Who knows? Maybe this clarification will help out.
Answer: For your students, they are defined that way.
Particularly in the lower level algebra,
\begin{align*}
(f+g)(x) &= f(x) + g(x)\\
 (fg)(x) &= f(x)g(x)
\end{align*}
are taken to be the definition of usual multiplication and addition. Simply stated, this notation can be used to talk about the names $f+g$ and $fg$ of the new functions created by adding or multiplying them. And whenever they see the above, that's what they need to write. It is similar for them with composition being $(f \circ g)(x) = f(g(x))$ Getting into the functional ring theory will only serve to confuse even though it is interesting to us.
Comment: I just wanted to add at as a comment, these maps can be thought of as an evaluation map from the ring of continuous functions on a compact, hausdorf (for ease) space $C(X)$ to a point $x \in X$. The definition above is the result of the map being a ring homomorphism.
Comment: I used to (I no longer teach) emphasize that $(f+g)(x)=f(x)+g(x)$ was **NOT** an application of the distributive law, but I don't know to what extent this may have cleared up a possible confusion rather than raise an issue that never would have occurred to students in the first place. And for what it's worth, I've had a course out of Gillman/Jerison, and two of the three people on my Ph.D. committee worked in this area (and each have had several Ph.D. students in this area, but my work was with someone else in another area).
Answer: Are the kids familiar with vectors and coordinates?
If so, consider two vectors $\vec a,\vec b\in\mathbb R^3$, say.
If $\vec c=\vec a+\vec b$, they probably know that $\vec c_i=\vec a_i+\vec b_i$.
(It is convenient here to denote the $i$th component of $\vec c$ by $\vec c_i$ instead of $c_i$.)
But this means that $\vec c_i=(\vec a+\vec b)_i$, right?
Now it might make sense to write $\vec a_i+\vec b_i=(\vec a+\vec b)_i$.
If this sounds reasonable to the students, try to explain what is going on: the vectors $\vec a$ etc. are the objects that we want to study, and they are determined by their coordinates.
The same happens with polynomials.
The things we wish to study are polynomials, say $f$ and $g$ (like we had vectors $\vec a$ and $\vec b$ before).
If you think of polynomials like vectors (they in fact are vectors, but you might not want to mention this depending on what you want to do), then $f$ is the vector and $f(x)$ is the component.
Make sure your students understand the difference between $f$ and $f(x)$ – and that of $\vec a$ and $\vec a_i$.
Now what might it mean to add two polynomials $f$ and $g$?
Well, it is defined by its "coordinates", and the analogy from the vector side is $\vec a_i+\vec b_i=(\vec a+\vec b)_i$.
This translates to $f(x)+g(x)=(f+g)(x)$.
Alternative idea:
Try to introduce vectors (if the kids are familiar with them) as functions.
Write $a(i)$ or $\vec a(i)$ instead of $a_i$ or $\vec a_i$; after that bit of new notation the jump to polynomials (and other functions) might be easier.
Final remark:
I think the key is making a difference between $f$ and $f(x)$.
You have little hope before they mean different things.
Comment: @Eleven-Eleven, oh, thanks for the explanation. It goes the other way here in Finland; at least for me vectors and components came years before addition of functions so I kind of assumed it would be like that everywhere. The usefulness of my idea depends a lot on the curriculum.
Comment: I appreciate the help, unfortunately we cover vectors in precalc here so my students haven't seen vector notations.  (It is covered in Geometry briefly...but focused on in precalc.)


Do I need to use an oil-based primer on old woodwork?

Question: I bought an old house. I have dark wood trim around the doors and windows. I'm pretty sure it was some kind of oil/glossy finish. The wood is pretty worn. I fixed and sanded. I got a primer that claims to work on everything.. it's latex. I did this before most of my research. I put 2 coats of the primer on because the dark wood was coming through. I have not painted yet, but the primer chips if I do a fingernail test. Question is.. Do I need to sand it off and then use an oil primer instead for it not to chip? Or Could I continue with the Latex paint and then just maybe put a clear finish over it to help with the chipping?
Comment: You can't fix an adhesion problem with an overcoat.  Though every painter wishes you could.
Answer: Unfortunately, you're best bet is going to be to scrape off the primer. There are chemicals that will help make this easy, but in my experience a mechanical scraper is less of a hassle and mess. Something like this scraper will work if your trim is relatively flat and level.
Kilz has a number of products that will bond to various surfaces. I would buy a quart of Kilz Adhesion and apply a small amount to a sample area of your trim. Let it dry for a couple of days, then try your fingernail test again. If you still get flaking, try another product, like Kilz Complete.
If you don't want to scrape all of the trim down, you could also use a wire brush and aggressively brush down all of the trim. Whatever doesn't flake off is probably bonded well enough. But then you'll be left with low spots where you had flakes, which might be obvious if your trim is already in pretty good condition.


How do I calculate the number of stops between two shutter speeds?

Question: What is the math equation to calculate the difference between two different shutter speeds in stops?
Answer: It helps to start with exactly what a "stop" means. See What is one "stop"?, but, fundamentally, each stop is a doubling or halving of the exposure.
So, given two shutter durations, you can find the number of stops between them by calculating the binary logorithm (log₂) of each, and subtracting. (If you don't remember your elementary school math very clearly, logorithms may sound complicated, but are really just counting the number of times you multiply by the same number — in this case, two.)
In formula  form, that is:
$$\text{# stops} = \log_2{(\text{2nd duration})} - \log_2{(\text{1st duration})}$$
For example, we know that going from ¹⁄₃₀ to ¹⁄₆₀ is down one stop, trivially. But to work it out:
$$\begin{align}
\text{# stops} &= \log_2\left({1\over60}\right) - \log_2\left({1\over30}\right) \\
&= {\sim}\,({-5.9})\; - \;{\sim}\,({-4.9}) \\
&=\quad {-1}
\end{align}$$
Or for a more extreme example, from ¹⁄₁₀₀₀ to 30 seconds:
$$\begin{align}
\text{# stops} &= \log_2\left({30}\right) - \log_2\left({0.001}\right) \\
&= {\sim}\,({4.9})\; - \;{\sim}\,({-9.96}) \\
&=\quad \sim 14.9
\end{align}$$
so, 15 stops. Note that it's incredibly important to not worry about excess precision. The standard scale of shutter speeds follows human-friendly numbers, not log₂, and the closest power of 2 may or may not be used internally. Overall in almost anything in photography, if it's less than a third of a stop, round it off.
If you don't have a calculator supporting \$\log_2\$, you can calculate it in the following manner:
$$ \log_2{x} = \frac{\log x}{\log 2} $$
where "\$\log\$" is logarithm in any base (2, 10, or natural logarithm, or even something else). Very often, \$\log_{10}\$ or \$\log_e\$ (in other words, \$\ln\$, or the natural logarithm) are available when \$\log_2\$ isn't.
If you don't have a calculator handy or don't want to figure out the precise \$\log_2\$, you can simply start with one speed and double or halve in your head, counting the number of times it takes before you reach the other speed. (There is no shame in keeping track on your fingers as you go if you can't both calculate and count at the same time!)
This same formula works for ISO as well, by the way. It doesn't work for aperture as expressed in f/numbers, because those numbers are related to the  diameter of the aperture but exposure is based on the area (see Why are f-stops not linear?). You can calculate \$\log_{\sqrt{2}}\$ if you have a fancy calculator handy, or you can double the result after plugging the aperture numbers into the formula (and then it will work).
In practice, though, shutter speed is the only one that where a formula might be handy, because few lenses have more than a 9-stop aperture range (and many much less), most cameras only have a useful ISO range of 6 stops (maybe a bit more these days) — but with bulb mode the range for shutter speed is almost infinite. Still, exponential scales collapse quickly — the difference between ¹⁄₈₀₀₀ second and one hour is only about 25 stops, and the difference between a one hour exposure and a one year exposure only 13!
Comment: Have you considered doing a self answered post on the math for aperture sizes and f.stops?
Comment: @MichaelT Not a bad idea.... we might have an appropriate question around here somewhere already — I'll look.
Comment: I didn't see it in the calculations tag.
Comment: Another (easier) way to calculate the stop difference between apertures is to apply the same formula as for shutter speed, then double the result. E.g. f/2 to f/4 = (2 - 1) = 1, multiply by 2 = 2 stops.
Comment: @NickMiners Yes, good call.
Answer: For the standard set of shutter speeds (1 sec, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000), divide the higher shutter speed by the lower, and round to 0 decimal places if necessary.
If the result is 2, it's 1 stop.
If it's 4, two stops.
If it's 8, three stops.
If it's 16, 4 stops. See the pattern?
If the shutter speed falls between the ones I gave, drop down to the shutter speed that's just longer than one of the ones I gave. Do the above calculation and then subtract half a stop.


