If uniform cost search is used for bidirectional search, is it guaranteed the solution is optimal?

Question: If uniform cost search is used for both the forward and backward search in bidirectional search, is it guaranteed the solution is optimal?
Answer: UCS is optimal (but not necessarily complete)
Let's first recall that the uniform-cost search (UCS) is optimal (i.e. if it finds a solution, which is not guaranteed unless the costs on the edges are big enough, that solution is optimal) and it expands nodes with the smallest value of the evaluation function $f(n) = g(n)$, where $g(n)$ is the length/cost of the path from the goal/start node to $n$.
Is bidirectional search with UCS optimal?
The problem of bidirectional search with UCS for the forward and backward searches is that UCS does not proceed layer-by-layer (as breadth-first search does, which ensures that when the forward and backward searches meet, the optimal path has been found, assuming they both expand one level at each iteration), so the forward search may explore one part of the search space while the backward search may explore a different part, and it could happen (although I don't have the proof: I need to think about it a little bit more!), that these searches do not meet. So, I will consider both cases:

when the forward and backward searches do not "meet" (the worst case, in terms of time and space complexity)

when they meet (the non-degenerate case)

Degenerate case
Let's consider the case when the forward search does not meet the backward search (the worst/degenarate case).
If we assume that the costs on the edges are big enough and the start node $s$ is reachable from $g$ (or vice-versa), then bidirectional search eventually degenerates to two independent uniform-cost searches, which are optimal, which makes BS optimal too.
Non-generate case
Let's consider the case when the forward search meets the backward search.
To ensure optimality, we cannot just stop searching when we take off both the frontiers the same $n$. To see why, consider this example. We take off the first frontier node $n_1$ with cost $N$, then we take off the same frontier node $n_2$ with cost $N+10$. Meanwhile, we take off the other frontier node $n_2$ with cost $K$ and the node $n_1$ with cost $K + 1$. So, we have two paths: one with cost $N+(K + 1)$ and one with cost $(N+10)+K$, which is bigger than $N+(K + 1)$, but we took off both frontiers $n_2$ first.
See the other answer for more details and resources that could be helpful to understand the appropriate stopping condition for the BS.
Answer: It depends on the stopping condition.  If the stopping condition is "stop as soon as any vertex is encountered by both the forward and backward scan", then bidirectional uniform-cost search is not a correct algorithm -- it is not guaranteed to output the optimal path.  But it is possible to adjust the stopping condition to make bidirectional uniform-cost search guaranteed to output an optimal solution.
See the following resources for details, and the correct stopping condition:
Computing Point-to-Point Shortest Paths from External Memory.  Andrew V. Goldberg, Renato F. Werneck.  ALENEX/ANALCO 2005.
Point-to-point shortest path algorithms with preprocessing.  Andrew V. Goldberg.  International Conference on Current Trends in Theory and Practice of Computer Science, 2007.
Efficient Point-to-Point Shortest Path Algorithms.  Andrew V. Goldberg, Chris Harrelson, Haim Kaplan, Renato F. Wemeck.
I found these resources by looking at the Wikipedia article on bidirectional search; it mentions that the termination condition has been articulated by Andrew Goldberg et al and cites the third reference above.  Then a quick search on Google Scholar immediately turned up the other papers as well.
Lesson for the future: It can be useful to spend a little time checking standard resources (such as Wikipedia and textbooks), and checking the literature (e.g., with Google Scholar).  Many natural questions have already been answered in the literature.
Comment: It may be helpful to know that UCS is essentially the same thing as Dijkstra's algorithm.


web part properties panel covered by the master page

Question: I'm upgrading a SharePoint site from 2007 to 2010. I'm done with all the master pages and page layouts. Is still have however a minor thing that is bugging me. When editing a page, the web part properties panel is covered by the master page components. Is there a way to make the new modal dialog appear instead of this side panel? or what can I do so the panel is not covered?

Answer: You probably need to add some css on edit mode. Here's a link shows how


Invariant tensors of Symplectic and Exceptional groups.

Question: We know that for special orthogonal groups $SO(N)$ there exists invariant tensors (invariant under the group action). These are $\delta_{ij}$ and the totally anti-symmetric $\epsilon_{m_1,m_2,...m_N}$ tensor.
Similarly for $SU(N)$ the invariant tensors are $\delta_k^i$, $\epsilon_{m_1,m_2,...m_N}$ and $\epsilon^{m_1,m_2,...m_N}$ ($\delta_k^i$ is an invariant tensor of $U(N)$ too but not so for the $\epsilon$'s).
These objects are very useful in constructing singlets out of objects transforming under representations of $SO(N)$ or $SU(N)$.
Question 1: Are there such tensors for the Symplectic group and Exceptional groups? I am particularly interested in the groups $Sp(2N)$ and $E_7$. Is there a systematic method of obtaining the same?
Question 2. This question is just for the sake of curiosity. Can we also find invariant tensors for supergroups like $OSp(4|\mathcal{N})$ or $SU(2,2|\mathcal{N}/2)$ that appears in numerous $\mathcal{N}$-extended supersymmetric field theories?
Answer: Here is a partial answer: Define $Sp(2N,\mathbb{R})$ as the group of matrices $S$ such that $S \cdot\Omega\cdot S^T=\Omega$ where $\Omega_{ij}$ is a non-degenerate anti-symmetric matrix. Then $\Omega_{ij}$ is an invariant tensor similar to the Kronecker delta for orthogonal transformations. I don't think there are any more (not 100% sure).
For $E_7$: $E_7$ may be defined to be the group that preserves a antisymmetric second-rank tensor $g_{\mu\nu}$ and a totally symmetric fourth-rank tensor $f_{\mu\nu\rho\sigma}$ with $\mu,\nu,\rho,\sigma=1,2,\ldots, 56$ (i.e., the 56 dimensional representation is the defining representation). In more detail:
$$
g_{\mu_1\mu_2} = (S_{\mu_1})^{\nu_1}\ (S_{\mu_2})^{\nu_2}\ g_{\nu_1\nu_2} \ ,
$$
with a similar one for the other tensor.
The $E_7$ description is described in P. Cvitanovic's Group Theory book. You can take a look there for the supersymmetric groups for which he has an interesting approach.
Comment: Yes of course! This comes by definition. Are are there any other?
Comment: @Orbifold I have updated my answer to include the $E_7$ case. I didn't know that answer on the top of my head and had to look it up.


Can we make Object Detection as human eyes+brain do?

Question: I am so much curious about how do we see(with eyes ofc) and detect things and their location so quick. Is the reason that we have huge gigantic network in our brain and we are trained since birth to till now and still training.
basically I am saying , are we trained on more data and huge network? is that the reason?
or what if there's a pattern for about how do we see and detect object.
please help me out, maybe my thinking is in wrong direction.
what I wanna achieve is an AI to detect object in picture in human ways.thanks.
Comment: Thanks for posting.Add some references also for effective feedback.
Answer: Object detection can conceivably imitate what the human visual system does.  Research along these lines began in the 1980s in multiple laboratories and was termed Computer Vision.

How do we see ... and detect things and their location so quick[?]  Is the reason that we have huge gigantic network in our brain and we are trained since birth to till now and still training[?]

Neurological visual systems continue to train as long as the eyes and neurons continue to function.  A person may, long after doing well in sports, learn how to catch glass objects that fall off a counter using peripheral vision, using the same neural pathways as were used for visually coordinated movement in sports but.  They are newly trained to the new cognitive intention of saving glassware and clean-up time.
The mapping of signals from the rods and cones to the visual cortex has been studied and some generalities have influenced artificial vision research and development.  The convolution kernels used in CNNs are partly derived from biological research.  In summary, the way mammals and other organisms with the equivalents of retinas see is via a set of transformations and pattern matching circuits.  The sequence of information types through biological visual networks can be summarized.

Light as a function of compound angle and time.
Edges in both space and time
Elements of objects and actions — These are real world features, not in the machine learning sense but in the natural language use of the term features.
Objects and actions

The development of object and action recognition in computers follows this same basic sequence.  The goal stated in the question is this.

Achieve an AI to detect object in picture in human ways

Something like this has been the goal of many government, academic, and corporate laboratories, however the ability to recognize objects in still pictures is not as valuable as detecting the trajectories and other expressions of objects (such as changes in facial expressions) in real time.
Automated aiming, piloting, walking, and driving have been computer vision objectives since the first control systems were developed for anti-aircraft defense systems.  Considerable effort is being invested into how steering, breaking, and signaling can be automated in road vehicles.  A large array of household and industrial devices are being developed that rely on mapping the environment and navigating a robotic device through the map.
Stationary object recognition work is largely surrounding either categorizing images or drawing vector graphics from raster images, but these functions have limited application.  As mobile devices develop further and images on the web give way to videos on the web, a very strong and uninterrupted trend, the temporal dimension will continue to gain importance in the field computer vision.
None of these objectives are novel.  They are all based on animal capabilities, only some of which are uniquely human, and have been the subject of research since before the advent of digital computers.  However the feasibility of many designs has improved, largely due to a significant reduction in costs for fixed computing resources.  The vision system hardware of today costs roughly one thousandth of its 1990 cost.
Answer: If you have studied about Convolution Neural Network, you probably know how present day object detection algorithms works. Basically, an Artificial Neural Network tries to mimic the way our brain might work. So, CNN is probably the way our brain works to perform object detection, trying to recognize each small parts at each stage, that slowly grows to compile into the larger object to be recognised.  However since, we are not restricted to data from just 2D plane, so the processing might be more complicated. We all learn things after being trained to do so. You could never have recognized a particular fruit if you have never seen it. The way we store the information, we gain, is different, that helps us to remember/recognise objects after only a few look. Until, we have more research that provides more details into the working of our brain, we are all good with Artificial Neural Network. Honestly, we are still far away from achieving general artificial intelligence. Now, if you want to implement an object detection algorithm, CNN is your only way.
Comment: Thanks for answering,can you also add some references to make it great.


