What effect does the Barr body have, in relation to female Turner syndrome?

Question: Why do persons with Turner syndrome have  developmental abnormalities, when normal XX-females do not, even though they only have 1 active X chromosome? From what I know, one X-chromosome is inactivated into a Barr body in normal XX-females, but these obviously don't show the symptoms of Turner syndrome. What function does the inactive chromosome have?
Answer: The reason is that X-inactivation is not complete (Carrell & Willard, 2005; Ahn & Lee, 2008), and as many as 15-25% of X-linked genes escape silencing (Carrell & Willard, 2005; Cheng et al, 2005). This means that some genes on the Barr body are expressed in XX-females, although often at lower levels compared to the active X-chromosome, and this is part of the normal gene dosage. The "purpose" of X-inactivation is usually dosage compensation, so that genes are expressed equally in males and females (and then actually upregulated in both sexes to balance autosomal genes, see e.g. Dementyeva et al, 2009). However, this is not true for all genes, and the ones that normally escape X-inactivation will be expressed in the incorrect dosage in X0 females. Some of these genes are thought to contribute to the symptoms of Turner syndrome.
It is also likely that the genes that escape silencing are involved in sex-linked traits, as stated in Carrell & Willard (2005):

Such genes are potential contributors to sexually dimorphic traits, to phenotypic variability among females heterozygous for X-linked conditions, and to clinical abnormalities in patients with abnormal X chromosomes.
  ... ...
  However, as many of the genes that escape from inactivation do not have Y-linked homologues, strict dosage compensation may not be necessary for all genes on the chromosome. Such characteristic genomic differences should be recognized as a factor for explaining sex-specific phenotypes both in complex disease as well as in normal, sexually dimorphic traits.

Cheng et al (2005) also point out that the expression of the genes that escape silencing is tissue-dependent, which suggests that the role these genes play in the symptoms of Turner syndrome is also tissue dependent.
Answer: Very interesting question!
And I don't think either that the linked Wikipedia article answers the question.
Unfortunately I do not know the answer for sure, but I might have some relevant information to add. So, from my studies I know that Barr-bodies are not totally inactive, they, in fact, do have some very limited transcriptional activity. It might be low in intensity, but still vital? I'm just guessing.
My other guess is linked to the development of a Barr-body in a cell with two active XX chromosomes early during fetal development. So this happens via a process called X-inactivation in which a gene called Xist becomes active on both X chromosomes, then another gene, the Tsix also becomes active on one of the chromosomes and suppresses Xist on the other. The one with the suppressed Xist remains active, the other becomes the Barr-body (the process of selecting which chromosome becomes the Barr-body is random, hence female mosaicism). So, the point is, that for correct X-inactivation, the interplay of two X chromosomes are needed, and people with Turner syndrome have only one. That might be the problem, e.g. the Xist becomes active on the one X they have and starts interfering with the normal functioning of the chromosome, and there's no Tsix to suppress it.
But, again, I'm just making educated guesses here.
Comment: Thank you for your concern. Your question fits; however, it doesn't expain the case of Triple-X female, they also express some different symptoms, it means the Barr body really plays some role but not just in early fetal development. Today I see fileunserwater's that satisfies me the most. Hope you would agree if you were interested in this issue too.


get Armory to use an existing blockchain?

Question: I'm trying to set up Armory but it wants to download the whole blockchain.  The thing is I already have the blockchain downloaded on the same machine for bitcoin-qt.  Is there any way to get Armory to use the blockchain I already have, both to save space and avoid waiting for hours?
Answer: If your settings are correct, try restarting Armory, and let it run for a few minutes. I had the same concern thinking that Armory was redownloading the blockchain, but it was actually reading from the harddrive (Listen to the harddrive).
After roughly 10 minutes, the block synchronisation went from 0% very quickly to 100%, then the status changed to "Connected". Next Armory synced the transaction history for another 10 to 15 mins.
I guess there is a user experience bug here. Armory should have had a user friendly message somewhere saying something like: "Verifying local blockchain".
Answer: In the Armory settings, you can specify the location of bitcoin-qt installdir, and the home directory of bitcoin (where the blockchain is stored).
Then it uses the already downloaded chain.
regards
Comment: I tried that and it didn't work
Comment: make sure you point to the bitcoind binary. Not bitcoin-qt. Sorry about the misunderstanding.
Comment: I pointed to /usr/bin because that's where bitcoind is on my system. What should it be really?
Comment: /usr/bin as installdir and /home/yourHomeDir/.bitcoin as "home-Dir"
Comment: I did that, then restarted Armory and it did not start bitcoind.  Armory just says "Offline" and I can't figure out how to make it "Online".
Answer: With respect to user7220, I think that answer is wrong.  I moved Armory and my QT native blockchain to my E: drive, and Armory started rebuilding the QT chain on C: drive.  After some checking, I found that you can add the path on the command line, using " --satoshi-datadir=[bitcoindatapath]" as a switch. My Armory shortcut is now
<code>"C:\Program Files (x86)\Armory\ArmoryQt.exe" --datadir="e:/armory" --satoshi-datadir="e:\bitcoin"
</code>
The armory executables are on C: but the freaking huge blockchains are on my outboard E: drive for both Armory and BitcoinQT.  Now my C: drive has space and I can install a wallet that does not require the blockchain, and a copy of the blockchain (bravo, Devs).
Comment: Thanks, just tried it. Armory 0.96.3.99 RC1 works with Bitcoin Core 0.15.1 as `satoshi-datadir`.


After upgrade from 11.04 to 12.04 my laptop does not turn on without the power supply

Question: I saw that this questions was previously asked from other version  of ubuntu, and no one seems to have an answer.
How can I fix this?.
How can I check also if is a bettery problem (the battery does not charge anymore also)
PLease!!!
Answer: This could be one of several things:

Dead charger
Dead battery
Dead charging circuits within the laptop

Do you have another charger to test with? Does the battery itself have a charging indicator (a number of the Dell batteries have this)?
Answer: I dont think its that simple. I am having the same issue, and i was experiencing the same in Ubuntu 11.10. If the AC is on while booting, ubuntu also shows a charging sign. If however, its un-plugged and re-plugged while ubuntu is running, it does not change back to battery charging mode.
I have windows 7, and it does work ok on it. So I dont have a battery issue at all.
I think there is no clear solution right now, i hope there will be one soon.
Answer: I am having similar issues, did you manage to fix the issue?
It seems to be an issue with the motherboard, you could try disabling acpi on boot
How do I disable ACPI when booting?
Also try updating your BIOS


Even if transaction fee is set to BTC 0.00001, transactions remain unconfirmed

Question: I'm testing an application based on bitcoinj so I've been sending small amounts for days and it worked fine – transaction fees are set by default to BTC 0.00001. As of yesterday, these small transactions just remain unconfirmed... I guess because the Bitcoin network also considers volumes. Is that assumption correct? What is a reasonable fee to prevent this inconvenient? And last but not least, how do I recover my unconfirmed transactions?
Answer: CoinWallet began a different kind of stress test within the past several days.  After concerns about the method in which it conducts stress tests being a violation of laws in the UK, it decided to stress test the system by giving away 200 BTC for free to the public in a manner which will have the same effect without being a criminal act.
CoinWallet is giving away private keys that have (cumulatively) up to 200 BTC in them.  The BTC community is raising to load the wallets and send the transactions to their own private addresses so that they can get to the free money.  The result of this competitive fight for the 200 BTC is that the memory pools of full nodes are being filled with double spends and transactions that will never be verified.  Eventually, the double spends will be dropped as one of the spends makes it into a block and the remaining spends become invalid, but until then, all the nodes and all the miners are overwhelmed with a lot of extra data, which places small transactions especially those with low or no fees at the back of the priority list.
The good news is that the priority function increases the priority of all transactions as a function of time, so that even no-fee transactions will eventually have a high enough priority to be forced into the next block.  However, there is no way to predict how long that will be.
You will get your test transactions back.  They will confirm eventually.  During this stress test however, it may take as much as several days if you are unlucky.
After all the BTC that have been given away have been fully processed and all the double spends have been cleared from the mem pool, you should see normal confirmation times return to the network.

Example: Five private keys made available
Article: An article describing CoinWallet's plan
Public Release: Coinbase addresses the Backlog for its concerned customers (Graph included of Mem Pool)
Comment: Yes... all my pending transactions were confirmed.
Comment: Thank u very much. What fee/KB should I actually set? BTC 0.0001 or BTC 0.00001? Bitcoinj defauts to 1000 satoshi (0.0001)...
Comment: I set the minimum fee possible, because I am usually trying to show people how well the system works with low fees.  Most wallets that I use for these demonstration purposes do not allow zero-fee transactions, so I take whatever is available.  Trial and error is your best bet for finding something that works for you.
Comment: @Gopoi, thank you for the compliment and the greetings.
Comment: @j3d, I am curious, have you started to see some of the transactions confirm?  It has been 7 days since we last 'talked', I would hope that you have seen some change by now.
Comment: Excellent! I expected as much, but I wanted to follow up and be sure. Happy Bitcoining!
Answer: You have to calculate the fee depending on the size of the transaction.
Here it is described:
What is the exact formula for calculating transaction fees?
How to calculate transaction size before sending
Now is problem with the transaction throughput, because CoinWallet doing stress test and sends a lot of transactions.
I think that if you calculate the fee correctly the problem not affect you. If your transactions remain uncommitted you will get your Bitcoins back.


Can I buy and use a patented technology without incurring in troubles?

Question: We are a new start-up team based in Europe and have few or none knowledge on usage of patents and patented technology. We designed a chemical process that includes buying and using a patented technology (US patent) for ONLY a part of the entire process. We have doubts concerning the legacy of using this technology. If we buy the technology from the producer that possess the patent, do we also have to buy a license for the patent? The producer has a company specifically selling the technology we need.
Answer: Patents give the owner the right to exclude others from making, selling, importing and using the patented technology within the country that granted the patent. If the patents are U.S. patents they have no force outside the U.S. If you will only use the technology in Europe you may not need to worry about the U.S. patents at all. In general if you buy a patented apparatus from a legitimate source you would be getting an implied license from the patentee to use it. This can be modified by contract and gets into a somewhat murky area of patent law call exhaustion of rights.