What elements from non-Hobbit Tolkien canon have been included in the Hobbit movie?

Question: I don't expect a great answer till all parts are released, but at least, as per the current knowledge, what elements (plot, characters, events, ideas, dialog, items etc..) are known to be in Peter Jackson's "Hobbit" movie(s), which are taken from Tolkien legendarium (e.g. LOTR, Silmarillion, letters etc...) but NOT in the original "Hobbit" novel?
Comment: I am a lifelong Tolkien fan.  I grew up being read and reading and re-reading and re-reading again and again the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit.  I have no problem whatsoever with Jackson taking a bit of Hollywood license in his version.  I enjoy the books for what they are and I have enjoyed and will enjoy the movies for what they are.
Comment: @BBlake I'm planning to skip the movie in protest (pointless, but still...) of the story being butchered to make more money.
Comment: @Ward You should read The Hobbit again. You may find that you're not quite as precious about it as you think you are. It is *very* childish.
Comment: Find out on Friday (for most of us)
Comment: Related [meta discussion](http://meta.scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/2515/what-to-do-with-adaptation-differences-questions).
Comment: See also http://www.everything2.com/title/The+Hobbit%253A+An+Unexpected+Journey
Answer: Just saw it!  Many Tales are woven together that are only barely mentioned in The Hobbit.  I'll just quickly write that a lot of the expanded material comes from the writings that were still about Middle Earth and mostly the Appendices of LOTR.  Some of the material may also have come from earlier drafts of both The Hobbit and LOTR within its appendices.
Radagast the Brown gets a much more extensive treatment than I would have ever expected and liberties were definitely taken with the timeline Tolkien indicates in his writing vs. what is depicted in the movie.  There were also additional bits that needed to occur in order to cohesively string together the other tales.
Of course some scenes from the book are shortened or deleted (as one expects from movies), but at the same time, other scenes are lengthened significantly.  For example, the book mentions the hobbits only seeing stone giants playing a game in the distance.  The stone giants have a much more prominent part to play in the movie - though they still have no lines.
In the book, there is only a tiny piece written about Gandalf's acquiring of the key and map and the book only mentions the necromancer twice as well as only mentions a council between the elves and wizards - these events are greatly expanded in the movie/movies.  An extensive background piece on Erebor and its fall is placed near the beginning of the movie as is a bit between Bilbo and Frodo (on the same day of the one hundred eleventieth birthday party) that creates a sense of the entire movie being a big flashback.  I believe that many of the smaller additional pieces comes from combining a short bit in the LOTR Appendices titled, "Journey to Dol Guldur" Though, again I am only working from memory here.
When the movie is depicting scenes from the book The Hobbit it stays fairly true to the book throughout even down to word-for-word dialogue (with the exception of a "hunt" and related additions I will allow you to watch to find out more about.)  There are changes here and there such as where exactly Bilbo gets stuck and loses his buttons and some of the dialogue, but the story is definitely there.  Thorin also comes to the party at Bilbo's late instead of arriving with the last group of dwarves as he does in the book.  The story is just alternating with other stories too so you are taken back and forth between word for word accuracy and completely separate non-hobbit bits.  For fans of the book it might be a bit jarring (it was for me).
I was disturbed somewhat by a mismatch with Tolkien's timeline of events and the one used to piece together the movie and still can't really decide how I feel about the additions -even a year later.  What bothers me most is the idea of Azog hunting and chasing the dwarves throughout the entire story.  Bilbo almost seems to lose his innocence and naivete just a little too soon for me as a result of this particular story arch.  At the same time it enriches the audience understanding of Thorin and the plight of the dwarves.  Of course it also adds opportunities for action sequences during the company's travels.  Some of the light-heartedness of the story and its humor is missing.
The movie version delves into the rich complexities that make Middle Earth so engaging a place, and, perhaps the changes do make the story more cohesive with the LotR.  The changes certainly make it more cohesive with the movie version of LotR.  I would simply argue that you should definitely not go expecting to see The Hobbit, but rather go expecting to see an explanation of the finding of the ring.  Including beautiful cinamotography and a chorus of engaging, relatable characters.
Film making is just such a different beast than writing a story in books after all.
Comment: I agree that it somehow managed to stay remarkably faithful despite the changes - I'm more on the fence than it may sound.  It was still a spectacular movie and respectful if not reverent toward the orignial material.
Comment: I think given what they could have done, they remained remarkably faithful. Granted, it's not "The Hobbit" in the sense that it's nowhere near as simplistic and childish as that book, but the lore seemed largely solid, despite the most obvious changes.
Comment: Jackson & co are legally only allowed use the Hobbit and LotR; all other works are specifically not licensed and still belong to the Tolkien Estate.  They were a little bit naughty with their reference to the two Blue Wizards, which is UT material and should not have been used.
Comment: @JimmyShelter Good to know. Most of this was written right after seeing the movie on premier night last year adn done just from memory. As you know from other questions, it has been a long time since I've cracked open anything (including the appendices) other than just the stories themselves. I'll correct as appropriate - thank you.
Answer: Elements of the character of Tauriel are from non-Hobbit canon.
We know that she's a red-haired Silvan Elf, so let's examine how a Silvan elf can have red hair.
There's one group of Elves in Tolkien that we know have red hair: some of the Noldor.  In The Shibboleth of Feanor we learn that:

Ambarussa 'top-russet' must have referred to hair: the first and last of Nerdanel's children had the reddish hair of her kin.

Furthermore, in Quendi and Eldar we learn that of the Second Kindred, who were originally in proportion 56 out of 144 of the Elves, 28 became Eldar and the other 28 were Avari.  These 28 who became Eldar were the Noldor, but the other 28 remained in Middle-earth.

It is said that of the small clan of the Minyar none became Avari. The Tatyar were evenly divided.

Now, Appendix A to the History of Galadriel and Celeborn gives one origin for the Silvan Elves, stating that they originally belonged to the Third Kindred:

The Silvan Elves (Tawarwaith) were in origin Teleri, and so remoter kin of the Sindar, though even longer separated from them than the Teleri of Valinor. They were descended from those of the Teleri who, on the Great Journey, were daunted by the Misty Mountains and lingered in the Vale of Anduin, and so never reached Beleriand or the Sea.