Microphone problem for camera hp , lc100W

Question: I have bought a camera hp , lc100W

I want to use it for lecture record, microphone has not good record, What I must do for the sound? which type of microphone I must buy for it?
Answer: The rule of thumb for recording sound is that the closer to the source you get the better the sound. The reason is that the further you are from the source the more you have to increase the recording level, which means you also turn up all the background noise and room ambiance (echo and reverb). Since sound levels diminish proportionally to the square of the distance having the mic twice as far away means one quarter the sound level, or four times more background noise.
Now it doesn't look like there's a microphone input on that camera. If that's the case the only way you can record sound using an external mic is with a separate recorder. You could use a phone if you have one, you can get external mics for phones. Put the mic and recorder close to the source - on the lectern or even on a mic stand. Then you can synch the sound in your editing app. Premiere for example will synch clips automatically from their audio.
Answer: It depends on what kind of look you want on your video. You could go with a gooseneck mic, which extends out towards you. It has near presence. If you prefer the microphone not be seen, your best bet is a short shotgun microphone, which you can boom from either above or below the frame line. If using a shotgun mic, laying a blanket down on the ground will reduce slap back from the ceiling to the floor. Shotgun microphones are highly directional, so they can be placed farther from the sound source and reject to a decent extent (depending on your budget) sound that is not within the pickup angle.  Microphone distance is not the only thing to consider. Because presence is important for natural sounding audio. A gooseneck mic should be 6"-8" away from your mouth, under the chin. A shotgun microphone's ideal placement would be 12"-24" above or below your head, 6" out from your face towards the camera, and pointed directly at your mouth. If you use say a large diaphram microphone, like a Neumann, you'll want 3-6" typically, but the micrphone will be in front of your face due to it's size.
Comment: I don't think someone using that camera is really going to be using a Neumann microphone. Jus' sayin.


Knocking text out from text

Question: I am trying to cut (knockout)text from another text word. I can't seem to figure it out! image attached
Comment: Hi ioralee and welcome to GDSE! Is this image what you want to accomplish or is it what you currently have? Can you explain where you are stuck?
Answer: One way is to make a copy of the foreground text, insert a stroke to it and use the stroked copy as opacity mask to make the background text transparent under the foreground text. Texts can be edited again after releasing the opacity mask.

Two texts on an image (which is here only a flat grey rectangle)
The foreground text is copied to clipboard as is, a white stroke is inserted to the original
The fill color of the foreground text is changed to white
The foreground text is defined in the Transparency panel to be the Opacity mask for the background text. Used options: No Clip, Invert Mask. Now there's a hole in the BG text
The original foreground text is pasted to place
Answer: If you are making a logo or need to for example cut out the text in vinyl, then it is a good idea to make everything as clean outlines. It´s a bit tricky to explain so bare with me. The "top text" is the one blocking the "bottom text"

First convert the texts to outlines "ctrl+shift+O"

Make a copy of the top text and add outline to that.

Then expand (Object/Expand appearence) the copied text and use
"join" in the pathfinder window to make it a outline object again.

Select the copied text and the bottom text and use "Trim" in the
pathfinder window.

Direct select and delete all of the copied text parts.
Now you have cutouts in the bottom text.

Knocking text out from text


How to understand the duality between Dilworth's theorem and Mirsky's theorem?

Question: Dilworth's theorem states that for any partial order, the size of the largest antichains is the size of the smallest chain partitions. Mirsky's theorem states that for any partial order, the size of the longest chains is the size of the smallest antichain partitions. Wikipedia says that those theorems are dual, which is clear from what they state, but they do not have the same proofs: the proof of Dilworth's theorem is an induction whereas Mirsky's theorem has a very elegant proof. Are there dual proofs of those two results, or a way to "see" the duality between chains and antichains that those results suggest? (Edit: I am interested in the case of finite partial orders.)
Comment: If I recall correct Dilworth's theorem states this only for finite posets, or maybe posets with a finite width.
Comment: I'm interested in finite partial orders, I edited the question to reflect this. Thanks for this remark!
Answer: I'm having a very limited amount of time for m.se right now, but let me give the relevant link:
Thomas Britz, Sergey Fomin, Finite posets and Ferrers shapes.
There are three versions of the paper: an arXiv one ( http://arxiv.org/abs/math/9912126 ), a PS file on Fomin's webpage ( http://www.math.lsa.umich.edu/~fomin/Papers/posetshapes.ps ) and a published version in Adv in Math ( http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001870800919662 ). The published one seems to have the most mistakes apparently due to being redigitalized from paper, so I can only recommend the former two.
Read some introduction into flows and the Ford-Fulkerson algorithm beforehand.
An alternative way to relate Dilworth's and Mirsky's theorems is by the perfect graph theorem (e. g., done in Schrijver's A Course in Combinatorial Optimization, http://homepages.cwi.nl/~lex/files/dict.pdf ), though I'm not sure if it helps to explain a miracle with an even greater miracle.


VW Jetta 2003 GLI 6 Speed manual stuck in gear.

Question: My 2003 VW Jetta GLI VR6 6 speed manual is "stuck" in gear. ATM stuck in 2nd gear as i was about to back into my driveway and as i went to shift into reverse it wouldn't shift and basically is stuck in 2nd gear. clutch engages and disengages fine. The stick will only move forwards and backwards but with no resistance, like just flops to and fro. Would like to know possible cauces and fixes please.
Answer: I'm betting that the cable responsible for front-back shifting has either come loose at a mounting point (transmission or shift lever) or has broken completely.
You may be able to have someone operate the lever while you observe the heavy cables on the top of the transmission bell housing.  It's also possible that a bracket that holds one of the two cables is broken or loose.
Here is a diagram that shows the key parts at the shift lever.
So it's not really stuck in gear, it's just that you can't change it with busted linkage.  Hopefully an easy and reasonably inexpensive fix.  If forks inside the transmission are broken, this will be very serious and expensive.  But I sincerely doubt the latter is the case.
Comment: @Rob - it's what dealer part system yields...  Notice part of title "shift cable 5+6 speed manual transmission".   Reference is only a general idea, not a repair guide.  Honestly, it would take longer to find a repair guide than just diagnose it fix, shadetree style.  Once you see what's loose/broken, it will be incredibly obvious.  Only decision - can it be repaired, or need replacement parts.  Occasionally those cables can be tedious to replace, as there may be "stuff" blocking one bracket bolt.  I would strongly consider replacing both cables and shifter mounts and bushings at the same time
Comment: The diagram you linked is to a 5 speed would there be a difference since the one in question is a 6 speed. I'm pretty sure there isn't but wanted to make sure.
Comment: @SteveRacer ... this was exactly my thinking as well. I'm sure the cable (or rod or whatever it is) has lost itself at the linkage somewhere. Either popped off or just plain worn out one of the nylon bushings. Just have to figure out which one it is and there you go.


Can men pray at home for avoiding the bad smell of people at mosque?

Question: Can men pray at home for avoiding the bad smell of people at mosque?
Its very irritating. can i pray at home for concentrate on salah by avoiding those bad smells coming from people's sweating dress or uncleaned dress.
or any other techniques to be concentrated in salah avoiding the bad smell.
Answer: What makes you guarantee yourself to not be one of those men you criticize? Allah Almighty said in Surah Al-Hujurat (49) — Verse 11:
In Arabic (the exact wording):

...يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا يَسْخَرْ قَوْمٌ مِنْ قَوْمٍ عَسَى أَنْ يَكُونُوا خَيْرًا مِنْهُمْ

In English (in what it means):

O you who have believed, let not a people ridicule [another] people; perhaps they may be better than them.

The verse is also forbidding people from (besides mocking) despising and belittling one another.
It is summer and such smells are common to exist, so maybe you can voluntarily buy an air conditioner for the mosque, so it would get rid of the smell in addition to the many other benefits you and the worshipers would gain.

For more explanation about the verse, see here


Browse VPN Connected directory

Question: I've connected using Cisco VPN client from my Ubuntu to another Ubuntu machine. So now I want to browse directories of that machine which I'm connected through VPN, so how can I do it?
Answer: You have to check "Allow other users to control your desktop" in remote ubuntu, if by browsing directories, you mean being able to click on remote machine by using your mouse.
Otherwise, You'll have to use other options like ftp to browse remote files.

Browse VPN Connected directory


Why does my camera record a .JPG image and .NEF image on my memory card?

Question: When I looked my photos in my computer, two images appeared. One is a JPG image and another one is a NEF image. I'd already formatted my memory card but there's no change at all. What should I do? The another file is eating spaces on the memory card.
Comment: read the manual of your camera, it will save you some time
Answer: This is a setting and a feature of your camera.  NEF files are what is known as RAW files.  They store the actual image data as it was captured by the sensor, before any post-processing is applied in camera.  It stores much more information that allows for a lot of valuable post production changes, like altering exposure (to a limited extent) or recovering highlights or shadows.  It also allows for improved white balancing and more precise noise reduction, in addition to a number of other advantages.
JPEG images on the other hand, are a simple image format that stores the result of post-processing work that is done by your camera immediately after taking the photo.  It does not contain the raw sensor data and offers far fewer options to work with it in post, but is also more ready to be used for other purposes or by general software than a RAW image.
You currently have your camera set to save RAW+JPEG.  If you change the quality settings to be either RAW or JPEG, then only one file will be produced for each image captured.  If you want the highest possible quality and expect to do post production on the images, then you should shoot RAW only and adjust your images after shooting to produce final images.  If you want to simply be able to post or print images as they come off your camera and do not want to do any post production work, then it should be safe to simply use JPEGs without RAW, or if you want the best of both worlds (at the cost of some additional space consumption), you can leave it as it is currently set, which is why the option is available.
Answer: It sounds like you are saving your photos as both NEF and JPEG files. You can use the camera's menu to choose to save your files either as NEF only or JPEG only. If you are having trouble formating your memory card with the computer, try formating the card with the camera instead. That is always the best practice. If your camera uses SD cards for storage, you will need to be sure the write protection notch is set to allow writing to the card. If it is set to read only you will not be able to format the card.
The NEF files will be larger because they contain more information from the sensor. This allows you to make more extensive changes to things like brightness,contrast, white balance, etc. in post processing. The JPEG files will be smaller because the in-camera processing decides what part of the information from the sensor to keep and what part to discard. You can make some adjustments on your computer in post processing, but they are much more limited because the information discarded in-camera can not be recovered from the JPEG files.
Compared to the cost of cameras and lenses, memory cards and hard drives are fairly cheap. You might also consider increasing the storage capacity of your card.