What guidelines or rules should be used when interpreting the Bible?

Question: It seems that a lot of misunderstanding of the Bible comes from scripture being taken out of context. What are some other rules or guidelines for taking a literal  or first interpretation (like 'Jesus wept'), or figurative or second interpretation (like most of Revelations)?
Comment: This answer depends largely on your specific religious backgrounds. For example, the answer for Catholics is that you _don't_ interpret the bible at all... you ask a priest. Other denominations will have different rules, creeds, or standard hermeneutics that govern interpretations.
Comment: @JoelCoehoorn: maybe prior to second Vatican Council, but I don't remember any discouragement from interpreting Bible (but perhaps I'm just lucky not to meet certain people with pre-2nd Vatican attitudes; I'm in Catholic Church for less than three years, so it's possible). But I agree with you that denomination plays a big role here.
Comment: These 'rules' are called hermeneutics, and there's a whole site dedicated to their study ([hermeneutics.se])
Answer: An important rule is "be humble."  Recognize that your interpretation is likely to be wrong and certain to be incomplete. Be open to letting Holy Scripture change you.
A related rule is to study and interpret Holy Scripture in the company of others. You can gather in the flesh, and you can study in the company of scholars by reading their books.
Be as aware as you can of your own prejudices and spiritual blind spots as you engage with scripture.
Avoid using short "proof texts" and single translations.  The more important the conclusion you draw from Holy Scripture, the broader the textual support you should enlist for your conclusion.  Sometimes the one word that's most important to you doesn't mean precisely what you hope it means.
Let scripture fill you with joy.
Comment: @Coomie: That's "The Message", not "Message" (Pedantic, I know, but it matters!).  No need to avoid it, but if you read it, you MUST read the preface!  It is not intended to be a study tool.
Comment: I concur. And avoid the "Message"...
Answer: Books can and have been written on this subject. Different traditions have different ways of interpreting the Bible.

The Catholic approach is that the Church interprets the Bible. Biblical interpretation requires careful study, deep knowledge, and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. An average Christian is unlikely to have all of these, and can get themselves in real trouble by applying what they think the Bible means.
The Evangelical Protestant approach is that the Bible stands entirely on its own and that every individual Christian is responsible for interpreting it themselves - typically with the guidance of books, pastors and fellow-Christians, but with nobody else's interpretation being necessarily better than yours.
The approach of the Orthodox churches, and a number of Anabaptist groups, is that the church interprets scriptures in community. This is different from the Catholic approach, where the formal heirarchy of the church does the interpretation: in this approach groups of Christians gather together to interpret scripture to and for each other, submitting also to groups of those groups.

If you have Protestant leanings, and wanting to do your own interpretation (in a group or alone) there are whole classes of books written about this, collectively called "Introductions" (a misleading term - they are not in any way basic or primers). I recommend my personal favourite: "How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth"
Comment: I think this is a great explanation, and I gave it my vote. However, as an Evangelical, I was a bit disappointed that you didn't attribute the "in community" to Evangelicalism. I think evangelicals have been influenced too often by American individualism, not biblical togetherness. But I believe that this trend is changing for the better.
Comment: I'd like to follow up on that with you It's not been my experience that Evangelicals, in general, believe that scriptures ought to be interpreted by the community. However most of my experience with Evangelicalism has been North American.
Comment: +1 A good selection of how the various ways the differing denominations interpret their own understandings of the bible.
Comment: @DJClayworth, no, I think you're right for the most part, but I do believe that communal aspects are emerging inside of Evangelicalism in North America. I think my comment was more a hope than a reality... maybe channeling the likes of Stanley Hauerwas. Regardless, stellar answer.
Comment: I'll look for Stanley Hauerwas. Any other names you want to mention would be welcome.
Comment: Hmmm... So Hauerwas is known for being extreme. Although Time magazine named him America's best theologian in 01, he says things like, "The best thing we can do is take Bibles out of the hands of American Christians." So... take him with a grain of salt. Check out No Place For Truth by David Wells. It's not explicitly about individual vs. communal, but it historically describes how we've come to such a individualistic faith in North America. A fascinating read...
Answer: It's easy to take things out of context when the words that you use have different meanings then when they WERE first used. Not only has the Bible been translated into the English language, there has been thousands of years since the words were first used.
Hypothetically, if we spoke fluent Greek and Hebrew today we still wouldn't have the exact meaning of the words used during Biblical times. For example, the definition of Love in the English language today has one meaning. But the Greek's had four different definitions of that word.
Guideline One
In order to understand the context of which the passages were written in, you need to use the Scripture to define the Scripture. Thus start your Biblical studies by choosing a single word at a time and then finding all of the scripture that mentions that word. This way you'll begin to redefine your own meanings of the words with the definition formed from scripture.
Guideline Two
Empty your presumptions. You cannot accept anything that the Bible has to say if you're not willing to first loosen your own foothold on your beliefs. Most people are not willing to adjust their traditions when reading the Bible, they simple read the Bible and reinforce their own presumptions. Ignoring completely the verses that contradict their personal beliefs.
Guideline Three
If the Bible is true, as I believe that it is, then you cannot and will not understand the Scripture if you are not reborn. Thus, the reason that there are so many interpretations. In order to have the scripture opened up to you, you must first go to God in prayer and ask to be granted repentance. If you believe in Jesus then you will repent and accept Him as your Lord.

2 Timothy 2:25 (NIV) Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that
  God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the
  truth,
Acts 5:32 (NIV) We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit,
  whom God has given to those who obey him."
Comment: actually, the English word "[love](http://dictionary.com/browse/love)" has myriad meanings - as do many other English words: whereas, in most cases, the Greek and Hebrew words had only one or two well-defined and common usages. Specifically, there were several words for "[love](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_words_for_love)" in Greek - eros, philia, agape, storge : all of which have connotations in modern English, but as just one word rather than four
Comment: Ah, you cannot understand Scripture without being reborn?  How then can you be reborn because (as *I* understand it) you have to understand Scripture to be able to?
Comment: @jurgen Most people think that they understand the scriptures, but in reality they only understand the small picture of what they read without comprehending the full story. Once you're reborn, reading the Bible becomes a completely different story.
Comment: "Thus, the reason that there are so many interpretations". Being reborn and having the Holy Spirit is clearly important to understanding scriptures, but it certainly doesn't remove differences in interpretation. Reborn Christians can and do disagree over scriptures.
Answer: When interpreting the scriptures you must be sure to have all the facts that are available to ensure you understand what it is you are reading. The approach that you take when studying your bible is what will shape your understanding, so the best thing you can do is ensure your approach to your own bible studying is as effective as possible.
Here are the steps I take when I read the bible I:
Firstly take a few moments to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to be present with me and when I have managed to calm myself and can 'feel' the presence of the Holy Spirit I will then begin to read.
Secondly, and very importantly, I try and read a section entirely from beginning to end, rather than taking verses on their own because that is a sure way of taking a verse out of context too.
Thirdly, I will then try to imagine what the scripture would have meant to the people of the day and do a bit of research around that to be sure I have a good idea of the cultural significances and try to make myself aware of any other things which may be relevant through that research. Usually with a concordance, Strong's for example to be sure of the important words that have been translated in the text I am reading.
Fourthly, I will then try to understand how this can be relevant to me and my society today in modern times and then how it can be applied.
Finally, I would try to read in a few versions NKJV, ESV, AMP, NASB and others and maybe even the Message to be sure that I am not being confused. All in all I try to engage my spiritual and intellectual self and by inviting the Holy Spirit to be there to aid me in my learning.
Almost forgot, it is best to read a translation not an interpretation of the scriptures; also share what you read with other people to cross examine your understandings of the text. This will help you interpret the messages contained in the bible and how to apply them to your life more effectively.
Comment: Don't know why someone downvoted this.  These are great guidelines.
Comment: There is a difference between "How should scripture be interpreted" and "How should I approach my own personal Bible study".
Comment: If your personal bible study approach is skewed then the way you interpret will be skewed also. The interpretation can only come after you have studied, not before.
Comment: I don't disagree, but there is much more to interpreting the Bible than just this.
Comment: There is more to it than that, but not much more and nothing as important as how the study is actually undertaken. I agree that my initial answer did not explicitly detail my explanation but I have updated why I shared my own bible study technique which I would hope does add more value to my answer.
Comment: Also the OP asked what guidelines/rules should be used which I have actually answered.