However an alternate tradition, in the original drafts for the LotR Appendices, gives a different origin:

Remnants of the Telerian Elves (of Doriath in ancient Beleriand) establish realms in the woodlands far eastward, but most of these peoples are Avari or East-elves.  The chief of these were Thranduil who ruled in the north of Greenwood the Great beyond Anduin.

Bringing all of this together, an in-canon source for Tauriel is that she belongs to the Avari of the Second Kindred who were subsequently ruled by Sindarin Kings from Doriath.
A rather neat side-effect of this is that it offers another explanation for Thranduil's disdain for her in the movie; the Sindar of Doriath had a disliking for many of the Noldor as a result of the Kinslayings, and as (1) Tauriel is descended from the same Kindred as the Noldor (and especially is distantly related to the Feanorians), and (2) Thranduil has origins in Doriath, everything becomes clear.
Of course, this all uses sources that Peter Jackson is not allowed to use, so you'll probably never get official confirmation from him that this was his intention, but all of the evidence fits.
Comment: This should get reposted on overthinkingit.com!
Comment: @DVK - if you're gonna do a job, do it properly...!
Answer: Radagast the Brown (in Mirkwood & west of Bruinen river when distracting the pursuing orc pack) and the White Council. The WC meeting (in Rivendell) is provided much later than in the books to help highlight the growing threat from Dol Guldur. In the extended version of the  film there's some extra scenes at Hobbiton that doesn't happen in Chapter 1 of the book, but interesting.
Elrond has a short scene with Bilbo in Rivendell talking about the reputation of Hobbits as 'resilient' and 'enjoying the comforts of home' and also stresses he can stay in Rivendell "if that is your wish". Not in the book, but a nice addition for the extended movie version.
The Dwarves, led by Bifur, sing the Man in the Moon song in the dinner scene in Rivendell, which of course doesn't happen in the book. But nice to see it done.
Another is that the Witch-King of Angmar was killed in his war against Arnor, & buried in the 'High Fells of Rhudar' that Gandalf later visits in the 2nd Hobbit film. In reality he isn't killed but rides away on his black horse after the Elves intervene in the Battle of Carn Dhum. Added in the White Council scene in Hobbit film#1, I guess for dramatic effect, etc.
Another is Gandalf using a moth to obtain help from the Great Eagles of the Misty Mountains near the end of H1, in reality they're attracted by the smoke & flames so come to investigate.
Comment: Is "Man in the Moon" from LOTR or from Jackson's imagination? For the rest of them, it would improve the answer if you pointed specifically where from outside the Hobbit the particular event was covered.
Comment: Frodo sings the song in the Prancing Pony in the LotR book itself. The PJ version is a shorter version of the song though.
Comment: much better. BTW, by "where" I meant "where in non-hobbit books", not "where in geography of Middle-Earth", sorry for confusion :)
Comment: Another is the Bilbo narrated story about the history of the Lonely Mountain & the Smaug attack. That's done by the Dwarves in their 'unexpected party' drop in to Bilbo in Bag End.
Answer: The "chance" meeting of Gandalf and Thorin  in Bree is from The Lord of the Rings Appendix A. Gandalf had some concerns about how Sauron, now rising in power, might use the dragon.
Comment: Yes, they met near or outside Bree and then traveled to the Blue Mountains together and talked there.
Answer: Frodo isn't in the original text, though he might be in later versions, I'm not sure. He's listed on the IMDB page though.
Comment: Or Legolas, or Gladriel, or in fact any female character to speak of except for a brief mention of Bilbo's mother, who is unnamed.
Comment: Frodo is only in the movie very briefly.  Legolas is not.  Galadriel is the one woman that really does show up in the movie and she is also present only briefly.
Comment: @balancedmama I've heard it is planned that Legolas will appear in at least one of the movies. He is after all the prince of the wood elves.
Comment: @JackBNimble yes, and perhaps he will.  I guess I should clarify that I am speaking only of the first installment.
Comment: @balancedmama Galadriel doesn't appear so briefly. Her character has a presence at least as strong as Elrond's, even though she isn't present at all in the book.
Comment: I would say Elrond's presence in the first movie is also brief.  Elrond is only mentioned in the book.
Comment: @JackBNimble Belladonna Took is named, though she is only mentioned as background we do not actually meet her or anything.  It is true, Tolkien includes very little in the way of women over-all, but then, the women he does include are amazing, which is more than I can say for many other male authors of his time.
Comment: @JackBNimble - just noticed that you included Legolas in "female characters". No comment.


Are there any good firewalls available?

Question: Does the android platform have any firewall application?
Answer: DroidWall is pretty good, but it requires root, of course.
http://www.appbrain.com/app/com.googlecode.droidwall
It allows you to control on an app-by-app basis which applications can access the network, and has separate permissions for Wifi and 3g.
Answer: I'm pretty sure that Android includes iptables, which is the standard firewall for any Linux.
What I have no information about is whether iptables is compiled into the kernel used on all phones, but you might get more information out of this thread in the xda-developers forum.
Answer: As per @TREE's answer above - DroidWall is no longer developed nor supported and is forked into a superior version called AFWall found on Github.
For those who do not wish to tinker with the code,  here's the direct linky to the Play Store
AFWall works very well with the newer Ice Cream Sandwich and upwards.
And yes it has the same requirement as the old DroidWall, i.e. requiring root.

Are there any good firewalls available?


What fallacy dismisses problems by making it specific to the critic?

Question: Occasionally, I write criticisms about some products online and people respond with statements like, "That's just your problem," or questions like, "If you don't like it then why do you use it?" I feel like this is fallacious as the comments dismiss my criticisms by making the problem specific to me. If this is indeed a fallacy then is there a name for it? I was thinking that it could be Ad hominem but I'm not sure.
Comment: @Not_Here I dunno if it's a good idea to focus on how others' statements could be interpreted as fallacies.  I mean, if someone says that 1+1=2, is it appropriate to presume that they're making an appeal-to-the-authority-of a math textbook?  Likewise, I think that we shouldn't reach to construct strawmen here; there're valid reasons why people might make those comments, and 'til we can determine that none of those valid reasons apply, there's no apparent fallacy.
Comment: Ad hominem is an example of a fallacy of irrelevance ([ignoratio elenchi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignoratio_elenchi)). You could say that the second example you gave is an example of [tu quoque](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tu_quoque), if they are trying to make the point that you're being hypocritical by using the product even if you don't like it. Your act of being hypocritical (if that's what they're arguing) by using the product you don't like doesn't mean that your criticism of it is invalid by default.
Comment: @Nat see my parenthetical "if that's what they're arguing." The OP asked "What fallacy dismisses problems by making it specific to the critic?" strawmen have nothing to do with it.
Comment: @Aadit M Shah. I think you might be right about ad hominem. See below.
Answer: Not fallacies
Fallacies don't apply in this situation since they're not attempting to formally prove that you're wrong or even asserting that you must be.
This goes doubly so for:

If you don't like it then why do you use it?

Here, they're not making a statement.  It's not even a bad question - if you don't like a product, then potential buyers might have good reason to be interested in why you use it despite not liking it.
Rudeness isn't ad hominem
There's a somewhat common misconception that rudeness is a fallacy; it's not.
Ad hominem is where someone reasons something like:

Bob said X.

Bob is smelly.

Therefore, X must be false.