Could I receive flight training in my company's jet, while on company business with passengers?

Question: On occasion I will travel on my company's corporate jet. From a legal/FAA standpoint, are there any regulations against receiving flight training from a CFI with the proper ratings and currency during those flights? I'm a private ASEL pilot, so this would be working on an instrument/multiengine/type rating. And does the answer change if the jet is certified for a single crew member vs requiring 2 pilots? Assume that my employer is ok with this if it's legal.
Comment: Depends, is the plane on company business with passengers?
Comment: I suspect the next pertinent bit of information is whether your company operates under part 91 or part 135. Either way, I'm interested in learning the answer to this question! **Welcome to Aviation.SE!**
Comment: If it is certified for more than one crewmember, then you would need to meet the requirements of 61.55 in order to be a required crewmember (SIC), and that includes having your multi-engine rating and an instrument rating if flying IFR so no.
Comment: It would be, yes. I know I can't act as PIC since my PPL isn't multiengine, so that shouldn't matter for part 61.113. They always have 2 pilots (who are both CFII multi) when taking out the plane.
Answer: It is an interesting question and needs quite a few FAR's to figure out. Let's start with having other people on board:
If the aircraft is not certified for single-pilot operations, then you cannot based on FAR 61.89(b)

(b) A student pilot may not act as a required pilot flight crewmember on any aircraft for which more than one pilot is required by the type certificate of the aircraft or regulations under which the flight is conducted, except when receiving flight training from an authorized instructor on board an airship, and no person other than a required flight crewmember is carried on the aircraft.

If it is certified for single-pilot operations, you may be able to receive training as long as you are not PIC and you are not sitting in the left seat (as almost all single-pilot jets that are certified single-pilot usually have a restriction to left seat only).
However the real rub comes in when you consider that you are a private pilot, not a commercial pilot, and the FAA's extremely broad definition of "compensation". On more than one occasion, the FAA has held (and won in court) that getting flight time in furtherance of a certificate is compensation. Technically just receiving your normal compensation (hourly wages) is enough to meet the definition of being compensated for flying.
The only way to get a real good answer to this, because it is a very broad subject and open to legal interpretation, is to engage your local FSDO.
I'm guessing though that the ultimate answer will be no. Aside from the issues with the FAA and FAR's depending on what operations your employer is conducting under (121, 135, 91, etc), your employer will also have to consider aircraft insurance. Many corporate jets are insured only for certain pilots or pilots who meet minimum qualifications and the insurance policy may completely bar primary training of any kind in the aircraft.
So talk to your FSDO, if you get an OK from them, the next step is to talk to the corporate attorney or an aviation lawyer and have them review the insurance documentation to see if you are allowed to sit in one of the seats and manipulate the controls.
Comment: Thanks for the detailed response. It's interested that I could (potentially) be considered a student pilot under 61.89(b), but then you note that I'm private and have the compensation/for-hire limitation.
Comment: Now this all becomes an academic discussion moving forward since our jet isn't certified for single-pilot operations and I'm not high enough in the company to take it without other passengers. But I'm still curious to solve it :)
Comment: I'm not sure your 61.89 interpretation is completely accurate. The OP isn't a student pilot, so it wouldn't apply to him. And the wording says that a student pilot can only be a required crewmember on an airship that isn't carrying passengers, so an airplane is out of the question anyway, whether or not there are passengers on board. At least, that's my reading of it.
Comment: @Pondlife I guess that is why aviation attorneys make so much money. I read it as a pilot under instruction (aka student pilot) because I believe that just about any pilot training in a jet or commercial aircraft is at least a private pilot, most likely having obtained a commercial certificate in GA aircraft long before they sit in something like a jet. I believe any pilot under instruction in obtaining a new rating or certificate is considered a student pilot when exercising student privileges of the certificate they are trying to obtain.
Comment: Good point about the attorneys :-) But AFAIK a "student pilot" is a pilot who holds a student pilot certificate, not a pilot who's in training. 61.89 is part of subpart C, and you can see that 61.81 says it "prescribes [...] the general operating rules and limitations for the holders of those certificates". Once you get a private certificate you no longer hold a  student one and you're never a "student pilot" again in the FAA's eyes, you're just a pilot training for a new rating or whatever.


The concept of קם ליה בדרבה מיניה

Question: I'm trying to understand this concept. I've Googled around and could't find any straightforward answers. I don't need too many details, just the explanation that's given in the Gemara (I understand this is derived from the Gemara). Can somebody provide the types of situations this applies to. I'm sorry for typing the way I am, I just heard of this concept and can't get to any books to go deeper into it (as I am on a summer vacation).
Comment: user1090389, welcome to Mi Yodeya! I hope you stick around and enjoy the site.
Comment: I happened to run into this book on HebrewBooks (http://hebrewbooks.org/43754) — Klalei KLB"M
Answer: here is something I wrote on the subject -- I hope it gives a basis and provides avenues for future investigation.

Kam lei b'deraba minei – During the commission of an aveirah, an individual may invoke more than one penalty.  Should he have to be subject to more than one or not? In many situations, the gemara holds kam lei – the transgressor stays subject only to the worse/worst of the punishments. He is not required to be subject to two penalties if both came about by the exact same actions. The gemara in chullin 81b brings up the case of someone who is liable for avodah zarah through his slaughtering, and thus deserves death; he can not also be held liable for oto v'et b'no (slaughtering a mother and offspring on the same day).  The worse punishment, killing, is enough.  Gittin 52b also comes to this conclusion regarding the mixing of foodstuff.
However, this concept of double liability becomes more clouded when the issues of shogeg and meizid, and the idea of physical punishment versus karet or monetary payment are mixed in.  Rav Meir, on ketuvot 33b is of the opinion that a person can receive 2 punishments simultaneously as long as the stricter one is not the death penalty. Lashes can be imposed along with monetary repayment or fine. On 34b-35a the question arises surrounding the aveirah done b'shogeg. If it would have received a certain level of punishment if done b'meizid, does it still need a fine imposed in the shogeg case? And what level of meizid punishment must be hanging over the head of the b'meizid to exempt the shogeg? (Rebbi Yochanan and reish lakish's argument). When the more severe of the two punishments is karet (according to the machloket on Shavuot 33a, pesachim 29a and ketuvot 30a) Rebbi Nechunya ben Hakanah says that the transgressor is exempt from the lesser penalty but the chachomim say he is still liable. The mishna on bava kama 70a which makes one who steals and slaughters an animal on yom kippur liable to pay tashlumin seems which accords with the opinion of the chachomim – he is not exempt because the greater punishment is karet (rashi).
The rambam's p'sak is that someone who does an aveirah b'shogeg for which he would be held to mitat beit din and tashlumin, does not pay, and an aveirah for which one receives malkot and tashlumin, the pealty is one or the other depending on the situation (hilchot geneiva 3:1, citing hilchot na'arah 1:13).  However (halacha 2), if one were to be liable for mita and then afterwards malkot (or vice versa), that is, that the two punishments are not incurred simultaneously, both must be levied (such as a geneivah on Shabbat which occurs in a private reshut and then later the ganav goes to another reshut and loses the chefetz, he must pay for the item and also be responsible for hotza'ah on Shabbat). This argument is brought down on ketuvot 31a where there is also a discussion of the many events which all contribute to one action and whether all the events become "simultaneous" because they all contribute to the one end result.
Answer: In essence, the idea is this:
If a person does one act, and with that one act incurs two different kinds of penalties, we only apply the stricter one. So if a person (for example) borrows a cow and then slaughters it on Shabbos, he incurs two penalties: monetary restitution to the owner of the cow, and the death penalty for violating Shabbos. In this case, Beis Din only applies the stricter punishement, death, and the lesser one, the money, is waived.
Again, there are other details and complexities, but this is the general idea.
Comment: @user1090389 I'm not sure it has anything to do with whether the sinner _cares_ about the money. But anyway, why don't you ask another question: "What is the logical explanation for קם ליה בדרבה מיניה?"
Comment: Sounds like a good idea http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/17378/1665
Comment: So here's another question, whatever information I was able to find always deals with a person who had been sentenced the death penalty. Do we really believe a person cares about the fine when he's been sentenced the death penalty? The idea doesn't make much sense to me. I guess if I was in this predicament I'd be thankful...
Answer: קים ליה בדרבה מיניה is used when someone commits two crimes at once. It is learned from the case in the beginning of Mishpatim which says that if two men fight each other and they hit a pregnant woman by accident, then if there is no fatality (i.e. death), the one who hit the woman will be fined. The Gemara makes a diyuk: If there is no fatality, he will be fined; but if there is a fatality, he won't be fined. This is because he is getting a greater punishment: Galus (for accidental murder).
This is not comparable of another rule we have, "kedei rish'aso," which teaches that we only lash someone for one rish'ah (wickedness) and not for two (Makos 4b), and therefore someone who is lashed doesn't also pay money. It is not comparable because kim leih bederabah mineih concerns money and "kedei rish'aso" concerns money and lashes, so we need both pesukim.
Sources: Tosafos, Bava Kama 4a, d"h kir'i; Maharam there
Comment: About "therefore someone who is lashed doesn't also pay money" -- [this answer](http://judaism.stackexchange.com/a/17373/472) says lashes+money does happen, and I [found my way here](http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/56610/472) because I just saw a case of that on Ketubah 45a (though that g'mara might not be the last word on the subject).  How can we reconcile that?