Problem with recover photos - all are black

Question: I use camera Sony DSC-W630, and SD card of 8 gb, and I didn't have any problems so far. But now all my photos from a holiday in Italy are lost. Everything was ok and then, when I tried to transfer photos from camera to laptop, it just showed some error with memory card all my photos are lost. I tried to recover them with a Card recovery program and now all photos are here but they are corrupted. When I try to open any of them they are all black. But I can see them in folder as small pictures. I am desperate and don't know what to do. I am not expert in this, so if you need any more information to help please ask.
Comment: Can you remember the error message? What card recovery software did you use?
Comment: It said sometning like camera can't recognize sd card, to remove and put it again. And i used program called Card recovery. I am now trying to scan all files with JPEG recovery. If you know any better program please help :(
Comment: I'm not sure that the duplicate is similar enough in intent to close this question.  A good answer to the other one is "because the card is faulty, replace it".  That wouldn't answer this question, which is about how to do the recovery in a way to best reassemble the fragmented images.
Answer: First things first:
In any situation like this, Do not save any data to the card. This will significantly decrease your chance of recovering anything. Immediately flip the read-only tab on your memory card.
Okay, then, with that out of the way, don't panic yet. All though bad cards happen frequently, there are many things that could go wrong that aren't related to the card. See Why do images get "corrupted"? for more, but, basically: it could be your card reader or computer, or even the cable from the reader to computer. See if you can copy the photos off using a different system.
If that doesn't work, it's time to try data recovery tools. While  How can I recover deleted photos from an SD Card? is about accidentally deleted files rather than a bad card, the same information all applies (although unfortunately your chances for success are lower.
You say you tried some software; it's possible that a different program will do better. I personally recommend PhotoRec, which is completely free. It has a kind of klunky user interface (DOS-era — not even really Linux-like), but it's not really hard, and the functionality itself is top-notch. It's unlikely that for-pay commercial software will get you anything this can't. However, if you find the UI too frustrating, some of the for-pay apps will do just fine (and often will tell you what they can recover before you have to pay, so you won't be out anything).
If that doesn't work, you might consider a professional recovery service — several are discussed in How to recover data from a damaged/chewed up SD card? These companies have specialized hardware and may even take the card apart and pull out the individual chips to look at a lower level. These places usually charge a flat fee if they recover even a small amount, and may waive the fee if they are unable to recover anything. This is likely to be very expensive, but if your holiday was once in a lifetime and the photos irreplaceable, you may find it to be worth it.
Answer: I concur with the usage of PhotoRec however have you tried the most basic of using a different machine to see if the corruption is local specific? Also what are you opening the photos in? Do you have Photoshop or perhaps even GIMP to try and open them?


Most effective bodyweight exercises?

Question: There are so many bodyweight workouts and exercises on the internet. I have always wondered which bodyweight exercises are the most effective. I'm trying to create my own bodyweight workout for the entire body so if you have some exercises that really worked for you then can you share them with me?
Comment: What are your goals Nicolas?
Comment: You may want to edit your question to clarify what you consider "effective". Burpees are pretty effective cardio but not necessarily the best at building quad strength, conversely nordic curls are pretty effective at strengthening the hamstrings but won't do much for your cardio. Are you looking for weight loss, body recomposition, weight gain, strength?
Comment: It's not so much about usefulness as it is variation and advancement. As you get stronger youll do harder bodyweight exercises. You can also rotate throughout the week. Granted some bodyweight exercises are better than others but typically these are also more advanced as well.
Answer: I was really into powerlifting but due to this pandemic I can't go to the gym anymore.
So I started doing  calisthenics/bodyweight exercise, for me the most useful exercise are these:

pull ups: perform them controlled with full range of motion, then chin over the bar and arms fully extended when you descend. This exercise will mainly work your back and your upper body
dips: this exercise depends a lot on your shoulder mobility, so I would recommend starting to stop a dip by reaching a 90 degree angle with your elbow, as you get strong you can begin to go down and break this angle. This exercise will work your triceps and pecs
handstand push-up to wall: stand vertically with your back against the wall, in this position get your head in contact with the floor and return to a vertical position. This exercise will work your shoulders a lot.
push ups: This exercise will work mainly your upper body (pecs and triceps), you can change the hand position to get the exercise harder and more focus on the triceps

If you still want to train legs bodyweight (I mean you can, but weight training remains the best for developing legs, at least for me... let's say that bodyweight training for legs is only effective if you are a beginner) I will suggest doing single legs squats also called pistol squat (this one could be challenging, it also involves a good amount of balance and flexibility), squats, squat jumps on box (this exercise destroys my legs every time, though I can squat x2 my bodyweight, for me is one of the best bodyweight exercise for legs) and lunges.
Regarding the abs area I highly suggest to incorporates in your routines exercises like L-sit, hollow body position and dragon flags.
As you get stronger you can start adding skills such as Handstand, Front lever, Back lever and Planche into your routine. (Be aware that those skills takes time to learn and lots of conditioning so please don't rush the process).
I will also suggest you to add to your workout routine some basic stretching exercise like the pike (If you can try to incorporate both dynamic and static strech).
Answer: As I guess you are a novice in strength training I would suggest to start with a full-body workout, this means that in a session you try to train as much different muscles as possible. I found that this was more fun and easier to stick to than a split schedule which requires more time and dedication. As you tagged your post with strength-training, this answer will be focussed on that. If you want to go for more cardio, you can try running ;)
You also probably saw the recommended routine on the bodyweight fitness subreddit and I would recommend this one as well, it hits all the important muscles and has progression for each of the moves so that a novice can also perform the routine and build up to the big exercises. The big pro of this routine is that it is laid out for you, you don't have to think much about it and just perform it. After you have done this for some months you will be ready to choose on what to focus based on your goals (Muscle ups? Human Flags? Planches? One handed pushups? Hamstring curls?)
A good book on the subject is Overcoming gravity, it has a lot of information and even more progression charts and information on how to structure your training. I think it will be too much information to start with and it can lead to not even starting at all since there will be too much choice :)
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/kb/recommended_routine
[2] https://stevenlow.org/overcoming-gravity/
Answer: Most effective exercises are the ones you can stick to!
I am not a professional. I like to keep it simple and say that push-up is the best exercise.
The 30-day push-up challenge is a thing because it is so simple.
Here are other exercises I like:

Squats: you will probably need weights (won't be a bodyweight workout)
Running: it will stress your joints if that is your concern
Burpees: great cardio but does not help you build muscles

If you do not know where to start, I challenge you to try 100 push-ups every day for 30 days first.
Answer: These are the most effective bodyweight exercises for getting a body like you want:

hanging (better for lower abs) or dips-position (better for serratus) leg raises, 4x8  up to 90° with bodyweight, move to 4x12 when you're strong enough, you can do then do toes-to-bar which is harder. You can also do similar rep ranges with weight in between your feet when you are strong enough.
opposite-knee-opposite-elbow mountain climbers (ab exercise: hold a pushup position at the top, bring your left knee to your right elbow using your abs, then put it back, repeat with other leg) very high volume (sets of 20+)
handstand training
a pushup programme (just something to keep you motivated and committed, maybe hundrepushups.com or anything else you find that gives you rest days)
lateral raise variations and for shoulders (standing straight for side delt, leaning forward for rear delt), do higher volume and lower weight (use a household object): 5x15 or 5x20
running (see if you can find a programme you like) - get really good at running. The dude in the pic hides his legs, and I guess legs won't be the most important to you either. But running will keep your legs looking fit and also it will keep you extremely healthy, give you a strong heart as a foundation for the rest of your training, and it will burn your calories
(less relative to the rest) pullups 4 sets of as many as you can do, when you can do 4x8 you can start adding a little weight

And if you want to see real progress, you should find a fitness hobby that you enjoy that will build you this body: train boxing with friends, or learn breakdancing powermoves, or do gymnastics, or do a competitive sport
Comment: OP didnt ask about nutrition, and the picture is totally unnecessary.
Comment: @ThomasMarkov the picture is what I guess his goal to be https://fitness.stackexchange.com/q/43730/28178
Comment: @ThomasMarkov the info on nutrition was added bc op didn't specify what "effective" means to him, so I did some research, found his previous post, assume effective to mean "works towards a body that looks like this", and then contributed a little extra info about htat
Comment: @ThomasMarkov I've now edited it

Most effective bodyweight exercises?


Geihinom and Gan Eden

Question: What are Gohenom and Gan Eden? Is it common to go to Gohenom before Gan Eden?
Comment: The proper pronunciation is "Geihinom".
Comment: @Yahu - You are correct.  There is a yud between the gimmel and hei.  Spelling Gehinnom in English is technically incorrect, but since it is culturally acceptable to do so, the only necessary thing is to pronounce it correctly when spoken.
Comment: This is a Machlokes,yes.
Comment: http://dafyomireview.com/gehinom.php it aint pretty
Answer: I don't have any sources at the moment but the general impression is that Gehenom is not punishment per se, but the difficult process of the neshama divesting itself of the gashmius/physicality it indulged in in a prohibited manner throughout life and being cleansed for transgressions which one did not do proper teshuvah (repentance) for. Only the most worthy individuals will not need this process. Nevertheless when the process is completed the neshama will receive it's share in the world to come (Olam Haba/Gan Eden) provided one did not commit a sin which is punishable by Kares (being "cut off" from Am Yisrael and Hakadosh Baruch Hu) without proper repentance.
(Medrash Rabbeinu Bachya, end of Aharei Mos; Ramban, Shaar HaG'mul)
Answer: Gehinom is usually meant in Hazal to be what Yirmiyahu said, I just want to add that occasionally Hazal will speak about an extremely infamous and wicked person who is "there" forever. "Gan Eden" is used to refer to the "place" in the spiritual dimension that one either goes to after Gehinom to enjoy "proximity" with Hashem, or if one is exceptionally righteous, goes directly there to enjoy and wait. When the revival of the dead happens those people will come back to this world from Gan Eden. I will not explain the famous mahlokes about the meaning of the term "Olam Habah" because that was not the question. I'll just point out that this "Gan Eden" which you are asking about seems to be what Rambam would appear to call "Olam Habah."

Geihinom and Gan Eden


Why does copper have a high enthalpy of atomisation when it has a half filled d sub shell?