The fallacy isn't in that calling Bob smelly is rude; as far as logic goes, that's perfectly fine.  The problem's that Bob's odor doesn't typically have anything to do with statements he might make, e.g. X.
That said, it's still possible for this to not be a fallacy.  For example, if it's:

Bob said that he's not smelly.

Bob is smelly.

Therefore, Bob not being smelly must be false.

That's not a fallacy because Bob's smelliness is relevant.
Answer: It seems like what you are referring to are forms of ridicule and attempts to decontextualize the issue to transfer the focus from the subject to you.
One might simply name that denigration. Or, perhaps, defamation. One might say: "Stop the personally denigrating comments, and extend to me the courtesy I give to you."

Senators in the U.S. use the phrase, ad hominem, meaning directed at the person, as a high way of saying, that's insulting. Insulting and therefore not productive to friendly deliberation.
It's not ad hominem in the proper sense of being aimed at your principles or view of the matter since it is a distortion of your view, rather than a speaking to your view. There's a mistaken view that ad hominem is always something negative. It's not. If they really address your views, that's legitimate and even helpful to a deliberation that aims at clarifying issues.
The modern usage is vexed by the fact that the understanding of what a fallacy is has largely withered. So far as ad hominem is a rule of good sense, of experienced judgement, i.e., an informal fallacy, then the issue is if they dismiss the matter for the reason of the source alone. That doesn't make sense, since even a fool can say something that is true if only from time to time.
But views don't exist apart from human beings. So one must speak to the one who has the conviction or opinion in order to change the opinion. It's clear, in the cases you bring, that no friendly attempt to change your view is meant. Rather an attempt at character assassination is meant or at thuggish dismissal.
Answer: I will chance my arm on this and say that there is a kind of ad hominem fallacy here. Ad hominem occurs when a claim or statement is made, and the maker of the claim or statement is attacked rather than the claim or statement itself. Doesn't this happen here ? If the Questioner makes a criticism, then the criticism should be addressed rather than any inconsistencies or other flaws in the behaviour of the critic. But the respondents precisely do attack the critic's behaviour rather than her/ his criticism.
I am not sure whether ad hominem is an example of ignoratio elenchi or merely similar to it. Certainly both appeal to considerations irrelevant to the point at issue (whatever it is). This really is an admission of uncertainty and not a denial that ad hominem can be subsumed under ignoratio elenchi. I stand open to correction.


What is the relation between aircraft stability and control?

Question: :)
My teacher gave the task to figure out the common relation between stability and control. I know definitions and only thing I could find on the internet was "Control is directly opposed to stability" but I am not sure if I get it. Thank you for your answers :)
Comment: Simply put...

If something is very stable, it is difficult to get it to change attitude. If something is unstable it is easy to change attitude (not necessarily in a controllable manner).

Civilian aircraft tend to be very stable (easier, safer operation and more comfortable). Fighter jets tend to be (very) unstable for manoeuvrability. Some fighters are so unstable (F-16) that they need artificial stability (electronics) or no human would be able to fly it.
Comment: "Control is directly opposed to stability" -- yet stability is not always directly opposed to control.  Example-- if a hang glider "tumbles" due to getting too slow at the top of a loop, it becomes very difficult to control.  Consider also an aircraft that will enter an unrecoverable flat spin at the drop of a hat-- very difficult to control.
Answer: You are right.
Stability is the tendency of a system to return to its old state after a disturbance, be it a gust or a control input. It needs more control effort to change the state of a more stable airplane, such that stability can be measured by measuring control forces instead.
A famous example which is often mentioned in literature is the BE.2, a British two-seater which was designed as a training aircraft in 1912. As a trainer, it had ample stability, so its control responses were sluggish. That proved to be its undoing when war broke out in 1914. The BE.2 was easily outmaneuvered by dedicated fighters, so it had to be withdrawn from frontline service.
Quote from Wikipedia:

While it proved fundamentally unsuited to air-to-air combat it had a
  relatively low accident rate, and its high degree of inherent
  stability actually proved helpful in its artillery observation and
  aerial photography duties (although it also made it more difficult to
  maneuver quickly)

BE.2 (picture source)


Why does the tag "(solution-verification)" show as "(proof-verification)"?

Question: So I want to clarify/verify a specific solution. This is my solution to a problem, so it is not like I want to verify a specific proof/theorem or clarify why and/or how it works. So, in my tags, I write (solution-verification) but for some reason the tag shows as (proof-verification). Why is this? It only does this on the Math Stack Exchange as far as I know. I wanted to use the tag on the Math Overflow but I need at least $300$ reputation to use that tag, and I don't have that. Any thoughts?
Comment: On MO, the tag solution-verification does not exist. To create new tags one needs sufficiently many points, which explains the behavior you see there.
Comment: Ok, but I like @MartinSleziak 's answer a bit better because it is more detailed. Thanks tho :)
Answer: This is is actually not a bug. When you look more closely at the tag (proof-verification) you can see that there is actually a tag synonym solution-verification $\to$ proof-verification with (proof-verification) as the master tag: https://math.stackexchange.com/tags/proof-verification/synonyms. It is a basic feature of tag synonyms that when you enter some of the synonyms, it is always changed to the master tag.
Whether or not they should be synonyms is separate question. (However, reverting synonyms is usually not simple. If the synonym is cancelled, still many of the question would have to be retagged manually; in the case of a tag containing 14k questions this would be a rather ambitious undertaking. For more details see: What happens with the tagged questions when a tag-synonym is cancelled?)
Whether or not these two tags should be synonyms was discussed here: What is the usefulness of having "proof-verification" and "solution-verification" as different tags? My impression is that no clear consensus was reached in that discussion. But a synonym was created despite the fact that the previous discussion on meta was -at least in my opinion inconclusive.
Comment: Beautiful! Thank you so much!! $$(+1) \ \ \ \color{green}{\checkmark}$$
Comment: If you find a similar question like this, you could also include the following link in your answer: https://math.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/9007/solution-verification-tag?rq=1


Can I use a Zoom

Question: can i record with a zoom 4n simultaneously with the 3.5 mm jack and the built in mics and the xlr jacks at the same time?
Comment: Give it a try and find out, then let us know.
Answer: pretty sure the 1/8th jack is in parallel with the on board mics as far as tracking goes.
Answer: No, it can only use the internal mics and XLR simultaneously in 4 channel mode (the caveat being it limits you to 48/24 instead of 96/24).  What you are attempting is 6 channel recording and it is not capable of this - on a logic board and firmware level.
Answer: Definitely not! If you insert a plug into the 3,5mm jack the internal mics are bypassed. But you absolutly CAN record 4 channels at a time, even using 4 external mics. No phantom power on the mini-jack-input obviuosly, but the Rode NT4 doesn't need any, for example. Or you use external phantom-power supply boxes.
Interesting detail on the Zoom H4n's mini-jack input: The pre-amps on this input have a much lower selfnoise than the more professional-looking XLR-inputs. Seems kind of counter-intuitive at first, but it seems they thought that most people would use the onboard mics most of the time... then it starts to make sense.

Can I use a Zoom


How to append with logic bricks?

Question: Basically I want to make a game where a user can add their own levels by making a blend file with an object in called a certain thing, so for example you would have to call the level "Object.001" or something for it to work. Then when you start the level, it plays that level. And no I do NOT want to make it just open the blend file, because then I would have to make a template but people would just steal the template and use it for themselves and claim it.
Answer: To start with, I will just mention that the biggest issue in the current game market is not theft, it is the opposite: trying to get people to play your game out of the thousands of others.
My suggestion is to:

Provide a basic template to everyone (so who would steal it?)
Provide good documentation on what objects you can add that do what.