The concept of קם ליה בדרבה מיניה


Why wipe all BTC from an imported address?

Question: I've read a couple blog entries and tutorials on how to spend BTC that are "stored" on a piece of paper.
They all suggested importing the private key into e.g. blockchain.info's wallet (or any equivalent)
and wipe ALL coins from that address. But why should I not continue using it?
Comment: you can continue to use it
Answer: Once your import the key, the key now exists in two places: your paper and your wallet.  Because of this, you've lost the advantage that a paper wallet has for cold storage.  What you now have is a paper backup of one of the keys stored in your hot wallet.  Any risks of a hot wallet now also apply to your paper wallet.
In addition, there is the inherent privacy issues with re-using a Bitcoin address, regardless of how that wallet is stored.  There aren't many advantages to re-using addresses, and this case is no exception.  If you still need a paper wallet after importing one, you should really create a new one.
Answer: The reason paper wallets are secure is because they aren't connected to the internet and aren't easily accessible to anyone but you because you're supposed to store a paper wallet where no one else can get it (e.g. hide it or store it in a safe if you own one anyways, for example because you own other valuables or a gun).
The very moment you enter your private key into a computer which is connected to the internet, you lose this advantage. You are willing to do this to make use of your money, that's not the topic.
However, if you do that, things are even worse than if that money was in a wallet on a computer connected to the internet or an online wallet all along because you will feel a need to dispose of the piece of paper the private key is written on. You might just throw it into the bin. And here is, where people's paranoias when it comes to large amounts of valuables comes into play.
If someone comes across the piece of paper your wrote your private key on, you can assume your money to be gone unless you transferred it to a different address. This even can happen if you burn the paper in an openly accessible fire, though that of course reduces the chance greatly. If you smear the ash by stepping onto the burned piece of paper and dragging your foot along the ground, you should be very safe, and realistically, the chance of someone stealing your private key after you burnt the piece of paper is very small, too. However, the chance of someone stealing your money if you merely throw the piece of paper away, should be regarded as very real.
It's a lot easier to tell people to transfer their money to a different address than to burn a piece of paper. A lot of people will not actually burn the piece of paper but they will transfer the money to a different address if asked to. After the transfer happened, that piece of paper can be regarded as declassified.
Furthermore, this saves creators of HD wallet software from a having to implement a feature which allows the import of a single address permanently.
To make things worse, if a HD wallet offers such a feature, it losses a major feature: The way, HD wallets are set up, they can create a virtually arbitrary number of private keys + addresses from very little data to begin with. Deterministically. That's what the "D" in "HD" is for. Such wallets can be restored using a seed which often is represented in form of a sequence of a few English words.
A HD wallet software can guarantee the user to be able to create the same private keys + addresses again on a separate installation. This way, a user only has to back up their wallet's seed and will be able to get access to their money again if their HDD fails, a crypto trojan encrypts their wallet, or their computer explodes. If a wallet software, however, allows the user to permanently import a private key which has not been created deterministically from the seed, the user won't get that private key back from the seed. They have to hold on to that key themselves.
Compelling a user to back up that one key is much harder than just telling them to transfer the money to an address the wallet generated and to keep the seed of that wallet backed up.


When is a piece of work too small to justify a PM?

Question: I used to work in an organisation that set a limit of 20 days effort, below which a task would be allocated to a technical lead who would be told to "just get on with it". Above this size, the work would be allocated to a PM, and would be subject to project disciplines (albeit very lightly applied at the smaller end). Ignoring the question of who produced the initial estimate, how do other organisations decide whether to use a PM and manage small pieces of work as projects?
Answer: All temporary work, no matter the size, requires project management and the PM disciplines that go with it.  The smaller and less complex simply require less formality, rigor, and documentation of those disciplines, but they still exist.
So whether you formally assign the role PM to a human, someone on that small team will assume those duties.  Either they are legitimately assigned or they will assume it.  Obviously, if the task is small, you will not burden it with a full-time PM.  It would not require 40+ hours a week, but it will require some hours in that week.  Either a full-time PM pops in and performs that work along with other projects or a technical lead allocates a portion of his time to it.  Either works.
Comment: Accepted, as this answer highlights the difference between the ROLE of the PM and the JOB TITLE. It is the role and responsibility that matters, regardless of the job title of the person who is fulfilling that role. No-one should be doing any work without the appropriate clarity over what they are being asked to do, what to do if things go wrong, and what the conditions for acceptance should be, so it's not really a question of whether or not to appoint a PM: it is more about internal processes and whether to describe the individuals running different sizes of projects as PMs or not.
Answer: I would say a work may not need PM if it's isolated. I mean, if it's only one person doing it, and (s)he has not to insert it into a tight schedule, and it only needs resources available all the time, why bother for complicated planning and organisation? Just get it done.
Which means most of the tasks will need some sort of PM, of course...
Comment: On a single resource job, that person is managing that project.  No matter the task, you have costs, you have a schedule, you have risks and issues, you have quality concerns.  You cannot not manage a task, no matter how small.
Comment: Even if the piece of work is small, it is never isolated. For a task to be totally isolated, the requirements, specs, deliverables definitions, test cases, scheduling etc would have to come from within the team. The results would also be deployable to within the team as well for it to be considered isolated. So as soon as external parties are involve, elements of a PM's role will need to be used.
Comment: @David Espina, tehnyit: in my opinions, your answers don't reflect the complexity of real world situation. As I said in my answer, projects not needing PM are uncommon, but they still exist, and imho for the very reasons I gave.
Answer: That 20 day rule for 'just getting on with it' seems fine as long as the project is properly specified - as with many things if the specification and estimate are accepted then you are in a decent position.
I can't see where the PM will really be able to make a difference without significantly cutting into the project budget on that size of project - but I would like to have the technical lead regularly feed back process (perhaps in a daily 15-minute agile stand-up), otherwise it might still be 20 wasted days.
Answer: At my current employer (unless otherwise specified by federal or DoE regulations) tasks more than 3 weeks long have PM supervision.
At my previous employer, the project manager was responsible for allocating all work of any size. Basically, his title was "PM" but he was just a manager. The pointy haired boss hired him because he got tired of dealing with developers.
Answer: In our shop, everything smaller than 50 (ideal) days is treated as a request and (when approved by continuity steerco) processed by continuity teams. We have coordinators (they're same positions as PM's) who manage the throughput of these requests, so there's is no 'just get on with it'-mode.
As from 50 days (and usually multiple involved parties) a PM takes over, with 'light' methodology. From around 100 days no excuses left: full PM Methodology to be followed.
There can be exceptions, but these are the general principles.
Answer: whenever the resource that in charge of doing the job is not capable of reporting and following up on missions.
As project managers, we often don't contribute much to producing value (code, design, work process), but we are there just to make sure communication, order, work procedures and timelines are all in place. thank god we're there...
Answer: Based on previous XP : dedicated PM (ie specially appointed person, even if not working 100% on PM) when total workload above 50 days.
Now I'll answers as everyone above :
- PM = 15-25% of total workload
- Project management is needed all the time, depending on the size of the project it can be more or less formal and complexe. If no full time PM is required, either the PM can work on many projects at the same time, or one of the team members can be acting as PM (and have dedicated time for this).


How to integrate a paper where I am third author, but did a lot of work, into my master's thesis?

Question: I am writing my thesis currently and I want to include papers that I am included on as an author.  I will have a couple papers where I am 1st author, but there is one where I am third but did a lot of the work.  How do I go about integrating it into my thesis?  Can I copy/paste most of the text still or do I need to rewrite it?  I don't want to plagiarize but don't want to rewrite it if I don't have to.
Comment: Make sure that you reference the paper, and make clear which part of your thesis is based on the paper. Otherwise you are committing self-plagiarism
Answer: This situation does not sound problematic to me.  Many people write theses that incorporate papers written under these circumstances.
However, you need to get official permission, rather than relying on what random people on the internet say.  Specifically, you need to check three things:

What does your thesis advisor say?
What are your university's regulations regarding reusing text from published papers, particularly with coauthors where it is difficult to identify who contributed to a given passage?
Does the publication or copyright agreement with the journal permit reusing this text in your thesis?

If any one of these has a negative answer, then you cannot copy the text.  If they are all positive, then all you need to do is attribute the text properly.  For example, you could clearly state at the beginning of a chapter "This chapter is an edited version of the paper BLAH."  Your advisor, university, and publisher will have suggestions or requirements for how this attribution should be done.
Comment: This answer was merged in from [Copy text from co-authored paper into thesis](http://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/58784/copy-text-from-co-authored-paper-into-thesis), so that when other posts are closed as a duplicate of this one, they'll see this answer.
Answer: Check with your institution. Some universities allow collections of papers to be submitted, provided there is original material connecting them that is also submitted. See, for example, the ANU's "thesis by compilation" rules.
Comment: Right, institutional rules take precedence over any other advice you might get.  It's likely that they will require permission from some combination of: your co-authors, your advisor, your committee members, the dean, and the publisher.  They may also want a detailed statement as to what your contributions to the paper were.
Answer: If your thesis is a compilation of your published papers, then check with the institution for the rules.
If your thesis is separately written, then most likely the pieces you wrote can be copied, as that's how I've gone about in my thesis. Additionally, you can also refer to the paper itself after you've written a piece of text about it.
Most likely in this situation, copying the text would not always fit the structure of the thesis chapters, and some minor rewriting is needed. Even after thesis review, the structure might modify and sentences will eventually be different from the paper. You refer having done the most work, but check if your paper co-authors are happy with using the text directly (if they've written the text). If the paper is published, cite it, and you could specifically mentioned that it was your work published in that paper.
Also, your supervisor is there to assist you and he most likely know the rules of your department and institution better.