Question: If I understood correct, the high energy of atomisation for d-block element comes from the ability to make many metallic bonds due to half electron filled d-orbitals, but it seems here that copper has no free d-orbitals yet has high enthalpy of atomisation? Is there a mistake in my understanding or is there a reason for this anomaly?
Comment: There is no filled $3d$ subshell in metallic copper.  Metallic band structure makes combinations of initially filled and empty valence orbitals overlap each other in energy.
Comment: It's s orbital is half filled...
Comment: yes but other elements in coppers row has half filled s orbital+many half filled subshells in d-orbitals yet it has lower enthalpy then coppers. I am of the understanding that more half filled orbitals=moer metallic bonding
Comment: Copper, with a nearly ideal Fermi surface, contributes one electron per atom to the conduction band in the crystal state. I'm unclear what the question is about.
Comment: Oh lol I asked this qsn after reading my high school text, in it says that transistion elements is able to create multiple bonds due to presence of half  filled d -orbitals
Answer: When we look up the Wikipedia articles for various elements, we find that the heat of fusion and heat of vaporization of copper are modestly below those quantities from iron, cobalt and nickel, but hugely exceeding zinc.
In the first-row transition elements when they're condensed as metals, we don't really have separate $3d$ and $4s$ subshells because the metallic bonding spreads these subshells into bands and the bands overlap in energy.  This article in Chem Libretexts shows this overlap between $s$ and $p$ orbitals in sodium; a similar concept involving $s$, $d$ and even$p$ orbitals in transition metals.  So we can't separately consider $3d$ and $4s$ subshells in a first-row transition element such as copper.  With contributing orbitals from different subshells mixed together we have a significant number of filled and empty states mixed together in the valence band, leading to relatively strong metallic bonding as long as we keep that energy overlap.  Among elements in this period, only when we get to zinc do we see the $3d-4s$ band overlap drop off and the nonbonding character of the filled $3d$ subshells emerge as a major factor.  Therefore, metallic bonding and with it, enthalpy of atomization drop off sharply at zinc, not so much at copper.


Relational database service billed on reads/writes rather than time

Question: I am looking for a Relational Database Service which is billed according to the number of Reads and Writes and not on "Instance Hours"?
According to the AWS Documentation -
RDS is priced as follows

Running time – You are billed by the instance-hour, which is equivalent to a single instance running for an hour. For example, both a single instance running for two hours and two instances running for one hour consume 2 instance-hours. If a DB instance runs for only part of an hour, you are charged for a full instance-hour
Storage – The storage capacity that you have provisioned to your DB instance is billed per GB per month. If you scale your provisioned storage capacity within the month, your bill will be pro-rated
I/O requests per month – Total number of storage I/O requests that you have made in a billing cycle
Data transfer –Internet data transfer in and out of your DB instance.

However, we have opted for the serverless architecture and most of the examples and Docs on the architecture use DynamoDB. The pricing structure of DynamoDB is as follows -

So, When I use DynamoDB, I pay exactly for what I use but it's a NOSQL Solution. I need a relational DB service with similar pricing options. Are there such services available or do I have to compromise on the price?
Answer: Probably there is no such service. Both SQL services from Google Cloud include hourly pricing too:

Cloud SQL
Cloud Spanner


Improve Windows file system performance by RAM

Question: I have 3gb of ram idling according to taskmanager. Is it possible to improve windows file system by telling it to use more ram?
Answer: It already does that: data read will be cached in RAM. You might be able to get a benefit by preloading files if you're working on a particular dataset, but in general it's best not to second-guess the operating system.
Answer: I've really only seen this come up when doing mass exports where the file size might exceed several GB, and all this does is creates a buffer so your process doesn't crash, it's possible to set the page file size to a custom size to anticipate this, but Windows generally does an excellent job of managing memory on it's own, but this page file size is considered virtual memory and what it's doing is keeping your environment afloat by caching what should be RAM data to your hard drive, but because your hard drive is optimized for long term mass storage instead of fast access caching it will significantly slow down your system.
also keep in mind depending on your specs, 3GB is the maximum amount of RAM recognized by a 32Bit Windows operating system, if you're not running a 64bit OS you might consider this especially when you can pick up 8GB DDR3 kits for around $50 anymore.
Comment: To avoid further confusion, here's the [official documentation](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa366778%28v=vs.85%29.aspx). It clearly states all the necessary details, including how Windows 8 x86 is still limited to 4 GB physical memory.


Is there a way to make comments in the node editor?

Question: I'd like to have a node like the Frame node but one that can have lots of text, not just a header. I've looked and it looks like there isn't any such capability so far, so I was wondering how easy it would be for someone to create a custom Comment node as an add-on or script (I don't know the differences between the two). I myself would love to leave detailed comments in complex node trees so that I can figure out what I was doing/what to do when I come back to them months later.
Comment: Related: [Node containing text?](http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/309/node-containing-text)
Answer: Since version 2.74, blender has has the ability to display text blocks in the node editor.See the manual.

Add a frame node, then in the properties region add the text block you want to display. (A text block is simply a file made in blender's text editor.)

The frame will display the text exactly as it is in the text editor without word wrapping, you have to add the line brakes in manually (by pressing Enter at the end of the line).
This is the easiest way to make notations in the node editor.
Comment: It seems that since at least blender 3.1.2, the frame node does in fact wrap words.
Comment: I can't figure out how to add text to the `Text:` input
Comment: @endolith go to blender's text editor `Shift` + `F11` then press the "New" button to make a new text data-block. Now that text file will show up in the list so you can add it to the frame node.
Answer: Alternatively, if you want something quick and easy ..
Comment: Well, really all art on a computer is difficult with a mouse.  It wasn't until I got a pen tablet that I stopped suffering from claw hand after a couple of hours of work.  Now I can go all day, every day without destroying my hand.  Combine that with pressure sensitivity and the extra price is well worth the extra money.

Sorry for the 'Fake Gandalf' comment. Name calling is totally inappropriate under any circumstances.
Comment: I'm sorry. I didn't mean it to be snippity, and I'm sorry if I have offended you in any way.. The grease pencil is a good idea, I personally just can't imagine writing with a mouse (maybe it's just me).
Answer: There's no support for text wrapping in Blender, so it's impossible to have a multi-line label or StringProperty. But it's possible to have a collection of strings and draw them in a column inside of a custom node:

bl_info = {
    "name": "Comment Node",
    "author": "CoDEmanX",
    "version": (1, 0),
    "blender": (2, 67, 0),
    "location": "Node Editor > Add > Other Nodes > Comment",
    "description": "Add a node comment node (string property collection)",
    "warning": "",
    "wiki_url": "",
    "category": "Node"}

import bpy
from bpy.types import Node, Operator
from bpy.props import BoolProperty, IntProperty, CollectionProperty

class NodeComment(Operator):
    bl_idname = "node.comment"
    bl_label = "Node Comment"

    index = IntProperty(default=-1)

    @classmethod
    def poll(cls, context):
        return (context.area.type == 'NODE_EDITOR' and
                context.area.spaces[0].node_tree.nodes.active is not None and
                context.area.spaces[0].node_tree.nodes.active.bl_idname == CommentNode.bl_idname)

    def execute(self, context):
        node = context.area.spaces[0].node_tree.nodes.active
        if self.index == -1:
            node.myCollProperty.add()
            node.myBoolProperty = True
        else:
            try:
                node.myCollProperty.remove(self.index)
            except IndexError:
                print("Invalid collection index")
                return {'CANCELLED'}
        return {'FINISHED'}

# Derived from the Node base type.
class CommentNode(Node):
    # === Basics ===
    # Description string
    '''A comment node'''
    # Optional identifier string. If not explicitly defined, the python class name is used.
    bl_idname = 'CommentNodeType'
    # Label for nice name display
    bl_label = 'Comment Node'
    # Icon identifier
    bl_icon = 'GREASEPENCIL'

    myBoolProperty = bpy.props.BoolProperty(name="Edit")
    myCollProperty = bpy.props.CollectionProperty(type=bpy.types.PropertyGroup)

    def init(self, context):
        self.width = 300

    # Copy function to initialize a copied node from an existing one.
    def copy(self, node):
        print("Copying from node ", node)

    # Free function to clean up on removal.
    def free(self):
        print("Removing node ", self, ", Goodbye!")

    # Additional buttons displayed on the node.
    def draw_buttons(self, context, layout):
        #layout.label("Node settings")

        row = layout.row(True)
        row.operator(NodeComment.bl_idname, text="Add", icon="ZOOMIN").index = -1
        row.prop(self, "myBoolProperty", text="", icon="GREASEPENCIL")

        col = layout.column(True)

        if self.myBoolProperty:
            for i, line in enumerate(self.myCollProperty):
                row = col.row(True)
                row.prop(line, "name", text="")
                row.operator(NodeComment.bl_idname, text="", icon="ZOOMOUT").index = i
        else:
            for line in self.myCollProperty:
                col.label(line.name)

import nodeitems_utils
from nodeitems_utils import NodeCategory, NodeItem

# our own base class with an appropriate poll function,
# so the categories only show up in our own tree type
class MyNodeCategory(NodeCategory):
    pass

# all categories in a list
node_categories = [
    # identifier, label, items list
    MyNodeCategory("OTHERNODES", "Other Nodes", items=[
        NodeItem(CommentNode.bl_idname, label="Comment"),
        ]),
    ]

def register():
    bpy.utils.register_class(NodeComment)
    bpy.utils.register_class(CommentNode)

    try:
        nodeitems_utils.register_node_categories("CUSTOM_NODES", node_categories)
    except:
        pass

def unregister():
    nodeitems_utils.unregister_node_categories("CUSTOM_NODES")

    bpy.utils.register_class(NodeComment)
    bpy.utils.register_class(CommentNode)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    register()

Comment: Not sure what you mean, you can install above code as addon and use the comment node (I hope!). Haven't tested it in-depth, so better check before production if it's kept in .blend on save while addon is disabled.
Comment: Thanks, that looks like the best viable solution since there's no other real comment node, but I don't know anything about coding for blender, so how would I implement this?
Comment: Thom Blair, save the code above as a .py file and place it in the Blender\2.69\scripts\addons\ directory. Then in Blender you can go to user preferences>addons and you should be able to find it and enable it by checking the check mark. Then it should work in Blender.
Comment: Thanks! That worked great! Thankfully someone had just mentioned how to install a script to me, so I'm just listing the steps below for anyone else:
(1) open the Text Editor window (2) click the New Text button
(3) paste in the code
(4) click the Run Script button
(5) then CTRL + U to save the startup file
Answer: There is an addon that can make it possible adding Note Nodes.
It is stated everything needed on the BlenderArtists page where addon was posted,  I will make short summary here to not make this answer link-only.

Functionality. You can create the node from a panel (which opens with
  N) in the node editor called Note. Either an empty node or
  from clipboard.
A note can either be linked to a blender text buffer or store text. If
  text is stored a linked file is ignored. You access settings of the
  node from the properties of the node (press N to open).