OR
Take a completely alternate approach, such as having a blend file called 'LevelParts.blend' with groups of objects people can append to their custom levels.
Answer: You can use LibLoad to load scenes from a file and merge all objects into the current scene.

How to append with logic bricks?


Prevent friend from receiving email notification when I post a status on Facebook

Question: Why do one of my friends get an email message whenever I update a status on Facebook? I want to stop it, as I don't want him to see my posts any further and I have blocked him from the status. Please suggest how to do that.
Comment: If you've really "blocked" this person, then they won't see any status updates from you, including notifications. I suggest you double-check that you've actually applied the block.
Answer: You can either un-friend anyone you wish to prevent from seeing your updates, or you need to create a group of all your friends with whom you want to share you updates and then when you update, select the drop down to the left of the post button and select custom -> share to the group which excludes your friend.
Also, you could make him an acquaintance and share to friends excluding acquaintances.
Answer: If your friend has added you on their "Close Friend" smart list, they would be notified about all your Facebook activity. This includes everything - it you post a status or like a photo or comment on a post.
There is nothing you could do about it, unless of-course you explicitly exclude sharing your status with that person - which i don't think is the right solution. This might not stop your friend from following other activity from you, such as liking or commenting on posts.
The Close friends smart list is definitely useful, but it could be creepy if you doubt someone is stalking you.


iPhone 5S suddenly turns off at 30-40% of battery life

Question: I have iPhone 5S with 10.1.1 iOS. I have experienced few situations where my battery life was about 30-40% and iPhone immediately turned off. When I tried to turn on it indicated low battery and kept doing this for about 2 hours everytime I tried to turn on. And then suddenly turned on and was back at around 30% battery life and I did not use charger in the meantime (I did not have it).
Then this situation happened to me again when I had my charger with me, so plugged in and after while iPhone turned on charging but already had about 40% of battery charged.
This happened to me like 5x in last 3 months. The scenario is always very similar, battery life about 30-40%.. (never happens when the battery is more than 50%) and then few hours idle until comes back. Does anyone has any suggestions? Many thanks for help
Comment: Was it in cold weather or similar? - You could try simply recalibrating the battery (i.e. let the battery drain completely, then charge it to 100% and leave it in the charger for an hour extra... repeat that cycle again - and hopefully it will be better at knowing the real capacity of your battery)
Comment: Anecdotally, [some people have reported this being a software issue](http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/261082/iphone-restarts-when-in-sleep-mode) and not hardware. Up to iOS 9 this was classic "battery" or "failed chips" internally, but I've seen this on several generations of hardware (5 and 6 - both S and not) for me to think it's all hardware related. It could still be hardware though.
Comment: I have this problem too on iPhone 6s, the phone started switching itself off around 38%, it's happened around 20 times. It seems to have cleared up now. I agree it must be a battery calibration issue as I didn't have the problem with iOS <= 9.x.
Comment: Thinking of closing as dupe to https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/239878/why-does-my-iphone-power-off-when-the-battery-is-down-to-30
Answer: When I was a Genius at an Apple Store about two years ago, this issue was relatively common. Most likely this is a hardware issue with the battery itself, but there is a chance it could be a battery calibration issue. It's best to troubleshoot calibration first.
Calibration Issue
The battery itself keeps track of how much battery life it has, and reports this back to the phone, which it then displays on the screen for you. Sometimes, the battery may be fully charged, but the battery or phone instead reports a different charge percentage.
Fixing a calibration issue is relatively easy:

Use your phone until it completely runs out of battery power and shuts off.
Plug your phone into a charger, and leave it plugged in until it is fully charged. Ideally, do this overnight so you know to be sure it gets completely charged.

This process will tell the phone and battery where its lowest and highest charge points are.
Hardware Issue
If you continue having the issue, it is almost certainly an issue with the battery itself. If you have an Apple Store nearby, make a Genius Bar appointment there and bring your phone in. They can replace your battery there the same day, and it usually takes less than an hour.
If you don't have an Apple Store nearby, there may be an Apple Authorized Service Provider near you that can help. Go through the prompts at Apple's support site, and they will help you find a good option.
Comment: If the problem is an iOS one around lower limit of the battery charge, lets say iOS computes a level of 0 % when the battery level is 33 %, then a user will never be able to reach this lowest level of charge. ↵ In this case it is not possible to make a correct battery calibration.
Comment: I understand what you're saying, but in my experience, that's not the case.

If the phone's battery is at 33%, but it's telling the phone that it's at 0% (and that's what's shown on the phone's screen), the phone still will not shut off until the batter *actually* runs out of power. I've seen phones sit at 0% for hours before actually shutting off.

But you are right that sometimes it is not possible to make the battery calibration. In that case, the fix is to replace the battery.
Answer: Battery percentage is usually an estimation as it can be quite difficult to work out actual percentage.
A great way to see the health of your battery is by using a tool such as CoconutBattery (Mac, free) which will allow you to view the cycle count, current capacity and how much it can store of its original design capacity.
Remember, batteries are considered a consumable and once they've been cycled too many times will need to be replaced.
This could also be a software issue as some other users have mentioned, so your best bet is to backup the device then restore it through iTunes, setting it up as new to test.
Answer: I'm experiencing the same problem and believe iOS 10 software is the cause and not hardware.
If iOS 10 is not registering the correct amount of battery power. Occasionally prior to my iPhone 6S going to sleep it's registering a decent amount of power to wake from sleep (as much as 50%). The phone will not wake from sleep and is effectively useless. However connect it to a power source or a computer, the power issue resets and the phone will wake reporting over 30% power and more. It seems to reset some flag that tells the phone that the battery is dead. It has happened too many times to be a coincidence. iOS is not registering the correct battery level, mistakenly thinks it does not have enough power and will therefore not power up. Once connected to a power source for a few seconds, the phone will reboot normally and show power levels correctly.. This has occurred through all iterations of iOS 10 including the latest betas.
Comment: This was receiving not an answer flags due to parts of the post being related to [meta] and parts being about speculation. Let's focus on getting some references or details on what specific process might have changed - http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/261082/iphone-restarts-when-in-sleep-mode
Answer: Problem solved, I have my battery changed and the issue hasnt occurred (well for 2 weeks so far).
I first tried this calibration mentioned above, but it didnt help. Then I restored the iphone completely, didnt help either.
I didnt expect the issue to be in battery as it has been just 2 years since I bought the device new and previously I had iphone4 for 4 years and there was no issue with battery but apparently it is not same, battery itself seemed to be the issue.