How to stop throwing blankets off myself while sleeping?

Question: (I'm not sure if lifehacks is the best category for this, but it's the best I could find.) For a long time now, I've thrown my blankets off myself while I'm sleeping. I know I toss and turn in my sleep, and this results in me being cold in the morning. I hate myself doing this and I want to stop. I absolutely hate pajamas so that's not an option for me. I don't know how I can stop this, or if I can stop this at all. Please help!
Answer: Lower your thermostat a few degrees during sleeping hours, so you don't get too warm under the blankets.  Then turn it back up for the morning -- or, if it's a modern thermostat, program the settings for sleeping hours (and while you're away for school or work) and save some money on heat.
Comment: Also check if the blanket allows airflow. Otherwise a heat-bubble will build up beneath. This might be a problem with e.g. synth-fibre blankets.
Answer: I don't want to turn this into WebMD but I think your question should be treated as more than a life hack. I would consult with a doctor since what you are experiencing sounds like a reaction to something else. To quote Dr. Rosenberg

"There are many reasons for tossing and turning. These include sleep apnea, chronic pain, periodic limb movement and acid reflux to name a few. Others include the bedroom environment being too warm or having too much light. In addition, excessive alcohol, caffeine and heavy meals before bed can lead to restless sleep."
Maybe explore the cause rather than "hack" it.
Hope this helps :)
Answer: You need to work out why you do it.
Do you in fact get too hot, or it that you dont feel secure and thrash around?  You can buy weighted blankets that whilst thin, leave you feeling more secure.
Answer: On one side of the bed, insert the edge of the blanket between the mattress and the bed frame.
Comment: Tuck in on both sides but with enough space to allow yourself and for the sheet and blanket to drop down onto the mattrass.
Comment: if he is getting too hot, that wont help
Answer: I had the same problem, until I moved to Europe and discovered the duvet!. A duvet is like a comforter except that it has a cover that you launder. And the cover is typically made of the same type of fabric as sheets are, s it's comfortable against your skin.
Although you can have both a top sheet and a duvet, many people don't. I just use the duvet in place of a top sheet, because if I used both, the duvet might slide off when I turn over. Because there's just one layer, I find it easy to keep it on me while I sleep.
I find that a duvet helps me to stay at a comfortable temperature throughout the night. When the room is warm, I let the duvet just drape loosely over me. When it's cold, I pull the duvet tightly around me. I even do this (pulling it around me or leaving it loose as needed) in my sleep; it's instinctive.
Comment: What did you use instead of a duvet outside Europe?
Comment: @Neeku a top sheet, with a blanket or a comforter on top of that.
Answer: I kick one leg out (I sleep on my side), so that foot is a little cold, but then the rest of me is warm.  It somehow ends up feeling balanced to me.
Answer: Get cover clamps or at harbor freight they have these little clamps for tents and I think Walmart has also at certain times of year. I clamp two to a blanket about 2 feet away then you can use a small bungee cord to connect both ends while wrapping someplace on bed frame. I use these because I like a lot of blankets on my bed.
Answer: Apart from all answers above,

Tryout- I would get an extra size blanket or comforter as it will reduce the frequency/probability of blanket/comforter being thrown off.
Considerable - Pitch in the edges of blanket underneath of mattress as stated
in above answer
Avoidable - Adjusting the thermostat before and after sleep is not a good idea
besides it will add a task in your routine. I would not prefer.
Comment: If you do not want to adjust the thermostat every day you can buy a programmable one. Set it once, it will do the asked program for many years but you can easily change the settings for special days. Or just set the thermostat a bit lower and wear warmer clothes.


Universal Basic Income

Question: In 2017 some countries have adopted the Universal Basic Income as an alternative to Welfare Payments, my question is, is it economically feasible by governments?
Comment: " 2017 some countries have adopted the Universal Basic Income"
Which countries? Please back this up, as it seems to be false. Several countries have conducted small scale experiments, but that is quite different.
Answer: In my view, this is not a well defined question since it isn't very clear what you mean by 'feasible':

If you mean 'are developed countries in principle able to pay for a UBI?', then the answer is trivially yes.
Perhaps you mean 'politically feasible'? Obviously, that depends on the political constraints on redistribution, attitudes towards 'handouts', etc. - though I'm not sure this is the appropriate forum to discuss such issues.
Perhaps you mean 'A Good Thing'? Well, that's not really what feasible means...
Comment: Couldn't have said it better than you just did. I'm assuming that given the nature of this forum, they were asking if it's feasible and why. Not necessarily if it's politically viable or good.
Answer: Yes. It's economically feasible because we have to consider where money comes from. The central bank can essentially create money out of thin air and buy back bonds. Or, banks can create more loans and increase bank deposits which can control the money supply. The government can then raise revenue from taxes, or borrowing. In theory the government can issue a basic income from the taxes it collects, based on the money supply that the federal reserve and central bank can manipulate.
Y = GDP, I = Investment, C = Consumption, G = Government spending
If GDP is Y = (C + I + G) Now, disposable income is Y - T (taxes). And public savings is T - G. And private savings is Disposible income - Consumotion. As you can see, if savings are sufficient, the government can issue transfer payments (in this case a basic income) to its citizens.
You may ask "what if a country doesn't have enough savings for the basic income?". That's where borrowing money comes in. If savings are insufficient, the government can borrow more money, increase the deficit, and still issue a transfer payment to each citizen for a basic income. The effects of either policy may or may not be bad. That is more of a normative statement. I'm simply illustrating through this model that it is "feasible".

Universal Basic Income


Do Ticket to Ride expansions work with the Europe set?

Question: I have and love Ticket to Ride: Europe, and would like to try out some of the new expansion packs (Switzerland, Asia, etc... Don't really care about 1910). I was just wondering if I would have to buy the original USA game first or if the new maps would work with the Europe set. Thanks!
Comment: 1910 is an expansion of the US game so would not work with Europe. 1912 is the expansion of the Europe map
Answer: No, you only need one of the base games (Europe or USA) in order to access the train car cards, scoring markers and the player carriage pieces. It doesn't matter which base game you own. For example, the rules for Heart of Africa tell you:

This game is an expansion and requires that you use the following game
  parts from one of the previous versions of Ticket to Ride:
A reserve of 45 Trains per player and matching Scoring Markers taken from any of the following:

Ticket to Ride / Ticket to Ride Europe

110 Train Car Cards taken from:

Ticket to Ride / Ticket to Ride Europe / USA 1910 expansion

You can also confirm this yourself by looking at the Games of Wonder website descriptions for each map, for example Asia. They all say the same thing:

NOT A STAND-ALONE GAME! Requires an original copy of Ticket to Ride® or Ticket to Ride® Europe to play.
Answer: Either of those big boxes is fine.
Märklin is not perfectly compatible, since the train car deck is a little bit off, and Nordic Countries only has enough trains for three players. That's why those boxes are not quite compatible with the expansion maps.
Answer: Also don't forget that Ticket To Ride: Alvin & Dexter is an expansion that can work with any of the base TTR games. It expands the game in a different direction; adding a giant dinosaur and an alien who can create havoc for those trying to build to/from a certain location.
Comment: Welcome! This expansion sounds very interesting, I'd like to try it out.  However, this answer does not really address the question above. This post would be better as a comment.  Comments (like this) can be left on either questions or answers, however they don't score any reputation.


Real-Time Collaborative Editor that is private?

Question: Are there any good real-time editors that are browser-based, offer some formatting (bold, underline, etc,) and are NOT served in an external server (such as Google Wave)?  I'd like to serve a real-time collaborative editor inside of a VPN for three users.  I've not found anything yet that would do such.  Thanks for any suggestions.
Answer: Try Etherpad - http://etherpad.org - it's a mature, open source project and easy to host yourself. You could run it from a VM if you don't have a Linux box at hand.
There are plenty of free Etherpad servers (many listed at etherpad.org) so you can make sure it fits your needs before you go to the trouble of setting it up. (Note that the free versions usually don't include all the advanced features like groups and privacy that you will have when you host it yourself).
Answer: The latest version of MS Ofice does this, AFAIK, although it isn't browser based.  Almost anything that is browser based will reside on another server (be it google docs or Zoho), although there may be some software out there that allows you to host your own server.  I just haven't seen it.


Transparent negatives including leader - but edge markings present!