(Italic is mine).
What it looks like:

image from BA post

Download
Documentation
Comment: Also please note that *only people with this addon can read your note* as is stated on documentation page
Comment: I tried to install this add-on to the latest version of Blender 3.2, but the load failed due to errors.
Answer: This is silly but it's also instant, built-in and easy unlike the other answers. Downside is you're limited to one short line. Simply set the 'Label' property of the node you're commenting.


How to stop thinking about metaphysical questions?

Question: I have been practicing seriously for a month now. I'm mindful a lot of the time but not 100% yet and whenever I'm not I start thinking about metaphysical questions or what could be after death or if it is nothing etc. How can I stop this? Or how to stop thinking about something in general when you don't want to? For some reason I can't be equanimous with metaphysical questions. They run through my head like there's no tomorrow and nothing more important than that. It's quite annoying. Would noting help?
Comment: https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/a/25630/8527 check that answer.
Comment: @peterj it's become a waste of time for me. I wouldn't mind talking about it etc. but it's making me depressed thinking about it so much and it's overwhelming. I would rather stop the suffering for me around it.
Comment: @buddhismcuriousity - Whether you can gain from it would be entirely dependent on your circumstances and, more crucially, how you go about it. It's main value is to prove the plausibility and logical soundness of Buddhist doctrine, while for a practitioner it may be an effective guardian against error. But if it causes problems best to take the Buddha advice and wait to discover the answers in practice rather than theorise.
Comment: @116PYC thank you
Comment: As a metaphysician I feel there's no reason not to think about such questions and much to be gained, just as long as its not an obsession and you don't expect to get any simple yes or no answers. After all, it would be necessary to think about metaphysics to see what Nagarjuna was getting at. The idea is not to allow such thinking to become a waste of your time, as it so easily can become.
Comment: @peterj and I don't know what to gain from it except for accepting that I don't know
Comment: @peterj yes thanks that's what I was thinking. I'll gain more from it when actually learning it from practice instead of therorizing. For me at least. Thanks for the comments
Answer: Practice Vipassana meditation using breath or walking. This will help you to contemplate on wholesome thought. If you want to stop Vitakka and Vicara you have to practice Samatha meditation. Vitakka and Vicara stop at second Jhana which is I have not experienced myself. Being aware that your mind is unrest alone is meditation. If you can increase this awareness, you will improve your meditation eventually.
Comment: I've been practicing vipassana now for around 4 months. Will check out the other mentioned methods though. Thanks
Comment: My suggestion is to stay with Satipathana. Vitakka and Vicara (thoughts) are not such a bad thing as far as they are wholesome thoughts. It is pleasant to have wholesome thoughts and lead to Nibbana. The second Jhana is a temporary state. Air for a more permenanent state.
Answer: Take a look at the suggestions in the Discourse on the Relaxation of Thoughts or also called the Discourse on the Removal of Distracting Thoughts.
Below, let me summarize the techniques found in that sutta or discourse. This is the recommended sequence. If the first one works, you don't need to go to the second one.

Think about something else, which is skillful
Scrutinize the drawbacks and unskillfulness of the distracting thoughts and see how they result in suffering
Pay no attention to those distracting thoughts
Force yourself to stop thinking about those distracting thoughts
With your teeth clenched and your tongue pressed against the roof of your mouth - you should beat down, constrain, and crush your mind with your awareness.
Comment: Thanks  I'll check it out.
Answer: I can actually give you an answer...but would that satisfy you? Would you trust this stranger enough to trust her words?
"metaphysical questions or what could be after death or if it is nothing etc"
The answer is neither of those things happen. What happens is something that you cant imagine. Its impossible to imagine, it is unfathomable. If it could be experienced through a break down of the body (NDE), it would still be innefible (unexplainable or impossible to put into words.) This being the case, it is not a matter to think about but to experience. You can actually uncover this knowledge through deep meditation, the eightfold path, total purification of the heart and mind. This is what the buddah and thousands buddahs and thousands arhants have done; they have diligently practiced to the point of reaching this total wisdom about the fabric of reality. They could not think about it, it is inefficient to think about it...they practiced their way into it. The knowledge fell on their lap so to say, as inevitably will happen to an ascetic practicing meditation diligently and with loving compassion and luck.
Answer: Recite a mantra like Buddho each time you think of it. Then, you'll eventually break the habit
Answer:
Don't you think metaphysics is only a grammar-playing with "transcendental" or "universalia" !?

You play with concepts when you ask about the border between the finite and infinite or about the place where the space is ...

Better paint something as a kind of vipassana ...

Better learn new language and you'll see new paradigms of metaphysics ...
Answer: Metaphysics is rendering Language as Reality. Grammar as Physical Law. That's why The Buddha answered wth epoché to Metaphysical questions and added PRACTICE IN PHYSICAL LIFE and body's (Sati)patthana.
Answer: "IN THEORY
THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE,
IN PRACTICE
THERE IS."
&
"You can observe a lot
by just watching."
— Yogi Berra
Answer: This typifies the Zen approach to koan practice, in which the master gives the student a koan which cannot be answered by conventional methods. This eventually causes the student to break down which in Zen is called The Great Doubt. This is seen as the breaking down of the intellect which can cause a myriad of unsettling symptoms - annoyance being one such symptom - but leads to a more refined and fluid version of mental processing.
In your particular case, the koan you unwittingly stumbled upon might be "what was your original face before your parents were born?"


Good counter to Minion in Dominion: Intrigue

Question: I recently lost a game of Dominion where my opponent spammed Minion repeatedly. During this he racked up tons of coin while forcing me to discard my hand once per turn. I cannot remember the other cards on the board but during the game I was unable to successfully counter. Besides Moat or Lighthouse what are some good strategies to fight off Minion?
Answer: As you have seen, Minion is a powerful card that, unlike many other Dominion cards, "combos" well with itself: if you draw two you can play one for cash and one to get a new hand, possibly getting another Minion, and attacking the opponent as well!
Minion is a card that's difficult to ignore. There are several ways you might consider to handle it:

Probably the clearest way to handle it, and the one that is always available, is to pursue Minions yourself. The Minions are powerful and every one you buy is one that your opponent or opponents cannot. If you choose this route, you usually want to go all-out to buy as many as you can. In a two-player game, getting 6 of the 10 Minions while the other player is stuck with 4 is a big deal.
Cursing and junking attacks are powerful counters to Minion. By filling your opponent's deck with space-wasting cards, they make it much less likely that the Minions will "power up" by showing up in the same hand. Sea Hag, Witch, Ambassador, Cultist, Marauder, of of course Mountebank are a few to look out for.
"Draw-up-to" effects can be an okay counter to Minion's discard, although they're not as effective as they are against, say, Militia. Still, Jack of all Trades is a powerful card in any board and probably worth considering if you're not going with Minions yourself.
Of the Reactions, Tunnel is powerful on any Minion board, whether you're the one playing the Minions or not--all those discarded Tunnels turn into Gold! Horse Traders is another powerful choice if you can spare room for the terminal action, since it neuters the attack and gives you a free card to boot. Moat and Lighthouse blunt the attack, but aren't super powerful in their own right; Lighthouse is a bit easier to fit into most decks. Secret Chamber looks attractive (save your favorite cards for the hand you're about to draw) but if Minions are flying around, its ability to discard junk for cash might be worth very little.
Answer: Like most Dominion questions, it depends on the board, so only general advice is possible.
The first principle is that Minion is simply a very good card — it lets you accumulate money while drawing more cards. The damage the discard does to the opponents is nice, but it's not that significant. Frequently, the best counter to Minion is going to be getting your own Minions. Evaluating other potential strategies' speed in relation to Minion is something that requires experience.
The two main approaches to actively countering Minion are to improve your own deck's robustness in the face of discard attacks, and to slow down your opponent's deck.
Slowing down their deck is easy — if there are attacks that fill their deck up with junk, use them. Discard attacks don't help — as long as they have a Minion left in hand, they're off to the races. For this purpose, Torturer is a discard attack — a Minion deck will pretty much never take a curse.
Making your own deck more robust is a harder subject. Except for cards that get better when your hand is smaller (Library, Menagerie) or that let you usefully react (Tunnel, Horse Traders), it's not really any different from the art of making your deck good in the first place. If you can build a strong card-drawing engine, the fact that you're starting from four cards won't matter much. If you can trash all your junk, four cards should be enough.
The biggest difference is that the marginal cards (particularly those that aren't +1 card, +1 action) are proportionally weaker. That includes both Moat and Lighthouse, particularly Moat. Yeah, they're fine if you have them when the opponent Minions, but if you draw them in the four-card hand, they mean you're unlikely to be able to buy anything great this turn. If you're playing with four-card hands, the average value of your cards needs to be higher — you can't get away with cards that aren't really pulling their weight. Before buying a card, ask yourself if it's really helping your deck, or if you're just buying it because you think you want to buy something every turn.
(This is true in every game of Dominion. It's just more true when your opponent is throwing Minions around all the time.)


Why is the break-even point for movies usually twice the budget?

Question: The break-even point is supposed to be where the cost and revenue are roughly equal so as to avoid loss, hence a movie would break even when it has made as about the same money as its production (and advertising) budget. I've came across this numerous times while reading the Reception section of a movie on Wikipedia that the break-even point is estimated as twice the actual budget. For instance on the article for Star Trek Beyond, Wikipedia quotes that the movie (with a budget of 185$ million) should gross around 350$ million to break even. It doesn't really make sense that they spent as much as the production budget on advertising. Could someone clarify?
Comment: I'm surprised how often people forget that theaters keep some of that money from ticket sales. For e.g. __Star Wars: The Force Awakens__ Disney negotiated a __[60% cut of ticket sales](https://www.cnbc.com/2015/12/29/hows-all-the-money-from-the-force-awakens-divvied-up.html)__, which is higher than usual.
Comment: @Oliver_C That is also something I had not considered, damn it's hard to profit off a movie!
Answer: As The Hollywood Reporter points out, yes, advertising a movie is expensive:

Indeed, with the exception of in China, Hollywood continues to wrestle
  with rising marketing costs, particularly overseas, which can make up
  70 percent of a film's gross thanks to booming markets in Russia,
  Latin America and Asia. Two years ago, the cost had crept up to $175
  million globally. Now, studios say it has hit the $200 million mark
  per picture -- a 33 percent increase from the $150 million spent in
  2007 on the first Transformers.