Do Domain transfer to another registrar all details of related to domain record

Question: We need to transfer domain from another registrar to network solution, when domain transfer is initiated and completed will domain transfer to done with all the details like www,MX, A SPF record or we have to update all these records after domain transfer is complete.
Comment: It all depends upon where your DNS records exist. Most of the time, they exist with the registrar and not the web host. It depends upon a persons experience while setting up a domain in the first place, whether they had a personal preference, or even simply followed a web hosts instructions to use the web hosts DNS without understanding what it all means. You will have to figure that part out first.
Answer: My experience is that if the nameservers point away from the registrar i.e. the DNS is hosted elsewhere, then a change of registrar does not affect DNS at all.
Answer: All the registrar holds on you is your account information and name server entries, your DNS records are hosted by your DNS host which in many instances is the same as your web host. Just transfer the domain name and give them your name server addresses and within 48 hours it should be fine.


how to unlock android device manager

Question: I forgot my Xiomi Redmi note 3 phone pattern lock so I locked it with android device manager but my mobile still shows the same after it. It doesn't show any box to type the new password to unlock it . Does someone know what would i try to do now?
Answer: I just tried it out on my device (running Android 7.1.2 if that matters). In Android Device Manager I clicked the Lock button. It asked me to enter a new password twice, a recovery message (optional) and a phone number (also optional).
It first showed that the new lock was successfully set. However, this message was quickly replaced with Since Google has verified that a screen lock is already set, the password you entered won't be needed. This second message disappeared pretty quickly so you may have missed it.
When I proceeded to unlock my phone, it displayed Locked by Android Device Manager on the screen. By pressing the Back button, I got back into the regular lock screen which now displayed Device administrator locked device. My previous lock method was still active, so I could unlock it as if nothing had changed. Therefore, I suspect that your phone's lock hasn't changed either, which means you'll need to find a different way of changing the lock. Please try the methods in this answer and let us know which one worked for you (if any).

how to unlock android device manager


Can we add multiple schema.org JSON-LD code blocks to the home page of a website?

Question: Can we add multiple JSON Code on a website like organization, services, local business?
Comment: For what purpose? Can you include an example?
Answer: Absolutely. In fact, it can frequently be useful to break up your JSON-LD structured data code snippets into smaller blocks of reusable scripts. This can prevent you from having to build and deploy a custom block for every single page, and from ending up with code that describes attributes that don't appear on a page. (You'll want to follow the guidelines and test your code.) Think of it as Atomic Design blocks for structured data.
Let's say your home page has a logo that appears on every page, corporate contact info, and a video. You also have a Contact page. Sure, you can combine the logo and contact info into one code block, but you can add the video markup via a second code block. That way, when you deploy your structured data on the Contact page, you can use the first block but leave out the video block.
Google doesn't care how many separate scripts you have, only that they're the right scripts for the page.


Ethernet Cable Orientation

Question: I'm in an A+ course and was just working on wiring Ethernet cables. I was wondering, will an Ethernet cable function if the wires are reversed? Say instead of wiring 568B like striped orange, orange, striped green, blue, striped blue, green, striped brown, brown. Would it be possible for them to work when they're wired brown, striped brown, green, striped blue, and so on?
Answer: When you use TIA/EIA-568B on both sides this is a straight through cable.  The colors of the inner jackets don't really matter, much the same as it makes no difference to the operation of the network if you use a network cable with a black or yellow outer jacket.
However, the standard is in place for a real reason, and that is that the cabling system should be implemented in a standard way so that anyone who works on it will intuitively understand what they are working on.
For instance, imagine if someone used your reversed wiring in a real environment, left, and you were now troubleshooting a cabling issue at that site.  On inspection, you determine the cable is damaged and it need to be re-terminated on one side and did so with the standard TIA/EIA-568B.  After doing so, the cable still will not work.
It isn't because your termination is bad, but because the cable is now a rolled cable.  You may waste additional time/resources on trying to re-terminate the cable additional times.  Unless you use a cable tester, you may not easily figure out that the cable is now a rolled cabled.
Ultimately, this potentially causes more problems/downtime and isn't really justifiable by any possible reason the original person may have had to not follow the standard.

Old answer (thinking the OP was talking about using TIA/EIA-568B on one side and the reverse on the other):
What you are describing is what is often referred to as a "rolled" or "rollover" cable.  Pin 1 connects to pin 8 on the other side, pin 2 to pin 7, etc.
This type of cable would not work for network communications, but is used by many vendors for serial communication, such as console port access.
Answer: Simply addressing the connectivity of Ethernet cable, for short one as long as you use the same pairs at the same position it's OK.
For longer ones, you might have some crosstalk issue if you do it "however you want as long as it's the same pairs at both ends"
TIA/EIA-568A & B are only conventions to help everyone work together with less headache, there are no UTP-Police that will check your setup.  Sure, they're supposed to be optimized (alternating signal/ground strands in the connector, centering Pair 1 to be able to use it for telephony if needs be, etc) but it's not like each pairs will refuse a signal if it's not at the right position in the connector. Also, if you follow the standard, it's quite easy to differentiate Straight/Roll-Over/Cross-Over cables.
It's the same thing as the Jacket color (In UTP structured cabling. Fiber jacket color actually means something).  Even if the cables are Blue, Red, White or Black, they're still an Ethernet Cable (barring rolled-over or crossed-over ones), meaning you can use whichever colors you like, but it's still a good idea to be able to see their function by using different colors (as long as you stick to it!)
Comment: UTP Police == Auditors.  If your infrastructure wiring is audited / certified, it will fail if it doesn't follow the correct standard.
Comment: if a <2m cable isn't working properly, it rarely because you've selected to use other pairs than the TIA/EIA-568x standard, but mostly because you've untwisted too much or crimped badly

Like I said, if you're in your home, that's not a problem.  I wouldn't do that in a datacenter though.

You're right about test equipment, they're designed to follow the standard so if you don't follow it, it might work while the test equipment will tell you it's failing.
Comment: Yes, but fortunately that is part of the Certification process, not the Ethernet standards.  It's not a requirement to "simply have the network working"
Comment: If seen cables < 2m not working properly. So short is really short. I've also seen people working changing plugs on about 150 cables because they thought they could ignore the standard and ignore the cable tester (smalle Fluke).
Comment: Or because the same person who ignored the standard colour codes also ignored the need to keep pairs as pairs.
Answer: The real answer is simple. Ethernet is a differential line technology.
There are two ways to transmit information on a transmission line : Balanced(Analog)/Differential(Digital) or Unbalanced(Analog)/Single ended(Digital) line.
A differential transmission line is one where the signal is transmitted at two opossite polarities thru two lines. To represent a bit 1 you might send, lets say, +12V in a conductor and -12V on the other (Fast/Giga Ethernet is more complicated than that). Why this is done so ?
Because on a single-ended line, interference induced on the cable cannot be distinguised from a legitimate signal. If you put +12V on a single a conductor and receive, due to attenuation, +2V on the other side, this +2V might not be enough to prevent interference from destroying your signal, and if this does happen you cannot recover (you can, by higher abstraction means, but lets ignore this for a while) your information.
If you send the information on two conductors, by transmitting the oposite signals on each one, a interference that causes a, lets say, +5V spike on the line will interfere with BOTH conductors at the same time on the same way. If you send +12V on a conductor and -12V on the other, you might get on the other side +17V and -7V on the other. The voltages are wrong, but if you compare +17V to -7V (=24V) you get the same value as if you compare +12V to -12V (=24V difference). Think of this difference not as a normal subtraction but as a comparision of the linear distance of both points on a line.
So, a differential signal line will have higher immunity from noise.
But what does this means ?
On the ethernet connector of the network adapter, differential signals are paired on a very specific way. If you are dealing with Fast Ethernet, they are present on the pins 0-1 and 3-6. If you simply put the cables color paired side by side, you will produce not a differential line but two sepparate single-ended transmission lines (Part of the signal will go via Pair 2, part via Pair 3). Pin 3 will go thru a pair and Pin 5 will go thru another pair. They wont match.
This will cause all sort of effects. First they are not twisted togheter, they have a higher probability of receiving different kinds of interference values. They are not paired, so they will provide a totally different charactheristic impedance than what is expected.
As a historical reference, we starter using twisted pair cables to reuse twisted pair cables used for telecom. Twisted pair provided a cheaper way to install ethernet on older buildings that had already telephony equipment. Under such circunstance, you might use the two left-over pairs to transmit two telephone lines. They can - if done correctly - provide one more Fast-Ethernet connection (Yes, you can use a single cable to transmit two ethernet runs). Under a gigabit standard (not all of them, there are various standards for gigabit) all pairs are used so you have no such possibility.
TL;DL
The standard is set that way because ethernet is a differential transmission line technology and you must match the output/input differential pins on the adapter to the pairs on the cable. Thats why orange/light orange conductors jump over (usually) blue/light blue (or something like that) pair at the center.