Question: I know similar questions have been answered but I have a specific unusual addition that I can't work out. Developed tri-x 400 in d76 1:1 last night using the timings from the packaging that have worked spot on for me before. The negatives came out completely transparent including the leader that should have been black. The edge markings are all present and look normal. The transparent leader made me thing fixer was used before developer although I'm sure I didn't!if fixer was used first though I thought the edge markings would also be transparent? I'm sure the film was from the camera not unused, and I'm sure it spooled all the way in the camera as winding it back in at the end felt like a normal length of time. If the developing process was correct in that the markings are present why is the leader transparent?! I tested some developer and fixer after with the cut off winder portions - developer made it black, fixer made it clear.
Only explanation I can think is if Kodak don't expose their markings onto the film but they are somehow printed such that they are no longer indicative of a correct developing process... far fetched? Help!!!
Comment: Kodak exposes edge markings. I've never heard of them doing otherwise. Have you checked the shutter of the camera in question to see if it is opening properly? How much of the leader did you develop (i.e. did you trim off the end that would have been fogged by loading in light)? P.S. Paragraphs are your friend.
Comment: Yep - fair enough - typing on iPhone could barely read it myself!
Comment: ... and turns out can't do paragraphs as return key posts the comment!     I only trim the asymmetric bit of the leader which usually leaves a significant chunk fully exposed and develops as a black strip. That hasn't happened this time and I'm struggling to comprehend how the markings have developed properly yet the leader is transparent?!
Answer: I will speculate: In the darkroom, you grabbed the wrong film cassette and developed a roll that was never exposed.
Comment: It the leader that was/is always exposed should have come out black if that was the case no?
Comment: @ Ben R - If the edge printing is highly visible, then we can assume the film was developed and that the chemicals of the process were in reasonable condition. This falls under the heading of the twilight zone.
Comment: @ Ben R -- I have observed Kodak film mal-processed, coming out clear. On such rolls I have observed that the edge printing, though barely visible was nonetheless visible. When I say visible I mean barely. I think the edge printing is applied both by light and by embossing. If you see bold edge printing, the processing was reasonable.
Comment: The edge markings are as solid as normal - look great!   I've emailed Kodak and will report back if any other answer comes up - otherwise I think the suggestion of developing an unused film must be the only answer - and managing to cut off the leader exactly at the same level as the exposed piece... I swear I didn't but I think the proof is still hanging up drying for all to see! Thank you.
Comment: I think this is the only possibility, too.  If you loaded the film into a camera, you'd have done it in ambient light and exposed the leader.  (Exception: infrared film must be loaded in a changing bag.  I assume this wasn't infrared film.)
Comment: @JimMacKenzie that is a good point. The poor formatting made me reverse the logic. I thought he said that the leader was not transparent. Else wise my answer would have been the same as Alan's
Answer: The most likely culprit is your camera. Here are the steps I would take to troubleshoot this issue. I realize a few of them have already been covered by yourself but for completeness I've included them. if you answer "No" you've found the problem.

Open the camera without any film loaded and fire the shutter (you may need to depress a switch to trick it into thinking the back is closed if your shutter will not fire with the back open.) Does the shutter move?
Set the shutter to a long time (1/2 second or longer) Does the shutter stay open as long as you've selected? cycle between the shortest exposure available and longer exposures. Does the shutter adjust with each exposure or is it always short no matter what you select?
If your camera is an auto-winder, does the take-up spool turn with each exposure? If it is a manual winder, does the spool rotate evenly through the entire lever throw or only "stutter" a few times?
Set the camera to bulb and open the shutter with a normal (~50mm) lens attached. If there is a manual aperture, open and close it. If there is electronic aperture control, perform test shots at various apertures. Does the aperture open all the way or does it stay closed?
Take your camera and a new spool of film from another batch into your darkroom. Spool off the leader plus a few inches and the cut a new leader tab. Load this film into the camera without ever allowing light to strike it. Make a few long exposures in a sunny environment. Develop the film. Do you see several over exposed frames or just one?
Shoot film from the same batch in a different camera/ lens/ environment just to rule out random, rarer failures. Did anything change?

I've seen this issue 4 times and for three of them it was because the shutter had failed and was either not opening or was only firing at its native rate (1/250s on this particular camera) and also not opening the iris to shoot. If you are expecting a long exposure and get a short one, you could be so underexposed nothing is visible on the film.
The 1 instance in which it was not the shutter at fault was my doing. I had substituted a friend's unexposed roll with one I'd already developed and reloaded. It was just a scouting trip and I copied all of his shots so nothing would be lost... He was still pretty unhappy since I waited until he spent an hour trying to figure out the source of his problems. Then again this is the same guy who exposed an image of his rear end onto every sheet in my paper safe...
As Alan pointed out it is also possible that you mixed up the rolls but if, like most photographers I know, you mark each roll as it comes out of the camera, then that is unlikely.


Sound Effect made on vocal and guitar

Question: :)
I've come across an effect used in metalcore

It's right at the beginning just before the screaming starts.
I think the sound is the scream itself or at least a scream edited in some way..
How do I create it?
Another similar effect was done on a guitar and I'm wondering how to create this one as well:)

    (1:42)
It'd be great if anyone could help me with that!!!:D
Answer: The vocal effect sounds to me like a long reverb tail that has been reversed.
The guitar effect may not necessarily even be a reverb tail, maybe just the guitar sampled with a rising envelope on the volume.

Sound Effect made on vocal and guitar


Disappearing DNS resolution via VPN on SnowLeopard

Question: Ever since upgrading to Snow Leopard, I find that my DNS lookups go pear-shaped after 2 minutes or so. To be precise, I stop being able to resolve names that are only resolved by the specific servers delivered by the PPTP server, as opposed to the ISP's hosts. Apparently, something is overwriting the servers from the PPTP server with other hosts. Anybody got a way around this?
Answer: This sounds more like your VPN itself is dropping than a DNS problem. If you ping the IP that you are VPNing to are there any lost packets?
After DNS breaks can you connect to something at the VPN site by local IP instead of by DNS name?
Do you have a manually entered DNS entry or is it delivered via DHCP on both your local network and the VPN network?
Answer: Snow Leopard seems to have broken DNS settings from VPN connections.  It worked fine in Leopard.
As a band-aid, I put two scripts in /etc/ppp: ip-up and ip-down.  I use them to save the current DNS, change it to the VPN dns, and when disconnecting, change it back.
It's ugly but works.
/usr/sbin/networksetup -setdnsservers "Interface Name" [ip of dns server]
Answer: You can manually edit /etc/resolv.conf, maybe.


Will I need to watch "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me" before the new third season?

Question: I've seen both seasons of the TV show Twin Peaks but I've not yet seen the movie Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. Should I make the effort to find a copy of it before the new third season is released?
Comment: I can testify to the fact that Fire Walk with Me is important to Season 3.  Things like Phillip Jeffries, Judy, and "Blue Rose" all make an appearance.
Answer: At the TCA David Lynch makes a clear statement on this Topic. Following some selected articles.

Lynch, the show's co-creator, said at the TCA presentation that the events of the 1992 prequel movie, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, will factor into the plot of the new season. (screenrant.con)
[...] when Lynch was asked about the Twin Peaks prequel film, Fire Walk With Me (produced shortly after the series ended), and if it was more of its own entity or not, he gave his one and only hint at what's to come, replying, "I could say it's the story of Laura Palmer's last seven days. Very much important for this." (ign.com)

And as far as I can recall Lynch also said after the final of Twin Peaks Season 2 that the prequel will give all answers.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find a quote anymore.
Answer: Having seen the first four episodes of the new season, I would say yes - it almost entirely revolves around events in FWWM.
Since I have to give a longer explanation (without spoiling it), one of the minor but important characters from the film

Philip Jefferies

has been mentioned or spoken to by another character in almost every eposide so far. He seems to have a pivotal role. The film, while technically a prequel, also answers a few questions about what happened AFTER series 2 finished.
Comment: Can you elaborate? In what ways can you show us this is the case? Just saying "I seen't it" isn't good a good enough source.
Comment: We're looking for long answers that provide some explanation and context. Don't just give a one-line answer; explain why your answer is right, ideally with citations. Answers that don't include explanations may be removed.


Esker vs. Kame vs. Drumlin - what's the difference?

Question: In researching glacial features, I came across the terms esker, drumlin, and kame. I know that they are all depositional features that are shaped like a mound. My impression is that an esker is longer than a drumlin, which is longer than a kame. What other differences distinguish between the three?
Answer: Eskers are glaciofluvial deposits from sediment carrying subglacial tunnels. As the water emerges from a tunnel at the bed of an ice sheet or glacier it will slow down. Since the sediment movement depends on water velocity the sediment will be deposited. The results is a highly localised deposition. When glaciers retreat the point of emergence for the water will of course change with the edge of the glacier. Hence the deposition will occur progressively further upstream leaving a narrow trail of sediment accumulation. Much more can be said but the result is ridges sometimes hundreds of kilometres long that extend pretty much perpendicular to the past glacier edge, the way the water flows from within to the edge of the glacier.
Kames are hummocky terrain formed by material that has been transported by glacier melt water. The reasons for the hummocks is that when the sediment was deposited, chunks of ice were buried by the sediments and when that ice melted a hummocky terrain was formed. A key here is that the deposition of sediments from sediment transport would not be able to form the irregular hummocky terrain as a primary feature, there has to be other processes involved. Kames are therefore usually an extensive land form that does not necessarily have a preferred extension. As with eskers the origin of the water and sediment is the same, the base of the glacier.
Finally, drumlins. These forms are elongated land forms, in the direction of ice flow, often some kilometres in length, width of a few hundred metres and a height of tens of metres. This varies a lot though. These forms are not formed by running water and sediment transport but formed beneath the ice. In the literature they have been described as both depositional and erosional land forms, although a depositional formation seems to be most common. They seem to consist of whatever material is present beneath the ice but because the most common sediment beneath glaciers is till this is also what most drumlins consist of.
So eskers and kames have som relationship in the origin of the sediment that make them up. Drumlins are of completely different processes. Much more could be said and all details are not completely understood when it comes to many glacial landforms and their formation.
ADDED:
The formation of drumlins, and hence also their characteristics is too complex to be explained in a short answer here. Three scientific papers that will help gaining a deeper understanding of drumlin formation are (I suggest googling on the titles to find copies):
Patterson, C.J., Hooke, R.L., 1995. Physical environment of drumlin formation. Journal of Glaciology 41 (137), 30–38.
Stokes, C.R., Spagnolo, M., Clark, C.D., 2011. The composition and internal structure of drumlins: complexity, commonality, and implications for a unifying theory of their formation. Earth-Science Reviews 107, 398–422.
Roger LeB. Hooke, Aaron Medford, 2013. Are drumlins a product of a thermo-mechanical instability? Quaternary Research. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2012.12.002
Comment: Some drumlins are much smaller than you described - maybe only 30 m or so wide and can be quite a bit shorter. I wouldn't say till is the most common sediment beneath glaciers, though. For example much of northern Canada is exposed bedrock and drumlins then can be made up of very locally derived ripped up sedimentary rock and generally do not form to the same degree on harder crystalline basement.
Comment: Well that is what is meant by "This varies a lot though"
Comment: This definition of esker is incorrect according to my understanding and the link in the answer by @cat. Eskers are sub-glacial deposits and not formed only at the location where the tunnel emerges. If they were outwash features they would not stand as high above the surrounding land surface
Comment: They are all depositional features, though, correct?
Comment: The intraglacial streams themselves are called eskers (at least, my old geomorph textbook does) and there is often intraglacial sediment deposition, especially bed load.
Answer: I was personally looking for an answer to this question as well, and I found these sites very helpful.
The National Park Service Website:

Drumlins: https://www.nps.gov/articles/drumlins.htm
Eskers: https://www.nps.gov/articles/outwashplainsandeskers.htm

And Landforms.Eu:

Kames: http://www.landforms.eu/cairngorms/kame.htm

GEOL100:

All: https://www.geol.umd.edu/~jmerck/geol100/lectures/36a.html
Comment: If you wouldn't mind, what did you find useful/what did you learn?  Links are certainly very good, but always nice when we can pare down an answer and put it here, where we shouldn't have to worry about links dying.
Answer: Drumlins: elongated egg-shaped hills
Kames: dumpling shaped hills
Eskers: long sinuous hills, snake shaped
Comment: Eskers are often linear, not sinuous. Linear eskers are common in northern Canada. I can't recall having seen meanders in eskers, but maybe they occur.


Can an encrypted publication be prior art?

Question: If a description of an invention is published in an encrypted form, can it still count as prior art?
(If the encryption key is later released).
Answer: If a description of an invention is published in an encrypted form, can it still count as prior art?
No.
Well, probably. I couldn't find any case law on this point exactly (which, perhaps, is not so surprising). However, I feel reasonably confident that the answer is no. However, the answer below includes a lot of "I think"s, and therefore should be taken more as a weakly-supported thesis than a statement of fact.
There is a long chain of cases which consider how prior art should be interpreted, particularly in view of the enablement requirement. In a more recent one, Impax Laboratories Inc v Aventis Pharmaceuticals Inc, 545 F.3d 1312, 1314 (Fed. Cir. 2008)), the Court held:

In order to anticipate a claimed invention, a prior art reference must enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make the invention without undue experimentation. … The "undue experimentation" component of that equation examines (1) the quantity of experimentation; (2) the amount of direction or guidance present; (3) the presence or absence of working examples; (4) the nature of the invention; (5) the state of the prior art; (6) the relative skill of those in the art; (7) the predictability or unpredictability of the art; and (8) the breadth of the claims.

Undue experimentation conventionally refers to how much the skilled person needs to do to make the disclosure enabling through further research. But it would likely apply by analogy to the steps needed to take to make the disclosure enabling through making the disclosure accessible.
Thus, the question becomes: does the encrypted prior art enable the skilled person to make the invention without undue experimentation?
I think the answer to that is quite clearly no. If the skilled person is not aware of the encryption key, there is no practical way of decrypting the encrypted information. Any kind of brute forcing the key would surely be analogous to having to having to randomly perform experiments and make modifications hoping to find the claimed invention. Such a step is certainly undue experimentation.
Because of this, the encrypted prior art cannot be held to anticipate a claimed invention.
What about if the key is released?
In that case, I think the answer may be yes, though it would likely depend on how the key is released.
If it was clearly tied to the encrypted file, along with details of the algorithm used for encryption, there would be a good argument (I think) that the skilled person could straightforwardly decrypt it without undue experimentation (or indeed, without any experimentation really, given there are clear instructions). The date of the prior art would be the release of the key in that case, as that would be the date that the prior art became enabling.
In contrast, if the key was simply put on a website, but not linked to the encrypted file specifically, it seems likely that this would not really cure the inaccessibility of the encrypted prior art. It would still require undue experimentation to find the key and work out how to use it to decrypt.
Comment: Just to check my understanding. The question is whether the crucial date is the publication of the document or the date that the key is published. Your argument is that the document is not enabling until the key is published, so that is the date.
Comment: That's correct.
Comment: When the key is released it would prove that you had invented the idea at an earlier date. Even if this doesn't prevent someone patenting the idea, in your view, does such a publication still have any value?


Who is oldest form of God to be worshipped?

Question: Who is the oldest form of god to be worshipped? Is it Lord Siva or Lord Vishnu or Goddess Shakthi?
Comment: Many believe that Ganesha is the first form to be worshipeed, because He is attributed removal of obstacles. However, your Ishta Deva (Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu, Lord Ganesh) or your Guru is the only one (first, middle, last and everything else) that one needs to worship. When one is saturated with Love for God, then He sees the same Lord in all forms. Only when you see these forms to be individual entities, the question of whom to worship first, whom to worship last, etc. comes. Once the realization of their one-ness dawns, then it matters not, for they are One. This is the advaitist principle.
Comment: @JavaTechnical  Do you mean who was the god who was worshipped oldest, or do you mean which god we worship first in a ritual or something?
Comment: Oldest. Let me modify the question.
Answer: The oldest form of god to be worshiped. The answer is none of the above. From the earliest Vedas down to the present, water has been regarded as the tangible manifestation of the divine essence. "In the beginning, everything was like a sea without light" (Rig Veda X. 129.3, also Rig Veda X. 121.8 and Satapatha Brahmana XI 1.6.1). Even today, one of the most common and simplest forms of worship is some vessel filled with water which represents the divine presence and can serve in place of a image. The water, during worship, is regarded as the pitha of the god. Vedic alters always have some vessel with water in it.
Nirguna Brahman cannot be the object of meditation or worship, but Saguna Brahman can. Many people repeat the following in the morning as their first prayer of the day, it is a hymn to God as the one Guru of the universe:

gurur brahma gurur vishnuh gurur devo mahesvarah;
gurur-eva param brahma tasmai sri guruave namah.
akhanda-mandala-karam vyaptam yena caracaram;
tat padam daristam yena tasmai sri gurave namah.

The guru is Brahma, the Guru is Vishnu, the Guru is the Great God Siva,
The Guru alone is the Supreme Brahman, I salute Him, the holy Guru.
Who pervades the universe, moving and unmoving, of undivided form, as
the universe, Who reveals that state, Him I salute, the holy Guru.
After this prayer one can then do prayer and praise to one's Ishta Deva.
Swami Vivekananda says that after taking your seat, to first pray to all the prophets and saviors of the world and holy spirits in the universe to help you.
In formal puja, Ganesha is often worshiped first.
If you are a severe Advaitist, you can follow Swami Vivekananda's words: "Repeating the Om continually is the only true worship. It is not a word, it is God Himself."
Comment: @SwamiVishwananda, which Brahma? Many jivas take that position.
Comment: @JavaTechnical Yeah Siva Lingam is found in every part of the world. Shiva was the first one to be worshipped.
Comment: Sorry for my ambiguous question, I mean the 'oldest' form of God to be worshipped.
Comment: The first god created was Brahma. So 'oldest' form is Brahma.
Comment: @SwamiVishwananda The question isn't which god is the oldest, the question is whose worship is the oldest.  Just because A is older than B doesn't mean that A has been worshipped longer than B has.
Comment: "Our" Brahma for this cycle of creation that we are presently a part of. After one hundred years of Brahma days and nights there is the great dissolution. After that is a new Brahma with a new creation and a new cycle.
Comment: @SwamiVishwananda But many people say at first there is only Siva lingam and people used to worship Lord Siva?
Answer: There are many forms of GOD which came into existence with GOD Stories, One GOD in Hinduism is believed to be "Aadi" Who had no form, GOD Shiva, who is believed to be "Neerakar" and his form is accepted as "Jyotirlingam". This form is said to be the form of GOD before being "Sakar". Lord Vishnu told once that Shiva Linga is eternal origin of all things. Whatever we see is a tree from that seed.
There are many disputes between various sact, but Lord Vishnu him self declared Shiva's devotee in many avatars and Shiva declared Vishnu as his heart. In Krishna avatar he told that he is Shiva in Rudras in Shrimad Bhagwat Geeta, But both these forms are "Sakar" form. After they took birth these avatars were worshiped.
From the story of dispute between Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu, all Hinduism people believe that Shiva and other trinity are manifestation of same GOD. and all them meditate upon each other. This trinity is everything to Hinduism. But Shiva Lingam is believed to be the form of GOD as "Neerakar" before being "Sakar", that is why Lord Vishnu in all his avatars worshiped Shiva Lingam only.

If Lord Vishnu gives an example of worshiping Shiva Lingam  (Rameshwara,Gopeshwara etc.), in Hinduism worshiping Shiva Lingam is standard worship. Lord Vishnu is GOD and whatever he says is obviously true.

Shiva and Shakti are not different, they both are one considered as "Ardha Nareshwara", Worship of Shakthi came into existence when Shakti-Peethas came into existence, so it is also not oldest. Sati, the first incarnation of Shakthi, also worshiped Shiva Lingam only, so if gods worship shiva lingam then it should be the oldest.