It has been an upward trend for years, even for smaller movies:

In 1980, the average cost of marketing a studio movie in the U.S. was
  $4.3 million ($12.4 million in today's dollars). By 2007, it had shot
  up to nearly $36 million. If the MPAA still tracked spending on P&A,
  that number would be north of $40 million today for medium-size films
  like The Fault in Our Stars or Tammy.

The reason is somewhat surprising:

Blame the cost of television, which remains the biggest line item --
  except in France, where American movie ads aren't allowed, and in
  heavily regulated China. TV can make up half of any marketing budget,
  even as U.S. viewership splinters and few shows command huge
  audiences. And while studios have increased the use of social media to
  deliver a more targeted audience, they haven't decreased their
  dependence on the small screen.

Some examples of how expensive TV-commercials are:

In summer 2013, film studios clamored for a spot on Under the Dome
  after the series became a hit. "CBS made a fortune because it was
  broadcasting original programming in the summer. It started at $60,000
  and ended up at $300,000 and $400,000 for a 30-second spot," says one
  top marketing executive. AMC's The Walking Dead, cable's top show in
  the 18-to-49 demo, charges upward of $300,000 for 30 seconds, nearly
  as much as CBS' The Big Bang Theory. That's nothing, however, when it
  comes to football: NBC's Sunday night games can command $600,000 to
  $700,000 a spot, while weekend day games sell for $400,000 to $600,000
  (Argo peppered football in fall 2012).
Comment: Thanks for the very detailed explanation. I never though advertising would be this expensive for a picture. The ticket price distribution policy was also another important factor mentioned by @Oliver_C.
Answer: In addition to advertising as mentioned in the other answer, there is also the fact that sometimes some of the main actors gets a share of the earnings.
Comment: That isn't part of the cost. All of this is based on raw estimates anyway, since "Hollywood accounting" is impossible to figure out. There are massively popular movies which according to their math have not made any profit...


I've followed the rules, I've even edited but still put on hold - what gives?

Question: So, I followed the rules, I even edited.  But still the 'powers that be', even one of them stated clearly that they have 'special powers', have, in their wisdom put me on hold!  They don't like my subject, or don't they like me?  It is all very confusing for a puppy dog (google dougal).  Is this site run by the community for the community, or by the mods?  The editing is superfluous, and there is no continuity, but hey, I suppose they are the gods...  Anyone else have these sorts of problems?
Comment: Well, I'm sure there's a gray area somewhere, but fixing tags on a question is pretty solidly on the "help" side of the line. The whole *point* of tags is to tie together related questions using existing tags.
Comment: I understand your frustration, but hang around; in my experience, it takes a bit of adjustment to the collaboration within different SE communities..
Comment: @dougal2.0.0 editing can be done by anyone with a certain (pretty low) level of rep. It shouldn't be taken as an insult, the purpose of the site is to have high quality questions with the best possible answers. There's always room for improvement with questions/answers, editing is just one way of making them better. E.g. an answer might contain a great answer but is hidden amongst bad formatting or irrelevant extra content - the authour isn't going to change this, but another user can tidy it up to make it a more useful reference.
Comment: Did you even look at the revision history? I fixed the tags. bug is for software issues, not things like this. The other three didn't even exist, but synonyms did, so I used them (moderators instead of mods, etc). We use tags to keep things organized, which I suppose is a bit boring, but it helps the site work. So... yes, someone helpfully came along and improved your post for you - you're welcome.
Comment: Oh look I was edited again - boring...
Comment: Where is the line drawn between 'help' and 'interference'?
Comment: @dougal2.0.0 The line is drawn at "arbitrary interference". Interference which supports the goal of the site is not only permitted, but desirable. So, for example, deleting a longwinded backstory from a question, or deleting an answer which consists of offtopic arguments, is an interference, but an interference which is supported and desirable.
Answer: I'm sorry you're having trouble dealing with our site and community. We'd really like to make it work for you, and are very happy to explain anything you're having trouble with. However, that does require you coming to us with an open mind, and acknowledge that you have a couple things to learn, and it's not just an issue of mods being overbearing.
If you're serious about this, I would strongly recommend reading rumtscho's writeup:
Why are people here messing with my posts?
Notably it's okay if you don't realize something and have to get corrected. It's totally fine, it happens. As long as you say "oh, okay" or "really? can you explain that?" rather than "hey that's no fair" it'll all be good.

I've followed the rules, I've even edited but still put on hold - what gives? ...  even one of them stated clearly that they have 'special powers', have, in their wisdom put me on hold! They don't like my subject, or don't they like me?

No, the question itself is still falling afoul of some policies about what is off topic on our site (which are extensions of general stackexchange policies), and so rumtscho's decision to put it on hold has stood. That is, that particular question, as interesting as it may be, does not follow all our rules about what to ask here. I left a comment on it about this.

It is all very confusing for a puppy dog

Yeah, the structure here is a bit surprising to people who are expecting open discussion forums. But it's fundamentally how the site works, so we expect users to learn to work that way, and not to tell us that we're doing it wrong.

Is this site run by the community for the community, or by the mods?

Both. The community has decided a ton of things over the years, including the specific policy about "what to make with X" questions, and the community does a lot of the implementation of the policy. But mods also help with this, especially when the decisions are pretty obvious, and when the community is having trouble dealing with things quickly (accumulating close votes is pretty slow sometimes).
And when it comes to telling people they need to learn to deal with the site's policies and structure, mods take a pretty active role in order to save other users from having to get confrontational.

The editing is superfluous

No, it's not. Off-topic questions can either stay closed, or get edited to be on topic, which is hardly superfluous. And we also encourage edits that fix errors, improve clarity of writing, and so on. The goal is to produce things that are useful for future readers, not just to talk to one person.

there is no continuity

As far as we can tell, yes, there is. Your question was put on hold for specific reasons, and those reasons don't apply to most questions. I'm sure we as a community are not perfect, and for example not everything that could use editing actually gets edited, but we do our best. If you see something that you think should be edited and wasn't, suggest an edit! If you see something that you think should be closed, flag it.

I suppose they are the gods... Anyone else have these sorts of problems?

Some people have, but they're the minority. Most people either learn to deal with the way the site works, or decide it's not for them and don't fight with us about it. Unfortunately, you've run up against policies several times and responded with hostility rather than listening to feedback, and you've also been unreceptive to voting and routine edits, also a core part of how the site works. (And that's kind of an understatement - you've accused mods of simply closing questions they don't like, you've accused editors of being derogatory, and you've asked to recall mods!) That tends to lead to people (especially mods) making some rather sharp statements.
We don't want to fight with anyone. Our job is to make sure the site runs the way it's meant to, and so we step in when that's not happening. We would definitely prefer to just help explain things to people, and get on the same page. So we start out just explaining how things work. But if people argue with that, we have to get increasingly stern; we can't just let people do whatever they like.
Comment: Though speaking as a mod on another SE site, continued arguing with mods and reverting edits and the like definitely can get you suspended - IMO the mods here are being extremely tolerant of your behavior so far Dougal. If you don't like the rules, don't use the site.
Comment: I have been a little confused on how some of the stuff on this web site works. I am not sure how the votes work. I think if you get votes on your question that is a good thing am I right? Can anyone vote? I also want to say I am sorry for my spelling and grammar. If it needs some tweaking please by all means go for it. Thank you. -Jerfomi
Comment: @GJ.Baker I'd suggest looking at the [tour] and for more detail on specific things the [help], and if you have questions you can post a new question here on meta, or just ping me or ask others in [chat]. But yes, upvotes are good, and pretty much anyone can vote (it only [requires a little reputation](http://cooking.stackexchange.com/help/privileges)).
Comment: I agree totally. Dougal, everything Jef is saying is absolutely right. You could contribute immensely here, but you're not doing that. What you are doing is writing what you want to, our rules be damned. Well, our rules make sense once you open your mind enough to understand. As you are headed, you may soon be uninvited to our little party. That's OK too. I like your blog.
Comment: Just in case, given Jolene's comment: no one gets "uninvited" for having some questions closed, or for getting downvotes, or anything like that, long as they're being sane about it. Suspension is for serious issues, when there's no good way to solve a problem for the site but some time off can help.
Comment: I'm not even sure if I am doing this right. I'm not very good with computers. Thank goodness my baking is better than my computer skills. Lol


What exactly is the act of playing behind the beat?