Ethernet Cable Orientation


How does one log variables into the Google App Engine Launcher log?

Question: Situation:
I want to check some variables to see if they give the right values by logging the values of the variables in to the GAE Launcher Log.
Question:
How can I log a variable in the Google App Engine Launcher Log? I tried using syslog, but this doesnt work.syslog(LOG_DEBUG,"Messagge: $data");
Answer: If you echo something in your code then it will be displayed on appengine log. Or you can use PHP syslog() function.
Details can be found here
Example:
if (authorizedUser()) {
  echo '
Welcome authorized user
';
  syslog(LOG_INFO, 'Authorized access');
} else {
  echo 'Go away unauthorized user
';
  syslog(LOG_WARNING, "Unauthorized access");
}


Will deleting your Google account delete all the YouTube comments you made with it?

Question: I just deleted an alt Google account thinking it would delete all the YouTube comments I made with it. Is this true?
Answer: According to an old reply (from 2011) on the Official YouTube forum, no, deleting an account will not delete the comments published with that account.
Try to recover your account in order to be able to delete the comments you posted with it.
Related question

How do I delete all of my YouTube Comments and Replies?
Answer: https://myaccount.google.com/deleteyoutube tells you what happens if your YouTube account gets deleted:

The following will be permanently deleted:

Your i videos
Your j playlists
Your k subscriptions to other channels
m subscribers to your channel
Comments that you made on YouTube
Your replies and thumbs-up on comments, except those made on comments that came via Google+ [unless G+ gets fully deleted as well, which does happen if you fully delete your account]
Your messages
Your search and watch history

You will lose access to your purchased content:
n purchased items

(emphrasis added)


Is math puzzle "on-topic" or "off-topic"?

Question: Can I ask questions that serve as puzzles? I.e. I already know the answers but post the questions anyway to see if other people can solve the puzzles?
Comment: Why on earth are you dismissing puzzle in math SE as wasting people time? Aren't there any math-loving people that are enthralled by having puzzles to solve? I, for one, love solving math puzzles. Unless of course if puzzle is off-topic here, then please say so. Don't simply dismiss puzzle as a waste of time.
Comment: Well, like I already stated, to see if other people can solve the puzzle. Isn't that what giving puzzle always is?
Comment: If you already know the answer, what's the point in asking?
Comment: Why on earth would you want to waste people's time like that?
Comment: @T_P See http://meta.math.stackexchange.com/questions/4232/is-it-okay-to-ask-mathematical-puzzles-and-problems-i-have-solved
Answer: I don't see any problem in principle with posting puzzles as questions, assuming that they're being asked because the poster is genuinely interested in the answers, and that the post makes it clear that it is posted as a puzzle (or at least makes it clear that the poster already knows an answer and would like to see other solutions).
There have been a number of questions along the lines of "I know a proof of X, but I would like to see some others."  That isn't quite the same, but is closely related, and these have often gone over well.
If someone doesn't want to answer a question that the poster already has an answer to, then as long as the question is up front about the fact that it is posted as a puzzle, it will be easy to ignore.
Answer: I have changed my mind on this issue. In light of the greater number of off-topic and otherwise poorly-asked questions on the site these days, I would like to advocate a stricter policy with regard to questions that do not fit the SE model: in particular, questions where the OP already knows the answer. Posting a puzzle you don't know the solution to is fine, but if you are posting a puzzle you know the solution to, you are more or less just sharing the puzzle, and math.SE is not for sharing puzzles - there are plenty of other ways to do this (blogs, Facebook, etc.).
There may be good ways to ask a puzzle question. For example, if the actual question is "what kind of math is this? How does it generalize?" or "what other solutions are possible?" or something like that, that would be fine. The key is that the OP does not know the answer to these questions.
Here is one reason I don't think puzzles are a good fit for math.SE: how do you tag a puzzle? If your tags are too specific, you may give away a hint for the puzzle. The asking of a puzzle hinges on the answerers not having all of the information that the OP has, which I think fundamentally goes against the spirit of the SE enterprise. (Again, a modified question like the ones I suggest above would be more than fine.)
Comment: +1, I strongly agree with that line of thought.
Comment: @Eric: if you intend to learn from asking a puzzle, you should make that intention explicit in one of the ways I suggested or some other way. For me everything hinges on the actual sentence with a question mark in the question. It should not be the sentence in the puzzle unless you actually don't know how to solve it.
Comment: I think the catch is, as you mentioned, there are many (math) puzzles that are not presented correctly/completely, and/or the original presenter has a specific answer in mind. I think these kind of puzzles cannot be considered as a math problem. On the other hand, taking a look at Martin Gardner's books and many others one can easily find interesting math problems presented fabulously as a puzzles.
Comment: Although I recognize the logic of your last paragraph, I wonder how fundamental "answerers not having all of the information" is to the spirit of the enterprise. Is not learning and understanding more fundamental? Asking the same question to new people is an opportunity to see the problem in an unexpected way. The answers to [this old puzzle](http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/34569/enigma-of-wizards-dwarves-and-hats/) and the comments that ensued are a fine example of this. Everybody gained — even those (like me) who may have been familiar with both answers had an opportunity to learn.
Answer: If people are going to ask math puzzle questions, I'd appreciate it if they tagged them as "puzzle". (And if experienced users would add that tag to others posts when appropriate.) It would be one of my ignored tags, but I have no objection to other people enjoying them.
Comment: [puzzle] is a meta-tag, in the StackOverflow parlance.  Objective (computable from the posting) metatags are useful and more are needed in math.SE.  However, this need is in opposition to the "death of metatags" idea from SO (and even there it was controversial and may or may not be helpful).  I think it would help *this* site to attain clarity on whether or not use of non-subject tags is a good practice.  Already there are some metatags like [homework] in common use, and a developing practice of metatags inside subject tags to escape any "death-of-metatag" matters. It should be done openly.
Answer: You can do whatever you want (within reason), but there are plenty of users whose first instinct will be to Google the puzzle and post a link to a solution online.  If you are going to do this, please clarify that you do not want people to just post links to solutions.
Comment: Well, perhaps it depends upon what we mean by "puzzle".  If it means a standard sort of problem or brain-teaser, then yes, this is probably going to happen.  But I think the OP might mean "challenge problems", i.e., things that he has solved and is now posing to others (think Pierre de Fermat for very exalted examples of this).  Either way, if they're mathy enough I can't see a reason to exclude them on a general purpose math site.  But I think they should be clearly labeled -- I for instance don't really want to answer questions that the OP already knows how to do.
Comment: I have posted a couple before I saw this thread.  Both of them I wouldn't have known how to find a solution with Google, neither one received a simple link-(though one got a link to American Math Monthly from 78/79) and both got several upvotes.  On the other hand, I would like to avoid getting buried in "chestnuts".  There's a reason this is a comment and not an answer...