Lord Vishnu is believed to be the most powerful GOD in Hinduism, and whatever Lord Vishnu says "Hinduism" is defined by that only. Lord Vishnu says worship is part of human life. If Lord Vishnu gives message to the world to worship Shiva Lingam then we have to obey him. Lord did not change oldest form of god to be worshiped even taking birth from Satiyuga to Kaliyuga, so he will not give wrong message. So worship of Shiva Lingam is oldest form of GOD.

Lord Vishnu after his manifestation heard the voice to do penance and started meditating upon "Om Namah Shivay", so do you think Lord Vishnu who started just after the moment he manifested and did that in all his avatars is wrong? There are many proofs and many Strotra sung by Lord Vishnu in many avatars. Even Lord Vishnu got "Sudarshana Chakra" from Shiva worship only.
Lord Rama said "No one can get me without worshiping Shiva Lingam, I give a boon that whoever with pure heart make Abhisheka of Ganga's water on this Rameshwara Mahadeva Jyotir lingam will get me after death for sure."
Even archeologist found many Shiva Lingam in different areas of earth. These proofs made Hinduism the ancient religion.
Answer: (1)
From the Bhagavad Gita, the scripture accepted by all in the Vedic tradition we have the following information:

7.7 O conqueror of wealth, there is no truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.
10.1 The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Listen again, O mighty-armed Arjuna. Because you are My dear friend, for your benefit I
shall speak to you further, giving knowledge that is better than what
I have already explained.
10.2 Neither the hosts of demigods nor the great sages know My origin or opulences, for, in every respect, I am the source of the demigods
and sages.

This fact is also realized by the best student of Gita, i.e, Arjuna.

10.12-13 Arjuna said: You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the ultimate abode, the purest, the Absolute Truth. You are the eternal,
transcendental, original person, the unborn, the greatest. All the
great sages such as Nārada, Asita, Devala and Vyāsa confirm this truth
about You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me.

(2)
Some people, due to various motivations and reasons, consider impersonal brahman as the Supreme but as per Lord Krishna in the Gita He is the basis for brahman. Brahman is one of his aspect. Brahman is superior to this material world and considered transcendental but He is personal Brahman superior to impersonal Brahman.

14.27 And I am the basis of the impersonal Brahman, which is immortal,
imperishable and eternal and is the constitutional position of
ultimate happiness.

Lord Krishna says in 10.2 that even big sages and gods cannot properly understand Him. So the big big swamis who lack devotion to Krishna are confused in proper understanding with their speculative ideas. We also find from Bhagavatam that even Indra and Brahma got confused and considered Krishna as a mere boy of a village and Krishna crushed their pride and helped them realize the Truth. Ofcourse these pastimes also happen because the great gods want to establish that Krishna is the Supreme. There is also the incident of Krishna fighting with Banasura and Lord Siva fights on the side of Banasura but being defeated and having realized who Krishna is He says:

10.63.38 You are the original person, one without a second, transcendental and
self-manifesting. Uncaused, you are the cause of all, and You are the
ultimate controller. You are nonetheless perceived in terms of the
transformations of matter effected by Your illusory energy —
transformations You sanction so that the various material qualities
can fully manifest.
10.64.43 I, Lord Brahmā, the other demigods and the pure-minded sages have all surrendered wholeheartedly unto You, our dearmost Self and Lord

(3)
However unless one has loving relationship and devotion to Krishna it is impossible to accept the above facts and tons of other information in the sastras. It takes a lot of humility and devotion to accept these facts and surrender to Him. The whole point of Bhagavadgita is to awaken our devotion to Him and surrender unto Him. Lord Krishna Himself says:

18.55 One can understand Me as I am, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
only by devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of
Me by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God.
Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall
deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.

And when we talk of worship of Krishna it is also applicable to His various personal manifestations such as Rama, Narasihma, Narayana and other Vishnu forms.
Answer: Krishna is nothing he is not god..god is only Rudra brahman let see vedic upanishad (svetasvatara upanishad),
about Rudra brahman. The non-dual Ensnarer rules by His powers. Remaining one and the same, He rules by His powers all the worlds during their manifestation and continued existence. They who know this become immortal.
2
Rudra is truly one; for the knowers of Brahman do not admit the existence of a second, He alone rules all the worlds by His powers. He dwells as the inner Self of every living being. After having created all the worlds, He, their Protector, takes them back into Himself at the end of time.
3
His eyes are everywhere, His faces everywhere, His arms everywhere, everywhere His feet. It is He, who endows men with arms, birds with feet and wings and men likewise with feet. Having produced heaven and earth, He remains as their non-dual manifester.
4
He, the omniscient Rudra, the creator of the gods and the bestower of their powers, the support of the universe, He who, in the beginning, gave birth to Hiranyagarbha-may He endow us with clear intellect!(svetasvatara upanishad)
Answer: In all civilisations,people realize,at some point of time,that the Gods that they worship , are Imaginary,i.e., they are the product of Human Imagination. It is then they realise ,that Sun God is the real,eternal  God, and build temples to Sun God...But ,for some strange, unexplained reasons , the Civilisation collapses after that. The people of Kalinga, built the Sun Temple at Konarka around 1250AD. After that the Kalinga Kingdom disintegrated. The Egyptians built the temple of God Ra, the Sun God,towards the end of their civilization. The Romans also buil a temple to God Mitra- the Sun God , towards the end of their civilzation.The Chinese also built temples to the Sun God.
Comment: So, you say one must not build temple for Sun God?
Comment: I was pointing at a fact.At the peak of a civilization , people build a temple to Sun God and start worshiping It(or Him). I found from other sources ,that the God/Goddess of *FERTILITY*, is the oldest form of God to be worshiped.It is a combination of both a *male and female* God.
Comment: You should cite those sources to say God of fertility is the oldest form of God to be worshipped
Answer: Meditating the self is the oldest form of worship and when the avidya or ignorance occupies one, then he sees himself as different than god and then he starts taking births and starts worshiping.
Trinity worship each other and its according to his own spiritual level one may worship satva (Siva) or rajo (Vishnu) or tamo (bramha) guna god.
Comment: You should cite sources.


Converting videos taken by D5100 for a Youtube upload

Question: What is the best way to compress a video shot by my Nikon D5100 so it can be easily uploaded to Youtube?
I have a video of around 600MB, I tried converting using Xilisoft video converter but without any success.
Comment: Relevant: http://avp.stackexchange.com/questions/5318/what-codec-will-my-youtube-uploads-be-output-in-and-what-codec-should-i-use-to-u/5715#5715
Comment: What went wrong with the Xilisoft converter?
Answer: Amazingly, the best place to start with a question like this is Youtube. Believe it or not they have help file that explain the process with quite a bit of detail:
https://support.google.com/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1722171&topic=2888648&ctx=topic
On Youtube itself many others have offered up video tutorials on how to do it:
Youtube.com search
I would take the recommendations that YouTube has on the help pages, and simply apply those settings to your favorite video software, it could be something like Adobe Premiere Elements which is a very common video editor, but many others exist.
Answer: As dpolitt mentioned, Premiere should be able to do this, but when trying for a number of videos taken at a recent conference it failed badly when trying to optimise for YouTube- it either came out with files that were far to big, or when compressed down their quality was terrible.
The solution was to run Handbrake on the output from Premiere - this comes with very simple profiles (Selecting High Profile works well for YouTube) and it runs incredibly quickly, reducing file sizes down from around 2Gb to a couple of hundred Mb per video for my 1hr videos, with no appreciable loss of quality.


Is there an institution that accepts and promotes open hardware licenses?

Question: In the software world the FSF and the OSI both accept licenses as free/open. They also promote licenses for usage. In the hardware world some open source licenses have been created, like the TAPR Open Hardware License and the CERN Open Hardware License. But I can't find any institution accepting these licenses as open, keeping a list of them and promoting them. Does such an institution exist?
Comment: I think the [Open Source Hardware Association (OSHWA)](http://www.oshwa.org) is probably one of the top organizations out there. I'm having trouble accessing their website, though.
Answer: I think the Open Source Hardware Association (OSHWA) is probably one of the top organizations out there. They are active in the open hardware movement, increasing awareness and spreading information about projects.
Quoting president Gabriel Levine,

OSHWA will continue to work together and with some advice from attorneys who are open to discussing some of the legal options and licenses available, compile some clarifying documents that can help companies and individual see what some legal options are available for producing and distributing open source hardware.

That said, I'm having trouble accessing their website right now, so I cannot get to said list. At the moment, this is technically a link-only answer (sort of). If someone could add the list on, that would be great. If not, and I continue to have computer difficulties, I will delete this answer.

EDIT (change as necessary): I followed your link to the OSHWA and found a definition of Open Hardware and in Best Practices is a section about Licensing, naming a few licenses, including normal OSS-licenses like GPL and BSD, Creative Commons-licenses and hardware-specific licenses like TAPR and CERN OHL.
Answer: I'm not sure I understand 100% but P2P Foundation is an instutition and posts their definition, license, and terms on their site.
http://p2pfoundation.net/Open_Hardware_Licenses
OSHW by Freedom Defined is an example of promotion/definition:
http://freedomdefined.org/OSHW
OKFN's Open Design and Hardware Group also does something similar:
http://design.okfn.org/designdefinition/
Answer: Projects using the CERN OHL:

On the CERN OHL website they have a list of projects using their license[4]. These projects include:

Most projects in the Open Hardware Repository OHR
Gizmo For You Ltd
SimpleMachines
Tinkerforge Bricks and Bricklets
AXIOM[5] – digital cinema camera
A Free Beer variation, brewed for the RMLL 2012 and recipe placed under the CERN OHL 1.1[6]

TAPR Open Hardware License > Adoption:

The Open Graphics Project
Lotus Green Data Centers