Question: I am a guitarist trying to improve my rhythmic feel and have been told to play a little more behind the beat. This is in a studio setting. How should I approach this to be more consistant in playing in a groove which I should play behind the beat?
Answer: Playing ahead of the beat means hitting the notes for the beat a liiiiittle bit early.
Playing behind means a liiiittle late.
Only by a couple microseconds, just to make the groove groovier.
Usually drummers and bass players do this to make you feel sort of a "longing".
It's playing with time to evoke a particular feeling.  Musicians play with time in other ways too like rubato (moving the tempo in "swooshes" between slightly fast and slightly slow).  It's -kind- of a rhythmic version of suspended chords.  It isn't quite right, but it feels good due to the anticipation or longing.
Comment: I'm thinking that there is a lot practice to be put into controlling when to play ahead or behind. Studio musicians must be exetremely skilled to be able to control their pace when playing parts.
Comment: I guess it's not "microseconds" : 2 microseconds are not even a sample on a digital record. I'd say tens of milliseconds.
Answer: My music teacher used to tell us to imagine you are sitting on top of a ball. This is right on the beat. Every note is right on the stroke of the beat.
To play ahead of the beat, you play a bit early and it should feel like you are leaning forward on the ball. If you lean too far, you fall off the beat.
To play behind the beat, play a bit late and it should feel like you are leaning backwards on that ball. Again, if you lean too far, you fall off.
The most important trick is to learn to play ahead of the beat without speeding up, or to play behind the beat without slowing down.
This is a very valuable skill for a musician. It gives music that groove.
Answer: Playing behind the beat brings 2 things to mind for me.  It can either mean being a hair of space behind the beat, or it can be a physical note value like a 16th note, a triplet etc.
Playing behind the beat, as others have said, gives the music a sense of forward motion.  This happens because in your head you're expecting a note on the beat and you always get it just a little bit late which adds tension to the music.
Example
An example I always come to for this stuff is in Latin music like Santana's "Samba Pa Ti":

Note how the guitar is often held for a fraction of a second after the beat, giving a more emotive, tender feel. but it's not a set note length.
Exercises
For practicing Santana style I'd suggest trying to play along with a backing track you're familiar with and just trying to get that similar sense of missing the beat as in the Santana track.
As for a set interval, If you have a program on your computer for music, write a simple melodic run starting on the 1st beat of the bar, then shift it forwards by a 16th note/semiquaver.  Practice it over a metronome or backing track until you have a sense of the timing.
From here, start playing with fun stuff like playing behind the beat and then resolving on the beat.  You can get a really great sense of tension/resolution this way, and it's fairly easy to pull out in an improv situation.
Hope that helps
Answer: AC/DC's drummer Phil Rudd is religious about playing behind the beat. Very simple drumming, but when you actually sit down and play it, it's hard to replicate his groove and feel. Try some songs like Cover You in Oil, Gone Shootin', Highway to Hell, Rock n' Roll aint noise pollution, etc.
Comment: Thanks, I was just listening to AC/DC and could feel that groove in For Those About To Rock. The rhythm section sounds laid back and relaxed as the guitars and vocals sound more on top of the beat.
Answer:

Listen to this song from 0:25-1:15. The snare and bass are ahead of the beat and the chords are behind the beat. This is what it 'feels' like. Like the previous poster said, it's playing sliiiiiightly too early or too late on every beat, but it's important to not let the overall tempo drag or speed up. It's playing the same tempo but shifting your downbeat slightly
Comment: Other classic example for guitarists is to check out Freddie Green's playing with the Count Basie big band, particularly on the slow songs like [Lil' Darlin](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_Mtgo9WOL0) .
Comment: Checked it out; played it many times.Sounds to me like the guitar (and bass) are on the beat, although the tune itself is 'pushed' in lots of places, possibly making the guitar sound late.


How humans became titans?

Question: I'm currently only watching the anime. I hardly read the manga but I'm very curious as to how humans become titans. Is it by some kind of drug similar to the one Eren was injected with by his father?
Comment: Try to ask single question at time and for how humans became titan ,there are some question related to it , you might get answer but with spoiler and about Anne's try to ask those question separately
Comment: Also you could try to change a little bit the question in general, because you are saying "Attack On Titan - Female Titan" but you are interested about how any human became a titan. Maybe it could be like "How humans became titans?"
Comment: I edited your question so that it only asks the first real question you asked.
Answer: This contains major unmarked spoilers if you've only watched the anime, as will the linked questions.

In Eren's case, it's through a particular serum that his father injected into him just after the fall of Shiganshina, shown in chapter 71 of the manga. This serum was stolen from the true royal family by Eren's father, and is used to allow the subject to turn into a titan. As well as Eren, Rod Reiss is also shown as being able to transform after he has some of the serum:

"...he himself scrounges the fluid off the floor[...]. After ingesting it, he turns into a gigantic Titan considered by Levi and Armin to be bigger than the Colossal Titan."
 Rod Reiss on the SnK Wiki

Certain humans that are also 'titan shifters' seem to have this ability inherently, or at the very least, it hasn't been covered as to where they gained it - this includes the likes of Annie, Reiner and Bertholt.
Additionally, if a titan shifter is eaten, a titan with a human inside will gain the ability to shift between two forms. This is evident in the case of Ymir, discussed in this question.
Comment: Ow and when you (or Rod Reiss) say *eat*, you mean more accurately "Bite through his spine. It's enough just to ingest his spinal fluid". I love that quote and you also read more about this [here](http://teetanjaeger.tumblr.com/post/122949092597/on-cerebrospinal-fluid-spinal-cords-and-titan). Not that I actually read the blog post, but it seemed interesting and relevant.
Comment: I think you might want to cut off the second part of your answer.
Comment: @nhahtdh Thanks for the notice, I wouldn't have seen the edit for a while if not
Comment: Titan shifters are still titans, just in their human form, so they don't really *turn* into titans anymore, they just *morph*. As far as I remember, the serum is the only way to turn humans into titans.

How humans became titans?


Let T : $\Bbb{R}^n\to \Bbb{R}^n$ be the linear operator with $T(e_i) = (1,...,1)$ for all $i = 1,\ldots,n$. Find an eigenbasis for $T$.

Question: I know that if the matrix is an $n\times n$ matrix, the eigenvalues will be $n$ with alg. multiplicity $1$ and $0$ with alg. multiplicity $n-1$.  I am having a hard time generalizing the eigenbasis for $n$ because I can't generalize the pattern for $n=2,3,4$, etc.  Thanks!
Answer: An eigenvector for $n$ is obviously $\sum_i e_i$. For 0, you can take, for example, the vectors $\{e_1 - e_i \mid 2 \le i \le n \}$ as basis for $\ker T$.
Answer: It's clear that $\langle 1,\dots,1\rangle$ is an eigenvector for the eigenvalue $n$. What about vectors in the eigenspace of the eigenvalue $0$? (Note that that's just the kernel, or null space, of $T$.) Since
$$T(v)=\sum_{k=1}^nv_k\langle 1,\dots,1\rangle\;,$$
$T(v)=0$ if and only if $\sum_{k=1}^nv_k=0$. One simple way to get $n-1$ such vectors that are linearly independent of one another and of $\langle 1,\dots,1\rangle$ is to use the vectors $e_1-e_k$ for $k=2,\dots,n$.


Is there any adverse effect to my feet if I wear running shoes all the time?

Question: Recently I bought a pair of running shoes (with a lot of cushioning) and another pair of casual shoes. However, the casual shoes didn't fit my feet well and I want to exchange them, which would take a few days. I'll go out on a trip tomorrow. I'm thinking about wearing the running shoes for the entirety of my trip. Would wearing running shoes all the time have adverse effects on my feet, since the extreme amount of cushioning might be "unnatural" in a sense?
Answer: From what I understand you asking if any type of acute or chronic musculoskeletal issues will arise due to wearing cushioned shoes during a trip.  If this is the question:

No this is perfectly fine.  The cushioning will actually be beneficial if you're doing any type of extended walking.

The only case where this could cause any type of issue would be neglecting to use a medically prescribed orthotic (this is a custom casted shoe insert).
Any reason you're thinking otherwise?
Comment: +1 *The cushioning will actually be beneficial if you're doing any type of extended walking.* [Citation Needed]. Otherwise excellent answer!
Comment: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18577583   Plantar pressure reduction associated with running shoes.  @JIXiang I love questions related to gait analysis - feel free to post a new question and I'll gladly look into it for you!
Comment: I just thought that maybe the soles are specially designed for running and might not be that suitable for prolonged walking, such as seemingly suggested by this article https://www.verywell.com/can-you-wear-running-shoes-for-walking-3436327. For example, the specific part of your foot that touches the ground first might differ when running compared with walking. But indeed perhaps those differences are minimal and too professional to make a difference.
Answer: Dealing with the exact same issue many times, I can tell you that the only troublesome outcome of this would be your running shoes wearing out faster. For example, after 8 months instead of 12 - the exact figure heavily depends on your running / walking habits. As for your question, running with worn-out shoes can cause injuries.
It's not a bad thing to use running shoes for walking/hiking, as long as you take this fact into account. I do this all the time and replace my running shoes more often / use older ones for light walking/dancing.
Comment: Welcome to Health.SE, Adam. Since health is an important topic, the site has a strict policy that all answers should be [backed up with reliable references](https://health.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/1/should-we-require-references-to-back-up-all-answers), in order to provide the community with the means to assess the merit of the answer, regardless of the reader's background. *See [this list of reliable sources](https://health.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/112/what-are-reliable-sources)*. If you still have trouble with this, feel free to visit the [help].
Answer: It was not specified what kind of "trip" is planned. Extreme weather, height (mountains), ground conditions are quite decisive variables to consider. Then of course there is also the length of the trip.
A 4 day business trip to a coastal city in temperate climate is very different to actually running in running shoes or to 6 months trecking through the jungle during the monsoon or the Alaskan Rockies in winter. Choose the right tool for the job.
Most important is of course that the shoes do fit!
"Is there any adverse effect to my feet if I wear running shoes all the time?"
There needs to be some care taken, not only in choosing the shoes but also to your feet as such, to prevent these most common possible conditions:

blisters
athlete`s foot
onychomycosis
ingrown nails
paronychia
immersion foot syndromes like trench foot
chilblains
subungual hematoma (tennis toe)
metatarsophalangeal joint sprain

While these possible conditions from that incomplete list may be a bit on the extreme side of "any adverse effects", they are certainly more probable with prolonged use of any shoe. It is still not very advisable to always wear the same pair of shoes. If one somehow has to make do with only one pair of shoes:
Take the shoes off as often as possible, keep your feet dry, airy, clean, change the socks.