Connecting through Chicago O'Hare

Question: I am flying from Tokyo to Toronto through Chicago. Do I have to clear customs and claim my baggage in Chicago? I am flying with American Airlines. The flight is NRT - ORD - YYZ
Answer: Yes, everyone who arrives at a US airport on a flight from Japan (or any other place outside the US that does not have preclearance) has to pass through immigration, then pick up their checked baggage (if any) and carry through customs.
It doesn't matter that the next thing you plan to do after clearing customs is to take another flight out of the US.
There is one small relief: if you're traveling on a single itinerary, then the baggage tags on your checked luggage will usually be good for both flights, so you can hand the bags back to the airline at the transfer baggage drop right after customs, and don't need to stand in line to get new tags.
Comment: I think this is incorrect for flights that connect to Canada. In this case, you do not have to pick up your luggage before going through customs.

Connecting through Chicago O'Hare


Gaoxing (高兴) vs. Kaixin (开心)

Question: A few of the translation apps I use show both to mean happy.  Are these synonyms or is there a deeper level for one, like joy might be considered deeper than happy?
Comment: They are interchangeable in most cases.
Answer:
高 = highly; 兴= delighted
高兴 = happy; glad; delighted
describe a  emotional state of being delighted

~

开= open; 心 = heart
开心 = happy; joyful
metaphorically describe an effect of being happy

Both 高兴  and 开心 means 'happy', but with different emphasis.
For example, if you are glad that you didn't get killed in a car accident, you can say: "我很高興我還活著" (I am glad that I am still alive), but you wouldn't say: "我很開心我還活著" (I am joyful that I am still alive)
Another example,  We use 我很高興見到你 (I am glad to see you) as a polite greeting, but "見到你我很開心" (seeing you make me happy) would be a more passionate expression.

开心 is also more personal, e.g. "今天是我最开心的一天" is more natural than "今天是我最高興的一天"

Another word for 'happy:
快 = satisfactory; 樂 = delight
快樂 = happy/ joyful/ cheerful (describe a joyful emotional state). It can be a noun or an adjective
Answer:
高兴[gāo xìng]

(愉快而兴奋) glad; happy; pleased; elated; joyful; cheerful:
I'm very glad to see you. 我见到你很高兴。
He is sure to be pleased [happy] at the news. 他听到这个消息一定很高兴。

开心[kāi xīn]

(快乐; 舒畅) feel happy; rejoice; joyful; be delighted; have a grand time:
His joy was immense. 他开心极了。
The children dance round him in delight. 孩子们开心地围着他跳舞。
Answer: 不管说哪一个都能 了解你的意思
no much difference, whichever you use could make people know you are happy
Answer: Just like the difference between Happy and Delighted/Pleased.
In a word, when comes to daily usage, no difference, unless bringing up to an academic/professional level.

Gaoxing (高兴) vs. Kaixin (开心)


What's going on with the watch?

Question: At the beginning of Doctor Strange, Strange is operating on a patient just getting ready to take the bullet out of their brain while the other doctor watches on. Strange asks ... no, tells the other doctor something about his watch. The other doctor then covers the watch up. What was going on with the watch which caused Strange to behave like this? (Other than him being strange ... er ... eccentric, that is ...)
Answer: In that scene, Strange was trying to focus (might be showing off as per West) to take out the bullet from the patient's head without using scan reports (directly using micro glaces). But he was disturbed by West's watch noise and he says "your watch is disturbing me". You can hear the watch's ticking sound in that scene. So West put his hand on his watch and then Strange removes the bullet from the head.
But when they got out, Christine asks him that there was no need to make fun of West. So you can make it that Strange was just humiliating West on that scene.
Comment: It's up to interpretation, but I thought Dr. Strange was distracted by the watch's sound as well. The ticking sound increased during that scene, until West covered it. If the glare of the watch face had distracted him, I bet the director would have shown light glinting off it, or a circle of light on Strange's face, rather than increasing the volume of the ticking sound.
Comment: Though, the "making fun" of West part seemed to refer to his earlier conversation, when he got the patient from West in the first place. Other than that, nice and correct answer. +1
Comment: @KutuluMike Hmm, I significantly heard that watch sound in the scene, though (and less so after covered up). But maybe that was influenced by me *wanting* to hear it after he drew my attention to the watch.
Comment: I too heard the watch, and given the delicate nature of surgery, especially involving the brain via a method he was advised not to use, and thus any distraction that could cause him to flinch or lose his concentration needed to be nullified. Not once did I take him asking West to cover his watch as Strange trying to insult him further, but simply asking him the courtesy of impeding an annoying noise from distracting him during a very delicate procedure.
Comment: I am pretty sure the line was "Dr West, cover your watch!"
Comment: I think the idea was that the glare on the watch face was distacting him, but basically the same idea.
Answer: I think he told him to cover his watch as a reference to when West prematurely called the time of death. Kind of like a reference to not needing to know the current time when he extracted the bullet because the patient was going to make it.
Answer: Time is a major part of this comic. Strange (at this particular time in the plot) is still governed by time's constraints. His understanding is that time will wait for no one, bend for nothing, travel in no way but forward. This is terrifying for someone who has a near phobia of failure. That ticking clock got to him on another level since it brought into his narcissistic perception a loop of consequences that could lead to a tarnished reputation, or an ego stripping reality that he is not in control.
Later, in the alley in Katmandu, where the thugs stole his watch was significant in the respect that Mordo got the watch back, however it was broken. Symbolizing a new paradigm of chaos for someone who avoided giving up control at all costs.
My last opinion is pertaining to the ending of the film. After all the time manipulation to overthrow the evil one and prevent the Earth from being taking into the dark dimension... Dr. Strange is shown strapping on that same broken watch, even though he has that amazing spinning drawer of working designer watches. He seemingly embraces the fact that most everything is out of his control. Time is relative for each and every one of us. However, time no longer is tied to his success or failures. No longer dictates his path, or controls his actions. As the Ancient one said, "death is what gives life meaning." She no longer held onto the same meaning since she was breaking forbidden rules to empower herself with magic to grant life looong beyond her natural years. Breaking the natural law to protect herself (used to protect those around her as well)... Strange was breaking the natural law to save others in much the same way. (the librarian... the earth) Is this respect, he came into his own, and now understands that everything is not about him.. but aimed at a higher purpose.
Comment: As per your last paragraph, Stange most likely has sold all of his watches at the point where he's willing to take out a "small loan" of $200k to fund the research into getting him his hands functional again. IOW: The drawer is empty. He keeps the broken watch because Christine had given it to him. He values her more than time itself.
Answer: I think we're missing the more subtle undertones as well. The issue with the watch is multiple. The movie is about time. The focus on the watch in the beginning cues to that. The insult to the other doctor is the fact that he failed on the patient originally, and called the "time of death" prematurely.  The other side, meaning that now that Dr. Strange was working on the patient, he was going to have more time.
Answer: I thought it was at first that he was using a magnet to take the bullet out of the gentleman's brain.  Then when Christine says the line about humiliating West so you know it is about West calling the time of the death of this poor gentleman.
Answer: The other doctor was wearing a cheap watch. Strange was obviously a watch collector and his JAEGER LECOULTRE that was broken during his accident was OBVIUOSLY
a beloved time piece.
The other doctor's watch simply wasn't up to Strange's standards thus he was making fun of him via his watch.
Comment: Thank you for assisting the community. Ideas for framing an answer may include describing your sources along with a synopsis of what they said, and/or adding links to the resources and visuals you've found. I hope you enjoy participating.

What's going on with the watch?