Reorder Content Type Columns

Question: I have a custom content type with some custom site columns. I can't find anywhere to reorder the columns for the content type. How can this be done in Sharepoint Designer 2010? Thanks.
Answer: you cannot do it from SharePoint Designer. You have to do it from browser interface. From Site Settings --> Content Types Page.
Keep in mind that you may not be able to do everything from SPD that you can do from browser interface and vice versa.
Answer: you can use "Column Order" link under "Columns" section in Manage Content Type page (_layouts/ManageContentType.aspx?ctype=0x0100EDB28B537320E749881D67FD6A9AD47C).
You can also came there directly by the following URL: _layouts/ChangeFieldOrder.aspx?ctype=0x0100EDB28B537320E749881D67FD6A9AD47C (please insert ID of your content type there)

Reorder Content Type Columns


How to prepare long posts with mathjax?

Question: How do you guys prepare long posts for SE; particularly for those that support mathjax?
Answer: I write them in a plain text file (in my case with gedit or Geany) and translate with pandoc:
<code>pandoc --mathjax -s -o post.html post.md
</code>
That gives you a pretty good idea of what to expect on SE, provided you don't use Markdown features one of pandoc and SE does not support.
I should maybe note that I keep a record of the images I create (in files) since they tend to be very time-consuming and sources don't end up on SE. I can only recommend using TikZ for this purpose, though, as the results are very nice. See here for details.
Comment: Ah, nice gallery. Is that a custom HTML page, or is there a nice way to host such a gallery? Indeed it would be nice if one can include sources to images (I tried keeping graphviz image sources in comments, it didn't turn out so well IIRC; in the meantime I keep the sources in my stackedit draft), perhaps in a spoiler-like tag that would default to collapsed.
Comment: @RealzSlaw That's a custom-built PHP script. If there is interest I am happy to share, though. I link the sources as you can see in the resp. posts; they have no good place on SE (spoiler tags don't collapse!). You could use pastebin or something like that, I guess.
Answer: I used to use notepages (demo, project). It was slightly annoying, because they use different open/close symbols for mathjax.
Then I started using stackedit (project), which works great, and integrates well with Google Docs/Drive and Dropbox. You can even install it as an App under google docs, which will create a stackedit document that will automatically save there.
Comment: Wow, StackEdit seems to be very useful. Good find!

How to prepare long posts with mathjax?


How to embedded terminal in desktop background?

Question: How to embedded terminal in desktop background like heare:

?
Answer: This is simply a terminal window opened without borders and with a transparent background. You can archive this with urxvt or tilda term , for example, by configurating them to open in the middle of the screen.
The only thing I couldn't change was that the window showed in the window list bar.


bxslider next/back buttons appear at bootstrap nav menu

Question: I'm developing a web application for a soccer team. I use HTML5+CSS with Bootstrap 3.0.3 and jQuery.
As first, on the top a menu appears, everything works fine.
So I decided to go to the news section where I added the jQuery bxslider plugin.
The problem is that when the menu is clicked and the dropdown appears, the bxslider buttons are still visible, which looks very disturbing and unuseful.
How to disable those two buttons while displaying the menu? Would a proper solution be to create an jQuery event which will hide slider temporarily or is there a CSS trick that I overlooked?
Demo: here
Resolution with the issue: 320 x 568 (small devices)
Default index.html:

After I click on the menu:
Answer: To resolve this, change the z-index of the arrows like so :
.bx-wrapper .bx-controls-direction a{z-index:100};

Answer: Give .navbar-fixed-top to z-index:99999; will make arrow in visible when menu open.
.navbar-fixed-top{
   z-index:99999;
}

Comment: @pbwned glad to help.
Answer: By Default navbar with fixed top have z-index of 1030 as you can see from below code
.navbar-fixed-top, .navbar-fixed-bottom {
    position: fixed;
    right: 0;
    left: 0;
    z-index: 1030;
}

and carousel arrow have z-index 9999;
.bx-wrapper .bx-controls-direction a {
    position: absolute;
    top: 50%;
    margin-top: -16px;
    outline: 0;
    width: 32px;
    height: 32px;
    text-indent: -9999px;
    z-index: 9999;
}

Now You just have to increase the z-index>9999 for your navbar for this to work by adding some custom style to overrride the default z-index of navbar.
e.g
.navbar-fixed-top{
    z-index: 10001;
}


Is there a microphone that works with Mindstorms EV3?

Question: I'm planning to program my EV3 robot to do voice chat over VOIP using ev3dev and a Debian program. Is this possible? Are there microphones known to work with EV3, and has anyone had experience using them?
Answer: Sadly, there isn't much info yet.
Current options for audio are:

USB Sound Card
BlueZ 4/Pulseaudio 4 (BlueZ 5/Pulseaudio 5 supports
A2DP only)

The number of devices that have been tested and documented is extremely limited, but at least one has been confirmed to work. The non-bluetooth solutions that have been tested successfully are the following.
Tested and confirmed adapter chipsets:

C-Media Electronics chipsets (Example)

Tested and confirmed microphones:

Logitech C170 webcam built-in microphone

More info in this github issue for ev3dev
Answer: There is a (new?) LEGO brand sound sensor (9845) for $35 on the LEGO store. I don't know if it's suitable for your particular application but sounds plausible.

Using the NXT Brick (sold separately), the Sound Sensor allows your LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT robot to hear! The Sound Sensor is able to measure noise levels in both dB (decibels) and dBA (frequencies around 3–6 kHz where the human ear is most sensitive).

Includes 1 Sound Sensor.
Does not include connector cable.
This is the individual component, and does not include the NXT Intelligent Brick, software or any accessories. It requires the complete LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT set (#8527 or #8547) for use.
Comment: That sensor is likely designed to measure the magnitude of noise, like clapping, but not provide access to an audio stream as desired above.
Comment: ok, understood. but maybe it can be adapted. it would come down to the details of the interface & driver etc.
Comment: **note, the web site/ link now says this product is discontinued with no further info** :(
Answer: Copied from Github:
I haven't heard of anyone using a microphone yet, but you have a couple of options. 1) a USB sound card/microphone or 2) Bluetooth headset/hands-free device.
The built-in speaker uses an alsa sound driver, so theoretically, it should work with any linux program.
If you are looking at purchasing something USB, make sure it does not require USB 2.0. The USB port on the EV3 is USB 1.1 only.


Is it ok to ask colleagues about health situations in his family?

Question: One of my colleagues told me that one of his family members is having health problems. The last few days he has been very sad, so I wanted to ask him if everything is okay or not. In the country where I am from it is okay to discuss any questions between colleagues (even something so personal), but I'm not sure if it is okay or not to ask such personal questions here in North America. I want to support him, but I don't want to be rude. Is it okay to ask him about his family member's health in this situation?
Answer: If he's already told you about the issues then I would say it's okay to inquire but I'd make it clear that you totally understand if he doesn't want to talk about it.
Something like:

Hi [colleague], I don't want to pry but I wanted to see if you were okay. Not a problem if you'd rather not talk about it but I'm here to listen if you want.
Answer: Yes!! don't be invasive but definitely demonstrate that you remember it and you care about it! Sometimes just a colleague demonstrating to care about you really makes the day!
Use something like:

How that situation about your relative that you told me is going?

If you feel you can also add an :

in case you need something just ask...


Year Structure Built of housing units

Question: I need to find the age of housing units? where specifically should I look and download a GIS file
Comment: You will need to be more specific. Are you looking for building ages for a particular geographic area?
Answer: The American Community Survey has table B25034, which has columns for each decade from the 1940's to current (and another for "1939 or earlier"). Each column estimates the number of housing units in the given geography built in that decade.
You can download this data as GIS from Census Reporter, and probably also from American FactFinder.
For reference, here's a list of American Community Survey tables (as of the 2010-2014 5 year data release) which refer to the year housing units were built. Links are to Census Reporter "table" pages.

B25034: Year Structure Built
B25035: Median Year Structure Built
B25036: Tenure by Year Structure Built
B25037: Median Year Structure Built by Tenure
B25050: Plumbing Facilities by Occupants Per Room by Year Structure Built
B25107: Median Value by Year Structure Built
B25108: Aggregate Value (Dollars) by Year Structure Built
B25111: Median Gross Rent by Year Structure Built
B25112: Aggregate Gross Rent (Dollars) by Year Structure Built
B25126: Tenure by Age of Householder by Year Structure Built
B25127: Tenure by Year Structure Built by Units in Structure

Year Structure Built of housing units


My car will not start after being driven fine

Question: I have a 2003 gmc envoy xl it has been running fine..drove it all day. Went home 4 hrs later it will not start.. It acts like it is dead but everything from the lights to the heat works fine..I mean it doesn't make a noise no nothing..it has a new alternator and new battery.. But if it's my starter shouldn't I hear a noise?
Comment: If the battery is ok it's possibly an immobiliser issue, are you using the same keys? Try pressing the unlock button a couple of times if it has remote locking. Also (sorry if this is obvious) check that the gear selector is in park.
Comment: Along the lines of what Sam was saying, but is there a security light lit on the dash?
Comment: Hi sam .. yes its in park..but i have been having problems with with the remote locking sometimes it unlocks sometimes it doesnt. but i only have one key. i just read that it could prevent the car from starting so how do i check it or fix it at this point
Comment: Paulster ..yes there is a security light on that the dash..
Answer:
But if it's my starter shouldn't I hear a noise

Not if the starter solenoid is stuck. This is the piece of metal that connects the circuit and allows the starter motor to receive power. It's usually pulled into place magnetically, thereby connecting two terminals and powering the motor. When solenoids age, they tend to stick, or, in some cases, physically break. Once the bridge no longer works, no power can get to the motor.

To test it, you can temporarily realign the solenoid by hitting it with a hammer a few times and see if it starts after that. Disclaimer: Don't go around hitting random parts of your car with a hammer, if you aren't sure which one is the starter.
If the hammer trick does resolve the issue, it's likely only a temporary fix. Once a solenoid begins to act like this, it's probably going to give a repeat performance sometime in the future. If it sounds like I learned this lesson the hard way, well... yeah. Just assume that this may be the last time the car starts with this solenoid.
One last note: Sometimes solenoids are attached and sold as one piece with the starter, other times they are separate. My Jeep is one piece; my lawn tractor is separate.